You have one vote, but they have millions of dollars to influence votes.

When a young couple talks to their financial planner, odds are the financial planner is a player for the other team, the mega-corporations.

Every credit card in your wallet is attached to a major B-I quadrant business.

When you buy a house, your mortgage is attached to one of the biggest financial markets in the world, the bond market.

Your house, car, and life are insured by some of the biggest corporations in the world.

In other words, millions of people are playing life's game of money as Es and Ss against the biggest Bs and Is in the world.

That's why so many people feel powerless and look to the government to take care of them.

But as you know, our laws are dictated by the same B and I corporations that contribute billions of dollars to political elections.

You have one vote, but they have millions of dollars to influence votes.

The same is true in medicine.

One of the reasons why the medical field is broken and expensive is because the mega-insurance companies make the rules.

The doctors in the E and S quadrants have very little power over the Bs and Is of the world of pharmaceuticals and insurance.

The same is true in education.

It is the powerful teachers unions that dominate the world of education.

Unions are about money and benefits for teachers, not for the education of the kids.

My message is simply this:
If you want to protect your life, home, and family from the big bad wolves of the B-I quadrant, you need to build your own B-I Triangle. Put your own team of eight integrities together.

Note: B- Business, I = Investors, S - Self employed, E - Employee

Investment is a calculated bet

There are risks in every investment.

Along with the risks, there is also an expected return.

The risks of an investment could mean the possibility of losing some of the capital otherwise known as Value at Risk (VAR).

Risks can also be referred to as the uncertainty that the expected return (Re) is not achieved or the actual return (Ra) is lower than Re.

Investment is a calculated bet

In view of the uncertainty involved, whenever an investment is made, the investment can be considered as a bet.

Although the term “bet” sounds very much like gambling, but unlike gambling, investment is not entirely based on pure luck.

Even in gambling, be it casino or number forecasting games, there is the probability of outcome and prize payout.

Simple probability computations based on payout rates show that the final payout is always less than the betted amount. As such, when wagering in these games, the returns are always negative.

In the Case of Investment

In the case of investment, the bet refers more towards the uncertainty of the return, even though the risk is a calculated one after having taken into consideration the potential loss as well as the potential return that can be derived from such a bet.

When we refer to an investment as a bet, we simply mean that an investment has a risk of losing money and that is a fact.

Each investment should be seen separately and independently.

An array of investments makes a portfolio of calculated bets.

Mental calculation

Many investors use mental calculations to decide whether an investment is worth considering or not.

Experienced investors will use his or her past knowledge to make a decision.

Based on this valuable skill, a quick response can be made without performing much computation.

As such, experience is very important, and it helps a lot in making quick decisions — especially during such periods of volatility.

However, for those who have limited experience, additional homework is needed to calculate and determine the return and risk trade-off.

In many cases, the expected returns and probabilities cannot be determined easily, however, systematic procedures in making return and risk computations can still provide the lead.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, March 30, 2009.
Note: Search gMail.

Internet Marketing Fact Sheet

According to recent Nielsen Media Research figures, January 2009 recorded an annual increase of 2% to RM457.8 million from last year’s RM448.1 million. Internet adex came in at RM2.2 million in January last year but fell to RM1.1 million this year.

However, both Tan and Vogiatzakis are of the view that the online figures are not representative of the online market as a whole. “The participants in the Nielsen study do not reflect the universe of online media,” said Tan.

There has been a lot of drive to move to digital platforms over these last two years. This online market will have advertisers gravitating to the digital medium with its measurable return on investments.

the Media & Advertising page, The Edge Financial Daily, March 12,2009.
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/media-a-advertising/1768-januarys-2-adex-increase-not-predictive-for-the-year.html


Internet advertising around the world continues to grow, projected to be up 8.6% this year—to reach 12.1% of overall global ad spending.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007049


Interact directly with your customers

Get a clear understanding of your online corporate reputation

Uncover potential sales opportunities for your company

See how 140 characters can positively impact your brand!

Financial Knowledge

One of my true wealth was in my financial knowledge, not cash.

Financial education would give people more choices and more freedom to decide how they wanted to live their life.

Even when I was short on money, I still drive a nice car and lived in a nice condo.

My personal demand to live at a higher standard of living required me to always push my mind to determine how I could afford the luxuries of life, even though I had very little money.

When you don't have money, think and use your head. Never give in to the poor person inside you.

Rather than live below my means, I stretched my brain to find ways to live a life of elegance without blowing my finances to shreds.

If I don't have money for something I want, I use my head to figure out how to get it.

I do not let the amount of money in my bank account dictate the boundaries of my life.

My journey was not so much about the money, but who I became in the process.

I became a rich person who does not let money, or the lack of it, dictate the boundaries of my life.

What I hear is a "financial expert" saying, "I am smarter than you. Let me tell you how to live your life. The first step is to give me your money, and I'll manage it for you." Millions of people follow this advice like sheep, living below their means and turning their money over to the "financial expert," who turns it over to Wall Street.

Why live below your means when an abundant and full life is within your reach?

Cash Flow

Today, there are many great products, services, or businesses that could save the world, but without cash flowing from the consumer to the rich, those products or businesses are not funded.

If you are going to launch a new product or start a new business, you must be very aware of cash flow.

If your business only provides enough cash flow for you, chances are that your business will not attract investors or grow.

Search Engine Marketing

earch Engine Marketing (SEM) is a proven marketing technique that facilitates exposure with a significant reduction to ad spending. With the current economic crisis, marketers are facing budgetary cuts, keyword price fluctuations, and the ever-changing online campaign requirements. The challenge lies in how you can effectively utilise SEM to increase revenue and maximise ROI. Are you able to leverage on SEM to increase your brand visibility? Do you know how to integrate paid search and social media for optimal ROI? Can you manage your online reputation and protect it from negative publicity?

Join us at this 2-day Search Engine Marketing Workshop and learn how you can get the most from your paid and organic SEM campaigns. You will learn the latest tactics and proven strategies to gain and maintain a competitive edge. SEM veteran Kent Lewis will guide you through the key issues, including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Link Development, Online Reputation Management (ORM), Social Media Marketing (SMM), and SEM with Public Relations (PR). This will be supported with leading case examples and hands-on exercises. At the end of the workshop, you’ll be able to: • Find out how to conduct a web-based research • Learn about affordable web analytics tools and how to use them to measure KPIs • Explore advanced keyword research techniques to aid in the development of your own keyword strategy • Discover how to create relevant content, clean source code and build credibility to ensure higher position in organic search results • Gain tips on how to develop text ads and landing pages that maximise ROI • Examine how to leverage on social media tools to improve your visibility in search results • Identify essential SEM PR elements with advanced optimisation, syndication techniques and integration with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and social media • Glean tips on mitigating negative results in search engines to manage your brand • Acquire techniques to develop and refine an SEM programme for your business • Discuss the emerging trends and opportunities for search engines

Why Banks (still) Aren't Lending (0905)

Taxpayers want bailed-out banks to make loans and goose the economy.

But given the depths of the economic mess, that's the last thing the banks should do.

It doesn't matter what type of loan; lending into an economic downturn is an invitation to trouble.

What critics fail to acknowledge is that we all benefit from banks adhering to lending standards.

When that doesn't happen, we get financial collapses that compare to the darkest times in our history.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/why-banks-still-are-not-lending.aspx

Making the Simple Complex

By making the simple complex, the financial world sounds intelligent and makes you feel stupid when it comes to money. 

When you feel stupid, it is easier to take your money.

The good news is that it does not cost much to teach kids the vocabulary of money; no massive increase in educational funding is necessary - just some common sense.

If schools simply taught students the language of money, financial struggle and poverty would be reduced. 

If more kids learned the language of money, there would be more entrepreneurs who would create new jobs, instead of the government trying to create jobs.

Related: What's the Name of The Game ?

There Being Two Markets

There being two markets - a long-term investment market and a transactional market that gambles investor money.

There are two games going on.

One game is for long-term investors in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds (the tuna), and the other game is for short-term investors like hedge fund managers and professional traders (the sharks). As you may know, hedge funds often prey upon mutual funds like sharks feed on tuna.

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Mutual funds help themselves to the money of unsophisticated investors through fees and expenses.

I know the plan offers a few tax incentives, but the those tax incentives hardly make up for the cash being heisted out of the account via fees and expenses, nor would the tax incentives make up for the losses incurred just because of market volatility.

Mutual funds are simply an unintelligent investment designed for the financially unintelligent.

As a caveat, I am not against the concept of mutual funds. 

I am, however, against the high fees and hidden expenses of mutual funds that rob investors of their money. On top of that, there are thousands of mutual funds, but less than 30 percent of them actually beat the S&P 500. 

In other words, all you have to do is invest in a S&P Index Fund, and you will beat over 70 percent of all mutual fund managers - all with less money and higher returns. 

As stated in the previous chapter, mutual funds are generally for average to below average investors, the C students in the world of financial intelligence. 

A- and B-level investors do not need them.

Never Ask an Insurance Salesman If You Need Insurance

A smart investor knows it's not about how long you hold onto an investment.

It's about how you plan to invrease your wealth with that investment over a stated period of time.

Since most financial planners are only licensed to sell paper assets, that is what they sell you. 

Most do not sell tangible assets such as real estate, businesses, oil, or gold and silver. 

So naturally they will sell you what they are allowed to sell, not necessarily what you need, and that is not diversification.

As the old saying goes, "Never ask an insurance salesman if you need insurance." You know what the answer will be.

How the banking system works

Let's say you place $100 in a savings account with a bank.

The bank takes your savings and creates a derivative by promising to pay you 3 percent for your money.

Then the banking laws allow the bank, via the fractional reserve system, to lend your $100 out in multiples at interest, let's say 10 times at 10 percent interest.

So, the bank pays you $3 for your $100 and lends out $1,000 ($100 x 10) at 10 percent interest.

In this example, the bank earns $100 on $1,000 and pays you $3.

This happens in real life every hour of every day.