I invested with a financial services company in some trust deed loans. When the market flopped, so did the borrowers. I know one of the (3) loans I was on defaulted, another one put up an out of town property in lieu of backrupcy and the final one negotiated a lowered loan somehow. All said, I'm out of about 50K of my investment(retirement) funds. Can I take a loss on my return when I file my 2012 taxes?

Sorry, but no.

The losses incurred on retirement investments are not deductible.