Finance

  Do you have a plan for your future? The answer is most likely a quick YES! Does that plan include a financial plan (a budget to control your spending, saving and dictate your invesments)? The answer more likely a NO!  Many make plans for the future without including a financial plan in them. Why do they ignore this all important map and means to get to their goals? It's most probably because they don't have a financial literacy.  What is financial literacy? Financial literacy is the acquisition of at least,  a basic financial knowledge that helps you to know how to fill your needs, spend responsibly and still set aside (save) a portion of your income for the future.  Why is it important to save a portion of your income? So that you can have a significant portion of capital that may be required to invest, grow and secure a lifetime financial stability Also for the sake of the protection of your investments (and your entire personal finance) against future risks...

What are marketable securities as a short term investment option? First, what are marketable securities? Many businesses prefer to invest most of their liquid resources in marketable resources instead of keeping them in idle cash. Businesses prefer holding a greater portion of their liquid resources in this form, because marketable securities can be easily and quickly bought or sold (they are highly liquid, that is, easily converted into cash) at quoted market prices daily, on securities exchanges.     Marketable securities consist basically of bonds and common stock of publicly owned companies. Investments in marketable securities yield returns in the form of interest and dividends.  When marketable securities are bought, how is the purchase price calculated? ABC Company makes a short term investment by buying 10,000 shares of the common stock of XYC Company at $0.35 per share. ABC also pays a brokerage commission of $500. The purchase price is $4,000 (10,000 x $0.3...

  What Is Inflation? Inflation reduces the purchasing power of money (purchasing power, the quantity of goods bought by an amount of money).  Inflation reduces the purchasing power of money in a growing economy by triggering rising prices of consumer goods and services. `A slow and steady rising of prices caused by an inflation rate of at about 2% is okay. But when the rate rises faster, sometimes to double digits, then it can have a negative impact on personal financial management. For instance, as a consumer, you would be time consuming to compare and determine best prices to get goods and services at a given moment. How is inflation measured? Inflation is measured by using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCI) tools.  The Consumer Price Index tracks prices for individual goods and services which households are buying.  The Personal Consumption Expenditures, PCE, tracks changes in prices of consumer goods and services which ...

 First, what is cash flow> Cash flow is defined as an increase or decrease in an amount of cash. And what is cash? Cash is defined as ‘cash held  in hand’ and any deposits repayable on demand with banks and any other qualifying financial institution, less overdrafts from a bank and any qualifying institution, repayable on demand.  What then is the difference between break- even analysis and payback period on the basis of cash flow? The term break-even analysis as commonly used, does not capture the true meaning of the interrelationships it explores. Break-even analysis is not only concerned with the level of activity which produces the break-even point (where neither profit nor loss is produced). It is more concerned with how costs and profits behave at other levels. This is why the alternative term. Cost-volume-profit (c-v-p) is often used.  Break-even analysis or c-v-p analysis is relied upon for short term planning and decision making. It uses principles of mar...

House (asset) rich, cash poor is a product of you putting most of your wealth (equity) in real estate that's difficult to convert into cash.  Investing in real estate is a good financial decision but it may constitute a problem if you don't have sufficient liquid cash in the pocket and bank to maintain your lifestyle and, pay short term debts as they mature. Being house rich, cash poor is an uncomfortable position where the struggle to hold onto real estate would cause you to keep on postponing, enjoying the benefits of being a homeowner. To solve this problem, you striking a balance between your real estate asset and your liquid assets (top among them is cash) is necessary. This stability would translate into having sufficient funds in your savings or checking accounts to settle current liabilities as they fall due. Apart from cash, other highly liquid assets are stocks and bonds, but it's more complicated to convert them into cash.

  Why should you be bothered about nterest rates? "Interest rates are to asset prices what gravity is to the apple. When there are low interest rates, there is a very low gravitational pull on asset prices." - Warren Buffett. Prices of assets, cost of borrowing and rewards for savings are tied to the rise, fall and stability of interest rates. Interest rate for borrowing (cost of borrowing) is the percentage of the loan amount. The higher this percentage is, the more the interest to be paid back in addition to the principal.. At lower interest rates, borrowing to buy big assets is more attractive than borrowing to aave.  At lower savings rate, a percentage of savings paid into a savings account is less than at higher savings rate. So, it makes more sense to borrow to spend and buy assets rather than borrow to save and be rewarded with low interests. At lower interest rates, spenders pay less interest and have more money to increase their spendings on consumer goods. This lead...