De-Risk as approach retirement /and once retired

Albermarle

Mick70 said:

i think with Royal London you can only switch all of your governed portoflio  to another , not part of it.
as of this week , the portfolios are 1-7 , dependant upon how much risk an investor wants to take, 7 being the highest  , the enhanced portfolio is number 5 on the scale and shows as being 72% equity ,  the next one down is called Growth and shows as 59% equity (below this is Moderate at 46%) and so on.
As you have to stick with one particular portfolio (i think) I was simply unsure if posters in similar scenarios move down the scale as approach and enter retirement
ie if I am hoping to retire in 2 - 2.5 year , would it be wise to have a portfolio invested in 59% equity rather than 72% 

You will know from reading the forum that there are multiple opinions on this point.
From going to zero equities and buying annuities, to sticking with 100% equities because in the long term this should give the best return.
Probably the difference in end result between 60 and 70% equities will not be much so not worth worrying about too much, Just do what you are comfortable with.

GenX0212

I am intending retiring next year at 57.

I will have a £13.5k DB pension taken early and I'm currently in the process of moving a portion of my DC pot(s) to A J Bell so that I can build an Index Linked gilt ladder which will generate another £15k index linked for the last 8 years before State Pension kicks in; Giving a guaranteed base of £28.5k each year.

Based on what I have right now and my final planned contributions then that should leave another £650k+ in my current employee DC pot which is split across two separate funds; 67% Diversified Growth and 33% Equity. The Diversified Growth fund itself includes about 1/3 equities mix. Both the funds are described as more adventurous than the standard default funds and have performed very well over the last few years, even taking the trump tariffs into account earlier this year, so Im leaving those as they are and hoping for continued good returns.

Building the gilt ladder combined with my DB pension is my way of de-risking the bridge to State Pension but I actually think of it more in terms of guaranteeing a minimum level of income than de-risking investments as such. The bulk of my pension will stay invested where it is and remain at risk but if needed I will have the ability to vary my drawdown depending upon how the pot is performing.

Is there a level of income that you are able to guarantee and leave you comfortable taking a risk on the remainder?