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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Where Did My Paycheck Go?

Author: Christopher Cooper

Source: articleage.com



Pay Yourself FirstThe typical scenario is that you get your paycheck. After you recover from the shock at how little is left after taxes, you proceed to divvy it up among all your outstanding bills, intending to put whatever is left over into your savings.But there never seems to be anything left over and your savings don't grow.A better plan would be to pay yourself first. Don't let the money get into your hands. You might find that you actually begin to grow your savings much quicker this way.If you work for an employer with a 401K plan, the first thing you should do is to fund it to the max. If you can't afford that, at least put enough in to get the full matching contribution form your employer.This investment is made before taxes. Your investment is larger and with the employers contribution grows quickly.Next have a brokerage or mutual fund company debit your banking account monthly. This money should first go into an IRA - if you have five years or more to go to retirement, make it a Roth IRA.Next have a few dollars more be debited to go into a no-load, low cost mutual fund. The younger you are,, Best Mutual Fund Investment, the more aggressive your choice of fund can be.After that is done, then figure out how to pay your bills and living expenses. If money is tight, cut back on your living expenses and use the extra money to pay down your debt.Start with the lowest balance first. Once that debt is paid, take the amount of money you were paying on that debt and add it to the payment on the next lowest balance debt. Continue doing this and you can be totally debt free within 5 to 7 years.Another version of this method is paying the highest interest rate debt first. The principal is the same, you just see more progress with the first method, although it could be more costly based on how your debt is distributed.(If you don't believe me, get the premier version of Microsoft Money or Quicken and use the "Debt Reduction" module. You will be shocked at how much money you will save and how fast you can eliminate debt this way.)The idea is to scrimp at the expense of your current lifestyle, while leaving your savings to grow and you debt to shrink.I know many of the people reading this, Mutual FundBest Mutual Fund Investment, will scream that this is an impossible plan. But it is quite doable with a little will power and the ability to delay gratification for a while.The problem is that if you don't do this, your future might turn out to be very bleak.For more financial planning articles, visit http://www.credit-yourself.com/financial-planning.htmlChris Cooper, a retired attorney, and his wife Aileen, who has an MBA in Finance, provide personal financial planning advice at Credit Yourself - http://www.credit-yourself.com






Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Market Timing?

Author: Al Thomas

Source: articleage.com



The recent criminal fiasco in the mutual fund industry is being used by Wall Street to persuade investors that market timing is a bad thing. The late trading by Janus, Bank America and several other well known mutual funds is falsely being called market timing.Wall Street, better known as Maul Street to most investors, does not want to you to find out about market timing. The reason is very simple. If you learn to sell you might take your funds and do something intelligent with them.First let's understand, Mutual FundBest Mutual Fund Investment, what market timing is. Very simply it is a proven method that gives signals to buy and another signal to sell. Many of these methods are associated with stocks and mutual funds yet there are those that signal overall market conditions. We are on the verge of another sell signal for the general market and several market timers have already given those signals to sell. There are many excellent systems and they all beat the Wall Street lie of Buy and Hold. The key to all market profits is selling not buying.The criminal acts of the mutual funds had nothing to do with this method. The hedge fund managers knew the stock holdings of the mutual funds in question and AFTER the market closed companies would make announcements of their earnings, new products approved by the FDA, legal actions, etc. that would definitely impact upon the stock price the NEXT day. If it was good news the fund would allow big money players to place their orders after all official trading stopped. That's 4:00PM New York time.The fund price might be $20 per share, but depending upon the amount of stock in their portfolio it might make the settlement price the next day as much as 5% higher. That doesn't seem like much, but if you had shown a purchase of 10 million dollars on the close that day and sold it out the next day you would have a profit of $500,000. That is money removed from the fund that belongs to the shareholders. This is NOT timing. This is fraud and the, Best Mutual Fund Investment, parties should not only repay all those stolen monies to the fund, but should also see jail time and be banned from the industry for life.If you want to find out more about market timing type in 'market timing' on your computer and do a search. There are scores of them, but you must do your due diligence to be sure that what they are telling you is true. Always ask for references. Make them prove what they say. Don't bother to ask your broker as he will tell you the Wall Street lie that it doesn't work.Because of the precarious nature of this market I encourage you to look into this NOW.Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't BuyIt!" has helped thousands of people make moneyand keep their profits with his simple 2-stepmethod. Read the first chapter athttp://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Streetdoes not want you to know.Copyright 2005al@mutualfundstrategy.com; 1-888-345-7870






Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Saving For Retirement - To Retire Comfortably You Need To Do The Following!

Author: Sacha Tarkovsky

Source: download



Do it properly! Although this is an obvious statement, most people when saving for retirement don't know how to do it properly.They make errors that cost them and cost them big time. They can't retire in comfort and this is not the minority - this is the majority!Problems we all face Are:Keep in mind, the state won't help you much, medical costs are soaring and people are living longer.Unless you are saving for retirement properly, you won't enjoy your golden years and of course you should - You have worked hard all your life!Let's face it - if you have worked hard all your life enjoying your "golden years" should be your right.Lets look at some common mistakes people make when saving for retirement and how if you don't make the same mistakes, you can enjoy the comfort and lifestyle you deserve.Common mistakesHere are some common mistakes that people make when saving for retirement:1. Mutual funds and stocks can make you richWell let's look at the facts.If you are saving for retirement you can expect maybe 10% annually compounded and taking into account inflation that's not much.Even more worrying is 90% of funds cannot even do this!They lose, or provide single digit gains that are eaten up by inflation.Why do people invest in mutual funds?Most of the time they are taken in by the sales hype and this does not match the reality.2. Don't take risks when Upside is limited & downside, Mutual FundBest Mutual Fund Investment, is more!If you are going to save for retirement your better off in a fixed interest fund - same upside and less downside.Check the facts:Ask any mutual company for an average performance of ALL funds under management. You won't get it, but if you could you have losses across the board.Forget the sales patter!When a fund performs great - when it fails they launch a new one.They don't care if you make money or not, they have their commission so why do they care? They don't.2. Alternative Investments for growthOK great lets when saving for retirement trade alternative investments:Like currencies, futures, options or hedge funds.A warning - Keep in mind the risk reward:90% of investors lose in these investments and that's the lot!Consider saving for retirement in a hedge fund. Most are secretive and unregulated so you cant see what they do. They are not obliged to give you performance of all funds under management and most blow up!This means losses of 50% or more in most cases ...Don't believe they lose? Check the statistics. Hedge funds sound fantastic in theory, but the reality is very different.3. When you get close to retirement you cant take risksWhy? Quite simply if you are saving for retirement you can take losses early on as you have time to recover, when you get close to using your fund you cant.You have spent years building it and it needs to kept intact.Don't take risks in the last few years. The odds are you can't won't make it back quickly enough! Use low risk investments..4. High return and low riskWe all want this!We want this at anytime but when saving for retirement it's essential.We ALL want our money to work hard and produce above average gains with little downside risk, but is it possible?The answer is yes!5. The best low risk investmentsWhen saving for retirement, you will hear it time and time again..Property is the best investment and it is a good one, but there is one that compares that's cheaper and growth potential is the same, if not more.When saving for retirement lets look at land. Here we will give you one example, but there are many, Best Mutual Fund Investment, more. Just check these statistics out and your mutual fund manager will weep with envy!Land is a simple investment and is the secret of the world's wealthiest investors:Let's consider Costa Rica. You can by land at 70% less than in the US and there is a huge property boom going on and land is at a premium and that means huge growth potential.Quite simply, Americans are buying Costa Rica properties in record numbers to get second and retirement homes at cheaper prices and their only 3 hours from the US!What does this mean, if you are saving for retirement? It means big gains and low risk:50 - 100% gains per annum are being made with low risk ( prices don't tend to fall here in land they simply stay static and rise quickly) is this better than your mutual fund? No contest!You want good returns and low risk when saving for retirement and land investment gives you this.We don't have room to tell you how cheap it is, how tax efficient it is, how easy it is to do and why this boom will continue but check the facts for yourself.If you want to save for retirement, land is the ideal vehicle and you should consider itFor more FREE info including a free report on how to invest in land for huge potential gains with low risk visit http://www.net-planet.org/costarica.php






Monday, September 28, 2009

Building Wealth Slowly - Using the Power of Compound Interest to Build Wealth

Author: Richard Boettner

Source: ezinearticles.com



Many people think it is hard to become wealthy. It all depends on how you define it, doesn't it? If you think of wealth as having loads of money, in the millions, then yes, it may be hard, Best Mutual Fund Investment, to become wealthy for you. If on the other hand you think of wealth as having enough money to pay the bills and your money is invested wisely, and in a diverse manner, so that it makes you more money, then the answer is, no, it is not hard to be wealthy.Assume you are just out of college, have a job with an income that allows you to pay your bills with a little left over. If you were to put a $150 a month into an IRA that grows at 8% a year, you will have about $605,000 at age 65. A 10% a year return on compound growth is about what you should expect if the money were invested in a no-load S&P 500 Index Fund. To some that may seem like a lot, but it really isn't, remember inflation eats away at any investment at a rate of 3 to 4% a year, as do mutual fund fees.In the example above, for about $35 a week or $5.00 a day you would be on your way to being a millionaire. If you chose to live a little more frugal, you could easily save between $8.00 to $10.00 a day, or $56 to $70 a week. Saving $8 a day will result in $953,555 by age 65, and at $10 a day results in an investment growing to $1.19 million.If you contributed the full amount of $5,000 a year to your retirement account you would have $1.48 million. That's only about $14.00 a day and you could have a small fortune. If you decide to live without some expenses: using credit cards, extravagances, daily lattes, invested your pocket change (about $30 a month), bought used cars instead of new, you could actually save well over $2 million before retirement.Just remember, always invest your money diversely: stocks, mutual funds, high yield savings accounts, CD's, Mutual Funds, bonds, T-bills, so on, your money may not grow as fast as if it were invested in only one slightly more risky high paying interest account. Remember, time and the power of compound interest are on your side. The younger you are and you would like to build wealth, do whatever you have to scrape together, Mutual FundBest Mutual Fund Investment, your investment contributions. Every day you procrastinate is another day your money is not working for you.Consider that most people are spending their lives paying to borrow other people's money. If you save and invest, other people will be paying you to use your money. It's a lot more fun to see your money working for you building wealth.The older you get the harder it gets to grow your money slowly. If you wait until you are 32 to put away $4,000 a year at 10%, you would only have about $975,000 by 65. At 42, you would only be able to accumulate about $350,000 by 65. As you can see, your wealth diminishes the later you begin investing because it is not able to rely on compound interest to work for you.The moral of the story, start investing today, invest often, and as much as you can. Also, every dollar you spend is not invested, so live a frugal and more wealthy life.



After many exhaustive hours of research I released my book, Recession Survival Guide. It is fully researched and documented, with references. The goal is to educate people not only why the financial melt down happened, but also what they can do for themselves. It puts all the knowledge they need right in their hands.

Recession Survival Guide
recessionsurvival.richardboettner.com




Sunday, September 27, 2009

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Author: Al Thomas

Source: download



Don't you love those ads in the paper and on TV saying how much their mutual fund has made over the past 3, 5 and 10 years? I get all choked up. Hind sight is always 20/20. If Mr. Investor had known that he would be in clover today, BUT ..It seems that during the past few months, in fact for more than a year 90% of all mutual funds are lucky to be even. Even. Even doesn't cut it so what can an investor do when the market starts down as it has been doing lately? The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 500, Best Mutual Fund Investment, points. What if it drops like it did in 2000 when the NASDAQ lost 78% of it value and 7 trillion (yes, that's a T) dollars.Will your broker call you to tell you to sell? Did he tell you that last time? According to statistics less than 2% of Wall Street recommendations in that bear market were to sell. Is the tune going to change this time? Hardly. You are on your own again. Either you take charge or you will lose your money.Some people run to Morningstar for mutual fund recommendations. If you will look at their 5-Star Mutual Funds you will see they sank into the slime along with all the others. Morningstar follows the Wall Street line so you can't rely on them.Who can you rely upon to protect your investments?One person.YOU!Don't tell me you can't do it because you don't know enough. Obviously any blind hog could have found more acorns in the years 2000 to 2003 than your broker.The first consideration is protection of what you have now. If the fund you bought at $20 went to $40 would you be happy if it went back to $20? Not really. So you have to decide right now how much you are willing to give back. One of the basic rules of thumb is 10% from its highest closing price. If it drops below $36 sell it because you don't know how far "down" is. This is protection against a major loss. If investors will look at the history of the funds they own they will see that a 50% loss is common and that means the investor would have to earn 100% to make up for that loss. Fund managers usually aren't that smart.The professionals let the market tell them when to get in and more importantly when to get out. The great secret of the stock market is not buying. It is selling. Investors who have an exit strategy are those who end up with big money. There are many good exit methods, but they must be put into place and acted upon when the appropriate time, Mutual FundBest Mutual Fund Investment, occurs.There are many good long term investment plans and all of them have periods when the best investment is cash.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






Mutual Fund Investments - Investing and Making Money

Author: Bryan Burbank

Source: ezinearticles.com



There are many opportunities when investing in mutual funds. If you do not have a lot of time to research specific stocks then let somebody else do it for you. When you purchase this type of investment a fund manager will handle researching and investing in specific stocks for you. There are, Mutual FundBest Mutual Fund Investment, a large number of mutual funds that you can invest in so you want to do a little research to see which one fits your needs the best. Basically a mutual fund is a combination of stocks in one portfolio that is handled by a manager. The benefit is you do not have to research individual stocks yourself.A mutual fund is a great way to invest in the stock market but let somebody else handle the research side of it for you. Before making your initial investment you want to check and see what the mutual funds investment objective is. Also it's a good idea to see what their track record is over the past five years. Once you have found a mutual fund that you feel comfortable with you should invest with confidence that you will be making a great investment. It is important to remember that with this type of investment there are always ups and downs in the market so you have to determine if you are in it for the short-term for the long haul.Remember that investing, Best Mutual Fund Investment, in mutual funds can be a very profitable way to make money. It is important that you do your research before choosing which fund you want to invest in. There are many options available to you so make sure you check out the fund's past performance over the last five or 10 years.A mutual fund is a great way to invest in many stocks in a certain sector so that you hedge your bet and make a lot of money.



How to: Trade Mutual Funds.

You Can: Get Rich Trading.

Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Finances and Investing in Stocks.




Saturday, September 26, 2009

Online Electronic Day Trading -- 3 Basic Tips

Author: Ben Ehinger

Source: download



Are you ready to start day trading online? Online electronic day trading is becoming more and more popular and there is a lot of money to be made day trading. Are you ready to begin trading online and making money? Here are my 3 basic online electronic day trading tips.Day trading tip #1 - Balance your portfolio.I know, Best Mutual Fund Investment, you have probably heard this over and over again. It is very true though. You must have a balanced portfolio. You need to think about the money you are going to be making today and the money you are going to want to make in the long future.Balance your portfolio by using mutual funds, currency trading, stocks, and bonds. Use both short term and long term investing. It is a good thing to have a few long term investments with large stable companies that split on a regular basis.Day trading tip #2 - Don't be, Mutual FundBest Mutual Fund Investment, afraid to take a few chancesMost successful day traders have taken a few losses here and there, but they are not afraid to take a chance. Even if you take a loss every once in a while the gains you can experience when you take a chance will outweigh your losses.Day trading tip #3 - Do your research and know your investmentsIn order to take chances and make smart investments you should always do full research of the companies you are investing in. Look into their past, present, and their future plans. You need to know what you are investing in and what type of management team the company has.Use these three tips, that I have given you to start making money day trading. Remember to always be studying the market and the companies you want to invest in. The better you know your investments and possible investments, the better your decisions will be, and the more money you will make.Are you ready to start making money day trading? Do you want to invest some of your money in stocks, bonds, currency, and mutual funds? Go to the following website for more information.http://www.ready-repair-my-credit.com/forex.htm