Money Release: Making, Saving, Investing and Debt Management

Top 10 iPhone and iPad Apps For the Investment Savy

Vic — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:23:21 +0000

The following blog entry is a guest post from Money Choices.

With mobile banking becoming the norm, mobile investment tracking is quickly following suit. The number of investment apps is rapidly growing, making sorting through them to find the perfect app that does exactly what you want it to do increasingly difficult. Following is the list of our choices for the ten best investment tracking tools available for the iPhone and iPad.

1. Stock TickerPicker (MF Software) priced at 14.99 is a powerful investment tool that allows the user to watch real time information. Support for NYSE/Nasdaq, international markets, a variety of chart views, customizable listing of favorite stocks, and Bollinger bands make this the app to use if you want to both keep a close eye on the market, and plan your future stock purchases.

2. DailyFinance (AOL) is compared to some of the most costly paid apps, yet this one is free. With real-time quotes and stock news, as well as a large selection of data available, this is one app that is worth your time to check out.

3. Morningstar (Morningstar, Inc.) is another free app that is useful for the research phase of your investment strategy. This app features market research and syncing with your Morningstar.com account.

4. FX360 (FX360) offers insight and tracking of the Forex market, as well as US Currencies and oil markets. This app features commentary from Kathy Lein and Boris Schlossberg, an economic calendar and the ability to sign up for FX News Alerts.

5. Forbes Intelligent Investing (Forbes) will keep you in the look of investing. While this app does not feature any real-time information, it does offer video of interviews, panel discussions and articles related to the word of investing. A free app that does not require any investment on your part to stay informed.

6. iStockManager (iStockManager) is a free app that allows you to link with your Ameritrade account and trade directly from your phone. If you do not have an Ameritrade account, you can still use this app for watching current market prices.

7. E*Trade Mobile Pro (E*TRADE Securities) This is a free app that allows the user to access their E*Trade account and also offers real-time trading, investment news and commentary and cash transfers to and from any banking institution.

8. Mint (Mint.com) is an all-around finance tracking tool that not only allows you to view your banking accounts, but your investment accounts, and it does this all for free. US only.

9. iFutures (Toughturtle) allows you to keep track of 100 different contracts in eight of the main markets. This flexible app, priced at 2.99, lets the commodities investor have the market at their fingertips.

10. BlackGold (Toughturtle) is free, but not feature free. This app tracks the current pricing of crude oil, and other commodities and includes a clean and easy to understand interface.

Whether you are a seasoned investor, or just getting your feet wet with penny stocks, these iPhone and iPad apps can help you to keep on top of the market.

For more Internet stuff and ways to make your money work hard for you then stop by Money Choices and check out all the best online savings accounts and low rate credit cards.

Money Bible Verses: On Saving and Emergency Fund

Victorino — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:48:50 +0000

Saving money seems to be an easy task. But the reality tells the other way around. The truth is… it is difficult to set aside money. This is because we do not only encounter controllable temptations to spend money, but also we often face uncontrollable circumstances that lead us to use them. These unmanageable circumstances include our routine necessity to buy our daily food, unexpected medical expenses, unanticipated repair expenses, and other expenditures we must not ignore. Thus, it is just wise to save money for these kinds of events we don’t expect to happen anytime in the future. We call this amount an emergency fund. This is a fund we set aside for the exclusive use of our emergency needs in an unpredicted future. There can be confusion whether saving money is wise and biblical, considering that saved money, which don’t earn interest, seems to be unwise. There are also claims that investing is far away better than saving. With these, let us find out what the Bible says about saving money. The following are passages from the Holy Scriptures pertaining to saving bucks and setting aside for an emergency fund:

1 Corinthians 16:2
On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.

Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; who having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.

Proverbs 19:2
Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps errs.

Proverbs 21:5
The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.

Proverbs 21:20
The wise man saves for the future but the foolish man spends whatever he gets

Proverbs 27:12
A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naive proceed and pay the penalty

Proverbs 30:24-25
Four things are small on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are not a strong people, but they prepare their food in the summer;

Ecclesiastes 11:2
Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on the earth.

Conclusion:
The Holy Bible which is full of wisdom clearly is a reference of purpose. Every acts and teachings we can find in the Holy Books are under a great purpose. Therefore, we can say that the righteousness of saving and setting aside money depends on its purpose. Yes, investing can be better than saving, but saving under a good purpose can be better than a risky investment. Saving money for an emergency fund is recommended for this uncertain world. Saving money for the future of your children (educational fund) is also wise. But saving money without a clear purpose is dull. Saving money can also teach us self-discipline – a virtue that gives us great results in our lives. It also orients us to patience and prudence – two virtues that keep us away from financial troubles. Hence, let us be disciplined, patient and prudent persons. Let us save money with a great purpose. If you love your family, you won’t give them a gloomy future. Finally, if you honor God, you should always see to it that you always bear fruits for your people to be picked.

Personal Finance Tips #7: Educate Yourself

Victorino — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:08:58 +0000

Knowledge is power! That is why if you want to strengthen your personal finance, you need to gain knowledge. Our seventh personal finance tip is to educate ourselves. Education doesn’t only mean you need to go to a school or a university to acquire it. It also includes education outside from schools. Education can also be our personal asset that cannot be robbed from us by any theft – though it can be shared and make yourself useful to the community. Knowledge or wisdom can be acquired from listening, reading, experiencing or from reflecting one’s self. It serves as our light in every direction we are heading. It also makes our market value increase. When you are an employee, you are considerably more valuable if you got a master’s degree or a prestigious certification than if you are not.

As we can be our best assets, we need to improve ourselves. We need to increase our market values. But how can we do that? We can do that by increasing our knowledge and education – formal or informal depending on our necessity. If you are an employee, it is just advisable that you get higher education (master’s degree, certification, etc.,) to aid your promotion. If you are an entrepreneur, you can also get higher education like MBA or the like, attend trainings and seminars or just conduct your own research to develop your business.

The fruits of education are these: if you are an employee, you can get a higher salary and if you’re an entrepreneur, you can bring your business into progress. Moreover, if you don’t have the both (business and employment), you can gain the capability to have one of them or both if you become educated. Knowledge also brings skills. Skills can give us opportunities to earn money and solve financial problems.

Education helps us reinforce our finances. It can also boost our earning capacity, orient us the discipline to control our spending, and teach us how to save and invest our money. Sometimes our financial world is dark and uncertain. But because of knowledge, we have light and calculations that give us almost precision. Therefore, education cannot be ignored. It should be prioritized just like how we prioritize our selves. There are many books that can be read. There are many reliable articles on the Internet where you can get the wisdom to manage your finances. We should not stop from learning. We should not stop and claim that we are already wise. We should be like that if we don’t want to be called fools. Remember that foolishness can lead anyone to shame.

Wise people are humble. They also live in modesty. These attributes keep them away from excessive expenses and unwanted debts. Apparently, foolish people are boastful and live in extravagance. Consequently, they lose most of their money and they fall into the trap of debt. By having wisdom and knowledge, we can have the information and cautions we need to plan strategically. We can set effective procedures that will help us achieve our financial goals. Finally, we can learn the principles and behaviors that will fortify our personal finances.

Personal Finance Tips #6: Forget the Money

Victorino — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:42:10 +0000

The title of this article may sound absurd. How can we become financially stable if we forget or ignore money? But what most of us don’t know is that too much attention on money can bring us financial disasters, and even a whole life problem. Many people have loved money more than anything else. They even sacrifice their real treasures and assets for money. They have forsaken their loved ones and even God for the love of money. Other people give up their integrity, honesty and good name just to not lose money. Aren’t they aware that the love of money is the root of all evil? And evil can lead us to destruction – even financial destruction?

Now, why I am saying that one practical personal finance tip is to forget about money? I’m telling this, because I want everyone to focus on becoming great instead of concentrating on money. The Bible even said, seek first the kingdom of God and all these things be will added to you. This means let’s seek first for greatness rather than things which do not last forever. Becoming great is a combination of being humble and one who serves God and His people. But how can greatness (humility and service) can help us stabilize our personal finances? Simply, if you become great, you will bear greatness.

By becoming great, we can avoid financial troubles – even long-term and permanent troubles. In earning money for example, when you work great in your business (serving your customers well, treating your employees the right way, and becoming responsible to the government), you will be assured that your financial condition and operation will have a bright future. Just imagine if you will just concentrate on money. For example, if you deceive your customers to have bigger profits, give unjust compensation to your employees just to cut your cost, and practice tax evasion just to save more money – what will happen? Do you think you will prosper? But of course you can be financially successful. But that will only be temporary. You customers will not return to you, your employees may leave you, and the IRS may impose tax penalties on you. The consequence will be a great financial tragedy for you and your business.

How about if you are not a businessman? Let us say you’re an employee. The virtue of greatness still applies. If you concentrate in doing great to your job, performing well and having the best results, there will be a huge chance that you will be promoted and will receive incentives and bonuses. Thus, helping your financial capability to be strengthened. Moreover, if you will not boast and will stay humble, you will be exalted and win bunch of good friends. These true friends that will be yours will help you in any aspects of your life, including the financial aspect of your life.

If you wish to get out of debt, greatness also applies effectively. Often, people, because they don’t want their money (even their last money) to leave them, they don’t pay their debts responsively. A responsible person does his promises, including his promises to pay his dues. That’s why if you want to really extinguish your liabilities, you should do great in doing your vows. You should not just focus on keeping that money in your hands, but you should concentrate in preserving your word of honor, as well as your credit score, which are beneficial to both of you and your creditor.

Therefore, concentrate on becoming great in everything you do. Sometimes or even most of the times, you must forget that money. Be great and be righteous, and money will not leave you – even if you will not focus on it. Don’t hold your money too tight, so that it may flow freely, and return to you voluntarily – giving you the freedom you have first given to it.

Personal Finance Tips #5: Be Diligent

Victorino — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:08:28 +0000

When it comes to delivering wisdom to my readers, especially on money and finance, I often refer to the Bible. I believe that the Holy Scriptures, which already existed thousands of year ago, are filled with powerful wisdom that if practiced by us, will make our lives better. Its passages can also guide us to better financial living and better management of our money, as well as our debts. Now, in my fifth personal finance tips series, I am introducing diligence as an important virtue that will help us achieve our financial success and freedom. I’m telling this because diligence, according to the Bible can bring us the wealth that will stabilize our financial condition.

”Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” – Proverbs 10:4 (NIV)

Diligence is important as an action is important to accomplish every task or plan. Intelligence is good. Yes it is good because we need to be wise in making our financial planning and in designing our steps and procedures in managing our personal finances. However, this wit is inadequate without putting them into actions. Using our brain is good, but without using our hands, it can never be better. Even if we have the confidence in our hearts to succeed in our financial life, it will only come short if we will not walk the talk. Remember that faith without deed is dead.

Our financial program is composed of a good plan, nice goal and a series of effective steps to achieve that financial goal. In this program, the steps are very important – and we can only walk all the steps if we are constantly diligent. We need to do what we think. We need to realize what we feel. We need to work for the things we want to achieve. The debts we want to extinguished must be paid by our earnings. These earnings should be the fruits of our consistent labor. If we only think of repaying the money we owed, but never work for the money we will be using to pay off those debts, we will just find ourselves still slaves by lenders.

In saving money, our actions play a very important role. It is our hands that hold, make and or spend our money. In order that we can save money, we should increase our income by working more. We also need to control our hands not to spend excessively.

In investing money, especially when we invest it to our business, diligence is our key to success and prosperity. If you will refer to your financial statements (balance sheets or statement of financial position and statements of income), you will find in your balance sheet that equity increases when your income increases. If your equity increases, your asset may also increase, and your liability may be decreased. Take note that the statement of income, which is also known as the statement of performance and results of operation, reflect a company or an individual’s performance and results. This just means that the success of a business or financial activity indeed lies on our performance and results – which are the manifestation of our works and our diligence.

Personal Finance Tips #4: Value and Importance

Victorino — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:24:42 +0000

Here is another personal finance tip I want to share to all my readers. In an objective to attain financial stability, we need to take a good look to our personal finances. We need to stand firmly for the achievement of our financial goals. We just not need to plan, set goals and do the steps to achieve those goals. We need to give those things a great importance. We must value what we think, what we feel, and what we do to our personal finance. Every task we made and every goal we target, we must think and feel how much they are important to us. We must put an essence to all things we do. This essence exists when we put value to those things.

Many people, although they have a good financial plan and procedures to achieve their financial goals, still fail. One mail reason is… they don’t perform their very best. They take those plans and steps slightly, and sometimes they take them for granted. This happen because they don’t stand on the things they have laid.

All plans must have a goal. This goal must be an important goal for someone not to take it insignificantly. Hence, in every plan and goal we make, we must always ask ourselves – why are we doing this plan? Why do we want to achieve those goals? How important it is to achieve them? By assuring that a plan and its goal are very important to our lives, we can also assure that we will do our best to execute that plan and achieve its goal.

In setting up our emergency fund, we should also put some value on this fund. Because if we won’t, we might just lose it. This must also apply to all the funds and allowances we build. We must hold them tight, protect them, and nurture them – as if they are very important to us. We can also think of some important things to become the reasons why we are doing these financial activities. These things can be the most important people in our lives. They can be our love ones, our children particularly. The educational fund you are building up can be very important to you, because you love your children. The emergency fund you keep can also be very significant to you because you don’t want your family to face financial troubles in the future.

One major personal financial goal you can desire can be your release from debts. This goal must also become very important to you. This means, you need to become serious in eliminating those amounts you owed. You need to pay them on time. This also means you need to do your best effort to find and earn money to repay those debts.

By putting pure value on everything we do, we can set ourselves on fire and attain success on those things. Remember that what we don’t hold firmly – can fall from our hands. Thus, we must stand on every plan we create, in every steps we make, and in every goal we want to achieve. We must place a great importance on them. We can do that by linking them to important things in our lives, like our love for our family and other loved ones.

Personal Finance Tips #3: Be Honest

Victorino — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 04:56:06 +0000

Honesty is known to be the best policy. However, only few people practice it. Seemingly because being honest may give you some instant troubles. People tend to depart from honesty to escape some of life’s immediate troubles. What they don’t know is they are just pushing their selves into bigger problems which are even long-term rather than temporal. Persons who are fun of hiding in the darkness instead of in the light are the people who always fall into the trap of financial troubles, as well as in the claws of debts. They are the ones who usually don’t achieve financial freedom and the ones who often become slaves of lenders. Honesty, though difficult and requires a lot of patience and self-control, is an effective virtue that can help us achieve our financial liberty and get us out of debt.

So how is your personal finance doing? Do you have many debts and don’t have financial stability? If yes, what do you think is the problem? Have you been an honest person all these years? Maybe you have obtained a loan you know you can never pay? Or you have not done your vows or promises to pay your debts, resulting this to double your debts because of interests and penalties?

A simple piece of dishonesty can bring a person lot of financial troubles. People who can hardly say “no” or refuse or resist a thing that should be resisted often slide into a whole financial mess. I remember one person who didn’t have enough money in his pocket or in his bank account. He was encouraged to have a grand birthday party by his friends. Because the man cannot be true to his self, he did not say no to them and he gave his vow to realize that party. Consequently, he resorted to creditors and owed money he could never afford to payback. Eventually, the party happened and the increase in his liabilities also occurred. With that story, we can tell that should he became honest to people and unto himself, he should have escaped lots of debts.

Dishonesty is also common in paying taxes. Many people, who wish to save their money, don’t pay the right taxes. They resort to tax evasion which is a great practice of lying. These people gain temporary financial relief because they don’t pay bigger current taxes. However, as the IRS conducts audits, these people are caught with more penalties. That means more expenses which result to additional financial burden.

To strengthen our personal finances, we should also strengthen our attitudes and behaviors. This includes strengthening our virtue of honesty. As we all know, the truth will set us free. The truth and the light can give us financial freedom and stop us from becoming slaves of our creditors. Honesty is difficult to practice, but if practiced constantly, will truly help us in gaining our financial stability. Therefore, let us embrace in our everyday conducts that honesty is still the best policy – even in our financial policies.

Money is not the root of all evil

Victorino — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 09:21:43 +0000

Is money the root of all evil? No it’s not. Many people believe in this great misconception. That’s why most of them somehow have a bad feeling about it – about money. Seemingly, money can be the reason of many fighting. Money also seems to be the motive of theft, corruption, prostitution, fighting, and other negative actions. However, if we will do a thorough research on the origin of this notion, which is the Bible, we can learn that the saying “money is the root of all evil”, is indeed a misinterpretation. If we will refer to the book of 1 Timothy 6:10, we will read the following:

^“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” – 1 Timothy 6:10 (NIV)

From the above passage from the Holy Scriptures, we can clearly learn that it is not the money that is the root of all kind of evil – it is the love of money. Who can love money? It can only be us. We people tend to love money. We sometimes value money more than anything in this world. People sometimes sacrifice time for their family and for God for money.

Now, how true it is that peoples’ love on money can be the root of all evil? Just think of all evil you can think, including greed, lust, pride, murder and envy. Do you think all of these evils can be produced by a person’s love on money? Yes they can be its fruits. One man’s love on money can make him greedy. A woman who loves money more than her dignity can do prostitution. Likewise, a person who put money first in his heart can be proud and envious, and in worst can kill his fellow men for the love of money.

The truth is, we cannot love money and God at the same time. We can’t serve God and His people and serve money at the same time.

^“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” – Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

But money is not all that bad. If we will become constantly faithful to God, He will give us the wisdom and understanding that will give us health and prosperity.

“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. “ – Proverbs 3:1-2 (NIV)

Money is not at all evil. It was invented as a tool to give convenience to humankind. It serves as our medium of exchange to ease the exchange of goods and services. It also acts as a unit of account to facilitate measurement when we buy the things we need. Money also serves as a store of value to help us save our possessions in a more technical way. It can also use to easily pay our debts. Hence, let us stop accusing money as the root of all evil. Let’s look first upon ourselves and ask seriously – do we love money?

How to really transform yourself?

Victorino — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 07:23:36 +0000

So how do we really transform ourselves into persons who are success achievers? This is a tough question and goal most people strive to answer and achieve. But no matter how hard it is, it’s still not impossible. Many people in the world, though not really in a great percentage of our population, have already transformed their selves into better persons. They become successful in terms of business, personal finance, career, relationship and other aspects of lives. Now, the question is… if they have done it, why can’t we? Yes, why can’t other people do the same? Perhaps, most people don’t know the key to unlock that gracious transformation. Or maybe, most people don’t do the way to execute that significant transformation.

Now let’s go and transform our selves. But how? Here is how. What we need is something that we should know and something that we should understand. We need wisdom combine with understanding.

Wisdom or knowledge alone is not enough. It needs understanding or involving.

Wisdom is the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong.

Understanding is doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong.

Just imagine when you are still in college. You’ve studied your chosen course (e.g., accounting, engineering, marketing, etc.,) mostly on textbooks, but not in actual practice. You are able to know the subject but you have not fully understood it until you involve yourself in the actual practice.

So why is it that most people can hardly transform their selves? That is because they only know how to transform but they really don’t execute the transformation. In other words, they only use their minds and even their hearts in transforming their selves, but they don’t use their hands.

Between wisdom and understanding, the latter is the more difficult task to gain. Even the great King Solomon, who is best known for his wisdom, has sinned idolatry which is against God. That was because the great king is only filled with wisdom but lacks understanding.

Transformation is just like being born again. Being born again doesn’t only mean having a new mind and a new heart. It means you totally become a new person. As a newly born or transformed person, you should have a new complete set of body and their functions. You must have the following:

1. New eyes to see the right things and reject to watch the unrighteous things

2. New ears to hear what is right and ignore what must be ignored

3. New nose to smell the good things and escape the bad things (just like the smell of addictive elements)

4. New mouth to eat the healthy and avoid gluttony and drunkenness

5. New mind to think what is righteous and forget what is wicked

6. New heart to love what is just and pure and resist what is foolish

7. New feet to walk the right path and oppose the road of evils

8. New hands to do the right things and stop the wrong things

If we only transform some part of our selves, we can somehow have a transformation, but it can only be temporal. After a while, the other parts of our selves, which are not renewed, will influence the transformed ones to go back to their original estate. Even if you transform your heart and mind, if your eyes are still watching things that can pull you back to your old behavior, your transformation will not become effective. How much more if you don’t transform your hands?

If you are willing to transform yourself into a better one, you must have both wisdom and understanding. This means you must know how to transform and you must do that transformation. Finally, you must transform everything in you and not only some parts of you. Because, if you only transform some parts of you… your untransformed parts will still drag you back again to what you are before.

How to avoid poverty according to the Bible

How to prepare for a personal financial crisis?

Victorino — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:17:23 +0000

Sun Tzu of the Art of War once said, in time of peace prepare for war and in time of war prepare for peace. He also stated that a victorious commander is one who makes more calculations. Applying this ancient Chinese wisdom in personal finance, we can tell that a crisis can be overcome by wise calculations and advanced preparations. A financial crisis sometimes attacks anyone without a warning. This happens when unexpected events like health failure, sudden loss of a job, and repair needs of our properties give us money troubles. Thus, an advance anticipation and preparation to minimize the troubles should not be ignored and must be given full and constant attention. But how do we prepare ourselves to deal effectively and efficiently with any financial crisis in the near future?

Prepare your pocket
First, because we are talking here financial matters, we need to prepare our pocket, our wallet, our bank accounts, or our financial capacity. In times of financial crisis, we should see to it that we have built an emergency fund which we can get funds to help us pay our emergency expenses. Setting up an emergency fund can be done gradually yet it should be consistent. We can also place that fund in a savings account to earn interests yet still unrestricted. We can also save other things aside from money that can help us in times of financial crisis. These include stored foods and supplies, which we can spend while you still don’t run out of bucks.

Prepare your mind
An alert mind is a great mind. A financial crisis is an occurrence that is irregular. In times like this, we need to have our mind prepared for this tough situation. That’s why we should fill our brains with all the advanced personal financial solutions we can use when financial troubles happen. This can be done by making strategic plans, budgeting and forecasting.

Prepare your emotions
If we need to set up our mind for the anticipate crisis, we also need to prepare our emotions. Our emotional behavior can play an important role in difficult financial situations. We cannot ignore our feelings, especially because this is our human essence. May people who are emotionally weak usually don’t survive a very hard financial condition. Our emotions, when properly manage and control, can give us the strength and courage to face any battle, including our financial battles. Moreover, they are also our tools that supply us inspirations and will-power to do what is right and what is excellent.

Prepare your people
We also need to prepare the people around us who have significant impacts in our lives. These persons may include our families, relatives, close friends and other people who can affect our financial lives. Your children for example, who need your financial support for their education, should be taught and be ready for the effects of the coming crisis. The importance of preparing the people around you for the coming financial storm is to make them people that can help you survive the disaster instead of letting them become additional burden that will add weight to the crisis.

Prepare your hands
Last but not the least, we need to prepare our hands. This means we need to prepare ourselves to do and execute all those planned actions we have prepared for the crisis. Since we may be losing money when crisis comes, we must assure that our hands can actively work and find money to cure the coming financial troubles. Although we have prepared mind, heart or people around us, if our own hands are not prepared, expect that failure will still come to us. Hence, let us set our hands in fire during the cold and rainy days.