Over the years, I’ve lost huge amounts of my retirement fund. I’ve been through the savings & loan fiasco, the tech stock bubble, the crash of 2008 and now this market. I can’t afford to lose my money again, so I’m considering moving it all to cash. do you think that’s a good move? I’m scared to death. — Cheryl P., Houston, Tex.

‘Scared to death’: Should I move into cash?

Trading Psychology – how to Survive and Thrive a Trading Loss

Let’s face it, trading losses can be tough. No one likes losing money. as every trader will learn sooner or later, trading losses are a routine part of the game. nevertheless, many traders find it difficult to accept inescapable trading losses.

When We Can’t Accept a Loss

It is the ability to accept the occasional trading loss that can be a key factor in whether or not you become a profitable trader. I am not saying trading losses are encouraged; but how you handle losses may significantly affect your degree of trading success.

Refusing to tolerate and properly handle trades that don’t work leads directly to trading errors. It is the inability to cope with the inevitable losing trade that causes traders to cut winning trades short, move stops in the middle of a trade, hold on to losing trades, average down, and fail to pull the trigger on sound trade setups.

Learning to accept and deal with trading loss may be just as important as making good trades.

Survival Tips

Here are seven steps you can take to survive and even thrive when suffering a loss:

1. Write down the trade as it occurred: Don’t sweep the loss under the rug! you need to learn from the loss (that is its value), so write it down. Include how you viewed the market at the time and how the market action and your indicators appeared to meet the criteria for a sound trade setup.

2. Evaluate the trade: once the trading day is over, go back to what you wrote and see what can be learned. Did you miss-read the market? was there something you failed to check? Did you take the trade even though it didn’t meet your trade criteria? Or, was the trade setup valid; it just didn’t work out?

3. Use the loss as a learning opportunity: ask yourself, “What I learn from this trade?” is there an insight about market action that can be gained? is there something about your trading behavior that needs to be addressed? whatever it is, you have an occasion to grasp something new, and that is valuable!

4. Take immediate corrective action: do you need to modify your trade setup? is there a rule for personal discipline you need to put in place? whatever you have learned, take immediate action.

5. keep your head and attitude right: You always have a choice about attitude. you can accept the loss as an inevitable part of trading and be grateful that you can learn from it, or you can enter a negative, downward spiral of feeling bad, getting down on yourself, and making yourself feel miserable. following the constructive steps outlined here and stay above all of this.

6. Remember, trading is based in probabilities: Every trade setup has a probability of winning and a probability for loss. over a large number of trades, a setup with an edge will be profitable. Any given trade is always uncertain. This is the law of trading probability.

7. Turn to others: We all need support. Talk to a trusted trading buddy, mentor, partner or spouse. It helps to unload a bit and you may gain a different perspective.

By Dr. Gary Dayton

Put these seven steps into practice and you will be on the road to surviving and even thriving from losses. To further your development, you can build more mental skills for your trading via a FREE, seven-part e-course on mental trading skills from http://www.tradingpsychologyedge.com/free-resources/7-part-ecourse/

You will receive weekly emails detailing practical mental tips you can immediately use to improve your trading. At the end of the series, you will also receive a bonus – so there are eight great tips in all.

Guest Commentary: How to Survive and Thrive a Trading Loss …

Where do you turn when a financial emergency strikes? Do you resort to credit cards, borrowing money from friends and family, or do you have some money set aside? How you respond to a financial crisis can significantly impact your finances for years to come. Tapping into resources that are meant for something else to cover an emergency can set your retirement back, take money away from a college fund, or even lead to bankruptcy. Creating a financial safety net lies at the foundation of any financial plan. we hope to never have to use it, but we’re thankful when it’s there in a time of need. Learn some of the ways you can create your own financial safety net.

Create a Financial Safety Net originally appeared on About.com Financial Planning on Sunday, January 30th, 2011 at 19:48:41.

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Create a Financial Safety Net

Cash matters are a number of the toughest issues encountered by just about everyone in the planet. Lots of people discover it difficult to be on top of their finances, because it is simply so onerous to maintain track of the incoming money, the payments, and the opposite bills, all at the identical time. Thankfully, there are actually online money management tools that folks can use to assist them preserve observe of their budget.Online money management tools are software or programs that assist people report and organize their monetary data so that they’ll be able to hold track of their monetary state of affairs, including the money they’re incomes, their expenses, investments, transactions, debts, and such. You’ll be able to actually see all of these numbers in one place, so that it is possible for you to to finally see a whole picture of your financial standing so that you will be able to stay in your budget. The packages also remind users when their payments are due so that the folks can settle these before the overdue date. A variety of these additionally give tips about how to be able to save more money and get you on monitor to achieve each your short term and long term monetary goals. these features make these tools extraordinarily useful for both private and professional use. People can use this to manage their household price range, while entrepreneurs can use this to maintain track of their firm’s monetary status.On-line money management tools can either be free or require a small charge for folks to make use of it. Like other forms of software, no online money management programs are the same. Even so, most of those are easy to install and use, customizable, and all of those could make you stay on prime of your budget nearly anyplace you might be, so long as you’ve got an Web connection. If you want to keep track of your monetary situation right down to the last penny, make use of online money management software program and scale back the complications you’ve got the place funds are concerned.Emanuel B. Acocella

In case you thirst for additional knowledge with regard to online money management, drop by the Author’s internet site without hesitation!

The Basics of Online Money Management Can Be Found Using the web

Since the creation of the Roth IRA, there have been income limits that have prevented higher earning households from opening Roth IRAs or converting traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. On January 1, 2010, income limits will be eliminated. This will allow any interested investor to convert traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs.

Complacency with monitoring our accounts’ diversification can lead to unnecessary risk. it is best not to be complacent about considering the current IRA conversion opportunity. it can be beneficial for many investors, and now may be a great time to consider whether it is right for you.

What is a Roth IRA?

Roth IRAs allow investors to put money aside for retirement. Money added to a Roth IRA does not get an immediate income tax deduction. there is no benefit upfront. The benefit comes later.

Investors are able to avoid income taxes on all gains earned on that money. Any cash flow from these accounts during retirement will be completely free of state and federal income taxes.

Converting traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs

Investors can convert some or all of the funds in their traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs. in the year of conversion, the investor will be required to pay income taxes on the amount converted. however, the benefit is that the funds will never be taxed again, regardless of the gain earned.

Benefits of converting

With our retirement account values down after the market fall of the last two years, now may be a good time to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Not only will the income tax liability be lower, but we can also take advantage of tax free gains as the market recovers.

Conversion may be good if we anticipate that our tax rates will be higher in retirement. While our highest marginal tax rate is 35% now, it has been higher in the past. Converting now enables us to pay at lower marginal tax rates than what may be in place when we choose to retire and start taking distributions.

We will also have the benefit of being in a lower tax bracket in retirement since the income we receive from the Roth IRA will be tax-free.

Another benefit of conversion is the ability to provide a lifetime of tax-free income to our beneficiaries. a stretch Roth IRA is similar to a stretch traditional IRA in that beneficiaries can take the required minimum distribution each year over their life expectancies. however, the Roth IRA option allows for both tax free growth and tax free distributions.

Before you convert, consider these issues

We should, however, make sure that we have sufficient funds available outside of our retirement accounts to pay the taxes required in the conversion. Funds cannot be taken out of a retirement account without penalty, so it is important to plan ahead to make sure funds are available before deciding to convert.

There will be an opportunity to spread the taxable income converted in 2010 over two tax years – half in 2011 and half in 2012.

We can also spread the conversion out over several years to spread out the tax payment over several years. This may be important to keep from pushing ourselves into a higher marginal tax bracket.

This conversion opportunity can be of great benefit, especially in these current economic times. If your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is below the current threshold, the best window for the conversion is now. If your MAGI is too high, the conversion date is fast approaching. in either case, it is important to talk to your financial professionals now to determine if this is right for you.

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Should I Convert to a Roth IRA? | FGHI.info

Another way experienced property investors make good money is that they search for and find properties that are not well taken care of financially. Sometimes an investor has a good property, but it is mismanaged and they are either losing or not making as much money as they should.

You see this in really large apartment complexes. if they are under bad management, they investors are probably losing money because of low rent amounts or because the manager does nothing about late or non existent rent payments. some tenants will take advantage of you in a second if you let them. you give them an inch, they take a mile. you must nip things like this in the bud.

So what can you look for to find this type of property? as mentioned earlier, checking the rent amounts will be a good indicator, you don’t want them too low. Also if the owner has maintenance problems, or needs money, or they have high vacancy rates. These are all good signs that the property is being mismanaged.

If you can find this type of property I say jump on it. Generally you can get great terms and you should get a great return on your real estate investment.

Of course you should look at the numbers seeing what potential is there and what is needed to realize that potential. Only get into the investment property if you can see on paper that you will be making enough money to justify the investment. look at the condition of the property and see how long the spaces have been vacant. the longer a space has been vacant the more poorly it has been managed.

Some of the other things would be easy to notice. the cleanliness of the vacant apartments, how much are they promoting the available spaces, things like that.

For more property investment advice to assist you in everything from finding foreclosures to buying rental property, please visit our real estate investing advice site.

1. Benefits of becoming a Real Estate Investor
2. Benefits of Real Estate Investing
3. Properties In Dubai are Still Stay Enough To Invest In with Zeal And Hope
4. Is it Wise to be Friends with Your Tenants?
5. How To Tackle Real-Estate Investments

Finding Investment Properties | Free Article Submission Site

Building societies are focusing on savers who want to put money aside on a monthly basis

Wrap up savings now for Christmas 2011

It began as a prudent investor and a low-risk investment is a good way to start investing. You may be right, without investing a broad knowledge of the stock market. With this strategy, if you collect can learn to invest your money in the value. your investment grows something with you.

Get a savings account that earns interest, if not already done so. You can use a savings account at the same bank where all your banking or when opening other banks. The money in your savings account for a certain percentage of interest. interest is usually compounded daily and paid monthly. it can not be much, but money is money and invest in a fun way.

Money market funds have a minimum balance and paying interest on your regular savings account. You do not even bank savings account or another bank to see which provides interest. Money works the same way as savings accounts, but allows only a limited number of viewers per month. more money is money, but only for a short period of time.

If you want an investment with a higher interest rate with minimal risk, proof of certificate of deposit or CD. an interest savings account or money market accounts. interest is paid regularly and you can also choose the investment term. You will receive a certificate of deposit at your bank and is guaranteed. You can ripen your original investment plus interest for the CD.

Investing in the treatment of such investment in mind. You can earn while you learn to invest and when you expand your options.

Individual Wealth Management, Business and Investment, your Partner for Building Wealth

Start Your Investment | individual wealth management

It’s a good thing we have the Fed on our side, promising future “easy money” policies and thereby making sure that market prices don’t do something nasty, like decrease.

Otherwise, you might have retailers and producers resorting to absolutely insane schemes, such as dropping prices on commodities and food and various necessary items. Obviously, in a credit-soaked economy like ours, price declines must be resisted at every opportunity. The last thing you want is for your present-day dollars to actually go farther (and past debts to grow more cumbersome).

Heresy, for sure.

Thankfully, the fine folks at Green Mountain Coffee have gotten the memo:

Green Mountain Coffee: We’re Raising Our Prices

I’m a big K-Cup and Keurig fan, so this eight percent increase (from $11.95 per box to $12.95) isn’t likely to dissuade me much.

So go ahead, Federal Reserve governors. Threaten to flood the system with more money. and smile, why don’t you.

K-Cup Prices to Increase

One of the most important things you can do for your future is to open a retirement account and set money aside. Money in your retirement account can grow in a tax-advantaged way that can benefit you down the road. However, just because your retirement account comes with tax advantages does not mean that you are using it efficiently. Here are 5 retirement account mistakes that could cost you:

1. Early Withdrawal

One of the most costly mistakes you can make with your retirement account is early withdrawal. when you withdraw money early from your retirement account, you have to pay a penalty and income taxes on the withdrawal. that can turn out to be a rather hefty sum. On top of that, when you withdraw your principal, it’s no longer in your account, working for you. The future losses from not having the money in there can be almost as devastating as the penalties. There are some situations in which you can avoid a penalty for early withdrawal, but the principal is still gone.

2. Converting Your Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA

One of the big excitements for this year is the ability to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA — no matter your income. However, this might not be the best idea. when you make the conversion, the amount that you move into a Roth will be subject to income taxes. you won’t have to pay an extra penalty, but you will have to pay taxes as if you were withdrawing from your traditional IRA. you can defer part of the hit, but it can still be costly.

3. Required Minimum Distributions

Once you hit the age of 70 1/2, you are required to take distributions from certain retirement accounts. these required minimum distributions (RMDs) can present a number of problems. First of all, some people forget to take them. second, you have to calculate how much of a RMD is required in your specific situation. As a result, if you make a mistake, you may not take out the required amount. if you do not take your full RMD, you are subject to a penalty. (A Roth IRA does not carry a RMD.)

4. Borrowing from Your Retirement Account

Just as when you withdraw money from your account early, when you borrow money from your retirement account you are taking out principal that should be earning money for you. when your money isn’t working for you, you are losing out. Additionally, if something happens to your job, you might be required to (unexpectedly) repay the loan at once. Another issue is that you might not get your retirement account repaid in the required amount of time, triggering penalties.

5. Rolling over an Inherited IRA

If you inherit an IRA, you can’t roll it over into your name — unless you are the spouse of the deceased. if you are a non-spouse inheritor, the money has to remain in the name of the deceased, and you are just the beneficiary. you can receive minimum distributions over time without tax penalty, but if you receive a direct distribution of the proceeds, or you roll over the IRA into your name, penalties could ensue. make sure you get help understanding the rules from a qualified tax professional.

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5 Retirement Account Mistakes You Should Not Make — Personal …