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Investment

Business/Investment

Saving options for retirement-living the American dream in your silver age

When you are in your twenties or even early thirties, retirement seems a world away. You sometimes have a difficult time planning your next holiday, not what you will do 30-40 years from now. Without proper preparation, your bohemian dreams of sipping cocktails on a tropical beach or seeing the world with your partner could quickly turn into spending time around your back-yard.

The options for retirement plans consist of four choices, which you can sometimes combine to get more consistent savings. The first option is a 401(k) plan which is offered by the employer. This can be supplemented with a Roth 401(k). For additional savings or if you are self-employed, you could opt-in for a traditional IRA, to which you can add a Roth IRA.

Understanding the Roth advantages

This name comes from Senator William Roth Jr. who supported the Taxpayer Relief Act in 1997. By this bill, people can choose to supplement their pension savings with a certain amount, currently up to $5500/ (or $6500 for those over 50 years old) from money that has already been taxed once. This means that once you hit the retirement age, you can get money from your Roth account without paying additional taxes on them in the future.

Roth savings are an excellent option for young people since they have no control over the tax levels in the next decades. The upper cap on the income of $118,000 for singles and $184,000 for married couples also suggests that this option is for those with average earnings, but who can plan. Deductibility of the contributions also depends on the marital status and the filing status of the applicant. AAA Credit Guide offers a detailed description of the Roth IRA including tips and tricks.

401(k) or IRA?

The first myth that needs to be debunked is that this is not a choice, you can have both. The 401(k) plan is offered by your employer and comes with the promise that they will match your contribution to the pension fund up to a certain percentage of your salary, no mere than $17,000/year. Not choosing such a plan is like leaving free money on the table.  These funds are deposited into the retirement account before taxes; you will pay those when you use them.

The IRA (Individual Retirement Agreement) is a plan that you can sign up at any broker and contributions are deductible to lower your taxable income. People who are not in a traditional employment situation can only contribute to this kind of plan.

Putting it all together

If this all seems complicated, you could check out this flowchart to help you make a better decision. The key takeaways are: if your employer offers a traditional 401(k) (pre-tax) be sure to contribute to it and eventually ask about the option to get also a Roth 401(k) (after-tax). In the case of self-employed or those who still want more security, there is always the option of an IRA, either traditional (pre-tax) or Roth, depending on the income levels.

Business/Investment

Plan Your Trades Wisely

Any new venture requires research and planning. Trading is no exception, but unfortunately, many people jump in unprepared so that their trades are little more than gambles. If you want to become a successful trader, you must have a trading plan. Not only will it help you understand when to place trades, it will tell you know when to exit a trade, manage your risk and help you keep emotion out of your trading. It is important to invest time into researching and developing a plan that will work for you before you begin. Trial the plan, analyze its successes and failures and modify it as necessary and you will be more likely to have success in the future.

Set Your Goals

Before you can create a trading plan, you must set your goals. Take a piece of paper and pen and write them down to make them more concrete. You need to take into account your personality and your trading style in order to be able to set realistic and workable goals. Assess your strengths and weaknesses and how they will impact your trading. Include timeframes when setting your goals so that you have daily, weekly, monthly, bi-annual and annual goals. All of this is the first step to planning your actual trades.

Plan Entry, Stop and Profit Targets

By planning when you will enter a trade and when you will exit a trade, you avoid trading by emotion. Knowing when to exit a trade is just as important as understanding the signals of when to enter the trade. Exiting in time helps you manage your bankroll and will allow you to come back to trade another day. Setting these points forces you to plan a logical strategy and helps you stick to your strategy when you are trading.

Decide on Risk:Reward Ratios

You must plan your risk:reward ratio once you have already set your entry, stop and profit targets. The higher the ratio, the more reward you will have compared to risk and therefore, the more appealing the trade will be. A ratio of around 1:1.5 would look good. As part of this, you need to work out your risk in terms of how much of your capital you can risk on any one trade or in any one day. The amount will depend on your personal risk tolerance, but is typically between 1% and 5% of your total capital.

Keep Records

Keep records of everything. Of your plans, of your analysis, of your risk levels and targets, of your trading records and of your charts. These records allow you to go back and analyze the success or failure of your trade. From this, you can sit and tweak your plan, improving it as you go.

Conclusion

The key to trading successfully is planning your trades wisely. This will be different for each person as goals and personality vary between people. However, planning, recording and modifying your plans are the key to becoming a successful trader.

Business/Investment, Style

This $4000 Car Will Get You Dates

Go get yourself a 16 year old Subaru Outback and watch your life get better. Sure, Subaru is the car company that has made “Love” a central part of its advertising, but this car sells sex. It might not appear sexy from the outside. Hell, it probably even looks ugly, but one thing is certain — this 4000 dollar car will get you dates.

It’s less of the car getting you dates, actually, and more of how the car will allow you to get dates when you drive it. First of all, the car is already pretty old so you’ll be able to drive it with confidence. Forget about worrying if you’re going to scratch the thing because it probably has 20 dents all over the body already. You spend a lot of time in your car. Americans spend hours everyday in their car, so you need to be sure that it will make you confident. A Subaru Outback will allow you to do that because you’re basically saying “it’s all right here — take it or leave it.” Translate that car confidence into your daily life and you’ll be living up dates left and right.

When you pick your dates up and they get into your car, they’re going to feel totally at ease. This care oozes relaxation. Subaru initially made the car back in the 90s to cash in on the SUV craze but they couldn’t actually make an SUV for whatever reason. What resulted was a weird looking utility vehicle that hits all the right notes. They’re comfortable to sit in, they can fit everything you need, and you’ll never have to put on false heirs when you’re sitting in the Outback. Millionaires in the Pacific Northwest are known for driving these cheap cars for precisely that reason.

Back when the car first came out, the millionaires driving these cars didn’t have the money that they have today so they had to buy a Subaru. What they realized, over time, is that this car does not quit. If you buy a 16 year old Outback for 4 grand, chances are you’ll be driving that car for a few years and get more than your money’s worth. This equalizes the playing field. You won’t have to worry about if you car screams “I’m broke” to anyone looking at it because the car is meant for everyone. Rich people and poor people alike drive this car because it just works, on some weird level.

Sure, if you only have 4000 dollars, you won’t have your pick of the litter. If you go with this car though, you won’t need any of the other ones. The Subaru Outback is the perfect investment for you because you’ll be able to be your true self which will lead to more self-confidence, resulting in more dates. People are attracted to the real you and the Outback shows that better than most cars on the market.