Money Release: Making, Saving, Investing and Debt Management » Investing

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.

Money Bible Verses: On Investing

Victorino — Sun, 16 May 2010 12:14:35 +0000

Many people invest. Some of them get returns, some get losses. But other people don’t even care to invest, and most of them fall into debts and poverty. In the financial realm, investing can be a good move for any person who wants to achieve financial freedom. Psychologically, it can also strengthen a person’s behavior towards discipline and sense of purpose. Personally, I invest my money and time to achieve my goals. These goals include financial stability, prosperous family, healthy life and philanthropic capability. Investments may be in the forms of business entrepreneurship, real estate, web properties, financial instruments, and other investments that we expect returns or profits. There are many books written by the word’s top financial authors that will guide us to effective and responsible investing. But there can only be one book that I believe surpasses them all – a book which texts and words are not coming from humans… but coming from a God. The following are Bible Verses that pertain to investing:

Ecclesiastes 11:2
Give portions to seven, yes to eight, for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

Proverbs 13:11
Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.

Proverbs 28:20
A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 24:27
Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Luke 19:11-27
The Parable of the Ten Minas
While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.’Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’

But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

“He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

“The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’

” ‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’

“The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’

“His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

“Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’

“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

“Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

” ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

“He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.”

I hope the above verses will help and guide you in your way to responsible investing. If you have other Bible verses in mind that relate to investing, please don’t hesitate to share them in your comments below. Thank you and have best investing performance and results!

How to earn more profit: 5 ways to succeed

Victorino — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 18:22:56 +0000

So how can we earn more profit? How can we achieve more income to cover our costs and expenses? Earning more net profit is not impossible. However, you must bear in mind that it cannot be done overnight. It takes a lot of knowing yourself and knowing your surroundings. Placing ourselves from financial security lies in our own hands. But a total victory for our financial freedom lies not only in our hands but also in the favor of our environment. This means to achieve our every financial goal, we need to find every opportunities that can be found within ourselves and within the things that surrounds us. The following are some ways and tips to maximize our income, minimize costs and expenses, and increase our net profit:

1. Maximize talent, skill and knowledge
Increasing our earning potential means enhancing our capabilities. This means we need to maximize our selves. If you are currently an employee and enjoying being such, you can study further to increase your self’s market value. Completing post graduate courses and passing professional certification examinations are two best ways to uplift your professional worth and chance to demand more salary to your boss.

Now if you are an entrepreneur like me, we can all join forces to increase our skills and knowledge by training, researching, enhanced learning and networking. Entrepreneurs and business owners need innovation to continue and increase profiting.

2. Invest more time
Time is an essence for every goal that we want to achieve. Hence, if we want to maximize profit, we should maximize our time in attaining that target. To input more time means to save and gather more time. For business owners and entrepreneurs who enjoy flexibility in time, this could be an advantage. One way to save time is to outsource tasks that consume most of our time but offer only few returns. These jobs include routine functions which we can delegate to other people so that we can have more time to concentrate on our core activities that give us higher returns. The logic is… we pay for less to save time, and we use those times to earn more.

For employees who work for eight hours a day, there are still a lot of hours to engage in money making activities. They can choose from a variety of extra works they can take, depending on their interests and passion. These may include online money making, working at home, baking, selling products, and other jobs that can be done in their extra time.

3. Utilize resources
Outside from our selves, are the tangible assets in our possession such as land, building and equipment. To earn more profit, we need to utilize all our idle resources. If you have a land or a building which are left unused, you may consider finding tenants and enjoy revenue from rents. If you have other equipment (car, office machine, et cetera), that are not fully utilized you can reckon any business activities that can make them profit making machine. Finally, if you have money sleeping under the sun, you can invest them into low risk income yielding investments such as, time deposits, debt securities and mutual funds to earn more in the form of interest and dividend income. And if you really have a business idea which you are confident to succeed, make that money your equity.

4. People
No man is an island. That’s why we have an island so we may live better. Our relatives, friends, affiliates, allies, and anyone who are somehow linked to us can also become our assets or advantages. If you want to gain more profit, you must capitalized your network of people. The bigger your network is, the greater products or services you can sell. The more you can sell the more revenue and profit you can have. Just think of your several followers in Twitter or friends in Facebook. Make them useful and help them by providing them their needs. That means selling them relevant products and services they really need. Just don’t solicit them too much if you don’t want them to leave you.

If you’re an employer, your employees can be your best assets. If you want to maximize productivity and profit, you need to make them more motivated and productive. A demoralized and discouraged group of workers can make your financial results fall down. Hence, you need to know and do the best things that will make them happy and bring your company into profit success. In short, you need to have a better Human Resource Management and leadership skills to earn better comprehensive income.

5. Minimize cost, charges, waste, risk and losses
In the financial sense, if you have a stable revenue, the less cost and expenses you have, the more your profit. For this reason, we need to identify costs and expenses that we can eliminate without affecting the level of our gross sales or revenues. In trading goods, we can reduce our cost of goods sold by reducing gross purchases or increasing purchase discounts. With regard to expenses and charges, we can reduce or eliminate those which cannot affect our revenue and we can avoid in the first place. The following are examples of those charges and expenses:

Excessive entertainment expenses
Unimportant travel expenses
Penalties for non-payment of dues and taxes on time
Interest expense on delayed loan repayment
Bank charges on accounts falling into minimum balance
Credit card charges on buying on account even if cash is available
Loss on fire (in the absence of insurance)
Loss on theft and fraud because of non implementation of strong internal control
Other cost, expenses and losses due to the absence of strategic planning, internal control and risk management.

5 ways to avoid poverty and becoming poor

Victorino — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:28:16 +0000

Who wants to become poor? Who wants to become a prisoner of poverty? Probably, no one wants to become poor. We dream of riches. We desire it not only for our own happiness and consumption. We want it also for our family and maybe for our country. But being rich is not an easy task and avoiding poverty is not a goal that is usually achieved. However, avoiding ourselves to become poor lies in our own hands. The following are five tips to secure ourselves and avoid financial deficiency.

1. Avoid vices
Drunkenness, gluttony, womanizing, gambling, and the likes will surely make us poor. These things destroy our financial budget and even ruin our discipline – a virtue that is very important in our way to riches and success. These bad habits are proven to make our pockets run dry. So if you want to avoid poverty, you need to avoid these negative routines and preserve your self-control.

2. Earn right
Financial deficiency comes when people don’t have sufficient earnings that can cover their expenses. Therefore, to avoid such deficiency, you need to earn adequately. One way to assure that you can have good income is to have a stable job. Having a stable job means completing a college degree or post graduate degree. This means that education is very important to overcome poverty. Hence, if your are still in college, be sure that you will study well, graduate with honors, and earn an outstanding educational background that will entice big employers. Another way to earn right is to do business strategically. If you are the type of person who doesn’t rely on employers, you can do business successfully. A successful businessman is one who is diligent, disciplined, intelligent (who does research), intuitive, patient and innovative.

3. Spend wisely
Having a sufficient income will not be enough if we spend extravagantly. Hence, you need to spend wisely and avoid wasteful expenses. One way to control our spending habit is to record and monitor it. We can make budgets to plan our expenditures and check if we spend below or beyond those budgets. We can also analyze our spending pattern to create solutions on how we can manage them. This also means we need to have self-control and other virtues that will stop us from spending wastefully. We can prioritize our basic needs so that we only buy the most vital things and avoid unimportant things. The goal is to not spend beyond our earnings and to not forget our savings.

4. Save with interest
Saving is good but saving with interest and earnings is better. If you hide your money without earning, you will be defeated by inflation. Hence, if you are really serious in saving your money, save it from inflation and put it in investments like time deposits, mutual funds, debt investments and equity investments.

5. Have confidence
This may not sound financially, but if you are really determined to defy poverty, you need to be confident and be positive to reach that objective. Worries and excessive doubts are the top destroyers of any goals. Hence, don’t stop believing and doing every right thing to escape from being poor.

How to take care of your money?

Victorino — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:15:50 +0000

Money can be everything to us if we use it the right way. That’s why we should do our best to save them and let them grow in our hands. Although money is just a piece of paper or just a coin of metal, we should also take care of them so that they may always be in our sight. But how can we take care of our money? How can we assure that these precious things, if only have emotions, will become glad in the hands of their masters? The following are ways to make them properly serve you.

Give it a sense of purpose
Money has its own purpose; the primary, is being a medium of exchange. Although it also serves as a store of value, a sleeping money is not a happy money. Therefore, we should use it and avoid making it an idle object. However, we should also assure that they will be used in the wisest ways. We should not use them in spending our vices, our extravagance, and other nonsense expenditures. Just like human, any person without a sense of purpose will not become happy. If we want money to always come to us, give them value and use them in a way that they will serve their purpose.

Don’t just burry it, plant it
Money, without growth, signifies that its master or holder is irresponsible. To take care of our money means to nurture them and make them grow. Therefore, let us give them all the best available opportunities to cultivate them. We can invest them rather than just burry them. We can make them capital in our strategically planned and carefully established businesses, invest them in mutual funds, and other investments that return income and interests.

Make it morale and legal
Dirty money is sad money. Treasures that are grabbed through immoral and illegal means will trouble our conscience, as well as our freedom. Money that are produced by those corrupt deeds are money full of shame. Therefore, to take care of our money and ourselves, let us assure that we run them through clean and fair systems.

Make a plan for it and follow that plan
Everything we care of, we become thoughtful on them. We plan for them and we vision their good future. Just like our concern towards our money, we make it a budget to keep it away from exhaustion and other financial troubles. But thoughts without actions are useless. Sometimes, we don’t follow our plans. This is of no difference from breaking our promises to our dear money. If we desire to treat well our money, we should take care of them not only in our minds but also in our hands.

Keep and eye on it
Last but not the least is monitoring and accounting our money. Taking care of them is knowing them. A person who do not know where his money are going and what are they doing, usually loses his money. Therefore recording, tracking, organizing and analyzing our money are ways to keep them in the good positions and making them coming back to our side.

Conclusion
We should take care of our money to keep them coming back to us. We should treat them well so that they will love us and we become their favorite destinations. Although money should not be loved as people’s masters, because the love of money is the root of all evil, they should be cared as our useful tools and companions. With this, we should become responsible masters of our own money. We should use and treat these little things in the righteous and just manner.

What is a statement of cash flow? Financial definition

Victorino — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 03:33:18 +0000

International Accounting Standard (IAS 7), issued by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) states that the statement of cash flow analyzes changes in cash and cash equivalents during a period. Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and demand deposits, together with short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash, and that are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value. An investment normally meets the definition of a cash equivalent when it has a maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition. Equity investments are normally excluded, unless they are in substance a cash equivalent (e.g. preferred shares acquired within three months of their specified redemption date). Bank overdrafts which are repayable on demand and which form an integral part of an entity’s cash management are also included as a component of cash and cash equivalents [IAS 7.7-8].

The statement of cash flows is presented into operating, investing and financing activities. Operating activities are the main revenue-producing activities of the entity that are not investing or financing activities. These activities may include cash received from customers, cash paid to suppliers or employees, interest paid, income taxes paid, and cash paid for other operating expenses.

Investing activities are the acquisition and disposal of long-term assets (such as property and equipment, investment in associates and subsidiaries and investments in bonds) and other investments not considered to be cash equivalents.

Financing activities are activities that alter the equity capital and borrowing structure of the entity. These activities include proceeds from issuance of shares, cash receipts from obtaining loans and payment of those loans.

Interest and dividends received and paid may be classified as operating, investing, or financing activities, as long as they are classified consistently from period to period. Cash flows arising from taxes on income are normally classified as operating, unless they can be specifically identified with financing or investing activities.

The operating portion of a statement of cash flow can be presented using direct method or indirect method. Direct method presentation is encouraged, but the indirect method is acceptable. The direct method shows each major class of gross cash receipts and gross cash payments. The indirect method adjusts accrual basis net profit or loss for the effects of non-cash transactions.

The statement of cash flows shows how the changes of accounts in the statement of financial position and income affect an entity’s cash and cash equivalents. The statement gives users a picture of the flow of cash flowing in and out of the business.

Users of statement of cash flow include creditors, who needs to know the entity’s ability to repay its obligations; investors, who want to know if a business is sound and can guarantee return of investment; employees, who need to know whether a company can pay them the right compensation; and owners and shareholders, who want to assess if the business can be able to distribute dividends.

Reference:
International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)

What is a Structured Settlement Investment?

Jay — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:24:06 +0000

Selecting for a structured settlement investment is a viable method in gaining profit for business. This settlement is typically paid out to people over duration of time. It can be the output of a court judgment, annuities, lottery winnings, or an insurance payout. For various reasons, the recipients of this settlement investment are willing to exchange payments for a cash or lump sum of money.

A structured settlement investment may also refer to the legal agreement between a defender and a plaintiff whereas the former is allowed to pay at certain amount of money in single lump cash or intermittent installments. In this kind of investment, the plaintiff is often the one who agrees the dismissal of the case. This only happens after the defendant had paid the fixed financial settlement. There are two essential components of a structured settlement investment. The first component is the payment installments made at regular intervals while the second component refers to the due payment amount in one installment.

There is one type of a structured settlement investment that should be avoided. This type is wherein one needs to pay the entire cash amount in one lump. It usually happens in cases where the probability of sudden damages takes place in forms of lifetime and instant requirements. In addition to this type of structured settlement investment, the immediate needs become more predictable, thus the business can be prepared for the future. During the early times, this type of structured settlement investment is often known as the retirement plans or pension plans.

A structured settlement investment is similar with the requirements of immediate cash or loan. It may have minimal risk factor and extremely low tax rates that a usual borrower is likely to get. If a structured settlement investment has minimal risk factor, the individual can opt for other alternatives available in the market. This kind of settlement investment is often regulated by laws of both federal and state government. With extremely low tax rates, a structured settlement investment can be helpful in minimizing the liability level of an individual on the tax required to be paid by the plaintiff.

A structured settlement investment is also considered one of the best ways in financing a home aside from business. All payments done in this kind of investment are in forms of dollars and tax free currency. In addition, there is also maintenance of tax write-off. The investment is also used a method in funding retirement, starting a business, and investing in a home purchase. The payment stream of this investment is also fixed at a given period of time. It tends to increase and counterbalance the effects of inflation throughout lifetime. With this, the individual is assured that his or her payments can survive. Apparently, in cases of permanent injuries, it is recommended that the structured settlement investment is much higher.

Just like other kinds of investment, the structured settlement investment has its own disadvantages as well. The most common one is when the injured party will not receive any direct amount since the money tends to be stretched in longer time period.

How to Choose the Best Credit Card

Jay — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:58:10 +0000

It’s no secret that there are seemingly countless credit cards available for people interested in acquiring one … or more. If you’d like to get a new credit card, the question you need to ask yourself is this: with so many to choose from, how do I pick the best credit card for me?

It’s not easy, but if you’re willing to invest a little time to conduct simple research – online is the best place to go – you’ll learn all you need to know about the cards that are available and you’ll be able to carefully review the benefits and costs associated with each card and then … make the right decision.

First, you need to know that there are two kinds of cards –

(1) 30-Day Loan Credit Card … the American Express Green Card is a good example. This card requires that you pay back whatever you have charged over the preceding thirty days. In essence, it provides you with a 30-day interest-free loan. The card does have requirements regarding income, work and credit history. In other words, you need to qualify for it and can be turned down.

(2) Revolving Credit Card … this is the card that most people carry. It could be a Visa or a MasterCard credit card. It doesn’t matter. You are generally required to pay back as little as 10% of your debt in any given month and the remaining balance is subject to interest charges. The interest charged by the bank that issued the card to you can be excessive or reasonable. It often depends on your credit history.

When you decide to apply for a credit card, it’s important that you understand – in advance – the terms being offered to you. Interest rates differ from one revolving credit card to another. It depends on the bank that issues the card. Importantly, penalties and late fees also differ from bank to bank. So … do your homework. Determine which credit card issuer is willing to offer you the best deal (lowest interest rate on purchases and on ATM withdrawals … most reasonable late fees and penalties).

It takes a little effort to find the best cards, but it’s definitely worth your trouble. Find the best card and you will save money, probably lots of it.

Of course, if you qualify, you are better served by applying for a card like American Express Green (30-day Interest-Free Loan). You can use that card and spend the bank’s money and then simply pay back that money after 30 days – no interest, no fees, no penalties … nothing.

Keep this thought in mind: Cards that include interest charges run the gamut from moderate to excessively-high interest rates. If your credit and work history is good, you will be able to qualify for – and get – a credit card that charges affordable interest on purchases and ATM withdrawals. And… you will save money – lots of it!