The early optimism regarding strong monthly sales data from major auto makers Ford (F) and Chrysler faded in the afternoon following the release of minutes from the Fed’s latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The concern for some traders is that fewer Fed officials see the need for further stimulus, posing a potential setback if the economy continues to start and stop.

As for stocks,shares of Molson Coors (TAP) edged lower following news of the company’s $2.65 Billion EUR acquisition of StarBev. Ford (F) did see gains slip following its March sales report numbers.. Meanwhile, Wall Street analyst downgrades pushed stocks like Newmont Mining (NEM), Phillip Morris International (PM), and Fastenal (FAST), and Coca-Cola (KO). Financials also fell as the afternoon lingered, led by Deutsche Bank (DB), Morgan Stanley (MS), and Goldman Sachs (GS).

The New York Times ran a great story this past weekend about a 60-year old woman named Kathy Martin who now owns the best 3000 meter (1.86 miles) time for a female runner 60 years old and older. She just broke the record with a time of 11 minutes, 16.5 seconds. I do some running myself and let me tell you, that is a spectacular pace for anyone at any age.

The thing about Kathy Martin is that she didn’t start running until her late 40′s. Still, she’s now become a world-class runner in a relatively short amount of time. Believe it or not, the same concept applies to investing.

Let’s say you just turned, and haven’t invested a dime yet for retirement. You still have plenty of time to build a solid nest egg. Here’s how: you can start maxing out a Roth IRA contribution ($5K/year currently, but in addition to the “standard” contribution limits, taxpayers age 50 and over are eligible to make a Roth IRA catch-up contribution of an additional $1K/year). If you were to invest just $5K per year for every year in your 50s, each $5K you invest would turn into more than $40K after 20 years (using the 11% historical return average for dividend stocks of price appreciation + dividends reinvested). So you see, it’s never too late to get started!

Now if you have kids, you may want to give them a quick lesson on how well they can do if they get started putting money to work early on in life. If your child invests just $5,000 by the time they turn 19 years of age, and does nothing else but buy dividend stocks and re-invest the dividends, he or she could end up with a $325k nest egg — again based on those historical 11% returns for dividend-paying stocks.

Anyone trying to improve their life in some fashion (financial, health, etc.) has numerous options to consider. There are free options that can provide value if used correctly, and there are paid options that may or may not work as advertised.

Often, I find that people focus too much on price. This tendency can be a real disadvantage, particularly when someone really needs to change their lot in life. When it comes to investing in yourself, a college education is often pointed to as a common step to adding value to one’s yet-to-be-determined earning ability. In the financial world that I am a part of, you have different niches that you can subscribe to, including trading options, ETF research, mutual funds, growth stocks, dividend stocks, and so on.

Some of these services will be fairly affordable, but others will be quite pricey. Like trying to determine the difference between an expensive bottle of wine and a cheap one, you’ll be surprised at the value to be found in some services that may be a bit cheaper than others (our Dividend.com Premium service is considered lower-to-middle of the pack).

If you are serious about taking the next step from a knowledge standpoint and have the budget to do so, I would consider several sources as fixtures of your financial investment foundation. Just because you are done paying for college does not mean you should never spend another dime for a “continuing” education. We all have much to learn about building wealth, so think aggressively when it comes to arming yourself with some of the best investing perspectives possible.

At Dividend.com, we maintain our focus on the best income-producing investments the markets have to offer during time of heightened volatility. We want to make sure we have only the most pullback-resistant names on our Best Dividend Stocks List. Also, if we see the market putting in what looks like a decent bottom, we will be prepared to scale up the list of stocks we like. Stay tuned and be sure to look for Dividend.com Premium member alerts along the way. Don’t count on the government or your employer to set you up for a remarkable retirement. Take control, do your own research, and achieve your goals yourself!

We know many of you enjoy reading the daily newsletter, but remember that with our Dividend.com Premium service, the newsletter is just one small component of what we offer. Here are the “Big Three” benefits of our Premium service:

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Thanks for reading everybody. I’ll see you tomorrow!

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