Finance

Where To Find A Loan In A Hurry?

By Ashutosh Jha → Saturday, September 10, 2022

Whether you need a loan for emergencies like - funding education loan for kid, home renovation, sudden medical emergencies or to cover some other unexpected expenses, personal loans can help you in all these situations.

The best thing about personal loans are - unlike any payday loan or credit card cash withdrawal, personal loans usually have lower interest rates and will be beneficial for you when you are in a hurry. The interest rate can further be negotiated if you have a good credit score. Even if you don’t have one, there are still many loan sites and apps available that can offer you personal loans at a lucrative rate.

In this post, I am going to talk about where to find a loan in a hurry - basically I will talk about the top 5 companies that offer when you need a loan in a hurry.

5 Apps those offer loan in hurry

Here are the top 5 applications where you can get a loan in a hurry. These sites are genuine and can help you find loans in the United States when you are in hurry-

#1 WithU

The first in our list of where to find a loan in a hurry is WithU. WithU offers personal loans up to $2500 within minutes when you are in urgent need. To get a loan from WithU, there is simply a three step process-

• Add your personal details
• Enter the loan amount you need - please note WithU offers up to $2500
• Disbursal - get the amount the same business day

I personally prefer WithU for personal reasons due to many reasons including - low interest rate, same day disbursal, special offers, and flexible payment options. If you are looking for more details, you can contact the team here.

#2 LightStream

The second app on our list of where to find a loan in a hurry is LightStream. LightStream is a trusted consumer lending platform which was formed by merger of SunTrust Bank and BB&T. If you are looking for a personal loan amount greater than $2500 then you should switch to LightStream instead of WithU. LightStream offers the amount between $5K to $100K. Repayment period that LightStream offers is between two to seven years with some customization options available based on your profile. Usually, the APR range offered by LightStream is between 3.99% to 19.99% and you need a minimum of 660 as credit score.

#3 Rocket Loan

The third in our list of where to find a loan in a hurry is Rocket Loan. The company offers a personal loan to all users with a minimum credit score of 580 in the range of $2K - $45K. I found their APR range is little on the higher side - 6.72% to 29.99%. One of the reasons for such a high range of APR is the low requirement of credit score.

#4 Avant

Avant is another low requirement personal loan site where anyone with a minimum credit score of 580 can get a personal loan between an APR of 9.95% to 35.99%. Avant offers loans between $2K to $35K and you can get a loan disbursed immediately the next business day. You can repay the loan within 60 months. Please note, Avant charges an upfront administrative fee which you need to pay. Also, you are not allowed to add co-applicant or co-signers.

#5 UpStart

Last but not least, UpStart is also an excellent platform which offers unsecured personal loans. If you are looking for a lower loan amount with a comparatively lower credit score, UpStart suggests. Here anyone with a minimum credit score of 600 can avail loans as low as $1K to a maximum of $50K. They cover quite a wide range of loans. The best thing about UpStart is the customized payment date. One of the major problems I see with UpStart is - an origination fee of up to 8% of loan amount which is quite high.

Conclusion

These were the top five platforms where you can get a loan when you are in a hurry. I personally prefer WithU when I need a smaller amount with a decent APR percentage.

Finance

How To Make A Personal Budget - Quick Guide

By Ashutosh Jha → Friday, August 19, 2022

Making a personal budget can be overwhelming but it is not that difficult. And the best thing about a personal budget is, it can lead you to financial freedom. A personal budget is nothing but a summary which keeps a track on your spending for a certain period.

Typically, people prepare a monthly budget and to follow that you don’t have to be strict. It’s a simple calculation like, this month you are expecting to get X and out of that Y may go in rent, Z may be on food, etc. and remaining is your savings.

What personal budget do?

Personal budget is a monthly budget planning tool which gives you a direction on how much you should spend and where. For example, if you think, you can spend 40% of your monthly income, personal budget can guide you out of this 40%, how much should be for rent, food, travel, etc. This way, you can always a control on what you are spending and where you are spending.

Please note – budget ONLY works if you are brutally honest about your income and expenses. Don’t ever set unrealistic goals for your expenses. This is not for what the personal budget concept is. Sit with a pen and paper and list down all possible earnings and expenses and if your expense is going more than your expectation, see what areas are where you can have cost cutting. For example, if you spend 10% of your income on eating out, maybe you can be disciplined and reduce to 5 or 6% for the time being.

How to make a personal budget in 5 steps:

To create an effective and sustainable personal budget, please follow some of the steps shared below-

#1 Start with your financial papers

Yes, the first step is to understand your current finances and for that start gathering your bills and statements from all your financial systems. This can be your-

• Bank statements
• Investment accounts
• Utility bills
• Credit card bills
• Receipts from the last three months
• Any kind of secured or unsecured loans

If you have a loan to settle, include that as well. Also, if you have multiple loans running, it’s usually a good decision to combine those in one and then start paying. This applies to all sorts of people with good or bad credit history. You can read more about this here.

#2 Calculate your income

How much paycheck are you expecting per month? If you are a salaried professional, then you will be getting a salary after tax deduction, and you should be fine. But if you are a businessman then you should put your salary after taxes.

Also, if you are freelancer where the amount is not fixed, consider adding the value which is the average of the year or take the minimum value to put in the monthly income. This way, you can be super safe.

#3 Create a list of expenses

Next on the list is to create a list of all the expenses you will make during the entire month. This may include EMIs you may be paying for as well as simple eating outside. Try to make this granular as this way, you can plan for every possible thing.

• EMI payment – car/home/credit card/etc.
• Insurance- all sorts of
• Groceries
• Utilities
• Entertainment
• Personal care
• Eating out
• Childcare
• Travel/transportation

You can use your bank or card statements to make this list easily and correctly. A good idea could be checking the last three months of statements.

4. Fixed vs variable costs

Fixed expenses are those which are fixed irrespective of months. This can include the EMI you pay, child-care costs, phone/paper bills, and more. Whereas spending like food, transportation, shopping, etc. are variable costs and may vary on month-on-month basis. The variable cost can be your savings opportunity.

By doing this exercise, you will be able to understand the split of fixed vs variable cost. Fixed cost is something which you may not have been able to manage and so it’s variable cost which will be a great point to analyze and reduce your cost.

#5 Make adjustment to your budget

Let’s come to the final and most important point. The monthly budget plan is not just about knowing what you are earning vs spending but also helps you analyze your spending as well. If you are falling into a situation where you are overspending or able to make minimal saving, then it’s the right time for you to start trimming your expenses. A good point will be to analyze and see what’s really important for you vs what can be kept on hold.

Wrapping up!

This is a quick guide on how to make a personal budget and an important ingredient in your budget plan. Also, just making the plan won’t help you, you need to act on it.

Finance

How To Take Control Of Your Personal Finances Once And For All

By Ashutosh Jha → Saturday, March 19, 2022

The last couple of years have been very difficult for most of us when there were travel restrictions, lockdown, fear of getting sick and what not. Most of us have gone through many issues including financial problems. These were the times when people realized what personal finance means and why it is so important.

In this article, I am going to talk about how to take control of your personal finances. We will talk about some of the ready to implement ideas so that you won’t have to think when there is a need.

Financial stress can be caused by a variety of things including - debt, unexpected expenses, purchase of things that were not required. The good thing is, these can be solved and you’re not alone. Let’s start and see how to take control of your personal finances.

3 tips on how to take control of your personal finances

Here are some of the proven tips to manage your personal finances which will help you build wealth and also help in unforeseen conditions-

#1 Budget everything

The easiest way to manage your personal finances is to budget everything. When you start your month, make a budget for everything and stick to it with your plans. This might sound obvious, but think about when you budgeted last time?

The key to creating a successful budget is not making unrealistic goals or expenses. It doesn’t matter how much you earn or spend, if you won’t make budget and plan everything, you will end up in problems. To start with budgeting, maybe you can start with a spreadsheet (you may use Google sheet or Microsoft Excel for this). This should have all the categories of expenses you might incur and may include below-

• Savings – Yes, keep it as a category
• Mortgage/rent - Car payment/ Car insurance – If you have multiple loans, you may also consolidate all in one monthly payment. For more details on how you can do debt consolidation, click here.
• Health insurance
• Student loans
• Home expenses - Groceries/Food/Other necessities, Internet, Phone, Fun

This should be a column and in the right column, put the amount that you are going to spend in each. You may also add a column for the payment date or remainder.

#2 Create emergency funds

Whenever you talk to any finance expert about the investment, the first thing they ask you is – whether your basics are covered or not. These basics include – Health insurance, Term insurance, Emergency fund, and additional insurance as per your requirement. Below I am sharing a golden plan for the estimation of the emergency fund-

In a simple word, the rule of thumb is that individuals should have enough in an emergency fund to cover three to six months of living expenses. You can also use an emergency fund estimator to calculate how much of an emergency fund you may need. For example, if your monthly expense is $2000 then you should have an emergency fund of $12000. So, this is typically 6x of your monthly expense.

#3 Invest by setting up the goal

Now when you follow the above steps, the next step is to invest. Remember investment should be driven by goal like –

• How much money do you need for the goal?
• What is the duration of the goal?
• What kind of return are you expecting and what is your risk appetite?

The goal can be anything like – Marriage, Kids education, Retirement, Travel plan, buying car, buying a home and a lot more. So, think of these, when you need them, and how much you need.

Depending on all the above factors, you can invest in suitable funds starting from equity market (like stocks, Mutual fund, etc.), debt funds (like bonds), legacy investments (like FD, RD), Gold, real-estate, and more.

Conclusion

This was a quick guide on how to take control of your personal finances. The earlier you start planning personal finance, the better it is. Do let me know how you manage your personal finances.

Finance

Does over-trading cost money in Forex?

By Ashutosh Jha → Thursday, November 18, 2021

If you don't know about over-trading, it is a system that increases the frequency of executing orders. In the Forex trading markets, this strategy is common among individual performers. The rookies are the most prominent to utilize this strategy in their businesses.

Since their minds are full of greed, they do not think of anything other than making profits. Most individuals neglect the risk exposure and position sizing to achieve a short success. They increase loss potentials by using irrelevant trading fundamentals.

Some traders experience significant losses from their businesses. As they don't care about safety precautions, their purchases do not receive valuable closing points. When they experience significant losses from the markets, their minds become desperate. Due to the desperation of the trading minds, every participant picks over-trading. With this strategy, they experience even more losses.

If anyone wants to succeed in Forex, no vulnerable quality should be present in the trading process. Over-trading is one of the faulty trading strategies in Forex. It ruins the profit potentials of the participants. The traders also feel uncomfortable with high-frequency executions. Since their minds cannot utilize every crucial aspect of the trading process, they fail to gain pips from the markets.

Why do traders trade so frequently?

If traders want to avoid over-trading, they must learn what it is. To experience better potential from the trading business, many traders take this route. Some individuals even follow a short-term trading method to achieve success. When they follow short-term trading systems, their trade executions remain close to each other. Traders might also place an order right after exiting an order.

 

If the markets are profitable to place one order right after closing another, traders can follow this system. In a volatile marketplace, however, the traders are safe with considerable distance between purchases.

Some rookies also use the overtrading strategy when they feel uncomfortable with too many losing purchases. It increases desperation and greed for a comeback. The participants then choose over-trading to gain significantly from this industry. Some individuals even execute an order when they experience the first purchase is losing capital. This practice might seem legit, but it only increases the loss potential of the participants. When you actively participate in Forex trading in Dubai, always consider the risk factors. Never become aggressive with your actions as it will make things worse.

How do traders invest their capital?

When the participants use the over-trading system to perform in Forex, they also ruin the investment policy. Most traders choose the wrong risk per trade strategy. They also slaughter the leverage ratio sometimes. Since the over-trading mind is desperate for earnings, it doesn't think of safety.

 

Alongside inefficient trading frequency, it also damages the risk exposure of each purchase. Everyone should know about this quality and make their minds up for efficient performance.

To reduce the loss potentials, participants must stick with a safe investment policy. It will provide better protection to the trading capital. Since traders can utilize the investment strategy for a reliable trade composition, they can experience better profit potentials and a low loss rate. You can also generate valuable Stop-loss and take-profit setup for the trades.

Avoiding short term trading approach

As we know so far, most individuals select over-trading as a way out of losses. Unfortunately for them, they lose more than ever using this system. Some individuals even damage the account balance significantly. We also learned that frequent trading approaches cause over-trading. Those who follow a short-term technique like scalping participate in the markets multiple times a day.

 

Due to the highly congested trading system, everyone fails to keep distance between two distinctive purchases. When the traders follow this strategy, they cannot contribute to money management and position sizing.

Due to their incompetence, they lose money. After losing too much capital from the accounts, most individuals choose over-trading to get over the damages. When they invest money in over-trading, their career remains in even greater danger.

 

That is why everyone should try to avoid short-term trading techniques. Even if a participant prefers this system, he should routine the trade executions efficiently.

Finance

FinancePal Review- Leading accounting solution provider to SMBs

By Ashutosh Jha → Saturday, September 11, 2021

If you’re a startup, you already be knowing how difficult is to manage financial stuff like bookkeeping, accounting, advisory services, payroll, bill pay, AR/AP, and more.

And this is where companies like FinancePal come to the rescue. It helps you manage all your accounting on the edge.

About FinancePal

FinancePal is a Chicago-based online financial service provider including bookkeeping, accounting, tax preparation, and payroll. It was founded by Jacob Dayan and Nick Charveron and are in service since 2015. Although FinancePal is offering a variety of financial services, but majorly known for customizable and affordable bookkeeping services. Thousands of startups and small business units are relying on FinancePal for business transactions, calculate taxes, and readable financial statements.

The best thing I found with FinancePal is they can also assign clients with a dedicated financial team of certified financial and tax practitioners. This setup costs you way less than having a dedicated team in-house.

Services offered by FinancePal

Many services are being offered by FinancePal in finance, tax, and accounting.

#1 Bookkeeping services

Bookkeeping is one of the flagship services offered by FinancePal. Bookkeeping involves everything from tracking your financial records to making sure no error is involved which can lead to a financial shortfall. Below are some of the major works, FinancePal team can do for you in bookkeeping services-

• Recording your transactions
• Preparing balance sheet
• Preparing income statement
• Working on tax preparation
• Direct communication and financial advice to help your business grow

Just make sure you don’t mix bookkeeping and accounting services. Although both works towards the same goal but they are different entities. Bookkeeping is majorly the recording of financial transactions whereas accounting is analysis and strategy based on this information.

#2 Accounting services

Once you sign up for FinancePal’s small business accounting services, you gain access to the accounting team. The team acts as a one-point destination for detailed financial statements, insights, and recommendations for growing your business. You will also get access to FinancePal online platform that allows you to check in your business finance on the edge. Here are some benefits of using the accounting services of FinancePal-

• Direct access to experienced accountants and tax experts
• Hands-on customer service paired with the latest tech solution
• Peace of mind that your business is financially compliant
• Personalized services at an affordable flat rate
• Easy-to-read reporting that provides the information you need
• Secure and reliable so you can trust your data is protected

The good thing is you pay for the services you need.

#3 Online payroll solution

FinancePal offers an online payroll solution for all small businesses from any industry. It can offer payroll on your largest expense area and you will have the option to select the timeframe, either weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly. FinancePal’s dedicated and transparent reporting system can also highlight any risks or opportunities that need your attention. Following are the benefits of using FinancePal’s online payroll solution-

• Accurate Records
• Timely Filing with deadline tracking
• Create action plans to help you prepare for or avoid tax liabilities and many more

#4 Tax preparation service

This is another major headache for any small business and FinancePal’s can help you get rid of this completely. They help any small kind of business-like sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, and corporations, as well as non-profits. The services include tax consulting, optimize tax savings, and tax filing.

Apart from these, there are other varieties of services are being offered by FinancePal-

FinancePal pricing

FinancePal understands every small business may have tailored needs and so they have flexible pricing options. They offer quote-based pricing for the business where you will be billed for the services you’re intended to use. This helps the customer to pay for the services they use. As per the data available on the internet, a small business will be usually paying around $150 per month.

Even small to mid-size businesses will be also paying in the range of $400 per month for the bookkeeping services. This pricing includes-

• A dedicated account manager
• Account reconciliations
• Monthly and EOY financial statements
• Mobile receipt tracker

For large-scale payroll help and taxation service, you may have to pay more and can be in the thousand range. For the exact pricing, you can connect with them.

Features of FinancePal:

Although when you sign up with FinancePal, you get a dedicated team who will be working with you. But still, there is N number of features offered by FinancePal that you should know to make the most out of it.

Tailored dashboard

The customer dashboard for accounts payable and receivable is simple to use and easily accessible. It can be connected with any other accounting software for a small business like Quickbooks, Hubdoc, Tsheets, Bill.com, Gusto, and many more.

Invoicing

The payroll service helps you to generate invoices online and customize how often you would like to bill. This is one of the best invoicing software you can find for enterprises and small businesses. Through their guides, you can also learn invoice overdue collection tips and get paid on time.

Expense tracking

Helps you track the expense with their mobile app and handles your company’s daily spending through a third-party system. 

Bank Reconciliation

The tax and expert’s team will be helping with any discrepancy during the tax and finance and will be reconciled with any need with the bank.

Reports

You will be able to generate many customs reports those can help you track your business and understand performance in a better way.

Integrations and Add-ons:

Although they don’t have a huge list of integrations, but you won’t be disappointed as they integrate well with major financial SaaS providers. Some of the major platforms FinancePal integrates with are- QuickBooks, Hubdoc, TSheets, ADP, Gusto, and more.

Customer service and support:

FinancePal offers many ways to connect with them. The best is, you can call them anytime and get quick support. Apart from calling, you can even mail them or chat in real-time as well 24x7.

 

Also check: Best accounting software

 

Final verdict:

While trying FinancePal, I found it pretty much helpful for small businesses. If you’re also a startup or small size company looking for complete finance and accounting solution, you may rely on FinancePal. Check with FinancePal today about how best they can manage your company's finance.

Finance

The Best Trading Platforms of 2021

By Ashutosh Jha → Tuesday, June 29, 2021

As trading is a high-risk activity, you should find trading platforms that have a good reputation and are reliable for you. Choosing a broker isn’t a piece of cake because there are a lot of trading platforms, and you should analyze them, read about them, and try every one.

To avoid scammers and trade successfully, you can read tops as our article is.

Best Trading Platforms of 2021

Here are some of the best trading platforms you can use in 2021. We’ll list you three of the best trading platforms-

#1 eToro

The top of our list is taken by eToro.

The Best Bet for Newcomers

This platform is the best bet for you if you're a rookie and just came in a trading game as eToro is a relatively simple-to-use interface and accepts small stakes. Supporting small stakes is good for newcomers because they can try themselves in a trading career and decide whether it’s worth it or not. If a rookie signs up to a platform that requires big stakes and loses them, he can disappoint in this career.

For instance, the minimum sum you should put is $200. The minimum sum you can spend on trades is lower — only from $25.

If you're an advanced trader, you should search for other trader platforms because eToro doesn’t provide you the possibility to perform technical analysis.

Multiple Asset Classes

eToro supports multiple asset classes. It means that you can buy assets based on 17 different markets, e. g. UK, Canada, Hong Kong, USA, the list goes on.

Commission-free platform

This trading platform has no commissions. Therefore, eToro is an ideal option for people looking for a low-cost broker. Also, you don’t need to pay any ongoing fees; thanks to that, you can immerse yourself in trading fully and can’t be distracted by payment questions.

Support Cryptocurrency Trading

If you want to act as a long-term cryptocurrency investor you can consider eToro as a platform where you can buy and own 19 cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin.

Interactive Brokers

This trading platform can be liked by both newcomers and professional traders.

Both for Rookies and Pro

If you’re a cub in trading, you’ll have a $0 commission fee. If you’re well-versed in trading, you’ll have commission. But in comparison with Interactive Brokers’ competitors, this platform charges lower fees than other ones. Also, Interactive Brokers have the lowest margin rates.

But tiering pricing plans can be too complex especially if you’re a rookie. Hence, be ready to spend your time understanding what happens on this platform.

A lot of Additional Features

Trader WorkStation provides alerts you can mute and unmute, watchlists, and charts you can monitor. Likewise, you can be aware of the latest news in the trading world by receiving reports from this platform.

The Single Platform for Trading All Things

33 countries are available. This platform provides you the possibility to trade stocks, options, cryptocurrencies, bonds, and funds. It’s very convenient because you shouldn’t find an alternative platform to trade.

Smart Routing for Helping You

Interactive Brokers team created Smart Routing, a software that scans competing markets and routes you to the best ECN or market center. Therefore, you get rid of analyzing; the software does all for you.

Robinhood

On this platform, you can trade stocks, options, and funds.

No Account Minimum

This trading platform has no account minimum; therefore, Robinhood is the best bet for you if you want to try yourself in a trading game. Maybe such a place is better than eToro, but keep in mind that small sums won’t help you to achieve success in trading. Using small amounts, $10, for example, it’s more likely that you will be disappointed in your trading career than earn big money.

To open a margin account, you should have a $2000 minimum portfolio balance.

Robinhood Currency

Creators made Robinhood Currency — a place where you can trade cryptocurrencies. Robinhood Currency is one of the first places where you can work with crypto.

Easy-to-use Platform

Robinhood is an easy-to-use trading platform without any distracting details. You can’t see all the bells and whistles of a modern online broker on Robinhood. But you don't need them if you know what you want on this platform.

Likewise, it has an easy sign-up system; and hence, some traders complain that there may be risks in working with Robinhood.

Robinhood provides web- and mobile trading. Hence, if you’re a mobile user and don’t prefer PC, you should consider Robinhood.

The Bottom Line

You can write about a platform you’ve chosen in your blog to share useful material with your like-minded followers. If you’re a young broker that studies at university, you can delegate some assignments, for example, paper ones, to spend your time on trading. You can order an essay or write by yourself but with the help of essay samples.

For instance, you can read financial essay examples and try to write a paper on your own.

Finance

Trading Stocks From Home: An Income Source in 2021?

By Ashutosh Jha → Monday, February 8, 2021

With only a few weeks left of the dumpster fire that has been 2020, many of us are scanning the horizons for a glimmer of hope.

2021 seems like a bit of a promised land. Somewhere we can recoup and recover from the mental, social, and financial trauma of this year.

With so many losing wages this year, it’s no wonder that a lot of people are looking for additional sources of income. Trading from home is on a lot of people’s radar thanks to advances in technology and more online markets.

But can you make a decent income from trading at home? Is it the right choice for 2021?

Let’s take a look.

How does Trading Stocks From Home work

Traditionally traders work on the trading floor of the stock exchange. They buy and sell stocks through dealers on the floor. It’s the dealer’s job to match buyers to sellers and take a cut of the deal.

When you’re trading from home, the premise is similar but the people are virtual.

To be able to trade, you’ll need to choose an online broker. This is because individuals are not allowed to trade. Brokers are authorized to trade on behalf of individuals.

Once you have an online broker account, you will need to deposit funds before you can start trading. There are two kinds of accounts you can set up, a cash account and a margin account.

Cash accounts are fairly straightforward, you can only spend what you have in your account.

Margin accounts allow you to borrow from the broker based on the stocks you hold. These are held as collateral. For a more detailed understanding of the difference between the two accounts,

With your funds now in your account, you can begin trading.

Trading online isn’t an instantaneous transaction. The broker still needs to match you with a buyer or seller and will need to process the transaction. Patience, calmness, and a clear head are key to getting ahead in trading.

You will only be able to trade while the market is open. The New York Stock Exchange, for example, is open between 9.30 am and 4 pm EST.

One of the mistakes people make is assuming that they can just trade around their schedule. This is possible as the time difference between international markets and online markets tends to mean that there is always a market open.

However, you need to think carefully about what markets you trade-in. They will all have different levels of volatility and value.

What you need to have for trading stocks from home

To trade from home you need the following:

• A secure understanding of trading
• A mid-range computer or laptop that can cope with trading platforms
• A Stable and speedy internet connection
• An online broker
• A trading plan
• Some capital

Education is one of the most important commodities when it comes to trading. You need to know what you are doing and how to trade safely.

Brokers often have educational resources that you can access once you open an account. There are also lots of websites and books available to help you understand the process and trade. Check out sites like https://www.thestockdork.com/ for free, detailed educational resources.

A trading plan is essentially your business plan. It should detail what strategies you are going to use and also set your limits.

Capital is what most people are concerned about. How much do they need to invest?

Well, it depends on what market your trading in, what broker you use, and how often you’re going to be trading.

Brokers tend to have a minimum cash deposit. This will vary depending on which broker you use. In some cases, you can invest as little as a few dollars. This is going to take a long time to grow as you don’t have a lot to play with.

The general rule is the more you invest the more you can see in returns.

Some brokers also have a minimum account balance which means that you need to keep a certain amount in your account at all times.

If you’re going to be making four or more day trades a day over a 5 day period from a margin account you will be classed as a pattern day trader.

If you are identified as a PDT you will need to have a minimum of $25, 000 in your account at all times. If you dip below this, you will not be allowed to trade.

Obviously, for a lot of people $25, 000 is simply too much upfront capital.

Risk of trading stocks from home

As with any trading, the main risk of trading online is losing a lot of money. Arguably, the risk is much higher with online trading as it is often marketed in a way that makes it seem deceptively easy. This can lure new traders into taking bigger risks and making big losses.

If you do want to start trading at home, you really need to do your research. Don’t be taken in by low online broker fees and automated stock-picking software. You need to understand the choices you make.

Trading has always been a high-stress career. Whether you’re doing it on the trading floor or in the comfort of your own home, you need to be ready to cope with the stress. You will lose at some point and you need to be able to manage that.

There is an increased risk of mental health problems when trading from home. This is mostly because you are isolated. To mitigate this risk, try to connect with other traders online. Your broker may have some sort of community where you can share ideas and concerns.

Is it viable to do stock trading

If you’re looking at home trading as a get rich quick scheme, then no, it’s not viable. Just because you’re doing it from home, doesn’t mean that it requires no effort. If a broker or website tells you they can make you millions of dollars through trading at the click of a button, stay away. They are selling something and it’s not wealth.

With trading, you reap what you sow. If you’re prepared to put the time and effort into educating yourself, creating a trading plan, and making sensible decisions you can see a good return on your investment.

The trouble with trading is that it is not a consistent income. You might make 3k one day but then lose 4k the next. If you have bills and a mortgage to pay, you may struggle.

Final Thoughts

We can’t predict with certainty what the markets are going to do tomorrow, let alone the next year.

Trading, when done sensibly by a well-informed person, can be a great way to supplement your income but as a primary source of income, it’s a lot more volatile. This is especially true right now when a lot of the markets are seeing big dips and dives thanks to the pandemic.

Our advice is to play cautiously if you are going to start trading. Don’t give up the day job just yet.

Finance

Buying a second home - Top factors to consider

By Ashutosh Jha → Saturday, February 6, 2021

Buying a home is another feeling that most of us want to fulfill in their life. Even there are a good number of people who already have a home also plan to buy a second home. This can be due to various reasons like - a vacation home, a place to live their children to live, or a home which is near to the school. There can be various reasons why you may plan to buy a second home.

If you’re also planning to buy a second home then this post is for you where I will talk about how to plan to buy a second home.

If you have not decided the reason to buy a second home, then let me help you here-

Vacation home vs investment property

These two options are completely different and so should be planned well. For example, if you’re considering it as vacation property then you might look for location, appearance, and comfort. While if you’re looking for an investment property then you may look for the best rental income so that your investment gives you a great return.

Now as you know the purpose of buying a second home, it’s time to think about the pros and cons of buying a second home.

Pros and cons of buying a second home

If you’ll search on Google about the opinion of buying a second home, you will find mixed opinions. Many will be talking in favor while others may differ the opinion. Let me talk both here about the pros and cons of buying a second home.

Pros of buying a second home

There can be various reasons why you may be planning to buy a second home and it’s always a good idea to evaluate the options. Let’s look at some of the positive sides of buying a second home.

Vacation spot

If you and your family love the mountains and are tied with the work in the big city then you may think about buying a vacation home. This also applies to the people who want to settle in mountains after retirement. It’s always a good idea to plan the retirement when you are young.

Retirement place

This is the same thing that I discussed above. If you’re tired of the fast-moving life in the big city then buying a second home can also be a good option. Here you can think of buying a home somewhere you want to live to enjoy your retirement. The best thing about this option is, you can buy now when you’re earning and make it a kind of investment. When you plan to retire, you can start living there. This way it can solve your financial goal as well as retirement goal as well.

Diversify your asset

Real estate is also one of the lucrative investment options as well. The home trend to increase in the valuation and so can be a good investment option. So, if you want to look for options apart from a mutual fund, SIP, gold, bank FD, then investing in the home can be a good option. You can later keep it or sell it as per your goal.

Rental income

This is my favorite where you can buy another home for rental income. Although this is a little challenging as you need to keep track of it but is a good option. Even if you buy a vacation home then you can give it on short rent to the travelers or the agencies. One thing you should assess while buying a home for a rental is the location. Make sure the area where you’re buying it has the rental requirements. Maybe that can attract travelers, students, working professionals, etc.

Tax benefits

Usually, the government offers tax benefits on the interest paid to the mortgage loan. And so if you’re in a high bucket tax slab then you can consider buying the home and eventually saving some bucks.

Cons of buying a second home

As every coin has both sides and there is some negative side to buying an additional home as well.

Additional responsibility

Additional home means additional responsibility as well. That means you need to work twice to manage the property as well. If the property is just for vacation then you may need to keep someone to take care of the property as well and that will be added financial burden.

Risk of security and damage

As you won’t be on the second home all the time and so there will be a risk of security always. Also, to save it from any kind of damage you may need to keep secure all the time. For this, you may give to some small property management firm or keep a dedicated security/care-taker. But that will be an added financial responsibility.

4 factors to consider while buying a second home

Here are some of the factors you must consider while buying the home-

Affordability

This is an extremely important factor to consider while buying any home. You should plan your budget, the amount you have, and the mortgage you will be considering. The average home cost in the UK is GBP 231k, as per the government of the UK website. On average the house price has fallen by 1.1% since December 2019 and a rise of 1.3% annually.

 

Below is the quick trend of how the price of a home has changed since January 2007 in the UK. This is a report by Statistica-

And this price heavily changes as per the location in the UK. So, let’s say you’re looking to buy a home of GBP 250k. And you have around 20% to make the down payment and for the rest of it, you will be looking at the mortgage.

Considering this value, the mortgage will be GBP 200k. Let’s use the mortgage calculator and see how much you need to pay monthly on GBP 200k.

You can have a look at my calculation here where I have used the calculator to see how much monthly I need to pay on a mortgage of GBP 200k.

Here I have considered an interest rate of 3.1% and for the duration of 20 years. You can change this according to your condition. See if paying around GBP 1120 per month is feasible for you or not. Considering all these financial conditions you can decide if the home is something that can work for you or not.

Occupancy rule

Depending on the location you’re buying your second home, there may be some rules around the occupancy. For example, on the general thumb of rule, you can rent the property for around 14 days in a month easily. If you’re looking to rent for more, then you need to show this to the IRS book.

Location

Another important factor to consider is the location. The location matters depending on the purpose of the home. For example, if you’re going for a vacation property then you may need more primary space near the mountains to enjoy the reason for the vacation. Similarly, if this is your investment property, you may need near to market along with tourist place to attract maximum rental and more.

While finalizing the location, have a detailed study about it and see if all the necessary stuff like hospitals, shops, markets are nearby or not.

Maintenance

Before buying the home, have a plan on how you’re going to maintain it. Whether you’re going to have a caretaker of the property or giving to some real-estate facility organization to maintain it. Also, have some P&L calculations around it.

Bottom line

This was all about buying a second home where we talked about the pros and cons of buying a second home. Also, we talked about the four most important factors to consider while buying a second home.

What are your thoughts on this?