📉 How Much Risk Do You Really Need in Retirement?

📉 How Much Risk Do You Really Need in Retirement?

From History Lessons for the Modern Investor Podcast by Patrick Huey

June 5, 2026 ¡ 17 min

About this episode

This episode explores the balance of risk in retirement savings and how to align risk capacity with financial goals.

Risk Capacity vs Risk Tolerance. Are you taking too much risk with your retirement savings… or not enough?If you’re 5 years from retirement (or just into it), you’ve probably heard two opposite pieces of advice:“Play it safe. Move everything to cash or bonds.”“If you don’t stay aggressive, you’ll run out of money.”Both can be wrong.In this episode of The Retirement Income Lab with Patrick Huey, CFP®, we put retirement risk under the microscope and answer a better question:“How much risk do you actually need to reach your goals — and how much risk will just keep you up at night?”You’ll learn:• The 3 types of risk every retiree should understand:– Risk preference (how much risk you feel comfortable taking)– Risk capacity (how much risk you can actually afford based on your finances)– Portfolio risk (how much risk your investments are really taking)• Why “playing it safe” by moving everything to cash and short‑term bonds can quietly starve your plan over 20–30 years• Why staying too aggressive in your 60s can blow up a good retirement plan in a bad market• A real‑world case study (David & Karen, age 63, $1.8M saved) showing:– How their risk tolerance, risk capacity, and actual…

People in this episode

Host: Patrick Huey

Topics covered

  • retirement planning
  • risk management
  • investment strategies
  • financial goals
  • market behavior

Keywords

  • retirement
  • risk tolerance
  • risk capacity
  • investment portfolio
  • financial planning

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