Using Your Savings to Fund Your Investments

By Sara Ferguson

Saving and investing are different, although savings are often the source of funds for investing. Savings are a percentage of your income that you put aside regularly, usually at a low interest rate. Normally saving accounts have a very low interest rate under 2%. You can easily access savings, and often theyre insured by a financial institution. Some saving plans do have penalties, so read your account rules before withdrawing funds.

Investment funds are the funds that you dont have earmarked for the rent, groceries, taxes, and so on. They may earn interest or dividends, but you have no guarantee of increased value or future income. (Investment funds should be free of any obligations. First rule in investing is never invest money you cannot afford to lose.)

The beginning of personal wealth is the accumulation of capital that you can use for investing. This capital often begins with savings and expands into other types of more profitable investments. Savings are the beginning of your capital accumulation. Families need a regular savings program thats between 5 and 10 percent of net pay per month. Some people even manage to put away 15 percent. Saving money monthly should be a habit and regularly expected monthly.

Additionally, individuals and families need emergency funds. Folks with fluctuating income, few job benefits, and little job security may need to have a larger emergency fund. Families with two wage earners may need a smaller emergency fund. Always have some type of backup planned for future problems. While having money in investments can be great, pulling money out of an investment can take time or may not be possible for months.

A general rule is to have three to six months of take-home pay in a savings account (or a near-cash account similar to a market fund with check-writing privileges) for emergencies. If you dont have an emergency fund, you need to increase your savings. Payroll deduction plans that divert funds into a savings account or money market fund are often the most painless way to achieve the best results. On the other hand, if youve been saving a surplus, you may want to consider using these funds for investing.

Learning how to invest and finding funds for your investments is a challenge everyone struggles with daily. As always keep in mind that building up your investment empire takes time and knowledge. All investments involve some kind of risk, keep that in mind and know what the risks are before you invest. - 23200

About the Author:

Sara loves to teach people How to Invest. Learn How to Invest and create multiple streams of income.

You Should Learn The Basics Of A 401K Account

By Tonia W. Murphy

Many companies have switched to 401k accounts for their employees' retirement plans instead of the traditional pension. This is often beneficial to the employee because the investment is handled by an outside investment company. Because of that, unless the employee invests in the stock of the company he works for, the chances of losing one's retirement income when an employer goes out of business is minimized. This article will help you understand the basics of a 401k account.

A 401k plan is a retirement plan that is set up as a special type of account to take advantage of tax benefits. With a 401k plan, you can deposit money into the account tax-free. That means it comes out of your check before taxes are taken out of it. Instead of paying taxes on the money you put into your 401k at the current rate, you will be taxed when you withdraw the money from the account.

If you make less than $110, 000 per year, you can contribute up to $16, 500 per year to your 401k, and the total contribution including your employer match cannot exceed $49, 000. The limits increase to $22, 000 and $54, 500 once you reach the age of fifty. If you make more than $110, 000 per year, your employer may be required to reduce the amount you can contribute so that you are not investing a higher percentage of your income than the average worker at your company.

Employers have the option of matching employee contributions to a 401k plan. Not all employers offer this, but many do. Employer matching can be full or partial. Either way, there is usually some sort of limit on it. Employer matching is like free money, so if your employer matches you should try to contribute enough to get the maximum match amount if you can.

The money that is invested in a 401k by your company match may or may not be vested immediately. What that means is that in some plans, you have to wait a certain period of time after the investment is made before the money is fully yours. The investment choices available to you in your 401k plan are chosen by your company. You can decide how to invest your money within those options. Sometimes the options are quite limited.

If you need money for something, you might be able to take a loan out against your 401k to pay for it. This benefit is available with many 401k plans, but not all of them. If you do borrow against your 401k plan, you have to pay the loan back, along with interest. In most cases, if you stop working for the company the loan will be due in full immediately. There are tax penalties for not paying it back when this happens.

Even if your company doesn't offer a 401k plan, it can't hurt to learn how they work. Someday you might just need to know. - 23200

About the Author:

Are you looking for a solid 401k retirement investment strategy that is good for you? Before you spend your time looking for quality retirement investing information, look at BeforeYouInvest.com's guide to invest money online before you do anything else. BeforeYouInvest.com reviews everything from investing for retirement to the 401K direct rollover so take a look.

Do You Understand The Hidden Truths Behind Trading For A Living

By Peter Skonctuedt

If you are one of those people that do not normally trade to make a living then the first question you will put to someone that does is how they succeed in trading for a living. Of course, others might argue the fact that what constitutes a living for one person may not be the same for another person. For example, for many of us making a living would mean earning fifty thousand dollars a year while for others it could mean earning ten times that amount.

Today, there are millions of people that are becoming traders and who are trading in stocks that are worth many trillions of dollars. However, at the same time it has to be said that judging how the market is going to move in a few hours will prove to be a particularly difficult task.

When it comes to understanding how to trade to make a living you need to also understand that sometimes you might lose money and other times you will make money. Even the most experienced traders lose money; so, it would be wrong to expect that you will always succeed in making profits year in and year out.

All you need to do is place a trade and type in a stop-loss order and then spend some time doing what you like. As long as the trade moves in a desirable direction you will always succeed in making money from your trade. Another benefit to trading in stocks for a living is that you can put in a one-time effort that will then help you earn money over and over again.

The trouble is that most people do not have the required discipline to remain focused on their objective for a time span of five or ten or even twenty years and so will give up if things do not work out right for them. To succeed you need to behave like a person trying to win an Olympic gold medal or become a world renowned surgeon or even a Kirov ballerina.

Even if you do behave like a would-be Olympic champion there is still no guarantee that you will succeed because even a single mistake at any time can put paid to all your efforts and causes a huge loss of money to you.

The only trouble is that there are also drawdowns which are unavoidable. The smart traders are aware of this and so will, instead of actually indulging in trading will offer to teach people how to trade and earn money out of a living.

Most people that have succeeded in trading for a living have realized that they do not need to monitor the market on an hourly basis. What is required is managing their trades for between ten to sixty minutes on a daily basis. But remember what an old adage says and that is that you may be able to do anything in your life; just don't attempt to do everything because that is a surefire means of inviting failure instead of success. - 23200

About the Author:

trading for a living is a dream of many. If you are a temporary trader, you no doubt dream of this every morning you have to get up early and face the endless traffic before investing to the office. Stop dreaming by investing stock picking software .

Shorting Stocks Explained

By Ahmad Hassam

Many beginning investors get confused when they realize that it is possible to make money when the stock falls in price. In practice, shorting a stock is as easy as buying stocks once you get hang of it. When the market is falling, investors sell short a stock with the goal of profiting from the fall in the price of that stock.

When you short a stock, you borrow it from you broker and sell it with the intention of buying it back at a lower price in the near term future and returning it to your broker. The difference between the selling price and the buying price in case the price goes down is your profit.

With short selling a stock, you make profit when the price of a stock goes down. You are anticipating further fall in the price of the stock when you short a stock. However, if the price of the stock instead of going down starts to go up, you get a loss. It all depends how well your prediction about the stock price was. If you can predict the direction of the stock price very well, you can become a great trader.

So shorting a stock without proper risk and money management is not wise. Theoretically a stock price can go up and up making your loss as big as infinity. However, before that happens most probably you will receive a margin call from your broker that leads to a forced sale before your losses reach unmanageable proportions.

Some people are against the strategy of shorting stocks. In the stock market crash of 2008, many financial companies went bankrupt due to the short selling of their shares by the speculators. A temporary ban was put on shorting for sometime during that period.

However, the goal of short selling is not to drive the price of a stock to zero and put the company out of business. In swing trading, we are simply looking to profit from the ups and downs of stock prices. When the price of a stock goes down, short selling is the best swing trading strategy.

One reason why swing traders love short selling is due to the velocity of the moves! Negative news like poor earning, credit rating downgrade or a poor product launch can bring down a stock price in a matter of minutes and wipe out the steady gains made in months.

Swing traders always look for big winners and this brings them to the short side of the market. When the price of a stock starts to fall, chances are it will fall more before the market stabilizes and the price starts to rise again. Shot selling can be a good hedging strategy for long term investors too. So if you a long term investor, you can lessen the impact of the sharp price drop on your portfolio by using a short selling hedging strategy. - 23200

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. Try This Cash Printing Forex Signal Service From Heaven! Learn Swing Trading!

A Beginners Short Guide to Beach Property Investment: Buying Land

By Jeremy Szechenyi

Purchasing land is simply buying undeveloped land near or on the beach. Finding beachfront land is a serious challenge and typically high priced. You can find land that isn't exactly beachfront, but is close to the beach, and holds some good value. Whether you decide to search for land on the beach or just back from the beachfront, the land needs to have potential value. The follow three points are things to consider.

1. Figure out why the land is for sale.

2. Research the area to see if utilities are available for a house.

3. Evaluate potential development projects that might take place.

First, you need to figure out why the land is for sale. There are many reasons why land goes up for sale, from honest to dishonest reasons. Zoning restrictions can cause issues with building a house, and you will need to be aware of these restrictions when evaluating a property for purchase. Land might also go on sale because of hidden problems with the land itself, such as ground too soft to lay foundation in. Make sure you know the land and about the property before you buy.

Second, research the area to see if it has all the necessary utilities to support a house. If there are electrical lines, but no sewer access and rules against a septic tank, then the land won't be worth as much. Keep in mind that if the land doesn't have all the utilities it needs available, it might have them available in the future. Land development close by might mean that a sewer line is put in. Purchasing the land before those events happen would allow you to get it for less money, and ultimately have a larger profit.

Lastly, make an evaluation of the area and what potential residential development and commercial development project might take place. Development projects can both benefit and detract from the value of a house. If you happen to find a perfect piece of land, for instance with a clear view of the ocean, an open area capable of putting a house on, and forest surrounding the house on all other sides, then development projects are not as negative. If you don't have those, and the development would make your land feel crowded, then it would be a detraction. The main idea is to think long term about your investment. - 23200

About the Author:

Buying land at the beach is a great way starting point for an investment property. For more information, check out Jeremy Szechenyi's awesome Blog on beach property investments.