MONEY Master the Game

Make knowledgeable investment decisions

Instructions

Never attempt to pick stocks or time the market.
Invest only in indexes, such as the “S&P 500”, to minimize costs and maximize benefits.
Lower your total annual fees and associated investment costs.
The cost of the investment advice plus the cost of the investment itself should only be 1.25% or less. By simply removing expensive mutual funds from your life and replacing them with low-cost index funds, you’ll have taken a major step in recouping up to 70% of your potential nest egg.
Focus on actual returns, not average returns.
The average returns marketed by mutual funds don’t paint the real picture. Actual returns matter. If you know the amount you started your investment with and how much you have now, you can go on websites like Moneychimp and calculate your exact actual return over a period of time. That'll help you in choosing what funds to invest in.
Consider using annuities.
Rather than risking most of your funds in stocks or bonds, consider using a series of guaranteed income annuities, staggered over time, to generate a safe and secure lifetime income plan for your retirement. Be sure to avoid ‘variable annuities’ since they aren’t as safe and secure.
Align yourself with a fiduciary.
Rather than engaging the services of a broker, use a fiduciary — an independent registered investment advisor (RIA). These professionals get paid a flat fee for financial advice only, with no commissions. And by law, they must remove any potential conflicts of interest (or, at minimum, disclose them), putting their client's needs above theirs.