13 Nov 09 Investing During A Recession

It’s not the greatest idea to keep your money in the bank, instead of invested in something. Mostly because that saved money just sitting there is useless. You could be earning money by investing intelligently. Sure there’s risk involved, but there’s risk in everything that you do financially. You have a better chance of retiring when you want if you invest the money, opposed to just saving.

But how do you invest during a recession? Now may not seem like the best time to be investing in the stock market, and you’d probably be right. But playing your cards right, you can still invest smartly, and get your money working for you. Just be careful, and make smart decisions.

One of the best, is to diversify. One huge pitfall of stocks, is when a person invests too much of their portfolio into one investment. That’s a mistake, because if that investment falls through, so do you. You should never have more than 5-10% of your total portfolio invested in once source. This way you don’t stand to lose much if the stock sinks, and you’ll still benefit from the gains.

Look into good defensive stocks like healthcare and entertainment stocks. These are good bets long term, and investments are about long term gains. The pain you’re suffering from the recession of the last few years is nothing compared to the big picture. Recessions happen, the stock market goes through good periods and bad ones. These investments are for the long term. So if you’ve lost 30-40% of your initial money right now, think about that as a small blip on the chart.

There’s no telling where the stock market will be ten years from now. Everything could have fully recovered, and you could be up 30-40% on your savings again, when you’re looking to sell.

Tags: Best Time, Bets, Better Chance, Big Picture, Blip, Defensive Stocks, Earning Money, Initial Money, Investing During A Recession, Investing In The Stock Market, Investing Stock, Investments, Mistake, Money In The Bank, Money Investing, Periods, Pitfall, Recessions, Sinks, Smart Decisions

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11 Oct 09 Daily Time Management Tips – 10

If you are in the position of leadership then a working knowledge of time management becomes very important for you. Do not expect your employees to step ahead and shoulder the responsibility. They simple will not. It is on you to make them work, and for that you will need a proper plan. In this part of Daily Time Management Tips series, I will address that issue.

Make a weekly work chart

Devote an hour or two on every Saturday to prepare the work chart for the coming week. This will save many work hours of your team that comes to office on Monday and could not find any to do. A weekly work chart will also tell the employee what is expected of them on each day of week. If you have your work chart in place then your employees cannot say that they did not know about the project. An hour or two on Saturday will save you tens to hundreds of work hour for your company (depending upon the size of your team).

Reward and appreciation

A simple pat on the back goes a long way. Praise the employee who finishes its work on time. You can also run a weekly “employees with the best time management skills” contest. This will motivate employees to finish their works on time. Give some tangible reward as well. A pat and a prize works wonder in keeping the team on target and on time.

Upgrade your office

Do you know how much money does working with old equipments and software is costing you and your company? If you think you do not pay the price then let me break the bad news: you pay through your noses, if your employees have systems from their grandfather’s time. An investment of some thousand dollars can save at least ten of thousands of dollars in employee productivity every month.

Tags: Bad News, Best Time, Employee Productivity, How Much Money, Investment, Knowledge Management, Leadership, Noses, Pat On The Back, Tangible Reward, Target, Tens, Thousand Dollars, Thousands Of Dollars, Time Management Skills, Time Management Tips, Working Knowledge

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17 Jul 09 Protect Your Home Appraisal

In appraising your property, to do things right you need to know what to watch out for so that you don’t do anything wrong. You absolutely have to keep in mind that home appraisal is completely subjective, and so don’t get down on yourself if you don’t get back the number that you are expecting. A good real estate agent will provide you with the information you need for what the market trend is, when the best time to sell your house is, and what sort of a market your house more appeals to, all of which are reflected in your appraisal. Finding a good real estate agent is key, but also there are a few pitfalls you absolutely need to be aware of when it comes to home appraisal.

Firstly, any company that you are even remotely considering going through to sell your home needs to be investigated by you to ensure that they are fully licensed by the state. You need to make sure that they are a real estate agency that is fully registered and monitored. That way you can ensure that the likelihood of any fraud coming back to haunt you is as low as possible.

Never use an appraiser selected by a potential home buyer, or a potential home buyer’s real estate agency. This is the biggest conflict of interest in the book, and you should be wary of anybody that even suggest this tactic, as it’s a clear cut sign that either the agency, or the buyer themselves are trying to get the better of you. Any appraiser chosen from that real estate agency, or buyer, is almost guaranteed to give a number favoring them, which is why you need to take the initiative to have your property appraised by a third party that you choose. It’s your home that you’re selling, so never compromise your seat of power.

Don’t forget that property appraisal is not an exact science, and is more based on a persons own opinions, or values of what the market reflects. As appraiser is driven by their own emotions and opinions that are based off of solid market data, which means no matter how bipartisan they try to be, the number will still reflect some sort of emotional response. Which is why if you get a number you don’t like in your appraisal, feel free to go through a different company, or even a few, so that you are open to different viewpoints.

Tags: Best Time, Conflict Of Interest, Emotions, Exact Science, Fraud, Good Real Estate, Home Appraisal, Home Buyer, Initiative, Likelihood, Market Trend, Pitfalls, Property Appraisal, Real Estate Agency, Real Estate Agent, S Real Estate, Sell House, Sell Your House, Tactic, Third Party

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13 Nov 09 Investing During A Recession

11 Oct 09 Daily Time Management Tips – 10

Make a weekly work chart

Reward and appreciation

Upgrade your office

17 Jul 09 Protect Your Home Appraisal

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