FUNDS TO HELP YOU TAP YOUR NEST EGG

New options aim to engineer a steady payout for retirees.

- NELLIE S. HUANG

AH, retirement. No more snarled commutes, demanding bosses or tight deadlines. But after saving for decades, you now have to figure out how to turn your nest egg into a cash spigot. “It’s a big moment going from earning an income to not earning an income. There’s a lot of emotion and change,” says Jeffrey DeMaso, editor of The Independent Vanguard Adviser, a newsletter for Vanguard fund investors.

Re-engineering your portfolio from accumulation mode to decumulation mode can be daunting. You’ll have to get a handle on how much you need for essential expenses, and you’ll need a strategy to cover them for the rest of your life. “The biggest fear people have about retirement is running out of money,” says Anne Ackerley, head of retirement business at BlackRock.

Fortunately, a variety of products and services—some new, others new-ish—are designed to help people spend and invest their savings wisely in retirement. Some are available only in certain workplace retirement savings plans, so access depends on whether it’s offered in your plan. Other funds or services are available to all individual investors. We’ll walk you through some of the options. All data and returns are through November 30, unless otherwise noted.

CHECK YOUR 401(K)