Supplement income from cash isa or from investments?

[caniquitwork]

My circumstances are these - I am 7 years away from retirement which is taken care of, but for the next seven years I won’t earn enough to live off, so need to supplement myself. What is better, withdrawing money regularly from cash isa, effectively using it up in that time, or taking regular money from the investment portfolio I have(separate from pensions), therefore stopping it from growing as much as it could? I keep going round in circles!

That's a question that can only be correctly answered in hindsight, because the performance of both can't be predicted. However mathematical modelling shows it's likely to be better to use up cash first.

However, if you can't flex your expenditure to keep it below earnings in the event of a market crash, I'd keep some of the cash buffer as a contingency.

You also need to consider tax. Growth from a cash ISA is tax free but the growth from a non-ISA investment would be subject to capital gains tax/allowances.

Good point - I was assuming both were in ISAs.

You could contribute to a SIPP and withdraw from that too to benefit from government pension contributions

for the next seven years I won’t earn enough to live off
Can you expand on this?
Can you earn more (your username is CanIQuit, not ICan'tWork) / spend less / take a lump sum / take pension early.