How To Guide

Joe Chalhoub

Joe Chalhoub was a computer engineer what he first tried to enter the Forex market. As many beginners Forex traders, Joe started with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but less knowledge and strategy. He relied on his luck and speculations to obtain profits, and this is why in the first three months he lost all his money.

Disappointed, Joe realized that he had to observe the market, see what makes things click, the ranging, and the trading process. E read numerous books about Forex and one year later, he reached his own strategy. In order to become successful, Joe needed to observe the market 24/7, but since he had a family, he came with an ingenious solution.

He created a software program that collects data from the market and implements his unique strategy on this data. This is the best way to detect and take advantage of any opportunity 24/7. Joe’s tips about becoming a successful Forex trader are: discipline, good money management, analysis and use of technical indicators.

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Steven

Failure is human, we all agree with that. However, financial fail can leave serious marks on someone’s reputation, self-esteem and life balance. When we fail from the financial point of view, the term banks use is bankruptcy. Steven was only 23 when he came over a huge business opportunity – to buy a football team arena. He jumped to the chance and hoped to gain a lot of money from it. However, in few months, the financial pressures were so high that Steven had to file personal bankruptcy.

The effects of this decision affected in a negative manner his entire life: he was not able to get a new credit, interest rates were higher, and deposits got bigger and bigger. With the little money he had left, Steven signed up to become a financial advisor. He learned from his experience, wrote a book a d created a website to help others find success in their personal life and business.

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Example 1

Debts can be very pressuring for anyone. Fortunately, there are people who succeeded clearing off their debts by following few simple steps. The internet is full of success stories and here is one of them. One woman managed to recover from her huge credit card debt, about $40,000. She used a number of techniques to reduce her debt, but the process took about three years. Commitment and consistency are two of the principles that guided her on her debt-free road. Some of the strategies she used to get rid of her credit card debts are:

-       setting clear goals and milestones;

-       creating a debt elimination plan by switching to a lower interest rate;

-       Keeping effective track of the financial balance.

-       using a budgeting tool;

However, the road to financial freedom is never easy is most of the times is paved with temptations. If you really want to be debt free, you need to be strong! Learn from others’ experience and start living a debt-free life.

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Example 1

Did you know that the average American holds an average $2,000 in credit card debt? Whether they spend it to survive from month to moths, to cover unexpected costs or to treat themselves with expensive items, when they are short on cash, they use a credit card. X also used two credit cards for various expenses. One day, he realized his debt reached $22.000. Initially, he tried to pay a small amount each month to cover the debt, but there were no visible results.

The first significant step he did in order to reduce his credit card debt was to call the credit card company and negotiate an interest reduction. After that, he increased the amount paid each month. A new job came with a new opportunity to reduce the debts. X deposited the extra income into the credit union. His goal was to add money in that account and never spend it. He paid an average $750 a month to his credit card company, and then he… Read More

Wai

When Wai arrived in Wellington, she had nothing but her two children. Her 18 years marriage ended suddenly, leaving her penniless. Wai was struggling with the monthly expenses and found it very hard to support her family. Therefore, she called The Mission asking for advice on how to improve her budgeting skills.

Since she was never on a benefit, she felt a bit ashamed, because when she was married, they never experience financial problems. After few meetings with the goal of assessing her situation, Wai was invited to attend the Mission for Independence Program consisting in a number of workshops. The program strengthened her self-esteem and expanded her knowledge related to better money management. Wai found a part time job and she wants to put her life back on the track. The Mission for Independence Program is meant to support people that need support whenever they struggle with their financial life.

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Example 1

The economy crisis has affected many homeowners. As a result, they became unable to pay their mortgages on time and they started to accumulate huge debts. The government created a program to support homeowners in need; the program was called HAMP. Homeowners applied for a loan modification. However, few of them were granted a permanent loan modification. Startingover101 also applied for a loan modification.

After few weeks, they got the final papers. Their loan was set at 2% for the following five years that it went up a percent until it reached 5%. The 5% interest remained the same for the rest of the loan contract, meaning 17 years. The good thing was that they were not forced to pay any late fees. Although an extra 5 years were added to the note, they ended up paying less (by $400). A loan modification is a good solution to reduce the debt and to become able to pay the monthly payments.

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Ross Beaty

Gold and silver are the most valuable asset in the world, regardless the course of the economy. Today, precious metals represent the ultimate investment in financial security, featuring many qualities like conservation, asset of last resort or extreme convertibility in cash.

Ross Beaty, the former CEO of Equinox Resources is a gold speculator. In 1994, he sold this company to Hecla for a generous profit.After that, the next step was to found Pan American Silver; in just few years, Ross’s company became the largest silver producer in the world. With mines in countries such as Peru, Mexico, or Argentina, Pan American trades today two million shares. In addition to silver, Ross started to trade copper and lately he found a new business opportunity in geothermal resources. He founded a new company called Magma Energy Corp. instead of selling precious metals; Ross is selling pure energy produced by geothermal power.

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Saving money during the recession is at the top of everyone’s list, but some families just do not know how to start saving on the things they use all the time such as food, utility bills, and changing the way you do things around the home.

There are many ways you can save money and make it through the recession. Saving on heating and cooling bills is a major concern for many but things can be done to help with the high cost of heating and cooling your home including installing the proper windows and closing up rooms that are not in use all the time. Most people that have high heating/cooling bills often live in large homes with a guest room that is not used the majority of the time. Just by closing off the vents to this room when not in use, is a great way to save money.

Lowering utility bills

Insulating the attic could also save hundreds of dollars when it comes to heating and cooling bills. Many times the insulation is not enough and since… Read More

The best way to begin to cut down on household expenditures is by creating a list of your current expenses. You will need to gather all the receipts, bills, and place down expenditures into categories such as travel and groceries. Now, you can look over the list and see where the majority of your money goes each month.

Phone bill

Start with the cost of your communication bill. In many cases, these can be bundled together via one company, which can save you quite a bit of money. If you do not really watch that much television, why pay extra for cable or satellite. If you use cable or satellite for the movies they offer, there are ways you can still enjoy movies without the high cost of cable such as via Netflex or Blockbusters. You can even use the internet to watch your favorite shows just by visiting such websites as Joost or Hulu.

Pay close attention to your home phone bill. Do you really need all those extras like caller ID or call block? You should look at… Read More

In the western world, using credit cards is the norm, but you can quickly pile up credit card debt if you don’t know how to use your credit cards wisely.

Before the advent of credit cards, there was only cash. Before cash, there was barter. Obviously, you don’t want to go back to the old days. However, credit cards have to be used properly and wisely, otherwise you can find yourself in a financial hole.

How credit cards work

Usually banks offer credit cards. Credit cards come in different categories, often depending on your income and credit rating. Many credit cards are co-branded with stores, airlines, or any consumer-oriented items. Credit cards come with a pre-fixed limit and you cannot go over the limit of your card.

Have you thought how credit cards work? They allow you to make purchases and give you time to make the payment. Credit cards typically can give you revolving credit of a month to 45 days to… Read More

Many people unwittingly get bad credit ratings and then land up paying even more money.

If you have a bad credit rating, you can get into a worse financial hole and your credit cards, which have become a lifeline for many people – can even be stopped. Worse, if you apply for any kind of loan whether it is for a house, mortgage, education or whatever, you may not be approved or you may have to pay a much higher rate of interest.

Check out your credit ratings

Even if you are financially responsible, and not in debt, you should be aware of your credit ratings. There are three credit bureaus in the US that keep a check on your credit ratings. These are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They will go through your credit balances, check when you have made payments and whether you have been late, how much penalties you have to pay, what is the outstanding you have on your cards.

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Having a budget and sticking to it is the single most important financial decision that you can ever make.

Countries have them, corporations have them, offices have them. If you are employed in any kind of organization, government or private, you will be well aware of the term ‘budget’ – and often, ‘budget cuts’. But at home, do you have a budget? Do you live within your budget? If you don’t, you are asking for financial trouble in the long run.

Making a budget

You must have done some math and accounts in school. Use those skills and some common sense to make a budget for yourself and your family. This can be on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on how your income comes in.

The budget can be made on paper or on the computer, but it is advisable to keep a print out for easy reference. While there are two basic sections, you may have sub-sections in both.

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Statically women are poorer than men for a variety of reasons even though they are otherwise good money managers.

Women often look out for others rather than themselves – they put their relationships with men, children, siblings, parents and friends first and let money take a backseat. That is why in the long run, women end up being poorer than men, being single parents, and always being tight for money, unless they are in very high end jobs.

Have a me-first attitude

Whether single, have children, are married or divorced, a woman really needs to have a me-first attitude where money is concerned. Instead of focusing on spending, a woman should plan her future financial plans so that she is does not need to be financially dependent on anyone else, no matter what her age.

So whether you are working or not, sock away some money for a rainy day. And this should not be pin money but should be a large sum… Read More

For the uninitiated, forex trading may be a very scary and unknown proposition, but if you start with some help, you can make decent money with very little capital.

The forex market has a major benefit going for it – it is open 24/7, so it does not matter which time zone you are in, you can do forex trading. You can also do it according your time convenience, for example in the evening after work or in the morning before work, instead of being tied down to when stock markets open and close.

The thing going for it is that most forex trading houses offer large margins to trade in, so you actually need very little capital investment in the beginning. However, while you can make a lot of money, the forex market is a high risk, high reward proposition, so when you actually trade, you need to be able to make good your losses.

Starting with forex trading

It is vital that you study the market for some time – at least a month or more –… Read More

It is never too early or too late to start saving for retirement, but obviously, the earlier you start, the better.

If you are working at a job which gives you retirement benefits, great. Most pension plans give you a fixed monthly income after retirement. Sometimes the employees and employers both contribute to the plans, in other cases unions may come into the picture. Otherwise this is what you should do:

IRA or 401(K)

If your employer is offering a 401(K) or a similar plan, take it. You should put in as much as you can every month because the employer will often match your contribution, thus increasing your money. Plus you will get tax breaks. So you will be the winner.

An individual retirement account is another option. This is a personal savings account towards retirement so you get tax breaks (depending on your tax liabilities) on it, thus adding to your kitty. You are not supposed to withdraw money from this fund, otherwise you can face penalties. There are five different types of IRAs, so you have… Read More

When you are young that is the time when you want to spend and enjoy life and you have limited resources. That is why when you start earning, you also tend to over-spend.

Unless you come from a filthy rich family which indulges your every whim and fancy you must be aware that money plays an important part in the kind of life you lead. There is a vast difference between always being short and having a complete lack of funds to having just enough to be comfortable. Obviously, if you have aspirations, you will always want just a little more money for a new phone, a camera, a notebook, an LED television, going to fancy restaurants and being able to order whatever you want, perhaps travel abroad and more.

Whether you are going to college on a scholarship, a loan or your parents are funding you, the last thing on your mind is going to be saving. But if you don’t save, you will not have your own little nest egg when you leave college. And having even… Read More

If you don’t have a great credit score, if you are always in debt and always behind payments and looking to find ways to improve your credit score, you will find them.

Sometimes you are in badly over your head in debt and wonder what you can do. Sometimes you are denied loans, a mortgage or extra credit, and you wonder if you can do anything about it. When you look it up on the net, you will find many sites which offer free credit counseling, offer to help you manage your debt better and get your financial health in order.

The improving credit score scam

There are many sites which offer to help you improve your credit score for a fee or for free. Be very wary of these because many of them are fake. Many of the companies offer you free credit reports from three companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Of these only FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) score from Equifax is valid and true. The credit scores from the other two are frequently inflated.

How do they work… Read More

Property prices have come down and it is no wonder then that people fall for scams which promise to buy property cheaply and rent it out, earning handsome income for the buyers.

You open a leading financial paper and see huge advertisements by property companies saying that you can make a great deal of money by investing in property, which will then be refurbished and rent out. This would all be hassle free for you and the dealer promise good returns on the money invested, plus the property will be yours in any case. It all seems like a great deal and a good way to put money to use – everything seems kosher and you are lured by the promises, to put in your hard earned money, little knowing that it is all a scam.

It is a global phenomenon

If you think this happens only in U.K. or U.S.A., you couldn’t be more wrong. All over world there are cases of buy to rent scams. There are even simple rental scams wherein the person is asked… Read More

Too many people jump into day trading without any knowledge at all and thus the beginning of their demise. There are a few things you should know before you begin if you wish to become a success including the various methods or styles used in day trading. There are many, however, we will go over the most popular methods so you will have a good idea of some of the better ways in which to day trade stocks. The most popular methods include swing trading, momentum trading, technical trading, and scalp trading.

Swing trading

Swing trading is a method used that sticks to forecasting the behavior of the stock based on the swing it followed with previous trades. This method was developed during the 1900’s and has been very popular ever since. Even though, you will hear that day trading is held with a maximum of one day, a swing could have been from one day to even several weeks. The idea behind this method is that the market can only yield profit if it is held over a… Read More

Individuals with a money purchase scheme whereas the employee pays into their retirement fund are at the most risk. The reason this is true is that the money you place into your retirement is normally invested in the stock market. When the person retires the money left in the retirement fund is used to purchase an annuity that will provide an income for the retiree’s life.

However, with the problems in the stock market, this money may be quite a bit less than you might imagine. A matter of fact your pension plan may have fallen 20%.

You can choose two different options to save your pension. First, take the money out of the retirement fund and purchase an annuity now. However, you will have to try to live on a smaller income. The other option is to leave your money alone with the hopes that the stock market will improve. With this option, you will need to work a few more years or withdraw 25% to live on for the time being.

Click for more information on how to… Read More