In Voyant, there are two main ways withdrawals can be modeled and controlled: Withdrawal Limits and Planned Withdrawals. While they sound similar, they serve different purposes in managing your client’s plan.
Withdrawal Limits
Withdrawal Limits are the restrictions you can place on the software’s ability to take ad hoc withdrawals from a given account. These withdrawals occur automatically if other income sources are not sufficient to cover expenses in the plan. Setting a Withdrawal Limit allows you to cap, reduce, or prevent withdrawals from a particular account.
Planned Withdrawals
Planned Withdrawals, on the other hand, are scheduled, fixed withdrawals from an account, set to occur annually (amounts are always annual) regardless of whether they are needed to meet expenses.
These are useful when a client intends to systematically draw from a specific account (e.g., $30,000 annually from a taxable brokerage account in early retirement).
How They Display in the Plan
Planned Withdrawals appear in the Let’s See > Cash Flow chart > Detailed view under the yellow “Planned Withdrawals” category.
Ad hoc withdrawals (as well as transfers between accounts) are displayed on the Cash Flow chart in the color of their asset category. For example, in the chart above, all unscheduled withdrawals from taxable accounts appear in light blue.
Liquid Assets and Automatic Withdrawals
Voyant will automatically draw from liquid assets to supplement income and prevent cash flow shortfalls—provided that no withdrawal limits are applied to those accounts.
In the US version of Voyant, liquid assets include:
Cash accounts (checking and savings)
Taxable investment accounts (brokerage)
IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement accounts (if available for withdrawal)
Certain other investment assets, if marked as available for liquidation (“When Needed”) (LOC's, Annuities)
Controlling Asset Liquidation
Automatic withdrawals from savings and investments can be managed in two ways:
Withdrawal Limits – Restrict or prevent the software from making ad hoc withdrawals.
Planned Withdrawals – Schedule recurring or one-time withdrawals from specific accounts at chosen points in the timeline.
Withdrawal Limits can be set at the individual account level.
Planned Withdrawals can be added via the Dashboard > “+” button > Planned Withdrawal, or directly from the account’s detail screen.
Accounts Not Subject to Automatic Ad Hoc Withdrawals
By default, Voyant does not make automatic withdrawals from certain types of accounts. In the US version, this includes:
529 Education Savings Plans (withdrawals must be scheduled or tied to specific child expenses)
Trust accounts (unless withdrawals are explicitly modeled)
Corporate accounts
Qualified retirement accounts (until eligible for distribution)
For these account types, you will need to set up a Planned Withdrawal or withdrawal strategy if you want distributions to occur. Qualified Retirement account distributions will occur after the eligible distribution age and RMDs are hard-coded in for these account types.
Transfers Are Not Limited by Withdrawal Limits
It’s important to note that transfers between accounts are not restricted by Withdrawal Limits.
Even if an account is locked from ad hoc withdrawals, you can still schedule one-off or recurring transfers (e.g., from a taxable brokerage to a checking account) using the Transfers/Additional Contributions panel.
Transfers always occur as scheduled, regardless of withdrawal restrictions.
Key Takeaway:
Use Withdrawal Limits to control or prevent automatic liquidation of assets.
Use Planned Withdrawals to schedule predictable, intentional distributions.
Transfers remain unaffected by either setting.