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At 64, Robin is retired with a healthy $700,000 nest egg. On paper, she should feel secure. Yet instead of enjoying her days, she finds herself opening her retirement account app five times a day, watching the balance tick up and down with the market. Each dip sparks anxiety: What if I run out? What if this isn’t enough?
She isn’t the only one worrying. A recent Allianz survey(1) found that 64% of respondents are more worried about running out of money during retirement than dying.
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This may be due to many retirees trying to survive on too little, with a recent AARP survey finding that 20% of Americans ages 50 and over have no retirement savings (2).
Even with a robust $700,000 nest egg, you may still find yourself with money worries in retirement. But there are ways to stop worrying and enjoy retirement. Here’s how to get to a healthier place and avoid the constant stress.
Work with a financial advisor to establish a safe withdrawal plan
One of the most effective ways to quiet the worry is to work with a professional to oversee those accounts. A financial advisor can help calculate a sustainable withdrawal rate based on your savings, investment mix and lifestyle needs.
Robin’s retirement accounts are invested, which means that the value can change from one day to the next. Watching those shifts in real time can make even the most diligent saver feel like they’re gambling with their future.
Working with a financial advisor can also help you to understand the best paths to diversification, given your age and lifestyle plans. An advisor can test different scenarios and show you how long your money is likely to last.
To establish a safe withdrawal plan, map out some different scenarios and feel confident in the savings you have built for retirement, consider finding an advisor with Vanguard.
You can connect with a personal advisor who can help assess how you’re doing so far and make sure you’ve got the right portfolio to meet your goals on time.
Vanguard’s hybrid advisory system combines advice from professional advisors and automated portfolio management to make sure your investments are working to achieve your financial goals.
All you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire about your financial goals, and Vanguard’s advisors will help you set a tailored plan and stick to it.
For Robin, seeing those numbers on paper and knowing a professional is guiding her decisions could alleviate her anxieties that lead her to check her balances five times a day. Once she’s able to stop fixating on her balance so frequently, she won’t have to worry about every little bump in the road.
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Hedge against inflation
Robin could also consider diversifying her investments outside of the stock market. Many financial experts recommend some amount of hedging against dips in the stock market (3). For Robin, it may just help her to stop checking her investment app five times each day.
Investing in real estate may seem like a bold move at Robin’s age, as it usually requires a huge upfront capital expenditure.
However, investing in real estate doesn’t always require you to purchase a property outright. With crowdfunding investing platforms like Arrived, you can own a percentage of physical real estate — such as vacation and rental properties — without the responsibilities that come along with being a landlord.
Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of rental homes without having to deal with the risks. To get started, simply browse through Arrived’s curated selection of homes, vetted for their appreciation and income potential.
Once you find a property you like, choose the number of shares you want to buy and get started with as little as $100.
Another option for investment outside of the stock market you can consider is gold.
Gold is currently on a record-breaking run, precisely because the shaky stock market made so many professional investors run to the safe-haven asset as the markets became unpredictable over the last few years.
For those looking to save for retirement, a gold IRA can be an excellent way to take advantage of the perks of this type of asset — including diversifying your portfolio and hedging against inflation — all while receiving the tax advantages of a traditional IRA.
To learn more, you can get a free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $20,000 in free metals on qualifying purchases.
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Invest in a way that matches your comfort level
Working with an advisor also helps ensure that your money is allocated in a way that doesn’t keep you up at night.
When you’re younger, growth is the goal — a heavy stock allocation makes sense. But once you’re in retirement, the stakes are different. A market downturn can be harder to recover from when you’re drawing down your accounts.
For someone like Robin, peace of mind may come from dialing back risk. That might mean holding fewer stocks, focusing on dividend-paying companies, or adding more bonds, Certificates of Deposit, or Treasury securities for stability.
Certificates of deposit (CDs) lock your money in for a fixed term in exchange for a guaranteed return. Rates vary by term but can exceed 4% for longer durations. This can make them a low-risk savings option that yields higher interest than some top savings accounts.
With MyBankTracker, you can shop and compare top certificates of deposit rates from various banks nationwide.
Their extensive database highlights the most competitive rates, is updated daily and offers personalized recommendations based on your risk tolerance and time horizon — helping you find the right CD to match your savings goals.
The key to investing in retirement isn’t following a one-size-fits-all rule. It’s creating a mix that feels secure. If Robin knows her money is being invested in a way that won’t lead to big swings — and that those allocations align with her comfort level — she’ll be less tempted to log in each day for reassurance.
One way Robin can feel more secure and shift her focus away from checking and double-checking her investments is to focus on things she can control: Reviewing her daily spending and budgeting.
Downloading a reliable tool like Monarch Money can help her get a clearer sense of her monthly and yearly budgeting, and understand how to make changes that fit her comfort level.
This financial management platform offers an all-in-one tool that gives you a complete view of all your accounts at once — helping you track investments, spending and budgeting, and even offers personalized advice so you can feel confident about your long-term financial planning.
You can also feel confident about sharing your financial data with Monarch Money — the app is protected by Plaid for secure data integration, and employs multi-factor authentication at login, so you can keep your accounts safe.
Download the app now for a seven-day free trial. After that, you can get 50% off your first year with the code WISE50.
Rely on guaranteed income to ease the pressure
The less reliant you are on your nest egg, the less worried you might be about running out of money. Relying more on guaranteed income streams, like Social Security, is key here.
Robin can choose to claim benefits as early as 62, but doing so locks her into permanently reduced checks. Waiting until her full retirement age of 67 means a higher benefit, while delaying until 70 boosts her monthly income even further. Understanding these trade-offs — and choosing the right age to claim — can make a big difference in how secure she feels.
Some retirees also consider annuities or other products that provide a steady lifetime income. The point is to build a foundation of predictable money each month, so the entire burden doesn’t rest on the investment accounts. For Robin, knowing her essential bills will always be covered by Social Security and perhaps other guaranteed sources can make the ups and downs of her portfolio less frightening.
Robin’s story is a reminder that worry in retirement isn’t always about the numbers. Even with $700,000 in savings, the lack of a paycheck can create an uneasy feeling of vulnerability.
The path forward isn’t to watch account balances obsessively, but to create a system that replaces that daily reassurance: a withdrawal plan guided by an advisor, an investment strategy that aligns with her comfort level and guaranteed income streams that cover her needs.
With those safeguards in place, Robin and retirees like her can stop treating retirement like a gamble and start enjoying the years they’ve worked so hard for.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Allianz (1); AARP (2); Investopedia(3)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.