With 2026 shaping up to be an uncertain year for the economy, boomers will need to tread carefully when it comes to investing. Higher tariffs, persistent inflation and tax changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are already expected to impact everything from market volatility to retirement account performance.
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While the right moves could help protect and even grow savings, two experts offered one investment each that they feel won’t be wise for boomers in or near retirement to make in 2026.
Certain Cryptocurrency Investments
Logan Allec, a CPA and founder at Choice Tax Relief, has seen what he calls “the most absolutely heartbreaking cases” in which people who should be comfortably retired are unable to do so because of a “too good to be true” cryptocurrency scheme.
“We are talking about people who ‘did everything right,’ accumulated a million or two as a nest egg, and should be enjoying life,” he said, but instead, they are lost financially due to a cryptocurrency scam.
People often hear about these by someone they “meet” online who gains their trust and abuses it. On top of this insult, unless they happened to have been fully invested in Roth IRA, they are stuck with a tax bill on the liquidation of their retirement accounts.
“So, if there’s any investment that boomers shouldn’t be making in 2026, it’s any cryptocurrency investment recommendation from somebody they met online,” Allec said.
His advice is simple: If approached with such an offer, don’t engage at all. “Do not get wide-eyed at the massive returns they are ‘promising’ you. They are lying, and if you listen to them, you are risking financial ruin and emotional distress.”
He said it’s not uncommon for boomers at the retirement stage to “chase outsized returns” to boost their nest egg. But it “can cost them dearly.”
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Too Many Tech Stocks
While cryptocurrencies pose one set of risks, another danger for boomers is overloading their portfolio with tech stocks, which are constantly in the news for high performance. According to Adam Patti, CEO of VistaShares, it’s natural for investors to feel drawn to these areas, but concentration risk is a serious concern.
Patti cautioned against putting too much money into “mega cap technology names” within the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100. While these indexes have delivered strong returns over the last five to six years, he said today’s shifting economic environment and growing geopolitical risks warrant a more balanced approach.
“Now that we are potentially living in a less certain economic environment with major geopolitical risks, perhaps it’s time to diversify away from stocks that have experienced historic appreciation.”
He shared that most investors don’t know that the S&P 500 has approximately 36% of its total exposure in eight mega cap tech names, while the Nasdaq-100 has over 44% of its exposure in those same eight stocks. These are Nividia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Broadcom Inc., Google and Tesla.
While many of them enjoy unprecedented market capitalizations even on an inflation adjusted basis, Patti warned, “What happens if the market stumbles?” Over-invested boomers could be the ones who “bear the brunt of a sell-off” at precisely the time in their lives when their portfolios can’t bear big losses.
Instead, Patti said, “Diversification is your friend, particularly in today’s markets. Look under the hood and identify funds that provide different types of exposures, particularly those with a value or quality orientation.”
In a year when economic shifts could magnify both gains and losses, the safest move for boomers may be resisting the lure of high-risk or overhyped investments. Staying diversified, cautious and grounded in a long-term plan can help preserve both wealth and peace of mind in 2026.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Experts Share: The One Investment Boomers Shouldn’t Be Making in 2026
