News 12 at 6 o'clock, July 1, 2009

AUGUSTA---When it comes to investment money, you may not know what to do with it. Financial advisors say missing some key steps could cost you big time.

Knowing what to do with an investment like an IRA is something many of us may not have a clue about. There are a lot of options. If you pick the wrong ones, it'll only hurt you in the long run.

Cherry Coleman has felt like she poured a decent amount of money into her retirement investments.
But something wasn't quite right.

"My mistake was having it in the wrong investment securities," she said. Basically, with the money in the wrong place, it wasn't growing much. "I needed someone to say this is a better plan, let's do this," she told us.

Financial advisor David Chiera of Strategic Retirement Solutions says this is a common mistake, but there are plenty of others.

One, take a look at your beneficiaries. If you've gotten remarried or had more kids, make sure everything is up to date.

"Many times changes we go through affect who we will leave an IRA too," Chiera said.

Next, a lot of people don't take advantage of the make-up provision.

"Once you reach a certain age, you can put in $1000 more per year than someone under 50," he explained.

Third, don't miss important dates. April 15th can be a really big one.
"I could contribute up to April 15th this year for last year. You can deduct it for last yearm," he said.

Fourth, when it comes time to start drawing out of your IRA for a pension. There are minimum payments you have to take. If you don't, the penalties are big.

"If you don't take enough, you face 50% penalties for not doing that," he said.

Lastly, when deciding which IRA to draw on first in retirement, remember this.

"If its tax deferred, let it stay tax deferred as long as you can," David said.

Some of those can be confusing, talk with your financial advisor, ask questions about them and make sure you're got everything in line to maximize your money.