money management
6 Simple Tips for Better Money Management While Investing

Investing is always scary, especially for beginners. Investing during a global recession can be downright terrifying. That’s why using common sense is more important than ever.

In this article, we will share 6 easy tips for better money management for investors. Many of these hints are also recommended by CNN, Fortune, and Money.

1.Invest on a schedule.

Sticking to a schedule is good advice for many of life’s pursuits. Every month, put the same amount into a mutual fund. You will be able to keep track of your money better. Plus, this allows you to pick up more shares while they are cheap and fewer when they are expensive.

2.Take multiple investments.

Your mother probably told you not to put all your eggs in one basket, and she was right. Diversification cuts back your risk. Of course, you can never totally get rid of risk, but mixing up your portfolio helps.

Please don’t invest solely in company stock. If the company takes a dive, so does your retirement plan. Company stock should be only 10% of your portfolio, no matter how much faith you have in your business.

3.Buy foreign stocks.

This fits in nicely with the second tip on our list. Yes, the global recession has hit the entire planet, but buying overseas stocks is still a smart move. You should invest 20% of your money abroad, at the least.

4.Spend time with other investors.

It’s always smart to pick up advice from other players in the game. If you network with other investors, you can hear about new opportunities early through the grapevine. Even if you live in a remote area, you can join online investing forums, such as OnlineTradersForum.com.

5.Feed your 401k.

Place as much money as you can into your 401k. Your company might match it dollar to dollar, at least to a certain point. Or, they might match 50 cents on the dollar and a percentage of your salary. Either way, you’re getting free money to fund your future retirement.

And please don’t cash out when you leave your job. You’ll cough up a 10% penalty as well as income taxes. Plus, you’ll miss out on tax-free growth later.

6.Don’t make any investments you don’t understand!

It’s sad to think of how many people buy investments or take out credit cards without finding out any of the important details first.

Don’t allow a financial planner, broker, friend, or agent pressure you into buying an investment that doesn’t make sense to you. Ask them focused questions and take notes. If you just don’t get it, skip that investment.

This applies to just about anything, from credit cards to home mortgages. After all, a credit card is a financial investment also, so read the fine print. Do you know the APR?  Do you understand how the rewards program works? Good money management is all about staying informed.

Yes, many of the above tips are pretty obvious, but as French author Voltaire famously said, “Common sense is not so common.” Sometimes good investors make bad money management decisions because they’re pressured by other people, in a bad financial position, or just misinformed.

Thanks to Sierra Dawson for sharing some simple tips for better money management.  She says your common sense is one of the most powerful money management in your arsenal, so don’t underestimate it!

For more information better read Fisher Investments press to gather great advises on future investment.

LTFinance
L&T Finance Holdings has come out with an IPO of via issue of equity shares of Rs. 10 each priced between Rs. 51 to Rs. 59 per share. The company is promoted by Larsen & Toubro Ltd, one of the leading bluechip companies in India, with wide range of interests in engineering, construction, electrical and electronics manufacturing and services, information technology and financial services. L&T Finance Holdings has a strong retail reach with more than 800 points-of-presence spread across 23 states.

The company is a subsidiary of L&T Limited, which holds 95% and it is the holding company for the following three businesses conducted via wholly-owned subsidiaries:

1. L&T Finance – retail and corporate finance lending.
2. L&T Infra – infrastructure financing.
3. L&T Investment Management with a mutual fund business.

Details of the issue:
Issue Size: Rs. 1,245.00 Crore.
Issue Open: Jul 27, 2011 - Jul 29, 2011.
Issue Price: Rs. 51 - Rs. 59 Per Equity Share.
Market Lot: 100 Shares, to be listed at BSE and NSE.
Rs. 120 crore of the issue size is reserved for L&T shareholders and they can apply through a separate application form.

Valuations:
The book value stands at about Rs.25 and at the upper band of Rs. 59 per share, shares are being offered at a price-to-book value (PBV) of 2.23 x times. The other listed companies in this space, like Shriram Transport Finance,IDFC,M&M Financial Services are currently trading at slightly higher valuations than L&TFH.

L&TFH owns close to a 5 per cent stake in Federal Bank and City Union Bank. It also owns L&T Mutual Fund which has an asset base of Rs 5,200 crore as of June 2011 and all these stakes could add further boost to the valuations.L&TFH is having diversified and high quality loan book, superior interest spreads and sustainable demand in various segments of presence. All these features make long term investors comfortable in investing in this IPO.

mas make money
How to make money from stock market? You would find the answer once you understand and remove the myths about stock market investing. Like most different companies or industries, the stock market too has its share of legends and myths. These myths are responsible for some people maintaining a safe distance from the markets. By doing so they are losing the chance to get involved with shares and experience the industry. Here we try to dispel several of the myths about stock market investing.

Shares are dangerous : While shares tend to be risky if active trading is done, but if investing is done over the long-term they perform well. So if you‘re in the market for the long haul, don’t worry about short-term ups and downs. In addition keep away from purchasing shares on borrowed funds. Don’t take loans for investment and invest only the amount that is available to you.

Stock market is gambling : This myth is potentially the most damaging one. It is the cause of a lot of investors keeping afar from the market. There‘s a major discrepancy between the two. While gambling is a game of fortune, the market investing has a natural scientific base. There are different scientific techniques accessible to define if the stock is worth investing or not and there are no such things when it comes to gambling.

Only the rich can invest in stocks : Not really ! A lot of investors like Warren Buffet have become wealthy by investing in shares. Over a longer period, stocks have managed to beat inflation and make investors pretty wealthy. Make small investments by selecting fine companies with great basics and hold them for a long period to watch them grow.

Low-priced or Penny shares are safe : That is strictly not true, as the low price of a stock might mean that the company does not have a great fundamentals. The market reasons the basics over the long-term. So even if you may see such shares shooting up pretty fast in the short-term, over the long-term they are bound to settle lower. Use the fundamental analysis to decide whether to buy the stock or not.

Tips and calls are a sure shot way to earn money in the markets : No, that isn‘t true. Most tipsters tend to give tips meant for traders and not for investors. These tips don‘t work well for the investors. As an alternative, do your own research and then select the shares to invest.

The market analysts are always right : Not really ! It is not much of a use to sit and watch market analysts make their predictions about the stock price and make a decision based on these predictions. A lot of people tend to take these predictions pretty plainly. Well, if these analysts are right, then all of them would be wealthy, right? So take these analysts with a pinch of salt.

To conclude, don't let these myths to deter you when you’re planning to invest in shares. Invest in shares with a long term view to make money and to accumulate wealth.

This is an update of the earlier article on Historical Sensex Returns, which gives complete details about Sensex's yearly returns. In this article we analyze the monthly and yearly returns of the Sensex in the last 10 years. As we can seen from the table below, except for the year 2008 and earlier couple of years, the returns from the index have been well over 15% and the returns were as high as 73%. Also one can see after the fall of over 50% in the year 2008, the following year's returns were about 81%.

sensex monthly data


As we can note from the above table, the average returns for the past 10 years is around 18.3%. Hence if an investor is investing in an index fund or ETFs like Nifty Bees , over a longer time frame of 5-7 years, the returns are spectacular. The important point to note here is that, though the index has almost regained its previous peak of 21000 in 2008,  many of the individual stocks are still languishing around 2008 levels. This again emphasis the fact the investing in diversified mutual funds, like HDFC Top 200 or Index ETFs is safer and better, than investing in individual stocks,  to get better returns from the markets.

Be a wise investor !

Powered by Blogger.