The first step is to skip taking raises at all when the market is down. The report says that withdrawals under the 4 percent rule for retirees with $1 million in savings would be $40,000 for the first year. In subsequent years, based on the consumer price index, retirees would increase that—so if the CPI rose 2 percent in year two, they'd withdraw $40,800.

But suppose the market is down that first year, instead of rising for you to feel comfortable taking that extra $800?

If you skipped it instead—and indeed skipped a raise in any year following a down market year—the chances your money will last until age 90 will go up by nearly 11 percentage points, assuming an initial 4 percent withdrawal. That's according to David Blanchett, Morningstar's head of retirement research, who is cited in the report.

Of course, some people follow that to its logical corollary and want to take extra money out of their retirement accounts whenever the market has an up year.

And maybe you can do that, although the market will have to deliver some pretty awesome returns to allow it.

Financial advisor Michael Kitces says in the report that if your account ever grows 50 percent above its starting value after you start taking withdrawals—say that initial $1 million rises to $1.5 million—you can pretty safely increase withdrawals by an additional 10 percent above any inflation adjustments for the rest of your life. 

According to Kitces, assuming you were going to withdraw $45,000 this year, but the market has delivered you that higher-balance miracle, you'd actually be able to tap as much as $49,500—and without having to cut withdrawals after any downturns that may occur in the future.

He believes that this strategy will not run down your account balance under any scenario—although your heirs could be in for an unpleasant shock with you spending more during your lifetime. (Also see a guest post on his site by Derek Tharp.)

But of course you won't be there to see it, so why not go for it?

The third step in this process, originated by Vanguard, establishes an annual rate of retirement asset withdrawals—maybe that conventional-wisdom 4 percent. Once that's done, set a ceiling no more than 5 percent higher than the prior year's income level, and a floor no more than 2.5 percent lower.

That means, starting with that same million dollars, and an initial 4 percent withdrawal of $40,000, if the market boosts your remaining funds by 20 percent to $1.2 million, at the end of year two you could apply that 4 percent rate again to get $48,000.

If that falls between your ceiling and floor—say in this case a 5 percent ceiling on $40,000 of $42,000, which is below the $48,000 mark—you'd take $42,000 instead of $48,000.

It's not foolproof with a 92 percent success rate—more than 9 out of 10 retirees will still have retirement money left in their accounts doing it this way, even after 35 years—but then neither is the 4 percent rule, which only has a 78 percent success rate with annual inflation adjustments over that same 35-year period.

And then there's the dreaded required minimum distribution, which can be used as a guide.

To calculate your RMD, the report says, divide your IRA balance by an IRS-provided figure that represents an actuarial estimate of the remaining life span of someone your age. At 70, your denominator is 27.4, meaning that under certain circumstances someone your age may live until nearly 97½.

Since you don't need to take RMDs before you hit age 70½, you'd use an actuarially appropriate number for your actual age—31.9 for someone who's 65, for instance.

If you retire at 65, divide your total retirement funds by 31.9. With a $1 million account, that's $31,350, and if you take this approach, you're not taking 4 percent but 3.1 percent—thus being more conservative in the way you're withdrawing your assets.

And, of course, if you're not planning on leaving anything to prospective heirs, you can always adjust that upward.