#174 – Does the Institutional Approach to Asset Allocation For Retirement Work These Days?

Summary: <br> Part of my job as the Retirement Answer Man is to help you face the current issues that impact your retirement planning decisions. Part of that is the non-glamorous task of assessing the traditional approaches to retirement planning to see if they still work. So on this episode, I’m going to take a fairly deep dive into the institutional approach to asset allocation that has been the basis for retirement planning for many years – and I think once you understand the premise behind it, you’ll see that it’s a bit antiquated for modern retirement planning purposes. But never fear, I’m also going to point you in the right direction regarding how you can make up for the deficit!<br> <br> An institutional approach for retirement asset allocation doesn’t work because YOU are not an institution.<br> I say that with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, but I also really mean it. Institutions do a very good job of allocating their assets for THEIR particular goals, but YOUR goals for retirement are vastly different than theirs, don’t you think? So following their pattern may be helpful (and it is, in some ways) but it’s not enough. You need to know the potential pitfalls of following an institutional lead and how to avoid them. That’s why I’m here.