First of all, it’s important to note that the S&P 500 long-term growth averages fail to reach double digit levels. The only reason you see returns of between 11-12% are because of the dividends specific stocks within the index pay out. Without these dividends, the average return on the S&P 500 between the years of 1951 and 2001 (in ten year intervals) was only 9.49%.

The assertion that Dateline NBC and other critics put out there that index-linked products only credit about 60% of the upward movement of the stock market is merely a half-truth. What they’re not telling you is that index-linked products credit interest rates based on only the upward movement of the underlying index with the cap rates configured into the products.

If you’re not familiar with the way indexed-linked products work, you can find some useful information within the archives on my website, twintierfinancial.com. Essentially, every indexed product works the same in that they credit the policy in proportion to the upward only variations of the S&P 500, generally up to a pre-known cap of between 6-8%. Generally, the better the product, the higher the cap will be. Also, the better the product, the less the fees will be associated with it.

Now, let’s revisit the half-truth of the 60% return. The problem herein is that this figure is obtained by figuring in the down years of the index as well. The nature of indexed-linked products is that they treat the naturally occurring downward turns in the stock markets as no growth. In other words, the stock market might lose 5% in one month (quite like this year), but your indexed-linked product will simply credit 0% growth for that month, while still preserving the principal you already have.

By the time you substitute all the downward trending values with zeros, you’ll find that indexed products return a full 30% more than the 60% returns originally claimed by the critics. For well designed indexed products, the long-term honest rate of return is truthfully within the 8-9% range. Considering that the long-term average of the S&P is 9.49%, an 8% return with no downside risk doesn’t seem like a bad prospect at all, right?

Additionally, most indexed-linked products also have a minimum rate of return. In the shaky financial situation that the economy has been experiencing this year, the stock market has already lost 40% of its value from this time last year. However, the people who were secured into indexed-linked products have not only preserved their initial investment and the gains they’ve already secured, but they have also been credited between 1-3% depending on the minimum gains guarantee written into their product. Not too shabby.

David C Lewis, FMM, RFA is the founder of Twin Tier Financial – a financial services company based in upstate NY which specializes in providing information related to finance online, personal financial problems and retirement planning. For more info, please visit http://www.twintierfinancial.com

Hard money loans are very similar to bridge loans. Bridge loans typically have similar criteria for lending. They also have similar costs to the borrower. The primary difference between a hard money commercial loan and a bridge loan is that a bridge loan frequently refers to a commercial property or investment property that is in transition. The property may not fully qualify for traditional financing yet. Hard money commercial loans refer not only to asset-based loans with a high interest rate but also loans for a financial situation that is possible distressed. Examples of this include cases where someone is arrears on an existing mortgage or where bankruptcy and foreclosure proceedings are already in process.

Hard money mortgages, both commercial and residential, are made by private investors. They typically make loans only in their local areas. The credit score of the borrower is not important because the loan is secured by the value of the collateral property. The maximum loan to value ratio is 65-70%. This means that if a piece of property is worth $100,000, the lender would give the borrower $65,000 to $70,000. This low LTV (loan-to-value) ratio gives the lender added security in the event that the borrower cannot pay and the lender has to foreclose on the property.

Commercial hard money lender programs are similar to traditional hard money loans in terms of the LTV requirements and interest rates. A commercial hard money lender is typically a strong financial institution with the deposits and abilities to make discretionary decisions on loans that are non-conforming. These borrowers do not conform to the standards of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or other residential conforming credit guidelines. Since it’s a commercial property in question, the loan does not generally conform to a standard commercial loan guideline either.

Traditional commercial hard money loans are very high risk and have a higher than average default rate. Just like in a normal commercial loan, when a property owner defaults on a commercial hard money loan, he or she can potentially lose the property to foreclosure.

For more information on hard money lending, please visit http://www.pitbullmortgageschool.com.

Joseph Devine

The statement which records the transactions at one place relating to a particular subject is known as account. The book which contains all the accounts is known as ledger and the procedure of writing up the accounts is known as posting.

The ledger is the most important book of account and is the destination of the entries made in the Journal or Sub-divided Journals. It is a collection of all the three types of accounts –Personal, Real and Nominal. If you are faced with questions like:

- How much a particular customer owes you?

- What is the amount payable by you to anyone of your suppliers?

- What is the amount of goods purchased by you during specific period ?

- How much sales you have affected during, say, last three months?

- What has been your expenditure on, say, labor during the period?

Then the quicker and easier way of ascertaining the relevant information is to turn to your ledger, find out the balance of the Customer’s A/c or Supplier’s A/c or Purchases A/c or Sales A/c or Wages A/c.

How to write Ledger

In ledger we maintain accounts. Each account is allotted one or more pages depending upon the requirement. Ledger is usually ruled in anyone of the following two alternatives. First alternative is followed in those cases where balance is required to be ascertained after every transaction e.g. Banks.

Second alternative is followed in those cases where balance is required to be ascertained only periodically, say after a month or quarterly. In your study of book-keeping and accountancy T- shape accounts will be used (alternative-two).

The transactions are entered in the ledger accounts in order of dates. Every entry must be dated which must be shown in the column meant for date. This is the first column on the left of each side of the account.

Record the relevant amount on the left-hand side of the account which, according to the journal is to be debited and record the amount on the right-hand side of the account which, as per journal, is to be credited (use ‘amount columns’ for this purpose). In ledger account each entry on the debit (left-hand) side commences with the word “To” and one the credit (right- hand) side with the word “By”. In the ‘particulars column’ reference is made to the other account involved for providing cross reference. In the ‘folio column’ would be entered the page of the journal (or page of the relevant sub-divided journal) from which entry has been posted and in the folio column of journal, the page number of the ledger is written on which the relevant account appears.

Following the above procedure of recording the entries in the ledger will in fact amount to this The account receiving the benefit in shape of cash or goods will receive the debits and the account imparting i.e. giving away the benefit will receive the credits.

The author is an engineering graduate, B.E.(Hons), and is managing his own software development firm, HiTech Computer Services, that mainly deals in accounting, billing and inventory control software for traders, industries, business houses, hotels, hospitals, medical stores, newspapers, magazines, petrol pumps, automobile dealers, commodity brokers and other business segments, website and web application deveopment for business. The software are available both for intranet and internet. These software are available for download from the website:

Evaluation version accounting software download is available at http://www.hitech-on-web.com/p10.asp

Copy of the article and full Financial Accounting Primer or Tutorial is available at http://www.hitech-on-web.com/Accounting_Ledger.asp

Visit HiTech Computer Services at http://www.hitech-on-web.com/

Since the Forex market is so volatile and complex, it is nearly impossible to keep track of it without the help of a dedicated Forex trading software. You simply cannot compete against the other traders which have them. That’s why 50% of the people lose all their money on this market while only a few become rich: the rich let softwares do much of the work for them.

An automatic Forex trading software is really a must in order to succeed in this market because it can do the following things for you:

1. Recognize trends and act on them quickly
2. Work around the clock trading for you even while you sleep
3. Make split second decisions much faster than any human can
4. Analyze the various markets around the world and quickly shift your money around to make the maximum profit
5. Beat other traders to the best deals by being able to spot opportunities automatically
6. Trade in several markets together
7. Shorten your learning curve so that even if you’re a novice, you’d still be making a lot of money.

But the best reason to get your hands on an automated Forex trading software is that it can make much more money for you because it works on sound mathematical models and doesn’t make stupid mistakes which every person does. Every financial institution in the world has trading softwares. Now, there are at least 2 excellent softwares you can work with from your home and still make very big profits.

I truly believe that trading without an automatic Forex trading software is a mistake which can lead to losses. Get a trading software, see how it works, and then start making money with it.

To read more about Forex trading softwares, click here: Automatic Forex Trading Software. John Drummond works from home. He writes often on business, trading, and finances. There is more than one forex trading software. To read John Drummond’s review of the 2 best ones, click here: Automatic Currency Trading Software.

Simple conditions that a lender puts forth before approving a quick cash loan are:

• You should be of 18 years old or above

• You should be fully employed

• You are earning more than £1000 on a monthly basis

You can start your loan process as quickly as within a single day. BY enclosing few required details online you can start of the simple process. Take the stress out in times of financial crisis, by opting for instant cash finance. Meet your immediate financial needs such as medical bills, electricity bills, telephone bills, credit card bills, grocery bills, tuition fees, and car bills etc. The amount that you can borrow varies in accordance with the ability to repay, individual specific requirements amid other factors.

You can procure the cash only by enclosing the details of your permanent employee code and valid bank account number. Your poor credit is not a hindrance, in getting approved for instant cash finance. Have no more worries about your bad credit history.

Easily avail quick loans at user friendly terms and conditions. Make the competitive rate of interest yours today all depending upon the particulars. The repayment options are designed keeping just your urgent requirements in mind. What’s more, this option is also open to the borrowers who do not have the security pledging capacity. No more tension, if there’s no collateral to pledge.

Kirthy Shetty, Expert Author, Platinum status

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As an entrepreneur myself, I have always struggled with the development of a millionaire mindset. I had been told by many that Robert Kiyosaki’s books could be a starting point in my search for an attitude that would take me where I want to be financially. What I was looking for in his book was a step-by-step guide on developing the type of mindset necessary to take control of my financial future. What I got instead was a realization that for my entire life, I had been shaped and groomed to grow up and conform to society’s standard of success: go to school, get good grades, and get a good job with benefits. I had done just that. I received a Master’s Degree with a 3.92/4.00 average and found a stable job with good benefits. Unfortunately, although I fit into society’s standards of success, I knew that working for someone else and living from paycheck to paycheck was not the life that I wanted for myself or my children.

Which brings me to the story of Robert Kiyosaki, a man who was essentially raised by two different fathers each with a very different philosophy regarding finances. His biological father raised him as I was raised…education, job, retirement with pension at 65. The father of his close friend Mike, whom Kiyosaki refers to as his rich dad, taught him that the only way to be rich was to think outside the box and to use his mind to generate income. Through a variety of jobs, rich dad was able to teach Robert Kiyosaki invaluable financial lessons that would help him to make millions.

Basically, the key focus of the entire book can be summed up in three words- assets versus liabilities. The only way that you will ever acquire wealth is to acquire assets. We live in a society that relies on credit and we have a loan for every major purchase: cars, houses, vacations, even everyday expenses. Robert Kiyosaki’s advice is to simply stop spending money that you do not have, pay yourself first, and rethink purchasing that new purse or lawn mower. Instead, use that money to acquire assets that will generate income for you and then use that income to purchase your luxury items.

Rich people are acquiring assets while the poor and middle class are acquiring liabilities. A person has joined the “Rat Race”, as it is termed in in this book, when their expenses increase as their income increases. So, instead of making their money work for them by purchasing assets that will in turn put money in their pockets, the poor and middle class spend their money on items that decrease in value over time. In order for a person to leave the Rat Race and enter the Fast Track, they must first have enough income generating assets to cover their monthly expenses.

It seems simple, and to some it is. Unfortunately, the majority of us, myself included, were trained in school to be employees, not self-made millionaires. So, my only unanswered question regarding this book would be “Is it possible to develop a millionaire mentality when you are in your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, etc or is it something with which you must be raised as in the case of Robert Kiyosaki?” Personally, I read this book just previous to starting my own business and found my attitudes changing with each page I read. So while I will never have the benefit of being raised by a man like Robert Kiyosaki’s rich dad, I do believe that with enough drive, motivation, and guts, anyone can become a self-made millionaire. I would recommend this book to any current or future entrepreneurs.

Heather A. Carroll is a home-based business owner ( http://www.alternativeincome4u.com?t=art7 ) and has written multiple articles on various financial topics. She is a single mother of three and resides in Illinois.