By Mika Hamilton

1. Begin investing immediately

Procrastination is the number one enemy of investing. An early start in investing can make an enormous difference as the investor will be able to truly reap the rewards of compounding over a longer period of time.

2. Invest for the long-term

Do not be influenced by short term market fluctuations. These are inevitable. Over the longer term, investments increase in value.

3. Appetite for risk

Your appetite for risk determines the type of investor you could be. The younger you are, the more aggressive you can be in your investment strategy. You could undertake a greater amount of risk. It also depends upon your personality profile.

4. Invest in stocks

Amongst all investment vehicles, stocks have provided the highest return over the long term. Stock investing requires patience and discipline. Stock prices are influenced by short term market fluctuations which may make them volatile. However, over the long term the market recognizes the underlying value of a stock and prices it accordingly.

5. Evaluate your current financial situation

Understanding your current financial situation will help you to sort your finances. This will require you to assess your net worth which the results of the value of the assets that you own less the amount you owe to others.
Never invest in anything that you do not understand. Keep aside easy accessible funds equivalent to three to four months of expenses for emergencies. If you are burdened with high interest debt, free yourself from debt before you begin investing. Use budgeting as a tool to control your expenses and for providing you with sufficient funds for investing.

6. Use a financial advisor

If you do not have the time or the inclination, consider using the services of an independent financial advisor. They are certified professionals having in-depth knowledge of various investment vehicles. However, remain involved to some extent to ensure that your money is being invested wisely.

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By Mika Hamilton

A bond is a debt security, by which you are lending money to a government, municipality, corporation, federal agency or other entity known as the issuer. In return for investing in the bond, the issuer promises to pay you a specified rate of interest during the life of the bond and to repay the face value of the bond (the principal) when it becomes due.

Why Invest in Bonds?

It is always prudent for an investor to maintain a diversified investment portfolio consisting of bonds, stocks and cash in varying percentages, depending upon individual circumstances and objectives. Bonds help you to diversify your portfolio, thereby, reducing your risk exposure.

Investing in bonds provides a predictable stream of income and repayment of principal.

Bonds maturing within three to five years will hold on to the value that they are worth. They offer some protection against stocks related losses in a portfolio.

The negative side of investing in bonds:

All investment products have drawbacks. Bonds are no exception. Some of the negative aspects of investing in bonds are:

Most bonds have a call option. This gives the issuer the right to call back the bonds held by investors generally after five to ten years. When the issuer calls back a bond, it pays your principal back along with the accrued interest and perhaps, a small premium. Issuers adopt this strategy when they can obtain money at interest rates lower than that of the bond in question.

When interest rates go up, the price at which the bond can be sold goes down. If you are forced to sell the bond due to pressing circumstances, you may not back the entire amount invested resulting in losses.

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By Mika Hamilton

I am sure you have probably read about the power of compound interest. And how if you invested $10,000 at 10% return and let it compound for 50 years you would have a little over 1 million dollars.

Now that’s all well and good, but who wants to wait around for 50 years before they can enjoy the fruits of their labor.

A quick tweak of the spreadsheet tells us that if you could increase your returns to just 15% per year, we would be looking at a million dollar balance in around 35 years, which would also be bringing you in around $150,000 more each year after that.

25% return per year will turn your $10,000 into 1 million in around 22 years, producing another $250,000 per year in additional cash flow.

This brings us to an important point. How much is enough?

How much money do you need to live your life?

Well, its all relative to the lifestyle you wish to lead. A good way to work out how much is enough, is to consider how much money you live off now. Work out how much money you would need to earn to replace your current income with your investment income.

If you earn $50,000 per year, then it will only take you around 15 years from the example above at 25% return to replace your income from your investments.

Work out how much money you need to live the lifestyle you want, and then take that figure and work out how much money you need invested to produce an equal income.

You might just be pleasantly surprised at how much you really need, and that it is not that far out of your reach.

Are these returns really possible?

The figures we talked about above are really just to give you an idea of what’s possible. Again everything is relative to how much work, time, money and commitment you are prepared to make in order to secure these returns.

A good managed fund will give you around a 10% return per year, but if you want to take things to the next level, then the only way to do this is to learn how to invest your own money. Returns of 25% and higher are certainly possible, people make returns like this all the time. You just need to learn the strategies, and apply them. Sure there will be some bumps in the road ahead, but consider the alternatives.

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By Jeff Lakie

If you are new to investing, or even if you’ve been playing the market for a while, investment options can be overwhelming. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds. How do you pick the best place to invest your money? That’s quite a decision!

Here are some tips that can help you get started:

If you are planning for a long-term investment, it may be wisest to go with stocks. History shows that stocks outperform other investing options over the long term. For example, from 1926 to 2004, the stock market had an average annual gain of 10.4%, compared with only 5.4% for bonds and even less for other forms of investing.

That said, stocks may not be such a good option for short-term investing. They tend to be more risky and can undergo severe losses. Unless you’re planning to keep your money there for a long time, you might not want to weather the stress of the stock market’s ups and downs. Overall, a company’s earnings are going to be the biggest player in a stock’s fluctuation.

If you’re willing to take a little bit of risk with your investing-or a lot-you probably will notice a bigger payoff. Stocks, for example, are a riskier investment than bonds. But again, stocks tend to bring in a much higher return. On the other hand, there is also the chance that your stock will dip and you may suffer a great loss. That’s all part of the game.

If you’re looking for a low-risk, surefire investment strategy, U.S. Treasury bonds may be the way to go. The government has a lot of power over these bonds. Because of this, investing in these bonds is generally considered risk-free. Keep in mind, however, that bonds don’t do so well when interest rates rise. Conversely, when interest rates go down, bond prices rise. This is particularly true with long-term bonds.

To be safe, the best advice is to diversify your portfolio. If you practice investing in a number of different areas, you are least likely to lose it all. (Remember the Enron scandal? Don’t make that mistake!) Some investments will go up, others will go down. But at least you can be pretty sure you won’t lose it all.

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