If you are part of Generation Y, you still have over thirty years until you are close to retirement age and if you have been paying attention, even a little bit, you will have heard that it is going to be harder for your generation than any other of the modern age. The sad truth is that Generation Y’ers are going to get less help from the government and their employers than the generations of the past. This puts more of the retirement pressure on your shoulders. You have to invest smartly now in order to see the returns that...
Do you know the difference between a bear and bull market? Before investing in a new stock it is imperative that you understand the differences between these two market trends, but that is just the beginning. Knowing how to read stock charts is crucial because they will show you when profits reach their peak and ultimately, when you should sell. Determining where the market is, and where a specific stock is, isn’t always easy, which is why people make their living attempting to predict something that is rather unpredictable, like the stock market. Luckily there are some tricks to helping...
It doesn’t matter what kind of business you own, if you are not using social media as a way to market your business, you are missing out. Social media is a way to get noticed, get attention, and get the word out that your business is a force to be reckoned with. Of course, just like with any other marketing program or business strategy there are certain dos and don’ts that you want to take into consideration. Don’t Post Something You Will Regret Later – Keep in mind that anything you post online is out there forever. Just because you...
If you have been investing in an IRA, a 401k, retirement annuities, or a college savings plan than you most likely already know about the tax breaks that you can get for these investments. But are you aware of the tax breaks that are possible for other investments? When it comes to tax time it is important that you are taking advantage of all the itemized deductions that you can. Remember, we all have a silent partner when it comes to our taxable investments. That partner is Uncle Sam and no matter what you do he is going to take...
Everyone is looking to make a little extra money and if you can create some multiple incomes coming your way you are doing yourself a favor. Thanks to the internet there are literally hundreds of crazy ways to earn a little dough. Many of these require little to no effort on your part. Granted some of these ideas are a onetime only shot, but maybe you can use that brilliantly wacky idea to come up with your own weird way to earn some big time cash! • MillionDollarHomePage – Heard of it? Basically this one guy came up with the...
Creating a winning brand for your business isn’t going to happen overnight. Brand recognition takes time and dedication to develop. You have to be willing to do the work and stay impeccable with your business practices. Obviously, the first, and most important, step is to come up with a unique brand name and a creative logo. Take your time through this process. Find something easy to remember, unique, and something that will cause curiosity. That is just the first step and what you do from there is really going to determine how successful your brand can be. When creating buzz...
In today’s shaky economic climate you might be looking for extra ways to make money. Scratch that, I bet that you are looking for ways to make money. Everyone can always benefit from more money coming into their bank accounts. And that’s great, but no doubt you have heard the saying: work smart not hard. It’s actually not a bad idea to do both. The best ways to make money are by doing things that will also help you to become more financially or business savvy. Having a garage sale can help you to make some quick cash, and get...
Much of the conversation around our current economic mess has been around leveraging. This might sound like the buzz word of the week, but leveraging is a system of investing that is used by banks, financial firms, and independent investors. In the most basic sense it works by borrowing money to invest with. Businesses are ‘leveraging’ their debt against future investments and potential returns. When done right it can pay off – big time, but as the current economic situation shows, rarely is it done right. Leverage is false equity. Here is a way to break it down as simply...
As a financial investor, you know that you have to overcome fear or risk in order to hit it big with an investment. The same is true as a business owner. Think of your business venture as crossing an unstable bridge that’s connected to two huge cliffs. You are going to be pretty nervous to make your way to the other side, right? In order to be a successful business person you have to make it to the other side safe and sound. Millions of people all across the continent work at jobs that they hate every day because fear...
Marketing your business is an important part of being successful, but no single marketing strategy works for every business out there. It’s important to be smart and savvy when picking out marketing strategies for your business, no matter what your niche happens to be. You need to come up with multiple ways to reach your target customers and get them coming to you. Here is a listing of some of the best ways to market your business. Try a few on for size and see how they work for your business. If something works, keep doing it. If something doesn’t...
Just behind cash back rebates in popularity are airline mile reward credit cards, a great choice for people who frequently travel or those who hope to. While free travel is a prize worth working for, an estimated that three-quarter of all rewarded miles are never redeemed. Before you become a part of that statistic, consider the following ways to increase the number of miles and get the most from your miles rewards. Earn More Miles Perhaps the number one reason people neglect to use their rewards is that they don’t have enough miles. With most airlines, you need at least...
To have a happy, secure, and financially stable retirement it is important that you are smart with your money and diversify your investments now. If you haven’t already started diversifying then you need to be, your future depends on it. If you are already spreading your money out between stocks, index funds, and mutual funds you are off to a great start, but there are many more ways to diversify your portfolio if you want to truly be a smart investor. Small Cap Funds One of the lesser known ways for the average investor to diversify is with small cap...
Just like a human being, businesses take time to develop and flourish. When a human being starts out in the world they don’t really know what’s going on and they have to have help to get them through challenging times. As a human being grows and matures, they start to learn what the best things are for them and, alternatively, what doesn’t work for them. Humans learn from making mistakes and getting back up to try again. Humans get exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to have a healthy body. All of these things are exactly the same...
How many times has a great opportunity fallen into your lap, but you let it slide by you. Later when your friends were bragging how well their investment paid off all you could do was kick yourself for not taking action? I am guessing you’ve probably been in this situation at least once, because everyone on the planet has had one of those moments. We only have one chance to get it right and if you wait too long, you’ll miss out. No doubt fear has kept you from moving forward with an amazing money making opportunity. Fear of making...
When it comes to your investment portfolio, I want you to start thinking about in the same terms that you would for a professional sports team. A professional sports team is a business and the bottom line of that business is to make money, which is what your investments should be doing for you. That might sound weird, but it is really simple. Professional sports teams go through a draft process to pick new players. In that process each team gets the opportunity to pick the athletes that they feel will benefit their team the most. Professional sports teams have...
Retirement is often met with apprehension but everyone has to retire at some point in their lives and the process of doing so has indeed altered over the last few years. It is always best to start saving for retirement early in order to build up interest. Given the current economic climate you will earn as much by saving for ten years between the ages of 25-35 and ‘sitting on it’ as you would by saving at the same rate from 35-retiring as it would be earning for longer. Whether you are just starting to enter the work force or...
When most people think about investing in stocks online, they imagine that only analysts and investment professionals can make money on stocks. But these days, online investing is easier than it has ever been before. More and more self-directed investors are learning how to use online investment brokers to supplement their income in both the short term and the long term. Online investment brokers are websites where you can buy and sell stocks in real time, and with minimal fees. The advantages are many for people who are unsure and starting out in the world of stocks buying and selling....
Starting your own business is a big investment. New business owners find themselves spending their time and energy, not to mention money, on making their business work for them. The work can be exhausting, but it is also incredibly rewarding and the long term benefits of building a successful business are very exciting. If you are going to work hard, investing time and money into something, you might as well plan things so you are the beneficiary of all that investment. It may be that right now is the perfect time to start a business. For many people, now is...
Property owners will all agree; the right tenant renting your property can make a huge difference. You want someone who will take care of the property as if it was their own, someone who will report damage or problems promptly, and someone who wants to stay for a long time. Most things that landlords look for in a tenant are hard to judge upon meeting the first time. Only time will tell whether a new tenant will respect the neighbors and be able to pay rent regularly every month for as long as they live on your property. Naturally, all...
If you have a child in college or on the way to college, you’re well aware of the cost of higher education. Although you may have had the foresight to put aside some money for your child’s years in college, it probably won’t be enough. The alternative is to borrow the money, and it really doesn’t matter if the loan is in your child’s name or in yours, it’s going to be expensive. These tips on financial aid may help. Saving Money The best way to ensure that your child gets a college education is for you to save the...
These days everyone seems to have a bachelor’s degree. The degree itself is starting to be more and more meaningless, as more and more people earn bachelor’s degrees that are unrelated to any particular profession field. Of course there are those professions that require a degree, possibly higher degrees, such as medical professions, legal professions, and engineering professions. But what if you are simply looking to improve your financial situation without working towards a particular job or market? With the free movement of information so readily available on the internet, you can educate yourself about finances for less than $100,...
While it may come as a big surprise, not all doctors are doing well financially. There’s a bit of a TV stereotype about doctors, who frequently get lumped together with lawyers as the type of professional that will always be necessary. If we always need doctors, there will always be money in the profession, right? Well, a new CNN Money article reports that the truth is altogether different. Health care professionals are finding themselves in dire financial straits, just like many small business owners, and many are even on the verge of bankruptcy. How can this be possible? Well, it...
There is no such thing as too early or too late to start saving for retirement. Of course, the earlier you start, the better off you will be in the long run, but any hesitancy right now is completely unjustified. You should start saving for your retirement right now if you are not saving already. While nobody likes to think about it, a day will come when you do not want to work or you can’t work anymore. When we think about saving for retirement, most of us imagine living a life free of responsibilities – something that only the...
While it may not feel like it, the economy really is starting to improve. Things are looking up, and it’s the start of a new year, time to look at your investment portfolio and decide how you will gain when the economy gets better. In the past few years, the ups and downs in the stock market have been scary for some and devastating for others. Investors are still a bit panicky, and it shows in the way that the markets can’t seem to keep a steady pace. The good news is that in many other sectors, the numbers are...
Risk management is a commonly under-rated dimension of investing in micro-cap stocks. The race to make quick gains should not put accumulated wealth at risk. The few dollars or even cents that a stock is worth can be deceptive. Investors in micro caps should not ignore the additive effects of a series of risky purchases of individually cheap stocks. Fortunately, it does not take rocket science to discover micro stocks that can be trusted to build value of stock portfolios steadily over time. eResearch Technology (ERT on NASDAQ) is a case in point. ERT has been in business for over...
