Investment Articles

It’s no secret that fear and greed drive all investment decisions.

Case in point: I met with a private investor of mine last week for a nice evening out. This gentleman has over $300k invested in my company and is a valued investor. Needless to say, I do as much as I can to make him comfortable with his investment at all times. If he has questions about anything, I do my best to help him.

We had a great time over the course of the evening. But, one particular aspect of the conversation really stood out in my mind (and still does over 1 week later). He asked me if he could: “move some money around so that he could take more risk for higher returns.”

I was floored.

After all, just one year before (as the stock market was in a free fall and media pundits were speculating on the apocalypse) most regular investors (those with money in the stock market or other paper assets) were cashing out their money in droves. Mutual funds and hedge funds faced heavy redemptions.

The fear and panic of the stock market was a ‘boom’ in raising private money for me.

And now, just one year later, people were hungry to “take risks” again.

Quite interesting, don’t you think?

First of all, the thought process is completely reversed. The time to be “greedy” and want to “get in” is when there is fear and panic and pandemonium. The time to put your chips in is when all the media talking heads are telling you to invest in bullets and bomb shelters.

Admittedly, this is counter to how most human brains are wired. (But, hey, we’re real estate investors, we’re supposed to be wired different, right?!)

Secondly, the “take more risk” thing just doesn’t resonate with me. I believe that there is ABSOLUTELY NO CORRELATION BETWEEN RISK AND REWARD with investing. I believe that there are differences between PRICE and VALUE. Price is what you pay, value is what you get (yes, I stole this from Warren Buffett – I’m past due on my royalties to him, anyway).

To tell a private investor that I would “take more risk” would be crazy – I cannot change my investing approach. Period. Why fix something that is not broken? You don’t tinker with an Indy 500 race car that is 3 laps ahead of the race – you let it roll. Just the same, I can’t change my mindset and take wild swings for just the possibility of a few percentage points more return.

But, most of your private investors will have this mindset.

Most of your private investors will swing on the pendulum between fear and greed. Hopefully, they stay peacefully in the middle.

Going back to my private investor – he was looking for a few percentage points more per year. While he did have a valid point that even 2-3% per year compounded adds up over time, he was overlooking the core fundamentals of good investing. He was already getting a nice, double digit return with us. He was getting good tax benefits for that investment. He was also able to invest with a company that he could talk to the owners, get updated financial information and have 100% transparency (something he would have never gotten with another investment). In short, he was winning big by investing with me.

Fortunately, all it took was to remind him of these things and a brief discussion and he was quite content. Investor management will be an important part of your business as you raise six and seven figure private money sums. But, it’s well worth it.

When it comes to fear and greed, BOTH will play a vital role when you’re hooking private money. Depending on where the pendulum is, you’ll have to adjust your approach and your communications.

My advice: whatever the media pundits are saying or whatever is going on, stick to your principles. If you have a good foundation, nothing can rock it- and THAT is what will really pull the money in for you.

Adam Davis is a real estate investor, author, speaker and founder of Ultimate Private Money. He teaches real estate investors how to raise capital from private investors. Adam has completed hundreds of real estate deals- from single family house flips, lease options to apartment buildings, land contracts and hard money loans – all with none of his own money. All told, he has raised millions of dollars from private individuals to finance real estate deals. For a FREE audio program on how to get private money go to: http://www.UltimatePrivateMoney.com.

When I was a beginner, my biggest investment dilemma was identification of best investment options to build a perfect portfolio. When I was in this dilemma only one thing was clear that “i want to save my hard earned money to invest it on assets and not on liabilities”. People generally save to buy a house, car, TV, motor bike etc. But we cannot ignore the need of liabilities in our live. A good house, a nice car, a furnished home, all adds to our standard of living. There must be a perfect balance between savings that is focused on buying assets and other which shall buy the required liabilities. This is the reason why I have classified savings as:

(1) Liability savings.

(2) Asset savings.

The objective of asset savings is to accumulate assets and liabilities savings buy needed liabilities. People often forget to do this differentiation in their savings. People save and then invest on assets like shares, bonds etc and ultimately redeem to buy liabilities. This is not right, savings focused on assets should always buy more assets and never a liability. The fund generated by liability savings should be used to buy liabilities. With this concept, we will briefly discuss the affect of the above two types of savings on your financial independence:

(1) Asset savings – makes you richer

(2) Liabilities savings – makes you poorer but increases your standard of living.

It is not sufficient to think about savings and investment in isolation. The savings should make you richer and in parallel increase your standard of living. If an investor can manage this balance then he can be sure to reach his goal. The goal of asset savings is to give the investor a financial independence. Financial independence decreases the investor’s dependency on their job. Investors who are 100% financially independent no longer needs to do job to earn their livings. Lets assume that an investor decides to save and invest $100 equally among asset saving and liability saving. At this the choice of a suitable investment options becomes most important. The choice of investment option is dependent on the time span for which you can keep your savings invested:

(1) Asset savings – long term investment

(2) Liability savings – short term investment.

Investment time horizon for asset savings is minimum 5years. It means if you buy one a share today then you must not sell it for next 5years. Liabilities investment has time horizon of 1year to less than 5years. Investment options like shares and mutual funds (equity linked) are best choice for long term investment options. Bank fixed deposits and recurring deposits are best choice for short term investment options.

(1) Asset savings – invest on shares and equity linked mutual funds.

(2) Liabilities savings – invest on bank fixed deposits and recurring deposits.

The quantum of money an investor allocated to asset savings and to liability savings is very critical. If you are saving more for liabilities then your speed of becoming financially independent will be slower. If you are saving more for assets then you will be always short of funds to buy the needful liabilities. It is very important to know your optimum levels of savings. In most cases you will find that your savings are not enough to buy the needful liabilities at the desired time. In such situations do not cut you budget of asset savings; you must look for other avenues to meet the deficit. This is one reason why so many people start doing business (work from home types) to make up for this deficit.

The author is a big enthusiast of the process of investment and aspires to set-up a highly successful online business of himself.

Best Investment Options

First of all, let us establish the definition of rights issue. Rights issue involves shares being offered to existing shareholders at a discount to the current trading price, for the purpose of raising funds for the company. In other words, we can say that rights issue gives shareholders a chance to increase their exposure to the stock at a discounted price.

Rights issue is a way for companies to raise capital. Capital is raised when investors pay for the new shares that are being issued. Companies can use the raised capital to acquire assets, make a take-over, repay debts or save themselves from bankruptcies. Of course, a company can raise capital by other ways, such as borrowing from banks or issuing bonds. However, there can be times where the banks may be reluctant to lend, especially if the company is not doing well. In addition, high interest rate incurred by loans or the issuance of bonds may also force a company to raise capital through rights issue offering.

One must understand that rights issue will cause a company’s net profit to spread over a larger number of shares. In other words, a company’s earnings per share will decrease as earnings allocated to each ordinary share an investor has invested in will be diluted. Rights issue will also cause significant changes to the company’s cash flow. However, one must also understand that capital raised through rights issue can further strengthen the company’s balance sheet and allow it to pursue strategic opportunities in core markets.

Therefore, investors need to make an investment decision as to whether or not they want to take up the rights issue. There are basically 3 options an investor can take.

The 1st option is to take up the rights issue in full. Let us take Pacific Andes (PA) as an example. PA announced efforts to raise capital of $228.6m by offering 1-for-1 rights share at an issue price of $0.15 per rights share, with free detachable warrants on a 1-for-5 basis at an exercise price of $0.23 apiece (additional capital of $70.1m from the exercise of the warrants). In other words, for every 1,000 shares you hold, you will be able to buy another 1,000 shares from PA at a deeply discounted price of $0.15 and get 200 free detachable warrants at an exercise price of $0.23 apiece. Sounds great, but wait! One must remember that the market price of PA’s shares will not be able to stay at a particular future price after the rights issue is completed. To make the calculation simple, let us say that you buy 10,000 shares in PA on the last date before ex-rights, which the share price closes at $0.45. The value of each share will be diluted as a result of the increased number of shares issued. To calculate the theoretical share price, which is the ex-rights share price, you will divide the total price you paid for all your PA’s shares by the total number of shares you own.

Theoretically, the value of each of your existing share will decline from $0.45 to $0.30. However, the loss on your existing shareholding is offset by the gain in value of the new rights shares.

Another option you can take is to ignore the rights issue totally. But this option is not wise. Taking the above as example, by choosing to do nothing, you will lose $0.15 per share value as your shareholding will be diluted thanks to the extra shares issued.

The last option is to sell your rights to others. As an investor of PA, you can decide whether to take up the rights issue in full or sell your rights to other investors or to the underwriter. This type of transferable rights is called “renounceable rights”, and after they have been traded, these rights are called “nil-paid rights”. In contrast, “non-renounceable rights” refer to those non-transferable rights.

In order to calculate how much you can gain by selling the rights, you need to estimate a value on the nil-paid rights ahead of time. Again, we take PA as an example and assume the share price closes at $0.45 before ex-rights. We will take the value of ex-rights price and subtract the rights issue price.

By selling your rights, you have created a capital gain of $0.15 per rights share.

This article originally appeared on www.sharesinv.com – covering Singapore stock market & business news, information, quotes, analysis.

Nothing’s been decided. Nothing’s been resolved. That’s the thing. After all the suffering we’ve already been through, we’ve only been postponing debt trouble, not actually passing through it, resolving it or putting it behind us.

You’d think by now a recovery would begin to take hold, would begin to find some traction. After all, the economy’s been in the dumps some 21 months (beginning Dec 2007). Sadly, though, that’s nothing. By contrast, the Dow had dropped from a high of 381 in September of 1929 to 183 on Black Thursday/Black Monday/Black Tuesday a month later, to just 41 in June of 1932, three long years after the Dow’s high, concluding a breathtaking 89 percent collapse in value.

We’re just not geared for these kinds of open-ended time frames anymore-like waiting six months to another year from now for things to get back to normal. What are we going to do with unhealthy retail three years or so in a row? Or slumping incomes? Or an anemic stock market?

Good…but disturbing…questions.

Most of us were pretty much counting on this recession/depression thing being over by now.

So we find ourselves waiting out the recession, what can we do to keep ourselves safe and prosperous during the time that remains? Another good question.

Here are six answers.

Follow the Media….Just Don’t It Follow Too Closely

1st/ Don’t take the media as the gospel. After all, our economy is what it is. The media may want to paint it in the prettiest colors possible. Why? Because that will tend to attract advertisers and sponsors who might otherwise hunker down and wait until this thing passes over. Remember, no advertising, ultimately no media.

Don’t be misled. And…

2nd/ Be careful about “taking advantage” of the sick economy. In other words, sure, refinancing may be one opportunity the bad economy affords you. But it’s a little like musical chairs. When the music stops, it stops. You never want to be caught “between chairs” with the inevitably rising interest rates. This also refers to taking advantage of the great inflation benefits. Remember, inflation should be lower down the road than it is today. A lot lower. So be patient. Be careful kicking the economy when it’s down. It’s not always the smartest thing to do.

3rd/ Be smart about what assumptions you make about the stock market. Assumptions? You know what that can mean…like, for instance, the market’s been down for so long it simply has no choice but to go up over the next few years. Sadly, as far as assumptions go, this one’s a real whopper. Nothing says the Dow has to go up after a prolonged period of inactivity. Consider the Depression. The Dow finally revisited the September 1929 market high…25 years later, in November 1954! So…”Anyone who bought stocks in mid-1929 and held onto them saw most of his or her adult life pass by before getting back to even.” –Analyst R. Salsman. As if that’s not bad enough, it doesn’t take into account the inflation that took place during those 25 intervening years, seriously diluting an investor’s initial purchasing power. So buying low (at least at what we think is low) is not the panacea we assume it to be. What’s more, the age-wave of retiring baby boomers will soon start staying away from the stock market in droves, thinning the ranks. They’ll be retiring instead. It’ll be like looking fondly back at the good old days.

Not Reinventing Gold

4th/ Don’t reinvent the wheel. In other words, don’t make up whacky remedies for the economy, especially when the good tried-and-true methods are working so well. And that means gold and silver. Gold can’t resist messing with its highs, and that’s exactly what you want it to do. Don’t come up with something as strange and obscure as doll collectibles or mutual funds that focus on flu vaccine.

5th/ History is not the only template. It’s not the only thing to have to go by. What happened in the Great Depression isn’t necessarily what we have in store for us here and now. Conversely, it would be pretty naïve to think we have none of this ahead of us, either. This recession has its its own fingerprints. We just have to keep paying attention.

Getting Through This

So where do we go from here?

As usual, we put one step in front of the other. We prepare our finances with gold and silver in the event economy get out-of-hand. We don’t worry about the tremendous runs gold and silver have already had. We just go with the precious metals as antidotes for our present-day economic ills.

We keep educating ourselves and, in all ways, prepare ourselves better for the jobs of the future. And then just go to LearFinancial.com for as much help as we could possibly need.

Kevin DeMeritt, President of Lear Capital, is a published author, analyst and expert guest on more than 1000 radio programs, including Rush Limbaugh and Coast to Coast with George Noory, discussing today’s economy, gold and the geopolitical picture. Now more than ever, his insights are welcome by nervous investors. Visit http://www.LearCapital.com for all the investing help you need.

Am I buying the right stock? Will the price of this stock go up? These are the questions that often keep investors in the share market engrossed. If you have bought the shares of companies that have maintained a legacy of a good growth record for several years together, then you have bought the right stock. But if you are not aware about the company’s performance and ignorant about the market conditions and if you have just blindly bought the stocks, there are less chances that you will gain. The share market is a gamble for only impulsive buyers, and for wise investors, it is a platform where one can make quick and easy money.

If you are a part of the online share market and are involved in online trading, you are certainly at an advantageous state. This is because you can gain market information, watch BSE live, view the performance of NSE, and get expert stock tips, all with a click of the mouse. With the emergence of a number of online share trading platforms, the concept of online trading has influenced all sections of the people, youth and the old alike irrespective of gender, incomes, vocations, place, etc. At a single platform, you can view which stocks are potential for you and accordingly take trading decisions no matter whether you are traveling or in India or in some other part of the world. That is the wonder of online trading!

Whenever you buy stocks in the online share market, just consider why you are buying a particular one. Going by rumors about the lucrative aspects of a specific share may not always prove to be true. To verify what people say or what your share broker recommends, satisfy yourself by reflecting upon it and studying the company the share of which you are going to buy. It is safer to trust your own judgment because it is you who are to blame if it does not prove profitable; not others who suggested. While verifying the same, consider your profit limits by percentage points.

You can expect good profit limits from companies that have sustained their success record over time. Though risk is there in any investment, yet it is the stability factor that counts. If the company has a good stability testimony, chances of risk can be negated. Watch share market live, especially BSE live if you are buying a BSE share. Because prices goup and down based on market conditions and getting updated on the proceedings of the market can be of great help to you. Even if the company has a good record; if in the current period the sector that it is associated with shows a downtrend, there are equal chances that you will be a victim of the loss factor. Hence, the importance of share market live news cannot be negated.

Reap the benefits of being a registered member of an online trading platform and stay tuned to profitable online share trading!

Nirmal Kumar Soni is freelance market analyst and is writing reviews articles on stocks and shares, share market live, online share trading, online trading, shares trading, stock market investing, online share trading platform.

It’s not uncommon to be told that diversification is the key to profitable investment trading. Although it is only just one word, it can have powerful implications. If you take it to heart, you can either end up earning tons of cash or you could join the loser’s circle at the bottom of a pit. You should therefore carefully assess the advisability of this crucial step.

Diversification is actually a very simple concept that can significantly increase your profits. It simply means that as an investor, you should choose to put your money in not just one kind of market but in many. If for example, you already have a strong stock portfolio, you should take your capital and spread it across other assets such as real estate, commodities and assets.

A diverse investment trade portfolio seems to focus a lot on ensuring more gains. Because you have many investments, you can expect to enjoy more profits. This however is not entirely the reason why you should spread your capital. The main reason is actually a practical one. When you go for a wide portfolio, you are ensuring your survival. This is because specific markets can have slumps that can affect every investor. If the stock market for instance, experiences a prolonged dive or lack of movement, you always have your other sources of income to rely on. In other words, diversification is the key so you don’t end up in a ditch which is what will happen to those who put all their eggs in one basket.

Diverse investment trading then seems to be a very sensible and practical idea. Watch out though. It may not always work for every single individual. Although it makes sense to participate in several markets to secure finances, new investors may actually lose their entire floats by diversifying too early. The reason should be all too obvious. It takes more than just a couple of weeks to master making trades in one market. In some cases, it can take you years to become an expert. Having to learn how multiple investment types work can be disastrous. Trading and investing in any asset type has its technical complications.

In the business of trading, it sometimes makes better sense to specialize first. This is to ensure that you don’t lose too much too soon. You can determine where and what you want to trade by researching on the different investment types. Take note though that although your preference matters, it is often advisable to start with assets that are not leveraged. Stocks are examples of such assets. These can sometimes have conservative profit potentials but you often lose less with them than with leveraged assets like currencies.

This is not to say that you should completely shy away from diversification. The rationale behind diverse investment trading still stands true. What you just have to do though is to take gradual steps. Don’t be too excited to have multiple income streams. Take the time to master one market before you pick one or two more.

Looking To Master A Stock Trading System Before You Diversify?
Visit http://www.ultimate-trading-systems.com/ To Find What You Need.

With all of our connectedness in the world today (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) it’s easy to fall into the “everybody’s my friend” trap.

Unfortunately, this is not true. In business, not everybody is your friend.

The “no-brainerness” of this should be obvious, but is lost on many. For instance, consider raising private money. Everybody is your friend when you are raising capital, right?

First of all, before we get too far in, let me say that you must always treat everyone as though they could be either A: an investor with you or B: a referral source for private money.

With that being said it helps if you know who your biggest adversary will be when raising private money. This person is a formidable opponent. Usually they have a lot of marketing dollars and brand power behind them. Sometimes it can feel like a David vs. Goliath battle (never forget who won that fight by the way). But, if you underestimate or fail to account for this opponent, you’ll cost yourself a great deal of private money.

So, who am I talking about here? Who is this great ‘Public Enemy’ number 1? It is…financial planners or investment advisors.

Ouch.

Did I hurt someone’s feelings?

Well, I probably offended every financial advisor out there. Oh well. Can’t make everyone happy.

Public Enemy

Public Enemy was a ground breaking hip-hop group from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Led by front men Chuck D and Flavor Flav…ooops…you didn’t want to know about those guys did you?

Back to regular programming…

Financial advisors are your public enemy number 1 when raising private money because you are both pursuing the same thing.

It’s kind of like two guys that are going after the same girl for a date. Only one of them is going to win. While the guys may be cordial with each other, it’s pretty hard for them to be friends. All is fair in love & war.

When it comes to private money, you are competing for the same investment dollars the financial advisor is. The private investor has a choice about where they allocate their money. The Ameriprise or Merrill Lynch representative certainly has a home for that money – and all of it. You’ve got to stand your ground to get a piece of the pie.

I’ve had financial advisors purposely try to sabotage deals where I had private investors pulling money out to invest with me via a self-directed IRA. It wasn’t pretty. These people are largely brainwashed into thinking that mutual funds and insurance products are the only investments available on earth. They walk the corporate line. They realized all of their compensation based in some form on bringing client money in the door.

Keep in mind also that most financial advisors work out of large firms that have big marketing budgets. This is why it’s so important that you have a unique selling proposition for your investment opportunity. One thing that always works well for me is to remind my private investors about the incentives the financial advisor has.

The financial establishment makes money no matter what. Market goes up; they make money. Market goes down; they make money. I guess it’s nice work if you can get into that sort of thing. But anyway, you – as a real estate investor – are going to make money only if the project is profitable. That’s a 180 degree opposite and well-aligned incentive. You and your investor win/win. Not “heads I win, tails you lose.”

Please just don’t make the mistake in thinking that your private money investor’s financial advisor is going to be excited about them pulling $250,000 out of their firm to invest with you. They’ll probably be trying to find a doll and stick pins in it to derail your deal with some kind of weird voodoo (after all, I think that’s how those guys pick their stocks). Luckily, voodoo doesn’t work on real estate investors like you!

Adam Davis is a real estate investor, author, speaker and founder of Ultimate Private Money. He teaches real estate investors how to raise capital from private investors. Adam has completed hundreds of real estate deals- from single family house flips, lease options to apartment buildings, land contracts and hard money loans – all with none of his own money. All told, he has raised millions of dollars from private individuals to finance real estate deals. For a FREE audio program on how to get private money go to: http://www.UltimatePrivateMoney.com.

Forestry Investment is an opportunity to participate in an environmentally responsible venture which has the potential to yield respectable returns on your money while helping to preserve the planet at the same time. However, when making such an investment it is important to understand the factors which will ensure the venture you are embarking upon will enable a realisation of your economic and environmental goals. This article focuses on five aspects to consider when making an investment in forestry and addresses some of the pitfalls you should try to avoid.

1. Where should you invest?

Forestry investments can vary in size and geography and are available in all parts of the world. When making a decision, one must consider certain key facts about the location of the investment to ensure it is economically sound and politically viable. The financial stability of the country should play an important role in any decision you make. By understanding the fiscal climate you can assess whether a long-term investment has the potential to yield positive results. Currency should also be considered and countries with historically weaker tender may impact you when trying to maximise your return. Other external factors such as political stability and availability of labour are also considerations, and should be weighed up before making your decision.

2. What are you paying for?

With an investment in the forestry market, you could find three elements to the investment; however this may vary depending on the type of agreement, plantation and timber on offer. Firstly, you have an opportunity to invest in the actual timber which tends to be the bulk of the investment. The timber will be felled after a predefined timeframe and sold off to generate income. A return can also be made from the wood chips which are formed from the upper portion of the tree and sold as biomass. Finally, there is potential to generate income from the land itself. As some forestry investments allow you to purchase the title deed of the plot, there is a potential to make a substantial return after the term of the investment expires. Bear in mind however this element of the return can only be made if you decide to sell the land, as some investors way wish to continue to grow and invest for more than one harvest cycle.

3. What are the risks?

Like any investment product, you need to weigh up both sides of the deal to ensure the investment will meet your financial objectives. Forestry, like any other financial venture, comes with its own set of risks. These can mostly be categorised into one of two groups: environmental or financial. The former refers to things such as damage from wildlife, fire and storm destruction or lighting which could all impact the development of the plot. There are of course insurance products which can be purchased to offset these risks and they are certainly worth investigating, especially considering forestry will be a long-term investment. On the other hand, financial risk refers to not achieving the returns when it comes to felling your plot. This can occur if the plot is not managed properly or regularly maintained. There tends to be an inverse relationship between the amount of time spent managing your plot and financial risk i.e. the greater care given to the management, the less you are inclined to financial risk exposure. The trade-off should be considered in all events.

4. What returns are predicted?

Any investment should aim to deliver a healthy return when it comes to fruition. It also helps if you have a firm grasp of the product, understand how it will yield a return and are able to track its progress through the investment lifecycle. The good thing about forestry as an investment product is that it is tangible, whereas similar products, such as stocks and shares, are not. Monitoring progress helps to ensure a positive end result but you should always check to see what returns have been predicated. Use historical evidence to check how the investment has previously performed however remember that past performance is not a guarantee for future success. Each forestry investment must be taken on its own merits while demerits should be at a manageable level.

5. How long do you have to wait?

Forestry should, on the whole, be considered as a long-term investment. Depending on the type of venture, different plans will offer differing investment terms. A traditional timber project such as investment in Teak will normally mature after around 20-25 years. However, there are certain products in the market which yield a result much sooner. Some species can be felled after just 10 years and have wide-scale industry application. Ultimately it all depends on your personal level of commitment but checking to see when you are likely to see a return is vital as it will help plan for the long-term.

To find out more about forestry investments, please feel free to visit http://www.forecogrowth.com.

When you are new to investing all the terminology can seem overwhelming. Just looking at stocks alone you immediately encounter terms like domestic stock, international stock, large cap, growth stock, and emerging markets. It is enough for you to run screaming. Please don’t do that, taking the time to learn what it all means can be easier than you think plus you do not want to miss out on the benefits of investing just because the word domestic stock scared you.

As with learning a foreign language you learn one word at a time, you do not expect to be immediately fluent at the start of learning a new language. Instead you start by learning the basics such as “hello” and “good-bye” and slowly learn more words and eventually complete sentences. Eventually after time and practice you learn how to speak another language.

As with a language you start with the basics in money. What are the basics in money? You first need to start by making sure that you are living on less than you make. Why is this first step to learning about investing? When your budget is not in balance and you have the stress of living paycheck to paycheck your brain is not able to process and learn the investing information at an optimal level. The short science version is that when you are constantly stressed the chemicals in your brain are not balanced and causes the cells in your hippocampus to become either injured or destroyed. The hippocampus is the area of your brain needed for learning and memory. So when you are focused and stressed about meeting your basic needs it is much harder for you to process information on investing. Not to mention it will stress you out by adding one more thing to the list of things you must accomplish with your money. So start with a budget or written spending plan if that sounds better, and start to figure out how to ensure you are not negative every month and that you have the room to begin to save money.

Once you have balanced your budget it is time to move on to learning the next step to investing fluency. The next step involves you building a strong support base to operate off of, that base is an emergency fund. When you don’t have an emergency fund you run the risk of either running up debt when life happens or having to tap into your investments. Which defeats the purpose of investing, would you plant a garden and then pull it out just when the first green stem is coming through the dirt? When investing you want to be able to leave the money alone for at least five years. Having the emergency fund creates the space between life and your investments. You should work on establishing an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses, and put it in a plain money market or savings. The point of an emergency fund is that it is handy and you don’t have to worry about getting out at the wrong time.

Congratulations you have now reached a point where you know the basics and can focus on creating complete sentences in learning your new language. This is where in money we come back to you running and screaming in order to escape the terminology of investing. So how do you begin to learn this process? Begin to read books and magazines; attend seminars, read articles on the internet anything you can get your hands on that teaches about investing. At first it might not make sense or you may feel like you are making no progress, but as with a foreign language it will eventually all start to come together. Set aside 15 minutes a day to read about money if that is as much as you can do now, eventually as it becomes easier you can read longer or try those seminars. As with learning a language if you don’t work on it you will not learn it.

Are you an overachiever and want extra credit? As with learning a language you make more progress by experiencing the process. When studying Italian, you make more progress by heading to Italy and interacting with locals. With investing you learn more by actually doing. So start small, take $25 or $50 a month and start investing. What you learn along the way will supplement what you are reading and before you know it you are fluent in investing!

Now it is time to take a deep breath, pull together all your money information and start working on that budget, before you know it you will be on to investing.

Andrea Travillian
http://www.smartstepomaha.com
Making Money Fun and Easy Allowing You to Fulfill Your Dreams.

More great resources for investing and budgeting available on my site, please come check it out.

If you have any kind of investment portfolio for retirement, you probably remain ever alert to prevailing market conditions. After the last decade’s series of highs followed by crashes, your nest egg has probably taken a few hits. And you know you can’t expect the double digit returns of the past to put it back where it was. Buying gold for retirement is one of the best ways of protecting the wealth you have now.

Buying Gold for Retirement: Protect Your Wealth

You may be staying up all night worrying about how to shore up your current investments. How can you protect your accumulated wealth? A classic strategy is to invest in this precious metal. Gold has recently been making historic highs, as the US Dollar (USD) continues on its own historic course downwards. Gold’s uptrend as well as the USD downtrend are interrelated. is a repository of wealth which knowledgeable investors stock up on when times get rough. Those with foresight are buying gold now to lay a foundation to protect their wealth.

You Can Invest in Gold in Many Different Ways

There are many different ways of investing in gold. There are exchange traded funds (ETFS), mutual funds, gold mining stocks and the futures commodity market.. In addition, you can purchase physical gold. Physical gold, or gold bullion, itself comes in many different kinds of bars and coins. Another avenue for acquiring gold, is the rare coin market. These rare and unusual coins have value over and above the amount of precious metal they contain. All these may have a part to play in your portfolio.

The One Essential Method of Investing in Gold in Hard Times

But one essential aspect of ownership of gold is in the form of physical gold. gold bullion, that is gold in the form of bars or coins. Why is physical gold considered the cornerstone of gold ownership? Because physical gold can perform the dual function of acting as a currency and being money. Currency functions to facilitate the acquisition of assets. Gold as money functions as a store of value. Historically, when a given currency is devalued, the value of gold increases.

These difficult financial times require independent thinking. We can no longer depend on what the pundits are saying. Buying gold for retirement, is a time honored way to protect your wealth. Find out more about buying gold for retirement, or just go directly to http://buygoldforretirement.info.