Discover the Biggest Trading & Investing Online Mistake
October 31, 2007
Any online investor / trader seeks an excellent off or online future trading career opportunity. Despite this goal, did you know 95 percent of all traders go broke within the first two months? Why do investors lose vast amounts of wealth in one or more of the following markets ? option trading, forex trading or currency trading, stock trading, future or commodity trading etc? in such a short amount of time?
Most online investors / traders interact in devastating forms of thinking, which convinces the mind to the point where the trader believes that an educational enhancement ability that develops superb market research skills is not important. On the contrary, if trading is not treated as other business opportunities, the new sales and trading job will cripple the trader. You must develop a purposeful or industrious undertaking to learn how it works. Would you conduct business as a brain surgeon with out a college or university degree? I do not think so; similarly, the same course of action holds true for trading success.
The secret of my success required an earnest and conscientious effort on my part. This action accomplished something to the point of pure boldness; in other words, no matter how boring or non-important you think learning how to trade may be, it must be done to insure a success story.
Hidden Tax Opportunity For Tax-Deferred Investments
October 30, 2007
Hidden Tax Opportunity For Tax-Deferred Investments
by: Ken Morris
As IRA and other retirement plan account balances continue to grow larger, often into very significant amounts, the need to understand tax characteristics becomes more critical.
These types of accounts offer the tremendous benefit of tax deferral, as everyone is well aware, but a “taxing” problem may remain upon the death of the participant. This quandary is known as income in respect of a decedent. Income in respect of a decedent is income to which the decedent was entitled, but due to his or her death was not includable in his or her taxable income. In other words, IRD assets do not receive a step-up in cost basis at death like capital assets. Therefore, they are taxable to the estate or the heir who receives them.
Another unique characteristic of IRD assets is potential dual taxation. They are included in the gross estate of the decedent, so they are subject to estate taxes. Further, the IRD asset, when distributed, is subject to income tax upon receipt. If a beneficiary receives the IRD, it is included in his or her ordinary income for that tax year and he or she is taxed on it. However, there is a hidden tax opportunity just waiting to be utilized: a 691(c) deduction.
Internet Scams Add to Worries of Online Banks
October 29, 2007
Internet Scams Add to Worries of Online Banks
by: Charles Essmeier
The advent of the Internet has been a huge boon to the banking industry. Long concerned about the costs of doing business, banks have quickly embraced the Internet as a way of doing business with their customers without having to pay employees to handle the transactions. The Internet is open for business 24 hours a day and a “teller” is always on call in the form of a fully automated system.
Unfortunately, certain clever criminals have made the very notion of online banking inherently risky. Using a system known as “phishing”, these unscrupulous types have sent out millions of e-mail messages that appear to be from legitimate banking institutions, asking customers for personal information, such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. Many people have replied to these messages without realizing that they are not from their bank, but from someone who wants to steal information from them.
An even worse problem is that of “pharming” where malicious code directs customers who are trying to find a bank’s Website to a site that the criminals have set up that looks just like the real one. This one, however, is only there to steal information.
Benefiting Substantially From Your IRA Early
October 28, 2007
Benefiting Substantially From Your IRA Early
by: Ken Morris
If you own an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), the primary purpose is to accumulate assets to provide an income source during retirement. In the accumulation phase, you may contribute to an IRA on a tax deductible basis (with some exceptions) with the earnings growing tax deferred. Upon withdrawal, distributions will be included in income and taxed accordingly. In addition, for those wishing to access their IRAs “early,” distributions prior to age 59 ½ will be subject to a 10% premature distribution penalty tax, unless an exception applies.
You may have thought that there is no way to withdraw funds from your IRA “early”, before age 59 ½, and avoid the 10% penalty. This is not true. The IRS permits an individual, under the age to 59 ½, to make distributions from their IRA and avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty if the distributions are due to one of the IRS exceptions, one of which is a series of substantially equal periodic payments. As you may have guessed, there are several requirements that apply when claiming the substantially equal payment exception.
When to Link Chequeing and Savings Accounts
October 27, 2007
When to Link Chequeing and Savings Accounts
by: John Mussi
Have you ever had an overdraft cheque? It can be a major inconvenience, especially if the overdraft was only by a small amount. To help consumers to avoid the problem of minor overdrafts, a number of banks offer a link between chequeing accounts and savings accounts… this allows the cheque to be processed using additional funds provided by your savings account.
A standard overdraft fee is still charged, but the chequeing account that the cheque was written on doesn’t drop down into a negative balance and you aren’t charged returned cheque fees from the business or individual to whom the cheque was written.
If you think that linking your chequeing and savings accounts might be beneficial to you, then read on for more information.
Linking Your Accounts
Linking your chequeing account to your savings account requires that you contact your bank and request that they make the link between the two. There may be a service fee involved, though many banks offer account linking without a fee. In order to find out the specifics of any account linking that your bank might offer, you should visit their website or inquire directly from one of the tellers or customer service representatives at your local bank branch.
Understanding The Real Rate of Return!
October 27, 2007
There is one indicator more than any other which determines the health of an economy and it is the Real Rate of Return. Furthermore this is the simplest of all indicators to understand because it determines the safety of assets. Next time you hear the TALKING HEADS discussing the nuances of the markets, filter what they say through your own understanding of the Real Rate of Return.
The Real Rate of Return is the one number that determines the safety of principal. It is calculated by taking the current BOND YIELD and subtracting the expected INFLATION rate from it. The result is the REAL return on giaranteed money from the government.
Interest Rates are on the rise as we have been expecting and this pressure has put a tremendous amount of pressure on the stock market. The essential simplicity at work here is very, very basic. If Interest rates on Bonds are yielding 5.14% and inflation is forecasted at 5%. The difference is the REAL RATE of RETURN, (in this instance we are speaking about .14%). The REAL RATE of RETURN is what sparks major rallies and declines on Wall Street.
Mortgage Tips for First Time Buyers
October 26, 2007
Mortgage Tips for First Time Buyers
by: Charles Essmeier
A home is the single most expensive thing most people will ever purchase. In addition, paying off a home loan can take as long as forty years and will involve paying an amount of interest that exceeds the cost of the house itself. In short, buying a house is not something to be done without a lot of forethought. With the average American living in their homes for seven years or less, most mortgages are probably offered to people who have purchased a home before. But there are always people who are buying for the first time, and for them, knowing how the process works is important.
Here are some useful tips for first-time homebuyers:
# Know how much you can afford to pay. This includes not only the total price of the house, but the monthly payments, as well. Do not be fooled by the monthly amount the lender tells you that you can afford; that number is usually high enough to be well beyond most buyers’ comfort zones. If the lender suggests that you can pay as much as $2000 per month but you only feel comfortable paying $1500 per month, then that is your limit. You should buy a house that will allow you to pay that amount, and no more.
Tax-Free Retirement Planning Services
October 25, 2007
Tax-Free Retirement Planning Services
by: Ken Morris
For many self-employed individuals and small business owners, employer retirement plans are a key part of retirement savings. Understanding how the employer retirement plan fits into an overall retirement plan is important to being able to plan adequately for retirement.
Congress believes that employers should be encouraged to assist individuals in this retirement planning stage. Congress recognizes that although many employees understand the importance of setting money aside, few understand the link between their retirement savings and their overall retirement planning. Therefore, Congress now permits employers who sponsor an employer retirement plan to provide Qualified Retirement Planning Services to employees or their spouses as a tax-free fringe benefit.
What makes this new development particularly interesting to self-employed individuals and small business owners is that it permits them to spend pre-tax dollars on retirement planning services. Additional benefits include increases in employee job satisfaction and retention, and employee plan participation.
The retirement planning service is available on an employer-paid basis. The value of the Qualified Retirement Planning Service itself is not charged to the employee or included in taxable income. Thus, the value of the service is not subject to Social Security, Medicare, or income tax withholding.
How to Decide on Chequeing and Savings Accounts
October 24, 2007
How to Decide on Chequeing and Savings Accounts
by: John Mussi
Choosing the right bank accounts can be a difficult task… after all, you’re making major decisions that can directly affect your finances. Unfortunately, there isn’t a catch-all way to look at choosing different types of bank accounts… chequeing and savings accounts have different considerations and should be looked at from different viewpoints before making your decision on either.
This article is intended to provide you with some of the things that you should keep in mind when looking for either a chequeing account or a savings account, and will hopefully be helpful in making your final decisions.
Differences in Chequeing and Savings
Because they deal with your money in different ways, you need to make sure that you don’t look at chequeing and savings accounts as though they’re the same type of account. Savings accounts pay you interest on the amount of money that you keep as a balance, whereas chequeing accounts generally do not of course, some do; others may charge account maintenance fees, however.
Discount Points May Be Wise When Purchasing a Home
October 23, 2007
Discount Points May Be Wise When Purchasing a Home
by: Charles Essmeier
There are many expenses one must pay when closing on a mortgage. Some of these include taxes, a down payment, loan origination fees, and miscellaneous fees for couriers, copying or other office expenses. No one likes paying these costs, but they are part of the process of taking out a loan. There is one item that can be paid for at closing that may be worthwhile, however, and that is something known as “discount points.”
Discount points are a fee paid to the lender in order to reduce the interest rate on the mortgage. A “point” is one percent of the loan amount; in exchange for paying one or more points, the interest rate on the mortgage may be reduced by an agreed upon amount. Since this fee can easily run in the thousands of dollars, it would make sense to first determine if it is a good idea to pay the lender to reduce the interest rate.
