A Personal finance blog for saving money and earning more and thus having a better life
Almost everyone dreams of being rich, or at least of having the financial resources to live comfortably. The pathway to wealth envisioned by many people involves becoming famous, either as a pro athlete or entertainer. The odds are long, even for the most talented individuals, but the dream persists.
Sadly, many of the people who attain that much sought after level of success and wealth end up in financial ruin. Athletes are particularly vulnerable. According to Sports Illustrated:
I was once an avid self-investor. I used to be the investment advisor for my colleagues. I was successful at it, till I compared my return with that of some mutual funds I bought on the side. It was a pleasant awakening; I was nowhere close to their performance. Then came 2008 when I watched my investments in Washington Mutual bank stocks disappear within few minutes, in front of my eyes!
It didn’t take it long to realize I was not a great expert in stock picking. Fund managers were far better. Since then all of my new investments have been either in Mutual Funds or in Exchange Traded Funds. Not only these two, there’s another kind of fund that is still out of my reach, for not having enough investible asset, the Hedge Funds.
In early February, we went to St. Augustine, FL. We stayed there for 3 nights. Since three families went together, we booked a large vacation rental. Total cost including everything except local shopping was $300 for two of us. This is as cheap as it is possible. We didn’t cut out on the fun, though. We ate out, we visited every place St. Augustine had on offer. We grilled, we spent time on the beach, we had lunch at a high scale restaurant. What clicked for us?
There’s plenty that clicked for us. Will explain to you why in a while. Planning a trip for your family can be both an exciting and daunting task. You want to give your family an excellent vacation, one that everyone will enjoy, and create some unforgettable memories along the way. But with all of the costs and decisions to make; planning your down time can be a lot of extra work. But don’t be discouraged! The internet offers many resources for making your vacation planning a simpler and less expensive experience.
Shipping and the port trade has long been big business and for centuries, many people have been making their relative fortunes owing to the bounty of the coast. In recent times, however, one such shipping magnate stands out more than most, especially in terms of wealth, success and a fulfilled life full of adventure and challenge.
Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller is that man. One of the 20th centuries most successful businessmen, Moller was responsible for moving unfathomable amounts of containers around marine towns and cities, accruing great wealth along the way.
Readers, this is another one from my “101 ways” series. Look for others on the side bar. Perhaps it took most time to compile this one. Literally I listed 200 odd tips and eliminated 99 of ’em. Hope I produced some value added cheat sheet for you. For all the personal finance enthusiasts, here’s the basic list of 101 financial tips.
I am sure this list would help every one that come across this article. I wish I’d be delivering this article to everyone’s mail boxes. Every individual in every country. If people follow basic personal finance principles, would would be a better place to live in. crime would be lesser, there would be no poverty. If you think through, you may establish the connection.
If you want to start your own business, it’s very important to know what you are getting into, the responsibilities you will have, and the demands that you will face. Business ownership can be lucrative, but success does not come without hard work and the investment of time and money.
While I am not even close to being in the top one percent that we all hear of, I’ve made good financial decisions and am happy with the nest egg my wife and I have been able to build. We are both responsible with our budget and are well on our way to meeting our financial goals.
But for me, it wasn’t always that way. I started my professional life a financial basket case. I worked hard and saved money but just could not seem to keep a budget or hold on to my money for more than a year. Being a financial reporting analyst for a large insurance firm, my lack of financial stability was a big embarrassment and I did everything I could to hide the shame.
Like most people, you may be skeptical when you hear about the supposed benefits of binary option trading. Every form of trading has its proponents and the ones who prefer binary options tend to be very loud and passionate, which means many people are quick to think that it’s a bunch of hype. Make no mistake: binary option trading is nothing to rush into. However, for those who take their time learning how this method works, it can offer the following advantages.
We’ll talk more about this in a minute, but trading options definitely comes with its fair share of risks. Fortunately, it’s also very generous with its rewards. Pulling in a winning option can net you up to 90% of your investment. Even something like Forex typically doesn’t get higher than 10%. It’s hard not to get excited about this kind of potential.
(See Also – 3 Trading Mistakes to Correct 2015)
NoStructured settlements and annuities are financial products that you are probably happy about. In the first case, you probably received your structured settlement after going to court. The defendant knew that the case was lost, so rather than go through the motions of a court case that couldn’t be won, they opted to settle with you out of court.
Because a settlement is a lot of money to pay all at once, many times the defendant’s lawyers will offer you a structured settlement. They may even push it on you. In most cases, a lump sum should be available to you from the start, but a lot of plaintiffs feel that they received their structured settlement as the only available option, even if the monthly payments would not be sufficient to cover their monthly lifestyle needs.
Annuities are not quite the same thing. Unlike a settlement, you plan for an annuity well in advance. It is meant to cover your lifestyle expenses during your retirement, actually, or some similar time period. You, or a caring loved one, has been putting money away for a long time to fill up the annuity.
I admit I have very little knowledge on how social security system works. All I know about it is we should not depend on social security income alone. We should start saving in one or the other retirement plans right from the beginning of our career. Enjoy this insightful post from Devin. I hope you get good information out of it, if applicable to your situation.
Want to save a ton of money? Check your Social Security statement.