Why Retirees Still Need to Hold Stocks

If you’re a retiree, you probably still need stocks as a big chunk of your investments. People make mistake of dropping stocks completely at age 55 or 60, says Susan Garland, editor of the Kiplinger’s Retirement Report. You do want to decrease your stock exposure as you age, sure. But you cannot drop them: Stock gains can help sustain your nest egg if you live to 75 or older. They're inflation fighters, and the dividends they provide can be a source of income. Garland says the rule of thumb is that 100 minus your age should roughly be the percentage of stocks in your portfolio.

Here’s what Bill DeShurko, manager of the Dividend and Income Plus investment model at Covestor, had to say about stocks for retirement:
Low interest rates, volatile market, and a little bit of greed leads retirees to want to believe in sales pitches. Inside the broker industry, variable annuity sales are huge. The sales pitches of guaranteed income and stock market returns, (which is too good to be true), has retirees pouring money into complicated products with extremely high fees and surrender charges, that are most likely to disappoint down the road.

Source: Fox Business

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