Thoughts on when to shift investments

[jeffrey_pdx]

7. I know you posted this a while ago. But my 2 cents.

Generally, the closer you get to retirement, the more you want to focus on bonds rather than stocks. Bonds, historically, don't give you the growth, but they are safer. First of all, mutual funds are safer (no hard and fast rules) than individual stocks or bonds. Stock funds can go up and down a lot with much more potential gain or loss, bonds tend to vary less but don't earn or lose as much. That's why bonds are safer as you approach retirement, they're less risky. That's not to say that you don't want any stock or stock-heavy funds, it all depends on your level of risk. My opinion (and only my opinion, not professional advice), maybe put more into stocks after the market falls due to the debt ceiling debacle, get them "on sale", but generally, you want to mostly be in bonds.