Tracy Walker is hilarious, and today there are few people in the internet marketing who haven't heard her amazing story of success. However, it all did not happen overnight and there was a long road of preparation when Tracey had to ripe for the decision that would change her whole life and career. She went through several stages that all marketers go through. What is so amazing about her is that she did not give up and managed to identify really fast what it took to succeed. Having good education with an MA degree and a positive and enthusiastic worldview, Tracy was not taken aback in 2002 when she got laid off and had to look for a niche that would welcome her outstanding skills and selfless zeal to create new opportunity not only for her own but for the benefit of the people who were around her.
So, Tracey had realized that due to who she was, and how much she wanted to do in her lifetime, she was meant for mlm. In 2007 she invests a lot of her time and efforts into learning and trying out classic and new marketing methods, and creates several hundreds of presentations in an attempt to succeed. All this did not bring her what she had intended all along but she had come by with a nice baggage and understanding of basic marketing methods.
Her marketing experience takes another positive turn when Tracey Walker saw that she could handle only this much on her own and had done all she possibly could what concerned theoretical knowledge. Now she was in need of an instructor with practical skills and teaching talent to show her marketing strategies applied in real life. Daegan Smith was convinced that Tracey had no desire to waste his time. The synergism resulted in complete change in strategy and a fresh look at marketing opportunities for the next several years.
Soon, the former real estate agent, Tracey Walker receives a kind invitation to co-author with Daegan Smith a book series called "The Power of Leadership" that would forever stencil her name among the most successful internet marketers of the day. Her name got among the top best-sellers and credibility grew tremendously. Energized, she claims one victory after another - on her own enrolls over 70 people in her second mlm business initiative, starts using MLM Lead System Pro and gets to the top list of producers, gets to the Executive Leadership role and starts coaching other system members.
Somewhere along the way Tracey faces the same problem thousands of successful charismatic marketers face when building their companies - duplicating. Tracey could generate hundreds of leads a month and sponsor dozens of new prospects a week but the problem was that the prospects lacked the needed competence and attitude to help grow their shared business. The business woman understood that this halts her progress and impact in the business like nothing else. If only she could train the people who joined in with her to at least 80% of what she knew and could, she would not only build a massive foundation for the company's effectiveness but would also help thousands of internet marketers develop their own skills and talents through an in-depth training process.
You'll ask what so special about Tracey's marketing success? I have covered a couple of important factors of Tracey Walker's personal and professional life that seem to be of the uttermost importance, like having a good mentor and a bright personality, but there are some other features that are not uncommon to all successful mlm business women. No one has it all but everyone can learn those principles that are part of mlm business success:
Tracey is a positive person. Have you ever seem a successful businessman who is always skeptical and negative about his business? I haven't. Ventures
succeed and some fail but you want to select and participate in those that are lucrative and sift through the rest. Any business is risky but money likes secret places that scare 99% of
people;
An understanding and supportive partner and family;
A selfless attitude. Mlm is a highly competitive business and a lot depends on how you perform. That's why one should be extremely demanding to himself and
his personal organization. At the same time, successful marketers are never selfish or self-centered people - everyone works in the team and for the good of the team;
One needs to use the right marketing strategies and systems. There are many rivaling systems out there, however, the best will include all you need in one masterfully
elaborated package;
Skills in writing, blogging and creating at least 30 leads a month etc.
I meant this review to encourage those who are struggling and give some food for thought to all interested. Tracey is making today many thousands of dollars a month - and that's just the 3'rd year of her promising career. Your story can be next ion one of my articles.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
How To Find And Get Free Money For School Fast, $10,000 With No Credit Checks Or School Loans
With the way the economy is today, and how most college funding sources are cutting back. Its essential, to think outside of the box and find out how to get free money for school. And if you can do it fast, without credit checks or high interest loans the better.
Before I give you the tactic to use to find funding for your school, let me let you in on a big tip to finding the money you need today.
Most financial aid counselors, teachers and parents mean well when they tell you to apply for Fasfa and government aid. But in reality, they have no clue about how things work anymore.
These traditional resources used to work, 10 to 20yrs ago but today they are overwhelmed with all the people entering school and older people going back to school.
This makes it impossible for you to get the money you need, and it leaves you to resorting to getting school loans that leave graduates in debt for an average of 30 to 40yrs.Not Good!
If you are just willing to think different and learn how to get free money for school, from non-traditional sources you would be way better of!
Here is one very effective way you can use this week, to get the college funding you need fast
Im talking about online funding giveaways and contests. Now, before you start forming your own opinion, hear me out
These are nothing like lotteries or empty promise companies, that charge you just to enter for a chance to win something.
There are tons of websites all over the place that offer money for school, that you register to win. What you end up doing is filling out surveys on how you think, how you spend your time online, what mosts interests you online and what are your top visited websites.
They then take this information and sell it to third parties for market research. This helps them structure their advertising and products. So you buy more.
In turn, they pay a fee to the website that sold them the information. This is how they can provide money for your school funding for free.
Very simple, but most students just don't have the know-how to think outside of what everybody is telling them to do.
Before I give you the tactic to use to find funding for your school, let me let you in on a big tip to finding the money you need today.
Most financial aid counselors, teachers and parents mean well when they tell you to apply for Fasfa and government aid. But in reality, they have no clue about how things work anymore.
These traditional resources used to work, 10 to 20yrs ago but today they are overwhelmed with all the people entering school and older people going back to school.
This makes it impossible for you to get the money you need, and it leaves you to resorting to getting school loans that leave graduates in debt for an average of 30 to 40yrs.Not Good!
If you are just willing to think different and learn how to get free money for school, from non-traditional sources you would be way better of!
Here is one very effective way you can use this week, to get the college funding you need fast
Im talking about online funding giveaways and contests. Now, before you start forming your own opinion, hear me out
These are nothing like lotteries or empty promise companies, that charge you just to enter for a chance to win something.
There are tons of websites all over the place that offer money for school, that you register to win. What you end up doing is filling out surveys on how you think, how you spend your time online, what mosts interests you online and what are your top visited websites.
They then take this information and sell it to third parties for market research. This helps them structure their advertising and products. So you buy more.
In turn, they pay a fee to the website that sold them the information. This is how they can provide money for your school funding for free.
Very simple, but most students just don't have the know-how to think outside of what everybody is telling them to do.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Fundamental Analysis And The Five Main Ratios
Fundamental Analysis and the five main ratios
Fundamental analysis also known as quantitative' analysis involves the detailed analysis of financial statements to assess how a company may perform in the future. Fundamental analysis is not qualitative analysis, i.e., it does take account of the intangible and hence hard-to-measure aspects of a company's operations such as the value of its goodwill, the value of any brands it may own and other intangibles. Neither does fundamental analysis encompass technical analysis where decisions to trade are based solely on a share's price and volume movements. Fundamental analysis uses real, hard data to ascertain a share's real (intrinsic) worth by examining revenues, earnings, future growth, return on equity, profit margins and other data. When positive' anomalies are found i.e. a company's share appears undervalued, then the investor may consider buying in.
Investors who depend solely on fundamental analysis (Value Investors) will normally use at least five key ratios to decide whether a share represents good value or not. For these ratios to be meaningful, the comparisons should be between i) similar entities in similar sectors or industries and ii) well established businesses as distinct to start ups, or businesses in other special circumstances.
Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)
One of the best-known and most valuable of the five key ratios. P/E compares a company's current share price with its past (trailing P/E) or potential earnings (forward P/E) per share. If, for example, a company's share price is currently 10 a share and the earnings over the last 12 months (a trailing P/E) were 0.50p a share, then the P/E ratio would be a value of 20 (10 divided by 0.50p). Assuming the financial performance of two companies is almost identical, then the company with the lowest P/E ratio costs less per share for the same financial outcome than the one with the higher P/E.
Price-to-Book Ratio (P/B)
The P/B indicates the amount investors are willing to pay for a share of the company's tangible assets, which by definition excludes intangible assets such as goodwill. The investor must first know the book value of all the company's fixed and current assets minus its current and long-term liabilities values which can be obtained from the balance sheet. The ratio is calculated by dividing the total value of the assets by the total number of issued shares. If the resultant ratio is less than 1, it would mean that shares can be bought in that company for less than the book value of its assets.
Debt-to-Equity Ratio (D/E)
The D/E ratio also known as Gearing' indicates what proportion of shareholders' funds (and some other types of debt such as loans or bonds) are being used to finance the assets of the business. It can also indicate how much money a company can safely afford to borrow over the long term. To determine the D/E ratio, the company's total long term debt is divided by shareholders equity. If a company has total debts of 1,000,000 and shareholder's equity of 4,000,000 then the debt/equity ratio would be 0.25 (1,000,000 divided by 4,000,000). Where the ratio is higher than 100 the majority of the company's assets are financed through debt: if the ratio is less than 100, then the assets are financed mainly through equity.
Free Cash Flow (FCF)
Free cash flow measures how much money a company has left over after paying its overheads and taxes, making any capital investments and covering its working capital requirements. Knowing the FCF is particularly important to shareholders as it shows the amount of money that's available for dividend payments. FCF also enables the business to buy back shares, reduce or eliminate debt and invest in plant and equipment. The ratio is calculated by subtracting non-discretionary costs such as capital expenditure from the company's operating cash flow and then dividing that figure by the company's market capitalisation and total debt. Strong companies usually show positive free cash flow and the higher the FCF ratio, the better.
The price to earnings growth ratio (PEG)
This is an extended version of the P/E ratio as it takes earnings growth into account. PEG compares a company's P/E ratio to its earnings growth rate to determine whether the shares are undervalued or overvalued. The ratio is calculated by dividing a share's P/E ratio by its projected year-over-year earnings growth rate. So if for example the company's earnings per share the previous year were 15p and projected earnings per share this year are 18p that represents an earnings growth rate of 20%. On that basis if the company's P/E ratio were 30 then the PEG would be 1.5 i.e. 30/20 suggesting that the shares may be overvalued by as much as 50%. Conversely, and as a rule of thumb only, a PEG of less than 1.might suggest the shares are cheap. Generally speaking, the lower the PEG, the better the value, because each module of earnings growth costs the investor less.
Fundamental analysis also known as quantitative' analysis involves the detailed analysis of financial statements to assess how a company may perform in the future. Fundamental analysis is not qualitative analysis, i.e., it does take account of the intangible and hence hard-to-measure aspects of a company's operations such as the value of its goodwill, the value of any brands it may own and other intangibles. Neither does fundamental analysis encompass technical analysis where decisions to trade are based solely on a share's price and volume movements. Fundamental analysis uses real, hard data to ascertain a share's real (intrinsic) worth by examining revenues, earnings, future growth, return on equity, profit margins and other data. When positive' anomalies are found i.e. a company's share appears undervalued, then the investor may consider buying in.
Investors who depend solely on fundamental analysis (Value Investors) will normally use at least five key ratios to decide whether a share represents good value or not. For these ratios to be meaningful, the comparisons should be between i) similar entities in similar sectors or industries and ii) well established businesses as distinct to start ups, or businesses in other special circumstances.
Price-to-Earnings Ratio (P/E)
One of the best-known and most valuable of the five key ratios. P/E compares a company's current share price with its past (trailing P/E) or potential earnings (forward P/E) per share. If, for example, a company's share price is currently 10 a share and the earnings over the last 12 months (a trailing P/E) were 0.50p a share, then the P/E ratio would be a value of 20 (10 divided by 0.50p). Assuming the financial performance of two companies is almost identical, then the company with the lowest P/E ratio costs less per share for the same financial outcome than the one with the higher P/E.
Price-to-Book Ratio (P/B)
The P/B indicates the amount investors are willing to pay for a share of the company's tangible assets, which by definition excludes intangible assets such as goodwill. The investor must first know the book value of all the company's fixed and current assets minus its current and long-term liabilities values which can be obtained from the balance sheet. The ratio is calculated by dividing the total value of the assets by the total number of issued shares. If the resultant ratio is less than 1, it would mean that shares can be bought in that company for less than the book value of its assets.
Debt-to-Equity Ratio (D/E)
The D/E ratio also known as Gearing' indicates what proportion of shareholders' funds (and some other types of debt such as loans or bonds) are being used to finance the assets of the business. It can also indicate how much money a company can safely afford to borrow over the long term. To determine the D/E ratio, the company's total long term debt is divided by shareholders equity. If a company has total debts of 1,000,000 and shareholder's equity of 4,000,000 then the debt/equity ratio would be 0.25 (1,000,000 divided by 4,000,000). Where the ratio is higher than 100 the majority of the company's assets are financed through debt: if the ratio is less than 100, then the assets are financed mainly through equity.
Free Cash Flow (FCF)
Free cash flow measures how much money a company has left over after paying its overheads and taxes, making any capital investments and covering its working capital requirements. Knowing the FCF is particularly important to shareholders as it shows the amount of money that's available for dividend payments. FCF also enables the business to buy back shares, reduce or eliminate debt and invest in plant and equipment. The ratio is calculated by subtracting non-discretionary costs such as capital expenditure from the company's operating cash flow and then dividing that figure by the company's market capitalisation and total debt. Strong companies usually show positive free cash flow and the higher the FCF ratio, the better.
The price to earnings growth ratio (PEG)
This is an extended version of the P/E ratio as it takes earnings growth into account. PEG compares a company's P/E ratio to its earnings growth rate to determine whether the shares are undervalued or overvalued. The ratio is calculated by dividing a share's P/E ratio by its projected year-over-year earnings growth rate. So if for example the company's earnings per share the previous year were 15p and projected earnings per share this year are 18p that represents an earnings growth rate of 20%. On that basis if the company's P/E ratio were 30 then the PEG would be 1.5 i.e. 30/20 suggesting that the shares may be overvalued by as much as 50%. Conversely, and as a rule of thumb only, a PEG of less than 1.might suggest the shares are cheap. Generally speaking, the lower the PEG, the better the value, because each module of earnings growth costs the investor less.
How To Establish Credit When You Are Under 21
Some people who have been fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to have been issued credit cards wish they never would have gotten as far in debt as they're in. There are others, though, who just wish they could have the slightest opportunity to have a credit card and begin to prove their credit worthiness. While there are many people in a variety of situations who have never applied for a loan or credit card, this situation generally applies to teenagers and young adults who have never had any credit extended to them.
You may have been told recently that you don't qualify for a credit card or a loan because you have no credit profile. As frustrating as that seems, remember this: Having no credit is much better than having bad credit. Before we take a look at a couple ways to start building your credit profile, let's first take a look at some best practices for credit cards.
When you're young and you first get a credit card, the temptation to go on a shopping spree can be quite overwhelming. Think about this, though: Your first credit card is your first opportunity to show future lenders that you are responsible. The decisions you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. When you use your credit card, try not to use more than 30-45% of your available credit. Also, don't use more than you can afford to pay the following month. Remember that minimum payments are great for the interim, but making them only means that you'll be paying practically double (or more) the cost of your original purchase(s) in the long run.
So now let's take a look at a couple ways you can start building your credit.
Pre-Paid or Secured Credit Cards
There are a wide variety of financial institutions including Capital One, First Premier Bank, HSBC, and others that offer pre-paid credit cards or secured credit cards to people with bad or no credit. As you may infer from the name, a pre-paid credit card is a credit card that is issued to you in exchange for a full payment by you of its total credit limit. For example, if your pre-paid card has a credit limit of 0 (typical value for first time card), you would be required to pay the issuing bank 0 up front to secure' the funds. You will be able to use the credit card just as you would a regular credit card, and the best part is: The card activity gets reported to all 3 major credit reporting bureaus. As such, within months you will have an active credit profile. It's up to you how you nurture it.
Department Store Credit Cards
If you aren't interested in paying up front to secure a credit card, you may be able to get a store credit card somewhere. All types of stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, Macy's, and target and labels such as Abercrombie and Fitch and other common mall shops offer them. It's hard to know which one will offer to you without a credit profile, so ask before applying to avoid wasting your time and diminishing your already non-existent score by having it run multiple times.
You may have been told recently that you don't qualify for a credit card or a loan because you have no credit profile. As frustrating as that seems, remember this: Having no credit is much better than having bad credit. Before we take a look at a couple ways to start building your credit profile, let's first take a look at some best practices for credit cards.
When you're young and you first get a credit card, the temptation to go on a shopping spree can be quite overwhelming. Think about this, though: Your first credit card is your first opportunity to show future lenders that you are responsible. The decisions you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. When you use your credit card, try not to use more than 30-45% of your available credit. Also, don't use more than you can afford to pay the following month. Remember that minimum payments are great for the interim, but making them only means that you'll be paying practically double (or more) the cost of your original purchase(s) in the long run.
So now let's take a look at a couple ways you can start building your credit.
Pre-Paid or Secured Credit Cards
There are a wide variety of financial institutions including Capital One, First Premier Bank, HSBC, and others that offer pre-paid credit cards or secured credit cards to people with bad or no credit. As you may infer from the name, a pre-paid credit card is a credit card that is issued to you in exchange for a full payment by you of its total credit limit. For example, if your pre-paid card has a credit limit of 0 (typical value for first time card), you would be required to pay the issuing bank 0 up front to secure' the funds. You will be able to use the credit card just as you would a regular credit card, and the best part is: The card activity gets reported to all 3 major credit reporting bureaus. As such, within months you will have an active credit profile. It's up to you how you nurture it.
Department Store Credit Cards
If you aren't interested in paying up front to secure a credit card, you may be able to get a store credit card somewhere. All types of stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, Macy's, and target and labels such as Abercrombie and Fitch and other common mall shops offer them. It's hard to know which one will offer to you without a credit profile, so ask before applying to avoid wasting your time and diminishing your already non-existent score by having it run multiple times.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Establishing A Panama Financial Services Corporation
In Panama, you can establish your very own Financial Services Corporation. This corporation is going to be established and be essentially the same as any other SA Bearer Share corporation in Panama. But it will be different from other corporations because you will have a license to engage in financial activities in Panama.
As with all other corporations in Panama, your privacy will be protected and actively guarded. The license and all documents will be in the name of the corporation, and the officers of the corporation may be people who do not have any shares in the corporation and are there only through your appointment. But since records are not kept about the ownership of the corporation, then your anonymity is guaranteed.
If you establish a financial services corporation in Panama, your license will give you the liberty to provide general financial consulting services to other corporations, individuals and other business and legal entities in Panama. When you have the license of a Panama financial services corporation, you will have the power to offer payment processing services in Panama. As a financial services corporation, you have the right to offer your payment processing services to debit card and credit card companies.
A financial services corporation in Panama can also offer what is commonly known as accounts receivable financing. This is also known as factoring. As a Panama financial services corporation, you can buy other businesses? accounts receivable at a discount. These accounts receivables are typically converted to cash within one to three months. Through factoring, businesses short on cash can finance their business operations on the basis of expected income. The financial services corporation earns money through the actual value of the accounts receivable and the amount used to purchase them.
As a financial services corporation in Panama, your license also entitles you to do some trading of precious metals. You are allowed to buy and sell gold, silver and platinum. Your type of license will allow you to do only one of two things in this scenario: buy and sell wholesale OR buy and sell retail. In the latter case, your corporation?s directors should be Panamanians.
Finally, a Panama financial services corporation also has the license to trade foreign currency. So in this case, your corporation can offer money changing services. However, you have to make sure that you follow the stipulation that requires you to file a monthly report of foreign currency trading transactions handled that are more than ,000.
But a financial services corporation in Panama is not authorized to perform all the functions of a bank. To illustrate, you cannot receive direct deposits like the banks can. Your corporation is not authorized to offer financial administration services and you cannot represent yourself as a debt collection agency.
If you are thinking of forming an offshore corporation in Panama that offers you anonymity, asset protection, as well as a decent income earning potential, then a financial services corporation may be just the perfect option for you.
As with all other corporations in Panama, your privacy will be protected and actively guarded. The license and all documents will be in the name of the corporation, and the officers of the corporation may be people who do not have any shares in the corporation and are there only through your appointment. But since records are not kept about the ownership of the corporation, then your anonymity is guaranteed.
If you establish a financial services corporation in Panama, your license will give you the liberty to provide general financial consulting services to other corporations, individuals and other business and legal entities in Panama. When you have the license of a Panama financial services corporation, you will have the power to offer payment processing services in Panama. As a financial services corporation, you have the right to offer your payment processing services to debit card and credit card companies.
A financial services corporation in Panama can also offer what is commonly known as accounts receivable financing. This is also known as factoring. As a Panama financial services corporation, you can buy other businesses? accounts receivable at a discount. These accounts receivables are typically converted to cash within one to three months. Through factoring, businesses short on cash can finance their business operations on the basis of expected income. The financial services corporation earns money through the actual value of the accounts receivable and the amount used to purchase them.
As a financial services corporation in Panama, your license also entitles you to do some trading of precious metals. You are allowed to buy and sell gold, silver and platinum. Your type of license will allow you to do only one of two things in this scenario: buy and sell wholesale OR buy and sell retail. In the latter case, your corporation?s directors should be Panamanians.
Finally, a Panama financial services corporation also has the license to trade foreign currency. So in this case, your corporation can offer money changing services. However, you have to make sure that you follow the stipulation that requires you to file a monthly report of foreign currency trading transactions handled that are more than ,000.
But a financial services corporation in Panama is not authorized to perform all the functions of a bank. To illustrate, you cannot receive direct deposits like the banks can. Your corporation is not authorized to offer financial administration services and you cannot represent yourself as a debt collection agency.
If you are thinking of forming an offshore corporation in Panama that offers you anonymity, asset protection, as well as a decent income earning potential, then a financial services corporation may be just the perfect option for you.
Friday, May 25, 2012
How Much PPI Compensation Are You Entitle To?
PPI can be a useful product - What Is PPI?
Payment Protection Insurance is an insurance product that protects you from payments you have to make should you be unable to make those payments. Typically it covers you if you are made redundant (but not if you get fired), if you are unable to work due to illness or if you have an accident. It can be taken out to cover any kind of credit that you have to pay for. Typically for mortgages, loans and credit cards. It can also be taken out on store cards and even to cover the payment of other types of insurance such as life insurance.
What Are PPI Claims?
Although PPI can be a useful product the FSA (Financial Services Authority) that regulates the selling of financial products has deemed it to have been miss-sold a lot over the past 6 years. It has been miss-sold in the following ways:
[1] Customers were being sold PPI that they would never of been eligible to claim on anyway because they may have been self employed, been in a job that is classified as dangerous, on a short term contract, been too old or have pre-existing medical condition. In fact if you checked the small print in some policies you would find lost of exclusions. Some don't cover you if you are of work ill with back pain or stress which are 2 of the biggest causes of absence from work.
[2] Customers were being charged up to 10 times what the products is actually worth!
[3] Finally people were sold PPI in a way that is not consistent with FSA guidelines. Either they weren't aware PPI was included with their credit, they thought they had to buy the product or that it would increase their chances of being approved for credit or high pressure selling techniques were used to sell the product. E.g. "we would like to approve you for this credit but we are worried about what would happen if you were to lose your job...".
If any of these apply to you then you can claim back what you paid, plus interest and in some cases PPI compensation for excessive miss-selling. Currently 90% of claims are valid so if you do have PPI that you have been paying the past 6 years there is a 90% chance it was miss-sold unless you shopped around and bought it independently of your mortgage / loan supplier. In some cases customers can even claim PPI if they have actually made a claim on the insurance.
What Can You Claim For?
The first and biggest sum you can claim is usually everything you paid out in PPI since 2004. Banks typically would charge you a lump sum for PPI at the beginning of your loan or mortgage. This means you were charged interest on the PPI at the same rate at your loan / mortgage. If you took at a 5 year loan with some of the worse PPI offenders then PPI could work out at up to 25% of the total you paid back. So a 7,500 loan over 5 years with PPI you could end up paying back up to 13000. 3000 of which would be PPI plus interest! You would of only had to pay 10,000 without the PPI.
On top of this you may be entitled to a standard rate of interest on the money that should have been yours, usually 8% per annum. Finally in cases of excessive miss-selling you may be entitled to compensation for the whole ordeal as it could of led to serious detrimental debt problems and even bankruptcy.
How Much Can You Claim Back?
If you had a breakdown each month of what you paid out in PPI since 2004 then you can add all this up to give you a minimum estimate. Also if you are still paying for this over priced PPI then you can cancel the policy which will reduce your monthly outgoings. You could then, if desired, sign up to an independent and reasonably priced PPI policy. This policy would be paid each month not in one lump sum with interest.
Alternatively if you don't know what you actually paid in PPI, to get a ball park figure it is 20% of what you paid back in loans, mortgage and credit cards between 2004 and 2010 that had PPI. So if you paid back on average 500 which included mortgage and credit cards, over 6 years that is 72 months, 72 x 500 is 36,000. This would probably equate to 7,200 of PPI.
PPI Claims Management companies that I have spoken to say they have recovered 20,000+ for some clients. Especially if you have a lot of debt that you "juggle" between credit cards and a big mortgage. The biggest claim I am aware of was 41,000 for a single client which was PPI spread out across 1 loan and 3 credit cards. 41,000 of money that the client would not have had if they had not decided to pick up the phone and make a claim.
Payment Protection Insurance is an insurance product that protects you from payments you have to make should you be unable to make those payments. Typically it covers you if you are made redundant (but not if you get fired), if you are unable to work due to illness or if you have an accident. It can be taken out to cover any kind of credit that you have to pay for. Typically for mortgages, loans and credit cards. It can also be taken out on store cards and even to cover the payment of other types of insurance such as life insurance.
What Are PPI Claims?
Although PPI can be a useful product the FSA (Financial Services Authority) that regulates the selling of financial products has deemed it to have been miss-sold a lot over the past 6 years. It has been miss-sold in the following ways:
[1] Customers were being sold PPI that they would never of been eligible to claim on anyway because they may have been self employed, been in a job that is classified as dangerous, on a short term contract, been too old or have pre-existing medical condition. In fact if you checked the small print in some policies you would find lost of exclusions. Some don't cover you if you are of work ill with back pain or stress which are 2 of the biggest causes of absence from work.
[2] Customers were being charged up to 10 times what the products is actually worth!
[3] Finally people were sold PPI in a way that is not consistent with FSA guidelines. Either they weren't aware PPI was included with their credit, they thought they had to buy the product or that it would increase their chances of being approved for credit or high pressure selling techniques were used to sell the product. E.g. "we would like to approve you for this credit but we are worried about what would happen if you were to lose your job...".
If any of these apply to you then you can claim back what you paid, plus interest and in some cases PPI compensation for excessive miss-selling. Currently 90% of claims are valid so if you do have PPI that you have been paying the past 6 years there is a 90% chance it was miss-sold unless you shopped around and bought it independently of your mortgage / loan supplier. In some cases customers can even claim PPI if they have actually made a claim on the insurance.
What Can You Claim For?
The first and biggest sum you can claim is usually everything you paid out in PPI since 2004. Banks typically would charge you a lump sum for PPI at the beginning of your loan or mortgage. This means you were charged interest on the PPI at the same rate at your loan / mortgage. If you took at a 5 year loan with some of the worse PPI offenders then PPI could work out at up to 25% of the total you paid back. So a 7,500 loan over 5 years with PPI you could end up paying back up to 13000. 3000 of which would be PPI plus interest! You would of only had to pay 10,000 without the PPI.
On top of this you may be entitled to a standard rate of interest on the money that should have been yours, usually 8% per annum. Finally in cases of excessive miss-selling you may be entitled to compensation for the whole ordeal as it could of led to serious detrimental debt problems and even bankruptcy.
How Much Can You Claim Back?
If you had a breakdown each month of what you paid out in PPI since 2004 then you can add all this up to give you a minimum estimate. Also if you are still paying for this over priced PPI then you can cancel the policy which will reduce your monthly outgoings. You could then, if desired, sign up to an independent and reasonably priced PPI policy. This policy would be paid each month not in one lump sum with interest.
Alternatively if you don't know what you actually paid in PPI, to get a ball park figure it is 20% of what you paid back in loans, mortgage and credit cards between 2004 and 2010 that had PPI. So if you paid back on average 500 which included mortgage and credit cards, over 6 years that is 72 months, 72 x 500 is 36,000. This would probably equate to 7,200 of PPI.
PPI Claims Management companies that I have spoken to say they have recovered 20,000+ for some clients. Especially if you have a lot of debt that you "juggle" between credit cards and a big mortgage. The biggest claim I am aware of was 41,000 for a single client which was PPI spread out across 1 loan and 3 credit cards. 41,000 of money that the client would not have had if they had not decided to pick up the phone and make a claim.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Career Goals For Teachers
Teachers are vital for igniting young minds and shaping the future of a nation. Career goals for teachers are a must to make them more efficient and productive. Know more about them in this article.
It seems quite a simple and formal task but writing career goals increases focus and concentration. This goes true only if you're making efforts to achieve your goals. If your actions are propelling you in the right direction, writing your goals frequently and then meditating on it, even for couple of minutes daily, helps you to remain focused. Goal setting has several other professional advantages. It is always required in your resumes and profiles. You're expected to sum up your career goals within few sentences and lines. This demands clarity of thoughts regarding your aims and objectives. Career goals for teachers, just like for any other professionals is essential to break free from the monotonicity of doing same tasks every day. No matter you're a kindergarten teacher or university level professor, writing career goals for yourself, will help you to achieve holistic personal and professional growth.
How to Write Career Goals and Objectives for Teachers
Writing career goals for teachers must not be a difficult task. Teachers can try to foray in other fields or develop new hobby and skills. Numerous examples of career goals will reveal to teachers that they can include anything in their career goals, right from teaching a subject in a new way to their personal life goals, like achieving work life balance. Some essential points that teachers must give a thought to while writing career goals for themselves are:
1. Think of the area you feel you need to improve yourself. Write your professional goals and personal life goals, in two separate columns, in a notebook.
2. It is better to write your goals and objectives in points, in short sentences. Try to put your goals in words but not more than one sentence.
3. Make a record of your actions for achieving your goals on a daily or weekly basis.
4. Career goals for teachers in their profession may include organization goals, enhancing teaching skills, improving student participation in class, adopting effective teaching strategies, better teacher parent communication etc.
Sample Career Goals for Teachers
There are various areas in which teachers can improve their professional work. Even the veteran teachers can try to sharpen their organizational and teaching skills. The more efficiently a teacher will plan his or her strategy for working, better will be the teaching experience as well as the career development path. Good teachers, mind you, are always assets for an educational institute. Similarly, when it comes to teaching, incorporating interesting ideas and methods to teach students is one of the most ideal career goals for teachers. Here is the list of some career goals examples that teachers can include in their goals and objectives list.
1. Incorporate the use of technology in classrooms to enhance understanding of students.
2. Spend some time on alternate days in a week to improve vocabulary and general awareness of students.
3. Motivate students to read books by conducting 'reading sessions' in classroom, at least once or twice a week.
4. Build stronger professional relationships with other teaching staff.
5. Plan teaching work based on every week basis.
6. Continue learning by keeping oneself updated about latest developments in the interest area.
7. Help first year teachers in work and solve students queries regarding suitable career path.
8. Instill confidence in special children by giving them focused and goal - directed instruction.
9. Read some popular books about teaching and try to bridge the parent teacher student communication gap.
10. Manage time effectively to balance work and personal life. Plan ahead of the day regarding tasks and duties to be carried out that specific day.
11. Organize desk and children files for recording information properly.
These are just some of the short and long term career goals for teachers. Besides, career goals statement examples and teachers can write their own goals. Making goals can surely help you improve your teaching career. So teachers if you have no written goals, it is the time to write some and enhance your work.
It seems quite a simple and formal task but writing career goals increases focus and concentration. This goes true only if you're making efforts to achieve your goals. If your actions are propelling you in the right direction, writing your goals frequently and then meditating on it, even for couple of minutes daily, helps you to remain focused. Goal setting has several other professional advantages. It is always required in your resumes and profiles. You're expected to sum up your career goals within few sentences and lines. This demands clarity of thoughts regarding your aims and objectives. Career goals for teachers, just like for any other professionals is essential to break free from the monotonicity of doing same tasks every day. No matter you're a kindergarten teacher or university level professor, writing career goals for yourself, will help you to achieve holistic personal and professional growth.
How to Write Career Goals and Objectives for Teachers
Writing career goals for teachers must not be a difficult task. Teachers can try to foray in other fields or develop new hobby and skills. Numerous examples of career goals will reveal to teachers that they can include anything in their career goals, right from teaching a subject in a new way to their personal life goals, like achieving work life balance. Some essential points that teachers must give a thought to while writing career goals for themselves are:
1. Think of the area you feel you need to improve yourself. Write your professional goals and personal life goals, in two separate columns, in a notebook.
2. It is better to write your goals and objectives in points, in short sentences. Try to put your goals in words but not more than one sentence.
3. Make a record of your actions for achieving your goals on a daily or weekly basis.
4. Career goals for teachers in their profession may include organization goals, enhancing teaching skills, improving student participation in class, adopting effective teaching strategies, better teacher parent communication etc.
Sample Career Goals for Teachers
There are various areas in which teachers can improve their professional work. Even the veteran teachers can try to sharpen their organizational and teaching skills. The more efficiently a teacher will plan his or her strategy for working, better will be the teaching experience as well as the career development path. Good teachers, mind you, are always assets for an educational institute. Similarly, when it comes to teaching, incorporating interesting ideas and methods to teach students is one of the most ideal career goals for teachers. Here is the list of some career goals examples that teachers can include in their goals and objectives list.
1. Incorporate the use of technology in classrooms to enhance understanding of students.
2. Spend some time on alternate days in a week to improve vocabulary and general awareness of students.
3. Motivate students to read books by conducting 'reading sessions' in classroom, at least once or twice a week.
4. Build stronger professional relationships with other teaching staff.
5. Plan teaching work based on every week basis.
6. Continue learning by keeping oneself updated about latest developments in the interest area.
7. Help first year teachers in work and solve students queries regarding suitable career path.
8. Instill confidence in special children by giving them focused and goal - directed instruction.
9. Read some popular books about teaching and try to bridge the parent teacher student communication gap.
10. Manage time effectively to balance work and personal life. Plan ahead of the day regarding tasks and duties to be carried out that specific day.
11. Organize desk and children files for recording information properly.
These are just some of the short and long term career goals for teachers. Besides, career goals statement examples and teachers can write their own goals. Making goals can surely help you improve your teaching career. So teachers if you have no written goals, it is the time to write some and enhance your work.
Clason's "The Richest Man in Babylon" Reveals the Fastest Way to Become Financially Savvy - Part 1
Copyright 2007 Ed Bagley
George Clason's book "The Richest Man in Babylon" reveals the fastest way to become financially savvy. It works today because money is governed today by the same laws that controlled it when prosperous men thronged the streets of Babylon 6,000 years ago.
Here is a synopsis of The Richest Man in Babylon and the important financial lessons it teaches:
A self-employed chariot builder becomes discouraged when, after years of hard work, he realizes that he will never become rich. He labors hard to build the finest chariots in the land, soft-heartedly hoping that some day the Gods will recognize his worthy deeds, and bestow upon him great prosperity.
He now realizes that the Gods could give a care about the work on his excellent chariots. He longs to be a man of means, and have the lifestyle of the richest man in Babylon, who was a childhood friend.
He confers with his best friend, a musician, who reminds him that it is not enough to have a fat wallet, as a man's wealth is not in the wallet he carries, because a fat wallet quickly empties if there be no golden stream to refill it.
The chariot builder decides to confront the richest man in Babylon, who he knew in his youth, and learn how he became so rich.
The chariot builder shares his lament with the richest man in Babylon, knowing that both he and the richest man in Babylon were once equal, played the same games in childhood, studied under the same masters, had equal talent and ability, and worked just as hard; now he works just as hard but his childhood companion has become the richest man in Babylon, while he still struggles.
The rich man replies, "If you have not acquired more than a bare existence in the years since we were youths, it is because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth, or else you do not observe them."
The richest man then explains that he had learned how to become rich from a moneylender, for whom he had provided a service in exchange for the moneylender's secret to success.
The moneylender said, "I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep, and so will you."
The money lender tells the rich man, who was then a scribe in the hall of records, to set aside one-tenth of all he earns as his portion to keep.
A year later the young scribe comes back to the moneylender, who asks him if he has kept a tenth of all he earned.
When the scribe replies yes, the moneylender asks him what he has done with it.
The scribe says he has given it to a bricklayer who was going to foreign lands to buy jewels, which he and the bricklayer would sell for profit when he returned. The scribe ends up with nothing, as the bricklayer is sold worthless glass rather than fine jewels.
"Every fool must learn", says the money lender, "but why trust the knowledge of a bricklayer about jewels? Your savings are gone," continues the moneylender, "you have jerked up your wealth-tree by the roots. But plant another. Try again. And, this time, if you would have advice about jewels, go to the jewel merchant."
Another year passes, and again the scribe goes to the money lender, to tell him that he had saved one-tenth and given it to a shield maker to buy bronze, and each fourth month the shield maker pays him rental.
"That is good," says the moneylender, "And what did you do with the rental?" "I had a great feast and bought a beautiful scarlet tunic," replies the scribe.
"You squander your savings," admonishes the moneylender. "How do you expect your savings to work for you, and generate more savings to work for you? Get yourself an army of golden slaves to work for you, then many a rich banquet you may enjoy without regret."
Two years later the scribe again goes to the money lender, to tell him that he still saves one-tenth, invests it more wisely and now continues to do so. "Each time I loaned money to the shield maker, I loaned back also the rental he had paid me. Therefore not only did my capital increase, but its earnings likewise increased."
"You have learned your lessons well," says the moneylender.
"You first learned to live upon less than you could earn. Next you learned to seek advice from those who were competent through their own experience to give it. And, lastly, you have learned how to put money to work for you.
"You have taught yourself how to acquire money, how to keep it, and how to use your money to prosper. You are now competent for a responsible position."
The scribe goes on to become the richest man in Babylon.
It was apparent that no one could do for the scribe what the scribe had done for himself. Each man has to work out his own understanding of what needs to be done, and then prepare himself to take advantage of the opportunity to succeed in a big way.
The moral to the story The Richest Man in Babylon teaches this lesson: Proper preparation is the key to our success.
George Clason's book "The Richest Man in Babylon" reveals the fastest way to become financially savvy. It works today because money is governed today by the same laws that controlled it when prosperous men thronged the streets of Babylon 6,000 years ago.
Here is a synopsis of The Richest Man in Babylon and the important financial lessons it teaches:
A self-employed chariot builder becomes discouraged when, after years of hard work, he realizes that he will never become rich. He labors hard to build the finest chariots in the land, soft-heartedly hoping that some day the Gods will recognize his worthy deeds, and bestow upon him great prosperity.
He now realizes that the Gods could give a care about the work on his excellent chariots. He longs to be a man of means, and have the lifestyle of the richest man in Babylon, who was a childhood friend.
He confers with his best friend, a musician, who reminds him that it is not enough to have a fat wallet, as a man's wealth is not in the wallet he carries, because a fat wallet quickly empties if there be no golden stream to refill it.
The chariot builder decides to confront the richest man in Babylon, who he knew in his youth, and learn how he became so rich.
The chariot builder shares his lament with the richest man in Babylon, knowing that both he and the richest man in Babylon were once equal, played the same games in childhood, studied under the same masters, had equal talent and ability, and worked just as hard; now he works just as hard but his childhood companion has become the richest man in Babylon, while he still struggles.
The rich man replies, "If you have not acquired more than a bare existence in the years since we were youths, it is because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth, or else you do not observe them."
The richest man then explains that he had learned how to become rich from a moneylender, for whom he had provided a service in exchange for the moneylender's secret to success.
The moneylender said, "I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep, and so will you."
The money lender tells the rich man, who was then a scribe in the hall of records, to set aside one-tenth of all he earns as his portion to keep.
A year later the young scribe comes back to the moneylender, who asks him if he has kept a tenth of all he earned.
When the scribe replies yes, the moneylender asks him what he has done with it.
The scribe says he has given it to a bricklayer who was going to foreign lands to buy jewels, which he and the bricklayer would sell for profit when he returned. The scribe ends up with nothing, as the bricklayer is sold worthless glass rather than fine jewels.
"Every fool must learn", says the money lender, "but why trust the knowledge of a bricklayer about jewels? Your savings are gone," continues the moneylender, "you have jerked up your wealth-tree by the roots. But plant another. Try again. And, this time, if you would have advice about jewels, go to the jewel merchant."
Another year passes, and again the scribe goes to the money lender, to tell him that he had saved one-tenth and given it to a shield maker to buy bronze, and each fourth month the shield maker pays him rental.
"That is good," says the moneylender, "And what did you do with the rental?" "I had a great feast and bought a beautiful scarlet tunic," replies the scribe.
"You squander your savings," admonishes the moneylender. "How do you expect your savings to work for you, and generate more savings to work for you? Get yourself an army of golden slaves to work for you, then many a rich banquet you may enjoy without regret."
Two years later the scribe again goes to the money lender, to tell him that he still saves one-tenth, invests it more wisely and now continues to do so. "Each time I loaned money to the shield maker, I loaned back also the rental he had paid me. Therefore not only did my capital increase, but its earnings likewise increased."
"You have learned your lessons well," says the moneylender.
"You first learned to live upon less than you could earn. Next you learned to seek advice from those who were competent through their own experience to give it. And, lastly, you have learned how to put money to work for you.
"You have taught yourself how to acquire money, how to keep it, and how to use your money to prosper. You are now competent for a responsible position."
The scribe goes on to become the richest man in Babylon.
It was apparent that no one could do for the scribe what the scribe had done for himself. Each man has to work out his own understanding of what needs to be done, and then prepare himself to take advantage of the opportunity to succeed in a big way.
The moral to the story The Richest Man in Babylon teaches this lesson: Proper preparation is the key to our success.
Is Sign 2 Cash A Scam? My Review
The answer to the question is NO signs 2 cash only provide you with a legitimate opportunity for you to make money from home. All of their opportunities have been tested and proven to make money for many other individuals around the world. Although this program will not make you rich, however it is meant to give someone a comfortable lifestyle while not having to work in an office for 8 hours a day.
You may be wondering what exactly will you be doing? You will be locating recently sold homes, apartments, condos, etc. in your local area. This is as simple as finding a for sale sign that has changed to sold.
The program is a paid membership for the following reasons:
-It takes time and money to maintain website as well as provide members with customer support. Also, because they are charging for ther services provided, you can be sure you will only receive the highest quality services, along with regular updates and reliable customer support.
-Your membership also locks you in as a member. This is to avoid too many locators in any one area physically so you are protected against such things as having 100 locators in your neighborhood all fighting to find the same sold signs. The membership fee cannot be deducted from your paycheck reason being this fee is required for database maintainance for members.
How do you make money?
Your Earnings Are Only Limited By The Number of Sold Signs You Locate Weekly!
Check the chart below for the potential earnings you could make!
5 sold signs located, 5 x .00 = 5 Per Day!
10 sold signs located, 10 x .00 = 0 Per Day!
25 sold signs located, 25 x .00 = 5 Per Day!
50 sold signs located, 50 x .00 = ,250 Per Day!
When you register to access the private back office and follow the simple instructions you are given, it will take a couple of weeks for you to make all the preparations needed to get started. Once the preparations are complete, you're ready to start earning. Make 5.00 in two hours easily.
The more time you invest, the more money you can make while working in a very rewarding, fun and easy business from your own home.
An average of .00 for every sold sign you locate goes directly to you!
No need to meet the people or even speak to them on the telephone. All you have to do is to find the addresses.
Skill & Experience Requirements
No experience is required and easy to follow instructions are provided. However, these minimum requirement should be noted:
- Older than 18 years old.
- Sense of duty and determination.
- Experience in writing and using a word processor such as Microsoft
You may be wondering what exactly will you be doing? You will be locating recently sold homes, apartments, condos, etc. in your local area. This is as simple as finding a for sale sign that has changed to sold.
The program is a paid membership for the following reasons:
-It takes time and money to maintain website as well as provide members with customer support. Also, because they are charging for ther services provided, you can be sure you will only receive the highest quality services, along with regular updates and reliable customer support.
-Your membership also locks you in as a member. This is to avoid too many locators in any one area physically so you are protected against such things as having 100 locators in your neighborhood all fighting to find the same sold signs. The membership fee cannot be deducted from your paycheck reason being this fee is required for database maintainance for members.
How do you make money?
Your Earnings Are Only Limited By The Number of Sold Signs You Locate Weekly!
Check the chart below for the potential earnings you could make!
5 sold signs located, 5 x .00 = 5 Per Day!
10 sold signs located, 10 x .00 = 0 Per Day!
25 sold signs located, 25 x .00 = 5 Per Day!
50 sold signs located, 50 x .00 = ,250 Per Day!
When you register to access the private back office and follow the simple instructions you are given, it will take a couple of weeks for you to make all the preparations needed to get started. Once the preparations are complete, you're ready to start earning. Make 5.00 in two hours easily.
The more time you invest, the more money you can make while working in a very rewarding, fun and easy business from your own home.
An average of .00 for every sold sign you locate goes directly to you!
No need to meet the people or even speak to them on the telephone. All you have to do is to find the addresses.
Skill & Experience Requirements
No experience is required and easy to follow instructions are provided. However, these minimum requirement should be noted:
- Older than 18 years old.
- Sense of duty and determination.
- Experience in writing and using a word processor such as Microsoft
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Please! Avoid Bankruptcy At All Costs!
Choosing a bankruptcy will seriously damage your credit score more than just about any other debt relief solution. Bankruptcy will drastically impact your credit score for many years. Most people understand, after a bankruptcy, they will not be able to get loans but few people realize that bankruptcy will impact their entire life and that of their family in many other negative ways.
On the positive side, bankruptcy is a legal proceeding that either forgives you of your debts or allows you to pay off just a small fraction of your debt while erasing most of your debt. While bankruptcy does ruin your credit rating, it will also allow you to escape overwhelming debt. This gives you a clean slate and a chance to rebuild a good credit rating in the coming years. A bankruptcy will no longer show up on your credit report after ten years.
If you are very seriously in debt and have no way of repaying your bills, a bankruptcy can help you by stopping collection agencies from contacting you. Also, if you have been very negligent in paying your debts, your credit rating is likely already very low so bankruptcy may make little difference in your credit score.
Bankruptcy is especially advantageous if you have large debts that you could never pay off no matter what you do.
On the negative side, going bankrupt is no longer an easy escape and it costs money up front. New federal law makes it tougher to declare bankruptcy. Creditors can challenge you. If the court finds you have an income or assets that could pay back some of your debts, you may still be forced into a repayment plan instead of all out bankruptcy. You need counseling to decide your best legal options.
Make no mistake, going bankrupt is a very serious step. It is not just a 'black mark' on your credit report, it is a huge red flag to lenders. After a bankruptcy, you will be unable to get credit cards, many other types of credit, and will even be told what you can and cannot buy. The whole process can also be emotionally draining. Bankruptcy should only be chosen as a last option if you really require your debts to be forgiven because you have no way of repaying them.
Choosing whether to go bankrupt requires some professional advice.
Bankruptcy advisers can help you decide whether to seek bankruptcy and how to proceed once you do decide to file. Then, a lawyer is hired to represent you in bankruptcy proceedings. This will likely cost you more than ,000 up front depending on the legal firm you hire.
Filing for bankruptcy can be emotionally upsetting and even embarrassing for you and family members. On the day you are finally judged to be bankrupt, you may have to appear in Federal Court, along with many other people in the same situation. Your name may be called out in open court and your name may even appear in the Legal Notices of your local newspaper. It is not a pleasant experience.
From that moment on, every time you apply for credit, apply for a job that requires you to handle money, or even apply for some more exclusive types of apartment living, your credit score is checked. In fact, your credit score can be checked by anyone with a legitimate business need to do so. Your bankruptcy will be there for all to see.
Your credit score is based on how you have managed your past financial responsibilities and past payments and credit, and it provides potential creditors with a quick snapshot of your current financial situation and past repayment habits, including your recent bankruptcy. In other words, your credit history gives lenders a picture quickly - of how responsible or irresponsible you are.
Some people who go bankrupt feel like a failure as a person. Remember, your history is represented by your FICO credit score but it's just a number. It is not a personal reflection of how "good" or "bad" a person you are.
It's true that lenders use credit scoring to make an informed guess as to whether you will repay your bills in the future and credit scoring is based on information gathered from studying other people in circumstances such as yours. The group you fit into determines your score. Thus, it's nothing personal. It's just statistics run through a computer program. So, go easy on yourself.
Let me finish with a word of caution. Many people who go bankrupt try to lie about the fact that they have gone bankrupt because they are ashamed while others are just plain dishonest. Not only is this illegal, it is also useless to do so. Your credit score is easy to check. You will not fool lenders by lying and you may actually find yourself facing a judge as a result of your dishonesty.
On the positive side, bankruptcy is a legal proceeding that either forgives you of your debts or allows you to pay off just a small fraction of your debt while erasing most of your debt. While bankruptcy does ruin your credit rating, it will also allow you to escape overwhelming debt. This gives you a clean slate and a chance to rebuild a good credit rating in the coming years. A bankruptcy will no longer show up on your credit report after ten years.
If you are very seriously in debt and have no way of repaying your bills, a bankruptcy can help you by stopping collection agencies from contacting you. Also, if you have been very negligent in paying your debts, your credit rating is likely already very low so bankruptcy may make little difference in your credit score.
Bankruptcy is especially advantageous if you have large debts that you could never pay off no matter what you do.
On the negative side, going bankrupt is no longer an easy escape and it costs money up front. New federal law makes it tougher to declare bankruptcy. Creditors can challenge you. If the court finds you have an income or assets that could pay back some of your debts, you may still be forced into a repayment plan instead of all out bankruptcy. You need counseling to decide your best legal options.
Make no mistake, going bankrupt is a very serious step. It is not just a 'black mark' on your credit report, it is a huge red flag to lenders. After a bankruptcy, you will be unable to get credit cards, many other types of credit, and will even be told what you can and cannot buy. The whole process can also be emotionally draining. Bankruptcy should only be chosen as a last option if you really require your debts to be forgiven because you have no way of repaying them.
Choosing whether to go bankrupt requires some professional advice.
Bankruptcy advisers can help you decide whether to seek bankruptcy and how to proceed once you do decide to file. Then, a lawyer is hired to represent you in bankruptcy proceedings. This will likely cost you more than ,000 up front depending on the legal firm you hire.
Filing for bankruptcy can be emotionally upsetting and even embarrassing for you and family members. On the day you are finally judged to be bankrupt, you may have to appear in Federal Court, along with many other people in the same situation. Your name may be called out in open court and your name may even appear in the Legal Notices of your local newspaper. It is not a pleasant experience.
From that moment on, every time you apply for credit, apply for a job that requires you to handle money, or even apply for some more exclusive types of apartment living, your credit score is checked. In fact, your credit score can be checked by anyone with a legitimate business need to do so. Your bankruptcy will be there for all to see.
Your credit score is based on how you have managed your past financial responsibilities and past payments and credit, and it provides potential creditors with a quick snapshot of your current financial situation and past repayment habits, including your recent bankruptcy. In other words, your credit history gives lenders a picture quickly - of how responsible or irresponsible you are.
Some people who go bankrupt feel like a failure as a person. Remember, your history is represented by your FICO credit score but it's just a number. It is not a personal reflection of how "good" or "bad" a person you are.
It's true that lenders use credit scoring to make an informed guess as to whether you will repay your bills in the future and credit scoring is based on information gathered from studying other people in circumstances such as yours. The group you fit into determines your score. Thus, it's nothing personal. It's just statistics run through a computer program. So, go easy on yourself.
Let me finish with a word of caution. Many people who go bankrupt try to lie about the fact that they have gone bankrupt because they are ashamed while others are just plain dishonest. Not only is this illegal, it is also useless to do so. Your credit score is easy to check. You will not fool lenders by lying and you may actually find yourself facing a judge as a result of your dishonesty.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Is It Better To Buy Or Lease Commercial Space For My Business
Your business location should be tailor-made to fit with your company budget, spacing requirements and ease of operation. For some business owners, leasing affords a sense of freedom and relieves the financial burden of a down payment, yet may be too restrictive for some kinds of operations. The decision to buy a piece of commercial property offers its own set of risks and rewards, and should be considered carefully before entering into a mortgage contract.
Leasing Commercial Space
1. Cost Effective
Leasing a commercial space will usually require a one to two month move-in deposit, making the rental space a cost efficient way to do business. New business owners may be strapped for cash, and by leasing, rather than purchasing, your storefront or office is cost effective to set up shop with minimal funding.
2. Flexibility
Leasing a commercial space gives the entrepreneur plenty of room to grow, downsize or change locations. Although once you sign a lease, you are locked into a fixed amount of time to make the lease payments, the terms may be only a matter of months to be released and start over in another location.
3. Freedom
Setting up shop without the burden of a mortgage to pay allows a sense of financial freedom. Albeit, a purchased piece of commercial property could be leased or sold to another, there could be months before the owner receives any income from the property. A hefty mortgage may also interfere with business profits and may demand downsizing of personnel.
4. Maintenance
A leased office or shop has a landlord to lean on, taking away tedious responsibilities with the plumbing, electricity and security. In a leasing situation, any repairs or legal liabilities are left in the hands of the building management team.
5. Subletting
In some situations, you may sublet your leased office space to another. However, this must be cleared in writing from the management office, and careful attention given to their rules and regulations for renting out the space.
Buying Commercial Space
1. Secured Location
Buying a piece of commercial property adds assurance that the space is secured and cannot be given to someone else. In a leasing situation, when the lease expires, the renewal process may not have the same initial terms, thus proving unfavorable to renew. However, when you purchase, your prime location is secured.
2. Equity
As with a residential piece of property, a commercial owner may take out cash against the mortgage. In an emergency financial crisis, having a mortgage to borrow from lends a sense of security and provision of funds. Most commercial purchases will require 20 to 25 percent down on the purchase price, giving instant equity to the business owner.
3. Remodeling
When you have bought a property, it is your to do with as you wish. Remolding, expansion and reconfiguration are yours for the taking. The ownership allows the business structure to be molded around the enterprise for a perfect fit and usage of space.
4. Tax Deductions
The interest on a commercial loan is tax deductible, with allowances for deducting any depreciation.
5. Lease Your Excess Space
If you own the property, you may lease your excess space without any restrictions from a third party over your head.
Leasing Commercial Space
1. Cost Effective
Leasing a commercial space will usually require a one to two month move-in deposit, making the rental space a cost efficient way to do business. New business owners may be strapped for cash, and by leasing, rather than purchasing, your storefront or office is cost effective to set up shop with minimal funding.
2. Flexibility
Leasing a commercial space gives the entrepreneur plenty of room to grow, downsize or change locations. Although once you sign a lease, you are locked into a fixed amount of time to make the lease payments, the terms may be only a matter of months to be released and start over in another location.
3. Freedom
Setting up shop without the burden of a mortgage to pay allows a sense of financial freedom. Albeit, a purchased piece of commercial property could be leased or sold to another, there could be months before the owner receives any income from the property. A hefty mortgage may also interfere with business profits and may demand downsizing of personnel.
4. Maintenance
A leased office or shop has a landlord to lean on, taking away tedious responsibilities with the plumbing, electricity and security. In a leasing situation, any repairs or legal liabilities are left in the hands of the building management team.
5. Subletting
In some situations, you may sublet your leased office space to another. However, this must be cleared in writing from the management office, and careful attention given to their rules and regulations for renting out the space.
Buying Commercial Space
1. Secured Location
Buying a piece of commercial property adds assurance that the space is secured and cannot be given to someone else. In a leasing situation, when the lease expires, the renewal process may not have the same initial terms, thus proving unfavorable to renew. However, when you purchase, your prime location is secured.
2. Equity
As with a residential piece of property, a commercial owner may take out cash against the mortgage. In an emergency financial crisis, having a mortgage to borrow from lends a sense of security and provision of funds. Most commercial purchases will require 20 to 25 percent down on the purchase price, giving instant equity to the business owner.
3. Remodeling
When you have bought a property, it is your to do with as you wish. Remolding, expansion and reconfiguration are yours for the taking. The ownership allows the business structure to be molded around the enterprise for a perfect fit and usage of space.
4. Tax Deductions
The interest on a commercial loan is tax deductible, with allowances for deducting any depreciation.
5. Lease Your Excess Space
If you own the property, you may lease your excess space without any restrictions from a third party over your head.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Premium Finance - Wealth Creation Calculator
Premium Finance boasts of various wealth creation strategies to help you effectively manage your personal finances.
Managing your finances is easier said than done. Mortgages, home expenditures, luxury items, health expenses, and taxes are enough to dry up your wallet. However, that should never be the case. All it takes is some serious planning and self-discipline. In addition, Premium Finance is more than willing to help you with your financial issues. With the help of wealth creation calculator, retiring can be done early. Not only that, putting your trust in Premium Finance will also help you with consolidating debts and decreasing your monthly expenditures. Eventually, you can save more cash. Hence, you will see that you are well on your way to generating and maintaining more income.
The Premium Finance wealth creation calculator can help you choose the right investments to make. Why settle for complicated wealth creation calculators when you can have an easy-to-use and highly efficient calculator right at your fingertips?
In relation, this method will certainly reduce the amount of stress you'll experience when handling your bills. Financial plans can be easily developed, all it takes is that you follow your financial plans tirelessly. Soon enough, you will enjoy living your life the way you want to.
Premium Finance offers a genuine and authentic service that is designed to help your personal finance and allow you the opportunity for you own investments to grow each year and offer you the retirement income you want.
Premium Finance can help find answers to questions such as:
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Managing your finances is easier said than done. Mortgages, home expenditures, luxury items, health expenses, and taxes are enough to dry up your wallet. However, that should never be the case. All it takes is some serious planning and self-discipline. In addition, Premium Finance is more than willing to help you with your financial issues. With the help of wealth creation calculator, retiring can be done early. Not only that, putting your trust in Premium Finance will also help you with consolidating debts and decreasing your monthly expenditures. Eventually, you can save more cash. Hence, you will see that you are well on your way to generating and maintaining more income.
The Premium Finance wealth creation calculator can help you choose the right investments to make. Why settle for complicated wealth creation calculators when you can have an easy-to-use and highly efficient calculator right at your fingertips?
In relation, this method will certainly reduce the amount of stress you'll experience when handling your bills. Financial plans can be easily developed, all it takes is that you follow your financial plans tirelessly. Soon enough, you will enjoy living your life the way you want to.
Premium Finance offers a genuine and authentic service that is designed to help your personal finance and allow you the opportunity for you own investments to grow each year and offer you the retirement income you want.
Premium Finance can help find answers to questions such as:
* What are your plans?
* How and when to pay off debts?
* How much do you need before retiring?
* How are you going to spend your retirement?
With Premium Finance, money problems are a thing of the past. However, the power to create more wealth is in your hands. Once you've made that decision, contact us and we'll give you a nudge in the right direction. Even better, our relationship managers will guide you in managing your finances with ease. You don't have to wait any longer. You can start creating more wealth right now with Premium Finance
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Commercial Real Estate Expert Knowledge On Holding And Closing Costs
When investing in commercial real estate, investors have to consider the projected costs surrounding their investment. A savvy investor must have a working knowledge of what the closing and holding costs for the property will be prior to committing themselves to the investment. Working on the purchase price, and the market selling price is simply not enough to make an informed decision on whether a property will be a sound investment.
Holding Costs
When real estate investors purchase property, their main goal is to sell the property for a profit. But during this process, the investor must take into consideration the amount of money they will need to pay out before the investment is re-sold. Holding costs are also known as carrying costs. When calculating the holding costs, investors must include the purchase price, and deduct operating income to come to an estimated figure.
Holding costs must be carefully considered when factored into an investment. Without calculating this cost, an uninformed investor could be faced with a disastrous situation. All to often, new investors only factor the purchase price, and the resale market value into their calculations. The result can be disastrous to the estimated profit margin if the investor must produce a further sum for their holding costs.
An example of such a situation is buying a property for 0,000 with an estimated resale value of 0,000. At this stage, the property would seem to be a sound investment with a very generous profit margin. But if the holding costs of the particular property over a six month period were to come to ,000, it could mean severe loss to the investor, rather than a generous profit.
Estimating Holding Costs
Investors must pay close attention to their estimated carrying costs before investing in a property. These include costs such as operating expenses, mortgage payments, capital improvements, as well as the selling costs of the property.
The best way to factor these costs before purchasing an investment property is to analyze the associated carrying costs over a six-month period by taking the sale price, and then deducting associated costs such as
Purchase closing costs,
Clean up and decoration of the property,
Mortgage repayments,
Taxes,
Insurances
Resale broker commissions,
Resale closing costs
Take the purchase price, plus the carrying costs, and the total of the two should be deducted from the re-sale price of the property in order to get an estimation of the profit margin.
Knowing what to expect from holding costs should be one of a real-estate investor's main priorities when looking for a profitable investment. While these costs are important to factor, the savvy investor will always be able to creatively come up with solutions to decrease costs, or find ways to make an extra income from the property to make it more profitable.
Closing Costs
Closing costs are an estimate of the projected cost once the property has been resold. These costs are often calculated by things such as the lenders experience with the real estate industry, and the area being invested in. The closing costs are only an estimation, which can mean that they will change over the term of the loan.
The lender has no control over how much the attorney or title company will charge for their expenses, but as a rule of thumb, investors should be able to rely on the final estimated expenses to be close to the estimations given in their good faith estimation from the lender.
The closing cost figures, as far as the lender is concerned, should be especially accurate, although in a situation where there are significant changes in the loan program, or the borrower's qualifications, the closing costs could be inflated.
No Closing Costs
While closing costs are essential to factor into an investment, there are options available to remove some of the associated closing costs for investors. However, it is important to note that even with advertised no closing costs, there will always be costs, such as attorney fees, insurance, local municipality, and title company, that must be paid.
The no closing cost programs offered by lenders are an option that applies to things such as application, appraisal, credit reporting, processing, underwriting, origination, and discount points. These costs only factor into about a third of the total closing costs of a property. Even with a no closing cost option, investors may still be required to pay other closing costs, such as title insurance, attorney fees and county recording fees.
Holding Costs
When real estate investors purchase property, their main goal is to sell the property for a profit. But during this process, the investor must take into consideration the amount of money they will need to pay out before the investment is re-sold. Holding costs are also known as carrying costs. When calculating the holding costs, investors must include the purchase price, and deduct operating income to come to an estimated figure.
Holding costs must be carefully considered when factored into an investment. Without calculating this cost, an uninformed investor could be faced with a disastrous situation. All to often, new investors only factor the purchase price, and the resale market value into their calculations. The result can be disastrous to the estimated profit margin if the investor must produce a further sum for their holding costs.
An example of such a situation is buying a property for 0,000 with an estimated resale value of 0,000. At this stage, the property would seem to be a sound investment with a very generous profit margin. But if the holding costs of the particular property over a six month period were to come to ,000, it could mean severe loss to the investor, rather than a generous profit.
Estimating Holding Costs
Investors must pay close attention to their estimated carrying costs before investing in a property. These include costs such as operating expenses, mortgage payments, capital improvements, as well as the selling costs of the property.
The best way to factor these costs before purchasing an investment property is to analyze the associated carrying costs over a six-month period by taking the sale price, and then deducting associated costs such as
Purchase closing costs,
Clean up and decoration of the property,
Mortgage repayments,
Taxes,
Insurances
Resale broker commissions,
Resale closing costs
Take the purchase price, plus the carrying costs, and the total of the two should be deducted from the re-sale price of the property in order to get an estimation of the profit margin.
Knowing what to expect from holding costs should be one of a real-estate investor's main priorities when looking for a profitable investment. While these costs are important to factor, the savvy investor will always be able to creatively come up with solutions to decrease costs, or find ways to make an extra income from the property to make it more profitable.
Closing Costs
Closing costs are an estimate of the projected cost once the property has been resold. These costs are often calculated by things such as the lenders experience with the real estate industry, and the area being invested in. The closing costs are only an estimation, which can mean that they will change over the term of the loan.
The lender has no control over how much the attorney or title company will charge for their expenses, but as a rule of thumb, investors should be able to rely on the final estimated expenses to be close to the estimations given in their good faith estimation from the lender.
The closing cost figures, as far as the lender is concerned, should be especially accurate, although in a situation where there are significant changes in the loan program, or the borrower's qualifications, the closing costs could be inflated.
No Closing Costs
While closing costs are essential to factor into an investment, there are options available to remove some of the associated closing costs for investors. However, it is important to note that even with advertised no closing costs, there will always be costs, such as attorney fees, insurance, local municipality, and title company, that must be paid.
The no closing cost programs offered by lenders are an option that applies to things such as application, appraisal, credit reporting, processing, underwriting, origination, and discount points. These costs only factor into about a third of the total closing costs of a property. Even with a no closing cost option, investors may still be required to pay other closing costs, such as title insurance, attorney fees and county recording fees.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Stock Investment In Nigeria: Its Process And Benefits
Introduction
Securities are created and issued by corporate bodies and governments, which are in need of funds to finance expansion or development projects. For instance, Wazobia Plc, a manufacturing concern needs to expand its facilities to accommodate present and anticipated consumer demand as well as replace aging or obsolete equipments. It is however, short of internally generated funds (retained earnings) to undertake the projects require long gestation and payback periods, money market facilities which have short tenure would be inappropriate funding sources. The company would be left with one possible option, that is, to access the capital market if it meets the requirements for entry. This could be done by issuing shares and/or debt instruments. (Securities and Exchange Commission, 1999). Thus, capital market is a segment of financial market that is responsible for mobilizing and channelling long term funds into productive investment such as fixed assets. The investments in capital market are at longer period of time, which are held for a minimum of five years.
Moreover, the term securities consist of stocks and bonds. It is not possible in
this paper to digest all aspect of securities. Therefore, this paper shall limit itself to stocks only (i.e. shares).
Theoretical Framework
Fischer and Jordan (2005) see investment as a commitment of funds made in the expectation of some positive rate of return. If the investment is properly undertaken, the return will be commensurate with the risk the investor assumes.
Similarly, an investment is the current commitment of money or other resources in the expectation of reaping future benefits. For example, an individual might purchase shares of stock anticipating that the future proceeds from the shares
will justify both the time that her money is tied up as well as the risk of the investment. You sacrifice something of value now, expecting to benefit from that sacrifice later. (Bodie, Kane, and Marcus, 1998, p. 2).
Distinction between real assets and financial assets
According to Bodie, Kane, & Marcus (1998) real assets are assets used to produce goods and services. In contrast to such real assets are financial assets, such as stocks and bonds. Such securities are no more than sheets of paper (or entries in a computer) Financial assets are claims to the income generated by real assets (or claims on income from the government). If we cannot own our own auto plant, we can still buy shares in General Motors or Toyota and, thereby, share in the income derived from the production of automobiles.
Definition of Stock
In simple terms shares is ownership in share of a corporation. According to Ahmed (2008) securities as stocks and bonds. According to him, a stock represents a share, or percentage, in a corporation's profits and assets. By purchasing stock an investor is buying a percentage of ownership in a company.
Different Types of Stock
There are two main types of stock or shares, namely; ordinary shares and preference shares. Ordinary shares according to Nwiwu, Ya'u, Ezeocha, Ezima and Uzoigwe (2007) this form that part of capital structure of the business contributed by the common stock holders .For a new company it is called venture capital but in the old companies it is called equity share capital.
Ordinary or equity shareholders ordinarily own the business, so all reserves belong to them. They have the right to votes in the company. The shares are non- redeemable even though transferable. However, they have no fixed rate of dividend since rate depends on the level of profitability, company liquidity and management discretion. On the other hand, Preference shares are the hybrid or bat of financing because they exhibit the tendencies of both equity and debt at the same time. They have a fixed percentage dividend before any dividend is paid to the ordinary shareholders.
Share Certificate
Nwaiwu (2004) when shares are allotted to the investor a note will be sent indicating the number of shares allotted. After some period a share certificate will be issued. This certificate is a security, a proof of ownership of the shares in the company. If in future the shareholder wishes to sell the shares, the share certificate must be surrendered to a stockbroker who will forward it to the company's registrar. Nigerian Investments and Securities Law Reports (2004) pointed out that securities in the market are available in either of the following two (2) forms:
i. In certificate form; and
ii. In dematerialized form
When a security is presented in a certificate form, the selling agent needs to verify the signature of the holder and the validity of the presented certificate(s) with the Registrar to the company, after which it could be deposited for sale or any other form of transfer in dematerialized form into the account of the beneficial owner held with the CSCS. Consequently, any subsequent sale or transfer of these securities can validly be undertaken without any need to revert to the Registrar. It therefore follows that securities held in the CSCS account of any holder are deemed to have undergone the necessary verification and confirmation with the Registrars and therefore the holder is rightfully accepted as the true beneficial owner of the securities reflected in his account with CSCS. Thereafter, the only proof of ownership of the said securities that is available to the beneficial owner is the CSCS statement of account issued to him.
Benefits of Investing in Shares
According to Kofa (2004) there are numerous benefits accruing to a shareholder who invests in shares. Such benefits include:
i) Return on investment by way of dividend payment (share of profit by the company on each share owned by the shareholder. This of course depends on the number of shares held by the shareholder. The dividend declared by the company's Directors must however be approved at the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM).
ii) Bonus issue, this is an additional share given to shareholders based on the number of shares owned by each shareholder free of charge at a ratio approved by the Board of Directors/Management and ratified at the company's AGM.
iii) Capital appreciation; this is an increase of share price over time. The value of company share increases due to performance and demand/supply factors. That is, for example, unit price of share purchased today at N10.00 could be N20.00 one year after, due to market forces.
iv) It can be used for security/collateral for loan purposes. Share certificates or statements are acceptable as good collateral for loans by banks and other financial institutions.
v) Pressing immediate needs could be met without seeking any bank/individual financial assistance by disposition of shares.
Risks associated with stock investment
Elakama (2004) emphasized that there are no guarantees when it comes to individual stocks. Some companies pay out dividends, but many others do not. And there is no obligation to pay out dividends even for those firms that have traditionally given them. Without dividends an investor can make money on a stock only through its appreciation in the open market. On the downside, any stock may go bankrupt, in which case your investment is worth nothing.
Similarly, Securities and Exchange Commission (1999) like other forms of investments, there are risk/cost associated with investing in the capital market. There are also obligations on issuers of securities. The risk to investors includes possible unfavourable rate of return owing to depreciation in market value and/or nonpayment of dividends. It could also involve possible loss of investment should a company go burst.
Nature of capital market
At this point, it is important to recognise the nature of capital market. Sulaiman (1999) defines capital market as a network of interrelated institutions governed by operational guidelines which permit the sale of equity and long term debt
Elements of the capital market
There are three identifiable features of a capital market. These are: the instruments; the market place; and the participants.
a) Financial instruments
Financial instruments are the investment products, created to ensure the smooth and easy transfer of funds in the capital market. These instruments, generally known as securities are financial assets, which represent either debt or ownership. The instruments have various features depending on their type between the primary and secondary markets is the fact that proceeds of sale of primary securities go to the issuer (company or government) whereas in the secondary market, proceeds go to the investor.
b) The market place
Securities and Exchange Commission (1999) the capital market is divided into two separate but closely-related segments known as the primary and secondary markets. Primary Market a forum where new shares are offered to both existing shareholders and general public for purchase. Primary market offers can either be made directly by the company to increase its paid-up capital or through privatization of Government holdings, technically called divestment of government shares. On the other hand, Secondary Market is a market where existing shares are traded (sold and bought). Trading of shares at secondary market takes place on the floor of The Nigerian stock exchange. The Stockbrokers buy and sell shares on behalf of their respective clients. Essentially, the Stockbrokers are the dealing member firms licensed by both the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to deal on shares and offer other services to the investing public. (Kofa, 2004, p.28).
c) Participants in the Market
Securities and Exchange Commission (1999) to facilitate the saving and investment process in any economy, financial intermediaries must exist and in good number. The financial intermediary is essentially a middleman who pools funds form savers and passes on such funds to those in need of them. An intermediary is a specialist) professional) in his line of business and thus, heavily relied upon by his clients to make good investment judgement on their behalf or provide professional advisory services to them. The capital market has a wide array of intermediaries performing various intermediation functions. They include:
i) Issuing Houses: These are institutions which assist corporate bodies and governments to raise long-term funds by packaging security issues for subscription on their behalf. The issuing house by this function plays a central role in the issuance process, and in industrial development. The issuing house as the principal agent of and adviser to the issuer has the responsibility of advising its clients on the most appropriate instrument and method of sourcing the required capital. It also has the responsibility of assembling and coordination all other specialists required in the issue process, ensuring that statutory and all other requirements are met, and that the issue is properly packaged and successfully concluded. Packaging would include pricing of the securities, preparation of the prospectus and other documents, as well as marketing and distribution of the securities.
ii) Stockbrokers/dealers: These are major players in the secondary market. Stockbrokers are the only persons permitted to transact business on the floor of a stock exchange or on the over-the-counter market. A stockbroker, therefore, stands between the seller and buyer of registered securities, making it possible for both parties to realize their desire to buy or sell securities. To act as an agent of the public or deal in his own account, a stockbroker/dealer must be registered by the statutory regulatory agency (Securities and Exchange Commission) and licensed by the stock exchange. As an agent of his client, the stockbroker is under obligations to transact business for him at the best price obtainable in the market.
iii) Investment Advisers: These are institutions/persons registered by the statutory regulatory agency to provide investment advisory services to their client for a fee. Investment advisory services are incidental to stock broking and issuing house business.
iv) Portfolio Managers: These are institutions registered by the statutory regulatory agency to manage the portfolio of clients. Portfolio management entails the receipt of funds, sometimes very large sums, to be invested by the portfolio manager. Most often, the choice of investments are left to the manger who however must send periodic investment statements, to his client. In exercising his discretion, the manager must at all times, consider the best interest of his clients. Both investments advisory and portfolio management services require extensive economic/market analyses to guide investment decisions and advice to clients.
v) Registrars: These are institutions employed by companies to keep comprehensive registers of their members (shareholders) and creditors. In addition, they arrange annual general and extra-ordinary meetings for their clients; distribute stock/share certificates, annual reports, dividend warrants and notices of shareholders' meetings. In cases of issue oversubscription, registrars dispatch surplus monies to subscribers.
vi) Trustees: These are important participants in debt issues and collective investment schemes such as unit trust. The trustee protects the interest of investors in debt instruments by monitoring and ensuring the fulfillment of the term of the trust deed.
vii) Receiving Agents: These are banks and stockbroking firms appointed by the issuing house to serve as centers for the distribution of offer applications forms, as well as for the receipt of subscriptions monies on behalf of the issuing house, for a fee.
viii) Receiving Bankers: These are banks designated by an issuer to receive proceeds of an issue on its behalf.
ix) Solicitors: These are law firms which either represent the issue or the issuer. In practice, two solicitors are required in a public issue of securities. These are the solicitor to the company (issuer) and the solicitor to the issue. The solicitor to the company among other things ensures that the memorandum and articles of association of the company are in consonance with legal requirements of a public company, and effect amendments where necessary. The solicitor would examine issue relating to the authorized capital, ensuring that it can accommodate the issue being proposed. Where a debenture stock is to be floated, the solicitor would make sure that the company has the borrowing power to do so. Generally, it is the duty of the solicitor to the company to ensure that the company complies with the provisions of the corporate law of the country (e.g. the Companies and Allied Matters Decree 1990 in Nigeria).
x) Auditors: These are the existing auditors of the company. In their capacity as the auditors, they provide historical perspective on the accounts of the company for inclusion in the prospectus.
xi) Reporting Accountants: These are firms of accountants which provide independent assessment of the accounts of the company. They review management forecast and examine the reasonableness or otherwise of such forecast. Based on their findings, the reporting accountants can recommend adjustments to the management forecast. They also prepare statement of indebtedness of the company, among other things.
Prerequisites to successful investing in stock
a) Selecting a Broker
According to Fischer and Jordan (2005) the investor's first step in establishing a satisfactory relationship with a broker is to choose a firm that is suitable for his needs and to select a representative of the firm with whom he can work. In practice separating the two choices is hard, for if one has chosen a satisfactory firm but is unhappy with the representative, it is embarrassing to shift one's account to another representative within the same firm. The brokerage firm should be a well-known and long-established institution. In selecting a firm an investor can ask for recommendations from his bank or from friends whose opinions he trusts.
b) Opening a Brokerage Account
This is an investment account, which is opened with the CSCS through a stockbroker. When this account is opened a client is issued with two numbers. The first number is called 'CSCS No.'. It is computer-generated numbers allocated to a new shareholder. It is unique to each stock-broking firm. Although a shareholder can have as many accounts as the number of stockbroking firms he uses. Furthermore, CSCS No is alphanumeric which is used if you have to fill in public offers if you desire shares allotted to you to be credited to your account.
Investors Account No. is numeric which is used internally on the floor for trading. In other word, investor's No. is the CHN represents the Clearing House Number assigned to every shareholder at the first point of entry into the CSCS system. He/She must have completed the CSCS -- R005 Shareholders Particulars Form. They are to provide the same CHN to all subsequent stockbroking firms they may have transactions with for ease of reference.
Other Prerequisites to successful investing in stock include opening a Bank Account, access to Post office Box (P. O. Box), access to Phone and active E-mail Address.
Process of acquiring shares
According to Nigerian Investments and Securities Law Report [NISLR] (2004) shares could be acquired by six (6) main modes;
1) Public offer;
2) Rights offer;
3) Bonus;
4) Nominal transfer; i.e. Transfer of share by way of gift.
5) Transmission from a dead relation or friends or collective investments or investments previously held under a corporate name for a beneficiary; and lastly
6) By purchase on the secondary market.
In general, a prospective investor who wishes to purchase shares on the secondary market is expected to approach a stockbroker such as Newdevco with a request to purchase or to invest in shares at a secondary market. In response, the stockbroker asks the prospective client which stock/shares he/she intends to purchase. Where the client has a selected stock in mind, the stockbroker executes the order according to the expressed need or interest of the client/customer. (Kofa, 2004).
Kofa (2004) added that in a situation where a client does not know which stock/share to buy, the stockbroker explains and advises the client accordingly in detail the shares to invest in. Consequently the stockbroker gives the client the necessary share transfer forms and Central Security Clearing System (CSCS) (particulars of shareholder) for completion. These documents are used to lodge the shares at Registrars Department of the company and also to open the new CSCS account for the client. The shares requested by client to be purchased are normally paid for by Bank Draft or physical clash to a stockbroker, who will in turn given an official receipt for the draft value or cash collected. Thereafter, the stockbroker purchases the shares as requested by client. Whenever the transactions are fully consummated, the stockbroker shall forward the CSCS statement of stock position to the client as evidence of ownership of such shares.
Benefits of Central Security Clearing System (CSCS)
Nigerian Stock Exchange (2008) states the benefits of CSCS to the operation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange as follows:
a) To Investors
Investors statements of stock position are issued every quarter free of charge or on demand for =N=100.00.
Use of stock position as collateral for loan facility after T + 3 settlement cycle i.e. 4 working days. In effect, a statement of stock position is obtainable from CSCS 4 days after transaction.
Investors can speculate more and take advantage of capital appreciation in their investment because of the T+3 settlement cycle.
Reduced risk of loss of certificates.
b) Quoted Companies
Huge cost associated with the production of share certificates for transaction through the secondary market has been significantly reduced.
Before CSCS, a single transaction on a certificate led to the cancellation of the certificate and the issuance of as many as ten (10) certificates depending on allotments made. This is no longer so since few shareholders request for certificates.
Indeed, of the 400,000 shareholders who use CSCS system now, only 2,200 shareholders have requested for certificates to date.
Amalgamation/consolidation of several accounts for a shareholder on the register leading to reduction of cost to the company.
c) Stockbroking Firms
Prompt Inter-member money and stock-settlement are assured.
The problems associated with delivery of shares are minimize
Increased efficiency and profit
Reduction in operational cost.
Disposal of Shares
According to Kofa (2004) a shareholder who wishes to dispose his/her shares is expected to go to a licensed stockbroker only. A Stockbroker is seen as the authorized agent approved by the government to deal in shares, especially in the purchase or sale of shares on behalf of an individual, group or company. The original hare certificates or CSCS statement will be tendered to a Stockbroker who will issue the relevant forms for completion by the shareholder and then forwarded to company Registrars for signature verification. That is, confirm the ownership of the shares in the case of share certificate. However, in the case of CSCS statement, the stockbroker verifies his client's signature. After the confirmation of signature, the share is taken to the floor of, say, the Nigerian Stock Exchange for appropriate disposal. After the disposal contract, a note shall be raised appropriately and the net proceeds is remitted to the shareholder after commissions and statutory charges are deducted as approved by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Recent Development in the Nigerian Capital Market
There are two recent developments in the Nigerian Capital Market. First, is the launching the e-dividend payment system which would subsequently solve the problem of unclaimed dividends by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to Olamijulo (2008) the e-dividends payment system refers to the payment of dividend due to shareholders through electronic means into the shareholders' nominated bank accounts. It implies same day clearance for dividend payment. He added that the system would enable shareholders receive their dividends on the same day, thereafter a confirmation letter of the dividend payment would be dispatched by the registrar. The e-dividend payment system would minimise cases of unclaimed dividends, eliminate dividend loss in transit, the forfeiture of dividends in the future and enhance the ability of shareholders to immediately access and utilize the proceeds of their investments.
Secondly, is the launching of e-allotment which will be fully operational from January 1, 2009. Ahmed, (2008) reported that the system is aimed at enabling the achievement of a certificate-less system in the Nigeria capital market.
E-allotment of shares as it is known is a process of direct credit of approved allotment on offers to the CSCS account of shareholders, as against the conventional issuance of share certificates. It is a process which will aid the achievement of certificateless transaction in the Nigerian capital market. (UBA Registrars, 2008)
The e-allotment is introduced as a result of postal services delays, and "the need to reduce costs in printing and dispatch of share certificates as well as to enable all investors in public offers speedily allotted shares."
Conclusions and Recommendations
It can be concluded that in Nigeria, the only obstacle to stock investment is the low level of investors' enlightenment on the benefits of the entire system, which has greatly affected the acceptance level negatively. Therefore, it is recommended that the regulatory agencies like the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Securities and Exchange Commission should continue to enlighten Nigerian especially, using major Nigerian languages on the gains of stock investment.
Securities are created and issued by corporate bodies and governments, which are in need of funds to finance expansion or development projects. For instance, Wazobia Plc, a manufacturing concern needs to expand its facilities to accommodate present and anticipated consumer demand as well as replace aging or obsolete equipments. It is however, short of internally generated funds (retained earnings) to undertake the projects require long gestation and payback periods, money market facilities which have short tenure would be inappropriate funding sources. The company would be left with one possible option, that is, to access the capital market if it meets the requirements for entry. This could be done by issuing shares and/or debt instruments. (Securities and Exchange Commission, 1999). Thus, capital market is a segment of financial market that is responsible for mobilizing and channelling long term funds into productive investment such as fixed assets. The investments in capital market are at longer period of time, which are held for a minimum of five years.
Moreover, the term securities consist of stocks and bonds. It is not possible in
this paper to digest all aspect of securities. Therefore, this paper shall limit itself to stocks only (i.e. shares).
Theoretical Framework
Fischer and Jordan (2005) see investment as a commitment of funds made in the expectation of some positive rate of return. If the investment is properly undertaken, the return will be commensurate with the risk the investor assumes.
Similarly, an investment is the current commitment of money or other resources in the expectation of reaping future benefits. For example, an individual might purchase shares of stock anticipating that the future proceeds from the shares
will justify both the time that her money is tied up as well as the risk of the investment. You sacrifice something of value now, expecting to benefit from that sacrifice later. (Bodie, Kane, and Marcus, 1998, p. 2).
Distinction between real assets and financial assets
According to Bodie, Kane, & Marcus (1998) real assets are assets used to produce goods and services. In contrast to such real assets are financial assets, such as stocks and bonds. Such securities are no more than sheets of paper (or entries in a computer) Financial assets are claims to the income generated by real assets (or claims on income from the government). If we cannot own our own auto plant, we can still buy shares in General Motors or Toyota and, thereby, share in the income derived from the production of automobiles.
Definition of Stock
In simple terms shares is ownership in share of a corporation. According to Ahmed (2008) securities as stocks and bonds. According to him, a stock represents a share, or percentage, in a corporation's profits and assets. By purchasing stock an investor is buying a percentage of ownership in a company.
Different Types of Stock
There are two main types of stock or shares, namely; ordinary shares and preference shares. Ordinary shares according to Nwiwu, Ya'u, Ezeocha, Ezima and Uzoigwe (2007) this form that part of capital structure of the business contributed by the common stock holders .For a new company it is called venture capital but in the old companies it is called equity share capital.
Ordinary or equity shareholders ordinarily own the business, so all reserves belong to them. They have the right to votes in the company. The shares are non- redeemable even though transferable. However, they have no fixed rate of dividend since rate depends on the level of profitability, company liquidity and management discretion. On the other hand, Preference shares are the hybrid or bat of financing because they exhibit the tendencies of both equity and debt at the same time. They have a fixed percentage dividend before any dividend is paid to the ordinary shareholders.
Share Certificate
Nwaiwu (2004) when shares are allotted to the investor a note will be sent indicating the number of shares allotted. After some period a share certificate will be issued. This certificate is a security, a proof of ownership of the shares in the company. If in future the shareholder wishes to sell the shares, the share certificate must be surrendered to a stockbroker who will forward it to the company's registrar. Nigerian Investments and Securities Law Reports (2004) pointed out that securities in the market are available in either of the following two (2) forms:
i. In certificate form; and
ii. In dematerialized form
When a security is presented in a certificate form, the selling agent needs to verify the signature of the holder and the validity of the presented certificate(s) with the Registrar to the company, after which it could be deposited for sale or any other form of transfer in dematerialized form into the account of the beneficial owner held with the CSCS. Consequently, any subsequent sale or transfer of these securities can validly be undertaken without any need to revert to the Registrar. It therefore follows that securities held in the CSCS account of any holder are deemed to have undergone the necessary verification and confirmation with the Registrars and therefore the holder is rightfully accepted as the true beneficial owner of the securities reflected in his account with CSCS. Thereafter, the only proof of ownership of the said securities that is available to the beneficial owner is the CSCS statement of account issued to him.
Benefits of Investing in Shares
According to Kofa (2004) there are numerous benefits accruing to a shareholder who invests in shares. Such benefits include:
i) Return on investment by way of dividend payment (share of profit by the company on each share owned by the shareholder. This of course depends on the number of shares held by the shareholder. The dividend declared by the company's Directors must however be approved at the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM).
ii) Bonus issue, this is an additional share given to shareholders based on the number of shares owned by each shareholder free of charge at a ratio approved by the Board of Directors/Management and ratified at the company's AGM.
iii) Capital appreciation; this is an increase of share price over time. The value of company share increases due to performance and demand/supply factors. That is, for example, unit price of share purchased today at N10.00 could be N20.00 one year after, due to market forces.
iv) It can be used for security/collateral for loan purposes. Share certificates or statements are acceptable as good collateral for loans by banks and other financial institutions.
v) Pressing immediate needs could be met without seeking any bank/individual financial assistance by disposition of shares.
Risks associated with stock investment
Elakama (2004) emphasized that there are no guarantees when it comes to individual stocks. Some companies pay out dividends, but many others do not. And there is no obligation to pay out dividends even for those firms that have traditionally given them. Without dividends an investor can make money on a stock only through its appreciation in the open market. On the downside, any stock may go bankrupt, in which case your investment is worth nothing.
Similarly, Securities and Exchange Commission (1999) like other forms of investments, there are risk/cost associated with investing in the capital market. There are also obligations on issuers of securities. The risk to investors includes possible unfavourable rate of return owing to depreciation in market value and/or nonpayment of dividends. It could also involve possible loss of investment should a company go burst.
Nature of capital market
At this point, it is important to recognise the nature of capital market. Sulaiman (1999) defines capital market as a network of interrelated institutions governed by operational guidelines which permit the sale of equity and long term debt
Elements of the capital market
There are three identifiable features of a capital market. These are: the instruments; the market place; and the participants.
a) Financial instruments
Financial instruments are the investment products, created to ensure the smooth and easy transfer of funds in the capital market. These instruments, generally known as securities are financial assets, which represent either debt or ownership. The instruments have various features depending on their type between the primary and secondary markets is the fact that proceeds of sale of primary securities go to the issuer (company or government) whereas in the secondary market, proceeds go to the investor.
b) The market place
Securities and Exchange Commission (1999) the capital market is divided into two separate but closely-related segments known as the primary and secondary markets. Primary Market a forum where new shares are offered to both existing shareholders and general public for purchase. Primary market offers can either be made directly by the company to increase its paid-up capital or through privatization of Government holdings, technically called divestment of government shares. On the other hand, Secondary Market is a market where existing shares are traded (sold and bought). Trading of shares at secondary market takes place on the floor of The Nigerian stock exchange. The Stockbrokers buy and sell shares on behalf of their respective clients. Essentially, the Stockbrokers are the dealing member firms licensed by both the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to deal on shares and offer other services to the investing public. (Kofa, 2004, p.28).
c) Participants in the Market
Securities and Exchange Commission (1999) to facilitate the saving and investment process in any economy, financial intermediaries must exist and in good number. The financial intermediary is essentially a middleman who pools funds form savers and passes on such funds to those in need of them. An intermediary is a specialist) professional) in his line of business and thus, heavily relied upon by his clients to make good investment judgement on their behalf or provide professional advisory services to them. The capital market has a wide array of intermediaries performing various intermediation functions. They include:
i) Issuing Houses: These are institutions which assist corporate bodies and governments to raise long-term funds by packaging security issues for subscription on their behalf. The issuing house by this function plays a central role in the issuance process, and in industrial development. The issuing house as the principal agent of and adviser to the issuer has the responsibility of advising its clients on the most appropriate instrument and method of sourcing the required capital. It also has the responsibility of assembling and coordination all other specialists required in the issue process, ensuring that statutory and all other requirements are met, and that the issue is properly packaged and successfully concluded. Packaging would include pricing of the securities, preparation of the prospectus and other documents, as well as marketing and distribution of the securities.
ii) Stockbrokers/dealers: These are major players in the secondary market. Stockbrokers are the only persons permitted to transact business on the floor of a stock exchange or on the over-the-counter market. A stockbroker, therefore, stands between the seller and buyer of registered securities, making it possible for both parties to realize their desire to buy or sell securities. To act as an agent of the public or deal in his own account, a stockbroker/dealer must be registered by the statutory regulatory agency (Securities and Exchange Commission) and licensed by the stock exchange. As an agent of his client, the stockbroker is under obligations to transact business for him at the best price obtainable in the market.
iii) Investment Advisers: These are institutions/persons registered by the statutory regulatory agency to provide investment advisory services to their client for a fee. Investment advisory services are incidental to stock broking and issuing house business.
iv) Portfolio Managers: These are institutions registered by the statutory regulatory agency to manage the portfolio of clients. Portfolio management entails the receipt of funds, sometimes very large sums, to be invested by the portfolio manager. Most often, the choice of investments are left to the manger who however must send periodic investment statements, to his client. In exercising his discretion, the manager must at all times, consider the best interest of his clients. Both investments advisory and portfolio management services require extensive economic/market analyses to guide investment decisions and advice to clients.
v) Registrars: These are institutions employed by companies to keep comprehensive registers of their members (shareholders) and creditors. In addition, they arrange annual general and extra-ordinary meetings for their clients; distribute stock/share certificates, annual reports, dividend warrants and notices of shareholders' meetings. In cases of issue oversubscription, registrars dispatch surplus monies to subscribers.
vi) Trustees: These are important participants in debt issues and collective investment schemes such as unit trust. The trustee protects the interest of investors in debt instruments by monitoring and ensuring the fulfillment of the term of the trust deed.
vii) Receiving Agents: These are banks and stockbroking firms appointed by the issuing house to serve as centers for the distribution of offer applications forms, as well as for the receipt of subscriptions monies on behalf of the issuing house, for a fee.
viii) Receiving Bankers: These are banks designated by an issuer to receive proceeds of an issue on its behalf.
ix) Solicitors: These are law firms which either represent the issue or the issuer. In practice, two solicitors are required in a public issue of securities. These are the solicitor to the company (issuer) and the solicitor to the issue. The solicitor to the company among other things ensures that the memorandum and articles of association of the company are in consonance with legal requirements of a public company, and effect amendments where necessary. The solicitor would examine issue relating to the authorized capital, ensuring that it can accommodate the issue being proposed. Where a debenture stock is to be floated, the solicitor would make sure that the company has the borrowing power to do so. Generally, it is the duty of the solicitor to the company to ensure that the company complies with the provisions of the corporate law of the country (e.g. the Companies and Allied Matters Decree 1990 in Nigeria).
x) Auditors: These are the existing auditors of the company. In their capacity as the auditors, they provide historical perspective on the accounts of the company for inclusion in the prospectus.
xi) Reporting Accountants: These are firms of accountants which provide independent assessment of the accounts of the company. They review management forecast and examine the reasonableness or otherwise of such forecast. Based on their findings, the reporting accountants can recommend adjustments to the management forecast. They also prepare statement of indebtedness of the company, among other things.
Prerequisites to successful investing in stock
a) Selecting a Broker
According to Fischer and Jordan (2005) the investor's first step in establishing a satisfactory relationship with a broker is to choose a firm that is suitable for his needs and to select a representative of the firm with whom he can work. In practice separating the two choices is hard, for if one has chosen a satisfactory firm but is unhappy with the representative, it is embarrassing to shift one's account to another representative within the same firm. The brokerage firm should be a well-known and long-established institution. In selecting a firm an investor can ask for recommendations from his bank or from friends whose opinions he trusts.
b) Opening a Brokerage Account
This is an investment account, which is opened with the CSCS through a stockbroker. When this account is opened a client is issued with two numbers. The first number is called 'CSCS No.'. It is computer-generated numbers allocated to a new shareholder. It is unique to each stock-broking firm. Although a shareholder can have as many accounts as the number of stockbroking firms he uses. Furthermore, CSCS No is alphanumeric which is used if you have to fill in public offers if you desire shares allotted to you to be credited to your account.
Investors Account No. is numeric which is used internally on the floor for trading. In other word, investor's No. is the CHN represents the Clearing House Number assigned to every shareholder at the first point of entry into the CSCS system. He/She must have completed the CSCS -- R005 Shareholders Particulars Form. They are to provide the same CHN to all subsequent stockbroking firms they may have transactions with for ease of reference.
Other Prerequisites to successful investing in stock include opening a Bank Account, access to Post office Box (P. O. Box), access to Phone and active E-mail Address.
Process of acquiring shares
According to Nigerian Investments and Securities Law Report [NISLR] (2004) shares could be acquired by six (6) main modes;
1) Public offer;
2) Rights offer;
3) Bonus;
4) Nominal transfer; i.e. Transfer of share by way of gift.
5) Transmission from a dead relation or friends or collective investments or investments previously held under a corporate name for a beneficiary; and lastly
6) By purchase on the secondary market.
In general, a prospective investor who wishes to purchase shares on the secondary market is expected to approach a stockbroker such as Newdevco with a request to purchase or to invest in shares at a secondary market. In response, the stockbroker asks the prospective client which stock/shares he/she intends to purchase. Where the client has a selected stock in mind, the stockbroker executes the order according to the expressed need or interest of the client/customer. (Kofa, 2004).
Kofa (2004) added that in a situation where a client does not know which stock/share to buy, the stockbroker explains and advises the client accordingly in detail the shares to invest in. Consequently the stockbroker gives the client the necessary share transfer forms and Central Security Clearing System (CSCS) (particulars of shareholder) for completion. These documents are used to lodge the shares at Registrars Department of the company and also to open the new CSCS account for the client. The shares requested by client to be purchased are normally paid for by Bank Draft or physical clash to a stockbroker, who will in turn given an official receipt for the draft value or cash collected. Thereafter, the stockbroker purchases the shares as requested by client. Whenever the transactions are fully consummated, the stockbroker shall forward the CSCS statement of stock position to the client as evidence of ownership of such shares.
Benefits of Central Security Clearing System (CSCS)
Nigerian Stock Exchange (2008) states the benefits of CSCS to the operation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange as follows:
a) To Investors
Investors statements of stock position are issued every quarter free of charge or on demand for =N=100.00.
Use of stock position as collateral for loan facility after T + 3 settlement cycle i.e. 4 working days. In effect, a statement of stock position is obtainable from CSCS 4 days after transaction.
Investors can speculate more and take advantage of capital appreciation in their investment because of the T+3 settlement cycle.
Reduced risk of loss of certificates.
b) Quoted Companies
Huge cost associated with the production of share certificates for transaction through the secondary market has been significantly reduced.
Before CSCS, a single transaction on a certificate led to the cancellation of the certificate and the issuance of as many as ten (10) certificates depending on allotments made. This is no longer so since few shareholders request for certificates.
Indeed, of the 400,000 shareholders who use CSCS system now, only 2,200 shareholders have requested for certificates to date.
Amalgamation/consolidation of several accounts for a shareholder on the register leading to reduction of cost to the company.
c) Stockbroking Firms
Prompt Inter-member money and stock-settlement are assured.
The problems associated with delivery of shares are minimize
Increased efficiency and profit
Reduction in operational cost.
Disposal of Shares
According to Kofa (2004) a shareholder who wishes to dispose his/her shares is expected to go to a licensed stockbroker only. A Stockbroker is seen as the authorized agent approved by the government to deal in shares, especially in the purchase or sale of shares on behalf of an individual, group or company. The original hare certificates or CSCS statement will be tendered to a Stockbroker who will issue the relevant forms for completion by the shareholder and then forwarded to company Registrars for signature verification. That is, confirm the ownership of the shares in the case of share certificate. However, in the case of CSCS statement, the stockbroker verifies his client's signature. After the confirmation of signature, the share is taken to the floor of, say, the Nigerian Stock Exchange for appropriate disposal. After the disposal contract, a note shall be raised appropriately and the net proceeds is remitted to the shareholder after commissions and statutory charges are deducted as approved by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Recent Development in the Nigerian Capital Market
There are two recent developments in the Nigerian Capital Market. First, is the launching the e-dividend payment system which would subsequently solve the problem of unclaimed dividends by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to Olamijulo (2008) the e-dividends payment system refers to the payment of dividend due to shareholders through electronic means into the shareholders' nominated bank accounts. It implies same day clearance for dividend payment. He added that the system would enable shareholders receive their dividends on the same day, thereafter a confirmation letter of the dividend payment would be dispatched by the registrar. The e-dividend payment system would minimise cases of unclaimed dividends, eliminate dividend loss in transit, the forfeiture of dividends in the future and enhance the ability of shareholders to immediately access and utilize the proceeds of their investments.
Secondly, is the launching of e-allotment which will be fully operational from January 1, 2009. Ahmed, (2008) reported that the system is aimed at enabling the achievement of a certificate-less system in the Nigeria capital market.
E-allotment of shares as it is known is a process of direct credit of approved allotment on offers to the CSCS account of shareholders, as against the conventional issuance of share certificates. It is a process which will aid the achievement of certificateless transaction in the Nigerian capital market. (UBA Registrars, 2008)
The e-allotment is introduced as a result of postal services delays, and "the need to reduce costs in printing and dispatch of share certificates as well as to enable all investors in public offers speedily allotted shares."
Conclusions and Recommendations
It can be concluded that in Nigeria, the only obstacle to stock investment is the low level of investors' enlightenment on the benefits of the entire system, which has greatly affected the acceptance level negatively. Therefore, it is recommended that the regulatory agencies like the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Securities and Exchange Commission should continue to enlighten Nigerian especially, using major Nigerian languages on the gains of stock investment.
Fixing Up Your Home And How To Finance It
When you have found your place in the world, making sure your home meets your needs and desires sounds reasonable and thus, often, home improvements are necessary. However, undertaking a home improvement project can be really expensive and thus, financing is essential. There are many financial products that can help you finance home improvements. Some are more suitable for the task than others but all of them have advantages and disadvantages.
When home improvements are necessary, the following financial solutions can provide you with the needed funds for the project depending on the amount you want: Credit cards, unsecured personal loans, mortgage loans and home equity loans. All of them (except for the credit cards) can be called home improvement loans because what defines a home improvement loan is the use that you give to the money. However, home improvement loans are usually either mortgage loans or home equity loans.
Credit Cards For Financing Home Improvements
Credit cards are undoubtedly great financial tools due to their flexibility. However, they are not particularly useful in terms of scrimping and saving. The interest rates charged by credit card issuers are significantly higher than the rates charged by lenders and thus, a 00 home improvement project can end up costing 0 more per year. However, used in combination with other financial products like home equity loans, credit cards can provide the funds necessary for covering unexpected expenses in the project or additional improvements that may rise while the original project is on course.
Unsecured Personal Loans For Home Improvements
Unsecured personal loans are perfect for home improvements but can provide the funds for small projects only. If your home improvement plans will not be that costly, then an unsecured personal loan for home improvements may be the solution. Besides, personal loans have an advantage over secured loans: there is little to no paperwork and they are processed considerably faster due to the lack of collateral.
Mortgage Loans For Home Improvements
If your property is not securing any debt, then, you can request a home improvement mortgage loan. These loans come with the lowest rates on the market. Since you already own the property, however, the interest rate will not be as low as home loans for first time home buyers which feature subsidized rates. But the interest rate will still be significantly lower than that of any other financial product.
Home Improvement Loans Based On Equity
Last, but not means least, home equity loans are the most common form of home improvement loans. These loans are based on the equity left on your property. Thus, it does not matter if you have a mortgage balance on your property, you can still get finance for your home improvements as long as the value of the property is higher than the amount of money you owe that is secured by it.
The amount of money you can obtain will depend on your available equity. However, for home improvements, there are loan options offering up to 125% financing if you have a good credit score and history. Thus, even if you have only ,000 left on a 0,000 property, you will be able to obtain up to ,000 on a home improvement loan based on equity.
When home improvements are necessary, the following financial solutions can provide you with the needed funds for the project depending on the amount you want: Credit cards, unsecured personal loans, mortgage loans and home equity loans. All of them (except for the credit cards) can be called home improvement loans because what defines a home improvement loan is the use that you give to the money. However, home improvement loans are usually either mortgage loans or home equity loans.
Credit Cards For Financing Home Improvements
Credit cards are undoubtedly great financial tools due to their flexibility. However, they are not particularly useful in terms of scrimping and saving. The interest rates charged by credit card issuers are significantly higher than the rates charged by lenders and thus, a 00 home improvement project can end up costing 0 more per year. However, used in combination with other financial products like home equity loans, credit cards can provide the funds necessary for covering unexpected expenses in the project or additional improvements that may rise while the original project is on course.
Unsecured Personal Loans For Home Improvements
Unsecured personal loans are perfect for home improvements but can provide the funds for small projects only. If your home improvement plans will not be that costly, then an unsecured personal loan for home improvements may be the solution. Besides, personal loans have an advantage over secured loans: there is little to no paperwork and they are processed considerably faster due to the lack of collateral.
Mortgage Loans For Home Improvements
If your property is not securing any debt, then, you can request a home improvement mortgage loan. These loans come with the lowest rates on the market. Since you already own the property, however, the interest rate will not be as low as home loans for first time home buyers which feature subsidized rates. But the interest rate will still be significantly lower than that of any other financial product.
Home Improvement Loans Based On Equity
Last, but not means least, home equity loans are the most common form of home improvement loans. These loans are based on the equity left on your property. Thus, it does not matter if you have a mortgage balance on your property, you can still get finance for your home improvements as long as the value of the property is higher than the amount of money you owe that is secured by it.
The amount of money you can obtain will depend on your available equity. However, for home improvements, there are loan options offering up to 125% financing if you have a good credit score and history. Thus, even if you have only ,000 left on a 0,000 property, you will be able to obtain up to ,000 on a home improvement loan based on equity.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Dreams and practicality
When you look at all the movies, television shows and mainstream magazines, the successful people in our society are all supposed to be mercenary, interested only in demonstrating their wealth by conspicuous consumption. That means they must have one of these detached homes with enough room for a 9-hole short course in the master bedroom and a swimming pool on the roof, while the garage is full of all those dream motors. Anyone who is anyone must drive something exotic from Italy or Germany or some place where people know the name but never quite worked out where it is on a map. So, when all the rest of us fantasize about suddenly hitting the big-time with the latest lottery ticket, the first thing people think about buying is one of these top-of-the-range cars. So, the ,000 question (the minimum price tag on some of these cars after a dealer discount) is how much they cost to insure.
There's a new survey out (as always). A dedicated research team set out to find the top ten of the most expensive cars to insure in 2011. Interestingly, we have all the usual suspects from Mercedes, BMW, Aston Martin and Porsche as the makes, but curiously not Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Bugatti, Lamborghini or, even, the Saleen S7 which, as all dreamers know, is America's top supercar. It seems the retail price is not the only factor taken into account when setting the premium rates - the Bugatti Veyron is currently the most expensive car to buy. Yet, perhaps, it's all slightly academic since all these top insurance rates are clumped quite close together. Probably, the missing models are just off the edge of the screen.
Anyway, the top average annual rate quoted is ,543 for the Mercedes SL65 AMG. This must be the rate for an older driver not likely to try driving it on a public road with the acceleration and at the speeds it is capable of producing. If anyone younger and pumped full of testosterone wanted to get behind the wheel, we suspect the rate might be rather higher.
So here we come to the point of all this. This model of Mercedes sells for around 0,000 and yet only costs an average of ,543 to insure which is about 1.5% of the retail price. Let's now go to the other end of the scale. The cheapest vehicles to insure start with a Chrysler Town & Country LX. This costs about ,000 to buy and ,091 to insure which is 2.4% of the retail price. If we are to believe these insurance figures, it seems the average driver pays more to insure their lower priced vehicles and so subsidize the tiny minority that can afford to buy these dream cars. Yet, the lesson is the same for everyone if they want cheap car insurance for whatever make and model they buy. Always get the maximum possible number of car insurance quotes. Only by comparing all the prices and terms on offer can you hope to find the best value policy. Even the wealthy in their dream cars appreciate saving a few dollars when they have the chance.
There's a new survey out (as always). A dedicated research team set out to find the top ten of the most expensive cars to insure in 2011. Interestingly, we have all the usual suspects from Mercedes, BMW, Aston Martin and Porsche as the makes, but curiously not Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari, Bugatti, Lamborghini or, even, the Saleen S7 which, as all dreamers know, is America's top supercar. It seems the retail price is not the only factor taken into account when setting the premium rates - the Bugatti Veyron is currently the most expensive car to buy. Yet, perhaps, it's all slightly academic since all these top insurance rates are clumped quite close together. Probably, the missing models are just off the edge of the screen.
Anyway, the top average annual rate quoted is ,543 for the Mercedes SL65 AMG. This must be the rate for an older driver not likely to try driving it on a public road with the acceleration and at the speeds it is capable of producing. If anyone younger and pumped full of testosterone wanted to get behind the wheel, we suspect the rate might be rather higher.
So here we come to the point of all this. This model of Mercedes sells for around 0,000 and yet only costs an average of ,543 to insure which is about 1.5% of the retail price. Let's now go to the other end of the scale. The cheapest vehicles to insure start with a Chrysler Town & Country LX. This costs about ,000 to buy and ,091 to insure which is 2.4% of the retail price. If we are to believe these insurance figures, it seems the average driver pays more to insure their lower priced vehicles and so subsidize the tiny minority that can afford to buy these dream cars. Yet, the lesson is the same for everyone if they want cheap car insurance for whatever make and model they buy. Always get the maximum possible number of car insurance quotes. Only by comparing all the prices and terms on offer can you hope to find the best value policy. Even the wealthy in their dream cars appreciate saving a few dollars when they have the chance.
Debt Consolidation Loans With Bad Credit Offer A Solution To Financial Struggles
A chief worry occupying the mind of students is the debts that they accrue while at college, and not necessarily their studies. These debts can be considerable when tuition fees and living expenses over three or four years are combined. Managing that debt can be a big challenge, but by consolidating college loans the financial pressure can be reduced.
There is no shortage of options available to students looking to consolidate their debts, but it is important to realize that private loans and federal loans are usually treated differently. Finding a federal financial aid package that suits the needs of a student is not too difficult, and there is a good range of federal consolidation programs to choose from.
In fact, there are four programs for college loans granted by federal sources. The specifics of these plans relate to restructuring the existing loans, reducing the monthly repayments and overall making the debt more manageable.
Also, the applicant does not have to be a student, with people in mid-career who still struggle to pay off their student debt also catered for.
1. Standard Consolidation Plan
This is the most straightforward plan for consolidating college loans and is designed for recent graduates who now have a source of income. The level of income might not be very much though, so the need for aid is pretty strong.
The key element to the whole plan is that the term of the existing loan is extended to a maximum of 10 years. This means that the payments due each month are less than they would have been otherwise. This federal consolidation program also features interest charged a low fixed rate, so budgeting is made easy.
2. Extended Payment Plan
This consolidation plan is basically the same as the Standard Plan, but the difference is that the loan term limit is extended to between 15 and 30 years. This makes the Extended Payment Plan ideal for graduates who have a low income but who face large college loans.
The chief advantage of this plan is that, with such a long term, the size of the monthly repayment is made very low. This makes payments much easier to meet, greatly reducing the risk of missing one. And with low fixed interest rates making sure that the monthly costs are kept to a minimum, it is almost the perfect plan for consolidating college loans.
3. Graduated Payment Plan
For students with the pressures of study and debt repayment to face together, the availability of a federal consolidation program that allows repayments to be made in a graduated structure is great news.
This plan requires a very low monthly repayment sum, with the sum increasing in regular increments every two years. The structure is designed to reflect the financial reality of students as they move through college and into the working world. The maximum lifespan of this option is 30 years, so fully repaying college loans can still take some time.
4. Income Contingent Payment Plan
The most complicated of the four plans for consolidating college loans, the Income Contingent Payment Plan features carefully calculated repayment sums. It is not just the income of the student that is taken into account though, but also the income of their family. With family often helping out, this federal consolidation program allows for the debts they already face to be taken into account.
Basically, by keeping their family out of a tight financial corner, the amount of financial support for the student is lessened, and the college loans can be cleared in accordance with what is truly affordable.
There is no shortage of options available to students looking to consolidate their debts, but it is important to realize that private loans and federal loans are usually treated differently. Finding a federal financial aid package that suits the needs of a student is not too difficult, and there is a good range of federal consolidation programs to choose from.
In fact, there are four programs for college loans granted by federal sources. The specifics of these plans relate to restructuring the existing loans, reducing the monthly repayments and overall making the debt more manageable.
Also, the applicant does not have to be a student, with people in mid-career who still struggle to pay off their student debt also catered for.
1. Standard Consolidation Plan
This is the most straightforward plan for consolidating college loans and is designed for recent graduates who now have a source of income. The level of income might not be very much though, so the need for aid is pretty strong.
The key element to the whole plan is that the term of the existing loan is extended to a maximum of 10 years. This means that the payments due each month are less than they would have been otherwise. This federal consolidation program also features interest charged a low fixed rate, so budgeting is made easy.
2. Extended Payment Plan
This consolidation plan is basically the same as the Standard Plan, but the difference is that the loan term limit is extended to between 15 and 30 years. This makes the Extended Payment Plan ideal for graduates who have a low income but who face large college loans.
The chief advantage of this plan is that, with such a long term, the size of the monthly repayment is made very low. This makes payments much easier to meet, greatly reducing the risk of missing one. And with low fixed interest rates making sure that the monthly costs are kept to a minimum, it is almost the perfect plan for consolidating college loans.
3. Graduated Payment Plan
For students with the pressures of study and debt repayment to face together, the availability of a federal consolidation program that allows repayments to be made in a graduated structure is great news.
This plan requires a very low monthly repayment sum, with the sum increasing in regular increments every two years. The structure is designed to reflect the financial reality of students as they move through college and into the working world. The maximum lifespan of this option is 30 years, so fully repaying college loans can still take some time.
4. Income Contingent Payment Plan
The most complicated of the four plans for consolidating college loans, the Income Contingent Payment Plan features carefully calculated repayment sums. It is not just the income of the student that is taken into account though, but also the income of their family. With family often helping out, this federal consolidation program allows for the debts they already face to be taken into account.
Basically, by keeping their family out of a tight financial corner, the amount of financial support for the student is lessened, and the college loans can be cleared in accordance with what is truly affordable.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Finance & Banking Graduate Scheme Application Deadlines
If you are applying for Graduate Schemes or Internships in Banking, Finance or Investment Banking there are several things you will need to know.
Firstly, you will need to plan in advance in order to secure a graduate job in banking or any graduate career in finance.
If you are still a student looking for work experience and still in your first year, many of the major Investment Banks have Spring Internship programs such as Goldman Sachs.
Obviously check each institutions application deadlines, but most banking or finance spring internship application deadlines range from November to February each year.
As a second year student you can apply for banking or finance summer internship programs at most major investment Banks like Citi Group, Barclays Capital, RBS, UBS, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Bank Of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Nomura Holdings, Royal Bank of Canada amongst others.
As a final year student you will need to be ready to apply for Investment Banking Graduate Scheme deadlines starting in September onwards. This also applies to Accounting Graduate Schemes like PWC, Deloitte, Ernest & Young and KPMG to mention a few, as well as some Commercial Banks, Proprietary Trading Houses, Hedge Funds, Private Equity Institutions, Investment Institutions and other major financial institutions.
It is worth getting a list of Investment Banks and other financial institutions in order to make sure you know which of the Banks and Financial Institutions you want to apply to.
If you have missed any of the finance graduate scheme, banking graduate schemes, finance internship or banking internship application deadlines, then don't worry.
There are still hundreds of other Banks and Financial Institutions that do not have graduate scheme application deadlines.
You can make your own internship by contacting banks and financial institutions and making your own work experience opportunity.
To be successful in these applications and to make your own banking job or finance work experience, you will need to know what you are talking about.
A great site to stay up to date with the latest Banking Graduate Schemes and Finance Graduate Schemes is the news and career research section of the website of banking and finance consultancy company Benedix.
If you are applying for last minute graduate schemes or work experience opportunities and you have missed the application deadlines you will need a perfect banking CV or finance CV and a lot of creativity to influence your way in and create your own opportunity.
Firstly, you will need to plan in advance in order to secure a graduate job in banking or any graduate career in finance.
If you are still a student looking for work experience and still in your first year, many of the major Investment Banks have Spring Internship programs such as Goldman Sachs.
Obviously check each institutions application deadlines, but most banking or finance spring internship application deadlines range from November to February each year.
As a second year student you can apply for banking or finance summer internship programs at most major investment Banks like Citi Group, Barclays Capital, RBS, UBS, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Bank Of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Nomura Holdings, Royal Bank of Canada amongst others.
As a final year student you will need to be ready to apply for Investment Banking Graduate Scheme deadlines starting in September onwards. This also applies to Accounting Graduate Schemes like PWC, Deloitte, Ernest & Young and KPMG to mention a few, as well as some Commercial Banks, Proprietary Trading Houses, Hedge Funds, Private Equity Institutions, Investment Institutions and other major financial institutions.
It is worth getting a list of Investment Banks and other financial institutions in order to make sure you know which of the Banks and Financial Institutions you want to apply to.
If you have missed any of the finance graduate scheme, banking graduate schemes, finance internship or banking internship application deadlines, then don't worry.
There are still hundreds of other Banks and Financial Institutions that do not have graduate scheme application deadlines.
You can make your own internship by contacting banks and financial institutions and making your own work experience opportunity.
To be successful in these applications and to make your own banking job or finance work experience, you will need to know what you are talking about.
A great site to stay up to date with the latest Banking Graduate Schemes and Finance Graduate Schemes is the news and career research section of the website of banking and finance consultancy company Benedix.
If you are applying for last minute graduate schemes or work experience opportunities and you have missed the application deadlines you will need a perfect banking CV or finance CV and a lot of creativity to influence your way in and create your own opportunity.
Monday, May 7, 2012
What Replacement Windows Can Do
Windows are essential to the look of a property. In terms of the appearance of the frontage, they are the eyes, although they are more than a portal through which the occupants view the outside world, they allow light and therefore the heat into the building. They are therefore one of the most significant alterations you can make to the external appearance of your property. Hence, replacement windows are very important to the overall value of your property.
There is no doubt that replacing the windows will add value to your property, although this may not be the full cost of what you spent to install them in the first place. Despair not, because despite the intangible aspect to any physical improvement, when it comes to selling your home, there will always be greater interest as a consequence of the improvement, hence you should have more offers and possibly a bit of an auction on your hands if you are lucky.
There are so many different styles of replacement window to suit all needs and situations. It may be necessary to compromise in a conservation area, where there is a requirement for a particular style of window, although there are replacements always available that should be able to replicate the interesting features of the character building. Make sure that you check with any relevant authority as to the required permission to carry out the installation
Most people think about the heat insulating qualities of replacement windows, perhaps even more than the physical improvement to the external appearance of their properties. This is important in this day and age when the planet requires us to take a little more consideration about energy conservation than our ancestors did. Not to mention the fact that there is a global recession on, and we all need to save money.
Double glazing can prevent heat loss through particular types of heat insulating gases being sandwiched between two panes. The modern materials for frames can also be beneficial in terms of providing a more snug fit within the window opening.
The majority of replacement windows are uPVC double glazing. These suit modern properties more than those in traditional conservation areas, although the technology is getting better in replacing some of the finer features that are essential to the character of the property and the area which is valued. Make sure you check with the relevant authority before installing windows in these areas.
In these days of increased energy efficiency, you will find that many replacement models have an energy rating. This could add to the overall energy efficiency rating of your household which could have a bearing when coming to sell the property
Both in visual term and energy efficiency terms, replacements can have a significant impact. Although there might be an initial outlay that is quite substantial, this will be paid back in the long term, both in reduced heating costs and in the increased value to your property. Make sure you consider all these factors when looking to purchase new windows for your property.
There is no doubt that replacing the windows will add value to your property, although this may not be the full cost of what you spent to install them in the first place. Despair not, because despite the intangible aspect to any physical improvement, when it comes to selling your home, there will always be greater interest as a consequence of the improvement, hence you should have more offers and possibly a bit of an auction on your hands if you are lucky.
There are so many different styles of replacement window to suit all needs and situations. It may be necessary to compromise in a conservation area, where there is a requirement for a particular style of window, although there are replacements always available that should be able to replicate the interesting features of the character building. Make sure that you check with any relevant authority as to the required permission to carry out the installation
Most people think about the heat insulating qualities of replacement windows, perhaps even more than the physical improvement to the external appearance of their properties. This is important in this day and age when the planet requires us to take a little more consideration about energy conservation than our ancestors did. Not to mention the fact that there is a global recession on, and we all need to save money.
Double glazing can prevent heat loss through particular types of heat insulating gases being sandwiched between two panes. The modern materials for frames can also be beneficial in terms of providing a more snug fit within the window opening.
The majority of replacement windows are uPVC double glazing. These suit modern properties more than those in traditional conservation areas, although the technology is getting better in replacing some of the finer features that are essential to the character of the property and the area which is valued. Make sure you check with the relevant authority before installing windows in these areas.
In these days of increased energy efficiency, you will find that many replacement models have an energy rating. This could add to the overall energy efficiency rating of your household which could have a bearing when coming to sell the property
Both in visual term and energy efficiency terms, replacements can have a significant impact. Although there might be an initial outlay that is quite substantial, this will be paid back in the long term, both in reduced heating costs and in the increased value to your property. Make sure you consider all these factors when looking to purchase new windows for your property.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Williamina Fleming - Discoverer Of The Horsehead Nebula
On May 15, 1857, Robert and Mary Walker Stevens brought Williamina Paton Stevens into this world in Dundee, Scotland. Mina, as she was known to those close to her, would later in her life make an impact in the world of astronomy.
Little is known of Williamina's early life in Scotland. She became a student teacher at the age of 14 while attending public school in Scotland. She continued teaching until her marriage to James Orr Fleming on May 26, 1877. A little more than six months after the marriage, James and Williamina set sail for America, settling in Boston, Massachusetts. Shortly after their arrival in the States, James abandoned his newly pregnant wife.
With family and friends thousands of miles and an ocean away, Williamina needed a way to support herself and her unborn child Edward, who would be born in the fall of 1879 during a trip back to Scotland. She found employment as a maid for Edward Charles Pickering, who happened to be the director of Harvard College Observatory.
Pickering, unhappy with the work of one of his male assistants, proclaimed that his maid could do a better job than the assistant was doing. Thus began the Scottish teacher's new vocation. Williamina, while working at the Observatory, proved Pickering was far more correct than even he could have imagined when making that statement.
Williamina was part of a team responsible for cataloguing stars in what would become the Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra. In the nine years spent on the project, she catalogued in excess of 10,000 stars. She is credited with the discovery of 59 gaseous nebulae, 10 novae and over 310 variable stars, 222 of which were listed in the 1907 publication A Photographic Study of Variable Stars. Regarding the publication, a British astronomer stated, "Many astronomers are deservedly proud to have discovered one...the discovery of 222...is an achievement bordering on the marvellous."
In 1888, while working with Harvard plate B2312, Williamina discovered the Horsehead Nebula (also known as IC-434) in a photo taken by William Pickering, brother of Edward. She described this bright nebula as having " a semicircular indentation 5 minutes in diameter 30 minutes south of Zeta [Orionis]."
Williamina and William did not receive due credit for this discovery for years. JLE Dreyer, who compiled the first Index Catalogue, removed Williamina's name from objects listed as discovered by Harvard. Credit was given to simply "Pickering", whom most people took to mean Edward Charles. By the time the second Index Catalogue was published by Dreyer in 1908, Williamina and several of her associates were well known enough to finally receive the credit they deserved.
Williamina's duties at the Observatory were expanded and she found herself in charge of the "computers", a rather large group, numbering in the dozens, of young women employed to identify stars on the plates and then calculate the positions of those stars. She was also responsible for editing all of the publications that the Observatory issued. Her work proved to be so exemplary that in 1898, she was appointed curator of astronomical photographs by Harvard Corporation, the first such appointment held by a woman.
In recognition of her outstanding contribution to astronomy, the Royal Astronomical Society made Williamina an honorary member in 1906, making her the first American woman to hold such a position. Wellesley College appointed her honorary fellow in astronomy soon thereafter. Shortly before her death on May 21, 1911 from pneumonia, Williamina was awarded the Guadalupe Almendaro medal by the Astronomical Society of Mexico.
Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming - astronomer extraordinaire!
Little is known of Williamina's early life in Scotland. She became a student teacher at the age of 14 while attending public school in Scotland. She continued teaching until her marriage to James Orr Fleming on May 26, 1877. A little more than six months after the marriage, James and Williamina set sail for America, settling in Boston, Massachusetts. Shortly after their arrival in the States, James abandoned his newly pregnant wife.
With family and friends thousands of miles and an ocean away, Williamina needed a way to support herself and her unborn child Edward, who would be born in the fall of 1879 during a trip back to Scotland. She found employment as a maid for Edward Charles Pickering, who happened to be the director of Harvard College Observatory.
Pickering, unhappy with the work of one of his male assistants, proclaimed that his maid could do a better job than the assistant was doing. Thus began the Scottish teacher's new vocation. Williamina, while working at the Observatory, proved Pickering was far more correct than even he could have imagined when making that statement.
Williamina was part of a team responsible for cataloguing stars in what would become the Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra. In the nine years spent on the project, she catalogued in excess of 10,000 stars. She is credited with the discovery of 59 gaseous nebulae, 10 novae and over 310 variable stars, 222 of which were listed in the 1907 publication A Photographic Study of Variable Stars. Regarding the publication, a British astronomer stated, "Many astronomers are deservedly proud to have discovered one...the discovery of 222...is an achievement bordering on the marvellous."
In 1888, while working with Harvard plate B2312, Williamina discovered the Horsehead Nebula (also known as IC-434) in a photo taken by William Pickering, brother of Edward. She described this bright nebula as having " a semicircular indentation 5 minutes in diameter 30 minutes south of Zeta [Orionis]."
Williamina and William did not receive due credit for this discovery for years. JLE Dreyer, who compiled the first Index Catalogue, removed Williamina's name from objects listed as discovered by Harvard. Credit was given to simply "Pickering", whom most people took to mean Edward Charles. By the time the second Index Catalogue was published by Dreyer in 1908, Williamina and several of her associates were well known enough to finally receive the credit they deserved.
Williamina's duties at the Observatory were expanded and she found herself in charge of the "computers", a rather large group, numbering in the dozens, of young women employed to identify stars on the plates and then calculate the positions of those stars. She was also responsible for editing all of the publications that the Observatory issued. Her work proved to be so exemplary that in 1898, she was appointed curator of astronomical photographs by Harvard Corporation, the first such appointment held by a woman.
In recognition of her outstanding contribution to astronomy, the Royal Astronomical Society made Williamina an honorary member in 1906, making her the first American woman to hold such a position. Wellesley College appointed her honorary fellow in astronomy soon thereafter. Shortly before her death on May 21, 1911 from pneumonia, Williamina was awarded the Guadalupe Almendaro medal by the Astronomical Society of Mexico.
Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming - astronomer extraordinaire!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Typical Errors in Buying a Real Estate Property
Investing in a real estate property is not an easy thing to accomplish especially because it involves huge financial amount from you. If you do not want to have regrets when you buy a house or other residential property, make sure to avoid doing the same errors that some homebuyers do. Below are some of those common mistakes that you should never ever do:
1. Being mesmerized by its beauty
Most investors, after seeing that the house is very beautiful and it features fancy aspects, will immediately decide to buy it. You should never follow this kind of home buying mistake. Make sure that you check all the details of the house first and see if it satisfies all the conditions and specifications that you want for your new house. Create a detailed list of the requirements and things you want for the property to have before you start looking for houses. If a prospective real estate does not meet and satisfy the most important conditions that you set, then cross them out immediately.
2. Deceived by the real estate agent
You cannot really avoid real estate agents that speak very quickly and uses complex and technical terms when explaining. This can led to confusion for many investors but most of them fail to ask questions because they think that everything will still fall perfectly. However, you should not be like these investors. Always try to understand every detail and make sure that everything they promised to you such as the pricing, interest rate and possible discount are properly documented so you have something tangible to look at whenever you need to. This documentation will be most useful if you see changes and information in the contract that you do not talk about before.
3. Failing to read the contract
Always read your contract, no matter how long and complicated the information written in it. If there is information that you do not understand, do not hesitate to ask questions from the real estate agent or your lawyers. Read every line because every detail is important. This will help you in verifying all the contents of the contract so you will be sure that everything in there is fair, legal, valid and accurate. The only perfect time to sign the contract is when you fully understand, read and validate all its content.
4. Not asking advice from other people
Deciding without the help of others is, most of the time, not a good move for an investor. When you decide to buy a house, make sure that you ask opinions and insights from people important to you because they can surely give you helpful tips and advices about the house. Your friends and relatives who had experience buying a house before are perfect people to seek for advices. If you are eyeing a Rancho Santa Fe real estate, try to bring a friend or a family member over there and ask him or her about his or her insights and feelings about it. It would be best if he can give you all the opinions he or she has, positive and negative, so you can weigh all the things and information properly to help you make a good decision about the property.
1. Being mesmerized by its beauty
Most investors, after seeing that the house is very beautiful and it features fancy aspects, will immediately decide to buy it. You should never follow this kind of home buying mistake. Make sure that you check all the details of the house first and see if it satisfies all the conditions and specifications that you want for your new house. Create a detailed list of the requirements and things you want for the property to have before you start looking for houses. If a prospective real estate does not meet and satisfy the most important conditions that you set, then cross them out immediately.
2. Deceived by the real estate agent
You cannot really avoid real estate agents that speak very quickly and uses complex and technical terms when explaining. This can led to confusion for many investors but most of them fail to ask questions because they think that everything will still fall perfectly. However, you should not be like these investors. Always try to understand every detail and make sure that everything they promised to you such as the pricing, interest rate and possible discount are properly documented so you have something tangible to look at whenever you need to. This documentation will be most useful if you see changes and information in the contract that you do not talk about before.
3. Failing to read the contract
Always read your contract, no matter how long and complicated the information written in it. If there is information that you do not understand, do not hesitate to ask questions from the real estate agent or your lawyers. Read every line because every detail is important. This will help you in verifying all the contents of the contract so you will be sure that everything in there is fair, legal, valid and accurate. The only perfect time to sign the contract is when you fully understand, read and validate all its content.
4. Not asking advice from other people
Deciding without the help of others is, most of the time, not a good move for an investor. When you decide to buy a house, make sure that you ask opinions and insights from people important to you because they can surely give you helpful tips and advices about the house. Your friends and relatives who had experience buying a house before are perfect people to seek for advices. If you are eyeing a Rancho Santa Fe real estate, try to bring a friend or a family member over there and ask him or her about his or her insights and feelings about it. It would be best if he can give you all the opinions he or she has, positive and negative, so you can weigh all the things and information properly to help you make a good decision about the property.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Fast Cash from Payday Loans Canada: On line
A superb remedy to your money problems is payday loans Canada, which can resolve your pressing, quick money needs. You may benefit from the following features.
Quick Processing
The processing of the mortgage is fast, occurring from solely half-hour to an hour. No additional questions are requested so long as you provide them the essential items they should know.
Helpful Staff Members
The employees will help you with any considerations which will come up from your application. Your whole queries will probably be answered to your utmost satisfaction. Simply ask and they're going to promptly respond to your concerns.
Few Requirements
You possibly can acquire a quick money mortgage of $ a hundred to ,500 from payday loans Canada. There are only a few requirements. You have to write a verify for the quantity of your mortgage and dated in your payday and you have to even have an lively financial institution account.
No Fax Payday Loans
These payday loans Canada are fast solutions to an urgent money need. They're No Fax Payday loans, which is handy to you as well.
These are some of the advantages of your payday loans. Now, you do not have to worry about where to borrow fast cash. Payday loans Canada can tide you up until the subsequent payday. When you may have an pressing private want, look no additional as a result of this company gives a reliable and unbelievable supply of fast money.
In processing your application, you too can adapt these pointers:
Do not borrow more than what you need. It might turn into a habit which would be detrimental to you.
Borrow only the quantity you can repay to avoid being fined.
Visit sites which provide loans and choose one which affords the greatest service.
Pay on time to avoid curiosity rates. So long as you pay on the designated date of payment, your interest rates stay the same.
Get your cash from payday loans Canada and revel in its very good benefits.
Tommie Bobby Gordan
Quick Processing
The processing of the mortgage is fast, occurring from solely half-hour to an hour. No additional questions are requested so long as you provide them the essential items they should know.
Helpful Staff Members
The employees will help you with any considerations which will come up from your application. Your whole queries will probably be answered to your utmost satisfaction. Simply ask and they're going to promptly respond to your concerns.
Few Requirements
You possibly can acquire a quick money mortgage of $ a hundred to ,500 from payday loans Canada. There are only a few requirements. You have to write a verify for the quantity of your mortgage and dated in your payday and you have to even have an lively financial institution account.
No Fax Payday Loans
These payday loans Canada are fast solutions to an urgent money need. They're No Fax Payday loans, which is handy to you as well.
These are some of the advantages of your payday loans. Now, you do not have to worry about where to borrow fast cash. Payday loans Canada can tide you up until the subsequent payday. When you may have an pressing private want, look no additional as a result of this company gives a reliable and unbelievable supply of fast money.
In processing your application, you too can adapt these pointers:
Do not borrow more than what you need. It might turn into a habit which would be detrimental to you.
Borrow only the quantity you can repay to avoid being fined.
Visit sites which provide loans and choose one which affords the greatest service.
Pay on time to avoid curiosity rates. So long as you pay on the designated date of payment, your interest rates stay the same.
Get your cash from payday loans Canada and revel in its very good benefits.
Tommie Bobby Gordan
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The Benefits Of Leasing A Printer For Your Business Instead Of Buying One
While increasing amounts of work are being done on computers and via email, the idea of the 'paperless office' has still not come to pass. All businesses need a printer as an essential part of their IT infrastructure, but a surprising number of businesses have not yet realised the benefits that leasing a printer can bring. Indeed, many small and medium enterprises are not even aware that leasing a printer is an option. So, what are the benefits of leasing a printer for businesses?
1) Reduced Capital Expenditure
The purchase of a new printer outright requires the spending of a significant sum of money - money that has to come from somewhere. It is either liquid cash that is no longer available for running costs or other purchases or requires a line of credit that could better be used for other requirements. Both of these options could be better used in other aspects of the business.
2) Enhanced Budget
A leasing option is in essence a one stop shop for a business's printing needs. The business simply pays an agreed monthly fee for its printing infrastructure needs, allowing the cost to be spread out across the budget, with maintenance and replacement fees included in the price. This has important connotations for the next benefit.
3) No Surprise Expenditure
When a business owns its own printer it is responsible for repairing or replacing the printer should it wear out or malfunction. With a leasing option, these costs are covered in the price of the lease. A leasing option avoids a budget crunch when a printer needs to be replaced and removes the need to keep money in an emergency fund for printer expenses.
4) No Maintenance Worries
Money is not the only consideration - the time of a business and its employees is also valuable. Rather than having to organise printer replacement, maintenance or repairs themselves, a business with a leased printer can leave these activities to the leasing company, freeing up employee time for the core aspects of the business.
5) Avoidance of Obsolescence
Capital expenditure on a printer is basically a money-sink. IT infrastructure is constantly developing and hence a printer depreciates at a rapid pace. These factors reduce the benefit of having such an 'asset' on the company's balance sheet.
6) Easy Upgrading
Should a business's printing requirements change then those that own their own printers will need to write off their old hardware and make a new purchase. With a leasing option the business avoids such costly capital expenditure as they can simply renegotiate their lease with the supplying company. This is equally valuable in the case where printing requirements decrease, allowing the business to decrease the cost of their monthly lease without needing to purchase a whole new printer. This benefit is particularly advantageous to new or rapidly-growing businesses who may have quickly-changing requirements.
7) Removal of Disposal Worries
The responsibilities and worries associated with your IT infrastructure do not end when the printer has reached the end of its life. As with all IT hardware, the disposal of printers is covered by a plethora of rules and regulations. With a leasing option, this responsibility and its associated costs is removed from the business.
8) Increased Flexibility
With so many rapid and game-changing developments in printing technology and business practices occurring on a daily basis businesses need to be able to be flexible in their IT infrastructure. A printer lease increases this flexibility by requiring only a change in the lease rather than the purchase of new hardware by the company.
1) Reduced Capital Expenditure
The purchase of a new printer outright requires the spending of a significant sum of money - money that has to come from somewhere. It is either liquid cash that is no longer available for running costs or other purchases or requires a line of credit that could better be used for other requirements. Both of these options could be better used in other aspects of the business.
2) Enhanced Budget
A leasing option is in essence a one stop shop for a business's printing needs. The business simply pays an agreed monthly fee for its printing infrastructure needs, allowing the cost to be spread out across the budget, with maintenance and replacement fees included in the price. This has important connotations for the next benefit.
3) No Surprise Expenditure
When a business owns its own printer it is responsible for repairing or replacing the printer should it wear out or malfunction. With a leasing option, these costs are covered in the price of the lease. A leasing option avoids a budget crunch when a printer needs to be replaced and removes the need to keep money in an emergency fund for printer expenses.
4) No Maintenance Worries
Money is not the only consideration - the time of a business and its employees is also valuable. Rather than having to organise printer replacement, maintenance or repairs themselves, a business with a leased printer can leave these activities to the leasing company, freeing up employee time for the core aspects of the business.
5) Avoidance of Obsolescence
Capital expenditure on a printer is basically a money-sink. IT infrastructure is constantly developing and hence a printer depreciates at a rapid pace. These factors reduce the benefit of having such an 'asset' on the company's balance sheet.
6) Easy Upgrading
Should a business's printing requirements change then those that own their own printers will need to write off their old hardware and make a new purchase. With a leasing option the business avoids such costly capital expenditure as they can simply renegotiate their lease with the supplying company. This is equally valuable in the case where printing requirements decrease, allowing the business to decrease the cost of their monthly lease without needing to purchase a whole new printer. This benefit is particularly advantageous to new or rapidly-growing businesses who may have quickly-changing requirements.
7) Removal of Disposal Worries
The responsibilities and worries associated with your IT infrastructure do not end when the printer has reached the end of its life. As with all IT hardware, the disposal of printers is covered by a plethora of rules and regulations. With a leasing option, this responsibility and its associated costs is removed from the business.
8) Increased Flexibility
With so many rapid and game-changing developments in printing technology and business practices occurring on a daily basis businesses need to be able to be flexible in their IT infrastructure. A printer lease increases this flexibility by requiring only a change in the lease rather than the purchase of new hardware by the company.
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