Apps For Investing in Precious Metals

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

Precious metals like gold and silver have been a popular choice for investors for thousands of years: the intrinsic value that metals have provides investors with a sense of comfort and security.

Precious metals can be very volatile, however. Even with the historic stability, they have provided investors over the years, there are times when the prices can rise or fall just as quickly as any other stock on the market. Therefore, it’s important that investors have the ability to stay current on their stock of precious metals from anywhere they are. Fortunately, there are apps for both Android and iOS users that can help them follow the gold and silver prices right from their phone. Here are a few of them:

Gold Research

This application is a great beginners tool to help determine whether gold is right for your portfolio. Not only does it measure the price of gold in real time, it provides plenty of tools that can help make a savvy investor out of anyone.

Gold Research will provide insight into such important factors as supply and demand as well as offer strategic investment advice from experts, including the World Gold Council. The research focuses on the drivers of the gold market, like central bank policies, risk diversification, and many others that professional investors use every day to make decisions. The app even includes jewelry technology in its analysis.

There are also helpful charts that can help you track your investments as well as current and historical trends. This is a great way to continue your research and to determine times to buy or sell. You can also visit a “frequently asked question” page that can answer some basic questions if you ever find yourself stuck.

Bullion Vault: Gold & Silver

This app takes everything you need to know about investing in precious metals and makes it easy to understand. It is the largest online investment service for silver and gold, which give millions of private investors the information they need to make wise decisions and stay on top of the current markets.

This app isn’t just a tracking and investment advice app: it also lets you buy and sell gold and silver directly. If you are a customer of BullionVault, you can not only track the prices but can instantaneously purchase bullion that is housed in vaults all over the world, from London to Singapore to New York City. If you are confident that you know what you are doing, this can help save the cost of going through a broker, putting more money in your pocket. All from your mobile device.

Gold Live!

This application from Kitco is one of the highest precious-metal tracking apps out there. It includes pricing and research on gold, silver and other precious metals that can help you stay current on pricing and trends.

You can set alerts in the app that will notify you when your precious metal of choice hits a certain price point so you know instantly whenever you need to buy or sell. This is fully customizable to your standards, so you can have control over your portfolio. While gold prices are live and up-to-the-minute, other metal prices are available in reports that are made every hour, which you can have emailed

Gold Live! Also, features currency exchange rates with 13 currencies around the world, so you know what to expect when you buy or sell. There are also full-screen technical and historical charts that so you can keep up with your research wherever you go.

Gold Silver Price and News

For a one-stop app for all the information you need, it’s hard to beat this app. While you cannot buy any precious metals through this app, it does provide in-depth news and analysis that every savvy investor needs to be successful.

This app allows you to quickly check the spot prices of many precious metals so you always know what the metals are currently trading for. You can also call up 24-hour to 10-year charts to help spot trends and review historical data. The app also has breaking news stories and general financial news to keep you updated on the daily markets.

In a constantly-connected mobile world, it’s important that you stay on top of your finances. Try some of these apps and see which one is right for your portfolio.

Reflections and Lessons Learned From Obtaining Term Life Insurance

Ten months ago, my wife and I went through the process of obtaining term life insurance policies. The major life event that gave us the final nudge to obtain policies was the soon-to-occur birth of our son, Alex.

In the end of the life insurance-obtaining journey, we had taken out two term life policies (one for each of us) with face values of 10x our current respective annual incomes from Protective Life Insurance Company from a local Colorado independent insurance agent. You can read the full details of the process we went through in a previous post I wrote. The monthly premium payments are $49 and $15.

 

Reflections

Reflecting on now having our life insurance policies for 10 months (including those lovely dependable premium payments waiting for us to pay each month), I definitely feel like we made the decision to get term life insurance at the correct time in our lives and were also in the correct financial position to make the commitment.

It was the correct time in our lives because we were just about to give birth to our first child. In addition, being in our early 30’s, we were not too aged for life insurance to be affordable and not too young for life insurance to be relevant. The insurance premiums are taken out of our checking accounts each month, and I often don’t even notice that the premiums have been debited from our accounts.

Does having life insurance actually provide added peace of mind in real life? Truthfully, I hadn’t given this question a great deal of thought. It seems that since our son was born, we’ve been so busy that I don’t have as much time for reflections on financial planning decisions. However, two weeks ago while out on a group bike ride, several members of the group had a crash. All of the crash victims will make a full recovery, but one of them did have to head to the hospital. After examination, it was discovered that he had multiple broken ribs and a partially punctured lung. It was definitely a reminder that anything can happen at any time. Later that day while reviewing the incident in my mind, I did feel better knowing that if anything was to happen to me, that my son and wife would be taken care of financially, at least for a few years.

 

Lessons Learned

Going through the process obtaining life insurance was more involved than I was expecting based on previous experiences of obtaining renter’s/home, health, and auto insurance. Described below are several of the key lessons learned I picked up along the way.

1) Shop around online FIRST

Even if you think you will obtain life insurance through a local insurance agent, it is a valuable first step to obtain price quotes from the Internet first. This ensures that any premium quote you receive is competitive in the overall market.

2) Don’t fear insurance companies you’ve never heard of

On a daily basis, we as consumers are bombarded with advertisements from insurance carriers, most of which also offer term life insurance policies for sale. As a result of these ads, we have an inherent familiarity with them. You know – the Geico lizard, “We are Farmers, da, da-da, da-da, da da,” the Aflac duck, “Nationwide is on your side,” “Allstate – are you in good hands,” State Farm, Liberty, Northwestern Mutual, etc. And, most of these are great companies that have stellar track records.

However, there is a little known “secret” (actually not a secret at all) in this country. There are a number of life insurance companies that have been humming along for 80-100+ years in the USA, churning out consistent performance, never missing an insurance payout, never being over-leveraged/over-risk-exposed, and consistently being rated highly by credit agencies. But, guess what? You’ve probably never heard a single national commercial from them, and perhaps they’re not even listed on the national stock exchanges. For example, have you ever heard of companies like Ohio National Life, Lincoln National Life, American General Life, Banner Life, Savings Bank Life, TransAmerica, Protective Life, Massachusetts Mutual?

Anyhow, my point here is that you shouldn’t shy away from opening up a life insurance quote from a company you are unfamiliar with. Instead, investigate the company yourself. The key things I look for is a long historical record (i.e. company has been around for over 50 years, which is short in the life insurance industry) and a high credit rating by the rating agencies/bureaus (AM Best is the most common choice)

3) Automatic payments

After you have signed a life insurance policy, my next recommendation would be to set up an automatic payment plan to cover your premium each month. The purpose of this is two-fold. First, an automatic premium payment plan reduces the chance that you’ll miss a payment and your policy will be nullified/lapse. This is important with term life insurance because as you age, the pricing of a plan goes up dramatically. You don’t want to be put in a situation where you have to open up a new policy at a higher price, just because you weren’t paying attention during a job/family move or other life-changing event. Second, I find that when I have automatic payments in place, I “miss” the money much less than if I have to physically open my account and transfer the money manually. If it is automatic, I often forget that the money has already been transferred.

4) Obtain a policy with a mutual insurance company

Although there are many great insurance companies around today and ultimately, you should go with the company that provides the best deal/most value, my favorite type of insurance companies are mutual-type. With a mutual insurance company structure, the company is owned by the policy-holders, instead of by a private individual/group or stock shareholders.

5) Read all the fine print prior to signing and be careful with DocuSign

The last lesson I learned from obtaining life insurance policies was to be careful to read all of the fine print in an insurance policy prior to placing your final signature on the document. This is especially true in today’s online world with the use of electronic signature programs, such as DocuSign. With these programs, it is very easy to simply click “go to next signature” which can auto-scroll down multiple pages, causing you to miss important details in a document you could be bound by for tens of years.

How about you all? Do you have life insurance? Do you find it gives you added peace of mind on a daily basis? What do you find most important for life insurance?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrigu/2635274509/in/

Is CFD Trading Risk Free?

The following is a guest post. Enjoy! 

A lot of traders these days, from different markets, are stepping into the arena of CFD Trading, or Contract for Difference trading. In simple words, CFDs types of trading allow investors to gain an upper hand in certain markets. And, in such markets, they can make precise calculations of prices in either long or short positions. It was during the 1990s when the contract for different trading was started in England, and it was basically backed by the concept of equity swaps. One of the prime benefits of CFDs was that they didn’t come under the tax slab. This is the reason why CFDs turned out to be so popular among the traders.

How do CFDs work?

Well, contract for different trading work simply by starting a contract between a CFD provider and an investor. In the beginning, a trade begins through a particular instrument that passes through the provider of CFD, which in turn creates a position. Interestingly, these trades do not come with an expiry date; however, they get closed automatically with the completion of the other trade. Eventually, the trade difference is released either as a loss or a profit. Besides, the provider can change the trade as per one of the provisions of the standard deal. And, it can be done using a commission or certain fees relevant to the trade. So, CFD trading is quite similar to gambling on the trade market. In case an investor takes a good decision then he or she will eventually earn a lot if he or she has precisely forecasted the events in the trade. After all, CFDs help them increase income as well as value brackets of each investor.

Choose your Broker Wisely

Quite certainly, there are certain CFD brokers out there in the market who are available to help you with CFDs. Such brokers certainly have expertise in this process and they know completely how to handle these types of trading work. And, you can definitely trust them. But, before you head towards any CFD broker, it is better to gain some idea by understanding the different aspects of CFDs. You can refer to different CFD training books, DVDs, programs, audio files, and manuals that teach the methodology of CFD training to novices and beginners.

One of the key aspects of CFD Trading is that the risk involved is too low. This is the reason why it is so lucrative for beginners. If you want to step into the world of trading then CFD can be an excellent option to start with. The aptest way to begin with CFDs is to figure out a reputable company and start trading with small amounts. Once the company starts yielding a profit for you, it would be easy for you to make some more investments.

The reason that CFD trading is so popular is that it features several benefits over other types of trading programs. The most valuable of these advantages is leverage, which is 10:1 or possibly 20:1 in a few situations. With this kind of leverage, it is possible to make use of a small deposit to generate greater profits. As an example, if the seller wants 10% or 10:1 leverage, it will mean that through investing $10,000, you may buy CFDs really worth $100,000. Another advantage is that making use of CFDs, you can easily go short as well as go long. 

Most CFD providers allow you to buy and sell 24 hours per day. Thus, you can trade in the evenings, essentially after the market closes. It is possible to trade within seconds and you don’t need to wait for a dealer to process your order.

In CFD trading, you’ll be able to earn considerable profits in shorter durations, as well. Furthermore, you will have many investing alternatives to select from. You are able to invest in futures, currencies, assets, etc. A lot of CFD providers also offer you the possibility to utilize guaranteed stop loss orders.

However, CFD trading has certain drawbacks, too. Leverage may possibly wind up becoming disadvantageous for you at certain times. If you invest a modest sum of money and the stock prices go down by a pretty large percent, say 80%, then in that single trade, your loss is going to be a lot more than your original investment. Slippage may possibly at times also move a successful trade into a substantial loss. CFDs aren’t appropriate if there’s a large amount of money to be invested or for those who want to invest cash for a very long duration of time.

There is no investment choice that is best. There are advantages and disadvantages of all of them. There can never be an obvious winner. You must choose the very best investment strategy for yourself, depending on what precisely you need from your investments. But you can easily lessen your losing trades by completely comprehending CFD trading, its benefits plus the risks.

From Renter to Buyer: Top Tips for Making a Smooth Adjustment to Homeownership

The following is a guest post by Amy. Enjoy! 

It’s great to enjoy the element of flexibility that renting offers you but nothing really beats living in a place that you can truly call home.

Looking for a home to buy is the first step on your path to making that transition from renter to buyer. Here are some tips and suggestions on how to achieve a smooth adjustment to homeownership.

The financial difference is one of many advantages

Renting can often feel like you are wasting money that could be going towards a property that you get to own outright when you have paid off the mortgage, and according to a recent survey by high street bank Barclays, the savings could run into hundreds of thousands.

The bank estimated that if you compared the cost of owning your own home over a fifty-year period, against the cost of renting, with aspects like maintenance in the equation, you would be over £190,000 better off as an owner.

Renting might win the short-term financial argument in some respects but as you will always need a roof over your head and it is, therefore, better to take a longer-term view, being a homeowner seems to be a bit of a financial no-brainer.

A greater sense of security

If you needed any further persuasion regarding the argument in favor of buying rather than renting, another positive factor is the greater sense of security that you may experience.

It is not just a case of putting down roots and being able to make plans knowing that the house is yours as long as you keep up the mortgage payments, it is also the progression in your credit standing from tenant to homeowner.

This is certainly one factor that sometimes gets overlooked but definitely has relevance.

Owning your own home can improve your credit standing and when you have a property with equity available, this can give you an element of bargaining power for better deals and lines of credit, that is not always available if you are a renter.

Experiencing the difference

Becoming a homeowner can take a bit of getting used to, as some things change the minute your name goes on the title deeds and you officially become a property owner.

One aspect of this transition that can be a bit challenging to adjust to is the fact that if anything goes wrong with an appliance in the property or any repairs or maintenance tasks are required, it is no longer a case of calling the landlord or the letting agent in order to get it done.

You will have to pick up the bill for any of these expenses, so be prepared to think like a homeowner and anticipate any potential problems by scheduling regular maintenance. Also think about setting up an emergency fund that gives you access to some money in a hurry, if you need to get the boiler repaired or an electrical fault needs fixing urgently.

There are a number of fundamental and sometimes subtle differences between being a tenant and owning your own home, so it is simply a case of being prepared for these changes and understanding how your role has changed.

Get your insurance sorted

Another noticeable aspect of becoming a homeowner is the difference it makes to your insurance requirements.

As a tenant, you will presumably have arranged insurance to cover the prospect of your personal belongings being damaged or stolen in the property that you are renting.

When you become the owner of a property, you immediately become responsible for insuring the building itself as well as your possessions. Buildings insurance is designed to insure against potential problems with the building, structural or otherwise, that will need to be paid for.

If you have a mortgage, your lender will insist that you have a valid building insurance policy which covers the rebuild cost of the property should disaster strike. For a personal perspective, buildings insurance will also mean that you take out cover so that if your home is flooded by a burst pipe, for instance, the insurance cover will allow you to be able to claim for the majority of any expenses incurred in putting this right.

Buildings insurance can often be combined with a contents policy so that you are covered for most eventualities.

Once you get to know all of the main aspects of homeownership and the differences you face compared to renting, it shouldn’t take you long to make a reasonably smooth transition.

When a Side Gig Isn’t All That

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai.  Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food.  She blogs at Mom’s Plans where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.

When I started working at my full-time teaching job out of grad school, the pay was pitifully small, especially for the cost of living in a big city (Chicago).  From the minute I started the job, I looked for extra ways to make money.  I taught extra classes, I took on additional work assignments that had monetary stipends to boost my pay, and I took more graduate classes to get a pay raise.

I wasn’t afraid to work hard, and I needed to.  My husband was in graduate school himself and also working as a grad assistant.

But all of those extra jobs weren’t enough.  I tried my hand at running an eBay business for a while (which was a disaster!), and then I started blogging.  After my second child was born, I only worked as a teacher for another year before I quit after the birth of my third child.

Within a year of having a third child, I was working 30+ hours a week from home doing virtual assistant work and freelance writing.

I had a side gig for nearly 15 years.

Thanks to the Internet and the ability to work flex-time from home online, many, many bloggers talk about the benefits of a side hustle.  After all, you have the ability to gain more and more work and ramp up your income.  What’s not to love?

Well, I’m here to tell you that a side hustle as a permanent way of life is not always a good thing.

 

The Drawbacks of a Side Hustle

Though the money from a side hustle is nice, that’s definitely not the only consideration.  Working too hard can have serious repercussions on your life.

Health.  Working more than 40 hours or every day of the week can have serious repercussions on your health.  “Over time, working long hours can increase your risk of depression, heart attack, and heart disease” (Business Insider).

Not only is the physical stress bad for you, but when you’re working so many hours, finding time to exercise and eat healthy foods is difficult.

Your amount and quality of sleep is also likely to suffer.  A “study, published last year in the Journal of Sleep Research, found a link between long work hours and reduced quality of sleep.  The health effects of too little sleep are well documented and include decreased memory, increased weight gain, irritability, and other mood problems, serious cardiovascular health problems, and possibly cancer, to name a few” (LinkedIn).

Depression.  Since working too many hours can lead to stress, health issues, and weight gain, it’s no surprise that working too many hours can lead to depression.  In fact, a “European study suggests that those who work long hours are twice as likely to experience a major depressive episode” (ABC News) as those who don’t.  One worker, Shari McGuire, was frustrated working 70 to 80 hours a week because she had no time to spend with her toddler son.  She ended up on not one but two depression medications.  When she finally quit her job, she set new boundaries at her new job, and she was able to get off her depression medications.  “The key, she said, is not managing time better but ‘changing your behavior.  I now only work 40 hours a week and I’m happier,’ she said. ‘I can live my life again. . . .If your job doesn’t allow you to do that, you are in the wrong job’” (ABC News).

Relationships.  To have a successful relationship with your family, you need to be able to spend time together and to talk.  However, when you’re working all the time, this simply can’t happen.  Without the nurturing relationships require, you may find yourself with little in common with your family, and, as a result, little to say to them.

 

What If You Need a Side Gig?

I get it, sometimes in life you just need a side gig.  I certainly did when I was making such a low salary.  Like me, you may need one because you simply need the extra money or maybe because you’re planning to quit your job and make your side gig your full-time job.

However, to make sure that you don’t burn out or let your side gig affect your health or your personal relationships, you need to set some boundaries.

Put a time limit on the side gig.  When most people start a side gig, they’re doing something that they enjoy, so at first, the extra job isn’t a burden.  Plus, the extra money is always nice.  However, early on in your side gig, you should make an exit strategy.  How long will you have your side gig?  Set a concrete goal so you don’t end up like me, having a side gig for 15 years and facing health repercussions because I always worked too hard.  Maybe set a goal of two years with the side gig, which should be enough to boost your income or transition your side gig into your full time job.

Change your lifestyle so you don’t need the money as much.  If you have to work a side gig for the money, consider changing your lifestyle so you don’t need the money as much.  I’ll be honest, a few years into my side gig, I was in a vicious circle.  Because I was working so much, I was stressed and tired.  Because I was so busy, I didn’t have time to grocery shop as I should have, so my husband and I started going out to eat more.  Essentially, then, my side gig was helping to pay for a luxury we didn’t really need.  I would have been better off working less on my side gig and taking better care of myself.

Be smart and responsible with the money you earn.  Create a nice emergency fund so you won’t have to rely on the side gig as much.  Try not to give in to lifestyle inflation because you’re exhausted.  Cut your expenses where you can to make the extra income go further so you can reduce your hours and gain your life back.

Set office hours so you’re not working all the time.  Set limits on your side gig.  Let’s be honest, there’s always work to do.  But a lot of the work can wait.  If you’re working 40 hours at your full-time job, maybe cap your side gig hours to 10 to 15 hours a week.  Don’t run yourself into the ground.  Give yourself time to relax and enjoy time with family and friends.  Set strict office hours for your side gig and abide by them.

Thanks to the Internet, more and more people can find side gigs online.  While a side gig can be great, try to limit the hours that you work and be responsible with the extra money so that you don’t become a slave to your side gig.  When you routinely work too much, you face a host of physical and mental health issues as well as the possible loss of family and friends.

How about you all? Do you have a side gig?  If so, how long have you had it?  Have you faced any serious physical or mental health issues because of your side gig?

Share your experiences by commenting below! 

***Photo courtesy of http://www.idpinthat.com/edit/2476

To Rent or Buy: Knowing the Right Housing Choice for Your Wallet

The following is a guest post by Melissa. Enjoy!

For people in the UK who are trying to make sense of the property market and their options, it can feel rather like a game of pontoon, and you don’t whether to stick or twist, in terms of renting or trying to buy your own home.

There are some attractive properties to discover in certain areas around the country, it could work out cheaper to buy than to rent.

The buying or renting conundrum

If you were looking at a map of the UK where rents and property prices are at their highest level, the very epicenter of the most expensive area would be central London, where property prices and some rents, look more like mobile numbers rather than an asking price.

Interestingly, as you work your way out of that price hotspot in the city of London and spread out to other cities across the country, the numbers become not just infinitely more manageable in terms of affordability, but overall, in just about 35% of the rest of the UK, the mathematics come down in favour of buying rather than renting.

As you would expect, buying in some cities such as Glasgow and Dundee in Scotland can offer some clear blue water in terms of a definite monthly saving achieved through buying rather than renting a property in these areas.

However, there are also a number of cities like Manchester and parts of Liverpool for example, where your mortgage payments will still be cheaper than many rental payments for an equivalent property.

It is still probably cheaper to rent than to buy in locations like London and Cambridge as prime examples, but as a general view, the further north you head in the UK, the greater the chance than buying will trump renting in terms of monthly cost savings.

Savings to be made despite rising house prices

The property website Zoopla came up with some figures recently which seem to convincingly support the argument that buying a home is cheaper than renting in many major cities throughout the UK.

The study concluded that nearly half of the major cities offer you the chance to make savings through buying rather than renting. Interestingly, buying instead of renting was cheaper in 36% less than a year ago, but that figure has since risen to 48%, suggesting that there a growing number of opportunities to save money each month if you can get yourself on the housing ladder.

Barriers to overcome

It is fair to say that actually buying your own home is not always that easy in comparison to renting, as there are barriers to overcome, such as raising a big enough deposit and being able to afford the additional expenses associated with moving such as stamp duty and legal fees.

The average house price in the south of the country is now well over £300,000, which means that raising a deposit and having enough income to pass the affordability check, could be an issue.

If you widen your property search to the midlands and the north, the UK housing market offers far more opportunities in terms of affordability, as the average house price is closer to £150,000, giving a clear example of what is meant when people talk about the perceived north-south divide.

How the numbers work

Working on the basis that you are able to raise a 10% deposit in order to buy your own home, which is the typical percentage required, you will put yourself in a position to make savings over the term of your mortgage, in comparison to what you would spend on rental payments.

A typical mortgage where you put down a 10% deposit and pay the mortgage back over a period of 25 years at a fixed interest rate of around 4.5%, should see you end up paying less to own your home than renting.

The other major factor to consider is that once you have paid off your mortgage, you will own your home outright and be able to profit from any subsequent rise in values over the time that you have owned it.

There are pros and cons to both options, as you might have more flexibility to move around more easily when you are renting for example, but if you do want to make the most of the money that you have available each month, it could turn out to be cheaper to buy than to rent, especially if you are casting your net well away from the London area.

How I Grew Up Poor But Still Messed Up My Money As An Adult

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer,Laurie Blank.  Laurie is a wife, mother to 4 and homesteader who blogs about personal finance, self-sufficiency and life in general over at The Frugal Farmer. Part witty, part introspective and part silly, her goal in blogging is to help others find their way to financial freedom and to a simpler, more peaceful life.

I grew up in a poor family. For a while, we were really poor. I remember one time – shortly after my parents’ divorce – when we had zero food in the house. Aside from ketchup and mustard, the fridge and the cupboard were completely bare. My dad paid child support faithfully each month, but the monthly amount of support rendered by the judge was enough to pay the house payment and not much more.

The rest of our money came from government assistance until my mom taught herself to type and got a job as a secretary. It was during this transition period that we had the days of the bare cupboard. I vividly remember my mom sitting in the recliner, sobbing with fear over how she would feed her three young kids until the welfare check came in two days later.

You would think an experience so traumatic would make me keen on saving money and staying out of debt, but instead it had the opposite effect.

How could I go through the experience of living a life of poverty and still mess up my money as an adult? Here’s how.

I Thought That People Who Had Money Had Stuff

Somehow in childhood I learned to equate poverty with a lack of stuff and wealth with an abundance of stuff. So my goal when I started working at age fifteen was to own a lot of stuff. I bought all of the clothes my mom couldn’t afford to buy for me. When I got my own home and family, I made sure we had an abundance of food, clothing and whatever else I thought we needed.

I later learned that I had a subconscious fear of not being able to afford to buy stuff, but I didn’t make the connection between the stuff and the money (or lack of it) in my bank account. What mattered to me was that I could buy whatever I wanted, regardless of the means it took to purchase it.

The Cure

The cure for this mindset mistake was to learn to think long-term. The book, The Millionaire Next Door, really helped. It was through that book that I learned that wealth isn’t about having stuff, it’s about having financial security.

I Had a Poverty Mindset

A poverty mindset consists of the belief that “I’ll always be poor/struggling for money.” For many years I believed that wealth or a lack of it was a “luck of the draw” thing. One was either a “have” or a “have not” and whatever group they were lumped in with was up to the gods; individual actions have no effect.

The Cure

Ironically, it was discovering the world of personal finance blogs that cured me of this incorrect belief. Through PF blogs, I found story after story of people who were deeply in debt, yet they managed to dig themselves out of the hole and begin building wealth. The people who shared their stories taught me that a person’s financial situation boils largely down to daily, weekly, monthly and yearly financial choices.

I Used Spending as a Band-Aid

For years I dealt with emotional problems, relationship problems, work problems and any other problems by buying stuff. I “deserved” stuff was my reasoning. I spent money to heal, to celebrate and to confirm my worth as an individual.

The Cure

The cure for this problem came when I began to work to uncover long-held emotional problems and to work through them, one-by-one. Through this technique I began to establish unconditional acceptance of myself and to teach myself what I really deserved and what I truly desired where money was concerned: financial security.

I think the take-away here is that when a person is deep in debt, there are often misguided beliefs behind the problem.  If one can work to discover what those misguided beliefs are, and to exchange them with healthier mindsets, both financial and emotional healing for the long-term can truly begin.

Do you have any subconscious beliefs or life experiences that have impacted the way you handle money?

How To Save To Afford A Car

The following is a guest post Written by Max. Enjoy! 

So you have hit that point where you want to buy a new or used car, and are looking into methods to saving. Cars can be expensive; a new car’s average price can be up to $30,000. While used cars are less money, they can average around $13,000. Knowing what you can realistically afford is key to setting goals to hit. Simple math will tell you it’s as easy as spending less than you earn. However, It’s much easier said than done. Trying to save up a ten thousand dollars can be a very tough task. Setting out a plan on paper will help you be disciplined and consistent with your savings. When saving for a car there are a few things to consider beyond price. From insurance, to gas money and maintenance, the price of the car from the dealership is not the only price you will incur. Below are three steps you can take to save up for all of these costs.

Track your Expenses

This is step one. You must make note of how much you are spending each week, and on what. There are some cool phone apps like Mint that help you track all of your credit card purchases and divides them up into categories, and gives you averages. I have found that this is one of the more useful ways for me to plot out my monthly expenses. Once I figure out where I am spending my money, in which areas, I move on to step 2.

Cutting out what is Unnecessary

So now I’m at a point where I see what I spend on gas, groceries, restaurants, bars. I spend about 20% of my income on food. This number is a little bit higher than what I would like to spend. Ideally, I would like to spend around 15% or 10%. I think those are realistic goals for next month. So, on my fridge, or on a post-it-note on my desk I will write, “Spend less money going out to eat” and “Reduce weekly supermarket shopping by a few items.” These quick reminders will keep me in check, and do help me be more aware of my spending.  In the iPhone iOS 9 you can even set location based reminders. This means when you walk into the grocery store, you can get a pop-up that says “Spend less than you regularly do!” I find this feature particularly helpful.

Review Each Month

Cutting out unnecessary spending is essential towards saving money. But you may not be cutting out enough, or from the right areas in your life. Things like going out to eat, drinks, or even gas money can quickly add up. Each month you need to review your savings and plot out to see if you are on track to save enough. If you set a timeline like 12 months, you must evaluate if you continue to save at that level, where your projected savings are. This will help you revise your budget and your savings. Reforming your strategy and making tweaks each month will help you reach your goal. Feedback is the most important step in actually achieving your goals.

Hunting for House Help: Top Things to Avoid When Looking for an Estate Agent

The following is a guest post by Andrew. Enjoy! 

Even though you’re making the decision to sell your home, it’s going to be your estate agent who sells it for you. So, making sure you get the right estate agent is imperative when selling your property because this could mean the difference between not selling your home at all and getting a really good price.

The first thing to remember is that the estate agent is working for you and you’ll get the final say as to whether you sell your property for a certain price. The estate agent needs people like you to make a commission, so bear this in mind if you’re negotiating fees or being pressured into accepting a price that you’re not happy with.

How to Create a Shortlist of Agents

Before you start getting quotations and valuations from estate agents, it’s a good idea to create a shortlist based on a number of things. Some of the most beneficial recommendations you will receive are from your family and friends so find out who they used and whether they were happy with the service they received.

You should also try to build up some facts on various estate agents and your property. Look around to see how quickly a certain estate agent sells properties, how close to the asking price they get and what their success rate is. Furthermore, look for specialist agents if you’re selling a property that is unique or unusual, as their expertise will come in handy when marketing your home. You can check out the current properties an agent has to see whether they’re selling houses that are similar to yours. If they aren’t, they might not be the best choice for you.

What Marketing Does the Estate Agent Use?

You’re also going to need to find out what marketing the estate agent does on the properties they have on their books. And one of the main things to look at is what portals they’re using to advertise properties on, e.g. Zoopla, Rightmove and Primelocation. If their website isn’t the best, don’t worry about this too much, so long as they’re using some of these other popular avenues.

You should also check that the fee they’re offering you at the start includes this form of marketing and the property details that they’ll put together for you. If you can find an agent that includes all of this within their price, then it will be more straightforward for you. However, you may find that some require an upfront fee to produce brochures and that there may be other fees involved with advertising.

Online-only estate agents are another kettle of fish as some of these won’t advertise on popular property portals and can be limited in what they offer you. For example, they may offer you a flat-rate fee which is considerably lower than other estate agents but you may have to do all of the viewings, marketing etc. yourself, so always look into the finer details before deciding to go ahead with an online agent.

Check Out Their Fees and Their Valuations

The pricing offered by estate agents to sell your home will normally vary from around 1% to 2.5% + VAT (make sure you know if they’re including VAT in their prices). Based on a £300,000 home, you could be paying between £3,600 and £9,000 for the estate agent fees. That’s why it’s worth trying to get the estate agents to compete on fees.

When it comes to valuations, you need be open-minded with what the estate agent is telling you and that you’ve made sure you’ve done your research prior to them visiting. You may find that some estate agents will be overly optimistic with their pricing in order to get you to go with them before trying to talk the pricing down once you’ve signed on the dotted line. Equally, you may find that some are more straight-talking and will be honest about the realistic price you can get, telling you not to be fooled by any valuations that are too high.

By doing your own research and looking at similar properties in the area, you should be able to get a good idea of what your property should be worth. And, by asking more than one estate agent to come and value your property, you’ll be able to get a ballpark figure of your property’s value. Remember – you get the final say on what you want your property to be priced at, not them! However, being realistic could help you to sell your house in a quicker time frame instead of trying to push for a higher amount that is too optimistic.

Do You REALLY Want to Be Rich?

The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Marie. You can read more of Marie’s articles over at her own blog, Family Money Values. Enjoy! 

Let’s face it, most of us aren’t part of the elite 1% financially.  Many of us live paycheck to paycheck.  A lot of us using part of that paycheck to service our debts.

As of 2014, in Canada, the median income was $78,870.  However, the average salary in Dec of 2014 was just over $49,000 (Statistics Canada). Canadian consumer debt topped out at $21,348 in early 2016 (CBC News).

Forty Nine Grand isn’t a lot to cover the cost of housing, food, transportation, education, health care and entertainment for the typical family of four, let alone trying to get those debts paid off and put something aside for old age.

Perhaps we struggle through our daily lives, rising groggily for that 5 AM buzzing alarm to hit the road to hang onto that 9-5 job; searching all avenues to find the best prices on the items we need or want to buy; choosing between paying down the credit card or the mortgage; and shopping that garage sale instead of buying retail while wondering how life would be different if we were rich.

Who hasn’t bought a lottery ticket, knowing the odds against winning are substantial?  The mere possibility of having gobs of money raises visions of luxury and abundance in our minds.

 

A Vision of what it is like to be Rich

Just think about it!  You would not have to work for a living, someone else would clean your house, mow your grass, and worry about paying the bills.  Vacations would be a blast – whether staying at your own vacation villas in different parts of the world, touring the world from the deck of your condo/cruiser or taking off in your private jet for a dinner meeting in another city.

You would never again have to decide whether to pay down the credit card or beef up your savings; wait to buy the latest tech toy; or dream about having your own swimming pool.

The vision is tempting, but is real life as a rich person really going to match that vision?  Probably not.

There is a reason that old saying ‘The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” is still around.  Even Royals may wonder – as in the musical Camelot when GUENEVERE sings:

” What else do the simple folk do  To help them escape when they’re blue?  and King Arthur answers:

“They sit around and wonder what royal folk would  do And that’s what simple folk do”

Wondering how the other half lives is a prime pastime, allowing folks like Robert Frank (CNBC & Secret Lives of the Super Rich host) to even make a good living from exploring the topic publicly.

What being rich can mean

Becoming rich won’t make you a new person.  Being rich won’t fix most of the things you feel are wrong in your life.  Rich or poor, we all have issues.  We all make good and bad choices.  The rich just have more opportunity to make the bad ones!

 

What can be good about being rich

You have financial independence – no more trudging to that boring 9 – 5 job each day.  You can do what you want, when you want (as long as you know what you want!).  Riches usually bring a level of comfort to your situation.  It reduces stress to know that you have the backing to keep your life from tanking if a few things go wrong.

You have the financial ability to pursue multiple interests.

Lets face it, sometimes pursuing opportunities, hobbies or interests costs money.  You can set yourself up in your own business, move to that elite neighborhood so the kids can team up with neighbors in the know; start that charitable organization to help out your favorite cause or buy and restore that vintage auto.

Being rich provides opportunities to help others.  Money can help you make a difference in your world – allowing you to sponsor the education of a child in your area; helping out that senior who can no longer get out to maintain her home; or even just shoot off a check to your favorite political candidate.

Money helps you make more money. 

It can be a great passive income generator if you invest smartly – allowing you to maintain your new level of wealth and perhaps even pass it along to your next generation.

Riches can solve problems.

Having plenty of money may help alleviate some stress and help you sleep better – no more staying up worrying about paying the bills.

Wealth allows you to get where you need to be.  You don’t have to plan months ahead to catch a flight or get to that event – you have the backing needed.

If you have medical issues, wealth can help.  You can afford that special medicine or ignore the constraints of insurance.  In fact you may decide to enlist special health care, such as concierge doctors.

 

Some of the potential negatives rich people may experience

No matter how rich you are, it is probable that you can’t have all of the things you want all of the time.  Like the rest of us, you are limited to enjoying some of the things you want (but maybe all of the time) or all of the things you want (but maybe just some of the time).  Rich people still have to make choices about what they spend.

Being rich might make you a target.

Many really wealthy folks try to hide their wealth, attempting to avoid situations where relatives, friends and strangers ask for money.

Rich folks may have security issues.

Depending on wealth level and general public knowledge of their wealth, the rich may need to have safe rooms, bodyguards and may worry about their children being kidnapped and held for ransom.

Wealth can make you subject to lawsuits.

It is an unfortunate fact that the world is full of unscrupulous folks who might make unjustified accusations about you – filing lawsuits to try for some of your wealth.

Some rich folks work long hours at high stress jobs.

If you earned your wealth, there is a good chance you have been and will continue to put in long hours to keep the money flowing. Work life balance remains out of kilter and health issues can result.  Time away from home affects family life and relationships.   In fact, it can be a major complaint for children of first generation wealth producers.  They don’t really develop typical relationships with the earning parent.  That parent is not there.  The child is raised by surrogate parents, like nanny’s or sitters and can only see the parent from afar.

Having money may result in behavioral expectations.

The sad story of Princess Diana comes to mind.  The Queen, the Prince and others in the royal household had definite expectations about how she should look, speak and behave as well as the kinds of activities in which she should engage.  If expectations don’t match your desires, problems result.

Privacy may be at a premium.

Not only may you be surrounded at all times by household or other employees, you may also be subjected to pestering by the press, or the public.  What you do, say, spend on or wear may become news!

Managing household employees may not be your cup of tea.

Although it might be great to never have to dust or clean out a toilet bowel, I doubt if it is much fun interviewing or managing maids, gardeners, butlers and the like.  Having to let someone go is a stressful event, yet you can’t allow shoddy work, right?

You may lose your sense of worth or purpose.

If you become rich, you may find that striving for money and having it are two different feelings.  While you are striving, you are working towards a goal, making an accomplishment happen.  Once you are there, you may look around and say, so – now what.

Your kids may grow up spoiled.

Giving children everything even before they think of wanting it can lead to a sense of entitlement.  How do you raise grounded kids when you are rich?  What is your logical stance for having them learn the value of work – when you pay other people to do yours?

People may treat you differently.

Stories of lottery winners losing life long friends abound.  People knowing about your wealth can make them treat you differently, or cause them to expect you to behave differently (like pick up the tab for everything!).  Former friends may start to exclude or ignore you.  You may be treated with (undeserved) obsequious behavior by strangers in hopes of favors.

You may either give up some control over finances or spend a lot more time managing investments.

Having money brings the responsibility for making sure it is managed well.  Doing it yourself may eat up more time that anticipated.  Having someone else do it results in a loss of control and a less than desirable sharing of private information.

You aren’t inhibited financially from making really bad life choices.

If you have a propensity for drinking, gambling or drugs, finances are no longer an issue.  You may find yourself deep in an addiction cycle.

Likewise, you can’t blame a lack of funds for avoiding pursuit of opportunities that come your way.

Although many of us think we want riches, having them isn’t all cake and pie.  Money is only a tool.  It won’t make you a better person, give you everything you want or make your life paradise.

So, are you sure you really want that the rich life?

***Photo courtesy of https://www.flickr.com/photos/jayphagan/8610311915/