Havenbasin Road

Many are beginning to say the recession is done, but I bet for many that won’t be a reality for another few months at least. I am working diligently to make sure that things continue to turn around for myself and hopefully along the way I will be able to help some others do the same. It takes a lot of effort though. There is a lot to create. So much content needs to be written and put together everyday for it to be profitable, to keep people’s interest. The accounts are slowly but surely filling up, of course that depends on what kind of accounts we are talking about.  Perhaps your cash ISA savings account. Might even discuss my ISA. I don’t have enough, yet, to have bonds and such. I think I have some of those stock, left over from previous work. You can tell that I am very on top of it all.

I am used to just dealing with the regular savings and checking accounts. They are easy to deal with, little thought involved. That is not to hard I don’t think! Just that I have other things that need to be thought about so I can make sure I actually have a reason to have the different accounts. There is a lot I do not know about investing, actually a whole lot. I am not worried though. I figure when I get to the point I need to worry about it, I will be able to afford having an accountant take care of it. I just need to make sure I also have enough to have the accountant checked out. Then if they want to talk about the best ISA accounts or fixed rate bonds and other things I can just politely nod and tell them to go ahead and do whatever they think is best. 

Here is an update on the business card story I talked about before. Nope, I didn’t choose an offshore financial service but I also have not gone with any other banking institution yet. It was pretty irritating to have, but it makes sense as I am just starting my business and don’t yet have all that much income to show but still, it is irritating. And of course dealing with a new institution probably didn’t help as they have zero history with me. Ah well, maybe just get one later after I have been established as a business for a bit. Once the business finance stuff is in order and going well, and then I can probably get one with a lot less hassle at a new place. If not, then I will stick with my current institution. Dragging things out for a month or so was really unnecessary. I could have told them to stuff it earlier and gone somewhere else if they hadn’t just dragged me along for so long. It does also seem to have an effect on my having opened accounts with them. At this point I am thinking about closing them up and going somewhere else for business services. It’s definitely a bit irritating. Best if I just forget it and move on though. Not getting the card won’t hold me back, mainly wanted it to keep everything business related together for tax purposes. I figured it would be easier that way.

The people I have dealt with at the banking institution are very nice and were extremely helpful . It was just the person doing their business accounts that seems to be a complete twit.  I am sure that person is not, but it was certainly the impression I got, and one I will be sure to warn my friends about.

There really don’t seem to be that many quality insurance companies available. Many of them seem to focus on their profit not on their customers, which makes the idea of switching a bit scary as well because you really don’t know what you might end up with.  I forgot to mention car insurance last week when I was talking about my insurance stuff being due. Well, no real surprise here, but it will be due in about a month. I attempted to shop around last time it was due, but there really wasn’t much difference. It seemed like an average of thirty or forty dollars either way. Which is really not enough to switch for. Switching entails more paperwork which of course is usually a pain in the butt. So unless I can find a difference of one to two hundred I don’t think it’s worth the trouble. At least not right now. 

A car insurance quote is often quick to get, long as you are willing to part with all of your private information. Up to and including the names you have chosen or are going to choose for your children or future children. And, yes, that is a complaint. One of the big problems with choosing car insurance, and a big deterrent to changing it just based on price is quality. I have read through a lot of the reviews and it appears that several of the current insurance companies are wonderful, but then the next place I check has them as worse than in-laws. That makes it somewhat challenging to decide on who to pick for insurance. General car news is a lot easier to find, and easier to trust. But we still need to have car insurance, which unless there is a huge price difference, means it is easier just to stick with your current insurer.

The thoughts on insurance the other day reminded me I really need to look into life insurance, not just kind of. Many don’t have it but I was thinking it would be a good idea to have if you have anyone you are taking care of or really close to. Especially if you have a family, small or large. Life insurance could be a really good thing, although at first glance it often seems like a waste of money. At least to me it does. I sat down and thought about it the other day though and I would feel better now knowing that those I care for would be given a bit of help if something happened to me, and if I was totally honest it would make me feel better to know that if the person I was closest too had something happen to them, while working through grief, work would not have to be something I had to focus on. That would be tough. I have done it with friends, but with family? I know that would not be the most fun thing I have ever done.

If insurance something you know quite a bit about it probably isn’t necessary to talk to somebody about it, but myself, I just don’t know that much about it. I have kind of looked into life insurance and I am sure there are a lot of ways to find life insurance news of interest. There are sites and stuff online that you can find out some information about life insurance. I think there are even some places that will help you figure out how to choose a good life insurance. I have thought about it a lot but have yet to really do anything with the thought. It seems like a bit of a hassle because I think you have to have a physical first, but it is probably something that would be a good idea for me to do anyway.

All my insurance stuff is due again.  It being due is not really a problem; the problem is that they always want money to renew things. Been with them for awhile now, wouldn’t it be nice if, just once they’d smile and say, “No worries, this one’s on us.” I might faint, but I would probably never look around for a better rate. Really, if a company would do that, what else might they do for their customers?

Choosing cheap on insurance is probably not a very good idea. I often spend quite a bit of time reviewing car insurance companies,  looking at reviews and calling friends to see what company they have and how it has treated them. With insurance it is better to shoot for quality and a company that has a good customer service record.

Right now, kind of checking around to see what kind of deals I can get on renters insurance.  It is due in the next few days and I am trying to see what I can find that might be more palatable to my wallet. My wallet seems to change what it likes or dislikes almost daily. I am finding, though, that it seems to like bills that are cheaper, but only if it can still get similar quality in service or item. Especially now, more expensive does not always mean better quality. As an example I found a wheat bread that I really like at the local grocery store. It’s a whole loaf and it toasts well and tastes good toasted or not toasted. It is only about 88 cents. That beats even some of the discount bread loafs, it really beats the stores own type of bread.  The great thing about it is that it tastes good! And it lasts awhile. Can’t really beat it. I often refrain from buying other bread, I’ll wait until this one gets restocked. Mainly because I know I like it and it is such a great price!

I have been keeping an eye on the stock market and it certainly seems to change. That is good news, because that means that it is in motion, both positive and negative. Those are both intrinsic to the use of any stock market. To be honest, and keep in mind I am not a guru though I attempt to pay attention to investment news, some might even call me naïve, but to me it seems like things are picking up and for some investors going quite well. The investment news recently has, just from casual glances, appeared somewhat upbeat. Just from what has been reported in the different markets around the world there certainly seems to be a lot of opportunity. Of course there is also risk involved, but that is a given when you are dealing with stocks, bonds and equities. If you want some off the cuff advice from an absolute non professional, not currently investing, but looking into it, market wanna be dabbler. I knew you were interested!

I think long term it might be good to invest in agriculture or any type of bio-science, I would also be looking into tech because the chances are good that our society’s are going to require it to maintain, grow and thrive. If you want to see your savings grow, then I think investing in the markets is a bit like hitting the casinos. You must have some sort of strategy before you even show up. Know what money you have and what you plan on doing with it. Know your resources. Decide on how much you are going to invest, or gamble in the market, and stick to it. Invest that amount, and if you lose it, step back and look at why you did, look at the factors that were present, the causes for the stock or stocks you picked to drop. Then use that knowledge to attempt to pick a better stock next time, when you again, have some money free to invest. Of course, if things go the other way and your savings improve, investing in offshore banking might be the way to go. That’s a bit of a joke, a small attempt at humor.

Just a bit ago I was meandering through thoughts of investing and I thought about currency stuff and was considering the trading I was talking about but instead of stocks maybe trading currency. I know people do it and do well at it but it is another thing where I really don’t know that much. I was trying to figure out how you get more for your original currency than you had, unless. Unless you (and this just hit me as I write this, which I am sure shows how smart I am) buy high and sell low. However, you would have to do it in a different way. Let’s see if I can explain it. If you buy the foreign currency when your currency is strong you will get a lot more of the foreign currency, right. Now if you can wait until your home currency is weak relative to the foreign currency you could then buy you home currency and hopefully come out ahead. I think that is probably the theory, let me know if it makes sense or if I am completely off. Probably I am completely off, not sure how it would change a current account, might increase might not. Going to have to think about it some more.

 I loved it, while living abroad, when my home currency was stronger than where I was living because when it was stronger and I converted I got a lot more, relatively. I thought that was a great thing! Currencies, of course, fluctuate so it went the other way sometimes too. Where my home currency was almost equal to the currency of the country I was living in. That wasn’t so much fun. However, the other times really more than made up for it. I would often end up with a lot of cash in the foreign currency, the country I was living in. Which was great, cause it let me do a lot more traveling and sightseeing and general all around playing while I was working there, plus it was great to have a foreign currency bank account.

It is just as chancy to invest now as it has been in the past,  probably the same at anytime but now the number of crashing stocks has increased. There are a whole lot of absolutely great deals right now too, but knowing what they are is the challenge. Doing some research and looking at finance forums can give an idea of what might be good. I think the other thing is to look at what will probably last, what is needed now and will probably be needed in the future? Personally, I think tech and bio are the way to go, at least for long term. Plus most of those stocks are at a bargain price right now. If you are really into it you could review some money brokers, or stock brokers, whatever they call themselves at the moment. If you are willing to pay a lot of them are looking for jobs too, I believe.

Once I get some free cash, as in cash not being used for bills and to survive, I want to try those online trading sites, E-trader and ones like that.  I really haven’t looked into them but I know some people who swear by them, swear at them too actually. Might be fun to be a day trader, although it is probably much very challenging at the moment. However, I bet it can be really lucrative now too. Probably the best way to do it at the moment is to use pretend money and see how you do. That way once a person feels comfortable they can, if they have the extra cash, and invest a hundred or so online and hopefully grow from there. You could even use monopoly money if you want more interaction.