March 17th, 2010
Online Finance Magazines
Most people intentionally bypass the bay of finance magazines in the grocer or their local newsstand, believing that there is nothing in those magazines that will help them gain a better understanding of their money, the state of the economy, or anything else relating to finances for that matter. But by exploring what online finance magazines have to offer, you may actually be able to gain a much better understanding of the world’s economy and how it influences you, and you may have an improved sense of understanding over your own finances as well.
- Not only will reading online finance magazines give you input from a variety of different sources on the current state of the financial segment, the world economy and other vital finance topics, but by getting such a wide variety of different views, you will get a much larger picture of the current situation than by just following one point of view. Online finance magazines give you plenty of insight by sharing views with you from sources all over the world, including finance experts, economists, government officials, politicians and more.
- By reading online finance magazines you will open yourself up to advice on a wide variety of different finance topics. You may not go looking for the next big investment vehicle, or advice on how to invest small but reap big rewards, but articles like these and more are available in many online finance magazines, so there is plenty that you can learn by reading them. Not only will you learn about the economy in the United States and all over the world, but you will also learn a lot about managing your own finances, getting out of debt, financing a big purchase like a home or car, or just managing small investments or your growing investment portfolio.
- Online finance magazines often have question and answer sections that you can write in to. Getting your question published in a print magazine is a lot harder than getting published on the web. Ask an insightful question about finances or the world economy and have your question and its corresponding answer broadcast online for the entire world to see. It may surprise you how many people you can help by asking a question that is on the minds of many other people.
If you want to keep up to date on what is going on in finance not only in your area, but across the country and around the world, reading online finance magazines can really help. If you want advice on investing, growing your investment portfolio, managing your money, financing a large purchase or paring down your debt, you can find the answers that you seek in online finance magazines as well. If you have concerns relating to the economy or your own finance management on a large or small scale, online finance magazines can really make a difference.
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Originally posted 2008-11-18 05:59:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: answer sections, current situation, current state, economists, finance magazines, getting out of debt, government officials, grocer, insight, insightful question, investment portfolio, investment vehicle, Investments, newsstand, point of view, politicians, question and answer, rewards, segment, world economy
Posted in Loanio, Online Finance Magazines | No Comments »
March 16th, 2010
The first step that you need to understand when it comes to determining whether or not stocks are a good investment is to understand how stocks work in general. A share of stock is the smallest unit of ownership possible in a company. Owning a share of a company’s stock essentially makes you a partial owner of said company. Determining whether or not stocks are a good investment is not easy as a whole, because some stocks do make good investments while others do not. Determining whether a specific stock is a good investment or not is a completely different matter, because it depends on the company the stock belongs to, the industry that they are in, the market in general, and numerous other factors as well.
Do you thumbs up or thumbs down stock investments?
If you are thinking about investing in stocks and you want to know if stocks are a good investment or not, consider this:
Common stock represents the majority of the stock that is held by the public, offering voting rights and the right to share when it comes to dividends. When you hear or read about “stocks” and the stock market, the stocks they are referring to are common stocks. Preferred stock on the other hand offers fewer rights than common stock except for when it comes to dividends. Companies which issue preferred stock pay consistent dividends, and preferred stock has the first call on any dividends over common stock.
Investors tend to buy preferred stock for the current income from dividends, so it would be wise for you to look for companies that are earning big profits, because then preferred stock can be used to return some of those profits through dividends.
Liquidity is another benefit of common stocks. They are highly liquid in most circumstances. Small and more obscure companies may not necessarily trade on a frequent basis, but most large companies are trading almost daily, which creates ample opportunity for you to buy or to sell shares. Thanks to the stock market, you can now buy or sell the shares of most companies that are traded publicly almost any day that the market is open.
With a good working knowledge of stocks and the stock market, stocks could be a good investment worth considering. However, if you do now have a good knowledge of how the stock market works, you may be better off choosing an investment vehicle with more security behind it. The recent downturn of the stock market is a good example of what is possible, but while it is frightening many stock traders and threatening some jobs, it is not the end of the world. Most savvy stock investors know when to get out, and when to stay in – And this is powerful knowledge if you want to make the most out of a stock portfolio. Stocks can be risky, and may not always be a safe bet, but they can be a good investment vehicle if you invest in the right companies and at the right time.
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Originally posted 2008-11-17 05:59:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: ample opportunity, benefit, circumstances, common stock, common stocks, dividends, frequent basis, investing in stocks, Investments, liquidity, preferred stock, profits, public offering, stock investors, Stock Market, voting rights
Posted in Investments, Money, Personal Finance, Stock Market, Stocks | 1 Comment »
March 15th, 2010
Thank you to our Nation's Veterans.
Loanio would like to thank all the men and women who have put their lives on the line to protect America’s freedom and ideals. Your sacrifices and bravery have been beneficial to many and are greatly appreciated.
Below you’ll find links to resources, both blog and news articles on the economy, small business, p2p lending, and investing. We hope you find them helpful in navigating the financial waters of the internet.
The Economy:
Small Business:
Peer-to-Peer Lending:
Investing:
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Originally posted 2008-11-16 05:13:56. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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March 14th, 2010
Every working man and woman is entitled to a retirement that is secure and comfortable. Saving and planning for retirement is not necessarily an easy process however because we are living longer and healthier lives in general, which means we need more money to survive retirement than ever before. If you want to learn how to plan for a healthy, comfortable and secure retirement then you need to begin planning wisely using a blueprint similar to the one outlined below:
What do you plan to do in your retirement?
- Save early and often. –
The sooner that you begin to save money, the longer the amount of time you will have for those funds to grow. By putting compounding to use, you can make gains every year that will add on to the gains of the prior year, and so on and so forth. This can really add up, fueling the growth of your retirement fund.
- Set realistic and attainable goals. –
Do not use rules of thumb to project your retirement expenses, because they are based upon your needs and not the needs of others before you. What type of lifestyle do you want to live when you retire? Figure out the expenses accordingly and use these expenses to formulate how much money is needed to supplement social security and other income sources during retirement.
- Save using a 401(k). –
This is one of the best and one of the easiest ways that you can save money. Making contributions towards a 401(k) plan can provide you with immediate tax deductions, matched contributions from your employer, and even a tax deferment on the growth that your retirement savings accrues. This is absolutely excellent advice for anyone who ever wondered how to plan for retirement.
- Utilize IRAs for retirement savings with tax advantages. –
IRAs provide you with large tax breaks much in the same way that 401(k)s can. They offer two different types of tax breaks, one which provides growth that is tax deferred, and one that provides tax free growth but doesn’t allow for deductible contributions the way that traditional IRAs can. Roth IRAs do not allow deductible contributions, which mean withdrawals do not require you to owe any taxes in the way that traditional IRAs do.
- Make wise asset allocation moves. –
This means that your portfolio should be divided between stocks and bonds in a wise manner so that you can make a strong and powerful impact on any of the long term investment returns that you have. Stocks are the best option for stable and long term methods of growth, while bonds work well both in the short term and long term. Still, you should not rely too heavily on bonds when planning for retirement. If you want to stretch your nest egg’s life out to the best of its capabilities, you absolutely must make tax efficient withdrawals.
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Originally posted 2008-11-14 05:57:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: 401 k, amount of time, attainable goals, blueprint, contri, deductible contributions, how much money, income sources, lifestyle, man and woman, retirement expenses, retirement fund, retirement savings, roth iras, rules of thumb, Social Security, tax deductions, traditional iras, working man
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March 13th, 2010
Create a budget.
Personal budget planning is absolutely crucial if you want to build personal wealth and overcome things like the credit crunch and the current problems that the economy is experiencing. The word “Budget” is one that worries a lot of people because it often seems more like a hassle and a chore than anything else, but there are a lot of easy things that you can do in order to create a personal budget planning process that is beneficial to you and your entire family and household. Here are a set of basic steps that will help you build a personal budget that is going to work well for you and your household as a whole
- Begin the personal budget planning process by collecting at least three months worth of bills, expense statements and receipts.
Look at your bank statements, cash transactions and any receipts that you have saved. Look through your credit card statements as well. What did you purchase? What bills did you pay? Were there any fees that you paid? Are there any habits in your monthly bank statements that are worth noting? Are you spending basically the same amount of money every month? Are there expenses that are the same or similar every month? Answering these questions will give you a good foundation for your personal budget planning.
- Now that you have a firm handle on your expenses, the next step is to gather documents relating to your income.
If you are on salary, put together your paychecks and make sure that you are getting the same amount every month. Otherwise you should gather between three and six months of income statements to get an average amount that you earn in a single month.
- Now that you have a good idea of both your expenses and your incomes, the next thing to do is to compare them to see how much money is left.
This may seem like a frightening step, but it is important if you want to know how much discretionary income you have every single month.
- Now that you know how much money exists at the end of the month on average, you can start looking at what expenses can be eliminated or reduced.
Review your expenses carefully to find out how you can leverage additional income on a monthly basis, because this extra money can be used to reduce debts and begin to save money for the future.
Now that your basic budget is outlined, you can begin to work on prioritizing your debts by reviewing interest rates and listing your debts beginning with the highest interest rate and working down. Once your budget and discretionary income have been outlined you can begin to plan for your financial future by outlining both short term and long term goals in your personal financial life. The last step is simply to exercise patience and to stay the course for as long as you can. Personal budget planning is not going to become a habit as quickly as over night, but it will eventually become a habit if you practice it regularly.
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Originally posted 2008-11-13 05:58:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: amount of money, bank statements, cash transactions, credit card statements, credit crunch, discretionary income, economy, expense statements, good foundation, hassle, household, income statements, incomes, least three months, paychecks, personal budget, personal wealth, receipts, salary, six months
Posted in Personal Budget Planning, Personal Finance, Smart Money Ideas | No Comments »
March 12th, 2010
Parents like to complain that their teenage children do not listen to them. However, when it comes to matters dealing with money, the opposite is actually often true. Teenagers often welcome the advice that their parents have to give regarding finances, money management and investments. In the past few years, teenagers have been earning billions of dollars through summer jobs and part time after-school work. Many of these teenagers have gone on to spend all of the money that they have made, while only a few have saved it up, only to end up spending on a larger purchase down along the line. Kids these days need to become more aware about their income and investment basics so that they can learn how to better manage their money as they get older. If you want your teenagers to manage their money more effectively in adulthood, then they absolutely have to learn the investment basics now.
Start training your teen about money.
It is your responsibility as a parent to begin training your teenage children to use their money more wisely now while they are listening. Here are some of the things that you can do to teach your children how to save and invest wisely so that they can have some money left over at the end of the weekend following payday.
1 – Lead by example!
This seems simple but it has an extraordinary impact. Your children are going to look at how you spend money and act accordingly. If you show them how you allot money to different purposes for household needs, bills and budgets, they will learn how to do the same over time.
2 – Help open a bank account for your teen.
Establishing a bank account for your teenager will allow him or her to have instant financial responsibility. Sit down with them and explain how they can manage their own account, and take a moment to talk about the rewards that can be received once they have saved enough money. These savings, for example, could go toward their college tuition or even to purchasing a car. The entire process of saving and earning will give them a significant sense of accomplishment, and they will have something concrete to show for their hard work and dedication to saving and investing wisely.
3 – Construct a spending plan for your teen.
Teens tend not to like the idea of budgeting, but you should not allow them to get by without a budget or a spending plan just because they don’t like the idea. Instead, you and your teenaged son or daughter should sit down and build a spending plan that will help them get excited about the idea of earning, saving and investing their money. Take the time to teach them the differences between what they need and what want, and what things are worth saving for. Once they know what they can do without, it becomes easier for them to save their money for investing.
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Originally posted 2008-11-12 05:57:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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March 11th, 2010
D.R.I.P.s
In times of uncertain economic future, it is important to look at your investment strategy and tweak it as needed. One of the ways that you can improve your portfolio is to take on small investments with lower risks associated with them. Taking in smaller rewards and returns may seem like a waste, but these smaller ROIs can actually add up fast in the right investment vehicles. Fixed income investments are some of the best small investments that are available to you, like savings accounts and CDs. Another excellent investment vehicle for someone looking for small investments with great rewards is an investment called DRIPs.
DRIPs are a truly cost effective way to raise equity for a company, and they are beneficial for investors as well. The reason why they are beneficial for investors is because they allow for the investment return drawn from dividends to be invested immediately back into the investment for price appreciation and compounding, but without incurring any brokerage fees. Additionally, there is no waiting for the investor to accumulate enough cash for a full share of the stock, which is another excellent advantage making these some of the best small investments that you can make.
DRIPs have numerous advantages associated with them, but they’re not perfect. They do allow investors to take advantage of dollar cost averaging for cost effectively investing the dividend income that is being paid out by the company. Not only will the investor receive a guarantee for the return on the dividend yield, but they will also earn whatever has been appreciated by the stock during the time that they own it. Another advantage is the fact that you do not need an exorbitant amount of money to begin. You can participate in such a program without more than a single share of stock, but it would be wise to consult your broker or the company’s investor section of their website to get more details on this.
DRIPs also allow you to grow your investment capital in a cost effective way by purchasing more company shares rather than simply spending money or having it sit idly in another account. Most company-offered DRIP investment programs have no fees for transactions, brokerage fees or account-keeping fees so 100% of your returns are being invested back in.
Some of the disadvantages of DRIPs include the administrative hassle associated with the cost basis of all the different small stock purchases, maintaining records of these purchases, and the fact that you do not get to choose the timing for when the stock is purchased. Most DRIPs have specific schedules that they are meant to follow, so there’s a little bit of uncertainty built in to this particular investment vehicle.
Still, if you are looking for one of the best small investments that you can make, these DRIPs are a good way to go if you can find a suitable program to buy into. They are worth checking out if you are trying to build your investment portfolio and are looking for something new, and profitable for that matter.
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Originally posted 2008-11-11 05:57:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: amount of money, brokerage fees, dividend income, dividend yield, dividends, fixed income investments, investment return, investment strategy, investment vehicle, investment vehicles, investor section, investors, price appreciation, rewards, rois, savings accounts, stock
Posted in Investments, Money, Personal Finance | No Comments »
March 10th, 2010
Question -
Because of the credit crunch, is this a good time to consider borrowing against a 401(k) savings as a means of paying off other loans? My current 401(k) planning investment return is 5 percent, and the interest I will be paying on it is 9 percent.
To borrow or not borrow against a 401K.
Answer -
If you only really consider the numbers in the situation, taking out a loan against your 401(k) in order to pay off a high interest credit card or some other higher interest debt may seem like a no brainer decision. This is because you would be paying yourself back the interest by paying back a 401(k) loan, but with credit card debt or a high interest loan you would be paying as much as 15 percent or more straight to the bank. Plus in today’s market, the 9 percent that you speak of is more than you would make if you were just keeping the money to sit in your account.
With that said, however, most 401k planning experts would shudder at the mere idea of raiding tomorrow’s intended nest egg to fund the financial indiscretions of today. This kind of thing may work out in terms of pure numbers, experts will gladly agree, but that does not make this a good idea, or even one worth putting consideration into. Financial planners generally agree that there are a number of concerns to touch on before you ever make a decision as large as this one, for example:
What if you leave your company?
If you leave your company for any reason at all, you generally only have 30 days to pay back the entire loan in full; otherwise you will have to pay ordinary income taxes on the withdrawal along with a 10-percent IRS penalty, assuming you are under the age of 59 and a half.
The bottom line here is that this is a pretty foolish move in most if not all situations, even if you are desperate to pay off a high interest credit card or some other high interest debt that has been accrued. If you are likely to rack up more debt in the process, have concerns relating to job security, or are paying off loans that are tax deductible or low interest, then this is definitely a foolish way to go. On the other hand, there are scenarios where this could allow you to come out financially ahead, but they tend to be few and far between. If you’re not sure, then it would be wise to sit down with an investment advisor or financial advisor who can help you weigh your options.
Before you take out any loan you should sit down with an expert that can help you review your choices. You just may discover that there is a better, less risky and less costly option that you have not yet explored for this particular situation.
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Originally posted 2008-11-10 20:58:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Tags: 401 k, bottom line, brainer, credit card debt, credit crunch, financial planners, foolish move, good time, high interest, income taxes, indiscretions, interest credit card, interest debt, interest loan, investment return, irs penalty, job security, nest egg, s market, straight to the bank
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March 9th, 2010
President-Elect Obama
Loanio extends its congratulations to President-Elect Obama for running an excellent campaign.
This week’s edition of Loanio’s roundup takes a look at the election and what it means for the economy. What are your thoughts to the issues? We’ve also included several links for business entrepreneurs and on p2p lending for your weekend reading.
The Economy and the Election:
Small Business:
Peer-to-Peer Lending:
Loanio in the News:
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Originally posted 2008-11-09 05:33:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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