“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

This very much applies to the your retirement plans especially if you are investing in the stock market. The proverb clearly states you need to know where you are going and how to get there. Right now, do you know how much money you are going to need to retire in the style you wish and, right now, do you have a plan to get that money put away?

Unfortunately, most people don’t. Many are saving, but with no plan. Are you one of those who let his broker or financial planner do the investing for you? I sure hope not. When I owned my brokerage company I can tell you about 1% of these “experts” know how to make money. My definition of a broker is one who makes you broker.

Brokers will talk circles around you with all the usual Wall Street smoke and mirrors. Their two great myths are “Buy and Hold” and “Dollar Cost Averaging”, both of which don’t work very well. And then they will mesmerize you with “Research” which is the greatest waste of time I can think of. Brokers are not taught how to make money and they don’t even realize it. Their training is designed to keep the brokerage house from being sued. Brokers have been good students, but badly taught.

Let me prove that to you. If research was so good then why isn’t every broker rich? He has access to more information than you will ever be able to get. The big wire houses subscribe to tons of information. Brokers seem to confuse information with money-making. Information is of no value at all if you can’t turn it into the purchase of a stock or mutual fund that is going up.

I maintain you don’t need to know anything about a stock or mutual fund. All you need to do is look at a chart of a particular equity and if it is going up at a 30-degree angle over the long term (last 3 months), then buy it. When it quits going up, sell it and find another one. Brokers will tell you this is too simplistic and won’t work. As I said they have been badly taught.

If you are not happy with the returns on your investment portfolio you will want to reanalyze your goal. Set an amount. Change direction. Get on a better road to achieve that goal.

You cannot rely on someone else to do it for you. It is not their money, it is yours. No one will take the interest in that you do. Just do it!

Al Thomas’ book, “If It Doesn’t Go Up, Don’t BuyIt!” has helped thousands of people make moneyand keep their profits with his simple 2-stepmethod. Read the first chapter athttp://www.mutualfundmagic.comand discover why he’s the man that Wall Streetdoes not want you to know.

Copyright 2005

They say some people never learn, but many do, acquiring the wisdom that only comes with age and experience.

The greatest lesson I learned was a simple one: Don’t overlook the obvious.

Like many people, I’ve spent my whole life pursuing unreachable goals, exhausting the hard-earned money that goes along with it, until I learned: Goals must be reasonable and attainable.

It’s not just in your mind. - Although a lot of it is. Lacking a sense of limitation, and even denying limitation, is a quick path to self-destruction, and in rare cases, glory.

The key is determining just how much our minds affect what we do. But maybe that’s another story.

The main point I wanted to bring out in this article is we overlook many opportunities, and even the opportunities to solve our problems, by overlooking obvious things.

All of us being gifted with the best computers on the planet - our own brains - we’re endelessly off to the wondrous exploration of endless possibilities. That’s the miracle, and also the bane of the human brain. (That rhymes).

Often, we need to return to basics, and step back, and look at things from a different, more simple, perspective.

For example, just a small personal example: I lived in Japan for 25 years, and speak, read, and write the Japanese language fluently. For years, I tried to use this ability, but in the wrong ways.

Once I realized my true target market was the Japanese, in the United States - not American companies seeking to hire a Japanese-speaking American to develop business with Japanese in the United States or in Japan (although I once did that) - things changed dramatically. But that is yet another story. You can read some of it at http://www.japaneselv.com

To get back to the major gist, three things to ask yourself every day, particularly in the accomplishment of difficult duties:

1. What obvious solution might I be overlooking?2. What are the obvious resources available to resolve the situation?3. What obviously simple methods might I employ? Or, what skills or personal contacts do I have that might help?

If you ask yourself the simple question “Am I overlooking the obvious here?” every day, you’ll see what I mean.

James B. Wilson is a writer, author and online news entrepreneur specializing in Japanese and English online news. http://vegasnews.squarespace.com

Until an abused person has had enough and decides to make a break from their emotional, physical prison, they must have a plan to escape and hide from the abuser. Leaving the home could be the safest move, but if a court date is set up you will have to reappear. Too often spouses are killed or maimed for life after an arrest. So if you plan to remove yourself from this type of relationship, you must plan ahead.

Set aside money in a safe place in your name only where you can access it in a hurry.

Pack a bag with necessities and clothing for a short period of time. Leave it with a trusted friend and let them know you may be calling on them to set it out for you at an odd time of the night or day.

Collect any pertinent paperwork that you will need such as:
Birth certificates yours and your children, if you have any, school papers, credit cards in your name only, insurance policies, health cards and info, marriage certificate, diplomas, passports, bank statements, marital savings accounts info, pictures, anything that you feel will be necessary in establishing a new life.

Store these in a safe, waterproof container, until you need them. Document on paper that you are leaving to save your life. Leave it with a friend or relative for later retrieval.

Contact a Safe House

You may have to go to the local Library and use their computer to search for local Safe Houses for the abused. Some churches can lead you to proper resources. Explain your situation in case you need temporary housing until you find a permanent home.

Contact your Spiritual Advisor and/or a Counselor as soon as you are able.

Remember an abuser is very good at talking people into doing his/her bidding. Just because they are in jail, does not mean they will stay put. Bail is usually found if they know enough people and you could be in more danger now than before. Policemen are powerless unless the abuser breaks the law again and if you are not persistent in filing charges, the authorities are powerless.

If you are attached to an abuser, it is only a matter of time before you are critically injured.

No one, not even your church, expects you to stay and take physical abuse. You are a child of God and He does not expect you to stay in an abusive relationship.

A person who will beat you up, break your bones, and diminish you as a person, does NOT love you! They love being in control of you, body and soul! Get counsel on when and how to make your move to freedom. Then get out.

For more tips and tools on how to survive divorce and loss and make healthy relationship choices you are invited to visit http://askpat.typepad.com

Patricia Hubbard has Facilitated a Support Group for Separated, Divorced and Widowed people for the past 12 years.

2007 and 2008 have been eventful years, full of investment related news. These years are marked with mergers and acquisitions, US housing market challenges, record oil prices, sharp decline in US dollar, rising US deficit, galloping energy prices, too much attention to global warming etc. There was a lot of news for investors to think and discuss about.

The period starting from second half of 2007 has been particularly marked for wide fluctuations in stock and money markets. We saw lows and highs starting from October 2007. This sent panic waves across the investing community and across the globe.

2008 And US Economic Dose

Start of 2008 was equally dismal. Amidst huge fluctuations, the US Government was forced to take immediate emergency measures which lifted the market a good deal in US and elsewhere. Even then the future looks murkier.

With US having taken record breaking measures, this can be both a good and bad news for the market. While it is good for providing an immediate stimulus to the market for preventing recession to occur, this can also provide a bad impression that something major is wrong with the economy and these could be understood as desperate measures. This may further unnerve investors.

Gyrating capital markets created an uncertain position, making it very hard for investors to take investment decisions.

Stick to Long Term Goals

One thing that is clear about this mess is that one should stick to long term goals. It should be recognized that investment related objectives are achieved only over a longer period of time. It should also be understood that markets can do anything in the short run. It is the long run that matters and true success of an investment strategy can be measured only over a period of time.

In these conditions, it becomes imperative that one takes a hard look on one’s portfolio. Investors should constantly review profit and loss statements.

Avoid Frequent Shifts

Moving in and out of markets frequently can be an extremely risky strategy as many investors have found out recently. If markets fall dramatically, many investors are likely to end up selling their holdings in panic which may not be good. Even professionals cannot time the market correctly. Timing the market will at best be a futility.

It is difficult to predict the movement of markets. In view of this, investors are better advised to follow a discipline, formulate a plan and to stick with the same.

Outlook For Future

Investors are worried for the future. There are many questions which need answers. Will the fears of Americans come true? Will housing meltdown continue? Will credit crisis spread to other sectors of the economy? How are energy prices going to behave? And finally will US economic package be able to prevent economic slowdown?

Nobody can predict the outcome. However, it appears that energy prices will continue to remain high. If there are no further credit problems, it is possible that further deepening of the economic mess gets stopped.

With elections in the US, there will be too much economic debate and new economic initiatives. Taking the overall conditions in view, it seems that economic malaise may not turn out to be as bad as it is thought. There will be threats and opportunities for investors. They need to guard themselves well and not to be afraid of benefiting from new economic trends.

The author has background in business, economics and finance. He is presently researching in finding ways to make money and working on the following website and blogs:

http://www.businesses-jobs-careers.com

http://makemoneyplans.blogspot.com/

Working as a loan officer for the last ten years I have been asked this question quite a few times. The easy answer is 720 and above. Of coarse, a good FICO score doesn’t guarantee you the best rates on a mortgage or even a car. Most of the clients that ask me this question do indeed have good credit and they know it. By asking me “what is a good FICO score” they are subliminally telling me “hey buddy I get the best rates so don’t get tricky”.

For the most part these customers are right; a good FICO score does usually mean the best rate. However, putting a loan together we have to look at all pieces of the pie. I have quoted borrowers with impeccable credit rates that made them want to slap me. A good FICO score opens the gate for programs that people with lower credit scores cant even consider. However other pieces of the pie can definitely bump your rate upwards.

For instance, what if you have a good FICO score but cannot prove that you have enough income to afford the loan? What if your home is over the conforming loan amount and considered a Jumbo loan? What if you are on a fixed income and living off of your retirement funds? If your home is at a high loan to value that can get you too. The bottom line, I can help a person with excellent credit into a loan like this but their rate will be 1.5% - 2% over the average rate you see posted online.

Some mortgage programs and car loans have a minimum credit score and once you reach that plateau all the rates are the same. Meaning, if I have a 640 credit score and you have a 720 credit score and we both apply for the same mortgage my rate will be the same as yours under conforming guidelines. Some car loan guidelines work the same way. The difference between the two score is you may qualify to buy the car or house without a down payment where I may have to put 5% down.

So what is a good FICO score already? Lets start at the bottom and work our way up. Credit scores run from 450 - 850 on the FICO scale. After ten years of pulling credit I have never seen either score, I have seen close though. If your credit score that begins with a “4″ are probably not going to be offered credit, there are exceptions but by in large I am right. Generally 500 - 599 is considered to be poor credit, D paper, sub-prime paper, these borrowers may get the loan but they will pay dearly for it.

FICO scores between 600 - 660 are typically graded as “c paper” up to “b paper”. These borrowers can expect to pay a higher price on credit cards, car loans but not necessarily when it comes to mortgages. When your FICO score reaches 680 - 720 you can usually expect to get the same rates as the person with the best FICO score. The only difference is that you will not have access to all of the programs that are available to the borrower with the higher FICO score.

If you have a credit score from 721 - 850 you will qualify for the best rates, all of the programs and probably get your bootie smooched by whoever is extending the credit. The misconception that most borrowers make is the assumption that a borrower with an 820 FICO will get preferential treatment over the borrower with a 721 score. I am afraid not, once you pass 720 your in the club, you can expect the same treatment that a person with very highest score receives you may receive a little more “bootie smooching” but that’s it.

Aubrey Clark is an author and syndicated author Lendfast.com who writes extensively on Financial matters. His tutorials cover subjects like What is a good fico score, profit first negotiating to how to win when banks compete.

I have recently been put into a situation where I’ve had to be creative with my household budget. Here are some ideas on how you can, too!

I have four tv’s in my household and I live alone. I have Direct TV and have turned off all the boxes but the main one. Savings/mo.= $45.

I used to have the unlimited Direct TV packages ( you know, some movie channels like HBO and music channels). I rarely watched the movie channels. If I want to watch a movie I’ll rent it from a video store. I’m not a movie buff anyway. As for music, I have about 100 cd’s and a radio with how many stations? I can also listen to music over my computer. Savings/mo.= $50.

Lawn maintenance. The guy who maintains the lawn does an awesome job, but my yard is big and his price is fair but costly. Short of mowing it myself ( and I haven’t mowed a lawn in 20 years ), I decided to have him come every other week versus every week. Toward the end of the second week the yard doesn’t look that great, but the neighbors haven’t started to petition to evict me. Savings/mo. = $90.

Land phone. Unless you have children at home or have a home based business, why do you need a land phone? Most places get good enough cell phone reception. There are two things you won’t be able to do - fax and have an alarm hooked to a central station. The alarm you can’t get around, but most people know how to scan a document and send it via email to your computer. Savings/mo. = $30

Total savings/mo. = $215

Total savings/yr. = $2580

How could you spend this money? Maybe help with a car payment?

my own experience