Before we proceed, it's also worth noting here that preferred shares, which offer a hybrid of equity and fixed - income features, should never be considered part of your fixed -
income allocation without making allowances for their specialized risks.
Not exact matches
It seems like much of the retirement planning advice out there focuses on distribution rates, the percentage of
income to replace, asset
allocation changes or a determination of how much risk is suitable for a retiree's portfolio
without ever considering actual living expenses or spending needs.
Without knowing anything about you, it is not possible for me or anyone else to tell you what is right for you, but if we were to look at the 42 different financial companies that offer target date funds the average of those 42 would suggest that 30 % stocks and 70 % fixed
income maybe a reasonable
allocation.
For those of us who are older, our asset
allocation should be such that we can tolerate significant stock market losses
without threatening our financial survival; i.e., most of us should have a relatively high
allocation to fixed
income (bonds and cash).
You'll also have a better chance of your mutual funds outperforming its index (because they won't be bloated), your portfolio's
allocation can now stay in balance; and last but never least, your investments will be able to provide adequate retirement
income,
without depleting too early via share redemptions.
The distributions are illustrated for the case of holding a 50 percent stock
allocation without the use of a DIA, and for the case of maintaining a 65 percent stock
allocation with remaining financial assets after devoting $ 324,000 (half of the median
allocation to fixed
income) to the DIA.