The Economy Today - Online Personal Finance Can Help You Keep Your Spending Low

For many people the goal to be financially successful is a goal that is very important in their lives. There is only one problem that people deal with when trying to become financial successful, and that is that they don’t know how to deal with money. There have been a countless number of tools that have come out to help people become better at handling their finances. One of the new ways to do this is through online personal finance software programs. Online personal finance software programs are online programs that have been invented to help any individual keep track of their money.

One tip that is important to keep in mind when trying to become financially successful is to have more than one source of income. This is very important because if something were to go wrong and you only have one source of income then you are left struggling to make ends meet. The additional source of income doesn’t have to be a serious job but even a small job like babysitting, or writing an article weekly for a newspaper. It is there just in case if something were to happen and your primary source of income is gone. Also, if something were to happen to your primary source there is a possibility that your second source of income could accommodate you if need be.

Another thing that is important to keep in mind is to keep your spending as low as possible. Through personal online banking your weekly spending can be looked up immediately so that you know how much you have spent already, doing this can help you to decide if you are willing to spend that extra dollar when you are in a store. Before you make a purchase it is very important for you to think about if it is something you really need, if the answer is no or you are unsure you may want to look into it to see if it is money worth spending. Also, to go along with that you have to keep in mind what you need to spend money on, whether it is clothing, food, putting money away towards savings for a child’s education. Do not let the importance of these things slip away from you.

It is also very important to be wise when using credit cards, for many people credit cards can be very helpful, but for thousands of others it is the sole reason why they have fallen so far into debt. It is very easy to go shopping and just swipe your card and purchase something because you aren’t seeing the actual money leave. This is another time when it is useful to have personal online banking, this is because before leaving to go shopping or to go out you can check your balance and see if you have the money to spend on unnecessary goods.
Author: Jeff Nelson

Current Economy - Effective Investment Strategies

Building your own retirement portfolio can be quite a daunting task. There are many different strategies you can adopt to help your investment dollars grow. The difficulty lies in choosing the strategies that will suit you the most.

Many people believe in investing heavily in property. While residential property investments have been very popular for decades, many investors have not enjoyed strong gains simply due to poor decisions when they bought the properties. Buying property in slow growth areas, gearing too high and poor property management can leave many investors with a very sour experience, not
to mention the opportunity loss.

Over the past decade, share trading and investing have become far more popular. Many of the hassles of property investing do not exist with share investments. However, it still comes back to making the right decisions when purchasing, and then managing the investment well. The beauty of shares is that you can quickly, inexpensively and easily exit the investment if it is not performing. Conversely, you can quickly enter an investment if you feel it has strong potential.

As more and more investors become interested in the stock market, many are discovering that there is far more to share investing than just buying shares and leaving them in the bottom drawer. Investors are discovering strategies such as “Writing Covered Calls” and “Spreads, Straddles and Strangles”. In fact, there are many different strategies which allow share and options traders to reduce their risk and/or increase their reward.

One of the most exciting strategies is Writing Covered Calls. To many, these words have little meaning, but to those who know, these words mean everything. Writing covered calls has been hailed as one of the most powerful, yet simplest, forms of wealth creation.

If you already own shares and would be prepared to sell them at a higher price then they are today, then writing covered calls may be for you. In return for the obligation to sell them at a higher price, you will be paid between 2%-6% of the value of the shares.

Now, there are some restrictions and limitations. Not all shares have Exchange Traded Options (ETO) available, and hence, not all shares will allow you to write covered calls. In fact, only 64 company shares have ETO’s. The Australian market can be fairly illiquid for all but the largest companies, but once you understand the strategy, you can use it on the American markets, as that market offers the same opportunities. The only difference is that there are thousands of ETO’s available.

Platinum Pursuits hosts investment seminars most weeks, as well as 3 day training workshops, where a variety of investment strategies are taught. Various Australian experts are invited to teach topics such as Option trading, writing Covered Calls, Self-Managed Super, Tax planning and effective international share investment. Be sure to secure your place at one of our upcoming seminars!

© Platinum Pursuits 2006. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer

The decision to invest or trade and the method selected is a personal decisions and involves an inherent level of risk, and you must undertake your own investigations and obtain your own advice regarding the suitability of our services for your circumstances. Platinum Pursuits Pty Ltd is an Authorised Representative (Rep. No. 286343) of Option Partners Pty Ltd, AFSL 298347.

Information contained in all Platinum Pursuits products and websites is intended to be general advice only and should not be relied upon as financial product advice. You are warned that:

1. The advice has been prepared without taking into account your
objectives, financial situation or particular needs; and
2. Because of that, you should, before acting on the advice,
consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your
objectives, financial situation and needs; and
3. If the advice relates to the acquisition, or possible
acquisition, of a particular financial product - you should obtain a
Product Disclosure Statement relating to the product and consider the
Statement before making any decision about whether to acquire the
product.

Equities and derivatives trading involves risk, Investors need a broker to trade equities and derivatives, and must meet suitability requirements. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Investors are required and advised to request for and read the product disclaimer statements as provided by the particular profile they trade with.

None of the information and data contained in this presentation or the Platinum Pursuits websites (www.platinumpursuits.com or www.ppmember.com) nor any opinion expressed constitutes a recommendation to purchase or sell a security, or to provide investment or financial product advice.

The information contained on all Platinum Pursuits products is provided for general informational purposes, as a convenience to the customers of Platinum Pursuits Pty Ltd. The materials are not a substitute for obtaining professional advice from a qualified person, firm or corporation. Consult the appropriate professional advisor for more complete and current information. Platinum Pursuits Pty Ltd is not engaged in rendering any legal or professional services by presenting this general information or by placing these or any general informational materials on their websites.

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Current Economy - The Money Merge Account: Paying Off Your Mortgage

Most homeowners realize they will pay about twice the purchase price of their home on a traditional mortgage - a mortgage that will take about 30 years to pay off. Introducing a way to break that cycle of financial drain—the Money Merge Account, Request a FREE Analysis Here. Developed by a team of financial experts with years of experience in the mortgage industry, the MMA rapidly reduces the principal of your mortgage, practically eliminating the interest from accruing on your loan. Your 30-year mortgage can now be paid off in about 8 to 11 years, with no change to your lifestyle or refinancing of your existing mortgage.

The Money Merge Account is not a bi-weekly payment or debt roll-down system. It’s an entirely new approach that gives homeowners flexibility with their money and complete financial freedom. A side-by-side comparison of a traditional mortgage repayment shows the savings potential using the MMA system. A 30-year, $136,000 mortgage at 5.25%, when paid through conventional monthly payments, will result in a 30-year total repayment of $270,784 – nearly twice the cost of the home. The MMA program can repay the same mortgage in 11.3 years with a total repayment of $181,217. An incredible savings of $89,566 is realized on the same income, with the same mortgage, at the same interest rate, and without any changes to your standard of living. MMA is simply one of the fastest ways to repay a mortgage and be on your way to financial freedom.

How does it work? The Money Merge Account consists of three major components:

1. Your Existing Primary mortgage: The existing mortgage on your home is the foundation for the Money Merge Account.

2. An Advanced Line of Credit (ALOC) The MMA Program uses an advanced equity line of credit as a vehicle or a tool to drive the program. The equity line of credit must have the capacity to operate similarly to a primary checking account and be set up with an open-end interest calculation (rather than a closed-end interest calculation). Combined with the MMA's web-based system, this creates a formula in which the money in your line of credit account generates an interest cancellation on your primary mortgage.

3. MMA software The online MMA system makes a connection between your bank account, the advanced line of credit, and your primary mortgage. Each time you deposit income into your account, it registers as a decrease to your mortgage balance. By decreasing your mortgage balance, you now lower the balance on which interest accrues. By decreasing the balance on which interest accrues, you increase the portion of your monthly payment which is credited toward your principal pay down. The algorithms in the proprietary MMA system are systematically programmed to create the highest interest savings possible in the least amount of time.

How can you do this too? Follow the steps below to achieve your wildest dreams and become mortgage and debt free.

1. Fill out the MMA application You must qualify for this program, we will perform a free analysis of your finances and see if we can help you become mortgage free. A full and complete application is step 1. We will contact you within 2 days with your results!

2. Activate your Money Merge Account We will help you in the necessary steps to get you setup and started.

3. Deposit Your Paycheck: Deposit your paycheck into your current checking and/or savings account. As soon as the funds clear, the amount you designate is transferred from your checking and/or savings account into your Money Merge Account managed line of credit. Because the line of credit is connected to your home, the money transferred from your checking and/or savings accounts decreases your mortgage balance, thus reducing the balance in which interest builds.

4. Pay Your Bills Throughout the month, you pay your bills using your Money Merge Account managed line of credit. With this account, money is immediately available through checks, debit cards, and ATMs. The amount left after bills have been paid remains against the balance of your mortgage until you need it, keeping your mortgage balance as low as possible, further reducing mortgage interest charges.

5. Follow the system Follow the promptings of the online MMA system to maximize your savings and pay your mortgage off as quickly as possible.* *Check with your United First Financial agent to see if the Money Merge Account is right for you.

Author: Joe Campbell

The Economy Today - A Deep Recession in a Global Economy

Fear and emotion are the rule every day in the global financial markets. We have seen shock and awe financial bailout plans, the overnight consolidation of many troubled financial services giants, and a liquidity crisis that impacts markets across the globe.

In Germany, the collapse of the rescue plan for Hypo Real Estate may mean a disaster in that country similar to the recent bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in the United States. Also, consider that in the Netherlands, Ireland, and Greece, bank rescue has become the order of the day while Iceland is in the middle of an economic meltdown.

Recently, South Korea urged banks to sell foreign assets to raise dollars and promised to use its currency reserves to shield lenders from the financial crisis engulfing the United States and Europe. Meanwhile, National Australia Bank continues to lose value due to worldwide concern about the resilience of the financial system and China's economy will not escape an economic slowdown if its exports are hit by this widening world recession.

The United Kingdom has just announced the details of a £50bn rescue package for its banking system. The bailout includes a proposal to use taxpayers' money to invest in banks. This plan was two weeks behind the bailout plan in the United States and financial stocks in the United Kingdom crashed due to the plans delay.

The truth is that bad mortgage loans have been bundled and sold to banks in every country in the world. So, nobody is immune from this mortgage crisis and economic contraction in this age of globalization. It is a global reality that international leaders do not seem to understand.

The problem is that this is the first deep recession in an increasingly global economy. So, the actions of each country need global coordination. Indeed, there is a real need to attack this economic crisis with international unity and cooperation. A unilateral approach to the crisis will not be effective and will make this downturn last much longer.

Already, the dubious result of handling a global economic recession without coordination can be seen in Germany and Ireland. Ireland announced that it would insure bank savings while Germany (Angela Merkel) decided it would not. The next day, with money pouring out of Germany toward safer harbors, the country then decides to reverse itself and insure bank deposits.

Of course, the European Union has criticized these unilateral moves by Ireland, Germany, Denmark and others to guarantee bank deposits. The real question is what were these countries suppose to do? Should they wait for a run on their banks and slide into the economic abyss? The European Union should have acted more quickly and with better leadership in this global economy. There also should have been much better coordination from Europe with the actions of the Treasury in the United States as well.

In America, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 40% from its all-time high. Since the financial markets have now lost more value than the average bear market of 28%, it is safe to assume that the country is in the middle of a deep recession or maybe something even worse.

However, as global markets continue in a free fall, and well known financial pundits tell the average investor to get out of the financial market since it may fall by another twenty percent, it is important to understand that the country is not going to go bankrupt.

The problem is that in the near term it may not feel that way on Main Street in America. The unemployment rate could increase to around eight percent, and many good people will lose their jobs. Inflation will eventually escalate and many small businesses will close for good. Meanwhile, a lack of spending on non-discretionary items this holiday season will make for many long, bleak days in the retail industry.

However, it should be understood that economic recession cycles are a normal part of living in a world of inexact balances between supply and demand. This may well be a deep recession, but remember the words of John Rockefeller after the stock market crash of 1929. He said; "These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come and gone. Prosperity has always returned and will again."

It took awhile but he was right then and his words will prove to be correct about this current financial crisis once again. It's a deep recession in an increasingly global economy and international economic cooperation is the best formula to bring it to an end.

By: James William Smith