Christopher and Kate have always invested in stocks.
Christopher s first job in customer support for a financial-services firm exposed him to the basics of investing and the importance of getting started while he was young. Being an English major, I knew nothing about personal finance, business, or investing, he wrote. But I learned about compound interest, starting early, and making retirement a part of my plan even in my early 20s.
Nearly 30 years, two kids, and several career and locational changes later, Christopher and his wife Kate still have most of their $900,000 retirement portfolio in stocks. But now that they re 50, they re wondering if it s time to take some chips off the table, especially because they re aiming to retire in 12 years.