Financial and business news and articles
Posts tagged finance help
Money is something for which you trade your life energy
Feb 27th
Have you ever wondered when are you going to die? Sounds strange, Isn’t it? Today I visited one of the site which actually predicted my year, month and day of death. Though I never believe in these things still just for fun I wanted to see how many more days I am alive. How can a website estimate how much life you have left. That is not at all possible.
But the question is what this have to do with personal finance? It is actually very much related because that can help us in revealing what we think of our money?
What is Money according to u? As per me it is :
A medium or an exchange involved for the payments of your debts. Money is power, it is a source of luxurious living, a source of comfort and security. The best definition that I have come a crossed about money is : “Money is Something for which you trade your life energy”
Give a deep thought on this. Majority of people in this world get money by giving up some part of our lives. Just imagine you go for work, work hard, earn some money and by this time your death clock is ticking down. No doubt when you are young, you are more energetic and can convert some of this excess into money. But the saddest part is that it only a conversion not a storehouse.
Our life is traded for money and once it is done, it cannot be changed back to original. The only goal that would left with us would be of striking a balance to convert the sufficient life energy into the money that you will need for enjoying rest of your life.
Cost Counting
To apply this principle you need to find out your hourly wage. This will help you in providing the information on how much your life energy is actually worth of. This is how you will be able to measure the cost of money spent equivalent of value of life energy lost. Why not you try some eye opening conversions i.e. take general examples from your daily life. Like:
Calculate how much energy do you spend at your work? Check if you spend less energy and still you can be happy or not? how much energy you are using to buy any new things for your family and many more such examples.
I am not saying that you should never spend money, but you should find a point where you are spending more and still being happy and joyful. You have to learn to say ” I have enough and I dont need more… “.
So always remember that when ever next time you spend enough money do nos forget to ask yourself how many hours all these purchases costing you, not only this, is it really worth or not? Do come back and share your views with us.
Romance on a Budget
Feb 5th
With Valentines Day just round the corner its once again time for a pleasant surprise for your beloved. Valentine’s day is a symbol of love, cupids, roses and of course hearts. Several days before the love holiday begins, the stores are lined up with an assortment of expensive gifts for your partners. As the day approaches, you may find the your thoughts have begun to turn to finding the best gift for your partner, for that special someone in your life.
Expensive gifts often proves to your loved ones that how much you love them, but they will also make a pretty hefty dent in your wallet. So what can a frugal minded person plan for the valentines day? Giving an expensive gift always will not help your love boost, but giving something special to your loved ones will definitely arouse that feeling of love in them.
Let me share some of my ideas with all of you on what you should gift him or her on this day of love and romance.
Some cheap Valentine’s gifts for her
No doubt girls love flowers, chocolates, soft toys and also sweet things whispered into their ears. I have seen many of you gift your partner traditional fourteen roses in a bunch on valentines day. Rather what you can do is gift her one rose everyday starting from 1st February to 14th February. The best thing is one rose per day will be less expensive for you. The prices of the flowers are inflated on the V-day.
I agree that women love roses but roses now days have become very boring and moreover the prices of roses are extremely high on v-day. Now you will think of giving carnations to her instead of roses. Please do not do that. Carnations are cheap alternatives to roses. A bouquet of daisies is a better choice.
Time is the best gift you can give to your partner. Women love spending time with their partners. I would advice you not to waste your money on restaurant bills, rather spend the day in opting something she loves.
If you really want to surprise her then learn cooking a month before v-day and prepare the dish she loves. Trust me cooking is a very seductive way of celebrating this love day.
If she loves reading, then spend sometime with her in any book store, buy her the most recent novel. Pamper her with some sandwiches and coffee as she enjoys a good read.
If your partner is a sports freak, then spend sometime in afternoon teaching her favorite sport, maybe watching some games with her or maybe take her out for a live match.
Some cheap Valentine’s gifts for him
A women should not gather information from various means of media and decide the gift for his partner. Rather she should create a gift which she thinks will be unique for his man.
If your partner loves sports, then you should give him a treat by surprising him with chilled beer and nachos and by watching with him a non-interrupted game of his choice.
If you guy is an Art lover, then surprise him by taking him to a candle light dinner and visit a local art exhibition with him. If you want you can buy him a painting which is usually at a lower cost.
If he is into music, then download all his favorite songs and gift him a CD. Both of you can enjoy a perfect dinner with a perfect music of his choice and then a perfect long drive. Keep a few dollars with yourself aside so that you can buy him a CD pack of his favorite band.
If he loves photography then take him out to the country side for the best photograph sessions.
Love an be expressed in many ways. Gifts can be many but the only special gift which you can give him or her is togetherness. That is an ultimate gift for your partner and that is the ultimate deceleration of your love on Valentine’s day.
Understanding your finances:1st step to controlling your debt
Jan 25th
If you don’t really understand your finances, you’re bound to find it harder to get / keep them under control. It’s true of anything, but it’s particularly true of personal finance matters – that’s one reason there are so many companies, charities and government organizations which exist to help people get to grips with their money and control their debts. These two questions are right at the heart of your personal finances. When you know exactly where your money is coming from and exactly where it’s going, you’ll know: So, start by writing down everything you receive in a month: Add it all up to get your Total income. Next, write down everything you need to spend in a month: (Please note that this list includes payments to your priority debts but not payments to your non-priority debts (see below).) Add it all up to get your Total expenditure. Take your Total expenditure away from your Total income and you’ll get your Disposable income. This is the money that’s available for: Your priority debts are the most important ones, with the most serious consequences if you don’t keep up with them. If you fall behind on your payments, you could have your possessions removed by bailiffs, or have your gas / electricity supply cut off. If the worst comes to the worst, you could be evicted – or even imprisoned! (Having said that, you should have plenty of warning if any of your creditors were thinking about taking action against you, giving you the opportunity to get some debt advice and sort out your problems before things got so far.) Unsecured loans. Credit cards. Store cards. Catalogue debts. Overdrafts. Some Hire Purchase agreements (for non-essential goods). These are your non-priority debts - but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to repay them! It just means they’re less important than your priority debts, since the consequences of non-payment aren’t as serious. So staying on top of your non-priority debts is important – but staying on top of your priority debts is vital. That’s why your priority debt payments make up part of your Total expenditure. Your non-priority debt payments will have to come out of your Disposable income. If your Disposable income isn’t enough to cover your payments to your non-priority lenders, your creditors may agree to accept lower payments if you ask them – and show them that this is the best way for you to clear your debts. Just bear in mind:
Understanding your finances: income and expenditure
Understanding debt
Boost your financial IQ
Jan 19th
People with high IQ have one thing in common, they recognize patterns, even the most complex ones, and they can act upon it. Making the right choice at the right time is very valuable, and it happens more often than you think. IQ is not limited to paper puzzles, many real-life situations can be categorised and mapped on patterns, for which the solution then becomes obvious. The main problem is to be able to identify the pattern in the first place. This is what intelligent people with high IQ scores are good at.
For example, highly intelligent people schematize real-life situations into decision trees which enable them to come up with the best strategy. Normal people tend not to do that, especially when the situation becomes complex. We, normal people, are submerged by the complexity of the situation and we just guess and pray for our choice to be the right one. Now, just try to see yourself in the future, what kind of car you want, where will you live, how many children you will have, etc. Just try to imagine what the costs will be and the associated nest egg you need to build up over time to be able to achieve it, can you come up with the funds you need? Probably not. A gifted person might make a quick calculation and tell you that she needs to invest $500 a month to achieve her objective, but most of us can’t do that without help. This is where simulation models can save your life. Simulation models are built to compute the real-life situation for you, because not everybody has a high IQ. Financial planning models are there to this work for you, peak at the future and tell you how much you need to save today to be able to achieve your objective tomorrow. Financial planning models are therefore boosting your financial IQ; No surprises, just see the future, define your strategy and make the best decision to achieve your goals.
Educational Article: Paying the Man
Jan 16th
The current financial situation in the
At some point in the near future, the Federal Reserve will be forced to decide whether to tighten the access to credit. In order to stem monetary inflation, the Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates in order to contract the availability of money in the system. If this happens, it will result in a higher prime rate and higher credit card rates. This will increase the yield on short-term treasury notes, and will prompt many bond investors to sell their long-term bonds to purchase shorter term notes with higher yields. As more people sell their long-term bonds, it will push down prices and force up the yield.
Another option for the Federal Reserve is simply allowing price inflation to roll through the economy. This will happen as credit markets normalize, and more dollars end up chasing fewer goods and services. This will inevitably result in higher prices for consumer and capital goods, including housing. As prices continue to increase, a resurgence of the ‘bond vigilantes’ will occur as more people refuse to buy government bonds at the current low rates. As the government needs to discount their bond offerings to clear the inventory, it will push up effective interest rates on long-term bonds.
Regardless of which event transpires, there is an extremely high likelihood that long-term bond rates are headed up in the near future. This phenomenon will also push up mortgage rates since most mortgages are indexed against government bonds. As the mortgage rates continue to increase, the number of people in the pool of home buyers will decrease because higher rates translate into less buying power per dollar of monthly payment that a person can afford.
As more people transition out of the home buyer pool into the renter pool, it will increase demand for rental housing. This increase in demand will eventually manifest itself in higher rents as the supply of rental housing adjusts more slowly than the movement of people into the renter pool.
An important factor to consider is that income property owners will benefit greatly from this effect, as it will place upward pressure on rents. These increased rents will provide additional cash flow to people who bought at low fixed rates and locked-in their cost of borrowing for three decades. The most important point of this unfolding event is the fact that the window of opportunity to act will be closed very soon. Once inflation begins to occur, or monetary tightening commences, it will be too late to capture the best deals that are currently in the marketplace.
The reason is because either event will be quickly followed by a step-up in interest rates, which will decrease affordability for income property investors. Because of this, it is critical for prudent investors to act now and lock-in their cost of debt at the current low rates; this will protect you against the coming increases in interest rates by making them work to your advantage, instead of to your detriment.
Ultimately, we must ‘pay the man’ at some point by enduring the market correction that must eventually result from current government policy. By taking action now, you can benefit handsomely from the coming economic disruptions while many other people are enduring the problems implicit with trying to get something for nothing.
They say Economic downturn is over. Now what?
Oct 30th
I was going through an article by CNN which had different slide shows about the state of economy in the past years and the present condition. This post is basically to make you understand that this recession is the longest recession in the US, in fact the most grating one that US has faced since world war 2. Some kind of positive news is that the economy is actually showing some sign of improvement.
Reality Check on my Economic Fundamentals
Based on the slide shows of CNN, I would like to express my own views here. I guess the hangover is still on.
1.) Economic Growth and GDP: Not very Good, but Fair
The last growth which I saw was decent enough, but we should not be over confident in this case. I am sure lot of this is attributed to cut backs in the sectors like business, layoffs, even the stimulus plan, bailouts etc. I am still not sure about the true economic growth here. We can frame it like this way also i.e. is this growth actually justifies the correspondence recovery that we are seeing in the stock market? I know hard to answer.
2.) Situation of the Jobs: Very slow
In some locals of the US, the job loss numbers are touching the record high. But tell me this, how many laid off workers are ready to take their jobs? What I see in the US market is that people are enjoying the unemployment benefits more than anything else. They are happy sitting idle until and unless they find a job of their choice. I am not opposing this but the thing is the jobs are available in the market, but no one is ready to take these jobs. As it is they are collecting their unemployment checks.
3.) Stock Market Results: Really Ahead?
My online brokerage account is saying something else here. I have made some money with my investment recently. Anyone will think that I am so happy. But the possibilities of double dip recession in haunting me. It is a typical sign of premature exuberance. I hope at the end of the day we are not paying more than what it actually appears.
4.) Inflation: Somewhat okay
Inflation still looks tame to me. Just wait and watch, the inflation will definitely become the new Waterloo once the economy takes a big growth. At this point of time the saving accounts are creeping backups. As soon as spending takes a pace, the element of economy which appears to be good right now will become dull.
5.) Housing: Slow Recovery
Government has tried its best by offering relief to homeowners by the means of tax breaks and many other incentives. But this was folded long back when there was economic stimulus package. In some places foreclosures have been increased whereas in some areas it is still steady. Recovery of the real state market will take some time.
6.) Individual Spending: Somewhat improved
The best way to track this is that attribute few consumers who are spending on day to day basis. Keep a watch on their spending activities. It is advisable to watch a home budget right now.
My take on the whole scenario
I believe that the whole picture that has been pictured to us in a form of recovery is localized completely. There are still lot of people who are worried about their debts, credit cards, etc. I wish I could know the exact turning point of the economy.
Balancing full time job with a full time degree
Jul 18th
Last week I met a friend, Joe and we had a long discussion on how a student can balance both full time degree and full time job together. He himself is doing his PG Course in MBA and plus he is working full time in an MNC. He has shared his experiences with me which I will be sharing with my friends and readers.
All the students doesn’t have the benefits of College Savings Account or balance funds which might help us for our higher studies. So what are the options we can apply in these type of cases.
I know the idea is not suitable for every student but for some it might just do the trick, i.e. to work full time.
There are many people who give us such advices everyday that is not to work when you have applied for a full time courses. But is this advice a good one or the bad one? Yes, only if, you devote your 100% for your studies and No if, you are realistic about your financial conditions. Lets face it now. Lets be practical. Do we really spend our whole day in studies??
People often discuss with me that why should I work full time when I have applied for a full time course in the University. Students have a habit of lying to themselves that they will focus on their curriculum 100%. But this is not at all true in the case of 99% students. They spend their whole day in doing irrelevant activities like spending their time either on Facebook or partying in lounges with no occasion. I would prefer working, making extra money and finishing the University with not a single debt in hand.
How to Work Full Time with a Full Time Course??
These advices are given by Joe on how he managed the full time course with his job.
1.) Optimizing your Time is very important
It is better to spend your time in making money rather sitting whole day on facebook and messengers. If you really want to get connected with your friends, then find a place to work where your friends are working. I am working in a MNC right now and when I joined there I din knew anyone there, but since some of my friends were working there, now I know everyone there.
2.) Apply for good work Opportunities
If you are giving this excuse that you are not working because you are not able to find the right job for yourself, then I guess you are looking for the wrong job opportunities. Let me discuss few ideas which might be suitable for working students.
- Within the Campus : Receptionist, security in charge, Assistant to teachers, Administrators and every position that is within the campus.
- off campus : you can do internship for couple of months with any media house or any shops in malls, private tutor, freelancing jobs, and any other job where you are capable of handling it.
3.) Prioritizing your work
Always keep in mind that activities of your university should be given the 1st preference. You should never spend working extra time if you have an exam. I only take off from work during my semester exams. At that period I provide my 100% to studies only. After my exams I focus 100% on my work.
4.) keep a balance between professional and personal life
You should try to take out time for everything. Everything here includes university, work, family, friends and many other important work. My girlfriend never forces me to come and party with her because she understands my values and my work. when I work I only work, but when I party, I forget everything else.
5.) Once in a blue moon is fine
Always reward yourself and plan an outing with friends or families once in two months. Go on a vacation at places where you can forget all your stress and enjoy your time with family and friends.
6.) Realize the Importance of balancing
Many times there will be nights when I will be missing loads of fun and parties, But I do not regret about it. Because I am happy that one day I will complete my PG Course with not a single Debt in my hand. I would be having enough of money to invest and save after I graduate and join my 1st professional job.
P.S. these advices are specially for those students who waste their time on Facebook, orkut and other social networking communities.
Concluding Thoughts
I am sure I haven’t given any boring lectures. Its just that Saurabh is a good friend of mine and he requested my to provide advice from my real life experience. There are many students who wants to work really hard so that they can escape from the pressures of student loans, but they are not getting good jobs.
Students are facing a lot of problems as they are drowning in high debts. Often people in their 20s are making financial decisions which might not be correct and that is taking them into entirely wrong path.
I hope I was able to help at least some of these type of students in some way or the other.
