Do it properly! Although this is an obvious statement, most people when saving for retirement don't know how to do it properly.

They make errors that cost them and cost them big time. They can't retire in comfort and this is not the minoritythis is the majority!

Problems we all face Are:

Keep in mind, the state won't help you much, medical costs are soaring and people are living longer.

Unless you are saving for retirement properly, you won't enjoy your golden years and of course you shouldYou have worked hard all your life!

Let's face itif you have worked hard all your life enjoying your "golden years" should be your right.

Lets look at some common mistakes people make when saving for retirement and how if you don't make the same mistakes, you can enjoy the comfort and lifestyle you deserve.

Common mistakes

Here are some common mistakes that people make when saving for retirement:

1. Mutual funds and stocks can make you rich

Well let's look at the facts.

If you are saving for retirement you can expect maybe 10% annually compounded and taking into account inflation that's not much.

Even more worrying is 90% of funds cannot even do this!

They lose, or provide single digit gains that are eaten up by inflation.

Why do people invest in mutual funds?

Most of the time they are taken in by the sales hype and this does not match the reality.

2. Don't take risks when Upside is limited & downside is more!

If you are going to save for retirement your better off in a fixed interest fundsame upside and less downside.

Check the facts:

Ask any mutual company for an average performance of ALL funds under management. You won't get it, but if you could you have losses across the board.

Forget the sales patter!

When a fund performs greatwhen it fails they launch a new one.

They don't care if you make money or not, they have their commission so why do they care? They don't.

2. Alternative Investments for growth

OK great lets when saving for retirement trade alternative investments:

Like currencies, futures, options or hedge funds.

A warningKeep in mind the risk reward:

90% of investors lose in these investments and that's the lot!

Consider saving for retirement in a hedge fund. Most are secretive and unregulated so you cant see what they do. They are not obliged to give you performance of all funds under management and most blow up!

This means losses of 50% or more in most cases 'Don't believe they lose? Check the statistics. Hedge funds sound fantastic in theory, but the reality is very different.

3. When you get close to retirement you cant take risks

Why? Quite simply if you are saving for retirement you can take losses early on as you have time to recover, when you get close to using your fund you cant.

You have spent years building it and it needs to kept intact.

Don't take risks in the last few years. The odds are you can't won't make it back quickly enough! Use low risk investments..

4. High return and low risk

We all want this!

We want this at anytime but when saving for retirement it's essential.

We ALL want our money to work hard and produce above average gains with little downside risk, but is it possible?

The answer is yes!

5. The best low risk investments

When saving for retirement, you will hear it time and time again..

Property is the best investment and it is a good one, but there is one that compares that's cheaper and growth potential is the same, if not more.

When saving for retirement lets look at land. Here we will give you one example, but there are many more. Just check these statistics out and your mutual fund manager will weep with envy!

Land is a simple investment and is the secret of the world's wealthiest investors:

Let's consider Costa Rica. You can by land at 70% less than in the US and there is a huge property boom going on and land is at a premium and that means huge growth potential.

Quite simply, Americans are buying Costa Rica properties in record numbers to get second and retirement homes at cheaper prices and their only 3 hours from the US!

What does this mean, if you are saving for retirement? It means big gains and low risk:

50100% gains per annum are being made with low risk ( prices don't tend to fall here in land they simply stay static and rise quickly) is this better than your mutual fund? No contest!

You want good returns and low risk when saving for retirement and land investment gives you this.

We don't have room to tell you how cheap it is, how tax efficient it is, how easy it is to do and why this boom will continue but check the facts for yourself.

If you want to save for retirement, land is the ideal vehicle and you should consider it