Remember to factor in required minimum withdrawals

Robert Reed, Personal Financial Advisors, Covington, La.
"At 70.5 years, the required minimum distributions [RMDs] start. So, one could set up a portfolio of laddered CDs and U.S. government and agency bonds to approximate the RMD. This would as much as guarantee the assets and provide for income via the RMD. This strategy would work even if one didn't tie the asset maturities to RMD," Reed says. He suggests working with an adviser since "there may be opportunities to enhance the income over time, depending on interest-rate fluctuations."