As we go through life looking for opportunities to make more money some stumble onto Internet Marketing – if you do be very careful as this sector is filled with cons. Watch the video below – its from this article ‘Scamworld’

Read the full article here: Scamworld: ‘Get rich quick’ schemes mutate into an online monster

Financial literacy for kids is something that Lucas Remmerswaal is very passionate about. A New Zealander, Lucas has written a series of books for children, based on the financial principles used by one of America’s most successful investors, Warren Buffett.

In 2011, Buffett was ranked the third wealthiest person in the world with assets of around $47 billion and this year, Time magazine named him as one of the most influential people in the world.

Buffett is a self-made man, having started accruing his fortune early in life through selling chewing gum, Coca Cola and magazines door to door. He bought his first shares at the age of eleven and went on to invest in numerous businesses throughout his life. He is now the primary shareholder, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational conglomerate holding company based in Omaha, Nebraska.

After seeing a large proportion of New Zealanders lose their retirement savings during the Global Financial Crisis, Lucas Remmerswaal decided to become a crusader for financial literacy in schools and to teach children the importance of being financially smart.

Over the last two years, he has developed three children’s books that set out, with beautiful illustrations, the principles that made Warren Buffett successful. These books are The Tale of Tortoise Buffett, 13 Habits – Standing on the Shoulders of Giants and The A-Z of 13 Habits. A fourth book, 13 Habits That Made Me Billions is due out soon.

Early in 2012, Lucas embarked on a bicycle trip covering the length of New Zealand, visiting schools along the way to spread his message. Integrity, Intelligence, Frugality and Gratitude are some of the 13 Habits that Lucas believes anyone can use to create extraordinary results in their lives.

Go to www.13habits.com for more information on Lucas and free downloads of his books.

Creating a significant amount of wealth during your lifetime cannot be done by saving alone and usually requires the use of other people’s money. Borrowing money from others to invest in businesses and property is referred to as a leveraged investment strategy.

Leveraged investments are capable of producing significant wealth, providing the funds invested produce a return greater than the cost of borrowing. Most commonly, this strategy is used for investing in property.

The problem with leveraged investments is that while they magnify the effect of good investment returns, they also magnify the effects of bad returns. A leveraged investment strategy therefore requires a solid foundation to avoid financial ruin. The basic building blocks are:

• Money management skills. If you can’t manage your own money properly (i.e. you don’t know where it goes and you can’t save) then you aren’t going to be able to manage borrowed funds well either.
• A financial buffer. Borrowing up to the maximum limit with no room to move means you could easily come unstuck if things don’t go to plan. Have unused credit or savings to fall back on.
• Consistent income from more than one source. Diversification is a key word for investment strategies and being reliant on only one primary source of income, such as a single salary, can be disastrous.
• Risk protection. Borrowing money increases your financial risk. Put insurance cover in place to cover adverse events. Make sure you have the right ownership structures so your personal assets are protected if investments fail.
• A store of wealth. Don’t risk everything you have. As you create wealth, set some aside in safe investments so that if your risky strategies fail, you don’t lose everything.

Building on these foundations won’t eliminate risk but will certainly reduce it.

Developing a trading strategy is an essential step before you begin trading in Forex and although essential it is not easy. In fact a strategy evolves as you learn about the many facets of the forex market. Trading Strategy is a topic that like Knowledge to Action cover in many of their seminars and training courses.

Strategies for trading – read more about this here, are devised on the basis of a fundamental and technical analysis:

• Technical analysis- Undertaken to forecast the price trends in the future on the basis of what past data is available on prices and the volume of currency or stocks traded at that price. Charts and graphs are used to study various market indicators, employ models and study the relationships between price and volume.
• Fundamental analysis- Used to gauge the health of a currency or stock, by analyzing financial statements and the market it is sold in and its competitors. Fundamental analysis also focuses on historical data to make forecasts for the future.

Post analysis clients would decide on the strategy they want to adopt-which will be either to have a:

1. Long term strategy to buy and hold
2. Short term investing to make quick profits

Short term trading strategies are adopted by those who have a definite exit plan in mind and wish to make their money and get out of a particular currency. It requires knowledge, analytical skills, and quick thinking to make snap decisions on seeing price movements in a particular direction.

A long term trading strategy is meant for those who would like to make an investment and forget about it. A trader looking to hold a position for months often bases decisions on long-term fundamental factors.

Don’t believe all you hear – Read this Article……on Knowledge to Action

Knowledge to Action has published 4 educational videos on Forex Trading. The videos provide a wealth of information on Forex trading for people new to Forex traders as well as the “old salts” of trading. The video series is over 5 hours long and is provided for FREE and NO strings attached.
To find out more – Read this Article……

 Australian Budget Hits Offshore Property Investors

The recent Australian Budget announcements include a significant rule change which will affect any New Zealanders whom hold property investments in Australia.  Specifically, the 50% discount which was available when calculating capital gains tax on property that has been held for more than 12 months is removed. 

By way of background, most readers will be aware of the fact that Australia has a capital gains tax regime.  This applies to all property within Australia, whether or not the owner is resident there.  Broadly speaking up until 8 May 2012 offshore investors were subject to the same rules in relation to capital gains tax as Australian resident investors.  In particular, where an investor owned a property personally or via a Trust they could generally qualify for a 50% discount on the capital gains tax applicable to the sale of a property if it had been held for longer than 12 months. 

From 7:30pm, 8 May 2012, the 50% discount is removed for offshore investors with application to capital gains accrued after this date.  The result of this is that if you have a property you acquired prior to 8 May 2012 any gain that accrued up until that date still qualifies for the 50% discount, but gains from that date do not.  At this stage we are not aware of how pre 8 May and post 8 May gains are going to be calculated, but presume it will be incumbent upon the investor to determine that.  Accordingly, foreign investors will be incentivised to get optimistic valuations for properties placing a value on them at 8 May 2012.  We will follow this aspect of the rules closely and report once more is known.

As always, if you have queries in relation to the above please contact us. 

Matthew Gilligan
Director

Learn More about Matthew
 
 

Contact Matthew at mg@gra.co.nz
or call +64 9 522 7955

P.S. Did you like this article? Go ahead and sign up to our free newsletter and receive tips, updates and useful information to help you protect your assets and grow your net worth.  GRA are accountants who provide expert accountant advice both in NZ and offshore.  Also what about joining us on Facebook.

Read the full article here: Australian Budget Hits Offshore Property Investors

Knowledge to Action has Won the World Finance Foreign Exchange 2012 awards for Best Education Provider

Read the full article here: Knowledge to Action has Won the World Finance Foreign Exchange 2012 awards for Best Education Provider

Forex trading is always perceived as a place for those with an appetite for risk. Risk is absolutely part of the package but is manageable through appropriate forex trading strategies.  Stop loss orders and diversification are two of the most effective ways of tackling the risk a forex trading transaction may be exposed to.

Read the full article here: Forex Trading – Knowing the Risks

Financial advisers have traditionally received their income from upfront and ongoing trail commissions paid on insurance policies and investment products they have sold. These commissions, while paid by the product provider to the adviser, are funded from the profits made within the products. In effect, the owners of those products therefore pay, albeit indirectly.

If you are not paying a fee for advice, then it is probable that your adviser is receiving a commission. Upfront commission is paid when the product is purchased, and this can be a significant amount. This is usually followed by an ongoing trail commission, paid at regular intervals to your adviser. If you choose to cancel your insurance policy or cash in your investment, there is usually a ‘claw back’ of the upfront commission.

Sometimes this is paid by the adviser (which is why they may be very reluctant for you to cancel or withdraw) and sometimes this is paid by the client (for example, as an exit fee if an investment is cashed in). The point of trail commission is to provide financial reward to your adviser for ongoing advice given to you.

Find out how much commission you are paying by contacting either your adviser or the supplier of the product. Given that this is being paid by you (indirectly), you need to be sure you are getting the service you are paying for.

Advisers often sell their clients to other advisers, and it may be that the person receiving commission from you is someone other than the person who sold you the product; someone who may be a complete stranger to you.

If you are not satisfied you are receiving adequate advice, ask your adviser to rebate the commission to you, or alternatively find an adviser who truly earns the income received.

One strategy we apply to our clients social media assets is to get their “Fans” details into a database they own such as an email marketing database. That way when Facebook and other social media sites become too demanding in their rules for business that you have the details of prospects in a datastore you own.

Read the full article here: Facebook for New Zealand Businesses – Things to Know

People who consider themselves ordinary often wonder if it is possible to ever achieve the life of their dreams. Such people fail to understand two really important points.

The first point, which almost goes without saying, is that ordinary people live ordinary lives, while extraordinary lives are lived by extraordinary people. The second point is that anybody, even ordinary people, can choose to be extraordinary.

Being extraordinary is about having the right attitude to life and being prepared to do things differently than you have done before. Your ability to create wealth has very little to do with your level of education, your income from employment or your family circumstances and everything to do with your attitudes and behaviours.

People who live extraordinary lives have certain things in common. They are confident, with a positive, optimistic attitude towards life. Rather than sitting on the couch they actively engage with the wider community, using their networks for ideas and support. The more widely they engage with others, the more contacts they have and the more ideas and support they receive.

Extraordinary people are creative, and constantly looking for opportunities. They do their homework on new ventures but they are not afraid to take risks. Neither are they afraid of either failure or success. They set themselves clear, far-reaching goals that might seem impossible to others.

To live an extraordinary life means letting go of living an ordinary life. Sometimes, that means letting go of property, people, or employment if these are things that hinder progress. Being extraordinary means having the courage to let go of what is familiar in order to make way for new things that open up new possibilities.

If you have the desire to live an extraordinary life, do you have the courage to change and let go?