No investment is entirely safe, but there are five (bank savings accounts, CDs, Treasury securities, money market accounts, and fixed annuities) which are considered the safest investments you can own. Bank savings accounts and CDs are typically FDIC-insured. Treasury securities are government-backed notes.
Dividend Stocks
A small percentage of every retiree's investment account needs to be in investments that not only generate income but will also grow. A prudent inflation-fighting investment is dividend stocks. Retirees should consider large-cap stocks, index funds or equity income stock funds.
If you're looking to grow your portfolio throughout retirement while maintaining some semblance of conservativeness, consider a Money Market Account, mutual fund, preferred stock, life insurance, CD, or treasury securities.
“Investors who reach an advanced age of 75 and above experience much lower returns than younger investors,” they note. From a review of the academic literature, they conclude: “returns are lower among younger investors, peak at age 42, and decline sharply after the age of 70.”
What proportion of assets should retirees have in stocks? According to conventional wisdom, investors should invest into equities a percentage of assets calculated as 100 minus age: 40% at age 60, 30% at age 70, and so on.
U.S. Government Bills, Notes, or Bonds
U.S. government bills, notes, and bonds, also known as Treasuries, are considered the safest investments in the world and are backed by the government. 4 Brokers sell these investments in $100 increments, or you can buy them yourself at TreasuryDirect.
Most experts say your retirement income should be about 80% of your final pre-retirement annual income. 1 That means if you make $100,000 annually at retirement, you need at least $80,000 per year to have a comfortable lifestyle after leaving the workforce.
Exhaustive research by William Bengen, a financial planner in El Cajon, Cal., suggests that retirees should have between 50% and 75% of their retirement money in a diversified portfolio of large-company stocks or mutual funds. Based on market behavior over the past 70 years, that mix produced the best overall returns.
“Neither an ETF nor a mutual fund is safer simply due to its investment structure,” Howerton says. “Instead, the 'safety' is determined by what the ETF or the mutual fund owns. A fund with a larger exposure to stocks is typically going to be riskier than a fund with a larger exposure to bonds.”
Annuities are a good investment for people wanting a reliable income stream during retirement. Annuities are insurance products, not an equity investment with high growth. This makes annuities a good balance to a financial portfolio for someone near or in retirement.
Given the S&P 500's average 10% annual return, an up-front investment of $500,000 can turn into more than $8.7 million by the time you're ready to retire. That's even if you never put another penny into the account.
Gold's advocates have historically seen it as a safe-harbor asset that protects purchasing power against inflation during challenging economic times, since it tends to hold its value over the long term despite fluctuations.
If you're 70, you should keep 30% of your portfolio in stocks. However, with Americans living longer and longer, many financial planners are now recommending that the rule should be closer to 110 or 120 minus your age.
The most recent report released in September 2020 (using data collected in 2019) shows the median U.S. household net worth is $121,700 — but it's more than double that for people ages 65 to 74. According to the Fed data, the median net worth for Americans in their late 60s and early 70s is $266,400.
If you're wondering what's a normal amount of retirement savings, you're probably one of the 64% of Americans who either don't think their savings are on track or aren't sure, according to the Federal Reserve's “Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2020.” Among all adults, median retirement savings ...
Retirement experts and financial planners often tout the 10% rule: to live comfortably in retirement, you must save 10% of your income. The truth is that—unless you plan to go abroad after ceasing to work full-time—you will need a substantial nest egg. And saving 10% is probably not enough.