Monday 23 December 2013

Binary option trading - the Russian Binary Market

Binary option trading is undoubtedly a global phenomenon and traders from across the globe have access to the market, regardless of whether they are in front of their computers and trading their favorite assets or they are physically present on the floor where the trading is taking place. Binary trading has seen traders from all quarters and in this article, we will focus on the option trading market in Russia.



Being one of the fastest growing financial markets in the world, over the years, it has evolved as a stronger one with increasing number of trader base. Not only that, you will come across many such websites that will have Russian translation for traders from Russia. In fact, aside from Russian there are several other languages in which this trade is offered to the investors. In fact, if any website or trading platform has the facility of live chat, the customer support executive on the other end will converse in Russian or any other language as per your preference.

Dragon Options

One of the popular and much sought after trading platform that caters mainly to the Russian traders is Dragon Options. If you want to find out the names of few other binary brokers that offer binary trading facilities to traders with different language preferences, you can visit a website that lists the best binary options brokers. Although you may not find too many websites that dedicatedly work for the Russian traders barring a few but most of them are planning to incorporate the facility so that the services can be offered to other traders from across the geographical boundaries.

iOption

Aside from Dragon Options, there is another broker that caters to Russian traders and that is iOption. Equipped with 24 hours round the clock chat system, you can bank upon them for your binary trading needs. This trading platform utilizes major portion of its fund to facilitate trade for Russian traders. They have a Russian customer care executive that will answer all your queries related to binary trading. Regarded as one of the pioneers in binary option trading, the broker has earned a reputation in the financial market of offering excellent services to its clients.

Russian binary trading assets

Although the popularity of the Russian traders is on the rise and so is the Russian binary market, when it comes to trading different assets, you will have to be satisfied with just a few. Assets that can be traded in the Russian binary option trading market are as follows:

• USD/RUB currency pair
• Sberbank
• Lukoil
• Gazprom
• MICEX 10 or Moscow Interbank Exchange

The number of assets mentioned above is few but it is expected that the same will increase over the years.
When you browse through different websites of trading platforms, you will find that aside from English and Russian, there are options to trade in different languages. Since the number of brokers catering solely to Russian traders is less, you will have to apply common sense, logic, and wisdom in selecting the right broker thereby safeguarding your investment.

Friday 20 December 2013

4 Mistakes you can make in Your Relationship with Banks

Although it is a necessity, working with banks can prove to be extremely exhausting and confusing at the same time. It is true that banks are there to help you when you cannot help yourselves. They give you a hand when you need it, but they also take everything from you when you cannot pay your debt.

There are two ways that your relationship with your bank works. On one hand, things work out smoothly, and your relationship is based on trust and respect. On the other hand, each of you tries to cheat on the other one and misunderstandings occur. Either way, here are the mistakes you should avoid when it comes to bank/client relationship.

Let the Bank Think for You

The health of your personal finance should be in your hand. No matter if you talk about your personal finance, or your businesses’ finance, you are responsible for your earnings and your expenses. Before signing any contract, even an account opening contract, make sure you read and understood all the terms, commissions, and risks involved. Once you signed the contracts, you cannot go back. And you all know how many times people have regretted not having read the contracts carefully before putting their signature on them.

Not Negotiating

It is true that some costs or terms cannot be negotiated under any circumstances. However, if the bank is trying to impose some conditions you do not really agree on, it is time you started negotiating. If you know how to address the problem, and if your character is strong enough, you will be able to negotiate even the simplest details. If your business grows and it works better and better, negotiation with your bank is a must.

Standing in Long Lines and Wasting Time with Cumbersome Bank Procedures

It is amazing how some people like to stay in line. No matter if they want to buy a shake, or if they are waiting at a red light, they just love to stay in line. However, when you have to run a business, time is money, and you cannot waste it standing in lines at your bank.

This is the reason why internet banking was invented. Internet banking allows you do any financial operations you want from paying your utility bills to sending money to your business partners and ordering your employees’ paychecks.

Keep a Destructive Relationship

No matter if you think about personal or professional relationships, people tend to like to be in a destructive one. The relationship with your bank is not an exception. If you do not like how your bank treats you, why do not you change it? It is your money, your time, and your nerves that have to suffer.

You can choose to have a bank to manage your personal accounts and another bank to take care of your businesses’ finances. Each bank focuses on something: profitable loans, low commissions, lower interests, etc. Think about your needs and choose the banks that fulfill them most suitably.
insurance claims.

Discover How to Manage to Buy Your Favorite Car

Buying a car is an investment that should not be taken for granted. This implies a person should be very careful when buying a vehicle for his own use. It is important to learn how to manage to buy your favorite car. The customers need to consider several factors to enable them find quality products for their own use. In this case, they will purchase vehicles that will serve them fully.

These are some of the common tips that may help any customer to make good decision when acquiring cars.

Make a decision on the kind of model that pleases you

Dealers offer various models of cars to customers. Interested customers have the responsibility to select the right model to fit their own needs. There are certain sites that provide information about different cars. They give ratings of each brand that is sold online. The sites may also direct you to reliable auto manufacturers that produce durable cars. Some people prefer second hand products while others will go for new products. If you are planning to drive your car in United Kingdom, then you should look for UK drivers licence. This means that you will not be arrested by the traffic police on such issues.

Buy your favorite vehicle from popular dealers and companies

Asking your colleagues and friends about the best dealers will definitely give you good results. Customers usually have information about the manufacturers and will never fail you in any way. Recommended dealers who have been in the business for a very long time are not likely to disappoint their clients. A number of things will determine the best dealer. The cost of his cars is very essential. A savvy customer will tend to choose affordable cars. No one would want to purchase a car that is not falling within his or her budget.

The prices may be influenced by the quality of products that are offered. When the prices are too low, you have to give this a second thought. Some expensive cars are likely to last longer than the cheaper ones. This means that you must compare and contrast the cost being offered by different companies. This will give you an opportunity to pick the best choice.

In this case, the customer should know the amount of money he or she is willing to spend on buying the car. This depends on the brand of car that you are planning to purchase. Check such details from the internet so that you are sure of what you are planning to buy.

Mode of buying the car

Because of technological advancements, some companies that deal with cars offer their products online. This means that customers have opportunities to buy products of their own choice from anywhere. As long as the supplier is reliable, they will ship the product to your home country. You have to ensure that you choose companies that have served a number of customers. Reading reviews from other clients will help you in making such decisions.

Tuesday 17 December 2013

Five benefits of owning a home than renting

If you think that it is worth buying a home, you are not alone. Although the phrase sounds so familiar that this is a great time to buy a home, many people wonder if there are advantages of owning a property. Surely, you have heard that the value of the homes are dropping or it is better to rent than buy, but the truth is that buying a home is still part of the dream for millions of families who long for home.

Here you will see a list of the benefits of buying your home. Sure, this is a purchase that comes with obligations, and before you make be assessing whether the owner is for you or if it fits your current reality.

1. You will feel that you have a safe roof for you and your family:

To call the space you inhabit, as "my house" will make you feel confident. This way you own the rights of the property and have a feeling of being proud. Buying a new house will give you a sense of accomplishment to feel you reach one of your most desired personal and financial goals, and that will contribute to a better quality of life for you and the whole family.

2. It gives you stability:


It is true that on the psychological levels, investing in a home brings in a sense of permanence and stability to the investors. If you have plans to start up your family and buy a home, you can ensure great financial stability for yourself as well as your children. It is indeed a satisfying experience to have your own asset, which can assure you about great returns on investments in future.

3. Home Purchase is a big investment:

It is true that unlike a few years ago, you may not immediately gain the value of your property. However, long-term real estate investment remains safe and there are many experts who think that the worst of the economic crisis is over and they foresee the future with optimism.

4. Tax savings:
Depending on the financial situation and the tax laws that apply to your dwelling place, you could deduct the interest on your home loan from your yearly taxes. In the U.S., depending on where you live and if that is your main housing, you could have a tax exemption, which sometimes is automatic. To learn how you benefit the purchase and your responsibilities regarding taxes, consult an expert!

5. Owning gives you independence:

You can make your own decisions and eliminate problems faced with the with property owners. Many of them tend to inspect the houses on rent, which sometimes create uncomfortable situations for the residents. Owning also means you can paint the interior walls of the color you like, you can have pets, change the carpets, and put that wood floor that you like, or you can even build a deck or an extra room.

Risk analysis

The property rates have grown up remarkably, because in developing countries like India, the capital values can be kept high over a long period. However, rental income grows at more realistic rates as they represent the true demands and functionality. Most rent agreements have a clause for 10% annual hike in the rental values, but property prices generally double every five years if you live in a metropolitan city. Nevertheless, the stock markets can also give you a return of a whopping 20%, hence it is always advised to do a risk analysis before buying the property. So always, consider the pros and cons of investing in properties.

Friday 13 December 2013

Tax free bonds : A must for any retirement portfolio

Tax free bonds have been coming out in droves over the last year.  The Indian government empowered multiple companies to issue tax free bonds to help generate working capital.  This has given a unique opportunity for retail investors to lock in an almost risk free guaranteed rate of return for long periods of time.  For early retirement enthusiasts like myself, tax free bonds provide a much needed route to invest a part of the portfolio to generate risk free returns.  There are three big concerns for any early retiree, that he or she has to solve to enable a successful exit from the usual salary based working environment.  Tax free bonds solve two of these concerns in the most efficient manner possible.  This makes tax free bonds a no brainer key component of each and every early retirement portfolio.

Lets take the example of Ramesh Arora, who is in his 50s and lives in Mumbai with his wife and younger son Rahul.  His elder son Raghav is married and lives in Pune.  Rahul is ready to retire now, and expects to spend Rs 20000/- per month on expenses for himself and his wife.  He does not want to burden his elder son for living expenses, while he still needs to take care of his younger son for a few more years before he is up on his own.  Ramesh has 3 big concerns that he must address.  The key is to establish a portfolio that gives him CONSISTENT returns every month, in a GUARANTEED manner, and the returns need to keep up with INFLATION.  While Ramesh was actively working, his monthly salary took care of all 3 aspects.  His salary was CONSISTENT, in the sense that he got his paycheck every month.  His salary was GUARANTEED, in the sense that, as long as he kept going to work, he was sure he would get that salary.  And finally the salary would increase every year keeping up with INFLATION.  Now in retirement, with the monthly salary gone, Ramesh needs to ensure the same 3 aspects are covered by some other means.

Fortunately for Ramesh the Indian government has come out with tax free bonds that simplify his retirement portfolio considerably.  Ramesh's first requirement is that he gets monthly Rs20000/- in his bank account for living expenses in a consistent manner.  This amounts to Rs240000/- (Rs 2.4Lakhs) per year.  Since Ramesh is only in his 50s he is still not considered a senior citizen, and cannot avail of the tax breaks given to citizens over the age of 60-65. If he invests approx Rs 27Lakhs in tax free bonds he will get a yearly return of about 9% tax free on this, which amounts to Rs 2.4Lakhs per annum.  This is a a sure fire way to ensure that his income his consistent per month, and also he does not lose any of it to income taxes.  The second aspect of GUARANTEED returns is also met since all of the tax free bonds are from highly rated companies with the risk of default being almost nil.  The only aspect that is not covered is INFLATION.  At the end of the bond term of 10 or 15 or 20 years, his expenses would have gone up considerably due to inflation, and the fixed returns from the bonds would not suffice to cover his increased expenses.  To take care of inflation, he should have a separate component of his portfolio invested in avenues that provide inflation indexed returns.  This could be real estate rental income, or equity mutual funds etc.  However the key here is that he can rely on the tax free bonds to provide his regular monthly income, and leave the rest of his portfolio to generate higher risk inflation indexed returns that he does not have to depend on a monthly basis.  This is the best way to structure his portfolio, divided into steady income generating portion, and inflation indexed portion.

Wednesday 11 December 2013

How to Handle Getting Laid Off

If you want to read what I've done to stretch out my funds to keep my family afloat, skip this and scroll down

I and seven other were pulled into the department manager's office. There was some small talk about what we'll be doing for the weekend, and some status updates about various projects; however, the manager was looking as if she was holding back some news. It was at this point that I knew something was amiss, and my instincts were correct. 

We were told that our last day was Friday, and that we are now being transferred to the temp department for the company. Many of the people teared up, along with the manager, but I felt oddly calm. I never been in this situation before. Any job that I had, I left on my own terms. I was never fired or laid off, but this was different. 

Now, after the whole shock of losing my job wore off, I need to make a plan of action. As you may know, I have a toddler and my wife who is now pregnant. We had plans for the next year with our budget and what we wish to accomplish, but now those plans are gone. I no longer have a steady paycheck or benefits. This is the same situation anyone who lost their job is feeling. The "I lost my job and can't pay my bills."

Thankfully, I have enough resources to last me until mid January. I do have a side business doing consulting and selling items online that pulls in a few extra dollars. I can still cut expenses. 

So now you know what my current situation is. My goal, since I now have so much free time, is to blog what and how I will cope with this life changing event. My goal is to either find new employment or move my business from part time hustle to a full time endeavour. I hope you join in for the ride of a life time.

But you are not reading this just for a sob story. Here is what I've done so far to handle with change of losing my job:

Ten Things I did when I got laid off:


  1. I looked at my YNAB reports to see any and all spending trends since March 13. I identified areas that we were spending money in that could be cut back.
  2. Called up my internet company and reduced our broadband from 40Mbps to 20Mbps saving 30 dollars.
  3. We are withdrawing only 100 dollars per month to spend in three very basic categories: Groceries, Household supplies, and blow. We normally spend around 600 dollars in this area, so we are now only spending 400 dollars. We reduced spending by 200 dollars or 33%.
  4. Thankfully, I am not upside down in my car loan, so I am researching how to sell a car with a loan. This would save 160 dollars per month (payment and insurance).
  5. We are cutting Hulu and I bought an antenna to get free television. 
  6. I am looking at doing some freelance work at various freelance websites.
  7. I am learning how to cook.
  8. I am learning Python programming language.
  9. I am offering free training in QuickBooks and QuickBooks Point of Sale
  10. I am relying on Stoicism and faith a lot more. (I know, it is an odd combination!) 

This is just a rough list that I've done, everyone is different. If you have any advice or comments feel free to share!
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Thursday 5 December 2013

Why Rank Teachers?

In the private sector, employees may earn promotions from evaluations. That is generally not the case in education. Administration is a specialization of education, not necessarily a promotion for educators. Further, do we really want to create a system that incentivizes our "best" teachers to leave the classroom?

In the private sector, employees are often paid bonuses based on their reviews. Despite recent education reform efforts, that is not the case for most educators. Besides, historian Diane Ravitch explains through historical context in her book "Reign of Error" that merit pay has been tried, and has repeatedly failed.

Removing "ineffective" educators does not have to be done by ranking them against their peers. Such a decision can be determined by observation criteria and a process designed to give educators the opportunity to improve first.

Students do not get better because their teacher has a ranking.

Most people, regardless of their profession, do not enjoy being ranked. It leads to counterproductive tension, stress, and justified debate.

So what is the benefit of ranking teachers "Accomplished"; "Skillful"; "Developing"; "Ineffective"?

What if we turned back time. What if every penny and hour that has been poured into ranking teachers was poured into making us better?

What if for every minute teachers had to spend...
  • ...proctoring standardized tests; we led project based learning assignments.
  • ...discussing standardized tests; we discussed new instructional strategies.
  • ...completing performance evaluation paperwork; we explored applicable game-based learning tools.
  • ...completing pre and post conference observation paperwork; we observed fellow colleagues and collaborated with one another.
  • ...reviewing performance paperwork with our administrators; we discussed new ways to integrate technology into their classroom with our administrators.
  • ...reviewing test taking techniques; we created additional opportunities for student led projects. 
Most teachers love to learn. The explosion of Twitter chats and educational Pinterest posts are tangible anecdotes of our passion to improve - - even outside of school hours. We want to get better and we enjoy learning how to be better for our students. 

What I don't understand is how turning teachers into numbers and then sharing our numbers with the rest of the world is making us any better.

So... what is the benefit of ranking teachers, and what is the cost?

P.S. For any readers or legislators who may believe I'm "whining", my past "results" and upcoming "ranking" will be evidence that I'm not, but rather questioning purpose. 

New Game Based Learning Tool to Teach Disability Insurance

DefendYourIncome.org is an excellent game based learning learning tool for teaching disability insurance.

They even have an app!

If you are 30 years old or younger, you have a 1 in 3 chance of needing long-term disability care, with an average coverage length of 32 months. What is particularly relevant for high school students to understand is they are not immediately eligible for full Social Security disability benefits early in their careers; and even if they were the coverage is inadequate.

This previous post is dedicated to exhibiting a broader range of insurance education resources.

Wednesday 4 December 2013

3 Reasons to Go Cashless and Start Using Your Credit Card

Do you feel the temptation to go cashless and start swiping your credit cards, but in the back of your mind, you’re also apprehensive that it might backfire? Credit card debt is not an easy problem to resolve, and maybe you don’t want to ever start down that road.

How about making your credit card use a learning experience? There are more advantages to going cashless than just ease and convenience, you know.

Build Your Credit History

One big reason to go cashless is because the proper use of credit cards help build a stellar credit history. Credit cards are basically on-the-go personal loans, you see. When you use a credit card, you’re borrowing from your bank or provider. If you can consistently pay them back without issue – no late payments, never prolonging repayments, etc – then you’ll quickly build your credit history into a gleaming polish.

With better credit history comes improved credit score, and that leads to better interest rates and repayment arrangements for future financial needs.

Learn to Macro and Micro-Manage

When people say they’re afraid to use their credit cards, what they’re really saying is they’re afraid they won’t be able to properly manage their finances when they have that piece of plastic in their hand. It’s a given that when you only swipe cards to pay for your stuff you lose an important facet of spending: you don’t see your money actually leave your pockets.

It’s like losing the speedometer of your car. Sure, you can tell if you’re going too fast, but if you need to keep your car at a certain speed, how can you tell without a speedometer? It isn’t easy to tell how much you’re exactly spending when all it takes is a swipe and a signature or PIN.

That’s exactly why using a credit card can teach you not only to macro-manage your finances, but also micro-manage each expenditure. You’ll have to be on top of every receipt and start counting all the decimals; after all that, it’s not that bad —after all, you end up learning how to really control your financial management.

Take Tactical Advantage of Promos and Special Offers

When I say “tactical” here, I mean in terms of advantageous spending. Let’s take a quick example to be more concrete: Let’s say you were out buying groceries, but you don’t have enough cash budget to complete your shopping. Then, you notice a promo at the store that says if you pay using your credit card, you can get a certain discount, plus you won’t pay interests for a full year. Now, let’s also say that if you avail of the promos, you can pay off the resulting bill within a year.

The obvious choice then would be to use your credit card to extend your cash budget, because:

1. You get a discount
2. You can pay the balance before interest kicks in, making the credit card use effectively free of charge 

That’s what I mean by “tactical.”

All of these reasons bolster one another too. When you get good at leveraging your credit cards for promos and special offers, you become good at micro-managing, and you start to build your credit score through better financial management. 

 So what do you think? Maybe it’s high time to go cashless.