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Book Review & Giveaway: Can I Retire? by Mike Piper

November 4, 2011 By 7 Comments

Today’s book review and giveaway is courtesy of Mike Piper of the Oblivious Investor. Mike was kind enough to give me a copy of his book “Can I Retire?” at the Financial Bloggers Conference and now I want to be able to share this book with you!

About the Author Mike Piper

I’m a fairly young fellow (27), married, living in St. Louis. Prior to becoming a full-time personal finance writer, I worked as a financial advisor (for Edward Jones) and as a tax accountant for a large real estate company in Chicago.

I now make a living writing a series of books that’s somewhat akin to Cliffs Notes for personal finance topics.

Book Review

As you know,  one of my goals has been to educate myself more on the subject of retirement and investing so I can make better decisions for myself. This book was a great way to start my education. It was a quick 99 page read and it was full of information. Here were some of my favorite parts:

  • The fact that the book was only 99 pages was a big plus for me because it didn’t feel like an overwhelming read.
  • Each chapter had a section at the end called “Simple Summary” where Mike highlighted the main points of the chapter.
  • I felt like the book was very straightforward and easy to understand. It is a great book to refer to if I have questions later.

If you are just starting out or you are nearing retirement age, this book is an important read because it gives you information on:

  • How much income you will need (so you can start planning early for your future)
  • Safe withdrawal rates (this is explained and also helps you to better understand what number you should be aiming towards for your retirement goal)
  • Retirement portfolio management (this explains how to allocate your assets during retirement)
  • Tax planning in retirement (how to lower your taxes during retirement)
My key takeaway from this book was really understanding how to calculate the size of my retirement portfolio. I guess before reading this, my goal was always just to put as much money aside as I can and hope for the best! Not really a smart way to plan for my future because there is really no planning involved. Mike breaks it down in a simple paragraph. (If you want to find out how calculate the size of your retirement portfolio, you’ve gotta read the book!)
The Giveaway
I have one copy of the book “Can I Retire” to giveaway. This book is a must have in your library if you are trying to better educate yourself on the steps you need to take now for your retirement.
You’ve gotta enter quick! The giveaway ends Sunday, November 6, 2011. Here’s how to enter:
Filed Under: Blog, Featured Bar, Retiring Tagged With:

The Stock I Bought is Up $1,759.19 This Week!!

October 28, 2011 By 11 Comments

I know I have been slacking on my Friday posts about building wealth but to tell you the truth, this is one area I really struggle in. I can talk to you all day about budgeting and personal finance as a whole, but when it comes to investing & retirement, I don’t feel that confident.

One thing I’ve been trying to do this year is educate myself more on investing and retirement. I’m trying to read and learn as much as I can so I can write about it and hopefully you can learn with me too.

Earlier this year, I started subscribing to a newsletter called Crashproof Prosperity for the investment education. The newsletter is written by Kip Herriage who was a financial advisor on Wall Street for over 15 years but was fed up with the way Wall Street worked so he decided to do his own thing. Kip has written a newsletter since 2006 called The Vertical Research Advisor (VRA). This is where I started to educate myself more on the topic of investing.

What I get out of Crashproof Prosperity

The two things I get out of Crashproof Prosperity are 1. a subscription to the Vertical Research Advisory Newsletter (education) and 2. commentary on what is going on as it relates to investing and economics from Kip Herriage,  Gerald Celente and Wayne Allen Root. I won’t go into great detail on who those people are in this post but I’ve linked to their websites if you’d like to learn more.





How it Works

Once I was a member of Crashproof Prosperity, I was able to have access to the “core portfolio” recommended by Kip. This core portfolio is a list of 8-10 stocks that Kip feels like are the ones to invest in. You might be wondering how he picks the stock he recommends:

“How do we select our stocks”? A significant amount of research has been done over the last 20 years in order to perfect the system of stock selection…and the research is extensive. After a company has been selected as an interesting possibility (we speak with hundreds of company insiders and industry experts each year), we then begin a two-pronged approach. While we are speaking and meeting with the company’s top insiders, we are also researching their competitors, carefully analyzing SEC filings, and using proprietary fundamental and technical screens. This approach allows us to uncover companies that fly under the radar screen of most Wall Street analysts (who operate to a large degree based by what the company will pay in investment banking fees) and mutual fund managers. Ideally, we enter a stock 1-3 months before it is “discovered” by Wall Street and the global markets. Members are updated on a regular basis with news, proprietary analysis, or a rating change on recommended companies.

Remember,Kip was on Wall Street for 15 years and has been researching this and picking stocks for years. Is he always right? Not always, but I feel confident in his choices. Currently, the whole VRA portfolio is up 35% in the past month.

No one at Crashproof Prosperity or Kip manages your money. You do this on your own by opening your own brokerage account with Scottrade or Etrade – or whoever you prefer. This was one reason why it was so appealing to me. I was able to get the financial advice and do what I want with it. I could buy if I wanted or not. It was up to me.

What I do 

While I admit, this was scary at first, now I’m loving watching and learning how this all works. There was one particular stock listed in the core portfolio I was interested in. Kip calls it “the stock of the century” so I sat on it for a long time (about 5 months ) before actually buying any.

After I got laid off, I transferred a portion of my retirement account from my employer to my own retirement account at Scottrade to buy this stock. I call this my “play money”. It makes up about 13% of my whole retirement portfolio – which I know isn’t a small amount but I’m willing to use it to learn with. ( The other 87% of my portfolio is managed by a trusted broker). Call me crazy but I feel like it’s one of those things it’s best learned by doing, not just observing.

The “stock of the century” is on the move this week and my account is up $1,759.19 this week. Yes I know it is stock and it can fluctuate depending on the market but it was really exciting for me to see this because it was the first thing I’ve really every done on my own with investing. Instead of just sitting on the information and assuming I couldn’t do it, I did the following:

  • I sought out investment information
  • I educated myself and didn’t make an impulsive decision
  • Then I acted on it
I don’t know what will happen with this stock, it could be down as much next week. But I feel I’m young enough to be able to take this risk now and I’m hoping it will pay off later. If you are interested in learning more about Crashproof Prosperity or getting your own subscription, click here or on the banner below.

 

This post contains affiliate links which helps keep this site going, thanks for your support!!
Filed Under: Blog, Featured Main, investing, Retiring Tagged With:

How to Invest in a Gold or Silver Backed IRA

May 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

 


 

Recently I went through the process of converting one of my traditional IRA’s (Individual Retirement Account) to a gold and silver backed IRA.  With the state of the economy today, I felt it was important to diversify my portfolio so I took the plunge and did it! I was a little nervous at first, since after all I had no clue what I was doing! But the process was pretty simple an straightforward. If you are looking to diversify your portfolio, take a look at a gold and/or silver backed IRA.

What is it

Let’s first talk about what a gold / silver backed IRA is and isn’t. A typical IRA usually consists of stocks, bonds or mutual funds that you have invested in. A gold or silver backed IRA is basically your IRA that consists of actual physical gold or silver (or both). You don’t actually take possession of the gold or silver, that is stored for you by the company who you buy the gold or silver from.

The process

I had one IRA account that I managed on my own. (If you have your IRA with a broker, you will need to contact them about doing this.) I contacted Goldline to start the process but there are other companies like GoldSilver.com or Lear Capital that do the same thing. Goldline then got me started on opening my IRA with GoldStar Trust (who they recommend).  Once that was opened, the money from my previous IRA was transferred to my Goldstar Trust IRA account. After that was complete, Goldline contacted me to purchase my gold and silver.

That was really it. It was actually a pretty simple process and Goldline was very good to work with. The process took about 3 weeks to complete because I had to wait for the company I had my original IRA with to complete their paperwork.

Final Thoughts

I really do think investing in physical gold and silver are a great way to diversify your portfolio. Here are some things to consider in the process:

  • The recommended holding period of precious metals is 3-5 years
  • The recommended amount to invest in gold/silver is 5-20% of your portfolio
  • The ratio of gold to silver is recommended at 60% gold 40% silver
  • Make sure you don’t put all your eggs in one basket and that you have other backup funds
  • If you don’t understand the fees, ask! There are fees for storing the gold and silver and transaction fees so make sure you understand that up front. Goldline was very good about explaining the fees and what I was buying and I had to verify it with 3 different people before it was complete.

Investing in gold and silver can be a great way to diversify your portfolio. Don’t be afraid to try it on your own if this is something you are interested in. If I can do it, you can to!



Sponsored Link: DiscountDiscount.co.uk



Filed Under: Blog, investing, Retiring Tagged With:

Special Call Tonight to Update You on the Status of The Economy & How You Can Protect Yourself

May 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I hate to admit it, but in the past I never much cared about trying to figure out my investments, I just handed it off to my broker and let him take care of it. Boy, was that a mistake! For the past year, I’ve been trying to take a more proactive approach to my investments. Afterall, I worked to build that money up!

In the past 6 months I’ve managed to get set up with a gold backed IRA and manage one of my smaller IRA accounts on my own (more about how that works later). I did this all with the information I received in the Vertical Research Advisory (VRA) newsletter which is apart of Crashproof Prosperity.

Tonight, Kip Herriage, the founder of Wealth Masters International (WMI) and author of the VRA newsletter is happening an open call to discuss the current state of the economy and how to protect yourself. From what I understand, Kip is going to tell us how to grow your money ten times, thats right 10 TIMES it’s original amount.

WMI is not an investment company, it’s an educational company. Kip provides you with the educational information and it’s up to you how you use it. I personally manage my IRA account through Scottrade and use Kips advice to guide my decisions.

If your curious and want to know more, get on the call tonight, you won’t regret it. I also think there will be some special discounts at the end of the call. Here is some more information from Kip himself:

Urgent Global Update -Special Open Call
The Next Shoe is About to Drop

Thursday, May 26 – 8 pm Eastern
+1 (605) 475-4445, access code 964#

We will host an international call this Thursday night at 8 PM EST, and invite everyone interested in the REAL STORY about what’s coming next to join us. The coming one month to three years will bring a sea-change to the global economic landscape unlike any the world has seen before. For those who wish to survive and thrive in the years ahead, the time has come to deal with reality as it IS, not as we wish it would be. Get the straight story this Thursday night so you can be among those who are taking informed action. The largest transfer of wealth for mankind is underway…on Thursday night we will show you how to ensure you are on the right side of history.

- Kip Herriage
WMI CEO

IMPORTANT: This conference bridge can only hold 1000 callers – last time we maxed out the lines 5 minutes before the call started. Feel free to forward to anyone that you believe should have this information. Dial in early to ensure your place!!

Thursday, May 26 – 8 pm Eastern
+1 (605) 475-4445, access code 964#

 

If you have any questions after the call, don’t hesitate to email me and let me know how I can help! If you want to learn more, visit Crashproof Prosperity and opt-in so you are notified of special events like this.

Filed Under: Blog, investing, Personal Finance, Retiring
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