Use Your Longevity

Use Your Longevity: Long Life Is a Blessing...and an Opportunity

Americans are living longer today than any generation prior — one of the most breathtaking human achievements of our age. And with longer life comes more years in retirement. That means your retirement portfolio has to be prepared to work as hard as you have over the years — and, ultimately, to live as long as you do.

Investing for a retirement of 20+ years is complicated in the current environment of low bond yields, slow economic growth and volatile equity markets. Truth be told, the old rules of retirement investing no longer apply. Following are few considerations to help you make the most of your longevity:

Invest early...and often. This advice resonates now more than ever as Social Security and pensions take a back seat to personal savings as retirement income sources. Importantly, saving for retirement is a lifelong marathon, not a sprint in the final 5, 10 or even 20 years. Allotting small amounts over time is often much easier to bear than having to play catch-up later in life.

Go beyond bonds. Government bonds were retirees' go-to source for safety and income in the past, but times have changed. With Treasury yields at record lows, they are not likely to outpace inflation over time — and that's a major risk in itself. If all or most of your retirement portfolio is in "safe" bonds, investors today have to consider if they realistically can live for 20 or more years with virtually no return. Retirees need to seek income through investments such as stocks with a history of paying and growing dividends.

Fear not alternatives. Many investors fear the idea of "alternatives," which are often seen as too risky, particularly for a retirement portfolio. But the new world of investing requires a new way of thinking about diversification. Alternatives can provide a source of income and also have been show to help reduce the volatility of a portfolio because of their lower correlation to more traditional assets.

Combine active and indexing. Diversification encompasses more than asset class choice; you can diversify your investment vehicles as well by adding an allocation to index products, such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETFs combine the features of mutual funds and individual stocks and offer the benefits of tax efficiency and transparency of cost and holdings. The more diversified a portfolio, the better equipped to weather market cycles throughout the years. Explore iShares Exchange Traded Funds for more on ETF strategies.

Target the future you want. It can be intimidating to build a diversified portfolio aimed at life's biggest financial goal — retirement. Target-date and target-risk funds remove some of the guesswork. These multi-asset-class funds come in a variety of flavors, with target-date products geared toward a specific investment time horizon and target-risk funds based on an investor's tolerance for risk (from conservative to aggressive). Explore LifePath Portfolios for more on our Target Date Fund strategies.

Consider annuities. Annuities are important retirement planning tools that can provide a steady stream of income throughout your retirement years. Different types of annuities can offer access to an account value, payments for a specific number of years or predetermined growth potential. Talk to your financial professional about your options.

Remember, time is on your side. Long life means you have the longevity to ride out market cycles, allowing you to look past the traditional retirement assets and take advantage of opportunities for enhanced income and growth potential. Investment in equities, commodities and alternatives can help you generate income for your portfolio and deliver returns that will help ensure your long life is a blessing — and not a financial burden.

¹ UN population survey, 2010.
² OECD Health Data: Health expenditure and financing, OECD Health Statistics (database).
³ Fidelity Investments, as of June 2012.

Investment involves risks. Stock and bond values fluctuate in price so the value of your investment can go down depending on market conditions. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against market loss. The two main risks related to fixed income investing are interest-rate risk and credit risk. Typically, when interest rates rise, there is a corresponding decline in the market value of bonds. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the bond will not be able to make principal and interest payments. Utilizing alternative investments involves substantial risk and presents the opportunity for significant losses including in some cases, losses which exceed the principal amount invested. Alternative investments have experienced periods of extreme volatility and in general, are not suitable for all investors.

This material is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. The information contained herein is based on current tax laws, which may change in the future. BlackRock cannot be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss resulting from applying any of the information provided herein or from any other source mentioned. The information provided in these materials does not constitute any legal, tax or accounting advice. Please consult with a qualified professional for this type of advice.

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Prepared by BlackRock Investments, LLC, member FINRA.

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