In 2014 and maybe 2015 and beyond, investing money will be tougher and putting together the best investment portfolio might mean investing money for safety vs. higher investment returns. The best investment ideas are slim pickings. There is very little that is normal in today’s world of finance. My reasoning and background follows.In 1971 I had my Masters in Business (finance) and knew nothing about the investment world or investing money. Actually, I found it quite embarrassing, because adults that I would meet in the business world thought that I might have the best investment ideas in my pocket – due to my education. The years that followed were not the best investment environment, and I became a stock broker in Columbus, Ohio in 1972. I learned real quick what my job was really all about: selling investment ideas… SELL the sizzle NOT the steak… I was informed by my sales manager.Forty years later, investing money is a game that I find has changed little. It’s all but impossible to find the best investment, and the world of investing money is primarily a sales game aimed at uninformed investors (more than 90% of the investing public). I once read that NOW is always the hardest time to invest money. I’ve seen difficult times in the markets for over 40 years and I’ve NEVER repeated that phrase until now.At this time, I am afraid that it is really true. Allison and I have three children, who are all basically 30-something and trying to make it in a difficult world. Investing money for retirement is not an option for them. It is an absolute necessity if they don’t want to work for the rest of their life. Many folks my age are covered by pension funds plus other entitlements, but that’s not the norm for 2014 and beyond. Now, let’s get down to business and talk about investing money in 2014 and beyond; and the best investment ideas I can muster as an older (but still on top of my game) retired financial planner.If you have a 401k at work participate in it, and take maximum advantage of your employer’s matching contribution if your company offers this feature (it’s free money). Investing money here is automatic and almost painless. This is one of the best investment ideas available for accumulating a nest egg for retirement. Plus, the tax advantages will put a smile on your face each year at income-tax time.Open a Roth IRA with a major NO-LOAD mutual fund family and start investing money each month through their automatic investment plan. Enter “no-load funds” into a search engine and you’ll see some of the biggest and best fund companies at the top of the page, names like Vanguard, Fidelity and T Rowe Price. Give them a toll-free call if you have questions – like do you qualify, how much can you invest a year, and will they send you free literature. A Roth IRA (or Roth 401k if available) is one of the very best investment ideas for accumulating money for retirement. A Roth account (IRA or 401k) is TAX FREE investing, as long as you follow the rules. Tax free is as good as it gets and difficult to find.Mutual funds are the average investor’s best investment vehicle because they offer both professional management and instant diversification in the form of a managed portfolio of stocks, bonds, and money market securities. When you invest money in a fund, you own a very small part of (own shares in) a very large investment portfolio. There is always a cost for investing money in funds. All funds charge for yearly expenses. This can amount to less than 1% a year in NO-LOAD FUNDS, with no sales charges when you invest money and no extra ongoing management fees. Or, you can pay 5% in sales charges off the top when you invest money, 2% or more for yearly expenses and 1% to 2% in additional management fees if you work through a sales rep (financial planner, adviser, or whatever).One of the best investment ideas for 2014, 2015 and beyond: keep your cost of investing money as low as possible. This could make a difference of tens of thousands of dollars over the long term. A dollar saved is a dollar earned.Do all that you can to learn about investing money; and especially learn about stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Once you understand stocks and bonds, getting a handle on mutual funds is a piece of cake. What are the investment options inside your employer’s 401k plan? The vast majority of them are likely mutual funds – mostly stock funds, bond funds, and/or balanced funds (that invest in both stocks and bonds). There will likely also be one or two safe investment options that pay interest: a money market funds and/or a stable account.Investing money successfully in 2014 and beyond could be very difficult due to today’s investment environment. First, record low interest rates mean that safe investments that pay interest are paying close to nothing. Second, bonds and bond funds pay more interest, but when interest rates go back up to normal levels they WILL LOSE money; that’s the way bonds and bond funds work. Third, stocks and stock funds are pricy, having gone up in value and price well over 100% since 2009. In other words, best investment ideas are few and far between.Here’s the best investment strategy in 2014 and beyond for beginners who want to start investing money for retirement and keep it simple. In a 401k and/or Roth IRA account invest (monthly or each payday) equal amounts into a stock fund, bond fund, and money market fund. If your 401k has a stable account option use this instead of the money market fund if it pays more interest.Mutual funds are always one of the best investment ideas for most investors – if you invest money in low-cost no-load funds. (Your 401k plan should have no loads, sales charges). When investing money for retirement in 2014 and 2015 keep three factors in mind. Two of these always apply: keep costs low and invest money across the board in all three fund types listed above. Your third factor is to give money market funds equal weight in 2014 and beyond for added safety. Normally, you would give them less weighting.
Anti Aging Organic Skin Care – Defy the Ravages of Time
Even if you’ve resolved to grow old gracefully, there’s no reason not to use the best products possible to take care of your skin. Developing an anti aging organic skin care regimen is an important way to appear more vital and youthful. In this article, we’ll present some information about all natural skin care products for women in the UK who are interested in protecting and preserving the youthful vigor of their skin.Oxygen is a Key IngredientJust as we need oxygen to breathe, the skin needs oxygen to stay clear and pure. Oxygen is thought to accelerate skin regeneration and decrease the rate at which skin loses the important components elastin and collagen. Oxygen also has anti-inflammatory effects, helping to calm and heal the skin. The best oxygen-containing skin care products are often handmade, and, because they do not contain preservatives, need to be refrigerated. Oxygen works to increase collagen density and skin firmness. Organic skin care products containing oxygen should also have a neutral pH that will not upset the skin’s pH balance and cause irritation.Royal Jelly is Another Ingredient to ConsiderRoyal jelly is an organic beauty product derived from bees. It has a creamy texture and strong antibacterial properties, so it functions as a skin protector. Royal jelly also has skin-soothing qualities and is sometimes used to relieve skin conditions like atopic dermatitis. In addition, it promotes collagen production and has a normal-range pH of about 3.5 to about 4.0, making it slightly acidic but still compatible with human skin. Finally, royal jelly is an anti-viral and anti-fungal agent and is thought to help damaged skin cells rejuvenate.Aloe Vera is Also A Highly Desirable Ingredient in Organic Beauty ProductsAloe vera is a plant that has been known since ancient times for its healing and anti-inflammatory properties. It works by increasing blood flow to speed healing. Aloe vera reduces the chance of infection and helps protect the skin from exposure to ultra-violet radiation. It’s also an excellent treatment for frostbite, psoriasis, burns, sunburn, abrasions, skin lesions, insect bites and stings and hives. Aloe vera is a powerful addition to organic anti aging skin care products.It’s amazing how many effective and beneficial anti aging organic skin care products are available in the UK. Why use chemically based formulations when organic products are equally valuable and widely available?
Marketing an Online Business – 5 Ways to Do it Successfully!
Have you started an online business? Starting it up might be a hard task, but the real challenge starts in marketing it. Marketing in terms of business is a way of promoting your products in order to attract a lot of possible buyers. This is the key in inviting consumers to purchase your products so you can have a regular sale. It is also a promotional tactic as various strategies must be employed in making the online business as desirable as possible in the eyes of the consumers. In marketing an online business, you can use a lot of tools and strategies in promoting it to the online market. Be guided of the following ways on how you can promote in online market:• Improve the appearance of your store page. This is a simple step of inviting customers to your online business. Your online business page must look as attractive as possible and it should stand out from the rest. In case that you own a web page, it is recommendable to seek for expert web designers so your online business will have a user-friendly interface for its visitors.• Upon starting an online business, your products must be in the lowest price possible. This is helpful in establishing reputation in the online market as buyers are usually attracted to low priced items. You should provide them with quality customer assistance so you can gain good feedbacks from them. This tactic is applicable especially for online stores registered in online shopping sites.• Invest in advertisements. There are many sites around that provide advertisement services. It can be in the form of ad sense, pay per click sites or product affiliation. Investing in these forms of advertisement will only cost you a little amount compared on the popularity that your business can gain. This is advisable for online businesses that have their own web page, as it is advantageous for online businesses that have their own stable range of products offered in the market.• Manage the processes in the business correctly. This includes the payment methods, shipping details and the assertiveness of the products offered. This is an important way of marketing as this step is optimally helpful in impressing the clients and ensuring quality service provided to the consumers.• Make a quality page that will top on search engines. Oftentimes, when people are looking for something that they need, they usually search for it by utilizing the search engines. It is advantageous that your business page must top in the search engine ranks so it will be oftentimes visited. It can be achieved by seeking the service of search engine optimizers as they will modify your web page in order to have a top rank in various search engines.Truly, marketing an online business might be a hard task in the beginning but this will be the key in ensuring success in any online business. Try every available step around so your online business will surely hit the online market!