Personal Finance Blog

Archive for May, 2010

Millions of Americans buy mutual funds by simply choosing them as an investment option in their 401k plan.  How do people go about investing in mutual funds outside of their retirement plan at work?

There are at least three popular ways average people buy mutual funds, each with its advantages and disadvantages.  Where to invest depends to a large extent on how involved you are willing to get in the process.  Some people want to learn how to invest, and others want to rely on someone else to handle their investments.

Let’s look at three popular ways to buy mutual funds, starting with how to invest if you want to rely on someone else.

If you want to buy mutual funds with a minimum of time and effort on your part, contact an investment professional.  Even though these folks usually call and solicit you, you can call them.  Look in the phone book under financial planners, stock brokers, or investment services.  Some life insurance agents sell mutual funds as well.  Perhaps your local bank or credit union has a representative on board who sells mutual funds.

The advantage of this approach is that someone helps you make financial decisions, and deals with the details, including the paper work.  The disadvantage is that you will pay sales charges (loads) and/or other fees that you can otherwise avoid.  Rather than choosing a professional at random, I suggest you ask investors you know who they deal with, and how they feel about them.  Needless to say, some professionals in the investing business are better than others at their job. 

A second popular way to buy mutual funds is the “supermarket” approach.  For example, by opening a brokerage account with a major discount broker, you should have access to hundreds of funds to buy.  To get started, go to your computer and search for “discount brokers”.  Once you have an account with money in it, to buy mutual funds you just click to buy.

The advantage here is the wide selection of funds available from several different fund families.  You should be able to buy funds without sales charges, but there will be transaction fees, which are often quite reasonable.  On the other hand, this is basically a self-serve supermarket.  If you want advice on how to invest or where to invest your money, service is limited.

The third approach is to go with a no-load fund family like Vanguard, Fidelity, or T. Rowe Price.  Search “no-load funds” on your computer to find a list of them.  These investor-friendly investment companies have toll-free numbers you can call for assistance in opening up a mutual fund account.

There are numerous advantages to this third approach to investing in mutual funds.  You deal directly with the mutual fund company, there are no middlemen.  You can talk to their representatives toll-free and ask questions without sales pressure.  They are used to talking to average folks who are not rich, and who don’t speak the language of Wall Street.

The major no-load fund families offer a broad variety of mutual funds that have no sales charges, and often have some of the lowest yearly expenses in the industry.  This makes their no-load funds a low-cost way to buy and hold mutual funds.  Plus, these mutual fund companies offer investor assistance and services that are free of extra charges and fees.

When you invest with a no-load fund family, you can buy or sell mutual funds on your computer or toll-free on the telephone without paying any sales charges or transaction fees. 

The disadvantage here is that you make your own investment decisions.  You decide how to invest and where to invest your money in the various mutual funds they offer.  Plus, you may be required to fill out your own forms, like the application required to open an account.

You can save thousands by buying no-load funds directly from a no-load fund company.  This is the best way to go IF you are up to speed on how to invest and investment basics.  If you are still clueless, there are plenty of articles available to help you learn about investing and mutual funds.

Albert Einstein once said there is nothing more powerful than compound interest. Apply that logic to buying a stock in the stock market, and you can double your money in ten years. Further leverage that logic by putting 5% down on a home, and you can possibly multiply your money by four times, eight times… even twelve times in those same ten years!

Need Proof?

Let’s say you have $10,000, and want to find the best return for your investment. You can certainly put your money in the stock market, and if your stock goes up by an average of 7% per year, your $10,000 nest-egg will be worth nearly double after 10 years. ($19,472 to be exact.) Not bad for passive income!

However, if you take that same $10,000, and apply it as a down payment toward a 200,000 home that appreciates by half the rate of the stock market (3.5% a year average), your home will be worth over $282,000! Even if you get an interest-only loan, your initial $10,000 investment will be worth over $92,000 after selling the home and paying off your loan! If your home appreciates at the same rate as the stock market (an average of 7% per year), and your initial $10K investment that bought a 200,000 home, will parlay into owning a $384,000 home! Pay off your $190,000 loan, and you’ll be sitting on $194,000 in cash!

If you’re wondering about monthly payments, you have two options: If this is for a home you will live in, the monthly payments will likely be the same as you would be paying in rent anyway, and there are additional tax benefits that haven’t even been discussed in this article. If you buy this property as a rental property, your tenant’s rent payments should more than cover your mortgage payment. (There’s nothing more beautiful than letting someone else pay for your real estate invenstment. You just can’t do that in the stock market, but it’s done all the time in Real Estate.) If you’re still in doubt, you might want to read a couple other well-known books — “The Wealthy Barber” by David Chilton, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki, or “How to get Rich” by Donald Trump. If you don’t feel like running out and buying a book right now, feel free to listen to a free recording where a Colorado real estate investor shares his secrets to success. Listen to the free recording at: http://www.automatedhomefinder.com/education/investments101.php

Too much risk?

Yes, there is risk, but it is doubtful that your risk is any higher than the risk involved with investing in the stock market in the first place. The higher the risk, the higher the reward, and real estate has been a time-proven investment vehicle for millions of wealthy individuals — Donald Trump, Warren Buffett and David Chilton (“The Wealthy Barber” himself.)

How to get started:

If you’d like to explore the idea of investing in real estate in your area, simply look up a buyer-agent in your area, or start a search on the internet and start a couple real estate searches to see what kind of home you can get in your area. If you’re not sure how much home you can afford, your Realtor can help, or put you in touch with a lender who can.

By devoting extra caution and time, commercial borrowers can avoid serious business opportunity investment financing mistakes. The most obvious benefit will be to reduce the potential for critical commercial loan problems, both now and throughout the life of the business financing terms arranged.

A key factor that distinguishes business opportunity financing from other forms of business financing is the lack of commercial property ownership. Although the transaction will usually involve a long-term lease agreement, the buyer is acquiring a business that does not include real estate in the purchase price.

The two mistakes described in this article are more typical than expected by most commercial borrowers. While we will not be addressing all possible business opportunity financing problems in this article, we will include two of the most severe issues to anticipate and avoid.

Length of Business Financing -

A common mistake when acquiring a business opportunity is to finance the acquisition with business financing that expires within two to five years. One reason for this occurring is the failure to negotiate a longer-term lease, since it is typical for financing terms to expire with the lease.

A viable solution is to insist on a lease that is at least ten years long. This will facilitate business finance terms that can typically be for a ten-year period. One key factor that limits business opportunity financing to a ten-year period is due to the absence of commercial real estate collateral.

Use of Excessive Seller Financing -

Although nominal seller financing (such as 10-20%) can be helpful to a business financing transaction, attempts to finance either entirely or primarily with seller financing are generally inadvisable. There are several different issues which can result in this being a serious mistake.

If a seller is providing most or all of the business acquisition financing, a formal appraisal might not be obtained. While this appears to offer the advantage of saving the cost of such an appraisal, it also eliminates an important method of determining if the purchase price is appropriate. It is also not uncommon for a seller to have acquired a business appraisal that is used to substantiate the purchase price for the business they are selling. An appraisal financed by the seller is not likely to be an independent business value estimate.

An additional restriction when using excessive seller financing is that it typically will cover a period of three years or less. This will necessitate refinancing within a period that is not always practical to do so. A loan history up to 48 months will be required by some lenders prior to refinancing a business opportunity loan.

Solutions and Strategies for Avoiding Business Opportunity Investment Loan Mistakes -

Business borrowers should thoroughly discuss options with a business financing expert before proceeding with investing and financing programs. These efforts will be worthwhile since the potential business finance mistakes described above can be overcome successfully. Borrowers should seek out advisors capable of providing candid solutions in their efforts to obtain a better picture of complicated business opportunity financing possibilities.

A tax charged on the financial income of persons, corporations, or other legal entities is known as income tax. Nowadays, various income tax systems exist in the financial market with varying degrees of tax incidence. The income taxation can be categorized under progressive, proportional or regressive. Individual income tax is charged on the total income of the individual (with some deductions permitted), while corporate income tax is on the net income.

Income tax time or financial closing dates are hectic and stressful time of the year. As a matter of fact, you have to make sure of all your receipts and money matter concerns in a proper order. This helps you to know about your expenses and savings which you have made in the previous financial year. Moreover, it assists you to save tax in next year by some modifications. With the help of valuable income tax tips you can reduce that you owe at tax time. Importantly, the amount you pay as income tax makes a big difference!

Some important income tax tips are as follows:

Firstly, one must make use of tax credits, as tax credits are better than tax deductions. The tax credits usually lower the amount of money one owes to the IRS. For instance, if your child is studying in college then you can easily claim for the education tax credit. As a matter of fact, you can open education savings account.

Secondly, one can itemize his or her deductions. If one has a home office or contributed money to charity then he or she can itemize his or her tax return rather than taking the standard deduction. No doubt, this entire process is time-consuming, but it’s worth the effort as one would be paying less tax at the end of financial year.

Thirdly and lastly, one can use his or her status to income tax advantage. For instance, if you’re married then you can choose to file income tax account jointly or separately. But, if one file as his or her status as the head of family then he or she will get a larger standard deduction. As a matter of fact, filing of status determines tax exemptions.

At last one must review his or her overall tax situation and find-out the best ways to reduce tax and organize financial documents.

Your dream of availing an ultimate utility car with an open cargo bed will come into reality. You just need to choose the category includes small, mid- and full-sized pickups with differing cargo bed sizes, engine choices and two- or four-wheel-drive options only. Finance is being offered through refinance car loan to make you able for your dream car.

Basically, refinance car loan is one of the best kept secrets around for saving money, but most people never thought of refinancing their car. Car refinance is the same as home refinance. When refinancing car loans, you pay off your current car loan with a refinancing car loan from a different lender or the same lender with a lower APR (annual percentage rate). This is good for you because refinancing makes your monthly payments lower. Your rate of interest drops and it allows you to pay off the balance of your car loan even quicker.

There are a quarter of refinancing options available out there in the money market. You can trace them even online. Online tool is gaining ground in the money market. It saves a good amount of your time and energy. All that you have to do is to fill in a simple online application form and mention you mode of lending option.

Refinance car loan comes in secured and unsecured form. Secured loan is security-backed money provisions while unsecured loan is taken out without any sort of pledging placing. For the reason, refinancing under unsecured loan mode takes very little time in processing. And further, you loan is approved quickly.

Now, a number of car-owners are realising they can save thousands of pounds by refinancing car loan. Car refinancing has become a very popular trend with dropping interest rates. You can use the money you save to pay off credit card debt, children’s tuition fees, home improvement, or pay off your car loan an early.

Finance is a strong field and a department in almost every organization and firm throughout the world. Finance basically means the dealing and matters of money and savings. It has a lot of further branches that works in different disciplines all regarding money and its issues. The strength of a company or organization is known by observing its finance department. Today finance matters to al lot of people who have been in business and are new in the developing field. Internet being a big source of business dealings and daily basis work performance values finance a lot. Finance is an affair in which every small or big person is involved. When it comes on Internet, it directly connects with finance articles. Articles help a lot and works great on finance, the article submission done on the finance subjects are most wanted on Internet. A finance article has either news information, newly offers, changes in rates, exchange updates, selling and buying prices, banking information, loans, payments, and orders and much more or they provide complete knowledge on every topic that is discussed below as an academic purpose. Finance articles are circulated freely and on payment to businessmen and dealers; to whom it may concern.

Students of finance subjects find their articles on each topic to gain more clear knowledge regarding the topic and use them in their reports, where as the money making people get their alerts, newsletters and discuss their points on forums through financial articles. There are a lot of experts present on Internet who are there to solve finance queries and daily problems of the business related people. The experts themselves are quite experienced in the field of finance and they give tricks and tactics to manage customers and deal with the ups and downs that occur in people’s business. Learning finance is now easier through the finance articles ; a lot of beginners seek guidance on Internet to get their questions solved related to finance. There are a lot of tools and softwares developed that are used in financial concerns and their information and benefits are discussed in the finance articles.

Many people place letters and their experiences on article, as an article itself is an extract of knowledge that is published for people’s awareness, for reader audience to read whatever makes them interested. Many companies show their financial assets and historic review on financial articles. Banking involved articles as well. Thus in every need finance articles work a lot for the people who are more into Internet. It is very sensitive, as the finance articles are purposed to describe facts and figures of the matter very accurately and this needs sharp brains to secure the knowledge in an article.

It is that time of year when individual wants to know how much he or she has earned and how much tax is owed. To define income tax, it can be said that the tax charged on the annual financial income of persons, corporations or other legal entities. In the case of individual income tax, the tax is charged on the total income of the individual (with some deductions which are permitted by law), while corporate income tax is on the annual net income. There are many income tax systems exist in the financial market with different degrees of tax incidence.

Income tax time or financial closing dates are one of the hectic and stressful times of the year as individuals, legal entities or companies have to make sure of all receipts and money matter in a proper order. Well, during this time of the year, one knows about his or her expenses and savings which have been made in the previous financial year. With the help of valuable income tax return tips the individual can reduce the tax that he or she owes at tax time with the proper guidance of tips. Some important income tax return tips are as follows:

Firstly, the usage of tax credits is considered as better option than tax deductions. To define tax credits, it can be said that it is the lower amount that individual owes to the IRS.

Secondly, individual must categorized his or her deductions. For instance, one must include all the expenses such as money contributed in charity under itemized category. The entire process of categorizing is time-consuming, but is worth as it would lessen tax at the end of financial year.

Lastly, individuals can use their status to income tax advantage. If you’re married for instance, then you can choose to file income tax account jointly or separately. But, if individual file his or her status as head of family then he or she is required to get larger standard deduction. Therefore, filing of status determines tax exemptions.

At last, individual must review his or her expenses to find-out the best ways to reduce tax and organize financial documents.

In general research means that you are looking into a subject matter. This research can be found in all areas of interest. One area that many people are interested in is that of the stock market. With all of the stocks and bonds that are available there are times when you may not be sure which mutual funds companies are good to invest with. This is where mutual funds research can come in handy.

When you first start your mutual funds research you will need to have clear idea of your end goal. This is important as there are many factors that might have to be investigated. You may decide that the best place to start your mutual funds research is with a back knowledge of what mutual funds are. While this information is something that is needed by the average investor it is also an item that gets overlooked.

For this reason you should first look at the definition that is available for mutual funds. The next item in your mutual funds research is applying the knowledge that you have gained to the actual mutual funds. At this point select about 2 to 4 different mutual funds companies. Look to see what types of stocks and bonds they are offering.

As each of these mutual funds represents various industries, countries and companies you will find a diverse selection awaiting you. You should choose to look at a few different stock options. See in your mutual funds research how these items have preformed over a past 5 year period. You will gain an idea as to the way the market regards these items.

Next your mutual funds research should involve seeing the differences that are applicable to the fees. Since the area of mutual funds investment is very competitive there are various mutual funds companies that will have fees which are detrimental to your portfolios asset value.

These fees are mainly hidden in the type of load that is offered with the mutual fund. You will notice in your mutual funds prospectus (which you should have for each mutual fund) the type of load which has been designated for that fund. These loads are level loads, front-end loads and deferred loads. Of these many loads the best one to look for is that of a no-load fund.

In a no-load mutual fund you as the investor have no worries regarding the fees for buying and selling stocks and bonds. Your mutual funds research will reveal to that in many instances no-load mutual funds go hand in hand with index mutual funds. These funds are set to closely match the markets current prices.

By looking at all of these factors and the Morningstar reviews you can choose the mutual funds portfolio that most catches your eye. With the help of mutual funds research you now have the means at your fingertips to avoid making costly mistakes.