Last Night's Tennis Results



Last night I was able to win my match in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.  What does this have to do with retirement?  The answer is absolutely nothing, but it is reminder to not let your retirement goals be all consuming.  Life is short and you should always try to live in the moment as well as plan for the future.  Retirement is an important goal for me, but I always try to remember to set time aside to engage in the activities that I enjoy.

Credit Card Debt




One of the more important steps to building wealth is to avoid carrying revolving credit balances.  The high interest that is paid on this type of debt is crippling.  One of the first things a retirement planner will tell you is to do everything in your power to eliminate credit card balances.  In fact, the only time I would encourage taking money out of a 401k or IRA is to eliminate credit card balances.  The reason of course is the high interest rates associated with credit cards.  To justify carrying these balances your retirement accounts would need to have annual returns in excess of 20% and that is not a realistic expectation in today's investment environment.  Do whatever it takes and eliminate those balances as it will enable greater investment in your own investment accounts
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