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How Much Money Should You Invest?

Posted by admin | Posted in Paper Investments, Debt Reduction, The Psychology of Wealth, Real Estate Investments | Posted on 18-05-2008

Many first time investors think that they should invest all of their savings. This isn’t necessarily true. To determine how much money you should invest, you must first determine how much you actually can afford to invest, and what your financial goals are.

First, let’s take a look at how much money you can currently afford to invest. Do you have savings that you can use? If so, great! However, you don’t want to cut yourself short when you tie your money up in an investment. What were your savings originally for?

It is important to keep three to six months of living expenses in a readily accessible savings account – don’t invest that money! Don’t invest any money that you may need to lay your hands on in a hurry in the future.

So, begin by determining how much of your savings should remain in your savings account, and how much can be used for investments. Unless you have funds from another source, such as an inheritance that you’ve recently received, this will probably be all that you currently have to invest.

Next, determine how much you can add to your investments in the future. If you are employed, you will continue to receive an income, and you can plan to use a portion of that income to build your investment portfolio over time. Speak with a qualified financial planner to set up a budget and determine how much of your future income you will be able to invest.

With the help of a financial planner, you can be sure that you are not investing more than you should – or less than you should in order to reach your investment goals.

For many types of investments, a certain initial investment amount will be required. Hopefully, you’ve done your research, and you have found an investment that will prove to be sound. If this is the case, you probably already know what the required initial investment is.

If the money that you have available for investments does not meet the required initial investment, you may have to look at other investments. Never borrow money to invest, and never use money that you have not set aside for investing!

Determine Your Risk Tolerance

Posted by admin | Posted in Paper Investments, Debt Reduction, The Psychology of Wealth, Real Estate Investments | Posted on 16-05-2008

Each individual has a risk tolerance that should not be ignored. Any good stock broker or financial planner knows this, and they should make the effort to help you determine what your risk tolerance is. Then, they should work with you to find investments that do not exceed your risk tolerance.

Determining one’s risk tolerance involves several different things. First, you need to know how much money you have to invest, and what your investment and financial goals are.

For instance, if you plan to retire in ten years, and you’ve not saved a single penny towards that end, you need to have a high risk tolerance – because you will need to do some aggressive – risky – investing in order to reach your financial goal.

On the other side of the coin, if you are in your early twenties and you want to start investing for your retirement, your risk tolerance will be low. You can afford to watch your money grow slowly over time.

Realize of course, that your need for a high risk tolerance or your need for a low risk tolerance really has no bearing on how you feel about risk. Again, there is a lot in determining your tolerance.

For instance, if you invested in the stock market and you watched the movement of that stock daily and saw that it was dropping slightly, what would you do?

Would you sell out or would you let your money ride? If you have a low tolerance for risk, you would want to sell out… if you have a high tolerance, you would let your money ride and see what happens. This is not based on what your financial goals are. This tolerance is based on how you feel about your money!

Again, a good financial planner or stock broker should help you determine the level of risk that you are comfortable with, and help you choose your investments accordingly.

Your risk tolerance should be based on what your financial goals are and how you feel about the possibility of losing your money. It’s all tied in together.

How to Save Money and Avoid Temptations

Posted by admin | Posted in The Psychology of Wealth | Posted on 09-05-2008

Saving money and financial management is very crucial in one’s life. Money is very important in order to survive in this world but only a few people know how to manage their household budget properly. Many people have a hard time saving money even if it is for their own good.

Most of the time, you may be motivated to save money but there are times when temptations come your way and before you know it, you have already spent the amount that was supposed to be added to your savings account. Here are some helpful tips on how you can avoid temptations and be able to save money:

1. Try hard to avoid those things that keep you from saving. If you are fond of buying shoes even if you don’t really need them, try very hard to stay away from them. Keep yourself away from shoe stores so that you will not be tempted to buy one.

2. When going to grocery stores. Always bring the exact amount and bring with you a grocery list. If you have limited money in your pocket when in grocery stores, you will be forced to buy only those important things that you need. Preparing a grocery list will also help you get organized and will help you in deciding the things that need to be prioritized.

3. Go to the malls only when needed. Do not go shopping if you do not need anything important to buy. Window-shopping will only tempt you to buy the dress you saw in the boutique even if you don’t really need it.

4. Do not bring with you your credit cards all the time. Having a credit card in your pocket will only tempt you to buy things that are not necessary. This will also help you lower your balances and have a good credit score.

5. You may want to save money in the bank or invest in time deposits. You will not be tempted to get money from the bank every time you need cash, if they are placed in a time deposit account.

6. You may also want to consider consulting a financial advisor. There are a lot of programs that offer these services for free. They may be able to help you and give you advice on how you can avoid temptations and save more money.

To Your Success!

4 Warnings about Property

Posted by admin | Posted in Real Estate Investments | Posted on 08-05-2008

This article provides you four things you should be aware of in the property market/investing.

Get Debt Free and Keep Debt Free
The worst mistake that homebuyers make is one of the worst mistakes people in society make - they go into too much debt. Debt rarely leads to security. It is tragic when the high debt level, which was necessary to acquire the home, puts stress on the whole family, when the home was meant to bring the family together and provide security. The first aim of all families should be to own their own family home debt free.

Things go Up and Down
Real estate does not always go up. Sometimes it comes down. It all depends on the market, the timing, and the economy. Anything that can rise in value can also drop.

Ask the Agent for Reasons
If a real estate agent pushes you on to a property and indicates that it is a good buy, ask for their reasons. Once the agent has explained all the benefits and why you should not let the property go, ask him/her this simple question.
“If you think this property is so good, and I go ahead and buy it and make a loss, are you prepared to be responsible for the losses?”
No serious real estate agent would pass by something that was a “real steal” so ask the question.

Borrowing is Buying Money
The first thing most home buyers do is choose an area and then decide how much they have to pay to live in that area. This is dangerous. The words ‘have to’ should be obliterated from their calculations because it leads to ‘having’ to borrow too much money because they simply ‘have to’ be in that area.
Remember that when you are borrowing money by mortgage to buy a property, you are buying money. Of course we know that if you buy anything you have to pay for it. Buying a high mortgage will put you into heavy debt because of the high repayments involved. This warning doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t borrow to buy your home, but it does mean you have to be careful about how much you borrow and your borrowings have to be within your means.