Lock In Stock Market Gains for Retirement

By Brent Meyer — SafeMoney.com Founder & Editor Reviewed by Licensed Financial Professionals  |  SafeMoney.com — Trusted Since 2011  |  Updated Regularly Quick Answer: Considering retirement? Learn when to secure stock market gains and explore safe money alternatives for a stable future. Start planning today! American markets have been enjoying a recent stock market rally , with some markets posting double-digit increases. It is the nature of the markets to rise and fall. So if you are approaching retirement, this might be the time to begin to lock in your stock market gains. If you’re wondering why, think about it. Many Americans will be relying on their portfolio money for retirement income once they leave the workplace. It may be to pay for spending quality time on the green, sailing, horseback riding, getting away on vacation, or whatever their preferred retirement activities may be. Older Americans tend to have less invested in stocks because they move their savings out of higher risk vehicles in their pre-retirement years. This is typically to protect their retirement nest egg, since they tend to have less time for recovery. Unfortunately, many Americans are still reeling from losses from the 2008 financial crisis. They are looking at a delayed retirement. You can take steps to protect the financial gains your portfolio has enjoyed and start preserving your wealth for your retirement lifetime. This may call for a shift in financial focus — a start to evaluating safer retirement vehicles which have a lower risk profile than equities, like annuities and life insurance . It is a good idea to review your portfolio at least once a year, to review to make sure that your portfolio is meeting your goals, objectives, and expectations. As you approach retirement, you may want to begin to transfer your portfolio to a more risk-adverse position and realize any financial growth you’ve achieved before the markets make their natural corrections. Why is Now the Time to Consider a Financial Shift? If you and your partner are in your fifties, now is an important time. Those of us who are within 5-10 years of retirement, or even the first 5-10 years of our post-work timeline, are in what we call the “retirement red zone.” The decisions we make now will impact the rest of our lives, no matter what. This is a period of change, which tends to be different from the earlier stages of financial life. For example, as retirement nears,