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Guest Columnist November 24, 2002 Your Retirement - Full of Golden Years or Golden Arches? by Daniel Lamaute Lamaute Capital, Inc. http://www.investsafe.com "Global Crossing exec pledges $25 million to repay employees who lost their retirement funds" "WorldCom Ex-Controller Pleads Guilty" "Lucent employees file lawsuit to recover losses in their 401(k) accounts tied to Lucent stocks" "Enron employees lose their jobs and most of their retirement savings as Enron becomes insolvent" In light of all of the recent news concerning corporate fraud and 401(k) pension fund mismanagement, it is imperative that you take the time to learn about what you need to do personally to protect your own retirement assets. Sure, you might take the head-in-the-sand approach to retirement, but if you end up penniless in your golden years, you might find yourself working at McDonald's to keep food on your own table. That would be a real shame. "Like millions of Americans, a large part of your savings may be in a pension fund sponsored by a private corporation or union...You have to be your own watchdog." --- Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor. PROTECT YOUR RETIREMENT THROUGH EDUCATION The first step you need to take in the protection of your 401(k) pension funds and retirement is to educate yourself. No need to hurry back to college to learn the fundamentals of pension fund management. Even a little bit of knowledge can help you go a long way. One lesson the press has taught us over the course of the last year is that we should not blindly believe that our employer's 401(k) pension fund management team has our best interests at heart. TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN YOUR ASSETS MANAGEMENT The second step you need to take in the protection of your 401(k) pension funds and retirement is to take an active role in its management. Active participation could signal the need to diversify the structure and makeup of your 401(k) accounts. Too much investment in one company could devastate your 401(k) holdings --- think Lucent or Enron. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR RETIREMENT WHEN CHANGING JOBS Active participation could also lead to making the decision about how and when to rollover 401(k) accounts to different financial management teams when you leave your employer. A good site to learn more about some of the key advantages and disadvantages of a 401(k) rollover is www.investsafe.com WE MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY We must take responsibility for our own retirement planning. We must educate ourselves and then actively keep an eye on the bottom line. If we cannot view our retirement as the golden years, but must instead view our retirement through the golden arches, then we will have failed our responsibility to ourselves. Get educated, participate actively and then take responsibility. What is at stake is your own financial future. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Daniel Lamaute, CEO of Lamaute Capital specializes in helping people get the most benefit from their retirement investments. Take cash payments from your retirement funds the smart way. Get your FREE SOLO-OWNER 401K INFORMATION KIT. Kit includes a prospectus with detailed information about the plan, investments, sales charges and expenses. Visit http://www.investsafe.com to order kit. COPYRIGHT © 2002, Lamaute Capital, Inc. All rights reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The "What is the Deal?" column will appear from time to time on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To receive an email notification whenever a new "What is the Deal?" column has been posted, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
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