Procrastination is the greatest obstacle to most people accumulating a healthy, well-funded retirement account.
There are hundreds of excuses you can use to explain why you aren't saving for retirement, but none of them are going to help when you turn 65. The truth is, most people can save for retirement with just a little bit of organization and self-discipline.

Here are the basic steps that you need to take today to ensure you have enough retirement savings:

1. Begin today: No matter what your age, the time to start saving for retirement is now. Decide today and commit to it. The longer you postpone saving for retirement, the more difficult it will in your later years. Time and compound interest are your friend, which means the sooner you begin, the less painful it will be.

2. Start saving any amount: The amount you start with really doesn't matter. It's the process of placing money

Most Americans haven't felt the recent decline in the dollar because the rest of the world, especially Asia, has either cut prices or tied their currency to the value of the dollar. That means the stuff we import from them hasn't risen in price. But if you travel to Europe, you'll get a real shock at how little the dollar buys these days.

What about in the future? We worry about having enough dollars to retire, but what will those hard-earned dollars be worth in the years ahead? It's enough of a concern that you might want to take a small portion of your funds and hedge your bets, even though the Fed says it has inflation under control.

Even at a 3% annual inflation rate, the spending power of your money will be cut in half in just 24 years! Which means that you'll need twice as much money in your last year of retirement as in your first in order to maintain your lifestyle! Now that's a daunting thought.

It's enough to make you consider at least some form of hedge against the possibility that the dollar will be devalued by

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gold prices fell Monday in tandem with the rising U.S. dollar as some traders decided to cash in some of their profits from the metal's big advance last week.
Other commodities markets also backtracked as crude oil and gasoline prices fell and industrial metals weakened. Agriculture futures finished mixed.

Silver and platinum joined gold in its slide.

Tom Pawlicki, analyst with Man Financial Global Research in Chicago, attributed gold's decline to profit-taking after the metal's price rose above key resistance levels last week. When a commodity reaches a certain price level considered a key breaking point, it can trigger mass buying or selling of a commodity due to the widespread use of computer-programmed trading.

The drop follows a more than $17 jump in prices last week amid substantial declines in the U.S. dollar. Although the

AP
Soybean, Corn Prices Down, Livestock Up
Monday July 23, 3:53 pm ET
Soybean, Corn Futures Decline on the Chicago Board of Trade

CHICAGO (AP) -- Soybean futures finished sharply lower Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Wheat for September delivery rose 4 cents to end at $6.2025 a bushel; December corn shed 8 cents to close at $3.255 a bushel; December oats ended up 1.25 cents at $2.45 a bushel; November soybeans tumbled 34.25 cents at $8.41 a bushel.

Beef and pork futures closed higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

August live cattle added 1.15 cents to 91.97 cents a pound; August feeder cattle rose 1.2 cents to $1.167 a pound; August lean hogs picked up 0.68 cent to 74.55 cents a pound; August pork bellies increased 2.45 cents to 89.7 cents a pound.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gas prices dropped below a national average of $3 a gallon over the weekend, while energy futures had their own decline Monday on suggestions that OPEC may increase its output.
Hasan Qabazard, research director of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told Dow Jones Newswires he thinks oil is fairly valued at $60 to $65 a barrel, leading some to conclude the cartel may be open to reversing its long-held position that oil supplies are adequate.

"I'm shocked, they had a sudden change of heart," Phil Flynn, an analyst with Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago, said of OPEC.

The resumption of exports at a key Angolan oil facility also weighed on prices.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery dropped 90 cents to settle at $74.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile

Daily FX
Carry Trades: Is this Profit Taking or Liquidation?
Monday July 23, 4:48 pm ET
By Kathy Lien, Chief Strategist strategist@dailyfx.com

Fridays sell-off in the Yen crosses was driven by the fear that the problems in US sub-prime sector have become global. So far we have learned that they have not and because of that, some of the Yen crosses have recovered. GBP/JPY and NZD/JPY both rallied to decade or multi decade highs. EUR/JPY hit an all-time high before reversing. Carry traders are being more selective, but demand hasn?t abated yet.

Japanese retail investors are still taking each dip as a new buying opportunity and they will probably continue to do so unless we see a sharp 1000 pip breakdown in the yen crosses. According to an article in the Nikkei paper, the value of Japanese investment into foreign trusts has increased 56 percent. The market?s appetite for carry trades has also been fueled by their expectation of nonexistent inflation. Consumer prices are due for release this Thursday night; another negative month is forecasted. Meanwhile the LDP elections are scheduled for Sunday. The latest opinion polls indicate that Prime Minister Abe and the LDP are losing support. This has weighed on both the Japanese Yen and Japanese equities.

Daily FX
Chinese Investment into UK Bank Sends Pound Soaring
Monday July 23, 4:48 pm ET
By Kathy Lien, Chief Strategist strategist@dailyfx.com

The British pound continues to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of US dollar weakness. The drop in house prices has been offset by the news that one of China?s state owned banks has bought a 3.1 percent stake in Barclays, one of the UK?s biggest banks. Valued at US$5 billion, this stake could grow to $18.76 billion (with the help of Singapore?s Temasek Holdings) if Barclays manages to win the bid for ABN Amro.

With 1.2 trillion in reserves, China is on a buying spree. Over 2 months ago, they announced that they will be starting their own investment fund. After investing $3 billion into Blackstone, China has now diversified across the Atlantic. The market is also continuing to talk of 6 percent rates in the UK despite mixed economic data. Tomorrow we are expecting CBI industrial trends orders; strong numbers could mark another multi-decade high in the British pound.

Daily FX
Euro Hits New All-time High but Fails to Hold Onto Gains
Monday July 23, 4:46 pm ET
By Kathy Lien, Chief Strategist strategist@dailyfx.com

The Euro climbed to a new record high today in the early Asian trading session, but failed to hold onto its gains. This type of price action should be worrisome for Euro bulls, but we would need to see a close below 1.3780 to turn bearish. This is the last chance that we will hear from ECB officials before they go on their summer holidays. The lack of concern over the past few weeks tells us that they fully intend to raise interest rates to 4.25 percent over the next few months. As recently as this morning, ECB member Papademos pointed out that some EZ countries have raised their growth rates while Stark talked about how the current level of the Euro reflects the strength of the economy.

Next month?s monetary policy meeting will be a teleconference with no scheduled press conference. Although Trichet has warned that holding an impromptu press conference may not be out of the question, we expect him to wait until the September meeting to bring back the words "strong vigilance." At that time, he would be preparing the markets for an October rate hike. Given Trichet?s warning to EU government officials about interfering in ECB monetary policy, unless we see the EUR/USD at 1.45 in August, we do not expect to hear much from Trichet next month. Instead, what could lead to some further Euro selling is this week?s busy data calendar. Tomorrow we are expecting EZ service and manufacturing PMI along with industrial orders and current account. All of these reports are sensitive to exchange rates, which mean that they have decent chance of surprising to the downside.

Daily FX
Australian and New Zealand Dollar Register More Gains
Monday July 23, 4:45 pm ET
By Kathy Lien, Chief Strategist strategist@dailyfx.com

The Australian and New Zealand dollars continued to hit new highs today on the back of stronger Australian producer prices and speculation that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will be raising interest rates to 8.25 percent later this week. The market is currently pricing in a 70 percent chance of a rate hike and even if they do not raise rates, the market expects the RBNZ to remain hawkish.

This has helped both the Kiwi and Aussie. The Canadian dollar on the other hand has also gained ground ahead of tomorrow?s retail sales report. Given the up tick wholesale sales last week, the market is looking for consumer spending to remain steady. Although the currency pair is attempting to bottom, another upside surprise could easily drive the pair to a new 30 year low.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Pharmaceutical companies Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., partners in a lucrative cholesterol drug joint venture, posted hefty jumps in second-quarter profit Monday and handily beat analysts' expectations.

Merck, which again raised its 2007 earnings forecast, got a pat on the back from Wall Street, with its shares jumping nearly 9 percent at one point. But Schering-Plough, whose profit more than doubled, saw its initial 2 percent rise in share price fizzle and ended the day flat, leaving analysts puzzled.

"I'm not sure what's leading to the weakness" in Schering's stock, said analyst Joseph Tooley of A.G. Edwards & Sons. "It was a good quarter for them."

Likewise, he said, the trend has been positive for pharmaceutical companies reporting so far in the quarter, with the exception of Pfizer Inc., which saw profit plunge 48 percent.

"By and large, we've seen good solid performances, and certainly stronger than

NEW YORK (AP) -- American Express Co., the nation's third-largest credit card brand, said Monday that record spending had fueled a 12 percent jump in profit.

The New York-based company also boosted the amount of money it has reserved for loan losses, as have many other financial services companies, to brace for an ongoing deterioration in credit quality.

Net income rose to $1.06 billion in the second quarter, or 88 cents per share, from $945 million, or 76 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Income from continuing operations also totaled 88 cents per share in the latest period, up from 78 cents per share a year ago.

The results were helped by a surge in overseas profit, and a $65 million tax benefit

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The top executives at the nation's two satellite radio companies detailed pricing plans Monday that they said would let customers choose which channels they want to receive if the two firms are combined.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. announced last February that it would acquire XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. for $4.7 billion. The combination requires approval from antitrust regulators and the Federal Communications Commission.

The pricing plans announced Monday range from $6.99 per month for 50 channels offered by one service to $16.99 per month where customers would keep their existing service, plus "choose from the best" of channels offered by the other service.

That means a customer could subscribe to both the Major League Baseball channel on

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, set the stage for price wars Monday as it announced it's cutting prices on more than 16,000 items starting this week in a bid to turn around sales for the critical back-to-school season.

Shares of key retailers such as Sears Holding Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. were down, as investors worried about how ensuing price wars would affect profit margins. Wal-Mart slipped 2 cents to $48.04.

Wal-Mart's price cuts, which range from 10 percent to 50 percent, will be backed by a new ad campaign on how to save money as gas prices remain high and kids head back to school. The cuts are deeper and involve even more items than in the year-ago period and top the 11,000 items discounted in advance of last year's holiday season, according to Melissa O'Brien, a company spokeswoman.

Wal-Mart has been playing up its low prices since late last year after getting hurt by a

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp. (NasdaqGS:SBUX) will raise U.S. prices on coffee, lattes and other drinks by about 9 cents a cup next week to help offset soaring costs on commodities such as milk and energy, a spokesman said on Monday.

The move marks Starbucks' second price increase in less than a year and comes a month after the coffee shop chain's chief financial officer warned that it would be "very challenging" for Starbucks to meet the high end of its 2007 earnings forecast, due in part to rising dairy prices.

The higher costs have also been a concern for investors, who have sent Starbucks' shares down more than 20 percent this year.

"We're always looking at the business costs, and given the rising cost environment in