midlifejourney.com

September is Baby Boomer Relationship Month on midlifejourney.com

In this post we focus on Baby Boomers and Their Money!

This September we mark the one year anniversary of the big bust of Wall Street. Scandal after financial scandal have been revealed and the hoped for retirement accounts and income streams of the Baby Boomer Generation have been left in tatters. How much did you lose of your savings? Your pension? Your 401 (k)? Was it in stocks, real estate? Or were you one of the lucky ones who kept their cash under the bed? or in a good old money market account?

Most of the Baby Boomer Generation got slammed. Now it’s pickup time. What do you do next to protect and grow what you have left? Retirement is only a few years away. You’ve got to get serious about your money.

Guest Author, Wesley Watkis offers some advice.

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How to Recover Lost Retirement Funds

By Wesley Watkis

The question on many people’s minds these days is how to recover their lost retirement funds. It’s happened to all of us-we invested our hard earned money only to watch the financial system plummet and our investments wither away. Even the low risk accounts are dwindling, making it hard to believe that we will have enough to retire on, much less meet our other financial goals.

Fortunately, there are some smart tips, that can help you rebuild your accounts and get back onto firm financial footing.

- In order for your accounts to recover, you need to be adding money to them and not withdrawing it. This can be hard to do if you are pressed for funds. While the loss of money has already hit home, try living on the amount of retirement income you’ll have at current levels for a month or two. Can you do it? This reality check may help you find the strength to put more money in and not take any out. It’s true that the economy has hit record lows, but with some smart investing you can find ways to begin to rebuild your investments.

- Even though you aren’t taking your money out of your accounts to live on, you may need to alter your money in order to recover your lost retirement funds. While the stock market has declined, the bond market is still seeing returns. They won’t be as high as a well-managed stock portfolio was a few years ago, but it’s still a return on your money and a sound investment in a shaky financial environment. Also, with stocks at record lows, putting your new retirement contributions towards buying them can actually be a smart move. It seems counter-intuitive, but those stocks are likely to rise in the future, giving you a good return over time. Finding the proper equilibrium between risk levels with your money, however, is really the key to rebuilding your wealth.

- No matter what choices you make, seeing a qualified financial advisor should be one of them. No one knows the market better, and these professionals are your best choice to recover lost retirement funds. They know the ins and out of investing, risk factors, and market history, and they can work with you to meet your needs. Whether you need a plan to help you retire soon or want to find ways to plan for a retirement thirty years down the road, they are specialist in the field and can help find the best plan for the time and resources you have.

Recovering lost retirement funds isn’t easy, but it can be done. With some smart planning and the help of a financial advisor, you can begin to cultivate your accounts again even in a unstable market. Life has thrown your plans for a loop, but smart investing can help you retire securely in time.

Questions? Email me at wesley@thewandwgroup.com and visit our website at http://www.thewandwgroup.com. New Money Talk is a weekly article focusing on retirement, personal finance, and estate planning.

Comments and questions are welcome, but because of the volume of email, personal responses are not always possible.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wesley_Watkis
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Recover-Lost-Retirement-Funds&id=2841909

Recently I was sitting at the pool, wasting time and listening to a broadcast on PRI (Public Radio International). The subject was Social Business Development. The speaker was 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yanus of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The bank has its focus on the poor and small loan programs with significant impact. I was amazed at the statistics he was discussing. 98% of the loans his bank gives out are repaid in full. They set up a personal relationship with each of their borrowers. They assist and advise each of them and follow up with support as needed. Most of the borrowers are poor women, eager to start a small business that will help them and their families get out of the grip of poverty.

Recently the bank began a program for beggars. They determined that as long as beggars were going house to house trying to get food, they might also carry along a small item for sale i.e. a toy for a child, or a small household item that might be useful. Continue Reading »

Yesterday we published the first of five tips for midlife investing: GO GREEN! (See post for Feb. 24, 2009) Today, is the second of five tips.

1. GO GREEN!

Tip # 2: Invest in Yourself!

One of the best investments you can make these days is in your own education!!! While the market goes on its roller coaster straight down into the caverns… you can choose to invest in learning something new. It’s a great time to take that extra course to fine tune skills you already have, or to develop a new skill that can integrate well with what you already know.

Don’t have much time? Community Colleges often have short-term evening classes that are geared to help you learn quickly. Take six weeks, one evening a week and learn something you’ve always wanted to know. Get away from the T.V. for a night and invest in your mind.

Don’t have much discretionary cash right now? There are thousands of on-line tutorials you can access for FREE. Need to learn a new software program, or learn a new task with the programs you already use? Check out:

http://www.learnthat.com/

http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/

There’s even one for learning Spanish FREE! http://www.studyspanish.com/

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Review all the Investment Tips for Boomers in this series:

1. GO GREEN!
2. Invest in Your Mind – Education
3. Invest in Your Health  – Good Food
4. Invest in A Good Time
5. Invest in Your Dreams
   

Author: Mika Hamilton

Online brokers have an important role to play when you open an online trading account. Each broker can offer different services and features. You must research all the online brokers to find the best broker to meet your needs. I have listed a large number of online brokers and placed their information for you to read in one easy-to-read webpage. This is a free, “no-cost to you” service for our valued readers and can be found on this link: Best Online Stock Brokers

What to look for in an online broker. Continue Reading »

Author: William Smith

If you tell people that you play the market, they’re likely to respond in one of two ways – either they want you to give them investment advice, or they think that they’re experts and they want to give you investment advice.

Today, investment advice is everywhere, but investors should beware – free investment advice is usually worth exactly what you pay for it – nothing! Continue Reading »