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

A few years Congress passed a law that prevented most companies from using telemarketers to sell their products over the phone. Since then almost all those “during dinner time” phone calls from some XYZ Service have stopped. But calls from non-profit organizations can still get through. I just got another one this morning. I think they love to target the Boomer Generation. We’ve still got some money to spend.

It’s Sunday morning and I am watching Meet the Press. The phone rings and I answer. Immediately this young woman begins reading some pitch to me about the horrors of some strange disease — how many people get this strange disease, about how my small donation can help thousands, and how much would I like to give to their very special, one-time, very important fund-raising campaign?

Duh? First, I have no time for this. I am in the middle of waking up on a Sunday morning. I’m still on my first cup of coffee. Second, I have no clue who this person is, never heard of her very special, one-time, very important fund-raising campaign, in fact I never heard of this strange disease for which she is begging my money.

What to do? How do I respond? I have five different methods I use to respond to such unsolicited phone calls and they range from rude to total passive aggressive.

1. Say nothing and hang up. - This is good, but only for the short term. They will call again.

2. Let them talk on and on, and after their entire pitch is done tell them you can’t hear them and could they repeat the message. After they repeat the pitch, tell them you can’t hear them and ask them to repeat it again. And again, and again. (I once had a telemarketer go through their pitch five times before she got the message and hung up on me.)

3. Let them talk on – Put the phone down and walk away. – This too is good, as you don’t have to listen to the pitch, but has the potential to lock up your phone for a while.

4. When they ask for you by name, tell them you’re a relative and that the person they are calling is dead. That will at least get your name off the list.

5. But the most sensible solution is the best, and one that I use most of the time. When they start in on their pitch, stop them immediately and tell them to take your name off their call list. (By law, they have to honor your request). If you are in any way interested in the cause they are promoting, ask them to send you materials in the mail. But never, and I mean NEVER give a telemarketer any personal information such as your credit card. Remember, this is an unsolicited phone call. This person called you. You have no idea if he or she is who they say they are. They may be a legit representative of the ABC Foundation they represent, or the Police and Fire Retirement Society, but you don’t know that. You could be talking to a fifteen year old kid with a deep voice and a talent for getting people to give over their hard earned money.

My best advice: Be wise. Be careful. Be stingy with your personal information.

All things are relative. When it comes to money, this is especially true.

As a kid, that $10.00 allowance each week feels really great in your pocket. The sky’s the limit. You can save and buy anything you want. As a teenager, getting a job to buy and maintain a car, date your best girl and save something for college becomes the measure against which a job’s salary is  calculated.

Once you join the world’s workforce, your salary and the benefit package, savings plan, all come into focus. Being single, only responsible for yourself, you might be feeling flush. You have enough… maybe— remember all things are relative.

When you throw in marriage, kids, new car, house, education, travel… “How much is enough” becomes a whole different issue. How much money do you really need, —do you want? How much money is enough? Continue Reading »

What is money? Is it the exchange of energy between two parties? Is money the root of all evil as many in this economic downturn will claim? Is money a gift or a burden from the “gods” deserved or not?

Let’s establish one thing right up front: money is NOT your life’s blood. It may feel like that sometimes, but it is not. Your money is not your worth. YOU, no matter whether you are rich or poor, beggarman or thief, you, yourself are NOT your money. You are far more valuable than this thing we call money. If everything were taken away from you and you were standing alone on a desert island without roof or food or companion, you would still be valuable, just because you are—because you exist. So before we begin any discussion about money understand this is the starting point. Your value as a person has NOTHING to do with the value of your bank account. Get your head around that concept before you read on. Continue Reading »

With the economy diving into what seems an ever-deepening downward spiral, the midlife investor is faced with more questions than answers.

Like most of my midlife friends, I’ve watched my hard-earned money invested in the stock market melt away before my eyes. Down 30 – 40 – now 50%!!!

If I were 25 I wouldn’t be so concerned. Lots of time for the market to get bullish again when you are only 25. But as a midlifer, time is not so long-term and it’s likely the market will never give back what its taken away in the time I have left before my retirement. In fact, at this point retirement itself is a big question mark.

So what is a midlifer to do. In what should I invest to make my money grow faster, stronger?

This week midlifejourney.com is offering our top five tips for midlife investing.

Here is number one:

#1. Go Green! - Despite the economic downturn, the U.S. of A. is a country filled with creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation. The government finally recognizes the need to fight global warming and supporting the use of alternative fuels is the way to go. Money is finally being focused on the development of new ways of creating the energy our economy needs to grow.

Green investments are going to blossom and gain market share. The future is bright and your money will certainly grow as the green industry flourishes. And now, when the market is low is the time to buy.

First tip of four for midlife investing: GO GREEN!!!

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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