7 Minute Abs at its worst. Get attention and clicks by saying ever more insane claims. 4% is so yesterday, 3.5% doesn't have a nice ring to it, 1% is too obviously a round number, 0.5% it is!
We all know that life comes with zero guarantees (well, except death). In the event of a nuclear holocaust centered on your house the 4% rules will clearly fail after all. Maybe 0.5% will save you from modest hyper-inflation, though so will having some foreign assets in your portfolio. Probably a probably a better hedge than 200x spending as a target.
Folks like this dunderhead and Suzi Orman set retirement targets so insanely high is that at some point such insane numbers become a disincentive. Nobody making a lofty quarter-mil a year after taxes is going to be living a 40k a year lifestyle for nearly two decades to retire early with $8M in the bank. Telling folks that is what they need to do just turns them off to any notion of ever wanting to find a way to retire early. The vast majority retire on little more than social security and whatever inheritance falls in their lap (and lottery tickets, never forget lottery tickets).