So you are now just a decade or so from retirement and don’t want another 2008 market crash to wipe out our nest egg, forcing you to work for longer than you are planning. Finding safe investment options is a goal, but at the same time you don’t want to be too conservative because you do need to continue realizing capital appreciation so your nest egg can support you during your 'golden years'.
The balance between safety and growth is more difficult than one may think. If you get too safe, the growth will lag and you may not have a large enough retirement account. If you get too focused on growth, you may be taking on more risk than you should, which could leave you vulnerable to a big market crash.
While Exchange Traded Funds offer diversity, I personally don’t like very many of the mixed portfolio options available today (a fund that holds a combination of investment options such as stocks, bonds, RIETS, MLP's, currency, futures, etc.) and especially don’t like the 'age-based target funds' offer through many 401(k) plans and other mutual fund companies. Now I want to make it clear I am always a proponent of a well-diversified portfolio and I believe that idea holds true more so for those in this age group than investors who are younger.
With that being said, investors in their 50's should be thinking more about buying a few different ETFs, as opposed to the one-stop shops. I have found that the one-stop-shop ETFs typically tend to be either too conservative or too aggressive and this causes them dramatically trail the market returns or be way too exposed to a market pull-back. Continue reading "ETFs For Those In Their 50s" →
