Have you heard the term “leverage” when people are discussing their investments? This can be quite a confusing and daunting concept for many people. But all leverage really means, is borrowing to invest. The reason people call it “leverage” is because typically existing assets are used as the security or basis of the borrowing. That is, you leverage off the value of a current investment or asset, to borrow more money to invest.

This article covers the general principles of leveraging your investments. If it is something you are considering but have never done before, discuss your ideas with a licensed financial adviser. They will ensure you are structured correctly and can minimise your risk and exposure.

When I started investing, my borrowing habits where the same as most peoples. I had a floating credit card debt which varied to my whims. I had a small personal loan for some household items and a bigger one which enabled me to buy my car.

There are 2 problems with this type of borrowing. Firstly, all the assets I bought with the borrowed money were depreciating assets. This means that as I paid off the debt, the value of the things I bought decreased. Secondly, as I purchased “consumables”, the interest I paid on these loans was not tax deductible. This makes for a very expensive borrowing.

Things have changed over the years. I learned that debt is much more efficient when spent on investments. So now my credit card debt is negligible and paid off every month. My personal loans are completely paid off. Despite this, I have a lot more debt. I have a massive debt on an investment property. I have a margin loan for share trading. And I have a FOREX investment account which is leveraged at 400:1 (Which means I borrow $400 for every $1 I put in)

Why is it more efficient to use your borrowings for investing then?

Firstly, when you borrow to invest, you are “using other people’s money” to earn more money in the investment markets. A great example of this is in our FX Trading strategy. If I invest $10,000.00 and leverage it out at 400:1 that means I have $4,000,000 invested. This above example describes very well the first benefit of leverage. By accessing more money to invest, you can earn way higher returns on your investments than you otherwise would have been able to.

Generally speaking also, interest payments on investment borrowing are tax deductible (get advice from your accountant on this point). As the borrowings have been made to increase your income, the interest payments on the loans are a direct cost of your income production. This typically makes the interest payments a tax deduction. For example, as my investment property creates a rental income, the borrowing are a cost associated with producing that rental income.

Margin loans work similarly. Basically I buy a bunch of stocks, fund 50% of the purchases myself and borrow the other 50% in a margin loan. This means I can double the size of my share portfolio and hopefully make a lot more money. Because I borrowed money though to buy the stocks which will make me money, the interest accrued in the margin loan is tax deductible.

So there is definitely an argument for borrowing to invest where you can, instead of borrowing to fund personal purchases. There are risks associated with leverage too though you need to be aware of.

So what are the risks associated with borrowing for investment purposes? One of the obvious risks relates to your financial capacity. There is the risk you over-extend yourself and cannot meet the repayment obligations on your loans. When taking out a loan, you need to be sure you can pay the loan repayments.

In a margin loan situation, it is a little different. If you borrow too much here, you may breach the allowable % of assets to debt you are given and if this happens, you will be expected to put more money in to put the loan back in “good order”. This can be quite difficult if the market swings strongly against you. So you need to know that in extremely adverse market conditions (2007 - 2009 are a good example of this) you can generate enough income to cover such margin calls.

Finally there is the investment risk. When you borrow to invest, you do so with the intention that the income earned from the money you invest, exceeds the interest the borrowing accrues. If the interest is higher than the investment earnings, you are losing money.

All risks with investing can be mitigated with strategy. That is why it is so important to speak to a licensed financial adviser before you invest and especially before you borrow to invest. So if you are considering leverage, speak to an adviser about risk mitigation. Leveraging your investments can definitely be financially rewarding, but only when you properly understand and manage your risk and when it is backed up by a consistently high performing investment strategy.

Gnifrus Urquart has enjoyed significant success investing over the years. As such, he enjoys discussing investment strategies and giving trading tips to anyone who enjoys investing

When writing an article to submit to article directories, be sure you put your own ideas into it. Your article then becomes an individual piece of information, and not a copy of ones written by other authors. Information based advertsing is now extremely popular online, and because it is generally free, competition for readers is very high. As this is one of the most beneficial ways of informing people about your subject, it must be unique to you.

There are so many tools that you can use to distribute your articles more easily and effectively, but this is only half of the story. Let us now take a look first at common errors you could make before sending your story to article directories. In article writing, there are three key benefits why you are promoting it; branding yourself as an expert, promotion, and lead generation which are all part of your efforts to optimise your success. There should be only one reason why you write an article, and that is to inform your readers and get their attention.

If your story is not focused on these vital purposes, it may not achieve those three benefits because no one will take the time to read it, and the article directories may not publish it. You need to find out what people are looking for, so that your article will be interesting enough to make them want to learn more and click on the link in your resource box.

Do you know how you can lure more visitors and better search engine results from that same article? Have relevant keywords at strategic places, making certain you do not have too many, or most article directories just won’t publish your article. You need to have your article centred around just one major keyword, and insert that in each paragraph. Then you need to disperse four or five other keywords within the body of your article.

It is not just about the direct links to your site. One vital component of doing well in your article marketing is having publishers of article directories, with large audiences, choosing your article above others. This then creates leverage for you via the backlinks that occur. Better search engine results also are great benefits. But these things do not put much money in your pocket. There are other factors that will turn your article marketing efforts into opportunities that can boost your income and increase the number of visitors to your site.

You need to be aware that most of the article directories have a set of rules and guidelines, and unless you fit within them, the chances of having your article published are slim. It is all really a matter of choice on your part. You can start getting more exposure from increased links back to your site, and enjoy massive exposure from a little extra time, by providing information that is of interest and value to your readers.

Your article will always be more effective for you when you target a specific niche, rather than trying to spread your message to a wide audience. And finally, it needs to be of such high quality that it inspires your readers to take action and click on your website link. That result must always be your ultimate objective!

John and Heather Wass are very experienced writers of articles and as a result are highly qualified to help you place informative articles in a large group ofarticle directoriesin order for you to grow your home based business effectively witharticle directoriesfor your internet marketing success.

These days, in many countries around the world, things are going very poorly for growing numbers of people. Thousands are living scared due to their cost of living problems. They need to make money and survive so that they can have a chance of a life of true financial freedom. The recession, if anything seems to be worsening and destroying the lives of many thousands of folks. The USA seems to be affected the most, but in many other places the situation is also very serious.

In your personal situation, are you personally affected by the state of the economy where you live? Looking at these areas of your life:

Are you now out of work?

Are you in danger of losing your home?

Are you scared you might lose your job?

Are you paying out more than you earn?

Is your business barely paying you a minimum wage?

Are you well-paid in your business or your corporate job, but have no time left for family and fun?

And very importantly, is anxiety from any of these types of situations ruining your health?

Perhaps you have answered ‘yes’ to one or more of these questions. In that case, what are you doing to make the necessary changes, in order to live a lifestyle without any of them? That’s the right of every one of us. In such a case you need to take a good, long look yourself, make a total commitment to change the way things are for you here and now. You can learn how to make money and create true financial freedom for yourself and those you really care about.

There are many ways available for you to make this happen. One particular way in which you can do it, is learn how to solve your cost of living problems here and now. Find a Top-Tier company and work to develop your own home-based business so that you can enjoy true financial freedom. You’ll find that when you’re with the right company, there is virtually no capital required, no staff to employ, stock to handle or risk involved. Just a few committed hours daily, practice self-education, and have a burning desire! The internet has it all available for you.

Time leverage is one of the internet marketing secrets that are enabling serious online entrepreneurs to earn massive incomes and solve their cost of living problems forever. It’s up to you to solve your problem with the right solution and take advanage of these incredible times in which we live. And you won’t be doing this by yourself, because sincere help from people who care is only moments away. It’s now up to you.

John and Heather Wass have many years exerience in the home based business arena, and would love to help you create true financial freedomso that no longer you will have to worry about the cost of living again. They are available to assist you developtrue financial freedomand have the time and money for anything you choose to do.

I’ve spent most of my life in sales, and until a couple of years ago, was self-employed in the Life Insurance industry. But I was working 60 hours a week, had no time with my family, and our expenses were over 50% of our income.

I found a buyer for my Life Insurance business, and started to work from home and see if I could develop an online business.

Three months later, after I’d been screwed by a few people with no scruples, and lost thousands of dollars. I knew there must be a better way to make money from home.

I found an MLM company that appeared to be a good way to work from home. I considered their nutritional products to be the best available and I thought I could create a residual income. But despite working hard to make money with this company, after months the best I was able to earn was a few hundred dollars a month.

Financial needs forced me to make another change, and still believing that online marketing may be a means of achieving the income we needed, I did more research.

Funnily enough, I soon found found a company that was exactly what we needed, one with very high ethics, and a complete support and training system which was enabling people with no internet experience at all to succeed in online marketing.

You know how you sometimes get the feeling that tells you what you’re looking at is just right for you? This happened to us now. We joined the company and it was because of their failure-proof system, we learned how to make money straight away.

We’re now well on the way to earning a CEO income in our new business. Our lives will never be the same again, so as well as having great success ourselves, we’re changing the lives of our team-mates, and having lots of fun at the same time! We’re totally committed to having a very successful home based business by working hard and using the system to develop our leadership qualities that are now attracting people into our team.

John Wass is a very experienced and trustworthy internet business trainer in the work at home business area, and internet business. come and take a look now.

I’ve been in sales for most of my life, and until a couple of years ago, was self-employed in the Life Insurance industry. I found that I was working 60 hours a week, spent no time with my family, and our expenses were more than 50% of our turnover.

I found a buyer for my Life Insurance business, and started to work from home and see if I could develop an online business.

Three months later, after I’d been screwed by a few people with no scruples, and lost thousands of dollars. I knew there must be a better way to make money from home.

I found an MLM company that appeared to be a good way to work from home. I considered their nutritional products to be the best available and I thought I could create a residual income. But despite working hard to make money with this company, after months the best I was able to earn was a few hundred dollars a month.

Financial needs forced me to make another change, and still believing that online marketing may be a means of achieving the income we needed, I did more research.

Funnily enough, I soon found found a company that was exactly what we needed, one with very high ethics, and a complete support and training system which was enabling people with no internet experience at all to succeed in online marketing.

You know how you sometimes get the feeling that tells you what you’re looking at is just right for you? This happened to us now. We joined the company and it was because of their failure-proof system, we learned how to make money straight away.

We’re now well on the way to earning a CEO income in our new business. Our lives have quickly changed, and as well as experiencing success ourselves, we’re empowering our team-mates, and having heaps of fun at the same time! We’re totally committed to having a very successful home based business by working hard and using the system to develop our leadership qualities that are now attracting people into our team.

John Wass is a very reliable and dependabe internet marketing trainer in the work at home business area, and internet marketing. come and take a look now.

We usually see people who are successfully self employed as natural-born go-getters with a gift for imaginative thinking. Often we also see that they get great satisfaction from their work and seem truly pleased with their day and all around happy. The question here is, can you and I feel that same satisfaction and pride at the end of the day? The harsh reality is that not everyone can.

The majority of people do not want the stresses and responsibility that are unavoidable in being their own boss, or even someone else’s boss. They are comfortable following orders and rely on someone else to provide direction and motivation.

When you are your own boss, you must be very capable of finding information on your own. The self employed must also know how to gain leverage on themselves and know when and how to use that leverage to get things done.

Being able to motivate yourself effectively puts you a gigantic leap closer to the success you desire than you could imagine. If that is not you, don’t fret because there is hope for those who have trouble motivating themselves when times get rough, because that is most of us.

Now I will give you an example to help you better understand what I mean by leverage: What did you work for at your previous or current job? What motivated you to work hard? Was it the pride in the work you did? Maybe it was the paycheck? What kept you going when you did not feel like working?

You gained leverage on yourself. You knew that if you did not show up, the paychecks would stop coming. You knew if you stopped teaching, your students would not be successful. You knew that if you took a break because your boss wasnt around that you probably wouldnt get that promotion you have been hoping for. The list goes on.

Use leverage over yourself to keep going. We all already have this skill, most just dont know how to apply it yet.

Written by Andrew E Randall of BeforeSelfEmployment.com You can find my most recent ebook, A Lifetime To Learn, at this link here. For a special discount enter this promotional code into the discount box during your checkout: BETTERTODAY