investing for California retirees
1 Sep 2025 Investment Management

Smart Investing for California Retirees in a Choppy Market

In 2025, market volatility has been hard to ignore. Stocks surged early in the year, dipped sharply in March and April, partially rebounded by June, and reached new highs in July.

According to a recent Gallup poll, six in ten U.S. investors remain concerned about volatility—including nearly one-third who say they’re very concerned. Most expect this choppiness to continue, with many believing the worst may still lie ahead.

For those nearing or in retirement, the uncertainty feels more personal than ever. This is especially true in California, where high living costs, longer life expectancies, and complex tax rules raise the stakes for every financial decision.

Even so, investor confidence in the stock market as a long-term retirement strategy remains strong. The challenge? Avoiding emotional reactions and building a plan designed to withstand short-term swings.

This article from Bulman Wealth Group is a resource if you’re looking to maintain control in unpredictable conditions. We’ll consider core investment principles and financial strategies to support retirement planning California residents can rely on—especially in a market that feels anything but steady.

How Market Volatility Affects Retirement Portfolios

When you’re still working, market dips can be frustrating—but there’s time to recover. In retirement, however, large portfolio losses early on can have a much bigger impact. This is known as sequence risk—the risk of withdrawing funds during a down market and permanently reducing your future income potential.

Market downturns can particularly affect those who are overly concentrated in a single sector or asset class. Significant losses can derail retirement plans. Some investors try to time the market, thinking they can get in and out to avoid losses—only to find they miss much of the upside and face greater difficulty reentering the market at higher levels.

Volatility doesn’t affect all investments equally. Stocks, bonds, and alternative assets can behave very differently in the same market environment.

This is why a thoughtful approach matters more than reacting to headlines. Bulman’s financial advisors in California are skilled at identifying risks, evaluating opportunities, and building portfolios that can support your retirement objectives.

Core Investment Principles for Retirement in a Volatile Market

Emphasizing a Goals-Based Investment Approach

The first step in building a resilient investment strategy is knowing what you’re aiming for. Are you focused on maintaining your lifestyle, funding travel, supporting family, or leaving a legacy? It’s best to allow these goals to guide your investment decisions, rather than focusing on short-term market performance.

Diversification as a Foundational Strategy

Diversification is more than just spreading your money across a few mutual funds. A truly diversified retirement portfolio may include:

  • Stocks: Across different market capitalizations—small-, mid-, and large-cap
  • Bonds: Government, corporate, short-term, and long-term
  • International and emerging market holdings
  • Alternative assets: Real estate funds, structured notes, and other non-traditional investments

By balancing exposure across asset types and geographies, diversification can help mitigate downside risk—especially during unpredictable market conditions.

The Role of Asset Allocation and Rebalancing

Asset allocation involves dividing your portfolio among various asset classes in a manner that reflects your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Over time, market changes can shift those allocations—causing you to take on more or less risk than intended.

Periodically rebalancing your portfolio back to its target mix helps you stay on track. It also encourages a disciplined approach: trimming outperformers and adding to undervalued assets.

Income-Oriented Strategies

Once you retire, growth remains important—but generating reliable income becomes a bigger priority. Depending on your situation, income-producing assets may include:

  • Dividend-paying stocks
  • Bond ladders (corporate or government)
  • Municipal bonds (especially relevant for taxable accounts in California)
  • Real estate income

Your income strategy should reflect both your cash flow needs and tax exposure. By focusing on consistency—not just yield—you can better align spending goals without eroding principal too quickly.

Strategies for Tax-Efficient Investing

While market fluctuations are beyond your control, how you respond to taxes is not. Smart tax planning can make a meaningful difference in how much you keep versus how much you owe. Here are techniques that may help you preserve more of your wealth.

Tax-Loss Harvesting

If you have taxable investment accounts, selling underperforming assets to realize a loss can offset gains elsewhere. This tactic, known as tax-loss harvesting, may lower your capital gains exposure and provide a tax benefit—while still allowing you to stay invested.

Asset Placement Strategies

Not all investments are taxed the same, and where you hold them can make a difference. Investments with lower turnover and fewer taxable events may be more suitable for taxable brokerage accounts. Those generating ordinary income or with higher turnover may be better suited for tax-deferred or tax-free accounts. Placing assets in the right accounts can reduce taxes and improve results.

Withdrawal Sequencing

How and when you withdraw from various accounts can impact your taxable income in retirement. Carefully planned sequencing might involve:

  • Drawing from taxable brokerage accounts first (to take advantage of capital gains treatment)
  • Then, moving to tax-deferred accounts like traditional IRAs
  • And preserving Roth accounts for later use or inheritance, since qualified withdrawals are tax-free

This approach is highly individualized and should reflect your income level, expenses, and tax bracket.

Roth Conversions

During lower-income years—such as early retirement before RMDs begin—Roth conversions may be worth exploring. This involves moving funds from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA and paying taxes now in exchange for future tax-free withdrawals.

Bulman’s advisors can help identify retirement tax benefits in California that may fit your income, investments, and withdrawal plans.

Bulman Wealth Advisors Can Help

Retirement planning in today’s market takes more than basic investment advice. It calls for a forward-thinking approach shaped around your goals, lifestyle, and the economic realities of living—and retiring—in California.

Our team of fiduciary advisors focuses on five core areas we call the Five Points of the Financial Compass:

  • Investment management
  • Tax planning
  • Healthcare and long-term care planning in California
  • Retirement income planning
  • Legacy planning

If you’re looking to fine-tune your strategy or want a second opinion, having a dedicated partner can contribute to the financial confidence California retirees value.

Connect with us today or explore more on our website.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. The material above has been provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal or investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security or strategy. The investment strategy and themes discussed herein may be unsuitable for investors depending on their specific investment objectives and financial situation. Information obtained from third-party sources is believed to be reliable though its accuracy is not guaranteed, and Bulman Wealth Group makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information, which should not be used as the basis of any investment decision. Information contained on third party websites that Bulman Wealth Group may link to is not reviewed in their entirety for accuracy and Bulman Wealth Group assumes no liability for the information contained on these websites. Opinions expressed in this commentary reflect subjective judgments of the author based on conditions at the time of writing and are subject to change without notice. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission from Bulman Wealth Group. For more information about Bulman Wealth Group, including our Form ADV brochures, please visit https://adviserinfo.sec.gov and search our firm name.