Investment Articles

A good investment advisor can make financial decision making a hassle-free experience-and help you develop the peace-of-mind to sleep well at night regardless of what happened in the stock market during the day. Since investment advice comes in many flavors, the challenge is to find the one that is right for you.

The Trouble With Titles

Do you need a broker, a financial planner, or an investment advisor? While these titles are often used interchangeably, the services provided by each of these professionals are often quite different. Brokers’ help investors buy and sell securities. Financial planners help investors prepare strategies for specific goals, such as retirement, and investment advisors provide advice for a fee. Of course, it is a bit more complicated than it first appears. Many of the investment professionals who you might think of as brokers are actually financial planners, just as some planners are actually brokers in disguise. To further complicate matters, most investment advisors are also financial planners, but only some financial planners are investment advisors. Investment advisors, of course, are available in numerous makes and models-some provide advice on just a single topic, such as tax-aware investing, while others offer complete financial planning services. Confused yet?

It’s a Lot Simpler Than it Seems

Forget the titles and their definitions for a minute and think about what it is that you want from a financial services professional. To find someone who can help guide your investment decisions, begin the search with a strict focus on your needs. Are you seeking advice about a single topic such as buying or selling a security? Are you planning your estate, planning for retirement or purchasing insurance? Are you in a high-tax bracket and looking to minimize the impact of taxes on your portfolio? Do you need guidance in creating a financial plan that encompasses all of these issues and more? Once you have a good idea of the types of services you need, you will be much better prepared to find an advisor who offers those services. If you are not exactly sure what you need, find an advisor who offers a full-range of services and let the advisor help you review your situation.

Ask the Right Questions

Once you have found an investment professional that can meet your needs, be sure to ask the following questions before you invest:

What are your qualifications? While there are no uniform credentials for financial services professionals, experience counts. In addition to experience, professional designations are often a good sign that the advisor takes his or her career seriously.

Have you ever been disciplined by any government regulator for unethical or improper conduct? Although disciplinary action does not necessarily mean that this advisor will steer you wrong, there are just too many honest advisors out there to risk your money by taking unnecessary chances. Ask to see a copy of the advisor’s “Form ADV” before you invest. The ADV will show you whether the advisor has been disciplined.

Whom do you work for? An increasing number of investors are making the decision to invest with independent advisors-that is, advisors who do not work for a big company, but instead founded their own small businesses. Independent professionals are not constrained by the need to support corporate business decisions, so they often have access to a much broader array of investment options than can be found at a big brokerage firm. Furthermore, because independent shops don’t have the name recognition and marketing muscle of a national brokerage, odds are that they have to provide good service if they want to develop a solid reputation in the community and stay in business for any length of time.

How are you paid? For investment professionals, compensation can come in many forms. Common compensation methods include: Fee: Fee-based advisors either charge a percentage based on the value of the assets they manage for you, an hourly consulting fee or a fixed fee. Commission: Commission-based advisors earn a commission on securities they sell. Fee and Commission: Fee and commission-based advisors receive a combination of fees and commission for their services. Before you sign any papers, ask your advisor how he or she is compensated and how that method of compensation benefits investors.

The Bottom Line

Selecting a good advisor is not difficult; it just requires a little thought and patience. The right financial advisor can help you make investment decisions that have a lasting and meaningful impact on your life. Therefore, before you rush out and make an investment, take the time to choose your advisor carefully-after all, it is your money and your future.

Financial Management Strategies (FMS) is a Registered Investment Advisory firm in the State of Maryland. We specialize in comprehensive wealth management and wealth preservation for individuals and small businesses, providing premium services in financial planning, business consulting, financial analysis and research, wealth management and real estate development.

Mr. Petiri is a Registered Investment Advisor. His nearly two decades of financial experience covers virtually all areas of finance from tax, insurance, stockbrokerage, personal financial planning and personal banking to corporate credit, business planning and consumer lending.

Are you on the lookout for rewarding areas of the stock market to invest your capital into? If you are searching for the most profitable portions of the marketplace, look into IPO investments. Before you can invest into IPOs though, you should definitely use an IPO valuation so you can know that you are looking at an investment that is worth your consideration.

Performing an evaluation before you purchase an IPO is essential if you desire to obtain a great deal on the investments you make. An evaluation is basically the most important action you will take while you are creating your investment strategies. There are many different factors you can look into while you are evaluating a company as well.

An essential piece of data you must look into as you are evaluating a company is the amount of debt and the value of any assets the business may maintain on its records. As you are checking the financial data relating to the company you are interested in, you should add up the total value of the assets the company owns and compare that total value to the size of the debt the business owes.

In an optimal situation, you will find companies that are selling below the difference of this equation. If you discover a company selling for less than the value of its assets, you are looking at a good investment, because you are purchasing a dollar for $. 50 in this case.

There are many other factors you should look into if you wish to make a great investment for your IPO purchase. A very important factor you can look into when you are analyzing a stock is the value of the income the business is pulling in. The most important stat inherent in the financial statements of a company is the amount of revenue the company is bringing in each month and each year. This number should always be larger than the total operating expenses of the company you are interested in. If the value of the revenue is larger than the operating expenses, you are looking at a profitable business venture.

Another factor you should look into when you are evaluating an IPO is the type of business the IPO is representing. When you are investing, make sure you are purchasing a company that you can stand behind. The easiest way to stand behind a company is by deciding whether or not you would purchase the products the company sells personally. If you would personally purchase the products the company sells, you are looking at a solid investment opportunity.

Other factors that need to be investigated before an investment can be made include the type of market the IPO is being released into, the companies or individuals who are releasing IPO, and other factors that affect the value of the investment once it hits the open market.

If you take all of these aspects of the IPO into consideration, you will certainly make a decent investment once you are finally ready to purchase the IPO. As long as you know that you are purchasing a company that is worth more than the value you are buying it for, or the services and products the business is offering are more valuable than the company is currently being evaluated for, your IPO valuation will yield you profitable results.

There are many things to consider on how to IPO properly and legally. For more information about the IPO process, be sure to consult with the professionals.

Are high yield CDs still a good investment in 2010? That’s a good question. But, the answer isn’t an easy yes or no. Investing in high yield CDs depends upon your individual situation. First of all, let’s define what a high yield certificate of deposit is. In simple terms, it’s a CD that will give you a good return. But in 2010, how high of a yield are we talking about? Let’s take a closer look.

One of the best websites for comparing CD rates is Bankrate.com. To get a high yield certificate of deposit, you are going to have to invest your money for a longer period of time. Investing in a one-year CD is going to give you a measly CD rate of less than 2% APY (Annual Percentage Yield). So, the first thing you need to decide is whether you can afford to invest your money for a longer period of time. If you think that you will need your money within the next five years, a high yield CD is not for you. Assuming you can invest your money for five years, currently you can get a CD rate of between 3.15% and 3.55% (APY) with as little as $1,000. Now here is where the guessing comes in. In the next five years, will CD rates rise or fall or stay the same? CD rates can’t go very much lower. If the Federal Reserve keeps its fund rate low, then certificate of deposit rates won’t rise. But, if the economy improves, the Federal Reserve will raise the fund rate and CD rates will slowly climb. There is no way, short of a crystal ball, to know when or how fast the rates will rise.

If you have enough money to invest in CDs, your best bet is to invest by laddering. For instance, invest $1,000 in a one-year CD, $1,000 in a two-year CD and so on until you get to a five-year CD. When the one year CD matures, you would invest in another five-year CD. As each CD matures, you would do this same thing. This spreads the CD rates out over a number of years and is a safer way to invest.

Another way to invest in a certificate of deposit, is look for a bank that is offering the opportunity to raise your rate. Currently, Ally Bank is offering a two-year CD at an interest rate of 2.10% APY and will allow you to raise your rate once during the two years. So if interest rates rise, you won’t lose out.

For more information on CD Rates visit http://www.rates.cd

The best investment fund for average investors would be an investment fund for all seasons, your best investment to just buy and hold. This investment package would be a fund of mutual funds to hold in good times and bad. Where do you find such an investment?

The majority of investors need total balance in their investment portfolio in order to make their money grow while avoiding heavy investment losses. Even the best funds today fall a bit short of this goal, but you can assemble your own best investment fund from the list of mutual funds available from the major fund families like Fidelity and Vanguard. Here are the instructions.

The best investment fund formula: Two parts traditional balanced fund, plus one part money market and one part alternative investment fund. Mix together and stir once a year for best investment results. Putting together this investment fund requires only three steps, and the first two are simple. Here’s what you do.

Put ½ of your money that’s earmarked for long-term growth in a traditional balanced fund that allocates 60% to stocks and most of the rest to bonds. This is the traditional balanced portfolio for growth and higher income. Then put ¼ in a money market fund for safety with interest income in the form of dividends. Now you have just one step left to achieve total balance and the best investment portfolio to hold year in and year out, in good times and bad. Risk level: moderate.

Our final step requires some assembly because to my knowledge no fund company offers an alternative investment fund; but some offer the pieces and parts (funds) you need to complete the job. They fall under the following categories of equity (stock) funds: international, gold, real estate, and natural resources (or energy). The last three are referred to as specialty funds because they specialize in specific sectors or industries. These particular sectors focus on areas that qualify as alternative investments.

The remaining ¼ of your money goes to this alternative investment fund, in mutual fund categories as follows: 2 parts international, and 1 part gold, 1 part real estate, and 1 part natural resources or energy. You now have assembled the best investment fund I can come up with, and it will look like this: 50% balanced funds, 25% money market, 10% international, and 5% each to gold, real estate and natural resources. I call this portfolio a total balance fund… set up to weather good times and bad.

It’s the alternative investment ¼ that really makes the difference and creates total balance in your overall portfolio. When the U.S. stock and/or bond market are performing poorly, you’ve got a back up in the form of international investments, gold, real estate and natural resources or energy.

Some day the major mutual fund companies will likely launch a total balance and/or alternative investment fund because it makes good investment sense. Pension funds and other large institutional investors expanded their investment horizons years ago. Until that time, putting together your best investment fund will require a bit of assembly.

Once a year you should check to assure that your allocation percentages of 50%, 25%, 10%, 5%, 5%, 5% are on track and total 100%. When any of them gets out of line by a couple of percentage points or more its time to move money to get your balance back in line. That’s not a lot of maintenance considering the fact that the rest of the time you’ve got real balance working for you year after year.

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.

Investing in the stock market, in options, in foreign currency, in commodities, or in other financial instruments will only be successful if you do technical analysis and fundamental analysis and when you have a trading strategy that incorporates risk and portfolio management. To be successful in investing money, you must understand the psychology of investing. One aspect of this is to understand the negative personality traits that investors have – these traits prevent investors from succeeding in their investments.

Tape watchers

A tape watcher is a person who sits all day looking at live data. If you are a tape watcher, whenever the price of the stock you have invested in is up, you will think you have make a good investment, and vice versa. This makes tape watching an emotional experience. You should set your stop losses and you should take the time to do research or to do other constructive things.

The uncertain

Some people are always unsure about the decisions they make. This is a bad trait because they are not able to take risks and since the greater the risk the greater the reward, uncertain people will not succeed as investors. If you are not sure about your investment decision, you should do fundamental and technical analysis and then you should trust your intuition.

Roller coaster riders

Roller coaster riders are people who buy and sell when others are buying and selling. This is not prudent because sometimes the market is driven by external factors that are not related to the actual value of the stock they have invested in. You should be able to filter the noise and to make decisions based on sound judgment.

The backward thinkers

Some investors are backward thinkers. They do not use analysis tools such as trading calculators and volatility data and they do not have access to live data. Avoid being a backward thinker by taking courses on how to invest in whatever you are investing in.

The stupidity

Some people make very stupid investment decisions. These people buy a stock just for the sake of buying or for emotional reasons. They also buy without doing any analysis and they will sell when the prices are low and buy when they are high. Such an investor should find something else to do.

Marcus is dedicated to providing financial education that helps individuals create wealth for themselves and their families.

Marcus is the author of the book, ‘Wealth Workout – the Simple Seven Step Formula for Financial Success’, and the contributor to various money, finance, stock market and property publications in UK. For more information on how to make more money and to get a wealth workout please click here wealth-workout.

What is a tax free bond, and how can you invest in such a thing? A tax-free bond invests in municipal bonds. It is a debt security issued by the state or local government. They pose as good investments since they don’t attract tax. They also attract very high interest on their value. How you can invest in tax free bonds is based on a number of factors; most important of all, your knowledge about these bonds.

There are two attractive tax-free bonds in the market namely; the general obligation and revenue bonds. General obligation bonds are state securities meant for raising money for projects like community development, schools, sewers etc. The General Obligation tax free bond is considered as safer in comparison to the Revenue Bond. On the other hand, the Revenue Bond is issued by a state or local government company. Both are available in the market. The interest on your investment comes from the business profits of the issuer.

Deciding on what to invest on can be challenging. However, if you are an average investor with some experience in the market, you can determine what the ideal bonds to buy through equivalent yield formula.

You may want to invest heavily; the tax free bonds provide you with insulation against heavy tax on your investment. There are two thumb rules in the market

• Study the yield potential of the bond you want to invest in, this provides an overview of the benefits.
• Invest objectively; the value of these bonds is high, as such it’s ideal to invest high enough money to earn high yields unlike when you invest small amounts.

Investing in tax free bonds promises you, as an investor, very good yields on your initial investment. You can choose to invest in either the general obligation or the revenue bond. Each provides an attractive interest on your initial investment. Learning how to project possible earnings is done using the equivalent yield formula. If you have little knowledge about bonds, it’s ideal you study books about investing in this topic.

Charles E. Johnson is an entrepreneur and the current owner of Articleportfolio.com. For more information on the bond market and investing in bonds, visit the Articleportfolio.com bonds page here: http://www.articleportfolio.com/buying-bonds.html.

Gold has been a part of the economical system for ages. It is a fact that gold plays an important part in a stable economic system of any country and it can also be used in various industries. People have been attracted to this metal since its discovery. Gold is in fact a good investment and there are few substances that can compete with it as a better investment.

Gold cannot be destroyed nor can it be created artificially. History shows that scientist did try to create it, but failed to do so. There is a famous saying that describes gold beautifully, “All that glitters is not gold.” There is no other substance or metal that can compare with it. It has its own lustre and beauty.

Investors consider gold as a good long-term investment because it is worth a lot whether you have it in liquid or solid form. It is a steady investment. There are many investors out there who want to invest in gold because history shows that it is more secure than other investments over the years.

Today, we can easily draw examples from anywhere around the globe to highlight the significance of gold. It has been stated that when gold was assigned a universal value, it was agreed by the whole world that gold can be used as an alternative to currencies. Nowadays, we all know that gold can backup our paper money.

People invest in many ways like in business, property, prize bonds, etc, but there are many who prefer investing in gold because it is worth a fundamental value. This is because when there depreciation in the currency of a country, people bears big losses in other investments, but investors of gold does not face depreciation. Gold is worth an international value and it can be traded anytime anywhere in the world.

Gold is very attractive to women. It is not only used in jewellery, but it is also being used in embroidery and made into thread. Women also prefer gold as a better investment over gem jewellery or silver. Gold is also used as a gift for the very near and dear ones. It shows how much you value them or how much they value in your life.

To minimise the risk of a financial crises people in continents like Europe, USA and Asia are rushing towards gold investments. So watching the economical trends, we can say that the value of gold coins is still going to get higher. Economic crises have hit everything so badly these days, but there is very less attack on the value of gold. So investors consider it wise to invest in gold.

If there comes a very bad financial crises then gold can be used instead of paper money to trade and you would always get the better end of the deal. Gold is a good companion to help you out during hard times when every thing else looses its value.

Learn how to buy gold in the times of recession for future investment by taking help of professional.

Corporate bonds are issued by both public and private companies. When an investor purchases a this type of bond, in effect, the investor is lending money to the company. Companies use this money to purchase necessary items or pursue business expansion. In return for investors investing money, the company pays investors a predetermined rate of interest. On the date that the bond matures, the company gives the investor the money back plus interest. Some of the benefits of this type of investment include the following.

Excellent Yields

Corporate bonds often offer much higher yields than other types of bonds. Granted, there are also higher risks. The higher level of risk is definitely something that the investor must take into account. However, if the investor can tolerate more risk, they can be an excellent investment opportunity.

Steady Income and Ease of Knowing Risk

If you seek income that is steady and if you are interested in preserving the principal, these company bonds offer a good opportunity to do that. Also, they are usually rated based on the credit history of the company and the company’s ability to repay its obligations. The higher the rating, the safer a corporate bond is likely to be. It is an easy matter for investors to know how high a rating is. Thus, in this way, an investor can know exactly how much risk he or she is taking during the investment process.

Diversity of Investment

Those interested in investing in corporate bonds can choose to invest in various sectors. The investor need not limit himself or herself to one investment sector. This is helpful because diversification can be a good way to reduce the risk of investing in this type of bonds.

Liquidity

In the event that an investor decides to sell a bond before it matures, the investor can usually sell the bond quickly because of the large size and liquidity of the corporate bond market. The fact that an investor can sell quickly makes it comparatively safer to purchase corporate bonds. This makes corporate bonds a good investment opportunity.

Charles E. Johnson is an entrepreneur and the current owner of Articleportfolio.com. For more information on the bond market and investing in bonds, visit the Articleportfolio.com bonds page here: http://www.articleportfolio.com/buying-bonds.html.

Under ordinary circumstances, I probably wouldn’t be devoting much time to the subject of numismatic coins, because it’s a very small part of gold collecting. But the main reason that I want to broach this subject is because thousands of people in various parts of the world have bought or inherited collectible coins.

This was brought home to bear when I was talking to one of my friends about the advantages of buying gold and she told me she had a very large collection of gold coins that go way back into the early 1800’s. They have been handed down from generation to generation in her family – and I said to her, are you going to be selling it? And she said – oh no – I’m going to be leaving it for my grandchildren. This was a very interesting concept to me because in the United States, gold bullion was confiscated from 1933 to 1971. These laws had no relevance in her life because she had no intention of selling her gold. If we wanted to do simple maths, based on what was paid for the gold in the early 1800’s to what it’s worth today, should she have decided to sell the gold now, she would be a millionaire many times over.

The downside of this is if my friend tried to sell these coins when there is a danger of imminent economic collapse, and many of these collections come on the market at the same time, she may be unable to sell them. But since she has no intention of selling them, this doesn’t apply to her. On the other hand, there are thousands of collectors throughout the world, who have in their collections coins that are not attached to sentimentality, and those collectors need to be aware that in a serious economic downturn, when people have to raise money very quickly, you may have hundreds of these collections on the market at the same time – and at this point, you might find they are not a very good investment, as you cannot sell them or you might have to sell them at a huge loss. There is a limited market for rare coins….there is a saying that goes something like this: “The only thing rarer than a rare coin…..is a buyer for a rare coin.”

With numismatic coins, you are paying many times the silver or gold content. You are paying for the rarity and for how much someone else covets that particular coin. So if you want to sell, you need to find the exact buyer for that coin, whereas with the bullion market which is worldwide and tradeable, you will always have buyers for your physical gold.

Let’s look at some of the reasons why numismatic coins may not be your best investment. While with gold bullion, you are just paying for the content of the metal and the dealer’s premium. With numismatic coins you are paying not only for the metal and the dealer’s profit, but on top of that you are also paying a numismatic premium, which is for the supposed rarity of the coin. Then you better keep your fingers crossed that that coin is really rare and will keep its value through the years.

If you have invested in gold bullion and the price rises by 5-10%, you are already close to being in profit. On the other hand, if you have invested in numismatic coins, the dealer has already charged you 15-100% on your purchase and the price needs to have gone up by at least 15-100% for you just to break even, which may be why, I read a quote that went something like this:
In numismatics, lots of money is made selling rare coins to non-collectors, and whenever a non-collector buys a collector’s items, the future loss of his capital is almost certainly guaranteed.”

There are many theories on investments. I’m going to take poetic license with one of Warren Buffett’s theories. He once said in reference to the stock market: “Put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket very carefully.” I took poetic license and decided that his theory works beautifully with the investment of gold. I would recommend putting all my gold in one basket, primarily because I wouldn’t have to watch it on a daily basis as carefully as you would the stock market. You can see more or less the gold trends before you actually have to make a decision, whereas with the stock market you really have to be paying attention each day. I’d recommend setting up an action plan that you can live with and then stick to it. If your action plan is to put most of your money into gold, stay with that plan. If your action plan is to diversify, then research carefully the areas in which you want to diversify and then stick to that plan. But whatever you decide to do, have a clear objective in mind and stick with it.

To summarise:

Numismatic coins
- limited market
- can be difficult to sell and make a profit
- attract high premiums from dealers from 15-100% or more
- you need to know what you are doing

Gold bullion
- worldwide market
- easy to buy and sell
- price only needs to rise by 5-10% and you are nearly in profit

We all make mistakes, however, it can be a costly one if you do not know what the Municipal Bond Rates are. There are many factors in these rates, and it is best to avoid any mistakes made, to make sure you have a good investment on you hands.

They don’t know what the ratings mean.

They see these groupings of letters, scratch their heads, and buy them anyways. They could have bought a bond with a bad rating on it, and wouldn’t even know the difference. Besides the fact that it wasn’t paying out when it was supposed to.

The best rating you can get is Triple A’s, and worst C. If you find yourself with a C rated bond, try to dump it, and recover some of your money, because this bond has been determined to have a very high risk of repayment.

They do not do their research on the city who issued the bond.

Some people just buy these bonds as if there is no risk involved. However, like any other kind of investments, there is always a risk.

To make sure you buy a good bond, do your research on the city that is issuing the bond. Make sure they have a positive growth, and a stable economy in place. If they lack any of these things, they will most likely have trouble paying back the loan (which is what a bond is).

Now that you have gone over these 2 mistakes, you will be able to make sure you have a good Municipal Bond Rates on your next investment. Make sure the city has a positive growth rate, and a stable economy to insure repayment on this debt. Without that, you will not know which will be your best investment. So do your own due diligence and read up, before you open your wallet.

Tired of making poor investment choices? Having trouble choosing the right bond to go with? To learn more about Municipal Bond Rates, and make that right bond investment, then you need to go to this website now http://municipalbondrates.org