The layered bucket approach can be enhanced by employing two distinct safety buckets, each with its own glide path. A conservative bucket follows a flat glide path, providing constant protection for essential expenses—for example, consistently holding 10 years of required spending throughout retirement. A discretionary bucket, by contrast, uses a front-loaded glide path, offering stronger protection early in retirement (say 5 years of discretionary spending) that gradually tapers to 1 year over time.

This dual-bucket structure allows retirees to preserve early-retirement flexibility while safeguarding core expenses, balancing lifestyle aspirations with long-term portfolio sustainability.