Updated March 2026

The beginning of the year is a good time to both look back and plan ahead.  Here are some of the financial issues you may want to check. 

A) January is a good month to review the provisions of your will and other estate plans. You have likely spent time or communicated with family members and friends who you have included in your estate planning. With the memories of your holiday connections fresh in your mind, you can consider if your bequests will truly benefit your beneficiaries. If your estate is complex, I find many good estate planning attorneys will actually diagram the provisions of your estate, which makes understanding it much easier than reading through the documents.

B) Insurance coverages should also be reviewed each year. Why not include those in your annual review?  Property and Casualty agents can quickly give you a summary of what is covered and to what extent.

C) Reviewing your portfolio is best done in January. If you decide to rebalance your portfolio, it may generate some taxes.  By making the changes in January, you (and your accountant) will have all year to plan for how to handle the tax liability.

What Investments Should You Have in Your Retirement Portfolio?

1) Two months’ worth of living expenses in a checking account.
2) Short-term savings that you can liquidate within 12 months, such as:

• Money Market account
• CDs
• U.S. Treasury securities
• Municipal bonds

3) Mid-term maturity accounts that mature between 12 and 60 months:

• CDs
• U.S. Treasury securities
• Municipal bonds
• High quality corporate bonds

4) Actively managed bond funds that invest in U.S. bonds and mortgages.

5) FIXED Annuities that let you know the amount you will receive, the interest rate you will earn, and the duration of the payments before you invest. Social security and pensions are annuities you may already own.

6) Domestic equities index funds (ETFs or mutual funds)

7) International equities actively managed funds. While using index funds for domestic equities is prudent, investing abroad takes knowledge of the unique characteristics of each country.

8) Real Estate rental properties.

9) Emerging markets equities actively managed funds.

10) Domestic equities actively managed funds, which may include 401(k) accounts and self-managed IRA accounts. If you have reached the age of 50, consider making a catch-up contribution to your 401(k) or IRA account.

10A) Roth accounts. Roth accounts are funded with after-tax money and permit tax-free distributions after reaching age 59½ if they have been held for five years. Investing in either a Roth IRA or a Roth 401(k) can be a smart choice for young investors who (a) want to save for retirement, and (b) expect to be earning more money later in their careers.

11) Gold funds.

12) Reverse mortgages.

• So many retirees want to stay in their home as long as possible. Just like with all investments, you have good and bad alternatives to choose from when researching reverse mortgages.
• Work hard to understand the features and costs involved. Many people (and their heirs) do not focus on the fact the mortgage balance increases over time.  This is simply because you are making no payments, so the interest accrues and is due whenever the home is sold.

What Did NOT Make the List?

• Variable Annuities: Unless you love paying your insurance agent large commissions, just say NO!
• Hedge Funds: Unless you love paying 20% of your profits to people who don’t care about your retirement security.
• Private Equity: The years of taking on such risk and illiquidity are past you if you are nearing retirement. Let younger folks take those risks.
• Permanent Life Insurance policies: These are NOT for YOUR retirement. They are meant to create an estate — for someone ELSE!
• Partnerships: As you get older your needs are unique. Finding partners that have the same needs and sensitivities as you is impossible.

What About Crypto?

Some investors regard cryptocurrencies as a profitable long-term investment while others express concern about crypto’s volatility and risk. Some investors gained impressive wealth [Kayla: link wealth to Add this new section between What Did NOT Make the List? and How Much to Allocate?

Some investors regard cryptocurrencies as a profitable long-term investment while others express concern about crypto’s volatility and risk. Some investors gained impressive wealth [Kayla: link wealth to Add this new section between What Did NOT Make the List? and How Much to Allocate?

Some investors regard cryptocurrencies as a profitable long-term investment while others express concern about crypto’s volatility and risk. Some investors gained impressive wealth by purchasing Bitcoin while other crypto investors have lost their life savings.

Managers of traditional investment funds have a duty to invest prudently. Most fund managers believe the risks associated with cryptocurrencies outweigh the speculative possibility of reaping huge rewards.

Individual investors, on the other hand, are free to take risks with their own money. The extent to which an investor is risk-averse typically drives investment decisions. Gamblers are rewarded when big bets pay off, but they must be willing to absorb losses when they bet on a losing investment.

Particularly when investors are still relatively young, making cryptocurrencies part of a balanced investment portfolio might be seen as an acceptable risk. After retirement, however, stability is preferable to risk. When seniors depend on investment income to meet their daily expenses, they can’t afford to see their investments vanish. That’s why investment advisors shift portfolios to safer investments with smaller returns as their clients age.

Seniors who want to add crypto to their investment portfolio, as well as seniors who wonder whether it is time to trade their crypto for safer investments, should pay careful attention to the marketplace. Some kinds of cryptocurrencies, including meme coins, are best viewed as a short-term gamble because they tend to lose their value quickly. Digital trading cards, or NFTs, were once a hot commodity but have become more difficult to sell in recent years. Many crypto investments turn out to be scams. Seniors should be absolutely sure of the risks they are taking if they venture into crypto and should never invest more money than they are willing.

How Much to Allocate?

The old adage of “you should own your age in bonds” meant that if you were 70 years old, 70% of your portfolio should be invested in secure investments such as bonds and CDs. Since people are living older these days, a slight modification to this plan is appropriate. Consequently, from the above list, Categories 1 – 5 should add up to your age minus 10.  So if you are 70 years old, then the total of these investments should be 60% of your portfolio.

Categories 6 through 11 should be the balance of your portfolio.  At age 60 they should total 50% of your portfolio, at age 70, 40%, at age 80, 30%.

Category 12 is not really part of your retirement “portfolio” although it is being used to fund your ability to stay in your home. In states like California, the value of someone’s equity in their home may be THE primary asset in their entire portfolio. Careful consideration and planning is required to maximize both the enjoyment and the economic value of this asset.

The ultimate financial concern is running out of money.  Given today’s medical advancements, you should plan to live to age 100.

(This article was updated March 2026.)