Farrukh Kazmi asset management expert offers guides regarding how to earn extra money today? Despite what talking heads on TV, your neighborhood life insurance salesperson, or ads from financial advisory companies would have you believe, you really don’t need a huge variety of financial products. When you make a plan for your finances in 2021, a great first step would be to minimize complexity. This can mean reducing the number of investments you have, consolidating accounts, or automating your retirement contributions. The main idea, put simply, is to reduce the amount of brain space you devote to managing your financial life and instead focus on the areas of your life that actually do merit attention (areas that only you can define). Below, you’ll find five minimalist tips to declutter your financial life.
The S&P 500® Index of U.S. large-cap stocks in late March is overweight the technology and healthcare stocks that dominate the growth factor, while the rest of the global market has more of the financial and cyclical stocks that make up the value factor. The global reopening in the second half of the year should see more outperformance by non-U.S. equity markets. Here are still lingering concerns about new COVID-19 variants that may be resistant to vaccines, as well as the slow vaccine rollouts in some countries. Some European countries have recently increased lockdown measures as infection rates have trended higher. It’s possible that lockdown measures may be maintained for longer. The evidence so far, however, is that the countries with the most successful vaccination programs—Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States—are experiencing sustained downtrends in new infections and hospitalization rates.
That said, gold trounced the S&P 500 in the 10-year period from November 2002 to October 2012, with a total price appreciation of 441.5%, or 18.4% annually. The S&P 500, on the other hand, appreciated by 58% over this period. The point here is that gold is not always a good investment. The best time to invest in almost any asset is when there is negative sentiment and the asset is inexpensive, providing substantial upside potential when it returns to favor, as indicated above.
We all know the saying ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’, but it’s particularly important to apply this rule when investing. Spreading your money across a range of different types of assets and geographical areas means you won’t be depending too heavily on one kind of investment or region. That means if one of them performs badly, hopefully some of your other investments might make up for these losses, although there are no guarantees. If you’re looking for new investment opportunities and are willing to accept greater risk in exchange for the potential of greater returns, then investing and trading in stocks, also called equities, may be right for you. Create an investment strategy & build a balanced portfolio aligned to your investment goals. Start your search for the investments that may be right for you with our powerful independent research. Manage your portfolio with access to your online trading account. Farrukh Kazmi is the founder of A&S Asset Management, I am committed to helping people achieve financial freedom by bringing Wall Street experience to the local investor.
Cryptocurrencies are systems that allow for the secure payments of online transactions that are denominated in terms of a virtual “token,” representing ledger entries internal to the system itself. “Crypto” refers to the fact that various encryption algorithms and cryptographic techniques, such as elliptical curve encryption, public-private key pairs, and hashing functions, are employed. The first cryptocurrency to capture the public imagination was Bitcoin, which was launched in 2009 by an individual or group known under the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto. As of February 2019, there were over 17.53 million bitcoins in circulation with a total market value of around $63 billion (although the market price of bitcoin can fluctuate quite a bit). Bitcoin’s success has spawned a number of competing cryptocurrencies, known as “altcoins” such as Litecoin, Name coin and Peercoin, as well as Ethereum, EOS, and Cardano. Today, there are literally thousands of cryptocurrencies in existence, with an aggregate market value of over $120 billion (Bitcoin currently represents more than 50% of the total value).
Interested in generating passive income? You need a website. It’s THE way to make money while you sleep. Starting a website with Bluehost takes less than 20 minutes, costs hardly anything and can be done by an 82 year-old. It only takes a bit of plugging on social media to get your first visitors, and there are plenty of ways to monetise your site. Save the Student is just one example of a successful website, started at university by Owen Burek in his first year, which has since grown into a full-time and sizable enterprise. Read Owen’s step-by-step guide on how to start a website in 20 minutes. It’s really one of the best assets you can have.
Not all financial advisors are the same. Some specialize in certain practice areas, types of clients, income levels, investment strategies, and products. Some work with clients all over the country, while others focus on clients in their town. Some can help you with your taxes, insurance needs, or estate planning and others will focus on retirement planning. There are advisors for the younger client and some specialize on retirees. You can find a planner to help with life stages planning, estate distribution strategies, and business planning. All of our brokerage accounts are held and available for viewing at National Financial Services, a Fidelity Investments Company. Registered Representative of and securities offered through Berthel Fisher & Company Financial Services, Inc. (BFCFS). Member FINRA/SIPC. A&S Asset Management and BFCFS are independent entities. Read more info on Farrukh Kazmi.
You save the most money by paying down your highest interest rate debt first, no matter what type of debt that it is. Credit card debt is bad debt because the interest rates are typically so high, often 20%+ or more. Credit cards make financial institutions a lot of money because most people don’t pay off their debt each month, so the debt grows. Student loan debt is somewhere between good debt and bad debt depending on 1) the interest rate 2) if you’ve used student loans to fund a degree that helped you get a job or a more lucrative career. If you haven’t yet taken out student loans, it’s worth thinking really hard about whether or not they’re worth it. If you’ve already taken out student loans and the interest rate if above 5% then you should consider student loan refinancing and other ways for you to reduce student loan debt.
In previous years, increased wealth of emerging market economies boosted demand for gold. In many of these countries, gold is intertwined into the culture. India is one of the largest gold-consuming nations in the world; it has many uses there, including jewelry. As such, the Indian wedding season in October is traditionally the time of the year that sees the highest global demand for gold (though it has taken a tumble in 2012.) In China, where gold bars are a traditional form of saving, the demand for gold has been steadfast.