Posts

3 Things to Think About Before You Invest

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Investment|3 Things to Think About Before You InvestHaving spare cash might not be something that many of us get to enjoy on a regular basis, but those of us who do will want to make sure that we do whatever we can to make the most of that money.

The only thing about investing is that it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to moving your money around.
Even more so, an investment that doesn’t quite work out in the right way can end up doing more harm than good, which is not what you will want to have happen to you.

So, to help you to make the most of your investment, no matter how small or big, we have put together the 3 things to think about before you invest.

Always think long term

One of the best things to do when it comes to investments is to think about it in the long term. An investment made (or withdrawn out of an account) on an impulse rarely works out the right way; instead, you need to think about how it will grow over time.

When you consider everything in the longer term, you are giving your investment the time to grow and develop rather than hoping that it will be an instant payout.

Don’t ever put all your eggs in one basket

When it comes to investment, it is always a good idea to make sure that you diversify. You may have one form of investment that you are much happier working within than others, but it is always a good idea to learn more about other options that are open to you too.

You may discover that shares are a good idea for you or that property is your future. Whatever you find out, just knowing that you have a few options spread out, rather than just one, will give you peace of mind.

Learn about what you invest in

It is always a good idea to understand whatever it is that you are investing in. If you do this, then you can quickly identify what a good idea is and what might be just too good to be true. With understanding also comes the ability to think about what your next steps are, what things you can change in the future to make sure that you are getting the best return for your investment, and that things are going the right way.

Now you know more about investing, and how best to use the money you have already, you will want to make sure that you understand what you are investing in. There are plenty of options out there for you to choose from; for example, if you are thinking about Blockchain, you will want to check out My Blockchain Life or if you’re looking to invest in real estate, FortuneBuilders is a great resource.

A helpful community to ensure that you make the most of your investment and that you may Blockchain work for you.
The main thing to always make sure that you do, before any investment, is to learn how best to invest your money and ensure that you always see a return rather than a loss.

Getting Insurance or Opening a Bank Account: Which Is a Wiser Choice?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | Getting Insurance or Opening a Bank Account: Which Is a Wiser Choice?Life can be unpredictable. One day we are healthy, then we’re in a hospital bed the next day. Getting sick, losing your job, or coping with the death of a loved one can be some of the most stressful moments of a person’s life. These situations not only take a toll on your physical and emotional health but also your finances.

That is why we need to prepare for anything that can happen in a snap of a finger. To become secured financially, especially for dire emergencies, you can avail yourself of life insurance with investment in the Philippines. It can mean an additional expense, but it won’t be in the long run. It can be one of the best investments you can ever make for yourself or a loved one.

Saving vs. investing money

A lot of people do not realize the difference between saving and investing. On the one hand, both put your money into good use. The former means you are keeping your wealth for future emergencies. Meanwhile, the latter means you are placing your money in a safe place where it is supposed to grow.

From here, we can already see the difference between the two. You can open a bank account and put your money there as part of your savings. It is easy to access in case of financial emergencies. You can save and save and make it grow over the years.

On the other hand, investing means using your cash into something that has excellent return rates. It can be a risk but can also be worth it, especially if its value doubles or triples over the years and have no money problems in the future. Investing means a lot of things: it can be a real estate property, bonds, stocks, or insurance policies.

Is getting insurance worth it?

You might have encountered an insurance agent encouraging you to get a policy. You might want to hear them out and consider the possible benefits it can give you.

Getting insurance means you pay only the premiums without tax. In other words, there is no tax involved when you pay for your insurance premiums. You have to pay it diligently on the specific periods. It’s like savings accounts, only that most insurance policies offer other benefits, especially in emergencies.

As long as you don’t lay your hands on your insurance payments, then you are good to go. You can choose to withdraw your insurance amount after the premium payment periods are already done. On the other hand, you can let it sit until it becomes mature. Your loved ones will also be secured in case something happens to you (such as an accident or a terminal illness).

When you do decide to get insurance, make sure to check whether you can pay for it religiously. Also, you check the other benefits you can get when availing of a particular insurance policy. It can be an additional expense at first, but you will realize its real value as long as you complete the premium payments in a given period.

How to Manage Risk with Captive Insurance Companies

/in /by

StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |captive insurance companies|How to Manage Risk with Captive Insurance CompaniesInsurance is a complicated, yet important, aspect of any company. It’s what lets companies behave confidently, assured that if they face damages as a result of taking poor risks, they’ll be able to cope. Yet, not all businesses can be covered by traditional insurance companies.

For them, there are captive insurance companies that cover businesses that traditional insurances find too risky. And captive insurance companies manage to do this in a simple, yet effective, way. The business owns the insurance company itself and relies on itself to cover any damage it may endure while operating.

Only large companies can afford to use captive insurance companies, since having one requires having enough money to dole out insurance. For the most part, captive insurance companies are a way to prove that you have the money to make risky plays. And that’s not all they can do for a company.

To learn how captive insurance companies helped large businesses, keep reading below!

Captive Insurance Companies Put You in Charge of Risk

No matter what kind of business you’re in, your company will have to take on a level of risk. Doing business requires that you behave in ways that can cost you more money than you make, and there needs to be some way to recoup your losses. Most of the time, traditional insurance helps you do this.

Yet, there are some kinds of companies that traditional insurance companies don’t cover. These are large companies in risky industries that insurance companies simply can’t afford to cover. Luckily, companies this large usually have enough cash on hand to invest in captive insurance.

When a company invests in a captive insurance company, it is free to behave however it wants. It doesn’t need to follow a policy created by a traditional insurance company. Instead, it creates its own policies and controls how much risk it can take on.

Ensure You’re Allowed to Use Captive Insurance

Not all industries can use captive insurance since they create the possibility to reduce the amount of oversight in companies. Captive insurance companies create the risk that wealthy business owners will create shady tax havens for themselves. They may store money in captive insurance companies to avoid having to pay tax on it.

Using one can land you in severe legal trouble, and you may need to spend more than you save using them. So, talk to a lawyer and make sure your captive insurance company is set up correctly. It helps avoid risk, and that’s what business is all about!

Captive Insurance May Not Be For Everyone

Captive insurance companies are complex businesses that don’t exist outside of larger corporations. When a company gets big enough, it can eventually use a captive insurance company to take on new kinds of risks. Yet, for average business owners, they may not be worth the cost.

Average business owners can keep reading our website instead, to learn how to make the best decisions for their company. We understand the kinds of risks you’re used to taking, and we’ll guide you through it no matter what!

Ethical Viewpoints & Environmental Investments: Helping Your Business Profit Emotionally (Without Wasting Profit)

/in /by

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Business Management | Ethical Viewpoints & Environmental Investments: Helping Your Business Profit Emotionally (Without Wasting Profit)For every business leader out there, it can feel like stepping into the unknown from time to time, whether we believe we are making wise investments or not. Sometimes we forge a path all of our own, but sometimes we go with the grain. As far as the modern industries are concerned, money is tight, yet we are still expected to comply with numerous rules and regulations. Our carbon footprint is one of those common examples that we have to adhere to by implementing the most environmentally-friendly processes, but these come at a cost. With this in mind, are there any ways for us to embody a more ethical outlook while also keeping our finances down?

Making The Right Investments

We are told to minimize our paper usage, maximize our recycling, and ensure that our digital carbon footprint doesn’t go over a certain amount. In many ways, this is asking you to do contradictory things, but this is where you have to find the lesser of evils. The best place to begin is by looking at your business and how compliant it is from an ethical standpoint. If recycling hasn’t been a priority, and you want to rectify this, it’s a very simple change. You can buy a product like this one, the BearSaver – Mini Depot Recycling Enclosure which has individual compartments for plastic, mixed recycling, glass, or landfill. It’s a fairly simple starting point, but it gets the message across. Because improving your carbon footprint is a long journey, it’s far better for you to start by assessing where you’re falling down and getting the basics right.

Encouraging Employees To Take Responsibility

If we encourage employees to take responsibility for their work, then it’s not a big leap to encourage them to be responsible for their carbon footprint. Of course, we can’t force them to do this, but by providing them with the facts, and giving them the opportunity to realize what their individual impact is, such as by a carbon footprint calculator, it will make them think twice about what they’re doing and how their approach hinders the planet.

Finding The Right Ways To Give Back

And for those employees that believe the message of saving the planet to be “preachy” or that we’re forcing these things upon them unfairly, we have to lead by example. Giving back doesn’t have to be complex. For example, if you are a business that uses a lot of paper, and you are trying desperately to change this, by starting to plant trees, it’s a small gesture that can go a long way. From there, you can start to build up initiatives like cycling to work or encouraging certain employees to use public transport, we can feel more content that we are doing the right thing.

Some are sick to the teeth of rules and regulations, especially when it comes to the environment and carbon footprint, but we still need to push forward with this. For those companies that don’t think about it, you’ll soon see that your customers won’t align with your ethical viewpoints or you may have financial penalties. Either way, maybe it’s time to do your bit?

Investment for Small Business Owners

/in /by

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Investment
 
Running a small business in the current financial climate can be tough. There are a plethora of challenges to be faced on a daily basis. If you’re a small business owner that is tired of the financial uncertainty that can happen, and would like a little more security to help flatten out the lows, then starting to learn how to invest small amounts of your money to provide a different source of income could be the answer you’ve been looking for.

While investing can become a great safety net for your business, there are many considerations to ensure your success. It can be a great tool for building your wealth, but it’s a common misconception that it’s only for the wealthy.

What is investing?

Investing, in its most essential form, is the act of committing money in the hope you’ll make a financial gain or profit. A portfolio of investments built up over time can allow your money to work smarter, rather than you working harder.

Investing can also be a great way to take financial responsibility for your future. It often means committing an amount of money, we would have used for something else, such as purchasing new clothes or going to a fancy restaurant. Swapping the instant gratification of consumerism for an investment in your future requires discipline and an acknowledgment of your responsibility to your future self.

Investing can take many different forms. Most of us are aware of the stock market, but stocks are from the only way to invest. There are also mutual funds, commodities, Forex, bonds, ETFs, or real estate.

Any act that involves staking an amount of money for future returns is technically investing.

Technology and investing

Over recent decades, technology has made investing more accessible to everyone. This has helped to drive down fees. Many of the functions of a traditional trader can either be performed by investors themselves, or by using a subscription-based platform.

Now we can jump on the Internet to compare brokerage fees. We can look at online reviews and often play with a free sample of their software. This has empowered investors and investment advisors by providing a range of new tools that can perform real-time research and analysis, and even warn you when certain pre-set conditions are met.

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Investment
 
Start small

When you first start out investing the sheer volume of information can be confusing. Everyone knows what’s best or has a foolproof strategy to sell you. The best way to get started is to jump in at the deep end but in a very small way. You can start trading penny stocks, or only invest a very small amount, just while you get a feel for how the system works.

This will allow you to experiment with no real meaningful consequences. You can familiarize yourself with how the different systems work, what information and resources help you, and discover your own preferences. There are numerous approaches out there, and this is partly because there is no one system that fits all. As you progress you will gradually define your own parameters and discover what levels of risk you’re happy with.

Only using money you can afford to lose will prevent you from taking needed money away from your business. While you want your investments to enhance your income, it’s important not to be carried away if you enjoy some success.

Learn as much as you can

While there is an overwhelming amount of information out there, being selective can reap rewards. Join respectable forums and ask for advice on the best reading material, discover the best commentators to follow and learn from, search for helpful free resources, such as e-books, videos, free commodity charting, industry and investment news resources etc.. The more you know, the better you are likely to do.

Some investments require much more in-depth knowledge to take advantage of, while others require much less maintenance. If you’re managing your own investments, then the time commitment required should be a serious consideration.

Know yourself

As well as understanding the levels of risk you are comfortable with, it can be good to formulate a longer-term plan of what you intend to do with your investments. What are your personal objectives and goals? The goals for your business? Are you simply trying to accumulate wealth for the sake of it, or are you trying to ensure your retirement is comfortable?

Understanding these different factors can also help you to better understand your risk tolerance, and help you select investments that mature within a suitable timeframe for you to achieve your goals.

Variety is the spice of life

Diversify your investments. Having all your eggs in one basket increases your exposure to risk if something goes wrong. By spreading your money around, whether it’s different commodities, companies, or types of investment, you’ll help to mitigate this risk and ensure you never suffer any catastrophic losses.

This will mean learning about different types of investment, but you don’t always need to understand every minutia of a system in order to invest in it.

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | Investment
 
Always maintain a cool head

It’s not wise to go into investing expecting to get rich very quickly. Try to keep emotion out of your trading, instead relying on proven techniques and hard data to drive your decisions. Markets will always fluctuate, and a knee-jerk reaction can sometimes be worse than taking no action.

Shop around for a good deal

Whether you are speaking to a broker over the phone or using an app, there are always fees and charges. Sometimes it’s a set fee; other times it’s a percentage of your profit. Shop around and compare the different deals available, not just for the cheapest, but for the one that offers the most value to you.

Align your investing with your personal beliefs

If you’re new to investing it can be hard to know where to invest. However, where investors put their money can make a powerful statement. If you believe in sustainability or protecting the environment, then search for investments where the company acts ethically and with responsibility.