Risk and Retirement in the 21st Century

In this edition of our Motley Fool Conversations series, Fool personal finance expert Dayana Yochim and retirement planning analyst Dan Caplinger discuss the challenges of investing for retirement under current market conditions. With low interest rates, investors can't rely on bonds and other low-risk investments to provide the income they need in retirement. Instead, many investors have turned to the stock market, where dividend stocks in particular offer greater income potential than bonds right now but also have higher risks of loss.

Dan points out that many companies have been able to issue bonds at much lower interest rates than the dividend yields that their shares pay out. Yet as anxious as some people are about the dangers of retirees crowding into stocks, Dayana and Dan explain that those anxieties are largely unfounded, noting how important it is to have a solid mix of dividend- and growth-oriented investments in order to ensure that you won't outlive your savings.

The best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. The Motley Fool's free report "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich" names stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of. Click here now to keep reading.