Ideally, you should restructure your investments to be more conservative by reducing the amount of riskier investments (e.g. small-cap stocks) as retirement approaches. Riskier investments are more likely to be volatile and can lead to bigger losses during an economic downturn. Because they don't have much time left, older individuals may not have the luxury of waiting for the economy to rebound. Safer investments and diversification should be your focus as you get close to retirement.