Retirees often struggle with the bucket strategy: too safe, and growth suffers; too aggressive, and critical expenses are at risk. A flexible solution is tiered protection: protect 10 years of some expenses, 5 years of others, and leave the rest invested for growth.

This lets you customize safety, balance risk and growth, and keep your portfolio working. Layering protection by amount ensures critical spending is covered while still giving your money room to grow.