Everybody Wants to Know How to Invest

Those unfamiliar with the process of making and managing investments often have more than a few trepidations about investing in general. They figure that, since they do not know how to invest, they will never learn. Of course the horror stories of investors who lost their life savings on some bad deal don’t help people to feel any less secure when figuring out how to invest.

Fortunately “how to invest” can be taught and learned. “What to invest in” or “where to invest” is another matter entirely - if someone can tell you that, and be 100% correct every time, latch on and don’t let go because you have found the fabled Rosetta Stone.

So, how do you invest? A big part of the investment process will depend on how much money you have to invest. The amount will determine the best investments for you as well as the best methods of investing - whether you’re best off acting on your own or working with an investment counselor or advisor. If you have a small amount to invest, say a few thousand dollars, you may want to start small with an interest bearing account such as a CD. Higher investment amounts usually warrant bigger investments, but bigger investments are riskier as well. If you’re investing ten thousand dollars or more, it is definitely advisable to use the services of an investment counselor or advisor. This professional can show you how to invest your money as wisely as possible to get the best rate of return you can.

Those investing very large sums of money, one hundred thousand dollars or more, will have no shortage of those who want to show them how to invest. You may think that someone who has that kind of investment capital would already know how to invest, but there are plenty of folks who had forty bucks in the bank yesterday and suddenly found themselves recipients of insurance payments, lottery winnings, inheritances, and the like. These people are often easy prey for unscrupulous individuals in the financial industry and should immediately seek the assistance of a reputable broker or investment counselor to show them how to invest their money.

Visit the Global Investment Institute and signup for our free Investing For Beginners E-Course at http://www.Global-Investment-Institute.com

Investment webmasters or publishers, please feel free to use this article provided this reference is included and all links remain active.

Tag:

Taking Control of your Finances

To find money to invest for your future, you need to make sure that your outgoing expenses are less than the income that you are receiving. You need to develop an excess that you can have free to invest.

Now before you start to think.”well I don’t have any excess leftif I was earning more money.then I would have some free”. Let me dispel this mythand tell you that it is a known and excepted fact that the amount of money that people earn has little if any bearing on whether or not they have an excess left to invest. The only way to create an excess it to spend less than you earn, instead of spending all that you earn.

Even doctors and lawyers, who earn well over $100,000.00 per year, often end up at retirement with little more Net Worth than factory or office workers.

Net Worth is calculated by deducting the value of all the liabilities or loans you have from the income-producing assets owned to give you the net value of your income-producing assets.

Why aren’t high-income earners retiring wealthy? Why don’t they end up with a greater Net Worth than someone on a low income? It is quite simple. Human nature seems to dictate that whatever anyone earns.they spend.some even spend more than they earn and charge it on their credit card.

The higher your income growsthe more you spend and the only way to get out of this cycle is to realise that it is happening, and make a concerted effort to reverse this habit.and to begin reducing your expenditures so that you can free up money to invest.

The best way to do this, is to try the 10/90 plan. This plan simply means that as soon as you receive your pay.you put aside 10% of it for investment.and then use the other 90% to live off of. Put aside the 10%, and then pay all the bills and do the grocery shopping.and then after that whatever is left over you can spend.

Most people do it the wrong way aroundthey pay the bills, do the shopping and spend what is left over, never leaving any left to save or invest. By taking the investment money out first you will alleviate the temptation to spend it.

The road to wealth is not determined by how much you earn, but by how you utilise the income you have and how much you save and invest.

You need to take control of your finances. One of the best ways to start having more control over your money is to find out where it has all been going, and then amend your spending habits to allow you to live within the 10/90 plan.

If you write down a list of your monthly net income, then in another column write down a list of the essential items that you have to spend money on. You should be able to work out an average for telephone, gas, electricity, insurances and rates, from your previous bills. Work out an average of how much is spent on grocery shopping and petrol. If there are any other necessary utilities include them as well. Then deduct the second column from the first - and this will give you the maximum potential savings for each month.

It can be quite startling how high this figure can be and make you wonder where all the extra money went.

Another good learning experience is to simply write down for a fortnight every dollar spent and write next to it what it was for. You will soon find that there are a lot of unnecessary expenses, often caused by impulse buying, where you have spent money on items that you neither needed or really wanted, and could easily have gone without.

When you can begin to recognise these areas, and start to consider whether or not you are spending your money wisely, before you hand it over, then you will be beginning to take control over your money and are well on the way to embarking on your investment journey, which will enable you to have a financially secure future for you and your children.

Debra Lohrere is an author of several books on property investment and how to create financial security. Please visit. http://www.debra.lohrere.com/home.shtml

Debra Lohrere works as a Commodity Trading Logistics Administrator. She previously spent over ten years working in an Accounts Administration position with her primary roles being collections and financial forecasting. She also ran her own computer retailing business for many years.
Knowing the vital importance of cash flow in business led her to begin investigating the benefits of personal investments. She decided six years ago that it was time to start taking control of her personal finances and begin building a wealth base for her future.
She began researching the powerful medium of property investment as a means of bringing financial independence into a reach and began to build her own property portfolio.
Within the space of four years she was able to go from renting a house, to owning her own home and three investment properties, while having contributed very little of her own money to secure these.
She built up a large base of contacts with fellow property investors, which has proved to be an invaluable source of information.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bonds Explained

The bond market always seems so confusing
to almost everyone. It does look to be upside down.
Why is it so?

When an investor buys a bond that matures
in 20 years he plunks down his cash, say $10,000,
and each quarter (or annually or as agreed) the
bond issuer sends him a check for the interest.
If it was 6% the bond holder will receive $600
annually until the twentieth year when the bond
issuer returns his $10,000. Very simple.

But suppose the bond owner suddenly has a
need for cash and must sell the bond. The bond
issuer is not required to take back the bond
until the 20th year. The investor must find
someone to buy that bond now. Of course, the
new owner will then receive the interest
checks. The bond is still worth $10,000 at
maturity so it should bring $10,000 on the open
market. Or will it?

Not necessarily.

If the interest rate market has fallen to
3% for this type of bond then it should sell for
an amount that will yield $600 on an amount of
money at 3%. Now that bond is worth $20,000
($600/.03X100). Conversely, if the interest
rates have increased to 9% the amount received
from the premature sale of the bond will fall
to $666 ($600/.09X100). The bond holder gets
less for the bond than the face amount, but the
new owner will receive the full amount at
maturity. The amount received from the sale is
directly related to the current yield for bonds
of the same quality.

As the interest (yield) goes up the principal
amount the bond holder can realize from the
sale of the bond goes down. As the yield drops
the bond can be sold for more than the face
amount, but will still bring the face amount at
maturity. The amount of time to maturity is not
being considered; however, the closer to
maturity the more value the bond will have.

When an investor buys a bond he wants two
things: safety of principal and return on his
investment (ROI). There is no consideration for
appreciation of capital. There are many types
of bonds and they are rated in term of safety.
The number one safety is the U.S. Treasury
Bond. It is where almost every foreign
government invests its money even beyond their
own government securities. There are various
rating agencies with the best known being
Moody’s.

Bonds are rated from AAA to junk with the
latter being speculative with the chance they
could default meaning you lose your money. Even
better graded bonds such as municipals are
questionable, but these and other bonds can be
bought with insurance to guarantee you will get
your money back.

Most financial advisors recommend that
portfolios contain a higher percentage of bonds
as people get older. That is for the investor
to decide.

Each person must determine risk versus
guaranteed return.

Al Thomas’ book,
“If It Doesn’t Go Up, Don’t Buy It!”
has helped thousands of people make
money and keep their profits with his simple
2-step method. Read the first chapter at
http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why
he’s the man that Wall Street does not want you
to know. Copyright 2006 All rights reserved.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Close
E-mail It