Six Smart Ways to Grow your Savings Account with Investments

Growing your savings account is very important if you want to establish a significant amount of savings for a rainy day. Not only will that money come handy in emergency situations, but it can be the basis of your retirement fund. Here are six ways to grow your savings account through smart financial decisions and intelligent investments.

Invest in the Stock Market

If you have established a few thousand dollars in your savings account, it may be time to begin investing in the stock market. Research stocks that are doing well, and the types of stocks that may boom over the coming years. Begin by holding a demo account for a few months, where you track the progress of stocks you select. If that goes well, you can begin to use your savings to invest wisely and boost your returns.

Create a Contingency Fund

Set aside a certain amount of money for emergencies. Whether you want to keep this money in your regular savings account, or in a separate one, will depend on your personal preferences. This money should be added to each month, and should only be touched in an emergency situation, or if you find yourself without an income for a few months.

Mutual Funds

Mutual funds are perfect for long term investors who may not want to make every investment decision themselves. Mutual funds will provide you with different options, depending on how aggressive you want them to be with your money. Look at plans that have great returns over a five or ten year period, instead of funds that have a good year or two.

Repay Your Debt

Boosting your savings is not just about adding money to your savings account. If you take steps to eliminate your debt every month, your overall financial position will be a lot higher. Having $2000 in your savings account with $0 debt is better than having $10,000 in the account with $9,000 outstanding loans.

Buy Government Bonds

Government bonds are a great long term solution to boost your savings account. Bonds may not have the return of mutual funds or the stock exchange, but they are reliable, provide solid returns, and come in various terms. Bonds come in 3 or 6 month terms, in addition to 1, 3, 5 and 10 year terms.

Invest in your 401(k)

Investing towards your retirement income is vital, even if you are still in your mid 20s or early 30s. The earlier you start your retirement fund, the larger it will be when you are 60 or 65. Invest intelligently in your 401(k) by studying the money and markets, and you could end up with a significant savings boost every year.

Each of these options varies in the risk, return and steps involved with investment. However, each of the six suggestions will ensure that you are in better financial health, and that the money sitting around in your savings account multiplies over a period of time. Do you research to decide which method or combination of methods is best for you and you will be taking positive steps to a fuller savings account.

Features to Look out for When Choosing Insurance Software and What it Can do for your Company and Clients

The insurance industry is moving faster than ever, and in order to stay on top of your game it’s important to utilise the latest insurance technology solutions on offer. Both insurers and brokers require reliable insurance software that they can depend on and there a wide range of options out there, but what specific features should you be looking out for?

Here’s a guide to some of the best, which can provide valuable functionality to the day to day running of your insurance firm or brokerage.

Easy configuration without expert help

Some insurance software solutions are so complicated and impenetrable that they require the help of outside specialists such as SSP Worldwide, or specially trained in-house IT staff just to set them up or apply changes as needed. By finding one which is user-friendly enough to configure yourself you can save time, money and any associated headaches.

But if you do need to call in the experts then don’t be afraid to if you think that software installation is beyond your skills set. Better to be safe than sorry…

Wide range of functionality

Ideally you want one software package which can do it all. It can be expensive and unnecessarily confusing to use different pieces of software for each aspect of the insurance process, and there’s also the risk that they won’t be compatible with your operating system – or each other! So find one insurance software package that is fully featured and can tie together every aspect of your business, from underwriting and certificate issuance to claims management and billing. As well as making the process generally more neat and tidy, this will reduce the amount of time spent training new staff.

Telematics for motor insurance

Modern technology has given insurers the ability to provide motorists with personally tailored insurance based on how they drive. By picking insurance software that supports telematics you can add a new dimension to the service you provide, and reward careful drivers with cheaper policies.

Because telematic systems provide an accurate picture of how the policy holder drives, they enable a better calculation of risks to be made. Data used includes average speeds, roads used, speed of deceleration and time of driving. Some telematics solutions use a specially installed box to collect the data, while others can be utilised by downloading a smart phone app onto an existing device.

Cloud-based operation

The ‘Cloud’ is all the rage at the moment and it’s easy to see why. If you’re not familiar with the term, cloud computing refers to the act of accessing software and data on a remote computer via the internet rather than from your own hard drive.

By choosing a cloud-based insurance software solution you don’t have to worry so much about the capabilities of your own hardware, as the software will effectively be running remotely on external server. In addition to this, if a problem occurs then it will be somebody else’s responsibility to fix it. This in turn can reduce IT costs for your company and prevent costly downtime.

About the author – Paul S. Sutton is a freelance writer with a background in insurance. He regularly blogs on insurance industry issues for a variety of websites and often uses www.ssp-worldwide.com for research.

Hard Asset Investment – A Great Way to Make Money

Shipping Container Investments are quite Profitable 

Investors always try to make more money through their investments. The traditional investment options like stocks have shown poor performance in the past. This has inspired investors to look for alternative ways of investing. Hard asset investments have gained have popularity in the present times. These assets show good performance even under difficult economic conditions. They have lower risks associated with them and yield better returns.

Overview of Hard Assets:

A hard asset refers to something you own which is tangible. It can be a type of physical asset like land, machines, inventory or building. It can also be financial like cash, credit or a financial instrument like a bill of exchange, draft, share, bond or a check. Hard assets are considered as very valuable since they can be used for producing or purchasing other goods or services.

The physical properties of a hard asset determine its value. Sometimes, its value depends on the fact that whether the hard asset can be reproduces or has been reproduced earlier. This rule applies to assets like paintings. Certain machinery types and buildings can also be included in this category. 

Hard Asset Investment Examples:

Hard asset investments are of various types. Some choices can turn out to be good while others can be bad, on the basis of the economy. Some popular hard asset investments are energy, forest products, renewable energy and water, base metals, precious metals and agriculture. Another hard asset which has gained immense popularity is shipping container. Shipping container investments have proved to be very profitable. Asset management companies like Pacific Tycoon deal with shipping container investments and can guide you to proceed right when investing in shipping containers.

High Demand

Hard assets have a high demand in the world today. The demand is extremely high in case of hard assets like metals and precious gems, luxury goods, food and energy. Metals with a high demand from consumers are steel, iron ore, aluminum and copper. Owing to the high level of demand, investing in these hard assets can turn out to be a good idea. 

Investing in Hard and Tangible Assets:

You can find numerous good reasons to invest in hard and tangible assets. These assets offer benefits that are usually not offered by other investment options. If your investor portfolio is full of bonds and stocks, you can easily diversify your portfolio by adding some investments in hard assets. You can expect very competitive returns to be yielded by such investments. Investing in such assets is also a great way of evading inflation. These investments also have the ability to improve your portfolio’s risk/reward profile. These investments are very lowly correlated to traditional investment types.

There are many websites that provide information on how to invest in hard assets. You can find many companies that deal with investments in tangible assets like platinum, silver, gold, certified coins, gemstones and diamonds. Such hard assets are meant for enjoying, holding on and then selling. They can result in significant profits.

Conclusion:

Hard asset investments offer many benefits over investments in conventional assets like stocks. These investments are less risky and provide high returns. They can also diversify your investor portfolio.

Summary: Hard asset investments have turned out to be more profitable than other investments. Investors are increasingly investing in hard and tangible assets nowadays.

Auto Financing Options for Retirees'

If you've recently become retired but have suddenly found yourself needing to purchase a new car (to visit family, for instance), there's a good chance that you'll want to get an idea of what your current financing options are now you're retired.

Whether you worked hard all your life to earn a pension plan from your company, or you invested in property as soon as you could and the investment paid off (or both), there still may come a time in which you need to look towards alternative methods in which to raise financing for your new car. Three of the most common, and useful, methods are listed below.

1) Loans

Even as a retiree it's very possible for you to get a car loan approved, especially if you've built up an exceptionally good credit score over your life. Though some may worry that they may be turned down for a loan because they're no longer working, in truth the companies paying out for these loans are much more interested in how quickly you've paid people back in the past (your credit score) rather than whether or not you currently have money coming in.

Of course, finding an auto loan that's right for you has become much more difficult in recent years as so many online sites have popped up selling essentially the same thing. For this reason, only look for the best car loans you can find online, and speak with them on the phone directly as the sooner you get them on the phone the sooner you can arrange a deal that suits you (something which is much easier to do when speaking to a real individual).

2) Children and Grandchildren

Borrowing money from family and friends can sometimes be difficult, but if the only reason you need a new car is so you can drive up to visit your children and grandchildren then there's a good chance that they would be very happy to help you finance your purchase, as it'll allow you to see each other more often.

Of course, this won't take away from some of the awkwardness of having to ask them for money, something which can sometimes cause much pain and disagreement between families if you're unable to pay the money back on the agreed-upon schedule. Keep this in mind before approaching your children and grandchildren, but by no means take it as an absolute deterrent.

3) Your Savings

Even if you do have savings you may not want to use them to purchase a new car – instead looking into getting a loan so you can pay for the cost of your new auto slowly. This is entirely understandable, as when you move into retirement your thoughts shift to what you'll be doing with your money after you're gone, with you in most circumstances wanting to leave as much as you can to your children.

If you have a significant amount of savings, however, this may well be the best route for you as it likely won't even make a dent in the amount you've saved up. If you've been making money thanks to your savings growing with compound interest over the decades, it won't hurt to take a small amount out to pay for a new car, with this money being much better spend in this way – so you can visit your family whenever you please – than it would be if it was left to your children and grandchildren.

In conclusion, if you've recently become retired but have suddenly found yourself needing to purchase a new car (to visit family, for instance), there's a good chance that you'll want to get an idea of what your current financing options are now you're retired.

About the Author:

Blink Finance is a firm that offers financial services such as how and where to get the best car loans, personal loans, or business loans in Australia.

Dangerous Business of Non-profit Debt Consolidation

Wipe our Debt (Photo credit: Images_of_Money)

These days a large number of people are in debt. Some of them are in a deeper hole, while some are beginning to get stuck in the never ending cycle of debt repayment. Loan may provide you with funds required to fulfill your immediate demands, but the normal human attitude towards money is to spend it when you have it, and beg for more afterwards. Be it begging for time or money, after all, time is money!

This may not be something everyone wants, but the problem of debt is faced by almost everyone at some point in their life. These days, loans are taken right at the time when one is very young and he or she would get stuck in the debt repayment cycle for a very long time.

There are times when people need immediate action to solve the problem of debt payment. Suppose you are in debt, you have to pay $50000 by end of 3 years. If you default on repayment, you risk losing your house or car, whatever it is. This is where two options are usually seen, one is to borrow more money so you can pay off the other creditor, or go to a debt consolidation company who would extend your repayment period and also reduce the interest rate.

These debt consolidation companies have their own fees, which might just be an additional burden on you. But there are also these non-profit debt consolidation loans companies which charge absolutely nothing to you (At least that is what everyone thinks). Not all companies that use the tag non-profit are all honest and care for the people. They can scam you right away and you will be in an even deeper hole.

Such debt consolidation companies often advertise how quickly they would remove your debt by reducing you interest rates and the amount you pay. Often they tell you things which are too good to be true. There can be testimonials from people who are smiling and telling you how quickly their debt was cleared. But there is always a catch which can dig an even deeper hole in your bank account.

Signs of a Good Nonprofit debt consolidation company

• Nonprofits should charge a very small amount of fee to setup your account and other stuff that is required. A nonprofit debt consolidation company who charges no fee and promises to fix your debt problem should be carefully examined before dealing with them.
• Ask for a nonprofit organization license issued by the government or the state government. Most of the states require all nonprofit organizations to have a license to operate. Not having one would apparently look like some shady business and it is advisable for one to stay away from them. 
• If any debt consolidation company promises you to get you out of debt very fast, then they are lying. Stay away from them! Getting in the debt took you time, and getting out of it would require time too! Considering that you are at a tipping point is the reason why you went to a nonprofit debt consolidation company, i.e. you are in a deep hole. Filling a hole deep enough requires time. 
• Check out online reviews for all the nonprofit debt consolidation companies that you have on your list. If you need to make a choice, there is a very great website known as BBB (Better business Bureau). All you have to do it enter the organization name and check out their reviews.

Remember, no consolidation company is going to miraculously make your debt go away. It takes time to get out of it. Spend the money wisely, and choose a good debt consolidation company to pay off your debts.

Your Best Mutual Fund Investment Guide If Clueless

A Mutual Fund is a Finance Investment by convention of a basket of currency that is contributed to by any number of parties. The pooled money is then traded on the stock market. These accumulated funds are used to trade in several different companies in equal share to reduce the risk of what a company collapsing could do to the overall portfolio.

As a result of the size of what a Mutual Fund’s trade is they get particular bulk discounts in the execution of trade orders. Traditionally there is a trade cost incurred during each trade which limits smaller trader’s activity sufficiently. When so much of a stock is being held onto, even the slightest price swing of pennies could amount to thousands of dollars of either profit or loss for the Mutual Fund Companies and the Private Investors that had funded them.

As a Private Investor the challenge is to spread the stocks you buy across several companies and industries. Due to the nature of the trade costs you will find it is not worth the fees to spread the trades out too much and will want to stay focused on a certain few companies. There are certainly benefits and negatives to both kinds of Investors, whether they are Institutional such as the Mutual Funds or Private such as an Individual.

The Private Investor benefits in such ways as the weight of their trades are so small that they barely impact the market at all where a Mutual Fund can cause a chaotic swing when a large bid is opened. Usually Mutual Companies put their funds into stocks slowly, just a small amount at a time so as to not interrupt the delicate balance of the Trading Volume. A chaotic move upward could even trigger a Double Top followed by a large dip in the price of a stock shortly after.

Financial Investments of this sort are always aided with some of the most complicated mathematics to provide detailed price trending reports to detect instability before it even happens. This method is referred to as Technical Analysis and when combined with the standard Fundamental Analysis it can identify profit opportunities seamlessly. Even many of the Private Investors have access to these mathematical tools as a result of the Internet whereas before it was restricted to Mutual Fund Companies.

Mutual Funds do not traditionally involve themselves in Illiquid Assets such as Penny Stocks or Microcap Companies due to the large volume of their trades. The execution time would be tremendous and the volume of what is being traded would undoubtedly disturb the chart pattern quite rapidly leading to momentum movements, potentially in an unfavorable way. The light weight of a Private Investors trades makes little to no difference in the machinery of the market.

If you are about to choose a Mutual Fund Portfolio Manager then make sure that you are completely aware of your fees before doing business. There are a lot of hidden fees usually in the fine print. Reading these line by line is very important to the safety of your investment money that you will retire on later in life.

Author Bio: Mark Long is a well-known finance writer as he worked his initial few days in Mutual Fund Company as Finance Investment specialist. Mark generally advises about Investment, Settlements, Annuities, retirement plans to his customers.