Investment ideas

Investment ideas

Having one’s hard earned money invested profitably is a daunting prospect for many people. There are many options available in the market for investors, with each having its own unique characteristics. Investors put their money to risk after carefully assessing these characteristics and choosing the investment ideas that suits their needs best.

2016 is a year that didn’t start off that well and you might consider it more appropriate to hide your money in the closet than to invest it anywhere. Many of you would also take into consideration relying on professionals for providing expert opinion regarding which investments to make. Because the fact is that any money that isn’t invested is practically useless, therefore, we have some investment ideas for you that might help and the best part is they generally work well in all conditions good or bad!

Investment Idea 1;

Invest your money in GOLD. While this might be a very obvious course for some of you but there are reasons for gold to be an ideal choice when it comes to low risk investments.

First of all, the prices of gold are relatively unaffected by fluctuations in currency value. This is an asset whose worth generally rises in the long term. This makes it a better alternative to stock which is very volatile and can face a sudden and potentially irrecoverable plunge in prices! Secondly, gold is a liquid asset which means it can easily be converted into money if you require some “Cash in Hand” urgently.

However, gold is difficult to store if purchased in large quantities and it may be wise to invest in a locker/safe in order to protect your investment.

Investment Idea 2;

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS are another suitable option to consider if you are looking for both profitable and low risk investments. They are usually included in a portfolio of investments to reduce the overall risk but they can also be invested in separately to generate significant returns.

Real estate can make you some real cash, let’s see how!

If you own a property that is rented, you can benefit from annual rental increments that can add to your income every year. This means that as inflation rises each year, the value of your property and the rental income you receive from it both rise proportionally. In addition to this, the returns from a real estate investment can be increased by physically enhancing the property and its appearance. This might involve adding extra rooms, maintaining the present condition of your property or repairing anything broken such as leaked pipes

However, there are some disadvantages of investing in real estate. A property is not a very liquid asset which means it cannot be easily sold without incurring significant transaction costs. Also the maintenance of a real estate property is an expensive venture that can cut back on any profits you have already earned from it.

Investment Idea 3;

TREASURY BONDS or BILLS are another form of investment that is considered relatively risk free and secure. This is mainly because they are issued by the government and the returns from them are predictable. The way they work is that you simply purchase a treasury bond/bill from brokers or the treasury itself. The bonds have a maturity date until which you receive a specific percentage of interest. When the maturity date expires, you get your principal amount back.

Treasury bonds have many advantages. In addition to being a secure form of investment like we already discussed, they also provide tax benefits to their holders in that they are exempt from local income tax and state tax. They are short-term investments which implies that they are not held for long periods of time which can be ideal for people of old age and any other individuals who does not want their money tied up for the long haul.

As we all must be familiar with, “the higher the risk, the higher the return” principle, the downside to treasury bills is that since they are less risky, they provide less returns. Therefore, if you are someone who is in search of tremendous returns, you probably shouldn’t go down this road!

Investment Idea 4;

Another option for all of you looking to invest their money in is STOCK. This refers to shares of various companies that are available to be bought and sold on the stock exchange. Stocks are considered quite a “High Paying” form of investment as compared to others. They are also a means of purchasing a piece of ownership in the company you are investing in, however small it may be. This qualifies you to vote on certain matters of the company which gives you some say on how things are governed in an organization that has your money.

However, with stocks, you are at a bigger risk of losing your money. This is because every high-return investment requires you to have a good risk appetite (as mentioned earlier!). Also stock investments are dreaded by many people due to their complexity and time commitment involved. It requires a lot of research and analysis to find the most suitable entity to invest in. One solution is to hire professionals to do this tiresome job for you but that requires some additional investment of money in the form of these professionals’ fee.

To sum it all up, finding the perfect course of action when it comes to investment is a time taking and complicated job. A quick fix can be to benefit from all the professional help that is available out there but that can be quite expensive for some people. We would suggest to start from the basics and test the waters before committing a huge amount of money. Another option is to invest in a portfolio which includes different forms of investments so that the overall risk can be managed effectively.

We hope that this article was useful in providing some insight into the arduous and challenging world of investments. We also wish you all the luck in your journey of unravelling the ideal course of investment for you!

                            INVESTING IN THE REAL ESTATES MARKET

The Real Estate sector is currently an essential element in any national economy. International statistics have indicated that real estate market has been quite profitable especially in the last two decades. The sector offers an attractive business opportunity for potential investors since it has what is viewed as ‘a stone that is a safety net’ unlike securities in the stock exchange where an investor might lose an entire initial investment if the capital market is crashed since it had a virtual value. The value of real estate assets moves proportionally with the economy status at any particular time, making the sector very significant. It is the barometer upon which the well-being of any economy is evaluated.

Real estate market possesses some qualities that make it easily identifiable by many investors as a preferred investment vehicle. The investors in this sector have the ability to control their investments that may not be the case with other asset classes like the securities. In addition, the vendors and vendees in this market usually have direct dealings with each other. However, the decision on whether to invest in real estate has to be very much informed having considered all relevant factors such as the location of property, statutory requirements, neighborhood characteristics, construction details as well as title particulars.

The nature of real estate market is very complex; this requires prudence on the part of the investor. The venture is quite expensive and hence requires huge capital investment.  Information regarding any similar transactions is not easily available giving it an imperfect characteristic. Real estate properties tend to have reduced liquidity because of the intricate procedures involved in the transfer of money and property rights.  In addition to that, the market is greatly affected by fluctuations of prices that are sensitive to levels of income, the unemployment rate and changes in exchange rate. Active management is a key requirement because every stage of the investment demands for timely management decisions.

Decisions on real estate investments are based on the key drivers that determine the attractiveness of such kind of an investment. The most important factor is real estate investment opportunity. The existence of these opportunities is majorly created by the accelerating urbanization and the demographics of urban areas that affect the degree of occupation. The sophistication and depth of capital markets are also a great contributor. Stable financial and banking systems and well established liquid capital markets spur investment activity in real estates. There also exist regulatory limitations and the ease with which real estate business can be conducted. Investors are confident to invest where there is transparency in investor rights and there exist protective property rights. Countries without barriers to market entrants are likely to have an increased activity in the real estate sector. Political environments in host countries have a great role to play in making investment choices.  Political stability, corruption and crime levels in a country strongly impact investment activities.

The most important consideration in valuing property in the real estate market is the Capitalization rate. This is the base on which net income is converted to value of a property. A new investor interested in purchasing a real estate property needs to know the rate at which other investors have acquired their property so as to determine value. This rate is determined by the capitalization rate of the prior year and majorly the current market state that is represented by the current vacancy rate and a forecasted decline in the capitalization rate. Moreover, the return on investment, investment risk involved and liquidity of the investment are also important features that affect property value.

The current major trend in developed countries in regards to real estate investments is investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts, REITs.  Being a simple landlord is associated with having loads of work with uncertainty in the payoffs, but REITs are viewed to be more rewarding. REITs work in the same way as financial stocks; the holding company uses funds that have been invested by shareholders to hold real estate property. The income from the property is shelled out to the shareholders at an agreed percentage rate.  Since the real estate sector is on a growing trend, yields from REIT stocks are expected to climb in comparison with the yield on bonds and fixed-income investments.

 A new investor needs to be well equipped with information regarding the variety of taxes charged on property. Such information is available in consultation with various professionals. A real estate broker, financial planner, an attorney, and a tax preparer all have information about taxes with respect to their disciplines. This information is vital when looking at the expected cash flows from an investment. The cash flows from real estate are a blend of variable and fixed income. Fixed income is composed of the current expected rent payable by the property occupants that has been fixed by an initial and assented lease contract. Variable income, on the other hand, is adjusted rental payments as a result of rent reviews and expiry of lease contracts. The residential sector of the real estate market is the most significant in income generation from the market.

Investing in real estate market generally is not all rosy, some hurdles may accompany it. Although an investors’ property may be rented out, the cash may be insufficient to carry out routine maintenance, repairs and still pay monthly loan installments. Conflicts may arise between the landlord and tenants in case of non-payments that may end up being solved in a court of law leading to time and financial loses. Financial problems may also arise if there is a reduction in period for the credit given or introduction of tight guidelines on the criteria for giving loans. Such risks should be viewed as warnings for careful handling of property rather than being perceived as obstacles to making investment choices in the real estate sector. Investors should also note that benefits of such investments are generated after a long period.

Negotiate

Everything is negotiable when it comes to bills. Negotiate your life and all aspects when it comes to paying a bill. I’m going to go over a few examples of how I have applied negotiating bills that I pay for every month and how I went about negotiating them.

Every year about this time, I go over all of my bills and I assess what it is that I need and what I don’t need. The things that I need I keep, such as home insurance as well as car insurance the things that I want services such as Satellite radio, Extra data on phone, or cable TV come next. I like to make a list and speak with each company that is responsible for taking my money every month.  Once again I do this every year and it has always been a good practice that I would recommend anyone do and create a habit of.

Case and point I called my I was able to call my satellite radio subscriber Sirius and got a $80 discount. I simply called them up and stated that I could not afford the price that they had automatically charged my credit card for. They apologized then transferred me to another branch that was in charge of negotiating with customers and from there they charged me $24 for a 6 month subscription. 

The next thing I had on my list was my car insurance.  I have Geico, I went online and got a quote from USAA . As I compared them both side to side I saw there were differences in the types of coverage things such as bodily injury payouts as well as the deductible. I decreased the amounts of these and amazingly that decreased the amount that they would cost overall. I also noted that I did not need roadside assistance for one of my vehicle as it was already covered so I took that away and saved even more, You should always review policies with insurance and know what you have covered as well as what you do not. You will not always need everything that you have so it is important that you make sure you are not double covered for something that you already have insurance from.

Remember that everything is negotiable, and you should always consider negotiating mostly everything. Never be shy or not question the money you spend for a service, it is money you worked hard to get don’t be so quick to give it away. Just like you earned it, make them work hard to earn it as well.