I Love Family Vacations

We’ve just got back from our summer vacation from Europe. I enjoyed every moment of it or maybe almost every moment of it. That’s because I don’t like to go thru or wait at airports.

This summer we went to Hungary. I like it since I was born there but my wife likes it too and she was born in New Jersey. My boys love it of course and it’s not only because the drinking age is 16 (for beer and wine) but also because they have lots of cousins to play with.

We spent most of the time in Budapest, where my family lives, on the Buda side in the suburbs. It is a very quiet and nice place, and there is no violence. Although people lock the front door all the time which usually has several safety locks. We stayed in a four bedroom apartment on the third floor. The only problem was that there was no elevator, but everything else was just perfect.

The weather was excellent warm, but not hot and without the humidity. Every day was sunny, nice and cool during the night which helped me to have deep sleeps.

We used public transportation which is very good in Budapest. The bus stop was right there where we stayed and we could be in the center city in just 20 minutes. We bought a weekly pass which was about $25 and it was good for all the public transportation within the city limits.

We spent one day at the Lake Balaton. We were lucky with the weather again. Lake Balaton is a fresh-water lake, about 77 km long and 3-12.5 km wide. It’s about 2 hours from Budapest.

I think the greatest thing in family vacations is that we do things together and all those great memories that nothing can erase. 

 

Can You Really Make Money Fast on the Stock Market?

I recently started to follow the stock market. It’s amazing how the market fluctuates day after day. A lot of the numbers didn’t make any sense until I read a couple of books visited financial web sites and watched business news on the TV.

Soon I found out that basically there are two types of investors, passive and active. Most of the passive investors let someone else manage their money and don’t really care about the market’s daily, weekly even monthly movements.  Sometimes they don’t even know what exactly they have in their portfolio.

The active investors closely follow the market’s every movement and they frequently buy and sell securities based on the market conditions. Successful active investors know exactly what they have.

So how much money can you make? Passive investors make less money. They usually make money when the market is in an uptrend and they lose money when the market is in the downtrend. A successful passive investor can make 5-10 % a year.

An active investor can also make money when the market is in a downtrend by what is called shorting stocks.  Although shorting stocks is risky, but in a downtrend you can make money faster then in an uptrend. An active investor makes about 10-15% a year.

There are also options which are derivatives of securities such as stocks. The price movement of options is not as simple as it is for the underlying stocks. Options which are basically contracts also expire, so after a certain time they can be worthless. Options are risky but they are highly leveraged. For example a 1% price movement of the underlying can result in a 15-20% price increase in the option’s value. With options it’s possible to make 100% profit in less then a week.

If you want to start to invest it’s best to get familiar with stocks first and a couple of years later move on to options trading. No matter what you trade, you can’t control how much money you are going to make but you can control how much money you lose. 

You Need to Escape from Multitasking to Relax Your Brain

It’s hard to imagine our lives without computers, cell phones, television, computer games. The use of technology is part of our daily life. We constantly check our emails surf the web, check the news, and watch our favorite shows or movies often in the same time. It’s only possible if we teach our brain how to multitask.

There are benefits of multitasking. We are more productive. Multitasking also gives a chance to escape from the present while doing something else. Sometimes multitasking can be dangerous for example driving and using your cell phone in the same time. On the other hand multitasking doesn’t teach us to focus. When you multitask you try to pay attention several things in the same time. But is it good if you really have to focus only on one thing?

With new technologies we are addicted to multitasking. We think that without those gadgets our life would be very boring. There was a time when none of these gadgets existed and people were not bored at all and they could accomplish great things in history.

We need to escape sometimes from multitasking and just do one thing to relax our eyes and brain. Even if it lasts only 10-15 minutes a day it could make a big difference. Take a walk, listen to soft music without doing anything else, read a book or just sit back in a quiet room closing your eyes for a few minutes.

How Stress Can Affect Your Health and Weight

Stress has become a too familiar part of our daily life. Stress is real and a serious threat to your overall health as well as your efforts to lose weight.

Your body is constantly trying to maintain a state of internal stability, called homeostasis. You sweat to cool yourself on a hot day and shiver to stay warm when it's very cold. When your body feels stressed, it struggles to compensate for the real perceived threat that's created the stress.

This response can trigger a complex series of biochemical changes that struggle to bring you back to your pre-stressed state. For example, when you're stressed your body releases various hormones and chemicals including adrenaline, cortisol, and others that shift your body into a flight-or-fight response. These hormones increase your metabolism, your heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, and muscle tension.

If these bodily changes are channeled into a physical activity the stress can be resolved. If, however, the stress is chronic and unresolved part of your life, like a difficult boss or an unhappy relationship, the effects on your body are ongoing and dangerous.

Long-term unresolved stress of the kind that many of us endure daily makes us vulnerable to hypertension, coronary heart disease, osteoporosis, and other disorders. Unresolved stress also has been linked to developing insulin resistance as well as developing the "belly fat" associated with inflammation. Too much cortisol may also contribute to leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that is recognized as a "turn off signal" to hunger. Elevated cortisol in conjunction with adrenaline can also encourage your body to hold on to fat especially around the abdomen.

So how do you deal with stress? If you teach yourself to adopt some simple stress-reducing strategies, you really can reduce the physical effects of stress. You need to become stress resistant.

Regular exercise can help you to dissipate unfavorable chemical responses created by stress. Stress reducing techniques practiced daily can be pleasurable in your daily routine.

Proper diet can reduce the inflammation and internal stress of your body.

Good Debt versus Bad Debt

Debt is part of our daily life. Each month we spend a lot of money paying off debt. Not all that is bad and if we want to get out of debt or improve our credit score we should understand what the difference between good and bad debt is.

Good debt is something which generates wealth in the long term and often the interest you pay is tax-deductible. Examples for good debt are mortgage debt, certain home equity loans and student loan. When you take a mortgage out when you purchase a home the value of your home will increase in the long term.  You could sell that home and you could get more money than what you paid for. Student loans are also good debt to since getting a degree will help you to get a higher paying job. Certain home equity loans are good debt too if you use it for home improvement or to pay off higher interest rate bad debt such as credit card debt.

Bad debt on the other hand doesn’t generate wealth and the interest you pay is not tax-deductible. Examples for bad debt are car loan, credit card debt and certain home equity loans. Car loan is bad debt since your car is losing value from the very first day. When you use your credit card to buy cloth, food or things like a computer or big screen TV you accumulate bad credit. If you don’t pay off your credit card in full you end up paying more and more on something which worth less and less. Certain home equity loans can be bad such if you spend the money on a vacation or buy something which will gradually lose its value.

If you want to improve your credit score work on your bad debt first and keep the debt to income ratio for unsecured debt under 15%. Try to resist applying store credit cards when they give you a discount at the first purchase. If you can’t pay off the balance you will end up paying over 20%. With good credit you can get credit cards whit under 10% interest so why get a store credit card. And remember if you can’t afford to buy something your credit card is not going to make you richer.

Foods That Slow Aging and Keep You Healthy

Aging is something you have to accept. There is nothing wrong to be over 40 in fact you could have the best time of your life if you keep your body healthy. Certain foods can make you look and feel young and help you to stay healthy. Of course you need some regular exercise too. Here is a list of foods that you should include in your diet every day.

• Certain vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, turnips and Brussels sprouts help the body in fighting toxins and cancer. They contain antioxidants and sulfur, which provide energy and keep your skin healthy. Eat them raw or lightly cooked.
• Nuts are high in calories but you don’t have to eat a whole lot to benefit from them. Nuts are rich in protein, fiber and important minerals such as potassium, iron, zinc and magnesium. They are good for your digestive and immune system and helpful in fight against cancer. Their high Omega-3 fatty acid content keeps your brain and body healthy. They are also good for a healthy skin. There are plenty of nuts to choose from such as almonds, pecans, cashews, walnuts, macadamias, pistachios, Brazil nuts and more.
• Whole Grains such as whole wheat, oats, brown rice, faro, barley and wheat berries are rich in fiber which keeps your digestive system healthy. They also make you feel full a good way to control your appetite. Including whole grains in your diet is a smart way to combat all types of illnesses, such heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.
• The Omega-3 fatty acid from certain fish improves mood and mental capacities. These oils have antioxidants which can attack cells that cause the body to decay. Omega-3s can also fight inflammation in the body. Inflammation can cause many different health complications. Fish oil is also good for the skin preventing dryness and eczema. Salmon and tuna are the most popular with elevated level of Omega-3.
• Avocado is full of monounsaturated fat, which can reduce the bad cholesterol level in the body. It also has a lot of potassium, which fights fluid retention and high blood pressure and the risk of stroke. Avocado also has a high level of vitamin E, which prevents skin aging. Avocado is rich in folate, which can decrease the risk of heart attacks. Avocado with its antioxidants can help your body protect itself from free radicals.
• All black and blue berries, such as blackberries, black currants and black grapes contain antioxidants which protect the body against damage caused by free radicals and aging. Dark berries are also helpful in maintaining good balance, coordination and short term memory. In the pigment of these berries there are phytochemicals which are called flavonoids. Flavonoids have antioxidant, anti-allergic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activities. Red wine contains high levels of flavonoids.

What You Need to Know for Successful Investing

When you start investing you need to know that investing money on the stock market comes with certain risk. Before you invest you also have to figure out how much money you want to start with.

If you are new to investing it’s not a good idea not to invest all your money without learning about the basics. There are too many people start investing too much money without the knowing basics of investing. It’s better to start to invest with less money perhaps with a couple of hundred dollars while you master the investment terms. It’s also a good idea to keep an emergency fund and never touch it.

As I mentioned investing comes with risk. How much risk are you willing to take? Remember the money you invest is not insured, when you lose it its gone. Stocks are the riskiest investments. Mutual funds are a lot less risky since they are more diversified. Buying bonds are even much safer and you can still earn a lot more money than in a regular savings account. The higher the risk the more money you can make but also the more money you can lose.

You have to learn how much risk you can take also called risk tolerance. Starting with a little money and watching the stock market you will learn to get used to the market fluctuation without panicking.