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How to Prepare for a Recession
Let me say up front that I don’t know when the next recession will begin. They say you only know a recession happened after the fact because there must be 2 quarters of lost productivity. Most recessions are short enough that we get through them without much suffering. But everyone alive now remembers the Great Recession. That was a really rough time for my family. Three of us were out of work for a few months. When you run into financial problems they say you should turn to your family but that wasn’t an option for us. We had to look for other ways to get by. Not long ago…
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A Case Study in Entrepreneurship
If you want to become an entrepreneur it helps to study the careers of successful entrepreneurs. Some of the best-known entrepreneurs had help getting started. And though we can certainly learn good business lessons from them, we want to pay special attention to those people who managed to launch successful businesses without the advantage of a helping hand. You have to create your own advantages by building networks of reliable contacts, gathering resources, even arranging financing. But you also need a rapid-fire business plan. The critical component to the success of any business is cash flow. You need to keep the money coming in faster than it is going out.…
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How Sophisticated Should Your Investment Tools Be?
If you are a day trader or an active investor you probably don’t need to read this article. Seriously, you probably use a lot of software gadgets on some electronic trading dashboard that shows you the markets you are interested in, tracks stocks and commodities, and helps you set your limits. You’re set. Go make your millions of dollars. As for the rest of us, let’s face it: we are terrible at analyzing markets, market trends, and figuring out where to put our money. If you dream of being like Warren Buffett you are probably many billions of dollars in value short of realizing that dream. But though we cannot…
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What are the Basics of Personal Investing Strategies?
Have you ever heard anyone say, “Insurance policies are not investment instruments?” Or have you wondered what the difference is between a 401(k) retirement plan and an IRA retirement plan? Most people don’t really keep all these things straight, but there are also many conflicting opinions out there. Here is a quick run down of pros and cons for investment tools available to the average individual (we don’t need to worry about where wealthy people put their money). And we should also note that these are the investment tools available to most Americans. Opportunities may differ from country to country, so this is by no means an exhaustive list of…
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Should You Use Payday Loans or Overdraft Checks?
Let us talk about the elephant in the room: you need more money in the short term than you have. Maybe you have an unexpected auto expense, medical bill, or perhaps one of your pets was injured. Whatever the case, you don’t have enough money in savings, cannot borrow what you need from friends or family, and have no available credit to work with. Maybe your cards are maxed out or you cut up your credit cards. The payday loan problem has become a matter of national concern. These predatory “loan” companies pile on so many fees and such high interest rates that they manage to keep as many as…
