Archive for February, 2010

Lives Financially Secure In Retirement

February 5th, 2010

When it comes to YOUR retirement, you can either be a spectator, sitting on the side lines watching others live their lives financially secure in retirement, or you can be a participant in designing and implementing your own ideal retirement plan and lifestyle. To accomplish this you must work hard NOW, keep your eye on every dollar that comes in and goes out, and give 110% to your future self. YOU CAN reap the rewards you deserve in retirement by setting, following and sticking to your game plan for life.

And now for Matt’s weekly tip, tool or technique… Find a good “financial coach” as soon as possible, and put together (and then follow) a comprehensive financial plan. Make sure the advisor you select is a “true” advisor, and someone who understands there is more to a financial plan than just trying to make lots of money in the stock market. Ask them if they know what the “Investment Rule of 100″ is. If they don’t know what that is, or if they don’t recommend some safety in your retirement savings strategy, find one who does! Make sure whoever you choose, can help you build a comprehensive financial plan for YOUR retirement. And be sure your financial coach can help you build a retirement plan that includes:

1. Insurance Planning
2. Investment Planning
3. Estate Planning
4. Income and Tax Planning, and
5. Legacy Planning
Only by having a comprehensive financial plan can you be sure to WIN at the biggest game of your life – retirement!
Now is the time to realize that only YOU are responsible for staying on track and being committed to your retirement plan. Your financial “coach” can help you along the way, but ultimately YOU are responsible for going the distance and winning with your finances. Remember, the race towards achieving financial freedom is a marathon, not a sprint, and weekly practice makes perfect. It will take time to become debt free and retirement ready, but remember, sacrifice is only temporary… victory lasts forever!

The Pros And Cons of Buy And Hold Investment Strategy

February 4th, 2010

Since a long time we have always looked up at the scopes and financial efficiencies through right investment methods and returns, especially in the recent times of debt when all of us are struggling and juggling with the help of debt settlement companies. Here I would like to draw the reader’s attention to the positive and negative of buy and hold investment strategy. In theory, a perfect investment strategy would be cheap, easy and risk-free. It would make you fabulously rich in about a week. And over the long run, the Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Strategy has produced higher returns than the investments that many people hold. But there certainly are some drawbacks of this system which cannot be ignored. Even though this strategy is based on academic research, it’s really fairly simple. The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Strategy uses no-load funds to create a sophisticated asset allocation model with worldwide equity diversification by adding value stocks, small company stocks and real estate funds to a traditional large-cap growth stock portfolio. Before we get into the meat of this strategy, there are a few things you should know. Every investment and every investment strategy involves risks, both short-term and long-term. That means investors can always lose money. The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Strategy is not suitable for every investment need. It won’t necessarily do well every week, every month, every quarter or every year. Like most worthwhile ways to invest, this strategy requires investors to make a commitment. If you are the sort of investor who dabbles in a strategy to check it out for a quarter or two, don’t even bother with this. You will be disappointed, and you’ll be relying entirely on luck for such short-term results.

The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Strategy is not based on anything of what had happened in that past or what is going to happen in the present money market industries and investment markets; it cannot identify the most profitable investment products and sectors. Rather the strategy is designed to produce very-long term results without requiring much maintenance once the pieces are in place. The most important building block of this strategy is your choice of assets. Many investors think success lies in buying and selling at exactly the right times, in finding the right gurus or managers, the right stocks or mutual funds. Your choice of asset classes has far more impact on your results than any other investment decision you will make. It is far more important than exactly when you buy or sell those assets. And it’s much more important than finding the very “best” stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Thus among the advantages of buy and hold investment one can include savings on commissions and taxes and saving oneself some stress as well. But a major point against this strategy is that you can never be sure of the stocks you have picked especially in current market when a lot of blue chip and reputed companies are going bankrupt overnight. Thus besides choosing the right investment options, the investor should also keep in mind the apt investment strategy as well in order ascertain higher returns on investment.