One of the most common misconceptions about saving for retirement is that it’s all about “the number.” People often think it’s all just about reaching that big headline goal, and growing your account to a million, two million or three million before you can kick back and enjoy your golden years.

As humans, it’s only natural for us to fixate on that kind of major, clearly-defined goal. We sock away a little more money each month and watch it grow. We go through real emotional distress when the number shrinks during a downturn. It’s easy to get so fixated on maximizing your account size that you’re almost putting up blinders to other key retirement planning considerations.

In fairness, the size of your portfolio is a key factor in determining the quality of life you’ll be able to enjoy in retirement. If the funds aren’t there, then neither is the fun. But planning for retirement is also about planning for the unexpected, and structuring your holdings in a way that maximizes the usefulness and overall leverage of the assets you’ve spent your whole life growing.

For example, there are millions of American retirees who are millionaires on paper. But that’s often because they’ve made a fortune in real estate, and their family home is now worth half a million dollars or more.

That’s a great windfall investment, but it’s also a very illiquid asset. You can’t access that wealth unless you take out a reverse mortgage (which has implications for your heirs), or by selling your home — something most Americans aren’t eager to do in today’s market. If you experience unexpected health issues or expenses related to a major life change, then you may not have a choice. You may be forced to liquidate your home equity just to get at that cash.

Stocks are some of the most liquid assets you can have in a retirement portfolio, but the overall market can be fickle to say the least. Historically speaking, bear markets are far shorter than bull markets … and stocks always seem to come raging back … but that can sometimes take months or even years to happen. In the meantime, you’re faced with the tough decision of liquidating stocks at distressed prices, or buttoning down and trying to ride out a bear market that could last all year.

All down the list of viable retirement assets, they all have their own unique advantages and disadvantages. That’s why every expert will recommend diversifying your portfolio to build a more robust foundation. But even then, you can never really be sure.

For example, prevailing wisdom dictates a 60/40 split between stocks and bonds, because this balances out your risk profile, and stocks usually rise when bonds fall (and vice versa). I say “usually” because that’s not always the case. During the 2022 bear market, we actually saw both stocks and bonds fall in tandem. We saw a similar phenomena in early 2025, as President Trump rolled out his transformative new tariff policy.

It’s all but impossible to predict these types of “Black Swan” events in advance. Especially not when life seems to be throwing us new “once in a lifetime events” every 2-3 years. You never know what kinds of curveballs life is going to throw your way.

Fortunately, there’s an asset that’s purpose-built to help guarantee financial security no matter what life throws your way … and that’s whole life insurance…

The core of your whole life insurance policy is a large death benefit that goes straight to your designated beneficiaries upon your passing. This cash benefit is paid directly to your heirs tax-free, bypassing the lengthy estate process and providing immediate liquidity in a way that no other asset could.

Key Takeaways

• Retirement planning is not only about reaching a big savings number but also about preparing for unexpected life events.
• Whole life insurance offers a unique advantage with a large death benefit that provides tax-free, immediate liquidity to heirs, bypassing lengthy estate processes.
• Diversification is key as traditional asset allocations can be affected simultaneously during market downturns or major economic events.
• Illiquid assets like real estate may inflate net worth but are difficult to access without selling or reverse mortgages that impact heirs.
• Whole life insurance acts as a financial anchor that guarantees security and provides leverage in retirement, regardless of market volatility.
• Using whole life insurance strategically can enhance the overall leverage and utility of your retirement portfolio beyond just market investments.

Ready to see how this could apply to your wealth plan? Click the big yellow Clarity Call button and let’s map it out together.