Three reasons why the time to invest is now

For this post, detailing why the time to invest is now, I have handed over the reigns to Brian from Tent to Penthouse. For The Twenty Percent’s first guest post, he will be explaining some of the basics of investing and why it’s best to get started as soon as possible.

As many of you will know, I’m very new to investing, so thought it would be best to seek advice from someone with more experience.

I hope you find this post useful and agree that the time to invest is now. As always, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Why the time to invest is now

Whenever you’re ready to start investing is the ideal moment to begin your investing career. Some may think investing is only an old man’s game, but the reality could not be further from the truth.

You only need a small amount of time learning about investing to make massive progress towards your fullest potential. That begins simply by making a point to understand several core principles of the practice.

Risk management

When you’re investing with any kind of commodity in the world, risk management is the universal law of every aspect of your practice. Every moment of your investing experience is tied to managing what your stand to gain with what you stand to lose.

Even if you aren’t consciously thinking of risk management, the concept still dictates the entirety of what will manifest as your ultimate investing success.

Understanding the truth of risk management…

Read more

from Investment News, Investment Strategies, Investment Opportunities - Feed http://www.quantitativeinvestmentgroup.com/three-reasons-why-the-time-to-invest-is-now/

Advice to my 23-year-old self

Financial Advice #1: Time > Money

Let me start by reproducing a charming little story originally written by John Lane in Timeless Simplicity: Creative Living in a Consumer Society.

The industrialist was horrified to find the fisherman lying beside his boat, smoking a pipe.

“Why aren’t you fishing?” said the industrialist.

“Because I have caught enough fish for the day.”

“Why don’t you catch some more?”

“What would I do with them?”

“Earn more money. Then you could have a motor fixed to your boat and go into deeper waters and catch more fish. That would bring you money to buy nylon nets, so more fish, more money. Soon you would have enough to buy two boats even a fleet of boats. Then you could be rich like me.”

“What would I do then?”

“Then you could sit back and enjoy life.”

“What do you think I’m doing now?”

As millennials and Generation Z, you guys are rocking the boats like never before – the world is moving at the speed of light and the progress that we have made in the last 20 years outpaces that of the previous 200 years. 

But as the world is getting more and more connected, it is also getting busier by the day. Communication, internet, globalization, and hyper-scalability is requiring people to become life-long learners, extremely over-worked, more materialistic, and heavily dependent on a consumeristic way of living.

This is maybe the first thing that I’d like to tell a 23-year-old.

Money is important,…

Read more

from Investment News, Investment Strategies, Investment Opportunities - Feed http://www.quantitativeinvestmentgroup.com/advice-to-my-23-year-old-self/

How’s the Coronavirus Economy? Great or Awful, Depending on Whom You Ask

The coronavirus recession has been financially devastating for many Americans. It has been a boon for others.

Many are going hungry or worried about eviction. Others are paying down debt or even buying second homes. What’s left is a confounding picture of U.S. household finances.

The current recession, like any other, has deepened the division between those who can navigate it and those who can’t. But the unusual nature of this downturn has made those differences starker.

The economy collapsed this year at record speed, but the federal government rushed in with additional unemployment benefits, stimulus checks and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. Banks allowed customers to pause mortgage and car payments without penalty. As a result, many people who lost their jobs have stayed afloat.

And those with secure jobs, stuck at home with fewer places to spend money, came out ahead. Cutting back on commuting costs and eating out gave them more flexibility to spend on luxuries such as home improvement. Home sales had their biggest monthly gain ever in July, boosted by people looking to escape cities. There has been record demand in second-home destinations, and many are buying with cash, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting LLC.

Read more

from Investment News, Investment Strategies, Investment Opportunities - Feed http://www.quantitativeinvestmentgroup.com/hows-the-coronavirus-economy-great-or-awful-depending-on-whom-you-ask/

Dividend Stock Purchases

June and July were heavy dividend stock purchase months.  Now the question that the community is wondering – was I able to keep the pace up?  The journey to financial freedom does not take breaks and one must continue to persevere through uncertainty, put cash to work and push that forward dividend income forward.  August –

Dividend stock purchase and dividend income: Path to financial freedom

Investing consistently in Dividend Income Stocks allows you to create & build another income source.  Dividend Income is our primary vehicle on the road to Financial Freedom, which you can see through my Dividend Portfolio, which continues to build and build.  Further, I have written about every stock purchase and month of dividend income since we started this site, plenty of dividend history for you, the reader!

How do I make dividend stock purchases and screen for dividend stocks?  I usually put the stocks through our Dividend Diplomat Stock Screener and trade on Ally Bank’s investment platform (one of our Financial Freedom Products).

Read more

from Investment News, Investment Strategies, Investment Opportunities - Feed http://www.quantitativeinvestmentgroup.com/dividend-stock-purchases/

6 Social Media Marketing Myths

It’s not always easy to know what is true and what isn’t when it comes to marketing. A lot of efforts could be a shot in the dark. Some marketing efforts work for some people, while not for others. There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all. If you don’t do the correct research or are following other’s advice, you could actually do damage to your business. Watch out for these marketing myths, because they may not be a service for you at all

Myth #1: Social Media Has Replaced Email

You may have heard that sending emails to your customers is dead. This isn’t true at all. Social media really can’t replace the personal touch of an email. It is merely a tool to use to reach customers more often. Email still works in marketing campaigns, and offers people up the personal touch and is a gentle reminder that you are still there waiting to help them.

Myth #2: Content is Still King

Social media is used to send out content to users and develop your brand. Your content about your industry and product/service gives you an authority. You may be answering their questions that they didn’t even know they had. Content is how you appeal directly to your audience. Your content needs to reinforce your brands’ authority and make you look trustworthy. Think of how you can effectively create content to do that.

Myth #3: Ignore the Haters

Going radio silent on negative feedback is admitting that you’re guilty….

Read more

from Investment News, Investment Strategies, Investment Opportunities - Feed http://www.quantitativeinvestmentgroup.com/6-social-media-marketing-myths/

How This 32-Year-Old Entrepreneur Makes Over $80k A Month Blogging

Meet Adam Enfroy, an ex-digital marketer turned full-time blogger who launched his blog just last … [+] year and is on track to make 7-figures in 2020.

What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of a blogger? Perhaps you think of an Instagram “influencer,” traveling the world trying to get free hotel stays in exchange for a post on their website.

Or, a mommy blogger trying to make some money on the side while helping her peers. Or, a fitness coach trying to grow a personal brand.

Either way — in today’s oversaturated online space, it’s hard to believe that blogging could actually be a lucrative career.

Most of the time, bloggers slave away and write content for years, only able to scrap together a few advertising dollars or the occasional exchange for free stuff.

In the same vein, most “influencers” with massive follower counts are unable to actually influence purchases. It’s widely known that an Instagrammer with 2 million followers couldn’t sell 36 t-shirts – and this isn’t rare.

But this is not the case for Adam Enfroy, an ex-digital marketer turned full-time blogger who launched his blog just last year and is on track to make 7-figures in 2020.

With over 450,000 monthly readers, Enfroy’s mission is to teach the next generation of online entrepreneurs how to scale their influence at startup speed. His blog lays out the exact steps he took and how it’s possible for new bloggers to make…

Read more

from Investment News, Investment Strategies, Investment Opportunities - Feed http://www.quantitativeinvestmentgroup.com/how-this-32-year-old-entrepreneur-makes-over-80k-a-month-blogging/

The Fed could be locked into zero rates for five years, or even longer

For now at least, an overshoot seems optimistic.

After all, the Fed has spent most of the past 12 years unable to hit its objective on inflation, which it considers essential to a growing economy that provides enough policy room to adapt in the case of downturns. In the current cycle, prevailing low rates left the Fed with only 1.5 percentage points to cut when the coronavirus pandemic crisis hit.

Wall Street economists see a period of several years before the Fed is able to hike again.

Goldman Sachs, for instance, estimates policy “liftoff” that would come “around early 2025,” depending on the metrics the Fed wants to use. One of the questions would be how far back the Fed would want to calculate to come to an “average” that would then be used to clear the way for policy normalization once inflation took hold.

Others on Wall Street see a five-year time frame as realistic as well.

Tony Dwyer, an analyst Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets, said the Fed will combine low rates with a prolonged campaign of quantitative easing, the bond-buying program that has helped add nearly $3 trillion to the central bank balance sheet since the pandemic began.

“Our take is their statement means the Fed is going to remain historically accommodative for a very long time and the economic cycle has a very long way to go,” Dwyer said in a note. “The Fed has now publicly stated they won't be raising rates even if inflation begins to pick up, and that a strong economy accompanied by full employment will not cause them to take preemptive action to tighten due to inflation fear.”

Dwyer sees “a zero-interest-rate policy and open-ended quantitative easing (QE) for the next five years,” as government debt piles up and the Fed is called on to underwrite trillions in stimulus spending.

Read more

Photo by ikarusmedia

from Investment News, Investment Strategies, Investment Opportunities - Feed http://www.quantitativeinvestmentgroup.com/the-fed-could-be-locked-into-zero-rates-for-five-years-or-even-longer/