Some Interesting Credit Card Facts

There are over 1.2 billion credit cards in use in the United States. At least 37 percent of all personal spending is paid for by using credit and debit cards. The average US consumer, not including mortgage debt, is about $14,500 in the hole. A typical Credit Card purchase will end up costing you 112% more than if cash were used. About 40% of all American Families spend more than they make each year. About 60% of active credit card accounts are not paid off monthly. The typical American Family spends about $1,560 annually in credit card interest. The average credit card rates are currently 14.37 % and has been increasing since the beginning of 2006 when it was 12.82%. About 70% of all gas purchases are done by shell credit card. A year ago, when gas prices averaged $1.87, banks involved in credit card processing made about $12.5 million a day on fees. Now, with prices averaging $2.75 nationally, the credit card companies are raking in $18.4 million a day. Albert Einstein was once asked what he felt was mankind’s greatest invention… His answer… “compound interest”…..

Investing in Your Business: Turning Cash into Cash!

Many business owners don’t like to part with their money and with good reason. The constant barrage of vendors who want a piece of your cash pie can cause you to cling tightly to the purse strings. But have you ever considered that you could be missing opportunities to invest in your businesses and turn some of that valuable cash into even more cash?
Marketing and Advertising
Some business owners view advertising as a business expense when it should really be considered an investment in your business. When done right, the dollars spent on spreading the word about your business should come back to you. Though it doesn’t make sense to spend thousands on an ad that will only generate a few hundred dollars in sales, it does make sense to narrow the focus of your efforts and spend what you know you can earn back.
Education
Books, information products, and industry training classes provide additional opportunities to invest in your business. If you spend $20 on a book, even if you only learn one new strategy from reading the publication, that strategy could potentially earn thousands in the long run.
Outsourcing
Speaking of hours, consider what your time is worth. If you earn $100 per hour for consulting, and you spend five hours per week working on paperwork, you’re essentially spending $500 a week—or $2000 per month—on this tedious task. Instead, you could hire a Virtual Assistant or part-time employee to handle your paperwork for you. If you can hire someone for less than $500 per week, you will actually save from your investment while freeing up your time to focus on generating new business.
Business Image
Many small businesses cut corners by trying to do everything in-house. As a result, the professional image can be compromised. For example, an unattractive website can actually detract business if it lacks professionalism, if the content has grammatical errors, or if the site isn’t drawing traffic from search engines. A Web designer, copywriter and search engine optimization expert could transform a website from an ineffective online business card into a money-making machine!

Back on Topic...

Starting your own business, don't forget about building the team.
If you want to grow your business, if you want to move beyond doing everything yourself, you need other people to play the game with you. How do you get them to want to play the game your way?

Paradox: A statement, seemingly absurd or contradictory, yet in fact true.

What is a team? A team is something special that's created when individuals are free to do their jobs. Teamwork is a paradox. Team members perform individually, yet are dependent on the other members for their success. How do you build a team? By helping individuals win. By helping each person on the team succeed individually, and contribute to the whole.

Contactless Credit Cards - Are They Worthness?

Today the popularity of contactless payments is growing. Why so? I have looked through a lot of news and articles on non-swipe credit cards, but do not know still, what this technology comes with. Some people assert that such offers reduce instances of credit card fraud and thefts. On the other hand, there are people who are sure, contactless plastics can be dangerous threats to privacy and, then, can lead to identity theft. Really, the name, expiration date, and card number on such a plastic are readable with any card reader. So, what are your two cents? To use or not to use?

Invest on Your Own

If you invest on your own in the stock exchange, you can reduce your expenses considerably. If you buy shares or the exchange traded fund, you pay a brokerage of 0.3%. There is no annual fee.
If you are not sure about the shares to select, invest in the STI exchange traded fund. It is invested mainly in about 30 Singapore blue chips that make up the ST index. This gives you diversification.
1,000 STI ETF will cost you abotu $3,200 now. If you are investing your monthly savings, you may have to wait for 1 year to accumulate sufficient savings to buy 1,000 shares.
You can offer a price between the buy and sell price quoted on the exchange. Your order will stand in the queue, waiting for someone to sell to you. If you are keen to buy immediately, you can pay a higher price to match the sell price on the board.
If you have a large sum to invest (say $100,000 or more), you can select 5 to 10 blue chips and invest $10,000 to $20,000 in each share. This will give you some degree of diversification. It is like creating your own portfolio.
You will need to open an account with a stockbroker and a CDP account.

What I Am Going to Do with the $600 Rebate Check...

I am sure you are aware of the rebate check that the gov't will send us; as a way to prevent our economy from a recession and the stock market from tumbling. Single tax payers can receive up to $600. (hmmm... this kind of wording makes me think that I will not receive the full $600.) Anyway, if I were to receive the full $600, I will most likely put it all toward my Roth IRA. (if I haven't maxed out this year's limit by then.) If I can't put it in my Roth. I will most likely save it and wait for another buy opportunity in the stock market.

Financial Crisis on the Credit Card Market

The New Year has come and brought negative changes to the US credit market. Stock market fall, mortgage crisis and constant growth of consumer debt... What are we to expect? Raising fees or rates? Read the article "Financial Crisis and Credit Cards" for more information.

Forex Is a World of Opportunities

The foreign exchange market is the largest financial market in the world.
You may already be aware of some of the benefits offered by the currency market. It is the fastest, largest and most liquid market in the world, but that is only the beginning of its advantages. As a very basic explanation, forex is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another in order to seek gaining a profit (or accruing a loss).
Today, almost anyone with the appropriate appetite for risk and an understanding of market trends and analysis can trade currencies online with GFT. There are many benefits of trading forex versus other types of financial markets, many benefits to choosing GFT as your forex dealer and much to learn if you’re new to currency trading. Just click a link below to start improving your knowledge, and you’ll be well on your way to reaching your full potential in the foreign exchange market.

Making Money from Stock Market - Tips for Beginners

Making money from stock markets requires trading in the stock market. Prudent buying, holding and selling of stocks generate profits and money. Stock trading is the function that interacts and organizes in the stock market.
This market involves buying and selling of millions of shares all over the world, and generates profit. A share of this profit comes to the successful trader in the stock market. That is how s/he makes money from the stock market.
As a beginner, you must understand essentially how the market works. You don’t have to know all of the technicalities of buying and selling stocks.
The first and foremost you need to know is the functioning of the exchange floor, irrespective of whether you trade through the floor or electronically.
Beginners should avoid complicating things trying to get rich in a day by venturing into every nook and cranny without knowing a thing or two about them. There are many types of trading like day trading, swing trading, futures and so on. Instead of trying to do a little bit of everything, it is profitable to concentrate on a single type that is simple to understand for you.
To begin with, you need a broker to handle your trades – individuals don’t have access to the electronic markets. Your broker accesses the exchange network and the system finds a buyer or seller depending on your order. Choose the right broker rationally. This is a crucial point of money making from stocks.
Don’t worry if you find it very difficult to infer the price, because it really is difficult. It is frequently seen to be irregularly moving all along the day. Yet there are patterns to be figured out and expectations work quite often.
Depend on your comprehension and your broker, who must be a professional. Never bypass understanding fully the cause(s) behind a bad result when it occurs. Learn from your experiences, document them, and keep reading them once in a while.

I Can't Believe Another Year Has Come

It's true that the years go buy quicker as you get older, maybe just cause time is taken up with so many things.
All in all it's been a good year, I've met many good people on answers, and i'd like to thank them for keeping me entertained during some stressfull times this year. Thanks to, Dolly, Busy, Sylvia, Sue, Steph, Shambo, Kev, Kamran, Shady, Miss P, Sprocket.... the many others who i havn't mentioned.

Gift Credit Cards

The most majestic holiday of the year is around the corner, and crowds of people rush into the malls in order to buy various presents for their relatives, neighbors colleagues, and friends. Gift credit cards could be an excellent Christmas present among all variants.
No doubt, the best credit card gives you an opportunity to save your money and reduce your spendings during Christmas time.
Gift cards are becoming more sought after than ever before. It is estimated that gift card sales will amount to $26.3 billion this holiday, compared to $24.8 billion last year. Just imagine that gift cards are the best present for people who long to pamper themselves with new purchases.
Select one of the exclusive gift credit cards for your relatives or friends. A personal private message will make this gift special for the recipient. Moreover, gift plastics can be used for online purchases as well. That's surely an excellent option for those who lead a busy life.

New Ideas for Money Making

I suggest you some businesses. Think and go ahead!

• Search dog service

• Locator phones

• A locator system for blind people

• Parasailing in the desert

• Sell lests

• Boom boxes for bicycles

Some News

Today I have found an interesting article at CnnMoney.com. It is called "Protect Yourself from the Dollar Drop". What do you think of it? Can it really help?

Stop Paying Your Bills On-Time!

How many of you have been taught the best way to protect your credit is to always pay your bills on time?

We all have. It’s common sense.

I still remember the little chat my Dad had with me about credit when I was about 18 and got my first Montgomery Wards card. He said,

“Tom, credit can be a great thing; but make sure you always pay your bills on time or you're going to regret it."

What if I told you just “paying your bills on-time” was hurting your credit score? It’s true. Let me explain.

Credit card companies want you to have bad credit. If you have bad credit, they have control. If you have bad credit, they now have the justification (at least in their minds) to give you the worst possible interest rates; and interest is where they make their money.

That being said, they employ all kinds of scumbag tricks to help you - give them the excuse they need to jack your rates up.

Just paying your bills on time is one of them. Here’s how it works.

Most credit card companies report to the credit bureaus about the same day they mail you your bill. You’re were dead before you even got the bill. Still don’t get it? Keep reading.

Your credit score is based on several factors. The second highest factor (30 percent) is your credit card balances. And that my friends, is one of the ways they get you.

Let me give you an example…

Let’s say it’s the 1^st. of the month and you use $4,000.00 of an $8,000.00 credit limit. You’re not worried; you know your bill will arrive on the 15^th. at which time you’ll have the money to pay-it-off in full.

Well, it’s already reported to the bureaus; $4000.00 and all. That’s because they reported it right before they even mailed you the bill. You never had a chance.

That’s 50 percent utilization, which we all know is bad. You should keep your balances below 10 percent. I guarantee you, 50 percent is dragging your score down.

Here’s where it gets worse. We’ve monitored thousands and thousands of credit reports; as well as the spending habits of our clients. 9 out of 10 people will go use their cards again right after paying them off.

If you’re thinking to yourself “then my balances will always look maxed”, you’d be right. Use that card right after paying your bill “on time”, guess what happens the next statement date?

It’s a vicious cycle that is sent into motion on purpose by credit card companies.

Here’s the good news. The solution is simple.

Call your credit card companies and find out their reporting date. Don’t wait for your bills to arrive, make sure that check is in their greedy little hands BEFORE they report.

Now, you’ve turned that that ugly little cycle into a positive. They will be reporting paid off cards every month.

Hire the Right People

Hiring people is the most challenging and biggest decision a business person has to make. This is even more topical problem for business owners starting new companies.
When hiring people, you may follow two ways:

1. Build a core, passionate team
2. Or don't

Very few people would admit to choosing #2 as an approach, but lots of companies do exactly that — they hire for reasons other than passion and fit. How many companies start with salary as the key decision point for hiring someone?

Companies don’t put enough stock in the importance of building a real team; they focus on getting people on board with the right qualifications at the right price and that’s it. It’s an easy trap to fall into because it’s an easier way to hire. And when your company is growing fast and doing well, and you’ve got more work than you know what to do with, to heck with building a core team…you need warm bodies at desks!

The end result of building a team without really thinking about the team is usually not a good one. Higher turnover. Dissatisfaction at work. Lower productivity.

A core team of passionate, true believers will always go the extra mile for each other and by extension the company they work for. People will stay at jobs they dislike if they love the team.

The problem with hiring the right people is that it takes a lot longer. You have to be prepared to invest a good chunk of time in the process — finding candidates, interviewing them, testing them, trying them out — it’s more akin to dating than anything else; there’s a dating dance or ritual that has to take place.

But the payoff is enormous. This is especially true for startups - those first few hires are going to be key ones. Those people are practically partners. You need them to stick it out through thick and thin, and be as devoted as possible. You need them to create the culture and spirit for future hires. You need them evangelizing the business. You need them taking ownership. You need them to be the driving force of success.

It’s a tall order, which is why you need to invest the time, thought and energy into hiring people properly. And you always need to focus on building a great team, not a bunch of people connected together by the fact that they work in the same office.