The other day when I went to the library to research stock investments, I ran into an old friend and we decided to go for coffee.  It was great to catch up on old times as we had not seen each other in many years.  It was interesting to see what had happened in his life since the last time I saw him.

When we were discussing what I did in my life he had a lot of questions about the stock research that I do, which basically allows me to not have to go to a 9-to-5 job.  I really love my life and the fact that I have created the exact life I said I would.

He then went on to ask me what my stock pick of the day was as he thought it might be a little bit of fun to start seriously investing the way I had.  I have no problems offering tips my friends as it really isn’t going to affect any of the money that I am going to make.

While I was searching for information on some of the investments in my portfolio, I came across a headline that caught my eye.  It read: "Forex Killer System".  Wow, I thought, maybe this would be the answer to the investing gem I had been looking for.

I took the time to read the sales letter on the site.  The information that was presented was consistent with what I knew about Forex trading, so I really wasn’t worried about the legitimacy of the site.

Basically, what the program offered was a profitable trend Forex system that you could follow and get great returns on a consistent basis.  They were not offering an automatic software based approach, but rather a recipe of how to achieve positive returns.

For the price, I decided that I should buy it and check it out.  From the few pages that I have read already, I am getting excited to try it out – looks like I stumbled upon a real investing gem.

I have been doing some checking into my Roth 401k plan that I have established over the last year. As tax season dawns, I want to make sure that I am investing towards my future for maximum benefit and that my money is working as best for my future as possible.

I do not think that investing into a 401k plan is a choice. I rather think it to be an obligation. I shake my head at people who say that they can’t afford it. If they can’t afford to put a little bit away right now to help sustain them in the future, I hate to see where they will end up when it is time to retire. I can honestly say that they will probably have more money now than they will when it comes time to retire.

I did happen to do a 401k rollover this year and I am convinced that was the best decision for my future. To me, it is important to have the necessary funds to sustain me through my senior years, so as to not put unnecessary burden on my children.

I was looking for some mortgage leads for bank foreclosures and that type of thing. I am just getting into the business of flipping houses and I knew that foreclosures were one of the best ways to make money.

I own quite a few rental properties and have never had any trouble getting mortgage loans. The flipping of the house was a new thing, as usually I held on to the properties, but I was ready for a quick payout.

There is a real estate place that I was not familiar with, that had many listings for foreclosures. It was like Christmas to me to find some of these listings, as these are exactly the prices I needed to make money at flipping the properties.

I found many that were foreclosed on FHA loans and they are always in a hurry to dump the property and recover whatever they can on a bad sale. These to me, are the best properties to buy, as they almost guarantee you a good profit.

A couple of months ago, my husband and I contacted an Asheville real estate agent to look into purchasing our first rental property.  We decided to go with Asheville because that is where we live and were hoping to be able to manage them ourselves until we understand the whole process and hopefully have too many properties to take care of on our own.

There is a lot of real estate for sale in Asheville and there are many good deals to be found.  Although we are new to purchasing rental properties, we are not new to purchasing real estate.  We are currently living in our fifth owned house and have also bought two condos for our children attending college.

We ended up purchasing a couple of Asheville Condos to rent out.  We had only listed them for three days before they were both rented out.  The tenants have been very good and we figure that we should own four more in six months time.  It is a really good investment for us.

I find it funny that each time I talk to my investment advisor, he uses ten percent as the return that I will assume that I will get.  That could be my mutual fund return, or it could be my stocks.  It seems that the investment industry uses that as the magic number we will all get.  But why would I want to just settle for ten percent – I want more.

While doing some research to see what rich people do with their money, I stumbled upon a site that tasked about the best investments money could buy.  There were a couple of items on there that I was expecting like real estate and businesses, but there was one that I was unfamiliar with and had to do some research on – High yield investment programs (HYIP for short).

Most HYIPs invest in the Forex (currency) market to get returns of one to two percent per day.  That would mean that in as little as five days you would get the same, magic, ten percent return that your investment advisor tries to sell you.  To get these kind of returns you have to sort through all the bad programs, and find the good ones that are out there.  Due diligence is very important in finding an investment program that works for you.

Now that you know a return higher than ten percent exists, look around and see what you can make your money do for you.  Who knows, you might be able to get that dream home or condo at an exotic vacation spot quicker than you thought possible.

Well, just like anything else, not all franchises are created equal.  Some require larger investments than others, some have lower franchise fees, and some are not good investments at all.  But, how do you know which ones are the best franchises to invest in?  Where do you start your search?

Right here of course. 

Seriously, when I am looking for a franchise to invest in, I look for two different things.  I go to my favorite search engine and look for the "top franchise opportunities", see what is available, and see what others are saying.  All you have to do is use a little common sense: if there are lots of good reviews of a specific franchise, it could be worth checking out – and same goes with bad reviews.  This basic qualifying (before crunching numbers) is a good way to find potential candidates for your investment.

The other term I like to look for is "fastest growing franchises".  Now, I search for this in particular, because quite often, these franchises have fewer saturated markets, letting you get in on some good territories.  I tend to be careful in this regard to ensure that the franchise is not extremely new – I want to invest in proven franchises – not ones that are too new to predict the outcome of my investment.

Lastly, I try to look for franchises that interest me.  For example, I had considered investing in a Starbucks franchise, but after some research, I found that franchises in Starbucks were not for sale.  Look into investing in franchises of your favorite restaurant, store, or hotel, for good potential investments.  Usually if you have some interest in what you are selling or offering, your business will do better.

If you are looking for a good franchise opportunity, the Internet can be a great resource.  Try out some of the searches that we have suggested, or just look up those companies that you would like to invest in.  Take your time, do your due diligence, and you should end up with a good franchise to invest in.

Now, I know the title I put on this article seems a little incredible – getting financing for whatever project your business needs in the next 24 hours.  For those of you out there, you are probably familiar with unsecured business loans – filling out the paperwork, providing the piles of financial documentation, and the long wait to get approved.  I have had times in the past where the wait resulted in missing the opportunity that I was after.

I should mention businesses that have bad credit as well.  For those of you who have had a business loan for bad credit – and I know some of you out there have had some of these loans – you can appreciate having an option that is quicker.  For the loans for bad credit, sometimes the wait and paperwork can be overwhelming – especially if you are trying to take advantage of a limited time offer.

Now, I promised there is a way to get approval for financing in 24 hours or less.  The financial product you need to do this is a business cash advance.  In terms of time to fill out an application, you can do it in about ten minutes online.  Like I said above, approval usually takes less than 24 hours, and you can have the money in your hand in less than a week.  Even those of you that have bad credit can take advantage of this type of financing – companies that offer business cash advances are not as concerned with credit ratings – rather the ability of the company to pay back the advance.

My advice would be to check them out – chances are that they will help you business grow and take your business success to the next level.

I decided it was that time of year for me to look at the performance of my investment portfolio.  I take a quick peak at it each week, and usually take a good hard look at it once a year – usually in the fall.

So I have been sitting here today updating my spreadsheet that has all my investments on it and I am shocked.  My return for the past year has been a measly 4% – barely enough to stave off inflation.

I really need to do something – with returns like this, I will never be able to retire.  I decided to take a quick peek online to see if there is something better I could be doing with my money.

I found a day trading blog that caught my interest.  The author was kind enough to share both the trades that he did well, and the trades that didn’t go so well.  He also recommended a futures day trading course and I decided to take a look at it.

Reading the site about the Emini Day Trading Course was educational.  They even had a beginner’s primer so that I could learn the language that is used in day trading.  I also subscribed to learn the four myths about day traders and I am waiting patiently for it to come.

Looks like I have new mail!  Talk to you all later!