রবিবার, ৪ নভেম্বর, ২০১২

Consumer Debt is Up ? But is it All Bad? The Theory of ?Good? Debt

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?Debt? is a dirty word. It makes people cringe, but it doesn?t have to?there is such a thing as good debt. Typically, when people talk about this brand of debt, they list three in particular: student loans, auto loans, and mortgages. More generally, you can understand so-called ?good? debt as a loan that is either a necessity?your car?or one that promises a bigger and brighter future?with higher education. That?s one reason why some people are still optimistic about the American consumer debt profile: student loans may be up, but at least credit card debt is down.

The thing is, people define that ?better future? differently. For some, it?s simply financial solvency, and for others it?s the guarantee of a Beamer with a subwoofer in the back. For others still, some traditionally ?good? are no longer so, thanks to the recession. As you?ll see below, however, the decline of ?good? debt is a bit overhyped. Simply put, good debt remains good debt until you?re unable to pay it off.

Your education

An education is an investment, and one you expect will yield dividends in the future. Even entry-level jobs typically require a 4-year degree, and, as you move up the ladder, that list of requirements can grow. And there?s reason: a higher salary demands higher education.

To get there, many students have to take out a student loan. And for many of them, that student loan is ?good? debt, if begrudgingly so, because their degree is an investment.

There is, of course, a caveat to my endorsement of student loans. Especially since 2007, some critics have bashed appraisals like mine as, well, smacking of privilege. And to some extent, they?re absolutely correct. For some, student loans are a boon, and, for others, a burden, one they?ll be shrugging off for years. Some simply can?t escape loans, at which point this good debt becomes absolutely terrible debt: if you default on your student loans, they don?t go away, even if you declare bankruptcy. You may also end up ineligible for future loans.

You do not want that future. But if you?re financially less fortunate, it?s a future you?ll have to consider prudently.? If you know you?ll have to finance quite a bit of your higher education with student loans, then you should also have a very clear budget and even a career path.

Jane E. Babel, who counsels high school students about post-secondary education, lays out clear steps for her clients. ?If they aren?t sure about their future career plans, I tell them to start with this figure: $45,000. That is the median salary of a college graduate in this country, according to the U.S. Department of Education,? she said. Once a student arrives at a projected salary, he or she should take out in loans no more than their anticipated annual income.

There are quite a few ways to cut corners, too. Attend community college for a couple years and then transfer to a four-year university, apply to public, in-state schools, and, if possible, live at home.

Whatever the plan, the college-bound need to ensure that their student loans don?t slide from good debt?a reasonable income and good credit?to bad debt?a low-paying career and years of loans.

Your Car

In her song ?Handshakes,? Emily Haines, of the band Metric, sings over wailing guitars: ?Buy this car to drive to work / Drive to work to pay for this car / Buy this car to drive to work / Drive to work to pay for this car.? It goes on like that.

Haines expresses with style what we all know about your auto loan: it?s a loan you just can?t do without?unless you have the cash to pay for your car up front, or, for the select few, you live just down the block from the office. Your auto loan is ?good? debt simply because you need wheels.

The degree of its ?goodness? depends on the borrower?s tastes. If you?re a car enthusiast, your car?s sheen, make, model, and year are of utmost importance. Because it finances the hobby you love, your loan may even be a great debt.

But for others, this debt?s ?goodness? is a much more precarious attribute. Unlike your home, your car almost surely will not appreciate in value. While your home, with fix-ups, renovations, and additions, may indeed increase in value, it?s extremely rare that your car will do the same. Its value begins depreciating as soon as you get behind the wheel.

If your auto is simply a means to get to and from work and nothing more, then you should take a look at used cars. Otherwise that ?good? debt could become awfully burdensome.

Your home

Your mortgage is a unique investment, unlike stocks and bonds.

?Real estate is one of the actual investments that you can take on that is tangible,? said Michael Shenfeld, a real estate consultant in Chicago. ?It?s a place where you can live.?

Your mortgage is versatile, too: y. You can also use it as capital?if you borrow against it with a home equity loan?or as income?if you sell once you?re ready to leave.

For the aforementioned reasons, economists have traditionally called mortgages ?good? debt. That term, however, has been especially contentious since 2007, when the lending bubble burst and, in many areas, home prices plummeted.

The big picture, however, is much more nuanced. ?Negative publicity sells and people have been down about the market ever since it started to slip right around 2007 or 2008,? Shenfeld said. Home prices are on the rise, though, and Shenfeld expects they will continue to do so.

Moreover, the bubble that burst wasn?t necessarily a national one: it was a collection of smaller bubbles, specific to each given community. For example, on the north side of Chicago, where Shenfeld works, the real estate market wasn?t hit quite as hard as some its Midwestern neighbors, including Detroit.

?We never really had the bubble that other areas had,? he said. Lending practices were tighter than, say, those in California real estate, a market that Shenfeld?s studied in depth. Out West, some sellers expected their homes to appreciate as much as 100% or even 300% percent, Shenfeld said. In inflated markets like that one, sellers and lenders have suffered a much more extreme correction: the bubble grew quite large, and, once it burst, it got quite a few wet.

Chicago was much luckier. ?Our standard appreciation was 5.9%, so it didn?t need much correcting,? Shenfeld said. The reason: ?Conservative people, conservative investors, conservative buyers.?

Your mortgage?s ?goodness,? then, really is a matter of where you live and, of course, your own personal finances. In fact, if you can afford to move, and you?d like a larger home, you can often find one at much lower price and with much lower interest rates.? Even if you do sell low, you can buy even lower if you play your cards right.

Source: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2012/consumer-debt-bad-theory-good-debt/

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শনিবার, ৩ নভেম্বর, ২০১২

The 10 Commandments of Retirement Investing: Part II | InvestorPlace

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After spending some time yesterday to discuss the first part of an abbreviated form of Richard C. Young?s ?10 Commandments of Investing,? let?s take a look at the final five commandments and how they can help prepare investors for retirement.

#6: Automatic Withdrawal Programs

Young is very specific in this commandment, suggesting that retirees take out 1% of net portfolio assets every quarter. The vast majority of retirement ?letters? and advisory services I?ve read suggest a 4% figure, so clearly we are looking at a more conservative number in this commandment.

It?s tough to make a cut-and-dried number for withdrawals, considering there are as many variables as there are options. Diversified retirement portfolios may contain assets such as real estate and equity partnerships that are difficult to liquidate, especially on a quarterly basis.

Traditional and Roth IRAs have their own sets of withdrawal rules ? regular IRAs even have required minimum distributions ? so understanding those in the scheme of your other investments is important.

While 1% quarterly is a good guide, as with any aspect of retirement planning, withdrawals should be made based on your monetary needs and your investment time horizon.

#7: Avoid Investment Predictions

Don?t assume that the broader markets will go up in a straight line forever, and certainly don?t plan your retirement on that assumption. Or, more shortly, don?t ?set it and forget it.?

Instead, make (and keep up with) a plan using some analytical tools ? which can be as simple as an Excel spreadsheet ? that provides you with the actual inflows from dividends, interest and any other investments, and keep that spreadsheet up to date on your portfolio mix.

That same spreadsheet can be a valuable tool to help you decide when to sell down asset classes (for balance sake, not necessarily for cash flow) that may be out of balance.

#8: Full Faith and Credit Investing

I?m taking my own swing at this one, as the guidebook is unavailable, but investing at least a portion of your hard-earned monies in Treasury notes ? even at rates below inflation ? is sensible. After all, despite what sometimes appears to be fiscal gridlock, the U.S. still is the most stable economy in the world, and ? for now, at least ? it has the safest debt, too.

Companies like Vanguard offer the full range of U.S. government bond funds, ranging from? Short Term Treasury (MUTF:VFISX) to Long Term Treasury (MUTF:VUSTX) average maturities, both invested at least 80% in government-backed securities. Or you could invest in exchange-traded funds like the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond (NYSE:TLT), which holds Treasury notes with remaining maturities of 20 or more years. Or you can eschew funds altogether and buy government debt directly through the U.S. Treasury.

Full faith and credit can include a fund or investment vehicle packed with solid-rated corporate credits, too. For instance, there?s the iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund (NYSE:LQD) ETF, which carries debt from companies like AT&T (NYSE:T) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT).

#9: Avoid In-and-Out Trading

?Day-trading? was all the rage back in the 1990?s when, as my brother used to say, ?You could stuff stocks into a mule and it would appreciate.?

My friends, those days are over.

The market?s sophistication isn?t just based on intellectual capacity; it is now computers, and programs and algorithms. You probably have the smarts, but the game is rigged against you. Building a retirement from your den or beach house is tricky, risky business.

Be active, of course. Your portfolio should be a living, breathing thing, so it?s OK to occasionally take a quick flier on a stock to get a nice bump in your portfolio. But don?t do it often, and only allocate a small amount of your portfolio to such moves so you don?t jeopardize your nest egg. Leave the daily hunt for quick winners to the professionals.

#10: Have a Plan and Patience

So many factors emerge on a day-to-day basis that it?s sometimes difficult to see the forest for the trees. But if you make your own road map ahead of time, you can use it when life throws off your GPS.

Of course, a plan isn?t worth anything if you don?t have the patience to see it through.

And patience is important no matter what stage of life you?re in. Obviously, you have plenty of time if you?re starting out small right out of college, but it?s also difficult to condition yourself to think 40, 50 years down the road. Of course, if you?re starting out later in life, big or small, you don?t have as much time to work with ? but if you treat 10 or 15 years like 10 or 15 minutes, you?ll find yourself making some rash mistakes.

Start from the beginning: Write it down, hash it out, keep it handy, follow your instincts, and listen to the advice of those you trust. And don?t stop until you?ve reached your goals.

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. What do you think? Let us know by leaving questions or other comments below.

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Source: http://investorplace.com/2012/11/the-10-commandments-of-retirement-investing-part-ii/

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Verizon says Sandy effects could be 'significant'

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ১ নভেম্বর, ২০১২

'Star Wars: Episode 7' to hit theaters in 2015

'Star Wars: Episode 7' will come to theaters after Disney finalized a deal to buy Lucasfilm, and at least two more movies after 'Star Wars: Episode 7' are planned.

By Molly Driscoll,?Staff writer / October 31, 2012

'Star Wars: Episode IV ? A New Hope,' the first film released in the series, came out in 1977.

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A new "Star Wars" film, so far titled only "Star Wars: Episode 7," is coming to theaters in 2015 now that Disney has bought Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company of "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, for $4.05 billion, according to reports.

Skip to next paragraph Molly Driscoll

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Molly Driscoll is a Books and the Culture staff writer.

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And that's not all ? at least two films will follow episode 7, according to chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Robert E. Iger.

"Our long term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years," Iger said in a statement.

"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," George Lucas said in a statement. "It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime.

"I'm confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come," Lucas continued. "Disney's reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment and consumer products."

There's no word yet on the plot of the films.

The last new "Star Wars" film was "Star Wars: Episode III ? Revenge of the Sith" in 2005, which concluded the prequel trilogy that began in 1999 with "Star Wars: Episode I ? The Phantom Menace." It was a 16-year wait for "Star Wars" fans in between the original trilogy's conclusion, 1983's "Star Wars: Episode VI ? Return of the Jedi."

"Star Wars" will be seen outside theaters in the future as well, according to CFO and senior executive vice president of The Walt Disney Company Jay Rasulo.

"We also expect to utilize Star Wars in other businesses including Parks & Resorts, in games and in our television business," Rasulo said.

The Walt Disney theme parks already boast one Star Wars ride, "Star Tours," which was recently revamped to include more of the franchise's beloved characters like Darth Vader and more elements from the prequel films.

There had also been rumors of a "Star Wars" TV show, which, if it existed, would presumably now air on Disney-owned network ABC. In the past, Lucasfilm had stated that writers had begun work on scripts, and Lucas said that the show would be "soap opera" with a "film noir" atmosphere.

Reaction to the news by fans has been mixed.

"I'm quietly confident that the Disney buy out will be the best thing to happen to Star Wars in decades," Telegraph film critic Robbie Collins tweeted.

"Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, who parodied the first three "Star Wars" films in three separate specials on "Family," brought up the animated film and box office disappointment released by Disney last year.

"Looking forward to seeing what exciting new Star Wars adventures will be cooked up by the dream factory that brought us Mars Needs Moms!" he said on Twitter.

A user named Olan Rogers focused on the monetary aspect.

"I'm sad to see George Lucas, who had such great ideals about filmmaking when he started Star Wars, abandon them for money many years later," he tweeted.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/WTxEq5qD1sQ/Star-Wars-Episode-7-to-hit-theaters-in-2015

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Stock markets consider opening on Wednesday

(Reuters) - Stock exchanges are looking at opening on Wednesday after monster storm Sandy receded from New York, sources said, and the New York Stock Exchange is testing a new plan to help resume trading.

U.S. stock markets were closed on Monday and Tuesday. At least some market participants believe that opening on Wednesday is critical, because many traders need prices to value their portfolios at the end of the month.

The bond markets are also closed on Tuesday, with traders aiming to reopen on Wednesday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co , the largest U.S. bank, expects many employees will be able to return to buildings starting on Wednesday, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters.

Plans to resume trading will be complicated by the lingering effect of the storm on New York. Sandy is the worst storm to hit the city since at least 1938, and brought a record storm surge that could hobble New York's subway system for days.

If markets do open on Wednesday, there could be heavy selling, as investors whose fiscal years end in October look to get tax benefits from shedding losing stocks, said Eric Marshall, a mutual fund manager at Hodges Capital in Dallas.

If NYSE Euronext's New York Stock Exchange headquarters and trading floor are unavailable on Wednesday, trading in NYSE-listed securities will be executed on the Arca exchange, the exchange operator said in a notice issued to traders late Monday. (http://r.reuters.com/der63t)

NYSE Arca was to offer firms the ability to test the opening and closing auctions on NYSE Arca on Tuesday from 8 a.m. Eastern time (ET) (1200 GMT) until noon ET, the exchange said.

Opening auctions will run at 9:30 a.m. ET and closing auctions will run at noon, the exchange said.

"We stress that, as of now, there has been no damage to the NYSE Euronext headquarters that would impair trading floor operations," NYSE said in the notice.

The NYSE's headquarters is a few hundred yards (meters) up the street from areas of lower Manhattan that have been evacuated.

Nasdaq OMX said in a trader alert late on Monday it would operate its production system in a testing capacity from 7:30 a.m. (1130 GMT) to 12 p.m. (1600 GMT). (http://r.reuters.com/fer63t)

The NYSE had said on Sunday afternoon it planned to close its trading floor and to move all trading to its electronic market.

It backtracked on that idea after traders and regulators expressed concern about moving everything to the all-electronic venue, a plan tested on March 31 but never used live, given the difficulties and low staffing levels due to the storm.

(Reporting by John McCrank in New York and Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Additional reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra in New York; Writing by Dan Wilchins; Editing by Rodney Joyce and Dale Hudson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-markets-consider-opening-wednesday-150111711--sector.html

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Ray Sefo is not just the president of World Series of Fighting, he?s also a fighter

The World Series of Fighting makes its debut on Saturday night, with headliners Andrei Arlovski and Devin Cole in the main event. But while they prep for the weekend's bouts that will air on NBC Sports Network, they also are thinking ahead to the next fights.

Ray Sefo, a kickboxing legend and the president of WSOF, is considering putting himself on the card.

"Absolutely," he joked while in studio with MMAjunkie.com Radio "It's my promotion."

Sefo said it became much more likely after he fielded offers to fight in New Year's Eve in Japan, as well as in March in Australia. While Sefo's WSOF partners weren't initially keen on the idea, the outside offers changed their minds.

"I think they're realizing if I'm still very active, why not have it in their own league," he said. "We just talked about it [four] days ago, and they were like, 'We should talk about that.'"

Sefo is a true veteran of combat sports. Though he is known for his kickboxing, he has also tried boxing and MMA. He worked at Xtreme Couture for years, helping several fighters shore up their striking. It was Sefo who helped Randy Couture prepare for his bout with boxer James Toney.

And now, it might be Sefo who could be a fighter and promoter for the same show. Do you think this is a good idea? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ray-sefo-not-just-president-world-series-fighting-174708187--mma.html

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