Morningstar's 2016 Retirement Matters Week

Today's retirees have their work cut out for them. Interest rates remain stubbornly low, which makes generating income in retirement more challenging. Social Security's cost-of-living increase will be minimal at best next year. For many, pensions aren't a part of the picture. On top of that, retirees need their portfolios to last for two decades or longer.

Morningstar's 2016 Retirement Matters Week is designed to help those who are nearing or who are in retirement manage some of those challenges. Each day this week, we'll take a deep dive into one critical portfolio-planning issue that retirees face. Topics will include asset allocation, choosing investments, managing a sustainable withdrawal rate, assessing the role of Social Security in portfolio planning, and creating a long-term care and estate plan.

We've also designed a Retirement Policy Worksheet that investors can use as blueprint for their retirement portfolios. Access it here.

Highlights

The Bucket Investor's Guide to Setting Asset Allocation for Retirement

Our Favorite Funds for Retirement Portfolios

How to Fund a Long Retirement

Social Security: Part of Your Asset Allocation?

50 Must-Know Statistics About Long-Term Care

Monday: How to Set an Appropriate Asset Allocation

The Bucket Investor's Guide to Setting Asset Allocation for Retirement Use anticipated spending needs, probabilities of a positive return over your time horizon, to back into the right mix of cash, bonds, and stocks.

The Bucket Approach to Retirement Allocation A diversified portfolio with various time frames can help you meet your income needs during retirement.

Bucket Portfolios for Retirement Income: Step by Step Morningstar's Christine Benz walks investors through the basics of setting up and maintaining a 'bucket' retirement portfolio, including some of her favorite funds for retirees.

Bucket Portfolio Maintenance: There's More Than One Way to Get It Done The best strategies allow investors to be strategic when tapping long-term assets.

Tuesday: How to Select Dependable Retirement Investments

Our Favorite Funds for Retirement Portfolios Christine Benz's bucket portfolios for retirees focus on simplicity, diversification, and low costs.

Find the Right Investments for Your Retirement Portfolio Your knowledge level, desire to be hands-on, tax status, and tolerance for short-term volatility can help you identify the right investments.

An Aggressive Retirement Portfolio in 3 Buckets This stock-heavy portfolio is appropriate for retirees with long time horizons and ample risk tolerance.

A Moderate Mutual Fund Retirement Portfolio in 3 Buckets This portfolio is geared toward retirees with a 20-year time horizon and moderate risk tolerance.

A Conservative Retirement Portfolio in 3 Buckets Geared toward retirees with shorter time horizons, this portfolio includes a heavy stake in bonds and cash.

Wednesday: How to Develop a Sustainable Withdrawal Rate and Spending Plan

7 Steps to Estimating Your In-Retirement Cash-Flow Needs Rules of thumb may be too high for affluent retirees with high savings rates, but healthcare costs are a major swing factor.

How to Fund a Long Retirement With mortality improvements, investors planning for a long retirement should consider an annuity, delaying Social Security, and being more aggressive with their portfolio.

Pros and Cons of Income-Generating Strategies in Retirement Living off of current yields is just one way to extract the cash flow you need.

7 Retirement-Portfolio Withdrawal Mistakes to Avoid Asset allocation, time horizons, and taxes can complicate withdrawal-rate planning.

Get a Tax-Smart Plan for In-Retirement Withdrawals Consider these strategies to stretch out your tax savings during your retirement years.

Don't Be Dogmatic About Retirement-Portfolio Withdrawals In high- (or low-) tax years, retirees may have reason to flout the rules of thumb on withdrawal sequencing.

Thursday: How to Determine Social Security's Role in Your Portfolio

What Role Does Social Security Play in Readers' Asset Allocation Decisions? Many Morningstar readers think of Social Security as income, not as an asset. Should You Count Social Security as a Bond? The right answer depends a lot on the retiree's risk capacity as well as risk preferences.

Social Security: Part of Your Asset Allocation? Retirees should manage their portfolios with Social Security in mind, but including it as part of your bond allocation could get messy, says financial-planning expert Michael Kitces.

Friday: How to Create a Durable Long-Term Care and Estate Plan

50 Must-Know Statistics About Long-Term Care The skinny on usage, cost, insurance, caregivers, and more.

Get Your Estate Plan in Gear Don't put off this important piece of the financial-planning process.

How to Create a Succession Plan for Your Portfolio Even dedicated do-it-yourselfers should follow these key steps.

How to Create a Master Directory Creating and maintaining this simple document can save you and your loved ones a lot of time and headaches.