Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, are retiring at a rapid rate, with an estimated 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring a day.  Unfortunately, after decades of unsteady employment, many are retiring without enough retirement funds. If you belong to this generation, here are some tips to help you retire well:

Invest in final expense insurance. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the significance of a final expense policy then you may be leaving your family without a way to cover your burial expenses. This whole life policy will help your family financially after you have passed away, helping to cover funeral expenses, which can range from $5,000 to $10,000.

Start saving and investing. 

The sooner you start putting away money for your retirement years, the easier it will be to retire well, retaining the same quality of life that you enjoy now. If you start early enough, then you will benefit from the accumulation of compound interest gains. However, since savings grow at a slow and steady rate, you also need to learn how to invest some of the money you are setting aside.

If you don’t have enough money to invest, you will benefit from enrolling in your employer’s retirement plan and from getting a professional investment group to invest your money for you. Also, consider putting your money into mutual funds that require low initial investments. And you can always play it safe with Treasury securities.

Leverage your 401 (k) plan. 

The best way to take full advantage of your employer’s 401 (k) plan is to meet your employer’s matching funds. Contribute enough to take advantage of this opportunity. If, for instance, your employer offers to match half of employee contributions, that is 50%, then be sure to contribute about 5% of your salary. So, if you earn $25,000 a year, then contribute $1,250. That way your employer will contribute $625. Understand that this is essentially free money.

The earlier you start, the more time you have to build up your savings because 401 (k) plans and IRAs have a cap on how much you can contribute. However, if you are age 50 or older, you are given a second chance to catch up on contributions and are allowed to go beyond the usual limits to catch-up.

Live within your means. 

It can be difficult to live within your means for two reasons. First, you are dealing with a rising cost of living while your wages remain fairly stagnant. Second, you are surrounded by tempting offers all the time on things that would be nice to buy.

The way to have enough funds to begin saving for retirement is to work with a budget. Without one, it’s difficult to realize how much you’re spending. Simply keeping a mental tally is a highly inaccurate way of keeping track of your cash flow.

By setting a limit to how much you can spend on luxury items and by becoming more aware of where your money is going to maintain your current level of living, you will be acquiring an invaluable skill that will be highly useful when it comes to managing your money as a retiree.

Be aware of Medicare’s enrollment periods.  

You will be eligible for Medicare around your 65th birthday and have a seven-month window to sign up. It’s important to sign up during this enrollment time because a permanent penalty may be added for late enrollment which will affect Medicare Part B as well as Part D premiums. Watch out – Medicare doesn’t cover everything, so if you have any extra money you might want to look into getting a supplemental medicare policy so you don’t get wiped out with catastrophic health care costs.

In closing, it’s important to mention that you should work with a certified financial planner if you feel overwhelmed by all the financial steps you need to retire comfortably. You are not alone. Professional help is available.

 

Many people start with Forex and many people close. The secret of their trading is not known and many have their own thinking. When you are a trader in this market, you have to know one thing. You cannot get help from the traders. You may think trading with groups will help you to get better profit in Forex but it will not. The traders who trade in the group in Forex are the weakest of the traders and they know they cannot have the profit by themselves. They seek the help of other traders but they cannot tell. The best way is to follow the strategy of other traders. This is not the secret of success in Forex. You are your won help in Forex. This article is going to tell you what the secrets of Forex are. Do not think we will tell about some magic that existed in Forex and this is how the legendary traders had made their profit. The secrets of Forex are open and you can also allow it in your career after you read this article.

Becoming a successful trader in the online trading industry is not easy. The professional Aussie traders have spent years to master the art of trading. If you want to see yourself in the line of successful trader you have to work really hard. The moment you step into the trading world is the very moment you start challenging yourself. Never trade this market with your gut feelings. You have to develop a strong trading system so that you can easily make a profit at any market conditions.

The expert traders do nothing most of the time

The professional traders do nothing 99% of the time. They wait on the sideline until they get a clear shot. Even after getting the best trading opportunity they never risk too much. Trading CFDs is all about risk management. You need to consider this profession as your business to make profit consistently. Try to educate yourself so that you know the dynamic nature of this market. Never trade with the money that you can’t afford to lose.

Patience

Patience is the secret of success in your career. It is not only for your trading career in this investment market but also for your life. If you are not patient in Forex, you will not know when you have closed the trade and have lost the profit. Many traders have perfect timing and they make a good profit. It is important that you close the trade when you can have the profit in your account. If you are not patient, you will close your trades early and you will lose the money. The market is not going to give you profit at the time when you have placed the trade. It will start by giving your brokers the spread and you have to overcome that amount by waiting. If you are not patient and want your profit to rise up magically, you cannot continue in the long run in Forex.

Money brings money, invest in professional courses

You cannot only open your account in Forex and expect the profit will come to you. You have to invest your money and that is the professional courses. These professional courses are different than your website and magazines and they can tell you where you are mistaken. Do not underestimate these courses. The professional courses can make your year ahead on the market. At some point in your career, you will need to invest money to take these professional courses. These courses can help traders to achieve their goals.

Years of practice

Do not lose hope and know the success is very near. The more you practice the more you will get your edge on the market. Traders do not realize that and they make trades that do not make money. Practice in demo accounts and you will be a successful trader.

 

There’s enough talk of currency devaluation and potential market crashes to make the most stalwart among us think about investing in physical precious metals, even as a diversification.

Gold and silver are the most popular precious metals for investors; gold is much more expensive than silver, so if you can only afford silver at present, don’t worry, just go for it – it’s a start!

Before you start, though, take this very sage advice so you don’t fall prey to these rookie errors.

Going in blind

If you just pile in one day and buy everything you can afford, you could look at the prices of precious metals a week later and find that you bought at the height of the market and if you’d just waited, you could have bought a lot more with your funds. Watching the prices of metals for a while means you can avoid purchases when the prices are higher, then buy at the bottom of the market and watch your investment increase in value.

Not shopping around

You should always compare prices and find out more about the dealers you’re looking at. Some sellers are just out to make a quick buck and they’ll see your inexperience, which could make them sell to you at an artificially-inflated price. You’ve essentially thrown that extra money away, so spend some time getting a feel for market averages before you decide on the right dealer.

Buying scrap gold and silver

Just don’t do it! No-one wants to bother with tatty old jewelry at the best of times, let alone a financial crisis. Scrap gold and silver is not an investment unless you have your own smelter! In addition, your scrap gold and silver may have lower-than-ideal percentages of gold and silver in it!

Buying from an unverified online seller

If you go off the beaten track you increase the risk of buying fake products or coins and bars of low purity. Worse still, you could end up with entirely fake bars and coins or even nothing at all to show for your money. Make sure you only buy from well-established specialist bullion dealers – in person or online.

You don’t diversify enough

You should have larger and smaller bars and coins of at least two metals. Gold and silver are ideal, but if you can afford some platinum then buy it. You also need different sizes so that you’re not stuck trying to split a 1oz gold ingot in a time of emergency.

Not looking at the purity

You should buy as pure as you can – 99% or 99.9% – because bars and coins that are 90% pure don’t actually cost that much less and you may have difficulty shifting it when you need to. It’s better to spend $500 on silver that’s 99.9% pure than $450 on the same weight that’s only 90% pure.

Concentrating too much on metals

We still are using paper and electronic money, so don’t tie up all your funds in metals. We’re likely to be using paper money for ten or so years yet, so carry on paying your bills, grocery shopping and mortgage with your usual funds! Don’t overbuy on metals, you need some liquid assets for quite some time yet.