Financial Freedom For Doctors

Forex Trading Guide

Hi there, I found this excellent guide to Forex trading on the net, and enclose it for your perusal…

 

Ian Wright writes:

Like many people I am sure you are interested to know more about Forex trading. To put it bluntly Forex trading can be either one the best ways to make or lose LOTS of money. Only those who take the Forex market seriously will be able to make money with it in the long term.

The Forex trading market is beyond a doubt the worlds largest market where all exchanges happen instantaneously. Thus, trades are a key challenge for even the most knowledgeable Forex bankers and traders. They have to learn and consider many factors before performing even a single trade.

At first when currencies began to be traded openly, only large banks were allowed to perform trades. These days, due to the advent of internet trading and margin accounts almost anybody can begin Forex trading. This in turn, has added to the liquidity of the Forex market, and has resulted in a huge increase in the number of individuals who are now active in the market.

So, does this mean it is easy to earn money through Forex trading? To answer this we must consider a few things.

Some data by Forex brokers seems to suggest that 90 percent of traders end up of losing their capital, 5 percent of traders have been able to break even and only 5 percent of them attain steady beneficial results. Thus, it seems that trading successfully is no simple task.

However, if you can learn to be among the 5 percent who make consistent money you can do extremely well by using Forex trading. To help you in this end I have listed five key ways to improve your odds dramatically of making money in the Forex market.

1. Education

Successful traders are knowledgeable about the Forex market. They have chosen to educate themselves about every single vital detail of Forex trading. The best traders know that every trade that they perform is an opportunity to learn something new.

2. Forex Trading System

All of the profitable traders have a Forex trading system or strategy. Furthermore, they have the will power to stick strictly to that system, because the best traders know that by sticking with their system they stand a far greater chance of earning money.

3. Price Behavior

Knowledgeable and successful traders also include price behavior in their systems. They have learned that prices can change quickly and suddenly but are prepared to deal with those situations when they arrive.

4. Trading Psychology

First-rate traders are aware of psychological issues that affect the choices of other traders make when Forex trading. They know that people do not always act rationally, and as a result this can alter the expected outcome of a trade. This can help them both when deciding to enter into a trade or when to exit.

5. Money Management

This is far and away the most important factor that will determine whether or not you become a successful trader. Averting the hazard of financial ruin is the main concern of all top traders. This means both adequately funding your trading account (only with money you can afford to live without of course) and never entering into trades that can potentially wipe out all of your assets. Better to start trading small and always use stop-loss orders to guarantee that your first trades are not also your last.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of everything you need to know but it outlines some of the areas you need to consider before making even that first trade. Now you know that it is not easy to earn money in the Forex market, however it is achievable.

However, success does not happen overnight and anyone promising you that it can is trying to sell you snake oil. It is an ongoing processes not something you pick up in a weekend. Trading success depends on the trader, and how hard you are willing to work to achieve your Forex trading goals.

Also, remember to try to have some fun. The clearest sign that Forex trading is not for you is if you find the prospect of learning about how the Forex market works boring or dull. If this is the case you wont stick with it long enough to make money and you will be among the 90 percent who fail. Just remember these three important things: be disciplined in your trading habits, manage your money wisely and enjoy the experience of Forex trading.

Ian Wright has always been fascinated with all forms of investing. Most recently, he has created a Free Forex Training Guide: http://www.free-forex-training-guide.com and has started a Forex trading blog: http://forex--trading--blog.blogspot.com.

Reasons to be Financially Free: To take early retirement

I am sure I am not the only one who has seen patients and even colleagues work to a standard age, then find that they are dogged by ill-health once they retire. One poor patient of mine was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer within 6 months – and I am sure you all have similar tales up your sleeve.

Sometimes life just isn’t fair.

Sometimes, after many years of giving to patients, you just need to prioritise yourself.

What could you do with a happy, healthy, early retirement?  You can still do so much good – I know doctors who have gone to amazing places in their retirement, and are still using their skills to the utmost, for the benefit of the wider world.

So – what age would you like to retire? 70? 65? 60? 55? 50?

You have to plan…

Here’s to a financially free future!

Alison

Reasons to be Financially Free: To buy that must-have Doodad

Life is not only about investing, it is also about having fun.

Anybody who has read any of Robert Kiyosaki’s books in the “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series (so mindset-changing) will have heard of doodads. These are items that we buy that we don’t need, that act as a drain on our pocket. Rich people wait until their investments are paying for them before they buy Doodads.

Here’s a list of the Doodads that I aspire to:

Golf club membership (not for the golf, for the yoga, gym, swimming and massage!
A horse
A nice car – possibly a BMW again, I miss that, but it would need to be an estate/ touring for the kids & the labrador…
Another nice car – I am a sports car person at heart, but then, that’s not very environmentally friendly.
A lovely annual holiday abroad like our trip to Australia – now wouldn’t that be just great?

By visualising the life that you want to live (while not being discontent with your current life) it makes it more likely that you will take the steps necessary to bring it to life.

Make a list! Let it inspire you!

Here’s to a financially free future!

Alison

Reasons to be Financially Free: To pursue your passion

Whether your passion is ENT surgery or exotic wine tasting, you can extend your enjoyment of it by setting up a website and educating others. Would you believe it, it is even possible to make money from this!

Think about the things you love to do – Golf? Reading? How about making rag dolls, or playing Rhunescape? Second Life?

Of course, you may prefer to save up your money to spend on the golf course – and that is fine too! Especially if you spend as much time at work as most doctors do… (you might want to rethink that one, too!)

Here’s to a financially free future!

Alison

Reasons to be Financially Free: To buy a holiday pad

We all have a dream location!

My husband’s dream is a farm with holiday cottages in Devon. He wants to buy this as a going concern so that it is income generating. I love farming except the hard work bit, so I would be ok with this.  However, I do have my foot on the American property tree…

I bet your dream is a bit more exotic!

But whether you plan to invest in a cottage in France (like several friends of mine) or in the States (good time, folks!), the return on this investment is likely to be better than that on many ….

This is especially so if you follow the pattern, buy below market value, aware of local rules and regulations, and do it up. Get to know the local area, find advisers that you can trust, and be aware of local mortgage regulations.

Here’s to a financially free future!

Alison

Reasons to be Financially Free: To start your kids on the property ladder

In learning about buy to let property, my eyes have been opened, big time!

When I was at medical school, there was a minority of students whose rich parents had bought a house which they then shared with their mates.

I just thought it was an odd arrangement, I think – can’t quite remember my thought processes in those days. I certainly didn’t think “Wow, what a wonderful investment opportunity, I must persuade Dad to invest here at all costs!”.

That’s what I think now.

I will certainly be investing in buy to lets where my kids go to university when it gets to that stage of our lives. I will set up a strategy long before then, for the benefit of the many doctors who have approached me with an interest in this area. While it is true that our kids are young and impressionable at 17 to 19, I think that it will help them to mature in their attitude to money if they are encouraged and given responsibility.

So this is the plan.

We buy “buy to let” flat or house in university town (but less than 6 beds or it becomes an HMO (house with multiple occupancy), to which different rules apply).

Buying price at least 15% below market value (possibly much more in current climate)

We get a buy to let mortgage – may need to put down more than the usual 15% deposit in current mortgage unrest.

We arrange all the refurbishment necessary, do all the necessary gas, fire etc checks, and have it ready to go.

We teach our kid the basics of managing a property. Make him/ her realise that this is a job, for which he will be paid.

Our uni student administers the property, including collecting the rent (easy nowadays with standing orders). Rent goes up every year despite it being his mates – it has to. If he wrecks it at a party, he & his friends have to forego the deposit as for anyone. He soon learns…(and after all, would it be any different if it was other students that we didn’t know living in it?). In fact experience of colleagues tells us that this rarely happens.

We may or may not need a letting agent – it is possible that the student will be able to let the rooms out by advertising in the university.

In fact, I am planning to set this up for the Financial Freedom for Doctors Site as a system that can work anywhere, passively….

Who knows, you may decide to invest in more properties in the same street for your son or daughter to administer. It will give him or her a great insight into the business world, which will be useful for the future. Not to mention that property portfolio!

Here’s to a financially free future!

Alison

Reasons to be Financially Free: To pay for school fees.

“But we have no intention of paying for school fees!” I can hear you say.

So, what if circumstances change? They did for us…

In 2005 we made a definite decision. We felt we had to decide then & there whether our financial targets should include saving for a private education for our kids. We looked the pros and the cons, and the financial viability of both options. We have an excellent State primary school by us (village schools have so much going for them!) and the son was happy there. Our daughter would start there in a year.

What of the secondary schools? We heard of the bad press, but kids tend to survive them, don’t they? Numerous success stories abound.

We decided to stay with the state system, after all, private education is massively unaffordable…

So – what changed our minds?

Daniel, aged 7, was a fun-loving clown, who tended to not sit still in class, and lacked focus – in common with many boys his age. In addition, he had an exceptional talent for singing. His voice (as we were about to find out) was of a different quality to the rest.  His violin teacher had pointed this out to us when he was 5.

At a parents evening, a teacher whom we knew and trusted told us again of his exceptional voice. He would benefit from this being brought on, she said, and he would also benefit from the stricter discipline in the private sector. Just see if he can get a scholarship, she suggested.

We were open to the idea, and started to explore the options. We were shocked at that Christmas performance, when Daniel’s brief solos in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” did indeed demonstrate that he had a different voice. He managed a scholarship at one, very strict school, but we opted for another, less strict, more fun, more suitable for his personality.

The fees are – well - high, but we saw a change in his focus immediately. He grew up – but not in a bad way. He took 2 terms to settle in, but is very happy there, with countless musical and sporting opportunities that would be unavailable in the State sector.

Of course this decision is up to the individual family, but maybe private education is something you would aspire to?

A friend of mine, a stalwart supporter of the State education, interviewed students for the new Brighton and Sussex Medical School a year or so back. He was quite taken aback by the difference in kids from the private and state sectors. The private kids were better-prepared, more able to think through a problem, and more self confident.

Surely a good baseline for the future?

Here’s to a financially free future!

Alison

Teleseminars!

Hi there!

Life is very exciting, challenging & busy here....

The first of my teleseminars is booked for this Wednesday, 21st May at 8p.m. (British Summer Time).

Wednesday 21st May 2008

Mark Homer from Progressive Property - 7 Reasons to Buy to Let Now!

For those of us that don't manage to block out the media's fear-mongering (after all, if they can't tell the truth about General Practice, why would they tell the truth about property?) mark is going to give us some food for thought about why now is THE time for investing in buy to lets.

I have managed to combat the technology a little, and have added a page to this site:

http://www.financialfreedomfordoctors.com/teleseminars.html

Soon there will be a left hand button to lead you to this page.

The teleseminars are a bonus for those who have joined my Email list, so if you haven't done so yet, add yours to the box below:

Add your Email here so that I can let you know about our next expert  teleseminar full of information to help you set yourself free!
Email:

This first teleseminar will be packed full of information on buy to lets in the current climate - so don't miss it!

If you can't make the time, however, you will be able to listen afterwards for a few days.

This information is priceless - my future teleseminars will be priced at up to £29.97, so take this opportunity while you can!

By the way, in case you were wondering, my first buy to let is now rented out at the price that was originally estimated in September, and my property investment company in America is now set up & ready to go..... don't you want to know more?

KR
Alison
Dr Alison Grimston
www.FinancialFreedomforDoctors.com

Financial Freedom for Doctors can help you to work out how soon you can be financially free, enabling you to work part time, take better holidays or plan for an earlier retirement. Find financial freedom through property investment, the stock market and the internet.

Reasons to be Financially Free: To set your children up for university

Another major financial spend is university. Now, I am no longer of the belief that going to university is the be-all and end-all of life. Having spent the first half of my life focused on achievement, I am now able to sit back and say that intelligence, training etc are not the most important focus in the world.

However, I am sure I am not alone in the world in aspiring to university or college for my children, in whichever subjects they choose to focus on.

Gone are the LEA Student Grants. Gone are the non-means-tested, fully-paid fees. University costs an arm and a leg now, and that is before the kids have got to live – possibly somewhere expensive, like London.

This is another thing to save for.

As in the game “Cashflow 101”, those of us without children win hands down! (but those of us with, wouldn’t do without them…)

Here’s to a financially free future!

Alison

Why should doctors aim for financial independence?

Over the last year I have been feeling increasingly despondent over the way the Government has been treating our profession. As a G.P. I felt that the new contract held hope for us to lead the way in improving evidence-based medicine, but not at the expense of holistic, patient-centred medicine, where we involve the patient in the decision – making.

However, it has become increasingly evident that the Government has been using the contract to make us do more work for less pay. Reducing the number of QOF points attached to each target, (so that we still have to do the same amount of work for less money on that target), and increasing the number of areas that we have to work on, often related to patient wants or Government vote-catching rather than patient needs, have eroded our trust in the contract.

The last straw came in December, when the Government railroaded months of careful negotiations to impose their chosen agenda of increasing the hours we work for free (again). All GPs will be aware of the despondency attached to this, and the feeling of being let down by both our representatives and the Government. In addition, the contract repeatedly rewards over-prescribing rather than holistic, patient-centred care, and lip-service is paid to patient-centredness by asking them to complete yet another questionnaire.

I was deeply disappointed when, at our local LMC meeting for GPs, we discussed the coming “vote” . When asked who was up for undated resignation, as helped our cause so much in the 1970s, no one felt able to put their hand up – current employment law means that, in running our businesses, our employees have so many rights that resignation is unfeasible.

Life is equally uncertain for our hospital colleagues, with nobody sure whether DGHs will last into the next decade, and maternity units and A&E departments being merged left, right and centre.

Sorry for the rant! Now for the positive!

If a large proportion of doctors in the UK had invested their money wisely for the future, my dream is that we could help shape the NHS without feeling so beholden to the Government.

 

Here’s to a financially free future!

Alison