Investment Articles

Hedge funds are investment funds that are managed by an investment manager or broker. Private money is pooled together and invested according to a specialized strategy that takes the group members goals and preferences into consideration. For example, if the group prefers to be aggressive about making money, then the investment manager may invest in companies or assets that come with higher risks but offer higher payouts. These funds are generally limited to a small group of people and have a minimum investment amount of at least $10,000. This begs the question of whether investing in hedge funds is right for you.

The first thing you should know is that to even take part in most of these funds, you must be an accredited investor. This means you have to have over $1 million dollars in assets or at least $200,000 in annual income. Since the minimum investment is so high, this is likely to ensure that you won’t be spending money you don’t have. Hedge funds are high risk investments and it is very possible that you will lose every penny that you put into the fund. Therefore you should never be investing in these funds with money you can’t stand to lose.

But with that high risk come the possibility of high returns. Some funds return as much as 20% a year depending on the strategy of the fund manager. If you are looking to make money fast then investing in these funds is certainly one way you can do it. However, you must be certain that you are working with a fund manager who is knowledgeable and experienced in the market. All it takes is one bad deal to send your money down the drain. Take the time to thoroughly investigate the person handling the fund until you are certain they know what they are doing.

Investing in hedge funds is also very costly. In addition to your initial investment, you will also be paying the fund manager a fee for every year they manage the fund. That fee can be anywhere from 1.5% to 20% of the gains made in the fund. On top of that, you must agree to be a part of the fund for a contracted length of time, typically one year. This is to avoid any losses that may result from members pulling their money out and forcing the fund manager to sell assets at a loss. Learn all you can about hedge funds to determine if it is the best investment option for you.

Sean Johnson is an Investment Advisor for http://www.inquest.biz an Investment Referral Service for investors requesting information on specific investments.

The biggest reason small businesses fail is not for lack of solid business understanding, or market demand, or even mismanagement. The biggest reason they fail fail is undercapitalization. The reason is simple: starting a new business is overwhelming. There are so many things to figure out, usually in a very short period of time. Unexpected and unknown expenses can whittle away any initial investment capital. One important consideration that many new owners fail to calculate into the startup budget is their own burn rate. Very few can expect to see a major influx of clients or customers from day one.

The burn rate of a startup business is simply the amount of cash burned through each day, week, or month, while gaining those all important clients, customers or contracts. Whether or not customers or clients call, the phones must be in service. The office must be maintained at a comfortable temperature even if no one shows up to. Landlords do not care if you expect to double your cash flow next month when your business starts taking off, they want the rent paid now. Your suppliers or vendors are not usually in business to front you, either.

By far, the biggest portion of the burn rate goes to employees and their benefits. You cannot do without the employees you need to get off the ground running. As a business owner, you cannot take over every role and wait to fill the most important positions later. Customers, clients and contractors buy into your people. As a owner, investing in small business means adequate staffing from day one. Your customers and clients will hesitate if your office is staffed only by one overworked employee because she is all you can afford right now. To gain the business, you need to display that you are ready on every angle, employees included.

While investing in small business is considered a gamble, it does not hurt to look around and research a business for investment consideration. The first thing you should do is ensure that the business is simply undercapitalized rather than based on an unsustainable profit model that will keep them in the red for years to come. You may be surprised at how little money it takes to save a properly set up a business from extinction. Many of them close down over an unbelievable sum. If you roll up sleeve and spread your investment dollars wisely, this investment can pay off in spades.

Sean Johnson is an Investment Advisor for http://www.inquest.biz an Investment Referral Service for investors requesting information on specific investments.

Financial management is learned early in life. Since we live in a world that encourages us to keep spending, how can you teach your children the value of saving for the future? Talking about money is a good start, but these concrete steps will help to start your child out right.

Change Your Allowance System – Good money management starts with an allowance. Most parents give set allowances every week but your child will benefit from a different system. Set a base amount that your child can earn for meeting basic expectations. Then, create a list of additional chores or school goals that can earn extra money. Include both smaller and larger items to encourage your child to attempt something extra every week.

Create a Budget – Once your child starts earning an allowance, sit down together and set up a simple budget. While children will eventually be able to handle written budget, start with something more visual. Set up a different container for each category. Have your child label and decorate these containers then divide his or her allowance between them right away each week.

Hold Back on Gifts – While parents use holidays and birthdays to give things that their kids have been begging for all year, this may not be the best idea. Instead, use those wanted items as an opportunity to encourage saving. The more your child wants something, the more likely they are to set up a savings plan on their own. If you want to help out, give a small gift card instead.

Start a Bank Account – Most banks allow children to start a passbook account with a small initial investment. If your child has saved up enough money at home, take him or her to the bank to start long-term savings. Make a rule that money going into the bank stays there. If your child budgets for their savings account each week, they will have a nice nest egg to start their adult life.

Allow (Small) Mistakes – The most valuable lessons a person can learn come from their own choices: good and bad. If your child doesn’t follow the budget or takes money out of savings for junk food, let them make the mistake. Then, use it as an opportunity to talk about the consequences of bad money decisions. Do not punish children for a wrong choice but don’t bail them out either.

Jay. O is the CEO and Founder of My Child’s locket the leader in secure storage of your family’s emergency information, accessible on the web or on your phone whenever you need it. My Child’s Locket is based and was founded in 2008 in the metropolitan area of Dayton, OH. Its state of the art secure web site http://www.vitallocket.com offers secure storage of your family’s emergency information. Become a fan on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/VitalLocket

The key difference between an investor and a market trader is that investors are in it for the long haul while traders are in and out of the market. While their methods are different, the market risk they both face is the same. Since both are equally at the mercy of the gyrating market, which of the two is better equipped to come out a winner at the end?

Investors put down their money in a “safe” mutual fund, a “blue chip” stock or “government-backed” security. They let their investment ride the ups and downs of the market until such time when they wish to redeem it. The last few years have proven that a “safe” mutual fund can drain thousands in management fees, a “blue chip” stock can get hammered with equal viciousness by the market as any other stock. And “government-backed” securities can quickly lose their lustre in a raging recession.

If choosing an investment vehicle is hard, holding it for the long term, as they have been told by their brokers and the media, is harder still. “Buy and hold” is a platitude in turbulent economic times, when you are left holding a third or a quarter of your initial investment. Worse still, this method takes a great psychological toll from risk-averse investors.

When their investment starts to go down in a bear market, they watch from the sidelines, hoping the trend will reverse and they will recoup their paper losses. They worry and fret, but are afraid to pull out their investment as that would crystallise their loss. Their only recourse is to pray and wait, and spend sleepless nights, worrying.

Most people find themselves in this predicament because they have been told that investing is for prudent people and trading is for gamblers. Unfortunately, this teaching has forced thousands of investors to lose millions of dollars.

The stereotypical image of a stock trader is one of an opportunistic shark, who darts in and out of the market. In reality, the trader is like a leopard stalking a prey and waiting for the right time and place to make the kill. While there are indeed some traders who day trade, there are others who are short, medium or long term traders. In fact, trading can be tailored to fit the personality and time horizon of the trader.

The major difference between the trader and the investor is that the former has a plan for both bull and bear markets, knows his entry triggers and has his exit strategy in place before he invests his money. A trader has a simple goal to make as much profit as the market can give him. For him, all stocks and securities are fair game. As long as he sees an opportunity for profit, he gets into and out of the market.

A trader must be alert and keep his eye on the market constantly to look for opportunities. This requires knowledge, patience and quick decision making skills. It takes some time to imbibe counter-intuitive skills like shorting a stock in a bear market. But these are skills worth learning and investing your time in. After all, if at the end of the day, you can profit from any market, it doesn’t really matter whether you call yourself a trader or an investor.

Jacob Sayed is a marketing communications professional, an award winning commercial copywriter, scriptwriter and freelancer. He writes on a variety of subjects as diverse as marketing, finance, investing, health and sports. You may contact him at jacob.sayed@gmail.com.

No one will give you any argument that the world economic situation is in terrible shape and the unemployment rate is the highest it has been in decades. Everyone is wondering what can he/she do to improve his/her current economic situation when the economy looks so bleak. The stock market and mutual funds perform so badly that many people have fled from them trying to save as much of their asset value as they possibly can. They seek other places to invest their money and oftentimes park it in money market accounts and/or savings accounts, each paying paltry yields of 2% or less (usually less) return on their money.

Tax Certificates and Tax Deeds are another matter, with proven double digit and considerably much higher returns on initial investments. The best part about owning Tax Certificates and ultimately Tax Deeds is you are in full control or as much control of your money as you desire. There are many avenues to purchase Tax Certificates and Tax Deeds. Many states have legislation set in place allowing their respective counties to sell them.

Tax Certificates are liens placed on properties by the county the properties are located in for non payment of property taxes. As such the lien(s) are in first position ahead of bank loans and other liens placed on the property. This affords the buyer/investor (anyone with a Social Security number or a Tax ID number) a very sizable return on their investment and giving them a great deal of protection as the value of Tax Certificate(s) are approximately 1% +/- of the value of the property.

Tax Deed applications are the next step in acquiring property for non payment of property taxes. After a certain period of time an investor can (and should) apply for the Tax Deed(s) on the Tax Certificate(s) he/she owns. Oftentimes this can be done from the comfort of your home online computer. If the property owner or any other interested party does not pay the past due property taxes (your Tax Certificate plus all the stated interest due you plus other costs you incur), then you (the investor) would very likely own the property for a very small price in relation to the property value. Selling the Tax Deed is a very easy process as there are a large number of investors desiring to acquire the properties at a fraction of the true value.

For free information to learn more about Florida Tax Certificates and Tax Deeds please contact me at: http://www.taxcertificates4sale.com or email: taxman813777@yahoo.com

A budget is basically a money plan which includes your financial goals. By having a budget you can plan to achieve your financial objectives and this means making frequent investments. Your budget will help you to know what you have coming in as income and what expenses go out each month allowing you the capacity to make adjustments for your investing.

You may have heard the old adage “pay yourself first”. The usual recommended amount is to put 10% of everything you earn into investment. This is where retirement funds and managed funds become useful as you can invest regular amounts without having to invest large sums. These funds, particularly retirement saving, can be taken from your pay packet before being paid to your account. This is useful as a way to “set and forget”. If it is taken out of your pay it will not affect your budget.

One of your first investment priorities is to set up an emergency fund. When you budget you need to put aside a certain amount of money for unexpected expenses as well as the normal anticipated spending costs. Start with setting up an emergency fund until you have three or four months worth of net income replacement in an interest earning call account. The regular amount you invest will depend on your expenses and outgoings. Once you have your emergency fund in place the money you were putting away can be redirected into other investments.

Save for annual goals such as holidays. Save a regular sum for your travel for annual vacations. Decide on the amount you need for your travel expenses. For example if you want to spend $6,000 annually you will need to invest $500 each month. As this is an annual goal it will be ongoing.

Saving for specific goals is done in a similar fashion to your vacation fund. First establish when you want to achieve the goal and then calculate how much you need to set aside to achieve this in the time frame you envisage. In this case $6,000 in five years will mean investing $100 a month (not counting for interest payments). That is the total sum divided by the number of years and then divided by 12.

If you have a surplus in your budget after catering for your goals then invest that surplus — provided there is no debt to clear. You are able to invest small sums into managed funds (mutual funds) and sometimes amounts as small as $50 are accepted as a regular monthly investment.

While investing is important to your financial security do not forget your commitments when doing your budget. This includes commitments that may be annual and even your gift giving, entertainment and other miscellaneous spending. Adjusting your budget to make frequent investments is all part of an ongoing budgeting plan.

Lyn Bell has been in the finance industry for more than 30 years and is a Certified Financial Planner. She has helped many clients achieve their financial goals. Sign up to get Lyn’s free newsletter SoundFinance News and receive a free gift.

A disclosure statement is available free on request.

In simple financial terms a bond is a debt instrument. A borrower who is the issuer of the bond seeks to raise money from investors. The borrower may be a government, municipality or corporate, and the investors are the lenders. In return for the loan of funds the borrowers promise to repay the debt on a specific date in the future and to pay interest either along the way or at maturity.

Although this sounds simple enough, there are certain things that a bond investor needs to know before putting money into the bond market. There are some important terms to be aware of when purchasing a bond and these include par value, maturity date, and coupon rate.

The par value (or face value) of a bond refers to the amount of money you will receive when the bond reaches its maturity. What confuses many people is that the par value is not the price of the bond but it is the value at maturity.

A bond’s price fluctuates during its life in response to interest rates. A bond which trades at a price above the face value, it is said to be selling at a premium or at a discount when it sells below its face value. The maturity date is the date that the bond will reach its full value and you will receive your initial investment. As interest rates rise, the value of a bond decreases and if interest rates drop the value of the bond then becomes more sought after and the value rises. People are willing to pay the premium to get the higher interest rate.

The interest may be paid at maturity or at intervals during the term of the investment. Terms may be, six monthly, quarterly or other specified terms. The interest is known as the coupon rate and is normally a fixed rate throughout the life of the bond. The term coupon originates from the past when physical bonds were issued that had coupons attached to them. On the coupon date the bond holder would give the coupon to a bank in exchange for the interest payment.

The bond yield is basically the amount or percentage of return that an investor can anticipate receiving from a bond issue within a specified time period. Calculating the yield involves making use of current data regarding the current price of the bond as opposed to the price at the time of purchase. It also includes the current annual coupon associated with the bond and usually assumes that the buyer will hold the instrument for at least a term of one year.

The advantage of a bond is that they can be traded before maturity if cash is required, making them a liquid investment. Depending on the interest rates they will trade at par or at a premium and therefore it is possible to make a profit or loss on the sale. Holding to maturity does not affect the value of your investment as all things being equal you will get the money back that you deposited.

Bonds can be purchased using a broker or brokerage firm or your financial adviser. Most banks also have a money market department where bonds are transacted.

Lyn Bell has been in the finance industry for more than 30 years and is a Certified Financial Planner. She has helped many clients achieve their financial goals. Sign up to get Lyn’s free newsletter SoundFinance News and receive a free gift.

A disclosure statement is available free on request.

We are all in a habit of looking at every investment from a short term point of view, so that it would yield high returns; however as they advice if you really want your money to grow you need to opt for long term investment.

At the same time it is very much known that stocks are volatile; so to start with, typically you should have enough cash reserves to take care of your living expenses or handle any unforeseen emergencies or demands, that is what most of the financial advisors would suggest.

Do you Want Returns within Five Years?

The obvious and safest places to invest would be certificates of deposit of banks preferably; the best part here is that Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guarantees safety of your funds for up to $250,000 against a minimum initial investment of a few hundred dollars or less.

Recently, rates of interest for 6 month CDs were about 3%. However if you are looking at exposing your principal amount to a little more risk then you can invest in short-term bond funds. For such investments the minimum investment requirement hovers around $1,000.

Do you want to invest for a much longer time frame?

Well now we are talking, you would definitely want to consider investing your funds where the returns grow faster and better, which of course means stocks. Stock market has outperformed every other kind of investment over a period of time.

Over the past half century inflation (courtesy: consumer price Index) risen at rate of 4.3%(annually), so looking at the way at which inflation reduces your power to spend, stock market is the only option that can help you out of this situation. And especially if you are looking at long term investment the best place to invest is in stocks. Now the worry is how do we get started? When and where to invest? Here are a few suggestions:

Invest in Mutual Funds

If you are a rookie investor the safe way to get a feel of the stock market is via mutual funds, which helps you to invest into diversified portfolio of numerous stocks/ bonds. The other major advantage that Mutual Funds offer besides diversification is that your funds are managed by expert stock traders whose core job is to closely follow the stock market. Mutual funds give you an option of investing as low as $500 to $1000 and as a novice you would rather want to start with minimum initial investment till you get a hang of it.

How do mutual funds work?

Day Trading on US Stock Exchanges

Well I would not suggest this, mainly because you ideally need $25000 in your account for day trading effectively (which is buying and selling stocks on the same day), this needs a lot of experience and know-how of the market and also calls for huge piggy bank.

Now to answer is $5000 enough?

Yes it is, we have already mentioned that if you are looking at investing in mutual funds you could invest a smaller amount than $5000, however if you are looking at trading at the stock market then to start with $3000-$5000 is a good amount, until you have mastered your instincts and emotions while trading.

Broker Selection Guide

At Compare Broker, we can assist you in opening an investment account with a leading brokerage. Visit our site for latest reviews of offers and promotions from different brokers. Our blog section is regularly updated with informative write-ups for traders and investors.

Many times, people will hesitate to go into forex trading because traditionally, it carries a lot of risk. True, there is a lot of software that will give you all the information and even do your trades for you, but hesitation continues to exists because people still lose money using this kind of software. Forex Bullet Proof though, comes with a difference. It is a guarantee that if you put x amount of money in, you will get x+1 at the very least.

You can call it automated money making. Its main difference from all others is that it has automatic adjustment to avoid losses. Most of the time in forex trading, you have to be on the look-out, to see how the market is doing and if things look like they are going to take a plunge, you then have to make adjustments yourself. The problem is, you’re not even sure if you’re making adjustments in the right direction. You are simply moving to avoid oncoming risk. With Forex Bullet proof, you don’t have to worry about that any more. It works just like a broker, only for a one time fee and much faster. Immediately there are changes in the market, it will cut your lot size and reallocate to where there are gains and then return the lots once the market is back to normal.

It operates in the major currencies, EUR/USD and USD/JPY, and because the spreads on these currencies are usually low because of their popularity, it always works to the user’s advantage.

Its easy to install, it will never give you a margin call, it works during market hours and not between them as most other forex robots do and it requires a low initial investment – all you need is about $450. It’s also easy to set up, and you get great support from the software manufacturers.

Forex Bullet Proof will cost you $147, and for that you will get the handbook on how it works, tips and lessons on the best way to trade as well as video tutorials. What’s the proof that it works? If you buy it and it doesn’t make you a dime in 60 days, all you need to do is ask for your refund, and no questions asked, you will get your money back. Who said it’s not easy to get rich?

Diamond Kiang is a professional products reviewer, who has spent the last 3 years of his life reviewing top products in the market. He works with top product creators to reveal the best products to global the internet market.

The typical investor has few choices to invest without risking loss to their capital. The traditional investment choices are cash, stocks, bonds, and options. Each has their own negative side to obtain zero loss investing with above average returns. So how does one obtain zero losses with above average returns?

Cash can be used to obtain zero loss to capital, but it will not normally give above average returns. In today’s environment cash pays only about 1-2% for a one to two year commitment. If it did pay higher returns, you would normally not get the above average growth provided by stocks, bonds or options. One way to invest cash would be to siphon the interest and use that interest to invest in stocks, bonds or options.

The problem would still be that you might suffer capital losses from those investments though technically you are not losing principal.

For example $10,000 invested at 5% would produce $500 per year. If you used $400 of the $500 then there would be no loss to your principal of $10,000 and it would actually increase by $100 no matter what happened to your $400. You might get more leverage and greater reward from using options rather than stocks or bonds, but you still could have losses with the trade.

To invest directly into stocks, bonds or options may put risk into your capital, so using the 96% or more of your capital into a fixed investment and investing the remaining into stocks, bonds or options seems to be the most logical way to avoid capital losses. There is a new investment vehicle that seems to satisfy the requirement of having zero losses with the potential for above average returns. This new vehicle is not cash, stocks, bonds or options. It is keywords.

There are at least two new search engines that have launched. One uses an auction system for trading keywords but the costs to maintain those words that an individual may own, could result in a loss. The other system uses a controlled keyword exchange where keywords are bought and sold within the system and there is no cost to maintain those keywords. What that means for an individual is that they can buy and hold keywords for as long as they want without incurring fees causing a loss to the investor. Further, just by purchasing the keyword an individual earns purchase-share-credits which further translate into weekly profit sharing money. Although the profit sharing is not guaranteed, it has been consistent, growing and reliable.

The other criteria to be met is that it should generate above average returns. The controlled keyword exchange has this covered as well. A recent two month test has shown that just buying and holding keywords would have generated a 0.927% weekly profit sharing return or 48.20% annually.

With the controlled keyword exchange a keyword can only be sold, if the buyer is willing to pay a 15% premium. The buyer can pay more for the word with the hope that the word will bring more profit if the buyer then sells the word. With no losses in this system both the buyer and seller have incentives for higher profit. A keyword may become over-priced but anyone can link to the keyword for a price as high as 15% of the keyword value as well.

Combine this with buying and selling of keywords, getting paid for advertisers linking to keywords and getting paid from referrals, it is not hard to see how someone could easily earn over 100% of their initial investment in a short(one year or less) period of time with zero losses. In fact, the only potential loss to capital might be the opportunity loss from investing in keywords rather than something else. Until that something else surfaces it appears that investing in keywords is a profitable venture. Just ask Google.

Bob K.
Own Keywords for profit, weekly profit sharing, get paid from linking, referrals and more.