Ah, retirement. Picture long, blissful walks on the beach. Or you’re watching the sunset from the balcony of your cruise ship and thinking: This is it – the way life should be. Then you casually check your smartphone to see how your investment accounts are doing and, gasp! You might not be as rich as you thought were.
Retirees are facing major headwinds right now when it comes to investing: Troubles in Ukraine, higher inflation and stock market jitters to name a few. If you are in or near retirement and wondering what you can do with your portfolio, here are three ideas I share with some of my clients:
1. Consumer defensive stocks
I want clients to be as diversified as possible. However, I may tilt their portfolio to consumer defensive stocks for retired or more conservative clients. Defensive stocks generally include utility companies like natural gas and electricity providers, healthcare providers and companies whose products we use day-to-day, like toothpaste companies or food and grocery stores.
According to the Center for Corporate Finance, a leading finance educator to financial professionals, defensive stocks tend to be less volatile than other types of stocks. Less volatility can mean less upside potential, but it can also mean less downside risk, which I find is what many retirees want – less downside (and hopefully better sleep at night).
2. Bonds for retirees – but not just any bonds
I like municipal bonds for retirees. Municipal bonds are issued by states, cities or local municipalities. There are many types of municipal bonds. General Obligation municipal bonds are backed by the taxing authority of the issuer – meaning the state or municipality uses taxes to pay the interest to bondholders. Revenue bonds are municipal bonds backed by a specific project. A toll road uses tolls as the revenue to pay bondholders.
Interest from municipal bonds is usually exempt from federal taxes (though there may be alternative minimum tax (AMT) considerations for certain types of investors). If you live in the state where the bond is issued, the interest may be exempt from state taxes as well.
I like tax-free interest for retirees for several reasons. Retirees may have other sources of taxable income, such as pensions, annuities or rental income, whose income may push them into a higher-than-expected income tax bracket. Retirees may also take money out of 401(k)s and traditional IRAs in retirement for required minimum distributions, which are taxable as ordinary income. Having some tax-free interest may prevent the retiree’s income from creeping up into the next higher tax bracket in retirement.
Findings from the 2019 Municipal Finance Conference suggest there is less risk of default with general …….
Source: https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/604662/3-investment-ideas-for-retirees-right-now
