The Retirement Risk Zone is the period of time that can last from five to 10 years before and after you retire. This timeframe can have a significant impact on your retirement savings. And experts say that you should pay careful attention to your retirement savings decisions when you reach this zone. Here’s what you need to know.
A financial advisor can help you minimize different retirement risks for your portfolio.
What Is the Retirement Risk Zone?
The Retirement Risk Zone refers to the particularly hazardous period five to 10 years before and after your retirement. During this timeframe, your retirement savings are at their most vulnerable. Any major losses experienced at this stage could have a profound effect on your retirement lifestyle.
The Retirement Risk Zone is fueled by several factors. These can include market volatility, which could also impact the sequence of your returns by delivering lower or negative returns when you start making withdrawals from your retirement investments. Additionally, this can put you at a greater risk for outliving your savings.
What The Retirement Risk Zone Impacts
There are a number of things that the Retirement Risk Zone could negatively impact, ranging from when you can retire to how much you’ll have to spend in retirement. Here are four common concerns you should consider carefully:
- Your retirement age. Your retirement age plays a substantial role in shaping your retirement risk. Retiring earlier than you planned means you’ll have a longer retirement period for which you’ll need more money to pay for your lifestyle.
- When you take Social Security benefits. Drawing Social Security early will minimize your benefits. You could start collecting as soon as age 62, but waiting until full retirement age (either 66 or 67 for most people) or delaying even further to age 70 will maximize how much you can earn.
- Where you retire. The location of where you plan to retire might need to change if you end up with less monthly income than you planned for. This might reduce your quality of life or negatively impact your ability to be with friends and family.
- Your retirement lifestyle. You might have plans to retire somewhere warm or get away from the small town where you’ve spent the majority of your life. But if your income is negatively affected during the Retirement Risk Zone, then you may also need to adjust your lifestyle goals to something more affordable.
Retirement Withdrawal Strategies to Consider
When it comes to mitigating the risks associated with the Retirement Risk Zone, several withdrawal strategies could prove useful. The 4% rule, for example, is a popular strategy that recommends an initial withdrawal of 4% from your retirement savings. This is then adjusted yearly for inflation.
An alternative approach could be adopting a dynamic withdrawal strategy that adjusts withdrawal rates based on market performance.
One cautionary note: Both strategies have unique advantages and challenges, and may not be universally applicable. Personal retirement goals and risk tolerance levels should be factored in when selecting your withdrawal strategy.
So, before choosing a withdrawal strategy, it’s prudent to evaluate whether it aligns with your specific circumstances.
Bottom Line
To avoid a Retirement Risk Zone disaster, consider adopting an active strategy that reflects both current and future financial expectations in the planning process. This will require careful planning, informed decision-making and a clear understanding of your lifestyle needs, as well as an effective withdrawal strategy. There is no surefire way to avoid retirement risks because you can’t control the market. However, you can prepare ahead by having more savings than you need and making sure you are living well below your intended income during retirement.
Tips for Retirement
- Retirement planning is an important step to help you reach your long-term financial goals. A financial advisor can help you determine how much you need to save for retirement and what investments make the most sense right now. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
- If you’re not sure where to start, consider finding out how much you need to reach your goals. Using SmartAsset’s free retirement calculator can help you estimate how much you’ll need for later.
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