Are You Setting a Good Example About Money to Your Child?

Personal Note: I believe the area of personal finance encompasses our ability to positively influence those around us – especially younger ones, who are in the process of forming life-time financial values. At times, they even offer us great opportunities for self-examination as we’re almost sure that their actions are based on what they see in us. In this article, Nicole explains ways of setting good examples about money to our kids, as well as all kids we’re privileged to be a source of inspiration to.

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Nicole_Clemow]Nicole Clemow

Children learn by watching adults. "Do as I say, not as I do" is an excuse for poor behavior. Ensure your child models good spending and saving habits from you as they will set the stage for good money sense in them.

How to be a smart consumer is a lesson your child needs to learn. Sit down together and discuss the concept of needs vs. wants. This can be more difficult that you think as defining the essentials can be complicated. Your child may consider video games a need, because at present they don't have to worry about the necessities. Explain to your child that right now his or her basic needs are met by you. When they grow up, they will have to budget their money to make sure they can afford rent, mortgage, bills, etc.

Allow your children to participate in money discussions. Talk about budgeting, saving, planning for the future, and investing. Kids need to know that these are issues that they will be dealing with indirectly as a child (can we afford a vacation?) and directly as an adult (paying bills). This is a great time to explain budgeting.

If you consider making a major purchase and anticipate borrowing money to do this, include your child in the process and talk to them about debt. Credit cards seem very attractive to kids as they don't see the possibility of mounting debt and high interest rates. Discuss the pros and cons of using credit cards and introduce bank loans into your conversation. Explain to your child how you decide to fund your purchase and why.

Show your child how you maintain a savings account and monitor your investments. Depending on their age, you may be able to teach them how to read bank statements and quarterly reports.

Charity and volunteering are great moral examples. They are also effective ways to show your child the benefits of giving money and time. Contributing to church, charitable organizations, or school functions are all great ways to model giving. Encourage your child to participate in giving as well. Saving change to donate to a hospital or charity that benefits sick or underprivileged children is usually appealing to a young person. They can relate to the issues faced by a peer and take pleasure in knowing that they are helping someone.

Set a good example for your children by discussing money issues and explaining your thought processes when considering purchases. This will encourage them to use this knowledge as they are faced with monetary decisions as a responsible adult.

Ways for kids to earn money is the most recent project for international author and speaker Nicole Clemow. In her search to find new ways for kids to earn money, she has written a ground breaking new book. Check it out here at http://www.waysforkidstoearnmoney.org for your free chapter and other bonuses.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicole_Clemow http://EzineArticles.com/?Are-You-Setting-a-Good-Example-About-Money-to-Your-Child?&id=2715794

Today on GBPUSD – NFP Rules.

Pls NOTE: Based on personal experience, if there’s one particular day in every month that day-traders employing trending patterns should be wary of trading most, it has to be the first Fridays of every month when the Non-Farm Payroll (NFP) report is usually released. Early market hours are usually dull; afterward, usually around the news release, we have extreme volatility, which disrupts any recognizable chart patterns; hence, the entire trading day becomes virtually un-tradable.
Price action on the GBPUSD pair is buttressing the fact that today isn’t the best of days to contemplate trading:

On the Daily chart above, price action is somewhat confusing – probably reflecting the current collective attitude of traders. On Wednesday, despite the overwhelming number of factors supporting the bears’ dominance, the “loner” upward trend-line (the upward trending red solid line – NOT the bold line) proved its strength as price wasn’t only unable to close below it, but price was forced to reverse upward. Currently, price is in a rather confused state: a previous upward trend-line (the red dashed line) that price broke below about a week ago, which has been acting as a strong resistance area, again, halted price reversal upward yesterday; a downward trend-line (the downward trending red solid line) is also a level price has to close decisively above if we’re going to expect further price movement upward.
As we could see, studying today’s price action on the Daily chart is rather perplexing; and it gives more credence to the fact that traders are probably waiting for the NFP report to act decisively.

Update on today’s USDJPY Short Trade set-up

Pls NOTE that a new swing high @ 92.56 (highlighted with the white dashed line) has formed on the Hourly chart above. With the new swing high, price move above the 92.56 level invalidates any Short trade set-up – based on the method discussed on this thread.
Consequently, if you took a Short trade based on the 50% fib. ret. (92.49), please manage your trade properly. Your position is still very much promising as price has the potential of moving further downward to hit your profit target.
However, if you were targeting the 78.6% (92.80), that level is no more valid for a Short trade entry – again, this invalidation is based on the method discussed on this thread.

Also, be very much aware that major news are being released in the US and Europe around this period.

Short Trade set-up on USDJPY Hourly chart.

There’s currently a Short trade set-up on the USDJPY Hourly chart. I’ll give a top-down analysis – starting with the Daily chart:

On the Daily chart above, as discussed earlier this week, we could see that the USDJPY pair has been in downward channel formation since the second week of last month (August). Price has been travelling gradually toward the lower edge of the channel, and there seems to be enough room for price to continue its move southward: a major support – the Weekly chart most recent swing low @ 91.70 (which we’ve highlighted using the blue broken line) is still some pips away. Also, price has broken below the previous day low. The current price behavior is good enough to sustain our bias for a downward price move – from a day trade perspective.

On the H4 chart above, price has broken the most recent swing low @ 92.53 (which we’ve highlighted using the blue broken line) downward. That sustains our bias in favor of a downward price move. The white horizontal line @ 93.04 highlights the most recent swing high, and as long as price stays below it – in the absence of any new and lower swing high – our bearish or downward bias remains intact.

The Hourly chart above is currently forming a tradable pattern. Price bottomed @ 91.93 and it has started its retracement upward. We expect price to retrace to the area between 92.49 and 93.03 (which is the area between the 50% and 100% fib. retracement levels – drawn from the most recent Hourly swing high to the current price-bottom). NOTE that price has reached the 50% fib. ret. already. Let’s seek to sell around this area. If price exceeds the 93.03 level upward, our bearish bias is no more valid and we enter a no-trading zone. Our primary profit target is @ 91.63 (the 127% fib. ext.).

The 15min. chart above gives us a clearer view of the Hourly price action and the potential areas to sell (please note it’s advisable to set a Limit order ahead of time as price could move up to these levels and reverse sharply in our favor).
This chart is rather cluttered but if we look closely, there are a couple of potential reversal levels available. You choose your preferred level based on your personality.

fib 50% ret. @ 92.49 (you would be in the trade already if you chose this level – please manage your trade properly);
fib 78.6% ret. @ 92.80.

Initial Stop Loss @ 93.07; primary Profit target @ 91.63 (Please remember to factor in your broker’s pip-spread).

Please note that these Fibonacci (fib.) levels have other pivots, overlapping fibs or previous highs/lows supporting them (they are the cause of this cluttered chart). As such, price could reverse at any of the points. The issue here is that the higher the fib level you choose to sell from, the smaller the pips you’ll risk and the more your pip-profit; BUT, also the more the likelihood of you missing the trade as price might not retrace that high before moving back downward.
You need your own discretion here.

Please keep your risk low. Don’t risk more than 2% of your capital. Personally, I risk about 0.5% per trade; and each trade has a potential profit target of 1% or more – based on my exit levels.
We MUST NEVER assume we KNOW where price is going next!

P.S.:
Also, always keep in mind any major news releases. Be wary of possible price volatility during these periods.

Today on GBPUSD – Daily and H4 charts support Short trades.

On the Daily chart above, since the beginning of last month (August), we’ve been discussing the possibility of the GBPUSD pair experiencing a protracted downward move. Price action throughout the month of August only strengthened our bias. Currently, there’re quite a number of factors working in favor of a sustained price move downward – both fundamental and technical; but our primary focus is on technical factors: We would observe on the Daily chart that price is in a lower-high-lower-low formation; a previous upward trend-line (the red dashed line) that price broke below about a week ago has been acting as a strong resistance area as price retracement upward was halted twice in that area. A more recent upward trend-line (the red solid line – NOT the bold line) is a new area price seems set to break downward; although we won’t be able to ascertain that until price closes, decisively, below it. However, price has broken the previous month low – the most recent Daily swing low @ 1.6152 (which we’ve highlighted using the blue broken line) downward. That’s another very strong indication that the bears are resolved to hold on to their reign. And, last but not least is the previous day low that price has also breached. In all, we have preponderance of factors supporting a continuous downward price movement.

On the H4 chart above, price has broken the most recent swing low @ 1.6182 (which we’ve highlighted using the blue broken line) downward. That automatically sustains our bias in favor of a downward price move. The white horizontal line @ 1.6374 highlights the most recent swing high, and as long as price stays below it – in the absence of any new and lower swing high – our bearish or downward bias remains intact.

However, we still need our Hourly charts – using Fibonacci retracement levels and important resistance levels – to seek promising areas to take our Short positions. Price pattern on the Hourly must also be forming lower highs and lower lows. Please note that our aim is to sell a rally in today’s down-trend.

Also, PATIENCE is the key here: we need to patiently wait for the Hourly retracement. It might happen, and it might not.

Pay Yourself First

Personal Note: Dwight places emphasis on saving attitude in this article, and it is a very basic and important factor in personal finance. I believe he ended in the most appropriate way by mentioning the necessity of investing. Saving is very important, but not enough in our current economic world where inflation can easily wipe out interest on savings.

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dwight_Anthony]Dwight Anthony

So you want to be Wealthy. You also want Financial Independence and even a very comfortable and fulfilling retirement. Well, I've got news for you. You can almost kiss those dreams goodbye from now if you don't learn how to take care of yourself Financially before creditors, bill collectors and anyone else taking a deduction from your normal income. You need a two-fold disciplined approach. Like favored and best selling Author, David Bach says 'You must make this saving automatic'. With Bank's and Technology today, there is no excuse for not making your savings an automatic deduction before paying anyone / anything else.

If you are one of those people that pays all your bills, necessary living expenses and live off the difference, this post is possibly for you the most. By paying everyone else and making everything else but you a financial priority, you're sabotaging your relationship with money. You are not respecting money as a tool in your life. You need to make your financial life the number one priority. If not, ask yourself why you are bothering to make an income. A wise man once said, "It's not how much you make that matters, it's what you keep".

Making saving a minimum of 10% mandatory
Pretend you are the government and you require a payment every single month as mandatory and as a deduction. That is how important your savings are to building your wealth. Save at least 10% of your income, if you can't reach that high for now, go ahead and do at least 5%. You want to get to the point where you can save and reinvest 30% of your income at some point. I'm sure you've figured that when you are Financially Independent, saving and investing becomes a whole lot of a heck easier.

Get in the habit of saving your money. Don't be a normal consumer. Most consumers are almost always broke and live off credit. Isn't great when you can offer cash for purchases. You on average will save a lot more than those that use plastic. There is a know statistic that those holding plastic will spend upwards of 20% and more than those with cash for purchases. When you swipe plastic you don't feel the pain as much as spending hard earned cash. Start saving your money today and create your own little Micro-Economy, so no matter what happens in the Economy around you, you will be financially sound.

Go ahead and start saving from today. If you are a real spender, your job will harder, but you can do it absolutely. You will be amazed at how fast your savings will grow just saving a little by little. Also, once your savings grows to a substantial amount, you want to definitely diversify your portfolio and always keep a substantial amount of cash savings as well. Once you invest into a portfolio that is making money for you, you have the power of compounding interest on your side as long as you keep reinvesting. I hope you enjoyed this post and look forward to your comments.

To your Financial Success

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dwight_Anthony http://EzineArticles.com/?Pay-Yourself-First&id=2767684

Today on USDCHF – Daily and H4 charts support Short trades, but…

On the Daily chart above, as we observed almost throughout the latter part of last month, price is still hovering within the region of the 1.0600 level – a very major support level. Price has broken the previous day low @ 1.0553 (which we’ve highlighted using the lower blue broken line) downward. This shows that the bears are a somewhat ready to push price further downward – at least from a day-trade perspective. However, except for very aggressive traders, the coast is still very unclear as the entire area where price has been dwelling for days, as earlier said, is a very strong support area. Moderately aggressive traders that are prepared to go ahead and place trades might consider reducing their risk.

On the H4 chart above, price has broken the most recent swing low, which also happens to be the previous day low @ 1.0553 (that we’ve highlighted using the blue broken line), downward. That price action automatically shifted our bias in favor of a downward price move. Again, please be very conscious of the fact that price is within a major support area; hence downward pressure might be limited. The white horizontal line @ 1.0634 highlights the most recent swing high, and as long as price stays below it – in the absence of any new and lower swing high – our bearish or downward bias remains intact.

However, we still need our Hourly charts – using Fibonacci retracement levels and important resistance levels – to seek promising areas to take our Short positions. Price pattern on the Hourly must also be forming lower highs and lower lows. Please note that our aim is to sell a rally in today’s down-trend.

Also, PATIENCE is the key here: we need to patiently wait for the Hourly retracement. It might happen, and it might not.