From the category archives:

Retirement Planning

Missed Fortune RadioThis week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Complimentary Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, July 27th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern).

The topic is “True Asset Optimization: How to Choose the Right Investments.” You’ll learn how to maintain liquidity and guarantee safety of principal while earning a healthy, tax-free rate of return that outpaces inflation.

Register now by calling 1-888-76-Radio (888-767-2346). If operators are busy, please call again.

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Investors Losing Confidence in Traditional Investments

Investors are getting tired of the slow gains for a few years only to have those gains, along with original principal, be lost rapidly.

In 2008, most people lost 31 percent from their IRA and 401(k) and are still not back to what they had in as their initial principal.

Investors are getting fed up with the same traditional advice of investing in IRAs and 401(k)s, to postpone taxes and to have to deal with market volatility for the long-term gain.

According to a new survey from Prince & Associates, 81 percent of investors with $1 million or more in investable assets plan to take money away from their current advisor. An even larger number, 86%, plan to tell other investors to avoid their advisor.

Only 2% plan to recommend their firm to other investors. That’s of critical importance, because wealthy investors often get investment advice from each other.

Deferring taxes to a later date as taxes continue to rise, lacking liquidity, and placing the rate of return for a retirement nest egg in variable products are only three of the major problems with these traditional investments.

How Can You Gain Confidence and Prepare for an Abundant Retirement?

The first step to gaining confidence is to avoid falling into the investment traps that so many others are facing by deciding not to use the same investment advice that they are.

Why would you defer taxes knowing that the trend is that taxes are rising? Why you would place your retirement hopes into a volatile market and hope to time the market correctly?

By learning the 31 FLAVORS of Missed Fortune, you can:

  1. Choose tax-free investments instead of tax-deferred ones
  2. Have liquidity so that you can access your money when you would like to
  3. Enjoy safety of your principal where you can lock in gains using indexing.

FLAVORS stands for “fortunes lost amidst valid optimization and reallocation strategies.” Implementing 2 or 3 of the 31 can generate $70-80 thousand dollars a year for retirement that is tax free and will continue to be replenished year after year no matter what is happening in the market.

The 31 FLAVORS can show you key points in the different financial aspects of your life that can allow you to sleep comfortably at night knowing that you are not gambling with your retirement. They include:

  • 6 FLAVORS regarding choosing the wrong investments for retirement
  • 6 FLAVORS about your home and real estate
  • 3 FLAVORS on proper tax planning and avoiding unnecessary taxes
  • 7 FLAVORS on asset management
  • 5 FLAVORS regarding risk management
  • 2 FLAVORS about credit and debt management
  • 2 FLAVORS on estate planning

Meet with a Missed Fortune advisor and learn how to implement these 31 FLAVORS and guarantee yourself an abundant retirement.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders

The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg.

Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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If you’re relying on a pension fund to get you through your retirement, you may need to look for alternatives.

Employees of the state of Maine are just learning that their state –- which until now has covered retirement benefits with its pension program –- is looking at offsetting its burden by having employees participate in Social Security for the first time.

Maine is among a handful of states that have prohibited participation in Social Security in an effort to save on Social Security costs, which are 6.2 percent of the payroll for employers and the same for employees, according to a New York Times article.

Maine’s shift is yet another example of the strain the country’s failing economy is putting on traditional retirement strategies. Both public and private employers are struggling to maintain retirement plans for their employees (that is – for the employees they haven’t had to lay off already!).

And with the country’s skyrocketing Social Security debt – and national debt – there’s little comfort that Social Security will be there when you need it.

Times like these make it more clear than ever that relying on an employer or the government to provide for you is not enough. And it’s clear that the same-old, same-old traditional financial planning advice can’t always protect you.

It’s imperative that you take charge of your own financial future. It’s important to identify retirement planning strategies that can keep your retirement money safe, liquid, at a good rate of return – and with tax advantages.

Find out more about how you can protect yourself through the Missed Fortune strategies.

Isn’t It Time You Became Wealthy?©

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Missed Fortune RadioThis week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Complimentary Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, July 20th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern).

The topic is “True Asset Optimization: How to Choose the Right Investments.” You’ll learn how to maintain liquidity and guarantee safety of principal while earning a healthy, tax-free rate of return that outpaces inflation.

Register now by calling 1-888-76-Radio (888-767-2346). If operators are busy, please call again.

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Are You Prepared for the Problem of Long Life?

Many thoughts of long lives and long retirements are of vacation trips, no debt, and plenty of disposable cash on hand to be able to give to your children, grandchildren, favorite charity.

Sadly, for most Americans these remain only thoughts as growing percentage of Americans are outliving the money they have set aside for retirement.

They literally cannot afford a long life. Instead, they become financially depend on others.

It seems absurd that after working an average of 40 years in the richest nation in the world that only a very small percentage of people can afford a long retirement, but that is the reality.

The reasoning is simple. It is because 95 percent of people are investing the same way and making the same mistakes.

The IRA and the 401(k) are the most popular retirement strategies in the U.S. With these strategies people are hoping to grow their investments and postpone taxes until they fall into a lower tax bracket because they are earning less.

This concept is riddled with problems. Most notable is that hopes of being in a lower tax bracket will not be realized because even though there is less income, there are often less deductions as well.

That, mixed with the fact that congress is continually raising taxes, means if anything people should expect higher taxes.

Other people follow the financial advice that paying off all debt will create financial independence.

These strategies implore people to send extra principle payments into their mortgage companies to alleviate themselves of any debt.

This strategy has caused many people to ultimately lose their homes because they lacked liquidity so when the economy dropped they couldn’t even afford to make the scheduled payments.

How Can You Protect Yourself & Afford a Long Retirement?

In order to protect against the common mistakes people are making in retirement planner, it is first necessary to know what these mistakes are.

There are ten mistakes I detail in my e-book, Baby Boomer Blunders, which are as follows:

  1. Short-term investments being used for long-term goals.
  2. Thinking that you will only live, therefore need to budget, for 15-20 years of retirement.
  3. Believing that paying off your home will give you peace of mind.
  4. Believing that $100,000 to $400,000 will be enough of a nest egg to fund your retirement.
  5. Thinking that you will be in a lower tax bracket when you retire.
  6. Believing that deferring taxes on retirement funds saves you on your taxes.
  7. Thinking IRAs and 401(k)s are the best way to fund your retirement.
  8. Reaching retirement age and not drawing out retirement funds from IRAs and 401(k)s because you don’t need the money, instead of doing a strategic rollout.
  9. Viewing retirement as a time when you can do all of the things you always wanted to.
  10. Thinking retirement is the time to coast instead of keeping a purpose.

Meet with a Missed Fortune advisorand learn to avoid the baby boomer blunders and be introduced to the empowering 31 F.L.A.V.O.R.S. of missed fortune.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders

The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg.

Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Missed Fortune RadioThis week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Complimentary Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, July 13th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern).

The topic is “True Asset Optimization: How to Choose the Right Investments.” You’ll learn how to maintain liquidity and guarantee safety of principal while earning a healthy, tax-free rate of return that outpaces inflation.

Register now by calling 1-888-76-Radio (888-767-2346). If operators are busy, please call again.

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Government Confusion Has Led to Gambling Plan

Is our nation’s best hope for an economic recovery left to officials who will continue increasing our debt at an alarming rate?

Nile Gardiner voices his alarm at this question in “America is sinking under Obama’s towering debt”:

“I hope the White House is paying attention to the latest annual Congressional Budget Office Long-Term Budget Outlook, which offers a truly frightening picture of the scale of America’s national debt, with huge implications for the country’s future prosperity. According to the non-partisan CBO, “the federal government has been recording the largest budget deficits, as a share of the economy, since the end of World War II…

“As a result of those deficits, the amount of federal debt held by the public has surged. At the end of 2008, that debt equaled 40 percent of the nation’s annual economic output (as measured by gross domestic product, or GDP), a little above the 40 year average of 36 percent. Since then, large budget deficits have caused debt held by the public to shoot upward; the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that federal debt will reach 62 percent of GDP by the end of this year—the highest percentage since shortly after World War II.”

In the last year the debt has risen from about $11.7 trillion to $14 trillion. And with the baby boomers coming up on retirement needing social security, Medicare and Medicaid, this number should be expected to soar.

As a result about a quarter of the population believes that the economic stimulus package has created jobs. In fact according to a recent Rasmussen report, over 40 percent of the population believes that the economy is now in a worse position as a result of the implementation of this plan.

Social security seems to use the same plan that Bernie Madoff used causing him to go to jail. It simply takes the money from the newer members and uses it to pay off the benefits promised to older members.

The only difference is this “robbing Peter to pay Paul” plan is considered legitimate since is falls under government control.

At this point it seems that the government is confused and policy makers have decided to bet that the private sector can make for some of the stimulus over the next few years.

If they are right they can get a head start on trying to close the budget deficits, but if this gamble is wrong they may set off a vicious new cycle in which drastic spending cuts could greatly weaken the world economy.

How to Protect Yourself?

We can no longer expect the government to fix everything. Those in a position to promote growth should do so.

It is time for individuals to take ownership of their future, health-care needs and retirements and create their own stimulus plan.

In “Create Your Own Economic Stimulus Plan — Save Yourself Because Big Government Can’t” six points are addressed teaching the ways to create economic growth for yourself no matter what schemes the government is trying to ‘fix’ the economy.

The following are the initial three points of this plan that can lead you toward financial growth no matter what is going on in the world economy.

1. Learn how increasing your credit score from 680 to 720 can increase your monthly income by $700 a month.

2. Learn to use $150,000 of equity in your house to create an additional $2.3 million in your retirement.

3. Forget 401(k) and IRA plans and learn to earn, grow and upon death even transfer money tax free.

Meet with a Missed Fortune advisor to gain a greater understanding of these points and learn to avoid being a pawn in the governments stimulus gamble.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders

The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg.

Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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New York’s Shell Game

June 28, 2010

Your Retirement Shouldn’t Be a Guess

Recently, New York came under fire for what many are calling a “shell game” as it jostles money about within its pension fund to pay the nearly $6 billion it currently owes in annual payments — by borrowing from the very same fund.

The New York Times reported:

“Pension costs for the state and municipalities are soaring, a result of enhanced retirement benefits for public employees and the decline in the stock market over the past two years. And, given declines in tax revenue and larger budget shortfalls, the governments are struggling to come up with the money to make the contributions.”

New York is not alone in this financial dance. States, counties, cities, even corporations across the country are shuffling and tapping their way through these meager times, often coming up with less-than-fail proof ways of meeting their responsibilities.

The biggest downside is that the employees who have counted on those pensions and funds for their retirement may be facing a future without them.

The uncertainties of the future are exactly why we must do what we can to make our futures certain for ourselves.

We have seen that we can’t necessarily trust the government, employers or even some financial institutions to do what they’ve said, when they said they would do it.

Take your retirement into your own hands. Learn more about how you can safeguard yourself against the ups and downs of the market, while still enjoying a safe, liquid way to save for your retirement.

Discover how you can optimize your assets and put your serious money in maximum-funded, tax-advantaged insurance contracts.

We’ve seen how this approach can help clients approaching retirement — teachers, police officers, and others who otherwise would have relied solely on government-funded pensions — find a secure path to a comfortable retirement.

You work hard for your money, and you deserve to rest well during your retirement, with the peace of mind that your retirement dollars will be there when you need them — even if your former employers’ plan wouldn’t be.

Find out more, now.

Isn’t It Time You Became Wealthy?®

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Missed Fortune RadioThis week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Complimentary Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, June 29th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern).

The topic is “True Asset Optimization: How to Choose the Right Investments.” You’ll learn how to maintain liquidity and guarantee safety of principal while earning a healthy, tax-free rate of return that outpaces inflation.

Register now by calling 1-888-76-Radio (888-767-2346). If operators are busy, please call again.

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

Democrats’ Attack on America

As more Americans are getting fed up with health-care bills being forced upon us, Obama’s approval ratings have been consistently dropping.

Forbes.com states:

“Suggesting a giant government takeover over a sixth of the economy can’t be a popular selling point in a county whose DNA has a programmed hostility to big government.”

From our nation’s founding, Americans have been cautious of big government.

Our founding fathers sought after a nation that had the consolidated strength of many, while at the same time still safeguarding the citizens from a dominant government that is invasive in their lives.

ObamaCare has thrown those founding principles out the window and is trying to fundamentally change the culture of American life in one fell swoop.

This attempt by the Democratic Party is one of the biggest political mistakes in history.

Dan Sullivan writes:

“The Democratic attempt to put the entire American health care industry under government control is going to destroy the party’s electoral fortunes for several decades if not generations.”

Americans are fed up with the government trying to be able to decide how, where and when they can receive medical services. The pains Americans will feel around this will not stop there, either.

Big Government Forcing Un-Retirement

With government getting bigger, the continuous costs to taxpayers are also increasing.

That, combined with the market upheaval, is causing people to be faced with drastically shrinking nest eggs put away in their 401(k)s.

Many retirees now need to un-retire. Fortune Magazine writes:

“Having to go back to the office when you dream for years about putting in your garden or volunteering can be frustrating and even depressing, but retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either.

“For most productive, well educated men and women an average of 25 years of leisure may be isolating and boring. Returning to work may turn out to be a blessing after all. Remember work is good not only for the cash flow but also in keeping the mind and spirit sharp.”

That is certainly a positive take on a disheartening situation, and there may be many positives to going back to work.

However, wouldn’t it be nice to be choosing to go back to work instead of having to?

Many retirees are no longer faced with a choice like this. Going back to work is becoming a necessity.

Meet with a Missed Fortune advisor to learn how to protect yourself against big government deciding the terms on which you can retire.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders

The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg.

Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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Over the last couple years, the economic upheaval has siphoned off critical value from many retirees’ 401(k)s, IRA(s) and stock portfolios.

People who had planned on riding off into the sunset are finding they might not have enough gas to get close to that twilight on the horizon.

In fact, many retirees are facing the fact they need to “unretire,” as a recent Fortune magazine article put it. The article provides advice for those forced by financial strain to return to the workplace:

“Having to go back to the office when you dreamed for years about puttering in your garden or volunteering can be frustrating, even depressing. But retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either.

“For most productive, well-educated men and women, an average of 25 years of ‘leisure’ can be terribly isolating and boring; returning to work may turn out to be a blessing after all. Remember that work is good not only for the cash flow but also keeping the mind and spirit sharp.”

While this is a positive approach to a disheartening situation, how nice would it be NOT to have to make that transition back to the workplace?

For many people who optimized assets and put their money in savings retirement vehicles like maximum-funded, tax-advantaged insurance contracts, their retirement savings has been secure — in fact, for many it’s even seen rates of return as high as 8, 14, 16 percent — during this economic downturn.

If you’re approaching retirement and want to make sure you’re able to stay retired, it’s not too late.

You can start now to optimize your assets and take advantage of retirement savings vehicles that are safe, liquid, offer a rate of return — and provide tax advantages — like MFTA contracts.

Even if you have substantial amounts tucked into 401(k)s, IRA(s) or other traditional accounts, you can perform a “strategic roll-out” to move your serious cash to a seriously smarter place.

Even if retirement is something farther out for you, it’s never too early to start. The Missed Fortune series of books can help everyone along the age continuum.

Invest the time to explore these topics in Missed Fortune 101 or The Last Chance Millionaire, because you deserve to invest in yourself and your future.

Isn’t It Time You Became Wealthy?®

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“Don’t go out in the rain or you’ll catch cold.”

“Don’t read in the dark or you’ll ruin your eyes.”

“Don’t go swimming for at least a half hour after eating or you’ll drown.”

It’s likely your mom repeated these common myths in an effort to keep you healthy. All of these have been debunked, but they continue to get passed on by well-meaning parents.

What about the myths some financial advisors repeat?

“Pay off your home mortgage as soon as you can.”

“401(k)s and IRAs are an optimal way to prepare for retirement.”

“Don’t mix your investing with your insurance.”

These common myths get passed on by well-meaning financial advisors, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be debunked.

Let’s take “mixing investing with insurance,” for example. Some financial advisors may urge you to put your retirement money in traditional vehicles, like 401(k)s, IRAs, and the stock market, while directing you to get term life insurance to cover death benefits.

But actually, you can mix retirement planning with insurance to optimize your financial future.

What some financial advisors don’t understand is that properly structured, maximum-funded, tax-advantaged insurance contracts offer liquidity, safety, and rate of return – and they are the only retirement savings vehicle in which your money:

  1. Accumulates tax-free
  2. Can be withdrawn tax-free (even before age 59 ½ – without penalty)
  3. Transfers to your heirs tax-free when you pass away

Remember, just because advice gets repeated doesn’t mean it’s the best advice, even if it comes from someone in authority. That’s why it’s important to learn all you can.

Start now with the Missed Fortune series of books, where you can investigate for yourself the common myths – and truths – of preparing for your retirement.

Isn’t It Time You Became Wealthy?®

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While signs the economy is rebounding continue to shoot up like flares in the night, for too many Americans, it’s still economic midnight.

Families continue to face short sales or foreclosure; those far from retirement continue to dip into 401(k)s and IRA(s) despite early withdrawal penalties; and unemployment continues to paralyze American workers.

A recent New York Times article showed that even though America is seeing an increase in hiring, the unemployment rate isn’t necessarily dropping.

Now many of them [the unemployed] are beginning to look for work again, encouraged by four consecutive months of job growth and reports of a strengthening economy.

But the initial return to the labor force may prove dispiriting, since so many people are already chasing too few jobs.

Because the government does not count people as unemployed unless they say they are actively searching for work, many discouraged people have been hiding in the shadows.

Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, estimates about 2.4 million “missing workers” either left the labor force or did not enter it in the last 28 months. That is on top of the 15.3 million people who are officially counted as unemployed.

What can be done to survive hard times?

While circumstances may take a while to change, at least we, personally, can start making changes immediately.

To begin with, we can learn from our mistakes.

As millions of Americans have seen, these times teach us to borrow to conserve, not to consume. How many people have fallen into credit trouble because when times were good, they used credit to buy furniture, cars, ATVs, boats…things they did not need but they wanted?

And millions of Americans have learned that saving for retirement means more than investing money in 401(k)s, IRA(s), stocks or other vehicles that are vulnerable to economic downturns.

Retirement savings vehicles like maximum-funded, tax-advantaged insurance contracts can provide liquidity, safety AND rate of return – which are all equally critical in retirement savings options.

Use these tough times – whether they’ve affected you directly or indirectly – to plan for the future and protect yourself. Find out now how to make wiser choices, and how to obtain True Wealth.

Isn’t It Time You Became Wealthy?®

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Missed Fortune RadioThis week Doug Andrew discussed the following:

Upcoming Complimentary Webinar

Attend our free 90-minute webinar live over the Internet this coming Tuesday, June 8th at 11:00 a.m. pacific (12:00 p.m. mountain, 1:00 p.m. central, 2:00 p.m. eastern), and again at 6:30 p.m. pacific (7:30 mountain, 8:30 central, 9:30 eastern).

The topic is “True Asset Optimization: How to Choose the Right Investments.” You’ll learn how to maintain liquidity and guarantee safety of principal while earning a healthy, tax-free rate of return that outpaces inflation.

Register now by calling 1-888-76-Radio (888-767-2346). If operators are busy, please call again.

All attendees receive a bonus hardcover copy of Last Chance Millionaire, Doug Andrew’s New York Times best-selling book.

401(k)s: A Horrible Way to Save

In October of last year Time magazine published a story entitled “Why It’s Time To Retire the 401(k).” The article reports:

“…the 401(k) is a lousy idea, a financial flop, a rotten repository for our retirement reserves. In the past two years, that has become all too clear. From the end of 2007 to the end of March 2009, the average 401(k) balance fell 31%, according to Fidelity. The accounts have rebounded, along with the rest of the market, but that’s little help for those who retired — or were forced to — during the recession. In a system in which one year’s gains build on the next, the disaster of 2008 will dent retirement savings long after the recession ends.”

401(k)s are poor investments for most people because they expose investors to market volatility. Investors have little control.

Worst of all, with tax deferral all you’re doing is delaying the inevitable taxes, and taxes will not be lower in the future.

It’s a myth that you’ll be in a lower tax bracket when you retire. Even if your income is less, you don’t have the tax deductions you used to have.

The following Fram oil filter television commercial illustrates this concept perfectly:

*If you’re reading this in an RSS reader or email, you may need to click the title of the post to view the video.

Stop delaying the inevitable. Make wise decisions to protect your nest egg from taxes.

Set up a free appointment with a Missed Fortune advisor
to learn how you can access investments that offer tax-free growth, tax-free withdrawal, and tax-free transfer to heirs.

Bonus Missed Fortune E-Book: Baby Boomer Blunders

The average Baby Boomer has less than $50,000 accumulated for retirement (which means many have less than that), primarily due to bad habits and having money invested in the wrong places where economic downturns can diminish their nest egg.

Download this e-book now at www.babyboomerblunders.com.

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