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June 2016

Finance

Getting Credit for Your Credit

Establishing good credit can be a frustrating process. Credit means being entrusted with lent money, and being trusted to pay your way each month. Good credit can be the golden ticket to being approved for further credit cards, loans, and even housing and apartments. For something so important, it’s necessary to start building that score as soon as possible, and build it as much as possible with every opportunity. But how is that done?

With applications, finances and sometimes rejection can make it feel impossible for you to improve your credit. Whether you’re new to credit, have a history of credit related issues, or have been recently going through financial struggles, the application process can seem overwhelmingly negative. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. There are lenders available that are willing to consider your entire history, your character and your situation, instead of simply running your numbers through an equation and checking yes or no. Loan providers can look at your case as a personal situation, as opposed to placing you into a category. But when looking into applying for loans, it’s important to consider your options first.

What Are Your Options?

When you have poor credit and apply to large money lending institutions, it seems like the answer is an overwhelming no. But there are moneylenders, whether for personal or business loans, that can help you attain the funds to help you start your future. Some companies can help, regardless of your situation. Companies like Discovery Credit can provide a fast decision upon receiving your application, and they consider people from a wide variety of different situations. These institutions consider applications from those battling low income, and those on welfare or pensions. They are willing to look at those applications with adverse credit records and bad credit reports. These companies are even willing to work with those who are new and small business owners. If you are in one or more of these situations, it is a great relief to find an institution that considers your specific list of past experiences with money lending and how this can change in the future. These companies also offer amazing benefits like easy eligibility and same day money upon approval.

How to Get Started

The easiest way to start working towards your financial future is to submit an application.  Applications for many different lending institutions are available online and are a breeze to fill out and submit. Simply enter your personal information, what kind of loan you’re trying to get approved, and how you intend to use those funds. With some companies, you can even receive pre-approval with no obligation to borrow money or sign up for a loan.  Applications are quick and easy to fill out, and do not require you to go through a seemingly endless process. Institutions like these will let you know if you’ve been approved and what kind of programme they recommend for you as soon as possible.

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Insurance

Keep Your Beloved Pets Safe with Proper Pet Insurance

Pet owners often wonder what they will do if they ever have a real veterinary emergency. The answer, of course, is insurance. But most pet owners don’t know that there is insurance available for pets, or even that it will help cover some of these health care expenses for their pet.

People often have the wrong idea about insurance for their pets. We often hear people say that they would rather open a savings account to pay for their pet’s veterinary expenses. However, these people may not really understand what how insurance works.

Pet Insurance1

Insurance, even for pets, is to help people pay for unexpected, unplanned, or large expenses that you are not prepared for, even with a small amount set aside in a savings account.

There are several reasons why you want to consider buying pet insurance for the peace of mind of knowing that your pet’s health needs will always be covered.

Why Buy Insurance?

Insurance can help you pay for large or unexpected health issues that your pet may experience. These are expenses you might have trouble paying for out of your regular budget. Another reason to consider insurance is that because it is a competitive industry there are many options available, which means that the coverage and the price of policies has improved over the years. When you love your pet a lot, you may be willing to pay $5,000 to $10,000 to help him recover. But you may also worry about having that kind of money available. If this is the case, then you would benefit from getting an insurance policy.

Savings is Good, but Insurance is Better

Sure, having a nice nest egg to help in times of trouble can come in handy. But a savings account shouldn’t take the place of insurance for your pet. If your pet ever becomes seriously ill, he might require expensive veterinary treatment that exceeds the amount you have saved.  This is when an insurance policy can serve your needs, and this is the sort of scenario that happens all the time.

Pet Insurance

The Exclusions
Yes, there are exclusions. Some insurance policies exclude things like hereditary conditions or chronic issues. However, there are newer policies that often cover many of these issues. It may be time to look into one of the newer insurance policies for your pet.

Bottom Line

If you have had a pet who has experienced an emergency, then you know how expensive this type of situation can be. You know that insurance can be a lifesaver when it comes to your favourite pet.

On the other hand, if your pet has always been healthy and you’ve never faced a large veterinary bill, then you might think you don’t need insurance. Unfortunately, we can’t ever foretell the future and you might come to regret the decision you have made. It is always best to be safe rather than sorry, and at the monthly price of most modern insurance policies, you can well afford coverage.

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Forex

How Brexit Will Affect the Cost of Trading

For entrepreneurs, business owners, and those with a vested interest in the commercial sphere, one of the most important questions to ask before placing a vote in the Brexit referendum will be this: what would a ‘leave’ vote mean for UK imports and exports?

Those who wish for us to remain as part of the European Union are quick to claim that a deleterious fallout would be inevitable. Those with an opposing view, who would rather choose to exit, call this fearmongering.

Trading

The truth is that we cannot say with any degree of certainty what the long-term impact of either decision would be. Come 23rd June, we will have our answer with regards to the outcome of one of these choices; as to the other, we’ll never know.

Yet there is one thing that we can say with confidence. In the short-term at least, a vote to ‘leave’ would mean a sharp decline in the value of the pound. Every time a poll suggests that such an outcome is likely, the markets panic, and sterling falls. Should such a reality come to pass, a continuation of this trend is inevitable.

So what does this mean for your business?

The Impact on Imports and Exports

History and logic show us that two things happen when the value of a currency drops: exports become more competitive, and the price of imports increases. The reasons for this are obvious: when a currency is worth less, the relative value of goods bought from other countries becomes more expensive; in reverse, domestic goods become cheaper for foreign business ventures to buy, thus making them more desirable.

In the UK, around three million jobs are linked to the export industry. Although this would seem like good news for these workers, the remain campaign argue otherwise. In ordinary circumstances, the industries that employ these people would see a boost, but those who oppose leaving the EU believe that if we sacrifice access to the single market and its 500 million potential buyers, trade volumes will fall. The new existence of tariffs and barriers will deter cross-border trade, and our export sector will no longer thrive.

Which way the die will fall remains to be seen, but the negative impact on import industries, along with the potential consequences for businesses that export, are points worth bearing in mind before you make your decision.

How to Guard Against Currency Fluctuations

A drop in the value of the pound should we leave the EU is almost inevitable, but the impact of it upon your business could be lessened in one simple way: by using a currency broker rather than a bank for exchanges. Firms like Sucden Financial tend to offer rates that are around three times more competitive than their traditional alternative, which can amount to a significant sum for those exchanging large amounts of money. What’s more, they work on a fee and commission-free basis, which symbolises a further saving of up to £40 every time that you need to change your capital from one currency to another. Most importantly of all, however, is that many entities will offer a service whereby you can fix an exchange rate for up to two years, meaning that you can guard yourself and your money before the fallout truly hits.

The other way to protect the future of your business is this: use your vote wisely.

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Finance

Get the Funds You Need, Quickly

There is a small percentage of the population that does not need some extra money; if you are not one of that small group, you will be happy to hear there are companies that will lend you funds when necessary. Many of these companies take pride in getting that money to you quickly, and without a whole lot of hoops to jump through along the way.

In the distant past, individuals most likely made the short trip to their local bank, sat down with someone they knew or were at least acquainted with, and began to discuss the need for money to make home repairs, buy a car or to help with another major expense.

Funding

It’s Different Now

There are now many more sources of funds, several of which do not have a physical location near you. But this does not mean you should stay only with the local lenders just because you can’t see who is lending you the funds. Technology has made it possible for people to obtain loans of a reasonable size, using only the firm’s website and email communications.

Funding

Some of these lenders work solely with personal loans, basing their decisions on the credit standing of the individual who makes the application. Others focus on business loans, providing capital for people who want to start a business, or add to an existing business that needs to expand or remodel. As mentioned earlier, these firms take pride in being able to put money in your account quickly, though with accuracy and safety for all involved.

But how does a business person who needs funding decide which lender is right for them? If you have previously experienced problems when faced with the strict regulations and demands of a traditional bank, you will be pleased to know that private lenders such as Max Funding may be able to lend to you when the “brick-and-mortar” institutions cannot. This relatively new type of lender will probably be able to customise a loan for your specific situation, without having to charge you for the significant overhead of a traditional bank.

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Both Sources Are Reliable

This doesn’t mean that every individual should avoid working with a bank; there are situations in which these traditional lenders are the best source for project and business funding, but the non-traditional lender should be able to move your application through the process more quickly because they do not have to send the application through several departments, and decisions can often be made more rapidly.

These newer lenders can make the terms attractive to the small business owner, with loans as small as a couple of thousand dollars, up to half a million dollars. Many of these lenders are more than just reliable; they are trustworthy because they have dedicated staff who bring extensive knowledge to the process. Once your loan process starts, you will work with the same consultant or representative until the process ends.

Sometimes you will find that with just three or four simple steps, you can have money available to you to move your plans forward. With some lenders, approval can come in as short a time as five or ten minutes. This primary step does not involve paperwork or lengthy online forms, and that’s just one more reason to talk with a lender today.

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Finance

What are some of the financial products that I can trade though my on-line broker?

Today, individuals working with forex online brokers have numerous financial vehicles they can trade.  The trader should want to work with a broker that will give them several options when it comes to the financial products that they can trade.  Presently, many forex brokers offer financial products such as CFDs, currencies, shares, indices and commodities.  A traders portfolio does not typically go in an upward direction, and the more diversified the trader is the more balanced their portfolio will be.

Again, the list of financial products offered from online broker to online broker varies and some of the most popular products offered to trade are; CFDs, currencies, shares, indices and commodities.

on-line broker

A CFD is also known as a contract for difference.  A contract for difference, are what forex traders consider a leveraged derivative vehicle.  The reason why CFDs are considered leveraged vehicles is that their benefit is derived from the value of another resource.

Typically, when investors trade CFDs, they are betting on the change in the price of the underlying asset during a specified period of time.  Again, the trader is betting on whether the price of the underlying asset will increase or decrease in the future.

What exactly is an indices/index?  An index is a financial product which is comprised of a large group of publicly traded companies and the price of the index is determined based on an average securities price of the entire group.   Similar to trading a single security the forex trader when trading an index has the ability to buy and sell the index as if they were purchasing the individual security.  Examples of indices are; the Dow 30, S&P 500, NASDAQ, SmallCap 2000, S&P 500 VIX, DAX and Nikkei225.

Commodities are raw materials which are extracted from the Earth.  There are numerous commodities which are traded on the open markets and through forex brokers.  Examples of some of these commodities are; crude oil, coffee, agriculture, wheat, soybeans, corn, copper, cotton etc.  Typically, commodities meet the following criteria; they are tradable, deliverable and are liquid.

Forex or currencies trading is the largest traded financial product in the world.  There are over 5 trilliondollars’ worth of forex transactions which take place daily throughout the world.  The term used as forex also means foreign exchange and the term forex is used globally.

Shares or what are also know as securities are a single unit of investment within an individual company.  The exchanges which trade shares are open to the public to trade, however, a stock exchange in one country may not allow an investor to trade that security from their native country directly.

There is a great deal of variations between the products which a trader can trade. The difference between stocks/shares and CFDs is that when a trader utilizes CFDs as a trading vehicle they are not investing/trading the underlying asset and don’t own the underlying share/s.  In addition, when utilizing CFDs the investor has the ability to leverage their position significantly.  When trading CFDs the trader is utilizing margin which means that there is no requirement to tie up the total market value and purchasing the equivalent share position.

When trading an indices/index compared to a share there are vast differences.  An index such as the Dow 30 is made up of individual stocks within the index.  So, instead of a trader purchasing shares directly in stocks such as American Express or Apple, they have the opportunity to purchase all of the stocks which make up the index at a single time.  In addition, there are formulas which are used to create an index.  The Dow 30 is what would be considered a price-weighted index.  Shares which comprise the index are given a greater weight within the index the higher the price of the share of the company.

In closing, the world of investing can be quite complex and the more the individual trader understands the financial vehicle they are trading the better off they will be.

 

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Finance

5 Forms of Financial Trading

The markets can seem a confusing and at times intimidating place to the would-be trader. As markets have liberalised and the introduction of more sophisticated technology facilitates easy access to global finance, what are the different financial vehicles available?

Shares: Trading on the markets through buying shares will be the first port-of-call for a large proportion of investors. Whilst this may provide good returns other forms of financial trading may be better suited to you.

Spread Betting: Spread betting allows you to profit, or incur losses, from the movements of the financial markets without having to buy the underlying shares.

Financial Trading

In the UK, spread betting is a popular alternative to the traditional markets because it is usually free from UK Capital Gains Tax and UK Stamp Duty. Relative to other forms of trading this can mean substantial savings. However, spread betting is prohibited in many countries such as the United States.

FX: Trading the global currency markets is ideal for day traders, with the liquidity in forex higher than any other market sharp price movements offer the potential for quick gains, and the risk of large losses.

ETFs: An Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) follows the movements of financial instruments and is bought and sold in a similar manner. ETFs are made by a fund dividing its holding of an instrument into shares that are subsequently sold on the market. Buying shares in an ETF gives you many of the same benefits as owning shares in equities.

Financial Trading

Options: An option guarantees a trader can buy or sell an asset on or prior to a specific date, at a certain price.

‘Call’ options are an agreement that the holder can buy a security at a set price in a certain length of time. Just like a long trade when spread betting, a call is bought in anticipation that the value of the instrument will rise from when it is purchased to the option’s expiry date.

 ‘Put’ options are an agreement that the holder can sell a security at a set price in a certain length of time. Similarly to a short trade in spread betting, a put is bought in anticipation of the market falling in value.

Financial Trading

Which financial vehicle is for you? This will depend on the amount of money you want to invest and the style of trader you are. It can also depend on the country you reside in. For example, residents of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland may benefit from tax advantages when spread betting. However, spread betting and CFDs are not permitted in countries such as the United States.

Financial Trading

The type of financial vehicle you decide to trade with will depend on a number of factors, such as if you prefer short or long-term trading and the capital you are willing to risk in the markets. It may also depend on your country of residence, as some forms of trading aren’t as advantageous or authorised in some jurisdictions.

Risk warning: Spread bets and CFD trades are leveraged products. Losses may exceed deposits.

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Investment

Investing in Real Estate – What You Need to Know

investissement-rentable

Investing in real estate is one of the best ways to make money. For centuries, land has been used by astute people to generate profits. In the olden days, people started by growing crops on fertile land and then selling the harvests to make a profit. This led to the concept of farming, and eventually humankind began to realize that the position of the land plays a very important role in determining its value. Today, the property market is worth trillions of dollars. However, ever since the housing market crash of 2008, many people – including some of the major investors – are still wary of making big moves in the market.

ChinaAt present, the housing market is pretty volatile. Even though the rates of property development investment are on the rise, many individuals are still cautious when it comes to putting all of their savings into the market. However, for an astute investor, volatility can be a good thing. Knowing how to get in when the market is at a low is a great way to make some good money, but learning the basics of real estate investment is not as easy as it looks. In fact, in many cases, you will incur some heavy losses before understanding how the market really works. But does that mean that every investor must pay a price in order to learn a lesson? Not at all, and in fact, there are some investors who boast a flawless investment record.

The Power of Information

It has been stated time and again that the key to successful real estate investing lies in information. If you have information about the market and know about upcoming development projects, government deeds, and any other bits of news that might impact land values, you can use it to your advantage. One of the biggest factors that many real estate investors don’t understand is that information is vital to successful investing. If you are looking to buy a piece of land, you should pull up as much information about the place as you can. Find out about the surrounding area, upcoming development projects, and any other news that you can get before making a decision. The power of information – when combined with patience – could help you build a robust portfolio full of high-value properties.

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Networking

If you want information, you will need contacts in the right places. This is one of the main reasons why realtors often have so many contacts at hand all the time. It takes just minutes for a realtor to find every single bit of information about a particular piece of land. This is simply because they are in touch with different realtors who can guide them at a moment’s notice. If you want to become a shrewd investor, you will need to build a strong network consisting of realtors and other investors. There are numerous magazines that offer investing information as well, so make sure you subscribe to a few in order to know what’s going on in the market!

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