Retirement Success Depends More on Lower Volatility than Higher Returns

Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility.

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Author and Statistician

If you’ve been invested since 2000, you’ve certainly lived through more than your share of excitement: two bear markets, the Great Recession, war, terrorism and some of the worst days in the history of the stock market!

All these events led to extremely volatile markets. No one likes volatility, but if you are in retirement, taking money out of your portfolio, volatility can compromise your longterm success. Think of it like riding rollercoasters at the amusement park. If you were going to be on for a long time, would you rather ride the big, exciting rollercoaster? Or the kiddie rollercoaster?

Lowering volatility is important for investors, especially those making regular withdrawals because it can help keep your money working for you longer. And that can make a big difference in retirement when every dollar counts. Your financial advisor can put together a portfolio that helps minimize volatility in retirement and increases the odds of not outliving your money.