Category: Investment

Common Sense Rules to Keep Your Hard-Earned Money

By P. Christopher Music

Do you know the tale-tell characteristics that indicate “investment scam?”
Over the course of the last two decades in the financial industry, I have had good fortune, and yes, bad fortune in learning about the realities of investments. When I speak with investors, its not uncommon for some people to insist on certain delusions they have accumulated regarding the subject. This article is an effort to give you some the characteristics of any investment proposal that deserves your careful scrutiny and distrust.
Most investment scams have certain characteristics in common:
1.Secrecy Any investment program that is worth anything can stand up to the scrutiny of financial advisors, accountants, attorneys and anybody else with some investment acumen. Many scams create this confidentiality to give the investor the feeling that they are “on the inside,” privy to investments only available to wealthy families or a select group of fortunate people. The confidentiality requirement is designed to prevent you from communicating with others about your involvement so you will keep believing what the scammers are telling you.

2.High ReturnsWhat rates of return should a person receive for investing money? Well, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. While 20% returns may be possible for very speculative investments under certain circumstances, anything beyond that is simply not real over time. If any return on investment is greater than what would normally be earned on that type of asset, it is a good indicator that something isnt right. Consult a knowledgeable financial advisor of your investment plans if you have any doubt.

3.No Track Record — Any investment program should have returns that can be verified by a reputable third party, such as an accounting or law firm. Further, the principals of the program should have fully verified backgrounds with a proven record of successful past investment programs. Moreover, any start-up would have a logical product and a complete business plan replete with reasonable financials and marketing plan. If there is no track record, forget it.

4.Lack of Full DocumentationAny legitimate investment has full documentation, including a prospectus (a document that explains the details of an investment) or offering memorandum (which is for private placement programs, investment programs that are made available to qualified investors and not to the general investor public). Complete contracts would also be provided carefully covering all of the details of the proposed investment. Insist on full disclosure.

5.GuaranteesTo my knowledge, the only investments that provide guarantees are insurance policies. If someone is offering you guaranteed returns or a personal guarantee, its not worth anything. If you lose your money in the investment, the personal guarantee is only as good as the assets of the person issuing the guarantee (if they had the money for the guarantee, why would they need yours?)

6.No Registration with Regulating AuthoritiesIn order to offer an investment to the public, in most cases, the principal creating such an investment will have to register it with the State. Further, the person selling the investment will have to be registered with the State as a securities salesperson or investment advisor. Lack of such registration is a red flag.

7.Offshore Tax Benefits — For American citizens, there are no offshore tax havens. In other words, US citizens are taxed on worldwide income, regardless of the source. Anyone stating that you can save or avoid income taxes by moving offshore is just dead wrong. There is no surer way of creating a problem than attempting to evade taxes. While there are asset protection reasons to use offshore entities, there are no legitimate income tax saving strategies offered offshore that cannot be done domestically.

I know I said 7 tips, but I thought of one more

8.International LureInvesting internationally has a certain allure to it. Its exotic and different. The only problem is that you transfer your assets overseas and the chance of getting them back may be zilch. The complexities of international financial regulations and laws make it a great justification for someone to not be able to deliver on intended investment results. Just keep your money closer to home.

Greed and Desperation
People invest in these programs due to desperation for money or the desire of getting something for nothing. The way to wealth is through investing wisely in your own ability and production and being intelligent enough to not spend everything you make. Falling victim to any investment scam can be a significant setback to your quality of life. Just dont play that game. Learn the natural laws of money and apply them and you will be where you want to be in due course.

You might be asked if you’ll find any other firms or companies which you are interviewing with. If you happen to be interviewing along with other investment banks, you can be honest and say that you’re taking the opportunity to be able to know an investment banking landscape. You wish to communicate that you just’re most interested inside the firm you happen to be speaking with and be able to give good reasons why.

It is an actual estate investment and finance company that invests in and actively manages a portfolio of property securities, loans, excess mortgage servicing rights and also other real estate related assets. The company primarily invests by 50 % distinct areas: Residential Servicing and Securities and second Commercial Real Estate Debt and Other Assets. It trades stable long term cashflow and employs conservative capital structures to generate returns throughout different interest rate environments.

Things may even go wrong in fast-paced industries which are as fast because industry of Gary Silversmith Washington DC. In the month of March of the year 2002, the main executive of these time of Credit Suisse First Boston, John Mack had made an announcement actually facing a cost related problem. He had turn into a part inside summer season in the year 2001, to ensure that he can set straight the blunders which in fact had been committed inside rein of his predecessor, Allen Wheat. One with the main aftermaths of his time was the worth of around 13 billion dollars on making acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette after they were already facing a challenge and had seen a loss in 1 billion dollars.

A Banking career in commercial banking gives a wide array of banking services for example opening current and savings accounts, loans, credit cards and also other banking services. Financial job opportunities options available in this area include operations managers, branch managers, marketing managers, loan managers, bank tellers and the like. Highly skilled and talented individuals can progress rapidly from a local banking branch to some leading position in banking headquarters. Such an advance could expose the talented professional to other areas within financial job opportunities including investment banking and international finance.

An example of an non-traded investment trust with a high dividend yield is Inland American with $10.8 billion (,7.2 billion) in assets that have an annualised yield of 6.9 pecent in the end from the third quarter of their fiscal 2012. Bycomparison, the dividend yield with the BBREIT index,which include 129 public investment trusts, was 3.5 percent to the same period. Inland American is one in the non-listed REITs that’s already considering its exit options. The firm is dealing with investment banking professionals to discover the best option for returning money-back to investors.

In addition to SEC filings such as the 10-K, you will find a lot of online databases with tools that might help identify an arrangement of comps to suit your needs. Unfortunately, many of those databases need a subscription, so few people outside of an investment bank gain access to them.

In addition to comps, analysts could be called upon to arrange a discounted income analysis (DCF) to get a pitch book. A DCF model is a bit more involved and requirements putting together financial projections for any company, calculating its weighted average price of capital (WACC) and utilizing it to discount the money flows to ascertain its value.

As simple mainly because it sounds, though, preparing pitch books is no easy task. The bread and butter from the analyst position could be the comparable companies analysis – or “comps.” Comps are a valuation methodology in which public companies which can be similar for the company under consideration are utilized to create multiples from that the value in the company could be extrapolated.

Studies have shown senior citizens are frequently the target of various investment scams, with many losing money and property to dishonest and predatory operators. The good news is that armed with the following information – seniors will know what to look for and can identify and avoid such scams.

Here is a list of the common scams that target the elderly, and how each operates.

Pyramid schemes
Investment seminars
“Compensation” Scams
Equipment leases
Gift annuities

Pyramid schemes

An old favorite for the scamsters, Pyramid schemes assure high returns to investors, but the only people who systematically get rich from these schemes are the promoters themselves. These investment opportunities generally promise large profits based on the investors’ ability to enlist other people to join the programs. Because the scheme uses the money from new investors to make payments to the old ones, some initial investors make money, but sooner or later, these schemes collapse and most of the investors lose all their money. Pyramid schemes often have no other source of revenue except for money put in by the new investors.

Investment seminars

Investment seminars do help to make money, but the ones who are consistently laughing their way to the bank are the advice peddlers. They are the ones making money from the admission charges, books, posters and audiotapes/ CDs sales. You should be very wary whenever you are offered any such get-rich-quick schemes.

“Compensation” Scams

These scams bring to mind the old adage, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me”. Investment scam victims often let the scamsters take them for a ride repeatedly. This is because the scammers promise to compensate the previous losses and bring in fresh gains. After losing some funds, seniors who have been duped once often go along with the new schemes with the hope of recouping their losses. Instead, they compound the damage and let the con artists take away more from their savings.

Equipment leases

It is true that most of the equipment lease deals are genuine, but there are quite a few tricksters operating who try to take advantage of the seniors by selling interests in ATMs, pay phones and Internet kiosks. What generally happens in such a scam is that companies sell equipment through intermediaries and then agree to lease back the equipment for a fee. Investors are promised huge profits with no risk. But the unrealistically high commissions and returns that they claim to pay are not feasible, and would doom any project.

Gift annuities

Gift annuities are basically cash/ property transfers to charitable organizations. A charitable gift annuity is just like a normal fixed annuity – except that a charity benefits from your investment. There is no problem with gift annuities per se, but many small organizations have jumped into the fray, promising high returns but giving only vague information about themselves. These are generally designed to relieve you of your funds or property, and it’s best to steer clear of such schemes.

While there is no shortage of con artists, most of them operate in very predictive ways, as outlined above. Seniors citizens can easily recognize these scams from the descriptions and methodologies mentioned here, and steer clear of the scammers before they are taken advantage of.

The emerging market describes a broad range of markets from second and third world countries. It encompasses economies such as China and Brazil, together with countries in Africa and Asia. Generally, the term emerging markets represents economies which are as yet not fully developed, and subsequently an investment in an emerging market can often be high risk but has the potential to yield great returns as their economies are still developing.

If you are considering investing in emerging markets, these advice tips are worth considering.
Do not put all your eggs in the one basket: No financial portfolio should be tied up with just one investment, and any investment in the emerging market should not comprise a dominant percentage of a portfolio.

Long term view: The emerging market has been likened to investing in America in the 1920s as over forty years an investor would have gained a substantial return on any investment. In that time he would have seen prices drop through the floor. This is similar to emerging market investment today, so be prepared to take a long term view to good returns.

Advice: Obtaining general advice on the emerging market is essential, especially if you are new to financial investment. Financial advisors, banks, and other institutions seem like good places to gain valuable advice on the surface. More often than not however, the investor who seeks guidance from these places often pays for advice they do not need, as many of the best decisions can and should be handled by the investor.

A few financial investment companies have realised this and take a hands off approach and only step in with general advice if needed. These are the companies to turn to when guidance is needed.
Commissions: It goes without saying that any financial investment company is going to charge commissions, and subsequently it makes sense to look for a company that charges low rates. Some offer 0% commission initially, and this is a good place to start.

Risk vs. Return: Any investment into the emerging market is high risk. The returns however, have the potential to be considerable and subsequently an emerging market investment becomes a viable option. It is possible to invest in a country or into a fund which in turn is managed by a fund manager.

The latter becomes a question of faith and trust in that manager to do the right thing with your money, so the decision to choose a financial investment company with a view to fund management should not be taken lightly.

Currently, China and Brazil are often seen as good choices for emerging market investment.

Ultimately it is important to realise that as an investor you need to be in control of the fund, even if it is supervised by a fund manager. Some financial companies give you that control, and it is worth spending sometime to find a financial investment company like this.

Yes, it is a unique business idea to invest in an Oak and hazel truffle farm. Investing in a hazel and oak truffle farm should be considered as a longer term investment, but when the trees start to produce, you will have an absolute excellent return on your investment, besides that, you can also get your hands on the superior quality of perigord truffles that the trees will produce. Normally, the truffle trees take a minimum of four years or a little longer before you could start seeing the production of truffles.

Let us now see how various investment avenues for owing a share in a truffle farm can help you

Shares in a Truffle Farm
For investors who cannot invest huge amounts of time and money in owning their own truffle farm, they can still become shareholders in such a farm, which will suit people who have little or no knowledge of truffle farming. This is a hassle-free option to make profits from the truffles, as the maintenance and the entire harvesting processing is taken care of by actual owner of the farm; and their trained staff. You can sit back and watch your investment grow. All the technicalities that go in for maintaining the trees are dealt with by professionals

Why not adopt a truffle tree?
Yes you could adopt a specific tree and make your investment more meaningful; plant a truffle oak sapling and automatically get a share of the truffles that grow on the particular tree you have adopted. We will provide owners with a photograph of the tree you have adopted and also an adoption certificate. You can also visit the tree and be involved in the development of your truffle tree, eventually participating in a truffle hunt.

Have a fair idea about the different kinds of truffle
There are actually thirty specimens of truffle but the most popular kind is the perigord or the black truffle. If you have a sound knowledge about the various kinds of truffles it becomes easier to make an investment, just look at the price per kilo, and you will soon see that for your initial investment will be returned many times over.