Following the earlier post on Asset Aggregation, we’re continuing to run guest posts which were featured on other sites. This time around, we’re re-posting an article which appeared on Sweating The Big Stuff. Daniel has gone through a lot of great changes, so make sure to check out his other articles.
If you’ve been keeping up with Sweating the Big Stuff, you’ll know Daniel’s been hard at work funding his Roth IRA. He’s done a great job of adjusting his lifestyle to accommodate his aggressive investing goals, which leads in nicely to the topic at hand.
Most people understand the concept of compound interest and the benefits of starting sooner rather than later, but did you know you can squeeze EVEN MORE out of your investments by starting EVEN EARLIER?
Originally published over at My Journey to Millions, Evan’s letting me re-print the material on my own site. The benefit for me? More time to spend on wedding planning, but keeping the site fresh. Tonight was a rip-roaring good time at the local alcohol wholesaler. The benefit for Evan? More time being a new father, and getting link backs. It’s a win-win for all! Enjoy the post. :)
A while back, the local supermarket ran a promotion with Cuisinart. Collecting “points” with each purchase, customers traded their stickers in for various products. At the time, I was bouncing between two stores, but switched to focus all my grocery efforts on this promotion. The store got a regular customer and I got a sweet 8-cup coffee maker and not-so-sweet waffle maker (either its broken or I’m just that bad at making waffles).
If asked for your own example of customer loyalty, what would you give? Free months of phone service, flight upgrades to first-class, special hotel accommodations?
Most would probably think along the lines of a consumer, yet investments are an often overlooked area. Many of the same benefits for becoming a loyal customer in the consumer arena apply to the world of finance. Just as the grocery store was hungry for my purchases, so are financial institutions hungry for your investments.
More of a long-term plan, “Asset Aggregation” doesn’t get the same amount of discussion as say, Asset Diversification or Asset Allocation. Plus, it’s probably not the first thing to come to mind unless you’ve got a few extra zeroes in your account.
Let me clarify. There’s really two camps: private wealth management and discount brokerage
preferred clients. Private wealth management refers to the full-service operations within organizations like: UBS, Deutsche Bank, & Morgan Stanley, who cater to families/individuals with assets of $20 million or greater. Premium client status offered by discount brokerages fall within bands ranging from $100,000 to $1+ million in assets.
For the purpose of this article, we’re going to look specifically at the discount brokerage services. Nevertheless, there are still 3 primary benefits to asset aggregation as I see it: savings, privileges, and throwing your weight around.
If you’ve heard of Zillow, and like it, then you need to check out FinestExpert.com. A guest post from Dr. Boyer, the article argues that one can’t simply look at interest rates when considering mortgages. Understanding other factors, like how long you intend to keep the loan, are required in order to make the right decision.
“How do I compare rates to find the best mortgage?” is often the first question people ask when considering mortgage refinancing or when looking at homes for sale as investment property, a second home, or primary residence. Industry standards are evolving but it is still difficult to compare mortgage interest rates on an apples-to-apples basis between different mortgage lender loan programs.
To compare home loan rates, it is important to compare the same type of bank mortgage loan program – e.g., start with a fixed mortgage and pick a 30 year mortgage or a 15 year mortgage. Then there are three keys to evaluate the best home mortgage loan for you.
“More money begets more spending” seems to be an underlying result of success many people accept. In other words, the more money you make, the more you spend. Quite often, it’s the expectation of the money you should spend.
In most regards, we judge people based on our expectations of them. Generally speaking, people of certain social status or professions are elevated to higher standards.
Think about it. If your doctor showed up in an old, rusty car, it would probably give you cause for concern.
“Hey, wait a minute, what kind of quack is going to operate on me!?!?”
