A Bucket Strategy for Retirement Income (Forbes)

One method to help develop a retirement income plan is the bucket strategy, which segments retirement assets by certain categories. Categories can be based on the level of risk, the expenses these assets will cover, or the period of time before these assets are expected to generate income. Nearly 30% of financial professionals use the time-segmentation approach, according to the Financial Planning Association. The approach assigns each bucket to a defined time period in retirement based on the retiree’s risk tolerance and time horizon.  It anticipates that the allocation will shift over time to more conservative asset classes as retirement savings are drawn down. There are potential advantages with this method, and there are shortfalls.