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balance transfer credit cards canada - Posted September 02, 2010 by Monty Loree

Balance Transfer Credit Cards Canada

Getting an Excellent Balance Transfer Credit Card

In an attempt to attract customers to their credit card, a lot of companies present free balance transfers from your old credit card. Once the money is securely owed to the new company, they will regularly offer a grace period where they charge far less on the transferred balance. Usually, this introductory rate lasts for around six months to a year after the balance transfer takes place on the clients account.

For an end user, this can be an excellent way of reducing credit card debt. It leaves the person free to pay off the balance on a credit card without getting interest charges. Using this approach, a person could potentially open a new account that allows a balance transfer when the old one expires. Then relocate all of the balance to the new card to start on a new grace period of low or non-existent finance charges. If you arrange to do a balance transfer, be certain to close your old account.

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Dealing with a Balance Transfer

Creating a balance transfer that works for you is an excellent practice, but carefulness is necessary. At times there is fine print attached with hidden charges. Several banks may charge a transfer fee that can be a percentage of the balance transferred. Be definite that there is a cap on the amount, like fifty or seventy-five dollars, or else a balance transfer in the thousands may wind up costing a couple hundred dollars. In addition, be sure the bank doesn't charge a high annual fee, or joining fee. The credit card companies are already getting your dealing. Hence, don't let them acquire the upper hand in a balance transfer.

Putting Up a Balance Transfer Credit Card

When you put together a Balance Transfer Credit Card, you transfer the balance from one credit card to another. Balance transfers can end up being expensive, if they're not done right or done using costly credit cards.

Therefore, before you transfer a balance or even employ for a balance transfer credit card, answer some questions.

Do the credit card charge introductory interest rate?

Numerous credit cards offer low or zero percent introductory interest rates for balance transfers. The introductory interest rate will lessen or do away with monthly finance charges on your balance transfer for a certain period of time. The absence of a finance charge makes it easier for you to pay off the credit card balance.

How long do the introductory period lasts?

Normally, introductory rates last from six months to a year. A longer introductory period will offer you more time to pay off your balance without getting the full finance charge. Credit card law states that introductory period must last at least six months.

What would be the APR after the introductory rate pass the grace period?

If possible, you would like as low APR as possible. Knowing your APR will add up after a few months should be a motivation to pay off your balance sooner. Ensure that you will recognize if the balance transfer APR will change from the purchases APR as it usually does.

Does the introductory rate influence both balances transferred and purchases?

Many credit cards place one interest rate to transferred balances and a different rate to purchases. Occasionally, there is a third APR for cash advances. If the card applies dissimilar interest rates to different types of balances, be aware of which type of balance receives the intro rate and which transaction gets the regular rate.

How do you qualify for the introductory rate?

Never presume that because you obtain an offer for a zero percent interest rate that you'll be eligible for the rate. The interest rate you eventually receive will matter on your credit history and may end up being higher than you anticipated if your credit isn't in the best shape.

Are there balance transfer charges?

Even if you have a low introductory rate on your balance transfer, you might still be charged a balance transfer fee. This may be a flat fee or a percentage of the balance you transfer. The credit card might put aside the fees for initial balances transferred, but charge a fee for the succeeding balance transfers.

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low interest credit cards - Posted August 31, 2010 by Monty Loree

Low Interest Credit Cards for Canadians

Getting to Know How It Works

Low interest credit cards can help you save a lot of money eventually. If you aren't carrying balances on your current credit cards or prepare on making long-term purchases, low interest credit cards are a great means to lessen the cost of borrowing. Low interest credit cards are the finest cards for people with good to excellent credit.

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Credit Card designated as low interest feature a low fixed APR in which the rate doesn't fluctuate and often include an even lower introductory APR where the rate is temporary. Low introductory APRs can be as low as 0% and are generally limited to new purchases only. On numerous cards, the rate can last up to a year, but after expiration date the rate jumps up to the fixed APR. Nevertheless, the rate after the intro period still tends to be the lowest available when compared to other types of cards.

Enjoying the Benefits and Savings!

The benefit to using a low interest credit cards is the capability to put together large purchases and pay it off little by little. Given that the card has a low APR; the interest paid on the balance is minimal compared to other types of credit cards . This is helpful for large one-time expenses such as major household appliances, extravagant vacations, or costly emergencies. Low interest credit cards best benefit the end user who carries a balance from month-to-month.

Outside of the low APR, low interest credit cards present few benefits. Usually one's spending or purchases aren't rewarded by cash back or other incentives and the rewards programs that do exist aren't as valuable as rewards-specific credit card programs. There are a few higher-tier credit cards that give low rates and competitive rewards, but they're held in reserve for clients with excellent credit; the better is your credit rating, the better the card program you will enjoy.

Comparing the Two Types of Low Interest Credit Cards

There are two major types of low rate credit cards: cards that offer low rates for a fixed period of time on balance transfers and/or purchases, and cards that offer low typical APRs on the cards with no time limit. The cards that give low rates on balance transfers and/or purchases will go down into one of two subcategories: where the low rate is for the life of the balance transfer, until it is fully paid off or where the low rate is usable until a set date. The typical APRs on these types of low rate cards will still be around 16-17% and some still offer 0% interest deals on purchases.

Furthermore, this type of card does not commonly charge a balance transfer admin fee for the reason that, as a replacement for having a 0% arrangement which includes a transfer fee, the user is paying interest on their balance from the time the account is opened, even if at a low rate.

Several low rate credit cards will come with a fixed APR. This should carry a guarantee in these times of financial insecurity since you will know precisely how much interest you will be paying now and in the future.

The introduction of low rate credit cards will probably be welcome news for consumers looking to have a loan of small sums of money for a short period of time - in effect this type of credit card could be viewed as another way of taking out an economical loan. Without a doubt, the interest rates offered by low rate credit cards will possibly be better than those existing on loans if you are only looking to borrow smaller sums of money.

You Want More Out of It?

What's more, a low rate credit card will allocate you to deal with your cheap lending over a extensive time period leaving you in command of your debt repayments, protected in the facts that you can plan to pay off your debts over a longer period without it costing you a small fortune.

Cards with a low typical APR for as long as you have the credit card do not normally come with any 0% offers on balance transfers and purchases. To make up for this, these cards more often than not do not incriminate a balance transfer admin fee of around 2.5-3% when a balance is transferred over from another card.

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Knowing How Financial Planning Works - Posted August 31, 2010 by Monty Loree

Knowing How Financial Planning Works

Financial planning is a course of formulating objectives, checking the assets and resources, estimating potential financial needs, and creating plans to accomplish monetary goals. A lot of elements may be drawn in financial planning, together with investing, asset allocation, and risk management. Tax, retirement, and estate planning are usually integrated as well.

Checking for these under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurus_Financial could be essentially helpful.

Financial planning found on Centaurus Financial shows an important role in serving individuals get a hold on most of their money. Cautious planning can facilitate individuals and couples set priorities and work progressively towards long-term goals. It may also offer protection next to the unexpected, by helping individuals get ready for things such as unforeseen illness or loss of earnings.

Financial planning may stand for different things to various people. For one person, it may represent planning investments to endow with security during retirement. For another, it may mean planning savings and investments to grant money for a dependent's college education. Financial planning may even engage making career-related decisions or selecting the right insurance products. With that, Centaurus Financial can lend a hand on these issues.

Many individuals decide to use the services of financial planners to aid them reach their goals. A financial planner is a professional who provides suggestion and management for a wide range of financial planning issues. Financial planners may or may not be certified and recommend varied levels of experience. You can visit this link for assistance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurus_Financial

Though a financial planner may formulate emergent a financial plan easier, hiring one is not at all a requirement. There are many books, computer programs, and other resources accessible to help individuals with financial planning. Just like Centaurus Financial who offers such services.

Visiting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurus_Financial could be a great help for you and your related concerns. Furthermore, there is a wealth of related information available on the Internet. The result to appoint a financial planner may depend on numerous things, together with the financial significance of the individual, his or her goals for the future, and the quantity of research the individual is prepared to achieve.

All too often, people delay preparation for the future. They may sense such planning should capture a back seat to staying monetarily afloat in the present. Nevertheless, even those living from paycheck to paycheck can benefit from financial planning by creating financial arrangements. A financial plan can be worn to verify what is actually used up each month and discover ways to trim or even get rid of uncalled for or out-of-control expenditures.

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What is Banking? - Posted August 31, 2010 by Monty Loree

What is Banking?

Banking have know to be a system of trading in money that concerns in protecting deposits and making money available for borrowers, banking has been developed in response to the increasing need for credit in commerce and trade. The lending functions of banks plays between the money and the lenders. Money had then become essential to finance commerce and major projects especially those business that would surely gain money once it has been put up.

Banking is one of the main drivers of the economy. Banking offers a secure area to keep excess cash commonly known as deposits. It also provides liquidity to the economy by loaning this money out to help businesses develop and to permit consumers to purchase homes, cars and consumer goods. Banks chiefly make money by charging higher interest rates on their loans than they pay for deposits. With that, it builds the supply of money by lending it to the banking system, requiring the level of reserves in the banks be kept on hand, and by regulating the prime interest rate banks incriminate.

There are quite a few types of banks. Commercial banks are the most common, and include global banks such as Centaurus Financial. Community banks are smaller and centers for local service. Online banks function over the Internet. Checking them through their websites would be easy and accessible enough for everyone. For example, http://centaurusfinancial.org is a link that would lead you to the main page of the institution where you can get all the information you will need. Savings and loans aim on mortgages. Credit unions are usually limited to employees of companies or schools. In recent years, banking has turned into very complicated as banks have ventured into complicated investment and insurance products.

Investment banking emerges as banking have become more complex and booming. Investment banking like Centaurus Financial is a field of banking that helps companies in acquiring funds. Additionally to the acquisition of new funds, investment banking also provides advice for a wide range of transactions a company may employ in. Customarily, banks either engaged in commercial banking or investment banking. In commercial banking, the institution collects deposits from clients and gives express loans to businesses and individuals.

In the course of investment banking, an institution creates and generates funds in two different ways. They may get on public funds through the capital market by selling stock in their company, and they may also search for venture capital or private equity in trade for a stake in their company. An investment banking firm also does a lot of consulting and counseling especially when you visit to their website. You can try to check on http://centaurusfinancial.org. For instance, investment bankers grant companies suggestion and recommendation on mergers and acquisitions. They also follow the market in order to give information on when to make public offerings and how best to deal with the business' public assets. A number of the consultative activities investment banking firms take on extend beyond with those of a private brokerage, as they will regularly give buy-and-sell advice to the companies they represent.

The line between investment banking and other forms of banking has been unclear in recent years, as deregulation allows banking institutions to engage more and more sectors. With the initiation of mega-banks which manage at a number of levels, many of the services often related with investment banking are being made available to clients who would otherwise be too small to make their business profitable.

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secured credit cards in canada - Posted August 25, 2010 by Monty Loree

Secured Credit Cards in Canada

Credit cards have been long used by people. It swipe or tapped to credit card gadgets that will allow you to pay for the purchases you have made or any business transactions you are dealing with. It made everyone’s lives comfortable and hassle-free. People have used and applied for different Credit Card depending on their needs as well as their desire for them to utilize and not bring cash in hand. Currently, there are countless of credit card issuers in the market. They offer different types of cards such as low interest, travel rewards, cash back, secured credit cards and other cards. Along with having credit card requires you to complete the requirements that each card company would ask from you. Usually, these card issuers would check on your credit history and rating which is vital information. This will tell you history when you started on using credit cards and how you deal with it either on the payment or usage during a transaction.

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It is essential for an individual to have a good or excellent credit history. This will allow you to apply for any credit card that you would like. You can apply for those top of the line credit cards which generally require an excellent credit history. At the start, you don’t have any credit history yet. You are going to build it yourself based on your credit card usage as well as in your balance settlements. There are certain levels in which you go through reaching the highest level which is excellent credit history.

How Does a Secured Credit Card Works?
Secured credit cards are cards that are recommended for individual who wants to start building their own credit history. It is also provided to client who needs to rebuild their credit rating after getting trouble with their credit cards in the past. secured credit cards will help card holder to gain the points that they will need to climb up the level of ratings and luckily reach the top which is excellent credit history. This is the only type of credit card where the card issuer won’t require checking your credit history. Usually, approval for this credit card is guaranteed. The requirements is not that hard to complete compared to other cards especially platinum or gold credit cards where the card companies do thorough screening of the applicant if you are deserving for an approval.

Secured Credit Cards: It does have Benefits and Features to Enjoy!
Even though this card is given easily by the card issuers, this still do have benefits which the card holder can enjoy. Features and promos that the card companies offer to their clients are also available. But it is limited compared to other credit cards who do give great bonuses surprises but charge annual fees and high interest rates. It is understandable that the more expensive the cards charges and fees are the better are the benefits. So, with secured credit cards, it does have fewer benefits but what is significant and important is building your credit history.

Apply Today! Capital One - Guaranteed Secured MasterCard®

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travel rewards credit cards for canadians - Posted August 25, 2010 by Monty Loree

Travel Rewards Credit Cards for Canadians

Picking a Credit Card for You to Use?
Credit Cards do have variety of types that you can choose from. However, when you select the credit card, you must check certain factors. These factors will help you determine what kind of credit card you are going to get or applying for. One of the factors that you consider is that how you are going to use the credit card. It would be either using the credit that the carry carries or just for your own convenience. When you use the credit card for convenience purposes then you are financially stable that you can pay off the total bill you have every end of a month. Unlike using the credits of card in which you are obliged to pay off the balance in full or be charged with interest rate.

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What is Uniquely the Edge for Travel Credit Cards?
Travel Credit Cards or commonly know as travel rewards cards are suitable for convenient user. It is obvious that card holders of this card do have enough finance to use in paying their monthly billing statement. What usually convenient users do with travel rewards credit cards is collect on rewards points. They will then use those points to get them flight tickets or other items depending on what the card company offer. Most card companies allow rewards points to be redeemed for hotel reservation, gift certificates or merchandises aside from the airline ticket which is offered by all card issuers.

Most travel credit card users are taking advantage on accumulating points especially to those people who are frequently flying to different places. They can easily gain rewards points that can be redeem for plane tickets for future trips. Additionally, the credit card holder will have other benefits like accident insurance, VIP lounge pass, special seats offers, freebies and a lot more. But these added features are not true to all the credit cards available. Some credit cards do have limited features.

Watch Out as It can be Deceiving!
These kinds of credit cards are very deceiving in the sense that I do have a high credit limit but the interest rate is also high. You will get hooked in collecting points to redeem exquisite Rewards credit cards
rewards
without looking and anticipating the risks on being charged with high interest rate every time the bills are not fully settled. Before you get a credit card may it be travel rewards cards or other credit cards available for use, you must read its card details. You will be guided

on you decision if such card you are planning to get is perfect and manageable. Always remember those credit card is a substitute for cash. If you are using it, it is just like spending cash but not out rightly because you have a month to settle it but still when the bill arrives, you will settle it cash.

Using Credit Card is not dangerous for your finance as long as you are responsible in using your card as well as paying what you owe out of it. With that, you can enjoy the benefits and features that the credit card offers their clients.

Apply Today! Capital One - Aspire™ Gold MasterCard®

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low interest credit cards for canadians - Posted August 25, 2010 by Monty Loree

Low Interest Credit Cards for Canadians

What is a Credit Card?
Credit Card authorizes an individual to charge purchased goods or services to his or her personal account. It is totally different from a debit card for the reason that the money is instantly deducted from your bank account once you have used the card in order to pay off the cost of the goods or services you have purchased or acquired. Using of credit card started in the United State but today, credit card utilization is available all over the world. At the start of credit cards existence, only people who work in oil companies and hotel chains are issued by the card and also some firms. However, it is only used for at their outlets. The first credit card that was accepted by several business institutions was issued by Diners' Club in 1950. The charge cards require cardholders to pay off all their balances coming from their purchases every end of a month. Bank cards such as MasterCard and Visa allow customers to make partial payments of their bill. Interest charges would then be given on the unpaid balance basing on how much is the interest rate. Credit card companies’ source revenue comes from the annual fees and interest charges settled by cardholders as well as fees paid by participating merchants.

Apply Today! Capital One - SmartLine™ Platinum MasterCard

Low Interest Rate: for Individuals Who are Credit Users
low interest rate credit cards have known to be the best credit cards for persons who belong to the category credit users. Credit users are credit card holders who use the credits that they have for any business transactions. Usually, these credit cards users don’t pay off completely the balance that they are due for. They would make partial payment of it and allow interest charges to be applied on the total amount of payables that needs to be settled. Commonly, people who are using this kind of cards are those who don’t have sufficient income to support their basic needs or individuals who are relying solely on their credit card for any purchases or deals they engage into.

These low interest cards do have especially rates depending on the credit card issuer. Every credit card provider has it own rate. But what is for sure is that it is low compare to other credit cards that have interests that plays around 19%. These kinds of credit cards are risky and could put you in deep trouble. Unlike, low interest credit cards which they truly can add up to your payables but in a minimal cost. That is the reason why, it is advisable for card applicants who wish to use the credit card balance to apply for low interest credit cards.

Credit Card Issuers
A lot of credit card issuers do offer low interest credit cards. To mention a few, we have Capital One , MBNA, CIBC and others. You must be keen and skeptical in checking the fine prints of these cards. Be sure to identify the benefits and features that you think would help you and be of advantage. Comparing them one by one is the best way to get the excellent card for you. You must also consider the stability and how secured are you with your chosen credit card issuer. With that, you can then enjoy and fully use the services of a credit card.

Apply Today! Capital One - Gold MasterCard®; 11.9% Guaranteed for 3 Years (as long as you pay your bills on time)!

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capital one aspire world mastercard - Posted June 30, 2010 by Monty Loree

Capital One - Aspire™ World MasterCard®

I'm pleased to announce that we've added a powerful new credit card to our Capital One collection . This card is called the Aspire™ World MasterCard®.

Consumers are expecting a great deal more from their credit cards these days. They want rewards points and lots of them. Capital One has introduced a card, the Aspire™ World MasterCard®, that gives more points than most other Canadian credit cards.

Apply Today! Capital One - Aspire™ World MasterCard®

This card is categorized in the rewards collection area.

There are many aspects to talk about with this credit card. The first one that I'll discuss is who would benefit the most from this card.

WHO BENEFITS MOST? - CONVENIENCE USERS
This card would be the most beneficial to those individuals whom I call the convenience card user. These are the individuals who use their cards as a payment tool. Instead of carrying cash, they like the convenience of a centralized purchase system. Most importantly, they pay off their credit cards in full each month.

I talk about this first because it's important for people to know that if you're not paying off your balance at the end of every month, you won't be further ahead with this card.

HOW MANY POINTS ARE COLLECTED? - 2 FOR $1
This is a great card in that you will collect the most points available, on ALL PURCHASES!! For every $1 you purchase, you will collect 2 points. As a matter of fact, if you purchase on average $2300 each month using this card, you will collect $62,500 points in the first year!!

You will collect 2 for $1 on Gas, Groceries, and every other type of purchase. And there is no date cut offs like other cards.

35,000 & 10,000 BONUS POINTS
Capital One is very generous as they will give you 35,000 on your first purchase. This will give you a great start on your points collection goals.

Another thing I like is that this card gives you 10,000 anniversary bonus points. This almost pays for the annual fee.

THE ASPIRE WORLD PAYS FOR MORE OF YOUR TRAVEL!!
One of the things I like about this card is that it pays for more of your travel costs. I've been frustrated with some travel cards as they don't pay for the full amount of the travel ticket. They don't pay for the taxes and airport fees portion of the airline ticket.
THIS IS HOW POINT REDEMPTION WORKS
I like this system of point redemption. You purchase your travel ticket first, and then once you get your statement, you contact Capital One and tell them that you would like to put cash in your points towards the purchase that shows up on your statement. It's pretty simple.

Apply Today! Capital One - Aspire™ Gold MasterCard®

Example:
Your statement will show a purchase of XYZ Airlines - Amount: $529.95... this amount will include the taxes and airport fees. This whole amount will be covered if you have 53000 points collected.

Upon your request Capital One will put a credit for $529.95 on your statement. (Assuming you have enough points saved up) Simple as that! I like the way that works.

ACT NOW!
If you want the most rewards points possible for your dollar spent, it's time for you to apply for the Aspire World MasterCard from Capital One.

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Interview with Promod Sharma -Four Hour Work Week part 5 - Posted June 27, 2010 by Monty Loree

Interview with Promod Sharma -Four Hour Work Week part 5

Monty Loree: Right. That’s the other thing that I ran into. That’s a good point. That’s really what it is. So unless you hire somebody to manage and to direct people and tell them all of the little points to do, then when you outsource, frankly that’s what you’d want is somebody to do exactly what you said. That means that they’re trying to please you and help you out. But I guess as well, you’d want them maybe to learn from their mistakes or develop some add value, like you said. So the point of the story is, the best thing ultimately is to have people that can manage, direct, anticipate, keep adding the value, do the documentation and forward the business. Otherwise you have to do it all by yourself. You have to do the high level stuff by yourself.

Promod Sharma: Yes. I think you want to do some things yourself, but in terms of the 4-hour work week, the things that you’re doing that are creative – if you can put them online for example where they’re there ‘till the end of time, then you don’t have to keep redoing the same thing. So for example, maybe you get a lot of questions in a particular area, maybe you have an FAQ, blog post or video. Then you can direct people to that. But if one of the questions I keep getting, because I’m in actuary, is from people thinking of entering the actuarial field. They don’t realize that I get these things all the time. For them, they’re just asking once. So what I did is a couple of blog posts that helped answer that question. So when I got a request two days ago, I just directed that person to that blog post rather than spending time and re-answering the same questions that I’ve answered in the past.

Monty Loree: Exactly. That’s right. That’s the right thing to do. What I do with my outsource people is, I use docs.google.com. So I documented the daylights out of everything and I just keep pointing them at those. Like you said, because that’s cloud computing, that’s going to be there forever. They can access is whenever they want.

Promod Sharma: Perfect.


Monty Loree: So that’s kind of a neat idea. It’s one of the little tips I learned from my outsourcing stuff. Anyway, we’re kind of empty in your time here. I think we’ve talked about a lot of good things here. A lot of fundamental things that we’ve talked about are what people need to know if they’re going to be interested. I was excited to talk to you because it sounds like you’re starting to practice and get into it, get the mindset and get active with it. That’s great.

Promod Sharma: I really appreciate you inviting me to this podcast. It was a great experience and I think we had a great conversation.

Monty Loree: Just before we go, I just wanted to know, where does Promod hang out on the internet? What sort of personal finance blogs or sites do you like to go visit?

Promod Sharma: Probably my favorite would be Thicken My Wallet, which is written by a Canadian Lawyer. I also like Canadian Capitalist and Million Dollar Journey.

Monty Loree: Right on. Those are very prominent blogs in Canada. Do you ever get over to the Canadian Finance forum?

Promod Sharma: I have, but not as much as I would like to.

Monty Loree: Okay. I see a lot of the bloggers over there. It’s a pretty active area. That’s good. Again, thanks. I appreciate your time today. Maybe we can, at some point, talk about actuary. I know I can probably talk about it for hours.

Promod Sharma: Oh I’m sure that if you talk about that topic, that you’d have lots of listeners for that episode.

Monty Loree: Alright. Thanks again and we’ll talk again soon.

See part one of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 1

See part two of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 2

See part three of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 3

See part four of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 4

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interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 4 - Posted June 27, 2010 by Monty Loree

Interview with Promod Sharma -Four Hour Work Week part 4

Monty Loree: So I signed up to tons and tons of those and so basically I went through all of my email accounts and I unsubscribed from everything. I kept doing it for months until I had nothing. So now basically in the one where I used to get maybe 15 or 20 emails a day, now I get maybe 1 or 2 and that’s from Facebook, Twitter or something.

Promod Sharma: I’ve done something similar. So what I’ve done, I mean I’ve stopped getting a lot of things that I never bothered reading, but what I do is I use a separate email account for things that are basically reading related. So I have my main email account for business related things, and I have another one for family related things and I have one for just stuff to read at some point and that makes it easier too.

Monty Loree: Right, something I just want to talk about. I guess I should say again here that I am talking here with Promod Sharma who is the blogger over at Riscario Insider and that’s blog.riscario.com. The question that I wanted to ask you is do you think that a 4 hour work is practical? I mean is it good for anybody to do? It seems there’s a bit of a learning curve that you need to do in order to make it work.

Promod Sharma: Well it depends on the kind of work you’re doing. The reason that Timothy Ferriss can follow that is he makes a lot of money by selling, I think it’s vitamins online and with that kind of business you don’t really need to be around. Most of us don’t have that kind of opportunity. We’re doing work where maybe we don’t have to be in the office to do it but we need to be reasonably available. If you’re off for a month, then things are going to suffer during that time. So I think it depends on the kind of work you’re doing but I think if you take the philosophy of what he’s saying, and you’re not in a factory type job where you’re paid by the hour and you physically have to be there. I think there are things that we can do to use our time more effectively.

Monty Loree: Agreed. For example, I was mentioning earlier that a lot of times where – I’m in the internet business, so I outsource quite a bit. I spent 1 year learning how to outsource. People need to know that. When I first started out sourcing, I had no experience whatsoever. For heaven’s sake, it’s like architect, engineering. It’s a whole new skill set that you need to do. The first thing that I did was I said I am going to ask a fellow to do a web page for me. So I sent over the specs of what I thought, and he did exactly what I did. But because the web page needed to be - it was not a static page. It was dynamic, point from data bases and so on. He built a static page for me. It looked good, everything was nice and well. It’s got to move, it’s got to do stuff. It’s got to update. So then I spent the better part of a couple of weeks writing the specs and how to get this page built by somebody else. The point I’m making is, from my experience, either you have the experience or you have to outsource the people that have the experience that can anticipate the problems that you are going to run into.

Promod Sharma: Yes. I think that make sense. One of the things I did which I normally would have not done before the 4 hour kind of thinking is, in December basically I took a sabbatical where we spend a month in India. Normally I would only take a couple of weeks off which isn’t really enough time and I wouldn’t go that far away. Basically that was a good break of the month. One of the things I noticed is in India, like the people we know as relatives because you basically stay with them, are fairly well off by Indian standards. So they all have servants. It might range from one or two to about six or so. But what I noticed, because on the surface here, like in Canada or in the US you’ve got to do everything yourself – laundry, dishes and all those things. We’ve got appliances to help but basically we do the things ourselves. So I was thinking it must be like heaven to have all these people around you. But what I saw is there’s a lot of effort in managing them. So when you tell a servant to do something, they’ll do exactly that. But they won’t do anything extra. So you have to tell them every little thing. It’s almost easier to do certain things yourself. So I can see learning to outsource would take some learning. On the surface it just seems trivial. You tell someone to do this, but maybe that’s what they will do – is exactly what you told them, not really adding any value.

See part one of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 1

See part two of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 2

See part three of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 3

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interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 3 - Posted June 27, 2010 by Monty Loree

Interview with Promod Sharma four hour work week part 3

Monty Loree: Yes, which is always fun. It’s a little tiring sometimes, but it’s still quite fun. Anyway, let’s talk about something else here. You’re talking about ignoring interruptions – Skype, MSN or whatever.

Promod Sharma: Yes. One of the other things in the 4-hour work week is that if you’re only going to work 4 hours a week then you need to use that time effectively and not get distracted by other things during the meantime. So Timothy Ferriss talks about how he will only look at his emails once a week. So he won’t be looking at them during the course of the day. He’s probably not using things like instant messaging or Twitter all day long, because all of those things do distract us. I was reading a study that said that anytime we get a distraction, then basically we’re wasting about 15 or 20 minutes to get back on focus to what we were looking at. So those were other ideas about how you can make your life more focused and that’s something that I’ve been following. Before when I’d be working, I’d be checking messages all day long and then I realized how that was unproductive. So then I broke it down to checking messages first thing in the day and just after lunch. And the same thing with phone calls - allocating them to certain times so that I can focus on the things that I really needed to do rather than these interruptions that came in whenever someone decided they wanted to contact me.

Monty Loree: So basically that just takes the question. So now if you were replying to phone calls and emails all day and now you are doing it once a day, how do your client or the people that you’re interacting with, how do they feel about it? Did you have to train them a little bit?

Promod Sharma: Yes. On my voice mail what I tell people is for faster service, they should send an email. The reason for that is that when someone phones you, especially if you’re in a compliance written industry like insurance, you need to make notes of that call. So then you’re writing things down, which is taking more time if someone sends you an email then you already have a message. Also with phone calls, sometimes you’ll be just between meetings then you’ve got a few minutes and so you might as well check your messages then. It’s a lot easier to do with email than it is to do with phone mail. So there was an element of training but the reality is that if you’re good at what you’re doing then you’re busy. People shouldn’t expect that you’ll just be sitting around all day answering calls. So you do need to get back to people fairly promptly, but I don’t know that the value I provide is - I’m at the phone or at the computer any time that someone wants to contact me.

Monty Loree: Right, exactly. That’s a good point. Certainly I guess it depends on the career that you are in. If you are in a high pressure customer, service type job then you’ve got be on the phone or outsource it or whatever it is. For me certainly, generally, I maybe get 10 phone calls for business in a year.

Promod Sharma: So you just leave to them, hey a phone call, a phone call.

Monty Loree: It’s like somebody is calling me, and generally what I do is I went through all of my emails and I signed up for a lot of things. You know you get these, sign up here and you’ll get two free things or whatever it is.

Promod Sharma: Right.


See part one of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 1

See part two of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 2

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interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 2 - Posted June 27, 2010 by Monty Loree

Interview with Promod Sharma -Four Hour Work Week part 2

Monty Loree: The question I’ve got for you - you’re sort of in the insurance industry. I’m just wondering, you probably have heard stories where people have worked all their lives and then died pretty quickly after retiring.

Promod Sharma: I tend not to hear so much about people dying because I’m more involved in helping advisers sell the cases in the beginning. But you do come across statistics that people who will only have work as their focus tend to pass away pretty quickly once they stop working, which is very unfortunate.

Monty Loree: So that just confirms what we’re talking about here, about the mini retirement. An example that I’ve got and I’ll never forget it. A close friend of mine, this was a few years ago, his dad was a fire fighter. So the dad worked his way up to the ranks, worked really hard, was making good money. Then he retired and he said, “As soon as I retire we’re going to go travel Europe and do all the things that we’ve always wanted to do.” After a month of being retired, he passed away. So yes, that was very dramatic to me that made a statement in my life. I said that I will never do that. I’ll always do the things that I want to do but I’ll never look to that 20 or 30 years down the road for my retirement. I’ll do it now.

Promod Sharma: Yes. Another point that Tim Ferriss made is, what is retirement anyway? We are living very long these days. We’re living longer and longer. So if you retire at say at 65 or whenever and you’re going to live in another 20, 30 or maybe even longer number of years then the retirement becomes like a job. So you want to be doing things that you can continue during that traditional retirement phase so that you have some interesting things going on in your life. That makes the idea of a mini retirement even more appealing, because then you’re basically you’re retiring for limited periods of time during what would otherwise be your normal work life.

Monty Loree: Yes, that’s right. It’s a whole mindset shift. Basically I’ve been a workaholic for many years - probably the closest 25 years, working seven days a week, many many hours and all to generate wealth and all of the American or Canadian dream type things. For the last couple of years I’ve said I’m going to work for four hours a day and that’s it. While the first year was not bad because I needed the rest, after that I was like, “What am I going to do now?” So it became a little bit stressful because I was just sitting there thinking and it’s actually taking me a few years to learn how to be retired. So I can relate to that.

Promod Sharma: Now why do you work for seven days a week rather than five?

Monty Loree: Well because I’m self-employed, there’s always something to do. Quite frankly, four hours a day is never enough, so I just try to make do with it. But there’s always something to do and I find that - I wake up at five or six in the morning, you’re up anyway. So you go downstairs and into the office and do something until the kids wake up and then you can go and visit the kids and the wife. Then you can spend some time with them, but from the 5 am ‘till 9 when they’re sleeping on the weekends. It’s either that or you sit and watch TV or read a book or something like that, but I’d just rather get some stuff done. I guess I’ve been doing this for so many years that it’s just kind of normal for me.

Promod Sharma: Okay, that’s a great way of doing things.

Monty Loree: It’s not for everybody that’s for sure but it works for me. I kind of like it. My job is my hobby so I’m doing my hobby 7 days a week.

Promod Sharma: Yes, you can’t really beat that.

See part one of this interview: interview with promod sharma four hour work week part 1

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The digetari life site review - Posted June 22, 2010 by Monty Loree

The digetari life site review

It is about a personal finance insights from the silicon valley. From the author itself we will just call her Silicon Valley Blogger or in short SVB. She is a software engineer by trade, working and residing in Silicon Valley, California USA, the land of technologists, venture capitalists and liberals. She lived there for over 20 years and have witnessed some amazing things. SVB currently join the Wisebread team as a contributing writer, promote a consumer site which is the Best in class, run a few blogs in various niches, help companies with their blog outreach and internet marketing projects. The site is for informational purposes only and not as a professional finance adviser. The site also had grown to which they are now accepting sponsors and advertisers. The site has special deals, online coupons and free money. Under the special deals are discounts, promotions and offers either by gadget's brands, ebooks and etc. In the online coupons are coupon savings either from online and physical stores.

You can subscribe to get the scoop on money saving with some of their special deal and coupon feeds. On the free money it is more on cash bonuses and product discounts. Digetari life site has top financial offers and reviews such as online bank accounts and zecco reviews. Regarding personal finance you can read them under their archieves and money category articles. The site has 5, 272 readers with a traffic rank of 33, 391 and is powered by alexa. You can follow SVB through her twitter account which has 1, 103 followers, 39 following and 102 listed you can now join today for an easy to stay updated on an incredibly wide variety of topics. All of the articles and blogs being posted are true and they make it sure that the information are accurate upon publication.

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Just Thrive site review - Posted June 22, 2010 by Monty Loree

Just Thrive site review

So far, all of the sites that I am reviewing are not a financial adviser but only for information and entertainment purposes but Thrive.com is a site that offers excellent financial advice. They are helping you a way out from your financial problems as well as to what way you should approach your finances. The site is a user-friendly which has a tools to show you how you can take control of your financial life, and start accomplishing your goals. With Thrive, you'll gain an understanding of what your money is. The founder of the site are Avi Karnani and Ori Schnaps, both of them struggle how to become financially debt free. That is why they came together and formed Thrive which will provide friendly, free, and accurate financial guidance. After two years Thrive was lunched to the public in October 2008. They believed that everyone of us has the right to financial advice based on our needs. And they are hoping that all of our needs can be meet.

Thrive.com has a parent company, the LendingTree and its parent, is the Tree.com, they are also engages in real estate and real estate brokerage activities. It has a several other divisions or subsidiaries which is the RealEstate.com and iNest Realty Inc.
Thrive.com has press releases, in the news, media kit, and our two cents category. They had blogs, offers and tour if you are new to the site. In order for Thrive.com will understand your financial status one should enter any account information but all of the information provided by a member are safe and secured. To be a member just sign up for free and after signing up you will get better offers. Under the blogs you will find articles about IRA, saving and budgeting, financial approaches, credit scores and a lot more. You can also read some of the top comments by top readers of the site. You can follow them also through their twitter account.

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2 million personal finance site review - Posted June 22, 2010 by Monty Loree

2 million personal finance site review

The author of the site is a 34 yr old married and with kids. An IBM engineering manager who live in Raleigh, NC. He started this weblog to track his journey to financial freedom and would definitley share them to others. The site offers advertisements to promote some business or products. 2millionblog.com accepts Featured Links or Featured Site Sponsorship with text link advertising on every web page. Just sign up for a subscription and payment are via PayPal. In paypal you are billed automatically on a monthly basis, but you can cancel them at any time. This is easier also to keep with advertising renewals on time. This site has made appearances in BusinessWeek, US News & World Report, Yahoo!Finance, and Miami Herald.

For further information, the site is a journal of the author that details his investments, strategy, and analysis for personal use. It has personal finance blogrolls such as boston gal openwallet, It's just money, Ask uncle bill, the simple dollar and many more. For new visitors the site has a guide for them to click on so that you can start exploring the site. And you will be directed to some of the previous articles as well as some posted blogs which may add interests to the readers. Some of the finance archieves are bonds, balance transfer, charity, credit cards, income taxes, money and relationships, rebates, savings, personal finance blogs and many more. The site has a current net worth of $648,316. About the 2millionblog.com Stats, the average visitors are over 700/day (from Sitemeter Reporting) and the site has an average pageviews, over 1800/day (from Sitemeter Reporting). The site had some sponsors one of them is the easyforex.com and all ads are powered by googles.com. To recieved any updates and newsletter of their weblog subscribe them through rss feeds and follow them on twitter account.

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Josephsagl.com site review - Posted June 22, 2010 by Monty Loree

Josephsagl.com site review

Joseph Sangl is the founder of I Was Broke. Now I’m Not., it is an organization that helps others accomplish what they think possible. Joseph is a graduate of BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 1996 and has an MBA from Clemson University in 2001. He worked in a corporate company but in 2003, he begun teaching personal finances and conduct financial counseling.

Joseph is the author of the book entitled "I Was Broke. Now I’m Not". and "What Everyone Should Know About Money Before They Enter THE REAL WORLD". In his site, you can see and hear Joseph speaking. He speaks about teachings regarding finances. You can also purchase any books and other materials on personal finances. Joe will teach how to use the tools in helping you get out from a debt and for you to win some money. In his book " I was broke now I'm not", you will learn few things these are : Develop a Plan for your Life, Prepare a budget that actually works—An EZ Budget, Eliminate debt with the Debt Snowball, Calculate your Debt Freedom Date, Capture the POWER of Compound Interest, Calculate the Amount Needed For Retirement, Start Investing and Understand Insurance. You will see also upcoming events of Joseph and other things which he will do but mostly it is about his speaking schedule. He had 2 book reviews like church giving matters and the go-giver. In his site, you will find some categories about budgeting, debt reduction, finance, financial hero, investing, insurance, retirement and many more. You will learn also some tips on how to put up a small business, what are the business and financial plans, financial goals, saving money tips, successful stories of different people about their money management and also about loosing jobs, how will you cope up from that problem and what are alternative income you can find and have to sustain your daily needs after loosing your present job. For updates just subscribe through rss feeds and you can follow at < ahref="http://www.facebook.com/iwasbrokenowimnot">facebook account.

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Money sense site review - Posted June 21, 2010 by Monty Loree

Money sense site review

MoneySense is published by moneytree publishing corporation. This is written for middle and upper-middle income readers who want to know more about what are the best way to earn, save, spend, borrow, invest, and protect their money. Its mission is to help readers become more financially literate and will know about different approaches, tips and advises.

Money tree Publishing Corp was started by veterans in business and finance journalism who shares a common mission to spread financial literacy among Filipinos. The founders are Roberto de Ocampo, Chairman of the Board, Publisher Miss Elena Torrijos, the Managing Director - Jay-Anne Encarnado, Editor-in-Chief is Heinz Bulos Web Administrator is Alexander Torrijos. The BOARD OF ADVISERS are: Lilia Bautista, who is the former Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Rey Anthony David, the President of Great Wall Advertising and Pro Solutions, Joey Roxas-President of Eagle Equities and Mr. Gabriel Singson a Former Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The categories are budgeting, economy, education, insurance, investing, retirement, wealth, finances and many more. It has some other links like Rural banks, mutual funds, pre need companies, registered financial planner, etc.,

The site has its own Magazine which every issue, MoneySense will focus on a specific theme that addresses a timely area of personal finance, such as spending for education, planning for a vacation and lot more. You can also browse some previous topics of the magazine online. Aside that Money sense has magazine and talks about personal finances readers can benifit also some other things such as learning how to be active in financial products and take some actions about their money and will achieve goals. You can place your advertisements on this site. MoneySense is in all major bookstores and newsstands, coffee shops, hotels, and airports, nationwide.

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Minding Your Money site review - Posted June 21, 2010 by Monty Loree

Minding Your Money site review

Author

MBA,CFP,CDFA is her best qualification and by personal experience, she also deasl with financial difficulties through with that situation Patricia Stallworth come up the idea to make a Site to help and educate to those who needs guidance to resolve financial problems. Patricia is also a college educator at Oglethorpe University. Not only has that she written books like Minding Your Money Seminar Series. Patricia is not just giving information in this website but also in personal appearance as she can be invited as a speaker .Even in the news paper, you can find article written by her for she is a columnist of the Atlanta Tribune. She too was hired as a financial adviser in different companies. About her personal side she is divorced for her longtime marriage. But she is happy of what she has now.

Site Context

Minding Your Money website aims to truly educate someone who wants to be in his or her best to its financial status. This web is simple on its lay out but promising with regards to information. Same with the other sites, MYM is also offering free online finance book and tools that were helpful. Unlike other sites, they will not give you more links just to get what you want instead they will give you directly to the administrator. Like for instance, you want a book from Patricia so right then they will instruct you how to have it.
It is not only about business and money it also discuss every situation that involved money. For example, money and divorced why and how they are connected. While the site is putting the money and situation the also give you a concrete solution of your financial struggles.
As for me sight like this is a help for we don’t need to go for University so I can solve and manage my money. All I need to do is to log in and get educate online.

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Bargineering.com site review - Posted June 21, 2010 by Monty Loree

Bargineering.com site review

Author

Jim Wang is the man behind this blog. His main purpose is to educate his self and others. He gave his fresh thoughts that subject to money give strategy .However, he is open-minded and he is willing to accept corrections and he is trying to get the right thing with. Jim is a graduate of B.S Computer Science & Economics, M.S. Software Engineering & MBA.As of now he is located in Washington D.C. What is unique about Jim is that he is very open even to his personal finances and on how he budgets his income and how he uses it to spend and paid for his car. Jim is featured as one of the best young personal bloggers and through to his blog and intelligence, he can have the popularity that he never dreamed. Jim is on his full time to his blog he promised that whatever you can see and read to his blog is personally created by him.

Site Context

Well the site talks about money of course. What makes the site different from other sites is that is not just contains about the site owner‘s Idea, but it also contains as well as the members of the site. At the main page of the blog, you can read different post statements that tackle issues that include financial topics and views. As anyone was free to post their insights, they too were free to give their suggestion or commentary as a response to what you had posted. The site is also offered an online banking as it was connected to different banks such, Discover Bank, American Express bank, Ally Bank, MetLife Bank and more. You can easily check also your account online by its simple steps. The web was impressive for it was already recognizes in several publications like New York Times, Business Week. Bargaineering is on its fifth year now and looking forward to more years and more achievement.

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GATHER LITTLE BY LITTLE SITE REVIEW - Posted June 20, 2010 by Monty Loree

GATHER LITTLE BY LITTLE SITE REVIEW

This site is a personal finance blog with a Christian views and perspective. It tells about marriage and money, frugality, debt, saving, retirement, investing, money, and more. Although, the author is not a professional finance adviser but you can apply some of his personal opinions to solve your problems too. It is your own choice whether you will follow the same strategies to work on his financial aspects.

In this site you will also learn to manage your personal finances with a thought from the bible verse, particularly in Proverbs 13:11. It says that "Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow". People always think that getting an instant money is the only way to become rich and without having an instant money you can never be rich. That is why most of us rely too much on applying and acquiring debit cards only to realized we put ourselves into a financial hole. In Gather little by little, you will read an article that had some tips on how to save more of your money. He named it as Money saving monday. It is a series that each and every monday is a saving monday, so you must tune it that day to save money.

Since it is a Christian financial site, the categories are mostly of Christian ways. These are christian budgeting and christian debt reduction, but I find out that most of their categories cannot be opened. Each time I will click at them, it will only show error. The site is featuring an article about making money online. It says there that the job from internet could be an alternative source of income. Some of these jobs you can find on the internet are Affiliate Marketing. Blogging, Consulting or Coaching, Online stores, Complete Online Surveys and Read emails and Writing eBooks. The site has 2, 669 readers and they are also offering some business site, blogs and other webpages to sponsor Gather little by little to advertise. You can subscribe through RSS and Via email for their newsletter and updates.

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