Category: Career and Money

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Career and Money Free

Excel Tools to Organize Your Budget

The year is about to end and we’re about to be doing what we’ve always tried to do right year after year – PLANNING!  It feel good to be able to have a fresh start and to be able to track our progress from there.  Some things we might plan on tracking include our budget, our check issuances and also some important activities we desire to do.  Following are some excel tools I’ve found over the internet which could prove handy during these times.

Personal Budget – DOWNLOAD HERE

To do List – DOWNLOAD HERE

Check Register Monitor – DOWNLOAD HERE

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Career and Money Words of Wisdom

Is Retirement Your Life’s Goal?

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We often live as though we are taking permanent residency where we are rather than as though we are on a journey and enjoying the road before us.

Come to think of it, how many retirement plans been brought before our table? How many insurance plans have been purchased as though we can insure everything we encounter in this life?

Think about it again. Is retirement the real goal of life? Is it your goal?

Now there is nothing wrong with retirement, as there is nothing wrong with planning one’s journey. And if retirement can teach us one thing, it’s that our life here is bound by time, that it will end somehow and that we have to make full use of the time that we have.

In your current undertakings, are you making full use of your time? Are you always putting off for tomorrow what you can enjoy and savor today? Are you fooling yourself that you are trying to build something permanent?

Nothing is permanent in this life. Life is a journey, a temporary abode where we have to do all that we can do given our limited time.

Enjoy each day given you, savor each moment that you have with your loved ones, take the trip you’ve always wanted to have. And whenever you see a good scenery, why not pause for a while and take some pictures? Not with your digital camera, but with your mind. Let the beauty of the moment be imprinted in your soul so you can always go back to it, even when your time is up. At the end of your journey, all that matters is whether you have lived your life well, that you have done everything your heart has ever desired to do.

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Career and Money self help

Tips When Thinking About Resignation

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What should you think about when you’re pondering about your resignation? During such times, you would hear a lot of advice from other people. Some would try to persuade you to reconsider, they’d say it will be difficult to start over again. Some would inspire you to carry on, be the best you can be and achieve financial freedom. But no matter how well intentioned these people are, only you have the final say, and it is only you who knows the challenges, the difficulties, the perks and opportunities that will arise based onyour decision.

Here are some of the things you might consider:

What’s good about holding your present position

  • You already have a stable source of income. No need to fear losing what you have.
  • You know the people you’re working with already. No matter how bad you sometimes felt them to be, you know they aren’t sent by the devil just to make life miserable for you.
  • You already know your job and can perform it even with your eyes closed.
  • You have the opportunity to move on to the next higher position.

What’s bad about staying where you are

  • You can already picture your entire life before you because you already know all of those things above.
  • You no longer feel you’re growing and improving as a person.
  • You feel that the amount of money you can earn is already limited to what the environment could provide.
  • You drag yourself to work each morning, you no longer have any motivation of surpassing your previous achievements.

What’s challenges will you face when you resign?

  • You will try to fit in again and adjust to new people.
  • You will have a lot of things to learn and to do.
  • You may not be able to immediately find a job you like.
  • You may feel bored and lose your confidence.

What opportunities will come your way when you do resign?

  • You will have renewed motivation in life.
  • You will have a chance to earn more than what you could only imagine in your previous employment.
  • You will have the chance to meet new mentors and friends who will support you in your undertakings.
  • You will have te chance to be yourself and be the best you can be.

After all these questions, just ask yourself this: IS IT WORTH IT?

And whatever you may decide on, accept that there will be a transition phase. Even when you decide not to resign, you will have to realign your perspective and see your situation in a whole new way in order for you not to succumb to frustration. Be patient. Don’t lose hope. When you know what you truly want, it will be worth it.

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Career and Money

Determine Your Risk Tolerance When Investing

Each individual has a risk tolerance that should not be ignored. Any good stock broker or financial planner knows this, and they should make the effort to help you determine what your risk tolerance is. Then, they should work with you to find investments that do not exceed your risk tolerance.

Determining one’s risk tolerance involves several different things. First, you need to know how much money you have to invest, and what your investment and financial goals are.

For instance, if you plan to retire in ten years, and you’ve not saved a single penny towards that end, you need to have a high risk tolerance – because you will need to do some aggressive – risky – investing in order to reach your financial goal.

On the other side of the coin, if you are in your early twenties and you want to start investing for your retirement, your risk tolerance will be low. You can afford to watch your money grow slowly over time.

Realize of course, that your need for a high risk tolerance or your need for a low risk tolerance really has no bearing on how you feel about risk. Again, there is a lot in determining your tolerance.

For instance, if you invested in the stock market and you watched the movement of that stock daily and saw that it was dropping slightly, what would you do?

Would you sell out or would you let your money ride? If you have a low tolerance for risk, you would want to sell out… if you have a high tolerance, you would let your money ride and see what happens. This is not based on what your financial goals are. This tolerance is based on how you feel about your money!

Again, a good financial planner or stock broker should help you determine the level of risk that you are comfortable with, and help you choose your investments accordingly.

Your risk tolerance should be based on what your financial goals are and how you feel about the possibility of losing your money. It’s all tied in together.

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Career and Money

When Do I Sell My Stocks?

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The value of my investment has gone down, many others have also suffered losses of their own.  Yet is this really the right time to pull out one’s investment?  We often hear it.  Pull out your investment NOW.  The economy isn’t getting better.

But while there is a lot of sense considering the safety of one’s investment, we can also consider other courses of action as regards the stocks or bonds we hold.  Is it time to pull out our investments?

While quite a bit of time and research goes into selecting stocks, it is often hard to know when to pull out – especially for first time investors. The good news is that if you have chosen your stocks carefully, you won’t need to pull out for a very long time, such as when you are ready to retire. But there are specific instances when you will need to sell your stocks before you have reached your financial goals.

You may think that the time to sell is when the stock value is about to drop – and you may even be advised by your broker to do this. But this isn’t necessarily the right course of action.

Stocks go up and down all the time, depending on the economy…and of course the economy depends on the stock market as well. This is why it is so hard to determine whether you should sell your stock or not. Stocks go down, but they also tend to go back up.

You have to do more research, and you have to keep up with the stability of the companies that you invest in. Changes in corporations have a profound impact on the value of the stock. For instance, a new CEO can affect the value of stock. A plummet in the industry can affect a stock. Many things – all combined – affect the value of stock. But there are really only three good reasons to sell a stock.

The first reason is having reached your financial goals. Once you’ve reached retirement, you may wish to sell your stocks and put your money in safer financial vehicles, such as a savings account.

This is a common practice for those who have invested for the purpose of financing their retirement. The second reason to sell a stock is if there are major changes in the business you are investing in that cause, or will cause, the value of the stock to drop, with little or no possibility of the value rising again. Ideally, you would sell your stock in this situation before the value starts to drop.

If the value of the stock spikes, this is the third reason you may want to sell. If your stock is valued at $100 per share today, but drastically rises to $200 per share next week, it is a great time to sell – especially if the outlook is that the value will drop back down to $100 per share soon. You would sell when the stock was worth $200 per share.

As a beginner, you definitely want to consult with a broker or a financial advisor before buying or selling stocks. They will work with you to help you make the right decisions to reach your financial goals.

The above are mere opinions for your own evaluation.  There are real risks involved and you should learn to be wise enough to protect your money.  Keep watch.  Study hard.  It could make a lot of difference 🙂