Archive for July, 2009

Fixed Interest Rates - Australia
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

I’ve been looking at the funding rates (i.e. the cost of funds for the bank) and it’s been increasing slowly but steadily over the past month. A couple of months ago the same thing happened and banks throughout Australia lifted their fixed interest rates up a notch to cover for the short-fall.

It seems like the time has come again for history to repeat itself…

if the funding rates doesn’t “cool off” banks will (again) move into negative margin territory. This just means that banks will lose money for every fixed term loan they are writing to the public at the current rate. So watch out for those fixed interest rates… be expecting them to shift up slightly if things don’t “cool off” in the near future. Banks don’t like losing money…

Anyways, if you’re thinking of fixing you might want to consider doing it soon or at least pay the fixed rate cap fee to lock in the current rate. Otherwise, hang in there and start building up some cash reserves for future interest rates rises. (Fixed interest rates are usually a leading indicator for future expected interest rates up to 10 years plus in the future)

Filed under: Investing in Business, Property Investing, The Economy — Tags: , — Yong-Long Lai @ 2:05 pm
Can I get a lot of traffic without having previous success?
Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Ramit Sethi and Tim Ferriss on the topic of How To Get Traffic

NOTES:

  • Find unique niche, be passionate and know where they hangout!
  • Find your taget and tell them about yourself - build credibility
  • Credibility is perception, how can you gain trust (acceptance, recognition)
Filed under: Internet Marketing — Tags: , , , — Selina Lai @ 5:57 am
Philip Zimbardo’s Take on Time
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Notes:
Life is a Temptation
Instant Gratification Vs Delayed Gratification results in vast differences
Decision Making is affected by our Time Perspective: Past Orientation, Present Orientation, Future Orientation
Optimal Time Profile: Past-positive = High, Future = Moderately High, Present Hedonism = Moderate. Past-negative = Low, Present Fatalism = Low

Filed under: Self Improvement — Tags: , — Selina Lai @ 9:01 am
Wealth Dynamics: Seven Levels Of Truths
Friday, July 17th, 2009

Here is a very insightful video in which Roger Hamilton explains how for something as complex and multi-leveled as Wealth Dynamics, it is important to be in agreement with the truths of the different levels.

In this video, Roger Hamilton explains the seven levels of truths in Wealth Dynamics.

The Seven Levels of Truths:

1. There are different games
2. You create your game
3. Your game needs to flow
4. Flow attracts resources
5. Flow accelerates critical moments
6. Flow creates synchronicity
7. Flow leads to fortune

Wealth Dynamics

Are you a Creator?
Are you a Star?
Are you a Supporter?
Are you a Deal Maker?
Are you a Trader?
Are you a Accumulator?
Are you a Lord?
Are you a Mechanic?

What is YOUR path of least resistance?

To discover your personal Wealth Profile, take the Wealth Dynamics Profile Test now!

Filed under: Wealth Dynamics — Tags: , , , — Selina Lai @ 6:39 am
Is Rent Protection Worth It?
Monday, July 13th, 2009

It’s a new financial year and I’ve been looking at some of the things that I’ve been paying for, and one of them is Rent Protection.

Firstly, I’m not an insurance broker and obviously don’t know your financial situation, so I have no idea which insurance is most suitable for your needs. I’m only talking from my experience with rent protection, and my understanding of what the general rent protection covers. Policies will vary from insurer to insurer, but here’s one that I personally use EBM Insurance Brokers. Their rent protection covers the following (for only $225 per year - obviously is dependent on the individual property):

Loss of Rent due to:
Denial of Access: 52 weeks
Prevention of Access: 52 weeks
Default of Rent: 6 weeks
Departure without notice: 6 weeks
Breaking of lease: 6 weeks
Malicious Damage: 52 weeks
Accidental Damage to Contents: 52 weeks
Accidental Damage to Building: 52 weeks
Theft by Tenant: 52 weeks
Hardship: 6 weeks
Death of a Tenant: 6 weeks
Defined Risks to contents (Fire and storm etc.): $10,000

Damage & Theft (building)
Malicious Damage: $50,000
Accidental Damage: $50,000
Theft by the Tenant: $50,000

Damage & Theft (contents)
Malicious Damage: $50,000
Accidental Damage: $50,000
Theft by the Tenant:$50,000
Defined Risks (Fire and storm etc.): $50,000

Many people are worried about the tenant breaking their lease or damaging the building to a state where it is not habitable for many weeks etc. In my opinion, most if not all of your worries are eliminated by investing a tax deductible $200-300 for a peace of mind.

Say your rental income is $330 a week with the usual fees:
* 2 weeks letting fee
* 10% management fee (including postage & sundries) - approx 5 weeks
* Quarterly inspection costing around $300-400 (1-2 weeks)

When you take all these fees into consideration, you give somebody else 8-9 weeks of rent out of the 52 weeks of rental income that you take (which works out to be 15-20%). Paying 1 week worth of rent every year to insure that you get most of the 52 weeks worth of rent, I think is cheap considering the amount of money you are paying your managing agent! It’s even cheaper if you have a bad managing agent putting ‘not so good’ tenants into your property! Then you’ll be hoping you have rent protection when the tenant defaults or burn down your investment!

So do YOU think Rent Protection is worth it?

Filed under: Insurance, Rental Property — Tags: , — Yong-Long Lai @ 1:42 am
Money Attitude, Money Behavior and Net Worth
Friday, July 10th, 2009

@Goldzone directed me to this very insightful table of the 7 ways people view money: Money Attitude, Money Behavior and Net Worth.

Find out which zone you are in so that you can work out where you want to be.

Filed under: Just For Fun, Understanding Money — Tags: , — Selina Lai @ 6:12 am
12 Marketing Mistakes: Wasting Money On Marketing That Doesn’t Work
Monday, July 6th, 2009

Mistake No.3

Wasting Money On Marketing That Doesn’t Work

I would like to clarify this mistake a little more by saying that all businesses will spend money on ineffective marketing, but it is a matter of learning from that mistake which will allow a business to grow and be successful. The best way to avoid continually spending money on marketing which doesn’t work is to test and measure, then tweaking your marketing efforts to get a better result.

Virtually everyone I speak to has spent money on marketing that doesn’t work. I’ll include myself in that because over the years I’ve spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertisements, faxes, direct mail and other marketing that has pulled little or no response. When it happens, you think yourself, “I am not going to do that again”. But then sooner or later a magazine will phone up with a last-minute offer that seems just too good to be true. If you can relate to this, you’ll like the solution. You see I eventually discovered the right way to spend my marketing budget so that it gets results rather than flushing it down the toilet. To achieve this, I have
read hundreds of books on marketing, sought out some of the best marketing experts in the world and had them coach me.

Having learnt what works and what doesn’t, I then spent nine years testing all the different strategies and then working with over 1000 other companies to share information with them too. Finally, I recently teamed up with Australian marketing expert Carolyn Phillips and between us we have put all the information into a Training programme entitled, ‘Profit Booster Kit’. Of course you don’t need to buy the profit booster Kit, but if you choose to, it will show you how to double your profits in only 49 days and gives you over 297 tried, tested and proven strategies on a plate ready to use.

- Keith Banfield

Filed under: Business, Internet Marketing, Investing in Business — Tags: , — Selina Lai @ 5:34 am