Personal Finance Archives | Page 74 of 148

Money Lies That You Probably Believe

Truly, these lies may be holding you back from financial success.

I DO NOT NEED TO SAVE A LOT FOR RETIREMENT

In is evident that many senior citizens work beyond their 70’s. To survive their daily expenses, some Singaporean seniors acquire odd jobs. With this environment, you probably think that you can continue working beyond your retirement years. However, humans are subject to their declining health over time.

A senior adviser at a wealth management firm, Mr. Ken Moraif, once elaborated how dangerous it is to work for a lifetime. “With no savings, if our health fails, we not only have lost our income but we now also have a large expense.” The combination of these two factors can trap you into a bad financial situation.

LOW-INTEREST SAVINGS ACCOUNT IS AN INVESTMENT

When you think of savings, what is the first thing that pops into your mind? Is it a savings account or an emergency fund? Well, thinking that your stored cash is an investment is somewhat wrong.

Having excess cash to fulfill your emergency and living expenses is great. But, do not rely too much on your low-interest savings account. The value of your money kept there may decrese over time due to inflation. What shall you do instead? For starters, you may put a decent amount of your money into basic investment vehicles such as a mutual fund. Do your research!

I WILL BE EARNING MORE MONEY IN THE FUTURE

Do you plan for your future operating under a faulty assumption that your gross income will increase? I mean, it is basic Maths right? You get promoted as time passes. For some, believing these things can actually turn into a reality. How about others who stay in a position for a decade or so?

Believing that you will earn more money in the future without actual basis can lead to major purchases that you cannot afford. Can you really buy another HDB flat or a new car?

Image Credits: pixabay.com

We all want to assume that we will compensated as time goes on, but there are no guarantees! Your company may start laying off workers or even dissolve. Moreover, a critical illness may halt your career. To achieve financial freedom, it is better to stay within your means. This way, you can treat any pay increases as bonuses.

FRUGALITY IS ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU IN THE FUTURE

I considered myself as a frugal being once. Then, certain life problems came my way. My mother had an operation, which occurred simultaneously with our home renovation. My savings account became significantly slimmer afterwards. I realized that frugality alone cannot make a positive difference. I need to find a way to expand my opportunities to continue growing my wealth.

Directing all your energy towards ingenious ways to limit your expenses can limit your life. Instead, consider frugality (i.e., a means to eliminate waste) as a long-term financial goal. For instance, you may lessen your trips to Starbucks due to the free coffee provided by your workplace.

I AM NOT WEALTHY ENOUGH TO INVEST

It is common to perceive yourself as a person without the ability to invest. If you have money to satisfy your regular thirst for Starbucks then, you have enough money to invest. If you spend your money on designer watches then, you have enough money to invest. Do not get me started with spending your money on trendy Netflix or hefty shoes!

Image Credits: pixabay.com

The key to financial freedom is not how you perceive the prowess of your money, but how you spend it. You will find that you have sufficient funds to invest when you prioritize your long-term goals over buying unnecessary material goods.

Sources: 1 & 2

Financial Trading: Why is Known Risk the Best Risk?

No, this is not some sort of elaborate psychological test or a thought exercise. It a genuine question, do you know why known risk is the best type of risk?

Well, let’s use a hypothetical scenario: you are sitting on a park bench on a cool spring day, what would be more dangerous – a brick falling from an adjacent building that you are completely unaware of or a brick headed in your direction, that you have seen with enough time to avoid.

A risk that is known, is preferable than a risk that is unknown – very simply…because you can avoid risk you know about. This is the genius behind easyMarkets latest product – easyTrade – but it’s not the only feature this innovative and surprisingly smart way to trade offers.

Known Risk, Fewer Problems

Because of the underlying financial product easyTrade is based on – vanilla options – it also allows clients to trade without margin requirements. Margin, if you are unfamiliar is the minimum amount in a trader’s account necessary to trade with leverage – if the account goes below that required amount, trades start closing until it is reached again. This could include profitable trades. Another problem “margin stop out” could create when trading is your position (trades) closing and then shortly after the price recovering.

Another benefit which is similar to the advantage no margin trading offers, stop out is also not needed due to the known maximum risk. Stop out is a risk management tool that allows you to set a level at which your trade will close if you are incurring losses. This carries the same danger as margin stop out though – a change in the price’s direction could potentially close your trade. This isn’t a problem if the rate (price) continues going against your trade, but it can be very damaging if the price recovers. Again, this is due to having known risk and no need for risk management tools you would use if your risk was unknown.

Quickly React

Many traders seek robust ways to trade, that give them immeasurable options and tools. Although these are undeniably robust, they can be a hinderance when you want to react quickly. If you are a trader you know that those slight few seconds are important to make or break a trade. If you aren’t a trader – then let me inform you – markets never sleep, they are in constant flux and a few minutes can make a significant difference to your profit or worse your loss.

Although easyTrade can be used in a sophisticated trading system – as hedging against other trades for example – it is also exceptionally engineered for simplicity. This simplicity can translate into speed when needed. In just four steps – choose what you would like to trade, set the maximum risk you are comfortable with, decide the trade time and then choose if the price will move up or down.

Innovation, Support, Experience

easyMarkets has been in business since 2001. It was one of the very first brokers to offer negative balance protection and free guaranteed stop loss (and still offers it today along with many more tools and conditions), to help customers better manage their risk. A long time has passed since then and easyMarkets has managed to remain relevant through its constant innovation and true dedication to its clients.

Its latest innovation easyTrade which offers no margin requirements, high leverage (in a way that is still regulator compliant) and known risk is yet another great and beneficial tool offered to easyMarkets clients.

Finally, there is a credit card that gives you unlimited cash rebates with no minimum spend required – the Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature Card.

Compared to other credit cards that offer varying cash rebates depending on the type of spending (shopping, dining, entertainment, travel, etc) or with selected merchants only, the Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature Card offers 1.6% UNLIMITED cashback for ALL local transactions.

Instead of remembering which credit card to use for different situations, you can simply use this one card for all your expenditure. So you can shop with ease-of-mind, knowing that you can get 1.6% cash rebate for everything and anything you spend. This makes it an ideal one-stop card for spending on big-ticket items like luxury items, personal insurance, home furnishings and appliances, car maintenances, or even the hefty cost of planning a wedding.

On top of that, there is NO CAP on how much you spend, nor is there a MINIMUM amount you have to spend in order to qualify for the cash rebate. For example, if you are charging S$20,000 for a luxury leather bag, what you will be getting back is S$320! How’s that for being the ONE card for ALL your shopping?

Even with foreign transactions, you get 2X TREATS Points with every dollar spent on foreign currency transactions with the Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature Card.

Football fans, here’s your deal-maker: As a Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature Card user, you can stand a chance to win a trip for 2 to watch FC Barcelona LIVE at Nou Camp every football season*!

As long as you meet the minimum annual income of S$30,000, applying for the Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature Card is as easy as visiting their website.

Kindly refer to maybank.sg/barca for full details.

*Terms and Conditions apply.

How Balance Transfer Can Help You Save On Interest?

Do you know that Balance Transfer is a great financial tool to help manage your finances better? Balance Transfer is a lending product for short term needs which does not charge any interest* for up to 12 months. On top of this, it also allows for flexible repayment arrangements; either $50 per month or 3% of the principal, whichever is higher. Existing DBS / POSB Credit Card and Cashline customers stand to benefit the most as they can get instant approval when applying for Balance Transfer. Upon approval, the cash is disbursed into their accounts instantly. With such amazing benefits, it is little wonder that Balance Transfer has gradually gained popularity.

*One-time processing fee is applicable

Balance Transfer Helps You Save On Interest

The greatest advantage of Balance Transfer is that it helps you to save on interest payments. For example, a need for a sizeable amount of cash may cropped up in a time when you’re cash strapped. It is possible to tap onto Balance Transfer’s interest-free feature to save on interest for up to 12 months with a nominal one-time processing fee.

Balance Transfer can also be used to refinance your existing Credit Cards outstanding balances. So instead of incurring the interest on them, it is possible to enjoy interest savings of up to 81% with Balance Transfer. Here is a comparison to illustrate how you can save on your interest payments with DBS / POSB Balance Transfer.

Either way, the interest savings that you obtain with Balance Transfer will put you in a better financial position. With Balance Transfer, you can receive short-term cash instantly for any purpose by only paying a one-time processing fee.

How To Apply For Balance Transfer

Here is how you can take immediate action to manage your finances better. Simply follow these instructions to apply for Balance Transfer

Log in with your ibanking/mbanking/ATM or credit/debit card
Choose your desired amount and the tenure
Submit your application online (no documents will be required for existing DBS/POSB customers)
The amount will be drawn from any credit balances available in your selected DBS/POSB credit card or Cashline account if your Balance Transfer application is successful
The amount drawn will be credited into your selected DBS / POSB Current or Savings accounts

Check out latest promotion for DBS / POSB Balance Transfer here.

Forex Vs. Commodity Market

Forex market is such a fascinating market in the world that everyone wants to invest and make the profit. The main reason behind this fascination is the quicker and bigger profit that you can make if you play smartly. Lots of patience and experience is required to make your every trade end in something positive. Quicker and timely decision can be handy in this game.

Observing the charts is not enough most of the times. Most of the online guides and tips tell you a lot about candlestick forecasting and predictions, but this is not just enough. We have the examples where all the calculations, mathematics and predictions failed about candlesticks and charts, and well-experienced predictor had to bear some significant loss. Why this just happened to them?

As I mentioned earlier that you have to be extra smart. You have to keep in mind everything that can change the value of the currency you are dealing with. It can be some news, some government policy, some accident, some event or even a war. You will have to keep an eye on such things which can affect the decision of the people about buying or selling of the currency pair you are dealing in.

There are individual websites which make your job more comfortable if you are trading with them. They can give you specific advice about buying or selling. They may show you the live charts, graphs, prediction theories and calculations and news bytes as well which may have any impact on the forex market. But again, you have to be extra smart so don’t rely on the news and information of a single website. Double verify everything before taking any decision in Forex Market.

Some people don’t want to deal in Forex Market rather they prefer to trade in commodities. Forex market is much volatile, and you can lose your investment in just a blink of an eye. It is not that case when you are dealing in commodities. Normally there are not such sharp jumps in the prices of commodities how much ever big the news is.

So, to trade safely, most of the people prefer to buy or sell commodities like Gold, Silver, Oil, and Copper. These are widely traded commodities worldwide. Oil and Gold are most traded commodities. The reason behind this preference is that Oil and Gold act more like currency pairs. You can see some sharp increase or decrease in the price of Oil and Gold.

If you want to trade in Oil or Gold, then you must keep an eye on news and charts for Oil and Gold Forecast. If you are confused, don’t invest rather wait or consult some expert. Doubts in your decisions can lead you towards loss. If you are new, follow some expert traders. Following option can be found on most of Fore Trading websites. Following some expert will let you learn and earn at the same time. But don’t follow blindly instead consider every action in trade and try to find out the reason behind every decision and soon people will be following you.

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