Passive Income General Information

Make no mistake. Everyone should be aggressive about creating passive income. The more PI that can be created, the less stress about making more working income is created. There are individuals in this world that are able to live simply off of their PI. There are many types of PI, from basic savings accounts to stocks and real estate. The benefits of having PI take the place of working income are numerous. Regularly, when an individual starts on a path to creating PI, it grows on a regular and continuous basis. Therefor, if you are not creating PI, the question of why needs to be answered.

The benefits of raising passive income are many. They include creating freedom of time and opportunities to do other activities. For instance, maybe you have children and want to be a more active parent in their lives. Having passive income can help create that time you need. Maybe you want to take classes or create projects, and you know that your passive income can cover some if not all the cost. Passive income can lead to the ability to fund philanthropic ventures that otherwise could not be formed.

Even if the passive income starts out small, you should be aggressive in looking to create more of it. For instance, But where do you find it? You can look to your local bank. They have all kinds of interest bearing accounts with small balance requirements which you can use to create passive income. Another place to look is the stock and bond markets. There are thousands of companies that pay a dividend to shareholders on a quarterly basis as well as interest for bondholders. For larger investors, there is also real estate.

Creating passive income can have a dramatic effect on time, imagination, results, and happiness. Finding the way to create PI should be a primary focus when thinking about money.

Trading ETF Options To Wealth

One great way to increase your wealth is through trading options on ETF's. They provide access to indices and commodities that otherwise would be too expensive or not available. Traders with less capital can still participate and profit from moves in that particular asset class. Because moves happen every day, opportunities come up all the time. A few examples are shown below.

SPY - SPY is an ETF that covers the S and P 500 stock index. In this most recent rise in price of the S and P 500, SPY has risen at a similar level. Since mid November of 2012, SPY has moved from the $135 range to the $155 range. Purchasing 100 shares of SPY would have cost over $13500. The profit if sold now would be somewhere in the range of $2000 or 15%. Purchasing an April $135 call option in November would have cost somewhere near $400 - $500. The call option is now worth $2275. That is a profit of $750 or 150%.

FXY - FXY is an ETF that covers the Japanese Yen. In mid - November, it was trading in the $122 range. A news barrage about how the Yen would be devalued if Abe was elected prime minister in December (which has happened) has caused the price to fall to the $100 range. Shorting 100 shares of the ETF would have brought a profit of $2000.00. Purchasing an April $120 Put would have cost around $1 -$2 range. The April $120 put is now worth $21.00. That profit would have been about $1800 or 900%!

GLD - GLD is the main ETF for Gold. Just in the last couple of months, Gold showed a negative trend. It then ran up against some strong support at the $150.00 level. But on Friday it broke through and today it is trading in the low $130's. Put Options in the $140's late last week are now 5-10 dollars richer.

The ability to trade in all three markets exist because of ETF's. In these three trades, the stock market, currency market, and commodity market are all covered. Because of options, the profits can be very large.

***Disclaimer - Trading Futures ETF Options did have trades (closed now) in SPY and FXY options and has written about GLD as recently as last week. Always do your own Due Diligence before trading.

Finding The Right Broker

When someone starts trading, investing, or both, one of the most important and yet least focused on part of the process is finding the right broker to handle their trades. The chances of you finding a broker correct for your trading and investing is high. There are many brokers that cater to all styles of trading and investing.

Topics to think about when choosing a broker include but are not limited to price per trade, transaction speed, access to different markets, accessibility to human brokers, account limits, fee structures, and other issues that pertain to you. You should first have an answer to all of these questions before choosing a broker.

As an example, Sell The Call and Trading Futures ETF Options accounts have found that Optionsxpress is best for their trading.

Make sure and take the time to research which broker is best for your situation. Beware of deals from brokers. Sometimes getting the immediate financial benefit is not worth the long term cost. Choosing a broker not suited to your needs can and will hurt your trading performance in the end. Choosing the proper broker will at least not hurt your results and could possibly enhance your results.

Public Pension debate question

What results would occur if public employee pensions were directed to not invest the employee contributions for one month?

Solar Stocks

Solar stocks are in a bullish mood right now.