Making-Money-Month Is Now!

Is the start early; save as much as you can; get a good return on your money working for you? Savings rates are at an all time low and personal debt levels are staggering. What’s the solution? Work longer? Reduce your lifestyle expectations? The answer is really quite simple, yet seems to be somewhat of a mystery!! Let me tell you, it’s not a se*cret!! The answer is in looking at the situation for an income perspective, not the traditional asset accumulation model we have all adopted.

If you have expectations to receive a household income equivalent to say, $60,000 per year for 30 years, at retirement that would require you to have savings of $922,347. In order to accumulate this sum you would need savings of almost $14,000 per year for 30 years. These figures are based on conservative estimates of 5% earnings on your money, because whether inflation is low or not and whether the money is saved inside a tax sheltered investment or not, taxes and inflation is a factor that will affect your total return. You can use larger returns to make your estimate if you like, it’s your choice - but so is everything about how you live your life and plan your finances.

You can also decide to accept any income figure you like. If you seriously consider the $60,000 household income - does is it really give you the money you want to do the things you like to do? That’s for you to decide. On an after tax basis $60,000 is approximately $3,000 per month. Consider this when you make your projections: What are the costs of your activities? How much is clothes, food, entertainment, gifts, insurance, household maintenance? Everyone lives their lives completely different. How are you to know what income you want when you leave the workforce unless you do some research for yourself and find out just how much it’s going to cost. This means starting today to keep track of your current expenses.

This is the secret to being able to retire: you absolutely must know how much INCOME you want coming in to support your lifestyle. If you don’t know what you want to do, then I suggest you do some research to find out what you might like to do. And, while you’re doing your research, still keep track of what you’re spending today regardless of whether it’s what you think you’ll be doing when you leave work - it’s a necessary starting point in preparing a full financial plan.

If we decided that the $3,000 per month net income was sufficient, then we have two choices: 1) save enough money to fund it. This savings might be entirely on your own, or perhaps will include company and government pension money as well, or; 2) develop income streams today that will provide you with the $3,000.

Ask yourself this question: which is an easier number to grasp? $3,000 or $922,347? If the answer is $3,000, then start to plan your financial activities so you are creating income. There are many different ways: business income, real estate, network marketing, royalties, licensing, and income investments, are just some key areas.

Consider, for example, if you purchase a home with a suite in it today that produces $600 per month income. You could use the income when you needed it, use the space when you needed it, then convert it back to income again when you needed it at retirement.

Here’s another example to help you switch your focus from growth to income: If you were to make a $10,000 investment and expected to receive 5% on that money, we normally look at the amount that investment will grow to. In this case, if the investment was left for ten years at that return it would grow to $16,289. Great - but that growth money can now produce income of $2,109 or $173 per month for ten years. You can easily structure your investments with an advisor to plan for income rather than simply long-term growth.

Everyone has income generating ideas, they just get so focused on earning a living for today they forget about the future. There are many terrific resources to help you take your ideas and turn them into income. You simply have to first recognize that you are looking for income ideas - not get rich quick schemes - but solid, income generating ideas that you can work into your financial plan. Then when you find them, you can implement them whenever and however you like - so retiring (or more appropriately, being financially independent) can be yours whenever you want and at whatever level of income you want - your choice!!

MoneyMinding Inc. and Tracy Piercy accept no liability for the content of this article, or for the results of any actions taken or not taken, on the basis of the information provided. The content is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional, personal financial advice.

Tracy Piercy, a Certified Financial Planner, offers step by step proven success principles, tools, ideas and strategies integrated with practical financial planning strategies. She has worked in the financial industry, in insurance, banking, and as a well respected investment advisor with CIBC Wood Gundy, for more than 15 years. Tracy is the author of Enlightened Wealth, a personal money journal http://www.moneyminding.com.

The act of reducing the selling price of consumer goods including furniture is a common process in the present market scenario. While this practice attracts more customers, opting for discount furniture does not mean that quality is being compromised. Discount furniture is in essence, new furniture that is sold at a reduced price because it was damaged during shipping, out-dated style, has minor defects, or something similar. Discount furniture includes products for the bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, office and more. It comes in classic and contemporary designs that compliment each and every room in your home.

Discount furniture can be purchased from resale shops, outlets or from wholesalers ready to sell to the public by eliminating the retail middleman. This process benefits the customer because of the money saved. Prices are unbelievably low, and are brand names, as well as private label. When taking advantage of these discount furniture suppliers, be sure to inspect the quality and craftmanship of the furniture before making your purchase. Just because you are paying less does not mean you should settle for less.

Some of the warehouses and stores also have their own online stores that deal in discount furniture. Online stores constantly update their designs and product line, and make shopping for discounted furniture easier and faster. You can read customer reviews of these online stores to discern the quality. At some discount furniture stores; an excellent team of furnishing consultants is available for assistance in choosing furniture and suggesting creative options for your home.

We often talk about taking the perfect loan that suits your
pocket, the best interest rates, repayment options, loopholes in
the credit agreement and other niceties. Have you ever
considered looking for a loan that hands you the crucial amount
in a minimum time frame? Well, it doesn’t necessarily seem that
significant until you end up in a situation where meeting
financial deadlines becomes imperative. For example, your bill
due date is fast approaching, an urgent family crisis arises, an
unexpected celebration needs hastened attention or a sudden
medical emergency. This is where a Fast Secured Loan UK finds
its compulsory attendance.

A Fast Secured Loan UK like any secured loan enforces putting up
collateral as security against the amount borrowed. For secured
loans, collateral can be in the form of your home, your
automobile or any securable asset, that is retained with your
creditor until complete repayment. The only distinction here is
that instant approval of the loan is a supplementary feature. At
this point, instant approval ideally means approval of the
secured loan within the time promised, which is rarely verified
by most lenders. Sticking to the approval time mentioned on the
agreement is a small trial that exhibits the credibility of your
creditor. A Fast Secured Loan UK is a perfect fiscal solution,
available with minimum hassles for any financial crisis
precipitated by an unpredicted urgency.

Your Fast Secured Loan UK goes through the regular approval
process:

1. Selection of the loan: Here, you finally weigh your options
and come up with the perfect loan that seems to be customized
just for you. Although you are satisfied with your choice, it is
important that you discuss it and your alternatives with your
financial advisor.

2. Filling the Application Form: You are sent an application
form to be filled with the details of the borrower. Easy
approval is facilitated if you display your requirements and
your information as explicitly and briefly as possible.
Repetitive verifications are thus easily avoided and your Fast
Secured Loan UK can be approved effortlessly in accordance with
the creditor’s specifications. This process has now advanced to
online applications.

On receiving your application form, the lender gives an
in-principle decision on the suitability of the candidate for
the Fast Secured Loan UK, which is made within 24 to 48 hours.
Consequently, lenders must be allowed a minimal time within
which they complete the necessary procedures. Proper time
management by the creditor can save a lot of time in approval.
The approval time differs with lenders, the customs prevailing
in a region or place, and with the financial product opted for.
Under normal circumstances, any secured loan takes longer to
approve because of the additional verification of collateral
that is essential. The principal verification moves forward in
this manner: * The self-employed must present last 2 years’ tax
returns and the profit-loss report for the last year. Income
verification is conducted and presented to the lender. * Assets
are verified through 2 months statements. * Borrowers must
submit a statement on any other outstanding financial
obligations. * A credit statement which provides the lender with
your credit score can bring a change in your interest rate and
hence needs to be given its due importance too.

Approval is a multi-step process, and it depends on the time the
lender takes to accomplish each step. A majority of the steps
are justified and are included in order to reveal the
credibility of the borrower. Since a large amount of money is
involved, secured loans cannot be given without conducting
proper verifications. The pace for approval of your Fast Secured
Loan UK can be accelerated by applying for it. However, this
step may include a higher interest rate or an additional fee. At
the same time, this can be avoided if your credit history
displays a good repaying ability and on how comfortable a lender
feels with the borrower’s collateral and financial standing.
Although the picture is pretty perfect, failure of repayment
leads to confiscation of collateral.

In currency technical analysis, the most important theory ever, for understanding market movement, is Dow Theory - but its influence is vastly under estimated by the bulk of traders.

The reasons why every trader (not just currency traders) should look at Dow Theory, and understand it, is the basis of this article. Understand Dow Theory correctly, and incorporate it in your trading strategy - then watch your profits soar.

Predictive Theory V Odds Theory

Many traders look for theories that predict - as they think making money is easy. Of course if they stopped to think about it, they would realize that if predictive theories worked, we would all know the market price in advance - and there would be no market!

Losing traders love theories, such as Elliot Wave, and Gann - which are supposed to scientifically predict market movements in advance - which of course they can’t.

So, forget about joining the far out investment crowd, and traders looking for easy money. Lets look at currency technical analysis with Dow theory - and gain a greater insight into market movement, that can lead to big profits.

In 1901, when writing in the Wall Street Journal, Charles H. Dow compared the stock market, to the tides of the ocean, - and the quote below neatly sums up the theory:

“A person watching the tide coming in and who wishes to know the exact spot which marks the high tide, sets a stick in the sand at the points reached by the incoming waves until the stick reaches a position where the waves do not come up to it, and finally recede enough to show that the tide has turned. This method holds good in watching and determining the flood tide of the stock market.”

Probability is the Key to Currency Trading Success

Like the waves of the ocean, we all know that tides ebb and flow (come in and go out) - but we don’t know the exact spot, or the exact timing - we wait for confirmation.

Dow Theory is a theory of currency technical analysis that doesn’t predict - but gives us a chance to put the odds in our favor.

Just as waves don’t move to an exact scientific theory, neither do markets - but they do move in recognizable patterns - and with currency trading technical analysis, this is what we need to do - spot the patterns with the best chance of success, and trade them for profit.

The basis of currency trading technical analysis lies in getting the odds in our favor - not scientific prediction.

The Development of Dow’s Thoughts

Dow theory has been around for almost 100 years, and even in today’s markets, the basic components of Dow theory remain valid. Dow theory not only addresses technical analysis, and price action - but also market philosophy.

Dow theory as set down by Dow himself, was later developed by two important analysts - Rhea and Hamilton, who take enormous credit for developing Dow theory, and bringing it to a wider audience.

Why is Dow Theory So Significant?

In today’s world of trading, many traders think that trading is easy - vendors, who peddle predictive theories, and easy ways to make money, perpetrate this hype.

However, even with the huge advances in computers, and the data crunching available today, there is no way of predicting the market - and their never will be.

Dow theory though, gives any sensible trader, a great form of currency technical analysis, which can get the odds in their favor.

We will cover the basics of this important currency technical analysis theory in part 2 of this article - where we show you how you can use the theory to enhance your profit potential.

New! A valuable FREE Currency Trader CD containing 9 critical trading reports, tips, strategies and technical analysis. Visit our web site now and grab your CD http://www.tradercurrencies.com

There is one very important factor that you should consider with great care if you are willing to become a successful, profitable Forex trader. This ever important factor that must be always present in the trader’s portfolio, is the ability to read the charts.

The beauty of FOREX charts, as opposed to charts used for, say, daytrading stocks, is that they are pretty easy to interpret and use. They’re a reflection of a slower-moving, stable economy (the one of a country) compared to the future and daily drama of company reports, Wall street analysts and shareholder demands.

And, unlike stocks, currency charts rarely spend much time in tight trading ranges and have the tendency to develop strong trends (even though the FX market
may be volatile, it’s more predictable). And, rather than tens of thousands of stocks to analyze, you only have a few mayor currencies to trade.

The most common types of price bars, used in FOREX trading, are the Bar Chart and the Candlestick chart:

Bars Charts - Price bars are a linear representation (a line)of a period of time. This enables the viewer to see a graphic representation summarizing the activity of a specific time frame. For example they can be one minute or five-minute time
intervals depending on the system you are using. Each bar has similar characteristics and tells the viewer several important pieces of information. First, the highest point of the bar represents the highest price that was achieved during that time period. The lowest point of the bar represents the lowest price during the same period. Regular bars display a small dot on the left side of the bar which represents the opening price of the period and the small dot on the right side represents the closing price of the period.

Candlesticks - Japanese Candlesticks, or simply Candlesticks as they are now known, are used to represent the same information as Price bars. The only difference is that the difference between the open and close form the body of a box which is displayed with a color inside. A red color means that the close was lower than the open, and the blue color represents that the close was higher than the open. If the box has a line going up from the box it represents the high and is called the wick. If the box has a line going down from the box, it represents the low and is called the tail. Many interpretations can be made from these “candlesticks” and many books have been written on the art of interpreting these bars ( Visit: http://www.1-forex.com).

So, the main thing to keep in mind between the two types of price charts is this:

Candlestick charts are similar to bar charts in that the top tip of a vertical line represents the high and bottom tip represents the low. However, market activity between the
OPEN and the CLOSE is represented differently by the use of candlestick bodies.

Because of their colored bodies, candles provide greater visual detail in their chart patterns than bar charts. Which is why many experts recommend you become intimately familiar with Candlestick charts.

Omar Vargas is a freelance writer with articles published in a number of places. You can learn more about Forex trading and its great advantages over other kind of business at this useful website: http://www.1-forex.com

I just read an MSN money article (11/8/05) that said if you make less than $57,343 annually, you either are already or soon to be behind the “financial eight ball”. Not to mention, the article cited according to 2003 IRS statistics, 75% of Americans fall into this category.

The article’s conclusion? Though Americans in the top 1-25% over the last 10 years have and continue to expand their purchasing power, those in the 75% are increasingly at risk of losing purchasing power especially given increasing energy and medical costs. That’s not to mention the outsourcing and downsizing of jobs, the loss of company pension plans and unrelenting increases in college tuitions, property taxes, homes, automobiles and grocery bills.

Growing statistical evidence adds credibility to the mounting financial challenges faced by the majority of Americans. How could this be in the land of the American Dream and why does the slide into dire straits seem like a slow-motion inevitability for so many? Where are our leaders when we need them to lead us to a safe harbor?

Unfortunately, the various solutions offered by well-meaning financial professionals do not stop the bleeding. Have you noticed? For example, debt-consolidation, bankruptcy, budgeting and frugality measures, downsizing and responsible credit use may help for a while but remain Band-Aid measures, at best.

As usual, there is a reason for that. No problem in life, financial or otherwise, can truly be effectively reversed without first unearthing its root cause.

We spend most of our waking lives earning and spending money one way or another. Yet, almost all of us do so without understanding the role money plays in the context of a global monetary system. Nothing occurs in a vacuum - especially money! The truth is, you and I are not fully informed about how money works until we have taken into consideration the system of which it is a part. For example: You can discipline a child who is exhibiting behavioral problems at school but, truth is, the discipline will have little, if any, long-term effect. To impact the problem so that the child shows meaningful improvement requires knowledge of the child’s home life and the family system in which he or she lives.

Planets don’t magically rotate and revolve. They’re influenced by the gravitational pull of other planets and stars. Animals, plants, water and air are hardly mutually exclusive from one another. They’re all a part of the eco-system that surrounds us. If something occurs to dramatically affect one then there will surely be an effect on all the others. We’re taught these things when we’re young and eventually they become a part of that largest of all libraries, common sense.

Incredibly, when being taught about money, either by family, friends, universities, or the school of hard knocks, most of us are never educated about the larger framework within which money exists. The result? Our important financial and life decisions are made without the benefit of complete, accurate information about money.

The monetary system I refer to is global in nature with operations in 17 countries, including the United States. Commonly known as The Federal Reserve Banking System, it functions via a network of what are called central banks. Central banks worldwide use a system called fractional reserve banking to put money into circulation and are the only authorized banking entities able to do so. The process of issuing currency begins with a government’s request to borrow money from a central bank. Of course, money borrowed by a government must be repaid with interest.

This procedure eventually trickles down to the consumer who requests a loan from their local bank. In other words, ALL money, everywhere in the world goes into circulation at the time it’s borrowed. The borrowing process multiplies the volume of currency in circulation while simultaneously causing money’s value to decrease over the course of time from the cumulative affect of compound interest. (Think loss of purchasing power.) Take a look at any U.S. paper currency and you will see the words “Federal Reserve Note” prominently stated. A note represents credit, requiring repayment. Every time you make a purchase you do so with an IOU!

Here’s the rub. That one-dollar IOU in your pocket is no longer worth the one dollar it started out as in 1913 when The Federal Reserve Bank began in the United States. Nearly 100 years later after the issuance of gazillions of dollars in loans (that had to be repaid with interest), expert consensus is that a dollar now has the purchasing power of between only 5 and 13 cents. (Think: Money depreciates like a car!)

Now back to those 75% of Americans. Without understanding the personal implications of currency creation’s built-in hidden inflation, going forward…we’re all in duck soup! This missing piece of information about how money works, not only fully informs us, but also calls us to make course corrections regarding how we think about, spend, earn, save and invest money.

Since traditional financial solutions do not rest on the root cause, they also fail to solve the magnitude of the problems families and individuals face today. If Americans (and people worldwide) desire to maintain or regain their financial equilibrium, they need to seek out personal finance approaches based on the full story about money. No one is immune to the effects of hidden inflation.

That being said, your financial advisor is still likely to tell you otherwise…that if you do what he or she says, everything will be fine.

Susan Boskey is author of the book, The Quality Life Plan: 7 Steps to Uncommon Financial Security http://www.alifestylerevolution.com