Money, Debt and Taxes

Should you be buying stock now? The markets are at the lowest levels they have been in in years, and with careful research, you may be able to find some bargains. However, what stops many small investors, is the high cost of stock trading. A traditional broker can charge more than $50 per trade, making it difficult for the small investor to make any profits even with a rapidly rising market. The answer for many people is online trading.

I have been trading online for close to 5 years now. When I was looking for an online broker I looked at many different variables. How easy was it to trade? Was there a minimum deposit required to open an account? What were the trading fees? I wanted to get into stock trading, but I didn’t want to have to invest large amounts of money.

The online broker I eventually chose was Firstrade.com. I have been with them for many years now and have been very happy. They are easy to use and have no minimum deposit requirements. And the commissions are low. Currently just $6.95 per trade.

The old adage is to buy low and sell high. This may be a good time to buy stock. Be sure to do your research and start small until you can some skill and knowledge.

This blog is mostly focused on tax, savings, and business issues in the USA.  But the internet is making the world smaller and I have many readers from around the world. So this post is for all of you in the UK.

You should know by now that I think that everyone needs to be saving for the future.  Not just adults, but children also. One of the best things a parent can do, to get their children started right financially, is to open a savings account for them.  You can save for your child’s college education, or just for their future needs, but it is important to start early and show your children the advantage of saving money. If saving money becomes a habit for your children that will be well on their way to financial success!

IceSave is an online bank, open to UK residents, that offers savings accounts that are safe, easy to use, and offer attractive interest rates.   I really like their Easy Access account. It has a low opening balance requirement, and a very attractive variable interest rate. Currently at 6.30% the interest rate is guaranteed to be over the Bank of England Base rate by at least 0.35% until 1 May 2011.  After that, it is guaranteed no not be less than the Bank of England Base rate until 1 May 2013.  And my favorite part of the deal?  There are no fees. You can take your money out of the account at any time without any fees or penalties.  I am always annoyed at banks that pay low interest rates, and then charge fees for every transaction.

Your money will be safe with IceSave.  They were founded in Iceland in 1886 and have been in the UK since 2000. They have a strong credit rating and provide the same level of financial protection as every bank in the UK.

So if you are in the UK, get your kids started out right and open an account for them with IceSave.

One of the things I hope to do more of is to review various “make money” opportunities on the web. There are so many scams out there that sometimes the legitimate offers get lost in the noise.

One of the real ways to blog for money is to write sponsored posts. (Such as this one.) Advertisers will pay to have bloggers write a short review of their product or service You could do this directly, by soliciting advertisers, writing the posts, and then collecting payment. Or you can use a 3rd party service such as Smorty.

Smorty is a service that connects advertisers and bloggers. Bloggers will earn a minimum of $6, and can earn up to $100 depending on the Page Rank of their blog and their Smorty rating. One of the nice things about Smorty is they pay very quickly. While other sponsored posting services can take up to 30 days to pay, Smorty will approve your blog post within 5 days and then pay within one week of approval.

There are a few requirements to have your blog approved by Smorty.

1. You must have an active blog (at least 2 posts per week) that is at least 3 months old.
2. Your blog must be indexed by Google and Yahoo
3. You cannot have any hate, violent, or adult content.

See the Smorty website for more requirments.

Like most legitimate make money opportunities Smorty is free to join. You never have to pay them for you to earn money! Blog approval is pretty quick, with most blogs being approved within 72 hours.

You won’t get rich quick writing for Smorty, but it is a valid way to get paid for blogging.