How to help protect against market volatility
It’s critical to reduce your investment risk through diversification, especially as you get closer to retirement age.1 Research shows that having sufficient retirement income is a top priority for Americans and that the most confident investors look for growth and protection.
Having multiple types of asset classes can help insulate you from market shocks so you can build healthy cash flow in retirement, no matter what happens. As you rethink your portfolio, here are two shock-absorbing financial assets you may have overlooked.
Whole Life Insurance
In addition to cash value growth,2 regardless of market performance and a guaranteed3 death benefit to protect your heirs, whole life insurance offers predictable premiums and potential tax advantages.4
Whole life insurance can be a way to help balance other assets in an investment portfolio. A whole life policy is insulated from market fluctuations and provides guaranteed cash value growth that can supplement long-term goals, such as retirement, and help finance near-term ventures like an education or business.5
The right amount of whole life protection depends on your age, your dependents, and your earning power. In general, the younger you are, the more years of your income you should consider when deciding on the right policy protection for you. You can learn more about whole life here.
Annuities
Most people are happier in retirement when they have a level of steady income. A reliable income stream is the chief advantage of an annuity. Essentially, an annuity is a form of insurance that ensures you have guaranteed income in the future.
For example, with a fixed deferred annuity, you know exactly how much you’ll earn each year. At retirement, you may choose to begin to receive a set payout at defined intervals (called “annuitization”), typically monthly, quarterly, or annually. Properly designed, an annuity can provide payments for your entire life, no matter how long you live. It can be a hedge against market volatility.
As part of the mix in a retirement planning strategy, annuities help reduce uncertainty. You can work with a financial professional to estimate your costs in retirement and explore an annuity to round out your portfolio, accordingly. That way, you can spend your other retirement savings with greater confidence.
Annuities typically grow tax-deferred, which means you don’t pay taxes on the earnings until you withdraw the money or convert it to a stream of payments. This may provide a tax advantage, especially if you’re in a lower tax bracket at retirement.6
Bearish or bullish, no single investor has control over the market. But you can control how you prepare for the highs — and lows — to come. Diversify to grow and protect your investment portfolio so you can optimize your financial and emotional confidence today and for years ahead.
