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Making an investment mistake during retirement can be much more stressful than when you\u2019re young and have time to correct it. One bad move could derail a carefully-crafted plan. Changing from an aggressive investment strategy when you\u2019re saving for retirement to a more risk-averse strategy once you\u2019re retired can be tricky, and this is where those bad moves can be made.<\/p>\n
In your golden years, your top priority isn\u2019t expanding your nest egg, but protecting it and withdrawing from it in a sustainable way. Knowing how to do this properly is crucial and often overseen by a finance professional.<\/p>\n
Must Read<\/p>\n
But staying educated and understanding how and why certain investing decisions are made during retirement is important. With that in mind, here are the top five assets that can help you strike a healthy balance between income and security over the long-term.<\/p>\n
1. Money market funds<\/p>\n
After a prolonged period of ultra-low interest rates, money markets seemed obsolete. But the sudden rise in interest rates in recent years has renewed the popularity of these funds with seniors and retirees.<\/p>\n
As of December, 2025, there\u2019s a record-breaking $8 trillion sitting in these funds, according to Crane Data cited by Bloomberg (1). That\u2019s up from $4.6 trillion at the end of 2020. With yields as high as 4.6%, it\u2019s easy to see why so many savers are pouring money into these flexible and lucrative assets (2).<\/p>\n
A healthy dose of money market funds could help diversify your retirement portfolio while generating income.<\/p>\n
2. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)<\/p>\n
Although government treasury bonds are considered some of the safest assets on the market, they do not protect you from the biggest risk to your retirement plan: inflation. A sudden wave of inflation can quickly wipe off even an attractive bond yield, effectively draining your purchasing power over time.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) are designed specifically to address this risk (3). Unlike traditional treasuries, the principal amount on TIPS are adjusted to match the inflation rate.<\/p>\n
So even though the yield is often modest, the payout is much more attractive after the principal is adjusted for inflation. Let\u2019s say you invest $1,000 in a 10-year TIPS that offers a 1.88% yield in a year with 2% inflation, the yield is actually applied to $1,020 in principal value.<\/p>\n
Read More: This $1B private real estate fund is now accessible to non-millionaires. Here\u2019s how you can get started with as little as $10<\/a><\/p>\n 3. Multi-year guaranteed annuities (MYGA)<\/p>\n Annuities are not suitable for all retirees in all circumstances, but certain types of annuities can fit specific gaps in your investment plan.<\/p>\n For instance, a multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) offers a fixed interest rate for a fixed period, usually between three and ten years. Taxes on these instruments can be deferred until the end of the term (4). That makes them an ideal tool for tax planning and bridging gaps in your income.<\/p>\n For instance, if you retire a few years before you claim Social Security, these MYGAs can serve as a bridge of reliable income. Such limited use of fixed and simple annuities could be a powerful tool in your retirement plan.<\/p>\n The trade-off is limited access to your money during the term, which means MYGAs work best when you\u2019re confident you won\u2019t need those funds for unexpected expenses.<\/p>\n 4. Covered call funds<\/p>\n Covered call funds offer market exposure with some income generation. These funds sell call options on the underlying stocks so you get a certain level of recurring income. But the trade-off is clear: if the market surges your upside is limited.<\/p>\n These are not suitable for all investors, but if you\u2019re a retiree focused on maximizing income, covered call funds could be worth considering. As of October, 2025, the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPQ) offers a 9.4% yield, which demonstrates the appeal of these funds.<\/p>\n 5. Real estate investment trusts (REITs)<\/p>\n Real estate is an ideal asset class for retirees, but if you don\u2019t want to deal with tenants, maintenance and mortgage approvals there is a better way to add this asset to your portfolio. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are basically property funds that trade on the stock market.<\/p>\n These unique financial instruments offer a rare combination of steady income, inflation hedges, and liquidity. Some funds even offer exposure to properties that are beyond the reach of an average retiree, such as data centers or warehouses.<\/p>\n Perhaps the best advantage of REITs is the fact that you don\u2019t need a large downpayment to access these properties and enjoy rental income. For retirees seeking cash flows, security and long-term capital appreciation, REITs definitely warrant a closer look.<\/p>\n Because REITs trade like stocks, their prices can fluctuate, which means they\u2019re best suited for retirees who can tolerate some market movement in exchange for long-term income.<\/p>\n Owning the right mix of assets in retirement isn\u2019t about chasing growth, it\u2019s about protecting what you\u2019ve built while generating dependable income you won\u2019t outlive. By leaning on proven asset classes designed to manage risk, inflation and cash flow, retirees can draw from their savings with confidence without derailing the plan they spent decades building.<\/p>\n What To Read Next<\/p>\n Join 200,000+ readers and get Moneywise\u2019s best stories and exclusive interviews first \u2014 clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.<\/a><\/p>\n Article sources<\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bloomberg (1<\/a>); FDIC (2<\/a>); TreasuryDirect (3<\/a>); Annuity.org (4<\/a>)<\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Close up of an older woman outside with her hands pressed together and eyes closed, meditating or doing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[33524,28,155,113,81672,147,530,1666,6476,733,199909],"class_list":["post-418054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-assets","tag-business","tag-dave-ramsey","tag-investment-strategy","tag-money-market-funds","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-retirement","tag-retirement-plan","tag-social-security","tag-treasury-inflation-protected-securities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}