What would be the best way to invest my money if i wanted to try and retire in 13yrs?

looking for an option that not only includes a bit of safety and obviously high growth but also the option of removing money prior to full retirement age {approx 45}?

Hi! Personally I would say to you, TAKE YOUR MONEY OUT of any investments or brokerage accounts NOW. Don't even do CDs now. Things are too risky at the moment to have your money in any part of the market could really make you lose your shirt. I would put my money in a high performance savings account with the maximum interest rate (which won't be much now due to the current economy crisis but it may recover itself in a few months or a year). I would say put the money in savings, because you can lose a lot right now that would hurt your retirement. SAVE as much as you can and just leave it alone.

Have you opened any IRA accounts for you or your spouse? That would be the best first step to take if you haven't. If you have an IRA set up after a certain amount of time money can be loaned to you against that IRA as well (but be careful to read the fine print and know what is required to keep up with payments and to avoid hurting your retirement plans). It would help say if you want to buy a retirement home or plan to invest in something big in a few years.

Definitely, don't gamble now with the market as it is. Hang on to that money. Life insurance plans are also good to consider if you have children or a spouse that you want to protect if something unexpected should happen and you don't make it to retirement years.

Hide the money under the mattress and just wait. Watch the markets and only when things have been steady for a while would I consider doing that. In which case when you are ready to invest in something, start with a small amount, like $2,000-5,000 and then see how it works and keep an eye on it. Then after six months you can safely start venturing into deeper waters. Starting with a small amount is the best way to understand how it works and to also protect yourself, should it not go as planned and is lost. Wait and see. But remember that right now even the most safe and secure investments are not so safe at the moment. It changes from day to day. Even look at what has happened with JP Morgan Chase over this weekend! Its a good lesson... Banks are in trouble, mine has even recently been begging for us to invest or open brokerage accounts because they know we have real money, but we are sticking to the mattress for now. Save it and wait. Good luck and when the time is right I hope it will work out for you. But be sure to research a lot before making any kind of big decisions.

PS Back during the big ENRON crisis and big crash, my father who has worked for Budweiser (which is a pretty sound investment as everyone drinks beer), lost a lot of his retirement investments. It took him 5 years to recover from that and I imagine that right now he is probably taking his money out now and trying to bail for safer waters... Just an example...

if you want to retire at 45 you will need quite a nest egg; probably diversify with several aggressive mutual funds then switch it into something more conservative as you get closer to that age

INVEST WISELY

Don't invest in stocks. The risk to lose your money is too high.
I have invested in my friend's business and now I am getting guaranteed 40% annual interest. Send me email through my profile for more information.

I wish you success!