Theres an ongoing debate among financial experts about the determinants of portfolio returns. Some maintain that asset allocation accounts for up to 90 percent of long-term gains. Others are convinced that low costs are the magic bullet. Probably the best course of action is to keep your eye on both.

What this means is that investors with a high, or even moderate, tolerance for risk might consider allocating a tiny portion of their portfolio to commodities, including foreign exchange, commonly called forex.

Copyright 2006 DVK Group, Inc.

Dividends are transfers of cash by the corporation to its ownersportions of a companys profits paid out to the companys shareholders.

Every company has to decide what to do with its earnings. There are three choices.

(1) It can plow them back into the company to fund growth, make acquisitions, or undertake special projects.
(2) It can use them to repurchase its own shares, theoretically making each share still on the market worth more, because it is a larger slice of the pie.

What, Pray Tell, is Found Money

When I was about ten years old I was walking along the alley way behind our home and spied a twenty dollar bill at the edge of it. I looked around and didn't see anyone who might be the owner of this lonely bit of green, so I put it in my pocket and went home to show it to my mother. Wise woman that she was, she thought I ought to ask the neighbors if they'd lost it, so I did, cleverly NOT saying what the involved amount was. Turned out no one was missing any money, so I was richer by twenty bucks.

Many Investment Gurus, with a straight face and a gleam in their eye, will insist that successful investing is a function of expansive research, skillful market timing, and detailed technical analysis. Others emphasize fundamental information about companies, industries, and markets. But trends and numbers are secondary to a thorough understanding of the basic principles of Investing and Management, and their interrelationships.

Copyright 2006 Ray Prince

One of the recurring themes we deal with as financial planners is the subject of buying more NHS Pension benefits.

This is now worth a revisit as the situation is probably changing again! For the punch drunk amongst you, we will try to keep this as painless as possible.