Monthly Archives: December 2009

The Mastermind Group: What Is It and Why You Need It

Business, Inspiration, ,

If there’s one thing I strongly recommend people to be part of, it’s a Mastermind Group. Besides the fact that being part of a mastermind group makes it sound very evil and cunning, it should be part of everyone’s life who is in pursuit of wealth and success. Napoleon Hill mentioned the importance of a mastermind group in his book Think and Grow Rich.

Mastermind groups exist to bring people that have the same goals together, and to encourage them to work towards a common goal. They are not just for making money or for business! You can have dentists, artists, musicians, parents and singles (just to name a few) get-together on a weekly basis to discuss issues relating to their field or lives.

The groups can be anywhere from two members up to a dozen or more. The important thing here is who is part of the group: it is quality over quantity. You can’t just bring random people into your group and expect everyone to click. Bringing in friends, while it may sound like a greatidea at first, may not always work out in the end. A mastermind group is not a friendship group. Sure, you can be friends and be part of the same team, but the purpose of the group should be apparent from the beginning before you bring people in. You must all work towards a common goal, and only bring in people that realize the potential of being in such a group.

This website is the result of weekly gatherings and discussions taken place with a mastermind group. The group had a common goal: to bring thatmoneysite.com online for the world to see, and educate people on everything money. The creators of this site shared a vision and a passion, not to mention compatibility to work together.

In the upcoming weeks, I’ll be detailing more about mastermind groups, including steps and resources to help you build a solid team.

How to Open Up a TD Waterhouse Active Trader Account

Investing, , , , , ,

I have been practicing day trading for the past six months on TD’s Active Trader demo platform and finally decided to open up a real cash account. While opening up the account was not difficult, it did require a number of steps to be performed before actually having access to the platform. You can’t sign up to the Active Trader platform directly: you must have a TD Discount Brokerage account before. There are a number of reasons TD does this, and I will detail them later on.

First thing’s first, you must create a TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage account. This is free, but it will take up to 2 weeks for the application to go through. In my case, I found out that TD contacted my bank for authorization and validity purposes.

Once your Discount Brokerage account is created and ready to be used, you must then call the Active Trader team via telephone to register. They will ask you a few questions to make sure the platform is for you. From what I recall, they asked me questions such as my experience level, if I have tried the demo platform, how much will I be transferring to TD and if I have any proof of executing 150 trades in a quarter. The latter question is a bit important, as TD will charge you platform fees if you trade 30 times or less per month (I think a 99$ fee per month). Also, the actual trading fees will vary, from 7 to 10 dollars depending on your volume. They expect you to trade at least once a day.

In my case, whether I was getting charged 7 or 10 dollars per trade did not matter, as my current discount brokerage account at my primary bank charges me 28$ per trade! The savings here are obvious if I go with TD. Among other reasons, I chose TD because their trading platform is highly customizable (you can put in your own values for MACD, EMA, RSI and Stochastic charts).

For those who have not tried the Active Trader platform yet, I highly recommend a demo/dummy account. For about two weeks, you can play with the platform and see if it’s right for you. Compare it to the other financial institutions offerings, such as RBC, NBC and BMO. In my mind, TD’s Active Trader is the best out there, and I can’t wait to start my real trades in January!

Your Credit History Matters

Investing, , , ,

There is a big lack of knowledge when it comes to credit. In my experience, the most important thing about credit is to make sure all of your creditors are paid in full and on time. If you cannot pay in full, at least make sure that you are making your minimum payments.

Another concern of mine is why do people have 12 different credit cards, 4 different lines of credits and loans? I recommend to work with one main financial institution: to have one primary credit card and one back up credit card in case of emergency.

When someone has too much access to credit it is not a good sign to anyone who is analyzing your credit history. Having too much credit is considered a risk to financial institutions, not to mention to landlords, car dealerships and every other business out there that offers financing as a means of payment.

Most people don’t have to worry about their credit. As long as your bills are being paid in full and on time, you do not need to run a report on your history. However, if you feel that you need to see where your credit stands, it’s a good idea to run a report to prevent future problems.

There is such a thing as having too much credit! Be sure to limit it to what you need, say a $5000 primary credit card, a $10,000 line of credit and a back up credit card of $1,000. Depending on your yearly income, these values may be different to you.

An example: if your yearly gross salary is about 32,000$, then having a primary credit card at 10,000$, a secondary at 1,000$ and a line of credit at 10,000$ is perfect. As always, talk to your financial adviser if you are unsure about your credit and its history.