Weddings are very expensive events. You have to buy the rings, rent the venue, pay for food, the dress, tuxedos…I can go on and on. Not only do the families involved spend a lot of money, you can’t forget that others also pay a good amount to come to your wedding – especially if you…
If you’re a buy-and-hold investor with at least 100 shares of a particular stock, you could be generating extra income with little effort on your part. No, I’m not referring to dividends. Selling covered calls is a low risk options strategy that allows you to collect a premium for writing calls while you still own the…
A little over a decade ago, trading stocks on the internet gained a lot of traction, turning millions of people into self-directed investors. This fairly new style of investor doesn’t rely on money managers or financial advisors to make their investment decisions for them. As a result of this shift to online trading, people are…
If you have any cash sitting in an account collecting interest, you’re well aware of the dismal rate of return that you’re earning. Don’t blame the banks though – they must invest in fairly low risk securities to keep your money safe. If they are not earning much, they will not pay you much. Income…
This is part three of a multipart series designed to teach you about options and how to trade them. Previously, I discussed the basics of options and buying puts and calls. This time, we will combine options into what are known as spreads, in an attempt to profit from various stock movement scenarios. First off,…
Currently, 45% of all homeowners contain less than 20% equity in their homes. What’s even worse is that almost 30% have less than 5% equity. That’s not surprising considering the extent at which housing prices have dropped over the last few years. With less than 20% equity, how are you supposed to take advantage of…
In 2012, 46% of Americans carried over a credit card balance from month to month. For those households with credit card debt, the average balance of that debt was an astonishing $15,800. Why do people have so much debt and why can they not pay off their balances? You generally fall into two categories if you…
Last week I discussed the basics of options in my post Options Are Complicated For A Reason. I listed the most important terms and displayed an option matrix that explains the basic concepts of calls and puts in a visual manner. Now that you understand some of the core concepts of options, it’s time for…
No one should pay full price for anything these days. There are so many opportunities to save money on items ranging from real estate to dinner. I’ve used Excel to keep track of my monthly expenses for the last several years and recently, I noticed that I receive some kind of discount on every single…
Anybody who’s ever taken a look at options is well aware that, at first glance they appear to very complicated. Terms like calls, puts, derivatives, strangles, LEAPS and others, all seem to confuse the average investor. Why not use terms like ‘buy option’, ‘sell option’, etc.? This is part one of a multipart series in which…