Buying a stock or mutual fund is like a driver
who is going down the road at high speed, but is
using looking in the rearview mirror as a guide.
He can see fine out the back, but has no
idea what is ahead. Sound familiar?

Your broker is going to help you with driving;
I mean picking stocks and mutual funds, so your
car (investment) will stay in the road and not
crash. He is going to send you all kinds of
information. You know - green sheets, pink
sheets, blue sheets, full color slick pages,
brochures, booklets and more: turn right, turn left,
put on the brake, speed up, slow down. He might
even get you in on an interview on the Internet
with the CEO of some company. Wow!

Or you can buy special reports from
Morningstar. They are not too expensive. The
dedicated investor might want to visit the
company headquarters especially if it is a new
public offering. Of course, the investor might
want to check out the background of the company
officers by inquiring at the NASD (National
Association of Securities Dealers) and the SEC
(Securities and Exchange Commission) in
Washington.

Have any of the corporate officers been
involved in other companies that have failed?
You can ask these questions and more.

What does all this information mean? Isn’t this
looking in the rearview mirror? Some of what you
have found is ancient history and some is not
quite ancient, maybe a little mildewed. It is
supposed to help the investor get an idea if the
company is financially sound and is expanding so
he can expect his investment to grow.

Are these guides any good?

Everything is past performance. The required
imprint according to regulations on every piece
of sales literature is, “Past performance is no
guarantee of future performance”. Basically all
the information you have is worthless; you are
looking in the mirror.

If you invest you should determine before you
put any money on the line how much you are
willing to lose. Will you stick with this hummer
if it goes to zero or have you determined what
percentage you are willing to part with if it
declines? Do you have an exit strategy for both
loss and when to take profit? Most investors
have neither.

Every professional investor I know has an exit
plan. He knows how many dollars he will give
back if he if wrong and if his stock selection
is positive he has some idea of a price
objective or having the price performance tell
him where to sell.

The great secret of the market is not buying.
It is selling. Until the investor learns how to
sell he will never make money in the market.

Looking at past performance (the rearview
mirror) may make the investor feel better, but
it is not the way to keep your investments on
the road to success.

Al Thomas’ best selling book, “If It Doesn’t
Go Up, Don’t Buy It!” has helped thousands
of people make money and keep their profits with
his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter
to receive his market letter for 3 months at
www.mutualfundmagic.com to discover why he’s
the man that Wall Street does not want you to
know.

Comments to al@mutualfundmagic.com

Copyright Albert W. Thomas All rights reserved.

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How many times have you wondered how the rich and famous have acquired the wealth that they have and how do they keep it growing? Are there times when you have dreamt about retiring early or even about retiring at all? Do you have an interest in the stock markets but do not know where to begin in respect of investing in them?

If you have answered yes to any of the questions that have been posed above, then you may wish to explore investing. However, although to the uninitiated the financial world can seem intimidating and overwhelming, once they have learnt a few major concepts and some of the basic vocabulary relating to it; it does not seem so overwhelming after all. However, what anyone should remember who is interested in investing is that it will not make them rich overnight. Unfortunately investing is not a get rich quick scheme but a way for people to take control over their personal finances and although building a financial wealth for you and your family may seem difficult in the beginning it can be a very rewarding experience eventually. Certainly the benefits of investing far out weigh the effort required to take part. Although money may not make you happy, it could certainly make your life a little easier. You will often find that people avoid the stock market as they do not understand investing and sometimes that they feel that financial professional will place their money in directions that they do not understand or want it to go.

But what is investing? It basically means making your money work for you and it requires a change from you in how you think about money. Many people are taught during their childhood that money is made only by getting a job and working hard. Then when you grow up that exactly what you do, so if you need more money you need to work more hours. Unfortunately a draw back with this is that you are restricted to how much money you are able to earn from just getting up everyday and then heading off to work. So what’s the point of having money if you can not enjoy it? But through investing you will find that whilst you are at work, cutting the lawn, playing with your children or even when you are sleeping your money is working for you. Thus no longer is your financial stability and security solely dependent on a raise a work, or you working over time or even the type of career that you have.

You will soon find that there are many different ways in which you can invest your money and it can include you putting money into stocks, bonds, mutual funds or even real estate (property). However, each of these have positives and negatives to them and each one should be fully researched so that you understand the risks and benefits that are associated with each one of them.

Certainly one of the main reasons why people avoid investing is that they see it as gambling. Where gambling is risking money on an outcome that is uncertain and you will find that most real investors do not just throw there money at any random stock that they find and hope that they get a return on their money, rather they only invest after that have carried out extensive research which will analyse the risks and rewards. Once they can see a reasonable expectation of profit on an investment will they commit any money?

But why should you invest? Certainly one of the most popular reasons for investing is to increase a person’s financial stability, which results in more personal freedom and security that their family will happy and well cared for in the future. Although in the past investing use to only be a luxury that the rich and affluent could afford, in today’s society investment is becoming a necessity. Today the days working in the same job for 30 years or more, then retiring and collecting a pension at the end are now long gone and certainly the only way that many people are able to retire and maintain the lifestyle they are use to is by investing. Many governments around the world are now cutting the social security benefits that they offer to their citizens and thus the responsibility for planning for retirement is shifted from them to you. Certainly more and more the viability of many old age pensions plans are becoming uncertain in today’s society and many financial experts believe that in about 20 years time they will no longer exist. So why leave it to chance and consider investing today.

Allison Thompson, now living in Spain as a work from home mum. She has been looking at the many options now available in respect of finance and investment. If you would like to learn more, please visit http://www.finance.avonmay.info.

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Some of the most difficult things for consumers to swallow are the various bank charges out there. If you aren’t aware of them, you could be hit with various fees and charges every month that can wreak havoc on your finances. Are bank fees getting to you? Are you aware of what you are paying every month? Read on and we’ll explore some of the nasty fees out there and what you can do about them!

Many banks charge for checking accounts and the way they assess these charges varies from bank to bank. Some examples include:

If your balance falls below a certain amount in any given month, you’ll be charged $10, $12, even $14 in monthly maintenance fees for that month!

If your account is overdrawn and you don’t have an overdraft checking account plan in place, expect to be penalized $29 or more per infraction. What’s more, expect your credit rating to nosedive if this happens more than one time.

In some cases banks will even charge you money if you see a live teller! Yes, walk up to a teller to deposit your money and you could be charged $1 or more per transaction. What the bank is really telling you is that they want you to use their ATM.

Some banks waive or reduce fees if you have a savings account with them that is linked to your checking account. Trouble is, most of these accounts pay a paltry 2 or 3 percent interest. In addition, the funds sitting in your checking account do not earn interest either.

If you use your ATM card at a machine that isn’t part of your bank’s network, plan on paying a fee to that separate network. In addition, your own bank pay charge you a fee for going out of network. Do you really want to pay 3 or 4 dollars just to get $20 from a foreign ATM? I doubt that!

Instead of paying through the nose every month, consider switching your funds to another bank or to a credit union. One famous bank will allow you to open up a checking account for just $1 and not charge you a monthly maintenance fee even if the funds drop to $0.01. Shop online for the best deal and check your current bank statement for unexplainable fees. Visit your local bank and ask them to reverse any spurious charges.

Joseph is the proud owner of Mortgage Tricks, a website that will
explain everything you need to know about Getting a Mortgage. We invite you
to visit our site today and see what we have to offer.

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