Archive for December, 2007

by Jason Loucks
It’s off to the market you go. The real estate market that is, in all its glorious competitiveness.

You want to sell your home or investment property. Are you ready to sell it?

Are you ready for the finagling, offers and counter-offers? Can you handle the drama, the lights, cameras and all the action?

You can if you research before hand what today’s real estate market is like for buying and selling homes.

Today, buyers do their homework. Therefore, you must do yours. When potential buyers walk through your doors, they have the knowledge, acquired from doing their homework. They will know exactly what they want. They will look for specific upgrades and features. They will know the market for comparable properties in your area.

You will have to give them a reason to choose yours. This is where the little things are important when it comes to selling homes and investment properties.

Right off the bat you have to make sure your product displays in the best possible light: clean, clean, clean. Then clean some more. This means top to bottom. Outside is where it all starts. Your home has to sparkle like a diamond. The ‘wow’ factor has to slap the potential buyer in the face as soon as they step foot in your driveway.

Make sure the driveway’s swept and washed; make sure any potholes and cracks are fixed. Wash the windows from the outside, and the garage door, and anything else outside that needs cleaning. Wash the dog if he’s going to be standing around out there.

Mow the lawn…unless you want to hide the dog.

Your garage: unless it’s designated a production location for a remake of Sanford and Son, de-clutter it. Organize it. Sweep and wash down the floor, if you can find it! Neatness counts when it comes to selling a house.

Once inside give every room the critical eye. Of course, make sure any minor repairs get attention before a showing or open house. The major repairs should not be an issue; all accomplished well in advance. That dangling ceiling fan…has it been reattached properly or is ready to propel itself out the window? Those ceramic tiles in the bathroom; are they secured back in place? Does their continued falling play like a scene from the movie Earthquake? You won’t be selling your home if people walk through it wide-eyed from fear.

Create an easy, unobstructed flow from room to room. Evoke a sense of freedom and spaciousness. Along with that, allow as much natural light into the home as is possible. When selling a house you want to create a positive atmosphere. You don’t want potential buyers to feel they’ve entered a Dungeons and Dragons theme park.

Tone down your family’s personality in the house. Give it the ‘model home’ aura to appeal to a wide range of personalities who will explore its features.

Consider this too, when selling your house: buyers want the best price in the best area. If the area you live in is a high-demand area, are you competitive in your price? Have you over priced because you feel buyers will pay it because of the attractiveness of the area? Homes similar to yours in size, style, upgrades and features may be lower-priced. They may sell fast, while yours lingers on the market. Of course, if you feel it deserves a higher price and are willing to wait it out, see where it takes you.

Selling your home, or any investment property, involves a commitment from yourself. You want the greatest return. You have to be willing to devote the time and energy in return, to ensure a successful sale. Buyers want the best price in the best location. You want the best price so you can move out of the location. It’s up to you to do the things necessary to bring both sides together so it can happen.

Jason Loucks is the Nation’s Leading Expert at Selling Houses and Investment Properties Fast and For Top Dollar. To Discover more about his “7 Day Sale” Method for selling properties at retail price in 7 Days, visit http://www.7DaySaleGuy.Com

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by SJ Options
When adjusting the delta on an option spread to manage risk, many option traders do not understand how to use volatility to adjust a position in their favor.

For example, let’s say you are in a butterfly spread and the market trends up and hits your adjustment point. So what kind of adjustment do you make?

Well, when trading options, it’s important to follow the volatility chart as well as the price chart. For example, if the underlying is trending up, it’s most likely that the vols are going down (but not always the case). So, when putting on your adjustment, why not put on an adjustment that benefits from falling volatility? (eg. a negative Vega adjustment).

Likewise, if the vols are rising, you might consider putting on a “positive vega” adjustment.

In conclusion, there are many ways to neutralize the Delta position of your options spread. So when comparing your adjustment possibilities, remember to analyze the volatility graph to choose the best Vega adjustment at the same time.

Videos on this stock market trading topic and others can be seen free on our website: http://www.sjoptions.com

If you would like to know more about our stock and options mentoring program, please visit http://www.sjoptions.com

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by Ron Mark
McMaster University.

Leaving your home or your town behind to study somewhere else can sometimes be very sad. But finding another house or room to live near McMaster can be a bigger dilemma. Students who are new to Hamilton often feel the need for assistance on finding a decent house or apartment to live in. It is fortunate if a student has family or friends living in the vicinity and could help him or her search for a room or house, or could just accommodate him or her. But in cases wherein the student is entirely new to the town or community, he or she always needs help to find a home. Academic Institutions have always viewed this type of problem a very serious one which could affect or hamper the academic growth of a student. Instead of worrying about getting to school for enrollment or going to school on time, a student is faced with the option of rather looking for a place to live in first before even starting classes.

McMaster University has a aggressive program for building & providing on-campus residences for 1st Year students joining university.

For Off-Campus Housing of McMaster Students, private McMaster Off-Campus Students Housing from Mac Student Houses (not affiliated with McMaster University) is essentially a boon for those students who would rather not have had a hard time searching for a quality off-campus home or apartment. Students now no longer have to worry about running high and low around town searching for a place to live in. The private McMaster Students Off-Campus Housing program from Mac Student Houses, delivers quality homes & apartments, good locations, and superb service. After applying for a house or apartment from the McMaster Students Off-Campus Housing, you can quickly get a feedback about available places to stay, as well as the price range, and social condition. It is very important for students to choose the houses they would be living in properly. Most apartments, or houses are on a group lease basis, so it’s essential students find friends to stay within the same location. McMaster Students Off-Campus Housing also makes it a point to provide homes & apartments in a quiet location, where students can learn and be safe from harm whilst having fun. Students, for their part, are responsible for properly operating & maintaining the place, and for keeping the peace and order, as well as safety of their fellow renters or roommates. The McMaster Off-Campus Students Housing group also makes it a point to remind students to inform them of any pre-existing defect or damage to any part of the unit they are leasing.
So for students who wish to have a “quick passage” to school, without the hassle of looking for a home or apartment to live in, it would be a great idea to avail of the McMaster Off-Campus Students Housing properties provided privately by Mac Student Houses. Especially for those who are freshmen students, who will be staying in school for a few more years, the McMaster Off-Campus Students Housing is a great way to be able to get comfort and security at reasonable prices. Now parents will have more reason to expect their children to be able to concentrate more on their studies, and live in good homes with locations close to the university campus, and with the confidence that the service at these homes will be exceptional.

For 1st Year students going into 2nd Year, McMaster Off-Campus Students Housing is a great choice for more focus on their education & fun.

The key to success is to assemble your group of friends who wish to live off-campus with you, and start your search on the internet in early November-December. After exams are over, you can then finalize which homes you are really interested in & plan to see them in the 1st 2 weeks of January. Reputable professional landlords will encourage you to see their references/testimonials and speak with their current tenants — to confirm the ‘facts’..

If you are a student and you are looking for a place to live off-campus near McMaster University then the time to begin your search is November-December, and you should expect to sign a lease in January of the New Year, because the best houses & apartments are taken in the 1st 2 weeks of the New Year.

McMaster Off-Campus Students Housing should be very helpful in your search for a quality home with great service. With McMaster Students Off-Campus Housing, you are assured of a reliable & reputable landlord who respects your rights, and works to enable your health & safety.

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by Allen B.
Tax free municipal bonds are an alternative investment for those looking to diversify their investment holdings in a tax-free manner, but they may not be right for everyone. There are several things to consider when making the decision on whether or not to invest in these. Let’s take a look at some of those considerations.

First, let’s take a look at just what a tax-free municipal bond, or MUNI for short, is. A MUNI is a bond issued by a city, state, or county government to finance some new taxpayer-financed project. These projects could include things like highway improvements, new schools, and new libraries. The income received from these bonds are always free from Federal income tax, and may be free from state income tax as well, provided the investor resides in the same state as the source of the bonds.

How do you know if MUNI’s are right for you? The short answer is, the higher your income tax bracket, the more benefit you will receive from a tax-free bond. If you were to compare a taxable bond with a tax-free MUNI, then you would divide the tax free yield of the bond by 1 — your income tax bracket. For instance, if your MUNI is a 5% yield bond and your income tax bracket were 15%, then you would divide 5 by .85 to get an equivalent yield of 5.88%. So, an equivalent taxable bond would need to yield 5.88% to enjoy the same income benefit as the tax-free bond.

Another motivation for investing in tax free municipal bonds lies completely outside of the financial arena, and that is the desire to help support local projects. By investing in your city’s projects, you can support your local economy and overall community. The income derived from the bonds can be the icing on the cake in this particular instance!

A final thing to consider when deciding on whether or not to invest in any particular tax-free MUNI is the financial solvency of the issuing entity. In general terms, financial analysts recommend that the issuing party should have the following minimum characteristics:

• The population of the entity should be at least 10,000
• The entity should have a diverse economy with many sources of income — No one company towns here
• The entity should have a long history of prompt interest payments on it’s bonds

Any bonds that fall short of these minimum criteria should, for the most part, be considered far too risky for the average investor’s portfolio.

As with any investment, careful consideration and research should be done before making the final decision to invest. Tax-free municipal bonds can be a great way to earn some non-taxable income, provided you do your homework. So, are tax-free MUNI’s right for you?

For lots of other investment and personal finance information, be sure to visit Personal Finances Blog today. There you will find information on everything from money merge accounts to money market savings accounts.

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by George Kissi
Every guy/woman has a risk Acceptance that should not be passed by. Any genuine stock broker or financial contrivener knows this, and they should make the effort to help you Foreordain what your risk Laxity is. Then, they should work with you to recognize investments that do not outrank your risk Stamina.

Identifying one’s risk Strength involves voluminous varying things. First, you need to know how much money you have to invest, and what your investment and financial objectives are.

For example, if you contemplate to retire in ten years, and you’ve not saved a single penny towards that end, you need to have a high risk Fortitude — 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 Scope will be low. You can afford to watch your money grow slowly over time.

Envision of course, that your need for a high risk Strength or your need for a low risk Tolerance really has no countenance on how you feel about risk. Therewith, there is a lot more involved in discerning your Laxity.

As an example, if you invested in the stock market and you monitored 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 Fortitude for risk, you would want to sell out… if you have a high Resistance, you would let your money ride and see what happens. This is not based on what your financial goals are. This Stamina is based on how you feel about your money!

Albeit, a authoritative financial instigator or stock broker should help you Pin down 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.

George is professional day trader and stock investor who provides free day trading courses and advice to both seasoned day traders and beginners alike. Visit his blog at http://www.GeorgeKissi.com or http://www.MoneyIsMyFriend.com for free day trading education and mentoring.

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by Sylvia Young
There’s a popular inspirational quote that goes: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” In that case, Astral Mining Corp.’s (TSX.V:AST) management may well have exceeded its target. Both management and investors are likely over the moon given that the company, along with joint venture partner Kootenay Gold (TSX.V:KTN), announced some stellar results from the latest round of drilling at the Jumping Josephine (JJ) Gold Project in southeastern BC. As per the company’s November 29 press release, assay results from 14 diamond drill holes from the Phase II drill program on the JJ Main Gold Zone are in. Best results include 7.74 g/t Au over 5 meters, including 15.99 g/t Au over 2 m; and 12.44 g/t Au over 8 m including 26.9 g/t Au over 3 m. These results are significant in that they further confirm significant gold mineralization within what is known to be a large quartz stockwork system.

The property consists of 24 contiguous claims acquired by Kootenay and seven Crown-granted claims optioned to Kootenay. The 11,785 hectare project hosts the historical Granville Mountain mining camp — a mining district which has produced over 9 million ounces of high-grade Au, as well as several newly-discovered vein hosted, shear-related gold showings.

Infrastructure support is excellent, as the property is located 40 km north of Teck Cominco’s smelter at Trail and 30 km west of Castlegar. The property’s proximity to Rossland and Trail (both historic mining towns) provides easy access to a local skilled labor force. The added bonus of favourable weather conditions and major highway access allows for year-round drilling at JJ.

Previous interest in JJ focused mainly on the formerly producing Granville Mountain camp. Until 1940, gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc were mined from several workings in the area. After World War II, there was little activity in the area, save for limited production from Albion. The area was explored sporadically from the late 1960s until the early 1990s. Kootenay acquired the property in 2003.

Since May 2006, Astral has broadened its exploration scope beyond JJ’s Main zone, and has started evaluating the new gold showings discovered by Kootenay. Prior to drilling, Astral conducted a property-wide airborne geophysical survey, soil sampling over three areas, further property-wide prospecting, as well as further grab sampling and trenching for some 775 m at the JJ Main showing.

The company has just wrapped up Phase II of drilling, having completed 38 drill holes totaling 5,100.84 m. This year’s drill results are currently undergoing detailed interpretation as management lays the groundwork for Phase III of drilling in 2008. Assay results have yet to arrive on the remaining 18 holes.

The company’s 43-101 report was co-written by Dale Brittliffe and Dr. David Terry, Astral’s vice-president of exploration. They describe a geological setting in which “gold mineralization at JJ is predominantly within auriferous quartz veins, shears and stockworks hosted by mid-Jurassic intrusives or older Mount Roberts Formation rocks….quartz veins can have very high gold grades (Kootenay grab sample BZT-09 up to 558g/t Au). Samples from JJ Main return gold values up to 133.91g/t Au and show a general Pb-Ag-Sb-As (lead-silver-antimony-arsenic) association and to a lesser extent Hg-Cd-Cu. (mercury, cadmium, copper)”

The report further recommends JJ as “a high quality gold exploration property with the potential to host an economic gold deposit. Results of first pass work in 2006 were very encouraging, and support the proposed programme for the 2007 season estimated at CAD$780,000. Exploration work outlined below seeks to evaluate more advanced showings such as JJ Main, provide first pass exploration for showings not yet tested such as Borrow Pit, JJ West and Pb-Zn and also includes work to identify further zones of mineralization between known gold occurrences in favourable lithologies.”

On the financial side, several fundamental strengths highlight Astral’s status as a rising star among juniors. The company’s management has gone to great lengths to minimize risk to shareholders by joining forces with Kootenay. The joint-venture agreement provides an excellent vehicle for maximum returns with minimum financial and political risk. Both companies work only in areas of known mineralization in mining-friendly parts of North America. Astral has assembled a diversified portfolio of properties in BC, Nevada and North and South Carolina. Funding has already been established for Phase III drilling, as the company has recently completed two financings.

One of the best things about this play is its tight share structure– with only 25,134,614 shares fully diluted. More good drill results, coupled with this kind of liquidity, could easily create the kind of momentum needed for brisk price gains.

With gold seemingly establishing a new base at $800 an ounce, many properties in easily accessible parts of southeastern BC are getting a well-deserved second look. With 20 out of 38 drill hole assays already in at JJ, the impetus for further exploration is clear — making it an excellent time for Astral’s investors to hitch their wagons to a star.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

Resourcex Investor is an internationally distributed newsletter about emerging junior resource companies. Sign up for a free 1-month trial to our newsletter and get instant access to news and investing tips that have helped many of our readers make more money. http://www.resourcex.com

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by Christina de Wit
For many people, the words ‘Big Red’ conjure up fresh breath, but to True North Gems’ (TSX.V:TGX) investors, the phrase itself is a breath of fresh air. The company’s bold flavour is finding favour among investors with its focus on ruby and sapphire exploration and development in Greenland. As per its December 4 news release, the company has wrapped up its 2007 drilling program with the completion of the final four drill holes on the Sarfaq and Ridgetop ruby prospects at its Fiskenaesset Ruby Project. Sarfaq and Ridgetop are on trend from the Aappaluttoq (‘Big Red’) occurrence.

The Fiskenaesset Ruby Project consists of 110km2 of land on the southwest coast of Greenland, about 160km south of the capital Nuuk. True North has an option to own a 100% interest on the claims. The company has actively explored the property since acquiring it in 2004. A mini-bulk sample at the Siggartartulik occurrence taken in 2004 returned 9.73 kg/t total corundum (rubies and sapphires are varieties of corundum), with 1.5% gem and 33.5% near-gem. The gem-grade is 143.76 g/t (718.8 rough ct/t). The company’s final hand and machine sorting of the material from the sample have recently increased the overall grade. A 30-tonne sample contained concentrations of gem-grade ruby and pink sapphire averaging 1,937 g/t (9,685 ct/t).

The objective of the 2007 drilling program, comprising 50 holes on three ruby prospects with a total length of more than 5,000 m, was to deliver a preliminary assessment on the Aappaluttoq ruby and pink sapphire occurrence. One of the positive outcomes of the program was that the company was able to confirm both extensions to the favourable Aappaluttoq Host Zone geology, as well as additional ruby mineralization on surface. Three drill holes at Sarfaq have confirmed distinctive sapphirine-gedrite-phlogopite-pargasite alteration, similar to the Host Zone of the Aappaluttoq occurrence– which is known to contain rubies and pink sapphires.

Independent valuations have priced a 0.69 ct ruby from Aappaluttoq at $3,220/ct, and a 0.96 ct pink sapphire at $460/ct. The best sample contained a large ruby crystal weighing 88g (440 ct), which was carved into the Kitaa Ruby, weighing 302 ct and displaying intricate scenes of Norse oceanic legends.

The company’s 43-101 report suggests that this is just a taste of things to come. It states, “Given the fact that 18 ruby and pink sapphire occurrences are known in the district after only two seasons of reinvigorated exploration, and that the Company has obtained excellent sampling results from three of the six occurrences tested by mini-bulk sample thus far, it is incumbent upon True North to continue the exploration of the Fiskenaesset district”.

This report was released last year and, since then, nine more ruby occurrences have been found at Fiskenaesset, for a total of 29. Over the past three years, 78 tonnes of material have been removed for processing, with 48 tonnes processed to date. Over 65,000 grams of gem and over 129,700 grams of near-gem ruby and pink sapphire have been recovered from the property.

In the wake of tough new sanctions on Burma– the supplier of 90% of the world’s rubies– along with boycotts of Burmese rubies by gemstone manufacturers and prominent jewellery retailers such as Tiffany’s– demand for ethical sources of coloured gemstones has skyrocketed. Nowadays, consumers are willing to pay top-dollar for high-quality, ethically sourced gemstones– as has been proven with the marketing success enjoyed by Canadian ‘Polar Diamonds’. True North plans to apply that same logic to the coloured gem business.

The company has a major advantage in that demand for rubies has been steadily rising while demand for diamonds has been decreasing. According to the company’s Ruby-Diamond fact sheet, in 1988 a top quality ruby weighing 15.97 ct fetched $3.65 million ($228,252 per ct) at auction, while a similarly classed diamond weighing 52.59 ct sold for $7,479,981 ($142,232 per ct). In 2006, however, a ruby weighing 8.62 ct went for $3.6 million ($425,000 per ct)– while a 33.04 ct diamond sold for $1.8 million ($ 54,000 per ct). Keep in mind that the diamonds were on average 3-4 times larger than the rubies in this comparison. As gem-quality stones get larger, their price per carat rises exponentially– even more so in the case of top-quality rubies.

In early November, the company reached an important milestone when it opened its facility in Bangkok where rough gems from the Fiskenaesset will be sort and graded. Bangkok is one of the coloured gemstone industry’s major centres. “With its proximity to the established markets of Europe and the Arab countries, and the new growth areas of China and India, Bangkok is the international marketplace for purchasers of rough as well as polished gems,” noted Nick Houghton, Director and VP Product Development and Marketing in the company’s November 6 news release. “An office in Bangkok allows True North to access the knowledge and opportunities that exist there.”

True North also has the technological advantage– given recent developments in exploration methods and in optic sorting technology. It used to be that the economics of processing favoured hand-sorting of coloured gems in low-wage countries, but these new developments make it possible for the company’s operation to be both ethical and profitable.

These latest developments at Fiskenaesset should give the company’s investors something to chew on in the coming months. To take a line from the ‘Big Red’ jingle– this is definitely one stock to “hold tight a little longer”.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

Resourcex Investor is an internationally distributed newsletter about emerging junior resource companies. Sign up for a free 1-month trial to our newsletter and get instant access to news and investing tips that have helped many of our readers make more money. http://www.resourcex.com

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by Ron Mark
McMaster Off-Campus Housing Student Houses from Mac Student Houses, are the best option for your children or for students who plan to or are attending McMaster University, and are in their 1st Year.

In 1st Year & going into 2nd Year? Chances are, if you hail from another city, you will need to find a place to live off-campus close to McMaster. It would greatly help if you have family or friends who can share a house or apartment with you. Most likely, in November-December & early January, you & a group of friends from 1st Year, will be hunting for a new “home away from home” your self. This scenario is always very troublesome for any student. Looking for a house or a room to stay in after you have moved in from another city or finished staying at residence at McMaster, can bring a lot of headaches, especially since you have to work around a lot of things (e.g. exams aside from just your house-searching). You have to consider your budget, the location of the house, the availability, and most important the reputation of the landlord & the quality of the service they provide. There are thousands of new students enrolling each year at McMaster, and you will be facing tougher competition in your house-hunt.
And of course, the prospect of looking for a house has always been the responsibility of the student and his or her family.

There is stiff competition for the best homes — with the reality being that the ‘best choices’ are invariably taken in the 1st 2 weeks of January of the new year. Thus time is of the essence — 1st come 1st served — you get the pick of the litter so to say. The key to success is to assemble your group of friends who wish to live off-campus with you, and start your search on the internet in early November-December. After exams are over, you can then finalize which homes you are really interested in & plan to see them in the 1st 2 weeks of January.

Reputable professional landlords will have no problems with you seeing their references/testimonials and speaking with their current tenants — to verify their reputation & reliability.

Now considering this dilemma as a top priority that can affect a student’s academic life, certain institutions have made it their prime responsibility to help these students find the right place stay in — someplace comfortable and just right for the budget. A good example for this is the on-campus residence program McMaster University has been implementing for incoming 1st Year students.

Additionally, privately provided McMaster Off-Campus Housing is something that new and current students, who wish to live in private houses& apartments off-campus near the school, should consider& plan for, during the enrollment period or during the school semester [in November-December towards the end of their 1st Semester]. These Mac Student Houses — off-campus houses & apartments, are privately owned & operated and are not affiliated with McMaster University, and commonly during the opening of the school semester, private house owners welcome a barrage of calls from students for different room or house or apartment rental applications.

The McMaster Off-Campus Housing properties are always a great fit for those who are looking for quality and comfort in every home & apartment. Students who love staying in a quiet and safe environment will find The McMaster Off-Campus Housing Student Houses a good place for them. The houses & apartments are usually rented at standard/mid price ranges. You have to always consider several conditions before choosing a house, such as location, price, and social environment. But the most important factor along with your budget is the reputation & service provided by the landlord. After all you will be staying with your friends at the house or apartment for the duration of your study at McMaster, and the landlord better be a reliable & reputable one — providing the best service response.

For those students who are planning to avail a McMaster Off-Campus Housing house or apartment or are currently living in one of the McMaster Off-Campus Housing Student Houses or Apartments, then you have certainly made the right choice. Mac Student Houses guarantees that your group will have a good modernized home, excellent location, and the very best 24/7 service available. Furnaces & Hot Water Systems at the premises are covered by 24/7 service warranties. Each house has all required Ontario Code Compliant features such as those for Ontario Fire Code 2006.

If you are a student and you are looking for a place to live off-campus near McMaster University, a McMaster Off-Campus Housing should be very helpful. With McMaster Off-Campus Housing Student Houses. you can get your private house or apartment. at reasonable prices & with guaranteed superb service from the landlord. The time to start your search for the best choices is November-December of your 1st ye

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by GMax
You want to start investing but you cannot find time for analysis and education about investing. If you want to start with investing you should certainly find some time, but in the mean time, here is what you could do right now.

1. Eliminate your debt

Eliminating debt is not a classic example of investing. But I think that should look on paying credit card debts as a kind of investment. The reason for that is the fact that average credit rates is 14% annually. You will have to try really hard to beat 14%, and not to mention that it can be much higher, up to 20 or more percent. Keep in mind that average return rate on US stock market is about 10.5%. Therefore, if you have $100 in your pocket, and you don’t need that money too much, go right now and payout your debt even if it is a small part.

If you have several credit cards, than you should pay out the one with the greatest rate. For example, let’s say that you have three credit cards: the Credit card A with $1000 of debt and 15% rate, the Credit card B with $3000 of debt and 16% rate and the Credit card C with $200 of debt and 18% rate. You should payout the debt on the Credit card C first, and then start paying out debt on the Credit card B.

There is another hint that is general in life: Simplify. That means that you should tend to eliminate number of credit cards in the game. The reason is that you cannot maintain a long list of credit cards. If you have ten credit cards, than there is 10 different debts, 10 different rates and each factor that could be specific is multiplied by 10. Therefore to track what is going on with your credit cards you should check at least 30 and more parameters. It takes time to find all necessary data. Also, if something is too complicated that would lead you not to do it. And not tracking your credit cards is very dangerous.

Does it mean that you should not have any credit card? Yes, almost any credit card generates some expenses even if you don’t have any debt on it. It is much better to have cash instead of debt. On the other hand, life is full of unexpected events, so some kind of cushion in the case of emergency is certainly necessary. So what should you do? Eliminate all your credit cards and take one with the smallest rate and smallest yearly fee. And don’t use it.

2. Quit with smoking and junk food

What does smoking have in common with investing? First of all smoking costs you. You can calculate how much money do you smoke each year relatively easy. Determine how many packs do you smoke each month, multiply that with 12 and with the price of a single pack. And that is not all. If you smoke there is a greater probability that you contract some kind of disease in life, and any disease, even not so dangerous will pull money out of your pockets in the form of medications and in the form of smaller income. And there is more. If you want to buy some insurance, smokers usually pay more for it.

What does junk food have in common with investing? More than you think. Junk food is almost as dangerous as smoking. Eating a lot of junk food leads to poor health and the same problem with money as smoking.

3. Track your expenses

Use your favorite spreadsheet program and start tracking your expenses. Keep it simple in order to be able to do it regularly. Amount, date, and category is enough for the start. The category is your classification of expenses. For example, gas, tires, broken windshield you could put in the car category. One category could be junk food, or eating out or something like that. For some time don’t do anything, just track expenses. After several month you will notice if you need some more categories or to tune your system up. Anyway after several month you could begin with analysis of tracked expenses, i.e. to sum them using your categories. Then you could act on it. For example you could change your car as it might be cheaper than to use existing one.

4. Find a blue chips that allows drip investing

What is he talking about? First of all, blue chips are very large and stable companies. Drip investing is a kind of investing where one could invest a small amount of money regularly. For example you could invest in Coca Cola as low as $10 per month. Ten bucks per month is certainly feasible for anyone. You don’t like Coca Cola? Try Pepsi! Or try Google with “drip stock list”.

Zoran Maksimovic is a freelance author focused on investing and blogging.

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by Tom Wheelwright
I AM NOT an investment advisor and never hold myself out as one, however my clients continue to ask me how to better prepare for retirement. Should I do an IRA? Should I max out my 401(k) contribution? Should I put more in my profit sharing plan or pension plan? What do I tell them? You may as well invest in the Lottery!

Contrary to popular belief, none of these are wise investments. Why? Among other reasons, they all involve putting money into an investment vehicle over which they have little control as to investment and timing and most people end up choosing Mutual Funds as their investment within these plans. In fact, putting your money into the Lottery would be a better investment.

Really? The Lottery as an investment vehicle? Sound crazy? Gamble my retirement funds away in a government-sponsored game of chance where I have little chance of winning? Where millions of other people are putting in money in hopes of winning the big one? Where most of the money goes to someone else and the chances are strong that I will lose part or all of my money?

Wait a minute - are we talking now about the Lottery or about Mutual Funds? Hmm, a government sponsored program where I have little chance of winning. Sounds like a lot like Mutual Fund investment in a 401(k) or IRA. After all, what are my chances of retiring on Mutual Fund investments? Not very high, actually.

A couple of years ago, I was listening to a financial program on the radio on my way into work. The interviewer was asking the representative of a large Mutual Fund about the performance of the Fund. The Rep responded that the Mutual Fund had risen in value by an average of 20% per year for the prior two years. But when the interviewer asked about the average return to the average investor in the Fund, the Rep responded that the average investor had actually lost 2% per year. Why? Because of the timing of going in and out of the market. Compare this to the Lottery, where everyone knows the exact chances of winning and the exact amount that could be won!

But what about the great tax advantages of putting my money into a 401(k) or an IRA? Yeah, right! Get a tax deduction when you are young and in a relatively low tax bracket so you can pay taxes on the money you take out when you are retired and in a higher tax bracket? Yeah, that’s a good deal. Or, consider the difference in tax rates on capital gains and dividends if you are not in a 401(k) or IRA versus the ordinary income tax rates on the earnings when you pull them out of your 401(k) or IRA.

So now you are thinking that you should just invest in Mutual Funds outside your 401(k) or IRA? Wrong again. Mutual Funds result in capital gains taxes when the Fund Managers trade them even though you don’t see the money! You have to pay taxes even though the Fund may actually have gone down in value! And what about the lost opportunity cost of that money that you are now paying in taxes that you could have put into other investments? At least with the Lottery, you know the exact amount of taxes you can expect to pay if you win and you only have to pay taxes if you do win.

Yes, you say, but the Lottery is gambling and I have no control over whether I win or lose. You are right. The Lottery is gambling. But so is a Mutual Fund. You have no control over the stock market and neither does the Fund Manager. The market goes down, so does your Fund. At least you recognize that you are gambling when you play the Lottery. You don’t have the government, financial institutions and your employer telling you that the Lottery is a good investment. And your employer doesn’t go so far as to match the amount you put into the Lottery like it might with your 401(k). Nobody is lying to you about the Lottery being gambling, but those in positions of authority are lying to you about the chances of success in a Mutual Fund!

But surely, you say, there is a better chance of making money in a Mutual Fund than there is in the Lottery? Hardly. There may be less of a chance of losing all of the money you put into a Mutual Fund than there is losing all of the money you put into the Lottery. But you are never going to win big in a Mutual Fund. In fact, Mutual Funds are designed to minimize your returns by creating a “balanced portfolio.” If they could minimize your risk of the market itself, this might be okay. But the problem is that nobody can minimize the risk of the market without sophisticated hedge strategies that are not typically used in Mutual Funds. At least with the Lottery, you have a chance of winning big. And you can sleep at night, because you aren’t wondering if the chances of winning are going down overnight because of something that happens in Tokyo.

You say you don’t like the idea that most of your Lottery gamblings are going to support government programs? Where do you think most of the earnings from your Mutual Fund are going? No, not to support government programs, but rather to support your investment advisor’s and the Mutual Fund manager’s retirement? You take all of the risk, you put in all of the capital, but most of the earnings from the Mutual Fund go to the Fund manager and your investment advisor. At least with the Lottery, the funds are going to worthy causes, such as the Arts.

Of course, I would never advise a client to rely on the Lottery for their retirement. But neither would I advise them to rely on Mutual Fund investments. For my dollar, the Lottery is a lot more fun and at least I know I’m gambling. But if you want to retire, look at other investments and work with someone who is willing to put in the time to help you retire soon and retire rich. Financial freedom is available to those who are willing to work and learn about it, but not likely for those who want to rely on such risky investment strategies as Mutual Funds.

Warmest Regards,

Tom

http://www.provisionwealth.com

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