Liz Pulliam Weston – Renowned Financial Columnist

Liz Pulliam Weston is already the Web's most widely read financial columnist, and now she's won new recognition for the quality of her work.

Her innovative series of columns on the financial benchmarks that are important for people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s won a national 2007 Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications.

If you missed these fascinating columns, you can find them here:

• Your 20s: See how your wealth measures up
  
• Your 30s: Now's the time to get ahead
  
• Money in your 40s: It's make or break
  
• 8 money moves you must make at 50
  
• 12 steps you must take at age 60
  

The guaranteed way to increase your richness

Basically, to be a Millionaire, we can conclude every of the strategies into two categories. One is the short route, and the other is the long route. The guarantee way is through the long route, unfortunately, almost everyone of us here don't have the patience to go in this route. However, as for the short route, the time taken will be short, maybe 5 years, maybe 3 years. But this route is much more challenged. There are many strategies you can use to be a Millionaire in this short route, you can climb the Millionaire Mountains of your choice.

Now for the long route, it is the surest and easiest way to be a Millionaire. However, by using this route, you will need to wait for a long long time, only then your dreams will come true. Maybe it will take up to 10 years, 20 years, some even 50 years. The problem here is, do you have the time to achieve this? Ok, how can you achieve this? Let me explain. Let's say if you save $1 everyday, then one month you will saved $30. Now, study the chart below :
How $1 Per Day Grow Into $1,000,000
% Interest...............Number of Years Required to Reach One Million
3% .............................147 Years
5% .............................100 Years
10% ............................56 Years
15% ............................40 Years
20% ............................32 Years
Now, you might say, but we need to find an investment that yield at least 10% if we want to be a Millionaire in our lifetime. Yes, you are right, we need to find investment yield of 10%, but the bank only offers us around 3%. So how can you achieve this?
The answer is very simple, let's say if you want to follow this route, you've got the time and patience to make this happen, but you don't dare to take the risk for 10% investment yield. You just need to remember this, in fact, there is not necessary must have at least 10% investment yield, all you need to do is to raise the money that you need to save. Save as much as you can every month, be it $10, $50, $100 or $300. With the right interest rate and given enough time, everyone can be a Millionaire. This proved that everyone, if start saving and keep compounding the money from a young age, everyone can be a Millionaire.
The long route is not what we want here, we want to make money in a faster method, not just sitting and wait for 50 years. It's been proven that with the right strategy, with constant action plus a burning desire, we can be a Millionaire in a short time. But when you're creating rapid wealth, why don't you save your money every month and keep compounding it? We take the short route and the long route at the same time, it's easy and it's simple to save and compound your money. It can be automatically deducted from your bank account. Pay yourself first everytime you get your paycheck, put some amount of money to your investment account every month once you received your paycheck. Then only spend what you have as you wish. And bear in mind of this, don't spend more than what you earn.

Technorati Tags: Money, Personal Finance, Saving, Investing

Benefits of a Home Equity Loan

A home equity loan is often referred to as a second mortgage and it allows homeowners to borrow money using the equity they have already built in their homes. With a home equity loan, homeowners can borrow up to $100,000. The interest on the loan is tax deductible, which brought home equity loans to popularity in the 1990s when the economy was not so good.
There are two types of home equity loans. One type is a fixed rate loan and one is a line of credit. Both loan types have terms ranging from five to fifteen years and both must also be paid in full if the house is ever sold.
A fixed rate home equity loan provides the borrower with a lump sum payment. It’s assumed that the borrower will pay the loan off over a set period of time with interest. The payments are usually paid monthly and remain the same amount over the entire life of the loan. The interest rate also remains the same over the life span of the loan.
A line of credit home equity loan works with a variable interest rate and uses the same principles as a credit card. It generally even comes with a credit card. Borrowers will be approved for a certain amount by the lenders. The borrower can then use this money by using the card or the special checks that the lender will provide. These payments will also be made monthly however the monthly payment will vary depending on what the current interest rate is and how much money was borrowed that month. When the term of the loan is up, any outstanding balances borrowed must be paid in full.
Home equity loans work well for homeowners who need a large amount of money fairly quickly. The homeowner may need the money for such things as paying off another loan, tuition money, home improvements, or other unexpected expenses. Home equity loans are a good option over other loans because the interest rate on them in generally quite low and is definitely lower than the interest on credit cards and other loans. Because of this, it makes good financial sense to pay off a credit card loan while using a home equity loan. It allows the homeowner to have one single monthly bill, a lower interest rate, and a loan that is partly tax deductible.
Home equity loans have many benefits for lenders as well. After the lender has collected on the original mortgage, they then are able to collect more payments and more interest. The lender is also entitled to keep all the money from the original mortgage and the home equity loan if the borrower defaults on payments. The lender is also allowed to repossess the home, sell it again and begin the cycle all over again with the next owner.

Technorati Tags: Loans, Mortgages, Home Equity

Credit Card Debt Consolidation Loans

Debt consolidation is when you take out a loan to pay off several other debts. By consolidating your debts you only have one payment to make. Should your consolidate your debt with a loan?
It depends. You may be able to lower the cost of your debt through a debt consolidation loan. Getting a loan using your home equity or a second mortgage is one way to consolidate your credit card debts..
A home equity loan offers several benefits for consolidating your debt. This option allows you to move all your debt from many lenders to one with a lower interest rate. The credit cards will be paid off in one lump sum, instead of various payments at different times of the month. Additionally, with a home equity loan the interest is tax deductible.
Generally, you will be paying less out of your bank account each month to pay off your debt. Using the equity built in your home lets you deal with creditor efficiently. By having only one payment for your debts, you are better able to keep ahead of your financial burden each month.
Pros of Debt Consolidation
If your credit cards are over the limit with high interest rates and other fees or you have a large amount of high interest installment loans, a debt consolidation loan could be the answer to lowering the interest. This will allow you to roll this high interest debt into one manageable payment.
By having one lower payment instead of several payments, it will be easier to make your payment. Thus, you can avoid the late fees, extra charges and the bad credit that results from payments you can’t afford.
When you consolidate your debts you will have just one or two monthly payments, allowing you to better set up a budget. Your peace of mind is better knowing you can pay your bills without all the hassle of collection calls, late fees and high interest rates.
Cons of Debt Consolidation
Debt consolidation may not be the answer if the rate on your new loan isn’t better than current loan rates.
It can also take longer to pay debts off. When you consolidate debt, you still end up owing the same amount of money. The main difference is usually the length of the term. This could leave you paying more in interest if the term is really long.
Another consequence of a debt consolidation loan is that a loan may be a way to continue to have poor spending habits. If you get a loan to quickly pay of high interests debts, you may be setting yourself up to continue on in the same manner, if you don’t learn to budget and think about the long term.
There are drawbacks to equity loans for debt consolidation as well. If you can’t make the payments you are at risk of losing your home. You might also be tempted to start spending more or getting more credit cards leading into a pitfall you can’t control. This problem could lead to bankruptcy, foreclosure or many other high-risk financial solutions.

Technorati Tags: Debt Consolidation, Loans

Stock Analysis - Fundamental and Technical Analysis

Stock Analysis

What Stocks to Buy?
And
When to Jump-in or Jump-out?

Jump in when it's time to en-cash Growth

 

Even though you can't figure out ahead of time what a company's growth strategy will really be worth, you can get a good handle on what the market thinks. Simply subtract the other two parts from a company's market price. The remainder is the market's current estimate of the growth strategy's worth.

With that information in hand, you can make better investing decisions. In essence, the less you pay for a company's growth strategy, the better your chances of winding up on top. After all, if the strategy comes cheaply, then even if that strategic growth doesn't materialize, the company you're holding is still worth something. And if the strategy does pay off, then you've likely got yourself a company worth more than you paid for it.

That, in a nutshell, is how we value investors gain our edge. We certainly don't ignore growth. After all, no less a value investing luminary than Warren Buffett admits that "value and growth are joined at the hip." Instead, we simply steadfastly refuse to overpay for the growth we expect to see from our companies. By doing that, we ensure that a larger chunk of that growth finds its way to our pockets.

Buy Cheap Growth

Technorati Tags: Markets, Stocks, investment

Penny Stocks Trading - Learn with Small Stocks

Trading with Small Money and Learn

They are risky but they can get you fly also!