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 anxious 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 of 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.

Minutes before the market closes every day, Tokarev buys or sells a mutual fund linked to the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index. His goal is to profit from temporary fluctuations in stock prices, so he buys when stocks are falling and sells when they're rising.

"I didn't see a lot of returns using the buy-and-hold method," he said.

Most Americans with IRA or 401(k) accounts embrace the "set it and forget it" philosophy. Only about 15% of investors made any change to their 401(k)s last year, according to benefits firm Aon Hewitt.

But among those willing to make shifts, there's a growing inclination to do so more frequently as retirement approaches, according to some financial planners. These experts sympathize with investor frustrations but predict that this type of trading will backfire for most.

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Anxious investors day trading with retirement accounts