What rate increase? We bought a house five years ago. We got a 15-year mortgage with 4.25% interest. At the time, people were saying that interest rates were insanely low and were bound to go up any day now. Rates have only gone down since then. I'll believe in a rate increase when I see it, not before. I certainly won't delay my retirement on rumors or speculation regarding a possible increase. That seems to make just as much sense as delaying your retirement because you've heard the stock market will have a correction in a couple of months. Sure, that could happen, but so could any number of other things. As long as the next few decades aren't the worst ever, a 4% withdrawal rate will work out just fine even if interest rates go up the day after you retire.