Tips to Plan for Retirement and Beyond

By Mike Holt

This article will discuss strategies to ensure your investments see you through your retirement, tailored to your age group. This is only a guide, and you should consult your financial manager prior to undertaking any large investments.

In today's uncertain economic environment, many people are worried about their future. When people are scared for their jobs they tend to scorn investing. But the economic crisis is the main reason I think people should be investing for their future. If not your investments, what will pay you through retirement?

Unfortunately, we can no longer depend upon Social Security to carry us through our golden years. More and more, governments are pushing the onus of caring for themselves through old age back onto the people. This burden opens opportunities for the savvy consumer though. Through smart investing and discipline you can lead a life of luxury instead of merely surviving your old age.

Contrary to popular believe you do not need to start out with large sums of disposable cash to begin investing. In fact, starting earlier and investing less will reap far greater rewards than investing larger sums later in life.

To get a fuller picture of your savings options read the entire article. If you would prefer to only read about your situation skip to the section about your age group.

You are 20something: Your whole life ahead of you, who wants to think about retirement. If you want retirement saving to be as pain free as possible; you do! The decisions you make as you enter the world on your own will set the pace for the rest of your life. Work on becoming debt-free, pay down student loans, choose a cheaper car and do not party away all of your money. For people in this bracket experts agree that the best course of action is to use IRAs and 401k plans set with automatic contributions. If funds are taken directly off your check, you won't even know that you're missing anything.

You are 30something: You are beginning to reap the rewards of your hard work with higher wages. Add to your 401k and IRA accounts gradually, slowly increasing contributions. Experts say that you should be investing about 10% of earnings by this point in life. Take the remainder of that 10% and invest in stocks. Stocks come with inherent risks, but prudence can help minimize risks.

If you are 40 - 50: Before you panic, remember that you still have about 20 years to prepare your retirement fund. If retirement saving hasn't been a priority for you, you're going to want to hit your contribution limits on any 401k or IRAs you do have. Also don't rely solely on employer based plans; open up at least one private plan for yourself. Your 40s are a good time to resort your assets. Take an overview of your entire portfolio. If you have been investing, scale back your stock options to 80% of your assets, and reinvest that money into saver options like bonds. Finally, if you have been supporting an adult child, it may be time to cut the apron strings.

If you are 50 - 60: You're finally close enough to see the end-zone, but now you're worried you haven't done enough. You will have to be honest with yourself. Decide what your goals for retirement are and find out how much money you will need to meet those goals. Once you are armed with this, collect all your records: assets, expenses, debt, goals and contact a financial expert. You are going to need assistance to, and they can help you. Utilize any government grants or other opportunities that might be available to you. Depending on where you live, you may be entitled to contribute a higher percentage of your salary than previously. If your situation isn't as rosy as you'd like you may need to look into delaying retirement or taking a part-time job after leaving your current position. - 23196

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When it comes to your retirement plans there are several things to be aware of. These days you should make sure any of your gift cards are safe, as financial troubles are affecting many retailers.

A Look at Worldwide Forex Markets

By Calvin Wapasa

Forex is a buying and selling method also referred to as FX or foreign market exchange. Businesses and individuals dealing in FX are some of the biggest companies and financial firms from all across the world.

They trade in multiple currencies from many nations to create that balance between those who will gain and others are going to lose money. Forex dealing is similar to that of the stock market observed in any country, only much bigger and complicated. Forex dealing involves individuals, money and switches back and forth across the world in roughly any country.

Different currency rates happen and change every day so what the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. Forex trading can be hard to keep track of so you must dedicate yourself to watch closely or if you are investing huge amounts of money, you could lose large amounts of money. The main trading areas for forex, happens in Tokyo, London, and New York and in many other hub locations around the world where forex trading does take place.

The heaviest amounts of money traded include the British pound, Australian dollar, the Swiss frank, the United States dollar, the Eurozone euro and the Japanese yen. You can cross-trade currencies as well as mixing the trades between currencies to acquire extra money and daily interest.

Forex trading will start at one hour and then close shop as a different market enters the fray. The same thing is common between global stock exchanges as some time zones are actioning transactions and trading during different time frames.

The conditions of forex trades in one region might create various results in another forex exchange as the countries take turns opening and closing with the time zones. Exchange rates are going to vary from one forex trade to another and individual traders and financial brokers will want to be informed of the rates between currencies each day before investing.

The nature of the stock exchange is dependent on the value of products as well as other components that could alter the cost of shares. When people find out a business event is going to happen before public disclosure, it is considered inside trading, utilizing secret information to buy stocks and make money - which by the way is illegal.

There is not so much if any at all inside information in the forex trading markets. Financial trading is a basic part of the forex exchange but very little is based on business secrets, but more on the value of the economy, the currency and such of a country at that time.

A three letter code is attached to every currency on the forex exchange so there is no misunderstanding about which currency or which country one is making transactions with. The euro is the EUR and the United States dollar is listed as the USD. GBP stands for the British pound and JPY stands for the Japanese yen. If forex trading seems interesting to you and you want to get in touch with a forex brokerage you can find many online where you can review the company, information and transactions ahead of throwing your money down the drain. - 23196

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The Spectacular Chinese Silver Panda Coins

By Christina Goldman

The Chinese Silver Panda Coins are one of the hottest silver coins to ever circulate the country of China as well as the currency markets around the world. This particular type of coin are some of the rarest, which of course means that the price placed on these are of a vast amount that only the most serious collectors are prepared to invest in. If you have an interest in collecting this type of silver coins, especially those from China, then this article's going to offer you some of the basic information that you'll need to spot a true Chinese silver panda coin.

The first class of Chinese Silver Panda Coins were circulated between 1983 and 1985. They had tiny mintages of only 10,000 and were thought to be one of the few Chinese coins that were extraordinarily rare and not easy to locate. The actual precious metal content is 27 grams of 900 fine silver with a diameter of 38.6 mm. These were already very impressive and valuable, but that did not limit collectors from having a look at the later versions of these coins.

The sole Chinese silver panda coin ever to have been minted from sterling silver was the 1987 sterling panda. It had an honest to goodness precious metal content of 1 oz. of 925 fine silver and was the 1st silver panda coin that had a diameter of 40 mm.

The design of the coin itself, especially that of the panda, is another reason why these coins were so valuable and in demand among coin collectors. What's more, the prices for these particular coins were very affordable, starting from the 1989 1 oz. Pure .999 silver panda coin until the present 2007 Chinese Silver Panda Coin.

You will find plenty of collectors, because of this, with complete sets of Chinese Silver Panda Coins either online or in local shops who are willing to sell them at reasonable prices. - 23196

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Trade Away to Prepare for the Rainy Day

By Rick Amorey

It is so difficult to think of the future, especially when you are bothered by the spending of the past. Why think of putting more money into your savings when you are still beset by your student loan? How can you think of your retirement years if you have to worry about current mortgages?

In this time and year, even the current events present problems that will make you think twice before investing for the future. What if the total amount you have from ten years of frugality devalues by more than 50% in the stocks in less than a month? With the recession in full swing, this is unfortunately a very likely scenario.

It is thus very tempting to live for the moment, rather than think ahead and invest. It's easier to think of this month's bills, or even this year's financial situation, instead of worry about what may happen in the years or even decades to come. I don't blame them for thinking this way, but I also think that this is not the most responsible way of thinking.

One of the unfortunate truths of the human condition is the fact that we all get old eventually. And when your body has wrinkled and your vision weaker than it used to be, you just wouldn?t be able to work as efficiently as you did in your younger years. By then, the best course of action would be to rely on your investments.

Even that will be denied from you, however, if all your money has been stored in savings accounts with almost non-existent interest rates. Investing, then, can be summed up as the measure that you take for the inevitable rainy day. It may seem far away right now, but that doesn't mean that it does not matter. So save up, invest, and be prepared. Who knows? If you do it really well, you may capable of retiring earlier than expected. - 23196

About the Author:

Rick Amorey believes that shortcuts to success are a joke, and instead suggests the comprehensive program of Emini Trading. Be an educated trader with the help of Emini Trading System, and watch your money grow like a carefully monitored seedling.

Think Forward and Invest, Trade

By Rick Amorey

If you listen to my story closely, then you may find something familiar with it. Let me begin: Sometime during my High School years, I realized that my parents would not be able to afford a good university for me. I knew I had to push forward on my own, so what did I do? I did the American thing to do, of course; I persevered for a student loan so that I can secure my future. I got accepted, and save for a few moments of poor judgment, my college life went quite well.

Afterwards, I began to work so that I can pay off my student loan. Beyond that, my paycheck has been reduced by the costs of living alone; rent, food, stuff like that. I still earned enough to start saving up, little by little. My future was set for the moment, at least.

Let's move onward to the present. My student loan has been paid off, my rent no longer feels as high, and I am thinking of taking out a housing loan for my fianc? and me. On top of that, I have extra savings that are just sitting there in the bank. Life has been good, but I can?t help but worry that it will not last.

Life has become substantially harder because of the recession, but I believe that the awareness that we Americans have with the problem means that it'll be solved in the next ten years at most. In the meantime, I find myself thinking about what I usually do: The future.

So it's not surprising at all for me to look for worthwhile investments for my savings. But how would I know which investment would be best for me? And should I worry about the financial state that the country is in now? Should I wait for it to settle down before I invest? There are many options; from bonds to stocks to individual businesses, and each of them have perks and risks that I have to study first. - 23196

About the Author:

Rick Amorey believes that shortcuts to success are a joke, and instead suggests the comprehensive program of Emini Trading. Be an educated trader with the help of Emini Trading System, and secure your future at a consistent pace.