With the hot housing market just warming up last summer, we bought a couple of properties to flip.  It was going to be a new experience for us, but we thought that we would be up to the challenge.

The first house was a good opportunity to learn.  One of us had some construction experience, so we consulted him on all the building decisions.  We replaced all of the bathtubs in the home with shower cubicles thinking that it would be a good idea.

It didn’t end up being a good idea at all.  We had a lot of problems selling it as most people expected to see showers in their homes.

But we did learn that electric showers were a welcome addition to homes - we were able to get more money out of each home that we sold.

We are still learning though.  I have to say though that this has been a profitable venture, the most valuable part of the experience is learning how to flip a house properly - it is something that we can duplicate over and over again.

Okay, it might not be so late, but it is a little bit late to be looking for a bargain.  I guess the thing is, I am looking for a bargain on something that a lot of people wouldn’t look at in a place that most of my friends wouldn’t consider.

You see, I am looking for land for sale in the UK.

Now, that might seem a bit weird, but I heard through the grapevine that it was a good place to invest money.  The fact that there is very limited space there promises that I should get a good return on my investment, but I wanted to make sure that the UK land was as good as I had heard.

So, I have been reading on a bunch of land investment websites to read suggestions on areas, as well as crunching numbers on the properties that I have found that have potential.

There’s a technical college in southeastern Ohio that trains students in hospitality management. On spring Saturdays, the facility is host to class reunions, up to three at the same time. I was present one such Saturday recently when the classes of ‘43, ‘58 and ‘68 were sharing the dining room.

I was especially interested in one of the conversations at a particular table off in the corner. There a lively discussion had been sparked by a member of the class of 1968. The topic: trading commodities.

Clearly emotions were running high on the subject of fundamental versus technical trading. On the side of fundamentals was a paunchy, florid-faced Boomer who liked to slap the table to make his point. His opponent was an attractive, petite woman who won the argument when she quietly revealed just how much she’d made the previous month in trades, and precisely how she did it. Her monthly profit was more than the table thumper makes in a year. Chalk one up for the ladies.

I don’t know about you but I invest to win.  I want to lose as little money as possible and make as much as I can.  Now, my investment portfolio has done okay, but I have been looking for better investments and maybe an extra nudge in that direction.

On my search, I found myself subscribing to a service that will research stocks for you.  They provide you with a basic set of reports as well as a service where they will do deeper stock research for you on specific stocks.

They also have a database of research that you can look at as well as all trend graphs to help you time your investments.  Looking through the members area, I was very happy with all the choices that I have at my fingertips.

So far I have only taken advantage of their basic service, but the information that they have provided has been exceptional.  I am really looking forward to seeing the effect on my portfolio by having this extra knowledge in my hands.

I can remember as a young adult going with my parents to the bank to get my first car loan.  They were also there when I invested my first money, bought my first stocks, and sat down with a financial planner for the first time.  They were instrumental in getting me started in my journey, and it seems fitting that I would be with them when they reached the age of retirement.

Well, it has finally come time for my parents to retire, and they have asked me to come along to help them out.  They asked if I could accompany them to a meeting with their financial advisor and accountant to help them make sure that everything would be kept straight.

We spent the better part of an hour learning about the required minimum distribution that was required for my parents to take out of their IRA account each year.  It seemed pretty straight forward (once it was explained to us) and we were given a worksheet to fill out to find out what the minimum would be for them.

The accountant mentioned some tax benefits of a Lump Sum Distribution, but that part of the discussion kind of went over my head.  We have scheduled another meeting with them in a weeks time to discuss any questions that we can think of over the week period.

I am very happy to be in a position to help my parents out with their finances - it is like returning the favor for their help they gave me.

Before you invest in a new business, you should do your due diligence, or research, to make sure that it is a good investment.  At least that is what I read in a business guide that I picked up at the library, and it seems to be sound advice.

Since I have been considering starting a home business to supplement my regular income, I decided that I could look online for business information regarding what offerings there are available.  I weeded out some of the businesses that sold feminine products like makeup (since I know nothing about it and have no interest) and came up with a short list of prospective opportunities that I would be interested in.

While looking at the online business information on these sites, I noticed that there were many different reviews from individuals and companies that either had tried out the products, or had sold them.  Looking back at my guide from the library, it suggested that looking at home business reviews are a good substitute for asking someone that you know that is in the program.  The trick was, that the reviews you read should be from more than one site, so that you can be sure that they are not sponsored reviews.

So, even though I have just started, it seems like there will be a lot of work for me to do before I actually start a home business.  But I know that after I have done the research, it will be more likely that I pick a winner of a business - and that is exactly what I am looking for.

For some of you baby boomers out there, you might be headed for financial trouble.  Quite a few of you have not saved enough for retirement and you may find yourselves facing a financial crisis in the near future.  Now, there are ways you can avoid it, read below and check out some of our ideas.

I’ll throw out a bad example first: you could get an additional job.  This would be a method to make some extra income, but it is not very efficient - there are so many hours in the day.  Besides, you probably don’t want to work much more than forty hours per week - which in this case your lack of time may become an inconvenience.

You could also take advantage of many investment programs that are offered online.  There are many of them that can help you make money online through investment in the Forex exchange and other emerging markets.  Just be sure to investigate the investment and the company - you want to ensure that it is a legitimate paying program and a solid investment.

There are quite a few other ways that you can build your retirement nest egg.  Just do a quick search online to find other methods that will help you achieve your financial goals.

Yesterday, I was able to attend a free seminar put on by some of the fastest growing franchises in the country.  Their goal was to find new investors to help them expand their business and their networks.

I sat and watched some of the top franchise opportunities being pitched to us from a multitude of different industries.  We learned about the minimum investment to get into these franchises as well as the expected return on investment.

I was sad to see no Starbucks franchise presentation, but it was later explained to be that they do no franchise individual stores - rather all their stores are company run.  So, my dream of owning a Starbucks went out the window.

At the end of the day and the presentations, we had question and answers sessions to answer all our questions.  I did manage to take home information packages from Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts - I will have to look them over before I make my decision, but they both look very promising.

Just a few years ago, I decided that my investment portfolio wasn’t performing too well.  Sure, the portfolio was earning about 8% per year, but I wanted to retire before I was 65.  Wait, make that retire by 40.  With my current income level and the return I was getting, that was never going to happen.

I needed a way to speed it up.

So I started dabbling in day trading.  Being that I was new (and over confident in my abilities) I really didn’t do to well to start.  I actually lost a little ground in terms of the worth of my portfolio.  It wasn’t until I received some day trading lessons from one of my close friends, that my portfolio started to shine.

You see, my best friend Bruce had the same problems I did a year earlier.  He thought he knew everything and managed to lose quite a bit of money day trading.  At that point he found a course called the Emini Day Trading Course that helped him learn the strategies he needed to succeed at day trading.  Now a year later, that is all he does - he no longer works a "real" job.

So he has taken me under his wing and is teaching me what he knows.  So far I am up most days - and with the training - I expect to retire by 40.

Being an avid real estate investor, I am constantly looking for new markets to invest in real estate.  I was talking to a colleague of mine one day at lunch and he suggested that I take a look at the Cayman Islands.

Looking into Cayman Island Real Estate I was excited about some of the unique advantages of investing in the Caymans.  Some of the more notable ones are:

• Favorable tax laws such as no income tax, capital gains tax and no property tax.
• There are no restrictions on foreign ownership.
• Good return on investment of properties.
• Great range of properties available from inland house lots to million dollar beach front properties.
• High rental rates for income properties.  An example is you can expect between $1000 to $2500 per month for a two bedroom apartment.

After seeing all the benefits, I decided to get in touch with a realtor.  Consulting the Cayman Island Business Directory, I found many realtors who I spoke to and were interested in helping me find exceptional rental properties.  I know that it worked out well for me and I would suggest you all consider the Grand Caymans for your next real estate investing venture.