Preparing For Your Future In A Struggling Economy

By Craig Day, News On 6

TULSA, OK - The News On 6 is working to get answers to tough questions in this struggling economy, everything from retirement planning to getting the most from your money.

For the next few weeks, our Financial Fitness reports will help you know more.

With the stock market dropping, Greg Melia with Melia Advisory Group in Tulsa, is seeing many people near retirement or already retired who are worried about their investments.

"The problem with folks right now is they're retired or getting ready to retire. They're watching their life savings disappear. They're needing income and they're not able to take it," said Greg Melia with Melia Advisory Group.

Melia says unfortunately if the history of the market is an indication, we may be in for a long term bear market along with its volatility.

"There are really two ways to make money during a secular bear market. One is that you try to actively trade and watch the market. That is something we don't recommend. It's something that is too difficult to do," said Melia.

Instead, Melia recommends a conservative approach designed to preserve assets with enough growth to at least keep up with inflation.

"There are a whole plethora of things out there that are not very sexy, not very, but they are the ones consistently over time that have done very well," said Melia.

This means a reasonable expectation of 5 to 8%. With the market so unpredictable, in many cases for retirement age investors, it's less about growth and more about preserving what you have.

"It really depends on their tolerance, but again if you are approaching retirement, you really have to take a different look. You really have to understand that you can't afford to watch your life savings disappear, you just don't have the time frame to recover from some significant loss," said Melia.

Of course, since all investors are different, Melia recommends getting advice from a professional.

For more information, visit our Financial Fitness section.