Between February of 2020 and June of 2020 the Dow Jones Industrial Index moved violently from around 27,000 down to below 20,000 and then very quickly back to around 25,000. Anyone watching those market movements surely had a great amount of fear sweep over themselves regarding their retirement savings and their ability to trust the stock market to provide them with the capital appreciation that many of us used to take for granted. It has been a short window of time during which so many began to question what they could do to protect their retirement even as we start a recession.
Consider Asset Allocation
Financial experts in the new have suggested altering your asset allocation as you near retirement is a great idea. Having a sizable portion of money in mutual funds and other stock market investments makes sense for most of one’s working life, but there comes a point when the asset allocation needs to be changed around for maximum effectiveness.
Some have switched out some of those mutual funds for other types of investments such as certificates of deposit (CDs), short-term bonds, and blue-chip stocks with high dividend yields. You may even take some money out of the market altogether and just hold it in cash. That is an option that can take the risk off the table and allow you to focus more fully on your overall retirement objectives. We suggest talking with a financial professional to be sure whatever move you make that it is part of a plan.
Have A Reliable Emergency Fund Ready To Go
Emergency funds are the building block of any great personal financial plan. Those who are retired are very much in need of this extra cash to help them get through tough times. It is a nice cushion to have to fall back on when you are unable to work any longer and are afraid of drawing out too much money from your retirement accounts.
A recession is a terrible time to make withdrawals from your accounts as you are by definition making a withdrawal at the low point in the market. You are taking a bad situation and realizing it in your portfolio. Those who have a solid emergency fund don’t have to worry about this and can just draw from those emergency funds rather than take money out of their stocks and bonds.
Look At Working Part-Time
There are a lot of part-time and gig work jobs that someone in retirement can do. The door is open wider than ever for this group of people to try out new gig jobs and perhaps turn a hobby or interest into a source of income for themselves. There are plenty of people who have decided to make this leap as they see a little extra income on the side as something that can keep them afloat while they work on getting the remainder of their financial house in order.
Just a few hundred dollars a month can help a person’s life, and that is all that someone in retirement would have to do during a recession to get through the worst of it. The work might only have to last through the recession period, and then they could move on to full retirement again. It is worth some consideration at least as it might just open some doors that you hadn’t been looking at before.
