Posted November 3rd, 2010
by Greg
Investing money is not of great interest to many people unless, that is, they make money in the process. Consistency is the key to investing money successfully, and in order to achieve this you must avoid major investing mistakes. Plus, you’ll need an investment strategy.
In 2008 few investors had a good year investing. The truth is that even if you had a sound investment strategy, 2008 was a bear. You will not make money every year investing money in securities like stocks, bonds and mutual funds; or in real estate, either. But you can greatly improve your consistency by avoiding major investing mistakes.
If you can avoid ever taking a big loss, odds are that you will make money as an investor. The year 2008 (and into early 2009) was probably the toughest time to make money in most of our lifetimes. So, don’t get discouraged. Let’s look at why it was so rough out there, and how we can avoid making the investing mistakes many folks made.
Big losses were taken in both the stock market and in real estate. At the same time, safe investments like bank accounts and money market funds were paying peanuts. Since interest rates were near historical lows many people were attracted to good old stocks and real estate to earn higher returns.
Many of them knew not what they were doing and had invested more in these two areas than they normally would have. Let’s start with real estate. For several years leading up to late 2007, real estate values had been soaring. Real estate stocks and funds that invest money in them had performed well and had been consistently good performers. In other words, real estate was overvalued and the market was ripe for a correction … any bad news could send prices tumbling.
The stock market had been up since late 2002, without a major correction. Most investors had once again learned to be comfortable investing money in stocks. When really bad economic and financial news hits, stocks take a dive. In 2008 the bad news was the worst since the great depression. Stocks tumbled and fell until early March of 2009.
There’s a lesson to be learned here. A sound investment strategy requires that you invest money in all 4 asset classes: stocks, bonds, alternative investments and safe interest-paying investments. Do not over-invest in stocks or other growth investments (including real estate) and do not ignore safe investments like CDs just because interest rates are low.
To make money consistently you need to diversify and invest money across the asset classes. In this way you won’t take major losses when times are bad. For example, investing money in bonds and gold would have helped offset other losses in 2008; and money in the bank is safe.
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
Tags: Consistently, Investing, money Posted in General Chat
Posted October 30th, 2010
by Greg
One of the reasons I am writing this article, is because it always strikes me to see how so many people struggle to achieve a decent return on their investment, something that often leads them to give up the goal of making real money with their money.
From those who have been victimized by scammers like Madoff to those who simply settle for a bank CD and a 2% annual interest rate, all these folks have in common one thing: they have not seriously explored the idea of becoming investors themselves.
Sure it is scary to take on the stock or the forex market if you have no idea what to do in order to make money, because after all, you are not playing Monopoly, you are putting your hard earned money at stake.
However, does this mean that you should stay on the sidelines?
The answer is a resounding no, but it is also true that you should never jump into an investment without the necessary preparation, because investing always involves a risk and that preparation is precisely what will enable you to effectively avoid and manage that risk for a profitable outcome.
Investing is an art that does not require for you to be particularly gifted nor it demands that you have a PHD in finances, however, you are required to have a basic understanding of how the markets work and behave, and you must have a plan, an investment plan.
Education and tools will provide you with the understanding and the plan. Indeed, proper education and reliable investing tools can quickly put you in the position to take a small amount of money and grow it into something meaningful, but you have to be patient, disciplined and committed.
If you follow these principles and take this seriously, I assure you, you will become a successful investor and you will never have to surrender your money to a third party in order to pursue high returns on your investment.
Therefore, learn how to use some trading tools, get your hands on some good trading education, take your time to understand the markets and test different strategies on paper money until you feel you have achieved the consistency to put real money at work.
But before you do this, make sure you read the evaluation performed at the http://www.specialonlinebusinessreviewauthority.com on a few reliable trading tools and resources designed to put your investment on the right track.
Tags: Consistently, Investing, money, Yourself Posted in General Chat
Posted October 28th, 2010
by Greg
The best way for you to make money on the Internet without investing any money is to get involved in a residual income free trial program. What this program allows you to do is take advantage of the free trial that they offer and not pay anything for a certain period of time. Even after the free trial is over it is only literally $10 a month. So you can see that it is very affordable for you.
Now that you have a residual income free trial program then it’s time to utilize article marketing to promote it. The reason you should utilize article marketing to promote is because it does not require you to put any money and all you have to do is invest your time into it. This is very powerful because it’s an effective and powerful method of promoting your business.
The way article marketing works is that it allows you to put yourself in front of people who already want what you have to offer. The article serves as a qualifying factor because people are actually reading what you have to write. The articles are based on keywords that people search on a daily basis and that means that these people are very targeted towards what you’re promoting.
Article marketing takes time to master and also the results will come in the long run but it is worth it to put in the efforts now because it will pay off. If you are patient enough you’re going to be able to enjoy the results that come into your business from article marketing without having to invest any money and simply continue to put in your time.
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Willox Perez is a veteran home based business expert who is revolutionizing the way business is done on the Internet by creating a community, building friendships and establishing trust.
Tags: internet, Investing, money, Without Posted in General Chat
Posted October 28th, 2010
by Greg
The sensible way to make money by investing money is to use a moderate to conservative investment strategy. Why did millions of Americans lose a large part of their life savings in 2008? They had an overly aggressive investment strategy. They had a large portion of their investment assets at risk in the stock market and many of them didn’t even know it.
I don’t care how old you are; keeping 80%, 90% or more of your investment assets in the U.S. stock market is too aggressive and too risky. Plus, it diminishes your flexibility and ability to take advantage of investment opportunities.
By early March of 2009, stocks had lost half their value in a little over a year. Had you been heavily invested in equities (stocks) throughout this period, what investment options did you have in the first half of 2009? You had two investment options, and both were negative.
First, you could sell stocks at a loss. Second, you could hold on and hope that the stock market came roaring back. Either way, you were in a losing position.
The stock market came back with a vengeance, up 50% in six months. Those who sold earlier and took big losses were not happy investors. Others who held on were still behind. If you had $10,000 in stocks and lost half you were left with $5000. Then when you gained 50%, you were only up to $7500.
Many investment companies and advisers recommend that younger people should be 80% to 90% invested in stocks (like in their 401k plan). I suggest investing money more conservatively, now matter what age you are.
For example, let’s say you want to be more conservative and make money investing with a lower-risk investment strategy. Keep about half of your investment assets in stocks and the other half in safer investment options like savings, money market securities and intermediate-term bonds.
Now, here’s the important (and somewhat scary) part. When the stock market takes a big hit (say 20%) … you move some safe money to stocks. The market goes even lower … you take advantage of the investment opportunities out there and move more money into stocks.
Now, the question is: as the stock market approaches a 50% drop from its high, what percent of your total investment assets are you willing to bet that the market (and the economy) will recover? If your answer is 80%, for example, make that your limit.
The simple truth of the matter is that when you invest in the U.S. stock market, you are betting that the USA will survive and prosper … no matter how bad things get. If you want more security than that as an investor looking for investment opportunities, invest in foreign stocks as well. That way you are betting on both the USA and modern civilization in general.
If the whole economic system we live in collapses … it won’t matter if you tried to make money by investing or not. When chaos rules (if it ever does again), it’s all over anyway.
Getting back to a positive note, if you have a more conservative investment strategy a bad stock market can spell INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES for you. You will have the flexibility to take advantage of the situation; and avoid the heavy loses no investor can afford to take.
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
Tags: Conservatively, Investing, money Posted in General Chat
Posted October 19th, 2010
by Greg
Without resorting to illicit activities like fraud and robbery, and barring that winning lottery ticket, we can identify the most practical, sound and quickest ways to make money without investing in the stock market.
The first things we must understand are the different methods by which people get money. There is the job method, the credit method and the solutions method. Many people work 40+ hours a week for a salary or a wage. The very next week, they start from scratch. The work that they did the week before will never earn them money ever again.
Next there is the credit method. Credit involves getting money against future work in future weeks. It’s very closely tied to the job method because to take advantage of the credit method, you typically have to prove you also have a job. It is also not as efficient as the job method because not only do you have to pay back the money, there is also interest to pay.
The final method by which people get money is the solutions method. This is how most companies, both large and small, make money. By providing solutions, companies earn hundreds of thousands of dollars while paying their staff a job wage. It’s not necessarily unfair, it just illustrates the difference between the job method and the solutions method.
Individuals can also take advantage of the solutions method by offering solutions to people’s problems. The more specialized and effective the solution, the higher the demand for it. The higher the demand, the higher the income of the provider.
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Tags: Investing, money, Quickest, Stocks, Without Posted in General Chat
Posted October 13th, 2010
by Greg
You have probably seen many commercials on television claiming that you can become wealthy with real estate investing. The fact is that real estate is a powerful vehicle to generate great wealth however it does still require knowledge and expertise on your part in order to find profitable investments. Real estate is a very predictable and solid investment platform versus stock market investing which can be highly volatile and risky.
The best way to get into real estate investing is to first create a successful business of some sort that is generating solid positive cashflow and then use that money to invest in real estate to grow your wealth. This is the formula that the many of the richest people in the world use. If you are currently broke then it is highly recommended that you stay away from it for now since investing in properties is both capital and time intensive. Once you have created a successful business asset you should have the time and money to expand into real estate investing successfully.
How do you create a successful business if you are currently broke? Well you may want to consider looking into internet marketing and specifically affiliate marketing as it does not require you to have a product or service to begin with so you can make money quite fast and without having to spend money and time to create a product. Ebay marketing can be another option you may want to look into also. Also remember that if you have vision and creative ideas you can attract funding for your business from wealthy investors as long as you can convince these investors that you will be able to succeed with your business ideas.
Remember that just because you do not have money it does not mean you cannot create a profitable business since there are plenty of wealthy investors looking for bright entrepreneurs that they are willing to provide money to as long as they feel that their return on investment will be worthwhile.
One of the important keys to keep in mind in successful real estate investing is that your money is made when you buy and not when you sell. Make sure that the investment you are looking at meets the criteria of a profitable investment. A profitable investment is one where the investment generates a positive cash flow for you right from the start. Property appreciation should be looked upon as a bonus and not something that you count on in order to make your money.
Perhaps the best strategy is to buy properties at a price that allows you to rent out the property for a value that is greater than the expenses associated with the property so that you have positive cashflow or a profit. Of course you do want to look at the appreciation rate of the property for the last several years and look for a steady solid increase but if the property will not create positive cash flow right from day one then it is not the best investment.
The properties you purchase should be assets. Banks define assets slightly differently than many wealthy investors. Most wealthy investors look at assets as something that puts money in your pocket at the end of the month after all expenses are accounted for. While many people consider their homes as an asset, many rich investors consider their homes as a liability since it usually takes more money from your pocket at the end of each month.
Always consider your cash flow when evaluating a property and never get attached to property emotionally just because it looks cute. The property must look profitable after crunching all the numbers in order to consider purchasing and renting it out. This is indeed an extremely powerful and proven wealth vehicle so first create a successful business that generates solid positive cashflow and then increase your wealth exponentially through real estate investing.
Shakil is a professional webmaster and author. Visit one of his sites if you are looking for a reliable toronto real estate agent. Also visit if you are seeking a quality toronto commercial real estate agent.
Tags: Estate, Investing, Learn, money, Properties Posted in General Chat
