With the economy still on shaky ground, many common investment vehicles have taken a beating over the past several months. Stocks, bonds and commodities have all been affected, most experiencing steep price declines. Even precious metals such as gold and silver have not been untouched. In the case of gold, prices have recently started to break out to the upside over the past several weeks. If you’re considering investing in the precious metal, you’ll need to decide how you will purchase your gold holdings. Below are four common options to invest in gold and advantages and disadvantages of each:

Gold Bullion

This is the actual metal, typically available in the form of bars or coins in various weights. Bars, available from Credit Suisse and other suppliers, are generally the least expensive option in owning the actual metal. You can also opt for gold coins which will normally be more expensive if they are part of a collector’s series.

Pros: Owning gold in this form is the purest form of ownership and offers a hedge in the event of a financial collapse.

Cons: The biggest risk of owning the actual metal is theft or other catastrophic loss if it is kept in your home. It is advisable to rent a safety deposit box to store your gold to guard against theft.

Pooled Accounts

These are like a gold bank account in that your gold is held in a vault along with other owners. Fees are generally lees than 1% of the market price of your holdings making this a cost efficient method of owning bullion. Depending on your provider, accounts are either “allocated” or “unallocated.” In an allocated account a specific number of gold bars are allocated to you. You also pay additional storage and insurance fees. In an unallocated account, you’re asigned a sum of gold, not the actual bars. There are generally no additional insurance or storage fees with unallocated accounts.The markup per ounce is usually less than 1% of gold’s current market price, making this cheaper than owning physical bullion.

Pros: Generally recognized as the most secure form of owning gold, since the metal is securely store in a vault and regularly audited. You also retain the option of having your gold shipped to you upon your request.

Cons: Fees paid in allocated accounts will add up over time. In unallocated accounts, the gold is held in the providers name and is at rick in the event the provider goes under, including your gold.

Exchange-Traded Funds or ETFs

Shares in ETFs trade like stocks on an exchange. Each share represents a pre-defined factional ounce of gold. These shares are backed by the actual metal which is held in vaults in locations throughout the world. The price of these shares closely track the actual price of gold.

Pros: A low cost of entry and high degree of security are the two main advantages of owning shares in gold ETFs. Liquidity is another benefit since buying and selling is easily handled through your stock broker.

Cons: Taxes. The government taxes capital gains on gold ETFs at a flat 28%, almost twice the normal log term capital gains rate on stocks. You also pay managements fees of approximately 0.4% which adds to the cost of this form of ownership.

Mining Stocks

Another option is to consider the common stock of the gold mining companies. While you don’t own actual gold, you do participate in the success of the companies that actually acquire the gold Also the risk in associated with rising an falling prices are spread across all the available gold the mining company has, both mined and still in the ground.

Pros: This options generally gives you the most bang for your investment dollar. You will usually have to commit twice as much money in bullion or ETFs to get the same level of exposure as you get with the stock of mining companies.

Cons: As with investing in any company’s stock, you are exposed to the overall financial performance of the company in addition the the fluctuations of the gold itself.

Is investing in gold something you’re considering? I welcome your comments.

Source: http://moneymakertimes.com/

Selling product through auctions is better way to start affiliate business. If you’ve tried selling products through auctions you soon learn that finding junk in your home to sell runs out quickly before you have to start finding wholesale products to stock and sell. This is expensive when you have to buy in bulk. Maybe you’ve tried MLM, trying to convince your friends and family that your latest business is the best one, yet.

Affiliate Marketing is a cat walk compared to the options above. Here are just six of the many benefits on your affiliate marketing.

1. You don’t need your own product. You do not have to develop or produce a product. There are no production costs. The product has been developed and produced for you at someone else’s expense.

2. There are lots of products to choose from. Everything is sold on the internet. If you can’t find it on the internet, there is probably not a market for it in the first place. Programs like Clickbank make it easy to find thousands of affiliate products in a variety of categories that are near and dear to your heart.

3. Start-up costs are minimal. You can start an online affiliate marketing business right now for less than $100. Try to start a brick and mortar business for that. All you need is a computer to get started and if you are reading this, chances are you already have one or at less access to one.

4. There’s no inventory to stock. You’ll never have to turn your garage or bedroom into a storage room.

5. The sky is the limit for potential income. In most jobs you know going in what you will make no matter if your performance is exceptional or poor. In today’s economic times some of the highest paid salary earners are let go, first. With your own affiliate online business your potential income is only limited by your own efforts and only you can fire you.

6. There are minimal risks. If you choose a product that isn’t making you money, scrap it and find another one. There are thousands to choose from with no binding contracts.

Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to start building an online business with almost no money. You don’t have to have your own product or website. You can start making money quickly and it can be quite easy to start if you have the right information and tools.

1.Putting the emphasis on the product, with marketing a poor second.

Talk about “putting the cart before the horse”. If you want to make money, this scenario needs completely flipping on its head. Savvy and successful entrepreneurs identify the market first. Only then do they create the product.

Tip: To succeed, you must find out whether people actually want your product, can or will pay for it, and how much. The true proof is absolutely not a focus group or a survey – the true proof is a real life market test.

2. Overemphasis on being flashy or to be nice “image”.

A very expensive logo, swanky offices only contribute to ever increasing overheads and do very little if anything to deliver success. And what’s more this sort of approach can drive you out of business fast, as so many so called entrepreneur’s discover to their cost.

Tip: Keep overhead low. Operate from a home office or very modest one when you start out and you’ll find this is one little powerful secret to make money online. Most of your customers couldn’t care less, where you operate from and for me, most of my customers love the fact that I make a lot of money and still run my business from home. Carefully invest every available penny in marketing and you’ll find that this dramatically increases your chances of success.

3. Poor business partnerships.

Many entrepreneurs rush into relationships or partnerships with hardly any knowledge, communication, or due diligence. I am convinced that a business partnership is even tougher to make work than a marriage. The vast majority fail in misery. And and top of all that in bankruptcy. And if this isn’t nasty enough, lifelong friends often wind up despising each other and finding themselves estranged forever.

Tip: Avoid partnerships like the plague. But if you have strong business reasons to form a partnership, make sure right from the start you know your future partner’s strengths and weaknesses very well. And, most importantly, clearly define in detail exactly what you and your partner will be responsible for in the business.

4. Your business model is far too complex.

The best business models are simple, they focus on how to make money working on line, or they do if you want the most powerful return on investment. Employees, customers, even suppliers, should be able to immediately understand the nature and goals of the business. For example, “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”

5. The business attempts to be a pioneer.

Entrepreneurs are often attracted to businesses that are pioneering a brand new product or industry. (I personally must resist this tendency as well.) While a precious few are successful, most fail. Businesses that are radically different from existing known businesses can even scare off customers rather than attract them.

Tip: You can achieve extraordinary business success when, instead of being a pioneer, you simply do something far better, faster and/or cheaper than existing businesses.

6. You and the business are driven into bankruptcy by a lawsuit.

You can be fully and personally liable in the event of a lawsuit which goes against you. You could lose all your assets, including your home, savings, cars, etc.

Tip: Never operate a business without the protection of a corporation. Operating through a corporation gives you a “corporate shield.” You actually keep your personal liability limited to whatever assets you choose to put into your business. Worst case, in the event of a lawsuit simply fold your corporation and start another one. Talk with a good lawyer and accountant and discuss your personal situation including tax aspects. You can probably eliminate close to 100% of all potential legal threats which could go against your personal assets.

7. Divorce.

Untold businesses come to a halt each year when marriages fall apart. In many cases financial disagreements wind up in court.

Tip: Before getting married, and no matter how unlikely it may seem at the time, have a good attorney prepare a prenuptial agreement which spells out exactly what will happen in the event of a divorce.

Avoid the above pitfalls and the path to business success will become much smoother for you.

May your success be more than you can hold.

Kevin
http://www.CambridgeBusinessAcademy.com