Ronald Surz compares aggressive vs defensive approaches to target-date funds over the past 12 years. That period’s historic bull market favored aggressive TDFs, as we’d expect, but the real news is that the defensive portfolio continued to outperform for seven years, from 2007 to 2013. This podcast (4:30) suggests that it is calamitous to measure an individual retirement on the basis of broad-based population statistics. For the real retirees who began their portfolio withdrawals during the years 2007 to 2013, a defensive approach was a lifesaver.
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