Monthly Archive for December, 2009

Invest in Gold Today – Five Great Reasons to Buy Gold Bullion Bars

Published on December 31, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

If you’re wondering where to put your money in these uncertain times, the answer’s easy – buy gold bullion bars. Investing in gold is one of the smartest ways to prosper in today’s economy and acquiring bullion bars is the best way to acquire the yellow metal.

Historically gold has always been a winner in the wealth stakes. It’s the oldest form of financial exchange and has long stood the test of time. Whole civilizations have been built on gold and today it is more important than ever. If you’re thinking about acquiring gold for your portfolio or just as security for the future, here are five great reasons why gold is such a fine investment.

Firstly, gold is the ultimate inflation buster. It’s no surprise that the price of gold soars when investors fear inflation. With the world’s central banks inflating the economy by pumping money in, savvy economists are predicting inflation coming soon. And if that happens, the value of your cash holdings will slump so you clearly need to do something.

Including gold in your investment portfolio will go a long way towards hedging against inflation. And having those yellow bars at home will help you feel more secure in difficult times.

The next great advantage of gold is its liquidity. You’ll never have a problem either buying or selling your gold. The gold market is global with 24-hour trading and a vast range of buyers ranging from the jewellery sector to financial institutions to industrial manufacturers. This means you’re always assured of a market for your gold wherever you are.

Demand for https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/ : gold is rising while at the same time, world gold production is flat or falling meaning a limited supply. Add to this the perennial demand from investors and jewelry makers and you have a commodity that will never lose its value.

However to ensure this liquidity, you need to acquire gold of certified quality and quantity such as gold bullion bars. If you obtain gold in the form of jewellery, the actual value of the gold will be far less than you paid as a certain sum is factored in for design and craftsmanship. Buy gold bullion bars and get all the security of a property investment coupled with perfect liquidity.

Allied to this liquidity is the fact that the gold market is a transparent one with clear prices always available. The gold price is fixed twice a day at 10.30 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. at the London offices of N M Rothschild by the five main Bullion Houses – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N_M_Rothschild : NM Rothschild, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, ScotiaMocatta and Societe Generale. This means you can always find out the current price of gold online or in the newspaper.

In addition, buying gold bullion bars is suitable for investors of all types. Invest grade bullion bars come in .999 fine gold come in sizes ranging from 2.5 grams up to one kilo. Sizes are available for all budgets and can be incorporated into all types of portfolios. Another great incentive is that there is no longer any VAT on investment gold coins or gold bullion bars bought in the UK and the EU.

Finally, gold is universally accepted as a medium of exchange. Wherever you go in the world, gold is accepted as a medium of value. Whether in the souks of Bahrain or the boulevards of Paris, you can find someone who will accept your gold at its true value.

You can invest in gold in a variety of ways such as mining shares, gold futures, exchange-traded funds and various other derivative forms. Gold coins are another option but they tend to incur higher premiums. This means that when you come to sell them, you get less back.

But by acquiring the real yellow metal in the form of gold bullion bars, you’ll have total liquidity as well as the aesthetic pleasure of owning an object of classic beauty.

If you want to buy gold bullion bars in the UK, nothing could be easier. You can simply order online or over the telephone and the bullion bars will be delivered to your home and you’ll be a proud investor in gold.

Michiel Van Kets writes articles for Bullion by Post, buy gold ( https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/ ) and silver bullion bars at trade prices. The Buy gold bullion bars ( https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/gold-bars/ ) at real time spot based pricing.

Why Paper? Part Two

Published on December 31, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

TIP OF THE WEEK

November 13th, 2009

Part II – MORE ABOUT PAPER

CASE: ANALYZING A PAPER INCOME STREAM

SITUATION:

A $10,000 note is offered to you for sale for $5,800 and the seller is desperate for cash (pressure from the I.R.S.) The face interest is 8% and the payments are $121.33 per month. 90 monthly payments remain of the original 120 months. The note is two and one half years old.

PROBLEM:

Your company’s pension fund will not let you invest in real estate secured paper below a 13% yield. What is the investment yield of the above situation? How do we calculate yields?

SOLUTION:

What are you really the “buying for your $5,800 cash? “90 n’s of $121.33

That’s right. You are about to spend your $5,800 on is the right to receive 90 monthly payments of $121.33. How did we come up with the numbers?

Look for the givens that are stated in the note. The first given was 120 months of payments (the original term of the $10,000.00 note called for 10 years of monthly payments including 8% interest.) The second given is the stated payment amount of $121.33. But the note is 2 1/1 years old and 30 months have been paid already. So all that you will be able to purchase will be the remaining 90 payments. Each of these monthly payments is for $121.33 no more or no less – that is stated (given) in the original note terms.

So to summarize the two givens: 90 n’s of $121.33.

The “givens are what you “get” for your $5,800 cash investment. You get the right to receive 90 monthly payments of $121.33. That is all you get, no more no less.

So, Jay, what is the yield on this deal? How do I compute the yield on my $5,800?

Get your financial calculator. The top row of keys will be:

“n” for “number”.

“i” for “interest” or “yield”

“pmt” for “payment amount”

“PV” for present value (in this case the original loan amount of $10,000

“FV” for future value (in this case put a zero in the key – not using the key)

• Now key 90 into “n” (number of payments). You are buying 90 payments.

• The key 121.33 into “pmt” key(the amount of each payment you will be receiving each month.

• Key your investment of (minus)5800 into “PV” (the amount you are investing/spending today for the right to receive the income stream) Notice the negative sign before the 5800. Since you are spending the money, it is expressed as “negative” 5800.

• Put a zero into the “FV” key to make sure the key has no numbers left in it from another calculation – that will really mess up the numbers.

NOW JUST SOLVE FOR “i” (your yield will flash up expressed in the monthly yield rate. Just multiply the “i” number by 12 (the payments are expressed in months) and you will see your yield is 18.99% (rounding to 19% here is fine).

With a 19% return on and of your initial investment of $5800, it is OK for the pension fund to purchase, if everything else checks out.

BENEFITS:

Once you have done the keying in of the numbers a few times, you will begin to see what a powerful tool your little financial calculator really is. Start making up some example of other notes you might like to buy. Plug in the givens a go for the yield, Or plug in the yield to determine what you would pay for the right to receive so many “n’s” of so many dollars per month. These little annuities are everywhere in our daily life. More on this in future Tips of the Week.

Good Luck and Good Hunting. Remember: Your competition can and does use a financial calculator where or not you know how to use one.

Jay

Jay Turner – http://www.OneUpRealEstate.com

One Big Mistake When Purchasing Auto Insurance and Its Remedies

Published on December 31, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Negligence in reading some policy provisions in car insurance may have consequences which you may eventually regret.

Did you have that feeling that after buying something, you felt cheated afterwards? Sometimes this question irks us at some point of our life. Maybe we felt this way because we did not get our money’s worth. When it comes to auto insurance purchase, the same thing applies. One should be keen enough to examine the policy so as not to experience this. People working with car insurance business are well trained to skip part of the contract they know customers do not want to learn or which makes the customer have a second thoughts. There is one thing you can do to protect yourself and there are some remedies to get the value of your money.

There is the saying which says “look before you leap”. This should apply to this situation. One thing to combat this is to learn all what it takes about the product before you grab it because one of the drawbacks that may tear you apart after purchasing car insurance is when you did not get what you expected. Negligence of the buyer to know all what is included in the contract before signing disadvantageous to the buyer. Car insurance policies can sometimes be tricky.

Because of the abundance of car insurance companies online, one can now be selective in obtaining reasonable insurance that he really needs. However, one has to get some insurance quotes and do some comparisons. Carefully evaluate several insurance quotes available as there are a lot of it. The probability of higher than what you need is always looming.

Negotiating with your car insurance provider for discount also makes a difference in the premium. It is always nice to try whether you are good at this or not. If you do not attempt to bargain, insurance providers will not give it to you at will because it is for their own good. However, for the benefit you get, you also need to have something in exchange for it like meeting the criteria for discount.

Finally, a high deductible is a good option. It seems unlikely to do because of the high amount of cash out you give but it will do more good than bad. Deductible is the amount of money one has to bring out from his own pocket before the insurance will come to bail you out. By inflating your deductible, you can lower the costs of the collision and comprehensive coverage.

How can we help ourselves to have the cheapest car insurance rates with the best deal? There is a very effective thing we actually can do and many remedies to back us up. Examining the policy contract is the mistake we should not make. Before scribbling our name on that sheet of paper, read and understand it first as the danger of negligence to do so may cost us too much.

AutoQuoteNow.com is one of the best online resources to give quick car insurance quotes to customers. Here you can compare auto insurance quotes and do your online car insurance transactions.

Does Car Modification Really Affect Car Insurance Premium?

Published on December 31, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Most of the time we hear people say car modification can cause you much of your premium. This is somehow partially true. According to some experts, this is one factor that is usually misunderstood by many. If they hear modification, it means higher car insurance quote. Actually, premium depends on the changes that you make with your car. Let us try to categorize the changes you want to give your car and if it affects the premium you pay.

The two categories of car modification are the following:

• Performance modification-These are the changes which improves the performance of the car. It has something to do with the speed. This changes are usually done by enthusiastic car owners who are bored with the average speed of their car and they want to make their car go faster than the normal speed.

• Aesthetic modification-These are the changes which make your car attractive not only to the common people but also to thieves and vandals.

The changes which accompany the performance modification include engine tuning. Tuning is the alteration of the internal combustion engines to produce the highest performance of the car. This may cause a higher premium because car insurance companies believe that if the engine’s power output is excellent, it is vulnerable to crash.

Of course to insurance companies, it is just practical to increase the premium rate from the business point of view. Other companies even do not want highly customized cars if possible because they are considered as high risk. In other words, the higher the risks of the car, the higher car insurance rates will be given.

On the other hand, beautification of your car does not cause you much. This includes changing of your wheels to a new alloy one. Almost anybody could do this because there is a wide range of alloy wheels to choose from. The good thing here is that it will not affect the premium rate particularly if locking wheel nuts comes with it. However the downside of this is that if the new rim is damaged, it will not be replaced by the company.

Another change which does not affect the insurance rate much is installing tinted windows. Tinted windows make your car look glossy and to some extent will prevent thieves from looking what is inside your car which may attract their attention. Some insurers though may charge 10% of your premium for tinted window modification. So if your premium is $450, it is likely that you have an added $45. This varies on the different car insurance companies. Again it is safe to inform them of any alteration.

Generally speaking, any refinement of the car which changes the performance cause you more premium rate to pay while those that only give your car artistic look causes a little less money. Sometimes it is easy to just add some adjustment but lost the picture of the consequence of doing such. So the best thing to do is to foresee if your budget can handle the modification you want to impose to your car.

And if you want to learn more about auto insurance, go to AutoQuoteNow.com.