There are a few things you need to know to make sure you are investing your money safely. The first thing is that the stock market is not a very safe place to put all your eggs in one basket. You really need to diversify your portfolio to make sure you keep pace with inflation.

Have you heard of institutions or advisors that invest your money and have control of your finances like Bernie Madoff or The Stanford Financial Group? Many people just opened accounts and let these types of financial organizations invest all their money. The problem is that whether these guys made money or lost it, they were still getting paid high commissions on their money. They were also in complete control of their money, so these institutions or individuals ran illegal Ponzi schemes using their money, and as long as they continued to get new money from investors, it seemed like they were investing their money the right way. They guaranteed rates of return of 10% and above.

The problem I have with not being in control of your own finances is that you never know what’s going on with your money. Investors became creditors of these institutions, and many never got back the money they invested.

As an investment advisor, I always make sure my clients can log in and manage their own money and check their investment performance.

The stock market is very unpredictable and experiencing big crashes, as of this writing, and my approach is to take no losses when you invest your money and be as tax efficient as possible. I have invested millions of dollars and I make sure that losses are not part of my philosophy. You still need to invest in a 401k plan if it’s offered to you at work, but diversify your investments in your 401k plan and be sure to allocate some in the money market sector to limit exposure.

I use annuities and insurance as a way to invest large sums of money and still get great returns ranging from 7% and up with no risk of losing principal, even in a down market. If you invest strictly in a fixed annuity, you won’t keep up with inflation. If you invest in a variable annuity, you will be subject to stock market risk that could lead to large losses. I am an expert in indexed annuities and have sold millions of dollars of them and they keep growing because of the security of the principal and it is also important to have the ability to keep up with inflation and tax deferral of gains.

When you invest large amounts in indexed annuities, you also have low administration fees, unlike variable annuities, which, like the stock market, need one person to manage the funds, which adds to the fees. Indexed products are compared to a benchmark, such as the S&P 500 or another index, and therefore lower trading fees. Purchasing an indexed annuity comes with some serious compliance to make sure this type of investment is right for you. First, I need to make sure that since your money is locked up for a certain period of time, this investment is suitable for the investor. The company will also make sure this investment is a good fit for the buyer and then the investor has a free trial period to make sure the investment is a good fit. Most of the time, an annuity is not suitable for a person who is in their 70s or 80s, but compliance will determine that depending on the situation. If a client is closer to age 80, we look at index life insurance policies to see if we can solve a problem for them. I do a good job of due diligence to make sure my clients stick with the product that solves their money problems.