When Jim and Kathy sold their stores in 2008, they were ready for the next chapter. They had a tidy sum saved, an advisor they trusted, and what seemed like a smart strategy: a 60/40 portfolio split between stocks and bonds. Their friends Roger and Sally did the same thing just one year later, in 2009, after wrapping up their own sale. The situations were nearly identical. Same amount saved. Same advisor. Same allocation. One big difference: the year they retired.