Welcome to my website where I, Geoff Allen, tries to improve my economy and share my experiences. Here I will tell you what works and what doesn’t work. All information on this website is based on my experience. You might find that other techniques work better for you.
Saving money
It is easy to think that you are unable to save money. That you earn too little to save money. This is never true. Every one has unnecessary expenses that can be cut without negative effects on your life and without making your life more boring. In fact, you can often save money and improve your life at the same time. Common examples of this are to eat healthier and to stop smoking.
Common unnecessary expenses include:
- Subscriptions to magazines you do not read.
- Faster internet than you need
- An Internet connection that can be switched to another ISP.
- Cell phone contract that can be moved to another carrier
- Coffee at Starbucks
- Restaurant food
- Alcohol
- Food waste
And a lot of other things. Make a diary of all your expenses for a month. I am sure you can find costs that can be eliminated.
Credit Cards
Credit cards can easily trap you in a debt spiral, and you should only use a credit card when you know that you can pay the entire bill when it arrives. Do not use the credit unless you absolutely have to.
With this said. Many credit cards come with a lot of perks, and I recommend that you compare different credit cards to find one that suits you. Do not be afraid of hefty yearly fees. Many expensive credit cards offer perks that are worth many times the annual fee, and you can often earn money by paying for the cards instead of paying for the services.
Compare different cards and see which perks you can use and whether the card can save you money or not. Only get credit cards that save you more money than the yearly fee.
Stocks and Investing
The best way to build wealth is to invest your money so that it can work for you and earn even more money. Making your money work for you allow you to make more money than you would otherwise be able to since you get the income that you and your investments generate. If you invest enough money, you can stop working altogether and just let your money work for you.
It is always best to have a long term strategy when you invest in stocks. I prefer to invest in high yield dividend stocks. Stocks that pay men me money for owning them. I look for stocks with a long history, and my goal is never to sell a stock once I bought it. I avoid short term investments. I also try to reinvest the dividend in the same stock each year. This allows my money to grow even quicker.
A good dividend stock will increase in value every year and give you a higher dividend year after year.
Dividend stock is perfect if you invest for retirement. You do not need to sell them to get an income. You never have to worry about your investments running out if you are living off the dividends.
Real estate can also be a good investment but upkeep will cost you money each year, unlike dividend stock that pays you money each year.
Speculating
I differentiate between investing and speculating. When you invest you accept a low risk for an expected return. You can keep the investment for a long time and keep earning money as long as you keep the investment. The exact value can go up and down in the short term but long term an investment increase in value.
Speculating is different. Speculating is trying to make quick questions by predicting how the markets are going to move and make trades to make money from these. Examples of speculating include day trading, FX day trading, CFD trading and binary options.
Speculating can be very profitable, but most people who try different types of speculating ends up losing money. You should never try speculating unless you have a lot of time and energy to devote to your trading. This type of pf trading needs to be a profession, an obsession if you want to make money.
Most people are better off avoiding all types of speculating.
Real estate
One of the most compelling advantages of real estate is its resistance to inflation. As the cost of living rises, so does the value of property, making it a protective hedge against inflationary pressures. Moreover, real estate provides a passive income stream through rental yields. In many urban locales, rental demand remains high, ensuring consistent returns for property owners.
Tax benefits are another boon for real estate investors. Various jurisdictions offer tax deductions on mortgage interest, property taxes, and even some costs associated with buying or managing the property. This can significantly optimize an investor's financial strategy.
Furthermore, real estate offers diversification for one's investment portfolio. Owning property can balance the volatility seen in stock markets, providing an element of safety during turbulent economic times.
Avoid Getting Scammed
There are a lot of scams in the world of finance. There are a lot of services that claim that they can help you trade. They are all scams. Anyone good enough to make a lot of money will not waste his or her time selling the tips. They would make more money focusing on their trading.
There are also financial instruments that are designed for you to lose money. An excellent example of this is binary options. You can make money trading binary options, but they are designed for you to lose money. You need to be very skilled to overcome this.
Avoid anything that seems too good to be true.