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Is Your Advisor Giving You The Information Needed To
Succeed? - Investment Options
How soon would you want to know if your investment
advisor wasn't telling you about the three major
investment types? If you've only heard of two - Variable
and Fixed, then you may have a problem. Unfortunately,
many investment advisors routinely fail to present all
three types: Variable, Fixed, and Indexed as valid
investment choices to their clients. This is normally
because they are unable to offer all three options or
they have a personal dislike for one or more of these
investment types. So what is the difference in these
investment types and what do the terms mean? The
simplest answer is that these terms define how interest
is earned on your investment. More specifically, it tells
you
how your money is invested and if your money is
protected from market fluctuations. Let's take a look at
these various investment options.
A Variable investment is one where your money is
typically invested in stocks or mutual funds. The
performance of these stocks or funds varies and is not
guaranteed - hence the term "variable investment."
Variable investments have many key benefits. They
allow you to earn interest by investing in a single
company (individual stock), multiple companies, or a
specific segment of the market (mutual funds). You can
even invest in an entire Index like the Dow Jones or S&P
500. Also, variable investments allow for the greatest
return and historically have outpaced all other
investment options. Sounds pretty good, right? It is, as
long as you have the tolerance to lose money as well.
The
volatility of variable investments is a major concern for
many investors. The "upside" or growth potential is
nearly unlimited, unfortunately so is the "downside" or
risk of losing money. One other adverse factor that
Variable investments face is the cost. Most have either
fees or loads associated with the underlying
investments. These fees or loads can reduce the
performance by as much as 3.5%, although 1-2% is more
common. These fees or loads are applied even in down
years so it is definitely something to consider.
Investors needn't worry about the fact that some high
yield investment programs fall apart, because it's like
any business, some succeed, and some fail. It's up to the
investor to do his or her research about any one
program and decide if it meets all the safe investing
criteria. The thing about an HYIP program is that it can
be here today and gone tomorrow if people stop
investing, which is where a lot of the risk comes from
when you invest in this type of program. But, if you get
in on the ground level and pull out when things don't
seem to be going quite as well, you can still make an
extraordinary amount of money in a rather small
amount of time.
High yield investment programs really took off with the
introduction of electronic currencies such as e-gold. The
reason for this is that investors can buy their electronic
funds immediately and start investing right away. Often,
these e-currencies can be purchased at a great rate as
well, making them doubly attractive to investors. Once
an investor begins to earn, he or she can cash out any
time and will be paid in e-currency, which is then traded
in for a cash value. Electronic currencies really brought
the HYIP world to the investment forefront because it
made the programs even easier to follow and interact
with.
The maximum interest earned provides "upside"
potential while at the same time eliminating "downside"
risk. In essence, it is like having the growth potential of a
Variable investment with the "downside" protection of a
Fixed investment. There is however a trade-off. An
option, sometimes referred to as a call or put option,
provides investment returns (interest earned) based on
the growth of a specific market Index like the S&P 500 or
Dow Jones. The option allows for lower initial costs, a
pre-determined strategy for establishing current and
future interest crediting, and ensures that money can't
be lost due to market fluctuations. The option also caps
(limits) upside potential or growth.
Many opponents of Indexed investments point to this
limiting of growth, especially in years were the Index or
stock market exceeds the Index (option) cap or
participation rates, as the Achilles heel of these
products. There is also some controversy over the way
the Index rate is determined in future years. While
Indexed products do have a minimum cap and
participation rate that is known for the entire term
period, the current or maximum cap and participation
rates normally reset on an annual basis. This makes it
difficult to determine what will happen in subsequent
years. Some advisors avoid these products claiming that
the difference between the current and minimum rates
creates client
confusion. No matter which type of investment you
choose, it is important to get the facts and options
available for each. Each of the investment choices
outlines provides different advantages that need to be
weighed against their disadvantages, however they all
have different uses and can all be viable choices when
planning your financial future. As always, it is important
to consult your "Financial Professional" to find out
which of these investment choices is right for you.
http://pennystockprophet.com/?hop=make72

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Is Your Advisor Giving You The Information Needed To Succeed? - Investment Options

  • 1. Is Your Advisor Giving You The Information Needed To Succeed? - Investment Options
  • 2. How soon would you want to know if your investment advisor wasn't telling you about the three major investment types? If you've only heard of two - Variable and Fixed, then you may have a problem. Unfortunately, many investment advisors routinely fail to present all three types: Variable, Fixed, and Indexed as valid investment choices to their clients. This is normally because they are unable to offer all three options or they have a personal dislike for one or more of these investment types. So what is the difference in these investment types and what do the terms mean? The simplest answer is that these terms define how interest is earned on your investment. More specifically, it tells you
  • 3. how your money is invested and if your money is protected from market fluctuations. Let's take a look at these various investment options.
  • 4. A Variable investment is one where your money is typically invested in stocks or mutual funds. The performance of these stocks or funds varies and is not guaranteed - hence the term "variable investment." Variable investments have many key benefits. They allow you to earn interest by investing in a single company (individual stock), multiple companies, or a specific segment of the market (mutual funds). You can even invest in an entire Index like the Dow Jones or S&P 500. Also, variable investments allow for the greatest return and historically have outpaced all other investment options. Sounds pretty good, right? It is, as long as you have the tolerance to lose money as well. The
  • 5. volatility of variable investments is a major concern for many investors. The "upside" or growth potential is nearly unlimited, unfortunately so is the "downside" or risk of losing money. One other adverse factor that Variable investments face is the cost. Most have either fees or loads associated with the underlying investments. These fees or loads can reduce the performance by as much as 3.5%, although 1-2% is more common. These fees or loads are applied even in down years so it is definitely something to consider.
  • 6. Investors needn't worry about the fact that some high yield investment programs fall apart, because it's like any business, some succeed, and some fail. It's up to the investor to do his or her research about any one program and decide if it meets all the safe investing criteria. The thing about an HYIP program is that it can be here today and gone tomorrow if people stop investing, which is where a lot of the risk comes from when you invest in this type of program. But, if you get in on the ground level and pull out when things don't seem to be going quite as well, you can still make an extraordinary amount of money in a rather small amount of time.
  • 7. High yield investment programs really took off with the introduction of electronic currencies such as e-gold. The reason for this is that investors can buy their electronic funds immediately and start investing right away. Often, these e-currencies can be purchased at a great rate as well, making them doubly attractive to investors. Once an investor begins to earn, he or she can cash out any time and will be paid in e-currency, which is then traded in for a cash value. Electronic currencies really brought the HYIP world to the investment forefront because it made the programs even easier to follow and interact with.
  • 8. The maximum interest earned provides "upside" potential while at the same time eliminating "downside" risk. In essence, it is like having the growth potential of a Variable investment with the "downside" protection of a Fixed investment. There is however a trade-off. An option, sometimes referred to as a call or put option, provides investment returns (interest earned) based on the growth of a specific market Index like the S&P 500 or Dow Jones. The option allows for lower initial costs, a pre-determined strategy for establishing current and future interest crediting, and ensures that money can't be lost due to market fluctuations. The option also caps (limits) upside potential or growth.
  • 9. Many opponents of Indexed investments point to this limiting of growth, especially in years were the Index or stock market exceeds the Index (option) cap or participation rates, as the Achilles heel of these products. There is also some controversy over the way the Index rate is determined in future years. While Indexed products do have a minimum cap and participation rate that is known for the entire term period, the current or maximum cap and participation rates normally reset on an annual basis. This makes it difficult to determine what will happen in subsequent years. Some advisors avoid these products claiming that the difference between the current and minimum rates creates client
  • 10. confusion. No matter which type of investment you choose, it is important to get the facts and options available for each. Each of the investment choices outlines provides different advantages that need to be weighed against their disadvantages, however they all have different uses and can all be viable choices when planning your financial future. As always, it is important to consult your "Financial Professional" to find out which of these investment choices is right for you.