4 Smart Ways to Invest your Money

Most times, we always think that it is very easy to invest. We just believe that the most difficult part of getting money to invest. However, once you have the money, that is when you will realize that any wrong step could lose you the money or if you are lucky, get you only part of the money after some years after losing some. It is at this point that you start to appreciate how difficult it can be to invest. If you have some money that you want to invest, it could be daunting finding the right way to invest your money. This article will discuss 4 smart ways to invest your money if you have some money to invest.

Fixed Deposits
Fixed deposits is a very safe way of investing your money. The risk of losing your money to fixed savings is extremely low. All you have to do is look for a local reputable bank in your area and put your money in fixed savings account for a period. This could range from 3 months to years. After the period, you can go back to collect your money and profit. It is as easy as that. Your money is also treated as a deposit in the bank. Thus, you would be refunded if the bank, should for any reason, decide to close down.

Gold
Another smart way to invest your money is by investing in Gold. Gold is a commodity whose value continues to increase over time. The implication is that you would be with the gold, you could even be using it if it is a jewelry, and still, yet the price will continue to go up. Whenever you need your money, you could put it up for sale. Once it is not a desperate situation, you would get more for the gold than you paid for it. You just need to look for a reputable and honest store that buys gold. You can read about how to invest in gold to know more. Once your gold does not get stolen or missing, the price of the gold will continue to go up.

Stocks
Investing in stocks is another way to invest your money. Stocks allow you to be a shareholder of a company and a part-owner of the organization. You can look for companies with potential and buy their stocks. As they continue to get closer to their full potential, the value of their stocks will continue to increase and so will your money start to increase as well.

Real Estate
If you have enough money, you can also go into real estate. Just like gold, the price of real estate scarcely ever goes down. There are places where you could get a land or property and within 5 years, the price of the property would have tripled. At the very least, the value of your property should continue to increase by a minimum of 15 percent of its value every year. Thus, investing in real estate is also a low-risk investment that is very profitable. You just need to make sure that you don’t get the property in a place that is natural disaster-prone or notorious for criminal activities. Once this is not the case, the price of your property would continue to go up.

Benefits of having a credit card while traveling

Benefits of having a credit card while traveling
There are many things that we would need when we are traveling. The things we will need range from our passports and visas to our personal effects that we want to take with us on the trip. We would also need to have enough money with us for the duration of the trip. As opposed to moving around with cash, we could get a credit card. Here are some of the benefits of having a credit card while traveling.

Eliminates the need to move around with cash
Moving around with cash can be very risky. Apart from the fact that the cash can be stolen, your life could be at risk when you move around with cash. With credit cards, on the other hand, all your money will be on the little card. Thus, you won’t have to bother much about theft as even if your credit card is stolen, they would be able to use it unless they get the pin. Furthermore, it is possible to instantly block the credit card to make it unusable with your bank app if the card is stolen or misplaced.

Can be directly used for payment
Most stores have a POS terminal where all they need to do is swipe your credit card to get paid for any products or services you have ordered. With this, you don’t have to always make withdrawals, saving you time and ATM charges. These POS transactions are mostly completely free. Thus, you can easily make payments at hotels, supermarkets, grocery stores, and bars among many others.

Can be used to access cash
If you are short of cash, you can easily visit the nearest ATM to withdraw money. If you are in a foreign country, you might lose some money to forex and ATM charges. This is why you might want to get a free online bank account as most of these banks serve people from different countries. Based on this, you don’t have to bother about the forex and ATM charges since they allow withdrawal to multiple currencies as they also locally serve the people in most countries you will be visiting.

Can help you save money
Most credit cards have partners in virtually everything that range from hotels and supermarkets to fuel stations and mechanic workshop. Using your card in their partner stores will afford your discounts. You might want to check out the list of the partners of your credit cards and how many percent discounts you get for patronizing which partner and after spending how much. With this, you would be enjoying the same privileges with others and paying less.

Credit limit
Credit cards mostly come with a credit limit. With the credit limit, it means you can continue to spend after you have emptied your account until you reach your credit limit. Thus, it would be more difficult to get stranded as you can continue to spend after you run out of money. In most cases, once you pay back the credit within a short while, you might not have to pay any interest on it or it would be minimal.

How to Day Trade Forex Using the News

Every day, billions of pounds, euros and dollars are traded on the Forex markets. The foreign exchange markets provide an opportunity to make money by buying a currency when it has a low value, and exchanging it again when its market value has recovered.

The values of currencies can change greatly in response to a number of factors, including world events and the release of government and business reports. Forex traders can make quick profits from this by anticipating the changes in the markets and buying a currency before its value increases.

Here is a quick guide on ways to use the news and current events to create profitable opportunities on the foreign exchange markets, so you too can take advantage of this fast growing and popular investment strategy.

Know Your Trades – The Directional Bias

One of the most common and profitable ways to trade on forex markets is with a ‘directional bias’.

Having a directional bias refers to when you expect a market to move in a particular direction when an upcoming report is released, or a scheduled event takes place that has the power to influence the foreign exchange markets.

An election is a good example of this, as the results of a government election can change the value of a country’s currency. A forex trader who is confident on the result of an election can buy currency based on the movement in the market they expect when the winner is announced, often reaping huge profits when they do so.

The Non-Directional Bias – When You Know a Change is Coming

A non-directional bias trade is when you know that some big news is going to create a big change in the market, but you don’t know which direction currency prices will move.

With these trades, timing is the most important factor. You have no bias towards which way the market will move, but you need to be there when it does in order to make the right timely trades to make a profit. With this type of trading, you need several strategies planned, so when the market turns in whichever direction, you have a plan in place and know what to do.

How Do I Get Involved with Forex Trading?

Anyone can start forex trading, but you are going to need to find a foreign exchange broker to help you make the trades and advise you.

If you are having difficulty choosing a forex broker from all the options out there, a good idea is to check online reviews and reports from other people just like you who have decided to start forex trading as a part of their investment strategy. You should also research the history of any broker you are interested in and see what level of success they have had in the past, and what the type of services they offer to their clients.

With the right strategy, information and help, anyone can begin to trade on the foreign exchange markets and begin to build themselves a profitable portfolio of trades.

How to Maximise Returns on Your Savings?

If you have a regular savings account, you must be aware of the low rates of interest that you have to do with from financial institutions such as banks. However, following March 2009, interest rates have pretty much remained the same everywhere and they could take a further dip rather than going up. This is bad news for investors as well as average money savers. Find out how to get maximum returns on your savings.

Venture Capital

You can make a lot of money from venture capital companies, such as Kickstarter, which offer your money on loan to various small businesses. It is possible to get a handsome return. The profit margin can be very high, and there is the joy to be associated with the development of a startup that could get big in the coming days.

Peer-to-Peer Lending

This is a very fast growing industry, where you can invest on a proven platform. Your potential of risks is minimized with credit checks and standard applications. You can find a wider variety of potential targets in this industry, and it is important to take some time to consider every possible alternative. You can make over 5% earnings on your funding after investment, which makes peer to peer lending a good passive income generator.

Property Funds

It has long been a trusted way of earning high amounts on savings. Even if you are a novice in this area, you could find many residential and commercial properties to invest in and get small shares from the profits that are reaped. It is possible to get many such funds these days. It is a good idea to make small investments into various properties instead of investing all your money into a single property unit. Although the return rates vary across property investments, you can get returns as high as about 8%.

Mini Bonds

These stand apart from run of the mill public bonds, and offer significantly higher rates. While making investments in mini bonds, you are practically loaning money from a company to bolster its growth. Thus, you need to have confidence about the long-term prospects of every company. As these bonds cannot be transferred, you will have your money tied up for some months. However, you can enjoy the best rates. The rates of interest differ a lot across providers, but you could get interest rate as high as 8% with major investment firms.

How to Transfer Your Funds When Studying Abroad?

Before studying abroad, you have to think about many important things – such as where you will stay, whether you have appropriate course material for your studies, whether you are aware about the culture of the country etc. However, there is another important factor to think about – transferring your monthly abroad for overseas studying. Find out how to do so.

Look at the exchange rate

Keep in mind that exchange rates tend to fluctuate throughout the day, and it can be tough for you to understand whether you are having a fantastic deal. You can also understand whether you have to wait for better rates. There are lots of platforms to help you in the process by letting you create a notification system for the exchange rate that you want.

Know about bank fees on overseas transfer costs

Check with the bank that you have an account in, and know about the overseas rate of transfer for the amount you wish to send. The rate will differ between banks. This is not often the cheapest way to have your funds wired. Although the percentage of transfer fee for the bank might not appear to be large when viewed overall, it can be huge when you apply the rate to the transfer of a large amount – as in case of a tuition fee.

Compare funds transfer service rates

You can think about making use of a web-based money transfer service for sending money instead of directly having it transferred from your own bank account. A number of web-based money transfer services are capable of scheduling your overseas payments regularly, which can ensure timely transfer of money, and you can set it up when the year begins. Opting for a funds transfer service has many advantages. It makes the whole process more convenient and can also save costs for you. Some of these services have a strict no-transfer 24X7 fee policy and there are no extra expenses to expect.

Know about the payment window

You might have to pay late fee penalty if you do not make a timely payment. You have to be on time with your exchange rate. It is important to know when tuition fees for every semester are due for you and make sure that you pay exactly on time. You need to know the details before your course begins and your academic institution will also be capable of informing you on request.

How to Save More and Spend Less?

Do you fret over your expenses every month and your inability to save more money? This is a common problem plaguing most homes for all times, and is usually the result of poor planning with finances. The secret to higher savings is to spend less on unnecessary items and stick mainly to the basics. These useful tips will help you to minimize your expenses and ensure more savings.

List all the non-essentials

Make a list of all the items that you find unnecessary in your home, and which you could do without. This could be a costly magazine you have subscribed to, an expensive clothing or shoe that you use only rarely, food items or drinks that you can cut down on, costly gym membership card etc. You can stop spending on some of these, and vow never to splurge on similar items.

Reduce your energy bills

Energy expenses along with medical bills are one of the biggest expenses. You can lower your energy bills by having your clothes air dried rather than drying them in a washer, turning off the lights when you are not around for even a short while, choosing a reduced temperature setting for your washes etc. All these small savings can add up to save you a few hundred bucks every year.

Opt for cheaper brands

For stuffs that you cannot do without, a good idea is to opt for cheaper brands. Change your supplier or brand, and you will find out how getting accustomed to a small drop in quality can ensure big savings for you. You should try comparing rates at various shops to find out which ones offer products at a cheaper price.

Roll your money

The best way to save more is to roll your money. Open up another savings account and ensure that your money is being rolled for you, ensuring the best earnings. If you wish to obtain the best rates, it is important to switch accounts. You will also like to place all your savings into Help to Buy ISA or some other policy or put the money into a good pension plan, in order to obtain a higher return.

Consolidate your debts

Give up paying back loans on different credit cards and consolidate all your loans to a new loan with a lower rate of interest. With loan consolidation on a new credit card, you can make huge savings on your debt payments every month.

Why You Should Consider Investing In an Electric Car?

As latest statistics point out, motorists are starting to switch to ‘Alternately fuelled” cars from the ones that run on ‘conventional’ fuels such as diesel and petrol. Although electric cars are still rare enough on the roads, the change has started to happen. The clear air plans established by the Government obviously has a big part to play in this change. However, it is still some time and hurdles before electric cars begin to be prominent. Find out why you should consider investing in an electric car.

Grants

Electric cars are still quite expensive, although some newer models today are cheaper to buy. The one with the lowest price tag is available at about 14,000 pounds. However, the Government is extending a grant to motorists which could knock off as much as 4,000 pounds from your total purchase amount. This can make the switch worthwhile, or at least worth considering.

Great bang for your bucks

These cars can offer you great bang for your bucks. For every mile, you will have to pay about quarter of the costs that you spend on petrol or diesel. This can ensure high savings on your operational expenses. If you will only be driving in the capital, you will not have to deal with any congestion charges or road taxes. Thus, you can recoup your investment on such cars quickly. This can amount to saving a lot over time.

Longer battery life

Many manufacturers have managed to overcome the problem of short battery life that has been plaguing electric cars for a long time. In the last couple of years, the technology has progressed significantly. Thus, you can run these cars for more time on just one full charge. Even a small battery can offer a range of about 90 miles while bigger ones can let you drive for as long as 335 miles.

More charging points

With more and more charging points being set up, the problem of shorter battery life is minimized further. A survey conducted by the OVO showed that many people are disinclined to switch to electric cars due to insufficient charging points on the road. However, in a few years the total number of charging points has grown to more than 13,000 from just 2,812 when the survey was conducted. Every month, a few hundred are being added to this figure. By 2020, the number is expected to surpass that of petrol stations.

Dodging Digital Payments – Be Aware of Payment Processing Fees

With the world going digital in the new millennium, it is no wonder that digital payment systems are getting increasingly popular. You can find many e-wallet services today, which are rivalling cash payments – with development in technologies. The 3 main e-wallets that are available today work together effectively with a fee setup. Find out about the issues including payment processing fees that you need to be aware of, in order to dodge digital payments.

PayPal

It is one of the most popular digital money transfer services, and deals with 26 various types of currencies. Before 2015, it was an eBay subsidiary. Today, it is an industry giant. However, you should know something about the charges involved in the PayPal transactions. Within the UK, you do not have to pay any personal transaction fees to do fund transfers. However, when you move funds between nations you have to pay 3.4% transaction fees and a flat charge of 20p. You also need to pay a smaller 0.4% fee if you pay by bank account or PayPal balance.

Skrill

It is giving PayPal a tough fight in the domain of funds transfer, primarily in popularity and usage. It was launched as Moneybookers in 2001. Similar to PayPal, it allows clients to transfer money across the globe. Payment fees can be incurred due to this reason. However, the transaction fees are higher in Skrill than in PayPal. For regular card payments, the personal transaction fee is in the range of 0 – 2.25%. For Paysafecard, it is 7.5%. There is wholesale exchange rate of 3.99% in the currency exchange. This is added to any international payment, irrespective of the nation.

Neteller

It is one of the safest and most convenient to use e-wallet systems around. It was set up in 1999 and is reliable – with a high security encryption level that makes use of superior and sophisticated technology. The currency exchange fees depend on the kind of account that you are using. While regular users have to pay 3.99% fee, VIP members can do with around 1%.

Each of the platforms has a transaction fee, but that should not be a deterrent for you to use them. While PayPal is the most competitive for standard transactions, each system comes with its own benefits. You have to weigh the pros and cons of each platform, other than the payment processing fees, to choose one over the others.

5 Tips to save more money every month

Money is everything in life. People who always say that money isn’t everything and money can’t bring happiness, they are wrong. If you don’t have money how can you survive in a society? How can you provide shelter for yourself and for your family?

Without money you can’t be happy because it’s an important part of human’s life. If you are earning a lot of money but still the questions below reflects you then you can’t secure your future.

Are you having problem in saving money from your salary?

Are you serious about your future career?

Do you struggle to save money but you fail?

Don’t worry because I am going to share with you some basic and easy tips that you can perform easily and get successful in securing your future.

  • Make a plan or set your goal:

Having a goal and having no goal has a big difference in between. When you set a goal in your mind you will get closer to it. Set a goal or make a plan and stick to that, it will help you a lot and it’s the former tip to get success in saving more money.

  • Make a list of what important things you need:

Make a list of important things you need, it will prevent you from buying things you don’t need. A budget plan will help you saving more money. Make the list according to your salary. Make sure the things do not exceed the limit.

  • Ask for discount on everything you buy:

You may think that you can get discount only on big things like buying a house or a car but it’s good news that you can get discount on everything you buy by asking for a discount. This tip will lower your bills.

  • Get your purchasing history with the help of apps:

You may don’t know that you can get the purchasing history of your home by using different apps. These apps will help you that where your money is going. The apps which are best are Mint.com or BillGuard.com.

  • Cut off grocery expenses:

I saw many people spending a lot on grocery even if they are two adults. Many people are of interest to buy more grocery but this isn’t the good habit. This is very easy if you control or sacrifices by not spending money on grocery. This sacrifice will help you alot in saving money.

 

House Buying Hidden Fees – What You Need to Know

It can be costlier to purchase a new home than what you can expect. You can come across many hidden expenses that can add over 10% to your final costs, and you should know about the same and take it into your budget considerations. In case this is your first home purchase after having been in rental units for a long time, the additional expenses of maintenance can be very shocking. Find out about the hidden fees involved before buying a new house.

Mortgage

You should pay for a mortgage deposit and the monthly expenses following it. A mortgage valuation should be conducted to ensure that the property offers enough security for the home loan. Generally, you are expected to pay for the same although a few mortgage agencies offer to cover these expenses today in order to attract new clients. The mortgage arrangement fees frequently charged by brokers or mortgage agencies can be up to 1% of your mortgage, and can be a hefty amount.

Surveys and Conveyancing

Valuations or surveys can be quite costly, and can be more than 1,000 pounds in some cases based on your survey type and property value. The costs of Conveyancing, a legal procedure involved in property purchase that includes Land registry and different types of search fees, can be in the range of 800 – 1,500 pounds and even higher for leasehold properties.

Stamp Duty

It could make you several thousand pounds poorer, as up to 7% of the cost of home purchase. SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) is the tax that you pay while buying a new home. Remember that it is you and not the seller has to bear the stamp duty costs. The cost is calculated exactly similar to how income taxes tend to work.

Insurances

You will need to show a copy of Buildings Insurance to your lender for your new house. Other than this, you have to obtain Contents Insurance for keeping other items in your new home protected. The cost can be as much as 1,000 pounds every year, based on what you are actually insuring, your profession, types of door locks, rebuilding expenses, building material for your home etc.

Service charges

In case you are going to reside in a serviced apartment, you will have to pay a regular service charge. In many cities and towns, you need to pay a yearly fee for keeping your vehicle parked on the street and for purchasing extra permits for guests or visitors to your home.