BARRON'S COVER A Ship-Shape Retirement By Karen Hube | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

THE LAST THING RETIREMENT INVESTORS needed was a year like this. Already facing soaring health-care costs and the steady demise of guaranteed pensions, investors have lost some $2 trillion of stock value in their 401(k)s and other retirement accounts since the stock market's peak in October 2007.

Now the danger is that investors will set themselves back further by succumbing to fear and failing to adjust their portfolios for some badly needed growth. Those at greatest risk are folks who bailed out of deflated stock portfolios and are sitting in Treasuries earning just 1%. Investors with shrunken portfolios probably aren't ...