Monthly Archives: March 2016

Warren Buffet Prodigy Reveals Why Real Estate is His Number One Investment Pick for 2019

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

Do NOT read this if you’re looking for forex, bitcoin, or any other fringe investment advice.

Do NOT read this if you’re a ‘risky’ investor that is okay with potentially throwing away  large parts of their portfolio for a chance at a ‘slightly’ higher return.

If, however, you’re looking for a ‘safe as houses’ investment with a rock solid track record, you’re in the right place.

Most investment “experts” will tell you that index funds are your best bet for a safe and relatively lucrative investment.

They’re not completely off the mark.

For example, the S&P 500 has had an average return of 11% over the past 70 years. That sounds like a pretty darn good investment!

BUT that’s not the whole story, and it’s far from the BEST investment. 11% is the average return over a period of 70 years. During that period, there were HUGE amounts of volatility that would make your stomach churn day in and day out. Take 2015 for example. If you were to have invested in the Vanguard 500 Index Fund in 2015, you would have actually LOST 5.4%.

No one, regardless of what they want you to think, really knows where stocks are ultimately headed next week, next month, or next year… and if they did, they probably wouldn’t be sharing their secrets. And forget about betting on regular ‘ol stocks too. They have only returned an average of 6.3% over the past 100 years.

Think CD’s or savings account are a smart move? Think again. When you account for inflation, you’ll actually be LOSING money every year. You may as well light your money on fire, it’s that much of a bad investment.

So what is the solution to your problem?

What if I told you that there was an investing tactic that was so simple to implement, and almost obvious, yet for whatever reason, you didn’t have it set up? And you know that if you did invest in it, you’d be making a lot more money without the risk?

You’d think I’d gone mad, right?

Well, prepare to be blown away as I disclose an investment vehicle you’re probably not using (but should be). The VERY same investment vehicle that is Warren Buffett’s Investment Pick for 2016.

It’s the very same investment vehicle that has personally allowed me to generate a 14% return in 2015.

So where are the pros putting their money in 2016?

[DRUM ROLL] Real Estate.

You’ve probably heard it before, but not in this way. And, no, not all real estate. Particular properties that have a track record of sustainable growth.

How good are we talking? 14% YEARLY. And that’s 14% even after you take into consideration the various expenses. In fact – it even includes professional property management to do all the hard work for you.

So, what makes Real Estate such an amazing investment vehicle?

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  • For starters, it’s a REAL, PHYSICAL asset that you control (not an intangible line item on an investment statement)
  • You have the ability to IMPROVE your investment. You can renovate and change your properties to increase their value rather than just ‘hoping’ your stock options increase in value… the power is in YOUR hands.
  • You get to take advantage of what Einstein called the 8th wonder of the world: the power of compound interest
  • When you retire, you can live off of the cash flow without touching the principle so that you can pass the cash flow on to your family when you are gone and they can pass it onto their children when they pass. A great way to build up your family fortune!
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Others, just like you, are ALREADY making a killing in the Real Estate Market.

One of our readers, Marty Murray invested $84k total to buy 2 investment properties a few months ago. He wants to retire in 20 years. As long as continues to reinvest the profits until he retires (compound interest), in 20 years he’ll have 24 rental properties, $141,120 a year in cash flow, and $1,061,550 in cash and equity.

If he would have invested the same amount in stocks, making the average return of 6.3%, he would have only had $285,065 at the end of 20 years. That’s a big difference.

And the biggest thing? Before Marty read any of our guides – he had ZERO knowledge about ANYTHING related to Real Estate… and now he’s on track for a $1,000,000+ payday.

But it’s not always rainbows and good times.

Real estate can have its ups and downs, even if it’s nowhere near as cyclical as stocks. The sudden kind of big crashes like we saw in 2008 are far outside the norm. By investing for cash flow instead of appreciation, you become all but immune to real estate bubbles.

If predictability and peace-of-mind are what you’re after, real estate offers a much safer alternative and that’s what I’m going to show you how to do on a 100% FREE webinar I’m putting on for people who are interested in making SMART and RELIABLE investments. Click here to attend our FREE webinar and secure your financial future.

Don’t think you have the money to invest? Think again.

Most people don’t have the extra cash needed to buy real estate just laying around in their checking accounts. BUT most people don’t know that you can actually use the funds from your retirement accounts to invest in real estate using a self directed IRA. That’s a game changer that we are going to show you how to take full advantage of on our free webinar

Don’t know how to manage a property? Don’t worry.

Owning real estate often creates images of getting calls at 2am to deal with an unclogged toilet, or dealing with unruly tenants.

And there’s a trick to avoid ALL of that.

There is a way to get all of the advantages of real estate without dealing with any of the hassles of being a landlord by selecting turnkey properties.

Selecting turnkey properties makes everything simple for you. The property is selected by an experienced investor in a neighborhood that is statistically great for rentals (low vacancy, high rents, good returns). The property is then fixed up, filled with a quality tenant, and set up with a professional management company that will take care of everything from collecting the rents to dealing with repairs.

We’ll show you how to do ALL of that in the webinar… so you don’t have to do any hard work! Sign up here.

Is it risky?

Every investment comes with some element of risk. Real estate just happens to be one of the safest and most secure things out there (a lot safer than stocks). Buying a turnkey property helps eliminate most of the risk because it eliminates the learning curve of going off and doing it on your own. You’re leveraging other peoples YEARS of experience.

The important thing when investing in turnkey real estate is that you are open to investing in areas outside of where you live. Often times, the best investments (and returns) are only located in a few select cities. My saying is “Live where you live and invest where it makes sense.” And the turnkey aspect of that, where properties are fully managed for you, makes that totally possible.

Jay Dao, a 30-year-old engineer who lives in Santa Clara, California, felt priced out of the market in the Bay Area, so he turned to investing in more affordable regions and now owns properties in Chicago and Indianapolis.

“Turnkey investing is a much more passive form of real estate investing for busy professionals or investors who simply don’t want to put in that much work themselves, but still would like to own rental property,” says Dao, who chronicles his adventures in real estate on the blog FIFighter.com.

So if you want to learn about how Warren Buffet is planning to attack 2016, or how you can generate your own $1,000,000 fortune, click here to sign up to our free webinar where we’re going to give you ALL the information you need to start your own real estate empire from scratch using nothing but your EXISTING retirement fund!

This training is happening this week only and there are only 250 seats available so if you’re serious, you NEED to click here to register now.

Your financial future DEPENDS on it.

Warren Buffett’s Investment Advice for the Average Person

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

Most people know Warren Buffett as the guy that made his money by buying huge companies.

Unfortunately, that’s out of reach for most people.

I was sitting at the bar

“I’d buy up a couple hundred thousands single-family homes if I could.”

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“Houses are even better than stocks.”

“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”

“Diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.”

Here’s What To Do Next

You can click away from this page and forget what you just read and continue getting average returns on your retirement funds.

Or you can join me on my Free Training Webinar (absolutely nothing will be for sale).  Just good quality information.

Now, I learned a lot more from “Mr. X,” than I can share in a blog post. So I wanted to create a training for you.

Are You Making This Huge Retirement Planning Mistake That Could Prevent You From Retiring on Time and Living the Retirement Lifestyle You Want to Live?

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

by Brian Bagnall

Untitled design

Did you know that a new study shows that 83% of Americans aren’t going to be able to retire on time?

That’s staggering.

And that number only continues to get worse.

This has lots of ramifications. It means that you might have to continue working well past your retirement date. Or you might have to pick up a 2nd job. Or you might have to decrease your cost of living. Or, worse yet, you might never be able to retire (this is becoming more common).

The days of counting on Social Security for your retirement are long gone. And even retirees who have saved for retirement during their working years have had to make drastic changes in their lifestyles in order to adjust to their new incomes.

In fact, 56% of retirees are “not confident they will be able to live comfortably throughout their retirement years”, according to data from AARP (the American Association of Retired Persons).

Sadly, most Americans will just not be able to maintain their lifestyle in retirement and many will see their savings and investments come up short for even the most basic of expenses. But you’ll be one of the few who will be financially set if you follow the advice in this article.

What is the Most Common Mistake People Make When It Comes to Their Retirement Investments?

It’s actually quite simple. The most common mistake is doing whatever else is doing.

Most people invest the funds in their retirement account into a combination of these things: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or cd’s.

There is one major problem with this.

If you’re doing what the average person is doing, how can you possibly expect anything other than average results?

And the answer is: you can’t.

The average yearly return investing using a combination of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and CDs is 3% to 6%.

By the time you factor in a few percentage points of inflation every year, you’ll find that your money really isn’t growing as much as it needs to maintain your current lifestyle through retirement.

One of the Most Under-looked Investment Techniques

Hands down, one of the best things that you can do make sure that you retire on time (or early) and still be able to maintain your current lifestyle is investing in real estate using your IRA.

Now, before you go running for the hills… it’s not the get calls at 2am in the morning to unclog a toilet or rehab a property in a war-zone kind of investing in real estate. It’s completely hands off. You’ll definitely want to read until the end before you judge.

Real estate has created more wealth in America than almost any other method of investing. It provides the opportunity to generate income from rent and appreciation. Real estate tends to perform really well over long periods of time and the rewards can add a great deal to your chances of retiring on time.

Buying real estate in your IRA isn’t a new concept, in fact it has been a possibility since IRAs were formed back in 1974. Many investors and even real estate professionals are unaware that retirement funds can be utilized to invest in real estate.

The Best Way to Do It

You can use your IRA to invest in any type of real estate but the best investment technique you can use in your IRA is to buy rental properties. You can do this hands off where you never make a repair or meet a tenant.

1. Open up a Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) Account. You can transfer funds from a current institution, rollover an old 401(k) plan, or simply make an annual contribution.

2. Find a property that’s in good shape that gives you at least a 10% yearly net ROI (preferably with a tenant in place). The formula for determining ROI is:
(Yearly Income – Yearly Expenses*) / Total Purchase Price
If the answer is 10% (.10) or above, it’s a good investment.

* Expenses include property taxes, association dues (if any), utility bills paid by owner (if any), management costs, and a 5% per year repair allowance.

3. Place it with a management company to manage the property so that you never get a repair call or have to deal with a tenant. You simply deposit checks and pay expenses.

These are the basic action steps but there’s a bit more to it. We actually have a FREE service that can help you with all of this (including opening up your SDIRA, finding a property, and selecting a management company). If you’d like to schedule a time chat about it (and get a copy of our FREE report, “Cash Flow Investor’s Report”), just click here.

Do’s and Don’ts

If you want to use your IRA to buy real estate, you need to understand what you can and can’t do. Violating any of these things could cause you to lose your IRA to lose its tax-free status.

  • You can’t live in the property yourself or have use of the property in any way. So you can’t use this method to buy a vacation home that you would use.
  • Income generated by the IRA-owned real estate must go back into the IRA.
  • You can not pay for any property related expenses with your personal funds on behalf of the IRA. All expenses must be paid from the IRA.
  • Maintenance and Improvements cannot be performed by the IRA holder.
  • You can’t get a traditional mortgage loan in an IRA, so you really need to have enough money in your IRA to purchase properties for cash if you plan on having the property as a long-term rental. (Don’t worry, you can purchase a cash-flowing rental for as little as $35,000.)
  • Don’t restrict yourself to buying rental properties in your own backyard. In fact, in most cities, you can’t earn a 10%-15% return on your money anyways. You want to look for cities with low property prices and high rents. This usually eliminates highly populated places like New York, Chicago, LA, Dallas, San Francisco, and other major cities where investors typically only earn a few percentage points on their money because property prices are so high.

What are the Benefits of Holding Real Estate in my IRA? 

There really are many but I’ll detail the main ones here:

  • Real Estate is a tangible asset; you can see it and touch it. Personally, I never liked the idea of investing in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds because all I get is a statement to look at every month. I have no control over whether the companies I invest in do well or not. I’m basically gambling and hoping for the best. Besides, if you’re just investing in whatever everyone else is investing in, you can’t possibly make more than average returns (average activities get average results).
  • Your money grows tax free. That’s right, the income from your properties will grow tax free (as well as the appreciation).
  • Make double digit returns. The average rate of return investing in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds is 3% – 6%. After you account for inflation, you’re only making a few percentage points on your money every year. To really be able to see your money grow, you have to invest in instruments that will yield at least a 10% on your money every year. Investing in rentals can do this for you. In fact, it’s not uncommon to make 15% on your money every year.
  • It’s safer than most investment methods. Don’t let anyone every tell you that any investment method is 100% safe. They would be lying. But, I have never found anything safer. Rents typically don’t go down so your cash flow will be safe. And even if rents do happen to go down (have you ever had a landlord lower the rent?), property values typically go up. Also, we recommend that you don’t invest in high appreciation areas (like California, New York, or Florida) because as fast as the value can go up, it can come crashing down even faster. Average appreciation is best because then we won’t be affected by any real estate bubbles. Besides, we’re in this for the monthly cash flow. The appreciation is just a bonus.

Most people don’t realize the huge difference between a low return on investment and a high one. If you are able to obtain better returns on your investments, you can both drastically reduce the time it will take you to retire and considerably increase your monthly budget once you do so.

Let’s look at this graphically (based on someone that starts investing $1200 a year at age 35 and retires at age 65):

Annual Contribution Return on Investment Total at age 65
$1,200.00 5% $79,762.62
$1,200.00 15% $521,694.18
*This numbers were calculated using Bloomberg’s retirement calculator at: http://www.bloomberg.com/personal-finance/calculators/retirement/

Shocking isn’t it? Well, this is the impact that investing your money like a pro can have on your long term financial future.

And don’t worry if you’re over the age of 35 and haven’t started yet. No matter what your age is, there is still time to make changes that can have a lasting impact.

 So What Now?

So you’ve read this article but what exactly should you do next?  Well, you have 2 choices:

1. Be average
2. Be smart

An average person would click away from this page and continue to make average returns investing in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.

smart person will say to themselves, “I really need to stop procrastinating on my retirement accounts and take an active interest right now.”

It’s never too early (or too late) to start making changes to your retirement plan to make sure that you’re getting the best return possible so that you can enjoy retirement on your terms.

To help those that are smart, I wrote a guide called the “The Cash Flow Investor’s Report” to help you get a better idea of what your next steps should be when it comes to adding real estate to your portfolio. In the guide, I detail what you can do to make sure that you retire on time (or early) and have a secure retirement where you’re doing the things that you want to be doing.  And I want to give it to you for free.

While there is really good information contained in the guide, there’s nothing like a seasoned investment expert personally reviewing your portfolio and giving you customized advice.  And I want to help you do just that… for free too!

So go here to request your free guide (and be sure to check the box on the form to request your Free Investment Boosting Session with me personally).

www.FreeRetirementTips.com

When we jump on the phone, you’ll walk away with a retirement plan with specific, measurable financial goals and a custom investment strategy to fit your needs that you can immediately implement to double or even triple your current ROI.

If you found this article helpful, don’t forget to share it and leave a comment below. :)  I try and respond to every comment.

Will These 4 Common Mistakes Prevent You from Retiring Early and Maintaining Your Current Lifestyle?

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

by Brian Bagnall

Untitled design

Did you know that a new study shows that 83% of Americans aren’t going to be able to retire on time?

That’s staggering.

And that number has only gotten worse.

This has lots of ramifications. You might have to continue working well past your retirement date. Or you might have to pick up a 2nd job. Or you might have to decrease your cost of living. Or, worse yet, you might never be able to retire (this is becoming more common).

So what are people doing wrong to cause this shift?  Here are 4 of the major ones:

1. Doing What Everyone Else Is Doing

Most people invest the funds in their retirement account into a combination of these things: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or cd’s.

There is one major problem with this.

If you’re doing what the average person is doing, how can you possibly expect anything other than average results?

And the answer is: you can’t.

The average yearly return investing using a combination of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and CDs is 3% to 6%.

2. Not Accounting for Inflation

Now, a 3% to 6% return ins’t horrible… until you factor in inflation.

Inflation is when prices rise and your money decreases in purchasing power.  This happens for a number of different reasons but stems from the fact that the government keeps printing money.

Every year, the government releases an estimated rate of inflation for the previous year. Usually, it’s about 1-2% per year. The problem with the rate that the government releases is that it’s never in their best interest to release a high inflation rate because it shows that they are printing too much money. Investment experts agree that the real rate of inflation is about 5% per year.

You can roughly figure out what inflation is by paying attention to how much the cost of the things you buy on a regular basis have risen. For example, According to USA Today, last year the price of eggs went up 5.7%, tomatoes went up 6.9%, sausage went up 8.7%, potatoes up 6.9%, oranges up 12.2%.

But let’s take the 5% figure that most investment experts agree on. Let’s assume that you’re making 6% on your retirement funds, which is the high end of average. When you subtract 5% inflation from your 6% yearly return, that leaves you with earning 1% per year. You’re not going anywhere by making 1% on your money except to the poor house.

3. Not Having a Plan

The Employee Benefits Research Institute recently performed a Retirement Confidence Survey which revealed that 60% of workers have not calculated how much money they need to save for their retirement income needs.

This isn’t something you can leave up to your investment broker. Most investment brokers are paid their fee whether you make money or not. You have to take an active interest in your own financial future.

Sadly, most people spend more time planning their next vacation than planning their financial future. And as you know, failing to plan is planning to fail.

When working on your retirement plan, it is very important to consider how long you’ll need your retirement savings to provide for you. While average life expectancies are published each year, there are more things that you need to take into consideration when defining your investment’s time horizon (like inflation, cost of living increases, and your specific retirement goals).

If you haven’t taken the time to set measurable and specific financial objectives in writing and designed and implemented an action plan to achieve them, there’s a very high chance you won’t be able to enjoy freedom and independence in your golden years.

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FREE Guide Explains: The 30-Minute Retirement Plan So You Can Retire on Your Terms

CLICK HERE >>>

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4. Not Seeking Out Alternative Investments

Assuming you have a typical pension from your 9 to 5 and are managing to put a few bucks away each month on top of that, it would be wise to look for opportunities to invest your savings into something that will give you the best returns.

It really depends on the economic climate at the time but there are many ways that you can increase your savings and future retirement income if you are smart about how you invest.

For instance, most people don’t know that you can put real estate into your retirement portfolio and your money can grow tax free. Real estate tends to perform really well over long periods of time and the rewards can add a great deal to your chances of retiring on time.

So What Now?

It’s never too early (or too late) to start making changes to your retirement plan to make sure that you’re getting the best return possible so that you can enjoy retirement on your terms.

You’ve read this article and found some things you could be doing better. But what exactly should you do next? That’s a complicated question that depends on a variety of factors. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all investing advice. If there was, everyone would be doing it.

So I wrote a guide called the “30 Minute Investing Plan” to help you get a better idea of what your next steps should be.  In the guide, I detail 4 things you can do right now to avoid running out of money in retirement.  And I want to give it to you for free.

While there is really good information contained in the guide, there’s nothing like a seasoned investment expert personally reviewing your portfolio and giving you customized advice.  And I want to help you do just that… for free too!

So go here to request your free guide (and be sure to check the box at the bottom to request your Free Investment Boosting Session with me personally).

www.FreeInvestmentTips.com

When we jump on the phone, you’ll walk away with a retirement plan with specific, measurable financial goals and a custom investment strategy to fit your needs.

If you found this article helpful, don’t forget to leave a comment below. 🙂  I try and respond to every comment.

Will These 3 Common Mistakes Prevent You from Retiring Early and Living Comfortably Once You Do?

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

by Brian Bagnall

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Planning for your retirement is one of, if not the most important financial goals you will take on. And the stakes are quite high.

In fact, failing to avoid the 3 mistakes you’ll learn about today can transform your golden years from joy, freedom and independence to penny pinching, dependence, and even poverty.

And sadly, most Americans believe they are on track by funding IRA’s or 401k retirement plans and some still believe Social Security or a Company pension plan will be enough to retire comfortably.

The statistics are both shocking and scary: according to Hamilton Financial, 9 out of 10 people will retire in poverty or run out of money before passing away.

However, if you are able to avoid these three mistakes you’ll also be able to avoid becoming part of the statistic:

Retirement Planning Mistake 1: Not Having a Plan

The Employee Benefits Research Institute recently performed a Retirement Confidence Survey which revealed that 60% of workers have not calculated how much money they need to save for their retirement income needs.

Sadly, most people spend more time planning their next vacation than planning their financial future. And as you now, failing to plan is planning to fail.

If you have not taken the time to set measurable and specific financial objectives in writing and designed and implemented an action plan to achieve them, there’s a very high chance you won’t be able to enjoy freedom and independence in your golden years.

There are many reasons why such a high percentage of Americans experience so much financial hardship after retirement, but failing to plan is the number one retirement planning mistake.

Financial Coaching is a great way to get help designing your retirement plan. Having a monthly session with your Financial Coach can provide the accountability and experience necessary to support you in completing the implementation of your retirement plan, but even a single session can provide you with the clarity you need to get things going yourself.

Retirement Planning Mistake 2: Not Saving Enough and Not Starting Early

I know, I know. Nobody wants to be told to save more. The value of savings is so often repeated it sounds like a boring lecture. But the reality is that you’re either consuming your retirement today or your saving for it.

Chances are you have already heard the “save 10%” rule of thumb. It’s actually a workable formula if you start in your 20’s and plan to retire in your sixties.

But ideas of retirement are different, and if your vision is to retire at 50 with a waterfront property, then the truth is that saving just 10% isn’t likely to cut it – particularly if you wait to start saving until age 40 or later.

Saving money for retirement is all about alternatives and priorities. It’s about choosing a few minor inconveniences today that will compound into a comfortable retirement tomorrow.

What do I mean by a few minor inconveniences? For example, what do you think is the real price of the fancy coffee drink you buy each day?

$5 per day, times 20 days per month, for 50 years at 10% interest results in $1,876,000.00 that could be saved for retirement. When you look at it that way, a few minutes in the morning filling a thermos bottle seems like a small price to pay for that additional security in your retirement.

Especially when we consider it could be the difference between needing financial help from your children to survive and being able to stretch a helping hand when they need one.

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FREE Guide Explains: The 30-Minute Retirement Plan So You Can Retire on Your Terms

CLICK HERE >>>

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Retirement Planning Mistake 3: Investing Too Aggressively – Or Not Aggressively Enough

Investing for your retirement is a matter of balance. You must be able to balance your “fear and greed” by making an intelligent analysis of risks and rewards.

You are probably very aware that trying to make up for insufficient savings by investing too aggressively and taking unjustified risks is a sure way to drive your retirement funds down to zero.

However, fearing losses so much you become overly conservative and invest only in guaranteed annuities and CD’s is a guaranteed way to lose purchasing power over time due to the low returns they provide.

In fact, the returns frequently end up being negative after taxes and inflation are factored in.

Investing requires both an offensive and defensive strategy, and again, a Financial Coach can be of great help helping you design such a strategy.

And as I stated before, spending even an hour of your time with someone who has years of experience, knowledge and success under his or her belt in the retirement planning field can provide you with the clarity you need to take it yourself from there.

While there are many renowned experts who can help you boost your investment’s ROI, there are also many “experts” who will do more harm than good. So always, always, make sure you perform extensive research before you trust someone with your financial future.

Now, if you have come to trust me as an expert in my field, there is a way in which I can help you design a custom tailored retirement plan that’s specific for you, set long term and short term investment goals and design an investment strategy that includes both conservative and growth oriented investments.

Every month, I hold 10 Investment Boosting sessions in which I get on the phone with people who are committed to improving their financial future and living comfortably during their golden years.

While the spots may be filled out by the time you read this, you can learn more about how the process works and apply for an Investment Boosting session by clicking here:

www.FreeInvestmentBoost.com

If I do get to jump on the phone with you, you’ll walk away with a retirement plan with specific, measurable financial goals and a custom investment strategy to fit your needs.

If for any reason we don’t get to talk, I still strongly encourage you to find a Financial Coach who has a proven success record. It can cut years off your retirement plan and seriously increase the money you’ll have available once you do.

If you found this article helpful, don’t forget to leave a comment below. 🙂

5 Easy Ways to Make Sure You Won’t Run Out Of Money in Retirement

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

by Brian Bagnall

Untitled design

Did you know that a new study shows that 83% of Americans aren’t going to be able to retire on time?

That’s staggering.

And that number has only gotten worse.

This has lots of ramifications. It means that you might have to continue working well past your retirement date. Or you might have to pick up a 2nd job. Or you might have to decrease your cost of living. Or, worse yet, you might never be able to retire (this is becoming more common).

The days of counting on Social Security for your retirement are long gone. Now a days, many retired people, who failed to plan for their financial future and depend completely on Social Security, are struggling harshly and barely getting by.

And even retirees who have saved for retirement during their working years have had to make drastic changes on their lifestyles in order to adjust to their new incomes.

In fact, 56% of retirees are “not confident they will be able to live comfortably throughout their retirement years”, according to data from AARP (the American Association of Retired Persons).

Sadly, most Americans will just not be able to maintain their lifestyle in retirement and many will see their savings and investments come up short for even the most basic of expenses. But you’ll be one of the few who will be financially set if you follow the advice on this article.

Some of the advice is basic and some of it is advanced. Regardless, sometimes the most basic advice or smallest change can make the biggest impact.

So what can you do to make sure you don’t run out of money in retirement?  Here are 5 of the major ones:

1. Stop Doing What Everyone Else Is Doing

Most people invest the funds in their retirement account into a combination of these things:

  • Stocks
  • Bonds
  • Mutual Funds
  • CD’s

There is, however, one major problem with this.

If you’re doing what the average person is doing, how can you possibly expect anything other than average results?

And the answer is: you can’t.

The average yearly return investing using a combination of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and CDs is 3% to 6%.

And for heaven’s sake, never put money in a savings account as an investment technique.  Only use a savings account for the portion of your money that you want to be able to access in case of emergency.

2. Not Accounting for Inflation

Now, a 3% to 6% return isn’t horrible… until you factor in inflation.

Inflation is when prices rise and your money decreases in purchasing power.  This happens for a number of different reasons but stems from the fact that the government keeps printing money.

Every year, the government releases an estimated rate of inflation for the previous year. Usually, it’s about 1-2% per year. The problem with the rate that the government releases is that it’s never in their best interest to release a high inflation rate because it shows that they are printing too much money. Investment experts agree that the real rate of inflation is about 5% per year.

You can roughly figure out what inflation is by paying attention to how much the cost of the things you buy on a regular basis have risen. For example, According to USA Today, the prices on these common items went up:

  • eggs went up 5.7%
  • tomatoes went up 6.9%
  • sausage went up 8.7%
  • potatoes up 6.9%
  • oranges up 12.2%.

But let’s take the 5% figure that most investment experts agree on. Let’s assume that you’re making 6% on your retirement funds, which is the high end of average. When you subtract 5% inflation from your 6% yearly return, that leaves you with earning 1% per year. You’re not going anywhere by making 1% on your money except to the poor house.

(To really be able to see your money grow, you have to invest in instruments that will yield at least a 10% ROI, or Return On Investment. But we’ll get to how you can achieve this later in this article.)

3. Define Your Objectives and Your Time Horizon

When working on your retirement plan, it’s very important to consider how long you’ll need your retirement savings to provide for you. While average life expectancies are published each year, there are more things that you need to take into consideration when defining your investment’s time horizon.

Your family’s history of health and longevity plays a major role, as does your current health and lifestyle choices. Remember that most people outlive their ancestors and the average life expectancy increases every year due to advances in health care and medicine. In a general sense, planning for a longer life is the smart way to go.

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Learn The #1 Investment Secret So You Can Retire on Your Terms

CLICK HERE >>>

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4. Consider Investing in Structured Settlements

Sometimes, people who suffered a personal injury receive fixed payments for a specific period of time instead of a lump sum payment from their insurance companies or court cases.

This agreement is called a structured settlement. Many times, however, people prefer the lump sum instead. You can invest in such instruments and offer cash for their settlement, minus a percentage, and take over payments for them.

This way, they get a large sum of cash and you are able to get a decent and very safe return on your investment. Investing in structured settlements could be a great idea for you if you have a large enough sum of cash available.

5. Increase the Return on Your Investment

This sounds obvious, but most people don’t realize the huge difference between a low return on investment and a high one. If you are able to obtain better returns on your investments, you can both drastically reduce the time it will take you to retire and considerably increase your monthly budget once you do so.

Let’s look at this graphically:

Annual Contribution Return on Investment Total at age 65
$1,200.00 5% $79,762.62
$1,200.00 15% $521,694.18
*This numbers were calculated using Bloomberg’s retirement calculator at: http://www.bloomberg.com/personal-finance/calculators/retirement/

Shocking isn’t it? Well, this is the impact that investing your money like a pro can have on your long term financial future.

6. Not Seeking Out Alternative Investments

You might think that getting a 15% yearly return is hard to do. It’s actually not.

For instance, most people don’t know that you can buy real estate IN your retirement portfolio and your money can grow tax free.

Most wealth has been created with real estate than almost any other method. Real estate tends to perform really well over long periods of time and the rewards can add a great deal to your chances of retiring on time.

So What Now?

So you’ve read this article and found some things you could be doing better. But what exactly should you do next?  Well, you have 2 choices:

1. Be average
2. Be smart

An average person would click away from this page and go about doing whatever they were doing.

smart person will say to themselves, “I really need to stop procrastinating on my retirement accounts and take an active interest… right now.”

It’s never too early (or too late) to start making changes to your retirement plan to make sure that you’re getting the best return possible so that you can enjoy retirement on your terms.

To help those that are smart, I wrote a guide called the “30 Minute Investing Plan” to help you get a better idea of what your next steps should be.  In the guide, I detail what you can do in less than 30 minutes to avoid running out of money in retirement.  And I want to give it to you for free.

While there is really good information contained in the guide, there’s nothing like a seasoned investment expert personally reviewing your portfolio and giving you customized advice.  And I want to help you do just that… for free too!

So go here to request your free guide (and be sure to check the box at the bottom to request your Free Investment Boosting Session with me personally).

www.FreeRetirementTips.com

When we jump on the phone, you’ll walk away with a retirement plan with specific, measurable financial goals and a custom investment strategy to fit your needs that you can immediately implement to double or even triple your current ROI.

If you found this article helpful, don’t forget to share it and leave a comment below. :)  I try and respond to every comment.

Want To Retire On Time? These 5 Tips Tell You All You Need To Know…

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

by Brian Bagnall

Unless you’re lucky enough to be doing a job you absolutely love and never want to quit, chances are you want to retire at some point with enough money to enjoy yourself in your later years.

Trouble is, What typically happens when we do stop working, is we experience a drop in our income and all our plans for enjoying a few luxuries while we relax are suddenly out of the window!

Over your working life, your income will typically increase with age and experience and then in your 40’s, it tends to level out a bit. There are less chances for promotion so you tend to stay at roughly the same rate until you reach retirement age.

What happens next can be quite a shock because when you do retire and your pension kicks in, you will see a sharp drop in your income. This can be much worse if you happen to retire in the middle of an economic downturn, as many people have found out over the last few years!

It doesn’t have to play out like that though and with some careful planning, you will be able to retire on time and still enjoy the lifestyle you currently do without having to take a hit.

Here are 5 things you can do to give yourself the best chance of being able to retire on time and with the levels of income you deserve:

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Learn The #1 Investment Secret So You Can Retire on Your Terms

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Tip #1: Work Out What You Need…

Sounds really obvious, right? If you want to retire at a certain age with a certain income, you need to work out exactly what that looks like or you have no idea how to go about making it happen.

It’s like any kind of goal setting exercise and you have to know where you’re going so you can take the action needed to get there. This is slightly different though and you will need to revisit your plan on a regular basis to make sure it’s on track.

What makes it different, is the fact that the economy has a habit of changing and you will need to make sure that your investments are not going to be damaged by a change in circumstances.

Tip #2: Select The Right Plan…

Once you’ve worked out the right route map for your particular needs, you will have to choose the best vehicle to get you where you’re going. In the real world, it’s no good using a skateboard to go off-roading!

If you have a normal 9 to 5 kind of job, chances are your employer has some kind of pension scheme in place but you need to make sure you understand all the small print of the scheme and the amount of money you can expect at retirement.

It’s likely that if you solely rely on your work pension, you will experience that drop in your income that we mentioned before, so be prepared to seek out alternative ways to invest in your retirement.

Tip #3: Save Some Money Each Month…

It’s another one that sounds really obvious but is more often overlooked. If you want to retire on time, you may need to make a few sacrifices along the way to make sure you have enough money when the time comes to pull the trigger on your retirement plan.

Saving some money each month deals with two possibilities…Assuming your life is plain sailing and nothing goes wrong, the money you have been saving can be used to top up your pension. If something does go wrong (and you know it often does), you will already have a stash of money available to dig you out.

Saving for a rainy day is always sensible because it does tend to rain every now and then! Obviously, you should choose the right place to save your money to get the best return possible over the long haul but make sure that if you need it, you can get to it without massive penalties too.

Tip #4: Watch How You Spend Your Money…

It’s easy to get sucked into buying the latest “must have” technology or putting the cost of a vacation on your credit card but remember that everything you spend now is just taking away from your retirement fund.

Now I’m not saying that you should stop enjoying yourself in the present but if you have a plan to retire at a certain age, with a certain income, you will have to be careful about how you handle your money.

Living for the moment can be exciting and I’m sure your family and friends might enjoy the ride but when it comes down to quality of life in your twilight years, being a little cautious about your spending will most definitely pay off!

Think about things like the possibility of increased medical bills or long term care…The last thing you want to do is burden your family with those kind of decisions and worries because you decided to live beyond your means.

It’s all about balance…Enjoying the journey of life with an eye on the future.

Tip #5: Seek Out Alternative Investments…

Assuming you have a typical pension from your 9 to 5 and are managing to put a few bucks away each month on top of that, it would be wise to look for opportunities to invest your savings into plans that will give you the best returns.

It really depends on the economic climate at the time but there are many ways that you can increase your savings and future retirement income if you are smart about how you invest.

Property and stocks both tend to perform well over long periods of time and the rewards can add a great deal to your chances of retiring on time but caution is the watchword.

All investments are risky, to a degree, so it’s important you get the right advice before you decide which way is best for you.

If you think this article has been helpful, please share it…Maybe it could help someone else too!

P.S. The advice above is mostly common sense but because I have no idea about your actual financial situation, it’s pretty generic.

The fact that you read this article tells me that you are serious about your retirement and are at least thinking about how you can best plan for your future and because of that, I want to reach out to you and offer you a helping hand.

I want to offer you the chance to jump on a quick 30 minute call with me (free of charge) so we can take a look at your situation together and see if we can come up with a solid plan that you can use to make sure your retirement goals are well and truly met.

Click this link now and watch a short video I made for you that explains everything…Then simply fill in a quick form and I will get straight back to you to set up the call.

Investing for Retirement

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

by Brian Bagnall

Retirement may be a long way off for you – or it might be right around the corner. No matter how near or far it is, you’ve absolutely got to start saving for it now. However, saving for retirement isn’t what it used to be with the increase in cost of living and the instability of social security. You have to invest for your retirement, as opposed to saving for it!

Let’s start by taking a look at the retirement plan offered by your company. Once upon a time, these plans were quite sound. However, after the Enron upset and all that followed, people aren’t as secure in their company retirement plans anymore. If you choose not to invest in your company’s retirement plan, you do have other options.

First, you can invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, and money market accounts. You do not have to state to anybody that the returns on these investments are to be used for retirement. Just simply let your money grow overtime, and when certain investments reach their maturity, reinvest them and continue to let your money grow.

You can also open an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). IRA’s are quite popular because the money is not taxed until you withdraw the funds. You may also be able to deduct your IRA contributions from the taxes that you owe. An IRA can be opened at most banks. A ROTH IRA is a newer type of retirement account. With a Roth, you pay taxes on the money that you are investing in your account, but when you cash out, no federal taxes are owed. Roth IRA’s can also be opened at a financial institution.

Another popular type of retirement account is the 401(k). 401(k’s) are typically offered through employers, but you may be able to open a 401(k) on your own. You should speak with a financial planner or accountant to help you with this. The Keogh plan is another type of IRA that is suitable for self employed people. Self-employed small business owners may also be interested in Simplified Employee Pension Plans (SEP). This is another type of Keogh plan that people typically find easier to administer than a regular Keogh plan.

Whichever retirement investment you choose, just make sure you choose one! Again, do not depend on social security, company retirement plans, or even an inheritance that may or may not come through! Take care of your financial future by investing in it today.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it!  🙂

P.S. The advice I gave above is good advice but, because I don’t know your specific situation, it is generic advice.  Since you read this article, I can tell that you’re serious about your retirement (and it’s never too early to get serious about it). Because of that, I want to personally help you to retire on your terms by getting on a 30 minute Investment Boosting call with you (completely FREE of charge). On the call, I’ll find out how your investments are performing, what your investment goals are, and we’ll come up with a plan of action to get your goals met. Just click here now to watch this brief video and fill out the simple form and I’ll get it touch.

Investing Mistakes to Avoid

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

by Brian Bagnall

Along the way, you may make a few investing mistakes, however there are big mistakes that you absolutely must avoid if you are to be a successful investor. For instance, the biggest investing mistake that you could ever make is to not invest at all, or to put off investing until later. Make your money work for you ñ even if all you can spare is $20 a week to invest!

While not investing at all or putting off investing until later are big mistakes, investing before you are in the financial position to do so is another big mistake. Get your current financial situation in order first, and then start investing. Get your credit cleaned up, pay off high interest loans and credit cards, and put at least three months of living expenses in savings. Once this is done, you are ready to start letting your money work for you.

Don’t invest to get rich quick. That is the riskiest type of investing that there is, and you will more than likely lose. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it! Instead, invest for the long term, and have the patience to weather the storms and allow your money to grow. Only invest for the short term when you know you will need the money in a short amount of time, and then stick with safe investments, such as certificates of deposit.

Don’t put all of your eggs into one basket. Scatter it around various types of investments for the best returns. Also, don’t move your money around too much. Let it ride. Pick your investments carefully, invest your money, and allow it to grow ñ don’t panic if the stock drops a few dollars. If the stock is a stable stock, it will go back up.

A common mistake that a lot of people make is thinking that their investments in collectibles will really pay off. Again, if this were true, everyone would do it. Don’t count on your Coke collection or your book collection to pay for your retirement years! Count on investments made with cold hard cash instead.

If you enjoyed this article, please share it!  🙂

P.S. The advice I gave above is good advice but, because I don’t know your specific situation, it is generic advice.  Since you read this article, I can tell that you’re serious about your retirement (and it’s never too early to get serious about it). Because of that, I want to personally help you to retire on your terms by getting on a 30 minute Investment Boosting call with you (completely FREE of charge). On the call, I’ll find out how your investments are performing, what your investment goals are, and we’ll come up with a plan of action to get your goals met. Just click here now to watch this brief video and fill out the simple form and I’ll get it touch.

Investment Strategy

By Brian Bagnall | Uncategorized

by Brian Bagnall

Because investing is not a sure thing in most cases, it is much like a game ñ you don’t know the outcome until the game has been played and a winner has been declared. Anytime you play almost any type of game, you have a strategy. Investing isn’t any different ñ you need an investment strategy.

An investment strategy is basically a plan for investing your money in various types of investments that will help you meet your financial goals in a specific amount of time. Each type of investment contains individual investments that you must choose from. A clothing store sells clothes – but those clothes consist of shirts, pants, dresses, skirts, undergarments, etc. The stock market is a type of investment, but it contains different types of stocks, which all contain different companies that you can invest in.

If you haven’t done your research, it can quickly become very confusing – simply because there are so many different types of investments and individual investments to choose from. This is where your strategy, combined with your risk tolerance and investment style all come into play.

If you are new to investments, work closely with a financial planner before making any investments. They will help you develop an investment strategy that will not only fall within the bounds of your risk tolerance and your investment style, but will also help you achieve your financial goals.

Never invest money without having a goal and a strategy for reaching that goal! This is essential. Nobody hands their money over to anyone without knowing what that money is being used for and when they will get it back! If you don’t have a goal, a plan, or a strategy, that is essentially what you are doing! Always start with a goal and a strategy for reaching that goal!

If you enjoyed this article, please share it!  🙂

P.S. The advice I gave above is good advice but, because I don’t know your specific situation, it is generic advice.  Since you read this article, I can tell that you’re serious about your retirement (and it’s never too early to get serious about it). Because of that, I want to personally help you to retire on your terms by getting on a 30 minute Investment Boosting call with you (completely FREE of charge). On the call, I’ll find out how your investments are performing, what your investment goals are, and we’ll come up with a plan of action to get your goals met. Just click here now to watch this brief video and fill out the simple form and I’ll get it touch.