Posts Tagged ‘p’

How Much A Forex Broker Makes From A Single Account?

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

When you open a currency trading account, you are told by your forex broker that there are no commissions involved in forex trading. New traders take their brokers word as true. Most think that the cost of trading is minimal.

Forex brokers are also called FCMs (Futures Commission Merchants) sometimes. They make profits through the bid/offer spread they charge their clients for each currency pair. This bid/offer spread is your trading cost and profit for your broker.

Lets take a practical example. Bid/ask spreads are usually overlooked by the individual traders as the price they have to pay for trading. So lets calculate what your cost of trading can be in a year.

Suppose you are a day trader. You trade 5 times a day. Taking away the weekends, when you cant trade, there are 250 trading days.

As a day trader, you open and close your position before the end of the day. That means each position is traded 2 times.

Suppose; your start with a deposit of $50,000. You use a leverage of 4 only, you are being cautious. So this $50,000 deposit will control (50,000) (4) = $200,000.

Your Annual Turnover will be; (5) (250)(2)(200,000)= $500 M. Huge! Now lets calculate how much your broker will make and what your spread cost is. Spread Cost= (Annual Turnover) (spread)/2.

Suppose further, the bid/offer spread charged by the broker is 3 pips. 3 Pips Spread Cost= (500M) (0.0003)/2= $75,000.

Suppose the bid/ask spread offered by the broker is only 2 pips. 2 Pips Spread Cost= (500M) (0.0002)/2= $50,000.

You can see yourself, the cost of trading with a 3 pips spread versus a 2 pips is $25,000. This is 50% of your account equity. You see, a 1 pip difference can result in $25,000 more as trading cost for you.

You will need to make a profit of $75,000 simply to break even with a 3 pips spread. Trading costs are one of the primary reasons most active traders fail in the long run.

About the Author:

Life Insurance VS A Retirement Policy

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Many people have insufficient retirement packages through their employer and will not be offered any financial security in their retirement age. There are also many people who have no retirement packages and will be living solely on social security benefits. Social security offers very little security and most people forced to live off of it are finding it difficult to even keep their homes let alone pay for health care and enjoy their retirement.

Many people believe that a life insurance policy is only to be paid out in the event of the policy holders death. The truth is that many people use life insurance policies as a way to protect their financial well being during their old age. The life insurance policy is able to be funded from many resources, such as stocks and bonds, certificates of deposit, mutual funds and even cash reserves from your bank account. This money can then be withdrawn at retirement age tax free.

Death benefits are important but having a proper retirement package that offers peace of mind after you stop working is a top priority for most people. The policies can be customized to pay out specific amounts for a specific period of time after retirement or to pay out from the cash reserves over a period of a lifetime. The payments are not counted as income from the government and this will act as a huge advantage for most people.

You can use the benefits packages in many ways. You can borrow cash amounts from the policies or have annual payments made, each will have pros and cons to their methods.

Money that is accumulated in the policy that offers retirement benefits is available for you or withdraw without suffering any penalties or taxes. A standard retirement package such as IRA benefits allows you to withdraw the money to but you suffer penalties for early withdraw as well as income tax on all finds you receive from the account. The insurance policy making payments to you that are tax free after you retire is a huge advantage it has over the standard retirement benefit package.

Some people use borrowing money from their retirement policy as a way to avoid income taxes but this can create big problems later down the road. If the cash amount borrowed reaches the policy amount then the policy holder is hit with capital gains tax on all amounts paid in excess of the premiums, this can be a hard thing to recover from for someone who has been paying in to the policy for 40+ years. At your retirement age you are struggling to pay for estate tax and cover the costs of your health care, a huge tax bill could cause you to lose everything you own.

You may have been shown a great retirement package from the agent you bought the policy from and then find out when you retire it is less than what it should have been. The rates change and if you had a great rate at the time of purchase and they have since fell you will not have the benefits you once though. With a standard retirement package you may be able to have more security in knowing what your benefits will be but they will be taxable and you have less chance to increase them over time. With the insurance policy you can add as much cash to your policy as you wish and you will never be taxed on your payments after retirement but you do have a slightly larger risk involved with your money.

About the Author:

Tips When Considering A Life Insurance Policy

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

If you have anyone in your life that rely on you to support them financially then you will want to have proper life insurance coverage. Life cover should be at the top of your list of priorities. How will your family survive financially when you are gone? It is not something any of us want to think about but it is reality.

You want to be sure that your loved ones who depend on you for financial support are taken care of even after you are gone. It is important that they be able to survive if something happens that you do not.

A lump sum life cover policy is pretty straight forward. The tricky part is finding the plan option and coverage amount that is right for you. You can ask your agent for information about each plan type and get helpful advice on selecting the right policy for you and your needs.

There are some things you should know prior to applying for life coverage. Determine how much life coverage you really need, be careful not to take out too small of an amount. Do not forget to factor the home loan and other bills. Life insurance calculators can be located on the internet to help with deciding the amount of cover you need. Being under insured is a common mistake. You want to ensure you are not over insured as well.

You should place your policy in a trust for your loved ones. After your death the trust will ensure all benefits are paid out correctly. Policies that are not put in a trust become part of your estate and may increase the inheritance tax liability. You will find the simple trust form with your policy packet.

Policies that are not placed in a trust become part of your estate and could increase the inheritance tax liability. A trust form should be given to you with your policy information.

One of the more popular policies is the Level Term Assurance (LTA) this means your policy amount will stay the same through the duration of the coverage. If you are looking for a less expensive policy and only need coverage for a debt such as a mortgage you can buy Decreasing Term Assurance (DTA) for a great rate.

If you have any life altering event you are recommended to check your policy to ensure you have the right coverage amount. Your policy needs change as your life does so review your coverage if you have any life changes like a new baby or change of jobs. Many people do not comprehend that their coverage needs will shift as their life does. Any time it makes sense to, change your policy.

If you have any life changes happen you will need to review your cover and ensure you have enough coverage. The arrival of a new child, moving to a new town or occupational changes could affect your policy needs. Many forget that their cover may need altered to keep up with their life. When you feel it makes sense you should change your cover.

If you have had a life cover policy for some time you might want to shop around, it is possible to switch to a lower cost one. Be sure that you are not losing any valuable benefits before cancelling a policy. You have to keep in mind that if your health has gotten worse or any huge life changes have occurred you will be paying a more costly rate for a new policy.

About the Author:

Most Common Variables Considered When Calculating Travel Insurance Rates

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Travel Insurance is a form of limited or special situation insurance that covers loss arising from a specific event. This could be flying in an airplane or riding in a train. The policies are based on the behavior of a group of individuals engaged in an activity and the likelihood that a loss will occur.

Travel Insurance is rated based on the occurrence of a loss as it affects a group of common interest, such as airline passengers. This differs from individual coverage, which rates the risk of loss occurring based on the personal preferences and habits of the insured. It would be difficult to use individual underwriting standards such as age and health status to travel insurance since not everybody flies in an airplane.

Group insurance factors in the community experience of the group as a whole in order to access the probability that loss will occur. Community experience factors can include the number of air disasters in a given region, or in a given year, or by a given carrier. When assessing loss exposure on a group basis it is easy to discern certain trends and patterns regarding the chance of loss. Since air travel is deemed safe with air disasters occur very infrequently (roughly 1 in 2.5 million), the rates for travel insurance is very low.

If you accept that activities such as air travel are safe with a low probability of occurring, why the need to buy travel insurance? Insurance is about something not happening, as oppose to a loss occurring. Insurance provides a way to restore value in the event of a loss and for some, having the piece of mind that some benefit may be available may be important.

Travel insurance policies are typically issued in kiosks at an airport. It may also appear as a rider associated with a credit card or to a person’s property and casualty indemnity coverage. However it is purchase, the benefit provided is a low amount of coverage, maybe no more than $25,000 (although a few higher death benefit policies exist). This is done based on the community experience-rating factor that looks at the incident of death or dismemberment occurring based on the chance of an airline disaster.

How old you are, how physically fit you may be, whether you smoke or not, are all rating factors or variables that are not important to issuing travel insurance. None of those factors has an impact on a plane taking off and landing and the likelihood that a crash will occur. That the instances of plane crashes are so low suggests that very limited factors need to be considered when pricing travel insurance.

Insurance is based on a concept of risk transfer. This means that the individual pays a premium amount that insures that if something were to happen, the insurance will provide a benefit to compensate the policy’s beneficiary. The amount paid in premium is low relative to the potential benefit that is paid. The insurance company rates the potential for loss and prices its policy accordingly so that it is able to pay if that loss occurs. The higher probability that a loss can occur means a higher premium. Applying group underwriting principles to travel insurance helps provide a product that is low cost and pays a uniform benefit.

About the Author:

How Do You Get Life Cover

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Anyone who has people who depend on them financially should have proper life insurance coverage Life cover should be at the top of your list of priorities. How will your family survive financially when you are gone? Just because you are here today does not promise a tomorrow. Nobody should be without life cover.

The lump sum policies are a cinch to obtain. Finding the right plan options with the highest amount of coverage is the tricky part.

Before you apply for life insurance there are a few things you should know. Determine how much life cover you really need, be careful not to take out too small of an amount. Do not forget to factor the home loan and other bills. Life insurance calculators can be located online to assist with determining the amount of cover you need. It is imperative to not be under insured. You want to make sure you are not over insured as well.

You have to determine the amount of time they should be in place. Usually the cover remains in effect until all financial responsibility has been paid and children have left the home. Some policy owners will terminate a policy after they retire. The important thing is to make sure the policy stay in effect long enough for your purposes.

Be sure to answer all questions correctly when applying for life cover. You could be denied for life coverage if you do not answer all the questions or are found to have been untruthful on your application.

It is a safe bet to put your policy in a trust. go wrong with putting your policy in a trust. All benefits is paid to your loved ones by the trust after you have died. The inheritance tax liability will be higher when the policy becomes part of your estate, a trust stops this from happening.The trust form is simple to fill out and will be included with your policy.

Do not over pay for your policy. Expect to pay more if you are considered to be a high risk. Level Term Assurance (LTA) coverage is the most common policy purchased where your cover amount remains the same for the length of the coverage.

The most popular cover is the Level Term Assurance (LTA) where the sum of your insured amount remains the same for the length of the term. If you only need cover for payment of a mortgage or other decreasing debt you could check out Decreasing Term Assurance (DTA) for a much better rate.

Things that could change your coverage needs are a new child, a new home, or even a change in occupation. Many people ignore that our life insurance needs may increase as our lives change. Make alterations whenever it is sensible that you may need more coverage.

Always remember you can shop around for more affordable policy prices even if you already have coverage. Make sure that none of the benefits are being lost before you cancel a policy. Remember that you are not as young as you once were and if your health has gotten worse then you will pay much more for a new policy.

About the Author:

Health Insurance in South Africa

Monday, June 29th, 2009

When searching for health insurance in South Africa there are very extensive reasons to find the cheapest premiums possible. With terminal illnesses becoming more common, and the methods used to treat them becoming more and more expensive. Medical doctors are required to charge more for their services, leaving the general population of South Africa defenseless when it comes to paying for health insurance.

Like America, South Africa has a public support plan. It is an option anyone can get. It is terribly easy to obtain and can be used to pay for anything related to the medical field. What funds are not used within the year of recieving benefits are not awarded to anyone.

There are real health insurance providers in South Africa offering a significant amount of coverage. Keep in mind, there are also a fair amount of scheme artists that are out to make a quick buck at the expense of a terminally ill person. When deciding which insurance is right for your needs, check to see what is covered and what is not. This is how schemes are empowered. People do not pay attention to the details described in the fine print of the insurance policy.

There are limits some times included with your coverage. Make sure you comprehend your policy completed, before purchasing insurance. Some limits branch as far as limiting which physicians can care for you at a selected hospital. This can cause great inconvenience and still leave you a bill. Especially if you are far from your home, and require emergency medical attention.

If you are elderly, you may have trouble finding an affordable insurance policy, and your best bet would be to sign up for medical aid. This is an option for the terminally ill also. If you are in good health and fairly young, you should get involved with a privately owned insurance company, to ensure your health insurance is already established in case you get sick.

About the Author:

Learn How To Get Life Insurance?

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Life Insurance is a useful tool for securing your family financially after your untimely demise. All you need to do is to fill out the agreement form and pay the insurance premiums from time to time, the insurance company will pay your spouse, and family members the entire sum assured to secure their future in the case of your unexpected death. As a result, your loved ones will no longer need to live at the mercy of others.

Firstly, you need to find out the best insurance company and the best deals that suit your needs and requirements. For this, you need to talk to reliable friends, who have a fairly good knowledge about the insurance sector and find out their favorite insurance company. You can also browse online to compare different companies and deals they offer.

It is always better to settle for trust-worthy and reliable insurance companies, with a more or less consistent growth curve, instead of opting for newbie companies, without a proven track record to back up their credence, so that you can be assured of your money?s security.

The different ways of getting a life insurance are mentioned below ?

Most people prefer to consult a qualified insurance agent or an experienced financial advisor to get some advice on which is the best insurance company from which you can obtain your life cover, and which are the best insurance deals available in the market. Being professionals from the finance and insurance sectors, these people are bound to know about the ins and outs of all the major insurance companies, and will be able to give the best suggestion to suit your needs.

Many people, especially the older ones, who may be suffering from any chronic health problem, may find it difficult to obtain an insurance cover at a low premium unless they are automatically covered under a group insurance plan that is meant for all the employees in an organization. Usually, most employers provide a free life insurance benefit worth two times the basic salary of their employees. However, if you want to go for a higher sum assured, then you may pay the difference in the premium amount from your own pocket. As a result, you get additional insurance cover at comparatively much lower premium amount, than what you would have ended up paying, had you taken the insurance individually.

Another alternative to get your life insurance cover is to hunt for them online. You need to check up the insurance company websites, look for the best insurance deals, ask for quotes and settle for the insurance plan of that company, which seems best for your needs. The insurance company websites are transparent enough and all the information is available online for free. If you can not pool in the time to locate all the information that you need, then you can simply register with a brokerage firm online and allow them to look for the best insurance deals for you. They will charge you some nominal fee for their brokerage services.

About the Author:

A Comprehensive Look At Life Insurance Cover

Friday, June 26th, 2009

The type of life cover is the most important aspect in your decision when you are scouting the appropriate life insurance policy. It is important that you understand the various types of life cover in order to accurately determine the most appropriate type of policy for your needs and circumstances. Thus, your decision on the kind of life insurance policy will be based on the cost of the insurance, and the amount and type of insurance coverage that you require from your insurance policy.

To be able to accomplish the above, you need to understand the life insurance policies pretty well. Many people plan their finances, but give very little consideration to their life insurance plan. In fact, the life insurance policy is the first thing you must consider when doing financial planning. You could take up the whole life insurance policy and be able to withdraw the amount upon maturity. Your entire amount along with the interest lies in safe hands with the company. The amount is however paid to the beneficiaries, in case you die before the maturity of the policy.

The life cover that we are getting can be classified as either a term or a life insurance policy. If you are searching for protection cover for just a specified time frame, then you are looking for a term insurance. This type of cover shall provide protection for just a specified period of time. The term starts from a short period of 12 months and can reach up to ten years. The protection shall be within the specified time frame and the beneficiary of a term insurance will get the full proceeds of the life cover with the death of the policyholder as long as it is within that specified time period.

While you are seriously considering a term insurance, it is imperative that you look into the special type of this kind of life cover where the death benefit decreases for every anniversary that passes. This being the case, the death benefit that will accrue to the beneficiary shall be at maximum when the policyholder dies within the first year of the life cover. Thereafter, the cash proceeds will slowly decrease until it reaches minimum during the last twelve months of the policy.

The other type of life cover is the life insurance. The main distinction of this type of insurance cover is that it has a savings or cash accrual feature on top of the death benefit that it provides to the beneficiary. This accrued amount shall be given as the cash surrender value once the policyholder opts to discontinue the life cover. The cash surrender value takes effect once the policy reaches its first anniversary.

The whole life type of life insurance is the simpler form of the two types of life insurance cover. The basic feature of this type of life insurance is that the premium amount will remain the same throughout the entire term of the insurance cover. Under this type of life insurance, the policyholder has no control over the investment decision of the insurance company.

On the other hand, the policyholder will enjoy a greater degree of flexibility with the universal life insurance as he is given the option to adjust the amount of premiums to be paid by applying the cash reserve. The policyholder may also elect to increase the value of insurance cover.

About the Author:

What Makes Life Cover Important For You?

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

A life cover would be the first option for any person who cares for the present and future of himself and his family. A life cover is a must for every family person. Now the question here is not if you need a life cover or not, but how much cover you need to fulfill all your requirements. A life cover not only gives your family the security, but even financial help after your death. It is necessary to have the right amount of cover that suits your daily requirements. The amount of cover for you and your family depends on the monthly income and the monthly savings you make. The amount of the cover may differentiate between people. To know about your amount of life cover you may continue reading this article.

Any insurance agent you meet will suggest you to have a life cover of at least four times more than your monthly income. It means if you have an annual income of $40000, you must have a life cover of $160000. Some may even claim that having a cover for eight times more than your monthly income is the right amount for you. This may not always be right. After all you know the needs of your family more than any insurance agent.

The basic idea behind the life insurance policy is to provide monetary support to the surviving family. Many policies also cover the burial expenses that can sometimes accumulate to more than $10000. The amount that remains is then passed on to the family.

A support of that huge lump sum amount of money can mean a lot to your family. As of now, you might have to strive a little hard to manage that extra amount of money to pay your premiums. However, the output of same means a lot to your family. The sad part is that many people have no knowledge about these lucrative life insurance policies and hence they never opt for them. Some people get to know about them quite late, and at a higher age the premiums are high too. Also, the policy at that age may not cover you for everything. It is therefore very imperative for you to act soon.

There are two choices to choose from, when looking for a life insurance policy. You could either choose term insurance policy, or else the investment type policy. A term insurance policy only pays your family in case you die in the valid given period of the policy. However, the same does not hold true for the investment policy, wherein the customer is covered life long, as long as the premiums are paid. Sometimes the policy is referred to as whole life policy. The good thing about this policy is that it deposits a part of your premium into your investment account, every time you pay the premium. Not only are you covered for your life, but also you make an investment for your future. It is evident that an early step to buy this policy is a good move. After some number of years, you would have a significant amount of money in your investment account.

Some insurance companies also give discount on buying multiple policies for your spouse and kids. Now that can save lot of your hard earned money.

You can even pay a low premium through out your life by getting a policy at a younger age. And the policy bought at an older age can prove to be expensive. So the earlier you get a policy the better it is.

About the Author:

Life Insurance And The Underwriting

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

So many people apply for life insurance policies, but only a few of them get approved for the same. It is certainly not the easiest of jobs to get a life insurance policy. You may have enough money to pay the premiums, but it does not make you eligible for the policy. Your application for a life insurance will be assessed and analyzed. In other words, a thorough underwriting would be done on the application. Underwriting consists of the risk analysis to approve the application, and the decision on appropriate premium amounts to be paid by the individual.

Underwriters help the insurance companies in analyzing the risk involved in approving a particular application. At the end of the day, insurance companies are looking to make profits, and for this underwriting becomes an important exercise for them. Underwriting includes three steps, performed one after the other. The steps include examining the application, deciding to insure or not, determining the premium.

Examination of the application is all about collecting the client information. Various details about the applicant are collected and stored for assessment. The details could include marital status, sex, type of living area, age, and current health status etc. The applicant is measured against each of these parameters.

The application examination is then followed up with decision making. The applicant is given a score for all these parameters. These parameters are called risk factors by the insurance companies. A high score on the risk factors leads to the rejection of the application, and a low score will see the applicant get an approval. Each risk factor is important and has its own meaning. However, many people believe that the insurance companies give utmost importance to the age and health of the individual. If the individual is young and healthy, the chances for approval are very high. On the other hand, an old aged individual who has a few health problems may experience a denial. The living environment of the individual is also given huge importance. If the applicant lives in an unhygienic environment, he or she is believed to suffer health problems. At the same time, an individual living in a clean and healthy environment would indicate a good health for the individual. The gender of the applicant can also make a difference at times. Women are regarded as healthier individuals compared to the men. This is because women tend to take lesser tensions and depressions. Interestingly, the same holds opposite for married people. In other words, a married man is expected to live a healthier life as compared to a married woman. All these factors play an important role while the decision making. Living habits of an individual also make a significant difference. A smoker or drinker will find it hard to get the approval.

The above discussed risk factors not only help in deciding about the approval or denial of the application, but also the premium amounts to be paid. If the application is approved, the next step if underwriting is to measure the correct premium amounts. Younger and fitter individuals are likely to pay lesser premium amounts, as compared to the older and ailing individuals.

About the Author: