When you start investing for retirement, you might put most of your money in stocks. But as you get closer to retiring, that mix slowly changes. That planned shift is called a glide path, a predetermined schedule that reduces risk in your portfolio over time by gradually shifting from growth assets to more stable ones. Also known as a target-date strategy, it’s the backbone of most target-date funds, mutual funds or ETFs designed to automatically adjust their asset mix based on a set retirement year. You don’t have to manage it yourself—just pick a fund with your expected retirement year, and it does the work.
But not all glide paths are the same. Some drop into bonds quickly, while others stay aggressive until just a few years before retirement. The best one for you depends on your risk tolerance, expected retirement age, and how much income you’ll need from savings. A portfolio rebalancing, the process of adjusting your holdings to maintain your target mix is built into every glide path. It’s not about timing the market—it’s about reducing exposure to volatility when you can’t afford big losses. That’s why a 30-year-old might have 90% in stocks, but a 60-year-old might hold only 40%. The rest? Bonds, cash equivalents, and other low-risk assets that don’t swing wildly when markets dip.
What you’ll find in this collection are real-world examples of how glide paths work in practice. You’ll see how asset allocation, the way you divide your money among different types of investments changes over time, why some people miss the mark by staying too aggressive, and how fees and fund choices can make or break your retirement outcome. We’ll break down how robo-advisors and hybrid advisors use glide paths, how to compare them across platforms like Vanguard and Fidelity, and why even small changes in your glide path can add up to tens of thousands in retirement income. There’s no magic formula, but there are clear patterns—and the right one can help you sleep better as you get closer to walking away from work for good.
Target-date fund glide paths automatically reduce risk over time by shifting from stocks to bonds as retirement nears. Learn how different providers design these paths, why some are too conservative, and how to pick the right one for your retirement goals.
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