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From Offense to Defense: The Key Shift in Retirement Planning

Coach drawing american football or rugby game playbook, strategy and tactics with white marker on blue background.

Retirement planning requires a strategic shift as you approach your golden years. Early in your career, the focus is on growth — maximizing savings, investing heavily, and building wealth for the future. But as retirement gets closer, the strategy must evolve. It’s no longer just about accumulating more. It’s about protecting what you’ve built and ensuring it lasts. Shifting from a growth-oriented mindset to one centered on security and income is essential to achieving a financially stable and stress-free retirement.

Phase 1: The Offense – Accumulation

The accumulation phase is the starting point for most of us. During this time, the primary goal is to grow your wealth. You contribute regularly to your 401(k) or IRA, invest in growth-oriented assets, and take advantage of time and compound interest.

At this stage, market fluctuations aren’t a significant concern. In fact, downturns can be opportunities to buy lower-priced stocks, with the confidence that your portfolio will recover and grow over the years ahead.

This offense-oriented mindset works because time is on your side. Even if the market takes a dip, you have years — often decades — to rebound. The focus is on building a solid nest egg, usually with guidance from investment advisors who specialize in growth strategies.

However, as you approach your fifties, this strategy starts to lose its effectiveness. Retirement is no longer a distant dream. It’s on the horizon. That’s when it’s time to reassess your approach.

Phase 2: The Defense – Income

As retirement nears, your focus should shift from growth to income generation and wealth preservation. This income phase marks the transition from accumulating assets to turning your savings into a reliable source of financial security.

Here are three key reasons why this shift matters:

1. Market Volatility Becomes Riskier
When you’re younger, market downturns are manageable because you have time to recover. However, as retirement approaches, significant losses can have devastating consequences. A sharp decline in your portfolio could force you to delay retirement or reduce your lifestyle.

2. You’re Betting with Time
For many, their peak earning years begin in their 40s and continue into their 50s and 60s, often all the way to retirement. Your savings represent all those years of hard work. Any major losses could take years to recover, which is time you may not have before retirement begins.

3. Income Stability Takes Priority
Retirement is all about generating steady, reliable income to cover your living expenses, healthcare costs, and lifestyle goals like travel or family time. Your portfolio needs to prioritize consistent cash flow over high-risk growth.

Switching to a defensive strategy doesn’t mean abandoning growth entirely. Instead, it’s about finding the right balance between protecting your savings and generating the income you need. This is the ideal time to reassess your portfolio and align it with your retirement goals.

Why a Defense Mindset Is Critical

As you enter retirement, protecting your wealth becomes just as important as growing it. While many investment advisors excel in offense — helping you accumulate wealth — fewer specialize in defensive strategies for the income phase. This expertise is crucial to safeguarding your nest egg and ensuring your financial independence in retirement.

Retirement Income Source®: Your Perfect Playbook

At Retirement Income Source®, we understand the unique challenges of transitioning from accumulation to income generation. Our team specializes in income-focused investment strategies designed for individuals nearing or in retirement.

Our approach emphasizes:
• Consistent, reliable income to cover your retirement expenses.
• Protection against market volatility to safeguard your hard-earned savings.
• Tailored strategies that align with your financial goals and lifestyle needs.

By adopting a defensive strategy with our guidance, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing your portfolio is designed to weather market ups and downs while delivering the income you need. Retirement should be a time to relax and savor the life you’ve worked so hard to build, not to worry about market crashes or financial instability.

Let Retirement Income Source® be your trusted guide during this critical phase. Contact us today to learn how we can help you build a customized strategy that turns your retirement dreams into reality.

Your retirement is coming. Make sure you’re ready to enjoy it.

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Carter Financial Group is a full-service financial firm dedicated to helping those in the Texas area meet their long-term financial goals. Our team of financial advisors and wealth managers are experienced in helping clients preserve their savings, so they can use it as a source of steady income in retirement.

All written content on this site is for informational purposes only. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of Carter Financial Group and our editorial staff. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources; however, we make no representations as to its accuracy or completeness. Investing involves risk. There is always the potential of losing money when you invest in securities. Asset allocation, diversification, and rebalancing do not ensure a profit or help protect against loss in declining markets. All information and ideas should be discussed in detail with your individual advisor prior to implementation. The presence of this website, and the material contained within, shall in no way be construed or interpreted as a solicitation or recommendation for the purchase or sale of any security or investment strategy. In addition, the presence of this website should not be interpreted as a solicitation for Investment Advisory Services to any residents of states where otherwise legally permitted to conduct business. Fee-based financial planning and Investment Advisory Services are offered by Sound Income Strategies, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisory firm. Insurance products are offered through our Affiliate Sound Income Academy LLC.  Carter Financial Group and Sound Income Strategies, LLC are not associated entities. Carter Financial Group is a franchisee of Retirement Income Source®. Retirement Income Source® LLC, Sound Income Strategies LLC, and Sound Income Academy are associated entities. © 2025 Carter Financial
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About Mandee

Mandee Carter Stearns, President of Carter Financial Group, has been working alongside her father, Dee Carter, running the day-to-day business and learning the ropes of their family business since 2017.

Mandee received her BS in Psychology in 2016 and started her career in the financial industry in 2010 when she started helping in the office. After acquiring her degree, she started working full-time in March 2017 as Dee’s business partner and main Associate Advisor helping clients navigate the intricacies of investing for retirement and overall successful financial planning.

In 2021 and 2023, she was named an Elite Producer with American Equity, amongst other accolades.

In Mandee’s spare time, she likes to go to the gym and spend time with her husband, friends, and family. She is an animal lover and rescuer. In fact, Mandee has 3 rescue dogs, a German shepherd and 2 mixed breeds that she adores! She still enjoys almost all things Psychology related and is constantly researching something. Mandee enjoys meeting new client prospects, speaking with her current clients, but most of all she loves helping people.