Why build passive income?

Passive income is a popular term nowadays and most of you have undoubtedly heared about it. But why, you may ask yourself is it so popular? The popularity of passive income is fairly easy to explain; if you build a passive income portfolio you will achieve financial freedom which is something most people desire. Having financial freedom allows you to have more control over your life. You no longer depend on a paycheck from your employer and have the option to work if you want to and not because you have to. Having the money to to cover your costs of living brings with it a tremendous piece of mind. And knowing that you will still get paid even though you don’t actively work for it is real nice also. Read Complete Article

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Are you tired living paycheck to paycheck with nothing to show for it?  Do you enjoy struggling day to day just to make a living and find a way to improve your financial status? Do you like worrying about whether or not you are going to be able to pay next months bills or whether or not you are going to loose your job? Do you ever think about your retirement and whether or not you are going to be able to afford retirement? If you said yes to any of these questions than you need to stop procrastinating and start taking action now! Read Complete Article

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No one expects catastrophically bad things to happen to them. Yet terrible things happen to people who didn’t expect them every single day of the year. No one can become immune to tragedies but you can be better prepared for disasters before they happen. That way, when disaster strikes, you  and your family are not taken off guard and will survive with as little hardship as possible. Five things in particular come to mind when I think about how best to protect oneself against future problems and headaches: Read Complete Article

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Many of us own stocks through retirement portfolios or in our own market speculation, but very few are capitalizing and generating any income on stocks that they already own.

Covered calls are a relatively new idea to many investors mostly because they’ve never heard of them. Covered calls are simply stock options that you sell on shares of stock that you already own. By writing your own options, you’ll be able to sell stock options and pocket the premium for each.

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Popularity: 30% [?]

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Most financial experts recommend that everyone should have some cash stashed away for a rainy day. Unfortunately most people do not think about such things until it’s too late and something has already happened where they need the money right away. Those of us who are wise and think ahead will put some money away for hard times but as many as 41% of Americans do not have any money at all saved for an emergency.  You never know what life throws at you and it is always better to be prepared then to be sorry.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

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As most of you have noticed, most securities pay their dividends quarterly. But those who take the time to find and invest in securities that pay their dividends monthly have a slight advantage.

Investing in securities that pay their dividends monthly as opposed to quarterly can give you an edge over time.

Advantages if you are reinvesting your dividends

For those who are reinvesting their dividends, monthly payments as opposed to quarterly dividend payments will make a very small difference in the short term, but over the long run the deference will become bigger. By taking advantage of the power of compounding, monthly dividend reinvestments will grow at a faster rate as opposed to getting that same dividend quarterly.
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Popularity: 29% [?]

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Stock markets got you down?

Research shows that most investors are more depressed when they are loosing money, then happy when they are making money. Psychology plays a big part in investing and getting past your initial desire to get out, in a panic driven market, can go a long way over the long run. Many investors wind up buying high and selling low because they panicked and sold at or near the bottom. But what if they where buying in a correction instead of panic selling?

Many investors feel like they should have moved more money into cash before the markets started selling off and then repurchae their shares at a lower price, or that they should have held off on that investment a little longer until prices were even more attractive. It can be incredibly frustrating. But one cannot time the markets (at least not without a working time machine) and trying to do so will only loose you money. Instead we should all have a good strategy for dealing with market corrections, and taking advantage of hidden oportunities to build wealth.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

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We have all heard one financial expert after another talk abut how important it is to have your investments diversified over various types of investments and as many unrelated sectors as possible. But you’d be surprised at how many people completely ignore this advice and stick their money in just a hand full of investments, or even worse just one. In a bull market one may feel safe doing this because most things are going up, however when the market turns bearish you can loose a lot of money real fast.

The following article demonstrates a real life example of what can happed if you put all your eggs in one basket. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

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There are many income investors who look for monthly dividend payments in order to support their retirement income. Other investors who are not yet close to retirement want monthly dividends for faster compounding in their IRAs or other investment accounts.

The following is a list of more than 200 different stocks, REITs, CEFs, oil income funds, Canadian royalty trusts and floating rate funds, which pay their dividends monthly. All of these securities trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or American Stock Exchange (AMEX). This list is sorter by yield with the highest at the top. Canadian companies are identified [Canada] because of their tax withholding issues.
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Popularity: 100% [?]

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US lawmakers have just approved a $170 billion plan to spur the slowing US economy. The centerpiece of this plan is a “tax rebate”.

Who qualifies?
One-time rebates will be sent to at least 117 million low and middle-income households, 20 million senior citizens living off of Social Security, and 250,000 disabled veterans.

How do I qualify?
To be eligible for the full rebate, a single tax filer must have his/her 2007 adjusted gross income (AGI) below $75,000 and joint filers must have AGI below $150,000. You must also file a federal tax return for 2007.
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Popularity: 2% [?]

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