Artificial intelligence: boom, bubble or bust? Probably a mix of all three. Whatever comes of it, it increases investment risk. It suggests that a lot of retirees and near-retirees need to rethink their portfolios.

The problem is not just that much of the stock market’s exuberant valuation hangs on data centers, via companies like Amazon, Meta Platforms and Nvidia. It’s that AI might prove to be so powerful that it destabilizes a large fraction of the economy. After that: unemployment, recession, market crash. Maybe.

The putative crash is far from certain. But the mere possibility should influence your thinking.

Now look at your retirement portfolio. If it’s in a target-date fund, you do nothing. The stock allocation is being automatically reduced as you age.

If you are young, you can stand to do nothing. If the market crashes, it will probably recover before you spend the money.

But if you are over 55? And setting allocations on your own? You may have veered off course. That’s because stocks have raced well ahead of bonds.

If you had a traditional 60/40 portfolio a decade ago, and made no adjustments or additions, you now have a lopsided 84/16 portfolio. More precisely: A 60% stake in the Vanguard Total Stock Market fund, paired with a 40% stake in the Vanguard Total Bond Market fund, would now be 84% invested in stocks and 16% in fixed income.

If either inertia or bullishness has caused your portfolio to tilt, you have plenty of company. Vanguard Group has the evidence, taken from the numbers in its 401(k) accounts. Its last survey, for........

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