Your Financial Edge

The investing environment has changed dramatically in the last ten years: from taken-for-granted, double-digit annual returns in stocks to double-digit losses and gains that are not even half of what they used to be. This situation has affected everyone, from those making their first foray into investing to retirees searching for ways to get their financial portfolios back in order. Although it seems the world of investing will constantly be in a state of flux, you don’t have to be!

You’re about to discover how to get better returns so you can build a bigger nest egg and make your savings last longer. Written by successful economist Paul McCulley and respected journalist Jonathan Fuerbringer, Your Financial Edge helps you arrive at the financially profitable place you deserve to be, regardless of your current financial circumstances. Direct, informed, yet not intimidating in style, this smart book carefully examines today’s tumultuous financial markets and helps everyday investors come to grips with the complexities of a global investment arena—so that they can prepare for what is likely to occur in the future.

http://rapidshare.com/files/142153815/Your_Financial_Edge.pdf

Lehman’s Fuld gets $13.5 million in art sale

Another day, another tough break for Lehman Brothers chief Dick Fuld. Fuld and his wife Kathy sold 16 drawingsat a contemporary art auction Wednesday for $13.5 million, Bloomberg reports. While that’s a nice chunk of change, it’s 10% below the low estimate made by Christies, which conducted the auction in New York.

Like so many things, art prices have been hit hard by this fall’s financial market meltdown, which was set off in part by September’s collapse of Lehman. Still, the Fulds will make a good profit on Wednesday’s sale. They got $2.2 million for Arshile Gorky’s Study for Agony 1, for instance. That is below the $2.8 million high estimate but six times the $370,000 they paid in 1996, Bloomberg reports.

Last week, Fuld set plans to leave Lehman by the end of the year, without any severance or bonus, though it seems clear that the Fulds aren’t in dire need of cash. Fuld made $22 million last year, according to the Associated Press, and Fortune’s Allan Sloan calculatedearlier this year that he had taken down $489 million in stock sale proceeds in his 14 years at the helm of what was the No. 4 U.S. brokerage firm. Bloomberg, meanwhile, reports that the Fulds are holding onto most of their collection while pruning it of some older works.

Lease Option Benefits to the Buyer and Sellers

Author : Rajan mr

Whether you are a broker, an individual selling your own home, or an investor, there may be no better rental/sales approach than the lease option. “Lease option to purchase,” also called as “rent-to-own,” or more commonly “lease option,” is an easy and inexpensive way to acquire home ownership and have the full control of property to the buyer while the seller gets an opportunity for positive cash flow and selling their home for market value, or more.

The lease option is an agreement in which the potential buyer pays an “option consideration” at the beginning of the agreement for the option, but not the obligation, to purchase at a later date, usually twelve months later. The option consideration is usually much smaller than a traditional down payment. Generally, most sellers credit the option consideration toward the purchase price or down payment of the home. Most also credit a portion of the monthly payment if the buyer pays the amount as agreed. If there is no set dollar amount for either the option or the monthly credit, it can be negotiated between the buyer and the seller.

Wondering why would anyone opt for lease option? People enter into lease option for various reasons such as a credit problem that negates the possibility of securing traditional financing, lack of money on hand to pay for a down payment and closing costs on a new home, or a simple investment strategy. Other people use this form of “creative financing” because it allows them to move into a more expensive home or neighborhood than they could qualify for using traditional means.

The benefits of the lease option approach to home ownership, although not all inclusive, may include:
• Low move in costs
• Immediate possession of a home
• Allows buyer to build a down payment (during the time the buyer is leasing)
• Part of the monthly payment usually goes towards purchase price
• Allows buyer to repair credit, if necessary (gives time to the buyer during the lease period to fix any credit problems)
• Permits buyer to “move up” in neighborhood
• Appreciation of home while controlling its use
• Allows time for buyer to “try before they buy”
There are several approaches to the lease option sales strategy. Fundamentally, however, they are similar in result. They fill a home vacancy and owners get a good return on their investment.

The advantages of this approach are many. They include :
• Virtually eliminate vacancies in almost any market,
• Owners enjoy greater positive cash flow and are paid on time,
• Receive down payment money in the form of an option consideration,
• If selling on your own, eliminate real estate broker sales commissions,
• Sell at market price, or more,
• Enjoy the tax benefits and depreciation of owning a rental property, all while helping others realize the dream of home ownership.
If done correctly the result can be better than a month-to-month tenant. That’s because you won’t have “tenants,” you will have “buyers” who tend to pay on time, as well as take better care of the property.

For investors, and those who have more than one or two properties to sell, the most profitable form of education you can receive may be from a local mentor who is already successful in townhome lease option activity. Many cities and states have local and regional real estate investing clubs; these are good for finding mentors.
(from articlesbase.com)

Time to Manage Your Money

Author : Dr. Stephen Jones

We are living in a time of financial crisis. Corporations are laying off thousands of employees. According to the United States Department of Labor and Statistics, the number of unemployed persons rose by 592,000 to 9.4 million in August 2008. While banks and insurance companies like AIG are on the verge of bankruptcy. It seemed that no one knew exactly what to do. So the government is bailing them out. There are too many people talking about the crisis and too few that offer solutions for the common person. Panicking will only add to the confusion that is pervasive in the country. The financial crisis should force each family to review all personal bills, financial investments and family insurance plans. It’s time to manage your money.

A smart financial plan begins with your own research and study of your financial circumstances. If you have not heard from your retirement company give them a call. You want to maximize the amount of information that you use to make good financial decisions. Don’t feel pressured to move money around or to take your money out of the bank and hide it. Remember your money is insured up to $100,000 for each bank where your money is deposited. It is still a good idea to have a conversation with the bank manager about your money. Get everything in writing so that you know what your bank will and will not do if it fails.

This is one time when procrastinating does not work in your favor. Everyday you could be losing money. It’s time to have a plan of action that you will follow. Your job may offer a financial planning workshop. Make time to attend a session. Prepare a few questions prior to the meeting. Ask if there is some type of financial planning website that you can review.

Most adults have never attended any type of money management class. They do what their parents did with their money. Their bills were continuously behind and the house was loaded up with the things that they wanted. When a person who freely spends marries a thrifty person their can be conflicts over money. This type of conflict can strain any relationship. In fact financial management issues are one of the primary reasons that married couples break up. Agreeing to manage your money with some flexibility must be a priority. Each single person and married couple should have a financial plan.

One of the effective things that you can do at this time is cut back on unnecessary expenses. Eliminating fast food from your diet may be one way to save money. If you decide to make this change you will improve your health and financial situation at the same time. If you go to Dunkin Donuts in the morning, McDonald’s during the afternoon and to a restaurant at night you can easily spend $50.00 a day and by doing this several times each week you will spend hundreds of dollars. Taking control of your budget means looking at every aspect of your life and considering the changes you must make.

Your goal should be to pay off bills and cut up all credit cards. Did you know that if you are late paying one bill your interest rate on other credit cards can go up? Paying your bills on time is an important habit. When possible pay a little more money on each bill. Get a copy of your credit report and eliminate any statements that are not true. Remember that banks and credit unions will look at your credit report score when you want to make a loan or ask for a line of credit. Manage your money by putting yourself in a position to pay off your financial obligations.

We each have a free will to choose how to manage our individual financial obligations. Learn to be content with what you have rather than letting your friend influence your buying decisions. Purchasing a $4,000 flat screen television may not be in your budget. Remember you can enjoy freedom when you manage your money and plan to live a stress free life. While the country is in this financial crisis you can still have peace by following your financial plan.

Who Really Needs Life Insurance

Author: Shellaine Enfesta

If you die you will never benefit from it anyways. Thus term life insurance is an easy choice because of its lower or cheaper price; people get on the band wagon. So who really needs life insurance? If you purchase a term life insurance, you are indeed buying life insurance for exactly what it meant. It is insurance for a period of time specified by the policy contract and nothing else. Always check the stability of the life insurance companies you are inquiring from. To some it is a funny thing for a couple of reasons.

It is funny because you will never going to use it for your own, the proceeds of the policy you bought. And the chances of you collecting on your insurance before you die are very slim at best. Your policy only pays out after you are dead. Simply put, life insurance is for your loves ones that are left behind after you pass away. The chances of you collecting when you really needed the cash are also slim at best.

But if you put everything into perspective, you do really need a life insurance so that when your time comes you will not burden those people left behind. Your love ones will not have to think of where to get the money for your own burial. Dying these days in age is quite expensive so being insured means your love ones left behind will have at least something to use.

But in all of these thought, one thing for sure is going to happen. You are going to die one day. We all are going to die for sure. And when you talk about life insurance death has the emotional component attached to it and every salesmen use these for any sales pitch they are going to do. It is very powerful since all of us will buy into our emotions. Whenever you got into these situations, it is easy sells other products attached to insuring yourself.

If you come across an insurance sales agent you will be hearing so many types and forms of life insurance. But in actual fact, there are probably only two types of life insurance. To the savvy and knowledgeable people, there is term life insurance and all the rest. What I mean by this is that the rest of them like universal life, whole life, variable life and etc. only have those add on investment component to it. But then this is where you have to make a wiser and a well informed decision.

The investment component to a whole life or a universal life is that there are too many variables or factors to consider. The problem with these types of insuring yourself is that the supposed savings can sometimes be inefficient. There is the question of what if the company goes bankrupt? It is only good as long as the company is rock solid and continues to be liquid.

Whether it is term life insurance or the other types of life insurance, all of them have their advantages and drawbacks. Just make sure you got all the information you need to make that wise and informed decision and choose the one that suits your lifestyle and situation.