Archive for the ‘Money’ Category

There are hundreds of different gold coins, or what it is also known as bullion, in the world and most of them are highly sought after. Here is a list of 10 of the most prized and sought after gold coins. This list may differ from other lists and the list is not in any order. The following coins are proven collectors items and the value they possess is unmatched by other coins. You can get these from the US Gold Bureau.

• Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
  Indian Head Eagle
  Capped Bust Eagle
  Indian Head Gold Piece
  Panama-Pacific Commemorative Quarter Eagle
  Proof Gold Coinage
  Augustus Humbert Eagle
  Liberty Head Eagle
  Indian Head Half Eagle
  Liberty Head Double Eagle

We all know that gold jewelry is worth an investment. Can you imagine if you invested on gold bars? Gold bar value depends on the prevailing market price of gold at a particular time. Prices always vary as dealers cost and profit with some tax if applicable are added up to the manufacturing cost. But it has never been known to depreciate in value especially now that world demand has exceeded world supply. According to early October prices a 1000 gram gold bar was valued at US $27,617.49! Gold retains its value even when the value of currency fluctuates. An ounce of gold would get similar goods and services got fifty or sixty years ago. Value of an ounce has not changed but gold was much cheaper earlier. What has happened is that the currency value has gone down so much that it would need a bagful of money to buy the same goods and services worth an ounce of gold fifty or sixty years ago.

So what are you waiting for? Invest in gold bars now!

One would never think that investing in gold would yield such high results. After all, women buy jewelries and stock them (hoard is another term) and chances are, they never will sell them. But if you buy gold coins, there is a big chance you will be getting back your investment quickly if you sell. Gold has been the investment of choice by many financial advisors these days. They say the gold and the US dollar are inversely proportional with each other, and with the dollar on a slump right the gold is rising up. Gold is also considered a liquid investment, so you will never go wrong with it, you can dispose it quickly with no depreciation!

Whether you are single and independent or married with responsibilities, you should always be one thing: financially responsible with one goal: financial freedom. I will never forget what my father told me before, to always aim to have money work for oneself and not the other way around (me working for the money). One should start somewhere, especially if you do not know how to begin. There are a lot of finance tools and great sound advice from financial boards. You will learn about the charges on credit cards, how to avoid them, credit card reviews and how to make sure you maintain or get a high credit score all the time.

As much as you want to think that money isn’t everything, you got to admit that it plays such a huge part in our lives, given how much we are consumed with materialism and how money has ruled our dealings with people and how to live everyday. We got to make sure we control the money and not let money control us.

I have been silently reciting this old-age wisdom to myself whenever my hands get itchy and I feel the urge to shop (which is almost every other day). I have always confessed that I am not really good with handling money, that’s why no matter how big I earn, little or none goes to saving.

I have committed to change that this year and so far, I have been succeeding. Since we are still trying to invest on things for the house and I will have two kids going to school, saving is not supposed to be stressing me out. I just transfer 10% of whatever comes in to my bank account to another one that is labelled “untouchable” and I was surprised how much it could be after only a month. It’s true – little dimes add up to hundreds in no time.

However, I know saving will not be enough. We need to invest if we want our money to grow rapidly. I think it is the right time to buy gold from the United States Gold Bureau , as the demand for it has peaked and it is the only known value that has never depreciated in the economic slump of the past years.

The husband and I usually have a discussion each week as to the state of our finances. We are trying really hard to save so we can move on to bigger things but it seems not matter how much we try, our savings grow at a snail pace. A friend recently advised us to invest our savings rather than having it earn little interest in the bank and that a good investment these days is to buy gold eagle coins.

Gold and silver are considered precious metals and have experienced an increased demand during the past years. You can buy gold and silver in ingot or coin form at the US Gold Bureau.

I have been talking about investing on gold and silver for quite some time now. Ever since a friend actually invested on it and had its return of investment quite early (with profit), I was sold to buy gold bullion from the US Gold Bureau when I finally reach my savings goal. United States Gold Bureau is home to a large and dedicated staff of hard asset professionals committed to serving your precious metals investment needs and being America’s best dealer with a convenient market and competitive precious metals prices. It is never too late to invest and save – and I am doing this for my kids’ future!

Can you guess who wants gold coins this Christmas?

Me!

Yes, after finding out from a friend that buying gold coins or bullions has become such a great investment I am very convinced to invest on them too. It has been more stable that stocks and bonds that you see in the stock market.

In all ages, man has been fascinated with the beauty and magic of gold, and with its power to change men’s lives. Today, the beauty of a gold bar lies in its proven ability to diversify investments, protect wealth and preserve one’s purchasing power. United States Gold Bureau is home to a large and dedicated staff of hard asset professionals committed to serving your precious metals investment needs and being America’s best dealer with a convenient market and competitive precious metals prices.

I need to make sure Santa reads this!

April seems to be a season of endless stress and panic for every US Citizen, specifically when April 15 nears. It’s tax season! I remember friends who decided to sit it out and wait for April to start computing their taxes and they nearly went crazy with stress, panic and frustration with everything that needed to be sorted out, claimed and filed.

There are so many reasons for your to file your taxes early, one of them is to obviously avoid stress. The tax preparation companies, accountants, and tax professionals become extremely busy and you might need to wait and be patient with extremely long lines to be able to consult with an accountant and tax lawyer. Starting early also gives you enough time to relax and spend enough time on your return to find all available deductions and credits.

And when you start early, you can have a choice which tax lawyer you would want to hire – and you should consider Roni Lynn Deutch. Roni Lynn Deutch  is known as the Tax Lady. Starting from her own office at her condo unit at 1991, she has expanded to form Roni Deutch, a Professional Tax Corporation that has 20 attorneys and 150 staff, and their company receives over 120,000 inquiries each year!

Building upon the success of her law firm, Roni Lynn Deutch launched her own tax preparation company, Roni Deutch Tax Center, in 2006. RDTC, Inc. provides tax preparation service for taxpayers nationwide. You could imagine how long the waiting lines are come tax season!

When you file your taxes early, and have thought of the available deductions and credits, you get your refund faster as well. That is one obvious incentive for early birds! If you worry about not having enough funds to pay your taxes (if you have a surplus from all your deductions), the IRS allows you to issue a post-dated check until April 15, which will allow you to start saving for it. If you wait until April, you might get shocked with the amount you need to pay.

Have you ever seen the movie Fools’ Gold? It was a movie starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. It was about a lost treasure made of gold and jewelry that was supposed to be the dowry offering of a Spanish prince to his fiance. Even then, gold has been considered a measure of wealth. Gold has been used to trade and as a currency for barter even. Now, if you buy gold coins at the US Bureau, you are actually investing on a wise deal. Taking a look at global demand, you will see that China and India are the two leading countries for buying gold. In India, gold is given as a gift on special occasions and newlyweds are often showered with gold gifts on their wedding day. Some investors believe that as we see the billion baby boomers grow up, get married and start investing we will see gold consumption increase even higher. Of course, if Asia, India and the Middle East are doing it, the U.S. is likely to follow.

We live in the age of consumerism. Fifty years ago, we didn’t need more than one television in the house, a microwave, a Wii for the kids and all the gadgets we “need” today – cellphones, e-book readers, laptops, netbooks, two different kinds of computers and mp3 players. Thanks to the fact that banks actually encourage people to spend and spend money they don’t have yet, most usually end up working to death just to pay off the interests on their credit cards. Financial advisors now recommend people to undergo credit counseling even if they are not in overwhelming debt yet. It will help them make sound financial decisions and let them know their options if ever they find themselves in a bad financial situation.

If faced with overwhelming unsecured debt – credit card debt is usually the main culprit here – you can either go for debt settlement or credit card consolidation. In debt settlement, you can talk with the credit card company and explain your financial situation. They can in turn slash a huge portion of your debt, minus interest rates and annual fees that you can settle in four to five years. Credit card consolidation on the other hand lets you consolidate all debt so you can pay one monthly payment for all them. Credit card consolidation can be an extremely useful tool when faced with overwhelming credit debt. Consolidation involves rolling several individual credit accounts into one manageable account that usually has lower interest than the previous ones.

I still suggest employers or even the government offer free consumer credit counseling service for their employees/citizens. Because dealing with debt is not something that most people are experts in, sometimes it is necessary to seek some expert advice debt problems.

A relative of mine told me that when you dream, you need to dream big. I actually have a lot of dreams for my family so we need to be aggressive on saving. I am still not satisfied with what we have saved and I need to make sure that I will be able meet our yearly savings goal plus some extra. Setting aside money will not really make it go the extra mile so we need to invest.

Maybe we should go ahead and buy gold coins. We have been told that it is the investment one should get into these days instead of stocks and bonds.

So there is some truth to saying that jewelry are nice investments. You can always sell jewelry if you are strapped for cash. Since jewelry are made of precious metals and some have precious stones, their value has never depreciated. Depending on how much it weighs, you can always opt to have cash for gold! You can get the best cash for gold jewelry if you know where to sell your pieces. Unfortunately, the value of dollar is going down, so people are leaning towards buying gold as safety net.

If you want to exchange cash for gold from a pawnshop, it will be preferable if your gold jewelry was in very good condition. However, this is not the case when you sell gold to an online buyer who buys broken gold jewelry as scrap. It is a good idea to sell old (broken) jewelry online. You might never wear that jewelry again but you will be able to get the best cash for gold jewelry if you sell it!

A few friends have been insisting that we buy gold bullion. It seems to have replaced stocks as the premium investment these days as there have been a lot of financial articles citing that gold is the wisest thing to invest on. Gold has never been known to depreciate in the recent years and has a very liquid state – it is easily dispensable or exchanged for cash.

United States Gold Bureau is home to a large and dedicated staff of hard asset professionals committed to serving your precious metals investment needs and being America’s best dealer with a convenient market and competitive precious metals prices.

  
If ever we will invest on gold, it would definitely be with them.

1. Falling in Love … With Your Investments

It can be great to fall in love with a person, but stocks can get you into deep trouble. No one should have more than 10 percent of his or her wealth locked in one stock. Just ask the former employees of Enron, who lost both their jobs and their retirement savings when the company filed for bankruptcy 10 years ago.

2. Chasing a Fantasy

You’ve read it 100 times: “Past performance is not an indication of future returns.” But no one appears to believe it. One extensive study that looked at 19 years of market data found that investors consistently poured money into “hot” investments just as they were about to turn cold. That left the average investor with returns that fell way below the market as a whole and didn’t even keep up with inflation. 

3. Equating “On Sale” With “Good Deal”

Consider two television sets: Both are $500, but one is marked down from $800. Which one do you buy? If you’re being reasonable, you buy the one that got the better rating in Consumer Reports. But most people buy the one that’s on sale, says Matt Wallaert, a consultant for LendingTree, which owns the money management Web site Thrive. In fact, even people who would never have spent $500 on a television often will when it’s discounted — simply because it’s so cheap!

4. Retaliatory Spending

You don’t need it. You don’t want it. But, dang it, no one is going to tell you that you can’t have it. New York psychologist Bonnie Eaker Weil calls it “POP” spending — for “pissed-off purchases.” She did a survey before publishing her latest book, Financial Infidelity, and estimated from the results that POP spending accounts for about $424 billion in purchases each year.

 

One of Weil’s Brooklyn-based clients, for example, went on a retaliatory $500 shopping spree when her husband gave one of her beat-up old jackets to charity without asking her first. When she got home, she informed him that since he didn’t like her old jacket, she had gotten a new one from Saks Fifth Avenue. Such purchases can also result from a fight with your boss, mother, or best friend, according to Weil.

But as good as retaliatory spending may feel, it can do real damage to your financial health. Tarbox says a better approach is to talk out the anger, hurt, or disappointment — or just your bad day — with a friend, or even a professional counselor. If you have to spend money on a psychologist, it’s probably still cheaper than the golf clubs or designer shoes you put on your credit card after that last argument with the boss.

5. Hanging On to Debt

The number of people who have money in savings accounts, earning less than 2 percent, while carrying debt on credit cards that charge more than 14 percent is “shocking,” Wallaert says. Of Thrive’s customers who have more than $500 in credit card debt, almost 40 percent have more than enough in savings to pay it off, he says.

You might argue that you need those savings for emergencies. And you do need some emergency savings, allows Frank C. Presson III, a financial planner in Tucson, Ariz. But if you’ve got considerably more savings than debt, there’s no excuse. Keep one month’s worth of living expenses in the bank, even at those sorry returns, Presson advises. Use the rest to pay off the high-cost debt. Then rebuild the emergency savings, not the debt. Worst-case scenario: You still have the credit cards (now with zero balances), and you can tap them in an emergency.

6. Parental Martyrdom

An emerging problem involves parents who spend themselves to the edge of insolvency bailing out their children. “It starts from a good place, basically from wanting to be a good parent,” Klontz says. “They’ll say that Johnny is going through a rough patch and needs some help. But it becomes financial enabling.”

7. Cyber Insecurity

Roughly half the world has signed on for free online banking, which makes money management easier and saves the typical consumer about $50 annually in postage stamps. Among the people who don’t use online banking, 41 percent say they’ve held back because of security concerns, according to a recent survey by Gartner Research.

What do banks typically do to secure online customer accounts? They put up multiple firewalls, which are the equivalent of brick enclosures around your house, and they have techno-security teams attempting to find the weak spots and shore them up. They also patrol the firewalls 24/7, looking for climbers.

Now, let’s look at your mailbox. It’s probably unlocked and unguarded — just what a thief needs to steal your credit cards. In reality, the chance of becoming a victim of identity theft or financial fraud as the result of low-tech crime — whether it’s somebody stealing cards or “spoofing” you into providing private information via e-mail — is a lot greater than the chance that somebody will breach your bank’s online vault.

So sign up already and save the stamps. And if you’re worried about security, check your account regularly to make sure there’s no suspicious activity.

8. State of Denial

Remember when you were 2 years old and you thought you could hide by closing your eyes? When the stock market plunged last winter and spring, that’s just what investors did, leaving their quarterly statements sitting unopened on the counter.

If watching too closely would make you abandon a reasoned investment strategy, go ahead and ignore a statement or two. But losses don’t go away just because you don’t look at them, Tarbox points out. At some point, particularly if you’re nearing retirement or need the dough for some other reason, you need to take a look, assess where you are, and figure out what to do about it.

9. Hoarding Money

Children of the Depression did a lot of this — stuffing $20 bills in their bibles or balling up tinfoil and rubber bands so they wouldn’t have to buy more. But planners say that this is often a problem with wealthy and responsible older folks today: They’re so afraid of running out of money that they don’t enjoy the money that they have.

“When people deny themselves things that they could clearly afford, you have to ask them what they’re saving that money for,” Tarbox says. “We have to tell them that they’re not spending enough.”

If you’re worried about running out of money, sit down with a financial planner and work out the math. Make sure you consider worst-case investment scenarios, not just the averages. That will make you more comfortable about weathering a bad patch like the one we just muddled through. Then, if you still have more than enough, make a plan that will allow you to enjoy your wealth by either spending the excess or giving it away.

Money, after all, is a means to an end — not the end itself. You save it to make you, and the people you love, calm and comfortable. And it’s a lot more fun to take the kids and grandkids on vacation — or provide them with college money or other gifts while you’re around to get the hugs and kisses — than to know that they’ll inherit a fortune after you die.

At the end of each month, your heart palpitates whenever you see the stack of bills on your desk, each having its due within the next week or so. Half of them are from your creditors in the form of credit cards, loans and other financial debts you might have incurred in the past. Some of them might have been dragging on for so long that you might have memorized their numbers.

It’s a familiar scene in families all too caught up with debt. That is why some local government institutions or employers offer free credit counseling to its citizens of employees to avoid problems off too much debt in their system.  If you have too many credit cards and most of them are maxed out with their spending balances, consider getting credit card consolidation so you can save at least from ALL their interest rates – you also get to settle them all and only pay one institution per month. There are a lot of non-government institutions offering consumer credit counseling. Their consumer credit counseling service often has these services:

• Set up a realistic household budget.
• Create a financial action plan.
• Learn to take control of and reduce debt.
• Find ways to save money every day.
• Alleviate stress associated with overwhelming debt.

Consider applying for debt consolidation loans when debts are too many and you have failed in more than instance to pay its minimum amount due. You also swipe out living expenses and in turn incur more debt for everyday expenses. It’s a vicious cycle. The process of debt consolidation ultimately aims to pay off various smaller loans by borrowing a larger amount of money.

Studies show that the top two resolutions every year never change – that is to lose weight/be healthy/go to the gym AND save/eliminate debt/shop less.

It is ironic that weight and money are equated to losses and gains, just like the stock market. And like it is today, it is risky, shaky and its future unseen. Unlike the stock market though, you have control on these things. And the bottom line or key to achieving these goals is one attitude: Discipline. Discipline with eating, discipline with your wants and discipline in spending.

And it isn’t enough that you just save and save. You need to be wise with money – invest it on something that will yield high returns. If you are not that confident, make sure that you open an account that can have perks and high interest rates. Savings Accounts usually only have 1% interest rate annually.

It is best to know about credit card interest rates, savings accounts, checking accounts and other financial matters before you start working. That way, you know where to spend, keep and invest your money. You can know more about mortgage loans, cd rates, credit cards, home equity loans, auto financing and insurance products at Banktime.com.

Most probably, people are going to be swiping their credit cards for those after-holiday sales. Remember we are just starting a new year and we must be prudent with money! A lot of people take advantage of the promo offers of 0% interest for an X number of months and what’s more, most credit card companies actually will start billing your after-Christmas purchases January of the following year already. Talk about leeway. It just doesn’t sit well with me – starting your year in debt. Even if you reason it’s not technically “debt”, you still have advanced payables to pay when the cash isn’t even right there yet. That’s not really good, even if you are good in managing money – emergencies.

I am not saying I haven’t been in debt. In fact, I have been there. I’ve done that. And I’ve learned my lesson well. It is really better to pay in cash and if it’s going to be such a big ticket item, even if it’s on 0% interest, it will be advisable if you already have half of the money in cash already. Or else, there will be a hard time paying up. Six months to pay is so long for me already.

And when you have a delinquent account, that is where Collection Agencies come in. They are the ones hired by credit card companies to follow up on late payments and delinquent accounts, and they really have high commissions!

This is a sponsored post.

Instead of resolutions and goals, I thought I would list down things I would look forward to this year, claiming it already will happen (It is all about the mindset somehow!).

1. Getting our new car.
2. Losing weight, finally – let me rephrase, going back to size 12.
3. Travelling with family.
4. Saving a lot.

We don’t have a lot of goals this year as a family. We just would like to take care of our marriage, focus on family and save. Save, save, save. No more availing of the cash advance feature of credit cards!

Let 2010 be an awesome year for you!

That’s going to be 2010 for our family. It’s going to be a big year for us, with two kids going to school and the need to invest on a new car and buy a house. Our needs are growing and changing while our incomes aren’t so we need to do major changes on our spending.

We also decided to believe in insurance, after witnessing how it saved a young family who lost their head of the family at 30. The first thing we are going to get is car insurance once we buy a new vehicle.

I cannot believe I talked about spending on the first two paragraphs when the title of my post is supposed to be saving! Well, I did a bit of googling to help me know some tricks of the trade. I came across this article, 30 Ways to Save Money by the DumbLittleMan, and aside from using coupon codes (which I am learning to do!), here are some of the points he raised which hit me right in the head.

1. Cook in the house more often. You would not believe the number of times we eat out or order take-out in a week. Imagine if we can convert all those into savings!
2. Make a list before grocery shopping. And if I may add – stick to that list!
3. Consolidate and pay off debt as soon as possible. We are proud to say we are now living on one credit card and have closed off all others. And I only have two months to pay off my loan from two years ago. Yay!

Good luck on saving this year

Christmas is just but two days away and chances are, you are now broke, after buying the necessary gifts for loved ones and friends, attending parties which require you to shop for new outfits and eating out all the time. You might also have exhausted the money from the payday loans you have applied for.

How to get some cash before the year ends? Here are some ways that can help you.

1. E-bay.

Chances are you have some things you can dispose of – and E-bay will be your best bet to reach the most number of people with the least inconvenience. Almost all money-making articles you will find online will mention E-bay.

2. Freelance your services.

If you can write, take pictures, have organizing skills to become a virtual assistant/secretary, market yourself. It can be as easy as babysitting for an hour everyday.

3. Online jobs – read e-mails, take surveys, click on link advertisements.

There are lot of these “mindless” jobs online that pay in cents but if you have time to kill and have got nothing better to do than surf the net, you can always earn a little on the side while killing time.

4. Craigslist

You will be amazed at how much people are willing to give away and how much you can take and sell over at E-bay. I also notice how it can become concentrated on a local area so making money – getting things to sell, offering services – is easier.

5. Small Businesses

Many people are still ignorant in making websites. If you know HTML (most web design interfaces offer WYSIWYG editors already) – you can make a little money with this.

Investing is a risky thing, most especially now when the stock market is still unstable and there are more losses than gains. Keeping your hard-earned money in the bank is just like storing your money at home, the interest rates have dropped so low. There have been talk that investing on gold is a wise investment. For one thing, gold has never been known to depreciate in value and the value of gold has been very liquid – there has always been a clamor and demand for it. In fact, isnt it gold has always been a measure of one’s wealth?

You can buy gold in bullion or coin form like this one:
 

Gold American Eagle coins first minted in 1986, the Gold Eagle is the #1 gold bullion coin choice among investors across the world. Buy American Gold Eagle coins as an investment in safety and growth.

In every business, expansion means growth. It also means that you encounter more risks. When expanding, it would always be wiser to have an accountant or a third party do book keeping for your finances. There is a Las Vegas accounting firm called KondlerCPA. They are a known respected leader in the financial account world that is committed to providing value to their customers as well as their stakeholders.

There always has been a lot of problems that arise when it comes to financial matters so it will always be best (and wise) to make sure that every cent is accounted for.

Everybody seems to be paying by debit card and credit card these days. We are definitely on the electronic age, with online banking going streamline and cash-less purchases being preferred over paying by cash. Online shopping has also boomed.

While these advancements are in no way a disadvantage to people (because they are truly convenient – no need to withdraw cash every time you shop or pay for something, no looking over through paper statements when reviewing financial status – everything is online!), there will always be a tendency for people to overspend and underestimate their spending.

That is why most older people still prefer to pay by personal checks. They can track expenses better and can even request for copies of the issued checks for auditing purposes if needed. It is better than paying by credit card too, as you are forced to pay with the money you have right at the moment, and you don’t have to pay for interest.

While one might argue that paying by check would be more expensive in the long run because you need to order and replace your checkbook from time to time, you can always order straight from the printer and not the bank – and even order in bulk! My Personal Checks has direct connection to discount bank check printers, having personal checks in multiple check designs and styles that fit one’s your budget and personal identity.

Everything is being carded these days. Most restaurants and stores accept major credit cards so it will be easy to attract customers (It is just easier to charge everything to the card, right?). But along with credit card availability and its convenience, steps are needed to ensure that credit cards swiped are protected against stealing and stores are protected from fraud.

That is where Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard comes in. This standard was created to help organizations that process card payments prevent fraud through increased controls around data and its exposure to compromise.

The best PCI compliance solution was developed by Braintree Payment Solutions. They handle everything from online credit card payment processing to completely eliminating the handling, processing and storage of credit card data. All these are PCI compliant.

I personally would want all stores where I charge my card to to be PCI compliant. There are so much credit card fraud these days that I don’t want mine to be compromised.