How To Invest If You Are Retired

How should I invest if I am retired?

If you are retired, your biggest problem with investment is you're weighing two different factors. You're weighing the risk of short-term volatility against the long-term risk of having your investments not keep up with inflation after taxes. It's a really difficult one, but you need to have a good mix of stocks and bonds, a well diversified portfolio even in retirement. When in retirement, don't think about investing for income. Don't think about how much yield you're getting off an investment, but think of it from a total return standpoint. The total growth of your portfolio is what's going to pay for your retirement income - not just yields on bonds or dividends from stocks.