Times are tough, there’s no denying it, but that’s no reason to let your money stagnate while you wait for the climate to improve. Whether you’d like to generate an income in order to supplement your salary or to see you through retirement there are a number of steps that you can take in order to maximize return and make your capital work harder.
Spread and diversify:
If you’re investing for income the chances are that you want to keep it steady and minimize risk to your capital, especially in the current climate, while at the same time you’ll understandably want to generate a reasonable rate of return.
By thinking hard about your investment strategy and diversifying rather than putting all your eggs in one basket, you can reduce risk to a certain degree.
The strategy is often underestimated when it comes to investing money but by making sure you’re up to speed you can maximize investment performance and protect yourself against some of the greatest risks associated with investing. This can be particularly important when you are investing for income because the return you receive will form a part of your living.
Decide what you can afford to lose
Investment inevitably carries an element of risk with it. Generally speaking the higher the risk you are willing to take the higher the potential rate of return is likely to be.
While it is important to get the most out of your investment consider carefully the amount you are able to lose if things go wrong, make sure you understand and can deal with all the risks involved.
For example, if you are investing to generate a retirement income it is likely that you will be much more risk-averse because you won’t be as able to fall back on other streams of income. Conversely, if you have a sizable salary income on the side, you will probably feel comfortable with a greater level of risk.
Again, this emphasizes the importance of strategy when it comes to investing.
Use your ISA tax allowance
Opening up an Individual Savings Account (ISA) won’t enhance investment performance, but what it will do is allow you to protect your income from the taxman, potentially increasing the amount of income you receive. An ISA acts like a tax-free wrapper protecting your income from UK Income tax and Capital Gains tax.
There are two types of ISA, cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs. Both types of ISA can be used to generate an income, a stocks and shares ISA will mean an increased level of risk to your capital but you are likely to see better rates of return.
You can invest up to £10,680 in ISAs as an overall ISA tax allowance. You have the option of putting up to £5,340 into a cash ISA, and up to the balance in a stocks and shares ISA, or alternatively, you can invest up to the full £10680 in a stocks and shares ISA.
The name’s Bond
Investing in bonds can offer a regular income on a weekly, monthly or annual basis. One of the major benefits of investing for income through bonds is that you can often get a fixed rate of income helping you to plan ahead more easily.
However, it’s wise to remember that although you will usually receive a fixed rate of interest, your capital will be exposed to a degree of risk, and in the event that the company or body you are invested in should go bust you could lose both your income and your capital.
Different levels of risk are involved in different types of a bond investment. If you are thinking of investing in corporate bonds you may want to look into the background and risk rating of the company you are investing in, in order to find the best investment suited to your attitude to risk.
When in doubt seek help
Don’t be afraid to ask for help with your investment strategy and planning. You may want to invest for income through an income fund or trust, where a professional will usually manage your fund for you.
One of the benefits of such a fund in that money will often be kept back during times of plenty and distributed during lean years in a bid to smooth out some of the lumps and bumps in investment income.
You may also want to speak to an independent financial advisor who will be able to give you unbiased advice on finding the right investment option for your needs.
Before you do take professional advice check that your chosen adviser is fully independent and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in order to ensure that any advice that you do receive is unbiased.
Top 8 Successful Investment Tactics
In present times, most persons are hesitant in investing in something. You can actually invest in a lot of things depending on what you like and your choice. Prior to investing, you need to do your own research especially when you opt to invest in something for the first time.
There is a truth that there are risks involved when one invests and that there is no assurance that when you invest in something that it will turn out good. Hence, you need to know successful and effective investment tactics so that you will minimize the risk of failure when you invest in something.
Why should you invest?
According to experts, one should invest in something for it is a great way to secure your own future. In the world that we live in, there are two ways to earn financial income which is to work for the money and the other one is to invest to have a financial return.
However, when it comes to investing without proper planning, it will eventually lead to failure than success. Hence, you need to understand thoroughly the financial works and successful and effective investment tactics.
What are the successful Investment Tactics?
Investment tactics are actually rules that one uses for the investment action to aid in reacting to the conditions of the market and be able to get efficient kind of results.
Basically, the importance of investment tactics may appear irrelevant to some, but it can save you in one way or another. The strategy of investing in something for the first time is designed in the investor’s risk-return tradeoff.
Some investors would like to maximize his or her expected returns by in turn investing in risky kind of assets while others prefer minimal risk. In aiding you with investment tactics, the following are a set of rules that one should conform to:
- Define goals
The first strategy in investing in something for the first time is to define goals. You need to ask yourself why you want to invest. When you define your goals in investing, you become clear in investing in something.
- Have an IPS or Investment Policy Statement
When you have IPS or investment policy statement, you will be able to be guided in your investment. You become goal-oriented.
- Properly allocate assets
In minimizing risk tolerance, experts suggest that you properly allocate your assets.
- Ignore Noise
What it is meant here is that you need to ignore what other economists and analysts that make predictions because these are just predictions they may or may not be true.
- Choose what to invest in
There are a variety of choices when you invest. You need to choose well what to invest in prior to investing in it.
- Acquire knowledge in your investment
Knowledge is power when you are able to know what you are investing in, you will be able to be equipped.
- Buy low
An investment tactic is you buy something that is of low price compared to the ones that are expensive enough. This will be good for your investment needs as well as be good for your financial savings.
- Make changes when needed
Change is inevitable. You need to be open to changes and make them when there is in need of it.
What’s in Your Portfolio?
If you’re new to saving and investing, and even if you’re not, you may be unsure about what to do with your extra cash in order to optimize your returns without gambling so much that you could lose it all. Your savings portfolio is something you should take extreme care with since your returns will dictate how soon you can reach your goals in life.
Diversify
The first thing you should do is ensure that you’re not putting all your eggs in one basket. Even if something seems like a great investment, it’s important to split up your money so it’s not all hanging in the balance if something goes wrong unexpectedly. Your money should be split up amongst stocks, bonds, and any other investments you want to dip into, like real estate.
Even your stock portfolio itself should be diverse and not all with a single stock, but rather split up among many. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of choosing several different types of stocks, index funds can do it for you.
Index funds essentially split up your money between a wide range of stocks. However, they often charge a fee or keep a portion of your returns, so look carefully into the index fund options before investing your money to ensure that you’re not wasting your cash.
Safe vs. Aggressive
Safer investments will make you a lower percentage of returns, while more risky and aggressive investing can get you higher returns but a greater risk of losing everything. Before you invest, find out what your comfort level of risk is and avoid pushing yourself above that.
When you diversify, you can put some money into higher-risk stocks and some into safer bets, evening out the amount of risk while raising your possible earnings. If you choose to work with a financial advisor or mortgage broker, they can help you create a portfolio that matches your risk tolerance, but be aware that they’ll do so for a fee or commission.
Buying and Selling
When people first jump into the stock market, they often picture constant buying and selling, but in reality, the only buying and selling you need to do is every few months when your portfolio gets out of balance.
Your investments should be split up as certain percentages of your total portfolio, and when one starts outperforming, it will grow to a larger percentage and start to outweigh the rest.
When this happens, sell some of those shares and put the money into a lower-performing area. This may sound counter-intuitive, but it’s actually buying low and selling high and can help you in the long run.
Ignore Minor Fluctuations
The stock market changes on a daily basis, but trying to game the system or letting the anxiety of a downturn get to you is not helpful. Your money should be invested for the long term, so you don’t need to worry about what’s going on right this second and instead just relax and wait it out.
Beyond the basic buying and selling mentioned above, you need to just let the money work for you and not let minor ups and downs eat away at you.
Your investment portfolio is very important since it’s the money that will lead you to your life goals and happy retirement, but it shouldn’t be a chore in and of itself. Take some time at the outset to plan your investments carefully, and allow your money to do its job while you relax and collect the payouts.
5 Ways To Put Your Money To Work Without Buying Stocks
The word “invest” simply means to commit money in the hope of earning a financial return. It doesn’t have to be within the context of the stock market, despite that being what most typically pops into our minds when we hear the word.
Anything you spend money on that could potentially return that money to you along with an increase in the form of financial gain can be considered an investment. What you’re doing is putting your money to work, or simply “paying yourself.”
Investments are always a risk, and there’s never a guaranteed return. However, that doesn’t make it unwise to try and invest your money in something with true and honest potential.
Thankfully, the most volatile of those methods, the stock market, isn’t our only option.
There are some other safer and more practical ways that we can put our money to work for us while keeping the stakes low.
Putting money into our home
With the housing market improving, your home is a safe place to put your money, especially if you plan to resell it in the near future. Adding newer appliances or installing something of quality can immediately up the resale value of any house.
Think about what you would be willing to pay more for when you’re buying a new home and invest in that for the home you own now.
When it comes time to sell, you’ll be glad you have those few extra pieces in place to justify a higher asking price.
Invest in a Home Based Business
If you have a home business, taking just $200 to invest in advertising, equipment or even just business cards can be an excellent way to put your money to work for you.
Home-based small businesses are becoming much more popular, and more reliable than they’ve been in the past, particularly for stay-at-home spouses or those who are looking to make extra money on the side.
In many cases, these businesses overtake people’s day jobs and replace them as their main source of income. It can be done, and a little investment can go a long way.
Invest in a Web-Based Business
Marketing a business online is usually easier to do free of cost than offline methods, though you can still pay for exposure via Twitter, Stumbleupon or Facebook. Getting the extra traffic and recognition could be well worth the money, even if you just do one or two campaigns.
Open a CD Account (Certificate of Deposit).
A CD account is simply a high-interest savings account where you agree to leave your money in the bank for an allotted period of time (usually a year or more).
Though CD rates will fluctuate and change, you’re generally going to be looking at one to two percent interest annually. It’s not for everyone, but if you have a large sum of money that you know you’re not going to need, a CD is a safe way to invest it for a short period of time.
Small Land Investments.
This one is for those of us who have more money to throw around and are willing to take a little bit of a bigger risk; though there can certainly be excellent returns if you own the right kind of land in the right place.
Small plots near the city or even parking lots can be valuable pieces of land to own as you’re not likely to have a hard time leasing them to businesses.
If you aren’t near the city, land with trees that could be used for lumber is also a worthwhile investment and valuable commodity.
The land is one of the most reliable things you can own in terms of an investment, and even if you don’t think you could afford it until down the road, don’t let that discourage you from doing your research the process and keeping an eye out.
Passive Income and Great Alternatives For You
To understand the difference between active income and passive income you must go for extensive research. For the surprise of many, passive income facts are delightful. While it seems too basic, it is amazing how many individuals are not informed about it, and therefore they fail to obtain these benefits, which results in no financial freedom.
Facts and concepts
You might want to start by understanding the meaning of the word Active. As our intention is not to re-discover the wheel, we need to what the Kiyosaki said: “An asset puts money in your pocket, therefore, invest considerable time, effort and intelligence to obtain or build as many assets that will help you to obtain total freedom (financial, time, motion and decision)”.
You need to be ready to “sacrifice” at least a percentage of your income. In addition, you must determine exactly why you want to generate passive income. For instance, discover the primary purpose for which you plan to spend all that time and effort in learning and working to achieve them.
Find out about passive income opportunities, you can now have financial freedom. Financial goals and objectives involve drawing short, medium and long term goals. Many people dream of passive income and thus their financial freedom, but those who attain it are the ones that have deadlines for these dreams and follow a plan of action.
Are you ready to be financially free for the rest of your life? A good plan of action must be written for at least five years (1825 days without interruption), which is a long-term financial goal realistic enough to achieve financial freedom.
Work for your Plan
A good plan of action is always good. This way, you will be able to obtain the desired financial freedom. You should consider a financial mindset change, for instance, learning to think in terms of abundance and prosperity (regardless of our current circumstances) and discard your old and outdated way thinking, for example, in terms of scarcity, poverty, envy, etc.
Failure to meet these basic requirements may lead you to problems. It doesn’t matter if it comes to the most experienced entrepreneurs and investors, anyone can fall into the routine of unpleasant wanting and deserving more through their intelligent decisions, but they may still be thinking in a mediocre and defeatist manner.
There is a lot to learn. Start by finding out about passive income opportunities. Market identification is important. Sales, marketing, investment, financial planning, types of income, negotiation and team management are also to be taken into consideration.
Learn the differences
As you learn new things, you must begin to treat your income; assets are different from what you have probably tried so far. So once you focus on income-generating financial assets with a strong mentality, you must begin to manage with the idea that you do not lack food, dress, mobilize, train, etc. you can save, pay debts and services, have fun.
Remember that you are also allowed to make donations and obviously, to acquire or even build assets to generate passive income, which is known as your funds.
Tips for Evaluating a Mutual Fund
A mutual fund typically contains a variety of stocks, bonds and money market instruments that are all contained within the one fund. When you invest in a mutual fund, your money is tied-in with the money from other investors and used by the fund manager to purchase additional securities for the fund.
This is often a great way for an investor to have a diverse portfolio without having to buy their own individual stocks and bonds. Here are some tips for evaluating mutual funds that can help you decide which fund is the right one for you.
Types of Mutual Funds
There are many different types of mutual funds that you can invest in. Mutual funds may own stock in small companies or big businesses. The fund may follow the performance of the Standard and Poor’s 500, NASDAQ or even the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Some funds may be comprised of nothing but short-term bonds, or the fund may be slow-growth and heavy on CDs and money market accounts. When deciding on which mutual fund to invest in, remember that it is important to compare funds that are similar in their holdings and objectives.
Research the Mutual Fund
What types of stocks, bonds, or other securities does the mutual fund hold? Does the fund always invest the same way or does the fund manager like to take risks? Note what the fund’s investment strategy is and how well it performs in both good economic times and bad.
Check into the history of the fund manager. This can be done either online through an Internet search engine or by requesting a prospectus from the company that owns the fund. The prospectus normally gives a bio of the fund manager’s track record and explains the manager’s investing philosophy.
Size of the Fund
Note whether the mutual fund seems to be growing or if the number of holdings in the account is shrinking. Holdings in a healthy fund typically grow and multiply.
If the amount of the holdings appears to actually be getting smaller or the fund is shrinking in size, this could indicate that the fund manager is selling off the liquid assets of the fund.
This can mean that the fund is in trouble or that the fund manager is about to restructure the fund. In either case, further research should be done before an investment in the mutual fund is made.
Note the Mutual Fund’s Expenses
All mutual funds incur fees when stocks and bonds are traded. There are also expenses for salaries and overhead costs. This is called the “expense ratio”.
A lower expense ratio is considered a good thing because this generally means that more money is actually going into your pocket instead of being used to manage the fund.
Load versus No-Load
It used to be that if you bought or sold a mutual fund or any type of stock, you had to do it through a stockbroker. Since the stockbroker was actually initiating the sale or trade of the stock for you, he was paid a commission, which was a percentage of the amount that was bought or sold. If a commission is paid on a mutual fund, it is called a “load fund”.
The amount that is charged can vary and is typically between 4 to 8-percent of the investment amount or can even be a flat fee. A mutual fund that has shares that can be bought and sold without a commission, however, is called a “no-load” fund. While both types of fund work the same way, most financial advisors suggest avoiding load funds since the amount of return is the same.
Depository Amount For Opening A Binary Options Account
The irony remains in the fact that though everyone is inclined in making money online, few are willing to perform all tasks that will help them reach the gateway to success. There is no point in blaming individuals who do not have the amount to invest in binary options trading.
However, it certainly seems amazing learning that there are individuals who prefer indulging in useless activities rather than investing the amount for generating profits with the help of binary options.
Understand Market Scenario
A majority of all concerned traders remain perplexed at the thought as to what is the amount that needs to be deposited as far as opening a binary options account remains in question.
In this respect, it needs to be mentioned that holding a fair level of understanding about the market scenario and trading principles can lessen your chances of losing to a certain extent. However, to believe that you will always end up on the winning side can definitely place you in a land of trouble.
Start With Small Amount
It has been perceived that, in most cases, a majority of all brokers prefer to invest no more than one hundred dollars while opening an account. In order to be on the safer side, it is always advisable to start with the trading activity with a small amount.
However, if you plan to invest one thousand dollars it will always be possible to benefit from different types of membership plans. Prior to trading along with a website, it is always a great idea to browse through the same so as to develop a fair conception about the membership plans.
You can always consider benefiting from different binary option trading websites that make available for your advantage attractive features.
Live Trading Different
There are traders who believe that trading with demo accounts prior to live accounts can benefit their purpose in the right manner. However, it is important to realize that live trading and demo trading are never the same kettles of fish.
The fact that you are bound to make mistakes while performing trading activities does not make 200 dollars a safe amount necessarily start with. Traders, who prefer starting with twenty-five dollars, can end up on losing the amount by committing no more than eight mistakes.
Thus, it will not be a wrong claim to make that two hundred dollar, is never a safe amount to start along with the trading process. If you visit this website about binary options brokers, you will be able to learn further facts and details.
It is important to deposit the amount that will enable you to withstand the mistakes. You need to understand that greater amount will certainly play a strong role as far as enabling risk management remains concerned. Depositing amount ranging within 300-500 dollars can certainly assist you in enjoying rewarding advantages.
It is advisable to make a start with a fair amount that certainly will assist you in enjoying desired risk management potential. Holding a smart attitude can offer you with desired profits.
How to Make Money Without Leaving the House?
Have you dreamy of increasing your income without having to increase your work schedule? It’s common to long for a little extra money to spoil ourselves for once, instead of seeing money go straight to bills. There are ways you can make extra cash outside of work, however, many of which can be done without even leaving the house:
Get cashback
The easiest way to make money without leaving the house is to make use of cashback sites that provide a financial reward for the online shopping activities you are already complete! There really is no catch. You simply go via their site to visit retailers you already use.
Through their affiliation, your purchase will be tracked and a percentage of the money you spend will be sent back to your cashback account. Once it reaches a certain limit (usually around just $10) you can send this cash directly to your bank account! Popular sites include Quidco and Kidstart.
Claim cash for goods
Pawning items is nothing new, but the difference between pawn shops and ‘cash 4 goods’ retailers is that you don’t expect to get your item back in the future. Whether you want money for old gold jewelry or are looking for clothes collection for cash, cash for goods shops are popping up all over the high-street and online.
Simply send off your stuff for assessment and wait for the payment to come through! Ok, so you may have to leave the house to visit the post-office for this one.
Rent stuff out
Once you’ve sold all your junk, think about hiring out your useful items for the benefit of others. You’ve probably heard of renting evening dresses from your local gown shop or hiring a lawnmower from the garden center, but it’s also possible to rent of private owners – usually for a reduced rate.
Take a look at sites such as RentNotBuy and RentMyItem which allow you to list items you have available to borrow. Remember to always organize a deposit for your expensive equipment and items that could get damaged whilst being hired.
Work from home freelancing
Do you have creative skills that could be put to use on a remote basis? The internet has made it easier than ever to complete one-off freelance projects from the comfort of your lounge. Whether you have expertise in web design or writing, office administration or telephone sales – look at sites like Freelancer and PeoplePerHour to find current work from home opportunities.
Get on the survey wagon
This last option does take a lot of time to build up funds worth bothering about, but can be carried out from the comfort of your sofa or even bed! Just open up your laptop and sign-up to the many online survey sites which will financially reward you for your time.
You’ll be asked your opinion on all sorts of topics – from health and lifestyle surveys to surveys regarding your finances. Popular money-making survey providers include Ipsos, GlobalTestMarket, Pinecone, Newvistalive, and Toluna.
Read also: Is There Still Time To Get in on the New Gold Rush?
Hi everyone! Feel free to post any questions or discussion here! Thanks, John.