Investment

A First Time Buyers Checklist for getting on the property ladder

Richard

Deciding where to set down your roots for the first time is a big decision so you want to make sure you’ve looked at all the options. Whether you’re looking for a city apartment, rural family home or a simple cosy pad nearby to work and conveniently close to shops, making a decision about what will best fit your future is a big one indeed. Luckily as a first time buyer, there are plenty of options available to you so it’s always good to be clued up on all the avenues you can go down, (or live on). So whatever you’re looking for here are some top tips to save you some money and make the most of getting onto the property ladder for the first time.

 

Shared Ownership

 

If you haven’t heard of this one, shared ownership is a great hack for any first time buyer with their eye on a home they adore. Shared Ownership allows you to part buy, part rent your home and therefore pay a smaller deposit. As you only put down a deposit on the share you wish to buy, this can be between 25% and 75%, cutting those initial payments right down and eliminating the biggest hurdle for first time buyers. From shared ownership homes in Medway to apartments with shared ownership London, this scheme offers homes all over the UK. You can also buy more of your home overtime meaning you can climb the property ladder at your own pace. And with property portals like connectwithhome.co.uk offering a variety of homes to suit everyone, there’s no need to compromise under this scheme.

 

Help to Buy

 

This is another great scheme for first time buyers and is widely available across the country and on a range of homes. Help to Buy is a government scheme that ensures you only have to put down a 5% deposit on a property taking the sting out of the hardest bit about being a first time buyer. In addition to this, you will get a 20% equity loan from the government on your property that you pay absolutely no interest on for the first 5 years. This means you only have to obtain a mortgage for 75% of the property price rather than 90%. And if you live in London you could get a 40% equity loan meaning your mortgage will amount to just 55% of the total value of the home. This scheme can definitely give you a bit more time to settle into the payments and feel a bit more financially secure about your property purchase.

 

New Developments

 

One of the best places to look for both of these schemes are up and coming areas and new Developments. With Shared Ownership homes in Ebbsfleet offering a young professionals paradise and shared ownership properties in West London putting you at the heart of the buzzing metropolis, looking for areas that have had a lick of paint and a bit of a face lift could be your ticket onto the property ladder. There are plenty of areas offering first-time buyer schemes and with a little shopping around you can find the perfect one for you. Sites like Keaze.com are great tools to help you browse what’s on offer without the hassle and video tours included.

 

So whether you’re looking to move in the near future or a little later down the line, make sure to take advantage of the options out there for first time buyers and you could be bagging yourself some decent savings.

Currencybrokers.Co.Uk Helps Differentiate Between UK Currency Brokers from Forex Brokers

Richard

With more than $5 trillion traded every day, the forex market is the largest financial market in the world. Although there are millions of forex traders, one of the biggest fears among these traders is losing their money, and it is also true that with so many forex investors, a few are truly successful. This is why most traders hesitate to enter the Forex industry. Well, if they keep away from the forex markets, they also face the risk of losing out on all those amazing opportunities to make some profits!

Before entering the forex market, it is vital to understand the fundamental technical and macroeconomic analysis which is necessary for trading forex. Currnecybrokers.co.uk is a newly launched website covering two distinct sides of currency trading –for business purposes and payments vs. speculative FX trading.

The simplest way to lower the risks and fears is to compare brokerages and build a relationship with the best currency broker to avoid some of these pitfalls. Thus, it is highly recommended to use currency brokers for trading. But who are these brokers, what do they do, and how are they different from FX brokers? Which are the best currency brokers? More importantly, are they safe to use, and can they help control the risk of the forex market? Read on to learn more.

Currency Broker Vs FX Broker

Before you join forex trading, you must know the difference between currency brokers and FX brokers and the services provided by these brokers.

Forex broker is like a dealer between the currencies the customer speculates or on the FX market to help customers buy and sell currency pairs. On the other hand, a currency broker converts money from one currency to another to provide international payment services.

Sometimes currency brokers are also called foreign exchange brokers or currency exchange brokers and even money transfer companies. One should not confuse currency brokers with Forex brokers regardless of the different financial jargon used. A forex broker simply provides a trading platform for customers to speculate on and will not exchange and move money for them. Customers use FX brokers for speculative trading.

There are thousands of currency brokers working in the markets, but only a few are established, regulated, and carry a good reputation. One must use only the best currency brokers when making international currency transfers.

Why use UK Currency brokers?

Globally, small and mid-sized businesses carry billions worth of international trade transactions every year. In recent years, there has been a significant shift among these companies to take advantage of currency brokers and exchange rates to streamline their financial processes and manage their finances outside of traditional banking platforms. 

 Currency brokers are useful for making regular conversions and international payments, and they offer far better exchange rates than banks. Moreover, their fees are normally integrated with the exchange rates. 

 Traders prefer to use the best currency broker as he can help increase the profits for them by effective management of foreign exchange exposure through hedging options, forwards, and futures. Many even provide rate forecasts and advisory services for their clients.

 Currency brokers in the UK are much in demand because of the following reasons:

  • They are less expensive than banks – Banks are much more expensive due to due hidden charges within exchange rate spreads.
  • They offer consistent pricing – Transparency of charges and consistent pricing is what make the currency brokers more attractive.
  • They provide payment processing– UK currency brokers can instruct and handle payment processing faster.
  • They handle multiple currencies – Take advantage of multi-currency accounts local payment methods.
  • They help manage currency risk- Avoid the risk of currency fluctuations with a well-developed strategy from the currency broker.
  • They create a better user experience- Stay well informed about your transactions with real-time notifications.
  • They deliver hands-on help – Get complete guidance on exchange rates and personal assistance on how to carry out the transfers effectively from a specialist.

Is It Recommended to Trade FX For Profit?

It is highly recommended to trade FX, but you need to be patient and disciplined for the forex profitably. It takes time to develop the proper trading mindset along with a winning strategy. As you gradually learn the trading disciplines and money management rules to trade the forex market and exchange currencies, you can plan suitably and keep away from taking excessive risks for the potential benefits under the expert guidance of the best currency broker.

Just like any other business or market, there are some risks associated with FX trading. There are some factors one needs to consider when trading forex and the risks involved.

Here are some of the reasons that make FX risky and why you might lose your money.

  • Uncertainty in the markets- Market uncertainty nods to the significant risk in forex and can cause instability. You can lose money if the markets go against you.
  • Scarcity risk and usual liquidity- As the forex market is an increasingly liquid market full of buyers and sellers, the limited capital time is a significant issue as it can increase the trading costs.
  • Leverage raises risk factors – Leverage adds to all risk factors as one can assume too many price risks for any massive losses without a stop-loss. The balloon currency risk depends upon the spread pulsed by the liquidity squeeze.

Forex trading has high leverage, and as a forex trader and currency investor, the risks are harder to speculate and act on. Even if not everyone is made suitable for forex and currency trading, they can profit greatly, once they grasp the basics of forex trading. It is highly recemented to use a reliable currency broker for effective execution of a trade.

All one needs to do is develop high levels of discipline and come up with an effective trading strategy. It is essential to stay updated with the major occurrences in the forex news and how it can impact the market.

Take account of trade resources, leverage, and compare brokerages to locate the most popular currency brokers in the market before jumping the train. Depending on the broker and the trading size, plus your own skills and attitude, there are both immense opportunities and great risks. There are bigger opportunities to make some neat profits as well as the risk of making large losses. It all depends on the choices you make.

 

Try your luck in Crypto Casino

Richard

Crypto Casino offers the following games. Those who are aware of the rules can try their hand. However, novices should first be fully aware of the rules and regulations before indulging in any kind of casino game. This can help them improve their winning streak.

– Roulette (with instant deposit to get your bets back if you lose)

– Wheel of Fortune (instant deposit too!) Your bets are returned if you don’t hit the winning number.

– Black Jack

– Coin Flapper (flip a coin and win)

– Dice like the bitcoin dice faucet (with instant rollback if you don’t like the result)

The casino is probably fair. You can see everything that goes on in the game, including all bets, rolls and payouts.

The main advantages of Crypto Casino

Crypto Casino offers lots of interesting features that will make your experience with the casino as enjoyable as possible.

What’s included:

– Instant bets (instant rollback, immediate betting and instant deposits). This means that if you don’t like the result of a dice roll or a game of roulette, you can instantly cancel it and get your bet back.

– You can send your bitcoins and other coins to anyone you like by simply copying them in a text field. This makes it very easy to invite someone to play with or gamble with, for example.

– You can pledge an amount of money you are willing to lose before playing your favorite game. If you win enough that the counter exceeds the amount you pledged, you get your coins automatically sent back to yourself.

– Earn interest on your account by depositing some BTC! You can invest bitcoins or any other coin in your wallet and earn interest on it daily which is added to the balance of your account.

Crypto Casino offers a great experience regardless if you are using Windows, Mac, Linux or Android. For more information you can use https://bitcoincasinoid.com website.

Since you can play the games directly in your browser without having to install anything on your computer, it is possible to gamble at Crypto Casino while working from home! This means that you can gamble while doing other stuff.

Learn How to Save For the Future Today

Richard

How to save for the future is a question that we have all asked at one time or another. When we are young, the future is all we can focus on, but as our lives progress, we realize that we need to start saving for the future, because it seems that there will come a point in time when all of our efforts will be for nothing. This is when you begin to realize that you need to start planning ahead and ensuring that you have some money set aside to ensure that your children have a good life. If you want to know how to save for the future, then you might want to take a look at some of these tips that will give you a better idea about how you can do this.

One thing that you will want to do is to open a savings account. Many people have their own checking account that they deposit money into and this is a good place to start. Even if you are not a huge fan of the traditional checking account, having some of your income to put into a savings account is going to help. You will also find that your credit score will go up when you have some of your savings in a savings account.

Another tip on how to save for the future is to buy educational items now, so that you have them when you get older. We tend to focus on the fact that college costs are going to skyrocket, but you may be surprised to learn that you can get a high school diploma or even a college degree while you are still in your early twenties. This is an investment that you will never regret, because your education will pay off for you years down the road. You will be able to get the career that you always wanted and you may even be able to make some extra money along the way by doing marketing surveys for a school or even for yourself.

If you do not have enough money to put towards savings right now, then there are other things that you can do to save for the future. You may not have realized it, but you can save money each month just by avoiding paying your credit cards bills. When you pay your credit card bills late, you are charged an extra fee. It is very expensive to let your credit card companies charge you late fees, so if you can avoid doing this, you will be saving a lot of money over the long run. Another thing that you can do is save money each week to buy some small items that you need for the future. It is important to budget your money, so that you know where the money is going and not spend it on something that you do not need right now.

Your future financial security is something that you can definitely depend on, so you want to make sure that you take care of it today. There are many people who do not have the security that they want and this is usually due to a bad financial past. If you want to learn how to save for the future, then you need to start cleaning up your financial past. You can go on a spending freeze right now, which will help you not only save money but also to plan what you are going to spend in the future. This will help you have a clear financial future and you will not have to worry about going into debt any time soon.

Now that you know how to save for the future, you need to set some realistic future financial goals for yourself. Take inventory of all of the things that you have and figure out what your future income will consist of. Make sure that you budget for every penny that you are spending and work hard to live below your future income. This will help you to save money every month and when you achieve your future financial goals, you will feel more secure than ever. Start living each month like your future!

XE, EXCHANGE RATES, AND MARK UPS EXPLAINED

Richard

Deciding when to make an international transfer and at what rate can be critical to protect businesses from exchange rate fluctuations. This is why risk management experts and currency specialists play an important role in the market to safeguard your profits from the volatile foreign exchange markets of the world. So if the fees charged by overseas money transfer providers like PayPal or Western Union make your heart skip a beat, you know it’s time to find someone who rises above the competition.

XE.com-history and position of the site

There are several money transfer companies in the market, so finding one that fits your personal or business requirements can be challenging if you don’t know where to look. This is where transferring money with XE eliminates the hidden fees that other financial institutions charge discreetly or otherwise.

Unlike the scores of other independent exchange services operating in the market, XE has been in the business for over 20 years and is a subsidiary of Euronet Worldwide, which itself is the leader in facilitating electronic payments between banks, retailers and consumers around the world. In fact, leading brands like PayPal, Google, Netflix and Apple use XE.com international money transfers for their payments.

XE Money Transfers

XE Money Transfer is an online foreign exchange remittance company having its headquarters in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. The foreign exchange experts at XE ensure that the customers get the best deal when using their portal. XE.com International money transfers allow you to remit money in 220 countries and across 139 currencies, with almost every transaction being completed in a single working day. There are no fees, the rates are competitive and regular updates are sent on your phone via SMS or through email.

XE collaborates with independent third-party research companies to gather data on rates and fees. These companies then request a money transfer quote from some banks and XE for the specified amount to be transferred within a matter of minutes. These details are then recorded and supplied to XE so that the FX margin for XE Money Transfer can be calculated and passed on to the customer. With zero transfer fees, XE Money Transfer is an affordable and efficient way to send money internationally. However, there may be hidden charges levied by the participating banks, over which XE has no control.

Why do the exchange rates on XE.com and XE money transfer service differ?

Exchange rates provide an indication of how much your money is worth, if exchanged into the currency of another country. Since currency exchange transactions are happening 24×7, seven days a week, there are bound to be fluctuations in the foreign currencies that are being actively traded. These rates are known as flexible exchange rates, as they keep changing constantly from one moment to another, depending upon supply and demand.

Since most of the currencies of the world are bought and sold based on flexible exchange rates, high demand or shortage will lead to an increase in its price. The exchange rates at XE.com are linked with foreign exchange markets. When the markets are open, the rate offered to you will keep fluctuating till you confirm your transaction, after which the exchange rate is treated as fixed. In other words, the rate you see on the XE.com website is not the mid-market rate, because if the markets are closed on weekends, the rate last offered will be when the market last closed and not current.

What is the difference between interbank exchange rate and buy/sell rates?

A question that often crops up from time to time, especially for new entrants wishing to trade in foreign exchange, is that why is the buying and selling rate for a currency pair different? You will always find this anomaly whenever you open your trading portal. In order to fully understand what these two rates mean, you need to have a basic understanding of how trading in foreign exchange works.

The concepts are actually very simple. The buying price, also referred to as the bid price, of a currency exchange rate is considered to be the rate at which the market is willing to buy the currency at. The selling or ask rate is the rate at which sellers within the market are ready to offload their currency at.

The buying rate will always be lower than the selling rate, the difference being known as spread. The spread between the buying and selling rate is effectively a tool to ensure a profit for the agent who facilitated the deal. As a rule of thumb, the more liquid the asset, the smaller the spread, as when trading in Euros or US dollars which are said to be the most liquid currency pair in the world. The spread widens as the liquidity is passed down to smaller specialists who each want to claim their share in the deal.

The interbank rate, also known as the mid-market rate is exactly halfway between the buying and selling rate of a currency pair. Unfortunately, this rate is reserved for big banks dealing in large transactions, which means the average person making a smaller transfer has to pay a hefty markup for the service provider to make a profit. On average, this levy is between 4%-6% and can affect your wallet significantly if you are making international transactions regularly.

Overview

XE charges no transfer fees no matter which currency and amount transferred.XE also offers great exchange rates. However, XE is a business and needs to make a profit to survive. It is therefore important to look closely at the way XE structures the payments.

Since mid-market rate is not achievable through XE, they cover costs through markups. Markups tend to be 0.5% to slightly less than 1% over the mid-market rate for most currencies, except for a few. This against many competitors who have markups of  over 1% in all cases. It is therefore important to check the exchange rate, if you want to consider XE for sending money abroad.

Investing in Opportunity Zones: 10 Key Points to Remember

Richard

According to recent reports, more than 7 million people in the United States are actively investing in real estate at present. Many more are considering this type of venture but aren’t sure of which types of real estate to funnel their money into. After all, numerous options are available, and each one has its own distinct strong suits. While virtually all sectors of the real estate investment market deserve due attention, opportunity zones are rapidly gaining steam. They offer quite a few benefits not only for investors but entire communities.

What Are Opportunity Zones?

Opportunity zones are specific areas throughout the United States that are considered distressed or in need of an economic boost. They’re designed to improve housing and job opportunities for people living in those areas and foster economic development, thereby fueling growth. You can invest in opportunity zones via qualified opportunity zone funds. If this concept appeals to you, it’s important to understand a few key points beforehand.

1) Different Opportunity Zone Investment Options

A few types of opportunity zone investments are available. They include stocks in companies and investments in real estate located within opportunity zones. Other types of investments are also possible.

2) Multiple Investment Opportunities

In addition to different types of investment options being available, various types of areas are eligible for investments. These include industrial areas, urban communities, suburban neighborhoods, and rural areas to name a few.

3) Aids in Portfolio Diversification

One of the key rules of thumb for investing is maintaining a diversified portfolio. Opportunity zone investments can cover this in one fell swoop. Many qualified opportunity zone funds include investments from a wide range of industries and companies, so investors can essentially cover a great deal of ground with a single QOF investment.

4) Tax Benefits to Consider

Numerous tax benefits apply to qualified opportunity zone investments. For one, taxes on capital gains investors decide to reinvest in QOZs can be deferred for several years. Secondly, investors who hold onto OZ property investments for at least 10 years are permanently exempt from capital gains taxes on those properties. Those are only a couple of the key advantages.

5) OZ Investments Can Act as 1031 Exchanges

For quite some time, real estate investors have been taking advantage of 1031 exchanges. Qualified opportunity zone investments can work in much the same way. With QOZ investments, though, you only have to reinvest capital gains in other opportunity zone properties to benefit from tax deferral as opposed to all the profits from sales.

6) Capital Gains Can Cross Over

Investors with capital gains from other types of investments can funnel those gains into OZs to take advantage of tax benefits. If you have capital gains from stocks or gold IRAs (for details, here are the rules for gold IRAs capital gains taxes), you may be able to reduce the amount of capital gains taxes by investing those gains in opportunity funds.

7) Ample Room for Growth

While all investments pose certain risks, OZs are proving to be lucrative for investors. Reports are showing significant appreciation in these areas. This is true of both residential and commercial properties.

8) Extensive Perks

Opportunity zone investments can provide far-reaching advantages. Investors certainly stand to benefit from gains on their investments. Residents in OZs benefit from more job opportunities, better housing, and greater access to much-needed services. Business owners in these areas see greater profits as a result of outside investments as well, and the list goes on.

9) Choose Investments Wisely

Be sure to research OZ investment options thoroughly before investing. Some of these investment opportunities are potentially more lucrative than others. Despite the consistent gains most offer, some can be much riskier than others as well.

10) Plenty of Areas to Choose from

Last, but certainly not least, it’s important to understand the scope of opportunity zones in the United States and the investment options they have to offer. Over 8,000 qualified opportunity zones have been designated by the IRS so far, and each one offers a vast range of investment opportunities.

In a Nutshell

Qualified opportunity zones are receiving a great deal of attention because of all the benefits they have to offer. They give investors a chance to profit significantly while enjoying tax benefits. At the same time, they provide extensive opportunities for people living in the communities being invested in as well as surrounding areas.