Lots of investors think their first day of retirement is the last day their nest egg needs to grow. Unfortunately, as most retirees discover, the cost of living doesn't stop rising after retirement. To maintain the buying power of your portfolio over many years of retirement, you have to keep it growing. That means holding at least some stocks, the only investments that historically have outpaced inflation by a comfortable margin. Stocks are too risky.
Many people also shun stocks as to volatile for their golden years.
But the risks of stocks historically have declined the longer the holding period. For 20-year holding periods, the chance to losing money was zero. Bonds are the only income investments. There are several income investments you may want to consider, including high-yielding stock funds, utilities funds, investment certificates and money market funds. Each of these investments has its own potential for risk and reward, so you'll want to learn about them before investing.