From Market Volatility to Retirement Planning: How a Denver Financial Advisor Can Help You Stay on Track

When markets get rocky, the instinct is to do something. Check the balance. Read the headlines. Make a move. I understand that impulse completely, and I also know it is one of the most financially costly reactions a person nearing retirement can have.

If you are in your 50s or early 60s and watching your portfolio swing with the news cycle, you are not alone. What you may not realize is that the stakes are higher at this stage than at any other point in your financial life. Not because the losses are necessarily larger, but because of where you are in the timeline.

This is where thoughtful financial planning, and a trusted advisor who knows your full picture, can make a genuine difference.

The Risk Nobody Warns You About Until It’s Too Late

Most people have heard of market risk: the possibility that your investments lose value. But there is a less discussed risk that matters far more if you are within ten years of retirement, and it goes by the name sequence of returns risk.

Here is the idea. It is not just how much your portfolio returns over time that determines how long your money lasts. It is the order in which those returns arrive. If you experience significant losses in the first few years of retirement, while you are simultaneously drawing down your portfolio for income, those early losses can permanently shrink the base your money has to recover from. Even if the market bounces back strongly later, the damage done in those early years cannot be fully undone.

The reverse is also true. Retiring into a strong market gives your portfolio a running start. But you cannot choose the market you retire into. What you can do is build a plan that protects you either way.

This is one of the most important conversations I have with women who are approaching retirement. Understanding sequence risk changes how you think about your portfolio, your withdrawal strategy, and the role of cash and income-generating assets in your plan.

What a Financial Advisor Actually Does During Volatile Markets

I want to be honest about something. A financial advisor cannot predict what the market will do. Anyone who claims otherwise is not someone you should trust with your retirement.

What a good advisor can do is help you build a plan that does not depend on prediction, and hold you to that plan when emotion is pulling you in a different direction.

During periods of market volatility, the most valuable thing I do for my clients is often simply being a steady presence. Research consistently shows that investors who stay the course during downturns significantly outperform those who react. Knowing that, and feeling it in your gut when your account balance is dropping, are two very different things. Having someone to talk to who understands your situation and can put market events in context is worth more than most people realize until they need it.

Beyond the human element, here is what thoughtful financial planning looks like in practice during volatile markets:

Reviewing your asset allocation. Your portfolio’s mix of stocks, bonds, and cash should reflect your actual timeline and income needs, not just your general risk tolerance. If you are five years from retirement, that allocation likely looks different than it did when you were fifteen years out.

Stress-testing your withdrawal plan. A good plan anticipates bad markets, not just average ones. Running your retirement income strategy through scenarios that include a significant early downturn tells you whether your plan holds up, and what adjustments might be needed if it does not.

Building a cash cushion. Having one to two years of living expenses in cash or short-term, stable assets gives you the ability to meet income needs without selling equities at depressed prices. This is one of the most practical tools for managing sequence of returns risk.

Tax-loss harvesting. Market downturns can create opportunities to sell positions at a loss and use those losses to offset gains elsewhere in your portfolio, reducing your tax bill. This is most effective when done as part of a coordinated plan, not as a reactive move.

Rebalancing deliberately. When markets fall, your portfolio may drift away from its target allocation. Rebalancing during a downturn, by buying assets that have declined in value, is counterintuitive but often strategically sound. It takes discipline that is easier to maintain with a plan in place.

Why Retirement Planning Looks Different for Women

Women face a set of retirement planning realities that do not always get the attention they deserve. On average, women live longer than men, which means a retirement portfolio needs to last longer. It also means there is a higher probability of managing finances independently at some point, whether after a divorce, the death of a spouse, or simply by circumstance.

Women also tend to have lower lifetime earnings due to career interruptions, wage gaps, and time spent caregiving, which can translate to smaller Social Security benefits and less accumulated in workplace retirement accounts. These are structural realities that a good financial plan needs to account for directly, not just acknowledge in passing.

When I work with women at Life Story Financial, the plan we build together takes all of this into account. When to claim Social Security, how to sequence withdrawals across different account types, how to structure income to minimize Medicare surcharges, how to protect against longevity risk. These are not afterthoughts. They are the foundation.

Working with a Financial Advisor in Denver

Denver’s cost of living has risen meaningfully over the past decade, and for women planning retirement here, that context matters. Housing costs, healthcare, and the lifestyle that drew many of us to Colorado in the first place all factor into how much income you will need and for how long.

Working with an advisor who is local means working with someone who understands that context. It also means the option of meeting in person when that matters to you, while having the flexibility of virtual meetings when it does not. At Life Story Financial, I serve clients across the Denver metro area and virtually throughout the country.

What I bring to every client relationship is a fiduciary commitment: I am legally required to act in your interest, not in the interest of any product, commission, or platform. That is the standard you should expect from anyone you trust with your retirement.

What a Comprehensive Retirement Plan Actually Covers

A retirement plan is not a single document or a one-time conversation. It is an ongoing process that adapts as your life and the market evolve. At a minimum, a solid plan addresses the following:

• Income planning. How will you replace your paycheck in retirement? From which accounts will you draw first, and in what amounts? How does Social Security fit in, and when does it make sense to claim?

• Investment strategy. Is your portfolio allocated appropriately for where you are in your timeline? Are you taking more risk than you need to, or less than you can afford?

• Tax planning. Taxes in retirement are often more complex than people expect. Roth conversions, capital gains management, withdrawal sequencing, and Medicare premium thresholds all interact in ways that benefit from proactive planning.

• Healthcare. Healthcare is one of the largest and most unpredictable expenses in retirement. A plan that does not account for it, including long-term care, is incomplete.

• Legacy and estate planning. What do you want to leave behind, and for whom? How are your accounts titled and your beneficiaries designated? Are those designations current?

• Contingency planning. What happens if markets fall sharply in your first few years of retirement? What if your health changes? A plan that only works if everything goes right is not a plan.

Let’s Talk Through the Details

Should I move my money to cash when markets are volatile?

In most cases, no. Moving to cash locks in losses and creates a new problem: knowing when to get back in. Investors who exit during downturns often miss the early days of a recovery, which is when much of the rebound happens. A better approach is to ensure your portfolio is positioned appropriately before volatility arrives, so you have the stability to stay invested through it.

How do I know if my portfolio is too risky for where I am in life?

A useful starting point is asking how you would feel, and what you would do, if your portfolio dropped 20% tomorrow. If that scenario would cause you to sell, your allocation may carry more risk than you can realistically tolerate. An advisor can help you stress-test your current portfolio against realistic market scenarios and adjust accordingly.

What makes Life Story Financial different from other Denver advisors?

Life Story Financial is a fee-only, fiduciary practice focused specifically on women navigating major financial transitions. I do not earn commissions on products I recommend. My only incentive is helping you build a plan that works for your life. I also specialize in the financial realities women face, longer retirements, income gaps, caregiving interruptions, and the complexity of managing finances independently.

Do I need a financial advisor, or can I manage this myself?

Some people manage their finances well independently, particularly when their situation is straightforward. But as you approach retirement, the decisions become more interconnected and the consequences of mistakes harder to recover from. Tax planning, withdrawal sequencing, Social Security timing, healthcare costs, and investment management all interact. Having someone coordinate that complexity on your behalf, and serve as a sounding board when markets are volatile, tends to pay for itself.

How do I get started?

The best starting point is a conversation. At Life Story Financial, I offer a free introductory call to learn about your situation and help you understand what a planning relationship might look like. There is no obligation, and no pressure. Just a chance to talk through where you are and what you need.

You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone

Market volatility is uncomfortable. Retirement planning is complex. And making good financial decisions in the middle of both at once is genuinely hard. That is not a personal failing. It is just the reality of what this stage of life asks of you.

What I have seen, working with women through exactly these circumstances, is that the ones who come out most confident are the ones who built a plan before they needed it. Not a perfect plan. Not a plan that predicted the future. A plan that was honest about uncertainty and prepared for it anyway.

If you are ready to have that conversation, I would love to connect. You can book a free introductory call with Life Story Financial at any time.