To make sure your retirement nest egg goes the distance, you need growth as well as income. Rule number one: Don’t dump stocks. Inafter teaching math for 34 years at a private school in the Washington, D. He spent a few months you his successor as head of the math department and, in December, retired at the relatively young age of Bob’s wife, Margaret then 56had retired a few months earlier lsst her job in the mortgage industry. The couple were eager to kick back in their new home, in Ocean Pines, Md. Their timing couldn’t have been worse. The stock market entered a downward spiral just as the Longs were tapping into their retirement savings.