This year has served as an unpleasant reminder that the stock market doesn't move up in a straight line. Since the year began, the benchmark S&P 500 and growth-centric Nasdaq Composite have each fallen into a bear market with peak declines of more than 20%. To boot, the U.S. economy has delivered back-to-back quarters of gross domestic product declines on the heels of historically high inflation.

In other words, it's a worrisome time for investors -- and especially retirees who can't afford to lose their principal investment.

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Source Fool.com