The Impact of Investment decision in Retirement-Odunze Reginald C

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Tom Macphail in 10 costly Pension Mistakes noted that “If you have a pension, have you ever reviewed it? Millions of people haven't. Moreover, recent research revealed more than two in five adults (41%) - 8 million people - cannot remember how their pensions are invested. Why is that alarming? Performance can vary quite dramatically across investments and even a seemingly small difference could have a significant impact on the size of your pot” Continuing he stated that these are just projections. Investments will not always go up in value, they also go down, so you could get back less than you invested; what is certain is that they won't perform as predicted. Also, these values are in today's terms, without considering inflation, which will reduce the spending power of your money over time “According to several researches, people invest for two basic reasons; they are follows, to make provision for old age and to be wealthy. Being wealthy is a function of the state of mind of the owner and the generosity of the individual. There is in agreement with Robert Kiyosaki in his book Rich Dad, Poor dad he noted that “people save for two basics to cater for their retirement and to save lots of money”

So many people cling to their money as if their life depends on it. While some are willing to give almost half of their possessions but that is not our subject of discussion.

Venita Van Caspel according to schuller noted  while studying investment “heard a very startling statistics of every people reaching age 65, only 2 percent were financially independent” continuing  Schuller op cited opined that Venita was raised in a Christian home without money, which she claims gave  her a health respect  for a dollar”

From the startling revelation, it all means that many are bound to fail should they kept deaf ear to investment.What the article is saying is that apart from your pension contribution, you can also embark on one or two investment instruments to protect your old age. And in embarking on investment, it is wise to consult the professionals in that field, these investment advisers, analysts are able to study trends and be able to make informed decisions to that effect.There is the urgent desire to spend flamboyantly even during the period of retirement. Ordinarily it is not supposed to be so. And according to Emily Brandon in an article captioned   “8 tips for people who will retire in 2015”-Emily Brandon”  “What you decide to do in retirement will have a big impact on your costs and quality of life.  "Certainly you will spend less on gas and don't have to spend as much on work clothes, but some people are also going to spend more money now because they have the time and don't just want to sit around the house," says Craig Schmith, a certified financial planner in Durham, North Carolina. "If you've got pent-up demand to travel, especially internationally, and you haven't had time to do that, you need to think about budgeting that in."

In The Millionaire Next Door, authors Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko find that millionaires were more likely to drive a Ford than a Lexus or Mercedes.
“Many affluent respondents take joy in driving vehicles that do not denote so-called high status. They are more interested in objective measures of value. Some millionaires do spend considerable dollars for top-of-the-line luxury automobiles. But they are in the minority.”

People especially old people, according to psychology have fantasy of what they desire in life, they may tend to overlook it if there is no money, but immediately money comes in they tend to express their desire in their purchases. And as Prof Pat Utomi 2008 in “The Limit of lets share Economy, he stated that like people who won lottery, they often return to poverty.

To live a better future devoid of stress and bitterness, it is always good to embark on a stringent investment that will cater for your life during old age.

Odunze Reginald is the Lead Consultant, Chareg Consulting, a management and marketing  consultant  a social media and social marketing consultant , you can visit our twitter anchor @regydunze, find us on Facebook @ Reginald odunze and reginaldodunze.com, at google+ @ Reginald Odunze and at Linkedin@reginald odunze.

China slump leads Asia shares lower on regulatory crackdown, weak profits - By Hideyuki Sano and Nichola Saminather

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Traders work at the stock exchange with the share price index DAX board pictured in background in Frankfurt, …

By Hideyuki Sano and Nichola Saminather

TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Chinese shares slumped on Friday, weighing on other Asian stock markets, as a fresh regulatory crackdown and falling industrial profits weighed on market sentiment.
European shares were set to follow suit, with financial spreadbetters expecting Britain's FTSE 100 to fall 0.3 percent, France's CAC40 to open down 0.4 percent, and Germany's DAX to start the day 0.1 percent lower.
U.S. stock futures erased gains after earlier rising 0.3 percent to their highest level since Nov. 9 following Thursday's Thanksgiving Day holiday.
Early selling intensified in China's stock markets in the afternoon, with the Shanghai Composite index and the CSI300 plunging 4.7 percent as of 0623 GMT, on track for the biggest one-day drop in more than three months, and set for weekly declines of 4.6 percent and 5 percent, respectively.
That contributed to a drop of 0.9 percent in the broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan, bringing losses for the week to 1.1 percent.Japan's Nikkei reversed earlier gains to close down 0.3 percent, but was on track to end the week flat.
China's securities regulator has urged domestic brokerages to cease financing clients' stocks purchases through swaps and other over-the-counter contracts, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters, its latest move to reduce leveraged financing risk in its stock markets after a summer plunge.
"After rebounding over 20 percent from its bottom, you need fresh capital to maintain the upward momentum (in Chinese stocks), but recent government measures to deleverage have sparked fears," said Zhou Lin, analyst at Huatai Securities.
"In addition, I don't see signs that the economy has bottomed out."
Further weighing on sentiment was data on Friday showing that profits earned by Chinese industrial companies fell 4.6 percent in October, declining for the fifth consecutive month.
The Chinese yuan also came under pressure, weakening to its lowest level in almost three months as investors braced for a decision on Monday by the International Monetary Fund on whether to include the currency in its reserve basket.
Some market watchers fears Beijing's commitment to market reforms and liberalisation may cool if the yuan is added to the reserve basket.
Spot yuan opened at 6.3928 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.3942, 46 pips weaker than the previous close and about 0.04 percent away from People's Bank of China's midpoint rate of 6.3915.
"It’s uncertain if the Chinese government is keen to show the market influence in their rate setting or whether now that they know they have gained special drawing rights inclusion they are keen to weaken their overvalued currency knowing it will not jeopardise their case," Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG in Melbourne, wrote in a note.
The euro continued to falter, hovering near seven-month lows on expectations that the European Central Bank could announce further stimulus as early as next week.
Most in the market expect the ECB to expand its asset purchase programme and lower its deposit rate, the rate at which banks park excess funds with it, when it meets next Thursday.
Traders are now speculating that the ECB could cut rates more than the previous market consensus of a 0.10 percentage point reduction.
The euro's three-month overnight indexed swap (OIS) rate fell to a new low around minus 0.3133 percent, almost 18 basis points below the current fixing level of the Overnight Eonia rate.
With keeping money in the euro seen increasingly costly because of negative interest rates, the common currency was on the defensive in the foreign exchange market.
The euro traded at $1.0614, not far from Wednesday's seven-month low of $1.0565. It also stood near a seven-month low against the yen, last fetching 129.98 yen.
"You keep losing money by holding the euro. It is hard to see the euro rising. True, it is already heavily shorted but I expect the euro to fall towards parity with the dollar," said a trader at a Japanese bank.
The euro's weekness helped the dollar hold near an 8-1/2-month peak.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the U.S. currency against a basket of major peers, was little changed at 99.814, after scaling 100.170 earlier in the week, the highest since March. It is up 0.3 percent for the week.
The yen slipped 0.1 percent to 122.45 per dollar, showing little response to a series of Japanese economic data including the jobless rate, which unexpectedly fell to a two-decade low of 3.1 percent.
Oil prices edged lower, with U.S. stockpile data on Wednesday doing little to ease concerns about a supply glut.
U.S. crude futures fell 1.4 percent to $42.45 a barrel as traders also unwound some of the buying they had made after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane earlier this week.
Brent futures edged down 0.4 percent to $45.30 a barrel, compared to their two-week high of $46.50 hit earlier this week.
Battered metal prices also rebounded as hedge funds covered their short positions for now.
Benchmark copper on the London Mental Exchange rose 1.9 percent on Thursday to $4,636.15 per tonne, recovering 4.3 percent from Monday's 6 1/2-year low of $4,443.50. They held steady at $4,634.50, on track for a weekly gain of 1.2 percent.

Zinc and Nickel also jumped sharply on Thursday, helped by expectations of output cuts in China.

(Additional reporting by Pete Sweeney and Samuel Shen; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Culled from Reuters

How to maximize your retirement accounts in 2016- By Emily Brandon

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Contributing to a retirement account qualifies you for tax breaks and employer contributions, both of which will grow your nest egg faster. Here's how to take full advantage of the 401(k) and individual retirement account perks you're eligible for in 2016.
Max out your 401(k). Workers can contribute up to $18,000 to their 401(k) plans in 2016. To completely max out this account, you will need to save $1,500 per month or $750 per twice monthly paycheck. A worker in the 25 percent tax bracket who tucks the full amount into a 401(k) plan will save $4,500 on his federal income tax bill. Retirement savers in the 35 percent tax bracket will save $6,300 on the same contribution. Income tax won't be due on this money until it is withdrawn from the account. And if you drop into a lower tax bracket in retirement, you will pay that lower rate on the distributions. If you withdraw that $18,000 while in the 15 percent tax bracket, you will only ultimately pay $2,700 on that contribution.
Make catch-up contributions. Workers age 50 and older can contribute an additional $6,000 to a 401(k) plan in 2016, for a total contribution of $24,000. "If you will turn 50 this year, that's an additional $6,000, and it's all deferred income from taxes," says Helga Cuthbert, a certified financial planner for Cuthbert Financial Guidance in Decatur, Georgia. Hitting this 401(k) limit requires saving $2,000 per month. Saving this much will reduce your tax bill by $6,000 if you are in the 25 percent tax bracket and $8,400 if you pay a 35 percent federal income tax rate.
Get an employer match. If you can't save enough to take full advantage of the 401(k) tax deduction, at least aim to save enough to claim any matching funds your employer offers. If your company provides a 401(k) match up to 6 percent of pay, remember to set up withholding for that amount. This means saving $200 per month if you are earning $50,000 and $500 monthly if your salary is $100,000. Some companies automatically enroll employees in the plan at 3 percent of pay, and you will need to take action to adjust your withholding if you want to take full advantage of the match. "If you get a raise next year, I would increase your savings rate now so your take home pay is the same as it was before the raise, and instead put that money in your company retirement plan," says Francine Duke, a certified financial planner for Aqua Financial Planning in Chicago. "You won't even notice the difference."
Take full advantage of IRAs. In addition to saving in a 401(k), you can defer income tax on another $5,500 that you contribute to an IRA in 2016. Workers age 50 and older are eligible to contribute an extra $1,000 for a total of $6,500. Maxing out an IRA requires saving $458 per month if you are 49 or younger and $542 per month for those 50 and older. If you have a 401(k) account at work, you won't be able to claim the full tax deduction for an IRA contribution if your modified adjusted gross income is between $61,000 and $71,000 ($98,000 to $118,000 for married couples), or any deduction if your income tops these amounts. If you are married to someone with a retirement account, the tax deduction for IRA contributions is phased out for couples earning between $184,000 and $194,000 in 2016.
Consider a Roth IRA. Roth IRAs have the same contribution limits as traditional IRAs, but the tax treatment is different. There's no tax deduction for Roth IRA contributions, but the investment earnings in the account aren't taxed and withdrawals after age 59 1/2 are tax-free. "You can just let that Roth IRA grow in value tax-free and use it as a source to take out money later in life," says Chris Falvello, a certified financial planner for Navigate Financial Advisors in Ocean View, Delaware. "You get the money back tax-free." Roth IRA eligibility phases out for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income is between $117,000 and $132,000 ($184,000 to $194,000 for married couples).
Claim the saver's credit. If you save in a retirement account and your adjusted gross income is less than $30,750 for individuals, $46,125 for heads of household and $61,500 for married couples, you might be eligible to claim the saver's credit. Contributions of up to $2,000 ($4,000 for couples) could earn you a tax credit worth between 10 and 50 percent of your retirement account deposit.

Culled US News