| |
| |
|
Investing Information |
|
|
|
The Dreaded Direct Question
(Please have a glass of water within reach before reading this article.) Your personal financial planning is the topic of discussion here today, but not quite yet. First I would like to bring your attention to the issue of bragging. The other day I was carrying on about how well our website was doing on the various search engines. If you typed in financial planning Victoria, or financial planner Victoria, or CFP BC, our site ranked very well on the major search engines. But I was not bragging about this to a dummy. Unfortunately not. Because this person, who shall remain nameless, asked me a very simple question: "Is it working?" "Huh?" I thought, feeling like I was suddenly part of a butterfly collection. "Is it working? Are you getting new clients this way?" The room was beginning the spin. "Can I have some wa -wa?" I asked woozily as I crumbled to the floor. Sometimes we get so caught up in the process of doing things, like optimizing websites for search engines, we lose sight of what standard of measurement we should be using to determine how we're doing. In my case, I was using how well our website ranked for various search terms, instead of whether we were actually gaining any business from the web. Duh! This often occurs where peoples' financial planning is concerned. It is very easy to get stuck in the process of saving money, or managing money, but lose sight of whether or not what you're doing is actually working to help you achieve your goals. So, if you think about your financial goals, and then think about how you are doing, the same question applies? "Is it working?" There are three possible answers to this question and they are: "Yes", "I don't know", and "Can I have some wa -wa?" Realizing that what you are doing is not working, is not pleasant. Nor is it pleasant to realize the giddy pleasure of progress you thought was your lot, is no more. You may look a bit ridiculous to yourself for a bit, but if you're like me, that's nothing new. So, for example, if your primary financial benchmark is retirement, does it look like you will be able to retire when you want, with the kind of income you need? "Hey! You okay? Wake up. Here. Drink this." About The Author Rick Hoogendoorn is an 'associate' and misguided webmaster with Cheri Crause & Associates Inc. Cheri Crause is a certified financial planner in Victoria, BC.
MORE RESOURCES:
Investing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Out-Of-State Investors Check List of Questions The following lists of questions are suggested questions to ask before you plan to purchase residential real estate outside of your neighborhood.It's probably best to speak with at least three licensed real estate sales professionals and three property managers in the area. Finding False Gold in Penny Stock As far as traders go, many do not see the penny stock as a solid way to do business. Many believe that dealing with penny stock is a risky business. The Demise of Buy & Hold Based on consistent results I think Buy & Hold should be renamed Buy, Hold & Bye-Bye. It sounded great for a while, especially for the huge majority of investors who don't have the time or interest in really doing due diligence on investments. Foreign Investing - US Investors Still Missing Out? Investors are still too slowly realizing what the academics have long pointed out -- adding foreign stocks to your portfolio will, over the long term, increase your returns and lower the overall risk of your portfolio.US investors embracing foreign investing are both realists and optimists. Remembering TEOTWAWKI and Learning from It Its only been about 5 years since we had major scares in the marketplace regarding Y2K. You might recall that many computer systems were not programmed to be able to understand the change from 1999 to 2000. Investing In Sons Business Could Cause A Real Family Feud Q: My youngest son wants to borrow $5,000 to start his own business. My wife is afraid to tell him no. 25 Ways to Find Companies to Buy When you start your program to purchase your "ideal" company, you quickly realize that your ultimate success will depend on two primary skill sets: 1) Your ability to FIND viable companies that are for sale, and 2) Your ability to effectively qualify the potential acquisition investment once found.This article is about only step one, how to creatively find viable companies and one's that are able to be purchased. Retirement is Never Urgent Until If you're like many people, your retirement savings have not been growing consistently over the years. We're not referring to the wild fluctuations in the stock market, but rather the fluctuations in our short-term needs. The Real Cost of a Bad Habit What is the value of a good habit? Think of some daily habits, like brushing your teeth, or buckling a seat belt, or flushing. All of these habits have value important to some part of life. Value Investing By definition, value investing is the process of selecting stocks that trade for less than their intrinsic value. A value investor typically selects stocks with lower than average price-to-book or price-to-earning ratios. The Past Does Not Equal The Future: Mutual Fund Returns! A way that investors get ripped off and in a sense rip themselves off is based on the culture of performance in the mutual fund industry. If you stop and think about it there is absolutely no reason that the past has to equal the future. Coca-Cola - A Value Stock? There has been much talk lately about Coca-Cola and its potential as a value stock - as it now spots a dividend yield of 2.6% (which is the highest dividend yield since the late 1980s) and a P/E or less than 21 - right at the bottom of its five-year low. Getting Started Investing is Often the Hardest Part There are several reasons people give for not investing their money in things like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. One reason is that they feel that they don't have enough money to make a serious investment, but a more common reason that many people have absolutely no idea how to go about getting started investing. Caveat Emptor: You May Owe Taxes Despite 401(K) Losses! One among many ways you lose money in non-indexed mutual funds is the tax trap. You may have to pay taxes even when your mutual fund loses money! To many people this is painfully unexpected. Part II of Day Traders and Swing Traders and Options? Maybe! Before every protective put trade it is possible to calculate your anticipated maximum loss. Use the formula: (stock price minus strike price) plus option price. The Perfect Economy? The U.S. Investing for Retirement - Not an All or Nothing Play In 1519, Hernando Cortes, beached on the shores of unexplored Mexico, made a fateful decision: he would burn the ships he and his men arrived in and attempt to overthrow Montezuma and the mighty Aztec empire. The decision was risky. Your Portfolio and "Old Ironsides" The USS Constitution first ventured into the waters in 1798. From there she became an icon of durability and success. Invest To Make Money, Not To Get Rich The technology boom of the '90s romanticized the "rags-to-riches" ideal that all of us dream about when investing. For those that invested $1000 in Dell at $5 during 1990, held through the seven splits, then sold in March 2000 at $59, the dream was a reality. Looking For a Safe Investment? Try a Certificate of Deposit If you are looking for a safe investment and you have between $100 -$1,000 to invest, you should consider a certificate of deposit or CD. When purchased through a bank, CD's are federally insured up to $100,000.
|
| home | index |site map |
| © 2006 |
