Photo Credit: MF Photos

Financial advisors say their clients plan to retire later than ever when asked "When do you plan to retire?"

Reasons for an increased retirement age include the necessities of earning income and receiving employer-offered benefits, such as health insurance and retirement savings plans. Employer matching funds in a 401(k) can help investors to save more for retirement.

Baby Boomers haven't given up on Social Security as a retirement resource. The strategy of delaying one's Social Security retirement age can add hundreds of dollars per month.

Interestingly, in spite of the recent fears associated with the S&P; downgrade of U.S. debt, future retirees of age 55 and over believe that the government will pass legislation that favors savings rates and tax-deferred savings in the next few years.

Baby Boomers predict an improved Dow Jones Industrial Average is on the horizon. Benefits advisors report a projected annual increase of individual retirement funds in the market this year, too. The amount of money projected to find its way into retirement plans will approach or exceed $7 trillion, up from about $4.6 trillion in 2010.

If investment analysts believe in the power of capital seeking investment opportunity, perhaps there's reason for investors to find solace in the "Grey Tsunami" of the Baby Boom generation!

Photo Credit: © Le-thuy Do

Every now and then, financial advisors hear an urban legend that provokes downright fear. In recent weeks, several financial advisors in my network recalled how clients asked questions about Executive Order 6102, signed by President Roosevelt in 1933, during the Great Depression.

The series of executive orders signed by President Roosevelt concerning an individual's right to store gold and silver didn't give the government or agencies the right to search a private bank deposit box. Only a few noteworthy cases resulted from signing the executive orders, including lawyer Frederick Campbell's cache of 5,000 ounces of gold deposited at Chase Bank.

According to "Who Killed the Constitution: The Fate of American Liberty From World War I" by Thomas E. Woods and Kevin Raeder Gutzman (2008), Attorney Campbell requested a withdrawal of his gold in 1933 after depositing gold bars in 1932. Chase Manhattan refused to let him withdraw the gold bars pursuant to Executive Order 6012.

The bank's refusal prompted a law suit from Campbell. Although the law suit didn't get him anywhere, and the government maintained the right to seize Campbell's gold at the agreed upon rate of $20.67 an ounce. An attempt to prosecute Campbell wasn't successful.

History aside, President Roosevelt didn't authorize the Internal Revenue Service to search for private citizens' gold as a result. Here is a recap of one of the Internet versions of Roosevelt's supposed authorization:

By Executive Order Of The President of The United States, March 9, 1933.

By virtue of the authority vested in me by Section 5 (b) of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended by Section 2 of the Act of March 9, 1933, in which Congress declared that a serious emergency exists, I, as President, declare that the national emergency still exists; that the continued personal hoarding of gold and silver by citizens of the United States poses a grave threat to the peace and well-being of the United States; and that appropriate measures must be taken immediately to protect the interests of our people...

All safe deposit boxes in banks or financial institutions have been sealed, pending action in the due course of the law. All sales or purchases or movements of such gold and silver within the borders of the United States and its territories and all foreign exchange transactions or movements of such metals across the border are hereby prohibited...

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The past few weeks have tried the souls of many financial advisors. If you've championed precious metals as part of the investment portfolio, your clients are happy. If you've cautioned clients against acquiring gold, silver, or precious metals in some form--mutual fund, ETF, options, coins, or bullion--you're probably asking a lot of questions about how high precious metals can soar in an uncertain financial market.

You're hearing more about the market-to-gold ratio, or Dow Gold Ratio, every day. Simply stated, the Dow Gold ratio measures how much gold is needed to purchase a share of each of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average blue chip stocks.

Precious metals have shown dramatic results over the past five years. The price of gold, as of this writing, has risen about 15.52% in the past 30 days, 33.26% in the past six months, 50.79% in the past year, and 196.72% in the past five years. These numbers, when compared to most investors' securities portfolio returns, continue to drive new investors to consider gold as an investment.

Similarly, silver investors have seen almost incredible returns. In September 2009, silver sold for less than $15 an ounce. By year-end 2010, silver almost doubled. In April 2011, silver crested to almost $50 an ounce. Today, silver is trading at about $43. That's about 200% in two years!

Over the past 10 years, silver rose from about $5 an ounce, or appreciated an astounding 900.75%.

Owning precious metals isn't for every investor, so discuss the suitability of owning volatile investments like precious metals with clients.

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As I drove through metropolitan Washington, D.C. tonight, I thought about how much the free world needs an honest to goodness financial leader. Last week, I noted that Japan and the United States control a good deal of the globe's existing debt. The world continues to watch how we plan to reduce the federal budget.

The debt ceiling decision didn't establish a floor for the stock market. The equity market dipped into negative year-to-date levels as European markets languish in negative double digit percentages. The world's markets intersect in 2011. The bottom line is that the world has taken on too much debt. Borrowers borrowed at bargain basement prices. Now, the world grapples with concerns about how to pay it back.

The Text of the Budget Control Agreement Act points out the obvious solutions. We must cut spending and raise taxes.

Unfortunately, raising the taxes of corporations and individuals during a recession isn't going to make any leader very popular with voters!

Politics aside, we need a hard-hitting, truth-telling, financial genius to excise the waste without cutting the muscle of the nation's financial engine.

Where will we find such a leader? Some captains of industry, such as Michael Bloomberg, are floating trial balloons.

The world's markets need financial genius with leadership skills and honest charisma. Integrity and a love of freedom, along with the ability to grow concepts into billions of dollars, will also help right now!

We need a leader with real financial training. We need an experienced CEO!