New Delhi, Aug. 6 -- While most retirement portfolios include allocations to stocks and bonds in the years leading up to retirement, most retirement savers don't hold much more than an emergency cushion in cash.

Thus, an important job in the years before retirement is building up that cash cushion.

The good news is that cash yields are up, meaning cash holdings aren't the "dead money" they were a few years ago. And equity investments have performed well, too-at least until very recently. That means that most investors can build their cash stakes, at least in part, by pruning appreciated holdings.

Here's some guidance on the amount, source, and location of those liquid reserves, according to the Bucket approach to retirement portfolio p...