You probably want to take on a little higher risk than usual, searching for more info on how to get higher-return-than-usual on your money. That's a wise step, because we should never put our hard-earned money into investment plans without first learning some investing basics and doing our own due diligence on the investment plans offered to us.
Although this blog was titled Guide to HYIP World, we will not discuss about HYIP investment this time. Those the so called HYIP investments - which are abundant in the internet - are in essence not investments at all. They are just "pseudo investments", nothing more than ponzi/pyramid schemes that is illegal in most established economic system. The word "investment" is used merely to lure unsuspecting beginners. So, if you want a real investment, legitimate investment that can give high return for your invested money, you can delete and forget HYIP investment from your potential list.
There are many ways you can take to get decent return on your invested money. However you should never forget this principle: the higher potential return of an investment, the higher risk it bears. So, it is wise to devise a portfolio for your investment to minimize the risk and maximize the return. A good investment portfolio will serve you in two areas: protecting you from sudden huge losses when your high-risk high-return investments gone bad, and backing you up adding more profit for you in the booming economy that results in better performance of nearly all of your investments.
How you plan your investment portfolio depends primarily on your risk tolerance. People with high risk tolerance tend to have more high-risk high-return investments into their portfolio than people with lower risk tolerance. With such combination in their investment portfolio, they may end up with much more money than those of low risk-takers if everything goes fine. But if not, they will have to face the grim reality of losing most of their initial investment that may take them years to recoup.
Older people are usually low risk takers, naturally because they realize that they may not have enough time to recoup if they take too much high-risk high-return investments and then something really bad happens. That also explains why most of those risk-takers are younger investors.
Basically, you should comprise your investment portfolio in such a way so that the overall return will exceed the inflation rate. There is no point investing if in the end you find yourself poorer than before. And some considered low-risk investments really give lower rate of return than the inflation rate. But nevertheless, they offer stability and security. So, combining them with moderate-risk and higher-risk investments that give higher percentage of return are recommended.
Some examples of low-risk low-return investments are: saving accounts, Western Government bonds and certificates of deposit while some examples of moderate-risk medium-return investments are real estate, equity mutual funds and shares. High-risk high-return investments are commonly found in the form of stock investing, investing in foreign exchange and in commodities. More about each of these investments will be discussed later.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
HYIP Monitors. Can you trust them?
This article will be about HYIP Monitor, explaining the whys and hows and whether newbie HYIP investors can trust them or not.
I assume that you are already aware that HYIP investment is very risky and now you are looking for any in-depth information on how to minimize the inherent risks as much as possible.
If you have read my previous articles about HYIP, you will have grasped the understanding that no HYIP program will stay forever. A great number of them will even live for only a few days, only until a certain amount of money have been collected. So, if you have understood this fact but decided to try your luck with your endeavor in HYIP world, you may want to read on.
For you that are very new with this HYIP things, let me explain a bit.
HYIP monitors are basically nothing more than privately owned websites - just like all those HYIP program websites - that list tens, or even hundreds of HYIP programs together with their basic info such as the names of the HYIP programs, when they were started, the rate of return promised and most importantly, whether they are still paying or not.
There is no rule whatsoever for HYIPs. There is no regulation body nor supervisory board like in other types of investment. Everybody can do everything and everyone can be everybody. It's really a jungle out there! Therefore, if you still want to enter it, do so at your own risk.
To the truth, there is nothing really fancy with HYIP monitor. Everyone can make a HYIP monitor website anytime he wishes. There are plenty of free and commercial scripts available for that. So, you should never rule out the possibility that maybe, the very HYIP monitor you are carefully digging from to get information about a specific HYIP program in fact belongs to the same person that own the HYIP program.
Get the point? You see, if that's the case, then no wonder the HYIP Monitor would never bring bad news about the HYIP program, at least until it really has become a scam. You may believe me if you wish, but if you have spent enough time browsing through many threads in HYIP forums all across the internet, you will find some specific HYIP Monitors that are even still promoting a HYIP program as "PAYING" even though in fact it had scammed its investors since months ago!
So, from that point of view, I say you can't really put your trust in any HYIP Monitor. But of course there are other details that we should also consider.
First, in many HYIP Monitors there are features provided for visitors to report (or give his/her reviews) about the HYIP investment programs listed there. You may want to read their posts to get better picture about a specific program.
But in doing so, I suggest you to also be careful because there are always possibilities of paid posters, whether paid to post good reviews/testimonies or paid to post negative things. The first paid posters of course were paid by the program owner (or those that are affiliated to him). If the program owner is a seasoned swindler, he might have a sheer number of paid posters to promote his fraudulent plans. And the negative paid-posters, as you might have guessed, are usually paid by the program's competitors.
Just for you to know in case you haven't realized it yet: there are so many, maybe even millions of HYIP investment programs ever existed with thousands others sprout everyday. But the number of new investors does not grow as fast, in fact, decreasing gradually over time. Thus, the competition among those HYIP programs are very fierce. And if you are a new kid in the block that is ready to pour out your hard-earned money into their scamming programs then, don't be surprised, you are coveted by many!
Therefore, you can not really trust the votes in those HYIP Monitors as well.
The second thing to consider regarding this HYIP Monitor thing is, the inter-dependency between the HYIP program and the HYIP Monitor. It's like phantom cicles.
Almost all HYIP Monitors require a HYIP investment program to register with them for a small fee. In many occasions, the required fee is paid with free account in the program, already pre-filled with certain amount of dollars. The HYIP Monitor then use the account to monitor the paying status of the HYIP program, some of them may add additional funds to the given account just to get bigger returns.
It doesn't take rocket science to see that the HYIP program owner knows exactly who to pay regularly and promptly so that he can get all the good advertisements he needs. No wonder many Monitors still receive payments and still report "PAYING" status for HYIP programs that had scammed their investors since a long time ago!
And the third aspect regarding the reliability of the information from HYIP Monitors is, the presence of conflict of interests.
HYIP Monitors live from the fees paid by HYIP investment programs and, primarily, from the yields (of their invested money) paid by the programs' owners. So, they have too big interest to ensure a program to, at the least, look running longer than it is in reality so that they would get paid many more times. That could also be the reason why some Monitors often seem too hesitant to change the status of an already scam program into "SCAM" or "NOT PAYING" because, in fact, they are still get paid!
Alright then, that's all for now. You see, you can not only rely on information you get from HYIP Monitors. If you still want to try your luck in HYIP investment, you had better do your own due diligence and read a lot before investing. Or, why not considering the more realistic investment types like mutual funds, bonds, or stock investing? It does not take big amount of money nowadays to invest in such legitimate plans. But maybe you will need to learn about the investing basics first.
I assume that you are already aware that HYIP investment is very risky and now you are looking for any in-depth information on how to minimize the inherent risks as much as possible.
If you have read my previous articles about HYIP, you will have grasped the understanding that no HYIP program will stay forever. A great number of them will even live for only a few days, only until a certain amount of money have been collected. So, if you have understood this fact but decided to try your luck with your endeavor in HYIP world, you may want to read on.
For you that are very new with this HYIP things, let me explain a bit.
HYIP monitors are basically nothing more than privately owned websites - just like all those HYIP program websites - that list tens, or even hundreds of HYIP programs together with their basic info such as the names of the HYIP programs, when they were started, the rate of return promised and most importantly, whether they are still paying or not.
There is no rule whatsoever for HYIPs. There is no regulation body nor supervisory board like in other types of investment. Everybody can do everything and everyone can be everybody. It's really a jungle out there! Therefore, if you still want to enter it, do so at your own risk.
To the truth, there is nothing really fancy with HYIP monitor. Everyone can make a HYIP monitor website anytime he wishes. There are plenty of free and commercial scripts available for that. So, you should never rule out the possibility that maybe, the very HYIP monitor you are carefully digging from to get information about a specific HYIP program in fact belongs to the same person that own the HYIP program.
Get the point? You see, if that's the case, then no wonder the HYIP Monitor would never bring bad news about the HYIP program, at least until it really has become a scam. You may believe me if you wish, but if you have spent enough time browsing through many threads in HYIP forums all across the internet, you will find some specific HYIP Monitors that are even still promoting a HYIP program as "PAYING" even though in fact it had scammed its investors since months ago!
So, from that point of view, I say you can't really put your trust in any HYIP Monitor. But of course there are other details that we should also consider.
First, in many HYIP Monitors there are features provided for visitors to report (or give his/her reviews) about the HYIP investment programs listed there. You may want to read their posts to get better picture about a specific program.
But in doing so, I suggest you to also be careful because there are always possibilities of paid posters, whether paid to post good reviews/testimonies or paid to post negative things. The first paid posters of course were paid by the program owner (or those that are affiliated to him). If the program owner is a seasoned swindler, he might have a sheer number of paid posters to promote his fraudulent plans. And the negative paid-posters, as you might have guessed, are usually paid by the program's competitors.
Just for you to know in case you haven't realized it yet: there are so many, maybe even millions of HYIP investment programs ever existed with thousands others sprout everyday. But the number of new investors does not grow as fast, in fact, decreasing gradually over time. Thus, the competition among those HYIP programs are very fierce. And if you are a new kid in the block that is ready to pour out your hard-earned money into their scamming programs then, don't be surprised, you are coveted by many!
Therefore, you can not really trust the votes in those HYIP Monitors as well.
The second thing to consider regarding this HYIP Monitor thing is, the inter-dependency between the HYIP program and the HYIP Monitor. It's like phantom cicles.
Almost all HYIP Monitors require a HYIP investment program to register with them for a small fee. In many occasions, the required fee is paid with free account in the program, already pre-filled with certain amount of dollars. The HYIP Monitor then use the account to monitor the paying status of the HYIP program, some of them may add additional funds to the given account just to get bigger returns.
It doesn't take rocket science to see that the HYIP program owner knows exactly who to pay regularly and promptly so that he can get all the good advertisements he needs. No wonder many Monitors still receive payments and still report "PAYING" status for HYIP programs that had scammed their investors since a long time ago!
And the third aspect regarding the reliability of the information from HYIP Monitors is, the presence of conflict of interests.
HYIP Monitors live from the fees paid by HYIP investment programs and, primarily, from the yields (of their invested money) paid by the programs' owners. So, they have too big interest to ensure a program to, at the least, look running longer than it is in reality so that they would get paid many more times. That could also be the reason why some Monitors often seem too hesitant to change the status of an already scam program into "SCAM" or "NOT PAYING" because, in fact, they are still get paid!
Alright then, that's all for now. You see, you can not only rely on information you get from HYIP Monitors. If you still want to try your luck in HYIP investment, you had better do your own due diligence and read a lot before investing. Or, why not considering the more realistic investment types like mutual funds, bonds, or stock investing? It does not take big amount of money nowadays to invest in such legitimate plans. But maybe you will need to learn about the investing basics first.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Investing basics for first time investors
If you are new to investing and you feel the need to start investing today, learn about the investing basics here with us. But first, let's leave those so called HYIP investment behind because it is not a real investment.
Many people know that they have to invest for their future, but they never do that thinking that investing needs a lot of money. That thinking might be true decades ago, but today, things have changed. Now you do not need much money to invest. Even school children can invest with their pocket money for as small as USD 25 per week.
Considering the economic uncertainty in the last years, everyone should truly consider to invest their extra money instead of wasting it for the newest gadgets or something like that, for instance. Those brand-new cellulars may offer many new features, but if you do not need them and you will never use them, what's the point buying those devices? It would be better if you put your money in mutual funds, CD (certificate of deposits) or even stocks if you are already familiar with that kind of risky investments. In addition, it's a rule of thumb in investing that the sooner you invest, the better.
One of the truest investing basics is: younger people naturally have better advantages over the older ones. It is logical because younger people statistically have more years to live. Of course averagely younger people earn less than their seniors, but their age advantage in the end will redeem it. Moreover, over the years their income will steadily grow. So, if you still do not have any portfolio now, make one today. You may have to start with larger amount of money if you are beyond 35, but you will not regret it later.
There are several steps you should do to build a good investment portfolio. Let's learn about them one by one.
1. Plan your investment strategy
The first step in this investing basics is obviously: planning. Before you make any decision, ask yourself first where you want to be in the future, and how long that future would be. For example, where you plan yourself to be in the next 30 years when you have retired? Where do you plan to spend your retirement years? Or are you planning to marry in the next 5 years? Or do you want to secure tuition fees for your children 20 years from now? All that will help you plan your investment strategy. And in planning, don't forget to account for the details such as the the average tuition fees of the universities across America or the living cost needed in the state where you plan to spend your retirement years.
2. Investment Types
The second step in this investing basics lesson is identifying investment types. There are innumerable types of investment today, but basically, there are only 3 most common investment options.
The first type is mutual funds. This is the most advisable investment types for beginners. Mutual funds investment consists of hundreds, even thousands investors' money pooled and managed by professional fund managers. This strategy enable small investors to have diverse group of investments.
The second most common type of investment is bonds. Investing in bonds is one of the safest investment you can find, as long as you invest in highly rated bonds. By investing in bonds basically you lend your money to the institution that issued the bonds at fixed rate. The institutions can ranged from local companies to multinational corporations, local government, or even the federal government.
Bonds issued by the local government are often called municipal bonds and those that issued by the federal government are called treasury bonds. Corporate bond, as the name implies, are those issued by companies and corporations.
3. Investing
The third and last step in this investing basics is: doing the investment itself. After you know what you want in the coming years (planning) and after understanding the investment types that you can put your money into, now it is time for you to invest.
To invest the money, you can do that by yourself or you can hire a broker or an investment manager. But if it is your very first time to invest, I advise you to use the services of individually licensed agents or a brokerage firms that can help you buy and sell bonds, mutual funds and stocks.
You may have to pay for their services, ranging from $15 per trade for discount brokers to $100-$200 per trade for full service brokers. At the very basic level, those professionals will only help you to make the trades.
But if you wish to do so by yourself, there are now many ways to do that. You can come to a local bank and buy an investment plan (which basically is mutual funds) yourself with your money. This way, you can even buy it for as low as $25 as stated above, and increase your investments over time.
Many people know that they have to invest for their future, but they never do that thinking that investing needs a lot of money. That thinking might be true decades ago, but today, things have changed. Now you do not need much money to invest. Even school children can invest with their pocket money for as small as USD 25 per week.
Considering the economic uncertainty in the last years, everyone should truly consider to invest their extra money instead of wasting it for the newest gadgets or something like that, for instance. Those brand-new cellulars may offer many new features, but if you do not need them and you will never use them, what's the point buying those devices? It would be better if you put your money in mutual funds, CD (certificate of deposits) or even stocks if you are already familiar with that kind of risky investments. In addition, it's a rule of thumb in investing that the sooner you invest, the better.
One of the truest investing basics is: younger people naturally have better advantages over the older ones. It is logical because younger people statistically have more years to live. Of course averagely younger people earn less than their seniors, but their age advantage in the end will redeem it. Moreover, over the years their income will steadily grow. So, if you still do not have any portfolio now, make one today. You may have to start with larger amount of money if you are beyond 35, but you will not regret it later.
There are several steps you should do to build a good investment portfolio. Let's learn about them one by one.
1. Plan your investment strategy
The first step in this investing basics is obviously: planning. Before you make any decision, ask yourself first where you want to be in the future, and how long that future would be. For example, where you plan yourself to be in the next 30 years when you have retired? Where do you plan to spend your retirement years? Or are you planning to marry in the next 5 years? Or do you want to secure tuition fees for your children 20 years from now? All that will help you plan your investment strategy. And in planning, don't forget to account for the details such as the the average tuition fees of the universities across America or the living cost needed in the state where you plan to spend your retirement years.
2. Investment Types
The second step in this investing basics lesson is identifying investment types. There are innumerable types of investment today, but basically, there are only 3 most common investment options.
The first type is mutual funds. This is the most advisable investment types for beginners. Mutual funds investment consists of hundreds, even thousands investors' money pooled and managed by professional fund managers. This strategy enable small investors to have diverse group of investments.
The second most common type of investment is bonds. Investing in bonds is one of the safest investment you can find, as long as you invest in highly rated bonds. By investing in bonds basically you lend your money to the institution that issued the bonds at fixed rate. The institutions can ranged from local companies to multinational corporations, local government, or even the federal government.
Bonds issued by the local government are often called municipal bonds and those that issued by the federal government are called treasury bonds. Corporate bond, as the name implies, are those issued by companies and corporations.
3. Investing
The third and last step in this investing basics is: doing the investment itself. After you know what you want in the coming years (planning) and after understanding the investment types that you can put your money into, now it is time for you to invest.
To invest the money, you can do that by yourself or you can hire a broker or an investment manager. But if it is your very first time to invest, I advise you to use the services of individually licensed agents or a brokerage firms that can help you buy and sell bonds, mutual funds and stocks.
You may have to pay for their services, ranging from $15 per trade for discount brokers to $100-$200 per trade for full service brokers. At the very basic level, those professionals will only help you to make the trades.
But if you wish to do so by yourself, there are now many ways to do that. You can come to a local bank and buy an investment plan (which basically is mutual funds) yourself with your money. This way, you can even buy it for as low as $25 as stated above, and increase your investments over time.
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