The market goes up. The market goes down. Then up again. That is normal.
But there is no rule saying your entire retirement has to ride every hill.
Growth and protection are different jobs
Traditional market investments offer direct participation in market gains and losses. They can be important growth tools, especially over long time horizons.
Other financial products use different methods. Some fixed and indexed insurance products, for example, can protect credited principal from direct market losses while offering interest linked in some way to an external index. That protection comes with tradeoffs: caps, participation rates, spreads, surrender charges, liquidity limits, insurer claims-paying ability and other contract terms.
Protected growth is not the same as owning the index. You generally do not receive dividends, and your credited interest may be less than the index’s full gain.
The point is not “market bad, insurance good”
That is far too simplistic. The useful question is what each dollar is supposed to accomplish.
Money intended for long-term growth may tolerate volatility. Money earmarked for next year’s income may deserve more stability. Money intended for legacy, long-term care or guaranteed lifetime income may have yet another job.
A thoughtful retirement plan can use more than one tool because retirement has more than one risk.
You can pursue growth without requiring every dollar to sit in the front car of the roller coaster.