Working2Wealth

Time for some Globalisation

2011-05-24T18:31:00.001-07:00

Hello again readers!

After a short while of self doubt, I'm back and feeling good about the investment world again. I had a meeting with my direct manager who said that they have no problems at all with putting me forward to become a full-time staff member. This is, of course, good news on two fronts; I've got the feeling of feeling more stable in my employment. And, of course, I've already mentioned earlier in this blog about the extra money that this will provide for me to use in investing.

In other news, I've had a look around the services offered by my broker. Now, I know that I haven't actually used them at all yet (that long weekend that I was talking about previously really took a big bite out of my pay - another downside of being a temp), but, I do want to be completely prepared so that when I start purchasing stock, I don't make a complete arse of the whole thing and loose money due to not being ready.

So, back to the point that I was getting at - My current broker only deals with domestic ASX-listed companies. This is, of course, a restriction. It does allow the ease of transacting when I want to buy something locally without having to transfer funds from my normal everyday bank account that my salary is paid into, but the obvious limitations mean that if I stay just with that broker, I'm going to breach that golden rule of diversification. Even though I can invest in companies listed on the ASX, I would also be opening myself up to massive problems if the Australian economy took a downturn.

Right now, the AU$ and US$ are showing a favourable exchange rate for me. Going along with the news recently of Bin Laden being killed, I'm thinking that the US economy will be getting a boost soon from Americans being more relaxed about everything and, therefore, spending more. If this occurs, any stock purchased in US companies now would then be, effectively, worth more instantly.

In the meantime, seeing that I'm looking at a long-term strategy, any investment made in the US market would prove favourable (going on the principle that the companies that I am investing in are going to be internationally-effected businesses.)

For example, Intel Corp was announced to be the manufacturer of chips that Apple Inc are going to be using in even more of their computers. Going along with the crazy Apple sales that have been happening pretty much since the iPhone came out (and the boost after the iPad), the units sold by Intel will be, of course, quite vast. However, this isn't something that is limited to just the US market, of course, so the US$-AU$ comparison doesn't really make much of a difference in their sales.

Therefore, due to all of this, I have decided to look into other brokers. The first one that seemed to pop up on most types of searches was E*Trade. Now, I normally wouldn't mention the names of companies that I'm going to use (or am using) however they are such a massive international firm, that I don't think that giving them a mention is going to really give them any more of an advantage over other companies!

The reasons that I've chosen to go with E*Trade is because they provide a free software download for me to be able to make the purchases and sales that i want myself, without having to call up a broker or use a website. Their platform also allows research to be done (from what I can see) quite easily. Not only that, but they also provide a BlackBerry application that seems to mirror the PC platform.

I've not downloaded the BlackBerry app yet, so I've yet to check to see if it works outside of the US (E*Trade being, of course, an American brokerage).

Nagging Doubts

2011-04-26T06:29:00.001-07:00

I've started to really think about my whole investment goals over the past couple of days: Am I actually able to save and invest successfully to get myself into a position to live off those savings and investments? Is it actually do-able, or am I just deluding myself of what's possible?

Clearly, I'm suffering from some serious kind of self-doubt this weekend.

I think that the fact that I'm not actually paid for my time off work for these 5 days is something that is certainly having an impact on me and my financial goals. But I have to force myself to look on the bright side of it all - At least that massive tax bill is out of the way. At least I don't have any real debts.

I lie here the night before I go back to work tomorrow and I've got this nagging feeling inside me that I'm not able to get out of the working world. That I'll never actually manage to accumulate enough wealth that I can quit working for someone else which is, deep down, the real reason behind all of this.

So, tomorrow, I'm going to recommit more to the final goal. To show to myself that I can get there, and it IS possible to do.

Nest Egg Season

2011-04-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers!

Easter is upon us and chocolate and eggs are everywhere. Meanwhile, I've been looking at my new found wonder of dividend yields.

Here in Australia, we are lucky enough to have a "long weekend". Public holidays are abound and most workers have Friday to Tuesday (inclusive) off work. So this weekend was already set aside in my mind to be devoted to working out which local stocks and investment devices (managed funds etc) are going to give me a good dividend yield and therefore a good return for my investment.

I figured that I'd spend about 2-3 days (not full days, you understand) looking into some of the main stocks around and seeing which ones, in different sectors, would give good dividend yields.

I'll share with you the dividend yield (DY) basics that I learned over the course of the last hour or so. Basically speaking, a pay out of 50 cents a share from Company A compared to a payout of $5 a share for Company B seems a simple enough calculation - Company B stocks are the shiznit. But, if Company A's share price is $2 and Company B's share price is $80, the story suddenly changes. This is where I started to get excited about the DY factor. Yes, a larger amount per share looks attractive from a payout point of view, but if the share price means I can't afford that many of them, then there's not really much point in me investing my money in that company.

It was this realisation (yes, it may be obvious to some, but do remember that this is a learning experience project for me as well as a financial one) that made me think about working out a spreadsheet and graph to chart out the historical dividend payouts for a few select companies listed on the ASX. All that data collection and collating was the reason I had happily set aside a few days to number crunch in my spare room at home that is sort of a home office for my fiancee and I share (more about that in the next post maybe).

So, first move made was the good old favourite of a google search. I typed in a few keywords and the first site that popped up was www.sharedividends.com.au which then gave the historical data I was going to be researching myself. As in ALL the data.

So, it didn't quite take me the amount of time I thought that it would take to do the research as that site is free to use and provides a number of ways to view the information. You can sort out the listings in order of share price, when the next divided pays out, the DY. It's a veritable nirvana of numbers.

Therefore, my next few days will, instead, be a lot easier in that I just need to look into which stocks pay out the best in a regular fashion.

Of course, going of the rule of diversification, I'll also be keeping in mind that I need to vary not just the companies I invest in, but also the sectors where I invest. There's no point investing purely in mining, in case this carbon tax (something that I see as completely stupid) comes in as the industry as a whole might reduce the dividend payouts in the hope of keeping some surplus cash lying around to pay off a carbon tax bill to the government.

Same for the banks - they might be hit by something big (I'm thinking that the next thing is going to be the banning of the mortgage exit fee halfway through this year) which causes them to tighten their belts on dividends.

But, simply, spreading around the wealth the sectors should hopefully give me the returns that I want.

So, overall, have a great easter (and if you don't go in for the whole easter thing, then do what I do - enjoy time off work by getting drunk!)

As always, feel free to email any comments or suggestions to me on info@working2wealth.net and I'll make sure that I respond.

Spreading My Investment Seed.

2011-04-21T04:33:00.001-07:00

Right, things are now officially on the go.

I've decided that a good round number to start walking the investment path is about $3000. That should give me the ability to buy into my first managed fund (as long as I can find a decent one with good(ish) returns for around the $1000-2000 entry mark) and the remainder amount is going to be going into some stocks.

I won't be, obviously, buying into the same company with the full amount of stocks-allocated funds - that would be the dumbest move this side of shagging a vacuum cleaner - i intend to make sure that I spread myself around a bit (way-hey!).

Which leads me to this post's topic - Diversification. And why you're a fuckwit if you don't partake in it.

So.. Eggs. One basket. You know the score.

Oh, you want more than that?

..........

If I must...

Why do people insist on throwing all their money at one area of investment and then acting all surprised when everything goes batshit? I've already explained my thoughts and feelings towards the property market and why I won't be going in that direction any time soon (besides the fact that I don't have any money), but there are a HUGE number of people that are just chucking all their money at investment properties and mortgaging themselves up the wazoo just to buy another apartment in the city.

You really can judge the mood of the economy (or, more accurately, the average investor) by watching what kind of TV shows are being made. It used to be that there were heaps of shows about buying houses and completing home improvements. This was, I feel, the ultimate time to watch complete knuckledragging idiots doing up apartments in one building and, ohhhhhhh the laughs that came about from watching some bimbo who clearly just wanted a music career attempting to tile around a bathroom sink. This, I think, was the period in time when the normal average investor thought that buying a house was a top-notch idea and should be completed at all costs.

Then, there was a few shows about which areas to buy in and how some areas are going to "have an explosion of price". Here's my take on that bullshit - I think that the real estate agents simply found an area that was a total hole, said that it was the next place that will experience a price increase. Therefore every fool would buy there. Low and behold, supply suddenly can't keep up with demand and there was a price increase! When you think about it that way, it's almost bloody price-fixing!

But, of course, some people buy an investment property in the hope that they can renovate (or simply hold onto it for a little while) and then sell it to someone else for a higher price. Which, to me, begs the question: aren't all the houses in certain areas renovated by now? And, curiously, if they aren't, doesn't that mean that people are, therefore, buying a house that has already been renovated and are then renovating it again?

The other side of the property investment coin (and I mean this purely in the residential field), are the people who want to rent out their apartments or houses. The problem (as I've discussed before) seems to be that once the arse falls out of the whole market, the renters will be snapping up the complete bargain-basement houses and apartments at mortgage repayment prices that are cheaper than they would be paying in rent (because, of course, the landlord needs to both pay off their mortgage on the place and make a profit).

The side effect of all of this is, simply, that the investors in the residential property market have got a fairly hefty amount of their eggs in the one basket. I mean, sure, they might have a good number of the oval, yolky wonders in other areas like shares and managed funds, but there's still a shit load to go wrong if the housing market fails.

So, I'm planning to keep my investments in a few specific areas to start off with. We've obviously got the ol' trusty favourite of the high interest savings account. Now, this is where my investment journey is beginning, as I previously mentioned. This will also be a steady staging area for funds that haven't been committed to a specific investment strategy.

Next up, we have the traditional area of term deposits. Although these are, quite possibly, the most boring of all investments (watching paint dry is more thrilling than watching a stagnant pile of money "mature". Christ, even the description of the end of the term is boring - Maturity). But, it is a certain provider. The share market gives averages from historical data. As do mutual funds and managed funds. But the good old term deposit will tell you specifically how much return you will get, and the precise date to boot. Term deposits are probably going to be something that I mainly use during times of either crisis in the sharemarket (America bominb another country to buggery) or during times when the whole thing goes quiet (around christmas and new years). That way, I can still be sure that my spare money will attract a return - even if it's not super high.

After that, we start to get to the meaty part of my investment strategy, which is to invest in stocks and managed funds that are able to provide a return in dividends. The reason I'm not looking to make money in trading stocks is because I would much rather just be able to live off a steady(ish) income and spend my days persuing hobbies instead of having to keep checking the prices of certain stocks and shitting my pants if one of them drop massively.

I actually read something the other day from a website I read called The Motley Fool - www.fool.com - (it's a US centric site but gives me a lot of good motivation about investing and is one of the sites I've been reading for a longer term period). What I read the other day though, was about a guy who (although starting with a lump sum from a young age) managed to accumulate a sizable share portfolio in 14 different stocks. This gave him an annual return in dividends of around the US$140,000 mark. Which is certainly nothing too shabby.

I don't see myself getting to that point - although, I obviously wouldn't complain if I did - but there was one remark that the man was quoted as saying that really struck home for me and my plans. He basically said that he wanted a steady income from his investments so that he didn't have to work.

Bingo.

That's precisely what I am seeking, but it doesn't have to be on the same scale. If I was clearing around AU$60,000 after tax from investments, I would consider myself very fortunate and would, most likely, stop working and live comfortably and be able to spend time just with hobbies and charity work.

But, obviously, that's a very long term investment goal. Right now, the main goal is to make my investments give the best possible returns that they can give and then re-invest that back into the whole cycle and build up as quickly as possible.

Over the coming posts, I will be looking into high dividend yielding stocks in the Australian market and assessing whether they are something that I will be putting my own money into.

After all, my fiancee's tax has been paid up early (YAY!) so I can start to look at where to invest my money.

I must say however, the whole process is rather daunting. I've looked into managed funds before and looked at certain company stocks but never really had the money to go ahead and move with the thoughts and assessments. Now that I really can look at a good move and follow it through from inception to investment, I believe that I really can start to work towards some wealth.

I'll keep you updated.

Getting Ready For Action!

2011-04-19T04:43:00.000-07:00

As I said in my last post - I've sorted out a trading account with the
bank that I am now with. It's certainly an exciting time for me, but
I've still got a few things to check out.

I've been on the ASX website and studying topics to further expand my
understanding of the way that the financial markets work. I'm actually
quite happily suprised with the amount that I already know about stocks
and the associated terms and devices that accompany the trading of them
in particular. But, do I think that I'm ready for the "big time"? Bloody
hell, no.

I've been learning more about Electronic Traded Funds (or ETFs) to see
if they are something that I am interested in. To be honest, the whole
concept of them just seems really fucking confusing at the moment and I
think the reason for that is that no one seems to just want to explain
something in easy to understand terms. It's almost like they want the
normal public to be confused about how to trade on the markets
correctly! I can only imagine that the reason for that would be to make
sure that there is always some numb-nut to buy something being sold at a
jaw-droppingly high price or to sell something that really shouldn'[t be
sold at that point.

Still, maybe that's just my viewpoint on the matter and I could be, for
all intents and purposes, talking shit.

In other news, I've started reading magazines or newspaper sections that
are business/finance specific. I'm hoping that this will help me out in
learning more as I've always been one of those people that can just end
up working things out in my mind if I just keep flooding it with
information about the topic. Hey, it worked for me with physics, so
there's (hopefully) no reason why that same plan of attack won't work
out here for me too.

Although, there is something that I find rather bizarre about the
'business world'. And that is that it seems to be in complete and utter
denial. It's as if they just don't actually want to admit that they are
obsessed with money. They talk about how to invest, and returns on this
and that and how to reduce losses etc etc. But, they never seem to say
"fuck yeah, I'm loaded". Perhaps that's because I'm completely and
utterly brash and have no shame in coming right to the point (usually
far too harshly for those around me), or maybe it's because some might
said that I'm immature and therefore don't understand the certain ways
and flows of the financial world. Personally I like to say that it's
because they don't want to admit that they are basically in a
dick-measuring contest.

Is there anything actually wrong with saying that you want more money
than you currently have? And if not, is there a point when it becomes
wrong to say the same sentence? Perhaps when you are generating a
substantial income from a business or investments, you suddenly get
dragged into the back of a mercedes benz van (with all the optional
extras) and some very polite fellows explain that you are now to stop
using phrases like "fuck yeah, I just made a shit load of cash". No
matter really, but I'm looking forward to that day.

If you have any comments or points of interest, feel free to email me on
info@working2wealth.net :)

House Prices Only Ever Go Up... (apart from when the market crashes)

2011-04-16T04:10:00.001-07:00

I'm seeing residential property at the moment as something that is going
to burst in the next few (less than 5) years. What do I base that on?
Well, if you look at the figures, house prices are just going up and up.
But that isn't just supply and demand, surely? There has to be more at
play here?

I get the feeling that the Australian public (well, property investors)
are of the opinion that house prices don't go down. In fact, most loans
are taken out against houses and apartments on the grounds that the
house will gain 10% in value every year. But, seeing that inflation
rates and the current interest rates are keeping steady for quite some
time now, the purchasers just can't keep up with those price rises.
Something has to give in a situation like that - even a layman like me
can see that.

So, I'm predicting that the house prices are going to stall at some
point, and the real estate agents are going to freak out. Houses are
going to remain on the market for longer than usual and the mortgages
will still need to be paid off. Even without the 10% price rise year on
year happening. So, reluctantly, house prices will have to fall - and
they'll fall to a level that will allow the owners to sell and bail out
of a burning ship. Once a few go, the rest will follow and the prices
will crumble as people will no longer want the $1.7million house for
sale by the investors that are only just covering their monthly
repayments, when the one down the road is selling at $1.2m.

If you don't agree with my point of view, that's fine, but do take a
look at the US property market of the last two or three years. The
financial crisis pretty much rooted everyone and house prices dropped
from those investors who understood when to jump ship. Of the ones that
decided to hang on, a large part of them had to go through the horror of
the banks forclosing on them.

At first, I thought that investing in the US housing market would be the
way to go - after all, something so low can't stay low forever. Can it?
Well, maybe it can - there are many more factors involved in each market
(cash, stocks, property, "the other ones I can't recall on the spot").
America keeps going off to war lately, and that kind of action usually
requires money. And the amount of money being spent by the US is
approximately 27 fucktons of dollars. Now, that sounds like a lot, and
it certainly is. And that's the problem, as long as they are off
spending their money around the globe blowing stuff up, the less money
they have to spend at home. Infrastructure, schools, healthcare - it's
all suffering. And as long as the basics aren't taken care of, the more
likely it is that the people of the US won't want to engage themselves
in mortgages. So, if buyers don't look like they are close by, what is
the point in buying property if all you'll have to do is pay for it's
upkeep? And, not only that, but you will have to employ someone else
in-country to make sure it's not on fire every other week. Too much
hassle for the kind of portfolio i have in mind.

Next post I will be talking about the giggling-excitement I'm in over my
new trading account! Woooooooo!

Some Background Information About Me

2011-04-13T03:58:00.001-07:00

Well, first things first. You know a little about my situation, so I
should fill in the gaps and work from there.

In June this year (2011), I'll be 31 years old - much to my annoyance.
I'm working full time (still in the probationary period) with a very
large corporation. I work at the low level at the moment, but the
department itself is less than 3 years old, so I might be moving up as
the department expands. I'm paid around $50,000 (Australian Dollars) a
year, plus the compulsory superannuation (retirement) payments that my
employer needs to pay (in addition 9% of my salary). After I finish my
probationary period, that should go up by another $10,000 a year.
I don't really have any debts as such, but I am also currently helping
my fiancee out with a tax payment due this month. Other than that,
pretty much my only regular outgoings are a $41 travel pass per week
(bought the first day after I get paid). A mobile phone bill (about $70
a month - but I get unlimited calls and data/email usage - I'm a huge
Blackberry addict). Rent for where we live is $235 each a week, and I
obviously pay an share of the bills and food shopping.

I was running a motorcycle and a car prior to the bankruptcy, but due to
financial constraints and restrictions of the value of vehicles owned
they are both no longer in my possession. Getting rid of the bike was
the hardest part for me as riding had become such a huge part of who I
was - the freedom, enjoying going for a ride on days off and never
waiting in a traffic jam are something that grab hold of you and just
don't let go.

So, here's my basic plan for the time being - to be re-examined and
refined as time goes on and things develop. Once that tax bill I
mentioned is out of the way, I intend to work on the following
allocations for my money;

I get paid just over $800 a week (after tax) so I will be sectioning off
$235 of that right away into a high interest account (currently, the one
I have selected has a variable interest rate of 6.51%pa). As my fiancee
is also paid weekly and will be sectioning off her funds too, she will
be paying her half of the rent into that account as well. That way, the
money that would otherwise just be paid to our landlord in rent actually
earns a small bit of interest in the time being between being sent into
their bank account. Sneaky eh?

I also intend to start doing this with any bill payments. I'm hoping to
get a month ahead in my mobile phone account - not paying them a month
in advance, you understand, but instead paying them one month and paying
(at the same time) another month's worth into the high interest savings
account. Then whenever I get a phone bill, I just pay it, but if I'm
ever short for some reason, there's a buffer month's payment earning
interest in the bank. (I'm hoping to do this with the rent payment too,
although that may take a couple of months to sort out).

Other than those allocations - which in an average week (with rent and
travel pass deducted), leaves around $550. Out of that $200 is easy to
live on for a week, meaning around the $350 mark can also go into a high
interest account a week.

Just that alone would give me $18,200 a year in savings (not counting
the wonderful magic of compound interest!). Of course, that's not taking
in to account that I should (all things going to plan) get taken on
properly after my probation. Then, as I'm currently able to live
relatively comfortably on the rates I have currently explained, I can
therefore add another $8,000 (assuming an after tax amount). Now we are
looking at around $26,000 just in pure savings over a 12 month period!
Even putting things into that scenario makes me realise that just saving
can provide a fair amount of money, even before interest payments get
involved. Of course, I have investment plans that I want to develop and
hope to learn more about those ideas and other options as time progresses.
Just leaving money in a savings account (even a higher interest one of
6.51%pa) can provide a return, but the only real advantage to that as
opposed to actually using my money to invest somewhere is that the funds
are pretty much liquid. I intend to keep a portion of my funds in this
liquid state for the time being simply so that if something comes along
in which I wish to invest, I can do just that without having to cash
-out of somewhere else.

So far, my preliminary ideas for the investments are managed funds (good
as, apart from the initial research into the fund and the fund manager,
I don't have to keep a super close eye on the actual stocks and trades
they are investing my money in. Of course, I will check up the fund from
time to time to make sure that my money is working well for me, but
that'll be it really).

Commodities are something that really interest me currently too - gold
and silver seem to always be a safe haven for investors in times of
uncertainty, so there's no reason why I shouldn't track the prices of
those and get into that area when the cost is lower. The thing that has
popped up lately for me (remember, I'm only really learning at present)
is that not only the gold (for example) can be purchased, but also
shares in gold mining companies or similar.

Also, another thing that seems to be being spoke about a lot lately is
the term "ETFs". I know that these mean Electronically Traded Funds, but
other than that, I've really got no idea what they are. I've set up
something to record on the Business channel on TV later today about
ETFs, the basics and what they offer - so I hope that that can answer
some of my questions. Also, I'm going to be enrolling in some free
online courses that the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) offer. If the
resources are there, I'd have to be an idiot not to use them.

I also plan to be investing in some high-dividend paying companies too
(but only when they are affordable, I'm not diving in while their stock
price is sky high), so they should be able to provide a good return.
Currently, I'm thinking that the bigger banks in Australia are a good
investment - the GFC is almost a talked-about event as opposed to one
that we are experiencing, and it seems that they are always producing a
profit (not surprising going off the fees that some of them charge!).

The only thing to consider at the moment is that the Australian
Government are going to be banning early break fees from mortgages at
the start of the next financial year, so I will most likely be waiting
until around that time to invest there as I'm thinking that investors
will be weary and possibly be selling out stock in case of a price fall
(which, seems to always make a price fall occur anyway).

Term deposits are also something that I'll be looking at in the future
as well as somewhere to park money in the short term (no more than 6
months - unless the longer rates are amazing). But that really would
only be if I can't find a better investment for the money in that
timescale. I like to keep in mind that the ASX has given an average
annual rate of return of 11% since it opened. Of course, that doesn't
take into account any massive crashes, or indeed, gains that also occur.

Anyway, that's some of my basic ideas for the moment. I'll talk more in
the next post about property investing and why I'm not going to touch it
with a 10 foot pole.

Starting From Nothing: (Hopefully) A Financial Big Bang

2011-04-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

Money. Apparently, it's the stuff that makes the world go around.

Last year, at least for me, it played an even bigger role by not being there when I needed it. I was basically out of work due to illness for that time and had no income whatsoever. My fiancee supported me during this time (something that I am truely thankful for and doubt I could ever repay that amount of caring she showed me).

There were months on end that I literally didn't have a single dollar to my name. I had debts upto the ceiling and beyond due to leaving a marriage ($200 a week just repaying loans for things I didn't have) and life was looking, to say the least, rather grim.

But I started to make moves towards seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I filed for personal bankruptcy, and managed to completely free myself from debt. Yes, I now have that on my record for a few years, but lets face it, if I had kept trying to pay for the loans, I probably wouldn't have made it this far anyway.

Then I managed to get a new job at the beginning of this year. I'll get to what the job is in a moment, but just know that I have a reasonable income for what I do. It's nothing massive, but enough to get by on and save a little on the side.

After the turmoil that I've been through financially over the past 12 months, I've found that I've started to examine where my money goes more closely. Previously, I would happily spend every dollar I earned and live payday to payday. But, I'm almost 31 and am realising that it's not something that I can keep doing forever.

Then the seed was planted that turned into this little seedling that is this blog (hopefully it'll become a big fat tree with money growing from it at some point!). The seed was when I noticed that the bank I was with was charging me $5 a month, per account, just for them to keep my money. I was also being charged $2 a transaction, whenever I withdrew money from an ATM that wasn't directly owned by that bank. In fiscal terms, I saw them as a modern day Dick Turpin (a highwayman robber from history, in case you didn't know). But, at least Dick Turpin went to the bother of putting on a mask, these bastards were charging me money to keep my money - there's just no reasoning behind it!

I realised that the age-old saying of "look after the pennies, and the pounds take care of themselves" is very much true. $10 a month (I had two accounts) is $120 a year that I'm spending. For nothing. So, I looked around and found a bank (National Australia Bank, as it happens) that offered an account with no fees. Great! I signed up on the spot.

I'm now in the process of changing my details with my employer so that the other, Dick Turpin, account can be closed down. That's the first (very) small step on a long journey that I hope that I can take you all on.

Which leads me to the actual point of this blog. And, that is no mean feat. I intend to see if someone (me), can start with almost no financial world knowledge and build up a portfolio of investments using small savings to generate an income. And, if so, how long does it take?

I have a few rules in place, however. For example, I don't want to be completely and utterly focussed on researching companies and the like, so I'm setting a rule that my investments can't take over my life (this blog doesn't count in that section, as this is just updating what I'm up to).

Also, I don't want to be stressed out by pressure, so day trading isn't allowed either. Nor do I want to expose myself (haha) to undue risk, so there's no way on earth that I will be using CFD's and short selling and such. That's just too hardcore for me and my life.

I also enjoy going out occasionally and having pizza deliveries, so I refuse to completely change my life in such a way that I feel that I'm not enjoying my days in order to expand my portfolio.

And finally, I will be learning and developing strategies and skills along the way to (hopefully) get me to the point where I have the ability to give myself a payraise by enjoying the returns on my investments as well as my normal salary.

Which brings me to my overall mission statement for this blog:

"I aim to see if someone, starting from scratch, and without extensive experience can expand their financial knowledge and generate an income (it doesn't have to be massive) within 5 years from select investments."

That's my goal: To live comfortably, have a nice car and see if I can still invest more and more over time and eventually make my money, earn money.

Now, for the legal bit:
At no point during this blog, am I aware of your specific situation or personal goals. You can learn and reflect on the things I say, but you should not take anything I say as financial advice. Everything I say should be taken as general information only and you need to decide if it meets your needs and requirements.
I am not responsible for anything that occurs to your financial situation upon you taking something I've said as financial advice.
I will refer to this financial journey as "ours", and may refer to "we" meaning myself and you, the reader. This is in no way implying that you should follow the same (or similar) decisions. The terms "our", "we" (and similar) are used as I feel that you are with me on this journey as a reader of this blog.

Ok, that's out of the way. How about we start on our way, and see where I am currently and assess where we can go from here?

Let's go...