Personal Finance Guide

Archive for August, 2006

JustTheBill.com

Do you have a financial plan? 

Are you buying investments because they fit in with your strategy? or 

Are you investing by reacting to recent events? 

A sound financial strategy can help keep you from being stampeded into making poor investment decisions. 

A Sound Investment Strategy

There are three main considerations you need to bear in mind when developing a sound investment strategy: 

• Investment objectives
• Time frame
• Risk Tolerance

Investment Objectives

There are four basic objectives associated with any investment: 

• Return of principal
• Income
• Growth
• Tax benefits

Time Frame

The time frame you have until you reach your investment goals can have a tremendous impact on the investment categories you choose. Changes in the financial environment and fluctuations in the financial markets can make a difference in your return. 

If, for example, your investment goal is investing for a down payment on a house next year, you generally wouldn’t want to invest all your money in aggressive investments that carry a lot of risk. You simply wouldn’t have time to recover from heavy losses.

Question: Name a good & simple Personal Finance software ?

which 1) allows custom categories and 2) the database is on your computer (not online). I dont want to do anything comples, just track my monthly spend vs a budget.
I tried Microsoft Money. Its a good tool, but teh categories are fixed ; you cannot add any new spending categories.

Answer: Microsfot Money or Quicken (for personal use). about 50 bucks at office depot.
Microsoft money is a check register, but also does much more.
It has an excellent budgetting tool.
It shows you pie charts and graphs of where your money is going.
Lets you sort out categories and so much more.

See if you can find an old copy online for free, or ask friends and family if they happen to have a copy lying around.
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Personal Finance Tips : Asset Tracking Software Tips