Not only first time investors, but avid players too have certain misconceptions about returns earned through stock market or its movement. I don’t really know how they come up with such myths; however, I can at least try to minimize them. Returns are always random Most people investing in stock market have this myth. They just can’t believe it can actually be a source of steady income, if bit logic is applied. Few believe they can earn millions and rely on their investment completely. And few don’t expect much from it. Both these expectations are misconceptions arising due to improper knowledge of the market. Market collapses every 3-4 years Yes, if pure mathematics can be applied to the market, there has been a decline every 3.5 years (on average). Unfortunately, that’s not how the [...] 

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People walk into the bank as if it’s McDonald’s, really. The last time I visited a bank with my colleague, she had her eyes popped out off her sockets, not literally, but she was very close to it. “Look at this! ING is now offering 3% returns on RRSP contribution for the next three months. This is much more than we get on our bonds.” She, however, failed to understand that a person who invests, lets say, $5000 in this three-month-investment at the rate of 3%, at the end of the stipulated period, he would reap $35. What then? Would he go searching for another three month investment plan, and continue transferring the amount from one bond to another till retirement? We plan retirement to get rid of rat race, and not to start another. The problem, however, with our society is politicians [...] 

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Post recession, people are more cautious about investing their hard earned money, mainly because they have experienced huge losses, and they aren’t left with much capital now. Many lost their invested money due to lack of knowledge, external reliability, and carelessness. However, with the economy recovering, they have gathered courage to invest again and are actively searching for profitable investment options. It is also important to understand before investing that the market, or the overall financial position of the country, will rise, but at a very slower pace. It would take few more years to achieve the growth rate, most nations experienced a year ago. Hence, it is important for investors to diversify their portfolio in 2010. Here are few good investment options to get better returns [...] 

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One of the biggest challenges faced by employers (Managers, CEOs, Business Owners) is finding ways to retain their staff and try to keep them happy, satisfied, and productive at the same time. They have realized paying salary on time isn’t enough. Perks and other benefits do help. However, they have come up with something that cannot serve the purpose any better – Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Under this plan, employees are allowed to purchase stock options, usually at discounted rates. There are two types of stock purchase plans – qualified and non-qualified. The decision to provide employee with either of them depends on the management. A Qualified Employee Stock Purchase Plan is considered to be more beneficial as it provides preferred tax benefits, while a non qualified plan doesn’t. One [...] 

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Though the growth in demand for online investing has been considerable in recent years, it’s quite a tedious process, especially if you are a beginner. Hence, most important advice given by experts is “doing your research properly before investing”. However, research is not the only thing you must do to learn online investing. There are several other ways to learn it. An easy method is to take up special courses in online investing that would help you to learn the techniques and be abreast with recent news. You can also seek help from online brokers and learn how they handle their business. However, before you take any steps, it’s important to realize that investing online has the potential to earn you a fortune. But it also has the power to pull away all your money and leave you shirtless. [...] 

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Ever wondered why most people invest in stock market, real estate, and gold? Quite simple. It’s because these options provide high return on their investments. Similarly, funds invested by any business like buying an asset, acquiring a company, or putting money in a project depends on their prediction of its returns. Thus, analyzing return on investment becomes quite important for every investor to gauge the expected growth of his wealth. By predicting returns on a particular investment, individuals or companies select the option that provides maximum benefit and make their decision to spend their money. Let us learn how to derive predicted returns on any investment. It is important to remember that return is always calculated in form of percentage. Here is the formula to analyze returns: Return [...] 

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