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No matter how in love a couple are, when it comes to managing money together, relations can all too easily become hostile.
American couples who wait longer to walk down the aisle are inevitably bringing more debt to the table which is why experts say preparing your finances may be more worthwhile than planning the wedding itself.
According to statistics married couples who quarrel about bank balances and debt are more likely to wind up in the divorce courts.
Stress: Financial woes send many couples to the divorce courts so talking about finances before the wedding is recommended by experts (Stock Image)
A recent survey by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Harris Interactive found that money causes more arguments among men and women than other typical domestic disputes.
A full 27per cent of respondents said their spats started over money, more than problems with kids (16per cent) or chores (13per cent).
A 2009 study by researchers at Utah State University revealed that couples who locked horns over finances at least once a week are 30per cent more likely to get divorced.
Chris Kimball, a certified financial planner in Lakewood, Washington, told Reuters: 'I probably spend 15per cent of my time with couples actually talking about money, and the other 85per cent talking about personal issues.'
'It all ties into money. It's a very powerful thing that can do great things in people's lives, or can really mess them up.'
Shockingly, nearly one-half of all people have lied to their significant other about money, according to an April poll by Self Magazine and Today.com.
And a survey conducted this spring by CreditCards.com revealed that six million Americans have hidden financial accounts from their spouses or live-in partners.
The deception isn't usually malicious. Often it's prompted by guilt and embarrassment about spending. Compounding the problem is that financial behavior is very deeply set, and can't be altered easily.
So where do couples go wrong, when it comes to money - and how can they make it right?
Only 43per cent of couples talked about money before marriage, according to a May 2010 survey conducted for American Express.
But lack of disclosure about your financial issues - maybe you're struggling with $100,000 in student debt, or maybe you filed for bankruptcy at some point - isn't really any different from lying. Be up front about your financial situation, have the "money talk" long before the big day, and tackle any challenges as a couple.
'My significant other didn't tell me about the money problems we were having, and then one day we had no credit left and had lost pretty much everything,' says Holli Rovenger, an author and speaker in Greenville, South Carolina. 'If we'd worked together, maybe our finances wouldn't have spiraled out of control.'
Minor money differences can be overcome as long as you have the basics covered: You have your daily needs met, you're bringing in more than you're paying out, and you're able to build a nest egg for the future. But once overspending and debt enter the picture, all bets are off.
'I was always a black-belt shopper, and hated to miss a sale,' says Jenny Triplett, an entrepreneur in Powder Springs, Georgia, who's been married to husband Rufus Triplett for 22 years. 'I'd have bags full of new clothes in the closet, and only bring them out one piece at a time. But eventually we came to a compromise, and I got my spending under control.'
That's exactly the right template for resolving money disputes, planners advise. Even with differing money styles, if both partners take strides toward the middle and agree on broad outlines of a budget, it could prevent countless disputes.
Forex Trading Trainer and Mentor Craig Harris Trades Live in the Market with Students - PR Inside
Carson City, NV (USA), Tuesday - June 05, 2012 -- Veteran forex trader Craig Harris of Professional Forex Investments LLC recently introduced a unique approach to forex training and mentoring that makes it easier for participants to succeed. Unlike many other traders, Harris trades live in the market with his students to provide them an up-close, realistic experience with forex trading.
"Students benefit from forex training with a professional mentor because they get to examine the market live as it's moving," says Harris co-owner of Professional Forex Investments. "They can ask questions live in the market and get real time answers as to why I may take or pass on a trade."
Forex trading is a skill that takes a great deal
of time to develop, according to Harris, who has been trading for more than 10 years. But inexperienced and even more seasoned traders can expedite the process of their forex training by taking advantage of Harris’ Natural Flow System, which includes a variety of elements that students must master to become professional traders. Thanks to Harris’ live forex trading, students can learn by seeing and doing while minimizing their mistakes. Harris explains: "You can have a check list and still not get it right. Being live helps reduce the learning curve and prevents traders from making costly mistakes or developing bad habits."Novice traders can perhaps benefit the most from Harris’ unique style of forex training and mentoring. They can start out learning the proper fundamentals of forex trading and avoid forming any bad habits. Likewise, Harris helps people who already have some trading experience to unlearn some of the habits they may have already developed. Regardless of their level of forex trading expertise, Harris allows his students to virtually peer over his shoulder and watch him make trades in his Live Trade Room.
During the live trading sessions, Harris calls out his trades and explains why he did or did not take a specific trade. Students can ask in-depth questions as they engage in their forex training and receive real-time analysis to help optimize their results. They can also benefit from hearing other traders calling out trades and listening to Harris’ constructive feedback on their decisions. Dexter Meadows, Harris’ business partner, says practical trading in the market is essential to mastering the techniques required for making profitable trades. "Live Trading on a daily basis with a live mentor is the only way to reduce your learning curve in this profession," Meadows says.
Harris trades six hours a day live in the market with his students; he is available to his students six days a week. The live forex trading sessions are an integral part of the Natural Flow Trading System that Harris developed more than 10 years ago. Harris’ proprietary system combines training modules on topics ranging from trend identification and entry/exit points to money management and recovery.
For more information about Harris’ live forex trading and other training services, please visit www.craigharrisforex.com.
About Craig Harris:
A former construction worker, Craig Harris is a full-time, professional forex trader who provides a variety of forex training and mentoring services to students worldwide. Harris has spent nearly 10 years perfecting his Natural Flow System and the past five years teaching it to others. He distinguishes himself as a forex trainer by trading six hours a day live in the market with his students, explaining exactly how and why he completes certain trades. Having taught and trained hundreds of students, Harris is one of the most accomplished forex trading professionals in the industry. Based near San Francisco, Harris uses his unique trading system to help people learn how to do forex trading more quickly, effectively and profitably.
Press & Media Contact:
Dexter Meadows, Partner
CraigHarrisForex.com
Carson City, NV - USA
(510) 557-0852
craigharris@craigharrisforex.com
www.craigharrisforex.com
Forex Pattern Trade to Take Every Time - Moneyshow.com
Huzefa Hamid, a contributor to DailyForex.com and co-founder of The Forex Room, reviews a recent forex trade inspired by a triangle chart pattern and some reliable Fibonacci price levels.
In my last article on MoneyShow.com, I wrote about the importance of a largely overlooked chart pattern, the triangle, and how it can produce accurate trades with excellent risk/reward ratios.
Here, we’re going to look at this concept tied in with a Fibonacci retracement level that I love: the 88.6 Fib percentage. To recap, the Fibonacci “golden ratio” is 61.8%. If you square root that percentage, and then square root it again, you get 0.886, or 88.6%. I often use a bounce off the 88.6% Fib level as a trade entry.
See also: Fibonacci Analysis: Master the Basics
Let’s dive right in and look at an example. This is a live trade that I took on the GBP/USD on a 15-minute chart.
The following chart is the point at which I saw the trade developing:
Click to Enlarge
My logic was this: The price moved from a high to a low (marked by the 100% and 0% lines) and then moved back up to the 88.6% level (highlighted by the small blue line). The price bounced off that level to the exact pip. I felt the price would continue moving down and extend the previous down move past the 0% level.
I could have entered a short position immediately, but the nearest place for a stop was around 45 pips away (above the previous high). While the profit target was over 80 pips, which gave a decent risk/reward, I felt I could get a tighter stop loss on a consolidation.
As a result, I waited for a pullback or consolidation (such as a triangle) from which to plan the trade. The risk with waiting is missing the trade entirely, as price could just rocket down and not consolidate at all.
Getting into the Trade
When I checked the chart again, I noticed a triangle consolidation where price had just broken out and decided this made a good entry point. I used a 25-pip stop, which was just above the triangle.
In the following chart, I’ve marked just the initial high as Point X, the low as Point 1, and the 88.6% level as Point 2 (and removed the other Fib levels for clarity). The triangle pattern is marked with the red lines.
Click to Enlarge
Getting Out of the Trade
My target was a 100% extension of Wave 1. This means you take the size of Wave 1, i.e. from Point X to Point 1, and measure 100% of that size from Point 2. That gave me a target of about 80 pips away from my entry. This was a risk/reward ratio of over 1:3, which I think is very acceptable.
Click to Enlarge
When it hit the target, it broke it by one or two pips before rebounding and going through it firmly. See the following chart:
Click to Enlarge
Trading Conclusions
- A Fib level can often produce a good set-up, but if you don’t see it quick enough, you may miss the trade or have to accept a wide stop
- The triangle pattern can give you a tighter entry, and therefore, a better risk/reward ratio
- In forex, the pips made only make sense when you compare to the pips risked
By Huzefa Hamid, contributor, DailyForex.com, co-founder, The Forex Room
What is the minimum risk/reward ratio you look for on your trades? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Celebrating Victory Today, But Big Money Is the Big Winner - DAILY KOS
While celebrating the big victory, I keep in mind the defeats and what they mean, not just for our state, but for our country:
Big Money, Republican leaning Corporate Media, saturated RW hate radio and Faux Newzzzz have kept a lying, corrupt, extremist governor in office against the largest state-wide grassroots movement I've ever seen or read about.If this power combination can save someone as toxic as Scott Walker, every election in this country is vulnerable. Big Money will just roll in, local and statewide corporate media will pander to the Republicans and attack the Democrats, and hate radio with Faux Newzzz will just hammer away at the rest. If I was President Obama, I'd be very, very worried (and perhaps more than a bit regretful that I didn't step in to defend the principle of recalls and campaign for Tom Barrett) because they'll use this same strategy to go after him.
The Republican wins yesterday are very troublesome because they overcame a massive grassroots movement. This was a test of our very concept of democracy - that People Power could overcome Money Power. Money Power won.
It wasn't Money Power alone that won. Money Power was also helped by their previous establishment of a corporatized media with media monopolies once again permitted by the relaxation, lack of enforcement, or elimination of regulations that prevented it in the past. Our leaders either ignored history or failed to remember that history repeats itself unless we prevent it from doing so.
William Randolph Hearst, media mogul and RWNJ (do those 2 always go hand in hand?) controlled a vast media empire in a time when print media was the only game in town and radio was in its infancy. As a result, he had a massive political influence that went well beyond what it should. Rules were established to prevent another media monopoly after his collapsed due to his greed to own it all sent his empire into financial ruin. Had he been less grasping to buy every newspaper in sight, that empire might still exist today weilding enormous influence.
Instead, lack of enforcement and deregulation have allowed modern day RWNJ and media mogul Rupert Murdock to emerge. And Clear Channel with its vast holdings throughout the country continues to expand the reach of RW hate radio with a few progressive stations sprinkled in here and there for "balance".
Corporations, no longer happy just to buy favorable coverage (or at least prevent negative coverage) with advertising dollars (do they really expect you to buy one of those wind turbines, jumbo jets, or jet engines they advertise?) have now become media owners themselves. Don't expect to see stories on how many Fortune 500 companies pay ZERO taxes or how their armies of lobbyists keep people paying more so they can pay less. And don't expect to see any positive coverage of politicians who don't serve their interests.
Big Money didn't do it on its own yesterday. Big Money has also patiently created Corporate Media over the decades. The team of Big Money and Corporate Media won. Our corporate media in Wisconsin has ensured that most people in Wisconsin hadn't even heard about the John Doe or Scott Walkers criminal defense fund, that acted like stenographers for Scott Walker "It's Working" talking points, that failed to point out he's the first governor in history to keep a secret schedule, that accepted and printed Scott Walkers Miracle Math jobs numbers while denouncing the actual Bureau of Labor Statistics report, that promoted Scott Walkers We Have More Teachers Miracle Math Report (yes, we have more teachers if you just ignore the numbers of retirements, layoffs, and resignations, but count replacement teachers as new, additional teachers), and so much other phony claptrap they pass off as "news".
Not just print media, but electronic media is equally at fault. Celebrity gossip, sensationalized stories, and propaganda are all you get. Whether on the radio, television, or newspaper it's becoming all Pravda all the time. Climate change is debatable (stop believing your own lying eyes), "clean coal" is good, the oil companies always clean up after a major spill, the uber rich are "job creators", regulations are bad, taxes are bad, and, my favorite, work hard and save and you, too, will be "prosperous".
And then there's the RW hate radio that saturates every inch of this country and Faux Newzzz available on basic cable everywhere to gin up every wingnut within earshot with an endless parade of sensationalized stories and ideological memes.
A healthy, vibrant, truth-reporting media is vital to a democracy. So vital that Freedom of the Press is enshrined in our Constitution. If it no longer exists because it's been bought, can democracy survive?
I'm concerned about what the future will mean if this combination can save someone like Scott Walker.
Fulton Science Academy Middle School accused of tax money abuse - WXIA 11 Alive
ALPHARETTA, GA - "There's nothing in this report that actually said that we did anything illegal, (that) we broke any rules, (that) we went around state guidelines; there's nothing in there," Angela Lassetter told 11 Alive News on Wednesday.
Speaking as one of its Governing Board Members, she gave a formal reaction to an audit of the Fulton Science Academy Charter Middle School that showed possible mismanagement of millions of taxpayer dollars.
The audit was released Tuesday by Fulton County School Superintendent Dr. Robert Avossa.
"We're very surprised by some of the things that we found and certainly concerned about many of them," he told 11 Alive News.
The independent audit confirmed many of the concerns that lead the Fulton County School Board not to renew the 10-year-old school's charter status for another 10 years last winter.
The board offered the school a one-year extension with tighter controls, but the school's governing board refused the much shorter agreement.
That means it will become a completely private school on July 1st with an $8,500 tuition.
RELATED | Fulton Science Academy charter extension denied
The independent audit raised several questions about a $19-million construction bond taken out by the school before its extension was approved.
It also raised red flags over how many foreign teachers had been hired, security on field trips, poor bookkeeping and inappropriate vendor relationships.
"There was self dealing and conflicts of interest that were found by our auditor," Superintendent Avossa said.
Avossa said he also wants to check up on two other elementary and high school charter science academies run by some of the same people.
"I'm moving forward with an audit of each of those schools to see if the same wrongdoing is occurring in each of those schools," he added.
Their charter contracts with Fulton County Schools are still good for another three years.
Governing board member Lassetter claims many of the audit's findings are exaggerated or untrue.
"It's disconcerting that so many factual errors were given to the press," she said.
She also suggested that Fulton County Schools may have broken state law by including names of some of the school's students in the audit report.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Avossa said he's waiting for the school's formal reply to the audit before deciding whether to pass it on to local and federal prosecutors.
According to Avossa, the middle school got $3.7-million in tax dollars through the Fulton County School system last year and more than $30-million over the past decade.
Asked whether this situation points up a weakness in the charter school system, Avossa said maybe just in this case.
"Our relationship in this case failed," he admitted, adding, "We do believe; however, that charter schools play an important part in Fulton County and we want to continue in a positive way with our charters."
Finance Minister downplays lower deficit - radionz
Finance Minister downplays lower deficit
Updated at 9:35 pm on 6 June 2012
Finance Minister Bill English downplayed a $1.4 billion improvement in the Government's latest monthly accounts, saying it does not lessen the Government's need to keep control of its spending.
The deficit before gains and losses on the Government's investments was $5.9 billion to the end of April, $1.4 billion dollars less than forecast in the Budget in May.
The deficit was smaller due to a higher than expected tax take and lower than expected spending.
The tax take was $770 million more than forecast. But Mr English says tax is still nearly $1 billion down on the Treasury's pre-election forecasts in October last year.
Mr English says a tight rein on spending is still needed to hit the Government's target of a surplus by 2014-15.
The minister says the Government knows where the money is going, but the revenue is uncertain and this month it has been higher than expected. The big task is to do everything possible to lift economic growth.
Returns from State Owned Enterprises and Crown Entities were $300 million more than forecast, while spending was $320 lower than predicted.
The Green Party says the new figures showing stronger-than-expected returns from SOEs is further proof the Government should retain them in full ownership.
The Treasury says company tax was $450 million more than it forecast in the Budget. Crown expenses were 0.6% lower than expected. The debt balance is slightly better than forecast at 25.9% of gross domestic product.
Infometrics economist Benje Patterson says the better-than-forecast deficit does not signal a dramatic turnaround in the Government's books and more spending cuts will be needed to hit the surplus target.
Copyright © 2012, Radio New Zealand
MONEY MARKETS-Key dollar rate dips on stimulus hopes - Reuters
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Forex Flash: Today's strategy for USD/JPY – Commerzbank and Danske Bank - FXStreet.com
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