To put your retirement savings plan into action, you need to know what to invest in to achieve your retirement goals.

The types of investments that fit your plan depend on many factors, including:

• Your current level of savings.
• Your financial capacity to handle investment risks.
• The amount of time until you retire.
• The level of your investment knowledge.

Early in the saving stage you can typically invest more money in assets, such as growth stocks, that have generally offered higher return for higher risk because you have a longer time until retirement. As you approach retirement, you'll likely shift toward more conservative investments.

Past performance cannot guarantee future results. Investments in stocks may be volatile and subject an investor to market risk, which is the possibility that the market value of securities will decline and therefore be less than their original cost.