Investment scams are extremely common now, and even if you are not typically the easily persuadable type you could fall for one of these sophisticated scams. While some groups may be targeted more than others, everyone on the Internet is at risk. Let’s take a look at some major characteristics of an investment scam.

Four characteristics of an investment scam

1. Unsolicited email or mail- If you didn’t ask for that  investment brochure in the mail or that message in your inbox, that should be your first warning that this could be an investment scam. Most investment scams occur when the scammers come looking for someone to prey upon, not when the prospective investor searches for an investment.
2. Unrealistic guarantees- It is just like the old saying goes “If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.” This fits very well in the investment industry, since there is no sure thing and any kind of ridiculous expectations or guarantees are a classic sign of an investment scam. Keep your expectations in the realistic category!
3. Pyramid schemes- At the first sign of a pyramid scheme you should run the other way, quickly. Pyramid schemes often claim a small investment will turn into a huge profit in small amount of time. These are multi level marketing pyramid schemes that payoff the people who start it, but almost everyone else simply gets scammed out of their money.
4. Offshore accounts- One of the classic investment scams is that of someone requesting money be sent to an offshore account for investment advice or some kind of great investment program. These offshore investment scams are all over the place and should be avoided at all costs. Sending money to an offshore account hoping for big profits is a major mistake.

The wise consumer should be able to avoid investment scams, but you have to recognize these investment scam red flags before you it is too late!

The survey of human-resource executives at 175 mostly midsize and large U.S. firms by consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc. found that 33% plan to unfreeze salaries within the next six months and 79% within the next year. It appears that employers are becoming more optimistic and adding new jobs. Even if they are not adding new jobs, reducing number of layoffs alone will help the economy.

The Watson Wyatt survey found employers will be slower to restore changes in benefit programs — and many recent changes to health-care plans may become permanent. More details about the survey are here.

The goal of your retirement account should be to build up a retirement nest egg that will provide for your and your loved ones when you retire. You want to make sure that when it comes time to retire you can do so comfortably. Here are four important tips to remember in building that retirement nest egg.

Four tips  to help build a retirement nest egg

1. Get started early with your retirement account- It’s never too early to start building a retirement account. Often younger people make the mistake of procrastinating when it comes to getting a retirement plan together. Make sure you aren’t one of those people.
2. Utilize company matching contributions fully- If you aren’t taking full advantage of employer matching contributions that you may have through a 401k plan or some kind of retirement investment account then you are losing out on a lot of money over time. While many think they can’t afford to put money in their 401k plan, the truth is if you have a company match you simply can’t afford to lose out on such a great opportunity.
3. Avoid dipping into the retirement fund- Far too many people use their retirement account as if it is a normal savings account. Treat the retirement account as a very last resort option since it really is hurting you tremendously if you have to use these funds.
4. Change your investments as your time frame changes- Too many people open up a retirement investment account and keep the same investments in there for numerous years. While it is often wise to hold things such as stocks for many years, you must also keep up with the changes in your retirement goals. When you are younger your account should be more aggressive and later on it should be more about protecting that capital you have earned.

Building a retirement nest egg should be a very high priority for each of you. Use these tips to help you and your loved ones treasure those years of retirement.

Today the Federal Reserve left interest rates near zero, but in the August 12 FOMC statement text the Fed suggested that the economy is “leveling out.” The FOMC pointed to improved conditions in financial markets and household spending stabilizing as key indicators that the  economy may be getting back to a slightly more stable state. The FOMC did note that it expects conditions to warrant the extremely low levels of interest rates for quite some time in the future.

Maybe the biggest surprise of the statement was the fact that the Federal Reserve announced it will be ending its buying of treasuries in October. The plan is for the Federal Reserve to gradually purchase $300 billion more in treasury securities before allowing the buying program to end at the end of October.  This is seen by many as an encouraging sign that the Federal Reserve believes the market may be able to stand on its own now.

It remains to be seen whether the economy leveling out will be good enough for the markets in short-term. In the long run there is no doubt that the economy will have to start expanded at a solid pace again if the solid run in the stock market is going to continue. The expectations for an improvement in the economy have caused the run up in stock prices, but even signs of a delay in that improvement could send the market tumbling.

Right now the news is pretty good from the Federal Reserve, but we must keep the economic situation in the correct context. Based on the data they are seeing they believe that the economy has stabilized to a point where they can allow the market to act on its own, but they also believe interest rates must stay extremely low because of the continued weakness in the labor market and consumer spending. The next few months are going to be extremely crucial for the overall direction of not only the American economy, but the global economy as well.

Piggy Bank

Teaching your children about money and money management is vital to their ability to make it on their own when they grow up, and it can also help you keep yourself honest in your own money management. There are four ways to teach children about money and investing that serve as a great starting point to helping them understand the basics.

Four ways to teach children about money

1. Use the good old piggy bank- While we understand that in the grand scheme of things piggy banks don’t often hold a lot of money, they sure can do a lot to helping learn important lessons about saving up money. Give your children a piggy bank and have put any spare change in there. Have fun counting up the amount in the piggy bank with them to give them an extra lesson on money.
2. Give them an allowance- It is wise to give your children a small allowance for doing chores around the house or whatever you need them to do, so that the children can learn how to use their own money. If they are simply using your money to buy what they want they’ll never learn the importance of making tough decisions on what to buy and what not to buy.
3. Help them understand that sometimes the answer is no- Let’s face it, we can’t always have what we want, and your children need to learn that early on. Understanding the meaning of the word no is important when teaching about money management.
4. Set up a savings account at a local bank- By setting up a savings account at a local bank for your children you will allow them to see how investing money in something as simple as a savings account or even a certificate of deposit can bring them extra money. Show your children how much they have made from this account, since they will almost certainly be excited to get extra money.

While all of these lessons on managing money for children are important, none of them will work if you don’t practice what you preach. Your child will always watch you for guidance, so make sure you are managing your money well or your children will be off to a bad start right away.

Related Link: How to Teach Kids About Money and Savings

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said that world prevented the second great depression. That’s a relief for now. “We have managed to avoid a second Great Depression … but full recovery is at least two years and probably more,” Krugman said.

More on this here. The way the stock market reacts now, it appears that the worst is over. But, never rely on the stock market to forecast economy!

The stock market has certainly been quite strong of late, with all three of major indices showing a gain of more than 25% from their lows hit in early March. The long-term trend is obviously not as bright, with the broad S&P 500 still down a little more than 22% from a year ago.

Over the last few weeks there has been more talk of an economic recovery and the possibility of the brand new bull market getting underway. Famous market strategist Abby Joseph Cohen of Goldman Sachs said at the end of last week that she thought a new bull market is already going on and the market is poised to continue higher. While most stock market strategists have become much more bullish in recent weeks, there are still plenty of bears out there with lots of ammunition on why the market will go much lower from here. Marc Faber, considered a pretty consistent bear, has recently published a report speaking of the strong possibility for hyperinflation because of the moves the Federal Reserve has made over the last few months.

It all boils down to the question of whether the economic recovery that some see beginning is real or not. If the economy recovers, even if it does so slowly, you probably don’t want to be overly bearish. On the other hand if the economy is still in shambles six months from now the bulls will definitely feel a lot of pain between now and then.

The jury is still out on whether a new bull market is starting or whether this is a prolonged bear market rally. Investors would be wise to tread carefully in this environment until the direction of the overall economy becomes more clear. While there are plenty of opinions out there, the truth is no one can know the next move the market makes at this point.

The all important July non-farm payrolls number was released this morning and it contained some positive news for the economy and the stock market. In July employers cut 247,000 jobs, far less than most analysts were expecting. The average analyst estimate was for a loss of 320,000 jobs during the month of July. Revisions from May and June’s job data also lowered the numbered of jobs lost by 43,000. The unemployment rate now stands at 9.4%.

What were the weakest parts of the jobs market in July? The construction sector cut 76,000 jobs in the month and retailers cut 44,000 jobs. Both of these numbers represent an increase from the amount of jobs lost in these sectors in the previous few months. Where were the bright spots? The consistent standout of late has definitely been the health care sector, which added 20,000 jobs in the month. Another surprise to the upside were the leisure and hospitality payrolls adding 9,000 during July.

As one would expect the stock market responded in a very positive way to what is the best employment report since last September.  On the other hand treasury prices fell markedly today as thoughts than an economic recovery may be nearer than expected fueled selling of treasuries. The dollar was very strong, and crude oil and gasoline futures fell because of the report.

What does this mean for the average individual? It means that there may be a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, but it also isn’t an all clear signal. Be cautious not to get too positive over a jobs report that shows a quarter of a million jobs lost in the past month. The prospects for an economic recovery are certainly brighter than they were several months ago, but one would be wise to keep perspective on where we are at in the cycle. Progress is being made, which is great, let’s just hope it is a trend that continues!

Some states offer sales tax holidays to buy certain school supplies. Check out http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/sales_holiday.html to see if your state gives you this savings. Each state offer this in different dates. You are exempted from sales tax up to certain amount, for example $50 is the limit in Alabama for school supplies.

If you don’t live in the state that offers sales tax holidays, look for discounts from retailers that are normally available in the mid-August.

This is a topic I feel very passionately about because I truly believe that many investors are being ripped off by loaded mutual funds. There is absolutely no reason to be allowing a mutual fund company to take advantage of you by charging you a massive load (fee) just to own their fund. What are mutual fund loads? They are fees charged by the mutual fund when you make a transaction inside a particular fund. These fees are generally either right at the time of purchase (front-end loads), or when you sell the shares in the mutual fund (back-end loads).

Top Four Reasons to Avoid Loaded Mutual Funds

1. They drastically drag down your overall return on investment- A fee of around 5% (which is the average mutual fund load), will drag down your overall return on investment in a hurry. Forgetting to include this fee in your overall return on investment is a major mistake.
2. They perform no better than a no-load fund- It’s not as if you are getting a superior product here. The truth is loaded mutual funds perform no better on a year-to-year basis than no-load funds. In fact, some investors find that loaded funds do worse because they are more worried about selling their product to financial advisers than picking great stocks.
3. There are tons of terrific no-load funds- There is no excuse such as saying there aren’t enough n0-load mutual funds to pick from. Indeed there thousands of no-load mutual funds which have a proven track record of outperforming the market.
4. You don’t want to line the pockets of a salesperson- Let’s face it, a loaded fund is simply lining the pockets of a salesperson for this mutual fund. In this transaction what happens is the customer gets screwed and the salesperson gets rich. We don’t need any of that.

Make those loaded mutual funds a thing of the past because they certainly aren’t doing anything to help you.