Expert Interview with King Kovacs About retirement funding

“An individual should start to build their retirement nest egg by saving money immediately!” says King Kovacs. Mr. Kovacs of Mutual Interest Data Service, Ltd. follows this up by offering practical advice to help you get started on retirement funding today. Here, he discusses what mutual funds need to offer, what millennials need to know about retirement, and more. What is your professional background? How has it served you in your position at Mutual Interest Data Service, Ltd? I am the owner and founder of Mutual Interest Data Service, Ltd. which was established in 1999. Also, I am the CEO of LargeDividends.com, which is an outgrowth of the company. My forte is researching mutual fund investments on the Internet. I have written several professional articles on the subject, and I published a paperback book titled Retirement Investments 101: Mutual Funds. Please tell us more about Mutual Interest Data Service, Ltd. Before establishing the business in the early 90′s, I did extensive research in finding mutual funds that fulfilled three valuable criteria: Each mutual fund has: 1) average or low risk 2) above average performance 3) distribution of large dividends. I am not employed or compensated by any mutual fund. After several years of burning the midnight oil and analyzing thousands of mutual funds, I established and built a personal investment portfolio. The goal was and is to maximize long-term growth. Realizing other individuals could also benefit from my concepts and observations, I created LargeDividends.com with a data bank of more than 1,000 mutual funds meeting my standards. In 2000, the Division of Investment Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission granted permission (reference file No. 137-1) to operate the Internet Website LargeDividends.com. Mutual Interests Data Service, Ltd. (MIDS Ltd.) performs mathematical computations to produce its 5-year analyses and reports which are copyrighted. MIDS, Ltd. does not recommend that purchasers of a report buy, hold or sell a particular fund; nor does MIDS, Ltd. have any direct or indirect financial interest in any of the mutual funds that are researched. What is one thing someone can start doing today to help with retirement? Well, they should start immediately. It is easier to take it step by step. Start now by following these five steps: 1. Make a commitment to a plan to save the most you can and persevere to achieve that goal. 2. If you are an independent investor, use your savings to purchase diversified Individual Retirement Accounts. 3. The maximum that can be placed in a traditional IRA is $5000 if you are under 50 years of age. The maximum is $6,500 for those 50 or older. Investors can spread out their purchases into more than one mutual fund as long as the combined total does not exceed the maximum amounts. 4. In addition, when selecting mutual funds, strive to invest in those that make regular distributions and have long-term high performance. 5. Reinvest all distribution proceeds. What are some of the biggest challenges that people are likely to face when planning for retirement that may be far in the future? Some of the biggest present and future challenges individuals are likely to deal with when planning for retirement are being successful in building and maintaining retirement savings. Investors will have to make a commitment and persevere to achieve their retirement goals. There should be a commitment to build a retirement “nest egg” which continues to get larger and more prosperous. To accomplish this requires perseverance. There is a saying, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” It is difficult to save money all the time. Emotions tend to lead individuals to make the wrong decision. When the market is continually a bear market, the reaction is to change the investment course. The most difficult action is not to do anything with your investments. What is to be gained by selling or transferring an investment at a low price? How do you think the practice of consistently saving money for retirement should be seen differently by millennials? Millennial individuals will encounter major social changes that will affect their personal retirements. There will be demands for more leisure time from work and more dependence on government for retirement benefits. Individual contributions to a 401(k) plan will be much higher, and the companies’ contributions will be much lower. A typical investor will have to be more savvy, knowledgeable, and involved in their personal retirement portfolios. Because of these changes, there is even a greater urgency to save money for retirement regularly. How do you think retirement needs will change in the future? A typical future retiree will have the same retirement needs as individuals presently do. Those needs differ from person to person depending on their lifestyle. What are some of the things that have contributed to your success? What are some of the things you learned along the way? One of the things that have contributed to my success is being the author of Retirement Investments 101: Mutual Funds, which can be found on Amazon.com. The most beneficial contribution to my success, however, is implementing my philosophy, research data, and analyses in my daily life. I practice what I preach. I have discovered many financial success secrets which I use and also share with my Internet audience and readers. There are many things that I have learned during the past 15 years. Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers? I am a happy, retired individual, and I will celebrate my fiftieth wedding anniversary next year. What I have learned, accomplished, and put into effect was due to necessity. I have never had anyone churn my retirement accounts or advise me on my investments. Over 65 percent of my retirement portfolio is invested in IRA Mutual Funds. Most importantly, “good health” is a top priority, always! If you don’t keep yourself in the best of health, how are you going enjoy your retirement lifestyle and retirement goals? Follow King on Twitter and LinkedIn.