Motif Investing Review

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A little about Motif Investment

There are people who want to start on investing and are looking for a basket of stocks. They are the ones who do not have enough knowledge about investing but is eager to learn about how to start on investing. Motif Investing platform is a basket-based investment solution. Not unlike other platform where you tend to choose a stock one by one, Motif Investing offers a basket full of stocks and is theme-based to help you choose easily.

You should not worry because there are several different “motifs” to choose from and there are various themes that you can choose from. Motif Investing offers baskets of “motifs” of up to 30 EFTs in a system.

Features

As someone who is just starting out, you will ask about the investment fee or the payment. One of the questions that will pop in your mind is “What are the fees?” In Motif Investment, you are not forced to give out a large amount of money, rather you just need $250.00 as your initial investment to start an account. Of course, Motif Investment would like to give everyone a privilege to test it first before investing a greater amount of money. This is to ensure each investor that Motif Investment is willing to help them grow their money. In terms of buying or selling any motif, the fee is $9.95. This price is per motif and not a usual per trade basis. However, should you wish to buy or sell individual stock within your motif, it is $4.95 per trade. Competitive for someone who is just starting out, right?

Another important feature that Motif Investing is offering is that it gives you the power and ability to customize your motifs. This is very vital for every investor like when you are not feeling comfortable with the risk that you have to take to keep 30 different stocks intact. Another big aspect of investing is the allocation. You must be able to control the allocation of your funds, to success in the long run. On this platform, you have the opportunity to remove a stock completely from a motif, and not only that, you also have the ability to customize the allocation of funds that a motif receives, thus, giving you absolute power over your stocks and your funds.

Conclusion

Finally, what makes Motif Investing unique and incredible is the user-friendly feature of its platform. Ease of use is very important for any investor. Maybe not for those who are already in the business for a long time, but for someone who is just starting out, ease of use is very important to give each investor an assurance that they can easily handle and operate their funds.

Everyone is welcome in this business, and even those people who are not fond of using computers before can easily use the platform. All you need is to know the basic about the use of mouse, keyboards, and internet connection, and there you have it! You can now start investing and earning in Motif Investing.

Prosper Review - Peer To Peer Lending

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Prosper Pros- Being a borrower if you are looking for unsecured loans at the best affordable rates, Prosper is the best you can get. Prosper also allows investors to earn some wise money with loans. Basically, Prosper brings together people who have money and people who want money together from different demographic regions.

Prosper Cons-. Not everybody can get benefits from Prosper. Prior to 2008, Prosper had a lot of cons associated with it. But, in 2008, the SEC declared peer lending as a form of securities and made it mandatory for companies to get themselves licensed.

Overall- I cannot advise you whether Prosper is a relatively stronger investment to be made, it completely depends upon you and your security advisor. I can say one thing if you are a borrower, peer-to-peer lending is definitely a great option for you as through it you can easily eliminate the middleman fees charged by the banks.

For both investors and borrowers, there are risks and benefits involved. Here is a glimpse of some of the risks and benefits-

Risks for Investors-

Each and every investment has some risks attached to it and being an investor you are always concerned with those high end risks, here is a list of risks which an investor might face while investing with Prosper-

1. Defaulted Borrowers- One of the major risks associated with peer to peer lending is default borrowers. This basically means that if your borrower defaults in paying the loan, you will be helpless. As all Prosper deals are unsecured, there is no collateral security attached to the loan which you can claim if in case the borrower doesn’t pay your money back.
2. Default Prosper- Another risk, which an investor might face, is Prosper default. It may so happen that Prosper suddenly goes out of business. Big dignitaries including Larry Page from Google and Steve Jobs from Apple are behind prosper, so I don’t think anything wrong can take place in Prosper.

Risks for Borrowers-

Risks always come with any kind of borrowing. Working with an unknown lender might result in poor lending practices, but thanks to the changes made by the SEC in 2008 which has made a strict disclosure of all lending laws. It is completely up to the borrower now who can choose the lending terms as per his convenience.

Like any other loans, the more your credit score is, the lower will be your interest rate and vice versa. For borrowers who always make timely payments, the risks are very low and for those who are not in time are charged a late payment fee of $15.

Prosper Benefits for Investors-

Here is a list of benefits an investor can avail by in investing in Prosper-

1. Ability to Choose Risk and Reward Levels- For every investor, the higher is the risk, the higher will be the reward attached to any investment. Prosper gives every investor an opportunity to choose the risk and reward levels associated with the loan.
2. Portfolio Diversification- For every investor, it is best to diversify their investment portfolio by opting different investment channels. Prosper gives you the opportunity to understand the risk and reward levels and then invest as per your choice.

Prosper Benefits for Borrowers-

Prosper offers a lot benefits for borrowers, here are some of the benefits-

1. Low Interest Rates- As there are no middle men associated with peer to peer lending programs, all profit excluding 1% fee goes directly into the lender's pocket. This makes the availability of low interest loans possible with Prosper.
2. Low Fees- Borrowing from Prosper doesn’t result in any type of maintenance or annual fees. You just need to pay the interest rate and that’s all.

My Last Piece of advice for Investors-

I would suggest there is no harm in trying something with only a few bucks and then check out whether you can go for bigger investments. In my opinion, Prosper offers great features of low risk investment with an ability to choose the risk and reward levels and diversify the investment portfolio.

My Last Piece of Advice for Borrowers-

If I were a borrower, I would definitely opt for Prosper peer loans which comes with minimal interest rates and fees. After having a conversation with my security advisor, I would personally recommend you to choose a good and the genuine lending company- Prosper.

Credit Sesame Review

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What Is Credit Sesame?

Credit Sesame is a known credit score provider. This service free of charge. When we say free, it is not for a few weeks or months, it is actually free for life. Credit Sesame got launched in 2010, and besides a free credit score, the service helps users to track EMI payments, bill payments and much more. As they earn their revenue from advertisements, so the service is totally free.

How Credit Sesame can be Free?

Though, for the user, Credit Sesame is a free service, but they earn lots of money. Must be wondering ho? They do this through the revenues that they are from the advertisements. You must have heard of the online advertisement services like Google Adwords. Actually by subscribing to these, one can post their ads on their blogs or web pages. As the visitors click on these ads or purchase a product or sign up to an offer, the website owner will get a part of the revenue.

Credit Sesame earns on the same principal. They have targeted a business niche where there are lots of traffic. So, many people want to check their credit score, and if it is available for free then nothing like it. This makes them visit the Credit Sesame site. A person normally looks for his credit score when he needs to take a loan, or wants to refinance his earlier mortgage etc.

Also if one finds out that his credit score is not that good, he may also think of possibilities for improving them. Knowing the needs of their customers Credit Sesame shows ads of just those offers that can solve the visitors’ problem. And one clicks on these ads, leads into another site and Credit Sesame gets a part of the revenue. This is the main source of their revenue. They actually get paid for helping the companies help their customers to solve their financial issues. It is a really nice business model.

The Financial Tools that Credit Sesame Provide?

• The Free Credit Score – the credit score that the site gives is not exactly your F.I.C.O score that one gets from the paid credit rating agencies. It is a reflection of your overall credit health and shows the elements that may be damaging it. So, by opting for suitable actions and then one should track the effect on this site, this way you can succeed in improving your credit rating. This site enables you to do the regular tracking of credit worthiness without going to repeated paid services.
• The Debt & Loan Analysis – If you have taken some loan, it is necessary that you keep a track on it. The Credit Sesame site does it for you. It keeps reminding you of the status of all the debts and guides you pay them first wherever you received payment. They guide you to handle all the debts such that the interest outgo is reduced to a minimum.
• The Savings Advice– Credit Sesame does an in-depth analysis of all your expenses, loans and income and gives you right income advice to minimize the outage and maximize the return from investment.

How to sign up?

As the site tracks all your loans and incomes, so you shall need to share some important information with them. That is your social security number and some other security related questions and account details. Once you are through with basic input, the site shall take your next window from where you can start filling the financial data.

Conclusion

Credit Sesame is a great financial tracking product. They also do not charge their customers and earn by arranging help for them. The site has helped so many persons in solving their tricky financial problems by guiding them to the right agencies.

Discover IT® Credit Card Review – Top Cash Back Card

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Discover IT® Credit Card – The brief

The Discover IT® credit card is a revolutionary product for individuals with excellent credit scores. So, if you are one then you must read what is given below. It may be nice to go for this product even when you have “good” credit score and you are able to pay back the money on time. But, if you are none, then better skip the pain.

Discover IT® Credit Card – The review

If you are a regular reader of newspapers, you must have heard about the Discover IT® card. But, the small advertisement in the newspaper, may not tell details about this product. Let's discuss the pros and cons of this product in detail.

Benefits

There are many benefits of this product like no annual charge, no over limit penalty, no pay-by phone fees, no penal interest rate for late payment etc. Such features are revolutionary for the credit card parties. No wonder if this card can be termed as “fee-free card”.

Discover IT®Credit Card comes with excellent promotional rates. On the first It card, one can get a NIL interest rate for almost 14 months if you do a balance transfer to this card from another card. For the second Discover It credit card, this can be as high as 18 months.

This card also has great cash back scheme. For some categories, it can be as high as 5%, but 1% cash back is normally available for all purchases.

There is also one college Discover IT® Credit Card variant, with benefits and features much better than the other similar cards for college students. The final and the best benefit of the Discover IT® 

Credit Card are the great customer service. When you call them, there is always a live representative to talk to you. It is not like other companies, which make you pass through the pick and choose automated options and long commercials. This can sometimes be very irritating if someone has lost his card and he is made to listen to commercials for 5 minutes.

There are many other such benefits, but let us cut the discussion on benefits short and discuss some of the negatives.

Negatives

Normally a person with good credit scores only will be able to get this card. But, if you have a good credit score then the interest that you will pay will be more than what you can get from other products. For persons with excellent credit scores, the interest rates will be quite competitive to be about 11%. But you may pay interest as high as 22%, even when you have the “good” score. This seems to be a bit high.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that Discover IT® card is definitely a unique product among the credit card basket. The benefits are far greater than the negatives, especially for individuals with excellent credit history. This product is a much better choice for persons with excellent credit history.

E-Trade Review

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Since fees are the most important factor an investor will be considering, E-Trade has come up with a fee structure that will definitely catch the attention of larger investors. Based on how much an investor is willing to put in, E-Trade has designed 2 fee structures which will enable investors to save money by having discounts. Stock trades cost $7.99 if you make at least 150 trades per quarter. However, if you do not feel like trading that often, you can opt for a rate of $9.99 per stock trade. The same goes for option contracts: $7.99 if you have at least 150 trades per quarter or $9.99 per stock trade if you trade less than 150 times per quarter. In addition, you need to pay $0.75 per contract regardless of the volume on your account.

If you are into broker-assisted trades, another factor you have to consider is the brokerage fee. E-Trade offers broker assisted orders for only $45.00 per trade, on top of other fees that may be incorporated related to the transaction. Always remember, for broker-assisted options, exercises or assignments, there is an added charge of $19.00. Don’t worry, though. This is the best offer in the trading business, considering the expert assistance provided by brokers.

As for margin rates, E-Trade offers general rates and are comparable to an investor’s other option. Margin rates normally range from 0.25% below base to 4.30% above base. For the majority of brokers, margins are based on the balance that you have for your debt. Your margin rates will go down below average, and you will only pay 3.89% if you have a high balance, that is $25,000.00 or more. Evidently, the pricing structure designed by E-Trade targets larger investors.

You can watch the review here:- 

Aside from these factors, you must also consider several other fees such as a $60 full transfer fee, $10 check request fees, $75 stock certificate fees, $25 outgoing wire transfer fees and $2 paper statement fees. All these fees conform to the industry.

Ever wonder why E-Trade offers competitive fees for smaller investors? Computers play an important role in why E-Trade can offer such competitive prices for smaller investors. E-Trade was able to master and develop tools that will simplify complex processes required by making different orders such as condor, spread, buy-wire, butterfly, iron-condor or iron-butterfly. With E-trade investing in technology, your regular investment activities will not be a hassle.

With E-Trade’s portfolio and risk analyzers, it is easier for investors to be more confident in their trades. Analyzers study an investor’s portfolio and searches for a variety by stock type, sector and world region. Then the analyzer will provide a graphic representation of your performance against market indices. Investors can also check out simple stress tests to see a simulation of what may happen when an investor’s worst case scenario turns to reality.

On top of all these, E-Trade provides the best tools for researching your investment options. This helps investors to develop their own strategy in investing considering the amount, time frame, volatility of market, target price, as well as market outlook. E-trade also offers a probability calculator and options analyzer. E-Trade also has apps specially designed for Android phones, iPhone, iPad and Blackberry.

As for customer service, Etrade has representatives in 25 branches across the United States more than willing to assist you for your concerns. You can also reach them via phone, email and snail mail. Pretty convenient!

Overall, E-Trade covers both larger investors and smaller investors. Smaller investors may have second thoughts, but considering the amazing tools provided by E-Trade, every penny spent by an investor is definitely worth it.

Mint Review - The Best Personal Finance Software

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Today, let us discuss a new personal finance software that is not only become a personal finance buzzword, but it has caught the fancy of people worldwide. So what exactly is so great about Mint? Is it just the media hype created by advertising or it is actually something that people have been looking for.

Mint.com is a versatile, multi functional online personal finance software that enables the user to track financial details, be it debt, equity, budgeting, net worth, or any other investment. If it is related to money, then Mint can track it for you.

The tools that Mint offer…

1. Investment Tracking – To spread investment across different options is a good strategy. But, it also needs one to remember the details along with the id and password of various financial platforms. This is not easy, and writing it down and then carrying with you can be potentially very risky, in case you lose your small diary. Mint.com offers a unique and safe answer to this problem. One can upload all this information onto Mint.Com and set the reminders. The software will remind you when any action needs to be taken as per preset reminders.
2. Budgeting – At the end of the month, we normally wonder where all the money has gone. Though budgeting is an answer, but doing it manually by updating the data every day, is a tedious exercise. But, with Mint the budgeting becomes very easy. It tracks all the spending under various accounts, debit cards, credit cards etc. under various categories and plot the expenditure data in a spreadsheet for you. If you have set some reminders under some expenditure heads, it will remind you as soon as you become close to breaking the limit.
3. Monitor Income– For self-employed personnel, the income is not stable, and it keeps on varying. Moreover, income may come from various sources like salary, dividend, rent, bank interest, capital gains, gifts etc. Mint keeps tracks of all your income from various sources. It tells you in the end of the month if your expenditures are within your total income or not.
4. Notifications – Mint has provision to send you reminders if something important happens with your accounts and investments. To get the information fast is the key to financial success. When major things happen in your financial portfolio, Mint sends you email notifications to let you know what’s going on. Getting the information fast is the key to make or save money.
5. Security – To track the income, budget and spending of any person, required access to the credit card, debit card, bank accounts as well as the investment accounts. This is all very sensitive information, and needs to be kept safe and secure. The good news is that all data stored on Mint is secured by the encrypted http servers on site.

Who will find Mint useful?

Actually Mint is useful to all. It is a fantastic personal finance tracking tool that is operated on secure servers. As the company gets its revenue through advertising, so the service is free. With Mint, it will never be difficult to track income and spending. This shall enable you to make the required changes well in time before things go out of hand.

Easy Investing With Betterment.

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Betterment is an investment platform that all newcomers to the field of investing in stock markets can feel safe about. You may be worried about the type of trading that is being done, whether your investment is being made through a broker or not and many other things that may not be totally clear to you.

There are many pros and cons about making investments with the help of Betterment which you should keep in mind before committing yourself.

Pros

• The platform helps you to invest in both bonds and stocks and the software developed by the company calculates the percentage of rewards and risk so that you get the maximum amount of returns from your investments. The calculation is done automatically by the software and decisions to minimize the risk are taken in a split second.
• The money in your account is divided into smaller portions, which are connected, to different goals like retirement benefits, money for buying property, education for your children and many more. You are also able to set up an IRA account or a traditional account for making investments. All these various goals to maximize your returns on your investments.
• The platform allocates the assets which can help you to achieve your goal. It recommends how money is to be paid like contributions done monthly or lump sum deposits. All this helps you if you are too busy to spare any time for taking these decisions.
• The money you invest is spread out on hundreds of companies so that the risk involved by choosing one company is minimal.
• The platform does not charge any fees depending on per trade basis, which sometimes becomes very difficult to calculate. The fees vary from 0.15% to 0.35% depending on your account type and the amount of money you have in the account.

Cons

• The cost of automation has to be considered when you invest with Betterment. The returns from the investments may be high but so are the costs related to automation which is used to get higher returns with as low a risk as possible.
• Seasoned investors already know what they are doing. For seasoned investors and brokers Betterment is not a platform to use because they can easily save on the automation costs.

Operation

The process used by the Betterment platform is simple and easy. The first thing that needs to be done is to set up an account with Betterment. The account is free which has to be linked to your checking account. You can set up a monthly withdrawal scheme so that money gets automatically transferred to your Betterment account thus saving you from remembering the dates when your monthly contributions are to be made. Betterment allows you to invest in either the stocks, in bonds, depending upon which basket you want to invest in. By diversifying the baskets containing either the bonds or the stocks Betterment helps you to minimize the chances of incurring a loss.

Investment Options

Investments are diversified into stock EFTs, which are 6 in number. The first 25% of your investment will be made on “Vanguard Total Stock Market”, the second 25% on “iShares S-P 500 Value Index”, the third 25% on “Vanguard Europe Pacific”, the next 10% on “Vanguard Emerging Markets”, the next 8% on “iShares Russell Midcap Value Index” and the last 7% on “iShares Russell 2000 Value Index”. In the case of bonds, it is split 50/50 between “iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund” and “iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund”.