28 Feb
2010

Many people are interested in investing in CDs, stocks, or other assets, but they face a problem: to invest, they need money. Real estate is exciting as an investment opportunity because it allows you to invest with no money down. If you have perfect credit and a home with some equity, you may be able to get a second mortgage to buy a new property. You can often buy this second property with no money down.

If you have no assets and no equity, you can still invest in real estate with almost no money down by becoming a real estate scout. Real estate scouts gather information about properties for real estate investors. To get started, all you need to do is advertise your services. You can even do this for free using online classified ads. Once you have clients, you can use free records at your local city hall to gather information about distressed properties. You can sell this information to investors for cash. This is one of the lowest risk and lowest cost methods of getting started in real estate investing.

28 Feb
2010

Advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry. However, advertisers are not the only ones who can make cash from advertising. College students put themselves through school by selling ads on their cars and clothing. Race car drivers and companies sell space on cars to advertisers. Revenues from these ads can generate a nice passive income. Some enterprising individuals are also using YouTube and other spaces online to offer advertising space.

It works very simply. First, you need to determine where you will sell advertising space. You can sell space on your t-shirts, on your blog, on your websites, or on your social networking pages. Next, you need to gather information about what would make your space attractive to advertisers. For example, if you want to sell advertising space on your car or clothing, are you out for a specific number of hours each day in specific situations where a specific demographic may see you? If you want to sell space on your blog, how many visitors do you get each day and each month? Can you gather demographic details about these visitors? This information will help advertisers make their decisions.

Next, you will need to decide how much you want to make with your advertising and how much to charge. You will then need to find advertisers. This is generally quite easy to do – you can advertise available space through your blog or online space or through the “business opportunities” section of your local newspaper.

28 Feb
2010

Personal income taxes can be a major expense at this time of year. If you invest or sell your home, your taxes might be significantly higher. Saving on your taxes can leave you more cash towards your personal loans and savings. There are many ways you can win at taxes:

1) Find a great tax adviser. A good tax adviser can give you specific tips and advice based on your specific situation. He or she can also help you devise a tax strategy and a long-term financial plan that works. Tax professionals tend to be busy at this time of year, but do make an effort to get recommendations and try to get a consultation, at least, with a good professional.

2) Read up about tax deductions and strategies for yourself. Even if you have an excellent tax professional on your side, you still want to take control of your own finances. Read books about personal finances and taxes and take an interest in tax strategies and deductions. Which tax issues should you discuss in greater detail with your financial adviser?

3) Make financial decisions with taxes in mind. If you want to start investing, saving, or want to sell your home or another asset, find out what the tax implications will be and make your decisions to save on taxes as well as to maximize your profits.

28 Feb
2010

Credit repair can seem like a daunting task. If you have lots of payday loans, personal loan debts, student loans, credit cards, and other debts to repay you may owe tens of thousands of dollars and it may take you years to repay all your loans. However, you don’t have to wait years to start improving your credit score. There are things you can do right now to start boosting your credit score:

1) Get organized. The first step is to gather all your paperwork and review the situation. Who do you owe money to and how much do you owe? What are your monthly payments like? Draw up a budget – how much can you put towards your debts each month? Can you afford your debts or do you need debt consolidation or a restructured payment system? If you can afford your debts, consider automatic payments for your loans so that you are never late with your bills.

2) Order your credit report. Reading your credit report and fixing any errors takes less than an hour but can have a dramatic impact on your credit score.

3) Pay off one bill. Choose the smallest bill – maybe a payday loan or a small personal loan — and pay it off. This takes only a minute but makes you feel instantly better and starts you well on the path to credit repair.

4) Choose a bill to focus on. Find the bill that is costing you the most in high interest and decide that you will focus on this bill first. Post the bill where you will see it. Over the next few months, focus on repaying this bill as quickly as you can.

27 Feb
2010

Many people dream of investing in CDs, stocks, and other assets, but by far the most popular investment remains real estate. Real estate continues to be the king of investments simply because it is so accessible, easy to finance, and reliable. Many fortunes have been made with real estate and many people have created a second income for themselves with property. Here’s how:

1) Foreclosures. Foreclosures are homes which are repossessed for non-payment of a mortgage. These homes can easily be purchased for less than their original price. They can then be resold or the equity in these homes can be used.

2) Flipping. Flipping involves buying a home for less than it is worth, fixing it up quickly, and reselling it at a profit.

3) Holding. This is the most popular way to invest in real estate. An investor purchases a property, pays it down, and holds onto it. The property rises in value, allowing the buyer to resell or simply to use the equity in the home.

4) Renting. Some investors buy property and rent or lease it, creating a nice passive income.

27 Feb
2010

The image of making more money most of us have is the workaholic locked away in their office, working night after night. In fact, overtime is not the best way to make extra cash on the side. The extra hours you lose leave you tired and unhappy. There are better ways to make cash in less painful ways:

1) Passive income. A passive income is money you make with no added effort. There are whole books written about this subject, and they are well worth investigating. Whether you decide to sell products online or sell ads through your blog, creating some sort of passive income (even a few hundred dollars a month) can make a big difference.

2) Investments. A specific form of passive income, investments are a wonderful way to build up your assets and long-term wealth. Invest in CDs, stocks, real estate, mutual funds. Research the options and choose an investment that you are comfortable with.

3) Leasing. Do you have a vacation home? A part of your home you don’t use? A boat? You can lease or rent what you don’t use and make extra cash.

4) Monetizing hobbies. The things you do for fun are generally things that others pay money for. Earn cash doing these things and you could make a great additional income while playing, not working.

27 Feb
2010

Focusing on a few specific areas of your finances is the best way to build up wealth. Here’s where you should be putting your attention:

1) Savings. At a bare minimum, you should be saving 10% of your income, and preferably more. These savings should be going towards an emergency fund and towards a retirement savings fund.

2) Investments. Investments are vital for wealth because they allow your money to grow much faster than cash can grow with savings alone. What you invest in matters less than the practice of investing intelligently. Research investment possibilities and invest in a small variety of investments that make sense to you.

3) Earning. You need to focus on increasing your income and investing or saving the difference in order to maximize your net worth.

4) Debt management. Paying down your personal loans, student loans, credit cards, payday loans, and other debts improves your credit score and makes your finances much healthier. With less debt, you have more money to enjoy and more money to save.

26 Feb
2010

Freelance work means that you work for yourself, not for a specific boss. You are free to work for whoever you wish. You set your own hours and do the sort of work you want to do. Many consultants, for example, work freelance. Many people dream of working freelance, but this type of work arrangement has its pros and cons:

• Pro: You will have more freedom in your work as well as more control. You will be able to set your hours, determine your career path and decide on your hourly wage. You will have an easier time reaching financial goals, potentially, since you will set your hourly wage and will be able to choose your working hours.
• Con: You will be wholly responsible for your career path. You will have to pay your own health insurance, pay into your own retirement fund, and do your own prospecting. Nothing will get done unless you do it. If you make mistakes, you will need to face them and rectify them as quickly as possible.
• Pro: You may be able to charge higher per-hour fees than you garner in your current work.
• Con: You may have a harder time getting personal loans, payday loans, and other types of credit.

26 Feb
2010

Every time you make a charge on your credit card or use a payday loan to pay for an item, you’re paying twice. You are paying for the actual cost of the item and you are paying to borrow money to buy the item now. Most of us don’t think of this when we use credit cards or unsecured loans to pay for something, but often considering a purchase this way makes the most sense. Before you charge another item, ask yourself:

1) How many years or months will I spend paying off this item? If you were to pay the minimum amount on your credit card, how long would it take you to repay the item. Compare this to the amount of time you will spend using the purchase. Are you willing to pay for this purchase that long?

2) How much of my time will I need to dedicate to my work to pay off this item? Add up the total cost of that item (purchase price plus interest) and determine how many hours it would take at your current job to pay for the item. Is it worth that many hours of your life?

26 Feb
2010

Procrastination is usually a bad habit. Procrastinating at work can cost you your job. Procrastinating on exercise can leave you unfit. However, there is one time when putting something off can actually help: buying. If you want to buy something or want to spend money, get into the habit of procrastinating. Putting off spending cash nips impulse spending in the bud and saves you money. In many cases, you may find that the item you wanted or thought you needed isn’t so important after all – and you’ll have spent a bundle.

Here’s how it works: lets say you find something you really want to buy. Rather than snap it up and put it on your credit card, walk away. If you’re worried about the item being gone, have a sales person put it on hold for you. Take a walk around the block. For larger or more big-ticket items, give yourself at least a few days. Can you find the item for less elsewhere? Do you still think that you adore the item that much? A cooling down period often shows you what you really want and what you’re casual about and can live without.