FINANCE SMARTS

If you were asked by someone, “Do you want some money?” Hmm, I already know your answer. It is a “No”. What? I’m gravely mistaken? Okay, I’m just kidding, I know it is a “Yes” unless you are one of the very rare species of human who doesn’t want money. In this article, I’m going to talk about the inherent value of money, why people desire it, why my cat wants it (don’t ask why), and why majority of people doesn’t enjoy the abundance of it and what can we do to stop our obsession over it. Yes, you are obsessed about it and you’ll get over it soon.

In reality, money is just a piece of paper and metal printed with some weird symbols. Our ancestors long time ago decided to facilitate trading with the use of these symbols. It even evolved with the advent of the Internet in such that it is now represented by a series of 0 to 9 digits you can now see on your monitor screen. These symbols got its value because of the agreement between traders.

People want money not because of its value. Yes, it is not the value and you are reading me right. People want it because of the freedom it provides. If you have money you are free to buy almost anything you want, free to go almost wherever you want and free to do almost anything you want. There is “almost” in there because there is always an exemption.

If you think about it, if anything you desire just comes to you, you won’t even need money. Money is just the popular means. You won’t need money if house and lot, cars, girlfriends, boyfriends, tour tickets, movie tickets and clothes just come to you. Some people are so obsessed with money that they already forgotten what they are really after for, which is freedom.

There is nothing wrong in wanting so much money though. Just don’t get over “gaga” over it. Don’t kill people just to have it. Don’t scam people just to have it. Anything you want would come to you if you just let it in. Be it money, relationships and bodily condition there are no exemptions.

Notice how rich people talk about money? They only talk about the abundance of it. Notice how well people talk about health? They only keep talking about how healthy their body is. I could go on and on and now you want to tell me, “But they talked about it because they do have it”. No! They first talk about it and they become it.

I know you want to argue more but as with anything there’s always an end. As a final note, don’t wait to have money to be free. You are free as you are before, now and will always be. Be easy about it. Freedom is a choice. Be free.

– About the Author: Get all the help you need to start earning money today with this FREE Simple Cash Page report. Free money making tips and techniques with Andy in partnership with TheRhodes Brothers who help people realize their dreams of working at home. Check the free page report at http://www.million-ways.com. Article Source

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Are you tired of struggling with not enough money? Do you hate to work for somebody who doesn’t even notice your efforts? Are you ready to take the next step for financial independence?  In this article, you’ll learn why you are not making enough money and how can you earn money right away.

Online business is the great way to start clearing up your debt.  If you know a blueprint or a step-by-step procedure, it can be up and running on the same day and starts earning money right away. But the problem is how to determine what blueprint works, where can you get it and how effective it will be. I’m going to outline one method here, which is affiliate marketing. affiliate marketing is done by selling somebody else product. You help them sell their product and in exchange you can get a percentage of the sale.

First, select a product to promote. Check Amazon for physical products and Clickbank for digital products. If you choose Amazon, check their best sellers since that is sure to sell well. If you choose Clickbank, check product’s gravity score. Higher gravity means it is selling well, the refund is not that high and a lot of affiliates are having success with it.

Second, create a blog on a free platform. I suggest Blogger since it was easy to setup and use. Register for a free account; choose a title and pick a template with light background and dark text for an easy read. You now have a website and you can start posting a review of the product you’ve chosen earlier. Make it unbiased, and truthful review. Make sure to point out both the good and the bad. If you need more information, read the products sales page or do more research about the topic.

Everything is ready and all you have to do is to let your new website be known on the Internet. You need to drive visitors that are interested from the benefit your chosen product can provide. Ways to drive visitors are pay-per-click advertising, article marketing, social networking, search engine’s results and so on. Once you can drive targeted visitors to your new blog, they would buy the product and you’ll earn your first money online.

– About the Author: Start earning money online as early as today by reading our free page report at http://www.million-ways.com. Anybody from newbies to experts would greatly benefit from this. Decide for your life and take care of your future by reading this report. Article Source

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In this article today I would like to discuss several tips, tricks, and techniques that will allow just about anybody to save a ton of money and at the same time live incredibly well.

Times are tough for just about everybody. Who would’ve thought that the recession that started towards the end of 2008 would still be going so strong well into 2010? Times like these make it more important than ever to spend as little money as possible… fortunately you can do that while still living very well and that’s what I like to talk about in this article today by giving you several tips that you can use to do this fairly easily.

The first rule when it comes to spending less money while living well is to avoid taking on debt if at all possible. It’s much easier to live well on less money if most of your paycheck doesn’t go to pay off old credit cards and other debts each month. For convenience, you may use a credit card to purchase groceries and gas for your car and other essentials, as long as you pay off the balance in full each month. Otherwise stay away from credit cards as well.

Next you should find ways to save money on entertainment. This can be as simple as a change in mindset from spending a ton of money going out to dinner and seeing a movie to renting movies and staying at home. One fun way to save money is to invite a group of friends over for a potluck dinner where everybody brings a food dish. This can be much less expensive than going out to dinner and just as much fun or even a little more fun!

Another tip is to purchase groceries every two weeks instead of every week. If you only shop every two weeks, you will cut down on the amount of impulse buys you purchase. To do that you have to buy in bulk which will further reduce your costs because bulk is always cheaper. You may have to pop in every week or so to pick up a few perishables but other than that stay out of the grocery store.

Finally another great tip for spending less money while living well is to build a gift list for all the people you purchase gifts for throughout the year and then buying all of the presents on sale as they come up on sale throughout the year. This will allow you to save a ton of money on gifts and also make sure that you always have a present when needed and never forget anyone’s birthday or special occasion.

So there you have several very simple tips that will allow just about anybody to save a ton of money but at the same time live well, in some cases very well which is one of the most important things. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to live the good life anymore and hopefully these tips will get you started down the right path.

– About the Author: Rick Brunting runs a lightweight baby stroller web site where he also reviews the best peg perego aria stroller for your child. He has been an article writer online for well over 6 years and also enjoys fishing and basketball. Article Source

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The high-school prom has traditionally been the annual highlight of the school year for the average student. It gives teens the rare chance to really dress up and party with full permission of both parents and school!The only drawback can be the expense involved. For those who want to “go all out”, the cost of formal clothes, a limo, hair, and makeup can really add up to a prohibitive amount.A little creativity and planning can bring that down to a number that is more budget-friendly. Start months before the prom – it gives you plenty of time to prepare.

One major cost is usually the dress. Check out sources like “Your Prom” or “Seventeen” magazines to get an idea of what you want. The girl who sews or has a mom or other family member that sews is way ahead. Then only your budget and skill limits your dress choice. For the rest, the best sources of a reasonably priced dress are the internet, consignment shops, or designer outlets.With some incredible luck, you will find exactly what you want. What is more likely, you will be looking for something close to what you want that can be easily altered. This is where the creativity really comes in. Long dresses can be shortened, plain dresses can be embellished and straps can be removed or added. Even if a tailor has to be hired for some of this, the total cost should be much less than buying new. Go “vintage” and you won’t even have to alter. Another radical idea is to split the cost of one dress with a friend that has her prom on a different night at a different school. Just make sure you have time to dry clean between events.

Now, what to do with your hair? Next time you go for a haircut take the time to browse those hairstyle magazines. Choose a style that is simple but cute. Get a friend and practice doing each other’s hair a few times before the big day. You just eliminated the cost of getting your hair done!

The same trick works for makeup. Keep it simple, and plan ahead. Purchase needed makeup when it’s on sale, preferably at a discount store or beauty supply house. Another strategy is to go to one of those department stores that do free makeup demonstrations. Make an appointment for the afternoon of the prom. Be sure to do this as early as possible, you are not the only one with this idea!

Going out to dinner before or after the prom? Snack at home first so you won’t be as hungry. Parents can be persuaded to keep an eye out for restaurant coupons and deals ahead of time. Many restaurants now have websites where you can check out the menu and sign up for deals. Another idea is to choose a restaurant that has a great appetizer menu. If you go with a group, everyone could order an appetizer and share.

Consider sharing a couple of these tips with your date, he’s probably on a budget too.Now that you have saved all this money, you can afford the limo. Even better, go in with two or three other couples and split the cost.

– About the Author: This article was brought to you by Caroline Peroz of Ratelines.com. Since 2004, Ratelines has provided factual advice on cd rates. Article Source

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In this article today I’d like to talk about several tips, tricks, and techniques that almost anybody can use to help play catch-up when it comes to retirement savings if you are nearing retirement age and haven’t put aside a significant amount of money yet.

Everybody means to save for retirement but then the dishwasher breaks or the car breaks or the roof starts leaking or your second son needs bail money or one of a million other things happens because these things do happen in life and retirement saving gets shoved into the background, soon to be forgotten as we scramble to live our lives.

Unfortunately a day of reckoning will eventually arrive when you realize you’re nearing retirement age and haven’t put aside any money or not very much money. Many people freak out when they realize this! What can you do this late in the game? That’s exactly what I’m going to talk about in this article today. Luckily there are many different things you can do, but most of them revolve around cutting down on your expenses dramatically and saving absolutely as much money as you can right now.

So how exactly can you spend less? Well you have to make some hard choices that are not pleasant but still need to be made. For instance consider selling your house and purchasing a much smaller house. Many people purchase smaller houses for retirement anyway because they’re easier to maintain and property taxes are much less. If you’re going to do this anyway, you might as well do it now so that you can start saving the amount you were paying on your mortgage for a larger house.

Many people purchase new cars every year or every couple of years and this is one area you can definitely make up some time with. First of all, don’t buy that new car. If your pay on a loan for your current car, consider selling the car and paying off the loan, and then purchasing a smaller cheaper used car that you can pay for right away and pocket the difference in savings straight to your retirement account. Purchasing a used car for cash can also allow you to purchase liability insurance which is much cheaper than the full coverage you may have been paying on your old car.

Finally you should put retirement savings first and foremost above college savings. Most parents want to save money to send their kids to college but you should not do this at the expense of your own retirement account. Why is this? It may sound crazy but it’s not. Every bank in the world will loan your child money for college but no bank will loan you money for retirement therefore you should focus on saving for your retirement first because at the end of the day your kid can get a loan themselves or a scholarship. Heck, some of the top schools like Harvard will pay for your kids college education if you can’t pay yourself.

So there you have several very simple tips that anybody can use to start playing catch up in the retirement savings game right away. At the end of the day the main idea is to cut down on every single expense that you possibly can and sock as much cash away into your retirement as quickly as possible. There really just isn’t any other way to do it.

– About the Author: Tim Breundle runs a commercial glass doors web site where he also reviews the best interior doors with glass for your office. He has been an article writer online for well over 8 years and also enjoys fishing and soccer. Article Source

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The holiday house purchase decision: emotional or logical?

Youve just spent two glorious weeks at the end of January at your friends beachside holiday house with your young family. The stress of the past years hard work has vanished and youre feeling great. Youve reconnected with your partner and your five and eight year olds have been reacquainted with a parent.

Its about the worst time possible to make a rational investment decision but you decide that you should buy your own holiday house, now. A couple of hours drive from home, so that you and the family can recreate the bliss of the recent holiday every weekend.

Some holiday house reality

Before you make what for most people is a very significant expenditure, lets inject a dose of reality to this emotionally charged thinking. Some hard-nosed considerations include:

* Unless the property is available to rent (on commercial terms), you are unlikely to be able to claim tax deductions for maintenance costs and interest on any loan to purchase the property;

* Assuming the holiday house is not considered your principal residence, it will be subject to capital gains tax on sale;

* Unless you employ people to maintain the property and bear the additional expenses, many of those blissful weekends will be spent doing chores;

* When children are relatively young, organising weekends away is easy. But once sporting and other alternatives emerge, it becomes increasingly difficult for the family to go to the holiday house during school term;

* Rental returns are highest during school vacations. But once your children are in secondary school, it may be the only time the family is able to use the property; and

* Last, but not least, because of the money tied up in the holiday house there may be a reluctance to go anywhere else for holidays. But the appeal will almost certainly wear off for some members of the family, particularly for teenage children who have cooler things to do on weekends than to go to the holiday house with mum and dad.

The holiday house is a lifestyle choice

Holiday houses, like boats and hobby farms, are lifestyle assets. You should not consider them as serious investments. The reality is that they are highly likely (but not guaranteed) to turn out to be poor choices compared with more appropriate investment alternatives available at the time of purchase.

Ahead of the purchase decision, a holiday house does not tick off on what we would consider best investment practice (see Foundations of Financial Economics). In particular, more often than not it exacerbates an already concentrated (and, perhaps, geared) exposure to residential property that comes with ownership of an existing family home.

However, this does not mean we think it never makes sense to buy a holiday house or any other lifestyle asset. Rather, we would encourage you to look at the potential consequences of the purchase for other objectives that may be important to you.

For example, if a detailed analysis suggests that that the purchase of the holiday house is likely to delay your plans for retirement for five years then you are then in a position to more sensibly weigh up the benefits and costs and make a sound decision.

Alternative and, perhaps, better ways to obtain the perceived lifestyle benefits of the holiday house may also become apparent if the decision is considered in a bigger picture context.

After doing the analysis and considering the alternatives, the decision may be to purchase the holiday house. You can take comfort that you made it with your eyes wide open, rather than as a knee-jerk response to a recent positive lifestyle experience.

– About the Author: Wealth Foundations is an independently owned personal financial advisory firm that offers wealth management and strategic financial planning services.  For more information, visit Wealth Advisers. Article Source

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In this article today I’d like to discuss several tips, tricks, and tactics that almost anybody can use to start saving for their retirement if you’ve been putting it off and are now running out of time.

Back in the good old days the company you worked for took care of you after you retired with a nice pension that covered all your needs. That sort of thing no longer exists because people don’t spend their entire careers with one company and even if they did, companies still wouldn’t offer this option for a number of different reasons that are unimportant for this article. The point is, we are all responsible for saving for our own retirements and most of us never quite get around to doing it.

If you’ve been putting off saving for retirement only to suddenly realize that you’re closer to retirement than you realized, this article is for you because I’m going to give you several tips you can use to help save for retirement quickly.

The first tip obviously is to cut back on any expense that you can afford to cut back on and use the extra money to add to your savings. You might scale down to a cheaper house, buy a used car, or stop taking vacations. Any little thing that you can do to lower your expenses and add to your savings is important.

The next thing you should do is max out any retirement savings plan that you may have such as a 401(k) or IRA. Investing in these plans alone is not going to be enough for your retirement and many of them come with limits on how much you can put in to them in a given year so be sure to put in as much as you can as quickly as you can, however you can.

Next you should seriously consider moonlighting. Hey, time is running out and you may not have enough time left to fund your retirement out of your day job earnings. The only option is to get another job possibly at nights or on the weekends. Many part time jobs are also great because you can often hold onto them after you retire from your main job. It’s nice to have a small but steady income that you can rely on from only a few hours of work each week on into your retirement years.

Finally, consider starting up your own business if you have any experience in this sort of thing yourself. Building a business this late in a game is definitely not for everybody but it could be for you if you have the right experience. The trick is not investing all of your savings into your new enterprise in case things go poorly; but there are a number of businesses you can start up for little to no money and I suggest you focus on these types of businesses. Maybe you can start selling things on eBay that you find at local yard sales or maybe you can consult for other companies in the area of your own particular expertise.

So there you have several very simple tips that anybody can use to stock up on their retirement even if time is quickly running out. It’s never too late to start, you just have to get your mind set firmly on the goal and take positive action.

– About the Author: Tim Breundle runs a mens wool coat web site where he also reviews the best via spiga coats for the ladies. He has been an article writer online for well over 8 years and also enjoys fishing and soccer. Article Source

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In this article today I’d like to talk about several different tips, tricks, and tactics that anybody can use to take advantage of certain retirement rewards that you may never have even heard of.

So you’ve worked hard your entire life slaving away at a job you may or may not have liked. Unlike most people in society, you did the responsible thing and saved for your retirement and now you’re looking forward to the good years. Many people don’t know the different numbers involved in retirement such as at what age different benefits kick in and that’s really what I’d like to talk about in this article today.

When you retire depends on many different things. One of the main things of course is retirement savings. Most people can’t retire until they have enough money set aside to live off of for the rest of their natural life. But money isn’t the only thing to consider, many people choose not to retire till as late as possible because they really love their job. Whatever you use to determine when or when not to retire, there are certain ages that you need to be aware of where certain benefits kick in.

When you turn 55 years old you usually have the option of a penalty free withdrawal from any company retirement plans you may have. Usually this has something to do with separation of service though, so keep that in mind.

When you turn age 59 1/2, you can take advantage of a “no penalty” on any withdrawals from your current IRA account or other retirement plans or retirement accounts. You don’t have to take your money out then in every case but you can if you so choose to.

When you turn 62 years old, that is the earliest age that you can collect Social Security retirement benefits. Again, you aren’t required to begin collecting Social Security at that age that but you have the option to. Realize that your Social Security payments will be lower if you take this early retirement age. Also realize that widows and widowers also have the option of receiving benefits much earlier, sometimes at the age of only 60.

When you turn 65 to 67 years old your full Social Security benefits are available if you haven’t already begun taking them. Exact age depends on the specific year in which you yourself were born and you can find more information on that at the Social Security services office themselves.

At the age of 70 1/2 you’ll have to start taking minimum distributions from most retirement accounts. Luckily you can continue to invest tax-deferred in a Roth IRA even after this age.

So there you have several different ages that you need to know about when it comes to retirement. Hopefully you won’t care about any of this because you’ll be too busy hanging out on the beach in some tropical paradise somewhere without a care in the world, but it’s still good to know anyway.

– About the Author: Tim Breundle runs a electric shavers for men web site where he also reviews the best panasonic electric shaver for guys. He has been an article writer online for well over 8 years and also enjoys fishing and soccer. Article Source

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In this article I’d like to discuss several tips, tricks, and techniques that just about anybody can use to help determine whether or not early retirement is right for you.

We all look forward to the day we can retire and stop worrying about the day-to-day grind of our jobs and all the responsibility that goes along with it. We all think we’d like to retire as soon as is humanly possible but the fact of the matter remains that early retirement is really not for everybody and that’s what I’d like to talk about in this article today.

So how exactly do you determine whether or not early retirement is right for you? Well there are several things that you need to look at before you make a final decision.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is what your financial position will be if you stop working early. You should look at your net income not gross. So compare your net income that you will receive at retirement with your net income that you currently receive while working. How do the two compare? Sometimes even if you make less money after retirement you’ll still come out ahead because your expenses will be less and that’s why you should look at it from a net point of view instead of a gross point of view.

Next you should look at any incentives that are offered for early retirement. Some companies offer a cash bonus for years of service and some companies offer a larger pension as well. It really just depends on your specific circumstances so you’ll need to look at these things in depth on your own before you decide.

Consider also any fringe benefits that you currently receive. Will you continue to receive these fringe benefits into retirement? Sometimes you will and sometimes, many times, you won’t. You may not think this is very important but sometimes those fringe benefits include health insurance which can be very important during your retirement years so consider these things carefully.

You should also consider taxes before you make a decision. Many times retirement will put you in a lower tax bracket which will immediately decrease the amount of taxes you have to pay. Also there are no FICA taxes due on retirement benefits like there are on salary. These two things alone could very easily make up for any shortfall in retirement income versus current salary income and may in fact be a deciding factor in your decision.

Finally, consider your personal feelings. Do you hate your job or do you love your job or do you really not care one way or another? Do you like the people you work with? Are you ready to leave it all behind just yet? These are serious questions that you need to ask yourself. These things really don’t have much of anything to do with money, yet are still very important.

So there you have several very simple tips that you can use to help determine whether or not early retirement is right for you. Good luck!

– About the Author:

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There is often a lot of misguided talk, sometimes boasting, about the level of returns people get on their investments. This can leave some feeling as though theyve missed out.

Before you get too caught up in what others are (apparently) achieving you need a good understanding of some important investment return concepts. You need to make sure you are comparing apples with apples and this is often very difficult to do.

We look at three fundamental issues that need to be considered when reviewing investment returns.

First, investment returns need to be calculated correctly

Some returns are quoted for an entire time period, while others are are quoted on a per period basis.

Joe says he has achieved a 36% return on his investment. Sounds impressive, yet not so impressive when you find out that he invested $10,000 a month ago and its now grown by 3% to $10,300.

Returns are mostly quoted on an annualised basis for periods of a year or greater. However, for periods of less than a year returns are quoted on an absolute basis with reference to the period (e.g. 3% for one month). Joe has taken his one month return and multiplied it by 12 to give himself a notional annual return of 36% .

Mary says her investments doubled over the past 5 years. By her reckoning, she got a return of 20% p.a. which she claims is much better than the markets return of 17% p.a. However, she has calculated her return using a simple (or arithmetic) return calculation (i.e. 100% ÷ 5).

The market rate of return (along with the majority of investment returns) is calculated using a compound (or geometric) return. In Marys case, the compound return of her investment is (1 + 100%)n 1, where n = 1 divided by the number of periods (=5). Marys compound return was only 14.9% p.a. well below the markets return of 17% p.a.

Dominic has had a volatile ride with his investment. Since initially investing his $10,000 , he has kept track of his annual returns. The investment jumped by 50% in the first year, then fell by 40% the next year and then rose by 8% in the third year. He believes his return is 6% p.a. (i.e. +50% 40% + 8% = 18% ÷ 3 years = 6% p.a.)

– About the Author: Wealth Foundations is an independently owned personal financial advisory firm that offers wealth management and strategic financial planning services.  For more information, visit Wealth Advisers. Article Source

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