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The Following Story is from Associated Content and brought to you by financial advisors

ACORN has been under fire repeatedly since last fall, accused of engineering election fraud, but the latest allegations, backed up by video, will convince even the most ardent ACORN supporters that something stinks in its Baltimore office.

Investigative journalist James O'Keefe from the Web site Big Government and a woman friend set up a video sting operation to see what advice the Baltimore ACORN office would dispense to a prostitute seeking to avoid taxes and hassles with the cops. They discussed how to create tax documentation that would satisfy requirements for a loan for a house to be used as a brothel with both the intake worker Shira and ACORN's tax adviser Tonja.

The purported prostitute Kenya told the ACORN Baltimore “tax expert” Tonja on the video that she makes $8,000 per month. Tonja replied, “…so we will put down that you made the $9,600 for the year.”

Tonja then searched the tax rules for a code to describe Kenya's line of work, prostitution. The ACORN representative told Kenya to describe her occupation as “performing artist.” Tonja, the tax expert from ACORN's Baltimore office, later reminded Kenya on video to refer to her business as performing arts, noting that if she referred to it as prostitution, “it is illegal, you are going to get shut down.”

Tonja at ACORN's Baltimore office similarly coached Kenya on how she could create the appearance of a business loss so she would not have to pay self-employment taxes. After Kenya's “boyfriend” mentions condoms as a business expense, Tonja suggests a write-off for clothing and grooming.

ACORN advised Kenya not to worry about the 13 underage, illegal workers she planned to hire from El Salvador.

“If they don't have Social Security numbers, you don't have to worry about them because they can't pay taxes anyway, ” she proclaimed. But she advises the reporting of three of the illegal aliens as relatives to enable Kenya to falsely claim child tax credit and additional child tax credit.

A tax return based on this illegal advice was scheduled to be prepared for the fee of $50, a discount off ACORN's usual $150 price.

ACORN's coaching fits an unfortunate pattern often used by scam artists. When I worked for the U.S. Department of Education, I litigated a case in which the State of New York had sent investigators into trade schools suspected of student financial aid fraud.

Just like in the Baltimore ACORN video, the trade school scam involved collusion among employees and friendly coaching aimed at procuring fraud.

The pattern starts out with suggestions about the consequences of reporting truthful information. In the Wilfred case, where the issue was independent student status, a school employee advised the applicant, “…when you say that you live with your parents, you don't get as much financial aid…”

When the applicant responds positively to the suggestion, the ante is upped with an actual suggestion to commit fraud. In the Wilfred case, the investigator later said “Yeah, just say it's a friend that lives there, not your parents.”

Scott Levenson called the ACORN video “false and defamatory and an attempt at 'gotcha' journalism.”

Levenson claimed, “This film crew tried to pull this sham at other offices and failed. ACORN wants to see the full video before commenting further.”

Like any sting operation, the ACORN video has a gotcha element, but the real problem for ACORN with this surreptitious video of its Baltimore office operation is now what didn't happen in elsewhere but what did happen in Baltimore.

Whether O'Keefe and Big Government tried to sting other ACORN offices and failed is a red herring because his Baltimore sting video, assuming its authenticity, appears to have turned up the goods on ACORN. The ACORN video doesn't prove anything with respect to the organization's activities nationwide, but it discloses all anyone needs to know about the Baltimore office.

Sources: http://www.watcherofweasels.org/acorn-caught-on-tape-the-new-shocking-acorn-video/; http://www.usmessageboard.com/current-events/87708-acorn-baltimore-flat-out-corruption-on-display-4.html; http://biggovernment.com/; In the Matter of 56 Postsecondary Educational Affiliates (Wilfred American Educational Corp. and/or Philip E. Jakeway, Jr.), U.S. Department of Education, Exhibit G-64.

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The Following blog post is brought to you by financial advisor

The world of finance is in a mess and everybody is accusing everybody else. It is the “rich stockholders”, the CEO's, the workers demanding extra benefits, the consumers not buying enough, or to many regulators. Everyone is blaming somebody else. I went to those sources of infinite wisdom and financial advice, the Sunday Funnies.

In the early 1990's, there was a Calvin and Hobbes that addresses the situation almost perfectly. Calvin is trying to sell lemonade at $15/glass, a bit expensive even by today's standards, and Suzie Derkins ask how he can charge so much. Calvin's reply is the classic “it is supply and demand”. He then starts his tirade.

“As the sole stockholder in this enterprise I demand a monstrous profit on my investment! And as President and CEO of the company I demand an exorbitant annual salary! And as my one employee, I demand a high hourly wage and all sorts of company benefits!”

Suzie then asks about the quality of the product, it appears to be a whole lemon in sludge water, and Calvin replies “'Caveat Emptor' is the motto we stand behind. I'd have to charge more if we followed the health and environmental regulations.” Suzie goes elsewhere for a drink, Calvin screams”Sure! Put me out of a job! It is you Anti-Business types who ruin the economy”.

Who is responsible for businesses collapsing? Stockholders who “demand a monstrous profit” and CEOs demanding 'Exorbitant annual salary” certainly both share in the responsibility. Pirate captains only got a half share more than the crew in the old days, and it the ship was caught they were beheaded while the crew was fined or served prison terms! In business, like piracy, one takes chances but the pirates knew that demanding too much more wasn't a good idea!

And then there are the employees who “demand a high hourly wage and all sorts of company benefits” then either slack off at work or steal from the company. Most employees don't, but those that do share in the responsibility for the current collapse of businesses. People need to realize that a decent amount of work is needed by everybody to keep things going. A coffee room is nice, but requiring plush sofas with large screen HDTV and two hour lunches is a bit excessive; the business owner will set up some where else!

Screaming at the consumer for going elsewhere, and with the internet there are a lot of “elsewheres” to go, does no good. Lower the price and supply a better quality product. Otherwise business will be doing as Calvin does in the last frame; he goes to his Mom (Government) and says “I need to be subsidized!”

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The Following Story is from Associated Content and brought to you by financial advisors

As a single mother for many years, I feel that I have tons of practical financial advice to offer other single mothers. When it comes to saving money and becoming financially independent, my first piece of advice may not seem practical, but it can be the biggest way to save money and give your children the quality time that they desperately need. What is this huge piece of advice you ask? Are you sure you are ready? Here it is, stay single and don't date.

I know that it is not a popular opinion or piece of advice but I will give you the thought process behind this financial advice for single mothers. Naturally when a woman has a man in her life that she is attracted to, she will want to spend money on things that are not necessities. The bra with the under-wire that is starting to poke through the fabric will instantly have to be replaced if she even suspect that someone else will be seeing it. The panties that she has comfortably worn for years will start to look a bit shabby when she envisions undressing in front of a man that she is trying to attract. The mismatched sheets that are a bit thread barren are no longer good enough to allow someone else to sleep on even though they have worked perfectly for her. Are you getting the picture here?

While you may think that all of this is a bit silly, let's look at another side of this financial advice for single mothers. When dating, you will most likely want to have a night out on occasion and while the man may be more than willing to pick up the tab for dinner and a movie, the mother will be picking up the tab for the new outfit and the sitter for the kids. Eat in you say….Even if you are comfortable enough to have the man over for dinner and think that you can save a bit on a sitter. Wrong….you may not be spending money on the sitter but will what you typically serve your children and yourself for dinner be adequate to feed a man that you are trying to attract? I can honestly say that it wouldn't work in my house. My daughter and I typically eat light, healthy meals that contain very little meat. I don't think my typical dinner menu would have any man begging to come over for more.

Not only can dating be expensive for a single mother, it also takes time and that is something that most single mothers are short on. The spare time that you do have should be spent with your children or with a second job that can be done from home. When I started dating, my income instantly dropped because the time that I had spent writing was now being spent with a man that was not contributing to my bottom line. This may be a harsh way to look at your finances but dating is expensive and can take precious time away from other activities such as spending time with your children or working a second job. Take from this advice what you may but as a single mother myself, this is the best piece of financial advice that I can give to single mothers.

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The Following blog post is brought to you by financial advisor

Mari: So many workshops and books on financial planning seem to focus on very general advice – reduce debt and spending, increase savings etc. It's hard to gain momentum with the very fist steps seem so big. What are some things people can do right now, say in the next 15 minutes to an hour, to improve their financial situation?

Mike: The very first thing you need to do before anything else is to decide what you want out of this. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to early? Do you want to travel? Deciding that will help you make a successful plan. Don't make the list more than three items – stay focused.

There is tremendous power in writing it down. Having it in writing means you're committing to it. You're responsible for it. Now it can look back at you and ask, “What are you doing to accomplish this?” Keep it in sight and make it really alive to you.

Second, find someone to talk to. Either find a professional advisor of some sort or a trustworthy confidante – but someone who has no emotional stake in your financial situation. You want to talk to someone who can be neutral and objective – someone safe to share your financial information with. Most people are really hesitant to talk to a professional and they really shouldn't be. If the first advisor you speak with doesn't make you feel well informed and well armed to make decisions, keep looking until you find one that does. Find someone who really listens to you.

Third, pay attention to where your money is going. Many people don't really look at where all of their money is going. They pay attention to the utility bills, the cable bill, the phone bill – but where they really need to look is at the lifestyle choices. How many times do you eat out a month? How often do you go to the movies? That sort of thing. These aren't required bills – these are choices. They key is to pay attention to the things you choose. If you need to eat out do to schedules or something, that's fine – just make those choices consciously.

Fourth, make a plan. This is part of being an adult about finances. The way you live is a choice. This is the perfect time to down with a professional and make a plan. The most automatic plans are the most successful.

One important note during the planning process – don't spend a lot of time beating yourself up about bad financial decisions you've made in the past. You spent the money you saved on something else – that's okay. We save me to, at some point, spend it on something. Start [making better money decisions] now. There is always time to do something. You're far more powerful than you think you are. Even the month before you retire, there are things you can do to get in better financial shape. That's why you find a professional who's gone through the process over and over. You'll retire once (probably) – your financial advisor has retired (others) dozens even hundreds of times.

And remember, we're all completely free to do whatever we want to do. What we are not free to choose are the consequences. Don't lose site of what consequences your choices today will bring you down the road.

Debt

Mari: Now, what can you tell me about dealing with debt? Other than the obvious -reduce credit card spending etc.

Mike:
Never take anything at face value. Educate yourself on the terms of all of your debts.
Negotiate everywhere you can. Call your lenders and ask them for a better rate – but act in good faith. You have to have built up some credibility to ask for them to reduce interest rates etc. Pay on time every time.
Learn to live on cash. Stop adding to the cards and break the habit of living on credit.
Buy used, especially big ticket items that instantly loose value.
Live within your means. For example, don't buy the bigger house just because your real estate agent says you can.

Historical Perspective
A little bit of background on our psychology of investing. Most people investing today have only experience success in the market. We're on the longest bull run in history – over 25 years. The dot.com bust was only 2 years. There have been, twice in our country's past, periods of time (somewhere between 1932 and 1964) where the markets fluctuated but overall didn't gain. We're all kind of fooled by this constant increase. We don't always get the concept of investing for a lifetime. We have a very spoiled mentality in a way. We always figure that when it comes to saving we can always make it up, instead of acting consistently.

An example:
Say you, at 20 years old, saved $3000 a year for five years (which works out to be $250 a month to end at $15000) and then stopped – put no more money in at all and just left it making about 10% (the S&P 500 has been around 11% for example), for forty years. You would have $1.6 million dollars at 65. The same principle that's making your debt go up, can make your savings go up as well.

Basically, the key is sacrifice a little now to be more secure later. Our grandparents are reaping the rewards of consistent saving, and so can we. Their children, the baby-boomers, have done sort of a hodgepodge of different financial strategies. Generally, they've saved a bit, though not as much as their parents usually, and they tend not have been as consistent. Now, those people in their 20's – 40's has been even more inconsistent and add to that more debt. They also tend to be much more skeptical of the financial advice they get. The key to financial success [in that situation] is small, consistent actions.

Most financial advisors will advise a broad, diversified portfolio that's market based. This advice is based on the market continually going up as it has been. Well, this is the market being up. There are more options than just the market-based products for investors who want something with a guaranteed return. Still, the point is to do something. It's the habit that counts more than the dollar amount.

It's also a smart idea to have good tax advice – the new tax laws have changed things considerably and if you don't understand the impact, it can cost you money and power. Make sure any advisor you get (tax or financial) informs and empowers you. You want to be empowered with information not just told information.

Mari: Thank you so much for your time, Mike.

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This Blog Post is from Associated Content and brought to you by financial advisors

If you worked for several years and have saved some money, you need to know how best to invest that money. If you are retired, and have a pension and / or 401K plan, you need to be sure your savings and pension are invested wisely to guarantee a worry-free future. Today, financial information is available on the internet and many people who have assets follow the stock market and investigate ways to invest their assets. However, there are so many different types of financial instruments today offered by both small and large investment firms and banks, that it is truly impossible for any single individual to understand everything that is available for them, and what is best for them. Everyone has different financial needs and goals, and the only one who can really put the right investments in place for those needs and goals is a good financial advisor.

WHAT IS A “GOOD” FINANCIAL ADVISOR?

No financial advisor gives foolproof advice. As everyone knows, financial markets are fickle and can turn on a dime. However, a good financial advisor will try to minimize the financial risks for you by gaining an understanding of your particular situation and lifestyle goals. The financial advisor must be aware of all of your assets, your current lifestyle, and your retirement goals. For example, the financial advisor needs to ask the following: If you are not already retired, do you have a timeline for retirement and a lifestyle goal after retirement? If you are young and married, or with a partner, do you have children or plan to have children? How much ready cash do you need yearly? Do you like to be conservative in your investments, or do you want to take some risk? How much risk are you willing to take? These are just a few of the questions you will be asked by a financial advisor. Many large financial services firms use a special tool or investment questionnaire that you will be asked to complete with the financial advisor in order to answer these types of questions. The answers to this questionnaire are then analyzed to help the financial advisor put together an appropriate investment plan.

Once the financial advisor has an understanding of your assets and goals, the financial plan should include a diversified portfolio of various instruments to meet your goals. Depending on your age, lifestyle needs and retirement goals, there are basic formulas for ensuring that you don't have too much stock, or too many bonds, or too much ready cash not invested. If your financial advisor is with a large investment firm, there are financial instruments that mix stocks and bonds and therefore give you an upside no matter what happens in the stock market. There are also investment opportunities in overseas markets and funds. The good financial advisor will make you aware of the various options that will neither give you a windfall, then let the bottom fall out, or be too conservative that you will make little on your investment. The keyword in investment is balance. A good financial advisor will help you strike a balance.

WHERE DO YOU FIND GOOD FINANCIAL ADVISOR

Everyone has read the headlines about those financial advisors who have lost people's life savings. Sometimes it is difficult to know whether you have a good advisor. However, if you do a little research, and ask the right questions, you can be somewhat confident that you have a good advisor.

There are many ways to do research on financial advisors. The internet is certainly a good source of investigating advisor reviews. In addition, buy some of the investment related magazines, such as: Business Week and Money Magazine. These magazines usually discuss advisory services and latest trends in the markets. The September 11, 2006 Business Week On-Line issue has an article entitled, “Taking Stock of Your Financial Adviser”. The article provides seven questions you need to ask to learn if your financial advisor is good. It is also a good guide if you are looking for a financial advisor, and outlines the fees involved in financial advisory services.

It is also important to do research into financial services firms who provide advisory services. There are many large and small financial services firms, but before you seek the services of these firms, find out something about their advisory services, their investment philosophies, etc. The larger and more well-known financial services firms will obviously have a broader range of financial products to offer, and their advisors should be more skilled.

MONITORING YOUR PORTFOLIO

Once you are on board with a financial advisor and your portfolio is put together, you need to monitor that portfolio. You should reach an agreement with the financial advisor on how often you will review together the performance of your portfolio. Most financial advisors will meet with you at least yearly to do a complete review of your portfolio's performance and discuss potential changes to the direction of your investments. In the interim, you should not feel shy to ask questions as you review monthly and / or quarterly statements of your portfolio's performance. Sometimes investments will need to be adjusted prior to a formal meeting with your advisor, especially if your life situation changes, or the markets change radically.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The bottom line of smart investing is that your assets should grow over time. Trusting a financial advisor, and being confident that he or she is giving you the best advice over a number of years is critically important to you and your family's future.

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The Following Blog Post is from Associated Content and brought to you by financial advisor

It's pretty unlikely that a college student won't need financial advice at one point. Usually college is when you move on to your first flat and you have to manage your own finances. So where can a college student go for free financial advice?

The obvious first stop is your parents. They are likely to have experience in managing their own finance and they won't charge you for financial advice. The only reason to avoid advice from your parents is if you are trying to prove you can make it on your own. Just remember, everyone starts from the bottom. Your parents are unlikely to judge you for simply asking for advice. If you don't want to ask your parents, or they are unavailable, you have other options.

Mature students, meaning students who have entered college at a later stage not students who act responsibly, will have managed their finances in the past. By simply asking them for free financial advice you could even make a new friend at college.

Other college students are likely in the same financial situation as you. By asking around you might find another student in the same situation as you. Take their advice with a grain of salt, they are probably new to this as well, but take their advice.

Another source of free financial advice available to college students is the college itself. By asking around, or checking the college website, you will find some sort of student association. The staff members here are trained to offer free advice to college students, including financial advice. You can usually contact them by email, phone or in person. Check with your individual college to learn the procedure.

The internet is a major source for education, including financial advice. There is a flood of financial information available online; you just need to find it. For example, you could use a search engine to look for “Free financial advice for college students” or contact people for advice through student message boards or chat rooms.

You should keep in mind any information you read on the internet may not be accurate for your situation or at all. You can use the internet for a broad understanding or idea, then confirm it with a reliable source.

Your bank or building society might also offer free financial advice. Again, you would be talking to trained staff members who understand finances and college student's needs. Check with your bank or building society to see if they offer free financial advice.

A college student will never be judged for needing financial advice. Never feel like you have to deal with financial pressure on your own. If asking for help is a problem for you then take advice from your bank, building society or student association and ask for it to be kept confidential.

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The Following Story is brought to you by financial advisors

The attributes of a good Financial Advisor

If you are one of those blessed people at whom the goddess of fortune smiles often and you are ignorant of the best methods of investment, then you definitely need the assistance of a good Financial Advisor. A Financial Advisor is a person who helps his clients invests money in the best possible methods so that they could reap the maximum profits. One of his main duties is to analyze his client's financial situation and form a clear understanding of his client's financial goals and risk tolerance. Based on his analysis, he should be able to recommend the best investment method for his client. Since we are entrusting our fortune in the hands of a Financial Advisor, he should be honest, reliable and should have good work ethics. Above all, he should be mainly concerned about our financial gain. While these are the important qualities of a Financial Advisor, he should also be endowed with the following traits:

The Parameters for choosing a Financial Advisor

Goal setting-Most of us nurture dreams of spending our money on a variety of things to make our life more comfortable. However, since most of us are not experts in the financial field, we do not have a clear idea of the exact amount to be spent to make our dreams come true .Here, the Financial Advisor arrives as our guardian angel. Since he is a professional, he will have enough proficiency to calculate the exact amount of money to be spent on our needs by prioritizing them.

Planning-Financial planning is the most tedious job one is forced to do irrespective of one's aptitude. Amateurs can make simple financial plans. However, when it comes to make complex financial plans, it should be entrusted to the hands of our Financial Advisor. A good Financial Advisor will possess the ability to sketch our financial needs into best financial plans.

Professional Guidance-When we come across investments we are completely bewildered by the endless technicalities involved in them. Our Financial Advisor is the only person who can eliminate our confusion. He will explain to us the pros and cons of each investment and help us choose the best investment method keeping our financial situation in mind.

Personal attention-Each person is unique. Similarly, the financial need of each person is also unique. Our Financial Advisor should be able to choose the investment that will suit our personal needs. Above all, there should be a bond of understanding built between the financial advisor and his client.

We should choose our Financial Advisor only after much research. We should take the advice of our friends and relatives. The most important point to keep in mind is that our Financial Advisor is the person who will make our financial situation better or worse depending upon his potentials. We should not compromise while choosing our Financial Advisor because a good Financial Advisor will bestow a bright future upon us.

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I made a mistake when I tackled Stephen M. Pollan's duo of financial advice books – I read the sequel, 'Live Rich,' before the original, 'Die Broke.' This is because I'd (somewhat understandably) imagined 'living' occurred before 'dying.'

As it turned out, it didn't really matter. Although ostensibly offering advice on two different facets of your financial affairs, the advice contained within 'Live Rich' is pretty-much paralleled word for word in 'Die Broke'.

'Die Broke' is a straightforward guide to getting the best out of life while you're still alive. Summed up, it simply advises readers to spend their kid's inheritance – so a family can enjoy that money together, instead of only after their parent's death.

The best line of the book (easily worth the purchase price) is this mantra: “The last cheque you write should be to the funeral director – and it should bounce.”

'Live Rich,' the sequel, has more practical financial advice. Much of it is rehashed from 'Die Broke' – such as cutting up your credit cards, paying cash where you can and forgetting about the concept of 'retirement.' It adds a new dimension, though, with Pollan's advice to 'quit today.'

That shouldn't be taken literally – he doesn't advise readers to hand in their two weeks notice – but he does suggest that they abandon the obedient 'worker bee' mentality and treat their job like a temporary assignment, rather than a career.

It's a 21st century alternative to a 19th century work mentality and neatly mirrors the way corporate America has similarly abandoned the concept of employee loyalty.

The bulk of both books is taken up with a glossary of advice, which is where the age of the books is most noticeable. Pollan advices his clients to get a pager, recommends the fastest modem available (a whopping 56.6k) and ponders if cell-phones will be a technology that catches on.

But despite some aspects of these books being obviously dated, the advice contained within them is sterling stuff. I'm not going to suggest reading them will 'change your life' but it'll certainly change your preconceptions.

My only advice? It's really not necessary to read both – 'Live Rich' is more of an updated version of 'Die Broke' than a follow-up – so you'll get the gist of Pollan's pragmatic advice from reading that edition alone.

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Mari: So many workshops and books on financial planning seem to focus on very general advice – reduce debt and spending, increase savings etc. It's hard to gain momentum with the very fist steps seem so big. What are some things people can do right now, say in the next 15 minutes to an hour, to improve their financial situation?

Mike: The very first thing you need to do before anything else is to decide what you want out of this. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to early? Do you want to travel? Deciding that will help you make a successful plan. Don't make the list more than three items – stay focused.

There is tremendous power in writing it down. Having it in writing means you're committing to it. You're responsible for it. Now it can look back at you and ask, “What are you doing to accomplish this?” Keep it in sight and make it really alive to you.

Second, find someone to talk to. Either find a professional advisor of some sort or a trustworthy confidante – but someone who has no emotional stake in your financial situation. You want to talk to someone who can be neutral and objective – someone safe to share your financial information with. Most people are really hesitant to talk to a professional and they really shouldn't be. If the first advisor you speak with doesn't make you feel well informed and well armed to make decisions, keep looking until you find one that does. Find someone who really listens to you.

Third, pay attention to where your money is going. Many people don't really look at where all of their money is going. They pay attention to the utility bills, the cable bill, the phone bill – but where they really need to look is at the lifestyle choices. How many times do you eat out a month? How often do you go to the movies? That sort of thing. These aren't required bills – these are choices. They key is to pay attention to the things you choose. If you need to eat out do to schedules or something, that's fine – just make those choices consciously.

Fourth, make a plan. This is part of being an adult about finances. The way you live is a choice. This is the perfect time to down with a professional and make a plan. The most automatic plans are the most successful.

One important note during the planning process – don't spend a lot of time beating yourself up about bad financial decisions you've made in the past. You spent the money you saved on something else – that's okay. We save me to, at some point, spend it on something. Start [making better money decisions] now. There is always time to do something. You're far more powerful than you think you are. Even the month before you retire, there are things you can do to get in better financial shape. That's why you find a professional who's gone through the process over and over. You'll retire once (probably) – your financial advisor has retired (others) dozens even hundreds of times.

And remember, we're all completely free to do whatever we want to do. What we are not free to choose are the consequences. Don't lose site of what consequences your choices today will bring you down the road.

Debt

Mari: Now, what can you tell me about dealing with debt? Other than the obvious -reduce credit card spending etc.

Mike:
Never take anything at face value. Educate yourself on the terms of all of your debts.
Negotiate everywhere you can. Call your lenders and ask them for a better rate – but act in good faith. You have to have built up some credibility to ask for them to reduce interest rates etc. Pay on time every time.
Learn to live on cash. Stop adding to the cards and break the habit of living on credit.
Buy used, especially big ticket items that instantly loose value.
Live within your means. For example, don't buy the bigger house just because your real estate agent says you can.

Historical Perspective
A little bit of background on our psychology of investing. Most people investing today have only experience success in the market. We're on the longest bull run in history – over 25 years. The dot.com bust was only 2 years. There have been, twice in our country's past, periods of time (somewhere between 1932 and 1964) where the markets fluctuated but overall didn't gain. We're all kind of fooled by this constant increase. We don't always get the concept of investing for a lifetime. We have a very spoiled mentality in a way. We always figure that when it comes to saving we can always make it up, instead of acting consistently.

An example:
Say you, at 20 years old, saved $3000 a year for five years (which works out to be $250 a month to end at $15000) and then stopped – put no more money in at all and just left it making about 10% (the S&P 500 has been around 11% for example), for forty years. You would have $1.6 million dollars at 65. The same principle that's making your debt go up, can make your savings go up as well.

Basically, the key is sacrifice a little now to be more secure later. Our grandparents are reaping the rewards of consistent saving, and so can we. Their children, the baby-boomers, have done sort of a hodgepodge of different financial strategies. Generally, they've saved a bit, though not as much as their parents usually, and they tend not have been as consistent. Now, those people in their 20's – 40's has been even more inconsistent and add to that more debt. They also tend to be much more skeptical of the financial advice they get. The key to financial success [in that situation] is small, consistent actions.

Most financial advisors will advise a broad, diversified portfolio that's market based. This advice is based on the market continually going up as it has been. Well, this is the market being up. There are more options than just the market-based products for investors who want something with a guaranteed return. Still, the point is to do something. It's the habit that counts more than the dollar amount.

It's also a smart idea to have good tax advice – the new tax laws have changed things considerably and if you don't understand the impact, it can cost you money and power. Make sure any advisor you get (tax or financial) informs and empowers you. You want to be empowered with information not just told information.

Mari: Thank you so much for your time, Mike.

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Preparing for retirement is a marathon event. It requires decades of planning and investing resources. However, while you can let your money grow without much supervision during the early years of your retirement savings years, as you get closer to your retirement date you need to be more hands-on with your retirement funds. When you are about ten years out from your anticipated retirement date you need to meet with your financial advisor to review the status of your retirement accounts. Below you will find five questions to ask your adviser that will help you to determine if you need to make any changes to your retirement investment strategies.

Should I Set Up a Firewall?

A firewall is a safety net that is made up of liquid funds that you can used to live on for between two and five years. A firewall account can be set up as early as ten years from your retirement date to ensure you have money available to see you through the first few years of your retirement. This activity is not usually executed until you are about five years out from retirement, however, if you don't know if you will be retiring early or not it can be a good idea to set one up early, especially if you have medical issues that may force an early retirement.

Am I Using the Right Investment Products?

Another important question to ask your financial adviser about ten years out from retirement is “am I using the right investment products?” This question will require your adviser to evaluate if your current investments are performing at a rate that will allow you to retire comfortably and to determine if your products are right for your income structure.

Will I Have Enough Money to Retire?

“Will I have enough money to retire?” is another very important question to ask at the ten year mark. Ten years is enough time to make adjustments to your investment strategies and investment rates to adjust for market fluctuations, inflation rates and other factors that may have changed the predicted outcome of your retirement portfolio. Your financial adviser can produce an updated prediction of how much money your portfolio “should” have when you are ready to retire.

What Changes Should I Make to…?

This is an open ended question that you will need to formulate to fit your needs and concerns. For example, you may want to ask about the changes that you need to make to your retirement investment strategies to retire with a higher monthly allowance, or what changes you need to make to support your new spouse in addition to yourself during retirement.

What Is Better, Early or Late Retirement?

A lot of people want to know if it is a better idea to retire early or to retire late. The answer to this question is going to depend a lot on your situation. For example, if you are miserable at your job and you have the option of retiring early then it is a good idea, however, if you love your job and want to have more money to work with when you retire then retiring later is the better option. Your adviser will be able to walk you thorugh various retirement scenarios to help you choose which option will be best for you.

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