"There is no wealth but life."John Ruskin
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The 11 Best Money Saving Ideas of All Time - Part 4
At any time in history, no matter what the current state of the economy, no matter what the current trends, no matter what the unemployment rate is or where interest rates lurk, some money-saving ideas stay true. Some of you may have heard of these ...
The IRA Owned LLC, a Great Tool for Investing
"So many investors are tired of watching their retirement accounts dwindle away from the lackluster performance of the stock market, while the value of their home and surrounding areas increase in the double digits," said Marco Caporale, President and CEO ...
What You Really Need To Retire
After reading many articles about retirement, I have come to the conclusion that most of the financial advice addressed to consumers is bad advice. From the perspective of conventional wisdom, the advice makes sense. The problem is that conventional ...
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Often times when people here the word "invest" they become frightened. It is probably one of the most misunderstood words on our planet. As a result, many employees as well as other individuals refuse to invest their money in anything other than a passbook savings or money market account. That includes those who have retirement accounts available through their employer.
So, what is stopping you from starting to invest? Three of the most common reasons are I found after taking a poll are:
1. I don't have enough money to invest.
2. I have to pay off my bills first.
3. I have money to invest, but I am afraid.
What can you do to alleviate your fear of investing? There are many inexpensive ways to start investing. You can open an investment account with a broker that sells shares or partial shares of stocks, this type of broker is usually found online. You can open a mutual fund account with a mutual fund company, that will allow you to start with a small amount of money. You can start investing with your company employee retirement plan. And finally, you will have to shed some old baggage about investing, for example, "I will start investing when I get my bills paid off," or "I am afraid to invest." The main questions being, how do you shed this baggage and allay all fears?
1. The first most common reason many people don't start investing is because they think it is too expensive. They feel a lot of money is needed to start investing in stocks or mutual funds. There are mutual fund companies that will allow you to start an investment account for as little as one hundred dollars, and add as little as twenty-five dollars a month. You can do a search for mutual funds in any internet search engine or research them in your local library. There are many companies that will allow you to invest in a few shares or partial shares of stock, starting with as little as eight dollars a month, and adding eight dollars a month to your account to purchase additional shares or partial shares. Using your company retirement account is another way to invest with ease. In most cases, you will have the option to pick among investments already chosen by your company. The money is taken out of your check, your employer matches a percentage your total, and your investment has tax advantages.
2. The second most common reason is that many people are told to pay off bills before they start to invest.
It is a good idea to have your debt well under control before you start to invest. The interest rates on outstanding debts are sometimes in excess of the interest rates on investments, coupled with compounded interest, debt payments can be excessive. There is an easy way to invest after you have your bills under control, that is to treat your investment savings as "just another bill," before you know it, you will have a significant amount of money in your savings account, that you can invest.
3. Fear is probably the third most common reason people don't invest. This fear can be easily conquered with education and detailed information about investing.
Do you have plenty of money to invest, but you are simply afraid? I think the term for that is, "fear of the unknown". That is probably the easiest investment stop addressed in this article. The Internet has brought learning to our fingertips, there are thousands of websites that teach investing from a consumers perspective. Brokerage sites and web portals provide research with detailed information about stocks, mutual funds and other investments to protect your interest and your money. If you are not Internet savvy, take a trip to your local library, the librarian will show you how to use investment research catalogs such as the stock reports for stocks research, and the Mutual Fund Reports for Mutual Funds research. Doing your own research will teach you how to choose low risk, low cost investments. Investment research will also teach you how to analyze the investments that your advisor chooses for you.
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Bearish MACD for Meadowbrook InsuranceZacks.comZacks Rank Home - Evaluate your stocks and use the Zacks Rank to eliminate the losers and keep the winners. Mutual Fund Rank Home - Evaluate your funds with the Mutual Fund Rank for both your personal and retirement funds. Stock/Mutual Fund Screening ...and more » |
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More US workers put 401(k) investments on autopilotReutersBy Tim McLaughlin | BOSTON (Reuters) - More US workers with 401(k) plans are selecting mutual funds that rebalance to safer investments as they near retirement, but analysts say some of these funds are still too aggressive. So called target-date funds ...and more » |
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Stocks Raising on Facebook's IPO EuphoriaThe Ledger"It's like we're finally emerging from nuclear winter for IPOs but we've forgotten our history," said Harold Bradley, chief investment officer for the Kauffman Foundation and a former executive with the American Century mutual funds.and more » |
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