Pony Of Prey Blog

From tender age, we were exposed to myths about money and myths of being rich. Be it from our parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, or friends. The myths that we have determine our financial well being in our adult lives.

I call them myths because they are not true. Or, at least they are not giving you the complete picture.

We can’t blame our parents for the myths in us. They already gave us the best they could. And don’t forget that times change. Things were true then may not be true today.

If you want to move ahead financially, you have to be aware of the myths that you have about wealth and money. And do not let the myths stop you from living a wealthy life.

Money Myth 1: Work hard and you’ll be rich.

Many of us think that by having a job with a big company would ensure that we’re on the path to financial freedom. With so many layoff announcements, we might be out of job anytime. I’m not saying that you’d be one of them but the fact is there is no job that is guaranteed.

Recently, my friend was laid off in less than a month in his new job. Having a job is merely helping you to cope with daily expenses, providing you shelter, food and clothing. Do not be misled that a job or your employer will turn you into a rich and wealthy person. No one cares more than you about your wealth.

Money Myth 2: Saving is good.

When I was small, I was told by my mother that I must learn to save. I thank my mother for inculcating the habit of saving in me. The habit of saving helps me to develop discipline. Many people think that when they save enough, one fine day they’ll be rich.

But is saving alone enough to make you wealthy?

I came to realize that if I only depend on my savings to get rich, I’d have to wait for a long time. That’s the problem with savings, it takes a long time for you to get rich. Saving alone is not enough. You have to learn to invest your money in other investment vehicles to grow your money faster.

Money Myth 3: Debt is evil.

The other common myth about money is debt is bad. Did your parents ever tell you that borrowing was bad? Mine did. Not all debt is bad, actually. It depends on how you spend your loans that you’re getting. If you take a credit card loan to buy a flat plasma TV, it’s a bad debt. On the other hand, if you take loans to start a business or invest in real estate, the debt is good.

If debt is bad, can you imagine what would happen to companies if they are not allowed to take loans from the banks? As a general rule, if you use debts to buy things that increase in value over time, they are good debts. You must know whether the debt you’re taking is good or bad.

Money Myth 4: You need money to make money.

When I ask my friends what’s stopping them from starting their own business, the common answer is “I don’t have money. And it takes money to make money.” I do agree that it takes money to make money. But does it really to be your own money?

Everybody has limited resources when it comes to achieving our financial goals. I do not expect you to have everything when you plan to build your own business. You might need financial backing, manpower, expertise, or a coach to guide you. If you lack resources in any areas, find the resources. Someone else will definitely have it. It does take money to make money, but you can use OPM - other people’s money.

Money Myth 5: Investing is risky.

Many think that investing is risky because they lack education in investing. Investing itself is not risky if you know how to control the risks. Most of us invest based on a tip from a friend or broker without doing our own research. When you lose money, you say that investing is risky. And you tell yourself that you’ll never invest again.

To be frank, everything we do has a risk in it. Learn to manage risks by educating yourself. You can educate yourself by attending seminars, reading books, or even from the Internet.

Money Myth 6: Wealth reflects in material possessions.

Material possessions reflect your level of wealth. This is a misleading measurement. Someone who is driving a Porsche might not be rich and he might highly in debt.

Wealth does not reflect in material possessions. Wealth is a state of mind. Wealth is how fast you can become rich if you’re stripped of everything. As Henry Ford once said after he was asked what he would do if he lost all his fortunes, “I’ll become a millionaire again within five years.”

We possess one or more of the above myths, consciously or unconsciously. But what is more important is to be aware of the myths and replace the myths with facts. By doing this will tremendously improve your financial well being.

Abel Cheng offers small and medium enterprises exclusive global profits insider tips in his free publication, Abel Cheng’s Business Diary. To officiate a bi-weekly subscription, please go to http://www.abelcheng.com/diary.html And get personal email coaching.

SPX closed the week at about 1,284, while oil closed at $67.76 a barrel. Two potential market catalysts next week are the FOMC and OPEC meetings, both on Tuesday. The FOMC is expected to raise the Fed Funds Rate 25 basis points, while OPEC is anticipated to leave oil output unchanged. However, it seems, the stock market partially discounted a FOMC tightening pause, since it rose on the report of much slower real GDP growth.

The charts below are same period weekly charts of SPX, the NYSE Oscillator, and OIH (oil ETF). SPX major resistance levels are 1,288 (to close the gap), 1,295 (recent high), and 1,307 (upper line of Bollinger Band). Major support levels are 1,246 (a prior high and the late December low), 1,242 (middle of the Bollinger Band, which is also the 20-week MA), 1,200 (lower line of the rising wedge), and 1,176 (lower line of Bollinger Band). The 50-day MA, currently at 1,265, was short-term support.

The NYSE Oscillator’s 10-week MA (blue line) indicates SPX will be much lower within three months. The Oscillator’s 10-week MA rose above 25 in early January and fell below 21 last week. Typically, when the Oscillator’s 10-week MA reaches 25 and starts to fall, SPX selling begins slowly and accelerates. Also, the daily Oscillator will fall near negative 50, at least once, and SPX will fall sharply. So far, over the recent decline, the daily Oscillator hasn’t fallen near negative 50.

OIH had almost a parabolic rise in January on rising oil prices, into the OPEC meeting, on top of big gains last year. Energy stocks represent about 15% of SPX. OIH has a stronger positive correlation with SPX than with oil prices. Currently, OIH is above the weekly upper Bollinger Band line. Oil prices may fall somewhat within a week or two after the OPEC meeting, and OIH may fall greater than SPX.

Economic growth has slowed, while inflation has accelerated. However, output is expected to pick-up in the current quarter, while inflation expectations have risen. Consequently, there may be greater uncertainty about monetary policy between the FOMC January and March meetings, which may be the catalyst for a steep fall in the stock market. Also, a slowing housing market (which slows consumption), rising production costs (including higher cost of capital), and lower productivity (from greater employment) will create uncertainties about corporate profit growth.

Charts available at http://www.peaktrader.com/Forum Index Market Overview section.

Arthur Albert Eckart is the founder and owner of PeakTrader. Arthur has worked for commercial banks, e.g. Wells Fargo, Banc One, and First Commerce Technologies, during the 1980s and 1990s. He has also worked for Janus Funds from 1999-00. Arthur Eckart has a BA & MA in Economics from the University of Colorado. He has worked on options portfolio optimization since 1998.

Mr Eckart has developed a comprehensive trading methodology using economics, portfolio optimization, and technical analysis to maximize return and minimize risk at the same time and over time. This methodology has resulted in excellent returns with low risk over the past four years.

“How do we find financial planners, or estate planners to help execute in our best interests?” It’s a great question. The standard reply one would get from a talking head on CNBC is “Find a licensed Financial planner, and then get at least three references, then make sure that you see if he is working towards his own goals and not yours, etc etc” That’s a fine canned response, but what’s it really mean? Not much.

As you know, we believe that the person most suited for your personal finances is You. No one cares about you, like you. So, premise one is that you actually care about what’s going on and want to take the action steps necessary to achieve your gols. What I find is that too many people tend to think that estate planning is too overboard for their abilities and they pass along the responsibility to someone else. That isn’t particularly an attractive way to go. Here is what I suggest.

The hardest part of finding good financial planning is to find a person who really knows his “stuff” but has the time to deal with you on a personal level. In other words consider your tax preparer. Once a year you trot into his or her office with a box load of papers, you wade through it for a couple hours and you’re done. You probably won’t see them again for a year. With a financial planner this is a major no no. An awful lot can change in the course of a year and you want the ability to contact this person and discuss changes in tax laws, stock directions, allocations, real estate, etc. on at least a monthly basis. So, along with finding a skilled person, one needs to find one who won’t blow you off when you call. But more importantly, not only shouldn’t he blow you off, he has to listen to your concerns and make movements based on your feelings too.

How do you find a person like that? Well it’s not easy, but it’s possible. The first thing to do is this, contact the person who handles your house and or life insurance. No, you don’t want the salesman, you want the brokerage owner. For instance, my friend’s house is insured by State Farm and his local broker is a wonderful guy who’s been in the insurance and “money” business for 28 years. Even if you don’t know your broker personally, he has a reason to listen to your question and help you. See, you pay this man through your premiums. He will try and help you if he can. So, start there. A common line of thought would be “Hey Joe, I’m looking for a financial planner to help me get things set up for my retirement, help with my taxes, and help me build a secure environment. I don’t want some pushy guy who is going to try and sell me all sorts of services, I want to pay someone for his knowledge. Do you know of anyone that sounds right for the job?” Will Joe know someone who can help? Probably, financial planners contact insurance companies all the time trying to increase business.

Your life insurance provider is also a good place to start, although so many life insurance companies have financial advisory services that are nothing more than offices run by 20 somethings that are reading the old company script. This is obvously not acceptable, but in some cases your insurance man may be doubling as a CPA, or a financial planner on the side. If so, and you like him, start asking him the questions. Your boss is generally a good place to ask too. Don’t be embarrassed, in fact, keep your head up. If your employer is successful, chances are he’s gone through the same questions you are going through. Find out who he uses. We have found that the human resources department of mid sized companies are often a treasure trove of info like this. You can bet that if your HR person is nailing down 150 grand a year, he’s talked to many planners both on the corporate level and personal level. Ask him. First he will be shocked because most people don’t think about using him for that info, but then he will take a certain pride in feeling that you find him important enough to ask.

If “Joe” is a square guy, he will give you a couple names that will help you. It’s your job to weed through them and see if any of them fit the bill. What’s the most important thing to ask your new prospect? I can sum it up in one paragraph. Ask him if he thinks it’s okay to “stay the course, suffer losses now, because in the long run you will win” If he gives you that line of crap, say “Sorry no thanks” and move on. If you ask him “how can I maximize my returns, while limiting my risks, and avoiding the tax man to the best of my ability”, and he replies, I like to stay liquid, and safe. I take risks when appropriate, but only when we can maximize the return and minimize the tax liability” this is a guy you want to meet. The economy changes, the stock market changes, and your planner should be flexible. Make sure you tell this person that you want to stay involved, and that a personal relationship is paramount to success. If he’s not willing to field phone calls at 9 pm after you’ve had an usettling day, then move on. Pay him well for his services, but make it known that you will be involved and you will want interaction.

That doesn’t mean call him ten times a day. That means that if you see something changing, you want to talk about it and the ramifications of it. Suppose you have several homes and you start seeing property values dipping in your area because of poor manufacturing employment. We’d certainly be on the phone asking him “when should we sell one and then what should we do with the proceeds?”. He might have suggestions you haven’t thought of and a discussion is probably necessary. He’ll know if you can sell the home without taking a tax hit, and if so, how to minimize it by applying the proceeds to another avenue. That’s his job.

Finally, don’t think your planner is going to be on top of everything. The guy will have a lot of clients if he is any good, and he won’t know everything that is going on in your accounts every day. It’s going to be your job to keep track of certain things and “get back to him” about them. Never stray too far away from your own records and ask the right questions when they arise. Remember, it’s YOUR money, not his. If you have a gut feeling that you are doing something wrong, tell him about it, tell him why you think it’s flawed and come up with something that satisfies both of you.

For more great tips, enter your email address at: http://lb.bcentral.com/ex/manage/subscriberprefs?customerid=12826

When we refer to the term “alternative investment” we tend to think of anything that is NOT real estate or the stock market since these are seen as the traditional investment mediums.

But they are far from ideal as methods for rapid wealth creation. Real estate is by far the better of the two and if approached creatively, can be an incredible source of rapid wealth.

But there is another centre of wealth creation, rarely talked about. Never spoken about but truly the pinnacle of fast fortunes. Its the one product that can be invested in that cannot be lost. It costs nothing to buy, but can be resold again and again for massive profits every time.

This one alternative investment product I have personally invested in has brought me more wealth in the last 5 years, then I could carry in a convoy of trucks.

We all know (or should know) that alternative investments are where the Rocket money is. Its where the jet fuel is. Finding investments with supercharged potential is the most astonishing way to make millions fast. They say its where the risk is too, but I doubt the keepers of this wisdom have ever invested in a hot lunch, much less understand their own words.

The one alternative investment product that drives fortunes into the hands of ordinary people cannot be lost or stolen. Its not kept in a bank safe and its rarely even insured for its valuable properties.

The product Im about to name is more safe, once you have invested in it and returns more yield and money into your pockets then 1000,000 shares of enron and the entire value of the stock market combined.

The product Im talking about is YOU. Specifically your capacity to see what others cannot see. Your learned skills to apply value to objects that others don’t value. Thats as far as I’ll go, Im not writing war and peace here, its just a short article.

When you develop a few simple skills based on a few simple insights, your investment will be complete. The yields are astronomical.

My very best to you.

Jack Reynolds is Operations manager for http://www.opportunity-investor.com Jack is a professional investor who trades in real estate, Art, Precious Stones and Sea going Vessels. He has followed Martin Thomas his mentor and CEO of the company for over 5 years and has managed to accumulate a large fortune during this time.

We talked recently about the wealth formula:

Spend less than you earn and save the difference. Initially, you may have to cut back to “find” the money to save. Start there if you must.

The next step is to learn how to invest your money powerfully.
Recently, I took my stepdaughter to the bank to open her first savings account. We agreed that every week; for so long as she was living under our roof, she would take 50% of her pay check and deposit it into a savings account. Then I explained the power of compound interest to her and how her principle would grow each and every month.

Tax Secrets of the Rich Found Here

Have you seen interest rates, lately? It’s sad.
The bank was offering 1% interest on her savings. Of course, at that rate, no one is going to get wealthy.

What kind of rates of return do you get on your investments?
Mutual funds pay about 5%. A little better, but not very impressive. The stock market yields about 12% over time. That’s a little better.

Asset Protections

But there are much faster ways to grow your wealth than that. My Wealth Accumulation program will teach you how to build compounding wealth.

Tax liens, for example yield 16% - 24% and are fully secured by the U.S. Government. Active trading can return 30%-50% - so can real estate investing. I’ve done pre-construction deals that brought 50%-100% rates of return.

And of course, if you leverage yourself by using OPM (other people’s money) your rates of return go through the roof.
You’ve got to start learning about what’s available “outside the box” in terms of investments. High returns don’t have to mean high risk. Like most things in life, a little bit of prudence greatly increases the safety factor.

Tax Strategies

That’s why I created my Wealth Accumulation program. To let people know the real rules of building wealth - no gambling, nothing crazy.

Sincerely, Drew Miles, America’s Tax Saving Attorney

P.S. Lasting wealth requires a long-term commitment. Get rich quite schemes don’t work.

P.P.S. There is no way to build wealth that is 100% risk -free. But you can learn to effectively manage your risks and keep them to an acceptable level.

Drew has combined what he learned during formal education, informal education and twenty five years of business experience in the development of programs designed to teach people how to build and preserve lasting wealth. He is an author, teacher and international speaker in the areas of asset protection, and tax saving and wealth building strategies.

The structured settlement system began in the early 1970’s in Canada, and it spread to United States and Australia within a few years. A compensation agreement between a plaintiff and insurance company (defendant) for long term and tax-free payments at a time of personal injuries or damages is called a structured settlement. The insurance company will make the payment either to the claimant, surviving family member or beneficiary.

The main benefit of structured settlements is the tax-free nature of the payments over a period of time. There are times when the claimant may insist on a lump sum instead of periodic payments. This might be because the claimant wishes to purchase a new house or cover large medical bills. If the insurance company needs to pay a lump sum, it will generally sell the settlement contract to a financial institution. The defendant will pay the periodic payments to the financial institution along with handling fees including interest.

If the claimant wishes to have a structured settlement, the settlement contract needs to be sold off. If the credit rating of the insurance company is higher in the market, the claimant will achieve a higher profit margin in the sale. Thus, the claimant should be very careful choosing the defendant company, making sure it is financially sound. Before selling the settlement, the claimant needs to consider legal restrictions like tax considerations and lower purchase price offered by the buyer, etc. For instance, cashing the structured settlement makes the beneficiary liable for a tax payment; where as the same beneficiary may get tax savings as an injured plaintiff.

However, it is advisable for the plaintiff to take the advice of a lawyer before deciding the sale. The lawyer will analyze the financial consequences of the sale and guide the plaintiff accordingly. Sometimes a court’s approval is needed for the sale depending upon the nature of the settlement contract. The plaintiff has another option of selling a part of the total structured settlement, so that monthly income will be received on the remaining portion. These days, people consider the structured settlement as a funding option for lawsuits.

Cash For Annuities provides detailed information about cash for annuities, annuity brokers, annuity buyers, annuity payments and more. Cash For Annuities is the sister site of Senior Settlements Info.