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November 4, 2017

Dealing With Finances In An Unstable World

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With countries leaving major institutions, reckless leaders being put into power, and turmoil around the globe, nothing is impacted more than the economy. Now, more than ever, people are worried about the state of not only their own money but also the money in the hands of their government. In a world of instability, no one feels safe. Of course, though, it doesn’t have to be this way. This post is here to be your cheat sheet when it comes to overcoming the perils of modern money. So, now, it’s just a matter of making some rules and sticking to them.

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Your General Banking

The very first area to consider is the money you make and how you could work to improve it. Nothing makes you secure like a greater income, though a lot of people don’t know how to go about doing it. One of the best ways is through study, as this will give you the chance to get a better job, but simply working hard will also help you. Your regular salary should always go into a bank account, instead of being cash.

Once you’ve figured out your path to more money, it's time to consider how you’re going to look after what you have along the way. Budgeting is essential for a lot of people in the current climate. But, even if you don’t have to, this can still be a very worthwhile exercise. By simply limiting how much you’re allowed to spend, you will drastically improve your ability to save, while also making it easier to keep track of what you’re spending and earning.

If you manage to keep your spending under control, it should be nice and easy to avoid having to get credit all the time. But, of course, there will always be times in life when you need to have a good credit score. Buying a house, applying for a phone contract, and trying to hire a car can all be impacted by this part of your life. So, it’s a good idea to find a tool which can give you advice when it comes to improving the score you have.

A lot of the time, when it comes to your normal finances, the bank will be the very best people to help you. This sort of organization makes money from your financial success and will want to push you in the bright direction. Their advice is often free, as they already get enough from you. It’s a good idea to either call or book an appointment if you want to do this. Most professionals will be very busy and will like to have some warning before they have to help you.

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Investments & Savings

When you look for financial advice around the web, a lot of people will advise you to save as much as you can, putting your money away so that it can’t be touched. Of course, though, this isn’t very helpful, as it doesn’t tell you where the money should go. Below, you can find some examples of the places you can put your money. Along with this, you will also find some information to help you to understand how much needs to be saved.

Savings Accounts: It’s never a good idea to keep your savings in the account you use on a daily basis. Not only will this lower your security, but it will also make it a lot easier for you to overspend. A basic savings account can be set up over the internet. With this sort of resource behind you, it will be a lot easier to start working towards improving your money. You can use a comparison tool to help you find the very best account for your cash.

Bonds/Other Specials: When you’re saving money for a long time, or you want to make it very hard to access, there are several other options you have to put your money away. Bonds will make a lot more money than a normal savings account. But, as a result, you have to leave the money sitting there for many years. There are a lot of different options like this. So, it could be worth talking to the bank to find the best one for you.

How Much To Save: One of the hardest parts of saving up is knowing how much you should save. In reality, you should never stop saving, and be always on the path to a greater hoard. As a starting target, most experts will recommend that you try to save at least three months worth of cash before you spend any money on yourself. Along with this, though, you should also consider the large purchases you may have to make in the future.

Once you’ve considered your savings, it’s time to start thinking about the real money; investment. In the modern age, there are loads of options out there to help you make some extra cash, and it is easy to tell which is good and bad. Of course, though, there are usually some ways to make your investments better. Below, you can find some examples of the different areas a lot of new investors will fail to consider.

Location: Where you choose to invest your money will always impact its future. In property, for example, it might be a bad time to buy at home, but looking at HDB resale price lists in Singapore, it might be a good idea to start looking East. Different parts of the world will always have different economies. So, it can be worth making sure that you choose the right place for your cash.

Industry: Along with location, the industry you choose can also make a huge difference to your money. At the moment, the camera industry has taken a huge hit thanks to the power found in smartphones. Investing in Samsung could be much better than Canon. To find this information, it could be worth getting the help of some investment websites and apps.

Risk: When it comes to investment, there is always a certain amount of risk you have to take on before you start. In most cases, though, this risk can be lowered with some simple changes to your tactics. It will be very hard for you to identify the methods you need to change. So, to help you with this, it could be worth looking for the support of a professional investor.

Taxation & Law

In most places throughout the world, residents have to declare their own taxes to the government to make sure that they pay enough. To do this, you will need comprehensive records of your earnings and spendings throughout the year, along with what you expect to make in the next. You should always try and stay ahead with this sort of work, completing your self-assessment long before it is due.

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Getting Some Protection

Finally, it’s time to consider the protection you get for your money. When times are rough and unstable, it can often be best to aim for security rather than a quick fix. Below, you can find some examples of the different ways you can protect your finances. But, along with this, you should also be doing some research of your own to make sure you have the full scoop.

Before you can start looking for protection, it’s a good idea to consider exactly why you might need it. At the moment, a lot of people are desperate for money and will go to extreme lengths to try to get it. If this means hurting someone in the process, it doesn’t always matter. Unfortunately, this means that you have to take preemptive action, even if the odds of facing financial trauma are very unlikely.

Insurance: When you get into a car accident, find yourself in court, or in pretty much any other financially troubling situation, insurance is usually there to help you out. Legal insurance will make sure that you can always afford a lawyer, and home coverage will protect you from bad weather and natural disasters. A lot of people will ignore this important part of their finances. But, in reality, it can be the very best line of defence you have.

Some Support: Even when times are tough, it’s important to remember that you’re never alone with your money. Whether you need help from a charity or a government organization, there is usually the support you need within reaching distance, and you just have to look for it. Using forums and blogs, you can get loads of information to lead you in the right direction. It’s much better to take a financial problem head-on than it is to leave it for the future. To do this, though, you might need some support.

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start working harder on securing your money in unstable times. A lot of people feel worried and insecure, at the moment. But, in reality, you don’t have to do very much work to make sure that you’re safe, and most people already have the tools they need to do it.

November 4, 2017

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November 2, 2017

4 Factors Currently Influencing The Global Economy

This post has been contributed.

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The economy is inescapable. Even if you have zero interest in how money works or moves between nations, the economy still influences almost every area of your life. It influences the houses we buy, the jobs we do, and the future we are trying to develop for ourselves.

As a result, keeping an eye on the state of the global economy is generally a good idea. The world economy is more integrated that it has ever been before. No longer do countries exist as an island, with their economies reflecting the state of the nation and not much more. Countries are now dependant on one another and, to paraphrase an old saying, if a butterfly flaps its wings on one stock market then it can send a country halfway around the world into recession. The global financial crisis of 2007/8 is the perfect example of how the economy is now a worldwide issue rather than limited to each nation and its own finances.

At the time of writing, the global economy is not as healthy as one might hope it could be. There are numerous reasons for this, so let’s delve deeper and see which matters from across the globe are holding back the oh-so-treasured economic growth.

Changing Political Fortunes

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Since the 1970s, the majority of global economies have worked on neoliberal policies. Neoliberalism is generally summed up as free trade between nations and little regulation on that trade. For decades, neoliberal economics were generally accepted as the norm, the standard, and the best way for the global economy to proceed.

However, after years of recessions, turmoil, and the biggest financial crisis in living memory, it’s fair to say that many people are souring on neoliberal economics. The beliefs that are rising in its place vary wildly, which makes predicting the economic outlook all the more problematic.

There has been a resurgence of socialism in a number of countries, most intriguingly in the uber-neoliberal countries of the USA and the UK. While socialism may be thriving on the ground, however, at this point there are few governments with true socialist principles; Iceland and Costa Rica are the most notable examples, but they are not major players in the global economy.

It’s not just socialism that is experiencing a resurgence; many countries have right-wing movements that are winning power and influencing economic policy. Politics has changed, and the global economy really doesn’t like change.

Of the major G7 countries, all still adhere to neoliberal, capitalist principles-- but this seems likely to change. How it will change, and what it will change to, is very much up for debate-- creating an atmosphere of uncertainty around an economic system that has held power for nearly 50 years.

Brexit

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When the UK voted to leave the European Union, the established global consensus slipped on its axis. As a G7 member, the UK has been a part of the European project for 50 years, but a right-wing surge pulled the country out its major trading partner. Many worried what this would mean for the global economy.

The UK is currently in the midst of negotiating its withdrawal from the EU, a process which has to be completed by 2019. Talks, however, are not progressing well. This leaves a huge black mark in the economic picture; as the world’s sixth largest economy, no country is able to ignore the UK’s fortunes-- but no one can predict what those fortunes will be. Some economists predict the UK will slam into a huge recession the moment they officially leave the EU; others believe that the UK will do just fine.

What we do know is that the Eurozone is coping well with the turmoil, while the UK economy… isn’t. The UK hoped that countries would be queuing to agree trade deals with them following Brexit, but this has yet to materialize. When one of the biggest players in global economics faces such an uncertain future, the entire global system may spend the next 18 months waiting with baited breath to see what’s going to happen.

Every Major Country Has A Housing Crisis

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The housing market has always been a major influencer on economies. In fact, it was the collapse of the subprime housing market that brought on the Great Recession of a decade ago. It is therefore worrying to the economic outlook that almost every major country is suffering a housing crisis.

There are many reasons for this. Immigration is a factor; major countries’ populations are continually rising. Another factor is that the super-rich are still buying properties as investments in developed countries; houses which then go unused by the owner, denying housing stock to local residents.

There are still opportunities outside of the more developed countries. Foreign investors may be tempted by the booming housing markets in countries like India and Malaysia, countries where the search for a new property is far easier than it is in the overcrowded developed nations. There are still opportunities in emerging markets, but elsewhere, the housing market is suffering-- which has a rebound effect on the economy as a whole.

Climate Change

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We have long been warned that climate change is a problem for the future; an issue that our grandchildren will have to deal with. However, we are already living in a time when the climate is changing-- which has a huge impact on the way the global economy can function.

There is evidence of a disturbed climate throughout the globe. We know that permafrost is beginning to melt at the poles; we know that the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season has been one of the most damaging on record; we know that the recent monsoons in Asia have been some of the worst ever recorded.

Of course, all of the above are dangers to life, and this should be the primary concern. However, there is no doubting that the changing environment is influencing the economy. As Donald Trump crudely put it, the devastation in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria has damaged the US budget. The cost of repairing the damage, helping people, providing relief centers and all the other work involved in clearing the mess left by environmental disasters is taking a huge toll on the budgets of almost every nation on earth.

The obvious solution to this problem is for future investments in slowing or outright halting the horrors that climate change can unleash on the world. At this point in time, however, there seems to be little global appetite to do this. There may be a point when the environmental costs are so severe the issue has to be examined, but we have yet to reach that point, and some of the biggest countries on the earth have outright climate change deniers is their administrations. The change in attitudes may come, but there’s no sign that will be any time soon-- and so the global economy will continue to struggle to cope with natural disasters.

So What Does The Future Hold For The Global Economy?

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Frankly, no one knows!

The one thing that economies hate more than anything is uncertainty, but we live in incredibly uncertain times. The world is changing, and the economic model as we currently recognize it may be on borrowed time. There might be a huge change in global finances on the horizon… or the current blip will be righted, and all will return to normal. The problem is that no one knows what is going to happen.

There’s also little sign of this changing; certainty is a long way off in the future, as the issues outlined above are decades in the making. So hold tight; the global economy might have to endure a few more tidal waves before it returns to calm waters.

November 2, 2017

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November 4, 2017

Dealing With Finances In An Unstable World

November 2, 2017

4 Factors Currently Influencing The Global Economy

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