Archive for the 'Personal Finance' Category
Buying with Nothing Down!
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007In some circles, this is touted as the greatest wealth building secret; buying real estate without a down payment, and relying on this to boost your wealth. In practice, it’s a lot more difficult than it’s made out to be.
The key rule to keep in mind here is that there’s significantly higher risk and cost, […]
Getting set
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007Typically, the process of buying a home involves a long term commitment. There are several things you need to decide upon and do, before going ahead.
Be sure you’re staying put. While a home is an investment, and can be sold to recover your equity, it isn’t a quick or painless process. Furthermore, there are transaction […]
Buying a home.
Thursday, January 25th, 2007If you’re currently renting a home, the amount you pay towards rental only gives you the right to stay for a limited period; until the next rental is due. Given that it’s usually a large chunk of the monthly income, it makes sense to explore whether you could do better buying it instead.
In some areas […]
Home truths
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007A home is typically the biggest expense or investment for most people. Whether you’re renting a place, or paying your mortgage instalment, you’re likely to be spending anywhere from 20 - 30% of your takehome pay on housing. The exception is when you’re living with parents; but that isn’t something that lasts for ever.
There are […]
Saving Style
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007As discussed earlier, you get the biggest bang for your buck by focusing on the big tickets. There’s another advantage here - it doesn’t require a change in habits for the saving to kick in; just a one-time effort.
Let’s look at this further. Most “Latte Factor” savings talk about changing a habit; not buying a […]
Saving Big
Sunday, January 14th, 2007Different strokes for diff’rent folks - that’s the name of the game for saving more. Gurus like David Bach talk of the “Latte Factor” - how cutting down on small daily splurges can add up big time. While this is true, it does require a regimen of discipline; of not giving in to little extravagances.
And […]
Doing More
Wednesday, January 10th, 2007Some people believe in making New Year resolutions; even if they fail to keep them up. Others choose not to make them, because they believe these are bound to fail.
But rather than doing it for the New Year, it does make sense to make resolutions, especially if these are of benefit. The key resolution for […]
New Year Plans
Tuesday, January 9th, 2007New Year is traditionally the time to recharge and restart your life anew; with a holiday break to catch up on things left undone, enough opportunity to reflect on what’s happened and what hasn’t, and quality time with family, it’s probably the best time of the year around.
Now that the holiday is over, it’s time […]
New Year 2007
Monday, January 1st, 2007At the outset, Greetings and Best Wishes for the year 2007 to all readers. We hope this year brings you success in all your endeavours, and happiness and good cheer.
What will the year be like? In general, expectations seem to be for continued economic growth - Jeremy Siegel over at Yahoo Finance shares his views.
Key […]
Building a portfolio
Sunday, December 24th, 2006A common question for new investors, especially those with low investible funds, is “How do I build a portfolio?”. Typically, there are minimum lot sizes for any stock; coupled with the price per share, it does mean that investing in that share requires a certain amount to be committed.
Typically, when you look at market […]