Crisis Investing 101 - Make Your Own Moves

By Doug West

If the meltdown on Wall Street has taught us anything about investing it is this:

One good lesson is that we need to learn to make our own investment decisions -And Not Let Brokers Make Choices For Us!

This basic fact we have been preaching for many years now. It seems investors either blindly throw money at the market or let a broker do it for them. You should learn to direct your investment accounts and retirement funds on your own.

In this article we want to point you in the right direction, and give you a few crisis tips too.

An excellent alternative to mutual funds are the fairly new Exchange Traded Fund (ETFs) vehicles.

There are ETFs that cover every sector of the market. ETFs offer many advantages over mutual funds. Here are a few:

* Tax Advantages - ETFs seldom sell any equity positions or create a taxable event. Mutual funds often do this. With mutuals, you could owe tax on part of the funds holdings (the winning stocks they sell at a profit) even though you lost money over all. A double whammy!

* Less Management Costs - Even No-Load Mutual funds have become top heavy with many "Professionals" employed and eating up GIANT parts of the profit. You might think of ETFs as Electronically Traded Funds. MUCH less management costs (in some cases no management costs) and the ease of trading them.

* Diversification - Let's face it, this is what was attractive about mutual funds to begin with. Instead of picking out stocks on your own, you had "Professionals" (with the meltdown we can see that most of them are not too professional) putting together a diversified portfolio for you. With ETFs, you can get the same if not better diversification without the hassle of dealing with a mutual fund giant eating up all the profits.

* Easy To Trade - With true mutual funds you can only get out of a position After the market closes. You can trade ETFs just like a stock in your discount brokerage account. If you were locked into a fund when the market was in crash mode, it was not a good feeling. Had that been an ETF you could have bailed at any time (before the DOW closed down 777 points!)

We could go on with the benefits of ETFs, but you should be starting to see the picture. An even better way to call your own shots with your investments is to trade the index (or indices for plural). We are referring to the mini Dow, the S&P eMini, the mini Russell and others. (there are also ETFs the mirror the indices such as "SPY" for the S&P 500 index)

While we focus on mini-Dow trading, any index will do. With Index trading, you just follow the overall market up, or ride it down with a short position.

While we are on the subject of shorts it would be good to mention that while most US mutual funds are not allowed to short a stock, you can actually buy ETFs that do good with the market is dropping. One such fund is ticker "DUG" which does well when the Oil price is dropping (a tip we gave our readers after the big run up in oil to over $140 per barrel - at the time of this writing it has been dropping since).

You can find other ETFs that do well in falling markets. So, you don't have to short the market (statistics show that 80% or more of investors never do short the market - but are always looking for a upward bull run), you just buy the right ETF and let it do the shorting for you. These are at times referred to as Inverse ETFs.

By now, many investors see the importance of having a strategy for making money when the market is dropping. Most investors have yet to develop this strategy. We prefer to do it with simple index trades. Whatever you do, find a way to make your own moves and don't depend on someone else to invest your money for you. No one will take care of your money like you will!

*********************************************************** NOTE: To learn more about ETFs visit Yahoo Finance and look under the Investing Tab at the top of the page - then select ETFs www.finance.yahoo.com ***********************************************************

About the Author:

Doug West has been teaching folks how to Index Trade for 5 years. He has also been involved in retirement planning for nearly 20. Get more tips on how to build your retirement income with

HUD Allows Reverse Mortgage for Home Purchases

By Tiag Vanrock

Borrowers, aged 62 and older, now have an additional financial tool to help them purchase that home they formerly thought was out of the budget. As of january 1, 2009 the government is allowing the reverse mortgage to be used the fund the purchase of a home, rather than just as a refinancing tool. The program works almost identically to any other home purchase with a mortgage. The borrower brings in adequate downpayment, and the mortgage company funds the loan.

Of course the benefit to the borrower is she can purchase a home and is not obligated to make mortgage payments for the rest of her time in the home.

In recent years, due to general need and national marketing by major financial institutions such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America the reverse mortgage has come into its own. Its major benefit to seniors is to allow the senior borrower to convert the equity in the home into cash to be used at the borrower's discretion.

Eventually, when the home is sold voluntarily by the borrower, or the last surviving borrower passes away, the loan is paid back to the lender. The mortgage company makes money from the accumulation of interest over time. Those moneys are repaid to the lender when the home is sold.

These are the steps to the purchase program:

1. Consult with an FHA approved reverse mortgage lender. In the discussion the lender will determine down payment requirements, purchase price limits, and various reverse mortgage options. The lender should furnish borrower with a letter of approval.

2. Write a contract on the home

3. The approval letter will roughly outline down payment and closing costs. The borrower deposits this amount with the title company.

4. At closing, the reverse mortgage company funds the remaining balance and closing costs if desired by the borrower.

5. Borrower takes ownership of the home.

6. The borrower is stipulated to live in the home and not use it as an investment property. The borrowers obligations are as follows: Pay taxes and home owners insurance, and keep property above FHA physical standards.

The new purchase program, beginning January 1, offers a whole new tool to the senior home buyer market. The jury will be out for some time, but my phone is already ringing. If that is any indication, it may become a staple to this market.

About the Author:

Much more info about the reverse mortgage in Texas and everywhere else at The Quintessential Guide to the Texas Reverse Mortgage. Down and dirty questions answered at Texas Reverse Mortgage Public Knowledge Base and Guide.

Stop Foreclosure - The Loss Mitigation Alternative

By Tomasheus Privetsky

If you find yourself facing foreclosure, there are probably several contributing factors, which have led to your situation. You might have lost your job, suffered an illness (and its accompanying medical bills) or been through a divorce. However you get here, one thing is certain; the bills are piling up and it is getting harder and harder to make ends meet. Even worse is the situation of having an adjustable rate mortgage whose interest rate has skyrocketed, making your payments much larger.

Unfortunately, while you're worrying about stopping foreclosure of your home, you're bombarded with letters, postcards, phone calls and strangers driving by and knocking on your door.

These people are foreclosure investors; they make their money by pursuing homeowners who are on the verge of losing their homes, buying your home and selling it for a profit. They are operating on the assumption that you will have no choice but to sell your home.

While on a surface it may seem like a good idea to sell your home to these foreclosure investors in somecases, but before you do so you should look into the alternatives. Definitely do not sell your home to one of these investors before checking out your other options, such as rearranging your loan.

One of the Solutions To Stop Foreclosure Is Lender Mediation

Once you missed a few payments, your credit report will reflect them, and your credit score will drop dramatically. This low credit score will likely prevent you from being able to get a new loan to refinance your current loan in default.

Every mortgage lender in the country has a Loss Mitigation department established with the sole purpose of reducing lender's losses on loans. They work to put homeowners who fell behind on payments on a repayment plan to bring your loan out of default. The best thing about Loss Mitigation alternative is, unlike a new loan, it doesn't require a credit approval.

A Repayment Plan May Still Be Challenging

Loss Mitigation departments are lightly staffed. One of the biggest problems with workout plans is caused by employee overload. At time of high default rates, like we're experiencing now, the employees have too many files to work on. And they have a limited time to process each case. The result is, the lender offers you a 'canned' repayment plan that has too short of a 'catch up' time and too large of monthly payment increase that is not realistic for your budget to sustain.

Because you're between a rock and a hard place you're tempted to take it to keep your home from being foreclosed on. In reality you just set yourself up for a failure. A few months down the stretch, you'll be back in foreclosure again.

Watch Out When Hiring Workout Professionals To Stop Foreclosure

You may be much better off by hiring a professional to handle the loss mitigation process for you. These companies know the ins and outs of the loss mitigation process and often have strong relationships with mortgage lenders nationwide. They have successfully helped thousands of homeowners stop foreclosure.

These companies will look over your finances and help you come up with a repayment schedule, which is possible for you to meet; payments will be kept as low as possible to make it easier for you to make your payments. These companies have intimate knowledge of the programs offered by different lenders and can negotiate a better deal for you than you would be offered by the lender on your own. They may even be able to negotiate a lower interest rate on your mortgage, which will lower your payments.

You may think in you current circumstances hiring a company like this could be prohibitively expensive. Not so. Most charge a reasonable flat fee equal to a single monthly mortgage payment. You'll easily get your money back through a negotiated for you deferral of the next loan payment.

If Lender Mediation Is Not An Option

What if loss mitigation isn't a possibility for you? Then you may have to go ahead and sell your home to prevent having a foreclosure record on your credit report. Listing your home for sale with a realtor is the best way to go if you have ample time, since you will be able to get a higher price for your home. If you are short on time, you may find that selling to an investor makes the most sense; just try to deal with an investment company, which has the resources to close the deal quickly.

About the Author:

As you can tell, there's more than one alternative to avoid foreclosure of your home. Visit our website to get a referral to a loss mitigation company that can help you avoid foreclosure.

The Bad Credit Special Loans.

By Denzel Abintenk

Many of the citizens are able to take delivery of bad credit loans after filing the bankruptcy, often almost immediately as thirty days time period next the release of the bankruptcy. a lot of companies have set up a high quality marketplace presenting these loans, knowing a person cannot declare bankruptcy for a at least of seven years following the bankruptcy release. This opens a novel market for a number of lenders will to take a likelihood of citizens with a bad credit score meaningful they have legal alternative to recoup the quantity of the loan.

Even though the majority customary lenders just will not grant bad credit personal loans after bankruptcy there are many lenders that come to blows over the market. Even by means of the counseling supplies of bankruptcy on monetary organization and liability, at present is no law that require those declare the bankruptcy to go after any suggestion made for the duration of the counseling. Follow the discharge of the bankruptcy, persons are free to search for bad credit personal loans after bankruptcy at whatever time they choose.

even though bankruptcy records are released to the public, and their accessibility is often seen as an uncomfortable punishment for ignore past accountability, the accessibility of the bad credit individual loans after the bankruptcy has a lot of taking that road to get out from beneath a serious debt load. still with the novel laws there are those who carry on to pile on debt and file for bankruptcy each seven years or as almost immediately as the law permits.

There Are No Laws to Govern For People Who Apply For the Bad Credit Loans

at the same time as a lot of laws exist over who can present bad credit personal loans after bankruptcy and the interest rates charge for them, there is no laws leading who can apply for them. yet a person who has manifold bankruptcies in their earlier period are free to seek financial help where on earth they can find it. in spite of the considerably higher cost of bad credit personal loans subsequent to bankruptcy citizens often flock to the lender presenting such loans.

a small number of, if any of the lenders presenting the bad credit personal loans after bankruptcy have need of any type of guarantee for the money, still meaningful there is a good chance the loan will go into non-payment, the alternative obtainable, counting wage garnishment, make them a money-making business. When a human being default on bad credit personal loans after bankruptcy a court-ordered reimbursement is characteristically approved for the amount of the loan and whichever expenses linked with collect the loan.

over and over again the cost of collection approach the sum of the initial loan along with courts costs, like the attorney fees and collection agency fees, all charged to the delinquent the creditor. This add even more to the charge of obtain bad credit personal loans after bankruptcy is filed.

About the Author:

Denzel Abintenk routinely makes reports on information similar to loan to consolidate debt. On his site you can find his abstracts on personal loans to consolidate debt and consolidate debt with a personal loan.

Britain Has Binged On Debt

By Abbi Rouse

Over the past few years, our economy has become bloated; due to Brits bingeing on debt and not done anything to work off the excess, claims Reform.

A new report from the independant think tank reported that it is not just consumer borrowing that has caused the countrys coffers to become corpulent with debt, as the public structural budget deficit has become the fourth highest of all countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The group states that Britains trade deficit is continuing to burgeon, while public spending programmes are based on out-of-date and over-optimistic forecasts for gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Meanwhile, this tendency to rely on cheap credit cards and cheap loans to support spending habits has produced an economy that is unfit and working inefficiently.

It warned that in the coming years, the average taxpaying family will pay around 4,000 pounds to rebalance the national debt, equivalent to 100 billion pounds in tax contributions every year. So too, it noted that this tax increase - amounting to 6.6 per cent of GDP - does not take into account the additional burden which will be borne by further fiscal stimulation packages.

Reform warned, cutting public expenditure on vital long-term development programmes is equally ill-advised, as it claimed that as recent history has shown, cuts in spending will inevitably lead to increased investment a few years down the line. Ahead of the pre-Budget report, which will be announced by Alistair Darling on Monday 24th November, So too, it warned that simply injecting more public money into the banking industry will have little lasting effect on the state of the countrys economy.

The group insisted that there is only one course of action that will relieve the strain of the national debt: "In order to move beyond the obese economy, Britain has to consume less and work more. Households need a sense of direction towards a higher saving, lower tax economy. The short-term objective is the same as the long-term path to economic growth - to increase productivity. This should be the theme of the Pre-Budget Report and of Budget 2009."

In addition, the group called on the chancellor to focus the following key objectives: personal productivity, private sector productivity and public sector reform.

Finally, the group insists that the government must provide support to individuals in an attempt to stop them relying on loans and other types of credit and start spending their own money, as they are vital to economy recovery.

For those who have seen their finances blown out to sea in the recent economic storm, taking out a debt consolidation loan may prove an effective way to get back on a firm footing monetarily. Meanwhile, the number of people who are in need of a debt consolidation loan may grow in the coming months as the independent financial advice site the Motley Fool warned that millions of Britons are unprepared for a recession.

About the Author:

Abbi Rouse writes for All About Loans. Our visitors can apply online for car loans. We also specialise in cheap personal loans, and debt consolidation loans.

Personal Signature Loans and The Art of Borrowing

By Mark Lundersenn

Many of the problems in the world financial system right now are due to the widespread misuse of credit. It all really comes down to the Art of Borrowing, and as a nation (and world) we've been going about it all the wrong way. We're borrowing way too much relative to our income; we're saving less than 0% of our earnings, and we're headed down the path to financial destruction.

Residential real estate, and all the abuses on the both sides of the transactions, is the most glaring indicator of how ridiculous our country has chosen to behave itself with respect to credit and lending practices. A plumber earning $54,000 per year has no business borrowing $400,000 to buy a home; he'll never be able to to keep up with the payments. And now the taxpayers of the world, most of all those who have kept their mortgage current by not borrowing more than they could pay back, are footing the bill.

We can never let ourselves get in this situation again, and to avoid it we have to decide as a nation of borrowers that we'll use credit with a lot more care. Often - possibly the majority of the time - using credit with care means not using it at all. If you need extra money, get a part time job; don't borrow.

Why not? Well, because these types of loans nearly always carry terrible interest rates and bad terms. If you choose to borrow cash in this way you can end up paying in excess of 100% interest as well as hundreds of dollars in fees. How could that ever be a smart move?

It's really never a SMART move, but there may be circumstances in your life when it becomes absolutely necessary to borrow money this way. For example, let's say that one morning you pull into your parking space at the office and you accidently dent your boss's car. And he fires you.

Sure that would be completely unfair, and you'd probably even be justified in taking legal action against him, but it would be of no use. And besides - you're unemployed now - you don't have any money to pay attorneys do you?

So with no job, and the bills stacking up, and no family or friends to lend you some money to get you buy, the only choice might be to go to your bank and ask for a signature loan. You see, your mortgage lender isn't going to cut you a break just because your boss unfairly terminated you.

The best words of wisdom I can offer you are to borrow not one cent more than you need to keep your family afloat till you land a new job. And whatever employment opportunity comes your way - take it! When people are throwing around words like recession and depression it's no time to get greedy about which job you will or won't take.

About the Author:

Internet loan seekers should check out Mark's site for information on finding unsecured signature loans if they want to secure a signature loan online for short term loans.

Should You Go For A Mortgage Refinance?

By Ned Dagostino

A time comes when you begin to consider refinancing your mortgage. Maybe you want to take advantage of a downturn in the market rates, and save on the interest you are paying. Or you are faced with a number of small debts and the repayments are becoming unmanageable. It will be worth your while to consider some important points when you debate this issue.

Debt management is a prime reason for refinancing. If you find yourself wrestling around with the same repayment issues every month, then it may be a good idea to get a loan on your mortgage by refinancing it. Use the loan to pay off all your smaller debts. This leaves you with just a single loan repayment every month. Do choose a repayment scheme which you know you can handle easily.

Most people think that the interest they pay on mortgages is unjustifiably high, and seek ways and means to reduce the interest burden. This is intelligent thinking. The point to consider is whether the market rate is showing every intention of reaching for the sky. If it is, and if your present mortgage is based on the variable market rate, then this is a good time to opt out of the present mortgage and refinance the mortgage with a fixed interest plan, where the interest rate is lower than the average market interest rate computed over the duration of the mortgage.

Don't get carried away with the idea that refinancing is advisable for all situations, or that it will benefit you at all. There are many situations when refinancing can cost you heavily.

The problem is that when you go to a refinancing agency they fail to mention the actual expenses you will have to incur to refinance your mortgage. Their excuse is that these are 'external' expenses and not their concern. Therefore you may be lulled into believing that the refinance scheme is going to save you a hefty sum over the mortgage period. Too late you find that you have to pay a number of incidental fees, charges and penalties, which can set you back quite a lot, and may nullify the savings you've counted on. There is no point in changing your financier if it is not going to save you any money.

Refinancing your mortgage is a serious financial decision. Therefore you should perform a due diligence market survey before taking up a refinance option. Find out the various plans and schemes offered by various companies in your locality and online. Carefully weigh the pros and cons of these schemes and tabulate your results for easy analysis.

Find out the total amount you'll have to pay upfront just to kick start the mortgage refinance. Some brokers conveniently forget to mention that brokerage fees will be taken before the refinance kicks in. Financial advisors fail to tell you that you have to pay a penalty when you pay off a mortgage before the maturity period. Forgetting to mention these fees and penalties is not a problem except that these are really hefty amounts we're talking of here. The total upfront costs can wipe out all your expected savings, and, in some cases, can actually make you incur a loss.

Refinancing will be beneficial for you if you are able to save more than you spend on all the fees and penalties involved in refinancing. One very important factor that you must consider is whether there are chances of your moving out before the refinanced mortgage expires. If there are good chances of your moving out soon, then, far from saving you money, the refinance is going to cost you a packet!

Refinancing your mortgage can be very helpful indeed. It can save you quite a bit. You should survey the refinance market very carefully and minutely. Find out all the options available to you. Find out all the fees and charges that will be taken upfront. Compute the savings you expect to make and then deduct the upfront fees to determine whether taking the refinance is a good idea. A wrong decision here, a single point overlooked, can mean ending up losing money with the refinance. Remember, refinancing is a very serious financial decision. The benefits differ from situation to situation, and sometimes even within the same situation.

About the Author:

There are many other refinancing choices available to you besides a basic house refinance. You can refinance almost any loan including your car, trailer, or even a manufactured home refinance can put extra money in your wallet. Visit www.Home-Mortgate-Refinancing-Loan.com to learn more.

Affordable Dental Insurance Quote

By Zul Rahman

How do you get the right dental insurance quote? There is no easy answer. Basically you have to do a lot of homework, sifting through string of data and crunching a lot of figures.

When comes to dental insurance, you can always get free dental insurance quote online. There are many insurance companies that offers various dental plan. One thing to consider, is the amount quoted worth the services offered.

When going through the quotation, make sure you don't overlook if there is any restrictions and limitations imposed on your benefits. Be certain that the benefits that you want to be covered are included in the quotation.

The dental insurance quote should include the total plan of the coverage. Some of the terms that should be covered are like coverage period, how much does your monthly premium cost and the service benefits that you will get.

How to choose the right dental insurance quote?

One of the thing that you should look into here is cost versus benefits. Some of the dental insurance quote are pretty cheap and affordable but does it cover all the necessary dental services that you and your family are looking for?

For those of you who have family, the family dental insurance plan is the way to go. Family dental insurance plan is very similar to medical insurance family plan.

When asking your agent for the dental insurance quote for the whole family, make sure you are aware of the plan waiting period if any and some other limitations.

It is important to make sure that the dental needs for the entire family is covered in the quoted plan.

I guess the first question to ask, is the quotation contains all the basic features of dental care that your entire family needs. Routine dental visits for check up and annual dental check up are a must. Also can you afford the plan according to the quotation?

What you should be looking for in the quotation is a savings over the long term. Another alternative is to look at the discount dental plan. They do provide a great savings and discount on many of the expensive dental procedures.

Last but not least, study your quotations carefully. Get a handfuls of quotations from various dental insurance plan. Also get quotations from various dental insurance providers. Compare them carefully before you come to a conclusions.

After picking your choice, it is still best to consult any one that you know who are on that plan. It is always best to get a second opinion.

Having gone through the details of your quotations, don't forget to look at the scope of your benefits. Some plans impose a limitations on your claims benefits. Also check with your agent if you are entitled to any discount from the plan. There might be some discount available that you might not know.

About the Author:

Before you jump on getting dental insurance coverage for you and the entire family, be sure to check our free guide on dental insurance coverage quote also a whole lot of valuable insider information on dental insurance plan