Investing for your retirement is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. However, many people put it off until it is far too late. Nowadays, investing is more complicated and confusing than ever. Like most people my wife and I saw our investment portfolio decimated during the latest economic meltdown. When the smoke cleared, our once stable portfolio had lost nearly half its value. My wife and I didn’t know what to do. We depended on the interest payments from our bonds and the dividend payments from our equities, so we didn’t want to sell everything. After much discussion, we decided to keep our portfolio intact and weather the storm.

When the stock market finally began to stabilize, we went to see our broker. Although just about everyone had been hit during the economic crisis, he said that we were especially vulnerable. According to him, we had far too much exposure to the stock market. He suggested we sell a few of our securities that did not provide dividend payments and use the proceeds to purchase commodities. Again the wife and I discussed this new investing strategy and decided to follow our brokers’ advice.

 After a good deal of research we decided that investing in oil and gold was a good bet that would help us further diversify our portfolio. We also considered investing in real estate, but the market for homes was just as volatile as the stock market, so we decided against it.

 In the end we learned a valuable lesson. We learned that while buying a few stocks and leaving them alone for decades on end may be a good strategy, sometimes you are forced to make a few adjustments to deal with major changes in the economy. We also learned that investing is hard work and that it is always best to be able to consult a trained professional regarding your financial future. These days my wife and I sleep a little sounder at night and don’t worry quite as much about the expenses of retirement. We believe we are in good hands and that our investing strategy is now a sound one.