Some Helpful Tips if You are Just Starting Out

Morningstar has some suggestions for investing newcomers looking for diversification, especially if you don't have a lot of money to get started.

http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/article.aspx?articleid=102876&categoryid=5&refsource=newsletter

There's been some negative press about ETFs. This article is about why ETFs (and ETPs - exchange traded products) are a good investment choice.

http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/article.aspxarticleid=102268&categoryid=5&refsource=newsletter

Ten Commandments of ETF Investing

What began as a handful of securities seeking to replicate widely-known stock and bond indexes has grown into a lineup of more than 1,000 funds, offering exposure to nearly every asset class, region, and investment strategy imaginable. While this impressive growth has enhanced the arsenal of securities available to ETF investors, it has also created the potential for misuse and made finding the right ticker symbol a bit more challenging.

And while ETFs offer countless potential advantages relative to strategies that revolve around mutual funds and individual stocks, there are some potential pitfalls along path to enhanced cost and tax efficiency. Below, we offer up ten pieces of advice that will help to maximize the benefits of exchange-traded products for all types of investors, including tips on minimizing expenses, avoiding potential pitfalls, and picking the right fund for your portfolio.

Huffington Post: DAN SOLIN: Mega-Deficits and Your Investment Portfolio

 

		DAN SOLIN: Mega-Deficits and Your Investment Portfolio
	Most investors would not consider having heart surgery performed by someone without stellar credentials. Yet, they entrust their life savings to "investment professionals" with no formal training in finance.

 

Huffington Post: 1 In 4 Baby Boomers Say They'll Never Retire

 

		1 In 4 Baby Boomers Say They'll Never Retire
	WASHINGTON -- Baby boomers are starting to retire, but many are agonizing about their finances and believe they'll need to work longer than they had...

 

DAN SOLIN: Investing USA Style

 

		DAN SOLIN: Investing USA Style
	You don't trust the securities industry. You can't forget it was these "investment gurus" who brought us to the brink of a worldwide depression. If they can't manage their own money, what qualifies them to manage yours?

 

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/2011/02/22/always-expect-the-unexpected.aspx

Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Come Up Short - WSJ.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703959604576152792748707356.html

Finance Formulas for Everyone

People from all walks of life, from students, stockbrokers and bankers; to realtors, homeowners and household managers, are finding finance formulas incredibly useful in their day-to-day lives. Whether you use the finance formulas for personal or educational reasons, having access to the right finance formulas can help improve your life.


Whether you are dealing with compound interest, annuities, stocks, or bonds, investors must be able to effectively evaluate the level of value or merit in their financials. This is done by estimating future profits and calculating them against present values or equivalent rates of return.

How to Pick the Right Mutual Funds

We recently covered the why and how of purchasing a mutual fund, but you were probably left wondering what exactly you should be looking for when choosing which funds to buy. It’s a great question and can often be a daunting one for a beginning investor. In reality, it’s relatively easy to research and find good mutual funds. Once you’ve done it a few times, you may actually begin to enjoy the thrill of the hunt!

NYTimes: Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds

From The New York Times:

Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds

A Congressional inquiry said bankers and regulators could have seen the 2008 crisis coming and stopped it.

http://nyti.ms/gBFn7Z

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

NYTimes: With Retirement Savings, It’s a Sprint to the Finish

From The New York Times:

YOUR MONEY: With Retirement Savings, It's a Sprint to the Finish

You can save all your life, but those last years before you retire will determine the result.

http://nyti.ms/gqzMwv

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Financial Investments and Economic Investments...

Rich Republicans want very much to believe that the money they put into 'savings' or 'investments' is doing all kinds of wonderful things for the economy.  Unfortunately, this belief is based on little more than wishful thinking.  To understand why they are so very wrong, people need to understand the difference between financial investments and economic investments.

Hu Highlights Need for U.S.-China Cooperation, Questions Dollar

Hu Highlights Need for U.S.-China Cooperation, Questions Dollar - WSJ.com
http://www.stumbleupon.com/to/s/2vP9H3

whistleblower Rudolf Elmer plans to hand over offshore banking secrets of the rich and famous to WikiLeaks

 He will disclose the details of 'massive potential tax evasion' before he flies home to stand trial over his actions

http://m.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/16/swiss-whistleblower-rudolf-elmer-banks?cat=media&type=article

Forbes Investment Guide 2011

As a new year dawns, investors are heaving sighs of relief. A semblance of sanity has crept back into world financial markets. At home stocks posted 10% gains through mid-November 2010. Bonds did nearly as well. Is this the new normal— with little of the panic that prevailed in late 2008 or of the euphoria that chased it the following year? What 2011 has in store nobody can say. However it turns out, this Investment Guide offers strategies aimed at helping you increase your wealth, protect it, stretch it into retirement and pass it on to loved ones, or to worthy causes, in ways that will continue doing good for generations to come.

Global investing trap: Economic growth as red herring

First of a three-part series on misconceptions about international investing.

It seems a simple proposition: If you had a choice between investing in a country with an economy that promises rapid growth, or investing in one with flat or stagnant growth—such as the two economies depicted in the chart showing gross domestic product (GDP) growth —which would you choose?

Japan Income Taxes and Tax Laws

Taxation of an individual's income in Japan is progressive.
In other words, the higher the income, the higher the rate of tax payable.

The tax rate for an individual in 2009 is between 5% - 40% There are reduced rates of tax for certain income earners.

Japan corporate tax in 2009 is currently fixed at 30% and, again, there is a reduced rate of tax for certain corporations it is important to point out that the effective tax, for individuals and corporations, is higher as a result of the other local taxes that exist in Japan.