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Realistic Ways To Build Wealth

February 26th, 2021 Posted in Investment, Money Tips
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Many of us want to be rich but we have rather unrealistic ideas about how to attain that. We might purchase lottery tickets every week in the hope that our numbers might finally come up, or we might use betting sites in the hope that we might win a big cash prize.

Now, there’s nothing to say we won’t become rich using these methods, but the chances are rather slim. Thankfully, there are other, more realistic ways to build wealth, and these include the following. 

Realistic Ways To Build Wealth - money making ideas image

#1: Invest (with a diversified portfolio)

Have you started investing yet? it might be that you haven’t. People are generally put off the idea because they don’t know where to start. They also fear losing money in market downturns, and are worried about receiving bad investment advice. To be honest, we can understand these concerns. However, investing is one way to build wealth, so for those wanting to improve their financial future, it should be considered. 

There are many ways to invest, of course. You could trade in stocks and shares, invest in real estate, or build wealth using a crypto trading website. It doesn’t have to be one type of investment over another, because the general consensus is that you should diversify your investments if you can. This way, you have a greater chance of earning big money, as even if the market takes a downturn for one type of investment, you might still see an upswing in another. 

To get started (if you haven’t already), check this investing guide for beginners. Then look online for more information, as the more knowledgeable you are, the greater your chances of success.

#2: Boost your income with a side-hustle

The more money you can bring home each month, the better, right? You will then have more to put away in a savings account, and you will build your wealth from your extra income and the accumulated interest. So, consider the types of side-hustle that suit you, and do whatever is necessary to get started. 

What kind of side-hustle could you begin? Well, as we have already established, investing could be your side-hustle. You could also start an online business, sell items for a profit on eBay and other eCommerce sites, rent out a room in your home, or do one of a million other things, as there are loads of ideas online. We discussed one passive income business idea here. Do whatever will excite you, as the more happiness you gain from your side-hustle, the more likely you are to stick with it. 

#3: Move into a better-paid career

If you can’t quite make ends meet (or put savings away) because of your current career path, it might be that a move into another career could be right for you. Admittedly, you might have to start on the bottom of the career ladder again, so you might not earn the big bucks right away. And you might have to go back to school too, be that online or offline to pick up a few new qualifications. But the rewards will be worth it because if you do choose a career path that gives you the opportunity to build wealth, you will be putting yourself on firmer financial footing. 

Here are some of the highest-paying jobs in the UK.

Finally

So, buy a lottery card if you want to. And make the occasional bet if you can afford to do so. But to make your dreams of building wealth come true, try more realistic avenues. We have suggested just a few options but continue your research online and around this website to learn more. 

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Diversify Your Investment Portfolio

November 20th, 2020 Posted in Investment, Money Tips
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One of the most sensible long-term steps you can take is to invest your money in something that has a good chance of being lucrative. If you already have one or two investments, that’s a great start. But there is a problem with only having a single investment, which is that it is much higher risk than having more than one. You should ideally have a range of investments active at any one time, so that even if one or two of them fail, you have others to fall back on. So how do you go about diversifying your investment portfolio?

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What Is Diversification?

So what exactly is diversification, and why should you make sure you are doing it? Put simply, diversification is when you add more streams to your investment portfolio. If you already have investments in gold, for instance, you might choose to add to that crypto or real estate. Any financial planner worth their salt will tell you that diversification ensures a stronger, safer economical standing, with much less risk on the whole.

Essentially, what you are doing here is blending different investments into a whole. As well as negating risk, it is also generally true that having a variety of investments yields a higher return on average.

Understanding Risk Types

When you go to diversify your portfolio, one of the best tactics is to ensure you have a balance of investments with different risk levels associated with them. It should be obvious that any kind of investment is either low risk, medium risk, high risk – or risk free. The aim is to increase your chances of landing a lucrative return with a good amount of high-risk investments – but back up those investments with a number of lower-risk and medium-risk investments too.

Exactly what balance you strike is up to you, but a good rule of thumb is to have slightly less than half of your investments in a high-risk strategy, and the remaining amount divided up between low, medium and no risk options. In this way, you are simultaneously maximising your profits and minimising your risks.

Let’s look at some of the more common investment options to consider when you want to diversify your portfolio – and discuss what risk level they are.

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Stocks

In general, stocks are considered medium-risk. A stock represents a portion of ownership of a public company. When you invest in stocks, you are hoping that the future of the company is a bright one – and as they earn more money and become more successful, your investment is going to become much more valuable too. To find good stocks to invest in, you need to think either about a business that is fairly certain – such as grocery stores – or one that looks likely to grow in the future – like AI, drones, or whatever else you might think of. Be aware: this is a medium-risk strategy, and you might lose all value you put into your stocks.

Bonds

The great thing about bonds is that they are a zero risk strategy – so there is really no reason not to invest in them if you are in a position to do so. They therefore provide a fantastic means of balancing out your higher-risk elements of the portfolio. Bonds are zero risk because they have a guarantee on them, so it’s kind of life a fixed deposit that is tradeable. As such, you are definitely going to make some return on it, even if it is small. Bear in mind that it is only government bonds that are zero risk. Investing in something like Tesla is much higher risk.

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Cryptocurrency

One of the more common forms of investment diversification in recent years is cryptocurrency, and it deserves a mention here as a possible way to make a lot of money. In general, you would probably put crypto in the medium-risk category, so it’s a great one to include if you want to both make your portfolio more potentially lucrative, but also keep relatively safe. The most famous – and still most valuable – cryptocurrency is the first one to have existed, Bitcoin, and investing in it is a simple matter of checking out the Bitcoin market performance, choosing a good time to buy some coin, and allowing it to develop value. You can also trade different cryptos, in a manner reminiscent of Forex.

Analyzing Your Portfolio

As you invest in different things, it’s important that you try to keep an eye on your portfolio as much as possible. In fact, you are going to have much more luck and chance of success if you make a point of analyzing your portfolio from time to time, and changing it up where necessary. If there is anything that isn’t bringing returns, or seems too risky, then you should think about swapping it for one of the other investments in the portfolio, and so on. Keep on top of it and don’t just let it sit there and forget about it.

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Look Out For New Opportunities

It’s also important to remember to keep your eye out for new opportunities, as ultimately you don’t really know what might be around the corner. The most successful investors in the world are those who managed to find a trend before everyone else knew about it, and capitalised on it at a good time. If you keep an eye out, you are more likely to be able to do that, and to make a lot of money in the process. If you want to make this more likely to work, you might even want to think about getting some help in the form of a professional investment advisor or trader, who can do it all for you while taking a fee for themselves. That is often a good balance to strike.

As you can see, there is plenty to consider as you try to diversify your investment portfolio, but it is absolutely worth your while and could mean that you have a much more lucrative future.

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Top 4 Collecting Hobbies That Make Good Investments

October 21st, 2020 Posted in Investment
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About 95% of British adults spend at least one working day on their hobby, and over the years, collecting special items has remained a popular hobby among many people. If you are into building collections or you would want to start, you are probably on the lookout for exciting and rare items. But did you know that some of the most popular collecting hobbies can be extremely valuable to you and help you make more money? If you have started collecting, it would be best that you hold on to it. Who knows? They might be worth a small fortune in the future. Here are some of the most valuable collecting hobbies out there today.

Top 4 Collecting Hobbies That Make Good Investments - wine cellar image
Image by Michael Wave from Pixabay

For centuries, many people have found collecting wines as a favourite pastime. Avid wine enthusiasts usually stock certain wines because they know that it might taste better in the future. But it could become a widely profitable venture if you wish; if you are interested in starting a wine collection, you should know that it is a fiercely competitive and often expensive hobby. In fact, purchasing wines to build your collection could set you back a couple of hundreds of thousands of pounds. Wine collection involves a lot of research, so be sure to consult with experts on the best kinds to buy. It might take a few years for your collection to mature, but once it is time to make some money, you can use an auction house or connect with a wine merchant to help you find buyers. 

  1. Comic Books

Collecting comic books might sound like a child’s hobby, but it is not! Many notable adults are avid comic book collectors; it is so serious that there is a body that grades comic books based on their importance. When starting a comic book collection, remember that the older the comic, the rarer it is, and therefore, the more valuable it is. For example, the first-ever Marvel comic book was auctioned off for nearly a million pounds. Thankfully, there are many comic stores to help you get started on your new collection hunt. If you are lucky, you might come across some rare editions. Ensure that you keep your collection in mint condition so that they can sell for much higher prices. 

  1. Stamps

Stamp collection is another one of the world’s most popular hobbies. The first stamp design came from England, and since then, several other countries adopted postage stamps with their unique designs. Some stamps have exciting backstories and histories, and they are great ways to learn about different locations around the world. Unique stamps can be sold for millions of pounds. Of course, like many other collectables, the rarer, the better. Collecting stamps might take a lot of time and involve a lot of travel to find the rarest pieces. But once you build a solid collection, you can have them sold off at stamp auctions for a nice profit. 

  1. Vinyl
Top 4 Collecting Hobbies That Make Good Investments - record collection
Image by BRRT from Pixabay

Vinyl records are making a huge comeback, especially as turntables are back on the market, and many young people have taken an interest in building a selection. If you already have a couple of them lying around, perhaps it is time to turn them into a profitable collection. Before you put them up for sale, ensure that you check your old vinyl collection condition. For the most profit, your vinyl types would have to be in mint condition, and those can sell for as high as £100,000. 

Building any collection is a fun hobby, but it is not often easy, and usually involves spending relatively large amounts of money. Nonetheless, it can be a money-making venture in the future. 

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Smart Tips For Real Estate Investors

October 6th, 2020 Posted in Investment, Property Investment
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It’s no secret that real estate is one of the better investments you can make. If you read any blog or book about the best ways to invest your money and build a healthy financial future, then it won’t be long before you see someone who’s making the case for property. But of course, while real estate can be a profitable area to invest in, it’s not as if success is guaranteed. Far from, in fact. There have been many people who have gotten themselves burned through this type of investing. To improve your chances of success, then it’s important to keep some smart tips in mind. We’ll run through a bunch below that’ll increase the likelihood that your real estate investment venture will be profitable. 

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Know the Area

There are properties all over the world, but should you invest in them, no matter where they’re located? It’s a mix of yes and no. In general, it’s best to veer towards ‘no.’ By focusing on your home area, you’ll be able to draw on extensive knowledge of the streets, homes, neighbourhoods, and other key factors that’ll determine how much you can charge for rent. However, though you’ll want to spend most of your time and energy on areas that you understand, it is possible to look at opportunities elsewhere. Or at least, you shouldn’t automatically reject a property just because it’s not in your postal code. The key thing is to conduct as much research as possible. Remember that the valuation of a property is about much more than just the condition of the house — the location plays a massive role, too. 

Your Niche 

There are different paths towards real estate success. One of the key decisions you’ll have to make is to decide how you’re going to get there. This usually begins by deciding what your real estate “niche” will be. It could be you want to rent high-end properties, homes for families, or to students. Once you’ve figured this out, you’ll need to look at the specific details and rules for the process. For example, if you’re going to rent a property to students, then you’ll need to know about HMO, or House in Multiple Occupation; a HMO guide will run you through everything you need to know. While you may want to dabble in letting properties in different areas from time to time, you’ll find that having a particular calling to one type of property rental serves you well in the long run. 

Get Your Finances Under Control

You’ll find that everything runs much more smoothly if you have a solid grasp on your finances. While there’s a lot of potential to improve your finances on a long-term basis, there’s no avoiding the fact that there can be a lot of expenses that you need to pay too. Indeed, this is something that many people overlook. It’s not just the cost of the mortgage, but also taxes, maintenance, all that stuff. One of the best gifts you can give yourself is to get the basics of accounting under your belt. You can learn this pretty quickly, yet it’ll be something that you draw upon again and again. 

Learn Some DIY

One of the best ways to keep your costs down is to learn some DIY skills. As with accounting, actually as with all things, this is something that anybody with a little time and patience can learn. The advantage of doing so is that you’ll be able to handle some of the jobs related to your property yourself, rather than having to hire someone else to do everything. Of course, the big jobs like the electrics and things should always be left to others, unless you’re specifically trained in those fields. But the non-dangerous jobs? They should be done by you. As well as saving money, it’ll also just save time, since you won’t need to go through the process of finding someone to do the work for you. 

Work with the Best 
You can’t build anything truly special on your own. You’ll always need other people, to varying degrees. While it can feel as if investing in property is something that you do on your own, the truth is that you’ll likely have to call upon others from time to time. And not only have to, but actually want to — it’s in your best interests. There are two specific areas where you should focus on bringing in the best people possible. One is with the jobs you need to be done. This is maybe less about “the best” (unless you’re renting high-end properties), more about finding trustworthy people. For the professional roles, such as your financial advisors, you will want to find the best that you can afford, since their expertise can make a big difference.

Smart Tips For Real Estate Investors - money growing over time image
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Rainy Day Funds 

One of the tougher aspects of becoming a landlord is maintaining cash-flow. There can be many surprise expenses that can cause complications if you’re not ready for them. The smartest way to prep yourself is to build a rainy day fund, a stockpile of cash that you can use as and when it’s required. 

Screening Tenants 

Not all tenants will be good ones. You can prevent many headaches and complications by coming up with a screening process that puts high-quality candidates into your properties. 

Treat It Like a Business

Finally, remember that if you’re going to find long-term success with your real estate journey, then it’s important that you take it seriously. If you treat it as a small side hobby, then there can’t be too many surprises if it doesn’t turn out well. Treat it like a business, on the other hand, and you’ll have the correct frame of mind for success.

Conclusion

As we said at the beginning of the blog, real estate investing can be profitable, but success is far from guaranteed. It’s really important to follow the best practices; they will be your best defence against the pitfalls and dangers of real estate investing.

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Why are bitcoins considered to be the safest?

September 21st, 2020 Posted in Investment
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In the world of digital currencies, Bitcoins is playing a significant role in shaping the future of every Nation and also the economy. There are a lot of people that have already started investing in this digital currency and have doubled up their assets. Bitcoin trading is pretty new; however, most countries are now taking a step forward to legalize cryptocurrencies. 

With this, most traders are moving from the traditional method of trading like shares and stock markets towards the Bitcoin trading, you can trade now

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It is mainly because of the accessibility and also the convenience that is offered through the Bitcoin trading. Traders are knowledgeable, and they understand what suits them best. With the evolution of Bitcoins, most of the traders have realized that this is one of the safest means of trading. There are several reasons why Bitcoins are considered the safest means of trading, and in this article, we have explained all of them in detail.

  • The complete control is with the trader.

Unlike the other forms of trading in the Bitcoin trading method, the user is in complete control of their account. Traders do not have to depend upon any third-party middleman or a broker to keep the funds safe.

Everything is pretty transparent in this kind of trading. Since all the transactions are also available to every member registered on the blockchain technology, there is no need to have any third person maintaining the account. 

When someone else is introduced to maintain your trading account, it becomes quite vulnerable as they would have access to all your account details. There are high risks involved with the others taking control of your account. In the Bitcoin technology, this problem can be eliminated. Thus, it becomes one of the safest modes of trading.

  • Not many of them know about digital currencies.

This is one of the recent trading forms that have come into the market just 7 to 8 years ago. This is one of the most significant advantages of blockchain technology because not many people are introduced to this trading form. With this, the security of trading is also high. Since it is based on technology, it is quite difficult to crack the user name and other details, unlike any other trading forms. 

  • It has got nothing to do with the financial institutions.

Suppose you invest in shares or the stock market. In that case, the rise and the fall are entirely dependent on the government authorities are the financial institutions that are controlling the share market. When you start investing in Bitcoins, this problem would also be eliminated because the blockchain technology is a separate entity altogether, and it is independent of any other financial organization. With this, one can easily understand that the rise in the trading market’s fall has nothing to do with any other institutions or authorities.

  • High levels of encryption

There are different levels of encryption that is involved in the Bitcoin trading system. Everything is technology-oriented, and it is easily hackable; the application is completely safe and secure. The passwords and user details are completely machine-driven. As it does not involve any other person in between, it becomes extremely safe and one of the trading system’s convenient modes.

  • Comes with the private key

The traditional form of trading also has started launching themselves into the online field these days, and they also have specific applications to maintain the trading system, precisely like Bitcoin technology. The significant differences between the traditional and the Bitcoin trading methods are the public and the private key. Bitcoin technology has two kinds of keys, out of which the private key holds a lot of significance. If the user happens to lose the personal key details, it becomes tough for them to access their account, unlike the traditional trading form.

There is no option of forgetting the password if the user’s private key details are forgotten, and the account gets blocked completely. This is one of the most significant advantages of security that you can get on the Bitcoin technology and other trading forms.

These are some of the primary reasons why Bitcoin technology seems to be one of the safest trading methods.

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