MAKING THE DECISION TO CONTROL YOUR MONEY (PART 1) REBECCA RICE
Near Zero Interest.
You’re trying to save for
retirement, but you can’t earn any interest on your
money in the bank. You’re forced into riskier
investments in order to grow your retirement at all.
Bond Markets.
Even as the housing and financial
and dotcom bubble burst, experts say bonds are
next. Many predict the safe, secure bond market is
ripe for the next crash. Interest rates and inflation
have been kept artificially low. When governments
can no longer keep interest rates low, interest rates
will skyrocket, lowering your bonds’ values. If it’s not
a correction in the bonds market, it could be
something else.
The Shady Secret of 401(k) Plans.
Since 2011 and for the next 19 years, 10,000 baby
boomers will reach age 65 every single day. As baby
boomers age, more people will cash in their stocks
and mutual funds. There are few er younger people
to put money in.
When
companies moved to 401(k) plans and IRAs for
retirement accounts, they made all their workers
stock or mutual fund investors. It seemed to make
sense. Invest in the stock market; let your money
Stocks and mutual funds rise and fall based on
demand. When demand goes down, so do prices. By
the time you need your retirement money, you may
discover sinking returns.
grow. Retire rich. But the stock market hasn’t grown
very evenly.
Disappointing Housing Prices. It used to be we
felt confident our house was a great investment.
As more baby boomers age, there’s another
troubling factor. The IRS forces owners to start
taking money when they turn 70 ½ years old. If you
Paying off your house seemed like a great place to
secure your money as prices kept going up. Then,
everything changed.
don’t take out the minimum withdrawal, the
Government helps themselves to 50% of that
amount in the form of penalties.
We can no longer count on our house for any kind of
asset protection. It may or may not grow in value.
We may or may not be better off renting.
Is Anything Safe, Secure and Profitable?
About this point, you look around and ask yourself, “Is
there any place to put my money that is low risk and
yet will grow my money?”