Retirement planning isn’t about gambling; it’s about, well, planning.
I noticed a recent Twitter post from US News & World Report entitled, 9 Simple Ways To Quit Worrying About Retirement. It’s aimed at people in their 40’s and contains some excellent advice. If you’re in your 40’s – or know someone who is – you may want to look it over.
More people are worried about outliving their money than ever before, something I’ve written about before in this forum. And, with today’s 24-hour news cycle, the media is pressured to get more eyeballs to tune-in and stay-tuned for every earth-shaking, world-changing, all-important, and ultimately mind-numbing event.
I spent some time around the news business many years ago and the mantra in most newsrooms was indeed, “If it bleeds, it leads.” In other words, bad news sells. When you have 24-hours to fill, you find as much as you can. Of course, this doesn’t do much constructive for us viewers; it warps our sense of reality. Pretty soon, we begin thinking all future events are likely to be bad; so, we become desensitized.
It’s important to keep perspective. Despite the concerns I wrote about in a recent post, others, like The Economist, see the market as better than the alternatives. Indeed, recently Warren Buffett was chiming in with positive comments regarding his market outlook.
What many investors should realize, however, is that long term investment success isn’t about market timing. And, you don’t have to beat the market to outperform it!
As always, it’s about the plan… and it’s about time.
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Jim Lorenzen is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional and An Accredited Investment Fiduciary® in his 21st year of private practice as Founding Principal of The Independent Financial Group, a fee-only registered investment advisor with clients located in New York, Florida, and California. He is also licensed for insurance as an independent agent under California license 0C00742. IFG helps specializes in crafting wealth design strategies around life goals by using a proven planning process coupled with a cost-conscious objective and non-conflicted risk management philosophy.
The Independent Financial Group does not provide legal or tax advice and nothing contained herein should be construed as securities or investment advice, nor an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment to the individual reader. The general information provided should not be acted upon without obtaining specific legal, tax, and investment advice from an appropriate licensed professional.
