Investment Articles

Not long ago investing was easy. There were few places you could invest and if you had money you wanted to invest, you left it to the professional stock brokers. However, deregulation of the financial markets has changed all this. In the past 20 years new investment products have been launched, changes have been made to the tax systems and retirement plans which have altered the attractiveness of many investment products.

Up to about 20 years ago, share investing was purely in the domain of the wealthy. For most people it was difficult to trade in overseas stock exchanges, there were no such thing as cash management trusts, installment warrants, exchange traded options, dividend imputation, reset preference shares and endowment warrants – to name a few. Now about 50% of investors are “mums and dads” investors who either own shares directly or in managed funds. Unfortunately, in recent years many investors have been “burnt” because they did not understand the risks of investing in financial markets.

Governments around the world have made it clear that it is important for people to take control of their own financial futures. The sustainability of government funded pensions is under pressure. If you do not save and invest, you will suffer a significant decline in your retirement living standard. The average life expectancy is about 80 years, so if you retire at 60 years of age, the savings you have accumulated in the 40 years of your working life will need to fund your retirement of 20 years or more.

Deregulation of financial markets, interest rates and currencies means that the market determines the value of investments and not government decree. This provides opportunities for educated investors to build wealth and for unwary investors to lose wealth. You must understand the opportunities and risks.

The ground rule is that if you want to be a successful investor in financial markets, you must educate yourself about investing. Even if you put your faith in a licensed investment advisor, not all are competent. It is essential that you understand how the financial markets work so that you do not put your hard earned money in the hands of an incompetent advisor who is only interested in the commissions available. How can you tell whether a particular investment is right for you? The only sure way is to become familiar with the language used in the financial industry and to have a sound investment strategy. Does this mean that you should keep you money safe by putting it under the bed or keeping it in the bank? No – but you do need to understand the risks involved and set ground rules for successful investing.

There are a number of ground rules in investing that haves stood the test of time. With time, patience and effort you can become a successful investor in all the areas that are open to you. This will not come overnight and you will have to be prepared for that fact there will be times you lose money. However,perseverance is a virtue above all others. The road is not always easy, but nothing worthwhile is.

Here are the ground rules for successful investing:

1. Be your own investment manager. No advisor or stockbroker should do it for you. Only you know what your real needs are, what your temperament is – and only you are motivated by your own best interests, not sales commissions. It is also more fun to do it yourself.

2. Confront risk and then reduce it through spreading your investments.

3. Take a contrarians view to investment markets. That is, look for opportunities and do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

4. Do not be put off by investment jargon. Master it instead.

5. NOW is the best time to start investing. Do not wait for the markets to improve. If the share market is filled with gloom, that is the time to buy.

6. Make good quality shares the core of your investment strategy. Then you can rest easy when you invest in more speculative areas.

7. Always consider tax implications of making investments but never let tax minimization be the main objective. The fundamental rule is to think in terms of after-tax returns.

8. Keep up to date through reading the financial papers and searching independent investment research websites.

9. Discussing investments is stimulating. Condition your mind to talk to others about investing, especially people who are more experienced and knowledgeable than you are.

10. Do not be greedy. Discipline yourself to cut your losses with bad investments and cash in when you have made a reasonable profit.

11. Be patient. Rome was not built in a day. Similarly, you may not become wealthy overnight, but you will over time.

12. Never invest in anything you do not understand. If a particular investment sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

13. Pay yourself first. Most people invest money they have left over after paying the bills. Allocate yourself the first 10% of your monthly income to build up your investment capital. By doing this you will force yourself to become an investor and the long term benefits will be enormous.

If you master these 13 ground rules, you will be a successful investor. You will rival so-called professionals and will sleep easily at night knowing that money is the least of your worries.

There are many reasons why rare coins are better then stocks. But, I have found and pinpointed the top two reasons why rare coins are better. I feel that investing is useless if there is no potential in the investment. But many investments that have potential are usually riskier then other investments. So, even if an investment had potential, it may not be worth it if it was too volatile. This is where rare coin investments steps into the picture.

The first reason why coins are better then stocks is because of stability. There are many investment vehicles out there that can yield some hefty returns. But with all investments, the investor/investment manager has to weed out all the bad investments. They have to cut off as much risk as possible. If we look at coins, we can see that it is a very stable investment. Coins are not as volatile as stocks. It doesn’t go up and down by the minute. Its’ movements are a lot slower then stocks, but their movements are very predictable. The predictability is what makes it more stable. Because we know when it goes up and down, we can make confident decisions without risk or heavy losses. I don’t think we can find any other investment that is more stable then coins.

There is an inverse relationship between risk and returns. The returns tend to be lower when you cut off the risks. Some of the safest investments aren’t really worth it anymore because of their low returns. To counter this, investors usually diversify their portfolios. This allows them to cut off risk while improving their returns. But, with stocks, you have to buy enough of each stock to profit. And, you have to buy a lot of many different stocks to diversify. This is extremely costly and messy. With coins, you can buy just about any investment coin you like. You can easily diversify your portfolio by buying a different coin specimen each time you buy a coin. Your returns are never cut short, and you never lay too many eggs in one basket.

The second reason why coins are better then stocks is potential. The right coin never stops going up in value. This has been proven (so far) in historical coin reports. It’s not like stocks where they can stop going up in value. And then the company has to split their stocks so that it can continually go up in value. But, if the CEO doesn’t know when to do this, or does this at the wrong time, the stock may never make anymore sizeable gains. Furthermore, regardless if the stock splits or not, it doesn’t mean that the stock will continually rise in value. The stock can easily go down in value because of bad or false news. And after this, the stock may take forever to recover. Or worse yet, it may never recover at all. Coins on the other hand, can never lose their value because of bad news. Their performance depends mainly on supply and demand. And with the ever diminishing supply, some coins never see a down turn because of weakened demand. At the very most, they might stay stagnant for a short period of time. They will continue to rise again after demand strengthens.

The unique characteristics of rare coins makes it the perfect investment. Furthermore, I don’t think there is any other investment that can be diversified any further then coins. You could buy one example of each investment coin and never run out of coins to buy. It’s ultra safe, it yields extremely high returns, and its’ diversification easiness makes it an investor’s dream. If you have not looked into coins before, now is the time to do so.

To learn more about rare coin investments, please visit http://coinprofits.com

The question is how to invest money to make money. The answer is to invest money only after asking a few questions about investment basics. Here are the questions to ask, and how to invest money to avoid scams and bad deals in general.

How to invest money, rule #1, is that there is no such thing as a perfect investment. A perfect investment would have the following features: guaranteed safe, guaranteed to make money and lots of it, high liquidity, zero costs and expenses, big tax breaks, and easy to monitor… so you always know where you stand financially. All investments can be compared based on investment basics, but no honest proposition contains all of the above features.

A scam will generally IMPLY that safety and high profits are guaranteed. Your first question before you invest money: what are the specific guarantees for safety and investment returns? If the answer you get sounds confusing or misleading, you have no need to ask any more questions. Something is rotten in Denmark, since no investment offers high safety and high profits… except scams. Now, let’s move on to some other investment basics and questions to ask. Remember, a large part of knowing how to invest money involves knowing how to avoid bad investments or those that don’t fit your needs.

Ask about LIQUIDITY. How quickly and easily can you get your money back if you want to cash in? What will it cost you? This is a very honest question, and the answer you get should be straightforward. You’re out to invest money to make money; not to get stuck with a loser that will cost an arm and a leg to liquidate.

The COST OF INVESTING is another investment basic you need to ask about. Most investments involve charges and fees to buy, hold, and/or sell. Many times the details are in the fine print, so make sure to ask upfront. High investment costs can turn a winner into a loser. For example, a good simple fixed annuity will pay a competitive interest rate and will have no charge to invest or hold; and no charges to cash in after just a few years. The wrong annuity contract can cost you 3% or more a year in charges and fees, plus heavy charges if you cash out in the first few years.

Be real careful when an investment promises tax breaks. Ask questions first and get it in writing before you invest money. Then, run it by your tax professional if you have one. If you don’t, take a pass. Your goal is to invest money and make money in the process. Not to take a chance and wind up in trouble at tax time.

Our last area of concern in regard to how to invest money and investment basics I refer to as VISIBILITY, or the ability to monitor your investment. After you invest money, then what? Can you track the value of your investment so you know where you stand financially at all times? Will you receive statements each quarter and at the end of each year showing the value of your investment assets?

As a financial planner, some of the worst horror stories of new clients I interviewed were brought to light when I asked to see their records for the investments they held. Sometimes their records or statements were incomplete or otherwise questionable. Sometimes, these investors could find no records at all and didn’t know who to contact to find out the status of their investment. That’s a perfect example of how to invest… NOT.

Before you invest money, sort out the investment basics covered in this article to avoid scams and other major investment mistakes. Don’t be afraid to ask the questions presented here. If you are dealing with honest people, they will be glad to answer your questions. If not, look someplace else.

A retired financial planner, James Leitz has an MBA (finance) and 35 years of investing experience. For 20 years he advised individual investors, working directly with them helping them to reach their financial goals.

Jim is the author of a complete investor guide, Invest Informed, designed for average investors or would-be investors of all levels of financial background and experience. To learn more about investments and investing and his new financial guide go to http://www.investinformed.com.

Ever since companies stopped paying for our retirements people have been looking for the best ways to invest their money and the best ways to get a great return on investment. Most people don’t know how to get a good return on investment so they play the lotto in the hope that their numbers will come up. I want to show you what you need to do to find a great return on investment.

Most people are ignorant when it comes to finding a great return on investment. They are so scared of losing their money that they invest not to lose, but because they invest in order not to fail then they never win and they never become rich. People subscribe to the idea that in order to be secure you need to work hard, live frugally and save money and invest in diversified mutual funds. Financial planners recommend diversification as a great way to invest, but Warren Buffet, the richest investor in the world, says not to diversify but to focus. He say “diversification is protection against ignorance”.

It is easy to find an investment that loses money. A friend of mine has recently bought a property as investment. He is currently losing $100 per week that he has to pay out of his pay packet. He is losing about 25% per year on his money and he calls it an investment. I can find properties that will earn me 10-30% return on investment. In order to be able to get a great return on investment you need education.

The best return on investment you will ever receive is the return on investment from your education. The best investment I ever made was when I got a membership card for my local library. It was absolutely free and I got training from some of the best financial teachers in the world. It changed my life and it changed my finances. I am becoming richer and richer because of that simple investment into a library card and into my education.

If you want to know how to find a great return on investment then you need to understand finances and you need to understand how to invest. There is no get rich quick formula that I can give you for finding a great return on investment. Because it depends on the investor. I have seen great investments lose money because of an inexperienced investor and I have seen bad investments make a lot of money when bought by a smart investor. So I can just recommend property, or stocks or a certain business because it depends on the investor.

The best way to find a great return on investment is to increase your financial intelligence. The most important word in finance is the word cashflow. This simple word has caused businesses to fail and caused great investment opportunities go bust. If you want to be rich then you need to focus on your cashflow. Anyone can find an investment that will lose money but it is a lot harder to find an investment that will make you money and generate you cashflow.

I am actually blessed because I work only part time, and so does my wife, so we have to think cashflow when we are investing. We don’t have the excessive cashflow to purchase these ‘investments’ that lose money. I recommend that you focus your energy first in increasing your intelligence through financial education. Read books, search the net and do everything you can to learn all you can about finances. I went from having no clue to having a clear investment strategy to be financially free in 5 year in just 6 weeks. So anyone can do it.

Becoming financially free in just 5 years is possible for anyone. It doesn’t matter what your current financial situation is, you can become rich and never have to work again in just 5 short years. You don’t need a high paying job or a get rich quick scheme, you just need real training on creating real strategies for getting rich.

Go to http://www.richacademy.com and sign up now to start you free training on “How To Get Rich Without Making More Money”. Don’t waste any time, start training yourself to be rich today by signing up for your free teaching.

Investing your money can be quite scary, but so is letting it stay stagnant in a bank. Choose the right investment with the person you trust most, yourself. Discover many real estate investment opportunities by going on a real estate investment tour.

Pattaya. Thailand – Thousands of people have been reported to file bankruptcy each year because of bad investments. 78 percent of them claim that this predicament happened because they were sweet talked into an investment by a so-called expert, and 57 percent of them also admitted that they didn’t clearly knew what they were investing in.

Greg Sanders, a New York Investment advisor, said, “This is the major problem. If you can’t take an active role in your investments, then you may as well say goodbye to your hard earned money, not that you have to always keep a tab on it, especially on the property market, but you need to know what you are getting into, just like how it works on most everything in life.”

Real estate have been receiving a lot of flack through the past years, the global economic problems that the world has been experiencing for the past year now has made a major dent on the market. But there are still some areas in the planet that has been considered as key hotspots in real estate investment.

Knowing What to Invest In

Many persons could be easily swayed to believe that such a property is a worthwhile investment. Gifted with a golden tongue, many of these so called experts can be easily sway any potential investor to invest money on their seminars on what they claim to be premier properties without the benefit of actually seeing or inspecting what they would be investing their money in. Because these seminars require a fee, people are already losing their money before they even get the chance to get the possibility of earning a profit.

This is where a real estate investment tour would make the big difference.

Real estate investment tours provide the opportunity for an investor to see what they are actually investing in, and not just a fancy slideshow or computer presentation that has been glorified aimed to take your money. By allowing yourself the chance to actually gauge your chance of making a huge profit from your venture, you will have a better understanding of what you are getting into.

If anyone is interested in real estate investment, then going on a real investment tour first is the best decision. Why be blindsided with sweet talk when you will be able to see what you are getting into by yourself?

Guided by a real estate investment expert, a tour would give you more than information than a dozen financial investment seminars would ever provide. And without any obligation to invest, any real estate investment tourist would more than likely laos have the chance to enjoy the trip and regard it as a vacation.

With Pattaya, Thailand as one of the hottest regarded real property investment, this tropical paradise would definitely make your time worthwhile.

Robert Tracey Loves Real Estate and loves Thailand and Loves talking about it he takes investors to Thailand to look for property for investment and life style he will show you everything you need to know about investing in Thailand find out more by going to http://buyrealestateat.com/tours/

In your search for information on investing you will come across many articles, brochures, and sources that outline opportunities for you to make money. Some of these will be truthful and others will be misleading. Just how do you tell the difference?

Look for experience

Many reputable people and firms will offer information on investment opportunities. The main way to find out if the offer is genuine is to look at the structure of the organisation that is making the offer. You need to go into the historical results and structure of the organisation.

In Australia, investment advisors need to be licensed. How long has the firm you are considering been licensed? If the people or firm have only been licensed for a year, then they have no previous historical results that you can look at. It might be wise to review them at a time further down the track when they have performance results to show you. Look for experience.

Beware The Unbelievable

In your research travels, you will come across all sorts of offers. Some are too good to be true. Often they are just that. Unfortunately, there are those people that become trapped in financial exploits and need money to bail themselves out. Often they need or want your money. These are dangerous investments. It takes a shrewd business person to rescue a financially exposed business opportunity. These are not investments for beginners. You may be offered ownership rights, with the majority of profit outcomes as a lure into financially rescuing a business opportunity. You see all the outcomes as positive, and are rarely aware of the downsides of costs and viability. A financial disaster awaits you.

Misleading Headlines

Headlines are meant to grab your attention. Brochures and advertisements rely on this. However with the misleading headline, once your attention is gained, the explanation behind the headline is never reached or given in the follow up. Headlines that state “Massive profits!” and “Opportunities never to be repeated!” are marketing tools that can be used to mislead the investor into believing that easy profits are to be made. The main question to ask here is that if easy profits are to made, has the person offering the product or service made the profits they are talking about, and if so why are needing investors to make the same profits? What’s in it for them? This cautious attitude will save you from many bad investments.

Good Information – Bad Information.

In summary, the three main points to look at are;

1) Who

Who is giving you this information, what are the history and track performance records that can be verified?

2) What

What is on offer and is it too good to believe. It often will be.

3) Why

Why is the offer being given to you? Has the person making the offer completed and made the same profits that they are offering you?

4) When.

When is the offer expiring? Do not get pushed into acting by an expiration date. This is often used to stop you properly exploring the background information you need to make your decisions.

For more information on how to invest in shares visit http://www.i-tradeoptions.com

James McInnes is a professional share market trader and investment entrepreneur, with many years experience trading the Australian Share market. You can visit his site to learn about Trading Options In Australia.