Reply to @Investor: I don't know what the rules and hoops are on transfers, rollovers, etc. out of the average 401k, but with IRAs, almost all trustee to trustee transfers require specific forms to be submitted with a medallion signature guarantee, which is not readily available in some places. For example, our bank doesn't offer them, and the credit union where we used to have an account requires a member to travel 50 miles round trip to the office in the next town to get one.
Therefore, our few major IRA moves have been via withdrawal/rollover, which is fine under IRA rules. If it's as onerous to effect a transfer (direct rollover) from most 401ks as it is from IRAs, I can imagine a lot of people would go the withdrawal route simply to move retirement investments. The article does mention this as a possible rationale for withdrawal.

Hey Derf, Howdy:
The full understanding is that the farm land mentioned is currently priced only for that purpose.
I have placed a map at this link North Dakota counties where you will find McLean county.....about in the central area of the state. The farm land is in this county to the southeasterly sections.
The Bakken Oil Formation's outer southeast range is near McLean county; but has not yet caused any pricing changes for shale oil reasons. The below link for the Bakken Reserves area will provide a decent view. The majority of the activity and crazy pricing has taken place in Williams county in the northwest area of the state. If one owned a large piece of land there about ten years ago and sold 2 years ago...............well, a fella could just move right into retirement managing a decent investment portfolio.
Bakken Oil Reserve map
Take care,
Catch

Howdy,
A thank you to all who post the links, start and participate in the many fine commentaries woven into the message threads.
For those who don't know; I ramble away about this and that, at least once each week.
NOTE: For those who visit MFO, this portfolio is designed for near retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep. This is not a buy and hold portfolio, and is subject to change on any given day; based upon perceptions of market directions. All assets in this portfolio are in tax-sheltered accounts; and any fund distributions are reinvested in the funds. Gains or losses are computed from actual account values.
While looking around.....We'll just be hang'in out with our current portfolio mix; as the coming elections are a likely coin toss as to a forward path. The power brokers will remain in place; at both Wall St. in N.Y.C. and K St. in D.C., regardless of the elections. Yes, a president who is a real person of action, could make a difference; given a few years time, but I don't find that person in our near future. The likely key will be what legislation will be in place for the lame duck congress and who among that group will show their real colors with voting; as they are not beholden to the public. Okay, this is all; as last week and this coming week find a very full schedule with other areas at the home front.
The data/numbers below have been updated.
As to sector rotations below (Fidelity funds); for the past week: (Note: any given fund in any of these sectors will have varing degrees of performance based upon where the manager(s) choose to be invested and will not directly reflect upon your particular fund holdings from other vendors.) Sidenote: The average weekly return of 200 combined Fidelity retail funds across all sectors (week avg = - .92%, YTD + 11.34%).
--- U.S. equity - .50% through - 2.28%, week avg. = - 1.36% YTD = + 14%
--- Int'l equity - 1.70% through + 1.33%, week avg. = - .70% YTD = + 12.6%
--- Select eq. sectors - 5.0% through + .45%, week avg. = - 1.44% YTD = + 13.3%
--- U.S./Int'l bonds - .37% through + 0.62%, week avg. = + .01% YTD = + 3.50%
--- HY bonds - .30% through - .67%, week avg. = - .48% YTD = + 11.2%
A Decent Overview, M* 1 Month through 5 Year, Multiple Indexes
You may consider our portfolio to be quite boring, but you may be assured that it moves and bends each and every day; from forces beyond our control.
I have added a few blips related to our portfolio and market observations at the below SELLs/BUYs and Portfolio Thoughts.
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK: = NONE.

Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a - .07 % move this past week. Our portfolio return has become about "flat" for the last 3 weeks with bond types trading places as the favored flavor of the week. Most equity sectors ended the week in the negative, with Japan, China and a few other Asian sectors being positive. We'll continue to watch; but do not have plans at this time, to enter into equity areas.
b> Still plodding along, and we will retain the below write from previous weeks; as what we are watching, still applies.
--- commodity pricing, especially the energy and base materials areas; copper and related.
--- the $US broad basket value, and in particular against the Euro and Aussie dollar (EU zone and China/Asia uncertainties).
--- price directions of U.S. treasury's, German bunds, U.K. gilts, Japanese bonds; and continued monitoring of Spanish/Italian bond pricing/yield.
--- what we are watching to help understand the money flows: SHY, IEF, TLT, TIPZ, STPZ, LTPZ, LQD, EMB, HYG, IWM, IYT & VWO; all of which offer insights reflected from the big traders as to the quality/risk, or lack of quality/risk; in various bond sectors.
The Funds Boat is at anchor, riding in the small waves, watching the weather and behind the breakwater barrier. To the high praise of MFO and the members, it is very difficult to find a topic to note here that has not been placed into the discussion boards. Excellence, as usual.
I have retained the following links for those who may choose to do their own holdings comparison against the fund types noted.
The first two links to Bloomberg are for their list of balanced/flexible funds; although I don't always agree with the placement of fund styles in their categories.
Bloomberg Balanced
Bloomberg Flexible
These next two links are for conservative and moderate fund leaders YTD, per MSN.
Conservative Allocation
Moderate Allocation
A reflection upon the links above. We attempt to establish a "benchmark" for our portfolio to help us "see" how our funds are performing. Aside from viewing many funds within the balanced/flexible funds rankings (the above links), a quick and dirty group of 5 funds (below) we watch for psuedo benchmarking are the following:
***Note: these week/YTD's per M*
VWINX .... - .49% week, YTD = + 9.27%
PRPFX .... - .63% week, YTD = + 6.05%
SIRRX ..... + .04% week, YTD = + 6.11%
TRRFX .... - .57% week, YTD = + 9.48%
VTENX ... - .49% week, YTD = + 8.43%
Such are the numerous battles with investments attempting to capture a decent return and minimize the risk.
We live and invest in interesting times, eh? Hey, I probably forgot something; and hopefully the words make some sense. Comments and questions always welcomed.
Good fortune to you, yours and the investments.
Take care,
Catch
---Below is what M* x-ray has attempted to sort for our portfolio, as of June 1, 2012---
From what I find, M* has a difficult time sorting out the holdings with bond funds.
U.S./Foreign Stocks 1.9%
Bonds 93.9% ***
Other 4.2%
Not Classified 0.00%
Avg yield = 3.72%
Avg expense = .55%
***about 18% of the bond total are high yield category (equity related cousins)
---This % listing is kinda generic, by fund "name"; which doesn't always imply the holdings, eh?
-Investment grade bond funds 28.2%
-Diversified bond funds 22.4%
-HY/HI bond funds 14.5%
-Total bond funds 32.4%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds .6%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 1.9%
This is our current list: (NOTE: I have added a speciality grouping below for a few of fund types)
---High Yield/High Income Bond funds
FAGIX Fid Capital & Income
SPHIX Fid High Income
FHIIX.LW Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
ACITX Amer. Cent. TIPS Bond
DGCIX Delaware Corp. Bd
FBNDX Fid Invest Grade
FINPX Fidelity TIPS Bond
OPBYX Oppenheimer Core Bond
---Global/Diversified Bonds
FSICX Fid Strategic Income
FNMIX Fid New Markets
DPFFX Delaware Diversified
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
PONDX Pimco Income fund (steroid version)
PLDDX Pimco Low Duration (domestic/foreign)
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
NONE outright, with the exception of equities held inside of some of the above funds.

These are NOT MY WORDS but 100% the way I feel now about BONDS at this juncture.
This comes from Fidelity and it is the statistical equivalent of buffalo herd charging across the prairie toward an unseen cliff:
"The below-average real returns for equities during the past 12 years, in combination with the near- uninterrupted 30-year rally for bonds, has led to a recent shift in investor preferences. Since December 2007, investors have poured more than $1.1 trillion into bond mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—more than 33 times the amount allocated to equity funds and ETFs"
I don't hate bonds, they are an integral part of our low-volatility portfolio models. But to be doing bonds instead of stocks looks suicidal to me in the context of a long-range retirement portfolio.
If I could pick an asset class for the next 5-10 years it would be REAL ESTATE.
Just my humble opinion.
Anyone care to mention or recommend a good real-estate mutual fund .
Good luck to all.
Turtle

FYI
Regards,
Ted
http://www.thestreet.com/print/story/11748136.html
HABDX Expense Ratio .53% No Load
PTTAX Expense Ratio .85% + Front or Back Load unless in retirement plan
PTTAX vs. HABDX 5 Year Returns Chart:http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=PTTAX+Interactive#symbol=pttax;range=1y;compare=habdx;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

Reply to @BWG: The issue with MLPs in a tax-sheltered account is UBTI (Unrelated Biz Taxable Income), which is discussed in greater detail here: http://seekingalpha.com/article/313114-should-investors-hold-mlps-in-retirement-accounts-another-perspective and particularly this one: http://seekingalpha.com/article/312281-master-limited-partnerships-and-your-ira
I do not hold MLPs in a tax-sheltered account. The only partnership I currently hold is BIP. I do hold KMR, which is a different way (often called "i-share" version) to invest in the Kinder Morgan Partners MLP. KMR is not a partnership and does not result in a K-1. However, you only have the option of share dividends with KMR.

Thank you sir. I will definitely consider. Currently, preponderance of our retirement portfolio is in RNSIX.

How near retirement are you ?
Regards,
Ted

Howdy,
A thank you to all who post the links, start and participate in the many fine commentaries woven into the message threads.
For those who don't know; I ramble away about this and that, at least once each week.
NOTE: For those who visit MFO, this portfolio is designed for near retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep. This is not a buy and hold portfolio, and is subject to change on any given day; based upon perceptions of market directions. All assets in this portfolio are in tax-sheltered accounts; and any fund distributions are reinvested in the funds. Gains or losses are computed from actual account values.
While looking around.....Mixed Bag of Thoughts.....If we periodically need an excuse related to investment decisions; this study Memory and Doors may cause one to consider staying put in one room for a time period, during crucial investment thinking sessions.
A recent post Bond Funds, Total Return or Equity Hedge?
brought forth fewer responses than I expected. Our house will answer with "Total Return"; as that is always our goal, from whatever market sectors we may use. The original question is in place with the basis thought that the majority of investors have been equity investors for several decades. The new question may be whether this will be the case with new and current investors today. Equity investments surely will not disappear; but will this sector draw and continue to hold the most money?
Lastly, the most common proposition of bonds being used as an equity hedge; may become, "equity investments used as a "bond holdings hedge". All of us have our investment holdings placed, based upon whatever we perceive to be the best place for our money, set within our own risk and reward scale. In one fashion or another, we all have some form of a long/short, equity-income, balanced, flexible or other style of investing when looking at the overall portfolio holdings in place. We manage the managed funds, or at the very least; manage the passive or index holdings of our portfolios. We've all placed our investment mix to form a style box of one type or another, eh?
The data/numbers below have been updated.
As to sector rotations below (Fidelity funds); for the past week: (Note: any given fund in any of these sectors will have varing degrees of performance based upon where the manager(s) choose to be invested and will not directly reflect upon your particular fund holdings from other vendors.)
--- U.S. equity - 1.78% through + 2.2%, week avg. = + .36% YTD = + 15.5%
--- Int'l equity - .33% through + 2.5%, week avg. = + 1.06% YTD = + 13.4%
--- Select eq. sectors - 2.9% through + 3.9%, week avg. = + .51% YTD = + 15%
--- U.S./Int'l bonds - 1.7% through + 0.0%, week avg. = - .31% YTD = + 3.48%
--- HY bonds + .09% through + .50%, week avg. = + .33% YTD = + 11.77%
A Decent Overview, M* 1 Month through 5 Year, Multiple Indexes
You may consider our portfolio to be quite boring, but you may be assured that it moves and bends each and every day; from forces beyond our control.
I have added a few blips related to our portfolio and market observations at the below SELLs/BUYs and Portfolio Thoughts.
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK: = Reduced our holdings in FINPX, with the proceeds added to FRIFX and PONDX.

Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a + .09 % move this past week. If one viewed the market data between the Friday's of Oct. 12-19, the numbers would indicate a so-so market in equity and bond sectors. The fact that large swings in both some equity and bond sectors had taken place between Monday and Friday of the week ending Oct. 19 would not be evident; but there were some very big swings in closing out the trading week. Most equity sectors ended the week in the positive, while many bond sectors were negative in returns. We'll continue to watch; but do not have plans at this time, to enter into equity areas.
Sidenote: The average return of 200 combined Fidelity retail funds across all sectors (week avg = + .40%, YTD + 12.4%). b> Still plodding along, and we will retain the below write from previous weeks; as what we are watching, still applies.
--- commodity pricing, especially the energy and base materials areas; copper and related.
--- the $US broad basket value, and in particular against the Euro and Aussie dollar (EU zone and China/Asia uncertainties).
--- price directions of U.S. treasury's, German bunds, U.K. gilts, Japanese bonds; and continued monitoring of Spanish/Italian bond pricing/yield.
--- what we are watching to help understand the money flows: SHY, IEF, TLT, TIPZ, STPZ, LTPZ, LQD, EMB, HYG, IWM, IYT & VWO; all of which offer insights reflected from the big traders as to the quality/risk, or lack of quality/risk; in various bond sectors.
The Funds Boat is at anchor, riding in the small waves, watching the weather and behind the breakwater barrier. To the high praise of MFO and the members, it is very difficult to find a topic to note here that has not been placed into the discussion boards. Excellence, as usual.
I have retained the following links for those who may choose to do their own holdings comparison against the fund types noted.
The first two links to Bloomberg are for their list of balanced/flexible funds; although I don't always agree with the placement of fund styles in their categories.
Bloomberg Balanced
Bloomberg Flexible
These next two links are for conservative and moderate fund leaders YTD, per MSN.
Conservative Allocation
Moderate Allocation
A reflection upon the links above. We attempt to establish a "benchmark" for our portfolio to help us "see" how our funds are performing. Aside from viewing many funds within the balanced/flexible funds rankings (the above links), a quick and dirty group of 5 funds (below) we watch for psuedo benchmarking are the following:
***Note: these week/YTD's per M*
VWINX .... + .37% week, YTD = + 9.80%
PRPFX .... - .14% week, YTD = + 6.73%
SIRRX ..... + .04% week, YTD = + 6.07%
TRRFX .... + .24% week, YTD = + 10.11%
VTENX ... + .12% week, YTD = + 8.96%
Such are the numerous battles with investments attempting to capture a decent return and minimize the risk.
We live and invest in interesting times, eh? Hey, I probably forgot something; and hopefully the words make some sense. Comments and questions always welcomed.
Good fortune to you, yours and the investments.
Take care,
Catch
---Below is what M* x-ray has attempted to sort for our portfolio, as of June 1, 2012---
From what I find, M* has a difficult time sorting out the holdings with bond funds.
U.S./Foreign Stocks 1.9%
Bonds 93.9% ***
Other 4.2%
Not Classified 0.00%
Avg yield = 3.72%
Avg expense = .55%
***about 18% of the bond total are high yield category (equity related cousins)
---This % listing is kinda generic, by fund "name"; which doesn't always imply the holdings, eh?
-Investment grade bond funds 28.2%
-Diversified bond funds 22.4%
-HY/HI bond funds 14.5%
-Total bond funds 32.4%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds .6%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 1.9%
This is our current list: (NOTE: I have added a speciality grouping below for a few of fund types)
---High Yield/High Income Bond funds
FAGIX Fid Capital & Income
SPHIX Fid High Income
FHIIX.LW Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
ACITX Amer. Cent. TIPS Bond
DGCIX Delaware Corp. Bd
FBNDX Fid Invest Grade
FINPX Fidelity TIPS Bond
OPBYX Oppenheimer Core Bond
---Global/Diversified Bonds
FSICX Fid Strategic Income
FNMIX Fid New Markets
DPFFX Delaware Diversified
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
PONDX Pimco Income fund (steroid version)
PLDDX Pimco Low Duration (domestic/foreign)
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
NONE outright, with the exception of equities held inside of some of the above funds.

Retirement is a place far away for many investors. Today's 30 year old likely has few thoughts about being older someday, or having a plan that far into the future. However, many of us here; have "been there, done that" and know how fast the clock of life moves along. At the very least, even a most modest investment plan into a balanced investment (50/50 equity-bonds), until a younger investor gains more knowledge; would be a prudent choice with a percentage of one's income. Several factors are in place today regarding "retirement monies".
1. traditional defined benefit pensions continue to be removed in the private sector,
2. and are being replaced by defined contribution plans (the individual retirement plan);
3. which leaves Roth IRA's as another choice to build a retirement portfolio.
This is not all inclusive, by any means; but indicates how much an individual will be on their own to establish a retirement plan. The next 20-40 years of retirees will find a much different monetary picture versus today's retiree's.
Aside from your own plan, you should help others you know to understand the future ramifications. First, an emergency money fund; then investments. Start and continue learning about establishing sound household budgets, as well as investing principles. The young ones today need to understand the value of time upon the compounding of their investment returns; as with every day that passes, will be the loss of this one time event that the clock of time will continue to erode.
Lastly, and this will not apply to all households; is the value of your own skills and time related to investments. When one saves money via their own skills, this too is a form of investing; or at least saving money that may be invested.
I have always been inclinced toward the technical side of life. I have earned a good living from these skills. These skills and desire have always been present in daily life, too; related to repairs/maintenance around the house and all related. I have paid myself a very substantial wage from some of this work by eliminating "outside labor", which is generally half of the cost of many repairs. A bonus being that I learned while doing, too. A plumber in our area will need $100 just to arrive at the house; and then the hourly rate and parts clock begins to run. While there may be some who will not be home owners in retirement; for those who are, what you used to "take care of" around the house will find a time when you can not or choose not to be the "fix-it" person. All of this will add up to lots of little piles of expense, that can become a large pile of money flows that will require spending retirement monies that may not have been in the original budget. In spite of the tv and print ads; you may have to postpone that retirement vacation to Bali !!!
For the young ones, don't forget to value your "D.I.Y." time; but also don't forget, that this will end at some point in the future.
Depending upon individual circumstances, of course; there are a larger number of retiree's today who also did not plan on the kids returning home to live, or perhaps monetarily bailing out their children. Things change, eh? One can attempt to prepare; or just say "to hell with it" and take the trip to Bali. To each, their own direction.
Hopefully, others may add some thoughts to this vast area of consideration.
Regards,
Catch

I believe Berkowitz is a top notch fund manager. So for that reason I would hold the fund. I don't own FAIRX, but I do own FAAFX. It's been just as volatile as FAIRX.
What's important in my opinion is how much this fund or other aggressive funds you may own affect your overall portfolio's volatility. In my case, FAAFX is 6% of my 401k portfolio. It's volatile by itself, but I still keep the overall standard deviation of my portfolio as a whole to less then or equal to my bench mark, TRRAX (TRP 2010 retirement fund).
So I guess IMO, I would hold on to a Berkowitz fund but at a percentage you are comfortable with. FAIRX and FAAFX are focused funds that make big sector bets. That makes for inherent volatility. But I believe this manager and fund will be a winner over market cycles.

Howdy MJG,
The original question area was to, "who is this retail investor?"; as is noted in the data posts regarding the transistions away from equity and into bonds and other areas.
I would merely enjoy knowing the data of "retail investor".
I do believe this time is different; aside from too many scholars in print and projected with speech via the television, stating otherwise.
Beginning with early 2009, I found too many of these folks who threw around data about a recovery of this or that; and of course, with their reasons.
On Jan. 1, 2011, the first baby boomers turned 65. And now, every day for the next 19 years, about 10,000 more will cross that threshold, according to the Pew Research Center. By 2030, when all baby boomers will have turned 65, about 18 percent of the nation's population will be at least 65 or older compared with about 13 percent now, Pew said.
The current percentage of boomers relative to the overall population of the U.S. is 26%.
This time is different, if not only from the standpoint of the amount of monies controlled by the boomers; retired or still employed. Boomers will stop contributions to retirement plans; while those boomers a bit older will begin withdraws from personal retirement plans. This will represent hugh money flows for this group; and I can not imagine how this will not affect other investors, to some extent. The various other asides have to do with technology, manufacturing loss in the U.S.; demographics (boomers/aging population), tremendous debt burdens both public and private; and of course, there are many other factors, too.
There is much to be added to the stew pot before the recipe is finished.
You noted: "The problem with the human tsunami into fixed income products is inflation. That too is wealth killer."
Yes, indeed; inflation is a nasty and silence killer of investments for many invested in improper areas. Of course, part of the drive from global central banks for interest rate structuring, is the prospect of deflation. Perhaps this too, is a portion of our investing future.
As to "fixed income" you noted, and the use of the words with investing; we note for our house; that a CD is the nearest form of "fixed income" we view.
All other income that may be brought forth is "floating income". If one is in the right places at the right times; the float will be to the investors favor.
Interesting times indeed. Thank you for the input; and I can agree with you and others as to many folks have left the party; perhaps having regained enough monies to be breakeven from 2008/2009 and knowing or otherwise, may choose to take the chance with inflation and a much lower return on investments. Also, that if the retail investor doesn't know and respect the bond market and what the drivers may be; some may be surprised to the sad side.
Regards,
Catch

Some of the outflows are, I think, statistical anomalies. It appears that some money is flowing from "pure" stock funds to various sorts of hybrid funds (allocation, retirement date, balanced), a category which the Post article seems not to recognize.
The Investment Company Institute has data on global fund flows, sizes and numbers. Since 2010, the number of stock funds has increased by 500 worldwide; the number of hybrid funds has increased by 1200. Assets in "pure" stock funds are down $540 billion, assets in hybrid and "other" funds are up about $110 billion. Net sales of such funds has been positive in 6 of the past 8 quarters while net sales of pure stock funds has been positive in 3 of 8 quarters.
http://www.ici.org/research/stats/worldwide/ww_06_12
Not a complete answer certainly, but perhaps another piece of it.
David

First, there are legitimate reasons to pull some $$ out of stocks. Markets have roughly doubled since March, 2009. Provided you stayed true to your allocation model - meaning you bought during the downturn - you have booked some nice profits over that time and have re-balanced back into cash and other fixed income instruments.
Secondly - to an extent - in some areas of fixed income it's likely a case of the monkey chasing his tail. Small investors perceive bond funds as safe, whereas many such funds hold large amounts of junk bonds or mortgage-backed securities of dubious merit. Investors may not fully appreciate the amount of risk in these securities and by pouring $$ in they further fuel inflated values.
Thirdly, its very likely that panicked retail investors are not so much booking profits as shying away in fear, and in many instances are raidimg retirement savings to compensate for the decline in "real" inflation adjusted income over the past decade and also to compensate for the lost borrowing power their houses once offered. I personally know of workers who pulled every dime out of their 401ks when they reached 59.5, even though they still had years to go until retirement.
Finally, as humans we like what's "hot." (I recently pitched my last "leisure" suit from 1975-:) Though stocks have done very well past 3+ years, they haven't yet caught the public fancy. The local barber no longer mentions the stock market while trimming a few hairs. The cigar shop I frequent no longer displays CNBC on a monitor all day long. Can't recall last time heard folks on a plane or in an airport lounge talking about stocks. Point: It takes time for things to gain favor among the public. Give the bull a few more years - with the Dow flirting at 20k or maybe even 25k - and the retail $$ will begin pouring in again.

Here's the full title for the 1st article - "Investors exit stock mutual funds in Sept at fastest pace of year; Bonds, ETFs hold appeal" - Yikes, more of the same ... Starting to wonder if they took all their money out three months ago and are now employing some sort of leverage? IMHO, if you're under 50 and saving for retirement, that's the wrong move. Of course, short-term anything can happen.

It is interesting paper. But the Contrary Connie results come with bigger spread and believe few people can tolerate that. It is riskier and thus it has a wider range of outcomes. Who wants to expose themselves to such high variability of outcomes that late in life when compensating for unfavorable outcomes becomes increasingly difficult.
Furthermore, the ability to take risk increases if you actually achieved a big enough portfolio and more. Having relieved from the worry of meeting the basic needs of retirement, the more portion can be invested in a riskier way for potentially passing to other generations, charity etc. if that money is never needed.

Reply to @VintageFreak:
WBMIX is definitely available in Firstrade retirement accounts for a $500 minimum with a TF per my actual trade. Also, it appears that this class is available in TDA retirement accounts for no minimum per their web site. Obviously, one would have to verify this with an actual trade.
Kevin

So basically...
When you buy more important than what you buy.
Luck is a big factor.
One should worry about worse case scenario not dream of best case scenario
Buy Camry not Lexus
Err on the wrong side and plan to die with money in the bank instead of fretting about how much you can withdraw in retirement.
In conclusion...
Low interest rates are not incentivizing banks to lend since 4% "free" profit is just fine
Consumers are NOT going to spend and sometimes CAN'T - mortgage interests may be low but who is qualifiying?
We are shit out of luck. No really.
I'm quite depressed.

Own 24 ETF's and 45 mutual funds, for many of Accipiters reasons but also for 2 other important reasons. Even great funds tank. One example is Janus Worldwide. By having multiple "great funds in a similiar class when one tanks or is doing poorly it is sold and the tax hit is much lower than otherwise. It is a great tax planning tool! Capital gains are lowered. Also in retirement it is much easier to sell one position fully and use its proceeds for living expenses than having to choose specific shares in large holdings. My portfolio is very substantial and many may think this is ludicrous but it works for me and I manage it myself with great tax savings.

Reply to @MikeM: "limited" means to existing investors and/or to certain qualified retirement accounts. it is definitely available in one of my 401K and I have been invested in RYSEX for several years.