Too many people are living for today and not worrying about tomorrow. If you have not established a retirement plan, what do you expect to be able to live on? You may not be able to rely on Social Security. Whether you are in your twenties or fifties, steps should be taken now to plan for the future. Some long-term investing tips are as follows:
You must begin today to establish a savings plan. If your work has a 401(k) plan, max out the contributions to it, up to the portion that they will match your contributions. After that if you can, then invest in a Roth IRA. Balance your retirement savings between the two types of investments.
Some people are gamblers and live for the excitement of trying to beat the casino. In the long run the casino rarely loses. You should become an investor and not a speculator. If you want to have money for your retirement, you cannot afford to be gambling your savings on a hot tip. A steady investment plan will do you better in the long run. There are many sites built around the "beat the market" mentality. They make great promises. They remind me of those who have a great system to win while gambling. Having a long-term investing mentality will do you better over the long haul.
With your investing strategy, stay away from commodities. With commodity trading there is always a winner and a loser. Chances are you will always be the loser. You simply will not have enough information to do otherwise.
Stay away from the newest investment fad. There are always new and exciting ideas that come up. They will usually only make the brokers the money. Stick with the tried and true methods of making money. You will be glad you did in the long run.
Take the time to write out your long term investment goals. Break down your ultimate far out goal into smaller goals. Evaluate them annually. Stay the course and you will come to shore as a winner.
You should take your emotions out of the picture. Distrust your feelings whether they are euphoric when the market is up, or depressed if the market is down. The market will have swings. If you have made wise and informative investing decisions, you do not need to worry about that. The market will generally make eight to ten percent over the long run. A wise thing would be to not even look at the market, except on your annual review when you re-balance your investments.
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