Often, it’s difficult to get your head around all of the financial issues that you face in day-to-day life. At myfinancefacts.com we aim to help you juggle issues, such as financial planning, asset allocation, payday loans, cash flow, budgeting, cash advances and insurance.
The best financial planners and investors in the world have perfected their financial skills by staying cautious, sensible and attentive and listening to the advice of others.
When an expatriate goes to his bank to transfer currency in a foreign country, he never knows how much it will cost him really. Infiltration in an environment where the transparancy remains.
How a bank earns money when transferring your currency? When an individual or business needs to send money abroad, the bank or payment institution collects three fees: the fee fixed, exchange commission and exchange fees.
We must first understand that the fixed costs and the currency exchange may vary, depending on banks and money transferred from 0.01 to 70 euros, not actually exist as to hide the costs of exchange which are those with which the bank earns the most money.
Therefore, when you arrive at your advisor to ask him how a transfer will cost 1000 euros to the U.S., you speak quite freely of exchange fees, or even the foreign exchange if you ask more questions, but he never mentioned the existence of exchange fees. “It will cost a 17 euro fee. But, since you are a good customer, I’ll be able to reduce this cost 3 euros. ” In reality, your advisor is passing the tariff rate applied to agency employees on the website. Not really a gift …
Exchange costs, the invisible fee..
If you come to mention exchange fees, you simply explain that the exchange rate varies constantly depending on the course of the euro against the U.S. dollar, as in our example. But what is the current price? How will I get my 1000 dollars from euros? Your counselor will then make a simple calculation from the reference price, a course that all individuals can learn via the Internet.
To view the actual rate, we must goto the interbank. However, this course is reserved for banks. It is therefore impossible to follow live the true reference price. Thus, there is a legal gray area which is called a spread in the jargon. It is the invisible line taken by the bank or payment institution on the exchange rate. Thus are created exchange fees. For a sum of 1,000 euros, exchange fees currently applied by all banks never fall below 8%. In our example, the sending of 1000 euros in the United States will therefore cost you more than 80 euros. It is a far cry from 3 euros fee originally mentioned by my advisor.
How to transfer money cheaply?
Are there any tricks to transfer money to foreign countries for less? Yes, since 2005 and the vote by the European Parliament Directive 2007-64 EC to regulate payment services in the internal market, the money transfer markets are more and more competitive in England.
Take the case of an exchange company which opened on the French market in 2010. How is this company, which offers money transfers free of euro exchange fees and 0% exchange commission, manages to be more competitive than banks?
Regarding exchange fees and exchange commission, it is very simple, just delete them. As for the famous exchange fees, these institutions are much less greedy than the banks. By acquiring a purchasing volume of almost 500 million euros from banks, a bit like a wholesaler, it is able to negotiate preferential rates, which can then offer better exchange rates than banks.
A lot of people think that buying and holding in the stock market today is better than putting their money in the bank. Unfortunately, many of those same investors end up losing a lot of money on their purchases. Therefore, they end up in worse shape than if they had merely put the money in the ground. Here are 2 ways to prevent that from happening to you:
Have a stop loss strategy
First things first: if you are looking to make money from the stock market today, you need an exit point. No matter how much research you have done into a particular stock, there is always the chance that it could go down in price and never recover. In some instances you can lose a lot of money if you keep holding a stock with the belief that it will go back up.
That is not to say that you should not be patient; just do not hold it forever. Many investors futility hold the same share stubbornly even as the bottom falls out, and they lose their entire investment. Even Warren Buffet has an exit point, and he does more research on his purchases than the vast majority of investors.
Do not diversify
Most people hold the false belief that diversification is a good idea. While it does limit your risks, it also limits your gains. Diversification is basically akin to holding a mutual fund, because the goal is to reflect the overall movement of the stock market today.
In other words, if the market goes up 10% for the year, in theory your stocks should as well. There is nothing wrong with a 10% increase in price. However, it is possible to make much more than that. The top investors in the stock market today consistently see returns of close to 20% year in, year out.
This is not luck.
Instead, they buy specific stocks they know are going to go up, and focus all their investments on those ones. They do not dilute their earnings by purchasing a wide range of stocks, half of which are sure to go in the tank. For the uneducated investor, diversification is fine. However, you can actually earn a lot more in the stock market today if you take the time and become educated.
When it comes to managing your personal finances, there is no such thing as being too organized. Finance software is available from many manufacturers and can help you manage tax documents and information, business profits and losses, investments, bank accounts, and many other forms of finance. There are many different pieces of software available, and finding the best one is really dependent on many things. The most important step is to determine the level of management you need. For people looking solely to file taxes or manage bank accounts, there are many free programs available that do an excellent job of this.
No matter which software program you consider, you will want to ensure that it will work for you before laying out any money. Most programs offer tutorial videos or even free trials with limited functionality to help you learn what features are available and whether the programs will be the best one for you. Managing your personal finances is very important, and whether you have simple bank accounts or a host of investments, letting money slip through the cracks with improper management can be very costly.
If you are a business owner or investor, it is certainly well worth the investment to find a more detailed and complex program to help you manage your finances. You can track investments, create charts and graphs that detail the performance of stocks and other profit or interest bearing investments and even compare these gains to other investing methods. Taking the time to choose the best finance software truly has many advantages. While it is certainly possible to track your investments solely on paper or to hire an accountant or broker to manage all of your funds, having the data you need close at hand and in an easily readable format simply offers too many benefits to turn away.
Personal finance software is not intended to substitute for a qualified investment broker or to take the place of careful asset management but is instead an excellent supplement. For homeowners simply looking to track mortgages, bills, and household finances, free software may be the best choice. Always do the necessary research to ensure that you choose the best program for the job and you will find yourself satisfied with the results. When you need to know how your investments are performing or where your retirement fund stands, the ability to check a simple program without needing to call a team of professionals offers anyone an enormous benefit.
