April 5, 2009
67 Year Old Loses 70% in the Market
Times have certainly changed. Markets are different. The economy is in a state of complete turmoil. People who openly bragged about their awesome returns in the stock market are quiet and livid. Because they lost not only their impressive gains, but their principal as well.
Like Warren Buffet said, “It’s not so much a return on your money than it is a return OF your money that’s important”. If only everyone followed his #1 rule of “don’t ever lose money”. (Rule #2 is “don’t forget rule #1)
Is there any such vehicle out there that still gives a decent rate of return, but with protection from any downside risk?
Americans have discovered through the current debacle that 401Ks, IRAs, mutual funds and most things related to the stock market are mostly defective. So many people who were set to retire in 2009 now must work another 10 years to get back what they lost to the market the year before.
Did anyone see this coming? Many experts did, but had no idea when and to what extent of turmoil our country and world, for that matter, was going to suffer. But how long must we suffer?
It is a matter of having the best tools, rebuilding slowly, but surely, to create a retirement worth looking forward to. It does take a little discipline, but more importantly, it takes the right person to help.
According to the Social Security Administration, only 4% of Americans will ever reach financial independence. (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, SSA Pub. #13-11871). Another statistic states that only 4% of Americans actually seek the advice of a financial planner or wealth strategist.
There are millions of financial advisors out there, however, that do not give the best advice; that are not truly serving their clients’ best interest. Does it make sense that the same advisors that lost their clients’ money in the stock market are still getting paid by simply moving their clients’ retirement funds around?
A financial planner who is truly qualified to suit your needs must be able to help you conquer these to issues: inflation and taxes. If one is to join the 4% minority, these issues must be seriously addressed.
What if you did not have to work anymore? The return from your nest egg gave you enough consistent earnings so that you could truly do whatever you wanted. Would you visit some place off the coast of the Virgin Islands, or live there for that matter? What if money was never that much of an issue anymore?
Sounds like a pretty good definition for retirement. True financial freedom is within your reach.
Filed under Finance by
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to comment