LOS ANGELES - Americans worried about running out of money in their golden years are trying a new investment strategy: day trading their retirement funds.

Disillusioned with the conventional buy-and-hold approach, baby boomers are eager to improve their retirement prospects after two punishing bear markets in the last decade.

Some people are trading the mutual funds in their 401(k) plans more frequently. Others are venturing into options. And some aggressive investors have begun day trading their nest eggs - all in a bid to make up for lost time.

"A lot more frequent trading is happening," said Chad Carlson, a financial planner based outside Chicago. "People are saying, 'I'm that much closer to retirement so I have to do something.' "

That thinking prompted 49-year-old Vlad Tokarev to start day trading his three individual retirement accounts last year.

The Minneapolis biomedical software engineer wants to quit working before age 65. But after watching his 401(k) get pounded in the last bear market, he fears that another plunge in the stock market could wreak havoc with his plans.