Almost Ready to Retire

There may come a point in your life when the only goal you're investing for is your retirement. Your kids and maybe grandkids have gotten through college, your home is paid off and you have made preparations to pass along your wealth to your heirs when you're gone. You're starting to think about days spent playing golf or tennis, traveling, volunteering, or maybe writing that bestseller you know you have in you. You feel your working days, as you know them, are coming to a close.

Of course, hopefully, you followed our advice and haven't neglected investing for your retirement. While we understand that it may not have always been your only investment focus or even your most immediate one at times, how well you did with your retirement investing will determine whether you can afford to take any investment risks at all at this point. At this point, time is most definitely not on your side in terms of investing. As a matter of fact, if you've been really negligent about saving for your retirement, no amount of investing, safe or risky, will make up for the years lost. Unless you win the lottery, if you find yourself in this position, you may have to adjust your retirement goals accordingly, including postponing your retirement.

That being said, whatever your situation, at this stage of the game you should put as much as possible away toward your retirement. Your investments will necessarily be of the less risky variety since you don't have the time to make up for losses and the ups and downs of certain investment markets.

Financial Calculators Use this Asset Allocator Calculator to help create a balanced portfolio of investments. Your age, ability to tolerate risk, and several other factors are used to calculate a desirable mix of stocks, bonds and cash. The calculated asset allocation is a great place to start your analysis in building a balanced portfolio. Click on the "View Report" button for a detailed look at your results. Meeting your long-term investment goal is dependent on a number of factors. This not only includes your investment capital and rate of return, but inflation, taxes and your time horizon. Use this Investment Returns Calculator to help you sort through these factors and determine your bottom line. Click the "View Report" button for a detailed look at the results.

Investment vehicles that may be appropriate at this point of your life:

• Stocks
• Bonds
• Mutual funds
• Real estate
• Insurance

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