36 • RUBY, WILDING & SWANSBURG their portfolios relied on that floor of zero to maintain their acco unt value s . Indexing can be a powerful tool to help mitigate the saver’s dilemma—that pull betw een t he contradict ory needs of grow ing a nd protect ing your funds. If strat egies that incorporat e index ing a re not currentl y part of your retirement approach, it’s worth discussing with your financial profess ional. I’ve found it to be a powerfu l way to balance growth and protection for many consumers. And indexing is just one featur e of these pr oducts. F ixed index annuities and life insurance offer a variety of other key retirement planning benefits , as we ' ll d iscuss f urther. Um, Is That All? “ Okay,” you’re thinki ng, “I kno w I need to balance growth and protection in my retirement strategy.” That’s a good start. In chapter one, we mentioned there are three areas of long-game thinking for retirement: market, income, and taxes. It won’t surpris e you to learn that market is the area where many savers are already prepared. But i t’s not th e e ntire e quatio n. After all, growing and protecting your funds is not the end goal. Using those funds as income to support your lifestyle in retirement is. And that’s the next area where you’ll need some new long-game thinking.
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