What Is Investing?

The concept of investment is actually quite simple: investing means putting your money to work for you. Basically speaking, investing is another way to think about how to make money. Growing up, most of us were taught that you can earn an income only by getting a job and working, and that's exactly what most of us do. There is nothing wrong with this way of thinking, but in order to make more money, we'd have to work more hours. However, there is a limit to the number of hours that can be worked in a day, not to mention the fact that having a great deal of money is no fun if we don't have the leisure time to enjoy it.

You can't clone yourself to increase your working time, so instead, you need to have an extension of yourself - your money - working for you. That way, while you are putting in hours for your employer, working in the garden, sleeping, reading the paper or socializing with friends, your investments can be earning you money. Quite simply, making your money work for you maximizes your earning potential whether or not you receive a raise, decide to work overtime or look for a higher-paying job.

There are many different ways you can go about making an investment. This includes putting money into a money market, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, ETF's, real estate or starting your own business. Sometimes people refer to these options as "investment vehicles," which is just another way of saying "a way to invest". Each of these vehicles has various pros and cons, depending on who you talk to, but it doesn't matter so much which method you choose for investing your money, the idea is to have your money working for you so it creates wealth. Even though this is a simple idea, it's the most important concept about investing.

What Investing Is Not:

Investing is not gambling. Gambling is putting money at risk by betting on an uncertain outcome with the hope that you might win money. Part of the confusion between investing and gambling, however, may come from the way some people use investment vehicles. For example, it could be argued that buying a stock based on a "hot tip" you heard at the water cooler is essentially the same as placing a bet at a casino.

True investing doesn't happen without some action on your part. An investor does not simply throw his or her money at any random investment; he or she performs thorough analysis and commits capital only when there is a reasonable expectation of profit. Yes, there still are risks, and there are no guarantees, but investing is more than simply hoping Lady Luck is on your side.

Why Bother Investing?

Obviously, everybody wants more money. It's pretty easy to understand that people invest because they want to increase their personal freedom, sense of security and ability to afford the things they want in life. However, investing is becoming more of a necessity. The days when everyone worked the same job for 30 years and then retired to a nice fat pension are gone. For average people, investing is not just a helpful tool, but rather the only way to afford to retire and maintain their present lifestyle.

Whether you live in the U.S., Canada, or pretty much any other country in the industrialized Western World, governments are tightening their belts. Almost without exception, the responsibility of planning for retirement is shifting away from the state and towards the individual. There is much debate about how safe our old-age pension programs will be over the next 20, 30 and 50 years. But why leave it to chance? By planning ahead you can ensure financial stability during your retirement. (For more, see Jersey Benefits Group, Inc.)

John Kaighn

Jersey Benefits Advisors

John Kaighn's Guidance Website

Reciprocal Review Carousel

Reciprocal Review Carousel
Category: Blogging

Do you want to get some extra visitors to your blog and increase your link popularity at the same time? I am sure the answer to this question is probably a resounding Yes!. Read on to find out how you can quickly and easily use this viral technique...

Bill Shultz, a fellow Internet Marketer and Plug-In Profit site owner told me about this technique, which Jack Humphrey calls linking on steroids! It's an effective way to post quality content to your blog and get lots of links back at the same time.

All you need to do to join in is follow the instructions below:

---copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions below this line ---

The Reciprocal Review Carousel idea is based on a few simple yet effective link-building and blogging techniques I have learned:

Build value of the blog by creating a helpful link from within content.

Provide value to community by doing a review on a blog you personally like.

Link to YOUR blog has exact anchor text you want and helps you boost Google Rankings.

No more than 30 outbound links from any page to prevent penalties for link farming.

Viral effect of the link as more bloggers participate, link to your blog with YOUR anchor text, coming from quality content post will spread.

Here is How to participate:

Copy the entire text between the specified lines.

Create a post on your site and put at least one paragraph explaining how you joined the Reciprocal Review Carousel.

Paste the text you copied into your post.

Remove the Bottom Review and At the Top add your own review with a link to a site reviewed, at least 2 sentences about the site and a note Reviewed by: Your Anchor Text.

Link your anchor text to your site. Here is an example:

WordPress Web 2.0 Guide is a blog providing very useful information on building your very own Web 2.0 portal based on WordPress. Detailed instructions and howto guides make it possible for anyone to create a sparkling and engaging blog and join the community of like-minded individuals. Reviewed by: WordPress Web 2.0 Spot-er

Sites Reviewed:

Bill Shultz's Blog, PipelineIncomes.com is a regularly updated blog which strives to give information about internet home business opportunities to people interested in developing a home business. It is informative and provides links to many business opportunities on the internet. Nice job of incorporating the blog into your site, Bill. Reviewed by John Kaighn for the Jersey Benefits Blog and The Kaighn Report which provide information for entrepreneurs in the areas of investments, finance and Education.

Carl Hendricks Home Based Business Prosperity is a well-established blog where you can find multitude of information on Internet Marketing and blogging. Carl's blog is jam packed with helpful tips and ideas to help you with your online business. Reviewed by: Bill Shultz for his Pipeline Incomes blog.

Gamy Rachel has a blog - Make A Living Honestly that provides readers with methods of being profitable online while mainitaining the highetst levels of integrity. You will find helpful advice on article marketing, working from home and quality affiliate programs. You will find ways to develop a robust home based business Reviewed by: Carl Hendricks Home Based Business Prosperity.

Wolney H Filho's Work at Home Online blog provides lots of tips and advice for people who want to start a work at home business. Wolney has over 10 years of networking experience and regularly updates his blog to give you the latest ideas on how to work at home online and how to promote your website. Reviewed by Suzanne Morrison for her Internet Business Ideas blog.

Dean's Home Business Reporter is a WordPress blog of an associate whom helped I setup another blog for just a short time ago. Yet in this short time Dean has learned the power of blogging and has installed a new blog on his own that is shaping up to be a great resource for those looking for work at home business opportunities. Reviewed by Jeff Houdyschell @ Work At Home BusinessBlog

Jeff Houdyschell's Work At Home Business Blog is loaded with all the information you might need to know about the work at home business industry. It is designed to be easy to find what you are looking for and what he has to offer. Jeff also offers a very unique personalized WordPress Installation Service at a very affordable cost. I have used this service. I will highly recommend Jeff to any one that wants a blog installed on their own domain. Check him out you won't be sorry.Reviewed by: Dean@Dean's Home Business Reporter

Suzanne Morrison's Internet Home Business Ideas Blog is an excellent Blog. She can help you to make a full time income from the internet. She is part of the Plug-In Profit Site team and her blog is frequently updated with Internet home business ideas, product reviews and suggestions for and promoting your website. Reviewed by Wolney H Filho, the work at home online blog.

Mal Keenan's Internet Marketing Blog is a frequently updated blog on everything pertaining to the world of internet marketing and home business. He includes plenty of internet marketing tips and techniques in his blog and also reviews the latest internet marketing products. Unlike some marketers who recommend every product under the sun, Mal has a very honest approach to his reviews and only recommends products that have actually worked for him. Reviewed by Suzanne Morrison for her Internet Business Ideas blog

Jeff Schuman's make money blog is one of those blogs that I visit often. Jeff has become an expert in achieiving top search engine rankings for some of the most competitive ‘making money online’ keyword phrases. Reviewed by Mal Keenan's Internet Marketing blog.

Jeff Casmer's Work At Home Blog is an excellent blog that ties in well with his top rated work at home directory. He works hard at helping people and his blog is updated reguarly with information that is timely to help you work from home and earn money. Reviewed by: Jeff Schuman for his make money blog to help people make more money and get more traffic.

Jack Humphrey's blog The Friday Traffic Report is just another in a long line of things I read when it is done by Jack. Of course his Power Linking and Authority Black Book are just two examples of the tremendous information he provides. He blogs now about Web 2.0 and social marketing and if you are looking for tips to get more traffic you should check it out and subscribe to his feed. Reviewed by: Jeff Schuman for his make money blog to help people make more money and get more traffic.

Peter Lenkefi writes about Web 2.0 marketing strategies at Web2Center.com. He has some killer videos over there you should check out along with a ton of good information on blog marketing and various “new media” promotion tactics. Reviewed by: Link Building Maniac, Jack Humphrey, for the Friday Traffic Report


--- copy and paste the Reciprocal Review Carousel and instructions above this line ---

To summarize, you just need to copy everything between the two lines and then remove the review at the bottom and add your review of someone else's blog at the top!

Hopefully this will bring you some top quality links and traffic.

John Kaighn

Home Business Ideas and Opportunities

Jersey Benefits Advisors

Before the Onslaught

Every now and then there comes a time to diverge from my central theme of investment information and divulge facets from other aspects of my life, as well as other interests and passions. With the first full week of June nearly complete and temperatures soaring into the 90's here in sunny Cape May County, I am looking forward to one of the perks of living in a tourist area before the tourists show up inforce.

Most schools still have at least one more week, and so our beaches don't really get crowded until after the 15th of June. Therefore, it is the perfect time for me to enjoy a leisurely stroll along the water's edge today, perhaps in Stone Harbor, and a few hours of reading on the beach tomorrow in Ocean City. It is rather nice to be able to choose a different town and beach on any given day, because they are all so unique and variety is the spice of life. If I have the urge for a great meal and drink, the Washington Inn or Virginia Hotel provide the perfect locale for a romantic dinner in Victorian Cape May. The porch at the Virginia Hotel is a superb spot for sipping mojitos while absorbing the ambiance of the Victorian bed and breakfast hotels which line the festive streets.

It is the little pleasures that keep me plodding along through this adventure we call life, replete with its successes, failures, joys, tradegies and fun. My daily schedule, as intense as it sometimes can be, is punctuated by these delights which I relish ocassionally. The best part of my routine is that it is really not a routine at all, but rather a series interconnected events which ebb and flow with the seasons. The summer season is about to come into full bloom and my schedule will be changing along with the floral landscape.

In life I wear several hats which have a bit of a convergence. My role as guidance counselor is about to end for the current school year, which provides more time for me to spend visiting, calling and satisfying my investment advisory clients as well as the opportunity to enhance my online businesses. It's all about providing insights, information and guidance, so my routine just changes. Luckily this occurs at the right time, because the gardens at my home require my constant attention and care. I've been particularly delighted this spring by the array of color provided by the azaleas, rhododendrons and now mountain laurel which populate my property. As my dogs and I traverse the trails which wind through my yard and the National Wildlife Preserve on the eastern border of my property the fragrance of the mountain laurel is truly intoxicating.

So as the markets gyrate a bit this week, the only numbers which have any real meaning, in my opinion at this juncture, would be a DJIA close of 12,308 and a S&P 500 close of 1,385 because these closing levels would represent a 10% correction from the highs set this spring. Even a drop to these levels would not be an indication of trouble in the markets, but merely a healthy retraction, a little ebb and flow, so to speak.

Thank God it is Friday and the weekend is finally upon us, especially as many of us swelter today in the oppressive heat and humidity descending on the eastern seaboard. To anyone who reads this, get out and smell the roses, soak up the sunshine, don't overreact to the market news you'll hear this week and come visit South Jersey when the schools close. To the locals, we better get out there and enjoy today and early tomorrow, because the onslaught is about to begin! Did I hear rum runner, marguerita, mojito or a nice cabernet sauvignon?

John Kaighn

If you are interested in free information about Investments, Business, Marketing or Online Opportunities, visit my websites at:
http://johnkaighn.com
http://jerseybenefits.com