Most retirees face the same conundrum: how to spend down assets without completely depleting them. One popular strategy is to apply the 4-percent rule — withdraw 4 percent of your initial retirement balance and adjust the dollar amount annually to keep pace with inflation. Another rule of thumb is to spend only your portfolio’s interest and dividends.

Some academics aren’t fans of either strategy. A retiree who spends only his interest and dividends may load up on, say, bank stocks — and that’s “the tail wagging the dog,” says Anthony Webb, research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Leaving the principal untouched may fit with a desire to leave money to heirs, but it could put a crimp in your lifestyle.

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