We keep hearing people talk about gold. I had a question to pose to my friend, financial advisor John Hauserman of RetirementQuest. I asked, “I keep seeing people advise us to buy gold, but I have a question. What if I end up with all kinds of gold, but there’s nothing to spend it on? What if no one will take my gold? What other ways do you advise us to prepare for future economic downturns?” John replied, “I am really glad you asked this question. While someone could write an entire book on this subject, which I actually did … Continue reading →

Cartoons have come a long way since I was a little girl. Cartoons were on only in the morning before school, afternoon after school, and Saturday morning. I had a preference for the cartoons shown on our local Channel 11 over those shown on local Channel 13. Two of my favorite cartoons were The Flinstones and The Jetsons. Funny thing was they were basically the same cartoon but one was in the Stone Age and the other in an imaginary futuristic Space Age. The Jetsons were so cool. The house cleaned itself and got everyone up and ready for the … Continue reading →

In today’s economy, we’re all concerned about increasing our wealth and socking some away for the future. It seems there is never enough cash left over to create savings, and oftentimes, not enough to meet the bills. Chris Waltzek is the host and executive producer at Goldseek.com Radio, which is a two-hour weekly broadcast covering the financial industry. With the research he has done in this capacity, as well as his role as a writer on the show, he has written a book titled “Wealth Building Strategies in Energy, Metals, and Other Markets.” In this book, he discusses the state … Continue reading →

Thinking of a retirement fund? Would property do the trick? Those of us who do not have a pension from work need to be pretty creative in planning our retirement. One of the ways to be creative in the long term is investing in property. Now, if you own your own home that may be an investment. As you age, you might decide to move and then you can sell your home, hopefully for much, much more than you invested in it in the first place. You can save that money and use a little bit of it for an … Continue reading →

What do you invest in? If you are looking for the potential for higher returns on your investment, medium or high-risk mutual funds might be for you. These mutual funds invest in more volatile companies and markets that have a chance for a good return, much more than the five percent of most low-risk funds or other investments. However, with the opportunity for a good return comes risk. You might make a lot of money. Then again, your investments might actually lose money in the long term. A higher-risk fund will spread your risk around by investing in many different … Continue reading →

Is your money sleeping? Hopefully it’s not sitting under the pillow, but it may not be working for you. If your money isn’t working for you, it is time to wake it up. A savings or checking account is good for everyday use, but that money rarely makes a lot of money. How do you wake it up and set it to work? The most obvious choice for many is investment vehicles like mutual funds. These tend to accrue money over time, but not necessarily in the short term. Another somewhat less obvious choice is grants. For example, when we … Continue reading →

When I was in my late teens, I read a number of money-oriented books about saving, investing, and budgeting. Yes, I was a bit of a nerdy kid, but my family’s history of finances as a flash point led me to seek security in these books. It helped. I do save, at least I try to do so. We have an education savings plan, retirement savings, an emergency fund, and funds for specific shorter-term goals. Right now, our fund for buying blueberries is getting larger, just in time for blueberry season. Some of these savings plans offer decent interest and … Continue reading →

When it comes to investing, there are two main types – ones that are tax-advantaged and ones that are not. How do you decide which one to use? Read on to find out! Tax-advantaged accounts come in many flavors, but overall there is always some sort of tax break, deferral or savings associated with the account. One example of these is a 401k plan that lets you put away income pre-tax and does not tax you on the growth of the investment until you use it much later. Also, different types of accounts offer different types of tax advantages. For … Continue reading →