The Worst Things you can do With Your Money

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Money moves that you think sound great at the time can actually end up being big mistakes. Bottom line is, there are many potential investment opportunities for you to select from, but many don’t give you a rate of return that’s in line with your goals of retirement. In fact, many can’t even keep up with the inflation rate, so you won’t even make money on the deal.

Let the voice of reason guide you in your investments, and heed these warnings about the top worst things you can do with your money.

Investing too conservatively: This is one of the worst offenses. You may want to just dip your toes in the investing waters, but you may be taking it too safe with CDs, bonds and the like. Take an average CD, for example, which will give you a return of maybe one percent a year. With bonds, you could probably eke out about two percent. Of course, checking accounts are the worst, giving you not much better than a half percentage point. Inflation is about two percent right now, so you can see you won’t be making any money with these options.

Purchasing annuities: People hear that they can get a regular cash disbursement for the rest of their lives, so they go with annuities. However, this is something insurance companies offer their customers as a consumer investment product that can provide either regular fixed-income payouts (a fixed annuity) or variable payouts based on the performance of the underlying investments, according to The Motley Fool. The investments in fixed-income securities can’t keep up with the inflation rate, meaning you lose money in the long run. On top of that, you’ll pay large commissions and annual maintenance fees.

Helping others out: While your parental protective instincts will kick into overdrive when your adult children ask you to bail them out of a dire financial situation, take a moment to think that over. If you are well off and have the means to do so without compromising your own retirement, good for you. However, if your own retirement account is modest at best, keep your interests at heart and decline helping family and friends. Your children are young enough that they can recover, earn degrees for more earning power, get better jobs, and eventually get back on their own feet. If you are already in retirement and use a good portion of it to help them out, what are you left with? You could live another 30 years. How will you live it?

Chasing high-yield stocks: While high-dividend stocks can form a solid part of your portfolio, going after a stock because of its past performance and high yield is foolish. Always do your research to determine the sustainability of the dividend payout and the business model.

Of course, the top mistake you can make is not protecting your investments by letting a stock broker handle everything while you turn a blind eye. Stock fraud happens all too commonly in this country, which is why you need a securities lawyer on your side.

 

Life of Elon Musk

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Elon Musk is probably one of the greatest inventor and entrepreneur of our generation. It is rare to find a quality inventor or a quality entrepreneur. It is much rarer to find both the qualities in one man. Elon Musk is one of those rare persons who have successful at both the qualities. He has been super successful at both the things. Musk was born in South Africa and has lived in three countries, Canada and US. From his childhood days Mush showed a tremendous amount of interest in computers and engineering. Computers were in their early evolution stage and that made them easy for young Musk to tackle. Musk has mastered the art of computer programming in his very early childhood. He created a basic based video which he later on sold for $500 to a PC magazine. This acted as big confidence booster for Elon Musk.

Elon Musk’s prodigy got him accepted in the Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Only after two years of undergraduate study at Queen’s University, Musk got transferred to University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from there in Physics. Musk has been a serial entrepreneur all through his life. Soon after he graduated from the university, he founded a software company called Zip2. He borrowed $28000 from his father to start the operations of this company. The impressed many by it’s outstand and innovative products and was ultimately bought over by Compaq for $ 328 million. Musk received a handsome $22 million from the proceeds. This emboldened his imagination. He was now ready for his next bigger and bolder move.

PayPal was Musk’s next move. He actually acquired the PayPal business model by merging his company X-com with Confinity, which originally owned PayPal. Musk owned 11% of the merged entity. He pocketed a $ 165 million from the sale of PayPal to eBay.

Musk’s next venture was literally futuristic. He planned to plant an organic colony on Mars. Musk’s vision was to expand existence of human kind beyond earth. Currently majority of Musk’s time is going in his most cherished venture- Tesla. Tesla is in the business of electric cars. It has been responsible for the vast improvements that electric cars have made in recent years. Tesla has made electric cars a reality. Tesla cars have vastly improved the performance of electric cars. They need less charging and can go for longer distances.

Consider These Things when Looking for a Clean Business Water Supplier

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A constant water supply is always a top concern among homeowners. In some parts of the world, clean and potable water is not always something easy to find or get which is why you should consider yourself lucky if you always have fresh water to drink.

When moving to a new place and it happens that your current provider is not servicing that area, it can be quite challenging for homeowners to find the best water suppliers that they can trust and won’t charge an arm or leg for their services. However, with a little patience, you will be able to find the best after following this mini-guide.

First of all, water suppliers are companies that provide water only for general domestic use. Water suppliers are required to supply you continuously with water that you need for everyday use, at an adequate pressure. The water they supply should be fit for drinking and must have undergone stringent testing for safety and quality.

In order to find the best water suppliers, you need to check what suppliers service the area you will be moving to. If the choices are many, you can always avail of the free services moving companies offer these days which involve taking care of connecting you with the best suppliers: http://watt.co.uk/utilities/business-water-suppliers/ in the area so you don’t have to spend so much time on the phone.

What these companies require is information like your postcode and they will in turn, provide you with a list of relevant providers in that area. While it is highly unlikely that you won’t have any water at your new home, if the account isn’t changed to your name, you can be charged for the previous tenants’ usage. These moving companies will also take care of transferring the account in your name so you only get charged for your usage.

Another thing you have to understand is that these supplier’s charges and rates will vary depending on the location and the availability of a water supply. When you contact your preferred suppliers, make sure you get their charges and rates so you can compare each one to get the best deals.

As far as what to look for in water suppliers, your suppliers need to explain what your water rates cover which will depend on whether or not you use a water meter. Some homeowners have switched to having water meters installed as this appears to be a cheaper alternative as you pay only for the units of water you use.

When regular maintenance is performed, there is less chance of a breakdown. However, should any repairs be needed, the water company should have a team of experienced technicians with water hygiene certification and extensive training to run service calls in a timely manner.

And lastly, this leads us to recommend that you inquire about the unit charges for water supply before you sign any legally binding contract. You should also inquire about payment options, rebates and discounts, their level of customer service and cancellation fees if you decide to end your contract early and about where they get the water they supply as well.

Here’s How You Can Deliver an Irresistible Business Pitch

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Once you have laid out your business plan, the most challenging, and honestly terrifying, parts of getting a start-up business going is getting an investor. Investors receive dozens of business pitches every single day, so the trepidation in starting your own search for an investor is quite understandable. For this reason, we try to inch our way into it rather than plunging in. For instance, if you are an Australian company, one of the first things you might do is to sign up for the ASIC search. This will enable both potential investors and customers to easily seek out information about your start-up.

But that just reduces the vetting time your investors will do to find out if you are a worthy investment; it will still boil down to your pitch and how you have delivered it. Here we will talk about how you can deliver an unforgettable pitch, one that investors will surely find irresistible.

Do not take too much time with the delivery

Never too much time when delivering your pitch, because it then becomes tedious to listen to. It is important to be concise so you can allow them to ask questions afterward. It would be best to include only the nature of the business and why it was conceived; other information will be filled in with their questions. Be confident while speaking in front of them; remember that you know your business inside and out; you have all the information for any question they will throw at you.

Try to create a narrative for it

One way to make a pitch less boring or more unique is to tell your pitch as if you are telling a story. A narrative will almost always catch people’s attention, and it is no different in the dragon’s den.

Hit important points in your pitch

Other than keeping your pitch concise, another way to show investors that you appreciate them for taking their time with you is to mention these things in your pitch during the time they have allotted for you:

  • What is the product and what is so unique about it
  • Target market and how you go about attracting them
  • Revenue model being adapted

Avoid talking endlessly about the product, just limit it to what it is and what problem it is addressing. Hit these points and your investor will definitely show interest.

Show enthusiasm

This is your business and you want it to succeed, there is not any kind of motivation that is better than that. So show that same enthusiasm to the investors so that they can see how passionate you are in starting this.

Keep these important things in mind when you are writing your first investment pitch, and for sure you will get an offer in no time.

Digital Marketing is the key in e-Commerce in China

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Rising interest for outside items, new stages, and a push by the administration are moving the pattern.

As wages have ascended in China, its customers have ventured up their buys of imported merchandise. Yet, now, eager for the most recent items and better costs, they can purchase specifically from outside retailers and providers at the snap of a mouse or the swipe of a screen. Cross-outskirt buyer web based business added up to an expected 259 billion renminbi ($40 billion) in 2015, more than 6 percent of China’s aggregate customer online business, and it’s developing at upward of 50 percent every year. The nation’s significant internet business webpage, Alibaba’s Tmall, has moved into the market with a cross-fringe website (Tmall Worldwide), as have littler customer opponents and new businesses, while US web based business pioneer Amazon is progressively dynamic in China.

Various variables are filling the cross-outskirt incline (show). Chinese center and upper-white collar class customers are hoping to exchange up to remote garments and devices not yet accessible in China, and they like the specialty offerings that conventional “blocks or snaps” traders once in a while offer. Abroad imports bought through such channels, in addition, are frequently costly: for instance, infant recipe from abroad, famous with well-to-do Chinese guardians, regularly costs up to twice as much as a similar item in the Assembled States or Europe. Customers on cross-outskirt online business destinations additionally feel some level of insurance from fake or fake products that frequently go for seaward brands, especially in second-level urban areas and rustic ranges.
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Government activity is capable, as well. With an end goal to stem unlawful dim market imports, China has made a good postal obligation of 10 to 50 percent for an expansive rundown of individual utilize things—now and again as meager as a large portion of the typical one. (Obligation expenses of under 50 renminbi are ordinarily postponed.) Eight Chinese urban areas have set up exchange zones meeting all requirements for this duty administration, with more prone to do as such, and internet business players have moved to accelerate the freedom of products through traditions. Built up coordinations administrators are building new conveyance channels to deal with the extending exchange. Fengqu.com another web based business turn off from SF Express, is one illustration.
Quick development and rising rivalry are impelling unions and new procedures. Tmall Worldwide has pulled in major outside retailers, for example, US-based Costco and South Korea’s Lotte Bazaar, to its cross-fringe site. Amazon not just as of late opened its seaward shopping destinations to Chinese customers additionally offers clients of its Chinese site (Amazon.cn) a rundown of chose outside items with Chinese-dialect depictions and details.
This article is a piece of our arrangement, China Beat, which conveys knowledge into how digitization is reshaping China.

source :

  1. Digital e-Commerce agency 
  2. McKingley
  3. Daxue Consulting