Retirement Investment Mistakes to Avoid

Filed in archive Retirement on March 20, 2010

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If you are just now thinking about saving money for retirement, and are getting close, the last thing you want to do is to rush in and make some serious investment mistakes. A mistake at this point in your life could mean that you end up with very little money - or maybe none.

If you should decide now to make some investments, you want to invest in lower risk investments such as mutual funds, bonds, or something similar. If you should decide to go with high yield investments, be sure to only invest amounts of money that you can afford to lose, because that is certainly possible.

Since you are starting so late, most likely you do not have much money to play with. It is probably better simply to save money for retirement, rather than risk much of it. A good investment at this point is to put your money "into IRA's, 401(k)s, Keoghs, and other retirement savings accounts. Once you reach age 50, you can make 'catch-up' (extra) contributions to IRAs, 401(k)s and other retirement savings accounts," says the FDIC.

As you reach into the 60's, says the FDIC, you want to put your money into even more conservative accounts that will produce interest. They suggest a portfolio of between 50 to 70% in stocks or stock mutual funds, and the rest in accounts like CD's, bonds, or money market type accounts. The important thing is that you start saving money soon.