Can you make money in the markets as a retail investor?  The investment industry subtlely discourages us by pushing us to buy their mutual funds, structured products and, in general, selling the "Freedom 55" dream.  Bull!  Mutual Funds and other structured products are there to enrich investment managers and financial companies. They collect 2.5% in fees(on invested assets – plus or minus)  to manage those mutual funds.  And they charge these fees whether those funds are making or losing your money.  And no matter how bright they say they are, they still invested $60Billion of their clients’ $ with Bernie Madoff.

Don’t get me wrong, unless you’re willing to invest  time, energy and attention, you’ll do no better as an independent retail investor than by investing in mutual funds.  But you can make $ and there are enough tools and information out there to help you.  If you’re recently retired or about to, self managed investments may be that "something to do" you’ve been looking for.

This page is intended for those who want or do manage their own investments in retirement.  We’d like to collect all the retail investor wisdom earned by our members over the years and share it with others.  We’re not looking for complicated hedging schemes and trading strategies!  Rather, share those principles and ideals that have stood your test of time.

You’ll find posts for this page under the "Financing your - LifePast50" category.