Episode 8: How Should Your Portfolio Change Before Retirement?

Five to ten years before retirement is when your investment strategy should start shifting — but most people either make the change too aggressively, too gradually, or not at all. There's no single right answer, but there is a right framework.

In this episode, I walk through how your portfolio should evolve as retirement approaches: what to de-risk, what to protect, and how to position yourself so you're not forced to sell at the wrong time.

In this episode:

▸ Why your pre-retirement allocation matters more than your growth-phase allocation

▸ The glide path concept — how to reduce risk without abandoning growth

▸ How to build a cash buffer that protects you in the early years

▸ The asset allocation conversation most people skip

The 5 to 10 years before retirement is when your portfolio is most vulnerable to a poorly timed market drop, and most exposed to the temptation to either panic-reduce risk or do nothing at all. A thoughtful glide path gradually shifts your allocation toward income and stability without abandoning growth entirely, and a cash buffer in the early retirement years means you're not forced to sell equities at a loss to cover living expenses. The goal isn't to de-risk aggressively. It's to position your portfolio so that a bad market year in your first year of retirement doesn't become a permanent problem.

Episode 8 of the Retirement Transition Series — 12 short episodes for people who are 5–10 years from retirement.

▶ Next: Episode 9 — The 5 Biggest Financial Mistakes People Make in Their 50s

▶ Watch Episode 7 → The Biggest Financial Risk in Early Retirement

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