Two Ways to Decrease Risk and Increase Retirement Income

By John Whitefoot for Daily Gains Letter | Dec 19, 2012

If you’re waiting for times of economic peace before you reconsider your retirement investment strategy, don’t hold your breath. When it comes to the economy and the markets, things are never certain.

There always has been, and always will be, overarching issues that impact the markets and investor sentiment; whether it’s high unemployment, rising inflation, a slowing economy, fiscal cliff-type scenarios, geopolitical tensions, or general economic malaise. Even when the markets are bullish, and the economy is chugging along, there will be those who hold off thinking about retirement investing, because they’re not sure how much longer the good times are going to last.

In other words, uncertainty is always present…and, will always put some sort of dent in investor confidence.

With this in mind, where should you look to invest when it comes to maximizing your retirement income? That depends on what kind of investor you are, and how far away you are from retirement.

How Do You Plan on Investing for Your Retirement?

Investors worried about the way economic and political uncertainty impacts their retirement investments are often looking for ways to outguess the markets, and they move their investments around accordingly.

If it were easy to outguess the markets, everyone would be doing it. The fact of the matter is that it’s impossible to predict how unpredictable investors react to unpredictable events.

The best thing an investor can do when setting out a retirement strategy is to look beyond the horizon. Create an investing portfolio that allows you to take advantage of long-term growth on the stock market, while hedging against downturns with high-yield bonds and equity … Read More