If you save for retirement when you are young, the standard advice is to emphasize stock-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds. Stocks increase and decrease in dramatic ways that no one can predict reliably, so this approach carries some risk. Fortunately for US stock market investors, that risk has historically been rewarded, on average and over the long term, with high returns.

As you approach retirement and need to rely on investments to cover living expenses, the standard advice is to shift your portfolio toward bond-based ETFs or mutual funds. Bonds have had fewer and less dramatic booms and busts. For this reason, they are generally considered less risky than stocks. On average, over the long term, bonds’ safety has meant lower, more reliable returns than stocks.

Risk makes less sense for ALA right now. Because of its financial deficit , the Association needs stability.…