- 3 Ways Parents Can Invest for Their Kids
If you’re planning for your child’s future, socking money away into a high-interest kids savings account is a good place to start. The only downside is that investing your money will typically yield a better return than simply saving. Certain types… read more…
- The Economics of Mobile Apps
Those apps on your smartphone? While they’re entertaining you they may be making a lot of other people rich. The mobile apps industry is booming. A 2015 report by Transparency Market Research predicts that the global mobile app market will experience a 16.2% Compound Annual Growth Rate between 2014 and 2020. By 2020, the global… read more…
- The Economics of Film Festivals
These days it seems like film festivals are a dime a dozen. From the glitzy red carpet of the Cannes festival to the casual vibe at Sundance, film festivals are a chance to premiere new films, generate buzz and get… read more…
- 5 Must-Have Estate Planning Tools for Wealthy Investors
When you’re actively working toward building wealth, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re taking steps to protect it. Taking the time to develop an estate plan is a must for wealthy investors, and the sooner you get started, the better. If you don’t have an estate plan in place yet, you can take a… read more…
- What Are Treasury Bills (T-Bills), and Should You Invest in Them?
When you’re looking for a safe way to invest your money, things don’t typically get any more solid than government-backed securities. The U.S. Department of Treasury offers several different low-risk options, including notes, bonds and bills. Treasury bills, or T-bills, can be… read more…
- How to Use ETFs for Tax-Loss Harvesting
Investing can be tricky to master and one thing it’s important to do is balance your profits against your losses. Selling off stocks or other securities for a profit can actually cost you money if you have to pay a substantial… read more…
- What Is Value Investing?
If you’re new to investing, you may not have settled on a particularly investing strategy. While experts say that many people can get away with investing in low-fee index funds rather than trading stocks in individual companies, some people enjoy deciding which company shares to buy. These active investors tend to self-identify as either growth investors… read more…
- 4 Ways to Minimize Capital Gains Taxes on Investments
Investing can yield big returns, but it comes with a price. When you sell off investments and realize a profit, Uncle Sam expects you to pay taxes on your earnings. These are called capital gains, and they come in long- and short-term variations. These could mean a much bigger tax bill if you’ve had a… read more…
- What Is Growth Investing?
When it comes to investing there are different schools of thought. Your investing strategy and asset allocation will depend on what you hope to get out of your investments. Are you looking to score deals on under-valued stocks or find companies that are on their way up? Let us explain how growth investing works and… read more…
- What Is Shadow Banking?
If you scan the financial news you may see a reference to “shadow banking.” It’s a term that can apply to a range of activities, from unregulated activity by banks to lending by non-bank institutions. Confused? Let us break it… read more…
- Pros and Cons of Using a Robo-Advisor to Build Wealth
Investing has gone high-tech these days thanks to the rise of robo-advisors. These online services take a lot of the hassle and cost out of managing your investments by cutting out the human middleman. If you’re working on building wealth, a… read more…
- What Are Commodities?
Deciding where to invest your extra money can be tough when there are so many different investment products to choose from. If you’re wondering what a commodity is and how it’s traded as a financial investment, you’ve come to the right place. Here we have a comprehensive guide for you about commodities and the role they… read more…
- What Is Deflation?
Everyone loves the feeling of relief when gas prices and grocery bills go down — after all, who wouldn’t enjoy a little extra cash in their pocket? That extra breathing room can make a big difference, whether you’re tackling debt, boosting your savings or contributing to your retirement fund. However, a broad decline in prices… read more…
- What Is an IPO?
There comes a time when businesses decide to take the plunge and go from being privately-held companies to public ones. This move gives business owners the opportunity to sell stocks to the general public rather than just a few shareholders. In… read more…
- What Is a Hedge Fund?
If you’re not an experienced investor or you don’t work in the finance industry, the term “hedge fund” may go right over your head or get mixed up with other terms like private equity and venture capital. A hedge fund… read more…
- 3 Ways to Add Real Estate to Your Portfolio
One of the keys to building wealth through investing is diversification. If you ask uber-wealthy investors like Warren Buffett or Ted Turner, they’ll probably tell you that no portfolio is complete without a healthy dose of real estate holdings. Buying into… read more…
- 4 Ways Wealthy Investors Can Minimize Investment Taxes
Investing is all about building wealth but taxes can curb your portfolio’s growth if you’re putting your money in the wrong places. Keeping your investments as tax efficient as possible is especially important for high net worth investors, who typically land in a higher tax bracket. Minimizing what you owe isn’t that difficult if you’ve… read more…
- 5 Investing Rules the 1% Swear By
Building wealth over time isn’t something that’s exclusive to the super-rich. Even if you can’t afford a luxurious lifestyle, it’s still possible to accumulate some decent assets if you’re smart about what you do with your money. Taking a page out of the investing playbooks of the 1% is a step in the right direction… read more…
- Pros and Cons of Using Savings Bonds to Pay for College
Savings bonds are a relatively safe way to invest and there’s more than one way to put them to work. Series EE and I bonds issued after December 31, 1989 can be used to cover the cost of earning a college degree. If you want to use bonds to pay for your child’s education expenses, it’s… read more…
- What Is the Money Market?
The money market is a specialized market for fixed-income securities, offering a safe and stable option for short-term investments. Similar to other fixed-income markets, such as the bond market, it provides a secure place to park your money, but is not designed for rapid wealth accumulation. We’ll break down what the money market is, how… read more…
- Pros and Cons of Using a CD Ladder to Build Savings
Looking at interest rates for certificates of deposit (CD), you see that the five-year CD earns, say, 2% more than the one-year CD. You’d love to get that higher rate, but you’re worried about locking up your money for so… read more…
- What Is a Bear Market?
Investors sometimes see the prices of their securities rise one day and fall the next. At times, however, it might seem as though there’s a pattern as the value of certain securities moves consistently in one direction. Are you facing a bull or bear market? If you don’t know the answer to that question, we’ll… read more…
- How Should Inflation Affect My Investment Strategy?
The inflation rate in the United States has been very low for a very long time. In both 2013 and 2014 inflation was less than 2%, the Federal Reserve’s target rate to maintain price stability. To find the last time… read more…
- What Is a Bull Market?
There are certain phrases we encounter frequently, yet we often overlook their true meaning because we assume their context or never take the time to dive deeper. One such term that often comes up in conversations about investing is “bull market.” While many people throw it around casually, understanding what a bull market truly signifies… read more…
- What Is an Exchange Rate?
Whether you’re jetting off to Italy for a dream wedding or exploring opportunities to invest in foreign markets, it’s important to understand how exchange rates work. Exchange rates determine the value of one country’s currency compared to another, influencing everything from the cost of your overseas purchases to the returns on your international investments. A… read more…