Bank finance articles and tips

I'm a big fan of spread betting.

The spread betting phenomenon has opened up financial trading to many more people - it makes accessing the markets so fast, simple and - best of all - cheap!

But it does have its detractors - those who dismiss it as "gambling", or as too risky.

In my view, financial spread betting can be explained as no more gambling than other investment. Fortunately, the Chancellor takes a different view, which is why it enjoys its tax-free status!

Of course, there's an argument that if you can make something too cheap and too easy to access - but I'll leave that debate to anyone stocking up on "buy one, get one free" beers at Tesco - That's not to say that we can't all still learn a thing or two about spread betting, so I thought I'd pass on a few points that you really should know if you're a spread better...

hese days, with the unstable economy, corporate layoffs and the government's gross mismanagement of our tax dollars, it's more important than ever for people to take control and start their own businesses. Self-employment offers freedom and flexibility that no corporate job can offer. Of course, starting a small business takes dedication, time, perseverance and patience, so choose wisely. If you are looking for a business in which you can help people in your local community, while making a lucrative income, then consider a medical transport business.

Don't worry, you don't have to go out and buy an ambulance and you don't need special training or equipment. A medical transport business simply means that you are providing a non-emergency type service. At any given time, there are dozens of elderly or disabled patients that need transportation to and from hospitals, doctor's appointments, and therapy clinics. You would be providing an extremely valuable service, and getting paid handsomely for it.

Many people view financial security as a lofty goal, a castle in the sky - something they have heard of, haven't achieved, and perhaps aspire to. Most people also assume that to be financially secure, that you need to have millions of dollars stashed away. That most certainly helps, but that isn't the point entirely.

It's within your reach....

Financial security is not the same as being wealthy, although the two sometimes go hand in hand. It's simply having a good balance between a comfortable savings and a low debt ratio that allows you to be secure - allows you to live a life where you control your spending rather than your spending controlling you. Anyone can achieve this no matter how much income they generate, it just takes some simple easy steps.

Work is hard. Life is tough. Bosses are demanding more and more of its employees and if you do not have what it takes you just might feel as though you are a failure. Now, you have to compete with yourself, your co-workers and anyone else who wants to outshine you.

If your company is losing money or behind in its annual revenue goals, you may feel the pressure. You may think that time is not on your side and maybe you should just give up and wait out your retirement years, or maybe you should just do enough to get by and try to last through the remaining years.

If you are feeling down and highly depressed, you need a new direction. Try these tips to make failure feelings all go away today. Let's not wait for another day to become all that you can be.

We are blessed with rich organic soils and our garden is abundant most years. Of course, we cannot eat it all fresh - so receiving all of this bounty requires creative transformation in the form of "stocking up". This takes a lot of time - and this means hours away from my business. Conventional business wisdom says this is probably not a good idea, and early on in the adventure, I used to worry about it. No more. I have learned this actually makes me better at my business and I have discovered that there are a lot of parallels between gardening, stocking up, coaching and business...