Sunday, September 21, 2008

Five Things You Need To Know Before Opening An Offshore Bank Account

Author: Gregory Smyth

Off shore banking used to be viewed as the sole province of those with mahogany toilet seats or criminals planning to steal large amounts of cash. However, corporate offshore banking has not only become more accepted, the benefits of it have grown in current economic conditions. Here we look at what you should know before you open an offshore banking investment account.

1. The first thing is a good news item - there are more benefits to banking offshore than you might realize. When you bank within your own jurisdiction, your money is not safe from unauthorized withdrawals, even by your own government. The debt caused by even a contested tax bill can be withdrawn at will by the government - this is as true for corporations as it is individuals.

If you have large amounts of funds in an offshore banking investment account, they are also not subject to withholding taxes on the interest earned, and therefore your money is growing quicker.

2. You should choose your jurisdiction for offshore banking investment and corporate offshore banking wisely. It is generally wiser to bank further away from where your company operates - your investment management services firm will most likely advise somewhere that is out of your continent or general geographical area.

This reduces the risk that your company's money will be subject to local laws, and perhaps lower the benefits of banking offshore. You may be subject to your offshore bank deducting an undisclosed rate of tax from your accounts that bear interest, defeating the very purpose of opening an offshore bank account.

You may be advised to bank offshore in Singapore if your company operates in Europe, or to bank in the Isle of Man if you operate out of America.

3. It is better to choose a large than small bank, generally speaking, for your offshore investment biz. However attractive a small bank might seem - given that they offer better privacy, more personal service or that you'll feel better looked after there. However, these banks must often operate under a sub-account of a major bank, which increases the time it takes to get to your money, and creates more restrictions on how you can conduct your offshore banking.

For example, if money is sent to your corporate offshore banking account at a small bank, the business may only be mentioned in the comments field of the deposit note, or in the 'for further credit of' area - meaning that according to official documentation, the bank itself is the beneficiary of the funds, not you. At a large bank, the account holder is the beneficiary, keeping your money more secure in your company's name.

4. Be aware that if you are opening a corporate offshore banking account for privacy's sake, that privacy is often conditional - privacy protection measures can be breached by presentation of a court order. Truly anonymous banking is a thing of the past, whether that is fortunate or unfortunate for your organization.

5. The last piece of advice about corporate offshore banking is that you shouldhave your investment management services contact the bank directly by phone, rather than paying via the internet for someone to open an account for you. Often all they will do is provide you the paperwork to fill out for yourself - saving you next to no time, and costing a decent amount of money.

Open the account yourself, via your business consultancy management service, and save your company funds for what they are needed for.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

7 Simple and Easy Steps to Big Time Real Estate Investing Success

By Sean Flanagan

Too many real estate investors fail to achieve their dreams because they fail to properly launch their investing careers or because they reach a crossroads and don't know which way to turn. Confused about the next step to take, they spin their wheels, do nothing, and eventually opt to walk away from real estate completely and go back to a life of mediocrity. To prevent this from happening to you, follow this simple seven step roadmap to success.

Step One: Education – The right education is critical to your success. Before getting started you should begin learning about a variety of creative techniques. You don’t want to spend so much time preparing to invest that you never launch your investing career, but you don’t want to go off half-cocked and fire at everything that moves either. Learn enough to be able to write an intelligent offer and then make it happen. As your career advances, continue learning as you go along. There’s a ton of accumulated investing knowledge available, so take advantage of it. Keep in mind, too, that education doesn’t have to be a $2,000-$3,000 guru-sponsored super course. You can sometimes learn more from a $20 book, but never quit learning or you will quit growing.

Step Two: Planning – What steps are you taking to reach your goals? Are you sitting around with a pad of paper and a pen planning how you’ll spend your real estate profits or are you taking a series of deliberate steps to all but guarantee your success? How many calls are you going to make today, this week, or this month? How many properties will you look at? How many offers will you write? Real estate is a numbers game, so you need to plan your numbers and then you need to follow up by analyzing your activity. If you don’t keep score you won’t know if you’re winning or losing. It all starts with a plan and ends in the winner’s circle or the employment office. Planning – or failing to plan – will determine where you’ll be in a year and how much money you’ll have.

Step Three: Team Building – Major league ball teams don’t wait until the season starts to begin looking for members of their team. Their team-building effort starts months ahead of opening day. As a real estate investor you need a team of professionals in your corner. Start today with a small title or escrow company and a mortgage company. Make sure they understand creative real estate and have experience. If you’re not working with a mentor familiar with creative investing, you need to find one. He or she can shave years off your learning curve by helping you to avoid some of the stupid and costly mistakes they made.

Step Four: Circle of Influence – Who are you listening to? Your brother whose idea of creative real estate investing is buying a time share in Arkansas? If your circle of influence – people who give you advice – don’t know and understand real estate investing, they’ll constantly be taking aim on your hopes and dreams because they don’t understand the concept or because they don’t want your success to shine a spotlight on their mediocrity. Tap into as many creative – and successful – real estate investors as you can at your local REIA meetings.

Step Five: the Right Sellers – Wasting time trying to browbeat somebody into accepting your creative offer is unproductive and demoralizing. Make sure that the sellers you’re dealing with are highly motivated to sell and good things will happen. Don’t be afraid to walk away from the wrong deal even if the price is right. Know your ideal situation and then capitalize on it when the opportunity presents itself.

Step Six: Hobby/Business? – Is real estate investing going to be your pathway to prosperity? While there are plenty of opportunities for you to have fun, never lose sight of the fact that you’re playing in a very competitive sandbox. You have something going for you, though. A lot of investors lack the education, training, and mindset to prosper. If you’re one of them, you should save your money and take up stamp collecting or join the rock club. If, however, you’re serious about success and give this business the effort it deserves, your future is a blank check – and you’re holding the pen.

Step Seven: Stick with It – Real estate investing success won’t necessarily come overnight. That’s not to say that you won’t become an overnight sensation, but be prepared for the possibility that it might take 3-5 years to achieve a level of success that inspires you to throw all of your time and energy into enriching yourself. Real estate investing is easy, but it’s not simple. It takes work, effort, and a willingness to keep plodding ahead even when your big payday is years away – instead of mere days.

By following this seven step action plan you can set your sights on reaching all of your personal and financial dreams. Real estate investing is one of the most lucrative careers in the world, but you’ll have to dedicate yourself to your success. How bad do you want it?

Now go get it!

Join Stock Trading Community & Get Tips From Experienced Traders

By David Jose

Most of the newbie traders started up with online stock trading businesses get into fix in which way to trade. Vulnerability to suffering from confusions is likely amongst most of the online stock traders. However, with practical advice, tips, suggestions taken from experienced traders most of the confusions and issues can be tackled. Hence join one stock trading community. Different types of options and categories and facts accessible through Internet confuse investors.

Moreover, questions like how much money to invest, where you should invest and how much profits are obtainable from investment, which stocks are functioning in the industry and which stocks do not are some of the highly crucial points to be discussed as you are trading online. Which stocks are rising windward side and which are on the leeward side must be taken under scrutiny to start and run online stock trading business. Investors can access information and guidance from existing players in the market by signing up at any online stock trading community and message boards.

Nowadays, there are plenteous online trading communities which are specific to the categories of online stock trading. Therefore, if you are a stock investor, bond analyst or a financial analyst, join fellow members of your trade by joining an online stock trading community being crowded by fellow people. Message boards, chat sessions, forum posting facilities available through these communities give traders discuss various aspects of their stock trading job profile.

Open discussions held through online message boards help traders when they are purchasing any stock options and help in making better decisions too. Moreover, when a trader is looking for particular information on stock trading, by joining one such stock trading community will be extremely helpful as they can retrieve the data much faster through involving in discussions. Network of online stock trading community is swelling day by day by encompassing diverse facts and fellows who are willing to share and access data from other people's experiences.