[Jason]

I am 51, my wife is 49, and we have a 6 year old son. We currently have about 1.25 million in retirement accounts (about 15% in Roth) accounts.

We are 100% in stocks.

As we get closer to retirement I want to adjust our portfolios to more of an 80/20 stock to bond ratio.

However, I am having trouble pulling the trigger on moving into some bonds at this moment.

We don’t have any intention of retiring right now, but I would like the option to retire within the next 5-7 years, but it could be longer as we both like our jobs and there are lots of benefits to them.

My question is how do we start to transition to a bond allocation? Did some of you sell some of your positions and put it into bonds? Current allocations all to bonds?

I am somewhat struggling with the idea of going from 100% stocks (where we have done very well) and going to an 80/20 portfolio over time.

Just a bit more info. We make about $160k combined, save about 20% of our incomes in Roth and pre-tax accounts and spend about 100k a year with that going down to about 80k a year as we pay off our mortgage and the like.

Thoughts?

[Scott]

You have time, just buy into bonds moving forward and you’ll be balanced by retirement.

I hit fire 10 yrs ago and I’m still 80% stocks.. the 60/40 rule is broken imo.

80/20 with an 18 mo. Cash buffer will work just fine for you.

[Aaron]

Begin with the end in mind. When you retire in 5 years, you’ll need money in cash in bonds to live off of most immediately. Which accounts will you draw from to live off of first?

Those are the accounts that eventually need some more stable investments.

There are two reasons that I can think of to move some into bonds earlier than your retirement date:

1. To avoid delaying your retirement because of a down market. You’d hate to be 1 year out from retirement in 100% stocks and have a 30% drawdown that makes you keep working.

2. Because to avoid tax consequences, you want to take time to build cash or bonds from your income instead of selling stocks in a brokerage as a way to change your asset allocation.

I think 2-3 years out is a good time to start shifting your allocation slowly.

[Stephens]

Yes. It’s called the 100% Rule. Subtract your age from 100 and that’s how much money you should have in stocks as you age.

One could even be more conservative if you wish as likely Mr.

Trump will be HARD TIME for the Stockmarket players, or he may open up the marketplace wide to more manufacturing development in USA.

It just depends on who you listen to and what you want to believe is possible.

[George]

Start by stopping auto investing dividends, then make a plan to gradually switch from stock to bond

[Victoria]

Given your strong financial position and 5–7+ year timeline, start shifting toward 80/20 stocks/bonds gradually—redirect new contributions to bonds (e.g., BND, Treasuries) and sell 3–5% of stocks annually to rebalance.

Bonds act as insurance against market downturns, especially important with a young child and upcoming mortgage payoff.

Keep stocks in Roth accounts for growth, bonds in pre-tax accounts, and prioritize short/intermediate-term bonds or TIPS for stability.

This disciplined approach lets you lock in gains while reducing risk, without sacrificing long-term goals

[Author]

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