“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital”-Joe Paterno

This quote applies just as much to your financial future as it does to the game of football. Creating a sound financial plan requires careful preparation. Taking the time to prepare and then working your plan will increase your likelihood of financial success.

Here are some considerations when preparing your financial plan:

1. Income- What are your streams of income? Is there an opportunity to add an additional stream? Is there a risk of losing an income stream?

2. Expenses- Know where your money is going. Is there a place you can reduce expense, understand where you can cut costs.

3. Taxes- Plan for smart decisions that will take advantage of current tax laws.

Carefully consider these three areas before finalizing your plan. Once you have a plan work it. Sticking to your plan will keep you from making mistakes that can keep you from winning the “money game”.

For many people personal finance is a difficult competency to master. Setting goals, making action plans, and using checklists are some great tools to help you master personal finance.

One of the best tools to you can use to asses your weak points are checklists. Many of us that use checklists find ourselves rewriting them after scribbles and scratch-outs. We then find ourselves writing some of the same things over and over again that have never been scratched off our lists. When writing your personal finance action plan those are the areas you need to focus on first.

Start taking ownership of your weakest areas. Spend time improving your skill until you find that you are no longer skipping over that item on your “to do” list. Continue the process until you have eliminated all of your weak areas and become a master of personal finance.

Technorati Tags: personal finance, finance

It is time for you to get paid what you are worth! You know how much you are worth to your organization but how do you let them know you should be earning more. For many people asking for a raise is a difficult experience but if you go in with a plan chances are you will be successful.

Note: I have never turned down a reasonable request for a raise when the employee is in good standing, shows a measurable benefit to the organization, merits a raise and the organizations is financially healthy.

1. Know what you want- How much will you be asking for? Will you be asking for increased salary, more vacation, flex-time or a company car. Be sure to know what you want and don’t be afraid to ask for a little bit more.

2. Know what you are worth- Knowledge is the key to successfully asking for a raise, What is the typical salary for your position, experience, education, and training? Know how much it would cost the organization to replace you. Know how much more revenue you generate or how much money you save.

3. Know who to approach- Be sure you are approaching the right person. Approaching your bosses boss may not be the best approach. Start with your direct supervisor and work from there. If there are any questions of who to approach your HR department can help you find the right person.

4. Be sure the timing is right- The best time to ask for a raise is when you are on top and performing well. If you just landed a big account or increased revenue for you department your value may never be higher.

5. Prepare to ask- Know exactly what you are asking for and how. Be sure to rehearse before you ask. Note: I cannot tell you how many times employees have come in unprepared to ask for a raise. Typically resulting in getting less than they could have received.

6. Prepare for a no- When asking for a raise there is a chance you will hear no. This does not always mean no to everything just what you asked for. Be prepared with alternatives such as more vacation, flex time, or a company car.

Technorati Tags: worth, earning, raise, increased salary

Saving for college can be one of the most challenging financial goals. It is important to take advantage of every opportunity to put extra money into your child’s college fund. Take advantage of the opportunites provided at Upromise. It is free to join and you can earn extra money for college from purchases you are already making.
Upromise allows families to automatically save money for college while making everyday purchases. Upromise’s partners include Citi, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil Corporation, Kimberly-Clark, McDonald’s, JCPenney.com, LandsEnd.com, Sears.com, and hundreds of others.

Upromise also makes it easy for families to invest in tax-advantaged college savings plans and to use contribution to pay off student loans.

Technorati Tags: Saving, college, financial

How safe and secure is your financial information? Where do you store your important account numbers and passwords? Where do you keep the originals of documents such as deeds and insurance policies? These are questions that many people find themselves asking after it is already to late. So what can you do to protect your important financial information and your future?

The key to protecting your financial data is redundancy. The more secure places that you can store your financial data the less risk you have.

1. Gather all of your important documents including deeds and insurance policies.
2. Make copies of your important documents and send them to a trusted relative. (Someone who will store your documents and keep them secure)
3. Store the original documents in a waterproof and fireproof safe or a safety deposit box.
4. Back up all your important electronic data on a password protected USB flash drive.

PRIVACY DRIVE - 2GB High Speed USB Flash Drive 2.0 W/Portable Vault Software

It only takes a few hours to protect your financial future against any natural disaster. If you are not prepared a natural disaster may turn into a financial one.

Gordon Gekko in Wall Street said “The point is ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for the lack of a better word is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed in all its forms; greed for life, greed for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind”.

Is greed good? Greed and fear are the two emotions that are the biggest factor of failure for many stock traders. Greed and fear affect every level of stock trader from the novice to the guru. Greed leads to staying in a stock pick too long and trying gain profits that will never be there. Fear will lead traders to exiting a stock pick before their price hits, missing out on the true potential of a stock. The best stock traders are able to eliminate these emotions and capture profits and limit losses. Eliminating greed and fear is a difficult task that take practice and a good system. Developing a strong swing trade system will take time, however there are many great resources available to help you save time and money. Here are some strategies to eliminate greed and fear to ensure that you see a steady profit from your stock picks.

* Pick the right stocks at the right time

o The best stock picks for a swing trader are those with a high trading volume and have a wide range of fluctuation between high and low extremes.

* Pre-determine the point when you will enter a trade

o An entry point should be selected as a stock is moving in a downward direction and is ready to reverse towards a positive direction in a few days to a few weeks.

* Pre-determine your exit point o An exit point should be identified that takes the maximum profit of a stock with out being overly aggressive.

* Pre-determine a stop loss to minimize losses o Set a stop loss based on the amount of risk you are willing and able to take in any stock pick.

* Consider using a stock pick service to assist you in picking stocks and developing your strategy

o There are many professionals who spend countless hours developing effective strategies and selecting the best potential stock picks. Use there expertise to improve your ability to earn profits while swing trading. Let someone else spend their time and money perfecting a swing trade strategy.

Trade and stick with your stock pick strategy. Follow your strategy and you will see steady profits from your stock picks. Setting a realistic exit price and a risk reducing stop loss will eliminate the greed and fear factor that trap many traders. When setting you personal swing trade strategy remember that you can only earn as much as the market is willing to give you and be ready to cut your losses. The most successful swing traders will follow their predetermined strategy and ignore their gut.