Is the Withdrawal Optimizer the same as a fixed safe withdrawal rate?
Where to find it: TIME MACHINE results → TOOLS → WITHDRAWAL OPTIMIZER
No. A withdrawal rate is used to determine how much you can withdraw from a portfolio to spend every year without running out of money.
The Withdrawal Optimizer determines the best sources of withdrawals every year to satisfy required spending.
The Withdrawal Optimizer works from the expenses, income, accounts, taxes and lifespan assumptions in your scenario. It chooses a schedule of account withdrawals and deposits intended to minimize taxes overall and maximize your legacy. See Finding the optimal withdrawal strategy in retirement for details.
It does not simply withdraw a fixed percentage of the starting portfolio every year.
To test a percentage rule yourself, use a negative Percent of balance in AUTOMATIC SAVINGS and WITHDRAWALS and run an ordinary TIME MACHINE or SCAN on that percentage. This requests withdrawals based on the account balance, rather than a fixed percentage of its initial value.