If you don't know where you are going any road will get there. After you get there you might not like where you ended up. You must plan ahead for your trip.
Do you know where you are going with your retirement portfolio? Do you have a plan mapped out? Do you know what to do if your plan starts hemorrhaging money like a stuck pig? Remember 2000? Of course that will never happen again, will it? I'm glad you are so confident. I'm not.
Every professional trader has a plan. Wait a minute. You say you are not a professional trader and you wouldn't trade like they do anyway. Well let me let you in on a little secret. If you don't learn to invest like a pro you are going to give him all (or most) of your money whether you like it or not.
What is it like to trade like a pro?
You won't like it and your broker and financial planner will like it even less. It is simple. The road to success is the road that has an exit ramp, in fact, several. It is like doing the Baja Road Race and carrying many spare tires. Without several tires you are not going to make it. Where are those exits? Why so many spare tires? Because without them you will be off the road in a ditch and unable to carry on.
The exits and the tires are your protection against becoming lost or broken down on your way to a comfortable retirement goal. To get where you are going in any vehicle you must not be stopped so you have to find an exit ramp when everyone else stays on the stagnating highway. That spare tire is one of your stocks or mutual funds that has gone flat and must be replaced. You are going to make it. The poor (sic) people who have no plan will remain mired on the highway to nowhere.
There is a secret to being a successful investor and it is one word - SELLING. Yes, any fool can buy, but it is the wise man who knows how to sell. That is called an exit strategy. If you do not have one you are doomed to lose money. During the long term bull market from 1982 to 2000 everyone became a financial genius. Now that we are in a long term bear market (that history shows us lasts an equal length of time) many of those financial geniuses are back in kindergarten and may not have time to graduate.
As the current stock market becomes more dangerous it is time to get out your road map to see where the exits are. It is time to realize that some of your tires could be wearing thin and may need to be replaced. No one is going to do this for you. Not your broker or your financial planner. You are the driver and a successful conclusion to this journey is completely up to you.
Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.
Copyright 2005
Indian Head Park taxi to Midway .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareAs an investor you will want to check out any... Read More
Investors who exclusively use broadly diversified, no load mutual funds... Read More
The bear market that showed up at the end of... Read More
Today's society gives special recognition to alcoholics, sexaholics, binge-aholics, shopaholics,... Read More
The higher the market goes the more confusing are the... Read More
There are so many kinds of work that needs to... Read More
Sometime in the third quarter of 1997, someone told me... Read More
What does it take to be a stock trader? It... Read More
You may have wondered why your mutual funds have been... Read More
Every day I hear from the "experts" on CNBC-TV and... Read More
Every successful trader has a winning system. There are of... Read More
Mutual funds by definition are a mixed bag of stocks,... Read More
When will the stock market stop going down and start... Read More
There is a current movie entitled "Eternal Sunshine of the... Read More
When you stand on the ocean shore and watch the... Read More
Sidney felt sick as she looked at her latest OptionsXpress... Read More
When you invest in the stock market for ever-increasing cash... Read More
Refuse is a serious issue in any society, about as... Read More
What a great statement!I just heard someone use it in... Read More
There are major differences between trading stocks and trading futures.... Read More
(1) CHK stock price $16.74, NAV $32.5CHK is my favorite... Read More
The World Bank claims that some two billion of the... Read More
It is wonderful to be alive in the information age.... Read More
From the book 'The Stockopoly Plan' by the author Charles... Read More
How often have you come across an advertisement or e-mail... Read More
Bonnie Chicago charter limousine ..Time to look back2004 is over, now we are in... Read More
If you go to Haiti or other places in the... Read More
One of the main reasons many of us get into... Read More
The bulls and bears of the stock market are both... Read More
Most stock market traders have a favorite technical indicator.The one... Read More
In November of 2000 when the NASDAQ was trading at... Read More
How can you dispel an illusion unless you look directly... Read More
If you have been dealing with mutual funds for any... Read More
I constantly hear the talking heads on CNBC-TV, the radio... Read More
When is a dividend not a dividend?The latest thing "conservative"... Read More
There are many good penny stock investments available, which could... Read More
A Guide to Using Stop Loss Orders Stop losses are... Read More
Before you buy another car you walk around the lot,... Read More
It looks like the market is ready to start up... Read More
An insane person cannot evaluate an insane evaluation system.As you... Read More
It has fallen upon the consumer to make our economy... Read More
Now where have I heard that before? I know. It... Read More
Mutual funds by definition are a mixed bag of stocks,... Read More
The recent criminal fiasco in the mutual fund industry is... Read More
Where is the beef? Or maybe it should be where... Read More
Are you paying any attention to your retirement savings? Do... Read More
With the internet such a huge part of our daily... Read More
One of the great "secrets" of successful people is discipline... Read More
Has your broker been calling you recently with the "great... Read More
Why? Because I am going to shatter your conventional wisdom... Read More
Stocks & Mutual Fund |