PLANNING SERVICES
Retirement Strategy & Risk
Evaluating how investment risk, portfolio structure and market variability may interact with your retirement timeline and income needs.
What This Planning Area Covers?
The question of how much investment risk to carry changes meaningfully as people approach and enter retirement. During the accumulation phase, time often allows portfolios to recover from market downturns. In retirement, ongoing withdrawals create a different dynamic — one where portfolio losses early in retirement can have an outsized effect on long-term income sustainability. This planning area looks at how portfolio structure, diversification and risk tolerance connect to your circumstances.
Common Questions We Discuss
How does my current portfolio risk align with my timeline?
What might a prolonged market downturn mean for my income plan?
How should my investment approach evolve as I move into retirement?
How do I think about balancing growth potential against income stability?
What role does asset allocation play in managing sequence-of-returns risk?
Important Considerations
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Sequence-of-returns risk is distinct from average return risk
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Risk tolerance and risk capacity are not the same thing
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Portfolio construction may need to evolve as retirement progresses
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Diversification does not eliminate the risk of investment losses
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There is no portfolio structure that eliminates all risk