All About Pensions

Investment-We all need income and benefits

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:39:42 +0000

We continue our daily look at factors affecting currencies allowing some insight into market conditions affecting exchange rates. Cash and income timing for UK Pensions and QROPS should be considered to maximise the Pension, QROPS and investment income and benefits taken.

Investment market volatility and currency exchange remains a challenge. Things are still very volatile and we are in unique global influencing territory. In conjunction with investment returns, currency exchange continues to concern many expats with UK Pensions, QROPS and now QNUPS.

Sterling climbed to a six month high against the US dollar, falling just short of the $1.60 mark on Friday as investors ditched the dollar after weaker than expected US non-farm payrolls figures.

The figures showed the US economy shed twice as many jobs in July as economists had expected, adding to concerns about the US economic recovery and sparking talk the Federal Reserve may resort to further monetary easing to prop up the economy.

This pushed the pound higher as investors shrugged off earlier weak UK industrial production data.

Sterling rose 0.6% against the dollar to $1.5999, just below the key resistance level of $1.6000, where traders reported options barriers.

“There’s been pressure on the dollar as payrolls disappoint once again and $1.6000 seems to be the magnet now. The market has shaken off the concern about the disappointing UK numbers from this morning, and it would appear that the uptrend is still intact.

The pound broke through resistance at $1.5968, Tuesday’s six-month high which also marked the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of its 2009 to 2010 decline.

The US dollar fell further against the euro, at 3.00pm the euro had climbed to $1.3322 its highest since late April. As the dollar weakened more against the euro than the pound this had the effect of the pound weakening against the euro.

At the same time as the euro’s high against the dollar, the pound fell to a session low against the euro of 1.2005. Despite the fall, the pound’s trade weighted index edged up from Thursday’s close to 82.4. A move above 82.7 would mark its highest in more than 11 months.

The US jobs data put the market focus back on selling the dollar, bringing the pound back into positive territory. It had fallen as low as $1.5840 earlier in the session following data showing an unexpected fall in UK industrial output during June.

British industrial output fell 0.5% in June after an earlier-than-usual start to seasonal oil field maintenance work, partially reversing May’s 0.7% rise and confounding forecasts for a 0.2% increase.

Further data showed UK input price inflation picked up much less than expected, which analysts say may increase concerns at the Bank of England about rising inflationary pressures. Inflation is currently well above the target rate of 2.0%, with no sign of it falling in the short term.

Next week, the focus for sterling will shift to the central bank’s quarterly projections on growth and inflation on Wednesday, where traders will be looking for clues on whether policymaker support for hiking interest rates is strengthening.

Gerard Associates Ltd advises expats and people considering living abroad on the technical and currency options available for Pensions, QROPS, QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice. Our service encompasses Pensions, investments, currency exchange and guidance on taxation in most popular sunnier’ climates. This with the re-assurance and security of UK authorised and regulated advice essential tools for your security.

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Have The 401K Blues? Benefits Of A Home Based Business

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:37:04 +0000

Do you have the 401(k) blues? Anyone who had upcoming retirement plans dependent on their company 401(k) account has more than likely had to alter those plans.

On top of taking a big 401(k) hit many people also lost their jobs. So not only have they lost 30% to 50% of their 401(k) investment they may also be borrowing from the remaining amount. This just compounds their retirement problems.

So what do you do? Trying to find an equal paying job is nearly impossible for most people right now. With money in savings accounts dwindling down it is getting pretty scary.

One good possibility for anyone in this position to consider is starting some type of home based business. The advantages of this are many.

Home based businesses have proven to be a great way to make and save money. Without having to find a business location and incur all the costs that go with that you can run a variety of businesses from your own home.

You have low overhead with a home business enabling you to put money into necessary supplies to get started and advertising expenses. Also without big expenses up front there is less pressure to make an immediate profit.

Many home businesses can get their start with just one employee (you) getting rid of all the various expenses that come with having to hire employees. From starting some type of service industry business such as lawn care to selling a myriad of products online this can all begin as a one-person operation.

You also can eliminate many other expenses depending on the business you choose to start. If you do work strictly from your home you won’t have to gas up your vehicle as much. You won’t need to worry so much about wardrobe anymore.

If you currently have child care expenses you can consider getting rid of them all together or at least cutting back. Many stay at home moms or dads have managed to build very successful businesses while watching the kids.

The danger of working at home is that there can be many interruptions. It does take planning and organizational skills to ensure that you don’t allow this to happen. Just like any job you will need to set aside whatever amount of time is necessary to achieve your business goals.

Perhaps the best advantage to working from home is the tax benefit you can receive. Home based businesses are a perfect vehicle for being able to benefit from a variety of tax deductions.

Any start up costs can be factored in for tax deductions as well as advertising costs and business supplies. You can also deduct costs of a computer that is used solely for business. Any business related travel expenses can also be deducted.

The IRS has good material that will give you details on what you can and can not deduct. You’ll just need to become proficient in tracking them.

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Debt Relief – Prefer Debt Settlement Over Touching Your 401K

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:37:31 +0000

Do you know that it is impossible to lead your financial life without creating even a single asset? You may lease your car and your house. You may not have purchase too many fancy household equipments. You may not have invested money in insurance. You may have zero balance in all your bank accounts. You may owe all your money to your credit card issuers and other unsecured lenders.

Despite all this, you can claim that you have secured at least one asset- your retirement fund. This is something that is a form of a compulsory saving that each and every productive American has to indulge in.

There are many persons who get excited when they hear about this asset. Their instant reaction is to liquidate this asset to overcome their debt problems. However, that is the worst mistake that you can make. The primary reason why the government has made this fund a compulsory saving is that it does not want individuals to utilize this money immediately.

If the individual ends up as a bankrupt individual in his or her old age, it’ll become the responsibility of the government to take care of such elderly persons. The government is merely trying to avoid such a problem by making saving compulsory. Instead of utilizing your retirement fund, you should use your head and check out debt relief options.

Once this asset too comes down to zero, and considering your past record it certainly will, you will have no other asset to help you out even after you opt for bankruptcy.

When credit card issuers are prepared to opt for debt settlement, why should you check out any other remedy? What is debt settlement all about? You just have to promise prompt repayment of the debt and the lenders will offer a 50% to 70% waiver. The money waived need not be repaid. Only the balance amount owed to the lender has to be repaid on a monthly basis for a period of one to two years.

Why is the credit card issuer offering such a facility? Lenders have realized that pushing borrowers beyond a limit is only going to lead to bankruptcies. A few bankruptcies may be good deterrent on other card cardholders. However, millions of bankruptcies only mean that the intimidating tactics of credit card issuers is not working. Lenders are realized that and are offering generous waivers instead of resorting to pressure tactics.

If you are over $10k in unsecured debt it would be financially prudent for you to consider a debt settlement. There are organizations that exist called “Free Debt Relief Networks” that are a great place to start in locating legitimate debt settlement companies in your region. They provide free debt help and know where to locate the top performing debt settlement firms. To get free debt help check out the link below:

http://www.freedebtsettlementadvice.com/’>FreeDebt Advice

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QROPS – Things to Remember

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:48:58 +0000

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Costa Rica Mountain Villas For $99K W/owner Financing Through May! Use Your 401K/ira

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:37:20 +0000

Goats, chickens, fruit trees, fish ponds, vegetables, herbs….everything sustainable in this community…. Schedule your tour today… Fly and buy program in place for April and May… LIVE WELL ON $500/month? How is it possible? It is a pretty simple concept. . .with each unit paying $150/month (not per person) into the community kitty and labor costing us under $500/month per full-time person, we will have over $20,000 per month going towards food production and common-area maintenance. This food belongs to the members of the community. Our goal is to produce 50% to 80% of our food on-site, which will reduce your monthly food costs considerably. We have already planted over 2,000 fruit trees, including 5 kinds of oranges. We’ve planted almonds to bring in the Scarlet Macaws. Other tree plantings are being scheduled right now as well! We are using a verticle system for growing our veggies, herbs and spices. The system allows us to grow vast quantities of veggies in a relatively small area. We hired Paulo Fearron, a graduate of Earth University, to assist us with this process of food production. Contact us Today at:

http://www.osamountainvillage30.homestead.com/

Osa Mountain Village announces commencement of construction on Phase I of its unique community concept. The community is located in Costa Rica’s Southern Zone along the pristine Pacific Coast, where the mountains meet the ocean. It is about 20 minutes from Palmar Norte and 40 minutes from Dominical and overlooks the Pacific Ocean at a temperate 2,000 feet elevation level. The area boasts magnificent ocean sunset views, ideal climate, an abundance of wildlife and a wealth of adventure activities. This 700+ acre development will use less than 3% of the land for development of villas, infrastructure and food production. The other 97% will be used as a nature preserve and jungle playground. Osa Mountain Village has a goal of producing 80% of the food consumed by its guests and residents. Thousands of fruit trees have already been planted and the future will bring vegetables, herbs, chicken and tilapia.

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Trading With Stock Funds and US Federal Employee TSP 401k Retirement Accounts

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:36:20 +0000

“Sell in May and Stay Away” Words to live and invest by? I don’t know who coined the phrase but I did a bit of research and yes this strategy would have worked out for you is you had implemented it over the life of the TSP retirement account. Of course we know past performance does not guarantee future results but there is something here that makes this investor think that just maybe there is something more to the story this time. There are five funds available in the Thrift Savings Plan. The C Fund is based on the S&P 500 The F Fund is designed to match the bonds in the Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate (LBA) index. The G Fund invests in short-term U.S. treasuries The S Fund follows the Wilshire 4500 index The I Fund follows the EAFE indexFrom its inception in 1988 through the end of 2005 the C Fund (based on the S&P 500) has averaged 12.61556% per year. In the months October through May it averaged12.87611%. From June through September it averaged -0.26056%. For the same 18 year period, the F Fund averaged 3.356111% for the four months June through September. Had you sold all of your stock C Fund on May 31 and moved all your money into the F Fund and then moved all of your money from the F Fund back to the C Fund on September 30th, you would have realized a 3.616667% per year increase in your rate of return over 18 years. Let me repeat this, a 3.616667% annual increase based on only two trades per year. From 2001 through 2005 the C Fund (based on the S&P 500) annual average was only 2.22%. Its average gain October through May was 9.24% while it’s June through September average was an appalling 7.02% loss. Utilizing the same strategy as above, our average rate of return would have jumped from an anemic 2.22% to a healthy 11.38%. That is an amazing increase of over 9% based on just two trades per year. Since its inception in 2001 the S Fund (based on the Wilshire 4500 index) has averaged 9.314% and the I Fund (based on the EAFE index) averaged 6.56%. They show the same pattern of gains October through May, with gains of 14.05% for the S Fund and 10.368% for the I Fund annually during those eight months. They also continue the S Fund pattern of losses Jun through September, a 4.736% loss for the S Fund and 3.808% loss for the I Fund. Using the same strategy of eight months in the S and I funds and four months in the F Funds, you would have realized additional gains of 6.336% for the S Fund and 5.378% for the I fund brining your rate of return to 15.65% for an S+F strategy and 11.938% for an I+F strategy. What do you think about this? Join the TSPcenter forum and let me know. My gut tells me we are in for a bad summer. Of course that could be a result of the pepperoni pizza I just ate.

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Glance over Market report QROPS

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:45:12 +0000

We continue our daily look at factors affecting currencies allowing some insight into market conditions affecting exchange rates. Cash and income timing for UK Pensions and QROPS should be considered to maximise the Pension, QROPS and investment income and benefits taken.

Investment market volatility and currency exchange remains a challenge. Things are still very volatile and we are in unique global influencing territory. In conjunction with investment returns, currency exchange continues to concern many expats with UK Pensions, QROPS and now QNUPS.

Sterling hit its highest level in almost eight weeks against the euro yesterday after speculation that monetary policy in the euro zone would remain looser than in Britain.

Despite making gains against the euro, the pound fell against the US dollar which took broad gains against a basket of currencies as a slide in US shares suggested the markets were moving away from risky assets.

Analysts said weekly data showing a rise in bets against the euro suggested it would remain weak versus the pound. The Bank of England looks much less likely than the ECB to loosen monetary policy given a run of strong UK economic data.

The euro fell to its weakest level since late June, with the pound rising to a session high of 1.2275 after European Central Bank Governing Council member Axel Weber said late last week the ECB should extend its loose monetary stance.

The euro did make back some of its losses later in the afternoon after a lack of follow through selling later helped push the euro off its lows, traders said demand for the single currency around the 1.2270 level was met by offers around 1.2230, helping to keep the pair within a range.

Gains against the euro helped lift the pound to a fresh one-year high against a basket of currencies and its trade weighted index rose to 83.1 early on Monday, following a climb on Friday.

Technical analysts say the next level for the pound to reach is 1.2391, this is the June high and the highest the pound has reached since November 2008. If this level is broken the flood gates may well open with the pound potentially breaking the 1.25 mark.

Against the dollar the pound was slightly lower on the day at $1.5510, pulling away from a session peak of $1.5620.

The pound was sold off along with other perceived risky currencies as US shares fell. But it managed to stay above its 200-day moving average at $1.5476, and technical analysts said trend was likely to remain upwards as long as sterling continued to close above the 200-day average mark. For it to extend gains, however, it would need to sustain a move above $1.57, something it has struggled to do in recent days.

The euro traded fairly flat on the day against the dollar, it hit a session high $1.2725 at 9.00am in London and remained within 0.3% falling only as low as 1.2661 throughout the session.

Gerard Associates Ltd advises expats and people considering living abroad on the technical and currency options available for Pensions, QROPS, QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice. Our service encompasses Pensions, investments, currency exchange and guidance on taxation in most popular sunnier’ climates. This with the re-assurance and security of UK authorised and regulated advice essential tools for your security.

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Ways That You Can Invest In IRA Or 401K

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:42:21 +0000

As of last year, finance and retirement experts suggest that approximately 2% of the nations $3 trillion in IRA investment is stashed in real estate and other non-traditional investment vehicles. If you’re considering using your IRA savings to invest in real estate, there are some excellent reasons that you should choose Philippine Condotel Investment real estate to drive your retirement portfolio into high profit margins.Beth Collingz, PLC Global Marketing Director for the Lancaster Brand of Condotels in the Philippines, said Investing in foreign real estate is neither as risky nor as tricky as a lot of people would have you believe. While land and housing prices in the U.S. have soared astronomically in the past decade, the world real estate market is a far different story. It’s still possible to buy a preconstruction Condotel suite at Lancaster The Atrium located in Metro Manila, Philippines, for less than $50,000. Lancaster Manila Atrium Tower A, Shaw Boulevard, Metro Manila, Philippines is a “Full Service” Condominium Hotel ["Condotel"] offering Studio, One, Two and Three Bedroom Suites for sale. To be completed and ready for turnover from December 2010, the Lancaster Suites Manila Atrium Tower II will provide unit owners with premier residential condo units with the option of enrolling their units in the Lancaster Condotel Rental Pool and earn Rental Incomes [at current purchase levels] of some 12-16% ROI per annum as Owner Non-Residents when not using their units through Condotel Management and reciprocal arrangement with Lancaster Cebu Resort Residences. This makes Lancaster Suites one of the Hottest Investment Opportunities in the Philippines. The beauty of holding property in the Philippines is the low cost of property taxes and maintenance. A $50,000 Condotel suite may set you back $200 in property taxes per year, and maintenance costs are similarly low. When you add in the tax-protected status of investments made in your IRA, and the 12-16% returns through rental income through the Condotel advantage, you have an incredible ROI on a purchase of Philippine Condotel investment real estate” enthused Collingz.What’s the downside about owning Philippine Condotel Investment real estate as an IRA investment? You cannot reside at your investment property as long as the IRA retirement account is titled as the owner of the property. The self directed IRA rules about benefiting personally from your IRA investments are strict – you are not allowed to make use of any property owned by your IRA, or you risk losing its tax-protected status and worse yet you could face penalties from the IRS. You can, however, rent out your IRA investment for steady income – putting the profits and cash flow into your IRA, or sell your Philippine Real Estate Investment for immediate profit, as long as those profits remain inside the IRA.If you’re looking for an unusual and high earning investment for your IRA, then take a serious look at owning Philippine Condotel investment real estate. It can help kick your IRA earnings into high gear.Global Life Management, Inc., PLC Internationals Marketing Partner based in the U.S recently announced its Self-Directed IRA Affiliate Program Available to US buyers of the Lancaster Brand of Condo Hotels in the Philippines.With the impending slowdown of the U.S. housing market and failing pension plans, many investors are turning to using their IRAs to invest in overseas properties and earn tax-free or tax-deferred income. This creates an outstanding opportunity for by offering self-directed IRAs to invest in the Lancaster Suites Atrium Tower preconstruction units.With preconstruction property appreciating at some 20-30% per annum not only does the Real Estate Appreciation look good but the rental income is in excess of what many IRA and Pension Plans offer for the same or similar investment.Jeffrey Clarke, President of Global Life Management, a company specializing in Philippine businesses and investments, is now offering its affiliate program to interested clients based in the U.S, announced that We handle all the paperwork, answer any client questions and can even setup a LLC driven IRA with checkbook control all for a price $1,775 less expensive than our major competitors. We’re finding clients, who previously were undecided, are now very interested in using a Self-Directed IRA to purchase a Condo Hotel unit. Not only can they qualify for the 20% discount, in many cases, but they are excited to learn they can earn rental income tax-free or tax-deferred, saving them tax dollars on capital gains; says Jeffrey.Beth Collingz says that many new investors are looking to replace failed pension plans and other future saving schemes with a solid investment in Real Estate. Clients are looking for investments that will give them an income for retirement as an alternative to traditional private pension plans that have failed. Most company pension plans are insufficient as are Government Pensions. Bank rates for Savings accounts are at record lows. Savvy investors are now looking for a more solid investment with potential for monthly income. Condotels in the Philippines fit the billThis potential, high rates of rental returns from Condotel Investments, currently from 12% up to 16% per annum, opens up a huge market not traditionally looked at by Real Estate Agents and Brokers whom all so often run around looking for normal residential profile buyers without looking at the by far bigger picture of investments, investing and retirement. “We’re here to help our clients, educating our clients and advising them of emerging investment opportunities. Self-Directed IRAs and the Lancaster Suites Atrium Condotels, fit this bill exactly; adds Jeffrey.GLM is a global investment consulting company, specializing in educating its clients on emerging investment opportunities, metals, currencies and self-directed IRAs

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Self-directed IRA & 401k Accounts — This is Self-directed??

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:35:49 +0000

Many of us remember our first “dive” into the municipal swimming pool or lake. Once we overcame the trepidation of diving head first into the expansive body of water, did we dive in completely or just halfway?The same is true with self-directing your retirement assets. While your plan must be established and continually adhere with all IRS and Department of Labor regulations, the code in no way prevents a fiduciary (e.g., you, yes it can be you) from controlling all aspects of the plan. This is true provided the fiduciary is not “self-dealing”, which is expressly prohibited. A fiduciary can only act in the best interests of the retirement plan, and may not personally benefit.So, if that is the case, why do most individuals believe that other individuals or entities must “do” everything for you after the self-directed plan is established? Well, the answer is lack of education on the part of the self-directed participant.Once a self-directed plan is legally structured, an individual can have full control of their retirement assets and be the fiduciary of this plan. Practically speaking, what this means is:1) Ease of Investing with no Time Restrictions — What if the self-directed participant wanted to make a timely investment only to find out that the custodian/administrator was going to need 10 days to process the request? One might argue that if that self-directed participant had control of their own money, the time restriction, in that example, is cut approximately 10 days!2) Execution of Transactions — Whether it is paying maintenance fees, repair fees, taxes, mortgates, etc., ficudiaries CAN execute the same transactions, and at no cost to the plan (remember this is the participant’s OWN retirement assets). SIMPLE ENGLISH — does a self-directed participant want to pay fees every time they want a transaction executed for something they can do themselves? This, by the way, can cost a participant hundreds of dollars a year in transaction fees.3) Savings With Account Maintenance Fees — Other than what a participant’s bank may charge as a monthly checking account service fee (e.g., $0 – $15), is there any reason to pay a custodian/administrator fees for account maintenance?4) Having NO Account Balance Fees — Many custodians/administrators charge the participant MORE in account balance fees as the participant grows their retirement assets. Does this make any sense to anyone? Kind of like your broker…..the more tha balance grows in your account, the more they make!5) “It’s Your Money” — Tying into Items 1-4 (above), bottomline is that most individuals (wait, maybe 100% of the people), if they can, would rather have their hard-earned retirement assets in an account that they actually can control and be personally responsible for. Why pay someone else to deposit your retirement assets when you can control them yourself?Self-directed participants are concerned with the following:1) Establishing a self-directed plan that meets all IRS/Department of Labor regulations;2) Security of their assets:3) Growth of their assets: and,4) The ability to control their assets (if they didn’t want control, why self-direct in the first place?).As a result, once the self-directed participant receives assistance with Item #1 they, as fiduciaries of their own retirement plan, can take control of Items 2 – 4.Get educated….remember, with self-directing your own retirement assets, what you don’t know can cost you…a lot.John R. Park is President of PGI SelfDirected and co-founding Partner of Fulcrum Investment Network.

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Using Life Insurance to Plan Your Child’s Future

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:43:07 +0000

As a parent it is your dream to see your child happy in life. You may already be nurturing plans of seeing your daughter or son in wedding attire, or seeing them reaching great heights in their respective careers. For these dreams to come true you would not want finances to become a road-block. That is where the child insurance plans come in handy. With children insurance plans you can start investing in a regular manner so that surplus corpus is available for them just when you actually need it.

Insurance plans offer lots of flexibility to the parents. Parents can get these plans customized to their needs. Generally children insurance plans are of two types: Traditional and ULIP.

Traditional -There are two categories under this – endowment insurance policy and money-back insurance policy.

Endowment policy: In this type of policy you pay till the tenure of policy is over and in the end you receive a lump sum amount which comprises of a promised fixed return (sum assured) and the bonus earned though the years. But there is less flexibly and less return on investment in this type of policy.

Money back policy: Money back policy provides much greater freedom to parents while planning for investment. In this policy also you have to pay annual premiums. But the benefit of this kind of policy is that you can foresee the situations when you would require these funds across various stages of your child’s life. Like, you may need some money for his graduation, post graduation and then his marriage. With this kind of policy you can withdraw a part of the final payout for each of these events in his life. So instead of making 3 separate investments, you can plan for various milestones within the same policy. In case of death of insured parent during the tenure of the policy, his nominee will receive the full sum assured at the start of policy. That is if the policy was of Rs 20 lakh for 20 years, full Rs 20 lakh plus bonus will be paid to the nominee in case of parent’s death.

Since these traditional insurance plans invest primarily in corporate bond and government securities return on investments is less.

ULIPs: ULIP provides greater flexibly to parents than money back insurance policies. In ULIP a parent can decide when and how much money he can withdraw across various stages of his child’s life. Since ULIPs are market-linked there is no guarantee on return on investments. The return depends on how well you manage the risk-return portfolio. This is because ULIP invests in a mixture of equity and debt funds. Here also parents have a say about what percentage they want to put in equity funds and how much in a debt fund. If during the tenure of the policy they want to change this percentage that can be easily done through switching between investment styles.

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