Sunshine-Empire & EmMax

If you're feeling pangs of concern about your retirement nest egg and the increasingly volatile stock market, you're not alone.

The last 6 or 7 years have been filled with uncertainty for people whose serious retirement money is tied up in traditional retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s. Some have seen as much as 30% of their retirement funds disappear into thin air.

The question on everyone's mind is how to protect your money from market uncertainty and how do you instead create stability?

Will Rogers is quoted as saying that "people are more concerned with the return of their money than with the return on their money." This is especially true for those who are still smarting from the losses they've experienced over the past few years.

Douglas Andrew of Missed Fortune has been a financial strategist and retirement specialist for the past 34 years. In his experience, the best vehicle for growing your serious money while avoiding the risks of market volatility is indexed universal life insurance.

This strategy requires you to maximum fund an insurance contract and the return the insurance company credits is then linked to an index such as the S&P 500, the Euro Stock Index or the Dow Jones. If the particular market your money is linked to loses value, you don't actually lose money because your money is not invested in the market itself.

This means that you're still getting a guaranteed 0-2% rate of return, even when the market goes down.

On the other hand, if the market is having a great year and growing, you get to participate 100% up to a certain cap of perhaps 12-15%. This strategy absolutely works in your favor for cash accumulation.

If a Vegas casino was to tell you that you could play there all day and they would cover your bets and even if you lost money, you'd still walk out of there at the end of the day with 1-2% more money than you came in with, you'd take notice, right? Now consider that if you actually won money, you still get to keep whatever you made, up to a cap of 12 or 15%, you'd probably choose to play in that casino.

You don't have to be a gambler to recognize that you're likely to come out ahead under those circumstances.

In essence, that's what an indexed universal life strategy can do for you.

By participating in the market indirectly, you eliminate the uncertainty and risk while still being able to benefit when the market grows. Your money isn't actually in the market, but the insurance company credits you when the market does well.

Here's an example to illustrate how this works:

From 2000 to 2007, if you would have invested $100,000 in the S&P during those volatile years, you'd have lost as much as 14-17% in the years 2001 and 2002. At the end of 2007, after the markets had rebounded, your account would only be worth $111,000 for an average annual return of 1.45%.

If you had used the indexing strategy instead, with a 1% guarantee in a down market and a 15% capped return in an up market, your account balance would be $164, 840. That's a full $53,800 more in just 8 short years for a 7.4% average annual rate of return during a period when most people were losing money.

If you had been using this Missed Fortune strategy of Lock & Reset since 1950, starting with that same $100,000, you'd have a cool $11 million in your nest egg vs. only having $8 million if that money had been at risk in the market.

That extra $3 million equals a great deal of certainty and peace of mind, doesn't it?

Labels: Market, Reset

"...Move out of stocks or gold because I think they've been too hot and will crash soon", or "put some money in X because I think it's going to be hot soon." If I had a dollar every time I heard such things from clients, prospective clients, or people at a gathering after they find out that I'm a financial adviser, I could retire to the French Riviera right now, only to be seen by my family and friends during the holidays and hunting season.

In the past 20 or so years, the general public has gained access to various information, tools, and calculators that in the past were only available to financial professionals. Go to the website of a major discount broker and punch in some basic information and all the work will be done for you without having to understand all of the nuts and bolts. Most people get so much educational material thrown at them by their 401k/403b plan, one might begin to wonder how we're able to replace all the trees that had to be cut down to print it all. Data dating back to the beginning of financial markets shows that guessing market movement consistently is just not doable Couple that with the often repeated fact that 80% of mutual fund managers fail to beat their indexes, and the table that shows how being out of the market on a small handful of days in a decade or two decade span will miss most of its gains, one wonders how an individual can overlook such facts, but they do so again and again to their own chagrin. Why? I don't know but I'm going try and tackle it. Bear in mind though, I have no PhD in Psychology, just empirical observation.

WHAT IS MARKET TIMING?

One might think it includes pulling all of your money out of a particular asset class (stock/bonds/gold/real estate etc.) when one thinks or feels it's going to go down and re-investing it back in when one thinks it's going to rise, and while that is definitely market timing, it's an extreme version that not many people engage in due both to better education, and various rules and penalties that were put in place to dissuade this type of behavior. The definition of market timing that I go by is to change the strategic allocations of one's portfolio based on an "ungrounded" barometer such as market gyrations or a recommendation by an "expert" in some type of media, instead of by a more "grounded" barometer such as a change in life situation or a genuine change in risk tolerance. If, for example, your portfolio has a current stock allocation of 40%, but you decide that the market is due to rise due to some perception you have or some talking head on CNBC has, and you change the allocation to 45 or 50% based totally on that perception, you are a market timer, like it or not.

WHY DO WE TIME THE MARKET?

Better yet, why do we try timing the market when we logically know it has resulted in failure time and time again? Partly, because of the same reason we buy lottery tickets or visit the casino when we know the odds are stacked against us, optimism. We inherently believe that we're special. Besides, mom told us so. We're smarter, and have better resources than our neighbor, our "experts" are better than his "experts." Why else would the actively managed mutual fund market still be raking in new money? Why else do huge sums of money move out of said funds AFTER the market tanks, and move back in AFTER the major move upwards? Because we know when the turnaround is coming, and no matter how wrong it turns out to be we continually do it.

Another reason is control. In today's turbulent times, people's yearning to be in control is greater than ever. With all of the stuff out there that is out of our control, wars, the national debt, natural disasters, disease and sickness, we all desire one or two portions of our life be controllable, our money is one of those portions. The only trouble with this belief is that the global financial juggernaut is so huge, that trying to fight it is futile at best. Even if you could get information as timely than the Big Boys (pension funds, insurance companies), your tiny little order falls down at the bottom of the pecking order getting filled.

HOW DO WE STOP?

Well if I knew the answer to this exactly I'd probably be on the payroll of every pension plan in the world, but unfortunately all I can to is offer some personal suggestions. First, don't get a steady diet of cable business news or constantly spend time on financial websites. That's just as bad as going in to your favorite store to look around when you're tight on cash for the month. In either case you're going to convince yourself you need something and the time to buy is NOW! Go into an online broker's site or pay an independent adviser or financial planner a flat fee to help you set up an allocation (if that's all you want the planner to do.) Once you implement the plan, re-balance the portfolio on a regular basis (quarterly, semi-annually, or annually) but other than re-balancing LEAVE IT BE! I don't care if Ahmadinejad is threatening to blow up Israel, Congressmen and women are having an old west style shoot out in the Capitol Building, and Obama is shooting over par in his golf game that day! DON'T TOUCH THOSE ALLOCATIONS!

Another thing you can do is be honest about your risk tolerance. While stocks have the highest real rate of return over time, they do fluctuate, and while most people can stomach a little market turbulence with at least a small portion of their money, maybe you can't. If stock market volatility in any measure is to much for you to bear, DON'T INVEST IN THE MARKET. Yes, it pains me to say that, and no,you may not have as much money in retirement because you weren't able to keep pace with inflation. But if market gyrations cause you not to eat or lose a lot of sleep, you won't make it to retirement age anyway, better to be poorer but still alive I would say.

In closing, pick a strategy, stick with it, and don't confuse brains with a bull market. You, nor I, nor the gurus that try and sell you their stock picking course at 2 a.m. are that good that we can predict where that market is going to go on a regular basis.

Christian Halas is owner and wealth manager with Halas Consulting located in Pittsburgh, PA. Halas Consulting prides itself in providing unique and objective solutions to various insurance, investment, banking, tax, and estate issues faced by individuals and small businesses. Investment services provided in conjunction with Venn Wealth and Benefit Services, a PA Registered Investment Advisor. Christian can be reached via email at chalas@venn.us with any questions or comments on this article.

Labels: Heres, Market, Should, Trying

Today a lot of us are trying to find ways of earning extra cash for the future and one of the most popular ways of making extra money is with stock market investing. It is possible to make money on the stock market if you go about things in the right way. You should be aware that trading on the stock market does not work for everyone and you shouldn't look at it as a way to make a fortune quickly. Even so there is ways for you to make your money work for you but you must learn all you can about trading before beginning.

Once you invest in the shares of a particular company, you are actually becoming a part owner of the company and when dividends are paid out by the company, you will receive your share depending on how many shares you may have. Dividend income is the name for this type of income.

How to Get Started

Research is always the name of the game in regards to the stock market so you'll want to do yours before you get started. Decide on how much you want to invest and then think about how you're going to split your investment. High dividend yields and blue chip companies are the usual options for many people. Thinking about the products or services that you might use every day is the best way to manage your portfolio and this is something you need to do. By doing this, you can then start to learn concerning the companies that provide these services or products.

Selecting a Company

Once you might have identified companies that you think you might like to invest in, the next step is to take a look at their financial statements including their balance sheet and profit and loss statement. There are also other reports worth looking at that include the director's report or the cash in hand report. In addition, you need to check out if the performance of the company has improved by looking at their accounts throughout the last five years.

You should most likely consider going ahead with your investment if you are satisfied with the results. The best form of companies to look at is going to be those in the following industries: banking, insurance, pharmaceutical, oil, biotechnology, energy, IT, FMCG, gas and the service sector.

Your Stock Market Attitude

It's better to try and have shares in a company for about ten or twenty years if you need to get the best return. You might also want to consider option trading and if you do then think about putting about five percent of your investment fund aside for it. Provided you know what you are doing, you can make quite a lot of money from option trading.

The best way to make money from the stock market is to try and be clever about your investments. Devise a strategy and don't veer from this. You have to make sure that you do your research before you invest so that you can be assured that you don't lose your money.

If you wish to get more information regarding stocks and investing, why not visit our site at stock-trading-investing.com. You won't only find a plethora of tips, advice, information and reviews, you'll also find answers to more specific areas such as intraday trading.

Labels: Essentials, Investments, Market, Stock

Most of you have likely never heard of Claude Rosenberg but he certainly left his philosophical imprint on the investing world. Rosenberg founded money management firm Rosenberg Capital Management, grew assets under management to $40 billion, and made a fortune. Now, Mr. Rosenberg made a lot of money because he was a very disciplined investor and closely adhered to his investing philosophy through thick and thin.

So with that introduction, let me give you Mr. Rosenberg's eight commandments on how to successfully invest.

#1 Do not be concerned with where a stock has already been - instead, be concerned with where it is going. The important thing is what lies ahead, not what has already transpired...

Focus on a company's future - its earning, growth potential. Then make a well-researched judgment on whether you're paying the right price today for its future earnings stream. If a stock is pricier than its future growth potential, do not buy it.

#2 Do not concern yourself as much with the market in general as with the outlook for your individual stocks---and this is key for today's market.

Most investors base their buying and selling on overall market sentiment. Mr. Rosenberg believes this is a fallacy. He believed in buying good value as it appears and do not let the general market sentiment alter your decision.

#3 Remember... the public is generally wrong. He said: The masses are not well informed about investments and the stock market. They have not disciplined themselves correctly to make the right choices in the right industries at the right prices. They are moved mainly by their emotions, and history has proved them to be wrong consistently.

#4 Do not make hasty, emotional decisions about buying and selling stocks.

In fact, if you've heard my commentaries on this show, you'll know that I keep insisting that you have peace of mind through all sorts of market gyrations, and always sleep well at night. It is very easy to get caught in the trap of emotions amidst media noise and peer pressure... build your discipline so you are emotionally detached from the market, and stay focused and attached to your long-term investment strategy, and you will do well.

#5 Stocks always look worst at the bottom of a bear market when everything is the most gloomy and always look best at the top of a bull market (when everybody is optimistic).

Again, as many of my listeners know, I recently said Bad Markets Make Good Friends, and this is exactly Mr. Rosenberg's point - the best time to buy is when markets are beaten up and no one else is buying. In the man's own words: Have strength and buy when things do look bleak and sell when they look too good to be true.

#6 Remember too, that you'll seldom-if ever-buy stocks right at the bottom or sell them right at the top.
Not words you want to hear, for sure, but there is a lot of experience, truth and wisdom in them. As I've said in the past, never try and overly finesse the market's every turn. Buy when stocks generally appear underpriced without looking for new bottoms, and sell when stocks reach or exceed your expectation of fair value.

#7 Beware of following stock market "fads." (biotech, internet, emerging markets)

As he says..."the stock market occasionally develops fads for certain industries. In almost all cases a sudden rush to buy the fad stocks pushes them to price levels which are totally unwarranted. When you buy at the height of popularity you almost always pay prices which have little relationship to value..." Most recently, Real Estate fit this description. Is it Gold the new fad of the day?

#8 Concentrate on quality.

Three simple words with a lot of depth. You've heard me say this too, many times; so this time, let's hear it from the master himself:

"While big profits are often made through buying and selling poor quality common stocks, your success in the stock market is far, far more assured if you emphasize quality in your stock selections. Too many investors shy away from the top-notch companies in search of rags-to-riches performers. These low-grade issues are certainly no foundation for a good portfolio; instead, the fine, well-managed companies should form the backbone.... fabulous fortunes have been made over the years in such high quality, non-speculative stocks as Carnation, Procter and Gamble, and others. "

In fact, as many of you know, I have a similar philosophy and, notwithstanding the risk of getting repetitive and boring - I will keep telling you to stay on the road through highs and lows, to ignore the noise, to not abandon stocks when they are down, and so on. I wanted to share Mr. Rosenberg's investing guidelines with you today, partly as a reminder on sound investing principals in confusing times such as these, and partly as a validation of everything we have been discussing over the years on my show and now my blog.

Visit http://onthemoneyradio.org/ for weekly commentary and money advice that covers the entire financial spectrum which also airs on my weekly radio show, "On The Money!"

You may also want to visit http://blog.slpomeranz.com/ and SUBSCRIBE to my weekly commentary via Email and SUBSCRIBE to my weekly podcasts on itunes!

Steven L. Pomeranz, CFP is a 29 year investment management veteran and host of "On The Money!" which airs on NPR station, WXEL in South Florida. He concentrates on serving high net-worth individuals and has been named one of the Top 100 Wealth Advisors 2007, by Worth magazine (October 2007 Issue), honoring America's premier financial and wealth strategists.

Labels: Commandments, Eight, Market, Rosenbergs, Stock, Success

Investment markets are seldom uneventful and the fine wine market, although relatively reliable, is no exception. Last week saw a small dip in the market, with Liv-ex reporting that its Fine Wine 50 Index, which measures the performance of First Growths, showed that the First Growths were falling out of favour with buyers, accounting for only a quarter of total trade. Nonetheless, looking beyond First Growths, a different trend was apparent. And this is a trend that should encourage first time buyers rather than weaken their confidence in the market.

The market showed that buyers are looking to invest in other wines - Second wines of the top chateaux, fine Sauternes, and second to fifth growths. If this trend continues, it indicates a very positive move for the new investor. Few of us will dive in at the deep end as a new investor and the prohibitive prices of first growths can be off putting for those of us who are just dipping our toes in the water. But that means we are largely investing in wines we are not so familiar with - Chateau Latour is a well known name but how many newcomers have heard of Cos d'Estournel or Gruaud Larose? Well, if buyers worldwide continue to snap them up the way last week's figures suggested, it won't be long before these names roll off the tongue just as easily as their more famous Bordeaux counterparts.

So how should we, as investors, react to such a decline? Well, firstly, we shouldn't be worried. Any investment market will have peaks and troughs, and many of them can be explained away by what is happening in the world economy, or the political situation in a particular country. Take advantage of the small dip in the market to invest boldly in some of the emerging superstar wines of Bordeaux. Just because Chateau Lafite seems to have temporarily lost favour with the Chinese, they have not turned their back on Bordeaux. Far from it. The fine wine market is still being discovered, and with time comes knowledge and the desire to look beyond what is familiar, beyond the famous names that initially ignited their love affair with Bordeaux.

It is a time for investors in the UK, as well as consumers in the Far East, to familiarise ourselves with the emerging wines in order to be 'in the know' so that we can buy wisely for the future and with any luck, begin to spot the wines that the Chinese are starting to gravitate towards before their prices begin to increase. And remember, long before the Far East emerged as an important market, wine was already an important commodity that was traded globally yielding substantial rewards for its investors. It is an exciting time to get involved, and knowing what to buy as well as when to sell it is still the key to success. Keep one eye on the market, and the other eye on the cellar, and you won't go far wrong.

Vimal is a professional Fine Wine Trader and is the Managing Director of IGW Brokers LTD

He also owns and writes for the leading wine blog - http://www.12x75.com/ - a blog that revolves around interviews with prominent profiles in the wine industry.

To contact Vimal, email him on vimal@igwbrokers.com or vimal@12x75.com

Labels: Keeping, Market

The "socially responsible" and green investment market has been growing exponentially over the last few years, making up over 11% of all assets under professional management. This should not come as a surprise, considering that more and more top CEOs and institutional investors are adopting a decision-making paradigm that requires social and environmental impacts to be carefully considered before money is lent or invested.

Yet despite all of this growth, research shows that this market is far smaller than it would be if investors were more fully informed about how competitive the returns could be. Luckily, this inefficiency has and could pay off for those investors who have stayed ahead of the investment curve. As we learnt with the internet boom of the 90s, it is generally the early stage and informed investor who ultimately succeeds.

The challenge of green investing is twofold: To increase personal wealth while avoiding harm to people and the environment. This can be a daunting task, but new breed of investment consultancy companies specialising in green investment projects in rapidly growing, emerging markets, aim to provide unique green investment opportunities that will maximise the profit for investors, as they at the same time work towards a healthier planet.

These companies specialise in consulting on green investments, with the conviction that they are destined to make a higher, longer and more sustainable return on investment than traditional stocks and bonds.

Together, socially responsible and Green investing should aim to help make the planet a better place. As we collectively strive towards this goal, one thing is undeniable: Enormous profits are at stake as the World goes Green. Perhaps, the time has come where we are now witnessing the next social and technological revolution that will change the course of history.

The timing could not be more perfect for new investors. It should be possible to generate solid returns, capital wealth and environmental protection at the same time. Sustainable investment is the only investment that has a future, and investment strategies concentrating on this theme will also help to restore and maintain the health of our forests, fields and seas.

The main aim for Green Investors is to find new, ecologically responsible and profitable solutions to global environment dilemmas. Investment consultants have to understand that the only viable way to attract adequate investment capital to restore and maintain global health is to ensure that green investing is more attractive than the alternatives.

GlobalGreenCapacity Ltd. acts as consultant on green and socially responsible investments to the private and institutional investor community in Europe Our goal is to provide consultancy to managers of unique, green investment opportunities that will maximise the profit for investors, as they at the same time work towards a healthier planet.

Labels: Green, Growing, Investment, Market