3 Tips to Help Increase Return on Investment

In today’s tight economy, small businesses need to reassess their marketing strategies for 2009, says marketing expert Scott Severson, president of Minnesota-based marketing services company ARAnet.”Particularly in a tough climate like this one, the most effective companies are the ones that are taking a hard look at their campaigns and measuring exactly what their marketing dollars are delivering,” Severson says. It’s more critical than ever to utilize cost-effective tactics that deliver measurable results, says Severson, whose company manages marketing programs for clients across the country.

“Small businesses don’t need a big budget to make a significant impact,” Severson says, and offers these tips to squeeze the greatest return on investment out of a marketing campaign:

1. Save on services. If you’re working with a limited budget, consider tackling marketing projects where you can get others to do the writing for you cost-effectively. For example, some article-distribution services will not only distribute “brand storytelling” releases about your brand or products to thousands of newspapers and websites, but write them, as well, according to Severson.

2. Seek out value. Look into using tactics that provide added value to deliver more bang for the marketing buck.

3. Measure your marketing program. Set clear and measurable goals at the outset, then use the data generated by your campaign to assess which tactics are working — and which aren’t. “Ask yourself the tough questions,” Severson says. “Are your tactics meeting your success metrics? Are you achieving your allowable cost goals? Learn from each effort, and use the data you gather to improve your marketing.”

Useful Essentials of Annuity Investment

Annuity investment is a good way to choose in order to produce a long-term income flow. Along with the long-term income stream, lots of people who are concerned about their tax posture turn to an annuity investment program. Annuity investments take a longer time than some other forms of investment. People who are looking for shorter term investments may not want to use annuities as their primary option, or perhaps not at all. It is highly recommended to check with a financial adviser you trust as annuity investments may be difficult.

Let’s start with that annuities are funded by a pool that is contributed to by many investors. The sum of money investor contributes to the pool is called a “premium”. How much each person’s premium is would be spelled out in the annuity investment contract which can be difficult and here you will probably need financial advisor’s help. There are also some others fees, for example administrative fees that, along with any other fees, are paid to the financial institution or insurance company that will administer the annuity. These companies invest the money from the pool and generate a profit and you would get a portion of the profit.

There are some of the other details specified in the annuity investment contract and they are referred to so-called “the life” of the contract which includes the period of time you would make payments into the funding pool and the period of time the annuity investment would pay you in the future. As concerning the payment, or payout, can be payments to you over a defined period of time. It should be pointed out that payout can also be a lump sum if the contract provides for a one-time payment.

Another important thing to mention is that the annuity contract will determine how long you will pay premiums and how many premiums you will be responsible for paying the fund administrator. The amount of money your annuity investment is worth is a combination of premiums that have accumulated, plus the amount of money the pool has earned, minus any administrative fees that have been paid out of the pool.

You can have the possibility to take money out of your accumulated value prior to the payout period actually starting with some annuity investments. Certainly, this decreases the value available to you when the program does reach the payout phase. You should also be aware that the contract is cancelled in the case that you withdraw all of your accumulated value of the annuity investment pool prior to the payout period. Keep in mind that taking any amount of money prior to the payout period you may be subjected to certain charges, such as “surrender charges”. You must also know that the earlier you withdraw money from the funding pool, the more likely it is you will erode your investment long-term.

The truth about annuities is very simple – you need to understand annuities before you decide on annuity investments. It means you to get answers to a few basic questions: “How is the investment administrator going to earn the interest for the annuity investment fund pool?” “What charges or fees (load) you will be responsible for with the specific annuity investment contract you are considering?” “How much the annuity will pay you at the payout phase?” “How long is it going to take to see the payout phase?” “How much are the premiums and how often are they paid by you and how are they paid?”

It is valuable to make sure the annuity investment plan payout is the amount and at the time you need. Simply saying, you should check that it meets your goals. You should also check out the company that will administer your annuity investment (pay a special attention to their history in terms of earnings generated, license, check carefully whether the annuity contract allows you the freedom you want in terms of early withdrawals).

Annuity investments may be just for you especially in the case that you are looking for a long-term investment with a guaranteed stream of income for a specific goal (education retirement). Another reason to choose annuities investments is an appropriate way for those who want to reduce their current tax burden by deferring some of their taxable income.

The Intelligent Investor

The most distinguishing trait of Buffet's investment philosophy is the clear understanding that, by owning shares of stock, he owns businesses, not pieces of paper. The idea of buying stock without understanding the company's operating functions - including a company's products and services, capital reinvestment requirements, inventories, receivables, and working capital needs - is unconscionable, says Buffet. This mentality if reflected in the attitude of a business owner as apposed to a stock owner. In the summation of The Intelligent Investor Benjamin Graham wrote, "Investing is most intelligent when it is most businesslike." These words are, Buffet says, "the nine most important works ever written about investing."

A person who holds stocks has the choice to become the owner of a business or the bearer of tradable securities. Owners of common stocks who perceive that they merely own a piece of paper are far removed from the company's financial statements. These owners behave as if the market's ever-changing price is a more accurate reflecton of their stock's value than the businesses' balance sheet and income statement. They draw or discard stocks like playing cards. For Buffett, the activities of a common-stock holder and a businessperson are intimately connected. Both should look at ownership of a business in the same way. "I am a better investor because I am a businessman," confesses Buffett, "and a better businessman because I am an investor."

Buffett is often asked what types of companies he will purchase in the future. First, he says, he will avoid commodity businesses and managers in which he has little confidence. What he will purchase is the type of company that he understands, one that posseses good economics and i run by trustworthy managers. "A good business is not always a good purchase," Buffett says, "although it is a good place to look for one."

Protect Your Hard Earned Money

Consumers lose billions of dollars every year to investment fraud. It touches all segments of society, every level of income, and every age. Investors are lured by the promise of high returns or huge tax savings with little or no risk. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it usually is. Far too many investors plunge into investments without first investigating them. The same scams are used over and over again on people who do not take the time to check out the offers or learn the danger signs.

Understanding Real Estate Investment Tactics

Real estate investment is an incredibly complicated process. Many people think that the only major part of the entire process is the money. While this leads to many of the complexities, it is not the only important aspect of the investment itself. Understanding all of the real estate investment tactics can help you to fully understand all of the different things that need to happen with one simple investment. Knowing these tactics front and back, and matching them with experience, is the only way that you can be sure to be as successful as you dream of being.

One of the major tactics of real estate investment is the tactic of value added. Anyone who is investing in real estate will want to add value to the home. This value is something done to the home that adds to the overall value of the house. The trick of the trade is to figure out how much value can be added to a home, and how much must be spent to get that value. The best types of value added cost the least amount, but add the highest amount of value. This is a major tactic of real estate investment, as it is a way to add to the profits that you are trying to make.

Fixing up the house that you have just invested in is easily one of the best tactics for those who are trying to make money through flipping homes. By fixing up the house that you have invested in, you will be able to sell it for a higher amount. This is crucial to those who are looking to make big profits; without adding to and fixing the house, you will not be able to gain on the house, unless you have purchased in a down market and are waiting for an upswing to sell the home.

One of the tactics in real estate investment involves working with an investment partner who has gone through the process before. By working with this investment partner, you can have the experience of someone who has gone through the ordeal. While you may bring your new ideas to the table, they can help you to understand exactly what is going to be successful and worth is, and what is not going to be able to help the profitability.

While these are some of the major tactics, they are not the only tactics. These tactics are also not listed in depth. The only actually way to make sure that you are getting all of the tactics down to a science is to work with someone who has managed to be successful before. By working with a coach or professional, you can be sure that you are working toward the end result in a way that has lead to a successful investment before. Without this coach or pro, you may wind up with lost money through a poor investment.

7 GREAT investment tips for BIG returns

Equity funds, if selected in the right manner and in the right proportion, have the ability to play an important role in achieving most long-term objectives of investors in different segments. While the selection process becomes much easier if you get advice from professionals, it is equally important to know certain aspects of equity investing yourself to do justice to your hard earned money.

Knowing them and by using them in the selection process can make a big difference to the end result. Here are some important investment guidelines:

1. Know your risk profile

Before you take a decision to invest in equity funds, it is important to assess your risk tolerance. Risk tolerance depends on certain factors like emotional temperament, attitude and investment experience. Remember, while ascertaining the risk tolerance, it is crucial to consider one's desire to assume risk as the capacity to assume the risk.

It helps to understand different categories of overall risk tolerance, i.e. conservative, moderate or aggressive. While a conservative investor will accept lower returns to minimise price volatility, a moderate investor would be all right with greater price volatility than conservative risk tolerances to pursue higher returns.

An aggressive investor wouldn't mind large swings in the NAVs to seek the highest returns.

Though identifying the desire for risk is a tough job, it can be made easy by defining one's comfort zone.

2. Don't have too many schemes in your portfolio

While it is true that diversification helps in earning better returns with a lower level of fluctuations, it becomes counter productive when one has too many funds in the portfolio.

For example, if you have 15 funds in your portfolio, it does not necessarily mean that your portfolio is adequately diversified. To determine the right level of diversification, one has to consider factors like size of the portfolio, type of funds and allocation to different asset classes. Therefore, it is possible that a portfolio having 5 schemes may be adequately diversified whereas another one with 10 schemes may have very little diversification.

Remember, to have a well-balanced equity portfolio, it is important to have the right level of exposure to different segments of the equity market like large cap, mid-cap and small cap. In addition, for a decent portfolio size, it is all right to have some exposure in the sector and specialty funds.

3. Longer time horizon provides protection from volatility

As an equity fund investor, you need to understand that volatility is an integral part of the stock market. However, if you remain focused on the long-term objectives and follow a disciplined approach to investing, you can not only handle volatility properly but also turn it to your advantage.

4. Understand and analyse 'Good Performance'

'Good performance' is a subjective thing. Ideally, to analyse performance, one should consider returns as well as the risk taken to achieve those returns. Besides, consistency in terms of performance as well as portfolio selection is another factor that should play an important part while analysing the performance.

Therefore, if an investment in a mutual fund scheme takes you past your risk tolerance while providing you decent returns, it cannot always be termed as good performance. In fact, at times to ensure that your investment remains within the parameters defined in the investment plan, you may to be forced to exit from that scheme.

In other words, you need to assess as to how much risk did the fund manger subject you to, and did he give you an adequate reward for taking that risk. Besides, you also need to consider whether own risk profile allows you to accept the revised level of risk

5. Sell your fund, if you need to

There is no standard formula to determine the right time to sell an investment in mutual fund or for that matter any investment. However, you can definitely benefit by following certain guidelines while deciding to sell an investment in a mutual fund scheme. Here are some of them:

• You may consider selling a fund when your investment plan calls for a sale rather than doing so for emotional reasons.
• You need to hold a fund long enough to evaluate its performance over a complete market cycle, i.e. around three years or so. Many of us make the mistake of either holding on to funds for too long or exit in a hurry. It is important to do a thorough analysis before taking a decision to sell. In other words, if you take a wrong decision, there is always a risk of missing out on good rallies in the market or getting out too early thus missing out on potential gains.
• You should consider coming out of a fund if its performance has consistently lagged its peers for a period of one year or so.
• It doesn't make sense to hold a fund when it no longer meets your needs. If you have made a proper selection, you would generally be required to make changes only if the fund changes its objective or investment style, or if your needs change.

6. Diversified vs. Concentrated Portfolio

The choice between funds that have a diversified and a concentrated portfolio largely depends upon your risk profile. As discussed earlier, a well-diversified portfolio helps in spreading the investments across different sectors and segments of the market. The idea is that if one or more stocks do badly, the portfolio won't be affected as much.

At the same time, if one stock does very well, the portfolio won't reap all the benefits. A diversified fund, therefore, is an ideal choice for someone who is looking for steady returns over the longer term.

A concentrated portfolio works exactly in the opposite manner. While a fund with a concentrated portfolio has a better chance of providing higher returns, it also increases your chances of under performing or losing a large portion of your portfolio in a market downturn. Thus, a concentrated portfolio is ideally suited for those investors who have the capacity to shoulder higher risk in order to improve the chances of getting better returns.

7. Review your portfolio periodically

It is always a good idea to review your portfolio periodically. For example, you may begin reviewing your portfolio on a half-yearly basis. Besides, you may be required to review your portfolio in greater detail when your investments goals or financial circumstances change.

While reviewing the portfolio, you must consider the following:

• How is your portfolio performing from the viewpoint of your personal goals? Are you comfortable with the price fluctuations that may have occurred keeping in view your short term, medium term and long-term goals?
• How are your investments performing compared with others in the same category? It is important as for example, a 15% growth in your fund may look great, but not if the average returns given by other funds in the same category is 25 per cent. However, too much emphasis shouldn't be put on the short-term performance.

Investment Tips

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Good Investment Tips For Investor

Investment tips for every age

The Twenties

These are the early years when many people are relatively new to the workforce and are still renters. While some have formed a permanent relationship, many don't have children. Home ownership and family are still in the future.

For this group the main financial focus is usually on saving a deposit for a home, an investment that has particular appeal due to its lifestyle benefits and capital gains tax-free status.

The first step for many will be to get their credit card debt under control and then eliminate it. Only then will they be in a position to start building wealth rather than simply paying for past consumption.

With interest rates having stabilised at relatively low levels and property prices still slipping, this age group stands to gain by saving for a deposit for a home so as to be able to buy when the market is weak.

Their main challenge will be to decide whether or not to try to supercharge their savings growth by diverting funds into a regular savings plan that invests in equity funds.

Callinan says building a deposit through investing in equity funds is a good strategy, but only if you can accept the risk that there could be a few years of flat returns.

"You also have to have a time horizon of at least five years, to give the investments time to perform," she adds.

The Thirties

By their 30s, most people are in a permanent relationship, many have children and most have bought a home. The focus is usually on reducing their mortgage, possibly renovating and, where possible, attempting to upgrade to a better property.

Nash of Tynan Mackenzie says people in this situation should consider taking out income insurance, especially given the increased tendency of companies to respond to setbacks by downsizing.

At the very least they should be careful not to over-extend themselves financially, instead keeping money available for emergencies.

This may well involve delaying renovations. Alternatively, they should ensure their mortgage facility allows them to draw down more money quickly if they need funds in a hurry.

Of course, some people in their 30s will still be both mortgage and family free. This group may decide to try to catch up for lost time by aggressive investing, such as using geared share funds or by taking out a margin loan to finance a portfolio of direct share investments.

A small group will go so far as to use even more aggressive investments such as futures contracts, trading warrants and contracts for difference.

Nash stresses, however, that these should be approached with a great deal of care since, if handled badly, they can generate heavy losses.

The Forties

Your financial comfort in your 40s largely depends on how much spending restraint you showed during the previous decade. If you were reasonably disciplined, there is a good chance you will be able to upgrade to a bigger home or, alternatively, carry out the renovations you deferred in order to finance investments.

However, the 40s is sometimes a financially difficult time for people who have children since they are now costing more than ever, especially if they are at private schools. This group needs to budget carefully. In contrast, those with relatively high incomes, or with few or no family responsibilities, should have the capacity to continue to use gearing to expand their investment portfolio.

The alternative will be to divert more money into superannuation. Unfortunately, while very tax-effective, money invested in super is locked up until you satisfy the various preservation rules.

These mean you can't get your super before you are at least 55 and also retired. Super savings really only equate to financial freedom for people who are already in their early 50s.

The Fifties

This is a time for more sustained wealth creation due to higher salaries and fewer family costs (many children by now will be financially independent). Nash argues that the tax breaks offered by superannuation, plus the fact super savings will be more accessible, make this the preferred investment vehicle.

The other opportunity that often arises in your 50s is the chance to take more control over your life by establishing your own business, perhaps by getting a significant redundancy payment.

Even if the redundancy wasn't voluntary, it can provide a valuable chance to build a new, financially viable life outside the 9 to 5 standard working day. But Nash warns it is particularly important to think very carefully before you use your family home as security for a business loan. "A debt-free home is usually crucial for any sort of financial freedom and should not be put at risk without a lot of thought," he says.

The Sixties and later

For many people in their 60s the main financial challenge is to invest their savings to generate a retirement income, and maximise their age pension. In most cases investments are built around some form of allocated or complying pension, in the process maximising tax and social security efficiency.

James of Investec says that, while there is a tendency for older investors to be extremely conservative, especially when the economic outlook is uncertain, higher life expectancy means a very defensive approach probably will result in your money running out.

This means investors should usually opt for an allocated pension that includes a reasonable exposure to both local and offshore shares, rather than a pension with a very high level of capital security.

While a conservative allocated pension carries less risk of suffering a sudden setback, it can also result in a low annual income and so increasing dependence on the aged pension.

Rules for us all

But whether you are in this, the fifth age of investing, or any of the other ages, all of us have to deal with the same economic and investment climate. We have to make the same range of crucial financial decisions, based on our assessment of the risks and opportunities that exist.

James says all investors need to guard against assuming the next five years will generate the same sort of returns as the last. "Expecting the second half of the decade to be just as good as the first half would be naive," she says. "It may be, but there are plenty of reasons to think overall returns won't be as strong."

Among these facts are:

* Returns over the previous five years or so from Australian shares have been so strong that, as has already happened with real estate, some correction at some stage is virtually inevitable.
* There is no guarantee that one of the main drivers of local sharemarket confidence — the strong Chinese economy — won't hit some adjustment problems, in the process dragging down local stocks.
* The surge in oil prices could continue, squeezing consumers and slowing economic growth.
* The $A could well remain at around current levels, rather than the much lower exchange rate that applied at the start of the decade, in the process maintaining the pressure on exporters.


As noted, the main implications of the shift to an era of lower investment returns is the way that making quick gains from the sharemarket or property is likely to be more difficult than in the previous five years.

One thing that won't change, however, is the need for most people to adopt a suitable investment strategy and then resist the temptation to chop and change when a particular investment sector generates disappointing returns.

As already stressed, it is also crucial to avoid thinking you will be able to make big gains quickly. "Everyone wants to be rich tomorrow, but the risks aren't worth it," says Thornhill of Motivated Money. Impatience is our biggest barrier to serous and sustainable wealth creation."

Stick with a strategy

Callinan of Tandem stresses that, while a few investors make a lot of money by timing markets, they are the exception. She points out that even the professional managers who handle the investments for Australia's huge superannuation funds often struggle to add value through timing.

Instead, they develop strict investment strategies and stick with them. "If you give yourself plenty of time and patiently stick with a well-designed investment strategy, you will almost certainly be a lot better off in 10 years time than those who don't," she says.