4 Financial Investments That Help You Do Some Good in the World

When you invest your money, it's important to put it into investments that will offer you good returns. At the same time, most investors also find it important to allocate funds in ways that make the world a better place. Here are four of the best investments you can make if you want to do some good in the world while earning a solid return on your money.

Invest in Green Energy Stocks

The move away from fossil fuels and toward greener forms of energy will likely produce enormous amounts of value in the coming years and decades. Companies operating in the renewable energy sector are well-positioned to produce large returns while solving one of the fundamental problems of the climate crisis. 

Consider exploring stocks in these companies, as well as those that supply the raw materials required for new energy technologies.

Invest in Small Agriculture

Providing startup money to a small, local farm is one of the best things you can do to make a difference in the world with your investment. Local farms offer nutritious food at reasonable prices, often while practicing more sustainable methods of agriculture. If you're really feeling ambitious, you might even consider buying some land and farming it yourself as a business opportunity.

Buy a Campsite

Although everyone is aware of the merits of real estate investing, most people overlook the potential of campgrounds as sources of income. Owning a campsite allows you to collect tent or RV parking fees on a property that requires minimal hands-on involvement. 

Best of all, campsites allow you to help people get away and relax in nature during their leisure time. These properties can be a bit difficult to find, but a good campsite or RV park broker should be able to help you select the right site.

Get Into Peer-to-Peer Lending

One of the most direct ways to make the world a better place through your investments is to fund loans through peer-to-peer lending. These small loans allow people to fund projects, pursue education, consolidate existing debts, or even start their own small businesses. 

As a peer-to-peer lender, you can personally select the loans you choose to fund, allowing you to help make the lives of others better. This form of lending offers decent returns, often competing with or even slightly exceeding the broader stock market.

These are just a few of the ways in which your investment activities can help make the world a better place. Although it's always important to earn a good return on your investment, you can also gain the satisfaction of doing good while increasing your wealth.

Top Tips For Buying Or Selling Gold

Image Source: Wikipedia

The price of gold is higher than ever, which means we’re seeing more and more jewellers advertising their gold-buying services.

Whether you’re buying or selling gold, there are a few things to know.

Smart Tips For Selling Gold

If you want to sell gold, it’s worth knowing that you may not get the market or appraisal price for your scraps.

Similar to purchasing a car or home, selling gold takes some negotiation. If you have a piece you believe is valuable, shop around for a buyer. Other than jewellers, there are other services as well as pawn shops that specialise in buying gold. The ideal is to approach a long standing and reputable business. Trustworthy stores like Gold Buyers Melbourne are selling gold bullion.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the market price for gold is typically based on 24 karat, pure gold. Jewellery is usually 10, 14, or 18 karat gold, which means your jewellery doesn’t contain a whole lot of pure gold. As the karats decrease, so does the amount your piece will fetch.

Image Source: Wikipedia

The drop in price, though, isn’t just based on karats. If you’re the seller, this is just the start of the process. Once a jeweller buys gold from you, they send the scraps to a refinery that then sells it to a manufacturer. The scraps are made into new jewellery to sell to the jeweller and on to customers. Everybody along the way wants to make money, which is why your gold pieces may not sell for as much as you would like.

On the whole, you can expect more money for your gold when market prices are high.

Smart Tips For Buying Gold

More and more people are looking to invest in gold. But it might not necessarily be the best time to buy. If you are eager to invest in gold, though, it’s wiser to invest about 5 to 15 percent of your investment portfolio into gold, just be sure you understand the risk factors and that gold should serve as a long-term investment.





While there is inflation, and many argue you should buy gold as a reserve currency, it’s worth noting that there will be a lack of cash flow from gold, and there can even be years when the rate of return is either flat or negative.

Make Sure You Get A Fair Rate

So, how do you find a fair and reputable gold buying service for your needs? Take a look at these tips:

• If you have any concerns or queries about the accuracy of a scale, ask questions
• Look for authoritative and relevant inspection stickers
• Make sure you see the gold being weighed yourself. It’s entirely fair to ask for the scale to be tested in front of you, too
• Get a professional appraisal. Jewellery appraisals are usually done for the purpose of insurance, but it’s a great way to get an idea of how much your items are worth. You can then decide if you want to sell the gold on its own or the jewellery as a whole.

Keep these smart tips in mind when buying or selling your gold!

How to Master the Art of Forex Trading Profession

This is one of the most popular articles on the internet but sadly no one gives you clear information to learn to trade the market. 

But if you read this article very carefully you will understand how to make a huge profit from this market without losing your investment. As an investor, you need to follow some basic rules. Trading is often called as the most complex business in the world. 

You need to fight with your emotions to execute the best trade at the most extreme market conditions. Now let’s learn about the key steps which will help you to become a profitable trader in the Australian trading community.

Do you really want to become a trader?

This is is the most important question you need to ask yourself? There are many challenges you need to overcome to become a successful trader. 

Can you really take this heat? If so, trading is the right profession for you. Though 90% of the traders are losing money there is nothing to be afraid of. 

Those who trade the market with 2% risk factors will never blow their account. But there a slight change to the universal 2% rule of risk management. Instead of risking 2% per trade you need to risk 2% per week. 

By this way, you will be able to stop overtrading the market. Focus on quality trade execution in the higher time frame.

Find a professional trader

Finding a successful trader is very hard. But if you want to become successful within a very short period of time you need to find an expert Aussie trader who will guide you the initial path. 




Things are really very easy in the Forex market but if you don’t trade with discipline it won’t take long to blow your account. This is where the professionals will help you. 

Forex trading is nothing but dealing with your emotions and managing your trades in a very organized way.

Demo trade the market for six months

You need to use the demo accounts for at least six months. Those who start trading with real money doesn’t really understand how this market works. 

Learning from your mistakes as a new trader by losing money continuously is very hard. But if you simply use the virtual dollar you can trade as long as you want. This is just like your practice field where you can learn about the complexity of this market. 

Some professional brokerage firms have limitations on the demo accounts but this is absolutely fine. Demo trade the market with the average brokerage firm to learn to trade. 

Once you develop a stable trading strategy switch back to your real account and start executing quality trades with managed risk.

Stop being a trade addict

You need to stop being a trade addict or else you will never succeed. Some traders always stick to their chart and things this will help them to better understand the market. 

But in reality, this things always make things worse. You have to trade in an organized way. Follow a trading routine and you will be able to learn the details of the market. 

Majority of the traders don’t know the importance of different trading sessions. They are always taking a huge risk at the wrong time. But if you chose the correct pair in the correct trading session you will have higher chance to win trades.

Forget about EAs and bots

Last but not the least you need to forget about EAs and bots. No bots have the capacity to predict the price movement with 100% accuracy. Those who will guarantee 100% profit, stay 100 feet away from them. 

Try to learn the manual trading strategy as it is one of the best ways to find good trades. Be a conservative trader and you will see significant improvement in your trading system.

Your Quick Guide To Going For Growth In 2018

There’s no doubt about it, this last year has been one of the strangest of all with a new President, unrest in the world and the continuing saga of the UK’s plans to leave the EU.

So now it’s time to start questioning what 2018 holds in store for us and how we can all start to make our hard-earned cash work even harder for us. A good place to start would be to look at what we can say about the way the economy will be headed in 2018, or what we may be able to predict.

The first thing to say would be that already the Federal Reserve has indicated that interest rates may be raised up to four times over the next 12 months. While it’s all but impossible to predict what this will mean in actual terms it is fairly safe to say that, for many, this will place an extra burden on their finances while also making savings rates a little more favourable.

It’s also important to look at exactly why rates may have to rise and the reasons are far from bad. In fact, it’s that the economy is on the up, unemployment’s going down and even globally there are the early stirrings of other countries’ economies coming back to life. So it all adds up to the fact that we’ll be going into 2018 on a strong economic wave.




We also know the stock market will start 2018 at near historic highs as the S&P 500 is currently running a Shiller price-to-earnings ratio of 32, which is nearly double the long-term. average. What this means is that to really maximise your returns and take full advantage of the situation, you’ll have to be extra vigilant about where you invest.

It’s also worth noting that it seems like neither pronouncements from President Trump or the risk of conflict in North Korea have had any effect on the markets over 2017, but that’s not to say that these factors won’t come into play in 2018.

So let’s take a look at some of the investments that could pay off for you over the next year. It’s in no way intended to be definite guidance but it should certainly give you plenty to think about.

Your 401(k) Plan is a great investment - especially for the over 50s

If you thought that tax shelters were only for the super-rich it might be a big surprise for you to learn that you’re sitting on one right now, whatever the level of your wealth, and it’s called the 401(k).

Now you may also have thought that the 401(k) plan is, at best, some far from impressive mutual funds which also have high fees attached to them. But, in fact, it’s a very good and tax-efficient place for your money.

For example, if you currently pay 25% tax then for every dollar you invest it’s an extra 25 cents of your investment that’s compounding, and this, over time, is of huge benefit to you. The fact that next year the IRS is going to increase the annual contribution limit on 401(k) plans to $18,500, excluding employer matching, is good news PLUS if you’re 50 or older, you can add another $6,000 per year making $24,500.

So, even if you’re nervous about where the market may be heading, you really should try to maximize your 401(k) plan, especially as there are money market and stable value funds to invest in with minimal risks.

Consider alternative investments too

While there is plenty to recommend the stock market both as a tried and trusted method of increasing wealth, at least during the good times, as well as being a way to own a stake in the US economy, it’s not necessarily always the very best place to invest.

You only have to look at the 13 years between 1968 to 1981 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average actually lost money when inflation was taken into account. But over the same period commodities and gold did far better, especially in the case of the latter whose value rocketed by 2,000% between 1971 to 1980. So the moral of this story is not just to buy gold to think about diversifying in order to not be just relying on the market.

A word of caution, though. When you’re thinking about investing in alternatives you need to be aware that it’s far less regulated than the stocks and bonds markets so a little more diligence is needed. You should also never invest in something you never fully understand. We only have to look back as far as 2008/9 to see exactly where that can lead.

The Bitcoin bubble?

One example of understanding what you’re getting into before you make the leap is the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Throughout the year Bitcoin has been hitting the headlines as its value has gradually increased, finally hitting the symbolic $10,000 mark in November. There are also many stories about the people who got in at the earliest days and now are finding that they are multi-millionaires, on paper at least. But, even in the light of these huge gains in value, there’s also increasing disquiet amongst banks and economists that this is showing all the signs of a classic bubble, and we all know what happens when they burst.

The fact is that Bitcoin’s key strength and point of difference in the eyes of some – its independence from governments and financial institutions – is also its biggest weakness. The facts behind this expressed very succinctly by Rodney Johnson, the head of the highly respected economic forecasting firm Dent Research who has pronounced that “If a company or commodity has no assets, no returns and no backing, what’s it worth? In a word, ‘priceless.’ Some will see zero value, others infinite value”. So it very much depends on how you stand on this point which will dictate your attitude to jumping on the Bitcoin bandwagon.

When asked more precisely about his attitudes to investing in a cryptocurrency Johnson was also quoted as saying. “I wouldn’t risk any significant portion of my wealth on such a thing. But I might put a few dollars in, like buying an investment lottery ticket.”

So, in terms of gambles, you might well be better off trying your luck at any of the many online casinos that offer you the chance to take up free spins and bonuses and play without putting up a single cent of your own money, in a fiat currency, of course!

Go for value stocks

So now we’ve covered off these areas, it’s time to take a look at the sorts of stocks that could prove to be a good investment throughout 2018 and beyond.

There’s a simple reason why we’ve left this to last and that’s because your first priority should always to be making your definite savings decisions first before seeing what cash is left over for more speculative investments.

Assuming you go have a pot to invest, it could well be worth following the advice given by many market observers who have been advising that we should be looking for value rather than growth. Now this may sound counterintuitive at the end of a year in which the Russell 1000 Growth Index outgunned the Russell 1000 Value Index by showing returns of over 100% more but the tide may be beginning to turn. So talk to your financial advisor and keep a close eye on the financial pages to spot the value opportunities as and when they arise.

As to what all of our financial situations will be at this point next year, only time will tell. But what is certain is that we’ll all be a year older - but hopefully also a little wiser and richer too - and ready to take on all of the challenges that 2019 may have in store for us.