How Much Should Professional Financial Advice Cost?

By Richard Moran

When you are looking for advice on the finances that you may be dealing with, you might think that it will be hard to find someone that will give you advice that will help you. This is not always the case if you are willing to look for someone that can help you and willing to pay a bit for it.

Looking For Help

If you needs are no very complicated I would suggest you first start with the phone book. Contact several firms/persons list there and see what they may offer. If you feel a more sophisticated solution is necessary call on your bank, broker, or accountant to recommend firms/people to you. The more complicated your finances become the more likely a real pro will be necessary. Some firms/advisors will charge a flat fee, while others will work on a percentage. First get a quote for the initial conference and see how comfortable you are with the advisor. If you account has a high potential normally there won't be any fee for this initial contact.

Do your networking at work and play.

If you are not able to get the information that you need from the phone call, then you can talk to some of your friends or family that may have already been looking into financial help before you were. They may have had some good experiences with a certain financial adviser and can point you in the right direction. They may even be able to help you get a discount because they helped you find them.

Research

Once you think you have found an interesting prospect to possibly work with, take all you have and start your internet searches. With the vastness of the internet today there is not much you can find from the comfort of your home. You may be able to reaffirm your belief in a very short time this way.

Look on all the financial websites that do not belong directly to a particular firm. The firms site will be generally oriented to selling the product/service the company has available. Message boards, chat rooms that have a financial bent will be best. Search the firm/advisor's name for both positive and negative comments. Don't be put off if there is a negative comment or two as we all take our finances very personally and the negativity may be a personality conflict. Of course if it turns up overwhelming bad comments move on to the next prospect.

Getting financial aid is not difficult but you must find the right person/firm who understands you particular situation and goals. They must comprehend your tolerance for risk, and where you hope to be in 5, 10, 20 years. Use the person who has the best track record, and someone who is comfortable discussing all the aspects of your finances and the experience will prove profitable for you. - 23212

About the Author:

Richard Moran is a Financial Consultant and maven for Money Helpers. The Blog contains hundreds of articles, charts, and calculators to aid you in your financial health. All the aspects of the Blog are free and it is updated on an almost daily basis. If you are looking for any financial information or products they can be found on Money Helpers.

I Lost Nearly My Whole Account In One Day

By Morris Puma

Recently, I had an important chat with a stock-option manager who is still seeking for the mysterious formula to yielding dependable returns with option investing each month. He mentioned some things which were so obvious to me and brought up many past memories.

The topic that really hit home for me was when he mentioned "Non-directional option investing doesn't mean we should generate return on investment in each and every direction. It means that we generate a profit if the asset doesn't move in any direction. In a few words, it's actually a directional strategy, sideways." This is absolutely the truth, and most investing programs say that it's easy to manufacture a profit with options simply because we can generate money for each and every direction. This is true in some viewpoints and false in others.

Those of you trading Iron Condors know what I am talking about; especially if you are trading the Condors that most courses and books teach. If you are trading this strategy in 2009, you probably aren't making anything. The reason being that the Iron Condor is just as directional as most option trades only that its direction is sideways. For some, it's just as hard to predict a sideways move as it is up or down.

So many option traders have called me recently to tell me the same thing. "I was doing great with Condors and Credit spreads for a few months, but then last month I lost nearly my whole trading account." This is so common amongst option traders in today's market.

This is the reason why I don't push the popular Iron Condors, Bear Calls or Bull Puts. If you are a couple days from expiration, and the RUT is really near the sold strike, then at that moment you are in a very risky position. I'll remind you that this is the same risky method that many other investors are using to manage this option spread. Shortly all of your friends will be hearing the same story, but you won't be sharing this news with your wife! You smile at the moment, but you won't be if it happens to your trading portfolio. Another sad thing about this investng style is that the fear level is so astronomical that it really hurts your personal life. It makes it tough to sleep or even just relax each day.

Well, San Jose Options Mentoring has really changed the Condor and Credit Spreads that the usual investor is attempting to trade today. While others come into expiration sweating it out, worrying about the market moving past their short strike, we are relaxed, sleeping at night, and trading options in a much safer environment.

Our safer method of trading speaks for itself, but we have also developed another method that is very exciting to share with you. For most option strategies we trade, we now have a way to lock-in the profits and stay in the trade to make more. This is a great technique to use as an investor.

Furthermore, if we ever have a Condor move against us, then we have developed yet another technique which gives us a free bonus trade! So, even though we may have a bad month once in a while, at least we get an excellent, free trade from it where most traders just take the loss and move on.

So, finally I'd like to say that whether we have a winner or a loser, we have some excellent adjustment tricks that will be sure to greatly improve your personal trading skills. - 23212

About the Author:

Want to learn how to lock in your profits?? Better your Option Trading Skills today by visiting San Jose Options Mentoring online at www.sjoptions.com. Visit today and get a Free Video on Option Greeks, a $200 value absolutely free!

Euro Currency Profile (Part I)

By Ahmad Hassam

The European Union consists of fifteen member countries that include France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Only 12 common currency countries out of these above 15 countries constitute the European Monetary Union (EMU). These 12 countries share a single monetary policy dictated by the European Central Bank (ECB). All these above countries share the common currency Euro except Denmark, Sweden and United Kingdom.

After the United States, EMU is the worlds second largest economic powerhouse. EMU has a highly developed and efficient fixed income, equity and the futures market. This makes EMU the second most attractive investment market for domestic and international investors. Many hedge funds are based in EU countries.

Historically US assets have had solid returns. As a result, United States absorbs something like 70% of the total foreign savings. In the past, EMU had difficulty in attracting foreign direct investment or large capital inflows. The primary reason was the United States.

However, with the EMU beginning to incorporate even more members in Eastern Europe, Euros importance is expected to increase. Induction of new members will further increase the size of EMU. The capital flows to Europe is expected to increase as well.

Demand for Euro is expected to continue rising with foreign central banks expected to diversify their Euro reserve holdings even further. EMU is in fact a trade driven and a capital flow driven economy. Trade is very important to the national economies within EMU.

Unlike United States, EMU does not have large trade deficit or surplus. EU exports comprise almost 20% of the world trade. While EU accounts for only 17% of the world imports! Because of the size of the EMUs trade with the rest of the world, it has significant power in the international trade arena.

International clout is one of the primary reasons in the formation of EU. The formation of EU allows individual member countries to group as one entity and negotiates on an equal playing field with the United States. United States is the largest trading partner of EU.

Leading import sources for EU are China, Switzerland, United States, Japan and Russia. Leading export markets for EU are the United States, Japan, Poland, Switzerland and China.

Manufacturing, mining and utilities account for around 20% of the EU economy while services account for more than 70% of the EU economy. EU is primarily a service oriented economy. While outsourcing most of their manufacturing to Asia, large numbers of EU based companies concentrate their research, design, innovation and marketing part of the activity in EU.

Most international trade transactions involve the British Pound, the Japanese Yen and the US Dollar. It is important for most of the countries to hold large amounts of reserve currencies to reduce exchange rate risk and transaction costs. - 23212

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard University. He is interested in day trading stocks and currencies. Try Strignano's Forex Signals free. Discover a revolutionary Forex Robot Trading System!

7 Easy to Follow Get Out Of Debt and Make More Money Tips

By James Douglas

Getting into debt is always a lot easier than getting out of it. Being into debt can be a very hard life experience. As long as you must endure it you should also learn how to manage your personal finances better in the future. Here are just 7 get out of debt tips to get you going on the right path:

1)Stop spending money on junk you don?t need. You have to desire this with all your heart if you want to succeed. You don?t need a new flat screen TV if the old one still works. This goes for the personal computer too. We live in a gadget crazed world and it can be very easy to buy a lot of stuff that you really don?t need. Ladies think twice if you really need an extra pair of shoes. I know they match the new blouse you have just bought but maybe you would be a lot better off by not buying either.

2)Once you get out of debt don?t start spending like crazy. 50% of all your money should go to work making more money for you. Learn how to manage your money and how to put it to work. As time passes you will become a more skilful money manager and each dollar will become ten in your hands.

3)Add up all the money you owe and create a schedule for paying off each and every debt that you are currently having. Map it all out and then get to work on doing everything in your power to make the plan become reality.

4)Find other ways of entertainment instead of an expensive night out drinking lots of booze. Your body and your wallet will thank you. You could start visiting your relatives or you friends instead of spending a wild night out. As long as you owe money you should stop spending money on entertaining. There are lots of ways to amuse yourself without spending money.

5)Always be on the lookout for new and better ways to make or save even more money. Seek better ways to manage and invest your money and you will become a money master in no time. That way you will be able to get out of debt super fast.

6)Create a budget and try to stick to it. It can be quite a challenge but if you put your mind to it I am sure you will succeed. Make sure that each end every dollar that lands in your hand has a clear purpose. That way you will be much more focused and you will know exactly what you have to do with the money you make.

7)Learn to create a realistic budget. To do this you can even solicit the services of a consumer credit counseling service. That way you will be sure that your budget is rock solid and that all you have to do is follow it. - 23212

About the Author:

Find out how to make more money and get out of debt using this free credit counseling service.

Which Way To Choose A Forex Course

By Arnold Waterborn

With a wide variety of currency trading courses available in forex markets, it is really challenging to find one that contains all the vitally important elements, with the help of which you are supposed to have any success in forex markets.

The elite forex trading systems will use simple technical indicators to make your trading more efficient. There is a lot of data and a plethora of ways to break it down. Overanalysis and a clutter of technical indicators will slow you down. Keep it simple and straight forward.

Courses that use a combination of a few of these simple indicators can reveal the most rewarding trades. You do not need more than 3 or 4 technical indicators to be a great trader. When faced with a system with too many indicators, be cautious, these systems are usually quite ineffective.

The vital feature if any forex training course should not be that it is cent percent mechanical. If Market interpretation is not allowed by any trading system than it is meant as mechanical. The agility of any complete course is its capability to provide a larger picture and judgment is allowed for taking up a trading decisions. A signal to buy may be given by a mechanical system but at the same time a machine cannot give a whole picture. To say simply, a forex trading system which does not facilitate to use good judgment need to be abhorred.

A good method should rely on simple indicators to identify a trending forex pair then use those indicators to give your trade a better chance of becoming profitable while reducing your risk. The best approaches will have simple indicators that find trending pairs easily. Use these simple and clear indicators to find profitable trades without facing the highest risk.

To conclude, clarity and objectivity should be there in a good forex trading system to enable you to implant discipline in your trades. Emotions circumvent clarity and objectivity in the principles used by many traders in making their decisions. Good decisions and profitability will flow in trading when a good set of trading rules are followed and it will as well diminish the risk.

Clarity, simplicity and objectivity should dwell upon your trading rules during its implementation along with provisions for judgment and interpretation.

For getting a better chance of success, these three criterias should be applied to any forex trading system course. Get more information about selecting a top rate course before you make your decision. - 23212

About the Author:

You can find out more by going to Forex Trading Platform Reviews