Retirement Investing

You can find out different types of information about Retirement Investing from the internet also. This is a good place for you to look into the different aspects of retirement investing. You will find advice about using your pension funds to increase your living standards. There will be many tips that you can use to build up a sensible investment portfolio.

Now when you have all of the information that you will need, you should start asking your various friends about the different types of stocks that they have invested in. You can also use their help and advice in understanding the various information that you have. All of this help can be of use in your Retirement Investing plan.

So now that you have begun your fledgling steps into Retirement Investing how can you be sure that your Retirement Investing will hit pay dirt? At this moment in time there is no way of absolutely no guarantee but you can make small investments at a time and let your money grow. You should be careful not to invest all of your retirement funds otherwise you will not have anything to cushion your fall.

Investing Your Retirement Account Money

You have an ownership interest in your retirement accounts. You will probably have investment choices with your thrift savings account, and you certainly have choices with your IRA account. Rely on your financial advisor to the extent that you are comfortable; but as the account owner, you will pay the price or benefit from whatever happens. Learn at least the basics:

• How much money must you save to meet your financial goals?
• How much time do you have to save for retirement?
• How much risk are you willing to take?

The investment terminology might be new to you, but the facts won't be. There are different kinds of investments you can buy with your retirement dollars. You will want to choose a certain mix of investments for your account that reflects the amount of risk that you are willing to take. Remember that as the rate of return you want to achieve goes up, so does the risk. You will want a balance that gets you to your goal with a risk factor that you can live (and sleep) with. The main categories of investment opportunities are:

• stocks
• bonds
• cash and cash equivalents

Retirement Investment Basics

The Basics of Investing in Mutual Funds Mutual funds are an excellent financial vehicle for investors seeking Diversification, Professional Management, Liquidity, Convenience, and Affordability. Many individuals, companies, pension funds and some governments have selected mutual funds as the way to invest in today's financial markets. Whether you are a small investor or a large institutional investor, whether you are a conservative government bond investor or a high risk one, there is a mutual fund available suited for just about every investor.

A mutual fund is a pool of stocks or bonds, sometimes both, owned on a proportionate basis by everyone who has invested in the fund. All investment gains as well as fund expenses are shared proportionately by the fund owners, called shareholders.

It is easy to invest in a mutual fund. Many mutual funds require a $1,000 initial investment to get started. The amount to be invested can be remitted by check or wire transfer, as a means of convenience.

Once a mutual fund account is established, each investor receives an account statement regularly, often quarterly. An investor can add additional investment sums at anytime, if he so desires. He can also withdraw his investment or a portion of it easily.

In general, it costs an investor less to invest in a mutual fund pool of stocks and bonds than if he tried to duplicate that same portfolio of stocks and bonds individually. All mutual funds, however, have asset management fees. Some mutual funds impose fees when you invest in them or redeem your shares. It is important to investigate mutual fund fees before investing. Read the mutual fund prospectus to find out about the fees and other provisions of a fund.

It is just as important to assess a fund's investment performance minus all such fees to determine if a fund has a good track record. An acceptable net investment performance record (investment return minus all fees) for a mutual fund should be your investment objective when selecting a fund. Keep in mind, however, that past performance is not a guarantee of a fund's future performance. Mutual Fund principal will fluctuate and be worth more or less than the original investment when redeemed.

Investing for Retirement

Should you invest in an IRA?
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are a popular choice for those who want to save for their retirement. Both Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs allow your contributions to grow tax-deferred until retirement. With both, you can choose from a wide range of investment options, including mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and certificates of deposit (CDs).

Which kind of IRA might be right for you?

Traditional IRAs
Contributions to a Traditional IRA are tax-deductible, with certain restrictions. When you withdraw money in retirement, it is taxed as ordinary income. If you withdraw money before age 59 ½, you must generally pay tax on the withdrawal, plus a 10% penalty.

If you think your tax rate in retirement will be lower than it is now, and if you do not plan to withdraw your money before age 59 ½, a Traditional IRA may be the best choice for you.

Roth IRAs

Contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax-deductible — but your withdrawals after age 59 ½ are not subject to federal tax. In addition, you may withdraw your contributions (but not your earnings) at any time without paying a penalty.

If you think your tax rate in retirement will be higher than it is now, or you might need your money before age 59 ½, a Roth IRA may be the best choice for you. In addition, if your income is too high to qualify for the Traditional IRA tax deduction, a Roth IRA may be a good alternative.

How to Invest in Retirement

Regardless of the market's inevitable misbehaviors, the long-term nature of investing in retirement still means that a healthy investment in stocks is the key to preserving financial security for the rest of your life.

In the past, conventional wisdom suggested that retirees follow two basic precepts: Switch your investments from stocks to safe, income-producing securities, such as bonds and CDs, and never spend your principal. Baloney. Today, for many retirees, especially younger ones, following either dictum could lead to financial calamity.

The new reality is that retirement is getting longer, perhaps 30 or 40 years or more, as more people retire earlier and lifespans steadily increase. Over such a long period, running from the possibility of stock-market risk by investing in fixed-income securities guarantees that you'll run straight into the risk of inflation.

"Inflation is your enemy, even if it's not hyperinflation," warns financial planner Deena Katz of Coral Gables, Fla. If, for example, prices rose at a rate of 3% a year, the cost of living would double in 24 years; at 5%, it would take only 14 years.

Commodity currency

A commodity currency is a name given to currencies of countries which depend heavily on the export of certain raw materials for income. These countries are typically developing countries, eg. countries like Burundi, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea; but also include developed countries like Australia and Iceland. In the foreign exchange market, commodity currencies generally refer to the Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, and the South African Rand.

Currency Trader: Add the World to Your Portfolio

When it comes to portfolio diversification, more and more investors are thinking globally. Why? Because the volume of the global currencies market on an average day reaches $2.5 trillion—46 times all other futures markets combined! This massive volume creates opportunities for more flexibility, more liquidity, less volatility and more cost-effective transaction amounts.

This currency trading course prepares you to trade the foreign exchange (forex) markets like a pro. The course teaches the same risk management skills and principles that professional, institutional and advanced individual currency traders utilize. You’ll learn the following:

• How the forex markets function.
• How to identify the currencies you want to trade using technical indicators.
• How to develop entry and exit strategies.
• How to interpret foreign currency trends.
• How the currency market and economic fundamentals can affect your stock and option profits.
• How to identify buy and sell signals from the price action of the world currency market.
• How fundamentals impact each foreign market and your trading decisions.

The Euro Scrapes Lows Against the Dollar as
U.S. Assets Appeal

The euro fell to its lowest level in more than five weeks against the dollar Monday after the yield differential between 10-year U.S. notes and similar-maturity German debt widened, enhancing the appeal of U.S. assets.

"We've had a sharp rally in U.S. yields favoring the dollar and prompting the market to consolidate the euro at slightly lower levels," said Brian Dolan, research director at Forex.com, a unit of online currency trading firm Gain Capital in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The difference in yields between 10-year Treasury notes and comparable German bunds is 48 basis points. It reached 49 basis points on May 18, the highest since April 18. The spread has widened about 8 basis points since May 15.

"The euro-dollar was so grossly overbought that at this point the unwind is quite natural," said Boris Schlossberg, a strategist at DailyFX.com.

At 4 p.m., the euro fell to $1.3470 from $1.3512 late Friday.

In other currency trading, the dollar rose to ¥121.445 from ¥121.083 and the pound eased to $1.9709 from $1.9752. The dollar climbed to 1.2303 Swiss francs from 1.2271 francs.

The yen was lower as traders borrowed yen to buy other assets abroad.

"The carry trade continues unabated for the time being," said Schlossberg. "The market's risk appetite has almost turned into gluttony."

The yen fell against 14 of 16 most-active currencies after Asian stock markets reversed their declines and equity indexes in the United States gained.

Volatility on one-month yen options versus the dollar fell to 6.35 percent, from 6.5 percent Friday and 7.58 percent a month earlier. Lower volatility reduces the currency risk involved in carry trades.

In China, the yuan was little changed at 7.6661 versus the U.S. currency Monday. The People's Bank of China raised the one-year benchmark lending rate to 6.57 percent on Friday. China also widened the yuan's daily trading band against the dollar to 0.5 percent from 0.3 percent, which allows the currency to gain faster.

Currency Focus

GBP/USD: Still going up

The UK trade balance figures have been weaker than expected, with a final -4.4B pounds against the expected -3.7B. This movement hasn’t affected much at the GBP/USD that is still on an upward trend and consolidating in the Ichimoku cloud.

On the technical point of view, Nicolle Elliot, Senior Technical Analyst at Mizuho Corporate Bank, points that the proper strategy is to "attempt longs at 2.0265 but be prepared to add to 2.0150; stop well below 2.0000. Cover longs ahead of 2.0400."

Forex - Dollar stays close to low vs euro as Bernanke refuses to give rate hint

The dollar remained close to its all-time low against the euro after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke failed to give markets any further guidance on whether and by how-much the Federal Reserve will cut US interest rates next week.

In a speech in Berlin, Bernanke chose instead to discuss the US's large current account deficit - saying it cannot go indefinitely but is not currently a large drain on the US economy.

Market participants had been hoping Bernanke would give some indication of whether the Fed would cut its key Fed funds rate. However his silence on the matter has left most markets unchanged in their view that rates will go down.

"The fact that he's not said anything is taken by the markets as validating their expectation that the Fed is going to start cutting rates aggressively," said Gavin Friend, currency strategist at Commerzbank.

Most market participants had already priced in a quarter point reduction in the benchmark Fed funds rate, to 5.00 pct, to rein in the effects of the credit crunch on the wider US economy, but last week's disappointing jobs report for August raised the prospect that the Fed may be more aggressive on Sept 18 and cut by 50 basis points. This in turn has pushed the dollar lower against the euro.

However Bernanke did address the problem of the global imbalances in current accounts, saying they needed to be addressed to reduce the "potential strains associated with financing a large quantity of international liabilities and likely allow a smoother adjustment in financial markets,".

This caused the dollar to slip slightly against the yen as it implied policy makers may step up their efforts to curb the carry trade - where investors borrow in low-yielding currencies such as the yen to invest in high yielding ones elsewhere.

"Bernanke did not focus on the rate outlook but on global imbalances, a point which indirectly focuses on the carry trade since this is seen as a result of the global imbalances," said Rhonda Staskow at Thomson IFR Markets.

Earlier today figures showed the US trade deficit narrowed to 59.2 bln usd in July from an upwardly-revised 59.4 bln in June - slightly worse than expectations for and improvement to 59.0 bln.

Meanwhile comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet that inflation risks remain to the upside helped the euro maintain support.

Online Investing

Online investing has become very common, because of it's simplicity. There are many brokers that offer possibility of investing from the convenience of your home.

The only stock brokers I will cover are online discount brokers such as Sharebuilder, Ameritrade, etc. In order to trade online you have to open an account with an online broker. Number of brokers online is big, and it's getting bigger every day. This makes it hard for people to chose the one that will suite their needs the best. All of online brokers have their con's and pros, so sometimes it is hard to chose the right one. However there are a few that stand out from the crowd, the ones that have been around long enough and proved them selves worth your attention.

I have made a Comparison Table from which you can see the key characteristics of 4 major online brokers that, in my opinion are currently the best.

The reason I only cover discount brokers and not full service brokers is because of the huge price difference. Discount brokers will charge you anywhere from $5-$20 per transactions, where full time brokers can charge you as much as $150. Alternatively, they can provide unlimited free trades, but charge an annual percentage on your total assets. In any case, you will spend much more money if you chose full time broker. However, if you are reading this, you are probably not interested in a full time broker, as you have decided to learn how to invest, and make decisions for your self by purchasing stocks through a discount broker. Good decision.