Personal Finance

I'm 56 and retired - I am looking to invest about $700k and not sure where to put it

Maurie Backman

Published: March 5, 2025 11:03 am

Once you retire, it’s a good idea to continue investing. You don’t want to convert all of your assets into cash, because you may not earn a high enough return on your money to keep up with inflation.

And yes, it’s true that right now, high-yield savings accounts are paying pretty generously. But in general, you can’t let your portfolio become too cash-heavy.

However, it’s also important to invest with caution once you’re retired. And that’s the question this Reddit poster has.

They’re 56 years old and are already retired, which means they clearly ended their career on the early side. They have $700,000 they can invest and want to know where to put that money.

 I have some ideas here. But I also think the poster here should ask a qualified professional what they think.

Some options for investing during retirement

It’s a myth that it’s a dangerous thing to own stocks in retirement. You need some amount of money in stocks so your portfolio is able to keep up with inflation.

But you do need to be careful to not go overboard. So I’d suggest that the poster invest no more than 60% of their $700,000 in stocks. And if they’re more risk-averse, 50% could be better.

From there, they should make sure to diversify their stock holdings. And the easiest way to go about that would probably be to just load up on an S&P 500 ETF.

They could also buy a variety of individual stocks. But that requires a lot of research and market knowledge they may not have.

If they do decide to load up on specific stocks, I would suggest that they focus on companies with a generous dividend. That could help generate income for their portfolio. And steady dividends can be a hedge against market downturns.

Growth stocks can be a bit risky for retirees. The poster could put some of their money into growth stocks, but I’d recommend that it be a relatively small portion due to the potential for volatility.

As far as the other 40% to 50% of their portfolio goes, I’d suggest some bond ladders.

Municipal bonds are a good choice for retirees who are in a high tax bracket, since their interest payments are always federally tax-exempt. Because I don’t know this poster’s tax bracket, I can’t say whether they’d be better off with a taxable bond that offers a higher yield.

It’s best to get personalized guidance

The advice I’m laying out here is what I’d call general advice for a retiree with money on hand to invest. But because I don’t know the poster’s personal circumstances, it’s hard for me to tell them what to do with their $700,000.

That’s why I think they, and anyone else in a similar boat who’s not sure how to invest, should talk to a qualified financial advisor. An advisor can review their current assets, retirement expenses, life expectancy, goals, and risk tolerance. And based on all of that, they can help put together an appropriate investment mix.