And whether you are a first time homebuyer, debating the viability of building your dream house in San Bernardino, or a real estate investor looking to sell condominium units in Los Angeles, you certainly want to know: When is it the optimum time to buy or sell?

Purchasing a house is a major investment. With judicious planning, this valuable asset will appreciate with each year.

But how do you get the big picture? Fortunately, real estate trends are predictable because these develop over a long period, unlike the stock market, which is rather volatile.

The first thing you will need to do is to read and track real estate articles: the market reports of the California Association of Realtors or the California Building Industry Association, and the briefs created by housing analyst companies.

Once you have identified the following key indicators you will have a better grasp of the general trends in Californias real estate market.

THE FIVE KEY INDICATORS TO WATCH

Interest Rates
When interest rates rise, buyers shy away. Conversely, lowered interest rates attract more buyers.

This year, interest rates in California are on an upswing. For example, thirty-year fixed mortgage rates, which averaged 5.71 percent in 2005, has risen to 6 percent levels in January 2006. And adjustable mortgage interest rates have moved up to 5 percent levels compared to 4.12 percent in 2005.

Building Permits
The higher the number of building permits issued, the higher the demand for houses.

Figures show that number of building permits issued for the year 2006, have fallen by 10 percent in comparison to last years figures. In terms of houses, thats a decrease of 1,430 building permits compared to January 2005 figures, according to California Building Industry Association report.

Home Sales
This key indicator refers to the total number of homes sold. In the law of supply and demand, when there are few buyers, real estate prices fall.

The January 2006 figures of the California Association of Realtors reveal that the number of existing single-family detached homes sold, has gone down by 24.1 percent in comparison to sales for the entire year 2005.

Another factor to consider is the growing inventory of available houses in certain counties in California, which is changing the market dynamics. What was once a sellers market is slowly turning into a buyers market.

Loan Defaults
This refers to the failure of homeowners to pay their monthly mortgage fees. One downside to this is that many Californian homeowners are choosing to have a bad credit report, rather than to keep paying fees for a home whose value has been inflated by as much as 20 percent more.

Foreclosure Sales
Figures presented by DataQuick Information Systems, a housing analyst company, indicate that foreclosure activities in California have gone up by 19 percent in the last quarter of 2005. This is an increase of 3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2005, and is 4.6 percent higher when compared to 2004s last quarter figures.

When foreclosure sales are on an upswing, consumer spending is down and consumer debt levels have risen. In the real estate market, this has meant that many financially strapped homeowners are selling their homes at lower prices. The other contributable factors are inflation, the rising prices of gasoline, federal budget deficit, and interest rates.

Concurrently, these key indicators confirm that although home sales levels in California are falling, the demand for houses remains strong and steady. Always do your due diligence before undertaking a purchase of property in California.

5 General Trends in the California Real Estate Market to Watch 2006 is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

Does it just languish, forgotten, in some dusty corner of your mind? Are you, among millions of others, crossing your fingers and hoping your portfolio will provide?

Thanks to changes in the industry, investors now can get more help managing their 401(k) accounts. In the past, to prevent conflicts of interest, defined contribution plan providers could make only general asset class recommendations. But regulations now allow financial service companies to hire independent, third-party financial advisers like Ibbotson Associates to manage individual investors’ 401(k) accounts.

Those who choose professional help will find that the money in their portfolio will be allocated appropriately to funds in their existing plan, rebalanced regularly and adjusted over time to meet changing life circumstances. And these programs are catching on.

Ibbotson is the independent third-party advisor for 401(k) managed account programs run by AIG VALIC, Fidelity, Great-West Retirement Services, Merrill Lynch, the Principal Financial Group and TIAA-CREF. Although 401(k) managed accounts are only two years old, participation in such programs is increasing rapidly. Currently there is over $10 billion in 401(k) managed account programs, and that number is expected to reach $300 billion in 2010, according to industry research firm TowerGroup.

A major reason for the growth is that many employees don’t know how to manage their retirement plans. Human resources firm Hewitt Associates found that only 16 percent of 401(k) plan participants made any changes to their accounts in 2004. The study also found that, while some employees were not aggressive enough with their investments, others took on too much risk. For example, participants concentrated about 27 percent of their 401(k) assets in their company stock.

401(k) Participants Turn to Pros For Help Managing Their Money is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

Mutual funds are very popular. In fact, they are the one of the most popular investments on the market today. What does that mean in numbers? There are over 10,000 different funds with over $4 trillion in investments!!

Why are they so popular? For some, it is because of their great returns. Others like funds because they are easy to buy and sell. Still others like them because they are diversified and less risky.

A mutual fund raises money from investors to invest in stocks, bonds, and other securities. It is a package made up of several individual investments. When those investments gain or lose value, you gain or lose as well. When they pay dividends, you get a share of them. Mutual funds also offer professional management and diversification. They do much of your investing work for you.

Mutual funds have been around since the 1800′s, but didn’t become what we know today until 1924. Even then, they did not become a household word until the 1990′s, at which time the number of people owning them tripled. A recent survey shows that 88% of all investors have at least some of their money in mutual funds.

A mutual fund is a special type of company that pools together money from many investors and invests it on behalf of the group, in accordance with a stated set of objectives. Mutual funds raise the money by selling shares of the fund to the public, much like any other company can sell stock in itself to the public. Funds then take the money they receive from the sale of their shares (along with any money made from previous investments) and use it to purchase various investment vehicles, such as stocks, bonds, and money market instruments.

In return for the money they give to the fund when purchasing shares, shareholders receive an equity position in the fund and, in effect, in each of its underlying securities. For most mutual funds, shareholders are free to sell their shares at any time, although the price of a share in a mutual fund will fluctuate daily, depending upon the performance of the securities held by the fund.

Most investors pick mutual funds based on recent fund performance, the suggestion of a friend, and/or the praise bestowed on them by a financial magazine or fund-rating agency. While using these methods can lead one to selecting a quality fund, they can also lead you in the wrong direction and wondering what happened to that “great pick.”

Despite the distinctive characteristics of mutual funds – performance, management philosophy, & investment objectives – your specific selections should be chosen within the context of your overall financial plan. Examining features such as past performance are not where your studies should begin. The point of departure is you; your financial priorities; your resources; your approach to investment diversification; your willingness (or lack thereof) to accept market volatility; and your time horizon for a particular investment.

Total Returns are fun to look at and brag about, but simply looking at a fund’s total return for the past year is not necessarily a good measure of a fund’s quality. For example, investors often talk about how well a specific fund did last year and how happy they are with that performance — say a 16% return in an equity income fund. Well, in a given year that may or may not have been a good return for an equity income fund. That fund may have under-performed many or most other equity-income funds for the year. Returns should always be measured in context with how other similar “categorized” (e.g.. equity income funds, growth funds, small cap funds, etc.) funds have performed. So don’t get overly excited by a funds total return until you see how it compares to other similar funds over the same period.

As it is often said, past performance can’t predict future results. But when comparing performance of funds, it is also wise to look beyond the results of one or two years. Most experts suggest that a larger “window” of 5 to 10 years gives a clearer picture of historical performance. Has your fund or the one you are considering performed well over this longer time horizon? Any fund can have one good or one bad year, but if you are investing for the long term, you want a fund that has a consistent track record. While that record doesn’t guarantee future results, it gives you an indicator that may be to your advantage.

What are mutual funds? is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

In an era of corporate restructuring and outsourcing, Rollover IRA is among the most powerful means available for securing ones retirement. Yet, its potential to enlarge ones assets for the sunset years commonly remains under-appreciated.

The Rollover IRA dramatically increases the range of choices available to you for investing your retirement savings. By offering investment choices hitherto unavailable in employer-sponsored plans such as 401k, 403b, or Section 457 plans, Rollover IRA provides you the means to have direct control of and more aggressively grow your nest egg.

This article discusses the advantages of Rollover IRA over employer-sponsored retirement plans.

So, if you are leaving your job and have accumulated assets in the employer-sponsored retirement plan, continue reading this article to learn about your options and more.

Four Options

You have four options on what you can do with your savings in your employer-sponsored plan when you are switching jobs or retiring.

1) Cash your savings.
2) Continue with the retirement plan of your previous employer.
3) Transfer your savings into the retirement plan sponsored by your new employer.
4) Set up a Rollover IRA account with a mutual fund company and move your retirement savings into that account.

Unless you have a pressing need, it is best not to cash your retirement savings. First, cash withdrawals from the retirement plan will be subject to federal and state taxes. Second, your retirement savings diminish and you will have fewer assets to grow tax-deferred.

While the three other options will not erode your retirement savings and will allow it to grow tax-deferred, they are not equal in their ability to help you boost its growth rate.

Increased Investment Choices

Most employees earn meager returns on their employer-sponsored retirement plan savings. A Dalbar study reports that the average 401k plan investor achieved an annual return of just 3.5% during a 20-year period when the S&P 500 returned 13.0% per year.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that most retirement plans offer only a limited number of investment choices. A Columbia University study finds the median number of mutual fund choices in 401k plans to be just 13. The actual number of equity mutual fund investment choices however is less, since the median number includes money market funds, fixed income funds, and balanced funds.

With fewer investment choices, employer-sponsored plans limit your ability to take advantage of different market trends and to continually position your retirement savings in mutual funds with superior risk-reward profiles.

If you set up a Rollover IRA with a large mutual fund company such as Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price or Vanguard Group, you will break the shackles imposed by your employer-sponsored plan and dramatically increase the number of mutual funds available for investing your retirement savings. Fidelity, for example, provides access to several thousand mutual funds besides the more than 180 mutual funds it manages.

Setting-up the Rollover IRA

Lets say you decide to move your retirement savings to a Rollover account with a mutual fund company. How do you make it happen?

Contact the mutual fund company in which you wish to open an account and ask them to send you their Rollover IRA kit. Complete the form for opening the Rollover IRA account and mail it to the mutual fund company. Next, complete any forms required by the retirement plan administrator of your previous employer and request transfer of your assets into the Rollover IRA account.

You have two choices for moving your retirement savings to your Rollover IRA account. One is to elect to have the money transferred directly from the employer-sponsored plan to the Rollover IRA account. This is called direct rollover. With the indirect rollover alternative, you take the distribution from the retirement plan and then deposit it in the Rollover IRA account. Unless exceptions apply, you have 60 days to deposit the distribution and qualify for tax-free rollover.

Boosting Your Rollover IRA Performance

You need a strategy to benefit from the wide range of investment choices available in the Rollover IRA. You can develop the strategy yourself or leverage ideas from investment newsletters such as AlphaProfit Sector Investors Newsletter to enhance the growth rate of your nest egg.

AlphaProfits Focus and Core model portfolios have grown at an average annual rate of 33% and 21% respectively, compared to an average annual return of 13% for the S&P 500 Index from September 30, 2003 to March 31, 2006.

Lets say you transfer $50,000 from your employer-sponsored retirement plan to the Rollover IRA and the wider range of investment choices helps you increase your annual return from 8% in the former to 12% in the Rollover IRA. At the end of 20 years, your Rollover IRA will be worth $482,315, more than double the $233,048 it would be worth had you stayed on with the employer-sponsored plan — that too without any cash additions to your Rollover IRA.

Adding to Your Rollover IRA

You can leverage the potential of your Rollover IRA further by adding to it each time you change jobs. With the Rollover IRA already setup, all you have to do is to instruct the retirement plan administrator of your last employer to transfer assets to the Rollover IRA. There is no limit on the amount of money you can transfer.

You may also add money to your Rollover IRA through regular annual contributions. They are however subject to the annual limit for IRA contributions.

Summary

When you are switching jobs or retiring, the Rollover IRA opens a window of opportunity for you, widening the range of investment choices for your retirement assets hitherto not available in the employer-sponsored plan. The self-directed Rollover IRA empowers you to construct and manage a mutual fund portfolio to boost the growth rate of your retirement savings.

Notes: This report is for information purposes only. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or to give individual investment advice. This report does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs of any specific person who may receive this report. The information contained in this report is obtained from various sources believed to be accurate and is provided without warranties of any kind. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC does not represent that this information, including any third party information, is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC is not responsible for any errors or omissions herein. Opinions expressed herein reflect the opinion of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC and are subject to change without notice. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC disclaims any liability for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information in this report. The third-party trademarks or service marks appearing within this report are the property of their respective owners. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. Owners and employees of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC for their own accounts invest in the Fidelity Mutual Funds included in the AlphaProfit Core and Focus model portfolios. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC neither is associated with nor receives any compensation from Fidelity Investments or other mutual fund companies mentioned in this report. Past performance is neither an indication of nor a guarantee for future results. No part of this document may be reproduced in any manner without written permission of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. Copyright 2006 AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. All rights reserved.

Secure Your Retirement with a Rollover IRA is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

ARM Features

An ARM starts with a low interest rate, up to 3% lower than a fixed rate mortgage. With lower rates, you usually qualify to borrow more than with a fixed rate home loan.

ARMs usually start with a fixed rate period and end with fluctuating yearly interest rates, increasing or decreasing your monthly payment. So a 3/1 ARM means 3 years of fixed rates with interest rates changing every year after that. Interest rates are based on an index, usually the rate on the T-bill or LIBOR, and the margin the lender adds to the index.

ARM Safeguards

In order to protect borrowers from sky-rocketing monthly payments, mortgage lenders put in place safeguards. For example, a point cap limits how much interest rates can rise monthly and over the life of the loan. There are also ceiling limits on how low rates can go, protecting the lender.

Another safeguard is a dollar cap on monthly payments. However, if interest rates rise higher than the dollar cap allows, you may end up with a longer loan. Many financing companies also allow you to convert your ARM to a fixed rate mortgage after a predetermined period.

ARM Considerations

While an ARM has many benefits, there are other considerations to look at. For instance, interest rates can rise 4% or more over the course of your home loan. If you plan to stay in your home for several years, a fixed rate may offer lower interest costs in the long term. ARMs are also unpredictable, which makes planning long term financing goals difficult.

Before you apply for an ARM, make sure you are comfortable with the level of risk involve. However, if you expect your income to rise in the future or to move, then you may be saving yourself a lot of money in interest payments with an ARM.

Adjustable Rate Mortgage Loans – Understanding The Basics is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

With secured loans, one can borrow the amount ranging from ?5,000-?75000 along with a flexible repayment period, varied from 5-25 years. The main advantage of secured loans is its relatively low rate of interest. And for this reason, more and more people nowadays are applying for secured loans.

There are different sorts of secured loans according to their usage. But among them, some popular loans are as follows:

Secured Debt-consolidation loans: It is especially for them who are facing debt difficulties. With these loans, they can combine all their debts into a single manageable debt that would be more convenient for them to repay. Besides, dealing with a single creditor, instead of various creditors is also an added benefit with these loans.

Bad credit secured loans: It is true that bad credit history hinders one to avail any loan. To improve your credit score and come out of bad credit history, bad credit secured loans are the perfect choice for you.

Secured Wedding Loans: For a wondering wedding, secured wedding loans are the best alternative that you can opt for. These loans cover all expanses related to wedding, such as, buying ring, dress, decoration, reception and so on.

Secured holiday loans: Holidaying is mandatory to move out from mundane monotony. And loans are available to finance for a holiday. Secured holiday loans are used for funding in various travel related purposes, like- ticket booking, hotel bills, meals and other miscellaneous expenses.

Secured business loans: These loans are mainly given for business purposes. It could be setting up a new business, business expansion, funding for various business related requirements, like purchasing materials, paying tax and many more.

Secured Car loans: Car is no more a luxury. Nowadays, it has become a necessity. Secured car loans are specially meant for those people, who want to avail car loans that suit their needs.

Besides these loans, there are some other kinds of secured loans. Such as, secured home improvement loans, secured unemployment loans etc. However, the criteria to avail all secured loans remain same. Though, the rate of interest may vary according to loan amount, duration and worth of collateral.

You can get secured loans against your property. So, needless to say, borrow the amount that is convenient for you to pay-off. In case of failing to repay the loan amount, you will lose your possession on the property that you have used as collateral.

Recently, secured loans have become famous among borrowers. These loans are cost-effective rather than other loans, as secured loans are served at low interest rate. Thus, when it comes to loans, then secured loans are the best option that you can opt for.

A Gamut Of Secured Loans is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

There are many other ways to invest. Im going to tell you about one investment opportunity that gives high returns with little research. Anyone can do it. I am talking about Offshore Investments, also known as High Yield Investment Programs (HYIP).

Firstly, there are two types of High Yield Investment Programs. These are Autosurfs and Private HYIPs. Both are accessible to the general public and give high returns usually with a minimum deposit as low as $5. The returns that Im talking about are in the region of 30% every month, for no work at all. The only difference is the risk factors involved.

An Autosurf is a program that pays you for surfing the internet. The return you will receive depends on the amount you invest. Generally, Autosurfs are regarded as a higher risk than HYIPs. This is because Autosurfs, generally, do not have a viable means of alternative income.

Private HYIPs are a far safer option for small investors. Not many people know about them and they tend to last longer than Autosurfs. Many of them have exceeded 3 years, thereby giving you more than 10 times your intial investment. Their income usually comes from using investors cash to trade stock markets.

Finding private HYIPs is not as hard as it used to be. A simple search will reveal some good investments. Reading peoples comments and opinions on them will help you form your own opinion and tell you if you should invest or not. Choose wisely.

For small investors, private HYIPs are like a dream come true. We can now create passive income with as little as $100.

Can You Invest With Just $100? is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

While whole life insurance may initially be more expensive than term life insurance, in the long run it can be less expensive. Whole life insurance is regarded as an investment, and as such, may pay dividends throughout the life of the policy. These dividends can be used to pay down the premiums, or in other nominated ways that can mean that you save money in the long haul.

Whole term life insurance policies can be paid out as a lump sum, or in monthly payments, so there is some flexible for policy holders who do not wish for their policy to be spent irresponsibly. There are also now a large range of various policies which allow customers to pick and choose conditions that suit them them best.

Due to the expansion of the insurance industry, you are well advised to look at your own needs and desires critically, to make sure that the package you end up signing for suits your needs best, and does not carry superfluous costs which will not benefit you at all.

If you are looking for whole term life insurance, be sure to look around various companies, and to request quotes online. These save you both time and money, and are well worth the effort when you consider the magnitude of the investment you could be making, and the importance of the cover to your loved ones.

Advantages Of Whole Life Insurance How To Get Them is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

The backbone of any fundraising campaign is the appeal to donors for contributions. The problem many organizations run into during this phase of their fundraising efforts is that they have neglected to keep their donors engaged with their organization since their previous appeal for support. The donor no longer feels engaged by, or attached to, your organization in any meaning way. What distinguishes your organization or non-profit from the next?

We advise all of our clients to develop strong relationships with their donors and supporters. In the non-profit sector, these relationships play a significant role in the success of any given campaign. In some cases, these relationships can make or break an organization. Keep in mind that appeals for support are not always of the monetary type. Organizations of every type need support staff, and your donor list is an ideal place to search for new recruits.

One of the most important elements of fundraising is strategic planning, and your donor list can provide you with a lot of useful information. For instance, a well organized donor list can provide you with information about the types of causes a certain individual tends to support. By studying the types of initiatives an individual supports, you can make relatively educated guesses about their receptiveness to your current efforts. By organizing and tracking this data, you can save your organization valuable time and resources that could be used more effectively in another area.

A number of organizations purchase their donor lists from a third party. While this may be the most convenient solution, it is certainly not the most effective. It is imperative for any organization that is serious about fundraising to develop a proprietary donor list. This is a significant point that is often overlooked. By building your own donor list, you become engaged with the people in your community. These are the people that will support your organization over the long term, and the ones most likely to get involved.

Fundraising and the Business of Relationships is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net

These non-homeowner debt consolidation loans provide the same function to the non homeowners that debt consolidation does to all the other borrowers.

Debt consolidation It is a process by which the people who owe multiple debts clear off their debts by taking another loan that would cover for all the previously owed debts. The process begins by taking loan from a lender, who deals with such debts.

People many a times wonder as to how a loan much bigger in size, will help the borrowers who may already be struggling with the burden of debts. That my friends, is possible with the way the loan and its working is structured. The loan is featured as such that it will only aid the borrower in every step of the debt consolidation process

The benefits that a borrower stands to get with the non homeowner debt consolidation loans are:

The loan is an unsecured loan and this eliminates a lot of the risk that may have been associated with a secured loan.

The loan gives the non-homeowners a chance to restart their payments by taking over all their previously accumulated debts.

Also the interest rate is lower than the average interest rate of all the previously accumulated debts. This feature subsequently helps in lowering the monthly installments to be paid.

The borrower now has to face only a single lender, which is theoretically easier than being answerable to a number of creditors.

People with bad credit history get a chance to improve on their credit score by following the guidelines given by their new lenders. This in future can help in getting easier loan terms.

With these benefits and features, the borrowers get all that they desire as far as their loans are concerned.

Borrowers however, have to be careful in their dealings as this loan may not carry any threats to your assets, but still failure to pay the required or agreed installments could be hazardous to both the credit score of the borrower. Harsh fines and sanctions could also follow this. Though, that is an extreme case but still prevention is better than cure.

All You Need To Know About Non Homeowner Debt Consolidation Loans is a post from: Finance Blogs | Artesliberales.net