All About Money Transfer

Every year, billions of dollars are recorded as remittances worldwide. With the advent of technology, there are several ways to send money home. With so many options available, it is very important to make the right choice to avoid paying an exorbitant fee to transfer money. There are three basic factors to be considered while transferring money. Understanding each of them will help us in sending money in the most optimal method.

1. Mode of Transfer

There are a couple of aspects while choosing a mode of money transfer. They are:

• location of the sender and the receiver
• awareness levels of the technology and the availability of the same
• time availability and affordability

Taking all of the above into consideration, one can select a medium that best suits him/her.

Cash Transfer

One of the oldest methods of sending money, a cash transfer is a simple process of sending cash through a money transferrer. The receiver can collect the money or have it delivered by the money transferrer.

Bank Transfer

Today, several money transferrers have tied up with many leading international banks to empower their customers to make a bank transfer. Through this service, one can transfer money to the recipient's bank account.

Online Money Transfer

One can sit at the comfort of their home or work and send money through an online remittance portal. Most portals have the facility to remit the money to a bank account/ credit card /cash payout.

Mobile Money Transfer

This method of money transfer is ideal for those who have limited access to banks and transfer agents. Through this method, money can be sent to a recipient's mobile phone or mobile wallet. This is widely used in many countries in the African continent. Some of the other countries that have this facility are Bangladesh, Kenya, India and Philippines.

2. Cost of Transfer

The cost of sending money will depend on the exchange rates, mode of transfer (cash, bank, online), the commission charges levied by the remittance house etc. And they will vary depending on the service provider's network and the other value added services offered. Simply put, at the end of the transaction, calculating how much of money the recipient receives will give an idea of the cost of transaction. While availing a particular type of money transfer service, one should be well informed about the below:

Exchange Rate: This is the rate at which one currency is exchanged with another. This rate will vary from time to time, depending on the global financial scenario and other economic factors. It is always wise to wait until the receiver's currency value is lesser than the sender's currency value, so that more money can be sent. For instance, if someone living in the USA wants to send money to Mexico, they should ideally transfer money when the value of peso is lesser than dollar, so that, for each dollar more pesos can be sent.

Fees: This is the fees charged for transferring the money and will depend on the service provider and the mode of money transfer.

Tax: Some countries also levy a value added tax that is charged on the commission/ service fees. For more information speak to the customer care executive before you make a transaction.

3. Comparison

It is always good to weigh all the available options before transferring money. Comparing the exchange rates at various times will help in understanding the pattern. While one service provider might have a wide network, another might boast of having state-of-the-art technology. Hence understanding one's needs and choosing accordingly is crucial.

Always ensure you ask for a record of the transaction (bill/e-receipt) at the end of the transaction. This will authenticate the transaction and act as a reference for future purposes. Sending money home can be overwhelming with so many avenues, but gets easy once the above factors have been well considered

Custom assistance in training online. Academic help always available. Contact at any time.

The 20 Rules of Money

Part of knowing how to Manage your Money is knowing how money works, and knowing how money works is knowing the straight truths about this important and essential thing called money. Ignorance is all you need to Squander all you've sweated for-for years. As you read through, ensure you put all into memory as much as you can as this not only will help you make good financial decisions, it will keep you informed of all what money is about. Enjoy!



 1. Acquiring Money is not a thing of luck, It's Work
2. Save Part of all you earn... Start Investing now for your Old Age!
3. If you've got debts, Pay them off as soon as possible. You need to experience the joy of a debt free life.
4. Keep for Contingencies. You never can tell what's gonna happen Next
5. A billion dollar today started with a Zero figure. Don't look too high, You may never get there. See the next step before you and make that move. Success is built on little stones laid up each day.
6. Believe you can make it- There is no barrier as long as you see the possibility in making it come to pass.
7. Money is no respecter of persons. It visits anyone who invites it.
8. Money Cannot buy Love. It only will support the love that has existed.
9. Money is good... The lack of it is the 'Seed of all Evil
10. Sow into Poeple's Lives with what you've got.
11. Never lend to friends or family unless you're ready to write it off.
12. Keep track of your Spending Habit-Money fades faster than you can imagine.
13. When you've made it, Don't flaunt it. It only attract robbers and thieves.
14. Until you know what to do with money, There's no point spending it.
15. Keep Learning about money, you can never learn enough.
16. -Money is OK
- Wanting money is OK
but the truth is, you've gotta work to have it.
17. Poor people have the most misconceptions about money.
18. Money is a good friend, and also, a bad enemy.
19. Don't do Bad things for money- It won't last.
20. Don't be frugal- Imagine if everyone in the world was like you,...
Is this true?

Money Rules the World
Men Rule Money
Women Rule Men
Women Rule the World
Thank you.
God bless

Small Business Tips: Are You a Good Listener?

4 Skills to Hone to Become a Great Listener
Everyone likes to believe what they have to say is important - when someone makes the effort to share their thoughts they want to believe that the person they are speaking to is listening. While we may believe we are good listeners, chances are we are too distracted to give our undivided attention. Even worse, many people pretend to listen, simply waiting for their chance to jump into the conversation.



Active listening is an important aspect of being a great leader both in business and in other areas of our lives. These individuals understand that other want to be heard and understood. But, becoming a great listener is not as hard as it may seem - by practicing these five important skills, it is possible to become a great listener and a great leader sooner than you would image.
Be "in the Moment"
It is very important to focus your mental awareness on the individual you are listening to in order to truly grasp and understand what they are sharing with you. Pushing distractions aside and giving the individual the gift of your undivided attention is key. For some, this may mean turning off the computer screen, turning the smartphone away, and putting away the magazine or book. Make sure to keep eye contact with the individual and portray a neutral, pleasant expression that is inviting to their ideas.
Turn Down the Internal Analyzer
Everyone begins to internally analyze a conversation while it is happening. This can easily take over your brain, making it impossible truly hear what is being said while you have your own internal dialogue. Remember, there will be plenty of time after the conversation is over for you to analyze it - make sure you spend the time you have with the other individual listening to what they have to say or how they feel. There is nothing wrong with note taking if you are afraid of forgetting information.
Repeat the Information Back in Your Own Words
When the opportunity is appropriate, repeat back to the individual what you heard him or her say. In some cases, what the individual says, and how you interpret it can be two different things. An example of this is, after an individual has expressed their concern for a lack of security in the building, you say, "So you are most concerned about the possibility of a security breech in the building. Is that correct?" This will not only make sure you understand their concerns but also show them you are truly listening.
Follow-Up
After the conversation has concluded, determine with the individual whether a follow-up conversation should take place. This type of "check-in" will let the individual know your concerns about what was shared and will help them to determine the relevancy of what was shared to your needs. Also, make sure to share your appreciation with the individual for coming to speak with you and let them know that you found the conversation to be interesting and meaningful.

Financing Cash Flow Peaks And Valleys

For many businesses, financing cash flow for their business can be like riding a continuous roller coaster.

Sales are up, then they do down. Margins are good, then they flatten out. Cash flow can swing back and forth like an EKG graph of a heart attack.

So how do you go about financing cash flow for these types of businesses?

First, you need to accurately know and manage your monthly fixed costs. Regardless of what happens during the year, you need to be on top of what amount of funds will be required to cover off the recurring and scheduled operating costs that will occur whether you make a sale or not. Doing this monthly for a full twelve month cycle provides a basis for cash flow decision making.

Second, from where you are at right now, determine the amount of funds available in cash, owners outside capital that could be invested in the business, and other outside sources currently in place.

Third, project out your cash flow so that fixed costs, existing accounts payable and accounts receivable are realistically entered into the future weeks and months. If cash is always tight, make sure you do your cash flow on a weekly basis. There is too much variability over the course of a single month to project out only on a monthly basis.

Now you have a basis to assess financing your cash flow.

Financing cash flow is always going to be somewhat unique to each business due to industry, sector, business model, stage of business, business size, owner resources, and so on.

Each business must self assess its sources of financing cash flow, including but not limited to owner investment, trade or payable financing, government remittances, receivable discounts for early payment, deposits on sale, third party financing (line of credit, term loan, factoring, purchase order financing, inventory financing, asset based lending, or whatever else is relevant to you).

Ok, so now you have a cash flow bearing and a thorough understanding of your options available for financing cash flow in your specific business model.

Now what?

Now you are in a position to entertain future sales opportunities that fit into your cash flow.

Three points to clarify before we go further.

First, financing is not strictly about getting a loan from someone when your cash flow needs more money. Its a process of keeping your cash flow continuously positive at the lowest possible cost.

Second, you should only market and sell what you can cash flow. Marketers will measure the ROI of a marketing initiative. But if you can't cash flow the business to complete the sale and collect the proceeds, there is no ROI to measure. If you have a business with fluctuating sales and margins, you can only enter into transactions that you can finance.

Third, marketing needs to focus on customers that you can sell to over and over again in order to maximize your marketing efforts and reduce the unpredictability of the annual sales cycle through regular repeat orders and sales.

Marketing works under the premise that if you are providing what the customer wants that the money side of the equation will take care of itself. In many businesses this indeed proves to be true. But in a business with fluctuating sales and margins, financing cash flow has to be another criteria built into sales and marketing activities.

Overtime, virtually any business has the potential to smooth out the peaks and valleys through a more robust marketing plan that better lines up with customer needs and the business's financing limitations or parameters.

In addition to linking financing cash flow more closely to marketing and sales, the next most impactful action you can take is expanding your sources of financing.

Here are some potential strategies for expanding your sources for financing cash flow.

Strategy # 1: Develop strategic relationships with key suppliers that have the ability to extend greater financing in certain situations to take advantage of sales opportunities. This is accomplished with larger suppliers that 1) have the financial means to extend financing, 2) view you as a key customer and value your business, 3) have confidence in the business's ability to forecast and manage cash flow.

Strategy # 2: Make sure where possible that your annual financial statements show a profit capable of servicing debt financing. Accountants may be good at saving you income tax dollars, but if they drive business profitability down to or close to zero through tax planning, they may also effectively destroying your ability to borrow money.

Strategy # 3: If possible, only transact with credit worthy customers. Credit worthy customers allow both the business and potential lenders to finance receivables which can increase the amount of external financing available to you.

Strategy # 4: Develop a liquidation pathway for your tangible assets. Equipment and inventory are easier to finance if lenders clearly understand how to liquidate the assets in the event of default. In some cases, businesses can get resale option agreements on certain equipment or inventory from prospective buyers assignable to a lender to be used as recourse against a lending facility for financing cash flow.

Strategy # 5: Joint venture a sales opportunity with another business to share the risk of a large sales opportunity that may be too risky for you to take on yourself.

Summary

The primary long term objective of a business with fluctuating cash flow and margins is to smooth out the peaks and valleys and create a scalable business with more of a predictable sales cycle.

This is best achieved with an approach that including the following steps.

Step #1. Micro Manage your fixed costs and cash flow and accurately project out the cash flow requirements of the business on a weekly basis.

Step #2. Take a detailed inventory of all the sources you have for financing cash flow.

Step #3. Incorporate your financing constraints into your marketing approach.

Step #4. If possible, only transact with credit worthy customers to reduce risk and increase financing options.

Step #5. Work towards expanding both your financing sources and available source limits for financing cash flow.

Business cycle stability and cash flow predictability is an evolutionary step for every business. The industries with longer sales cycles will tend to be the more difficult to tame due to a larger number of variables to manage.

A continuous focus on the process for improvement outlined will help create the desired results over time

Car Finance Places You On The Top Gear While Buying A Car

Fast car on open roads. It is a perfect picture for any car enthusiast. But you have to go to your work and also drop your kids to school. This is the real picture for most of us. We need to save time when we don't have any. A typical individual has so many odd jobs to complete that a car can, without doubt, facilitate their accomplishment. Financing your car doesn't fit your idea of the way of buying your car; then probably you are still stuck with traditional car buying methods. Shed your inhibitions with regard for car financing because it undoubtedly keeps in mind your financial caliber before furnishing you with a car finance loan.

Car financing has taken a new spin with regard to providing investment for buying a car. So, how do you finance a car? If this question leaves you baffled, then you have to go a long way in the process of buying a car. The term 'financing' in relation to buying a car connotes either rendering loan to buy the car or lease the car to you. You are probably concentrating on the former meaning. Many people are in favour of talking car finance from dealership for it seems like a convenient option. It seems easy; you select a car, fill out a credit application, and drive away with your car - all in a day's work. Car finance through dealership will give you car finance on weekends and even at nights when other banks and credit unions are closed.

Seems convenient, isn't it? But there is a catch. The dealer will be certainly charging you more for your car finance. Usually car buyers are overcharged by 3% on their car finance. A great number of complaints about car financing are related to dealers. 0% APR is not only attractive but lures the buyers to acquire up car finance not meditating if it is feasible for them. There are very few people who can actually get a 0% APR. Thus car finance deals usually fall midway thereby making car finance experience an extremely distressing one. You are buying a new car and probably for the first time, you certainly want it to compliment your enthusiasm. There are few elementary things that need to be kept in mind before taking that crucial primeval step in car buying.

First and foremost in car buying and financing is checking your credit score before you apply for a car loan. Many people are unaware of the fact that they even have a credit score. You can expediently check your credit score online. So, if you have bad credit history then probably you will be paying more interest rate for your car finance. If your credit score drops below 550, then probably apply for new car finance is not such a good idea. First repair you credit score. Repairing credit score requires little effort, helps you repay your debt and retain your credit report. Online car finance companies can get you car finance loan even if your credit score is lower than required. Your car finance loan can get approved in minutes. Online car finance companies have revolutionized car finance procedure. With lowest online car finance rates, no application fees, or down payments car finance companies provide a formidable competition to car dealers. Car finance companies have set a standard for providing car finance that is worth opting for.

70% of cars are obtained by some kind of financing. You can even finance a used car. The process is as effortless and undemanding as financing a new car. The essence to finding the right car finance is doing to research about your kind of car. Knowledge is power; you must be awake to this age old logic. When so much information frequently exists, then why not make use of it. Find out how much your car costs by comparing rates with local dealers. Very decisive, is cognizing how much, you can afford. Calculate, you monthly income and deduct your usual monthly expenditure to find out how much you can afford on a monthly basis. Compute carefully, otherwise you will find difficulty in repaying your car finance loan. And you definitely don't want to fool around with your repayment plan because a lot is at stake. You can seek free advice for your own car finance online through credit unions and loan institutions.

You are a car enthusiast, a car consumer, a just a person who needs a car you ought to drive the best car. And why not drive the best car, when you have access to the best car finance plans. Car financing is a transparent route that leads you to become a car owner. Car finance loans are usually short term loans ranging from 36 to 72 months. Shorter loan term imply, lower interest rates and will prove to be cheaper. You have been working hard to select the car you want; there is a fairly good chance that you would not have to work so hard for car finance. So, sit back relax and enjoy the ride.

Car Financing Tips When Buying a New Car

It is extremely convenient and easy nowadays to buy a new car. Thanks to the various car finances available nowadays through which buying a new car or used ones has become relatively much easier. There are many car financing tips when buying a new car which can help you to understand where to invest and also prevent you from various scams amidst opportunities.



The first thing, which is quite significant when buying a new car, is to set your budget limitation. It is extremely vital to stick with your earlier decided budget. Note on a piece of paper, exactly what facilities and features you need in your desired car. If you have a baby or if you need a powerful boot, and then cozy, luxurious cars can fit in your budget. You requirements depend on large family, nuclear family or just for your own. You must also decide whether you want the diesel, petrol or gas cars.

Another tip from car financing tips, when buying a new car is to research on various cars and their prices along with the tax on internet. You can easily get all the required information related to the cars on Internet. In fact, you can also find such information in magazines and newspapers.

You must keep an eye out of manufacturers' recalls and make sure to keep vigilant about when the cam belts needs changing as this part is an expensive repair part which must be done according the manufacturers recommendation. Any problem in the cam belt can inflict massive damages to your engine, and it is also an extremely expensive issue. You must make sure that the manufacturers are still making the model of the car that you require otherwise it will be extremely difficult for you to find out the spare parts and if so, it will be extraordinary expensive.

Take few references from your friends and neighbors who own the similar car which you are preparing to buy. Listen and make a note to their recommendations regarding fuel consumption, average miles cover in a liter and on the reliability.

Compare prices of various cars. If you would like to purchase a used car, try not to get a car which is being driven over 100,000 miles, as it will require more attention and maintenance when compared to modern and new car. Nowadays many car dealers and companies offer discounted prices especially on few festivals or on their anniversaries. This is the best time to invest in a car.

Arrange car loan or car finance through various car finance sites or dealers. There are many car financing companies which offer personal loans where you can compare the best rates. Such companies many a times offer their 24X7 support through various financial advisers or you can also fill in the quick enquiry form. It is best to look out for 2 to 3 different places to get the best deal. Make sure not to apply at ten places for loans it can damage your credit rating and you may become a victim of poor credit history.

There are many mortgages sites on which you can check your credit rating. Always remember one notable thing that is stick with your budget and make sure that you can repay the payments. It is also crucial to test drive a car when buying a new one or old one. Through test drive, you will come to know its coziness as well as reliability.

Negotiate with the auto dealer face to face. Do not try it over phone as many times it happens that whatever negotiation has been made on call can be denied later. Hence, try to negotiate face to face. Make sure to keep vigil over warranty, guarantee, servicing, and price so that you know which car is better. All those above mentioned car financing tips when buying a new car is quite valuable. Hence, when you try to buy a new car and look for various car financing companies.

Free Beneficial Finance Tips

Handling your finances well during these times is of utmost importance. People are having a difficult time making ends meet with the rising cost of goods and the rising interest rates on home loans and auto loans- the fact that a lot of companies, and financial giants at that, are either closing down or cutting down on manpower. Much uncertainty hangs in the air in today's economic scene giving rise to the need for beneficial finance advice not only for big investors but right down to ordinary folk trying to survive the daily grind. It would seem like hiring a personal financial advisor to help you make odds and ends of your current situation would be expensive and could cut your available financial resources even further down. Beneficial finance tips could be had for free.



There are experts who are all too willing to dole out advice online for free. It would be up to you, however, how to apply these beneficial finance tips to your particular financial situation. There are even sites that have downloadable worksheets that you can accomplish on your own to help you evaluate your current situation and then make out your very own financial plan. If you are to successfully weather out this financial storm, you have to have a financial plan that you should stick to and be faithful to. Free beneficial finance tips are nothing if you do not use it to draw up a financial plan to put your present and future finances in order. Some of these beneficial finance tips could be a challenge to follow especially if you have very little cash to work with. Just remember that even a little bit of money stashed away for the future will help you a great deal.

3 Steps to Disciplined Trading

In this article I'm going to show you the path to disciplined trading in 3 simple steps as recommended by a trading expert with 45+ years of market experience.



The path to disciplined trading

Step 1 - Methodology
The 1st step is to find a systematic rule-based approach to trading the markets that has been proven to work, either by computerised backtests or manual testing. This is extremely important because without a validated strategy you will not be able to build confidence in it and will likely just end up losing money and increasing stress.
Make sure you stay away from strategies that do not have clearly defined rules you can program into a computer, the rules should be simple and not require interpretation otherwise the results will be inconsistent. This step must be completed properly, if you do not then the string of losses you will likely experience will make it very difficult to continue following the strategy and you'll either stop trading or jump to the next strategy and repeat the losing process.

Step 2 - Confidence
The 2nd step is to gain confidence with the strategy by understanding how it works, why does it make money? Really understand the backtest results, know the type of markets it works in best, then either paper-trade it or trade it with a small position size for a while to get a feel for how it behaves.
This process can take some time so don't rush it. Also, don't assume you can trade it just because you know the rules and have read the backtest report; there is a large difference between knowing something and doing it, so while you may think you can handle the performance characteristics of the system it can be an entirely different scenario once you're risking your own money with it.

Step 3 - Discipline
The 3rd step is to gain discipline by following the strategy religiously. This is very important because not following the rules will erode your confidence and invalidate the results.
Make sure you resist the temptation to constantly 'tweak' the strategy rules, especially based on the results of a small number of trades. All strategies have winning periods and losing periods and the results are not defined by any one trade, rather you need to apply the strategy over a large number of trades to let the edge work in your favour.
If you find you constantly want to change the strategy or can't enter or exit trades when the strategy requires it, you lack confidence in the strategy and the only solution is to stop trading it and go back to steps 1 and 2 again.

Go do it!
By following these 3 steps you can become a more disciplined trader. It won't be easy, there are many challenges in trading, but if you remain persistent and are always looking to improve you give yourself a much better chance of being a successful trader.

Simple Tips to Save Money On Groceries

A very important aspect of your financial plan should be to save money on groceries, as they tend to be one of the biggest expenditures of any family. All of us were already worried about recession and with inflation also on the rise it becomes very difficult to keep the budget under control. Your debt is already causing sleepless nights and the grocery bills add to the misery. Most families are shocked to see their grocery bills rising. What do you do? Is there a way you can win over inflation? Is there a financial plan to control the ever increasing prices? You are not alone, in this battle and we will help you get a plan in action to create a win-win situation. Here we go!

• Don't shop when you are hungry - Hungry and grocery shopping! Never do your groceries shopping when you are hungry as you tend to buy things that you don't need. You will indulge in a lot of impulsive shopping.
• Plan your meals - You should have a definite plan; you should know what you need and what you don't. If you walk around the shop aimlessly, thinking about your meals, you will grab whatever you see. Try to do grocery shopping for the entire week.
• Hunt for deals - Most grocery shops announce deals once every week and this could be advertised in the local newspaper. You could get very good deals on a specific day and this will help keep the cost down.
• Store brands - Most customers are apprehensive of the store brands against reputed brands. Surprise! You will get better quality products of store brands and the prices are also very cheap.
• Multiple item sales - Five items for just $30.00! It is one of the best marketing strategies available where a combination of products or multiple items are offered for sale. Most of us fall for this. Be careful and chose the deal wisely.
• Coupons - You will be surprised to know that you can save money on groceries by cutting the coupons that are available in newspapers. Somehow not many of us do it nowadays. Maybe we tend to think of it as cheap. But every time you use these coupons you will save some dollars.
• Discounts and frequent shoppers - There are a number of grocery chains that offer discounts to customers who are loyal to the chain and you can avail of such discounts and save valuable money.

"Little drops of water make the mighty ocean". Every cent you save will add to your overall saving and using this money you can also slowly take care of your debt. You can trim the fat of your bill and save money on groceries if you plan it right.

Send Money Online

In the past, sending money online involved a lot of paper work and a lot of time. Often, when we are caught between businesses and there is an emergency case where we need to send money to other people, it would prove to be a painstaking task.



With the recent improvements that financial institutions are initiating to be able to make their services better and provide customers with a variety of options, an online wallet solves this problem. Having your own capacity to send money whenever and however as long as you are able to connect to the internet and the servers of your chosen financial institution gives you the power to transact in your own terms. Additionally, this will give you more freedom and time to make transactions especially when an immediacy in the need arises.

Different financial institutes - like banks and other cryptocurrency applications - provide their members with the capacity to make verified transactions as long as there accounts hold the necessary balances to complete it. The said applications differ from each other depending on the services provided by a user's provider and additional features like currency exchanges. As long as the recipient has means of verification and acceptance of the money sent, transactions will not be impended and are received in several seconds.

If we look at these scenarios closely, we would be able to say that our financial system has totally changed its course. What's more is that the charges implicated are not as high as each financial institute vies for more quantitative consumers partnered with the quality of service they provide. They make sure that a user's online wallet is always protected and that transactions which require sending money online pass through a strict verification system.

This is a joined commitment with other business facilities and is not just made possible by a single entity thus creating a wide array of companies to do business with.
Remember that when you send money online, you are sending off assets which you have worked hard to gain that is why even if the application will do its best to protect your profile and funds, you yourselves should keep your online wallet safe and away from prying eyes. Becoming a victim of online scams and fraud is no longer a new thing and many organizations, laws and regulations continuously make an effort to remind its users to use the applications they provide with proper diligence. It would help a lot if you do check the applications news and updates from time to time so that you will not be shocked if there are recent changes to the online wallet you are using.

Updates are made regularly not just to make the pages better but also to upgrade the security features of an application. As it goes through the daily battle of protecting the accounts, a lot of people would also do their best to hack into the system. Many applications have been compromised in the past and while the convenience of sending money online is profitable to a lot of parties, it is still of high risk and needs to be checked on and monitored regularly.

Tips for Sending Money Overseas

Sending money overseas might sound straightforward enough, but without proper planning and research, you could end up losing a lot to fees and poor exchange rates. Particularly if you are buying property abroad or regularly sending money overseas, the differences can become very significant. Don't be tempted to simply go to your local branch or log into online banking to send a large sum of money, since you'll invariably end up spending a lot more.

1 - Get a Favourable Exchange Rate

Exchange rates fluctuate all the time, and even a day or two could make a significant difference, particularly with larger transactions. It is important not to take the exchange rates quoted in Google, XE and other such services too seriously, since these typically reflect the best possible rates which, in practical terms, are usually unattainable for consumers. High-street banks rarely have very attractive exchange rates, so transferring large amounts of money by way of a direct transfer will often end up costing you a lot more than you need to pay.

2 - Find the Lowest Fees

Do not be tempted to automatically go for the option with the lowest fees, since you'll probably end up getting a very bad exchange rate. Consider, for example, the currency exchange offices that you find in airports. They invariably advertise the fact that they don't charge a commission, but the exchange rate tends to be so poor that you'll actually end up spending much more. Most foreign exchange companies charge a set one-time fee for each transfer rather than a percentage but, to get the best deal, you'll want to transfer higher amounts. If you plan to send money overseas on a regular basis, it may even be more suitable to go with a company that charges a monthly or annual set fee.

3 - Don't Neglect Security

As with any banking activity, you'll want to prioritize safety and security to ensure your money is in good hands. Always ensure that any international currency exchange service you use is fully licensed and regulated and that they are insured should something go wrong. Fortunately, it shouldn't take long to find a reliable and trustworthy company given the wealth of information available online. Before making any commitment, be sure to read some reviews, and always familiarize yourself with the small print. If, for some reason, your money goes missing or takes a long time to get to its destination, you need to have guarantees that you'll be adequately compensated.

Money Transfer Technologies

Advances in technology and the development of the Internet are changing the way people transfer money. With all these technological developments, moving money is simpler than before. Earlier, transferring money meant a visit to the bank. But that is no longer needed as there are various technologies in play to make money transfer easy and convenient.

Alternative Payment Services: Several websites allow you to transfer money through email, eliminating the need to reveal your bank account and credit card information online. Although online transfers have wide online security and fraud-prevention measures, they are not foolproof. Complaints like phishing scams, hacked accounts and identity theft are quite common.

Donation Texts: The use of text messages to transfer money became popular, when the American Red Cross used this technology to raise over $22 million in hurricane relief fund for Haiti. On the flip side, this technology is risky and scammers misuse this tool by asking people to text money to illegitimate numbers. Always check the organization's website to confirm that the number you are texting is associated with the cause are supporting.

Bumping Phones: Mobile phones are fast replacing the wallet and on-the-go digital money transfers are becoming commonplace. Now, you can send and receive money by just bumping Smartphones together. Technologies include Bluetooth and near field communication (NFC, a set of procedures that allow Smartphones to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them close to each other at a distance of 10 cm or less). Though, the risk of unauthorised payments from a stolen phone is yet to completely be addressed.

Remote Deposit: This technology allows you to deposit cheques from anywhere. Many Smartphone applications allow you to take a photo of the front and back of a cheque and download it into your account. While this process is secure, there may be concerns about the consequences if the phone is stolen or if financial information is intercepted. The remote cheques are not stored on the phone, and the data is encoded as it goes from the mobile phone to the bank's computer system.

Mobile Magnetic Stripe Readers: These are small scanners that can be attached to Smartphones. Busy individuals, can just swipe credit cards on the scanner and the money is transferred.

Next Generation Online Banking

Banks are financial institutions which have existed for a very long time, established and often the most reliable way to save, store and exchange monetary values-especially if it involves large amounts. However, banking can cause a lot of money, and efforts in order to have a successful transaction, not everyone can afford to maintain and make transactions in a bank. Due to the rise of many other forms of financial institutions and technological advances, the common people and large accounts have wished their banking transactions to change.



If you have been doing banking for years, you may come to understand what this means. Often you get stuck in long queues just to get one transaction through. We're not even talking about minutes but long lost hours simply to get through one transaction. You could have finished a lot of other tasks instead of staying there and sitting waiting for your turn to come. If the transactions involve large amounts, the risk goes up-both from robbers and from the verification process. The banks system seems to have not caught up yet with changes in the use of technology (although some banks have started the innovation they deem necessary to cater the needs of their growing customers).

If banks are able to do better with their online transaction, it would have been easier for one and every consumer. Although most banks already have an online application, this has not been optimized for the use of the common people. These applications are often less user friendly and restricted to selected transactions as the verification is almost the same as the process taken when going to an actual bank. Even adding account to which you transfer money to regularly would require you to actually show up in the bank and register the accounts-again taking days.

Although there are some useful features already, personal financial management is not yet that easy due to the verification processes you have to go through in enabling a certain transaction. As the rise to transforming to other cheaper and faster financial institutions are slowly eating up the banking cuts and options, the need for the banks to update and coincide with the technology and consumer needs should be made a focus on. The charges are relatively high but most of us still opt to use our bank accounts for most of our transactions as they have been stable and trusted over time.

Financial Ratios

When investigating whether or not an organization is a worth while, or potentially profitable investment, it is crucial to consider the following financial ratios in your research.



Financial Ratios
Liquidity financial ratios are sometimes referred to as balance sheet ratios since most of the variables are taken from the balance sheet. Liquidity ratios measure the short-term solvency of a company. In other words, they indicate a company's ability to meet its short-term financial obligations. These financial ratios are generally based upon the relationship between current assets and current liabilities.

Current Ratio
The current ratio is one of the most commonly used financial ratios to measure a company's short-term financial strength. It is arrived at by following the formula shown below:

Current Ratio = Total Current Assets / Total Current Liabilities

Current assets are the assets that are expected to be converted into cash in the next operating cycle. The cash from current assets is used to pay off current liabilities, which are scheduled for payment during the next operating cycle. A company should have enough current assets to meet its current liabilities. The higher a company's current ratio, the higher their margin of safety is since there is a possibility to lose some current assets, such as inventory write-offs or bad debts. If a company has a low current ratio, or less than 1x it indicates a potential short term liquidity crunch, and a possibility that they will not be able to meet their short term obligations.
While a generally acceptable current ratio is 2x, current assets should be twice the current liabilities, a satisfactory ratio is relative to the nature of the business. Moreover, while judging the current ratio, it is important for an analyst to look at the composition of current assets and liabilities. A company may have a very high current ratio of 3x, but if most of the current assets are locked in the form of inventory, a high current ratio may not indicate a good liquidity position. In this case, it is crucial to know the characteristics of the inventory. If the inventory consists of old product that is not selling well, the company may have to write off the inventory and the current ratio may drop significantly. However, if a large portion of their inventory consists of new products that the company is expecting to sell during the next business cycle, a high current ratio is a sign of healthy short-term liquidity position. Similarly, a high current ratio may also indicate a large amount of idle cash being accumulated and not reinvested into the business.
Quick Ratio
The quick ratio is also referred to as the 'Acid-Text ratio'. It is considered to be one of the best financial ratios for judging a company's ability to pay off its short-term debts and is a more difficult test for a company to pass. As mentioned above, inventories are subject to write-offs in certain cases and are therefore considered to be the least liquid component of current assets. While these financial ratios are similar to the current ratio, it excludes inventories from current assets.

Quick Ratio = (Total Current assets - Inventories) / Total Current Liabilities

By excluding inventories, the quick ratio concentrates on the most liquid assets, including cash, government securities and receivables. A higher quick ratio indicates that even if sales revenue were to disappear, the company would still be in a position to meet its current obligations with readily available assets. A quick ratio of 1x is considered acceptable, unless the majority of the quick assets are in the form of accounts receivable. In this case, the pattern of accounts receivable collection needs to be studied to find if the average collection period lags behind the schedule for paying current liabilities. The quick ratio is one of the utmost important financial ratios used to review an organization's attractiveness when considering investment.

Interest Coverage Ratio

The interest coverage ratio is also called the 'times interest earned ratio' and measures the margin of safety available to a company before paying the interest liabilities on their debts. In other words, it indicates the amount of profit a company makes before paying interest. These financial ratios are used by investors and creditors, to judge a company's financial risk position. It is calculated as follows:

Interest Coverage ratio = Profit before interest and taxes / interest 

Interest is a tax-deductible expense. The ability of a company to pay interest is not affected by tax payments. Hence the numerator used in these financial ratios is profit before interest and taxes. A high interest coverage ratio is an indication that the company can easily meet its interest payments even if its profit before tax suffers a considerable decline. A company having a low coverage ratio is perceived to be financially risky since a minor decline in operating profit can result in an inability to meet their interest payments. It is also used by lenders to measure the debt capacity of a company.

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How to Choose Between Banks

When you open an account at one of the banks in your area, or any bank for that matter, you are forming a long-term relationship. It is not often that people change their minds about their financial institution once they open an account. As long as you are receiving the services that you desire, you are prone to stick with that financial institution. If you choose to do business with a certain bank, make sure that you are happy with the customer service. Ask about fees associated with various accounts. Depending on your needs, you may need a checking account, savings account, or both. Find out how lost credit cards, overdrafts, and debit card purchases are handled.


Create a List
Create a list of things that you want from one of the reputable banks in your area. Then you can decide on a financial institution based on your banking needs.
Services Offered
Most banks offer a wide range of services. Services can include retirement savings, investment options, and online bill payment.

Other services offered generally include:

- Online Banking
- Mobile Banking
- Text/Web/Apps
- External Funds Transfer
- ATM/Debit Cards
- Telephone
- Wire Transfers
- Electronic Statements
- Cash Management
- Merchant Credit Card

These days, you will usually have access to funds at your local branch, online, and through ATM withdrawals. Most banks also offer loan services for mortgages and secured credit.

Doing Business Online
Online banking has made it possible for customers to check their balances and receive monthly statements. Most banks offer free online services, and you can feel secure doing business over the Internet. You can access your funds 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You will have access to your existing E-statements. You can transfer money between each of your accounts, make your loan payments, and see an overview of your transactions.

Mobile Capabilities
When you are traveling, what better way to complete transactions at your financial institution than by mobile banking. As long as you have a smart phone or other mobile device, you can conduct business transactions. You can even receive your account balances via text messaging. It is a quick way to check on your account without a physical visit to the bank.
Mobile connection allows you to receive current and available balances, review previous transactions, and see existing balances on all of your accounts. All you have to do is text a brief command from your mobile phone, and the information will be quickly delivered to your device.

Cash Management
Business owners can manage their money through cash management services offered by many banks. As a business owner, you will have control over your daily finances, be allowed to create multiple account users, and also have the ability to initiate ACH deposits.

Inflation And The Economy

An often used but little understood term in financial circles, inflation has been misinterpreted as a result or an effect of higher prices, but this is not the case.

Inflation

Inflation is a condition in a particular country's economy where the amount of available currency outstretches the GDP figure for that country. This that is known as inflation, and higher prices are a result of this situation.

This affects the Canadian investor by causing consumer pricing to rise, thus leaving the investor with less money to invest with after buying groceries and filling their gas tank. This inability to invest also affects the stock market, leaving companies with less avenues of capital acquisition. For example, if the CPI levels rise considerably, markets such as the TSX can experience a lull in trading causing its index to drop. This could indicate that an economy is either stagnant or heading towards recession. Of course, this isn't in the best interest of any country and if left unchecked, would lead to a wildly fluctuating market with tremendous risk such as the markets just before Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929. We have learned our lessons since and safeguards have been put in place to ensure that the market won't bottom out like that again.

The Bank of Canada has a hand in setting inflation rates to accommodate the disparity of goods versus monetary availability. By monitoring the core CPI, the Bank of Canada arrives at the comfortable inflation numbers that will keep the economy on track and within good financial reason. If you are wondering, core CPI is a specific group of consumer goods not considered to be volatile. The term 'volatile' in this context is meant to refer to price fluctuation, not combustion. These volatile products would include such things as fuel, vegetables, fruit, tobacco products and mortgage interest.

In the 1980s, according to Statscan, the inflation rate was at 10%. This may seem minuscule, but a rate such as this can cause general consumer pricing to double in less than ten years. Luckily for Canadians, our inflation rate has dropped to less than 5%. With current mandates from the Bank of Canada to put the inflation rate at 3%, consumer pricing would take approximately 24 years to double. This presents a much more tantalizing prospect for the Canadian investor with long-term goals.

According to investing experts, inflation is not a bad thing. The Canadian investor has to be aware of certain factors in their investment, suppose McCain Foods has an offering of 100,000 shares with a rate of 4%. If the Canadian economy had an inflation rate of 3%, this would leave the prospective investor with a positive growth percentage of 1%. Not a bad investment. However, if the Canadian economy had an inflation rate of 5%, the prospective investor has started their investment in the red, not necessarily a good investment idea. But even in this situation, investment isn't really out of the question. If you can ascertain that the economy is headed for a sustained surge down the road and you are thinking about long-term investment, it might be prudent to buy-in as your investment in the long run may achieve a positive growth outstripping the rate of inflation. This is dependent on when the economy will perform, for how long and how well versus the time length of your investment. Knowing about inflation is an important step to losing needless and ill-informed investment fear.

Personal Financial Management

Financial Managemen 



Regarding:

Life Insurance:
While working for a life and health insurance company, I learned that "buying term life insurance", and "investing the remaining money" almost always makes more sense than buying what is called "whole life insurance".
So, "buy term and invest the difference".
What should one invest in?

There are a few possibilities:

1) Mutual Funds:
Investing in mutual funds can be much more profitable if one is a little more active than most in one's choices of fund selections.
For example, most people allow their employer-designated financial advisor to choose funds for them.
Unfortunately, many financial advisors are really not that in-depth in their knowledge of mutual fund investing, and often simply choose funds based on the limited selection of funds they have knowledge of, or access to.

Choosing funds should take into account:
1) finding funds with relatively low expense ratios.
2) finding funds that combine:
- stable tenure of management and
- above average rates of return (for funds in that risk category)
After conferring with colleagues of mine in the past, I learned that, when one does not have adequate financial advice, it is almost always best to invest in an American Stock Exchange index fund, that is called the "Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500".
That fund is a passively-managed fund that owns stock in the 500 largest corporations in the United States.

A portfolio that diversified, composed of stock in that many huge, United States based industrial or informational corporations, is usually a very safe investment.
Additionally, even though I do not believe that many of their labor and environmental practices overseas are acceptable, U.S. based corporations that invest in Chinese (and other East-Asian manufacturing nations) are often highly profitable, so if one has to temporarily sacrifice social ideals in order to earn some money, then those U.S. based corporations are often a good investment.
In the long term, multinational corporations are almost always going to give you the highest rates of return, as they are able to capitalize on ever-shifting politically-created labor-market gaps.
And as long as no workers (particularly children) get hurt, and their workforce is energetically optimistic about leaving the farms and entering the manufacturing sector of their nation's economy, then investing in multinational corporations can be acceptable.

2) Stocks:
There are a few methods through which one can choose corporate stocks to invest in:
1) Finding stocks in companies that have a high degree of likelihood of increasing their sales (and thus, hopefully, their profitability).
2) Finding stocks that have the lowest Price to Earnings (P/E) ratios.
and
3) Finding stocks that exhibit buyers heavy interest, and are also included in one (or preferably both), of the previous 2 categories.
That being said, on a superficial basis (as of June 5, 2015), I would tentatively assume that:
Apple computer stock is probably overpriced (due to the hyped, and irrational, swarming demand for it's stock).

And that companies like Samsung (which manufacture products similar to the iPhone and IPad) are probably more fairly priced.
With regard to real estate:
I think, as time goes on, that California real estate is going to represent a great investment, due to a few factors:

1) the climate here is great.
2) huge U.S. based multinational corporations are based here.
and
3) this state's proximity to China, and other Asian manufacturing superpowers is highly beneficial for the mass-manufacture of the electronics products that are increasingly engineered here.
Water is the resource of concern here (as we are in a semi-desert environment), so choosing subdivisions to live in that have guaranteed water rights would probably be wise.

With regard to buying and selling businesses:
Business are to be valued the same way corporate stocks are valued, by imagining that they are "bonds", with a fixed rate of return over the life of the investment.
For example, if one buys a corporate bond with a 5% fixed rate of return, over the life of the bond, then one can reasonably calculate the value of that bond using "present value" mathematical techniques.
To accurately price corporate stocks (or the underlying businesses they prove partial ownership of), one must imagine that the companies yearly profits will extend into the future in some sort of stable pattern, and then discount those future revenues into a present day value, discounted by the expected rate of inflation.
So, if you can expect a company to earn a 10% profit on the dollar amount of it's net worth, year after year, for a reasonably assumed number of years, then you can then discount those anticipated future profits into a present day dollar amount (and then add all those values up), to arrive at a present day value of what that company is likely worth.
If the value of the sum total of all the future profits (after discounting for inflation) is greater than the current net worth of the company, then that company's stock is worth more than it's current market price, and thus, it represents a good investment.