There are so many myths and dangerous half-truths about retirement planning repeated with such regularity that people start to believe they are true. For example, maybe you believe the conventional retirement planning wisdom that you only need 70% of your pre-retirement income, or you only need to save enough to cover 10-20 years in retirement? Maybe you've budgeted your financial future around average market returns or the safety of an all bond/cash portfolio? If you are a victim to any of these myths and dangerous half truths then it is important you read this new "Top 50 Article" explaining the 12 Retirement Planning Myths That Can Convert Your Golden Years Into Lead.

It provides insights and solutions to the following 12 retirement myths that you might have mistakenly taken as truths…

1. It will be easier to save for retirement later in my career after I've paid for ( house, college, etc. )….
2. My company or government will take care of my retirement.
3. I will inherit enough money to cover my retirement.
4. My spouse has our retirement needs handled.
5. My company and Medicare will take care of my health insurance needs during retirement.
6. I only need 70%-80% of my pre-retirement income during retirement.
7. Invest in "super safe" bonds and CDs to lower risk and preserve capital during retirement.
8. Retirement means I will no longer work.
9. Retirement begins at age 65.
10. My expected lifespan is 75-85 years.
11. My investment portfolio should perform consistent with long-term historical averages.
12. I will be in a lower tax bracket when I retire.
13. Extra Bonus – Retirement planning is all about the money.

If you mistakenly subscribe to any of these myths then you owe it to yourself to get the complete story by reading this new article 12 Retirement Planning Myths That Can Convert Your Golden Years Into Lead.

I hope you enjoy this new article, and please share your thoughts in the comments section below. I want to hear from you…

You Might Also Like…

• One Minute Retirement Plan – A simple overview for those who want their retirement planning made easy.
• Retirement Planning Checklist – A very popular article that provides a step-by-step blueprint to retirement planning for each stage of life – from age 20 to age 80.
• 27 Retirement Savings Catch-Up Strategies For Late Starters – How to catch-up your savings when retirement looms large but your nest egg doesn't.
• How Much Money Do I Need To Retire? – Our popular e-book debunking the dangerous myths surrounding retirement calculators and providing the solutions you must know to retire with financial security.

This story comes from a client who is a very successful trial attorney and was embroiled in a bitter legal battle. His case involved late nights and loss of sleep because of tight deadlines, a contentious judge, and other difficulties that won't be mentioned to protect the guilty. In short, the stakes were high and the war raged with full intensity.

If you've never worked with trial attorneys it is worth noting how difficult their business really is. These people are warriors who fight big-stakes battles. The process is emotional and contentious – not exactly a process where concepts like balance and fulfillment enter the equation. It is full out war that results in victory or defeat. Period.

Anyway, this story is about the client turning to me in the depths of battle and asking for some perspective that could bring peace and balance to this process. Not an easy task, but below I share with you a highly edited version (to save you time) of that discussion.

Now you may be asking what does a trial attorney's life have to do with me? The truth is we are all warriors whether entrepreneurs, investors… or trial attorneys. We are all fighting our battles to win and this message is relevant for all warriors in pursuit of success – which probably includes you.

I hope you find it helpful…

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Step 1: Playing for victory…

You are a warrior and this is war. The key to victory is strategy. In every battle the outcome is determined by one or two key strategic moves. Your job as the general is to figure out what the key strategic moves are that will lead to victory and focus primarily on those. Do not let the hype and intensity of the moment distract you with superfluous, energy wasting nonsense. Focus on what is critical to victory. Determine those elements and focus for the win.

The other thing about a warrior is he fights to the death. Commitment and persistence are as important to victory as is strategy and training. Burn the ships in the harbor and leave no viable escape route so that victory remains the only acceptable solution. I have won many a battle through persistence alone against superior foes. Persistence rules the day in grueling battles such as this. Fight full-out all the way to the last breath.

Step 2: Life Perspective…

With that said, let's be real – this is just a 'game' you are playing. It isn't life. When you are 65 and holding your grandson in your arms this battle will mean nothing. From the perspective of your death this battle is about as significant as a gnat on the African continent. You are much bigger than your success or the games you play. Keep perspective.

Step 3: Putting it All Together…

Play to win because that is what you are there to do. Play smart and play full out or don't bother playing at all. But also play with the perspective and healthy distance that this particular battle does not define your life or who you are. This battle is important and worthy of a full-out fight and you will do your best to win; yet, a healthy irreverence may bring just the confidence and distance necessary to turn the tide and assure victory.

Like all things in life the key is balance. The warrior lives in the present moment and is completely enraptured in the game. He plays full out because that is how games should be played. Yet, wisdom tells you it is exactly that… just a game. The world will go on. You are bigger than the games you play. Never forget that – in victory and defeat.

Play to win, but play with perspective.

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Let me know your thoughts in the comments below…

What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below…

What's amazing is how a successful buy-out could be a tragedy. After all, it is every entrepreneurs dream, and these four leaders who drove this company from feeble beginnings into a $100 million dollar pay-day should have enjoyed every minute of it. It sounds like a classic rags-to-riches story – the American dream come true – except there are some important details you are missing…

For example, the company founder worked non-stop, ridiculous hours and wore himself into the ground ignoring multiple health warnings. He ended up with a massive stroke at age 50 killing off a major portion of his brain and functionality. He now has difficulty walking no less enjoying the fruits of his success.

The CFO died within a year of selling the company (also at a a prematurely early age). The other main executive ended up in divorce with multiple health problems. Only my friend managed to maintain his health, marriage and sanity through the process of building the business. These men worked excruciatingly long hours under deep stress and paid the ultimate price.

The moral of the story is that is no way to succeed. It may be a cliche, but when you have your health you have everything. Living life in balance while pursuing financial gain is an essential part of the formula for true success. The founder of the company received $80 million, but I doubt anyone reading this post would swap their health for that money if it meant also having a stroke and becoming partially brain-dead.

The bottom line is don't make the same mistake and sacrifice your health for success. Don't miss your kids growing up or ignore your spouse. And don't stop living at least one important dream every year. Money isn't worth it. John Lennon wisely pointed out that "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. " You can't come back to the stuff that truly matters "someday" because someday you will run out of "somedays".

Success is much more than money. Freedom is more than financial. You must pursue financial success with balance or risk everything you worked for in the process. Those men became financially rich… but they lost everything.

That is no way to succeed.

Please share your thoughts in the comments below…

In this final installment to my series on investment fraud prevention I show you the 16 most popular investment frauds, how to recognize them, and how to never become a victim.

If you are a newer subscriber and missed the earlier parts of this series, or if you just want to review earlier posts then you can find the entire investment fraud education series here.

I know it is not the most entertaining subject in the field of wealth building, but I spent a lot of time writing about these issues because it's a genuine problem. I'm confronted with a surprisingly large amount of investment fraud when working with my financial coaching clients. The stuff is out there so don't just pretend you won't have to deal with it. The problem exists, and it can cost you money if you don't know what you are doing.

That's why I bother writing these articles (and hope you bother reading them:-)) They are important.

This final installment in this series describes the 16 most common types of investment fraud. The premise behind this article is to learn what investment characteristics create the highest risk for investment fraud so that you know when to be most on guard for the problem. When you are considering an investment that fits into one of these 16 categories you should be more alert and use thorough due diligence to protect yourself.

We are not alarmists here at Financial Mentor – just realists. Most investments are legitimate and most investment representatives are honest: the sky is not falling and the world is not coming to an end. However, you would be naive to translate a general environment of honesty into blanket trust because investment fraud exists and con-men work very hard to steal your money. Or as the old adage goes, "Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel."

A smart investor strikes a proper balance between the two extremes of blind trust and blanket distrust by learning the most common types of investment fraud and how to recognize the characteristic warning signs of investment fraud. Forewarned is forearmed.

Please let me know what you think about this series on investment fraud in the comments section below. How has it helped you? What have you learned? What did I miss? Tell me below…

You Might Also Like…

• 16 Investment Frauds You Must Avoid – The many faces of investment fraud – revealed!
• Top 26 Warning Signs Of Investment Fraud – How to uncover even the best disguised investment fraud before it costs you money.
• How Wall Street Legally Deceives You – Powerful lawyers and lobbyists protect financial companies from practices like this being classified as investment fraud, but individual investors might disagree. See for yourself…
• Are You Vulnerable To Investment Fraud? Take This Test... Discover which personal traits make you more likely to lose money to investment fraud.

You see, I adopted the dream for early retirement in my 20's and made that dream a reality at age 35. I've walked the talk for several decades (I'm 49 as of this writing) and have learned some important distinctions between early retirement planning and conventional retirement planning that I would like to share with you.

In this new feature article I explain how the biggest difference between early retirement and conventional retirement is time – less time to build assets and more time that your assets must support you. That means you have to build your wealth faster and make it last longer than all the conventional retirement calculators and formulas claim. This may seem obvious on the surface, but it is a game changer in ways you may not expect.

For example, if you retire with good health in your 40's or 50's you must build an income stream large enough to support you in perpetuity – without touching principal. Traditional retirement planning allows you to spend principal over your expected lifetime but early retirement is different. The reason is because either you or your spouse are likely to survive to at least 90 years of age creating a 40-50 year time horizon that your assets must survive implying almost no amortization of principal (i.e. – you can't spend principal, only income to support lifestyle). It is a game changer in how you plan your retirement, and it just one of six essential early retirement planning issues covered in this new article.

Similar issues exist with inflation planning that affects how you structure your portfolio, how you manage the gap between when you retire and when you qualify for Social Security and Medicare, and much, much more. All in all, I teach you six specific areas where early retirement is very different from traditional retirement planning in this new article.

It is the latest addition to the "Top 50" articles section of this website that I'm completing this summer. I hope it helps you sort through the relevant issues so that you can retire early and wealthy with financial security.

Further Reading…

• Early Retirement Planning: What You Must Know… If retiring early is on your radar screen then here are six strategies you must know.
• Retirement Planning Checklist – A checklist showing you the exact action steps to take for each stage of life – from age 20 to age 80 – so that you can plan a secure retirement.
• 12 Tips To Build Wealth For Early Retirement – Learn how to retire early and wealthy.
• 5 Essential Pre-Retirement Planning Questions – Discover the what, where, when and how much of retirement planning so that you enjoy happiness as well as financial security.

The good news is this blog is starting to catch on. I don't know if it was just a coincidence but in the last few weeks these educational updates you receive were recognized twice with "best financial blog" awards.

The first came from ecollegefinder.com where this blog received the "Top 50 Financial Mentor" award.

The second came from onlinemba.com where this blog was acknowledged as one of the "Top 30 Business Blogs" in the finance category.

Pretty cool, eh?

Not only is this blog receiving awards but according to Alexa (which monitors web traffic) FinancialMentor now ranks in the Top 1-2% of all web sites for web traffic and is in the top 2-3% of all web sites according to a separate web metrics system that looks at factors besides just traffic.

I just thought you, my faithful readers, would like to know you are part of a growing group of fans where the education you are receiving is starting to get recognition for its quality and authority.

Now, for the surprising bad news and the secret nobody tells you about in the internet business circles…

Stats like these, as impressive as they are, have succeeded only in filling my financial coaching practice. They are not sufficient to support a successful web based info-marketing business. If I had to live off the advertising and info-product sales generated by this site I would have been out of business long ago. Surprising… but true.

My goal with this business is to build an automated info-product business providing passive revenue to me while helping millions of people achieve financial security through improved financial intelligence. To achieve that goal all evidence indicates I will have to reach the top 5% of the top 1% in the statistics cited above.

In short, I have come a long way… and still have a long way to go.

I share this with you because it is one of the untold secrets that none of the internet marketing gurus talk about when they preach the "internet path to riches". The big money on the internet isn't the usual 80-20 rule where 80% is made by the top 20%; instead, it is the 90/10 of the 90/10 of the 90/10 rule where the top 10% of the top 10% of the top 10% (.001 for the math impaired) pull down 90% of the passive revenue. I don't have documented research to prove this idea but all anecdotal evidence is pointing this way.

Hard to believe because, again, nobody talks about this. But I have networked with other successful webmasters and they have come to similar conclusions. In fact, there are several successful webmasters receiving this so maybe they will chime in with their thoughts in the comments below.

I share this with you because many of my readers are interested in building lifestyle businesses that include a web presence so this information is relevant to your business plans. You can fill a solopreneur service business (like my one-on-one financial coaching services) fairly easily by applying the 80-20 rule on the internet and you can even market a narrow-niche product doing the same, but to run an info-product business based solely on internet marketing requires a much higher level of achievement than the gurus reveal when they pitch you on their "internet riches" courses.

Anyways, I thought I would update you with both the good news showing the growth and recognition this community is receiving while including the surprising news revealing how far I still have to go. It will be an interesting journey to share with you as we continue to grow.

Thank you for your support, and as always, the greatest compliment you can give is to spread the word by telling your friends and linking to your favorite content. Help me help others by getting the word out and together we will grow our wealth.

I welcome your thoughts and comments below…

I realize investment fraud may not be your favorite subject, but you will almost certainly encounter these issues on your path to financial freedom and must educate yourself. It is must-have knowledge that can cost you dearly if you don't arm yourself before the con-man strikes.

This new feature article is very brief, outlines the specific action steps to follow, and provides valuable links to supporting resources if you ever need them. It teaches you exactly what to do if investment fraud strikes.

Hopefully you will never need to know this stuff, but if you do then everything necessary is right here…

Finally, please share your thoughts about this investment fraud series in the comments section below. I appreciate your feedback.

You Might Also Like…

• Investment Fraud Victim? How To Get Help – Learn the specific actions steps you must take to maximize your odds of recovery when investment fraud strikes.
• Stock Broker Fraud – What You Must Do – Learn the 11 tell-tale signs of stock broker fraud and what you can do to protect your investments.
• How Wall Street Legally Deceives You – It may not be investment fraud (because of their powerful political lobbyists and attorneys), but business common sense tells you it probably should be…
• Top 26 Warning Signs Of Investment Fraud – How to uncover even the best disguised investment fraud before it costs you money.

There are two answers to that question – the scientific answer and the realistic answer…

The scientific answer is that you should do whatever provides the highest after tax return net of all fees and expenses. Science says that if leveraging up provides a higher return then it is theoretically a better choice; however, THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC THEORY AND ACTUAL PRACTICE.

I'm not a big fan of anyone nearing retirement re-leveraging equity to be reinvested in other fluctuating assets for the following reasons…

1. It incurs lots of fees and expenses creating an immediate loss. This might good for the salesman in search of commissions pitching the idea but it all comes out of your pocket creating a hurdle to overcome before you ever get out of the starting gate.
2. Increased leverage equates to increased investment risk profile meaning you have little room for error. Your additional investments must provide a compounded (not average) return in excess of interest costs and expenses before ever adding a dime to your pocket. Most people lack the investment skill to reliably achieve that goal. Generally not a good idea for retirees.

Actual practice shows there are historical time periods where a high leverage strategy would have worked out well and there are historical time periods where it would have been a miserable failure. Whether it works to your advantage or not is completely dependent on future asset returns which is completely unknowable. The only thing you know for sure is your risk profile and expenses will increase, but you cannot know if your future returns will increase as well (no matter how much the salesman pitches you with historical return evidence to support his ideas).

The whole problem with this strategy rests on the fact that future returns are unknowable. That is the chasm that separates theory from practice that cannot be crossed. Unless you can forecast expected returns with a strong degree of confidence then you have no basis for increasing your risk.

In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of a circumstance where I would implement such a strategy in my own portfolio. They exist, but are extraordinarily rare. It generally doesn't make sense to re-leverage your rental real estate equity and increase your risk profile as you near retirement.

Your retirement objective should be sustainable cash flow in excess of expenses that adjusts for inflation – not maximum wealth. Real estate equity provides the former and leverage is targeted for the latter.

The pitch to apply high leverage strategies primarily exist because salesman are highly motivated to earn double commissions both on the mortgage refinance and on the reinvestment of the proceeds from the refinance into other assets. It is a double-down for the salesman… but a high risk play for the retiree.

Others may disagree, but that is my two cents worth. What do you think? Tell us in the comments section below…

You Might Also Like…

• Are You Gambling Or Investing? Learn the essential characteristic that separates investing from gambling so that you can learn to invest with the house advantage.
• Deadly Dozen Investment Mistakes To Avoid – Uncover the 12 most important mistakes you must avoid to build wealth and retire securely.
• Investment Due Diligence – Five "must ask" questions you should consider before making your next investment.

According the Retirement Confidence Survey from Employee Benefits Research Institute 60% of workers have never even calculated how much money they need for retirement so they have no goal to aim for. Let's face it: you can't get where you want to go if you don't even know where the destination is.

It's not enough to just calculate your retirement savings number, fund your 401(k), and put it all on a shelf to sit and gather dust. If you want to retire with financial security (who doesn't?) then you must actively work toward your retirement while avoiding the 12 most deadly retirement planning mistakes that I cover in this new feature article. Below is a sampling of the mistakes to avoid…

1. Failing to plan
2. Not saving enough
3. Not starting early enough
4. Relying on Social Security or a company pension plan
5. Not maximizing tax deferral
6. Spend instead of rollover when switching jobs
7. Underestimating health care costs
8. Spending too much after retirement
9. Planning on working forever – or not at all
10. Investing too aggressively – or too cautiously
11. Investing in variable annuities
12. Paying too high investment expenses

In this new article I explain each mistake and what you must do to protect your retirement from its deadly effect.

The sad truth is the statistics clearly show most people are ill prepared for retirement planning responsibilities. They lack the financial literacy necessary causing them to perform poorly as actuaries, asset allocators, investment strategists, and long-term planners. You have a chance to do better because you read this newsletter.

Learn from this new feature article what mistakes to avoid so that you can enjoy a secure retirement…

Further Reading…

• The Dirty Dozen Retirement Planning Mistakes To Avoid – There is more to retirement planning than just funding your 401(k) and IRA. Learn the mistakes you must avoid so that you don't spend your retirement flipping burgers.
• Retirement Planning Checklist – One of my most popular retirement planning articles providing a step-by-step guide with a list of appropriate actions for each stage of life – whether you are 20 or 80 years old.
• 27 Retirement Savings Catch-Up Strategies For Late Starters – If your retirement looms large but your nest egg doesn't than this handy guide can help you.
• 5 Essential Pre-Retirement Planning Questions – Discover the what, where, when and how much of retirement planning so that you can enjoy fulfillment as well as financial security.