Question

Tiana is 56 years old and plans to retire at 60. She currently has an investment portfolio in the following breakdown: 5% in T-bills, 25% in fixed income securities, 40% in Canadian equities, and 30% in international equities. In the past few years, she has been getting an average annual return of seven percent. While she does not have any income needs at the moment, she forsees to be needing liquidity in a few short years. What would be the best advice for Tiana based on her situation?

		Sell all of the equities to capitalize on the gains now and buy T-bills to preserve capital
		Shift 10% of her fixed income investments to equities to increase her return so she can have a bigger retirement savings at age 60
		Shift 30% of the equities into 20% fixed income and 10% cash to avoid excessive risks
		Since the return has been great, continue the portfolio as is until retirement

Answer 1

Option 3 is the right choice. Since she is 56 years old and is going to retire in 4 years. It's important to secure her capital. She has a 70% investment in equities, 25% in fixed income and 5% in Tbills. Tbills is the most secure form of investment but has lower return. Next is fixed income. Lastly equities as they can be highly risky. Since, she will retire in 4 years, she will not have the same income she has now. Hence it's wise to reduce her exposure to equities and increase fixed income.