How to Become a Millionaire?

12 Steps to become a millionaire without owning the company or be a CEO.
By Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

A number of the people profiled in "Millionaires tell how they did it" made their millions as entrepreneurs. But working for the Man doesn't mean you have to be a wage slave or resort to buying lottery tickets to strike it rich. The trick is to maximize your income on the job (and know when to move on), make the most of your employee benefits and tax breaks and use that extra money to start investing.

1. Keep your eyes peeled for better ways to do your job. Streamline a procedure, shave costs, create a new profit center, become an expert on a specific topic, volunteer for a company committee -- anything that will make you stand out as a prime candidate for a promotion or a pay boost.

2. Don't be afraid to negotiate. In a study of master's degree graduates from her university, Carnegie Mellon economics professor Linda Babcock found that those who negotiated their first salary boosted their pay by 7.4% compared with those who didn't bargain.

3. Get your ducks in a row and your numbers on paper. If possible, quantify how much your efforts add to the company's bottom line. If that's not feasible, spotlight your value with comparable salaries for workers in your position from a Web site, such as Salary.com, or from a professional association.

4. Plot your strategy when it's time to move on. Create a professional-looking page on MySpace that tells prospective employers why you're an exceptional candidate, recommends John Challenger of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. And don't neglect more conventional networking: Join a professional association or show up at school reunions toting business cards.

Milk your benefits
5. Contribute as much as you can to your 401(k) and other tax-deferred retirement plans. You'll not only build a bigger nest egg, but you'll also cut your tax bill. In the 25% federal tax bracket, every $1,000 you contribute to a 401(k) trims your taxes by $250. And you'll save on state income taxes, too.

6. Flex your tax-saving muscle. Contribute pretax dollars to a flexible spending account to pay for dependent care or out-of-pocket medical expenses. If you set aside $1,500 per year and you're in the 25% bracket, avoiding federal income and Social Security taxes means Uncle Sam will subsidize almost $500 of your expenses.

7. Review your tax withholding. If you're expecting a refund this spring, you're having too much tax withheld from your paycheck -- and making an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam. That's no way to become a millionaire. Put more money in your pocket by using Kiplinger's withholding calculator and then filling out a new Form W-4.

8. Stash savings in a Roth IRA if you're eligible. Withdrawals in retirement, including decades of compounded earnings, will be tax-free. This year, income-eligibility limits for a Roth increase to $114,000 for individuals and $166,000 for married couples.

Invest like crazy
9. Don't delay. The quicker you get a jump on putting money aside, the easier it will be to stuff a seven-figure cushion. If you start at age 25, for example, investing $286 per month will get you $1 million by age 65, assuming you earn 8% annually.

10. Invest automatically, either through your employer's retirement plan or by setting up a regular deposit to a mutual fund or broker. You'll never miss the money, and you'll avoid two big mistakes: buying too much when stock prices are high and not buying at all when prices fall.

11. Watch for fund fees. The more you pay, the tougher it is to earn an above-average return. The typical hedge fund, for example, takes 20% of any gains, a huge hurdle to overcome. A better bet: no-load mutual funds with expense ratios of 1% or less. If you trade individual stocks, watch those commissions.

12. Keep it simple. Be wary of get-rich-quick schemes or sales pitches for complex investments, such as oil-and-gas partnerships, that trade on the millionaire cachet to lure investors into buying high-fee products they don't understand. Most millionaire households accumulate their wealth over the long term by sticking to a regular investing plan in a balanced portfolio.

Published Feb. 27, 2007

Recommanded Reading:

The New Color of Success:
The twenty Young Black Millionaires Tell You How They're Making it.

22 Millionaires Tell "How I Made A Million"

Enjoy Being Rich with Good Health

Good Health and Financial Freedom

Getting rich can be achieved by one's thriving, dedication, and persistence. Staying rich can be achieved by smart money management. Enjoy being rich can be achieved by healthy life style. We often see people who are financially wealthy but their health is not as good as their bank accounts. Consequently they don't live long enough to enjoy their wealth.

However, there is good news. According to Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN, you can start improve your mental health with common fruits and vegetables.

Memory-boosting foods

Every cell in your body needs a steady supply of oxygen and nutrients in order to stay alive and work properly, including brain cells. Because oxygen and nutrients are carried in the blood stream, anything that impedes blood flow will starve those all-important brain cells. The plain truth is that a healthy heart makes for a healthy brain. So keep your blood pressure and cholesterol in check, exercise regularly, don’t smoke and get at least seven hours of sleep each night.

Compelling research also indicates that certain foods and nutrients can help enhance your memory. Read the facts on fish, berries, leafy greens and coffee — and be sure you remember to incorporate them into your diet.

Fish (3 servings per week)
Research suggests that when it comes to food and memory, fish plays a starring role. Specifically fatty fish like salmon and sardines, thanks to the ample amounts of omega 3 fats they provide. In fact, a study published in the Archives of Neurology in November 2006 found people with the highest levels of omega 3 fats were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with dementia, compared to people with the lowest levels.

Another earlier study conducted by researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago followed more than 3,000 men and women for six years to see how diet affected memory. People who ate fish at least once a week had a 10 percent slower decline compared with those who did not eat fish, a difference that gave them the memory and thinking ability of a person three years younger.

Fatty fish is concentrated in the most potent form of omega 3 fats (EPA and DHA), so go out of your way to incorporate three to five ounces portions at least three times each week.

Best fish to eat (low in contaminants AND high in omega 3 fats): Wild salmon, sardines, lake trout, pacific oysters, and Atlantic mackerel. If that’s not feasible, you can buy fish oil supplements or at the very least incorporate plant based sources of omega 3 fats (significantly less potent than fish): ground flaxseeds, omega-3 fortified eggs and walnuts.

Berries (one cup a day)
Studies that focus on food and memory suggest that the more overall produce you eat, the better. But when it comes to fruit and your memory, berries rate number one! Berries have some of the highest antioxidant concentrations among fruit, and ALL berries are rich in healthy compounds called anthocyanins and flavanols… which may help protect against the breakdown of brain cells.

Plus these days, it seems you can’t say enough about the health benefits of blue-berries. What makes them so powerful? Their deep blue hue — caused by flavonoids — those natural compounds that protect the brain’s memory-carrying cells (neurons) from the negative effects of oxidation and inflammation. Blueberries are one of the best sources of flavonoids around, and encouraging animal studies suggest that diets rich in flavonoids may help reverse memory loss in humans. In fact, a new British study, published just last month, reveals eating plenty of blueberries can enhance spatial memory and learning.

Buy firm-fleshed berries from a farmer’s market, local supermarket, or health food store. For off season months, take advantage of frozen, unsweetened varieties. Berries taste great mixed into plain yogurt, as a topping for hot or cold cereal or right out of the bowl.

Leafy greens (one cup a day)
Leafy greens like spinach, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, and turnip greens, are loaded with folate, also known as folic acid — a nutrient which seems to have a direct effect on memory. A study conducted at Tufts University in Boston followed about 320 men for three years. Those who had high blood levels of homocysteine showed memory decline, but if the men ate foods rich in folic acid (folic acid directly lowers homocysteine levels), their memories were protected.

An Australian study also found that eating plenty of foods rich in folic acid was associated with faster information processing and memory recall. After just five weeks of introducing adequate folic acid into their diets, women in the study showed overall improvements in memory.

Aim for one cup each day!

Coffee (adjust to your personal tolerance)
Good news for coffee lovers. About two years ago, researchers from the University Innsbruck in Austria found caffeinated coffee can temporarily sharpen your focus and memory. After giving volunteers the caffeine equivalent of about two cups of coffee, they observed that their brain activity was increased in two locations—one being the part responsible for memory. Results were observed using MRI technology. Without caffeine, there was no increase in brain activity.

Then, earlier this year, another study published in a leading Neurology journal, found the effects of coffee may be longer lasting — specifically in women. This four-year long study involving about 7000 participants... all participants went through thorough baseline evaluations – cognitive function was tested, along with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other vascular issues. Participants were re-evaluated at the two-year mark, and again at the four year mark.

At the end of the four year period, researchers found that women age 65 and older who drank more than three cups of coffee per day (or the caffeine equivalent in tea) had 33 percent less decline in memory over time than women who drank one cup or less of coffee or tea per day. The results held up even after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect memory abilities, such as age, education, baseline cognitive function, depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, medications, and other chronic illnesses. This caffeine-memory association was not observed in men — the authors hypothesize that perhaps that’s because men and women metabolize caffeine differently.

So if memory problems are a major concern for you, and if you don’t have a medical condition that precludes caffeine, feel free to indulge in a cup or two in the morning to jump-start your brain.

Note: If you have elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, you should limit your caffeine fix to plain brewed coffee or tea. There is some evidence that unfiltered coffee (the kind used to make espresso, cappuccino, and latte) may raise cholesterol levels, especially in people who are already battling high cholesterol. To be safe, skip the fancy brews and stick with a regular cup of joe. Of course, be cautious and moderate with added sugar!

For more information on sharpening your memory, along with meals plans, grocery lists and recipes, check out Joy’s Web site at www.joybauernutrition.com

7 Ways to Get Rich Faster

If you want to make big money, you'll probably have to take big risks, but there are ways to make sure your payoff is worth the danger. Here's how to be smart about it.
By Annie Logue, MSN Money

Wanna get rich quick?
If you want a high return, you'll have to accept a high degree of risk.

Maybe you're in the lucky position of making a little more money than you need to live on. Or maybe you've just received some cash you're not planning to spend for a long time, allowing you to stomach the ups and downs of, say, a tech investment.

In either case, putting a portion of your resources into a high-risk investment may make sense. Just make sure you're ready for the downside as well as the upside.

If you want to take on risk, we have seven strategies for you to consider:

1) Concentrate.
Diversification is great because it reduces risk. But at some point, you might want to build on your nicely diversified core with a big chunk of risk concentrated in one sector.

"If you're looking to do better than the average return, the only way is to reduce your diversification," says Jordan Kimmel, author of Magnet Investing and president of Magnet Investment Group in Randolph, N.J.

Concentration will increase your risk, and Kimmel says that's good, in the right circumstances.

Who should be "non-diversified"?
According to Jordan Kimmel, average investors may not be in a postion to diversified, a fact is the harzards of being concentrated in wrong existed. So, he suggested that in the beginning, inexperience investors should invest in small bats of diversification as you go off to gain experience. That will help less and less concentrated in wrong.

"You have to be willing to accept short-term volatility as the prerequisite for making money," he says. "The investments that have the smallest volatility also have the smallest end returns."

2) Leverage up.
One quick way to increase your risk and your potential return (as well as your downside) is to borrow money for your investment, usually through a margin account at a brokerage firm.

Tim Phillips of Phillips & Co., a wealth-management firm in Portland, Ore., suggests that moderate leverage is a way for clients to enhance their returns. But they need to be careful.

It's true that leverage can generate a return on money you don't have, but it generates an outsized risk as well. Pay attention now, get-rich-quick fans: Users of margin loans need to be keenly aware that a drop in the value of an investment can result in a margin call, requiring additional capital. Investors who can't pay can be wiped out.

3) Hunt for bargains.
As Chicago Cubs fans know, loving the underdog can be painful, but sometimes it pays off big. (Maybe this year? Nah.) That's why Phillips recommends that investors consider distressed securities, such as bonds issued by companies near bankruptcy or, right now, stocks in banks that have heavy real-estate exposure.

"We try to find counterintuitive opportunities that take advantage of extreme emotional responses," he says.

This is risky because sometimes an investment is cheap for a reason. But if the low price is a function of feelings instead of fundamentals, the payoff can be huge.

4) Be above brands.
Many investors feel safest with something they know. But just because you have never heard of something doesn't make it a bad investment. Kimmel recommends that investors screen for companies that are growing revenues by 20% or more each year while increasing profit margins by 5% or more.

Only a handful of companies will fit these criteria at any one time, he says, and they probably won't come up in cocktail party chatter.

"You've got to be willing to own companies that are less known," Kimmel says. The underlying profitability gives you more cushion than any brand name ever could. Are you looking to make conversation or money?

5) Explore emerging markets.
It's a big world out there, and much of it is growing faster than the United States.

"All the demographics point to opportunities in six countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, Mexico and South Korea," says Pran Tiku, the president of Peak Financial Management in Waltham, Mass.

There will be risk in all these markets as their citizens feel their way into modern economies, but Tiku says it's worth it.

"If investors are focused on long-term growth for their portfolios, they must invest in developing markets," he says.

He recommends that investors use exchange-traded funds or buy stock in the largest companies in each market, usually available as American Depositary Receipts traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

2 critical things to know about ADR prices
According Anthony Moro, Bank of New York Mellon, Vice President;
1) underline currency rate vs. US dollar and 2) ratio of ADR vs. ordinary shares.

6) Consider commodities.
In a world economy that is growing rapidly, demand for commodities -- such as oil, cotton and corn -- is bound to grow. As demand grows, prices of commodities are likely to rise.

Individual investors can get exposure to growing global demand for commodities through commodity-based exchange-traded funds.

"India and China are going to be consuming nations," Tiku says. He speaks of massive infrastructure projects in developing countries and the spread of affluence among peoples long mired in poverty.

"It all points to huge growth," he says.

All of this relates to long-term trends. Commodities prices can be volatile in the short term because of unpredictable weather patterns, swings in growth projections and emotional trading on futures exchanges. Investors in long-term trends need to be patient enough to ride out the bumps along the way.

7) Do your research.
The more risk you want to take, the more work you'll have to do. When you do good research, you'll find more opportunities to add risk -- and return -- to your portfolio. The advice of steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie was that it's OK to put all your eggs in one basket, as long as you watch the basket pretty carefully.

Key to watching your portfolio
Take your ego out of your investment and understand the investments take time to grow.

Watching the basket can be great fun, if you're into it. And if you're not? Phillips suggests those folks find money managers who can do the research and choose the investments for them.

One other point: If your portfolio doesn't already have such risky assets as distressed securities, emerging markets or commodities, adding these to your portfolio in a balanced way can actually reduce your risk while increasing your return, thanks to the magic of diversification.

Here's an example. Say most of your money is in U.S. Treasury bonds, a very conservative investment. The only real risk there is the possibility that inflation or a drop in the value of the dollar (events that might occur in tandem) will undermine the value of the cash stream from the bonds.

Now say you take 15% of that money and buy stock in a handful of high-growth companies in Europe and Asia. Has your total risk gone up or down?

Most investment professionals would say it has gone down, while your likely return has gone up.

Published June 23, 2008
Article from MSN Money

Cheap Gas Price Finder

Check Local Gas Price Before You Fill Up!

Gas prices have risen to over $4 per gallon. It keeps rising and it won't stop anytime soon. It forces overall living expenses to increase and people are cutting back other costs to accommodate gas expenses.

No matter how rich you are, high gas prices are effecting everyone's life; rich and poor alike. Conservation is encouraged yet many people still need to go to work and businesses have to reveive and deliver. These days, working at home seems luxuarious choice.

However, the good new is that you can find the best gas price in your area before you fill up the car.

Here are websites that help you find the nearest gas station that has lowest gas price in your area.

• PennySaverusa.com just added Gas Price finder in its homepage to help visitors to find the best gas price under My Gas Price.
  
• mapquest.com also offer visitors National Gas Prices information under Find Gas Prices.

The World Billionaires

Is the race for the World’s richest men in the world anyone’s game now?

There are no boundaries in the world’s economy. It’s changing rapidly and so is the number one billionaire spot. The list of the world’s richest men from the United States is shrinking. The race for the top spot is an anyone’s game.

Bill Gates has been at the top as the richest man in the world for 13 years. Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican telecom mogul, have been closely watched for the number one spot since 2001.

In 2008, Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. Warren Buffett is now at the top with worth $4 billion more than Gates and $2 billion more than Carlos Slim Helu.

According to the Forbes Magazine, Warren Buffett’s fortune exploded when the price of Berkshire Hathaway stock rose up $10 billion from a year ago. His fortune now estimated $62 billion, Gates is worth $58 billion, and Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu ranks as the world’s second richest person with a net worth of $60 billion.

Here is the Forbes Magazine’s top 25 the World’s richest men with their worth and citizenship:
1. Warren Buffett - $62 billion - United States
2. Carlos Slim Helu - $60 billion - Mexico
3. William Gates III - $58 billion - United States
4. Lakshmi Mittal - $45 billion - India
5. Mukesh Ambani - $43 billion - India
6. Anil Ambani - $42 billion - India
7. Ingvar Kamprad & family - $31 billion - Sweden
8. KP Singh - $30 billion - India
9. Oleg Deripaska - $28 billion - Russia
10. Karl Albrecht - $27 billion - Germany
11. Li Ka-shing - $26.5 billion - Hong Kong
12. Sheldon Adelson - $26 billion - United States
13. Bernard Arnault - $25.5 billion - France
14. Lawrence Ellison - $25 billion - United States
15. Roman Abramovich - $23.5 billion - Russia
16. Theo Albrecht - $23 billion - Germany
17. Liliane Bettencourt - $22.9 billion - France
18. Alexei Mordashov - $21.2 billion - Russia
19. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud - $21 billion - Saudi Arabia
20. Mikhail Fridman - $20.8 billion - Russia
21. Vladimir Lisin - $20.3 billion - Russia
22. Amancio Ortega - $20.2 billion - Spain
23. Raymond, Thomas & Walter Kwok - $19.9 billion - Hong Kong
24. Mikhail Prokhorov - $19.5 billion - Russia
25. Vladimir Potanin - $19.3 billion - Russia

It’s interesting however, the Forbes Magazine’s the Top 10 the World’s powerful Celebrities are not necessarily ranked by how much they are worth.

The Top 10 the World’s Richest Celebrities’ Power Rank and Worth:

1. Oprah Winfrey - $275 million
2. Tiger Woods - $115 million
3. Angelina Jolie - $14 million
4. Beyonce knowles - $80 million
5. David Beckham - $50 million
6. Johnny Depp - $72 million
7. Jay-Z - $82 million
8. The Police - $115 million
9. J.K. Rowling - $300 million
10. Brad Pitt - $20 million

The Billionaire Factory

Which school is producing the most billionaire alumni?

Every parent hopes for their children to go to a top Ivy League College when they graduate high school. Despite a needle in the haystack to be accepted but they see the worthy of possibilities for their children’s financial future. Here is why.

According to Andrew Farrell, Harvard is consistently ranked as one of the top schools in the country. Its $35 billion endowment makes it the best-funded college in the United States. In addition, Harvard students are more likely to become billionaires than graduates of any other colleges. (Forbe.com)

The following is the top colleges and number of billionaire alumni.

No. 1, Harvard University
Forbes’ most recent list of the world’s billionaires among 469 Americans, 50 out of the list hold at least one degree from Harvard. The school has produced 20 more billionaires than No.2 College Stanford University, on their list. Including Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and media tycoon Sumner Redstone are among the Harvard alumni billionaires.

No. 2, Stanford University
It is listed No. 2 but impressively the school produced 30 billionaire alumni including Nike co-founder Philip Knight and discount brokerage mogul Charles Schwab.

No. 3, The University of Pennsylvania
It is listed No. 3 produced 27 billionaire alumni including real estate king Donald Trump and SAC Capital founder Steven Cohen.

No. 4, Yale
Among the top five are Yale, with 19 billionaire graduates.

No. 5, Columbia University
The school produced 15 billionaire alumni.

No. 6, the University of Chicago
The top school from the Midwest produced 10 billionaire alumni.

No. 7, Duke University
The top school from the south produced 9 billionaire graduates.

One thing, here is a hope for parents who are concerned with their children dropping out of college. There are many unusual cases of dropouts who have gone on to become billionaires. For example, a billionaire Carl Icahn who received a degree in philosophy from Princeton and enrolled in NYU’s medical school but he dropped out to be a stockbroker.

What’s these schools’ secret for producing billionaire alumni?

• Excellent educations
• Old-boys networking
• Good business school program-produces high income earners
• Strong research program
• Low acceptance rate among exceptionally smart students

There are common threads in these schools; provide better education and networking opportunity with billionaire alumni. In addition, students who are accepted from these schools already have excellent resume to start with. As a result, these students have a upper-hand during school years and after the graduation.

10 Rules for Building Wealth

How to build a wealth in slow economy?
People tend to be optimistic about the future when times are good. They think they can save money and build wealth at any time they want. Unfortunately, it’s harder than everyone thinks. Many people are ended up with more material stuff as they get older but their finances are not better off in terms of wealth now than 10 years ago. A good news is it is not too late to start no matter where you are.

Unemployment rate has went up to 5.5% according to the government unemployment claim. Economic crisis seems closer to us when we see our friends are losing their jobs and your own investment money. Some of them have lost about 20%-30% from their investments particularly in the mortgage related funds since last November 2007 and their funds are continued shrinking away. Recently, we see many homes are in foreclosures and people are losing confidence in economy. Everyone seems nervous about investing money.

Many of us try to read or find information about building wealth with what we have, hoping to find ways to get our money to work for us. Fortunately, there’s always ways to build our wealth. Here are 10 rules for building wealth according to Jia Lynn Yang, Fortune reporter.

1. Start early
More than any one stock or mutual fund pick, the age you start investing will determine how much wealth you build. To illustrate: Employee A starts putting away $100 a month when she's 22. Her money grows at 8 percent a year, and after ten years she stops contributing - and lets her stake grow. Employee B waits until he's 32 to set aside $100 a month, also growing at 8 percent a year, and he keeps it up until he hits 64. When they both retire at 64, she will have $234,600, and he'll have only $177,400. Need we say more?

2. Use your 401 (k)
If you're not already enrolled in your company's plan, stop reading now and sign up. Since you're putting in pretax dollars, a 401(k) is an unrivaled savings vehicle, and passing up an employer match is - literally - giving up free money. Confused about how to manage all the choices in your 401(k) plan? New pension legislation is encouraging companies to offer third-party investment advisory services, so call HR to find out if yours offers any on-the-house guidance.

3. Keep it simple
If you have a full-time job and it's not picking stocks, acknowledge that. Choosing three or four index funds - say, an S&P 500 fund, an EAFE fund, and a small-cap stock fund - will give you broad exposure. ETFs (low-cost mutual funds that trade like stocks) are also an easy way to invest in more exotic asset classes, like commodities. If you're close to retirement, consider life-cycle funds from Vanguard or T. Rowe Price, which will automatically rebalance your account according to your goals.

4. Don’t try to beat the market
Even the best fund managers have trouble beating the S&P 500, so give up the chase. The most straightforward way to avoid this trap is to diversify your assets and then rebalance your portfolio at least once a year. Check your asset breakdown with Morningstar's free Instant X-Ray tool (www.morningstar.com). Essentially, rebalancing means selling some winners that are taking up too big a share of your portfolio and redeploying that cash to bulk up in areas that have lagged. (Buy low, sell high - get it?)

5. Don’t chase trends
You want to grow your money for the long haul, so you can't switch your strategy every time you read the headlines. If you see an asset class that's catching fire - like real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the late '90s or commodities this year - ask yourself some basic questions: Can I describe how it works in plain English? If not, start your research at Investopedia.com. Why is it so popular right now? If the answer is "Paris Hilton bought some," best to stay away.

6. Make saving automatic
No one wants to think about saving - so don't. Already more companies are making 401(k) enrollment automatic (34 percent of big companies, vs. virtually none ten years ago). If you're already maxing out your 401(k), see whether your company can transfer money directly from your paycheck into your Roth IRA or a taxable account. Or ask if your bank can transfer a set amount (even $100 a month) from your checking account into a high-interest-bearing online savings account (check out HSBC's and ING's offerings).

7. Go heavy on stocks
The more time you have, the more risk you should take. If you're just starting out, 80 percent to 100 percent of your assets ought to be in stocks. The simplest trick? Subtract your age from 120: That's the percentage you should have in stocks; the rest should be in bonds. "If you have, say, 30 or 40 years, what happens over the next three months or even three years doesn't matter. If you need the money in two years and it drops 40 percent in one year, that's a problem," says Stuart Ritter, a certified financial planner with T. Rowe Price.

8. Hold down fees
Be wary of any mutual fund charging a management fee higher than 1 percent (a few stellar managers may be worth it; most are not). A manager with a high buying and selling rate (called "turnover") should also set off warning bells. If you aren't interested in watching your fund manager like a hawk, stick with an index fund, like one from Vanguard, where expenses are typically around 0.2 percent. And if you're trading stocks, don't be fooled by low commissions: They add up.

9. Ditch credit card debt
All debt is not created equal, so rank yours by interest rate and pay off the bad stuff first. That usually means credit cards, which can carry interest rates as high as 30 percent. (Compare your card's APR with others at Bankrate.com.) On the other end of the scale are student loans. Those rates are generally between 3 and 6 percent, so consider making the minimum payment and investing in your 401(k) instead. Hey, even Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was still paying off his school loans when he joined the bench.

10. Defer taxes
Eager to lock in your gains on a hot investment? Before you click on sell, consider the tax implications. In a taxable account, you'll pay 15 percent in capital gains taxes every time you sell a winner you've owned for more than a year (the longer you can defer paying taxes, the more time you're giving your money to grow). Come tax time, however, it can be a good move to sell losers in your portfolio to take advantage of the annual $3,000 capital-loss deduction limit and offset any capital gains on your winning picks.

Article from CNNmoney.com

Arming with right attitude for prosperity.

We attract what we think about.
We are bombarded with bad economic news right now; record-breaking foreclosures, people are losing jobs, food and gas prices are going up, and food shortages in some countries. We tend to concentrate on negative things more than positive things and people don't see the prosperity midst of worries and fears of future.

However, successful people find opportunities in most inopportune times and still build a wealth. They see things in different perspective unlike many people. Their thoughts and attitude are different from average Joes, not because they are better and smarter.

I read Joel Osteen's book 'Become a Better You' and I found one section that he explains about our attitude that can change our lives.

According to Joel in his book, Roger was down and discouraged so he went to see his minister for some advice. Roger always thinks nothing is going right in his life and he thinks there is nothing to be excited about in his life.

The minister thought for a moment and then said, "All right, let's do a simple exercise." He took out a legal pad and drew a line right down the center. He asks Roger to list all of the good things in his life on the left side and to list all of his problems that are bothering him on the right side.

Roger laughed and skeptically and said, "Okay, but I'm not going to have anything to put on the asset side." The minister insists Roger to go through the exercise anyway and start saying, "I'm sorry to hear that your wife passed away." At that, Roger snapped to attention to his minister. He asked, "What are you talking about?" "My wife didn't passed away. She's alive and healthy."

"Oh, really?" The minister wrote on the asset side: "Has a wife, alive and healthy." Then he said, "I'm so sorry to hear that your house burned down."

"What?" Roger cried and replies, "My house didn't burn down. I have a beautiful house."

"Oh, really?" the minister said and wrote on the asset side of the ledger: "Has a beautiful house." Then he said, "I'm really sad to hear that you lost your job. You got laid off."

"Where are you getting all this nonsense?" Roger asked incredulously. "I've got a great job."

"Oh, really?" the minister said, as he raised his eyebrows and wrote down, "Has a great job."

About that time, Roger caught on and said, "Give me that list." The minister passed the yellow legal pad to Roger, who proceeded to list several dozen more good things in his life. By the time he was finished, he left the minister's office with a different attitude. His circumstances hadn't changed, but his perspective was completely different.

What is the lesson from all this?
We often focus on things that are wrong and don't see things that are right in our lives. Once we change the perspective with good attitude, things can turn around. We take for granted for what we have and ignore the things that are right.

The difference between rich and successful people and average Joes is their perspectives on circumstance. Successful people tend to look for opportunities midst of difficult times and they think the future ahead of them rather than current situation controls their lives.

Being rich doesn't make people happy but it makes one's life whole alot easier. Stay rich is dependent upon one's ability to use money wisely whether it's in investment or in business. Enjoy being rich is a lot to do with one's attitude and perspective.

The bottomline is arming with right attitude will get you there smoother whether it's for prosperity or building a wealth.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Abundance

Book Review: How to Have More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey

Currently, many people are going through financial tough times. Consequently, many marriages are falling a part by the financial strain and their family members suffer by it. Dave Ramsey’s book How to Have More Than Enough is timely appropriate for many people in that situation. His no non-sense approach to wealth building is far from gimmicks or quick rich.

He discusses how to build wealth and how to strengthen marriage and family by guiding readers how to create a value system by examining the relationship between finances and family. Old fashioned value system that many of us grow-up on; patience, delayed gratification, humility, peace, communication, and contentment but ignored it by materialism and instant gratification.

Dave Ramsey, the best selling author of Financial Peace: Planner, puts financial matters in perspective of common sense. This book is neither just a ‘get out of debt’ instruction book nor ‘how to make quick money’ book. He guides readers to take a step-by-step to be wealthy but explains the meaning of true success by defining the success; a happy marriage and family should mean more than money in order to build wealth.

His Financial Peace showed readers how to get out of debt. In this book, How to Have More Than Enough, guides readers a common sense approach to build wealth while keeping the marriage strong and family together. Ramsey illustrates ten different necessary methods in order to create prosperity by educating children about money, and living debt-free and achieving happy marriage. His easy to follow a step-by-step workbook to allow readers to check their progress and evaluate their situation accurately and honestly.

How to Have More Than Enough offers readers and their spouses the chance to work together toward building wealth and strengthening their families.

This book is not only for people who are going through a financial difficulty but also it is for people who are financially wealthy. It’s a must read book and his wisdom will enrich many people’s lives.

What is the best home business opportunity?

Reverse Funnel System
We have tried many other home based businesses in the Internet; affiliate for retail online businesses, MLM network marketing, and Adword marketing, etc. We found there are plenty of scams and vogues home based business opportunities on the Internet targeting people like you and me who are looking for a legitimate home based business opportunity. Many of these home business opportunities often sound too good to be true. Promotional message in the home business opportunity websites are written by the professional writers to entice work at home or home based business lookers.

However, this particular home based business attracted our attention because of the product and the system. In many times, most of home based businesses require phone calls and follow ups on prospective customers which take a lot of business operating time. It requires small investments but we found that the return on investments is far greater than what you have to invest. We also found that the income possibilities are unlimited.

What is the Reverse Funnel System?
The Reverse Funnel System is a business system that was built by Ty Coughlin and the Inner Circle to support business owners for Global Resorts Network.

It's a complete automated Internet marketing system which comes with leads information from opt-in to complete purchase, websites, several different autoresponder campaigns, back office presentations and an enormous amount of resources. The Reverse Funnel System basically runs your business for you without your own employees. Not surprisingly, 6 figure income makers in the Inner Circle ever have spoken to their customers.

Most of so call 'proven system' online can do similar work such as the Reverse Funnel System except you have to manually send autoresponder emails or follow up calls to prospects, which it takes majority of operating time. This type of system is very difficult way to run the home business and it's hard to succeed. Most of people dislike calling and persuading for prospects. They discouraged quickly if they don't close the deal each time.

The Reverse Funnel System overpasses all the manual operations and removes the elements of 'human error' that causes most people to fail. The system does all the selling, persuading, and follow-ups. However, your success is dependent upon your advertisements. More the traffics to your Reverse Funnel System, you can generate serious amounts of income. This business is particularly advantageous to network marketers or creative advertisers for home business opportunity and work at home seekers who have desire to make unlimited income.

Ty Coughlin is a genius to come up with the system that he spent the last 3 years to develop and the Inner Circle understands duplication, the core of success in business.

How to make money with the Reverse Funnel System?
We found that the Reverse Funnel System paid out about 10 million commissions to the Inner Circle, home based business owners, since January 2008. It created more millionaires than any other home based business opportunities. They are expecting commission pay out to be triple the amounts at the end of this year.

Making money with the Reverse Funnel System is really simple. It comes down to marketing. The amount of your income is dependent upon traffic you generate from your marketing efforts. However, you have to commit some budget for your advertisements. For example, you can generate your traffic from an advertisement on a weekly magazine and you bring 200 leads into your Reverse Funnel System. The average the system converses from general leads into paid survey of 5% (10 leads) based on the quality of traffic that you generate. The average closing rate is about 25% or more (2-3 closing) from the paid survey. It's higher than any other home business opportunities in the Internet that we ever experienced.

Once you find the way to bring quality traffics into the Reverse Funnel System, it runs and will close 25% from all paid surveys into your business.

The product, the global resort network membership, also pays multi-level marketing opportunity (mlm) and residual income which gives them the chance to make double their income from the downline.

However, we found that there are also a number of people didn't make the money.
some people joined the program expecting their businesses to take off without putting efforts to market them. Income level is all dependent upon individual's desire. The program often discribed by the people who did not make any money from the program as a scam.

Good news is that this home business opportunity online is really did back up their promises to provide a legitimate home based business opportunity and is producing a significant number of six-figure income members.

We will continue to keep eye on this home business opportunities.

Blogger Buzz: Announcing Google Weblogs (beta)

Blogger Buzz: Announcing Google Weblogs (beta)

How to build your own successful home business and make an unlimited income?

Part 3

Does email campaign work?
My home business success is dependant upon advertisement campaigns. In order to help others to be interested in the home based business and the product, it's part of the process that the system requires 10% of work by me and 90% by the system. Even though, the product has a lot of demands, people are not able to find out about the great home business opportunity unless someone tells them or shows them about the product.

I used opt-in email campaign for specifically targeted home based business market as one of the advertisement efforts through an online advertisement company along with other types of advertisements online and on printed weekly magazines. For the email campaign I have chosen americaintmedia which was not one of the highly rated but they claim that their success is solely dependant upon the success of their direct email campaigns since 1996. They call it Bulk Email Software Superstore. However, my experience with the company tells me otherwise and their promises have never met.

I have chosen to do the campaign first 100,000 and planed to do more after I see its result. The company guaranteed me at least 10% of 100,000 opt-in email would visit my website. If not, they would run the email campaign until 10% would be met. However, my email campaign turned out less than a minimal result. First I saw the result 11 visits on my website out of 100,000 through the advertisement tracking system, I thought they only sent out emails to a partial number of people. So, I called the company and asked the question whether they have sent emails out to all 100,000. The customer service told me they did but they made a mistake sending out emails to general untargeted people not opt-in emails for specific targeted people. So, they promised me that they would send emails out again as I ordered opt-in email for home based business.

First, I asked the customer service to send me the copy of my email campaign the same way they would send out to 100,000 people. The customer service told me that he could not do that but he could send me email a copy as a text separately. I thought that was odd but I asked him to go ahead as he said. However, the second result I found after a few days of hassle with the company asking them to send email campaign out to 100,000 as I ordered as soon as possible.

The second email campaign finally sent out by the company as I originally requested for opt-in email for home based business to 100,000 people, the result was again showed 22 visits my website out of 100,000. I again called the customer service and told them the result. The company's customer service told me that they couldn't force people to open my website and it all depends on the message. I totally agree with that however, the email message has been successful by other people who ran the campaign through other advertisement companies. The americaintmedia promises 10% of visits to website from any number of opt-in email campaigns, which they never followed through with my campaign. Come on, total 23 out of 200,000 emails; 100,000 for general and 100,000 for opt-in emails? This company's email campaign for my business was disaster.

I admit that there is no way to know how many people is going to open my website through email campaign but 23 out of 200,000, the advertisement company should be shamed of taking money for it from any advertiser. According to the company's website, they would manage and excute targeted campaigns for you and they take the time necessary to assist you in designing and excuting effective online advertising that works. In addition, they can help ensure your marketing spend yields a positive return on investment; however, they never neither suggested anything with my message nor design. My guess is their employees are not knowledgeable for email marketing about what works and what doesn't. Even though, they said their experience has been in the business more than 10 years.

Well, I learned a lesson through this. I take the responsibility for picking the wrong company and move on, knowing now that I wouldn't make the same mistake again. I have other advertisement campaigns running through online advertisement companies and advertisements on weekly printed magazines. I will find out what's working and what's not. I'll inform you the result whoever following this article hoping that this will help you make a decision on your next advertisement for your home business without making the same mistake that I made.

So, does the opt-in email campaign work?
It might work for some. It all depends upon the message and the product as well as the advertisement company’s honesty and integrity to deliver what they promised. Even though, my email message that I used had worked with others and the great product I have. However, the experienced and well knowledgeable advertisement people or company can work with you throughout the process from the composing and designing for your campaign. One thing I'm sure of that I wouldn't use americaintmedia online advertisement company and I wouldn't recommend the company to anyone neither.

You might ask. Am I still confident about building a successful home business and make unlimited income with my business? Answer is YES. That's why I'm investing in advertisements and I have gotten pretty good responses from other advertisements. It's a matter of time that I'll have my harvests because the product will sell itself and the system will do the work for me. It requires persistance and more advertisements.

I'll continue to write about progress on my home business success on my blog.
Visit http://getrich-stayrich-enjoyrich.blogspot.com/ for more information.

How to build your own successful home business and make an unlimited income?

Part Two

Find something you're passionate about in relation to your financial freedom. What is your purpose?
We all have different reasons why we want to be financially successful. The purpose that makes us excel to achieve our financial goal. The reason that I got into this home based business is to make more money for my purpose; to build a green community, and to help children who are in need financially. What is yours? It can be paying off all your debt; buy a home for your mother to pay back her hard work for you; early retirement; send your child to a medical school; travel around the world; you want your wife to stay home with your children; build your own home based business; or, simply make more money, etc. Whatever the reason or purpose that makes you something to passionate about making money.

Most of people think about things what they want to do when they become rich but they never have enough passion to do something about it. They only have dream or wish to become wealthy, but not a purpose.

A man said once that the richest place in the world is a cemetary. Because there are so many unfulfilled dreams burried in it. Can you imagine what could have had these people accomplished? We never would be able to find out. So did they.

So, you should be happy when you open your eyes in the morning because it's not too late for you to start. Your day should be exciting because you know already what you want to do and why you want to do it, knowing that the end of the day you are closer to your purpose.

I don't know about you but I know what's my day is going to be when I open my eyes in the morning. It's going to be a wonderful day because I have the purpose for making money and I'm passionate about reaching them with my home based business.

Many businesses are closing down or let go of many workforces such as Motormobile and Airline Industries. People who are used to work at these places have to find other means of work or force them to make career changes. Unfortunately, employment opportunities are limited however, there are a plenty of work from home opportunities or home based business opportunities under catagory of at home work online, computer work from home, earn money at home, staying home mom job, or making money on the internet, etc.

I'll continue to give you an idea about the process of doing my home based business the next time.

How to build your own successful home business and make an unlimited income?

Step One.

Think big. Your thoughts determind who you are.
You probably heard similar phrases so many times from many motivational gurus. Once in a while you even agree with them because they seem make a sense. However, have you ever taken the time to think how it works on you?

The other day, I ran into a business opportunity that I can make unlimited income from home. I couldn't pass the opportunity so I grabbed it. Even though, I already have a real estate business which is doing great but I want more, more for other purpose.

One said that money doesn't make people happy. But money does allow people do things easier.

You might ask what my decision to get into a new business has to do with you?
This blog will follow my progress on my new business and share the story with you. In a way, it will be my own success testimony in progress. I'm using this blog as my business diary hoping that this inspires and encourages someone who desires to change his or her financial circumstance. I hope you follow each step with me.

Am I thinking big? Yes. I'm thinking of making big money. The reason is that the product related to my new business is great. There are always demands. 'In a circle' that I'm associated with advocates integrity in business which many people have a lack of. The best thing is fully automated and the system creates more millionaires in short time than any other system out there. There is no better time for this than now. The process of making big money and building a successful home business with the system requires one's desire for success and creativity as well as a small investments.

Many people want to make more money for many different reasons; get out debt, giving back to parents, be a millionaire, a better life for their children, early retirement, etc. However, there are only a handful of people actually get out of their comfort zone to do something about it. Are you one of these handful of people?

Is your thoughts positive? What's your thinking when you first open your eyes in the morning? What do you think your day is going to be?

Your day is going to be whatever you're thinking of it's going to be. For example, you're thinking your day is going to be lousy at work. That will be your day. You will attract things that make you feel that way throughout the day. Some people call it 'the law of attraction'. I don't know about you I rather have a happy day than a lousy day. Each day is special for me and I can reach a bit closer to my purpose.

So, how to build your own successful business and make an unlimited income?

Step One - Change your thoughts. Think big.

I'll post Step Two another time.

Build Your Home with Indestructive Recycled Materials

Build Your House with Environmentally Friendly and Revolutionary Recycled Materials

In recent years, we are more environmentally aware everything that surrounds us from what we use to what we produce. We think twice about using some products at home whether it's for house cleaning or drinking a soda. Some people even go further to recycle everything comes out of their households. One company even revolutionized building materials from recycled wastes.
Can you believe that we can build a house with recycled materials? Believe it. A building that built with recycled materials instead of concrete, lumbers, or steel, which are stronger, fire proof, extremely sound proof, bullet proof, waterproof, and energy efficient. Most of all it is environmentally friendly.

Is it too good to be true?
According to the company, they can build a home or commercial buildings with this recycled materials not only superior to convential buildings but also they help save the planet by mass-recycling into highly efficient real estate. In conventional buildings create millions of tons of wood waste and dumped in landfills every year according to EPA. US has 1.5 billion waste wood pallets, 6 for every American (Wall Street Journal). The US produces well over 100 million tons of coal combustion byproducts every year (Environmental Protection Agency). The construction of a 5,000+ house can recycle more than 600 TONS of these waste materials (land filled or piled up). There has never been a better time to get started cleaning up our planet! The extremely positive response to the company's approach proves that mass recycling into efficient Real Estate is a welcomed solution for today's environmentally and quality conscious mentality.
According to the company, the demand is growing rapidly as more and more people become environmentally & quality conscious. When people are presented with the concept of “a super home or commercial building that recycles 200, 600, 1,800, 23,000 TONS” and so on, contracts are easily closed and the competition fades away.

Fire Proof
Blasting the surface of the building material with 3,000 degree Fahrenheit blow torch will not cause the material to ignite. In other words, the building material will not burn.

Extremely Sound Proof
About 45+ Coefficient depending on thickness. Your home / building will be as sound proof as a professional recording studio. Tired of "paper thin walls you can hear through"? Our recycled building material is the answer!

BULLET proof
No “paper thin walls” as in with frame. We have shot wall panels with 12 gage shotguns, 357 Magnums, 45's, 22's, 9's, M14's, M16's, from as close as 10 feet away and we can still not find a bullet that will go through one of our 8 inch Super Wall Panels! :-)

Water Proof
All building components (panels) are waterproofed and sealed tight. No water penetration or moisture affects the panels.

Strong Wind Proof
Direct blows with a sledgehammer only cause small dents and external surface damage to Our Proprietary (recycled) Building Material. Our Proprietary (recycled) Building Material will not break/shatter in pieces as easy as concrete or brick does or shatter like wood frame does when hit by large flying objects or being directly exposed to Hurricanes and Tornadoes.

R-100+ Self Insulated means EXTREME ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Not even the new slogan "Energy Star Partner" can describe our energy efficiency. Insulation is measured in "R-VALUE". The higher the "R-VALUE", the better insulated it is. The test consists in applying a minimal amount of heat to one side of the insulating material and measuring the amount of time for a minimal amount of heat to reach the other side. Wood Frame averages R-12 to R-20, which is pretty low. Insulated Concrete (ICF) is of course a bit higher than the insulation used in wood frame (About R-40). But when one side of a building component (wall panel) is exposed to 3,000 degree blow torch on one side, the heat does not (And I mean HEAT DOES NOT) go through the panel. This means that our proprietary (recycled) building material does NOT TRANSMIT HEAT. This can put our R-VALUE at well over R-100, if not R-INFINATE!

Seismically Superior
The flexural strength is much greater than concrete. It 'gives', bends, and can even crack without shattering in pieces like concrete can. When that big earthquake comes, you want to be in a Custom Super Home rather than in "one of their stick homes".

Sustainable
Sustainability has become a goal for many. Building with our proprietary (recycled) building material(s) result in SUPER SUSTAINABLE HOMES AND BUILDINGS perfect for the "New Sustainable Concious Communities".

Environmentally Friendly
The construction of a 5,000+ square foot house can recycle more than 600 TONS of fly ash & wood waste materials (land filled or piled up). It is neither toxic nor hazardous to you or to the environment. No out-gassing, radiation,etc. We have a complete Environmental Study proving it.

If you are interested in finding more about this, visit Custom Super Homes.

Is Being Loyal Still Valued in Our Society?

The other day one of the PBS network stations aired Donald Trump interview. He is well known as a real estate tycoon and a major figure in the casino/hotel industry. His flamboyant life style and Trump skyscrapers in Manhattan certainly represent his fame and success in his field. His current celebrity role on television reality show ‘The Apprentice’ is growing popularity. There is no doubt that many ambitious young people admire his success.

However, neither his success nor his fame caught my attention. I was more interested in his downtime experience. Like many successful business people who went through their trying times, he also had to pay his due. Interestingly, his experience in failure was more dramatic than others and seemed that taught him a great deal.

The late 1990s his financial problems made his name well known when his unstoppable ambition to expand business came to halt and led to 900 million dollars in debt. At that time, his financial problem was so big his creditors could not offered let him go down. However, some of his friends in the business, he thought they were his friends, had turned on him and had nothing to do with him when he needed them the most.

He realized then who really his friends were. "People kiss your ass when you are successful. But people turn on you when you fail even colleagues who used to work with you. They don’t want you to call them anymore. You can make an interesting movie about it." He continues, "For example, I hired a woman. She was very unattractive physically and I found out later mentally as well. I took her out of her government job and made her successful."

His point was that he asked her to make a phone call to her friend as a favor when his company was in trouble. Her friend was a banker and a very close friend of her, who would do anything if she asked. But she told Donald, "I couldn’t do that. And, I am leaving the company to do my own business." He made her very successful otherwise she couldn’t be as successful in the business. Because of her success, she bought a beautiful house and met her handsome husband who married her for her money. However, right after she left his company, she lost everything; house, business, and her husband divorced her.

Over the years, she has called his company many times and left many messages with his secretary to return her calls, but he didn’t cared much about her anymore and never called her back. In fact, he gave the worst reference about her.

The moral of his story was that he thinks loyalty in business is important. It tells something about the person. People can count on him or her when they need the most. In recent years, I haven’t heard anyone who even speaks about loyalty. I don’t believe that it’s even existed in the corporate world or in our society. Mergers and acquisitions are common in the business now days and employees are not considered their assets and no one cares them anymore and vice versa.

Another example, Arnold Schwartzenegger was on one of the late night shows recently. When the host asked him about his support for the president, his answer was very staggering. He sees the president’s popularity is slipping, he turned his back on him completely. They both once supported each other for their political campaigns as Republican Party. That tells us a lot about him as a human being. Now, he is running again for the second term as a governor in California.

It is a rare character to find from a person. I didn’t think of Donald Trump much as a person but admired his business acumen, ambition, and thrive. Now, I can see why Donald Trump is very successful because he values something more from his employees and friends which others don’t. In return, he keeps them as his friends forever.

Annuity Investment Plan

Annuities are wildly popular. Are they a good investment?

According to an article (Parade), there is almost as much money invested in annuities to day as there is in 401(k) plans--a whopping $1.8 trillion. New annuity sales are a brisk $18 billion-plus a month, and they're expected to accelerate dramatically as the first baby boomers get ready to retire. But can this product work for you? Here's what you need to know:

What exactly is an annuity? It's an investment that's wrapped inside an insurance contract. You can buy one from a bank, a stockbroker, an insurance agent or a mutual-fund company. There's no tax on your earnings in the annuity until you withdraw them. "Deferred" annuities, which account for 98% of sales, are intended to accumulate money for at least a decade before you withdraw anything.

The pitch: You'll make a bundle thanks to all those years of untaxed growth--and even if you don't, many annuities guarantee that you'll at least get back what you put into them.

Know the details. Whether they work for a bank, a brokerage, a mutual-fund company or an insurer, annuity salesmen earn very high commissions--sometimes up to 12% of the money invested. Federal and state regulators say the sales pitch doesn't always disclose the size of the commission or the fact that annuities typically carry substantial annual charges and huge early-withdrawal penalties. If you want your money back within seven years (sometimes longer), you can forfeit 5% to 10% or more in surrender charges to the insurer. If you're under age 59-1/2, you also owe the government a 10% early-withdrawal penalty.

Regulators have found that annuities often are sold to inappropriate buyers: elderly people who may not outlive the surrender penalty, for example, or parents who intend to cash out before age 59-1/2 to pay for a child's college education.

When to consider an annuity. Consider an annuity only if you already contribute the maximum to a 401(k), an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and a Roth IRA; if you can afford to leave the annuity untouched for at least 15years; and if you won't need the money until you're more than 59-1/2.

Even then, annuities compare poorly with IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans, such as 401(k)s. Those accounts give you a tax-deferral too, but at much lower cost than you'd pay in an annuity. As a result, you get to keep more of your earnings. Many retirement accounts also give you an extra tax break that you don't get with an annuity: Your contributions cut your current tax bill. In an employer-sponsored account, you also may get a matching contribution from your workplace.

Most annuities even compare poorly with taxable investments. True, your money in the annuity grows untaxed. But you may pay such high annual expenses, it can take 20 years before you earn more in the annuity than you would in an ordinary taxable investment with the same return!

So, what you can buy instead?
The following types of accounts all have lower fees than annuities, so you keep more of your earnings. Also:

A 401(k) or 403(b) plan offers more tax breaks than annuities--and often an employer's matching contributions too.

An IRA also can give you more tax breaks, plus a wider choice of investments.

A Roth IRA provides a better tax break than annuities and also gives you access to your money: You can withdraw Roth contributions anytime without tax or penalty.

Source: Parade
For more information on the three basic kinds of annuities and how they actually work, visit parade.com

Is This One of the Homebased Business Scams?

The following is an example of work from home scams that I received by email. You judge!

CASE 1

The other day I received an email offering a job. It seemed first a legitimate offer but I realized that I got another email the exact same letter from another person. I replied to first email asking about the company and requesting other information regarding their offer, but never got an answer back.

Now, the same person who sent me the first email job offer, sent me another email with different email address. The following is whole story.

Whole thing smells like fish. You judge!

This is the first email that I received:

ARTHALL ARTS & CRAFTS
CityPoint, Level 32
One Ropemaker Street
London EC2Y 9AW United Kingdom
Tel/Fax: +447031872288
HotLine:+447024082652
Email: larryjohnson02_arthalluk@hotmail.com

Hello,
How are you doing today? I hope all is well. Would you like to work online from home and get paid weekly ? ARTHALL ARTS & CRAFTS needs a book-keeper in the United States, so I want to know if you would like to work online from home and get paid weekly without leaving or affecting your present job? The company presently run an Arts Galleria in the UK and we need someone to work for the company as a representative/book keeper in the United States.

The company deals in the sales of Art and Craft works, sculptures and carvings, antique artifacts and produces various fabrics materials, batiks, assorted fabrics and various traditional costumes from all over the world and we have clients we supply weekly in the United States. Our clients make payments for our supplies every week in form of U.S. Money Order which are not readily cashable outside the United States, so we need someone in the United States to work as our representative and assist us in processing the payments from our clients and he/she would be paid a weekly salary.

ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS RECEIVE THIS PAYMENTS FROM OUR CLIENTS ON BEHALF OF OUR COMPANY IN THE UNITED STATES, GET IT CASHED IMMIDIATLY WITHOUT DEPOSITION THEN DEDUCT YOUR WEEKLY PAY AND FOWARD THE BALANCE TO THE COMPANY DOWN HERE VIA WESTERN UNION/MONEY GRAM MONEY TRANSFER.

Our payments will be issued out in your name and you get them cashed in your bank deduct your weekly salary and foward the balance to the company via western union/money gram money transfer. Basically what the Company is searching for is a Representative/Book-keeper in the States who wou ld help to establish a medium of getting our funds from our customers there. If you are interested in working with us we would be very glad as inability to get our Payment in cash has posed a big problem and has affected account reconciliation and turn over grossly.

These are legitimate transactions between our customers and our company Representative and there is no legal risk as these are payments for goods already bought and delievered. We are offering 10% of whatever amount it is that you cash per week as salary and subject to your satisfaction you will be given the oppurtunity to negotiate the mode by which we will pay for your services as our official Representative/Book-keeper in the States. The mode we would prefer would be instant deduction of your salary from the Amount before going ahead to send whatever is left back via Western Union/MoneyGram Money Transfer.

We are aware that you would be charged to have the money sent, whatever that would amount to is to be deducted from the balance of the funds after you must have deducted your salary.

Please if you are interested forward the following info:

1.) Full Names
2.) Home/Cell Phone number
3.) Full Home Address, City, State and Zip Code.
4.) GENDER
5.) MARITAL STATUS
6.) AGE
7.) NATIONALITY
N.B. PLS FORWARD YOUR REPLY TO THIS EMAIL : larryjohnson02_arthalluk@hotmail.com Hoping to hear from you soon.


Regards,
Mr. Larry Johnson
ART HALL, UK

The following is another email I received from another person.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Would you like to work online from home and get paid weekly ?
S & A LIMITED needs a book-keeper in the state,so i want to know if you
will like to work online from home and get paid weekly without leaving or
affecting your present job?

THIS IS SAFE AND LEGAL.

It's just that i presently run a textile and fabrics firm i inherited from
my late Dad in the UK and we need someone to work for the company as a
representative/book keeper in the States.

My company produces various clothing materials, batiks, assorted fabrics
and traditional costume which we have clients we supply weekly in the
states.

My clients make payments for our supplies every week in form of Money
Orders,T.c's,cheques which are not readily cashable outside the United
States, So we need someone in the States to work as our representative and
assist us in processing the payments from our clients and i will pay
HIM/HER weekly salary.

ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS RECEIVE THIS PAYMENTS FROM OUR CLIENTS IN THE
STATES, GET IT CASHED IN YOUR BANK THEN DEDUCT YOUR WEEKLY PAY AND FOWARD THE BALANCE TO THE COMPANY DOWN HERE VIA INTERNATIONAL MONEY GRAM.

Our payments will be issued out in your name and you get them cashed in
your bank, deduct your weekly salary and foward the balance to the company
via INTERNATIONAL MONEY GRAM.

SO ALL I NEED IS TO FOWARD YOUR INFORMATIONS TO OUR CLIENTS AND THEY ISSUE PAYMENTS IN FORM OF MONEY ORDERS,T.C's,CHEQUES THEN SEND IT TO YOU VIA COURIER SERVICE.

I will need your Full name, Residential Address and Phone Number so we can
foward it to our clients and they will start making payments to you as the
company's representative in the states.

AS SOON AS WE CONFIRM ANY PAYMENT COMING TO YOU, I WILL GIVE YOU THE
INFORMATION TO SEND THE FUNDS TO THE COMPANY THIS WILL BE DONE BY THE HEAD OF ACCOUNT IN MY COMPANY.

I WILL EMAIL YOU A DETAILED INFORMATION OF THE REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FROM YOU TO MAKE YOU ELIGIBLE TO WORK FOR MY COMPANY,THIS WILL BE SENT TO YOU AS SOON AS YOU RESPOND TO THIS MAIL.

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE.

Warmest Regards,
Tony Adams.
CEO S & A Fabrics & Textiles. ( UK, Cash and Distribution Office).


The following email from the first person who sent me the email with a job offer without answering my questions about the company and other information.

HELLO,

GOOD DAY, I GOT A CALL FROM A CLIENT THIS MORNING SAYING THAT THE PAYMENTS WOULD BE DELIVERED TO THE ADDRESS YOU GAVE US VIA DHL NEXT WEEK MONDAY OR TUESDAY (07/18/2006), PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE AROUND TO RECEIVE THESE PARCEL IN PERSON, SO THAT THE TRANSACTION WOULD GO ON AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.

WE DISCOVERED THAT THIS CLIENT (MRS. JENNIFER HOOPES) HAS SENT YOU A U.S. CASHIER'S CHECK FOR THE AMOUNT OF $5,800 FROM SANTA CLARE, CA.

PLEASE AS SOON AS YOU RECIEVE IT KINDLY TAKE THEM TO YOUR BANK AND DEPOSIT/CASH THE CHECK AND HAVE THE BALANCE SENT IMMEDIATELY THE CHECK CLEARS YOUR BANK BECAUSE WE ARE CONSIDERING THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN US AND OUR SUPPLIERS. REMEMBER YOUR ARE TO DEDUCT (10% PLUS ANY OTHER CHARGES WHICH MAY INCLUDE TRANSFER FEE E.T.C) AND THE REST SHOULD BE WIRED DOWN TO OUR ACCOUNT DEPARTMENT HAS INSTRUCTED BELLOW. PLS HAVE THE MONEY SENT VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.

WHEN YOU HAVE THE MONEY SENT I WOULD REQUIRE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATIONS FROM YOU TO HELP PICK IT UP.

* THE MTCN #
* THE SENDERS FULL NAME AND ADDRESS
* THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU SENT
* THE TEST QUESTION AND ANSWER USED FOR THE TRANSACTION (IF APPLICABLE)
* ANY OTHER INFORMATION THAT COULD HELP ME WITH COLLECTION.

THE NAME AND ADDRESS YOU WOULD BE USING FOR THE TRANSFER WOULD BE AS FOLLOWS :

SEND THE MONEY TO THE INFORMATION OF OUR ACCOUNTANT BELOW, ONCE YOU GET THE MONEY SENT,GET BACK TO ME WITH THE INFORMATIONS REQUIRED TO PICK-UP THE MONEY, SO THAT I CAN FORWARD THE WIRING INFORMATION FOR THE PICK UP.

NAME: ADEOLA OLABODE
ADDRESS: RUE 210 SOLOMON WAY
STATE: COTONUE
ZIPCODE: 229
COUNTRY: REPUBLIC OF BENIN

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR EVERYTHING AND GOD BLESS.

NB. I WOULD PREFARE YOU TO USE ( WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER ) CAUSE IT'S FAR MORE CHEAPER.
HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON

REGARDS
LARRY JOHNSON

Death of a Modern Corporate Impostor

Death of Kenneth Lay, Enron Executive
Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay, age of 64, who was convicted of accounting fraud, the most hated a modern executive by hard working people and many investors in U.S. history, died suddenly of a heart attack at his vacation home in Colorado.

When he was convicted, we all felt sense of victory that the big fish didn’t get away as believing that white collar crime often had gotten away from our judicial system. Since he has been waiting for his sentence, which scheduled in Oct. 23, could have put him in jail for the rest of his life. Apparently his existing heart problem and stress caused his death according to his family doctor.

Surrounding his sudden death, instead of respect and tribute to his life, it has raised many suspicions. Some people even suspected that his death was staged to avoid his jail time and losing his states and millions of dollars that he pocketed from his company.

I wonder how many people feel sorry for his death on this day. Does his death bring back his legacy as a different person rather than a convicted felon?

Lay had built Enron into a high profile, widely admired company, the seventh largest publicly traded in the country and once became a corporate wonder boy. Enron started to collapse when his company’s finances showed suspicious profit report, which were based on a web of fraudulent partnerships and schemes.

Like these executives in Tyco, Enron, WorldCom who were committed securities violations, were not born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but they were ambitious, striving people who once made the American dream such as Ken Lay. Before his greed demon turned him into a fraudulent felon, he was an ambitious young man. His career resume could have inspired many young people and could have been a symbol of success to many who are working hard to be on the corporate ladder.

According to associate press, he was born in Tyrone, Mo. and spent his childhood helping his family make ends meet. His father ran a general store and sold stoves until he became a minister. Lay delivered newspapers and mowed lawns to pitch in. He attended the University of Missouri, found his calling in economics, and went to work at Exxon Mobil Corp. predecessor Humble Oil & Refining upon graduation.

He joined the Navy, served his time at the Pentagon, and then served as undersecretary for the Department of the Interior before he returned to business. He became an executive at Florida Gas, then Transco Energy in Houston, and later became CEO of Houston Natural Gas. In 1985, HNG merged with InterNorth in Omaha, Neb. To form Enron, and Lay became chairman and CEO of the combined company the next year (2006).

Whether his death brings forgiveness to his crime or being condemned to his grave, his nightmare is over. His legacy will haunt the rest of hardworking, honorable corporate leaders and teach them a valuable lesson. So the sense of trust that had lost in the public by all this is hopefully restored.

Death of a Modern Corporate Impostor is gone, we heard, but is he?

Did you know you have a right to sell your note/contract and get cash now?

If you have the following Notes, you might be able to cash out today. Find out how much your note worth.

• Real Estate Notes: Real Estate Joint Ventures/Exchanges, Real Estate Notes, Home Improvement Notes, Commercial leases, Mobile Home notes, Property Lease, Land Contracts, Time Share Notes, and Lease purchase Agreement
  
• Business Notes: Accounts Receivable, Gas, Oil & Mineral Leases, Business Invoices/Receivables, Equipment, Letters of Credit, Farm Subsidies, International Opportunities, Investment Opportunities, Lawyer's Fee Notes, Invoices, Consumer Receivables, Credit Card Accounts, Defaulted & Sub-Performing, Purchase Orders, Mechanic's Liens, Medical Receivables, and Commission Notes
  
• Structured Settlements: Collection Acounts, Deferred Settlements, Disability Payments, Divorce Settlements, Structured Settlements, Partnership Agreements, Lawsuit Insurance Settlements, Court Judgments, Class Action Awards, Commercial Deficiency Portfolios, Consumer Installment Paper, Annuities, Automobile Notes, Cash Prizes and Awards, Casino Winnings, Charitable Remainder Trusts, Church Bonds, Funeral Purchase Agreements, Government Contract, Inheritances & Probates, Lottery Winnings, Marine, Military pensions, Pensions, Royalty Payments, RV Paper, Sports Contracts, Standard Full Purchase, Sweepstakes, Tax Certificates, Tax Shelters, VA Compensation, Vocational School Paper, Voluntary Separation Incentives, Aircraft, and Worker's Compensation
  
• Viaticals: Viaticals Settlements - Life Insurance
  
• Bankruptcy Cash Outs