Make sure to FORTIFY your retirement income.
Up stock markets are great and everyone loves them. But the stock market can’t grow to heaven. There must be down markets and there must be uncertainty. If there wasn’t uncertainty then it wouldn’t be the market. It would be the bank.
The problem when the stock market is only going up is that retirees, and those preparing for retirement, get careless (complacent) believing the “up’s” will last forever. In the meantime, a shock … even a small one … can destroy any retirement that does not have a solid foundation. This shock does not always have to come from the market. It can come from a host of other risks that take place during your years in retirement.
For this reason, it’s important to understand the word FORTIFY.
The stock market is a tool. That’s it. It can be exciting. It can also be very scary. No matter how you look at it, if you are dependent on the market to allow you to retire (and most importantly keep you retired), YOU HAVE ALREADY FAILED.
Many retirees continue to look at the stock market as a shiny object. They concentrate on it and fail to build a solid foundation for your retirement. When corrections come whether large or small …… and they will surely come ….. you will be in bad shape.
Accumulating assets are surely important in any retirement as they have the ability to give you flexibility. But assets can be lost, stolen, or spent.
Your solid foundation must be built around the 2 most important questions:
- How much guaranteed income do you have?
- Have you planned to take all the key risks off the table?
Longevity, inflation, corrections, health, etc. How have you planned for those risks? If your answer is “the stock market”, YOU HAVE FAILED!
Building a solid foundation is key to everything in life. It shouldn’t stop at your retirement.
Remember … FORTIFY.