Investing is still one of the best ways to grow wealth. You can earn as much as you want as an employee, but if your money isn’t invested properly, you will end up putting far less aside for retirement than the person that invests their money. The problem with investing in today’s economic climate is the risk of losses due to volatile markets. For that reason, you have to take a hard look at your investment strategies, and even if you consider yourself a high risk investor, you have to make changes in how you allocate funds in your portfolio. The biggest change will be how to figure out how much of your money you can safely invest in stocks while the economy struggles to recover from this recession. (more…)

In the panic to avoid losses in riskier investments, many investors fled into the treasury market only to find that the Barclay Treasury index on 20-plus year investments have returned -20% in 2009. When investing the stock market is seen as risky, the conventional wisdom is to go to government backed bonds. However, now that the economy is on the mend and higher yields are expected elsewhere there is a rush to sell these bonds. (more…)

Many people think that the only way to invest in real estate is to buy a property in addition to the one that they live in. But guess what? If you feel this way you may be missing out on your best opportunity. You should consider investing in the home that you live in before you do anything else. By upgrading your primary residence you will not only increase its value, but you will also make it a more comfortable place to live. How does that sound to you? (more…)

Charity is about giving without expectation of return, but investing is about expecting a return on your spent money. These days, you don’t have to choose between being an open-hearted philanthropists or a hard-nosed investor, you can do it both at one time. There are now organizations that help you fund microloans to individuals to help them succeed in their ventures, whether financial or social, with an expectation of a return on that investment in the form of interest. You can invest in social projects of merit, and make money too. (more…)

With all the profit potential that the stock market and other investment options offer, many are lured in by the idea of big profits for little to no effort. What many do not realize is that when you invest without any form of knowledge of what you are getting yourself into, you actually increase your chances of losing money. While some can handle the loss, a loss can be quite devastating, especially for the investor who could not afford to lose the money that they started with. This situation could have been easily avoided if the investor had some prior knowledge of what was at stake. While there is always some level of risk involved in investing, you can decrease your level of risk by being well informed. Here are some simple tips on how to get started in investing so you can do things right the first time. (more…)

Look around and you might notice that there are few places to put your money right now that will yield sure substantial gains. The stock market may be rising, but it’s been on a roller-coaster ride since the beginning of 2009, up one week, down the next. Foreclosures might or might not make a good investment, depending on where you live and how much inventory is left to reduce. Bank accounts are making minimal gains, whether money market or savings. It’s time to take the long view and opt to invest in something that will surely pay gains over time: yourself. This type of conservative investing can not only be tax-deductible, but even safer than opening a swiss bank account from the US. (more…)

Have a little extra cash and can’t decide whether to jump into the stock market or not? There’s no guarantee the stock market will continue to climb, and even so, some companies may be doing better than others in this recession. In the past, like during the Great Depression, some types of investments that we consider “unusual” were the best ways to safeguard monies. Today, we might want to take a little wisdom from the Greatest Generation, but also use this knowledge to include them in our favorite stock picks too. (more…)

Finding positives about the economic situation currently embroiling the entire globe seems a bit hard to do. In fact, between inflation, unemployment, poor stock market performance, falling real estate prices and other economic factors, it can be easy to think there are no positives about the economic situation. However, there is at least one good thing to come out of the current financial disaster brewing. Gold prices have been steadily rising for years, despite what the world markets might be doing. Why is this good news? How can rising gold prices be a boon to a world in economic turmoil? (more…)

Have you taken the time to create a budget based on the amount of time you have available? We’ve all heard that time is money and yet most of us are quick to count pennies while paying little or no attention to the seconds that fly by. Unlike money, however, there is no way to store time to use at a later date. There are  no credit cards issued to use when you need 190 hours in your week instead of the usual 168.

So how do you go about making a time budget? You use the same format that you should already be using to track your financial income and expenses. Figure out approximate times for each major task you complete during a specific week. The hours you typically work, your drive times, shopping, laundry, etc. Be realistic in your estimations and don’t cut down times just to make yourself feel better about how you spend your time. Just like you’d bring some extra money to a grocery store if you knew prices changed constantly and you had a list of things to buy, make sure you leave enough margin between your tasks.

Once you have your time budget laid out, its time to see where you are wasting time and congratulate yourself for the days you use your time effectively. Setting up a time budget is a great exercise to gain a new perspective on how you are spending your life. Unlike the financial playing field, the one of time is exactly level for us all. The most financially wealthy people in the world woke up this morning…and started the day with exactly the same amount of time left as you did.

Have you made a time budget?

photo credit: Michel Filio

Do you know a lot about investing your money? If so, you are in good shape. But what if you are like most people and don’t know much? In this case you have two options. You can hire somebody who knows more than you to handle your investments, or you can learn on your own. Which one sounds better to you?

The knowledge you have of investing is very important. Those who don’t know much should be careful about where they put their money. After all, you don’t want to take too much of a risk. If you do there is a chance that you could lose a lot of your hard earned money. Is that a risk you want to take? You work hard for your money so you should take your investments seriously.

To learn more about investing you can turn to one of the many books on this subject. Of course, you don’t want to overlook the knowledge that is available online. One tip to keep in mind: only gather knowledge from reputable sources. In other words, learning from Warren Buffet is much different than picking the brain of your next door neighbor who works at the local grocery store.

Before you begin to invest your money you should take note of how much knowledge you have. If you know a lot, move forward. If you don’t, either hire a professional or take the time to learn before you make your next investment.