By: footdoc77
EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS (ETF)
The best way to trade the stock market
Let’s face it in good years when the stock market is soaring everyone seems to be a stock market genius. Heck, you can throw darts at the Wall Street Journal and pick winning stocks. The problem for all of us is when the market travels either sideways or worse yet, moves in a downward direction. Then what do you do as it becomes increasingly harder to find winning stocks.
I have read in more than one source that a given individual stock aside from the fundamentals of the stock itself is influenced by a number of factors. This includes falsely pumping up the value of the security by company executives as well as the Wall Street bankers looking to make a quick buck off the backs of “regular people” like us.
More importantly perhaps is the fact that the movement of an individual stock may be influenced by factors beyond its control. For example it is estimated that 70 percent of the stocks movement is influenced by the movement of the stock market itself. So, your stock may have great fundamentals, but if the overall movement of the stock market is down, guess what, your stock if probably going with it.
Twenty percent of a stock’s movement is influenced by the sector that it is in (banking, textiles, health care, etc.), so again even with good fundamentals, if your stock is in a poor performing sector there is a good chance the price of the stock is moving south.
Lastly, about ten percent of a stock’s movement is influenced by the stocks actual fundamentals and as stated earlier in many instances these fundamentals are manipulated. Remember Enron, Tyco, etc.?
So how does the average investor eliminate all these potential shortcomings when investing in the stock market? Exchange Traded Funds or ETF. These are funds that are traded like stocks, you buy and sell shares just as you would with any equity, but they mimic mutual funds in that the ETF’s are made up of a basket of individual stocks.
Exchange Traded Funds come in various shapes and sizes meaning you can trade whole markets, such as the Nasdaq, you can trade complete sectors. Additionally you can trade specific styles of stocks such as large cap, mid cap, value cap, etc.
You can also trade foreign equities, commodities and real estate. Since they trade like individual stocks you can buy and sell them anytime during the day while the market is open.
Lastly they are transparent, you know exactly what you are trading and they allow for easy diversification.
You can trade markets like the S&P 1500, SPDR or Spiders which mimics the S&P 500, the NYSE Composite Index Fund which corresponds to the NYSE Composite Index., the Russell 3000 Index and of course the most popular is the QQQQ which corresponds to the Nasdaq 100.
Within these groups there are funds that attempt to double the return of these indexes as well as funds which attempt to short the indexes, so you can trade them in any market environment. Plus there are options available on them for those that prefer that method of trading.
Another nice thing about Exchange Traded Funds is that if you play a lot of money in the market, because of the huge size of these funds, they are always redeemable. Although that concept is probably true with larger stocks, some thinly traded stocks may cause you a problem if you attempt to sell a large quantity at one time
The Exchange Traded Funds are superior to mutual funds for a couple of reasons. One there are far less expenses associated with ETF’s compared to mutual funds and as previously stated the ETF’s can be bought and sold anytime while the market is open compared to mutual funds where the buy and sell price is determined at market close.
In conclusion I believe it is much easier to determine the potential direction of the overall stock market than an individual stock at any given time and for that reason and the reasons listed , trading Exchange Traded Funds is a much smarter investment move.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Where To Invest Today? Consider Oil & Gas.
By: Mike Traweek
With everyone’s attention focused on the crisis in the financial markets, many are overlooking the fact that there are still good investment avenues open if you know where to find them and how to evaluate them. One such avenue is oil and gas and this article will show you why it is still a good investment, and how you can evaluate the ones you find.
Let me clarify that I am specifically talking about investing in oil & gas drilling programs. There are other vehicles to invest in the energy industry but they are currently not doing well so I am focusing only on drilling ventures. So what is a drilling venture?
The entire oil & gas industry depends upon the ability of companies to locate and produce oil and gas from pockets hidden under the earth’s surface. Drilling programs do this both for public and private companies. The limitation with public companies is that the only way you can invest with them is via their stock. While this can be a good long term investment, it does not provide the many benefits of investing directly in an oil & gas drilling program with a private company. Here is why.
Investing in a sound drilling program offers the investor the opportunity for substantial returns, plus it offers tax benefits that are only found by investing in these programs. By substantial returns I mean that returns from 50 to 100% per year are attainable, plus these returns can last for 10 to 20 years. I must point out that these returns decrease over time at an average rate of 10% per year, so the returns do decrease as the reserves are depleted. Still these types of returns are hard to find elsewhere, if you can find them at all.
The tax benefits include three distinct mechanisms which when combined make this the most lucrative investment vehicle available. The tax code was revised in 1986 to allow for the following:
* 100% write-off of intangible drilling costs (IDC’s)
* 100% depreciation write-off of capital equipment over 7 years
* 15% of income from the production is tax free (not a deduction)
IDC’s are those costs which are essentially services consumed to drill the well. They include hauling, drilling fluids, core samples, electric logs, the actual drilling of the well, and many other services. Since they are not capital goods like tanks and pump jacks, they can be written off immediately regardless of the outcome of the well. What this means is that the risk capital invested in a program is reduced by the amount of the tax bracket for each investor. Essentially the investor is using $0.60 dollars (varying with the tax bracket) to invest in the program. I know of no other investment vehicle that offers this and this alone is one reason it is popular with those who have done it.
Depreciation is well understood though it is worthy to note that equipment is 100% depreciated in 7 years.
Finally for every dollar the investor earns, 15% is tax free meaning only 85% of the income can be taxed.
It should be clear that this is a great vehicle. The real question is how does one evaluate a program with confidence. To do this, we have prepared a Guide To Oil & Gas Investment which shows how you can accomplish this with confidence once you know what to look for and what you must avoid. For your free guide visit the link in the Resource Box below.
With everyone’s attention focused on the crisis in the financial markets, many are overlooking the fact that there are still good investment avenues open if you know where to find them and how to evaluate them. One such avenue is oil and gas and this article will show you why it is still a good investment, and how you can evaluate the ones you find.
Let me clarify that I am specifically talking about investing in oil & gas drilling programs. There are other vehicles to invest in the energy industry but they are currently not doing well so I am focusing only on drilling ventures. So what is a drilling venture?
The entire oil & gas industry depends upon the ability of companies to locate and produce oil and gas from pockets hidden under the earth’s surface. Drilling programs do this both for public and private companies. The limitation with public companies is that the only way you can invest with them is via their stock. While this can be a good long term investment, it does not provide the many benefits of investing directly in an oil & gas drilling program with a private company. Here is why.
Investing in a sound drilling program offers the investor the opportunity for substantial returns, plus it offers tax benefits that are only found by investing in these programs. By substantial returns I mean that returns from 50 to 100% per year are attainable, plus these returns can last for 10 to 20 years. I must point out that these returns decrease over time at an average rate of 10% per year, so the returns do decrease as the reserves are depleted. Still these types of returns are hard to find elsewhere, if you can find them at all.
The tax benefits include three distinct mechanisms which when combined make this the most lucrative investment vehicle available. The tax code was revised in 1986 to allow for the following:
* 100% write-off of intangible drilling costs (IDC’s)
* 100% depreciation write-off of capital equipment over 7 years
* 15% of income from the production is tax free (not a deduction)
IDC’s are those costs which are essentially services consumed to drill the well. They include hauling, drilling fluids, core samples, electric logs, the actual drilling of the well, and many other services. Since they are not capital goods like tanks and pump jacks, they can be written off immediately regardless of the outcome of the well. What this means is that the risk capital invested in a program is reduced by the amount of the tax bracket for each investor. Essentially the investor is using $0.60 dollars (varying with the tax bracket) to invest in the program. I know of no other investment vehicle that offers this and this alone is one reason it is popular with those who have done it.
Depreciation is well understood though it is worthy to note that equipment is 100% depreciated in 7 years.
Finally for every dollar the investor earns, 15% is tax free meaning only 85% of the income can be taxed.
It should be clear that this is a great vehicle. The real question is how does one evaluate a program with confidence. To do this, we have prepared a Guide To Oil & Gas Investment which shows how you can accomplish this with confidence once you know what to look for and what you must avoid. For your free guide visit the link in the Resource Box below.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
I'm Investing - Now What?
By: Paul J. Meyer
The good news is that there are nearly an unlimited number of ways and strategies to be successful in investing and managing your money. The bad news is that there is an unlimited number of people, businesses, advertisements, magazines, radio experts, and television shows all ready to tell you what they think you should do. But don't despair. Among the many successful ways are some common denominators that all seem to revolve around common sense. Here are my top ten common sense tips for asset management:
Tip #1: Don't fall in love with a stock.
Don't let emotions get involved with your stock - it could cost you dearly. Regardless of any sentimental meaning you may attach to it, it represents a commodity of value only.
Tip #2: Don't buy or sell from a broker on the last two days of a calendar month.
If you don't know your commission-based broker well, put a moratorium on any business during the last few days of any month, when such brokers typically end their production period that determines their paycheck for the following month. Don't risk getting recommendations based more on your broker's need to earn a commission than on your need to make money.
Tip #3: Seek a financial advisor through friends or your company's benefits office.
Brokerage companies often have rookie brokers simply take turns accepting unsolicited calls for advice. This is far too risky. You need to protect your money. If your friends can't recommend one, utilize the due diligence that your company's benefits office has done on the company's behalf and ask them for a referral.
Tip #4: Don't pay for advice you don't need.
There will always be a need for high quality, full-service stockbrokers. However, for the common investor, cost savings are enormous and personal control is greatly improved if you can invest a few hours per week into the powerful research tools and portfolio management applications afforded by free Internet sites.
Tip #5: Fee-based managers can gouge, too.
If you're paying a professional manager a flat fee based on the size of your portfolio, make sure you aren't paying ongoing management fees on the cash portion of your account. It makes sense to pay management fees on the portion that is in stocks and bonds, but never pay additional management fees on the portion invested in money market funds.
Tip #6: Take the best of both worlds.
If you have a complex portfolio and estate, consider paying a professional financial advisor for a specific plan that can be executed and evaluated on your own at a discounted or online broker. This keeps you in control and free to measure performance without any conflict of interest as well as saving significantly on needless fees and commissions.
Tip #7: That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.
Do your research, get outside advice if necessary, and find a core strategy that you can live with long-term. It is the fees, tax liability, and needless short-term losses that can destroy the multiplying momentum of your portfolio over time if you allow yourself to be whipsawed with every new fad.
Tip #8: Life insurance is not an investment. Investments are not life insurance.
Insurance salespeople may try to convince you that life insurance can be used as an effective investment. Stockbrokers may try to convince you that your life insurance premiums are better spent by investing in their investment recommendations. Common sense and good advice will tell you that there is a need for both at some level in every family.
Tip #9: Don't overlook invisible losses.
Invisible losses are those you are taking and not even knowing it. For example, if you are afraid of taking some risk by investing and instead place your money in a bank savings account, you will have had invisible losses by not earning more than you could have. Manage your money, and consider the cost of doing nothing when you make financial decisions.
Tip #10: Keep your perspective.
You own your money - do not let it own you. Always remember where your portfolio ranks in your own personal priorities of life.
The good news is that there are nearly an unlimited number of ways and strategies to be successful in investing and managing your money. The bad news is that there is an unlimited number of people, businesses, advertisements, magazines, radio experts, and television shows all ready to tell you what they think you should do. But don't despair. Among the many successful ways are some common denominators that all seem to revolve around common sense. Here are my top ten common sense tips for asset management:
Tip #1: Don't fall in love with a stock.
Don't let emotions get involved with your stock - it could cost you dearly. Regardless of any sentimental meaning you may attach to it, it represents a commodity of value only.
Tip #2: Don't buy or sell from a broker on the last two days of a calendar month.
If you don't know your commission-based broker well, put a moratorium on any business during the last few days of any month, when such brokers typically end their production period that determines their paycheck for the following month. Don't risk getting recommendations based more on your broker's need to earn a commission than on your need to make money.
Tip #3: Seek a financial advisor through friends or your company's benefits office.
Brokerage companies often have rookie brokers simply take turns accepting unsolicited calls for advice. This is far too risky. You need to protect your money. If your friends can't recommend one, utilize the due diligence that your company's benefits office has done on the company's behalf and ask them for a referral.
Tip #4: Don't pay for advice you don't need.
There will always be a need for high quality, full-service stockbrokers. However, for the common investor, cost savings are enormous and personal control is greatly improved if you can invest a few hours per week into the powerful research tools and portfolio management applications afforded by free Internet sites.
Tip #5: Fee-based managers can gouge, too.
If you're paying a professional manager a flat fee based on the size of your portfolio, make sure you aren't paying ongoing management fees on the cash portion of your account. It makes sense to pay management fees on the portion that is in stocks and bonds, but never pay additional management fees on the portion invested in money market funds.
Tip #6: Take the best of both worlds.
If you have a complex portfolio and estate, consider paying a professional financial advisor for a specific plan that can be executed and evaluated on your own at a discounted or online broker. This keeps you in control and free to measure performance without any conflict of interest as well as saving significantly on needless fees and commissions.
Tip #7: That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.
Do your research, get outside advice if necessary, and find a core strategy that you can live with long-term. It is the fees, tax liability, and needless short-term losses that can destroy the multiplying momentum of your portfolio over time if you allow yourself to be whipsawed with every new fad.
Tip #8: Life insurance is not an investment. Investments are not life insurance.
Insurance salespeople may try to convince you that life insurance can be used as an effective investment. Stockbrokers may try to convince you that your life insurance premiums are better spent by investing in their investment recommendations. Common sense and good advice will tell you that there is a need for both at some level in every family.
Tip #9: Don't overlook invisible losses.
Invisible losses are those you are taking and not even knowing it. For example, if you are afraid of taking some risk by investing and instead place your money in a bank savings account, you will have had invisible losses by not earning more than you could have. Manage your money, and consider the cost of doing nothing when you make financial decisions.
Tip #10: Keep your perspective.
You own your money - do not let it own you. Always remember where your portfolio ranks in your own personal priorities of life.
How To Invest When Market Is Down
By: Tony Clifton
Some people have the luck to live most of their active life in calm and prosperous times. What about you? Oh well, you don't even need to tell me. We live in these crazy times together. We don't have the luck of those people.Does that mean that we should give up investing just because the markets are crazy, stocks are going down and we smell the ghost of deflation? No, not at all.
In fact though times for the markets are best for the smart investor. I'll give you some simple beginner investing tips that can help you invest like the pros - and even much better than them.
When markets are in mass panic, then is the best time to buy
When a recession or financial crisis is coming, people start being afraid that the things can go much worse. Why were not they afraid of that when the prices of their investments were high? You have much less to lose when buying low as compared to when the markets are growing. Besides that, markets go in cycles - low times follow high times and the other way around. You should worry most when everything seems bright on the financial markets.
You can only win if you buy when everyone sells in panic. Even if you don't buy exactly at the bottom, you'll still need much less time to reach big profits compared to everyone else (yes, including those mutual fund managers).
Recession is great time for real estate investing
The panic of recession does not cause just stock sales. Financial crisis often causes apocalypse at the real estate markets because the banks increase the interest rates and start giving loans harder. The higher rates lead to many people's inability to pay their mortgage and as a result they lose their homes. At the same times the demand of houses goes down because of the harder access to loans and it becomes even harder for these homes to be sold.
This leads to very low house prices which of course is excellent news for the smart investor. If you have the money, buy real estate when everyone is selling.
At low markets you can easier find out what assets have real value
When the markets are growing and the prises of everything only go up, it's hard to distinguish which assets have real value and which are in bubble. It's not like that when the market is down. At a down times the bubbled assets lose value like crazy while other lose just a little of their price or stay at the same levels.
It's wrong to think that you should buy only the assets that have lost a lot of their value in the crisis. The ones that have not lost are still good because they are really valuable and not bubbled. With the bubbled assets you can target aggressive gains with some risk (if you don't catch the bottom). The really valuable assets will not bring you such big profits but they are secure and will never crash as bad.
Finally, when the market is down, the buyer is the king.
You can negotiate your deals. You can negotiate prices of real estate, construction projects, investments, hiring people and so on. There is no better time for the one who has cash than recession.
Some people have the luck to live most of their active life in calm and prosperous times. What about you? Oh well, you don't even need to tell me. We live in these crazy times together. We don't have the luck of those people.Does that mean that we should give up investing just because the markets are crazy, stocks are going down and we smell the ghost of deflation? No, not at all.
In fact though times for the markets are best for the smart investor. I'll give you some simple beginner investing tips that can help you invest like the pros - and even much better than them.
When markets are in mass panic, then is the best time to buy
When a recession or financial crisis is coming, people start being afraid that the things can go much worse. Why were not they afraid of that when the prices of their investments were high? You have much less to lose when buying low as compared to when the markets are growing. Besides that, markets go in cycles - low times follow high times and the other way around. You should worry most when everything seems bright on the financial markets.
You can only win if you buy when everyone sells in panic. Even if you don't buy exactly at the bottom, you'll still need much less time to reach big profits compared to everyone else (yes, including those mutual fund managers).
Recession is great time for real estate investing
The panic of recession does not cause just stock sales. Financial crisis often causes apocalypse at the real estate markets because the banks increase the interest rates and start giving loans harder. The higher rates lead to many people's inability to pay their mortgage and as a result they lose their homes. At the same times the demand of houses goes down because of the harder access to loans and it becomes even harder for these homes to be sold.
This leads to very low house prices which of course is excellent news for the smart investor. If you have the money, buy real estate when everyone is selling.
At low markets you can easier find out what assets have real value
When the markets are growing and the prises of everything only go up, it's hard to distinguish which assets have real value and which are in bubble. It's not like that when the market is down. At a down times the bubbled assets lose value like crazy while other lose just a little of their price or stay at the same levels.
It's wrong to think that you should buy only the assets that have lost a lot of their value in the crisis. The ones that have not lost are still good because they are really valuable and not bubbled. With the bubbled assets you can target aggressive gains with some risk (if you don't catch the bottom). The really valuable assets will not bring you such big profits but they are secure and will never crash as bad.
Finally, when the market is down, the buyer is the king.
You can negotiate your deals. You can negotiate prices of real estate, construction projects, investments, hiring people and so on. There is no better time for the one who has cash than recession.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Investing Strategies-what Are Your Investing Goals
By: mike345
When it comes to investing, many first time investors want to jump right in with both feet. Sadly, only some of those investors have some degree of success. Investing in something requires some degree of devotion. It is important to remember that few investments are a sure thing there is always risk of losing your money!
Before you start, it is better to not only find out more about investing and how it all works, but also to determine what your goals are. What do you hope to achieve with your investments? Will you be funding a college education? Buying a home? Retiring? Before you invest a single penny, really think about what you hope to achieve with that investment. Knowing what your goals are will help you make better investment decisions along the way!
Too often, people invest money with dreams of becoming rich overnight. This is possible but it is also rare. It is usually a very bad idea to start investing with hopes of becoming rich overnight. It is safer to invest your money in such a way that it will grow slowly over time, and be used for retirement or a child’s education. However, if your investment goal is to get rich quick, you should learn as much about high-yield, short term investing as you possibly can before you invest.
You should strongly consider talking to a financial planner before making any investments. Your financial planner can help you determine what type of investing you must do to reach the financial goals that you have set. He or she can give you realistic information as to what kind of returns you can expect and how long it will take to reach your specific goals.
Again, remember that investing requires more than calling a broker and telling them that you want to buy stocks or bonds. It takes a certain amount of research and knowledge about the market if you hope to invest successfully.
When it comes to investing, many first time investors want to jump right in with both feet. Sadly, only some of those investors have some degree of success. Investing in something requires some degree of devotion. It is important to remember that few investments are a sure thing there is always risk of losing your money!
Before you start, it is better to not only find out more about investing and how it all works, but also to determine what your goals are. What do you hope to achieve with your investments? Will you be funding a college education? Buying a home? Retiring? Before you invest a single penny, really think about what you hope to achieve with that investment. Knowing what your goals are will help you make better investment decisions along the way!
Too often, people invest money with dreams of becoming rich overnight. This is possible but it is also rare. It is usually a very bad idea to start investing with hopes of becoming rich overnight. It is safer to invest your money in such a way that it will grow slowly over time, and be used for retirement or a child’s education. However, if your investment goal is to get rich quick, you should learn as much about high-yield, short term investing as you possibly can before you invest.
You should strongly consider talking to a financial planner before making any investments. Your financial planner can help you determine what type of investing you must do to reach the financial goals that you have set. He or she can give you realistic information as to what kind of returns you can expect and how long it will take to reach your specific goals.
Again, remember that investing requires more than calling a broker and telling them that you want to buy stocks or bonds. It takes a certain amount of research and knowledge about the market if you hope to invest successfully.
How To Begin Investing Money
By: Donny Gamble
Investment money is something that should be advised whether you maturate yourself with a nest egg, or if you asking to put both of your earnings to corking use. Investing may happen to be a Gordian and unclear area for the inexperienced, but a few unlobed guidelines to investment money can piss the chance lower of a fear.
When considering investing, you should make sure that you read up on the subject matter. There are many online sources that offer investment tips for beginners, and the world newspapers cover business markets in a comprehensive manner. It is worth effort to get in contact with business news before dipping a toe in the water, and visiting to see what goes on in the world of business.
Open a practice account
When you have an idea of what business is all about, the best option is to open a 'practice' account in which you invest in actual stocks, with imaginary money. This is a great way of getting experience in investing, and getting to grips with the ins and outs of stocks and shares, before investing for real, with real money.
Many advisers will instruct you to pay attention to areas of the market that you may know something about. This is why reading the business pages is important, and also why you should get into looking at share tipping services.
These are acquirable online and offer up to the time advice from people with experience in the market as to which shares should be considered, and why. Never underestimate the benefit of someone else's hard earned experience, as they hit been finished the learning curve that you are most to experience. Never underestimate the benefit of someone else's hard earned experience, as they have been through the learning curve that you are about to experience.
Careful planning helps
Plan your learning period well - use the tipping services to run one of the training programmes, and watch how the shares perform. This is a sure-fire way of making sure you understand the art of investing.
One vital factor to be aware of is that finance in stocks and shares is exciting to the beginner, and this can lead to new investors effort carried away. This must be curbed as it can lead to unnecessary losses - shares, as we have seen in recent weeks, can lose value as well as gain, and often do.
Don't be put off by the seeming intricacies of the investment game, as it will soon become clear what is going on: in basic terms, you buy shares at a set price in the belief that they will increase in value, and when they do, you sell on at a profit.
Take a look at local businesses, those that you may be able to get a closer look at, and consider areas that you may have some experience in. Use all of the possible help that is available - and there is much on the web and elsewhere - before jumping in, and consider how much you want to risk, and where and when, very carefully indeed.
This way you will find yourself well on the way to what can be both an enjoyable pastime and a lucrative move, but remember - investing carries risks: only go ahead if you are willing to take that risk.
Donny Gamble is a 23 year old owner of a website that provides information on topics related to personal finance. If you value your retirement savings, make sure you check out his website=> www.invesmint.com
Investment money is something that should be advised whether you maturate yourself with a nest egg, or if you asking to put both of your earnings to corking use. Investing may happen to be a Gordian and unclear area for the inexperienced, but a few unlobed guidelines to investment money can piss the chance lower of a fear.
When considering investing, you should make sure that you read up on the subject matter. There are many online sources that offer investment tips for beginners, and the world newspapers cover business markets in a comprehensive manner. It is worth effort to get in contact with business news before dipping a toe in the water, and visiting to see what goes on in the world of business.
Open a practice account
When you have an idea of what business is all about, the best option is to open a 'practice' account in which you invest in actual stocks, with imaginary money. This is a great way of getting experience in investing, and getting to grips with the ins and outs of stocks and shares, before investing for real, with real money.
Many advisers will instruct you to pay attention to areas of the market that you may know something about. This is why reading the business pages is important, and also why you should get into looking at share tipping services.
These are acquirable online and offer up to the time advice from people with experience in the market as to which shares should be considered, and why. Never underestimate the benefit of someone else's hard earned experience, as they hit been finished the learning curve that you are most to experience. Never underestimate the benefit of someone else's hard earned experience, as they have been through the learning curve that you are about to experience.
Careful planning helps
Plan your learning period well - use the tipping services to run one of the training programmes, and watch how the shares perform. This is a sure-fire way of making sure you understand the art of investing.
One vital factor to be aware of is that finance in stocks and shares is exciting to the beginner, and this can lead to new investors effort carried away. This must be curbed as it can lead to unnecessary losses - shares, as we have seen in recent weeks, can lose value as well as gain, and often do.
Don't be put off by the seeming intricacies of the investment game, as it will soon become clear what is going on: in basic terms, you buy shares at a set price in the belief that they will increase in value, and when they do, you sell on at a profit.
Take a look at local businesses, those that you may be able to get a closer look at, and consider areas that you may have some experience in. Use all of the possible help that is available - and there is much on the web and elsewhere - before jumping in, and consider how much you want to risk, and where and when, very carefully indeed.
This way you will find yourself well on the way to what can be both an enjoyable pastime and a lucrative move, but remember - investing carries risks: only go ahead if you are willing to take that risk.
Donny Gamble is a 23 year old owner of a website that provides information on topics related to personal finance. If you value your retirement savings, make sure you check out his website=> www.invesmint.com
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Plan For The Future With A Farmland Investment
By: Ralph S King
If you are an investor who is looking for a solid investment opportunity, you might want to consider looking into a investment in lands in Canada and Saskatchewan. With the current state of the economy, we are in the early stages of a bull market in terms of farmland investment and the politically stable environment makes this area the ideal location for an investor to sink his or her money.Making a Long Term Investment
When it comes to making investments, every investor knows that long term investments provide the best chance for an excellent return. Making a farmland investment is an excellent long term investment plan with a solid history of success. In fact, over the past 15 years, farmland returns have exceeded the returns offered by stocks and bonds. At the same time, an investment is up to 60% less risky as compared to stocks and bonds.
Reasons to Invest Now
While making a farmland investment has long been an excellent way to make money, there is no better time than today. This is because our world is entering into a period when the demand for crops is at an all time high. This is because we have hit a time when crops are used for food, feed and fuel. As the world population continuous to grow, so does the demand for food and farmland to grow the food. Similarly, countries such as China and India are consuming larger amounts of meat, which means they have a growing demand for feed for their livestock. Of course, the increasing attention being placed on biofuels has also resulted in a greater demand for crops.
With such a high demand for crops, it only stands to reason that the demand for farmland will increase as well. This is where making a wise farmland investment can help an investor enjoy a rather nice return on his or her initial investment.
Investing in Farmland in Canada and Saskatchewan
Although there are many places where an investor may invest in farmland, Canada and Saskatchewan are excellent locations for an investment. This is because Canadian farmland offers all of the following qualities for an investor:
• High quality land
• Good infrastructure
• Some of the lowest per acre prices in the world
By combining high quality with low cost, an investor can get in early with his or her investment and potentially enjoy significant rewards later.
If you think you are ready to invest in farmland in Canada or Saskatchewan, be certain to work with a reputable firm that will help you make the best investment possible. By working closely with a company that specializes in farmland investment, you will be certain to enjoy fantastic results.
Ralph King has been contributing to leading magazines for the past 10 years. He’s also an accredited researcher on the subject for leading research institutes in the US. A look at why and how every farmland investor should add farmland investment Canada/ Saskatchewan to his or her portfolio, including a brief analysis of the current market and economy.
If you are an investor who is looking for a solid investment opportunity, you might want to consider looking into a investment in lands in Canada and Saskatchewan. With the current state of the economy, we are in the early stages of a bull market in terms of farmland investment and the politically stable environment makes this area the ideal location for an investor to sink his or her money.Making a Long Term Investment
When it comes to making investments, every investor knows that long term investments provide the best chance for an excellent return. Making a farmland investment is an excellent long term investment plan with a solid history of success. In fact, over the past 15 years, farmland returns have exceeded the returns offered by stocks and bonds. At the same time, an investment is up to 60% less risky as compared to stocks and bonds.
Reasons to Invest Now
While making a farmland investment has long been an excellent way to make money, there is no better time than today. This is because our world is entering into a period when the demand for crops is at an all time high. This is because we have hit a time when crops are used for food, feed and fuel. As the world population continuous to grow, so does the demand for food and farmland to grow the food. Similarly, countries such as China and India are consuming larger amounts of meat, which means they have a growing demand for feed for their livestock. Of course, the increasing attention being placed on biofuels has also resulted in a greater demand for crops.
With such a high demand for crops, it only stands to reason that the demand for farmland will increase as well. This is where making a wise farmland investment can help an investor enjoy a rather nice return on his or her initial investment.
Investing in Farmland in Canada and Saskatchewan
Although there are many places where an investor may invest in farmland, Canada and Saskatchewan are excellent locations for an investment. This is because Canadian farmland offers all of the following qualities for an investor:
• High quality land
• Good infrastructure
• Some of the lowest per acre prices in the world
By combining high quality with low cost, an investor can get in early with his or her investment and potentially enjoy significant rewards later.
If you think you are ready to invest in farmland in Canada or Saskatchewan, be certain to work with a reputable firm that will help you make the best investment possible. By working closely with a company that specializes in farmland investment, you will be certain to enjoy fantastic results.
Ralph King has been contributing to leading magazines for the past 10 years. He’s also an accredited researcher on the subject for leading research institutes in the US. A look at why and how every farmland investor should add farmland investment Canada/ Saskatchewan to his or her portfolio, including a brief analysis of the current market and economy.
What To Look For In A Tax Effective Investment
By: Melanie
No one wants to pay more tax than they need to legally, so if you have funds to invest, then using the most tax effective investment makes sense. If you are not knowledgeable about such things it will pay to get professional financial advice. Tax rules change all the time and so do investment strategies. Those who make a living from advising others on their finances have the time and ability to keep abreast of these changes, where the man in the street has other things to take up his time.Tax effective investments include superannuation, equity investments and borrowing to invest. Superannuation by itself is wonderful to reduce the tax you pay on your income, as everything you put in is taxed at a much lower rate of 15%. The only trouble is that you cannot access it until you turn 65.
You can also add equity investments and bonds to your tax effective investment plan. Investing in shares in some cases allows you to receive a dividend imputation. In other words you get franking credits to use because the Australian company you invested in has already paid the tax on your dividend. It doesn’t apply to overseas investments, of course. In other cases you may not have to pay tax until you withdraw the money.
Borrowing funds to invest is another tax effective investment because your income from it is tax deductible, as is the interest paid on the loan.
Tax effective investments may vary depending on your age. For the person who is near to retirement, topping up the super can be the best strategy for saving tax. Combining salary sacrifice and undeducted contributions can do this and can save you thousands of dollars in tax. But for those who are just starting out and who have a home loan, paying off that mortgage may be the best tax effective investment.
The most important thing to do before signing up for any tax effective investment is to check it out. If it sounds the least big dodgy, then keep well away from it, otherwise you could be left with a big bill and no money to pay it with. Two things to expect with any investment are: -
- A prospectus or product disclosure statement detailing all you need to know. This is a legal requirement, so if there isn’t one have nothing to do with the scheme.
- A product ruling from the Australian Tax Office (ATO). This is a legally binding assurance that you will get what is claimed if the outlined procedure is correctly carried out.
Always get a second opinion on any tax effective investment - and make sure it is from someone who has no vested interest in the product. In this way you will be protecting yourself as much as possible from fraud and financial loss.
No one wants to pay more tax than they need to legally, so if you have funds to invest, then using the most tax effective investment makes sense. If you are not knowledgeable about such things it will pay to get professional financial advice. Tax rules change all the time and so do investment strategies. Those who make a living from advising others on their finances have the time and ability to keep abreast of these changes, where the man in the street has other things to take up his time.Tax effective investments include superannuation, equity investments and borrowing to invest. Superannuation by itself is wonderful to reduce the tax you pay on your income, as everything you put in is taxed at a much lower rate of 15%. The only trouble is that you cannot access it until you turn 65.
You can also add equity investments and bonds to your tax effective investment plan. Investing in shares in some cases allows you to receive a dividend imputation. In other words you get franking credits to use because the Australian company you invested in has already paid the tax on your dividend. It doesn’t apply to overseas investments, of course. In other cases you may not have to pay tax until you withdraw the money.
Borrowing funds to invest is another tax effective investment because your income from it is tax deductible, as is the interest paid on the loan.
Tax effective investments may vary depending on your age. For the person who is near to retirement, topping up the super can be the best strategy for saving tax. Combining salary sacrifice and undeducted contributions can do this and can save you thousands of dollars in tax. But for those who are just starting out and who have a home loan, paying off that mortgage may be the best tax effective investment.
The most important thing to do before signing up for any tax effective investment is to check it out. If it sounds the least big dodgy, then keep well away from it, otherwise you could be left with a big bill and no money to pay it with. Two things to expect with any investment are: -
- A prospectus or product disclosure statement detailing all you need to know. This is a legal requirement, so if there isn’t one have nothing to do with the scheme.
- A product ruling from the Australian Tax Office (ATO). This is a legally binding assurance that you will get what is claimed if the outlined procedure is correctly carried out.
Always get a second opinion on any tax effective investment - and make sure it is from someone who has no vested interest in the product. In this way you will be protecting yourself as much as possible from fraud and financial loss.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Self Direct An Ira Investment By Self-directing
By: Ricky Spears
Your financial future depends on you. It doesn't rely on others. At least that is not what you should hope for. The new control factor in Retirement Investments is an investment that is Self-Directed. Either Self-Directed IRA's or Self-Directed 401(k) Retirement Plans.
Many people are putting retirement dollars into real property because you always have the asset itself as a security. Many investors are tired of the low returns or even losses that they have experienced in their retirement accounts that were limited to stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Most of our clients look to EQlibrium as a way of not only earning significantly higher rates of return but actually recouping losses they have experienced over the last several years.
Some investment options include stocks and real estate and mortgages and franchises and partnerships and private equity and tax liens. Self-directed IRA's improve the account owners ability to diversify an IRA portfolio.
If you have a Self-Directed 401(k) or other retirement plan at work, you may fully or partially deduct your contribution from your taxable income if your adjusted gross income qualifies. If you have no retirement plan at work and you are under 70-1/2 years of age you can invest in a deductible IRA and deduct the entire amount from your taxes.
If you have no retirement plan at work and you're under 70-1/2 years of age, you can invest in a deductible IRA and deduct the entire amount from your taxes.
To see if you qualify for a deductible IRA, which lets you deduct all or part of your contributions from your taxable income, use the following guidelines:
If you're not covered by a retirement plan, but your spouse is, you may qualify for a full or partial deduction if you file jointly and your AGI is below $166,000. (The same rule applies if you're a non-working spouse of someone covered by a retirement plan at work.)
If you have a 401(k) or other retirement plan at work, you may fully or partially deduct your contribution only if your adjusted gross income (AGI) qualifies. Your AGI normally cannot exceed about $62,000 if you're single or head of household, (always confirm amounts for each new calendar year) or $103,000 if you're married and filing jointly.
If you make too much to qualify for a Roth IRA and are not eligible for a deductible IRA, a nondeductible IRA is an option. Your contribution will not be deductible, but at least your savings will grow tax-deferred. These type of investments are safe and secure and thats what a Self-Directed investment is.
If you're not eligible to contribute to a deductible IRA, you may be eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA if your AGI is below $114,000 if you're single or $166,000 if you're married filing jointly.
Control your financial future using Self-Directed Retirement Plans. Its a good idea for you to be in charge of what and how your money is being invested.
Your financial future depends on you. It doesn't rely on others. At least that is not what you should hope for. The new control factor in Retirement Investments is an investment that is Self-Directed. Either Self-Directed IRA's or Self-Directed 401(k) Retirement Plans.
Many people are putting retirement dollars into real property because you always have the asset itself as a security. Many investors are tired of the low returns or even losses that they have experienced in their retirement accounts that were limited to stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Most of our clients look to EQlibrium as a way of not only earning significantly higher rates of return but actually recouping losses they have experienced over the last several years.
Some investment options include stocks and real estate and mortgages and franchises and partnerships and private equity and tax liens. Self-directed IRA's improve the account owners ability to diversify an IRA portfolio.
If you have a Self-Directed 401(k) or other retirement plan at work, you may fully or partially deduct your contribution from your taxable income if your adjusted gross income qualifies. If you have no retirement plan at work and you are under 70-1/2 years of age you can invest in a deductible IRA and deduct the entire amount from your taxes.
If you have no retirement plan at work and you're under 70-1/2 years of age, you can invest in a deductible IRA and deduct the entire amount from your taxes.
To see if you qualify for a deductible IRA, which lets you deduct all or part of your contributions from your taxable income, use the following guidelines:
If you're not covered by a retirement plan, but your spouse is, you may qualify for a full or partial deduction if you file jointly and your AGI is below $166,000. (The same rule applies if you're a non-working spouse of someone covered by a retirement plan at work.)
If you have a 401(k) or other retirement plan at work, you may fully or partially deduct your contribution only if your adjusted gross income (AGI) qualifies. Your AGI normally cannot exceed about $62,000 if you're single or head of household, (always confirm amounts for each new calendar year) or $103,000 if you're married and filing jointly.
If you make too much to qualify for a Roth IRA and are not eligible for a deductible IRA, a nondeductible IRA is an option. Your contribution will not be deductible, but at least your savings will grow tax-deferred. These type of investments are safe and secure and thats what a Self-Directed investment is.
If you're not eligible to contribute to a deductible IRA, you may be eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA if your AGI is below $114,000 if you're single or $166,000 if you're married filing jointly.
Control your financial future using Self-Directed Retirement Plans. Its a good idea for you to be in charge of what and how your money is being invested.
Financial Investment
By: david field-16825
Investment is the choice by the individual to risk his savings with the hope of gain. Rather than store the good produced, or its money equivalent, the investor chooses to use that good either to create a durable consumer or producer good, or to lend the original saved good to another in exchange for either interest or a share of the profits for example a surety bond The investment decision (also known as capital budgeting) is one of the fundamental decisions of business management: Managers determine the investment value of the assets that a business enterprise has within its control or possession. These assets may be physical (such as buildings or machinery), intangible (such as patents, software, goodwill), or financial (see below). Assets are used to produce streams of revenue that often are associated with particular costs or outflows. All together, the manager must determine whether the net present value of the investment to the enterprise is positive using the marginal cost of capital that is associated with the particular area of business.
In finance, investment=cost of capital, like buying securities or other monetary or paper (financial) assets in the money markets or capital markets, or in fairly liquid real assets, such as gold, real estate, or collectibles. Valuation is the method for assessing whether a potential investment is worth its price. Returns on investments will follow the risk-return spectrum. Types of financial investments include shares, other equity investment, and bonds (including bonds denominated in foreign currencies). These financial assets are then expected to provide income or positive future cash flows, and may increase or decrease in value giving the investor capital gains or losses. In real estate, investment is money used to purchase property for the sole purpose of holding or leasing for income and where there is an element of capital risk. Unlike other economic or financial investment, real estate is purchased. The seller is also called a Vendor and normally the purchaser is called a Buyer. Within personal finance, money used to purchase shares, put in a collective investment scheme or used to buy any asset where there is an element of capital risk is deemed an investment.
Saving within personal finance refers to money put aside, normally on a regular basis. This distinction is important, as investment risk can cause a capital loss when an investment is realized, unlike saving(s) where the more limited risk is cash devaluing due to inflation. Too bad Wall Street didn't take that to heart. Poor risk management practices played a role in the financial industry's downturn by unnecessarily exposing companies to dangerous investments, according to observers and industry reports, and the result could translate into big new technology investments for the financial industry.
The author of this article would recommend the experts at JW Surety for all your surety bond needs. They offer great services for surety bonds, mortgage bonds and insurance bonds for anybody interested in getting a surety bond.
Investment is the choice by the individual to risk his savings with the hope of gain. Rather than store the good produced, or its money equivalent, the investor chooses to use that good either to create a durable consumer or producer good, or to lend the original saved good to another in exchange for either interest or a share of the profits for example a surety bond The investment decision (also known as capital budgeting) is one of the fundamental decisions of business management: Managers determine the investment value of the assets that a business enterprise has within its control or possession. These assets may be physical (such as buildings or machinery), intangible (such as patents, software, goodwill), or financial (see below). Assets are used to produce streams of revenue that often are associated with particular costs or outflows. All together, the manager must determine whether the net present value of the investment to the enterprise is positive using the marginal cost of capital that is associated with the particular area of business.
In finance, investment=cost of capital, like buying securities or other monetary or paper (financial) assets in the money markets or capital markets, or in fairly liquid real assets, such as gold, real estate, or collectibles. Valuation is the method for assessing whether a potential investment is worth its price. Returns on investments will follow the risk-return spectrum. Types of financial investments include shares, other equity investment, and bonds (including bonds denominated in foreign currencies). These financial assets are then expected to provide income or positive future cash flows, and may increase or decrease in value giving the investor capital gains or losses. In real estate, investment is money used to purchase property for the sole purpose of holding or leasing for income and where there is an element of capital risk. Unlike other economic or financial investment, real estate is purchased. The seller is also called a Vendor and normally the purchaser is called a Buyer. Within personal finance, money used to purchase shares, put in a collective investment scheme or used to buy any asset where there is an element of capital risk is deemed an investment.
Saving within personal finance refers to money put aside, normally on a regular basis. This distinction is important, as investment risk can cause a capital loss when an investment is realized, unlike saving(s) where the more limited risk is cash devaluing due to inflation. Too bad Wall Street didn't take that to heart. Poor risk management practices played a role in the financial industry's downturn by unnecessarily exposing companies to dangerous investments, according to observers and industry reports, and the result could translate into big new technology investments for the financial industry.
The author of this article would recommend the experts at JW Surety for all your surety bond needs. They offer great services for surety bonds, mortgage bonds and insurance bonds for anybody interested in getting a surety bond.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Investing For Your Retirement
By: Chamil
1. Retirement Annuities – Several retirees are getting the rich benefits of annuities nowadays. Annuities are investments that are made before a person retires and which begins paying out after the retirement for a fixed pre-decided term, or for the whole remainder of the person's life. The interest accrued during the timeframe between the investment and the payout is also given out to the retiree. In this way, the retiree gets not just the principal amount back, but also the interest that is collected over the years of the investment. There are two types of payout methods – the fixed annuity and the variable annuity. The fixed rate annuities are better because there the interest rate is fixed, but in the variable rate annuities, the interest rate will change according to market trends.
2. Fixed Deposits in Banks – This is another very popular method of investing for retirement. Every bank pays out a healthy interest rate on the invested principal, due to which after some years the invested amount multiplies. If kept for a significant number of years, the little amount invested in fixed deposits could multiply and be a good source for spending the life comfortably after retirement.
3. Term Insurance Policies – Term insurance policies are set for a fixed period of years, which can be either a short or a long period of time. The investment is done in the form of premiums after regular intervals of time. The premiums are collected by the insurance company and the interests are accrued on them. When the stipulated term is over, the insurance company pays out this amount to the person. Many people buy term insurance policies to tide them over after their retirement.
4. Real Estate Investing – Most people buy some property when they are working. They might buy the property on installments, but in most cases, the installments are over long before the retirement time approaches. In the meantime the property has built up significant equity. This can be a good option for investment. Many retirees sell their homes after retirement and buy smaller homes in a more peaceful area. The money they save is good enough to look after their needs in their post-retirement years.
There are several more ways for the discerning person who wants to do some investing for life after retirement. The above are just some of the most common ones.
1. Retirement Annuities – Several retirees are getting the rich benefits of annuities nowadays. Annuities are investments that are made before a person retires and which begins paying out after the retirement for a fixed pre-decided term, or for the whole remainder of the person's life. The interest accrued during the timeframe between the investment and the payout is also given out to the retiree. In this way, the retiree gets not just the principal amount back, but also the interest that is collected over the years of the investment. There are two types of payout methods – the fixed annuity and the variable annuity. The fixed rate annuities are better because there the interest rate is fixed, but in the variable rate annuities, the interest rate will change according to market trends.
2. Fixed Deposits in Banks – This is another very popular method of investing for retirement. Every bank pays out a healthy interest rate on the invested principal, due to which after some years the invested amount multiplies. If kept for a significant number of years, the little amount invested in fixed deposits could multiply and be a good source for spending the life comfortably after retirement.
3. Term Insurance Policies – Term insurance policies are set for a fixed period of years, which can be either a short or a long period of time. The investment is done in the form of premiums after regular intervals of time. The premiums are collected by the insurance company and the interests are accrued on them. When the stipulated term is over, the insurance company pays out this amount to the person. Many people buy term insurance policies to tide them over after their retirement.
4. Real Estate Investing – Most people buy some property when they are working. They might buy the property on installments, but in most cases, the installments are over long before the retirement time approaches. In the meantime the property has built up significant equity. This can be a good option for investment. Many retirees sell their homes after retirement and buy smaller homes in a more peaceful area. The money they save is good enough to look after their needs in their post-retirement years.
There are several more ways for the discerning person who wants to do some investing for life after retirement. The above are just some of the most common ones.
Foreclosure Investing Trends
By: kent harper
The conditions regarding foreclosures is evolving weekly. Plenty of foreclosures are occurring due to the economy's changes. There are quite a number of unique foreclosure predicaments including home foreclosure, land foreclosure, property foreclosure, bank foreclosure etc. A regional real estate agent can aid you with this process of foreclosure -and your choices.
Most real estate agents can also provide foreclosures info and foreclosure listings, guidance regarding how to stop foreclosure and the foreclosure process overview. Like most experts will confirm, foreclosure homes may create great investment property. Some experts can guide people on HUD foreclosures, short sale, real estate investing, bank owned. Many ineligible for refinance will turn to foreclosure with bankruptcy. Also, tax foreclosure type questions for can get answered as well. Foreclosure listings are usually comprehensive and always changing.
As well as free real estate foreclosures listings and foreclosure information, special real estate agents can help you locate and understand bank foreclosures, government foreclosures, foreclosure sales, real estate foreclosure and also what to prepare in pre foreclosure. Avoiding foreclosure entirely is a potentiality with the right foreclosure prevention. Foreclosure services are able to lead you through real estate foreclosures proceedings and decisions.
"Who will buy my house if it is in foreclosure?" Lots of services advertise, "I buy houses". This is in an attempt to steer clear of all of the possibilities that may result in seized homes or seized real estate; most people are looking into loss mitigation now days. For a good understanding of short sales and the related issues, talk with a foreclosures agent.
To invest well in foreclosures, you will require data, info sources and expertise. Maybe locate an area investment club, ask the location and when they meet, attend all the meetings, absorb all that possible and make contacts. Look through the notes and info you’ve seen, chose a source and start reading. Follow the web discussion groups, magazine articles that include references and real information and bookmark them. Read all the articles you can find on different web pages, it will definitely add to your knowledge.
Several large real estate groups provide paid Real Estate School. It’s a great method to become an excellent foreclosure investor. If you do not have a background in real estate, its a fairly cost effective way to get an education regarding the technical processes involved, what is necessary to purchase a home and all kinds of added knowledge. Most companies charge a larger fee if you do not get the license and make money for their company, so plan to shop, the school might be cheaper. Check in the Yellow Pages under Real Estate Colleges. Keep in mind that when you actually obtain your real estate license, there are different legalities than when you’re unlicensed. Just because you don't currently offer real estate full-time, while licensed, you’re thought of as a licensed real estate.
If you think that you're possibly going to be looking into foreclosure in some way -whether by buying property or going through the process yourself- meet with a city foreclosure consultant or real estate agent to fully appreciate the choices. Since this is an especially detailed process, it is a worthwhile investment to meet with an expert.
The conditions regarding foreclosures is evolving weekly. Plenty of foreclosures are occurring due to the economy's changes. There are quite a number of unique foreclosure predicaments including home foreclosure, land foreclosure, property foreclosure, bank foreclosure etc. A regional real estate agent can aid you with this process of foreclosure -and your choices.
Most real estate agents can also provide foreclosures info and foreclosure listings, guidance regarding how to stop foreclosure and the foreclosure process overview. Like most experts will confirm, foreclosure homes may create great investment property. Some experts can guide people on HUD foreclosures, short sale, real estate investing, bank owned. Many ineligible for refinance will turn to foreclosure with bankruptcy. Also, tax foreclosure type questions for can get answered as well. Foreclosure listings are usually comprehensive and always changing.
As well as free real estate foreclosures listings and foreclosure information, special real estate agents can help you locate and understand bank foreclosures, government foreclosures, foreclosure sales, real estate foreclosure and also what to prepare in pre foreclosure. Avoiding foreclosure entirely is a potentiality with the right foreclosure prevention. Foreclosure services are able to lead you through real estate foreclosures proceedings and decisions.
"Who will buy my house if it is in foreclosure?" Lots of services advertise, "I buy houses". This is in an attempt to steer clear of all of the possibilities that may result in seized homes or seized real estate; most people are looking into loss mitigation now days. For a good understanding of short sales and the related issues, talk with a foreclosures agent.
To invest well in foreclosures, you will require data, info sources and expertise. Maybe locate an area investment club, ask the location and when they meet, attend all the meetings, absorb all that possible and make contacts. Look through the notes and info you’ve seen, chose a source and start reading. Follow the web discussion groups, magazine articles that include references and real information and bookmark them. Read all the articles you can find on different web pages, it will definitely add to your knowledge.
Several large real estate groups provide paid Real Estate School. It’s a great method to become an excellent foreclosure investor. If you do not have a background in real estate, its a fairly cost effective way to get an education regarding the technical processes involved, what is necessary to purchase a home and all kinds of added knowledge. Most companies charge a larger fee if you do not get the license and make money for their company, so plan to shop, the school might be cheaper. Check in the Yellow Pages under Real Estate Colleges. Keep in mind that when you actually obtain your real estate license, there are different legalities than when you’re unlicensed. Just because you don't currently offer real estate full-time, while licensed, you’re thought of as a licensed real estate.
If you think that you're possibly going to be looking into foreclosure in some way -whether by buying property or going through the process yourself- meet with a city foreclosure consultant or real estate agent to fully appreciate the choices. Since this is an especially detailed process, it is a worthwhile investment to meet with an expert.
Monday, November 24, 2008
3 Advantages Of Forex Trading Over Stock Investing
By: Christopher M Lee
In these turbulent times, a lot of investment opportunities are fast becoming questionable sources of making your money grow. The recent stock market crisis has shown that a lot of investors are hesitant to invest in stocks and commodities because of how bad the economy has been hit. So it makes sense for investors to seek other alternatives for their investment opportunities, and if you happen to be amongst them, this article will tell you 3 advantages of Forex trading over stock investing. By the end of this article, you should seriously consider putting your money into Forex trading while the stock market recovers.
One of the similarities between Forex and stocks is that a trader would have control over a large amount of the particular currency they’ve invested in by putting up a small margin. The difference with Forex however is that the margin requirements for Forex is far lower than stocks. Where the margin for stock trading is 50% of the total value, Forex margin requirements only stand at 1%. This means that with Forex, a trader’s money would be able to play with 50-times as much value of whatever product he might have invested in if he were to trade stocks. However, do remember that even though the requirements seem favourable to you, it is still an investment, and thus it would be prudent for you to be aware and have a full understanding of the risks involved.
Another advantage that Forex has over stock investing is that the Forex market is not susceptible to the Bear versus Bull mentality that the stock market is prone to. Because Forex trading is simply the exchange of currencies, a Forex trader will always have an investment opportunity to look forward to, because if a currency isn’t performing well, it could mean that there is a likelihood of making a profit with another currency. Also, the Forex market, when compared to the stock market, is not negatively affected by fluctuations in interest rates. Typically when a country’s interest rate rises, its currency would be strengthened, but conversely the rise in interest rates more than often affects the stock market adversely.
The third reason why you should consider Forex trading over stocks is the fact that keeping up with stocks can induce a headache if you were to personally keep track of your own investment portfolio, especially if you have your hand in a lot of stocks. Think about it; if you put together the stocks in both NASDAQ and NYSE, the total number of stock issues amounts to eight thousand. That is a lot of options to consider, and keeping up with all of them can be time consuming. In comparison, Forex trading only involves four major currencies and approximately around thirty-four second tier currencies that you need to consider. Not a whole lot of choices sure, but they aren’t that big of a headache to keep up with either. The only thing you need to keep in mind is how those currencies are doing in relation to the health of their countries’ economies.
In actuality, there are more advantages to Forex trading when compared to stock investing. If you’re still not convinced after reading this article, do a more in-depth research online. You might just learn that Forex trading is far more advantageous than trading stocks, especially in today’s economy.
In these turbulent times, a lot of investment opportunities are fast becoming questionable sources of making your money grow. The recent stock market crisis has shown that a lot of investors are hesitant to invest in stocks and commodities because of how bad the economy has been hit. So it makes sense for investors to seek other alternatives for their investment opportunities, and if you happen to be amongst them, this article will tell you 3 advantages of Forex trading over stock investing. By the end of this article, you should seriously consider putting your money into Forex trading while the stock market recovers.
One of the similarities between Forex and stocks is that a trader would have control over a large amount of the particular currency they’ve invested in by putting up a small margin. The difference with Forex however is that the margin requirements for Forex is far lower than stocks. Where the margin for stock trading is 50% of the total value, Forex margin requirements only stand at 1%. This means that with Forex, a trader’s money would be able to play with 50-times as much value of whatever product he might have invested in if he were to trade stocks. However, do remember that even though the requirements seem favourable to you, it is still an investment, and thus it would be prudent for you to be aware and have a full understanding of the risks involved.
Another advantage that Forex has over stock investing is that the Forex market is not susceptible to the Bear versus Bull mentality that the stock market is prone to. Because Forex trading is simply the exchange of currencies, a Forex trader will always have an investment opportunity to look forward to, because if a currency isn’t performing well, it could mean that there is a likelihood of making a profit with another currency. Also, the Forex market, when compared to the stock market, is not negatively affected by fluctuations in interest rates. Typically when a country’s interest rate rises, its currency would be strengthened, but conversely the rise in interest rates more than often affects the stock market adversely.
The third reason why you should consider Forex trading over stocks is the fact that keeping up with stocks can induce a headache if you were to personally keep track of your own investment portfolio, especially if you have your hand in a lot of stocks. Think about it; if you put together the stocks in both NASDAQ and NYSE, the total number of stock issues amounts to eight thousand. That is a lot of options to consider, and keeping up with all of them can be time consuming. In comparison, Forex trading only involves four major currencies and approximately around thirty-four second tier currencies that you need to consider. Not a whole lot of choices sure, but they aren’t that big of a headache to keep up with either. The only thing you need to keep in mind is how those currencies are doing in relation to the health of their countries’ economies.
In actuality, there are more advantages to Forex trading when compared to stock investing. If you’re still not convinced after reading this article, do a more in-depth research online. You might just learn that Forex trading is far more advantageous than trading stocks, especially in today’s economy.
Foreclosure Investing Trends
By: kent harper
The conditions regarding foreclosures is evolving weekly. Plenty of foreclosures are occurring due to the economy's changes. There are quite a number of unique foreclosure predicaments including home foreclosure, land foreclosure, property foreclosure, bank foreclosure etc. A regional real estate agent can aid you with this process of foreclosure -and your choices.
Most real estate agents can also provide foreclosures info and foreclosure listings, guidance regarding how to stop foreclosure and the foreclosure process overview. Like most experts will confirm, foreclosure homes may create great investment property. Some experts can guide people on HUD foreclosures, short sale, real estate investing, bank owned. Many ineligible for refinance will turn to foreclosure with bankruptcy. Also, tax foreclosure type questions for can get answered as well. Foreclosure listings are usually comprehensive and always changing.
As well as free real estate foreclosures listings and foreclosure information, special real estate agents can help you locate and understand bank foreclosures, government foreclosures, foreclosure sales, real estate foreclosure and also what to prepare in pre foreclosure. Avoiding foreclosure entirely is a potentiality with the right foreclosure prevention. Foreclosure services are able to lead you through real estate foreclosures proceedings and decisions.
"Who will buy my house if it is in foreclosure?" Lots of services advertise, "I buy houses". This is in an attempt to steer clear of all of the possibilities that may result in seized homes or seized real estate; most people are looking into loss mitigation now days. For a good understanding of short sales and the related issues, talk with a foreclosures agent.
To invest well in foreclosures, you will require data, info sources and expertise. Maybe locate an area investment club, ask the location and when they meet, attend all the meetings, absorb all that possible and make contacts. Look through the notes and info you’ve seen, chose a source and start reading. Follow the web discussion groups, magazine articles that include references and real information and bookmark them. Read all the articles you can find on different web pages, it will definitely add to your knowledge.
Several large real estate groups provide paid Real Estate School. It’s a great method to become an excellent foreclosure investor. If you do not have a background in real estate, its a fairly cost effective way to get an education regarding the technical processes involved, what is necessary to purchase a home and all kinds of added knowledge. Most companies charge a larger fee if you do not get the license and make money for their company, so plan to shop, the school might be cheaper. Check in the Yellow Pages under Real Estate Colleges. Keep in mind that when you actually obtain your real estate license, there are different legalities than when you’re unlicensed. Just because you don't currently offer real estate full-time, while licensed, you’re thought of as a licensed real estate.
If you think that you're possibly going to be looking into foreclosure in some way -whether by buying property or going through the process yourself- meet with a city foreclosure consultant or real estate agent to fully appreciate the choices. Since this is an especially detailed process, it is a worthwhile investment to meet with an expert.
The conditions regarding foreclosures is evolving weekly. Plenty of foreclosures are occurring due to the economy's changes. There are quite a number of unique foreclosure predicaments including home foreclosure, land foreclosure, property foreclosure, bank foreclosure etc. A regional real estate agent can aid you with this process of foreclosure -and your choices.
Most real estate agents can also provide foreclosures info and foreclosure listings, guidance regarding how to stop foreclosure and the foreclosure process overview. Like most experts will confirm, foreclosure homes may create great investment property. Some experts can guide people on HUD foreclosures, short sale, real estate investing, bank owned. Many ineligible for refinance will turn to foreclosure with bankruptcy. Also, tax foreclosure type questions for can get answered as well. Foreclosure listings are usually comprehensive and always changing.
As well as free real estate foreclosures listings and foreclosure information, special real estate agents can help you locate and understand bank foreclosures, government foreclosures, foreclosure sales, real estate foreclosure and also what to prepare in pre foreclosure. Avoiding foreclosure entirely is a potentiality with the right foreclosure prevention. Foreclosure services are able to lead you through real estate foreclosures proceedings and decisions.
"Who will buy my house if it is in foreclosure?" Lots of services advertise, "I buy houses". This is in an attempt to steer clear of all of the possibilities that may result in seized homes or seized real estate; most people are looking into loss mitigation now days. For a good understanding of short sales and the related issues, talk with a foreclosures agent.
To invest well in foreclosures, you will require data, info sources and expertise. Maybe locate an area investment club, ask the location and when they meet, attend all the meetings, absorb all that possible and make contacts. Look through the notes and info you’ve seen, chose a source and start reading. Follow the web discussion groups, magazine articles that include references and real information and bookmark them. Read all the articles you can find on different web pages, it will definitely add to your knowledge.
Several large real estate groups provide paid Real Estate School. It’s a great method to become an excellent foreclosure investor. If you do not have a background in real estate, its a fairly cost effective way to get an education regarding the technical processes involved, what is necessary to purchase a home and all kinds of added knowledge. Most companies charge a larger fee if you do not get the license and make money for their company, so plan to shop, the school might be cheaper. Check in the Yellow Pages under Real Estate Colleges. Keep in mind that when you actually obtain your real estate license, there are different legalities than when you’re unlicensed. Just because you don't currently offer real estate full-time, while licensed, you’re thought of as a licensed real estate.
If you think that you're possibly going to be looking into foreclosure in some way -whether by buying property or going through the process yourself- meet with a city foreclosure consultant or real estate agent to fully appreciate the choices. Since this is an especially detailed process, it is a worthwhile investment to meet with an expert.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Searching for Great Penny Stock Companies To Invest In
By: Brent Crouch
While some people may be wringing their hands over the current state of the stock market, established market players are viewing this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to turn penny stocks into amazing investments. The trick, of course, is searching for the penny stock that has the most potential to grow into the next major blue chip sensation. Here are some great penny stocks to watch over the next few months and years.
If you are a fan of comedy, you’ve likely heard of National Lampoon, INC (NLN on the AMEX). They have recently signed a brand new distribution deal that is sure to see revenues rise significantly in the near future. This penny stock has a bit of an advantage over the average investment because National Lampoon is a name most people know. In times of economic hardships, people turn to comedy in droves as a way to feel good about themselves, so this penny stock appears to be a wise investment all the way around.
National Lampoon Inc. is also looking at an expansion of their various cable networks to additional operators nationwide which could also help boost this penny stock’s name recognition, and bottom line, even further.
On a completely different front, renewable, affordable green energy has been quite the buzzphrase during this election season, so it makes sense for companies that ply their trade in this area for investment in the coming months. One such company, Green Star Alternative Energy (GSAE) appears ready to breakthrough the clutter of green companies and become a blue chip stock investors will love for decades to come. With wind farm development and other important research that is likely going to be in high demand over the coming decades, this is a penny stock that is ready to take off like no other.
If you are looking for an investment that has survived economic downturns for millennia, look to gold. Yamana Gold (AUY on the NYSE) has one of the best cap numbers on Wall Street, and even though recent projections had to be slightly adjusted, investing in gold and mining companies are often considered stalwarts, no matter what the rest of the economic world is doing. You may not end up a millionaire investing in a penny stock like Yamana Gold, but you will likely turn a tidy profit in an industry that remains strong year in and year out.
Many people may balk at the idea of buying airline stock when you consider the roller coaster price of fuel in recent months, but until a viable alternative to flying makes its way onto the radar, people all over the world will continue to hop on planes to get from place to place. The best performing airline stock in recent months has been United (UAL on the NASDAQ) and with its share price under $7, it is considered a penny stock. Remember, the mantra of investing is to buy low and sell high, and United is likely going to take off over the next few years, especially if gas prices stabilize where they are now.
Top Penny Stocks Double or even triple your money by investing in high quality penny stocks. The penny stocks of today could easily be the blue chips of tomorrow. www.whatarepennystocks.net
While some people may be wringing their hands over the current state of the stock market, established market players are viewing this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to turn penny stocks into amazing investments. The trick, of course, is searching for the penny stock that has the most potential to grow into the next major blue chip sensation. Here are some great penny stocks to watch over the next few months and years.
If you are a fan of comedy, you’ve likely heard of National Lampoon, INC (NLN on the AMEX). They have recently signed a brand new distribution deal that is sure to see revenues rise significantly in the near future. This penny stock has a bit of an advantage over the average investment because National Lampoon is a name most people know. In times of economic hardships, people turn to comedy in droves as a way to feel good about themselves, so this penny stock appears to be a wise investment all the way around.
National Lampoon Inc. is also looking at an expansion of their various cable networks to additional operators nationwide which could also help boost this penny stock’s name recognition, and bottom line, even further.
On a completely different front, renewable, affordable green energy has been quite the buzzphrase during this election season, so it makes sense for companies that ply their trade in this area for investment in the coming months. One such company, Green Star Alternative Energy (GSAE) appears ready to breakthrough the clutter of green companies and become a blue chip stock investors will love for decades to come. With wind farm development and other important research that is likely going to be in high demand over the coming decades, this is a penny stock that is ready to take off like no other.
If you are looking for an investment that has survived economic downturns for millennia, look to gold. Yamana Gold (AUY on the NYSE) has one of the best cap numbers on Wall Street, and even though recent projections had to be slightly adjusted, investing in gold and mining companies are often considered stalwarts, no matter what the rest of the economic world is doing. You may not end up a millionaire investing in a penny stock like Yamana Gold, but you will likely turn a tidy profit in an industry that remains strong year in and year out.
Many people may balk at the idea of buying airline stock when you consider the roller coaster price of fuel in recent months, but until a viable alternative to flying makes its way onto the radar, people all over the world will continue to hop on planes to get from place to place. The best performing airline stock in recent months has been United (UAL on the NASDAQ) and with its share price under $7, it is considered a penny stock. Remember, the mantra of investing is to buy low and sell high, and United is likely going to take off over the next few years, especially if gas prices stabilize where they are now.
Top Penny Stocks Double or even triple your money by investing in high quality penny stocks. The penny stocks of today could easily be the blue chips of tomorrow. www.whatarepennystocks.net
Is a fixed income investment such a wonderful business?
By: Mathew Petrenko
Going for the most appropriate way to distribute your monetary possessions is a huge issue for an individual who cares to control their money. The majority of experts state that major criteria that should be thought of by an individual desiring to manage their capital are tolerance for risk, personal preference, family situation and the years the person has spent on the planet.
There are people who would like no surprises and to minimize risks opt for fixed income. Fixed income is any financial instrument that gives you regular payments, for example a pension or a savings account. Obtaining preferred stock or bonds can easily be viewed as obtaining yourself a fixed income. If you got yourself a fixed income security, it will guarantee you a dependable income called a coupon. Bonds can be understood as long term credits. The borrower has to distribute the interest at regular intervals until the bond matures. At this time the principle, or the par value of the bond has to be returned.
Bonds obviously give you a good fixed income investment tool, nevertheless if you would like to control a high yield investment, pay a closer look to regular shares. When you obtain a bond of the government, you receive their “promise” to pay you back. When you buy a bond, you become a creditor. When you buy shares, you buy yourself a part of the firm. When you buy regular shares of a public enterprise, you become a shareholder or co-owner of the company. Stocks of start-ups might transform into a high yield investment. Greater risks make it possible to receive higher revenuesIprofits. We all have our individual tolerance with regard to risk taking. When you are young, got an excellent job and there is no mortgage to pay out, you are quite likely to agree to greater risks in exchange for higher payoffs. While pensioners would rather choose something more stable to secure their retirement years and have some money left for the funeral. A fixed investment into a flat can also ensure stability.
The majority of market agents would rather balance high yield investment options with lower fixed income investments to enjoy a balanced investment basket. Certainly, a balanced portfolio does not yield as much money as a high yield investment portfolio. For example, when you have ten thousand euros equally distributed into shares that yield 20 % of income every year and some other securities that give you you only 10%, you end up making 1,500 of income yearly. Surely, you do not have to distribute the capital equally. Should anything happen to your more profitable security, you are still going to have income with the help of the secure instrument.
Balancing your portfolio might call for assistance of a qualified specialist who will help you decide properly.
Mathew Petrenko is a scientist in financial strategy and author of many articles on Fixed Income. For more data browse our site. Mathew Petrenko is a permanent author on the subjects of Fixed Investment for different business magazines. For more information come to our site.
Going for the most appropriate way to distribute your monetary possessions is a huge issue for an individual who cares to control their money. The majority of experts state that major criteria that should be thought of by an individual desiring to manage their capital are tolerance for risk, personal preference, family situation and the years the person has spent on the planet.
There are people who would like no surprises and to minimize risks opt for fixed income. Fixed income is any financial instrument that gives you regular payments, for example a pension or a savings account. Obtaining preferred stock or bonds can easily be viewed as obtaining yourself a fixed income. If you got yourself a fixed income security, it will guarantee you a dependable income called a coupon. Bonds can be understood as long term credits. The borrower has to distribute the interest at regular intervals until the bond matures. At this time the principle, or the par value of the bond has to be returned.
Bonds obviously give you a good fixed income investment tool, nevertheless if you would like to control a high yield investment, pay a closer look to regular shares. When you obtain a bond of the government, you receive their “promise” to pay you back. When you buy a bond, you become a creditor. When you buy shares, you buy yourself a part of the firm. When you buy regular shares of a public enterprise, you become a shareholder or co-owner of the company. Stocks of start-ups might transform into a high yield investment. Greater risks make it possible to receive higher revenuesIprofits. We all have our individual tolerance with regard to risk taking. When you are young, got an excellent job and there is no mortgage to pay out, you are quite likely to agree to greater risks in exchange for higher payoffs. While pensioners would rather choose something more stable to secure their retirement years and have some money left for the funeral. A fixed investment into a flat can also ensure stability.
The majority of market agents would rather balance high yield investment options with lower fixed income investments to enjoy a balanced investment basket. Certainly, a balanced portfolio does not yield as much money as a high yield investment portfolio. For example, when you have ten thousand euros equally distributed into shares that yield 20 % of income every year and some other securities that give you you only 10%, you end up making 1,500 of income yearly. Surely, you do not have to distribute the capital equally. Should anything happen to your more profitable security, you are still going to have income with the help of the secure instrument.
Balancing your portfolio might call for assistance of a qualified specialist who will help you decide properly.
Mathew Petrenko is a scientist in financial strategy and author of many articles on Fixed Income. For more data browse our site. Mathew Petrenko is a permanent author on the subjects of Fixed Investment for different business magazines. For more information come to our site.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Safe Foreclosure Investing: An Overview
By: Josh Sloan
Right now, there are more opportunities to purchase houses in foreclosure than ever before. Contrary to what you might see on late-night TV or on websites offering information on HOW *YOU* CAN GET RICH WITH FORECLOSURES!!!, investing in foreclosed properties is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is, however, a get-rich-slowly scheme - *if* you love working with houses, improving them and marketing them, *if* you have a steady cash flow already and *if* you are aware of the legalities of the system and how to make them work for you.
Some people might tell you this is easy money - usually with an expensive seminar or CD attached. However, while foreclosure investment can result in a profit, the unbridled flow of riches just aren't going to happen. You may get lucky with one house and make some money, but this isn't going to happen all the time, nor is it something you can bank on making a steady flow of income with until you accumulate enough knowledge and experience to predict which house is going to be the next 'diamond in the rough'.
Your best bet is to engage the services of a Realtor® who specializes in foreclosure, at the very least, for your first foreclosure investment. Your Realtor® can guide you through the ins and outs of the legal system, help with paperwork, and do the research on foreclosed homes that can net you the best home for your dollar. They also can guide you to publications, educational materials and other tools that you can use in your search for the next foreclosure.
Foreclosures can also be an emotionally harrowing experience, not to mention financially, for the people who have to deal with evictions and/or vindictive former owners. Some former homeowners continue living in 'their' home for as long as they can, even after the eviction papers have been sent. An experienced lawyer can help you with the legalities entailed in eviction. Some people may be spiteful enough to damage or strip the property. Some may even leave behind pets that will damage or foul the property and, if not found in time, die from lack of food and water.
Assuming that you're buying an empty foreclosure, you need to have a good idea of how much is required to get the home back into sellable condition. If you are not proficient in assessing a home, obtain the help of a professional who can go through the home and give you an estimate of what needs to be done. Paint and new carpets are one thing; having to completely rewire the house is quite another!
Allow for a significant chunk of time to do repairs/oversee repairs and improvements. If you are doing a lot of this yourself, you will probably have to devote most of your free time to this endeavour, which can eat into family and friend commitments.
Also, consider what's going to happen when the mortgage is due. You must be able to carry the house for a few months on your own money if repairs take longer than anticipated or if the housing market takes a downturn. If you cannot make the payments due to the fact that you were depending on a quick sale, you'll be in the same position as the people who formerly owned your home.
Another issue with foreclosure is the laws of your state. Some states allow owners to 'buy back' their homes for up to 30 days after a court-ordered auction. Be wary of foreclosures in states that allow this and make sure that the house is definitely yours before you start making improvements.
Investing in foreclosures is not always easy money. There are many pitfalls into which the novice buyer can stumble - even if the buyer has bought other types of properties before. A foreclosure is different. However, with the help of a knowledgeable Realtor®, you can be on your way to a new and potentially profitable hobby.
Joshua Sloan is your San Diego real estate agent at SanDiegoRealEstateBuzz.com. If you're looking for Carmel Valley real estate for sale, Joshua can help.
Right now, there are more opportunities to purchase houses in foreclosure than ever before. Contrary to what you might see on late-night TV or on websites offering information on HOW *YOU* CAN GET RICH WITH FORECLOSURES!!!, investing in foreclosed properties is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is, however, a get-rich-slowly scheme - *if* you love working with houses, improving them and marketing them, *if* you have a steady cash flow already and *if* you are aware of the legalities of the system and how to make them work for you.
Some people might tell you this is easy money - usually with an expensive seminar or CD attached. However, while foreclosure investment can result in a profit, the unbridled flow of riches just aren't going to happen. You may get lucky with one house and make some money, but this isn't going to happen all the time, nor is it something you can bank on making a steady flow of income with until you accumulate enough knowledge and experience to predict which house is going to be the next 'diamond in the rough'.
Your best bet is to engage the services of a Realtor® who specializes in foreclosure, at the very least, for your first foreclosure investment. Your Realtor® can guide you through the ins and outs of the legal system, help with paperwork, and do the research on foreclosed homes that can net you the best home for your dollar. They also can guide you to publications, educational materials and other tools that you can use in your search for the next foreclosure.
Foreclosures can also be an emotionally harrowing experience, not to mention financially, for the people who have to deal with evictions and/or vindictive former owners. Some former homeowners continue living in 'their' home for as long as they can, even after the eviction papers have been sent. An experienced lawyer can help you with the legalities entailed in eviction. Some people may be spiteful enough to damage or strip the property. Some may even leave behind pets that will damage or foul the property and, if not found in time, die from lack of food and water.
Assuming that you're buying an empty foreclosure, you need to have a good idea of how much is required to get the home back into sellable condition. If you are not proficient in assessing a home, obtain the help of a professional who can go through the home and give you an estimate of what needs to be done. Paint and new carpets are one thing; having to completely rewire the house is quite another!
Allow for a significant chunk of time to do repairs/oversee repairs and improvements. If you are doing a lot of this yourself, you will probably have to devote most of your free time to this endeavour, which can eat into family and friend commitments.
Also, consider what's going to happen when the mortgage is due. You must be able to carry the house for a few months on your own money if repairs take longer than anticipated or if the housing market takes a downturn. If you cannot make the payments due to the fact that you were depending on a quick sale, you'll be in the same position as the people who formerly owned your home.
Another issue with foreclosure is the laws of your state. Some states allow owners to 'buy back' their homes for up to 30 days after a court-ordered auction. Be wary of foreclosures in states that allow this and make sure that the house is definitely yours before you start making improvements.
Investing in foreclosures is not always easy money. There are many pitfalls into which the novice buyer can stumble - even if the buyer has bought other types of properties before. A foreclosure is different. However, with the help of a knowledgeable Realtor®, you can be on your way to a new and potentially profitable hobby.
Joshua Sloan is your San Diego real estate agent at SanDiegoRealEstateBuzz.com. If you're looking for Carmel Valley real estate for sale, Joshua can help.
Fraudulent Misrepresentation and Recovery of Damage - Corporate and Investment Fraud
By: Leigh Ellis
The law takes a different approach to determining the measure of damages cases of fraud. Indeed the application of the principles results in damages for deceit being higher than those for negligence, which is also a tort. The differences between the assessment of damages in contract and the tort of deceit are:
1. In contract, the damage is assessed by what the parties would have seen as the damage being caused by a breach at the time the contract was formed: the date of the contract. In actions for the tort of deceit, damage is assessed by reference to the date the tort was committed;
2. The correct measures of damages in tort is the sum that would place the claimant in the position they would have been in if the fraudulent representation had not taken place; this contrasts with the position in contract, where the award is the sum that would place the claimant in the position they would have been in of the warranty or condition were true; and
3. In tortious claims, compound interest may be awarded as opposed to the standard of simple interest.
The end result is that claimant is entitled to recover their whole entire loss of sums that they are out of pocket, rather than simply what they expected to gain under a contract.
Entering into the contract knowing that the representation is fraudulent does not preclude recovery. Often, a businesses contract with the defendant will be entered into in reliance of statements by third parties of a who have a relationship with the defendant. They are also potentially liable for deceit.
No Resultant Contract
Where no contract has resulted from the deceitful conduct, the measure of damages is the damage that the innocent party can show resulted from the fraudulent inducement. Thus expenses incurred in reliance of the inducement may be recovered, such as valuation fees and legal fees, along with lost profits. In one case, the claimant, who was a printer, was falsely informed by the defendant that they were entitled to reproduce articles protected by intellectual property rights. The printer was entitled to recover for losses that he expected to make from the contract as well as their expenses preparing for the performance of the contract.
Where the deception leads to permanent loss of goods, the claimant is entitled to recover the market value of the goods lost.
Sales of Assets and Services under Contract
Where the contract is for something other than shares, the measure of damages remains the same: the value transferred, less the value received.
Consequential loss is also recoverable, provided that it is not too remote. This touchstone for consequential loss is whether the loss would have taken place in the ordinary course of events. Instances of losses recovered include refit expenses where a ship was purchased for international trade; and where a business is purchased in reliance of a deceit, the expenses incurred and capital losses were recoverable.
Investment Fraud
To take an illustration of how damages for fraudulent misrepresentation are calculated, in a sale of shares, the proper sum for damages in contract is the sum paid less the market value of the shares. Where the transaction is tainted by fraud, the purchase price is reduced by the actual value of the shares (if any) at the time of purchase. The date at which these sums are calculated is at the date of the allotment of the shares. The actual value of the shares is the value of the shares if the defendant knew the truth of the factitious circumstances that deceptively gave value to the shares. The actual value of the shares may well be nil.
The reason courts use the actual value rather than the market value of the shares is because the market value is not necessarily the relevant marker to which the actual value of the shares may be attached, because of the factitious and delusive circumstances of the valuation. The market value is evidence of value and not proof of it.
The tortious approach to calculating damages essentially indemnifies the innocent party from losses on the transaction.
Conclusions
Such are the ways and means that damage may arise from fraudulent conduct, the assessment of damages and loss to a party are entirely reliant on the circumstances of the case. Accordingly, no two cases are different and require an independent calculation of the damage suffered by the particular defendant.
Gillhams Solicitors is a business law firm in the City of London. Our lawyers provide legal advice on international commercial litigation and international intellectual property business disputes.
The law takes a different approach to determining the measure of damages cases of fraud. Indeed the application of the principles results in damages for deceit being higher than those for negligence, which is also a tort. The differences between the assessment of damages in contract and the tort of deceit are:
1. In contract, the damage is assessed by what the parties would have seen as the damage being caused by a breach at the time the contract was formed: the date of the contract. In actions for the tort of deceit, damage is assessed by reference to the date the tort was committed;
2. The correct measures of damages in tort is the sum that would place the claimant in the position they would have been in if the fraudulent representation had not taken place; this contrasts with the position in contract, where the award is the sum that would place the claimant in the position they would have been in of the warranty or condition were true; and
3. In tortious claims, compound interest may be awarded as opposed to the standard of simple interest.
The end result is that claimant is entitled to recover their whole entire loss of sums that they are out of pocket, rather than simply what they expected to gain under a contract.
Entering into the contract knowing that the representation is fraudulent does not preclude recovery. Often, a businesses contract with the defendant will be entered into in reliance of statements by third parties of a who have a relationship with the defendant. They are also potentially liable for deceit.
No Resultant Contract
Where no contract has resulted from the deceitful conduct, the measure of damages is the damage that the innocent party can show resulted from the fraudulent inducement. Thus expenses incurred in reliance of the inducement may be recovered, such as valuation fees and legal fees, along with lost profits. In one case, the claimant, who was a printer, was falsely informed by the defendant that they were entitled to reproduce articles protected by intellectual property rights. The printer was entitled to recover for losses that he expected to make from the contract as well as their expenses preparing for the performance of the contract.
Where the deception leads to permanent loss of goods, the claimant is entitled to recover the market value of the goods lost.
Sales of Assets and Services under Contract
Where the contract is for something other than shares, the measure of damages remains the same: the value transferred, less the value received.
Consequential loss is also recoverable, provided that it is not too remote. This touchstone for consequential loss is whether the loss would have taken place in the ordinary course of events. Instances of losses recovered include refit expenses where a ship was purchased for international trade; and where a business is purchased in reliance of a deceit, the expenses incurred and capital losses were recoverable.
Investment Fraud
To take an illustration of how damages for fraudulent misrepresentation are calculated, in a sale of shares, the proper sum for damages in contract is the sum paid less the market value of the shares. Where the transaction is tainted by fraud, the purchase price is reduced by the actual value of the shares (if any) at the time of purchase. The date at which these sums are calculated is at the date of the allotment of the shares. The actual value of the shares is the value of the shares if the defendant knew the truth of the factitious circumstances that deceptively gave value to the shares. The actual value of the shares may well be nil.
The reason courts use the actual value rather than the market value of the shares is because the market value is not necessarily the relevant marker to which the actual value of the shares may be attached, because of the factitious and delusive circumstances of the valuation. The market value is evidence of value and not proof of it.
The tortious approach to calculating damages essentially indemnifies the innocent party from losses on the transaction.
Conclusions
Such are the ways and means that damage may arise from fraudulent conduct, the assessment of damages and loss to a party are entirely reliant on the circumstances of the case. Accordingly, no two cases are different and require an independent calculation of the damage suffered by the particular defendant.
Gillhams Solicitors is a business law firm in the City of London. Our lawyers provide legal advice on international commercial litigation and international intellectual property business disputes.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Pros and cons of indirect investing
By: William
Investing indirectly means purchasing shares of companies that hold large portfolios of securities on behalf of their share holders. Indirect investing is a great opportunity for those who are willing to start investing with a small amount, having no previous knowledge or experience of stock market’s ups and downs. You can decide if indirect investing is the right choice for you after examining the following features.
Level of Risk:
Although mutual funds are managed by qualified professionals and experts, no expert can guarantee a profit on every investment made. There are many uncontrollable variables involved and then there is always a chance of “something” unpredictable happening, normally referred to as “the great unknown”. Mutual funds can be divided into different categories on basis of risk, for example “hybrid fund” being less risky while “specialized stock funds” falling in the high risk – high return category.
Professional Management:
Probably the biggest advantage of indirect investment is the fact that these investment companies have experts specializing in investment analysis and portfolio management. These companies always stand a better chance for positive yields as compared to a common man who barely knows about financial markets. If you are just starting, you should go for these companies. You can always move your funds elsewhere later on.
Extra Charges:
Investment companies do not provide this high quality portfolio management services for free. Of course they charge for these services. Also, most of these companies run excessive marketing and sales campaign because of competition. Some part of this expense is also charged from investors, known as sales load.
Discount & Premiums:
Net asset value of Investment Company’s share keep going up and down based on company’s performance. In case of close-end funds, these shares are not always traded on Net Asset Value. If sold at a price lower then Net Asset Value, these are said to be sold at discount and if the price is higher then Net Asset Value, they are selling at premium. This provides an opportunity to earn, even when the Net Asset Value has not changed.
No Security - No Control:
These mutual funds are not guaranteed by any government body or authorities, nor do they provide any specific protection. Another short coming is that you cannot control the proceedings; you have to rely fully on the company’s management decisions regarding investment. If you can’t bear the fact that someone else is deciding on your investment fate, you should go for direct investment.
William King is the director of Mobile Phone Wholesale Suppliers , Canada Wholesale Suppliers, Distributors, Dropshippers & Manufacturers. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.
Investing indirectly means purchasing shares of companies that hold large portfolios of securities on behalf of their share holders. Indirect investing is a great opportunity for those who are willing to start investing with a small amount, having no previous knowledge or experience of stock market’s ups and downs. You can decide if indirect investing is the right choice for you after examining the following features.
Level of Risk:
Although mutual funds are managed by qualified professionals and experts, no expert can guarantee a profit on every investment made. There are many uncontrollable variables involved and then there is always a chance of “something” unpredictable happening, normally referred to as “the great unknown”. Mutual funds can be divided into different categories on basis of risk, for example “hybrid fund” being less risky while “specialized stock funds” falling in the high risk – high return category.
Professional Management:
Probably the biggest advantage of indirect investment is the fact that these investment companies have experts specializing in investment analysis and portfolio management. These companies always stand a better chance for positive yields as compared to a common man who barely knows about financial markets. If you are just starting, you should go for these companies. You can always move your funds elsewhere later on.
Extra Charges:
Investment companies do not provide this high quality portfolio management services for free. Of course they charge for these services. Also, most of these companies run excessive marketing and sales campaign because of competition. Some part of this expense is also charged from investors, known as sales load.
Discount & Premiums:
Net asset value of Investment Company’s share keep going up and down based on company’s performance. In case of close-end funds, these shares are not always traded on Net Asset Value. If sold at a price lower then Net Asset Value, these are said to be sold at discount and if the price is higher then Net Asset Value, they are selling at premium. This provides an opportunity to earn, even when the Net Asset Value has not changed.
No Security - No Control:
These mutual funds are not guaranteed by any government body or authorities, nor do they provide any specific protection. Another short coming is that you cannot control the proceedings; you have to rely fully on the company’s management decisions regarding investment. If you can’t bear the fact that someone else is deciding on your investment fate, you should go for direct investment.
William King is the director of Mobile Phone Wholesale Suppliers , Canada Wholesale Suppliers, Distributors, Dropshippers & Manufacturers. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.
All you want to know about agribusiness Investments
By: Jono Craven
Agribusiness is basically the business feature of agriculture - growing crops for human utilization and use. In spite of the fact that agribusiness accounts for 12.1% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the six years to 03-04, it accounts for almost 25% of national merchandise exports ($26.1 billion in 03-04), is our biggest manufacturing sector and accounts for 46% of total retail spending.
A stimulating economic shift has occurred over the past ten to fifteen years, in which agriculture has opened up for retail investment by investors. Anybody can now invest in agribusiness, bringing the benefits of Diversification, wealth accumulation and tax savings.
WHY IS AGRIBUSINESS AN ALTERNATIVE ASSET CLASS?
The rising complexity of Australian investment markets means that individual investors are no longer limited to the traditional asset classes of shares, property, fixed interest and cash.
Investors now want a diversified Portfolio so that investments are across a range of asset classes, to level out market fluctuations. In particular, they want investments whose performance is not connected - in terms of movements in market prices and returns - with the other asset classes. The Australian Agribusiness Group (MG) confirms that agribusiness is negatively correlated to other asset classes and the addition of agribusiness to a Portfolio can increase returns and reduce Risk.
The returns from agribusiness investments do not depend on the share market, property market or existing levels of interest rates. They depend on the market for the particular product being grown. With the right project, backed by a sound convincing manager who has established the market for the produce before releasing a project for investment, investors can feel confident that they have bought a wealth-creating asset.
WHY INVEST IN AGRIBUSINESS?
The chief benefits of agribusiness investment are:
Enhanced returns: An agribusiness investment will usually offer higher after-tax returns than can be gained from traditional asset classes, such as cash, fixed interest, property or shares.
Tax-effectiveness: Where Australian Taxation Office (ATO) product rulings apply, agribusiness investments allows legitimate business costs, such as management and leasing fees, to be deductible providing extra flexibility in cash flow, debt management and taxation planning.
Diversification: Being an "alternative" asset class, agribusiness investments offer an additional level of Diversification to a Portfolio spread across the traditional asset classes.
Longterm returns: By definition, agribusiness projects are longterm investments. For example, bluegum forestry projects offer superannuation-style returns with a one-off lump sum in just about ten years; horticultural projects take five to six years to produce business Annuity income that exceed expenses, and can continue to pay income for a further 18 to 20 years.
HOW DO AGRIBUSINESS INVESTMENTS WORK?
An investor becomes a grower of a crop and the investment costs are usually treated as business expenses and are tax-deductible besides other income. Proceeds from the sale of the crop are treated as assessable income, when received. Thus, these managed agribusiness investments offer potentially high after tax returns while generating long term income streams.
More than 15,000 grower investors - people from all walks of life - have invested in various Timbercorp projects. This compares to more than $1.2 billion in funds under management and will produce more than $6 billion in crop proceeds over the next 20 years. Investors in these projects have invested for a number of reasons - to diversify their portfolios, increase their investment returns, to obtain an income stream and to make the best use of tax dollars.
Bengalla Agribusiness Helps Investors to Invest in Agriculture, Agricultural Investments and Other Agribusiness Investment and Capitalize on the Changing Environment in Rural Australia.
Agribusiness is basically the business feature of agriculture - growing crops for human utilization and use. In spite of the fact that agribusiness accounts for 12.1% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the six years to 03-04, it accounts for almost 25% of national merchandise exports ($26.1 billion in 03-04), is our biggest manufacturing sector and accounts for 46% of total retail spending.
A stimulating economic shift has occurred over the past ten to fifteen years, in which agriculture has opened up for retail investment by investors. Anybody can now invest in agribusiness, bringing the benefits of Diversification, wealth accumulation and tax savings.
WHY IS AGRIBUSINESS AN ALTERNATIVE ASSET CLASS?
The rising complexity of Australian investment markets means that individual investors are no longer limited to the traditional asset classes of shares, property, fixed interest and cash.
Investors now want a diversified Portfolio so that investments are across a range of asset classes, to level out market fluctuations. In particular, they want investments whose performance is not connected - in terms of movements in market prices and returns - with the other asset classes. The Australian Agribusiness Group (MG) confirms that agribusiness is negatively correlated to other asset classes and the addition of agribusiness to a Portfolio can increase returns and reduce Risk.
The returns from agribusiness investments do not depend on the share market, property market or existing levels of interest rates. They depend on the market for the particular product being grown. With the right project, backed by a sound convincing manager who has established the market for the produce before releasing a project for investment, investors can feel confident that they have bought a wealth-creating asset.
WHY INVEST IN AGRIBUSINESS?
The chief benefits of agribusiness investment are:
Enhanced returns: An agribusiness investment will usually offer higher after-tax returns than can be gained from traditional asset classes, such as cash, fixed interest, property or shares.
Tax-effectiveness: Where Australian Taxation Office (ATO) product rulings apply, agribusiness investments allows legitimate business costs, such as management and leasing fees, to be deductible providing extra flexibility in cash flow, debt management and taxation planning.
Diversification: Being an "alternative" asset class, agribusiness investments offer an additional level of Diversification to a Portfolio spread across the traditional asset classes.
Longterm returns: By definition, agribusiness projects are longterm investments. For example, bluegum forestry projects offer superannuation-style returns with a one-off lump sum in just about ten years; horticultural projects take five to six years to produce business Annuity income that exceed expenses, and can continue to pay income for a further 18 to 20 years.
HOW DO AGRIBUSINESS INVESTMENTS WORK?
An investor becomes a grower of a crop and the investment costs are usually treated as business expenses and are tax-deductible besides other income. Proceeds from the sale of the crop are treated as assessable income, when received. Thus, these managed agribusiness investments offer potentially high after tax returns while generating long term income streams.
More than 15,000 grower investors - people from all walks of life - have invested in various Timbercorp projects. This compares to more than $1.2 billion in funds under management and will produce more than $6 billion in crop proceeds over the next 20 years. Investors in these projects have invested for a number of reasons - to diversify their portfolios, increase their investment returns, to obtain an income stream and to make the best use of tax dollars.
Bengalla Agribusiness Helps Investors to Invest in Agriculture, Agricultural Investments and Other Agribusiness Investment and Capitalize on the Changing Environment in Rural Australia.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Factors involved in investment decision
By: William
The motive behind our investments is to make money and increase our monetary wealth. With so many factors involved, investment decision is a complex one. Small investors often go with their gut feelings when trying to choose among numerous alternatives to invest. Big investors use various analyzing techniques. Globalization and the growth of internet have introduced many new opportunities and threats to ponder upon. When investing, you are committing your assets for sometime, that is why you need to cover all aspects before making an investment decision.
Expected Return:
The most basic investment decisions revolve around the comparison of expected return and risk involved. No investor will take on higher risk if there is no chance of equally higher returns. Investors strive to reach on the best trade-off point between risk and return which go well with their financial requirements. These expected returns are not always equal to what an investor actually gets after some time. The possibility that actual return will not be the same what they expect is called risk.
Risk Factor:
There is hardly some form of investment which doesn't involve risk. Government securities come close to be called risk free; but even they have some risks attached to them. Risk actually is the balancing factor of the financial markets. Various types of investment risk exist, such as financial risk, currency risk, inflation risk or capital risk are the most common one. Different investors react differently to these risks. While majority of the investors are risk averse, there are some investors who are seeking more risky ones with expectations of higher yields.
Investor’s Hunch:
Every investor will finish off with a different conclusion although the market, economy and all statistical facts and figures are same for everyone. This difference comes from the investor’s intuition. Some will start from research; by collecting lots of information and then analyzing to decide, others start from defining their objectives and then going for opportunities that suit their needs.
Globalization Factor:
Investors have slowly started to realize the advantages of international investments. Some emerging markets present better returns while other stable markets provide lesser risks. Investors have often conquered risk by diversification, and an international market provides more opportunities to achieve portfolio diversification as compared to a local market. Ignoring global markets for investment is turning your back on a whole new world of opportunities.
William King is the director of UK Wholesale Suppliers, Distributors, Dropshippers & Manufacturers, www.dailytrader.com> Wholesale Trade Suppliers, Dropshippers, Distributors & Manufacturers. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.
The motive behind our investments is to make money and increase our monetary wealth. With so many factors involved, investment decision is a complex one. Small investors often go with their gut feelings when trying to choose among numerous alternatives to invest. Big investors use various analyzing techniques. Globalization and the growth of internet have introduced many new opportunities and threats to ponder upon. When investing, you are committing your assets for sometime, that is why you need to cover all aspects before making an investment decision.
Expected Return:
The most basic investment decisions revolve around the comparison of expected return and risk involved. No investor will take on higher risk if there is no chance of equally higher returns. Investors strive to reach on the best trade-off point between risk and return which go well with their financial requirements. These expected returns are not always equal to what an investor actually gets after some time. The possibility that actual return will not be the same what they expect is called risk.
Risk Factor:
There is hardly some form of investment which doesn't involve risk. Government securities come close to be called risk free; but even they have some risks attached to them. Risk actually is the balancing factor of the financial markets. Various types of investment risk exist, such as financial risk, currency risk, inflation risk or capital risk are the most common one. Different investors react differently to these risks. While majority of the investors are risk averse, there are some investors who are seeking more risky ones with expectations of higher yields.
Investor’s Hunch:
Every investor will finish off with a different conclusion although the market, economy and all statistical facts and figures are same for everyone. This difference comes from the investor’s intuition. Some will start from research; by collecting lots of information and then analyzing to decide, others start from defining their objectives and then going for opportunities that suit their needs.
Globalization Factor:
Investors have slowly started to realize the advantages of international investments. Some emerging markets present better returns while other stable markets provide lesser risks. Investors have often conquered risk by diversification, and an international market provides more opportunities to achieve portfolio diversification as compared to a local market. Ignoring global markets for investment is turning your back on a whole new world of opportunities.
William King is the director of UK Wholesale Suppliers, Distributors, Dropshippers & Manufacturers, www.dailytrader.com> Wholesale Trade Suppliers, Dropshippers, Distributors & Manufacturers. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.
All You Wanted To Know About SEO Content Writing Service Packages
By: Susanta Sahoo
Search engine optimization is increasingly becoming a rage in the recent times. More and more businessmen around the world are investing in the websites and their promotion. However, there are a few who do not understand the importance of content well enough. I have seen many of my business partners investing thousands of dollars in improving the designing of a website. But when it comes to the content, they pay little attention to it. As a matter of fact, many webmasters do not understand the hidden dynamics of search engine optimization or content on their websites.
It is wise to make a small investment in some content writing packages so that your website visitors will have something to read on your websites. It is not surprising to find many websites that are cluttered with pictures of the products, images and even Google adsense. Search engine like Google never like websites that have no or very little content on them. Google and other popular search engines such as Yahoo, MSN and AltaVista have their respective criteria for ranking websites. However, content is on thing that has topped the priority list among all the factors considered by the search engine algorithms of these major web search engines.
If a website doesn’t have any content on it, it shouldn’t be surprised to find it unranked or even uncrawled by the search engine bots. The only way a webmaster can ensure that his website is visited by major search engine crawlers on a regular basis is the content. That’s why many foresighted webmasters subscribe to the affordable content writing packages offered by many SEO companies in India. If you are serious about watching your website soar higher in the SERPs of various search engines, then your second step after designing a website should be subscribing to some SEO content writing packages from a lowcost website content service provider.
You can search for website content service providers on Google, and it could be a little interesting for you to see that different content service providers would charge differently. Usually, the charges of web content writing packages would vary dramatically depending on the quality and experience of the service provider. However, nobody knows the products and services of your business better than you. Hence, you should decide which web content writing packages would suit your need the best. If you want to start off wary, then it would be advisable to tread cautiously by subscribing to small and affordable content writing packages offered by an SEO service provider. You can upgrade their content writing packages service once you are sure and satisfied with the quality of the service provider.
Moreover, there are different rates for different types of content service offered by a web content service provider. For instance, if you are looking for an affordable website content service provider to write content for your website, its prices could be much higher as compared to the articles writing services offered by the SEO content service provider. Similarly, blogs and press releases have different prices as well. However, to begin with, you should subscribe to a small and affordable web content writing packages and move further accordingly.
Susanta is the webmaster of seo-content writer, a site that offers affordable content writing packages to many webmasters seeking quality and keyword rich content. Log on to www.seo-contentwriter.com to purchase your suitable and lowcost SEO content writing packages .
Search engine optimization is increasingly becoming a rage in the recent times. More and more businessmen around the world are investing in the websites and their promotion. However, there are a few who do not understand the importance of content well enough. I have seen many of my business partners investing thousands of dollars in improving the designing of a website. But when it comes to the content, they pay little attention to it. As a matter of fact, many webmasters do not understand the hidden dynamics of search engine optimization or content on their websites.
It is wise to make a small investment in some content writing packages so that your website visitors will have something to read on your websites. It is not surprising to find many websites that are cluttered with pictures of the products, images and even Google adsense. Search engine like Google never like websites that have no or very little content on them. Google and other popular search engines such as Yahoo, MSN and AltaVista have their respective criteria for ranking websites. However, content is on thing that has topped the priority list among all the factors considered by the search engine algorithms of these major web search engines.
If a website doesn’t have any content on it, it shouldn’t be surprised to find it unranked or even uncrawled by the search engine bots. The only way a webmaster can ensure that his website is visited by major search engine crawlers on a regular basis is the content. That’s why many foresighted webmasters subscribe to the affordable content writing packages offered by many SEO companies in India. If you are serious about watching your website soar higher in the SERPs of various search engines, then your second step after designing a website should be subscribing to some SEO content writing packages from a lowcost website content service provider.
You can search for website content service providers on Google, and it could be a little interesting for you to see that different content service providers would charge differently. Usually, the charges of web content writing packages would vary dramatically depending on the quality and experience of the service provider. However, nobody knows the products and services of your business better than you. Hence, you should decide which web content writing packages would suit your need the best. If you want to start off wary, then it would be advisable to tread cautiously by subscribing to small and affordable content writing packages offered by an SEO service provider. You can upgrade their content writing packages service once you are sure and satisfied with the quality of the service provider.
Moreover, there are different rates for different types of content service offered by a web content service provider. For instance, if you are looking for an affordable website content service provider to write content for your website, its prices could be much higher as compared to the articles writing services offered by the SEO content service provider. Similarly, blogs and press releases have different prices as well. However, to begin with, you should subscribe to a small and affordable web content writing packages and move further accordingly.
Susanta is the webmaster of seo-content writer, a site that offers affordable content writing packages to many webmasters seeking quality and keyword rich content. Log on to www.seo-contentwriter.com to purchase your suitable and lowcost SEO content writing packages .
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A Quick Introduction to Buy To Let Remortgages
By: Gen Wright
Average price of a house is assuming an ascending slope in UK. Moreover UK is witnessing a tangible hike in demand of tenants. Lenders understand the virtue of this time. They have fathomed that there are people with the right kind of money or at least the right kind of will needed to buy a property. Later group of people are the target-base of lenders who are offering many fresh buy to let remortgage schemes. Lenders are verily minimizing the rental eligibility criteria and have also let the Loan to value ratio feasible come down from 85% to 65%.
The incentives go a long way in determining product flexibility. Such non-rigid dimensions help a buyer think seductively towards an offer of buy to let remortgages.
What then is buy to let remortgage? – It is simple. People buy property and then put it on rent. It is an easy way to realize rental revenue apart from being continuously ensured by the rising prices of the property. A lot of money would have flowed in as rent by the time an owner actually makes up his mind to sell the property.
How does it fare against selling a property? - There are times when property escalation seems to have touched the summit. In such cases, an owner feels like settling the issue for good and begins to look for buyers. Is it the right time? Let us argue. Let’s assume an initial interest only mortgage at 85% of worth of property. Even when the property doubles in price, the mortgage debt remains the same.
While selling the property, we will have to clear the mortgage debt, subtract the initial investment to the tune of 15% and further minimize the Capital Gains Tax. Mathematically our net gain would be in the realms of 35% of the price at which we sell the property. At the same time, we would be completely deprived of any further profit owing to future escalation of property prices.
Let’s now judge the other side of the coin. With increase in rate of property with time, the rent levels also take a sharp upward turn. Owing to the beneficial rent clause, we do not have to pay any Capital Gains Tax. The property remains with us and any lay man can confirm that amassing the 85% mortgage debt is quite feasible through accumulated rent. In fact the rent each month can help with paying the mortgage EMI.
While venturing into buy to let remortgage, it is important to understand that the current variable interest rates prescribed by the government are too high and we must abstain from them.
A quick tip - We can work further towards consolidated remortgage and consolidate our other lending commitments to the mortgage.
J P financial are whole of market UK mortgage brokers based in Bournemouth Dorset. Providing Buy to let mortgage quotes and recommendation for a wide range of BTL services.
Average price of a house is assuming an ascending slope in UK. Moreover UK is witnessing a tangible hike in demand of tenants. Lenders understand the virtue of this time. They have fathomed that there are people with the right kind of money or at least the right kind of will needed to buy a property. Later group of people are the target-base of lenders who are offering many fresh buy to let remortgage schemes. Lenders are verily minimizing the rental eligibility criteria and have also let the Loan to value ratio feasible come down from 85% to 65%.
The incentives go a long way in determining product flexibility. Such non-rigid dimensions help a buyer think seductively towards an offer of buy to let remortgages.
What then is buy to let remortgage? – It is simple. People buy property and then put it on rent. It is an easy way to realize rental revenue apart from being continuously ensured by the rising prices of the property. A lot of money would have flowed in as rent by the time an owner actually makes up his mind to sell the property.
How does it fare against selling a property? - There are times when property escalation seems to have touched the summit. In such cases, an owner feels like settling the issue for good and begins to look for buyers. Is it the right time? Let us argue. Let’s assume an initial interest only mortgage at 85% of worth of property. Even when the property doubles in price, the mortgage debt remains the same.
While selling the property, we will have to clear the mortgage debt, subtract the initial investment to the tune of 15% and further minimize the Capital Gains Tax. Mathematically our net gain would be in the realms of 35% of the price at which we sell the property. At the same time, we would be completely deprived of any further profit owing to future escalation of property prices.
Let’s now judge the other side of the coin. With increase in rate of property with time, the rent levels also take a sharp upward turn. Owing to the beneficial rent clause, we do not have to pay any Capital Gains Tax. The property remains with us and any lay man can confirm that amassing the 85% mortgage debt is quite feasible through accumulated rent. In fact the rent each month can help with paying the mortgage EMI.
While venturing into buy to let remortgage, it is important to understand that the current variable interest rates prescribed by the government are too high and we must abstain from them.
A quick tip - We can work further towards consolidated remortgage and consolidate our other lending commitments to the mortgage.
J P financial are whole of market UK mortgage brokers based in Bournemouth Dorset. Providing Buy to let mortgage quotes and recommendation for a wide range of BTL services.
The Best Financial Advice I Ever Got
By: Melanie
There is much financial advice floating around - some of it is even free. But you may think that the only financial advice worth taking note of is something you’ve paid dearly for. It must be some special, long report full of jargon that you can barely understand - and of course written by those professional financial advisors who charge an arm and a leg for it. In fact, you would need to take it to another financial advisor to have it explained.
Nope, not so. You don’t need financial advice that is hard to understand or so longwinded it bores you to tears. What you need is something short and succinct. You need financial advice that switches the light bulb on in your brain; that gives you one of those moments of brilliant clarity with which to peer down the long years of your life. It should be easy to understand and easier still to implement. This financial advice should become a part of your life, your spending habits and character. And certainly it should be something that you can easily pass onto your kids.
The best financial advice I ever got was from my mother. She said, “Do you really need that?” Now how hard is that to understand? Do you really need it? You may desire it. You may long for it. You may even dream about owning it. But do you really need it? In other words, will not having it cause you to die?
You can apply this piece of financial advice to clothing. We all need clothing. We don’t need designer clothing that is so expensive that it would feed a third world child for a year. We don’t need to have our wardrobes stuffed so full of it that we never see the bottom layer.
We can apply this financial advice to food. Everyone needs food: we don’t all need the most expensive cut of steak. Nor do we need to eat out every night, nor even once a week. Homes? Sure we all like to live in a nice, big home. A little one will do, though. We won’t die if we don’t have four bedrooms with ensuites and a swimming pool. New modern furniture would be great, but we can make do with stuff from the op-shop, or Gran’s bedroom suite.
Financial advice doesn’t have to be difficult. Ask yourself do you need it every time before you buy something and you’ll soon find that you have plenty of money to invest - and some left over to pay for expert financial advice on the best way to do it.
Our www.macquarieprivatewealth.com.au/aboutMPW/ourAdviser.aspx”>financial advisors have a wealth of knowledge and experience to guide you toward financial independence.
There is much financial advice floating around - some of it is even free. But you may think that the only financial advice worth taking note of is something you’ve paid dearly for. It must be some special, long report full of jargon that you can barely understand - and of course written by those professional financial advisors who charge an arm and a leg for it. In fact, you would need to take it to another financial advisor to have it explained.
Nope, not so. You don’t need financial advice that is hard to understand or so longwinded it bores you to tears. What you need is something short and succinct. You need financial advice that switches the light bulb on in your brain; that gives you one of those moments of brilliant clarity with which to peer down the long years of your life. It should be easy to understand and easier still to implement. This financial advice should become a part of your life, your spending habits and character. And certainly it should be something that you can easily pass onto your kids.
The best financial advice I ever got was from my mother. She said, “Do you really need that?” Now how hard is that to understand? Do you really need it? You may desire it. You may long for it. You may even dream about owning it. But do you really need it? In other words, will not having it cause you to die?
You can apply this piece of financial advice to clothing. We all need clothing. We don’t need designer clothing that is so expensive that it would feed a third world child for a year. We don’t need to have our wardrobes stuffed so full of it that we never see the bottom layer.
We can apply this financial advice to food. Everyone needs food: we don’t all need the most expensive cut of steak. Nor do we need to eat out every night, nor even once a week. Homes? Sure we all like to live in a nice, big home. A little one will do, though. We won’t die if we don’t have four bedrooms with ensuites and a swimming pool. New modern furniture would be great, but we can make do with stuff from the op-shop, or Gran’s bedroom suite.
Financial advice doesn’t have to be difficult. Ask yourself do you need it every time before you buy something and you’ll soon find that you have plenty of money to invest - and some left over to pay for expert financial advice on the best way to do it.
Our www.macquarieprivatewealth.com.au/aboutMPW/ourAdviser.aspx”>financial advisors have a wealth of knowledge and experience to guide you toward financial independence.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
What does it mean to be Rich?
By: Samantha Asher
Have you ever driven past a mansion, or at least a house much bigger than yours and thought, "oh, they're rich!" What makes them rich? Is it the huge house? Or maybe it's the Porsche in the driveway that gives it away. To you they are rich because they possess things of apparent wealth. A large house and a fancy car cost a lot, so they must have a lot of money in order to afford it.
Now what would you think if I told you that they actually had a mortgage on the house that they owed more on than the value of the house, they leased the Porsche, they had $100,000 in credit card and other debt, and they were continually going into debt further and further by $1,000 a month. Would you consider the rich now? In these situations you can easily see how someone can look rich on the outside and in fact be quite poor.
Either way you looked at it, the person who lived this life may not have been rich, depending on your definition of rich. When we think rich, we automatically think someone with a lot of expensive things and a lot of money, but have you ever thought of someone who has no debt, a paid off home, and a comfortable retirement savings put aside as rich? They don't live a wealthy lifestyle, but they could be considered rich because they are financially secure.
Then there is the thought of rich aside from money. Someone could be rich in friends, or rich in happiness. This type of 'rich' thinking sometimes sounds like a copout, but ultimately, being rich isn't everything. Whether you are rich because you have a lot of money or you are rich because you are satisfied with your life doesn't matter. Rich sounds like a positive word and you automatically feel you need to be rich. Contentment in your life should be what you strive for and happiness.
If you still want to wealthy and have a lot of money, you can always get a really good paying job, save every penny you make, invent something everyone must have, invest in the next big thing before it gets big, or try many other ways to get there. Good luck, and I hope you see the riches you've always dreamed of!
If you want to know how to become rich and want more infomration about saving, go to SavetoBuildWealth.info for more information.
Have you ever driven past a mansion, or at least a house much bigger than yours and thought, "oh, they're rich!" What makes them rich? Is it the huge house? Or maybe it's the Porsche in the driveway that gives it away. To you they are rich because they possess things of apparent wealth. A large house and a fancy car cost a lot, so they must have a lot of money in order to afford it.
Now what would you think if I told you that they actually had a mortgage on the house that they owed more on than the value of the house, they leased the Porsche, they had $100,000 in credit card and other debt, and they were continually going into debt further and further by $1,000 a month. Would you consider the rich now? In these situations you can easily see how someone can look rich on the outside and in fact be quite poor.
Either way you looked at it, the person who lived this life may not have been rich, depending on your definition of rich. When we think rich, we automatically think someone with a lot of expensive things and a lot of money, but have you ever thought of someone who has no debt, a paid off home, and a comfortable retirement savings put aside as rich? They don't live a wealthy lifestyle, but they could be considered rich because they are financially secure.
Then there is the thought of rich aside from money. Someone could be rich in friends, or rich in happiness. This type of 'rich' thinking sometimes sounds like a copout, but ultimately, being rich isn't everything. Whether you are rich because you have a lot of money or you are rich because you are satisfied with your life doesn't matter. Rich sounds like a positive word and you automatically feel you need to be rich. Contentment in your life should be what you strive for and happiness.
If you still want to wealthy and have a lot of money, you can always get a really good paying job, save every penny you make, invent something everyone must have, invest in the next big thing before it gets big, or try many other ways to get there. Good luck, and I hope you see the riches you've always dreamed of!
If you want to know how to become rich and want more infomration about saving, go to SavetoBuildWealth.info for more information.
United First Financial - What Is It All About?
By: Graham Lavery
United First Financial appeared as a company specialized in paying mortgages and other financial obligations. The company's agents present customers with an offer based on a solution thought out by a group of mortgage brokers from Utah. They promise customers that they can pay their mortgages that should be paid in 30 years in 8 to 11 years without the need to pay more.
A mortgage payment is not an easy task for anyone. Many people get to a difficult point in life when they are forced to sell their homes because they could not cover their debts. So, is this solution a really good one?
The United First Financial system is called Money Merge Account whose main role is similar to that of a standard checking or savings account. What makes it so special is a feature that grants the owner reductions of interest for the mortgage any time the owner puts money in the account.
By using a software program, the Money Merge account calculates the best interest savings in the least amount of time, which is the main reason why this works.
Actually, the company is making money just by selling this software that can be used with the Money Merge Account. The program cost $3,500 so there are people that say that this is too much too lower your mortgage interest when you can make a similar program to use it by yourself, by setting up a Home Equity Line of Credit.
It may be true, but think of all that time that you need to spend over numbers and sheets to calculate the best interest savings. It is much easier to let this done by the software sold by United First Financial. And your time is money, too.
The method offered by United First Financial becomes more and more popular as homeowners are attracted by the idea of paying the mortgage at a fraction of the cost they were supposed to pay in the first place. Only in the spring of 2007, over one thousand accounts were opened with them and the company estimated a raise in the number of customers.
The program sold by United First Financial can be used for other purposes, as well. It can serve as a great financial tool for families in need of better management for their finances. The software grants you the possibility to see the effects of your financial decisions and, as everything is done online, you see all these in a matter of seconds. This is a great way to lower your debts while you can manage to live the same life as before and taking care of your expenses.
Even if it sounds to good to be true, the Money Merge Account, the product offered by the company called United First Financial, is not a scam. It is a software especially designed to calculate the best interest for your debts, so you can pay them in a short amount of time and at a lower rate. The cost of the software is $3,500.
Costs and benefits must always be calculated, before making any purchase. These decisions are individual, some may find a way to get the best of a situation, while others may find it difficult to apply. The solution thought out by United First Financial is one that can get you good value for the dollars spent, so it is worth taking a look.
Graham Lavery is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com
United First Financial appeared as a company specialized in paying mortgages and other financial obligations. The company's agents present customers with an offer based on a solution thought out by a group of mortgage brokers from Utah. They promise customers that they can pay their mortgages that should be paid in 30 years in 8 to 11 years without the need to pay more.
A mortgage payment is not an easy task for anyone. Many people get to a difficult point in life when they are forced to sell their homes because they could not cover their debts. So, is this solution a really good one?
The United First Financial system is called Money Merge Account whose main role is similar to that of a standard checking or savings account. What makes it so special is a feature that grants the owner reductions of interest for the mortgage any time the owner puts money in the account.
By using a software program, the Money Merge account calculates the best interest savings in the least amount of time, which is the main reason why this works.
Actually, the company is making money just by selling this software that can be used with the Money Merge Account. The program cost $3,500 so there are people that say that this is too much too lower your mortgage interest when you can make a similar program to use it by yourself, by setting up a Home Equity Line of Credit.
It may be true, but think of all that time that you need to spend over numbers and sheets to calculate the best interest savings. It is much easier to let this done by the software sold by United First Financial. And your time is money, too.
The method offered by United First Financial becomes more and more popular as homeowners are attracted by the idea of paying the mortgage at a fraction of the cost they were supposed to pay in the first place. Only in the spring of 2007, over one thousand accounts were opened with them and the company estimated a raise in the number of customers.
The program sold by United First Financial can be used for other purposes, as well. It can serve as a great financial tool for families in need of better management for their finances. The software grants you the possibility to see the effects of your financial decisions and, as everything is done online, you see all these in a matter of seconds. This is a great way to lower your debts while you can manage to live the same life as before and taking care of your expenses.
Even if it sounds to good to be true, the Money Merge Account, the product offered by the company called United First Financial, is not a scam. It is a software especially designed to calculate the best interest for your debts, so you can pay them in a short amount of time and at a lower rate. The cost of the software is $3,500.
Costs and benefits must always be calculated, before making any purchase. These decisions are individual, some may find a way to get the best of a situation, while others may find it difficult to apply. The solution thought out by United First Financial is one that can get you good value for the dollars spent, so it is worth taking a look.
Graham Lavery is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com
Monday, November 17, 2008
Collecting Gold Coins
By: Chris Linux
Many people collect coins as a hobby, but very few realize its investment potential. GoldCoin collecting can be a fun hobby as well as a source of potential income if one knows what he is doing. Coin collecting as a hobby has been around since medieval times when people began collecting coins for their historical value and as a memento of art. It can have a huge investment potential if the collector likes coins of precious metals such as silver and gold.
A great thing about collecting gold coins is that they can be especially profitable so much so that a an American eagle coin of 1933 sold for millions of dollars. Gold coins as legal tender have been out of circulation from early 20th century. So there’s also a great deal of antique value attached to such coins in addition to them being made of gold. Many countries nowadays run special editions of coins such as the Canadian maple leaf, the british sovereign and the south african kreugerand.
Almost all countries have had a history of gold coins in circulation starting from civilizations in India where gold coins were used as early as the 5th century. One of the favorites amongst collectors of gold coins came from South Africa the gold Krugerrand. Unlike Gold bars, gold coins are not sold or bought on the basis of its purity levels or at the market price for gold on that particular day. Prices of gold coins fluctuate to a large amount based on supply and demand of the rearity of the coin itself.
Interestingly it’s this rarity that has a greater role in determining the value to the coin and not the gold. But one thing is sure that such gold coins provide for a profitable investment and the prices shoot up more than any other form of gold especially when the markets are unstable. The only drawback of possessing such coins is that at times when one needs quick money they might be difficult to sell as compared to gold bars and bullion, they have a higher premium attached to them. But the price that one obtains the gold coin at makes up for this drawback when sold.
Things that potential investors should be wary off while investing is gold coins are:
- Do your research and be sure of the type of coin/ coins you want to invest in.
- Keep your final goals in mind, are you buying primarily for investment or as a hobby with a potential investment and then decide on how much you would spend on it.
- Compare prices from different dealers and look for authenticity, if required as for a certificate regarding the same.
- If buying online be make sure the delivery is insured and the whole process is secure using a trusted seller.
Remember , with investment in gold coins or other gold bullion items your future is secure as gold tends to decrease the risk in your investment portfolio even history suggests the same, in 1970’s when markets crashed gold prices soared and the same can be predicted for the coming years. Although we are in a peroid of deflation, when inflation kicks in you will be glad your holding gold coins rather than paper money!.
Find a great selection of Gold Coins and Gold Bullion at cheap auction prices!.
Many people collect coins as a hobby, but very few realize its investment potential. GoldCoin collecting can be a fun hobby as well as a source of potential income if one knows what he is doing. Coin collecting as a hobby has been around since medieval times when people began collecting coins for their historical value and as a memento of art. It can have a huge investment potential if the collector likes coins of precious metals such as silver and gold.
A great thing about collecting gold coins is that they can be especially profitable so much so that a an American eagle coin of 1933 sold for millions of dollars. Gold coins as legal tender have been out of circulation from early 20th century. So there’s also a great deal of antique value attached to such coins in addition to them being made of gold. Many countries nowadays run special editions of coins such as the Canadian maple leaf, the british sovereign and the south african kreugerand.
Almost all countries have had a history of gold coins in circulation starting from civilizations in India where gold coins were used as early as the 5th century. One of the favorites amongst collectors of gold coins came from South Africa the gold Krugerrand. Unlike Gold bars, gold coins are not sold or bought on the basis of its purity levels or at the market price for gold on that particular day. Prices of gold coins fluctuate to a large amount based on supply and demand of the rearity of the coin itself.
Interestingly it’s this rarity that has a greater role in determining the value to the coin and not the gold. But one thing is sure that such gold coins provide for a profitable investment and the prices shoot up more than any other form of gold especially when the markets are unstable. The only drawback of possessing such coins is that at times when one needs quick money they might be difficult to sell as compared to gold bars and bullion, they have a higher premium attached to them. But the price that one obtains the gold coin at makes up for this drawback when sold.
Things that potential investors should be wary off while investing is gold coins are:
- Do your research and be sure of the type of coin/ coins you want to invest in.
- Keep your final goals in mind, are you buying primarily for investment or as a hobby with a potential investment and then decide on how much you would spend on it.
- Compare prices from different dealers and look for authenticity, if required as for a certificate regarding the same.
- If buying online be make sure the delivery is insured and the whole process is secure using a trusted seller.
Remember , with investment in gold coins or other gold bullion items your future is secure as gold tends to decrease the risk in your investment portfolio even history suggests the same, in 1970’s when markets crashed gold prices soared and the same can be predicted for the coming years. Although we are in a peroid of deflation, when inflation kicks in you will be glad your holding gold coins rather than paper money!.
Find a great selection of Gold Coins and Gold Bullion at cheap auction prices!.
An Introduction to Mortgage Backed Securities
By: Ti Craig Elliott-
What Are Mortgage Backed Securities?
Mortgage backed securities are securities that are backed by the principle and interest payments on a group of mortgage loans. Lenders group together mortgages and the money that is repaid by the borrowers' pays investors in the mortgage backed securities.
Why Do Mortgage Lenders Issue Mortgage Backed Securities?
There are a variety of reasons that lending institutions issue mortgage backed securities rather than holding the mortgage themselves. Most lenders have a limited amount of liquid assets. By selling mortgages they are able to free up money in the short term to make additional loans.
Another reason that mortgage lenders sell off their loans as mortgage backed securities is to minimize their risk. Although every effort is made to establish the creditworthiness of an individual before a loan is made, circumstances can change. If a borrower defaults on his mortgage, the lender will have unplanned for expenses just in dealing with repossession and selling of the property. Adding in the lost principal and interest, and a small, local lender could find themselves in a financial mess very quickly.
When a lender sells a mortgage as a mortgage backed security, they receive their money up front, both the loaned amount and a percentage of the loan as their fee. The investors in a mortgage backed security then receive income each month, as the borrower pays back the principal plus interest on his loan.
Types of Mortgage Backed Securities
There are a variety of mortgage backed securities. The majority of mortgage backed securities are issued by the Government National Mortgage Association, otherwise known as Ginnie Mae, the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, and the Federal Loan Mortgage Company, or Freddie Mac. These are all groups sponsored by the federal government. While Ginnie Mae is backed by the full faith and credit of the government, and guarantees its investors that they will receive their payments, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have the authority to borrow from the Treasury, which makes them relatively safe investments as well.
In addition to the government agencies, brokerage firms and banks often offer mortgage backed securities. These are known as private-label securities.
Are Mortgage Backed Securities Risky?
Mortgage backed securities are not generally considered a risky investment. To obtain a mortgage, the borrower must go through a qualification process that assures the bank or lending institution that the loan will be paid back. The group who sets up the mortgage backed security will then group mortgages together in order to sell. By pooling the mortgages together, the risk to the investor is minimized. One borrower, who defaults on a loan, or, conversely, pays the loan off early, depriving the group of years of interest payments, will have less of an effect when he is a member of a large group. The same borrow, particularly one who defaults on a mortgage, can cause a real financial shock to a small lending institution.
Do Mortgage Backed Securities Make a Good Investment?
All investment decisions are extremely personal, and will depend on your personal needs. Decisions on investments are best made with help from a financial advisor. For someone who would like a monthly income, a mortgage backed security can make a good choice. A mortgage backed security, particularly one sold by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, or Ginnie Mae, can be excellent investment vehicles. In general, the greater the amount of loans held in a mortgage backed security, the safer the investment, because the risk is spread over more people.
Before investing in a mortgage backed security, you should find out your expected rate of return. While this can vary, it is nice to know what investors have been receiving. Remember, it is not only loan defaults that can affect your income from a mortgage backed security, but also prepayments and principal only payments. The income from the security is figured on full payment of both principal and interest over the life of the mortgage, typically 15 or 30 years. Any action taken by anyone holding a mortgage in the security can affect your income. It is important to be clear about this with the person you purchase the security from.
Mortgage backed securities are an excellent development for borrowers, lenders, and investors. No matter what group you are in, it is important to understand exactly how they work and what you can expect. By doing that, you are better able to make a wise financial decision.
About Author:
Craig Elliott is a freelance writer who writes about topics pertaining to the mortgage industry such as Mortgage Rate Calculator Mortgage Lender.
What Are Mortgage Backed Securities?
Mortgage backed securities are securities that are backed by the principle and interest payments on a group of mortgage loans. Lenders group together mortgages and the money that is repaid by the borrowers' pays investors in the mortgage backed securities.
Why Do Mortgage Lenders Issue Mortgage Backed Securities?
There are a variety of reasons that lending institutions issue mortgage backed securities rather than holding the mortgage themselves. Most lenders have a limited amount of liquid assets. By selling mortgages they are able to free up money in the short term to make additional loans.
Another reason that mortgage lenders sell off their loans as mortgage backed securities is to minimize their risk. Although every effort is made to establish the creditworthiness of an individual before a loan is made, circumstances can change. If a borrower defaults on his mortgage, the lender will have unplanned for expenses just in dealing with repossession and selling of the property. Adding in the lost principal and interest, and a small, local lender could find themselves in a financial mess very quickly.
When a lender sells a mortgage as a mortgage backed security, they receive their money up front, both the loaned amount and a percentage of the loan as their fee. The investors in a mortgage backed security then receive income each month, as the borrower pays back the principal plus interest on his loan.
Types of Mortgage Backed Securities
There are a variety of mortgage backed securities. The majority of mortgage backed securities are issued by the Government National Mortgage Association, otherwise known as Ginnie Mae, the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, and the Federal Loan Mortgage Company, or Freddie Mac. These are all groups sponsored by the federal government. While Ginnie Mae is backed by the full faith and credit of the government, and guarantees its investors that they will receive their payments, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have the authority to borrow from the Treasury, which makes them relatively safe investments as well.
In addition to the government agencies, brokerage firms and banks often offer mortgage backed securities. These are known as private-label securities.
Are Mortgage Backed Securities Risky?
Mortgage backed securities are not generally considered a risky investment. To obtain a mortgage, the borrower must go through a qualification process that assures the bank or lending institution that the loan will be paid back. The group who sets up the mortgage backed security will then group mortgages together in order to sell. By pooling the mortgages together, the risk to the investor is minimized. One borrower, who defaults on a loan, or, conversely, pays the loan off early, depriving the group of years of interest payments, will have less of an effect when he is a member of a large group. The same borrow, particularly one who defaults on a mortgage, can cause a real financial shock to a small lending institution.
Do Mortgage Backed Securities Make a Good Investment?
All investment decisions are extremely personal, and will depend on your personal needs. Decisions on investments are best made with help from a financial advisor. For someone who would like a monthly income, a mortgage backed security can make a good choice. A mortgage backed security, particularly one sold by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, or Ginnie Mae, can be excellent investment vehicles. In general, the greater the amount of loans held in a mortgage backed security, the safer the investment, because the risk is spread over more people.
Before investing in a mortgage backed security, you should find out your expected rate of return. While this can vary, it is nice to know what investors have been receiving. Remember, it is not only loan defaults that can affect your income from a mortgage backed security, but also prepayments and principal only payments. The income from the security is figured on full payment of both principal and interest over the life of the mortgage, typically 15 or 30 years. Any action taken by anyone holding a mortgage in the security can affect your income. It is important to be clear about this with the person you purchase the security from.
Mortgage backed securities are an excellent development for borrowers, lenders, and investors. No matter what group you are in, it is important to understand exactly how they work and what you can expect. By doing that, you are better able to make a wise financial decision.
About Author:
Craig Elliott is a freelance writer who writes about topics pertaining to the mortgage industry such as Mortgage Rate Calculator Mortgage Lender.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Investment Opportunities in Foreclosures
By: Greg Chan
Are you looking for an investment opportunity in real estate? Foreclosures can be a tremendous opportunity for new investors. The profits can be enormous. Foreclosure investing, however, does have risks and one must be fully prepared before beginning.
There are three basic ways to invest in foreclosure: buying from the lender after foreclosure, buying pre-foreclosures, and buying at foreclosure auction.
Buying REOs
When you buy from a lender after foreclosure, it is called buying REOs or real estate owned. REOs is the least risky way to buy a foreclosure property. Buying an REO can be very similar to regular real estate and are thus relatively safe. One possible risk is that you may not get a seller's disclosure. You can usually, however, sue the lender for restitution if something goes wrong.
Buying Pre-Foreclosures
Buying a pre-foreclosure property is somewhat riskier than buying REOs. For example, desperate sellers may lie to you about the condition or the presence of liens on the property. One should also pay close attention to whether the seller has entered bankruptcy. If the seller is already in bankruptcy, the deed may not be valid unless it has gone through bankruptcy court. Moreover, even if the seller files bankruptcy after the sale, you may have to deed the property back to the seller up to three years after the sale. Laws, however, vary from state to state.
Investors hope to purchase foreclosed properties well below market value. If the seller is under bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee may claim that the sale was a "fraudulent transfer" that was not fully valued to pay off creditors. This would force the deed back into the bankruptcy estate.
There are steps you can take, however, to mitigate these risks:
Get an inspection
Use a knowledgeable escrow agent
Look at the property yourself
Buying at Auction
Buying a foreclosure at auction is the riskiest way to purchase a property. At auction, you have almost no safeguards. For example, there you have no real estate agent, escrow, or title report. Moreover, you are not allowed to inspect the property and thus you have no idea or warranty on its condition. In most states, auctions are an all cash transaction that you must complete in a week to a month.
If the property is occupied, it may take months to evict the tenants. Tenants may also vandalize or steal from the property before eviction. Also, the former owner may sue you to overturn the sale, particularly if you flipped the property for a nice profit.
Buying a foreclosure can be rife with risk but also can have great rewards. You can minimize risk by fully understanding the foreclosure process.
Greg Chan is a business and finance expert. He has authored several articles on foreclosures. For more information, visit BestForeclosureLists.com
Are you looking for an investment opportunity in real estate? Foreclosures can be a tremendous opportunity for new investors. The profits can be enormous. Foreclosure investing, however, does have risks and one must be fully prepared before beginning.
There are three basic ways to invest in foreclosure: buying from the lender after foreclosure, buying pre-foreclosures, and buying at foreclosure auction.
Buying REOs
When you buy from a lender after foreclosure, it is called buying REOs or real estate owned. REOs is the least risky way to buy a foreclosure property. Buying an REO can be very similar to regular real estate and are thus relatively safe. One possible risk is that you may not get a seller's disclosure. You can usually, however, sue the lender for restitution if something goes wrong.
Buying Pre-Foreclosures
Buying a pre-foreclosure property is somewhat riskier than buying REOs. For example, desperate sellers may lie to you about the condition or the presence of liens on the property. One should also pay close attention to whether the seller has entered bankruptcy. If the seller is already in bankruptcy, the deed may not be valid unless it has gone through bankruptcy court. Moreover, even if the seller files bankruptcy after the sale, you may have to deed the property back to the seller up to three years after the sale. Laws, however, vary from state to state.
Investors hope to purchase foreclosed properties well below market value. If the seller is under bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee may claim that the sale was a "fraudulent transfer" that was not fully valued to pay off creditors. This would force the deed back into the bankruptcy estate.
There are steps you can take, however, to mitigate these risks:
Get an inspection
Use a knowledgeable escrow agent
Look at the property yourself
Buying at Auction
Buying a foreclosure at auction is the riskiest way to purchase a property. At auction, you have almost no safeguards. For example, there you have no real estate agent, escrow, or title report. Moreover, you are not allowed to inspect the property and thus you have no idea or warranty on its condition. In most states, auctions are an all cash transaction that you must complete in a week to a month.
If the property is occupied, it may take months to evict the tenants. Tenants may also vandalize or steal from the property before eviction. Also, the former owner may sue you to overturn the sale, particularly if you flipped the property for a nice profit.
Buying a foreclosure can be rife with risk but also can have great rewards. You can minimize risk by fully understanding the foreclosure process.
Greg Chan is a business and finance expert. He has authored several articles on foreclosures. For more information, visit BestForeclosureLists.com
Have You Considered Offshore Investments?
By: Deon Melchior
These days most of us try very hard to invest at least a little money for our future retirement years so that we aren’t dependant on government or corporate pensions. But have you considered offshore investments?
You’ve probably heard about offshore investments but you may have been misled to believe that you had to be rich to play in the offshore
market. That’s simply not true. The only difference between normal investments and offshore investments is that you are placing your money in an account with a bank that is not in the United States.
There are quite a few advantages to offshore investments. There is far less regulations so fund managers are not as restricted and are able to act more freely. The lack of regulations also means that you are going to pay a lot less taxes! Offshore accounts invest fund in countries that have either no tax laws or minimal tax laws. That means you will pay a lot less in taxes and have a lot more available to invest.
Some individuals are concerned that because there is less regulation that the risks are too high. There is the potential for higher risk however if you are a good investor and do your homework the risk is really no greater than investments made within the United States.
Another perk to offshore investments is that your privacy is assured. Most countries that deal in offshore investments have laws to protect the investor’s privacy. This means there is no reporting to the government and there is no way to obtain this private information from a foreign country.
The privacy law is a huge benefit especially if you have large amounts you want to invest. This is why we sometimes think that offshore investments are only for the rich. It’s also very beneficial if you have assets you want to protect from litigation. These days it seems even one is suing over something and the courts are often finding in favor of the complainant no matter how ridiculous. One way to protect your company’s assets is to invest them offshore. Offshore countries don’t recognize these judgments and assets in these countries cannot be seized.
Using offshore investments as part of your estate planning is also very smart. That’s because most of these countries have simple estate laws and tax laws. Estate planning offshore is growing in popularity.
Setting up an offshore investment account requires a few steps. You must either live in the offshore country or establish a legal presence in that country. Since few people live in the offshore country they invest in, the standard method is to create an offshore corporation. There are many companies that will set up your corporation and complete the paperwork so you can get started in investing offshore.
The corporation you need to set up is called an IBC or LLC which means International Business Corporation or Limited Liability Corporation. Once your corporation is established and the paperwork has been filed you can begin investing or you can transfer your current portfolio. Because all investments go through your IBC or LLC your personal identity is never involved.
Offshore investments may not be for everyone but if you have assets you would like to protect, you want your investments confidential, or you want the tax breaks then you should consider offshore investments to help you meet your financial goals.
Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.
These days most of us try very hard to invest at least a little money for our future retirement years so that we aren’t dependant on government or corporate pensions. But have you considered offshore investments?
You’ve probably heard about offshore investments but you may have been misled to believe that you had to be rich to play in the offshore
market. That’s simply not true. The only difference between normal investments and offshore investments is that you are placing your money in an account with a bank that is not in the United States.
There are quite a few advantages to offshore investments. There is far less regulations so fund managers are not as restricted and are able to act more freely. The lack of regulations also means that you are going to pay a lot less taxes! Offshore accounts invest fund in countries that have either no tax laws or minimal tax laws. That means you will pay a lot less in taxes and have a lot more available to invest.
Some individuals are concerned that because there is less regulation that the risks are too high. There is the potential for higher risk however if you are a good investor and do your homework the risk is really no greater than investments made within the United States.
Another perk to offshore investments is that your privacy is assured. Most countries that deal in offshore investments have laws to protect the investor’s privacy. This means there is no reporting to the government and there is no way to obtain this private information from a foreign country.
The privacy law is a huge benefit especially if you have large amounts you want to invest. This is why we sometimes think that offshore investments are only for the rich. It’s also very beneficial if you have assets you want to protect from litigation. These days it seems even one is suing over something and the courts are often finding in favor of the complainant no matter how ridiculous. One way to protect your company’s assets is to invest them offshore. Offshore countries don’t recognize these judgments and assets in these countries cannot be seized.
Using offshore investments as part of your estate planning is also very smart. That’s because most of these countries have simple estate laws and tax laws. Estate planning offshore is growing in popularity.
Setting up an offshore investment account requires a few steps. You must either live in the offshore country or establish a legal presence in that country. Since few people live in the offshore country they invest in, the standard method is to create an offshore corporation. There are many companies that will set up your corporation and complete the paperwork so you can get started in investing offshore.
The corporation you need to set up is called an IBC or LLC which means International Business Corporation or Limited Liability Corporation. Once your corporation is established and the paperwork has been filed you can begin investing or you can transfer your current portfolio. Because all investments go through your IBC or LLC your personal identity is never involved.
Offshore investments may not be for everyone but if you have assets you would like to protect, you want your investments confidential, or you want the tax breaks then you should consider offshore investments to help you meet your financial goals.
Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.
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