Tag Archives: invest

Be a Pro, with Portfolio Pro from Bondora

By News, Peer-to-Peer Lending, , ,

Bondora logo

The peer-to-peer lending marketplace Bondora announced the launch of a new feature called “Portfolio Pro”. This has been developed based on the feedback received from the Bondora investor community over the recent months.

Bondora - Portfolio Pro

What is Portfolio Pro?

Simply put, it is a tool for people who like to have more control over the level of diversification in their investments. You can now use this Pro feature to create a portfolio according to your own rules. For example, you may choose to select loans from specific countries, with different duration and Bondora risk ratings.

How much does it cost?

It’s free! Unlike many other platforms, investing with Bondora is free and using the new Portfolio Pro feature is exactly the same. Enjoy!

To get started, simply log in, click on the Portfolio Pro link in the menu and get started today!

Don’t forget about the free 5 EURO sign-up bonus from Bondora!

How fast do you get your money back from renting an apartment in Europe – Top 5

By Real estate, , , , ,

Following the financial crisis and the decline in banks interests, more and more people have begun to buy real estates for investment purposes, relying on renting them and earning a higher return on the one obtained from a traditional bank deposit or other financial instruments. Read below what are the TOP 5 European cities where the purchase of an apartment for rent could bring the biggest gains.

The yield, or rental gain, is a measure of the attractiveness of a real estate investment. It shows what percentage of the amount used to buy the apartment you get each year from renting that property.
For example, if a person purchases an apartment with 200,000 euros and rents it with 833 euro / month (equivalent to 10,000 euro / year), that property generates a yield of 5% per year. As a result, that person will recover the money used to buy the apartment in 20 years (5 x 20 = 100%).

1. First place: Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

10% yield for a property (generally an apartment) with an average area of 120 sqm.
Time required to recover the purchase price: 10 years.

Pluses:
Some of the biggest real estate returns in Europe, but also in the world
The property market favorable to the owners

Minuses:
High taxes
Payments for property acquisition are made almost exclusively in cash
One of the poorest countries in Europe
Secessionist risks

2. Second place: Kiev, Ukraine

9.09% yield for a property with an average area of 120 sqm.
Time required to recover the purchase price: 11 years.

Pluses:
Low cost of transactions
Moderate tax on rental income
The property market favorable to the owners

Minuses:
Expensive properties reported on the country’s GDP
Corruption and risk of political instability
Vulnerability to international crises

3. 3rd place: Dublin, Ireland

7% yield for apartments.
Time required to recover the purchase price: 14 years and 3 months.

Pluses:
Moderate transaction costs
Strong market to rent for migrants
Strong and stable economy

Minuses:
Lower rents in recent years
Strong laws favorable to tenants

4. 4th place: Budapest, Hungary

6.42% yield for a property with an average area of 120 sqm.
Time required to recover the purchase price: 15 years and 7 months.

Pluses:
Proprietary laws
Higher yields in Budapest
Moderate and low transaction costs

Minuses:
Minor property restrictions
Moderate / high taxes on rental income

5. 5th Place: Bucharest, Romania

6.07% yield for a property with an average area of 120 sqm.
Time to recover the purchase price: 16 years and 6 months.

Pluses:
Moderate transaction costs
The property market favorable to the owners

Minuses:
Expensive properties reported on the country’s GDP

Peer to Peer Lending – The new financial intermediation model that gives headaches to classic banking or how the Internet and new technologies will change everything

By Peer-to-Peer Lending, , ,

When I was a child, I remember that my mother borrowed money from her colleagues in a somewhat organized way. The process was called the “Wheel”, and it worked quite simply. On the pay day of salary, the members of the “Wheel” borrowed each one with 100 EUR on one participant, who went home with the credit. Next month, another member of the “Wheel” benefited from money, and by rotation, after 10-12 months each contributed to help the other, and in turn be helped. The system was based on the time-based trust between employees and the human relationships that were being created in that professional environment.

Today, the access to the Internet, the new IT technologies,the expertise in money management, modern statistical analysis and large volume data processing, the creativity in developing new business come together in what is generically called FinTech, a fresh new cocktail between Financials and Technology. Peer to Peer Lending as a business is based on the ability to virtually connect over the Internet, cash providers either to be individuals, small businesses or institutional investors with potential customers who need cash, all against some fees or interest. The platforms that work on this principle mediate the demand and supply of cash through modern means, without having to support a whole network of classical “brick-and-mortar” subsidiaries (like banks).

The first such company was set up in the UK in 2005, and it works successfully, is called Zopa. To date, Zopa has billed approximately EUR 1.3 billion (GBP 1 billion) and served over 110,000 customers. In 2006, in the US in San Francisco, the two heavyweights of the US business, namely Prosper and Lending Club, were born. At the time of writing this article, Prosper broke over $ 4 billion and the Lending Club over $ 11 billion in 883,000 credits. It is worth mentioning that the Lending Club is listed on the NASDAQ stock under the “LC” symbol and offers loans to both individuals and SMEs. Another company, set up in 2007 in the US listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol “ONDK”, is On Deck. This company only intermediates loans to small and medium-sized businesses and has exceeded the $ 3 billion threshold in loans.

In Europe, it is worth mentioning the Estonian company Bondora, that set up in February 2009. So far, it has earmarked EUR 96.3 million for over 220,000 customers. Bondora, registered in Estonia, operates in four countries: Estonia, Finland, Spain and Slovakia, and investors come from 37 countries.

Mintos is another peer-to-peer lending marketplace based in Latvia that connects investors with borrowers of non-bank lenders. So far, it has earmarked EUR 256 million for over 29700 investors, with an annual average 11.95% for investors, and a total value of loans sold in secondary market of € 5 150 522.

Probably few know, but Estonia is a “world champion” when setting up startups and administering the country through e-government; The Skype-owned collar owned by Microsoft is a business developed thanks to the software platform created in Estonia. Peer to peer lending (P2PL) platforms in the desire to attract investors and demonstrate good faith and business ethics, given that money generally finances unsecured loans, has released complex reports of anonymous data Client portfolio and business going without being required by any regulator.

Lending Club publishes on a monthly basis all credit portfolios, with the status of each credit, including non-performing loans, and also publishes data related to online customers but has been rejected by their internal creditworthiness model. Bondora publishes an impressive suite of reports daily, ranging from the loan portfolio to the history of payments, for statistical analysis and calibration of the investment strategy. This transparency is unimaginable in the classic banking business, although there are banks whose shares are traded on stock exchanges. Another aspect worth noting is that the nature of the P2PL business eliminates one of the problems banks are generally facing, namely a lack of balance between the short duration of deposits attracted to the relatively long lending time.

As an investor, through a P2PL platform, you assume from the very beginning the amount of credits you finance and their term, their risks, and if there is a platform in the so-called secondary market, you can sell your holdings at discounted rates. If this is not possible then you can only wait for the maturity of the loans and the monthly recovery of the initial investment plus the related interest.

 

4 easy habits that can increase your earnings

By Smart money, , , ,

This article is about the habits and attitudes of rich people. What you are about to read are habits, thoughts and behavior that we have noticed in some of the richest people.
Fortunately, it all applies to you, starting today (especially No. 3).
We present them in the order of speed you can apply in your life:

1. Spend as much as you need, not as much as you like

This is the main reason why most people live at the level of modesty, some even at the poverty level.
They choose not to spend money strictly on what they need, instead they choose to satisfy more lusts and pleasures.
But there are people who refuse to satisfy all their pleasures. Instead, they save and invest. This makes the difference between prosperous and less prosperous people.
This is the typical case of the young man sitting in a studio apartment in a lively neighborhood, but he has an expensive car …

2. Refuse to care about what other “people think about you”

Whenever you make a decision, in the present case, a buying decision, based on what others think about you, you are taking a step towards poverty. You will never be able to achieve your financial goals if you care, first and foremost, about what others think about you.

3. Start educating yourself financialy

What do prosperous people do? They invest in tehiryself.They invest in their education. Since self-education brings so many financial benefits (and not just financial) … it is normal for them to invest in their own person.
The power of financial gains is even greater as investment in self-education and skills are getting bigger.
Education is the most valuable asset you can ever have.
More … is an asset that will never devalue.
On the contrary !
So, your financial gain will become bigger as you invest in self-education and personal development.
I recommend you go to trainings, seminars, conferences to expand your network and increase your revenue.

4. Choose a field of work that you like, but must be very well paid (both conditions are important)

There are colossal differences between wages, even in those areas that require similar efforts for training and education. Prosper people, before engaging in a field,they look at what financial gain that domain can bring in at certain amount of time. Then, depending on this, they choose their jobs or possible businesses. Our suggestion is that before you get involved in a job/business, do a market study and see which are the best paid areas, but also the least paid ones. The goal is to know which domain has potential and what domains should be avoided.

Extra Finance has started financing real estate projects

By News, Peer-to-Peer Lending, , , , , ,

Romanian alternative lending company Extra Finance has started a new line of business financing small- to medium-sized residential real-estate projects. Extra Finance will offer these loans to investors on the Mintos marketplace.

On average, projects financed by Extra Finance amount to EUR 0.8 million and have a one year repayment term. Prior to granting financing, all projects are carefully assessed and verified by an external real-estate company.

New loans listed by Extra Finance on the Mintos marketplace will have an interest rate of over 12% and a minimum of 10% skin in the game.

Extra Finance is a Romanian non-banking lender that has been operating for more than eight years. The company has branches in two Romanian cities. Last year, Extra Finance had a revenue of EUR 20.5 million, with a net profit slightly below the EUR 2 million mark. Their loan portfolio was EUR 14.6 million.

Extra Finance joined the Mintos marketplace at the beginning of 2017. So far, the company has financed loans worth more than EUR 300 000 through the marketplace.

From savings to investments

By Smart money, , , ,

Many people confuse the terms saving and investing. To save is to create a reserve of money that is kept at a risk as low as possible, even close to zero, while investing means putting the money saved to work in your favor to increase their value and to help you reach your financial goals more easily.

Savings to be affordable and to conserve their value are usually kept in financial instruments with increased liquidity and low risks, such as bank deposits or treasury bonds, these instruments being characterized by low returns. Earnings of savings are in the form of interest and the aim is to cover at least the inflation rate.

The qim of investments, on the other side, is the achieving of high returns by increasing the value of the invested capital and making profit, assuming an acceptable risk. Thus, the financial instruments used are from the least risky ones, such as bonds with a relatively low risk, medium risk (shares and peer-to-peer lending), and derivatives that have a high degree of risk and which are especially addressed to professional investors.

In short, the purpose of savings is to preserve capital at low risk and low returns, while the purpose of the investments are to increase the value of the capital invested in variable risk and return conditions depending on the financial instruments chosen.

The capital market is a dynamic way to invest the saved money. If you do not have the necessary knowledge to start investing on your own, you can contact a specialist. Before you start investing, you need to go through some essential steps:

– First of all you need to start your financial education. You can not start investing before understanding how the financial markets work and what are the characteristics of the financial instruments you want to invest in;

– You need to know what your risk appetite or maximum risk level is, according to which you will choose the right investments for your risk profile;

– You need to set your investment goals, including the time frame for which you want to invest, in order to create a diversified portfolio that meets your needs;


–And last but not least, you need to determine what liquidity you want, so you can have access to your money when you want it.

Choosing the right investments may seem like a difficult process due to the multitude and variety of available tools, but having a trustworthy partner with you, as it wants to be for you my-passive-income.eu, investments can become accessible to anyone who wants to become an investor .

Learn to invest in 10 easy steps

By Smart money, , ,

Investing is not as hard as it may seem. In principle you have to put the money to work for you so that you do not have to take your second job or work overtime to get more money. There are several types of investments that do not require large amounts of money to start investing.

Step 1. Put your finances in order. To start investing without looking at your financial situation is like jumping into the pool without knowing how to swim. Before you start investing, you need to evaluate your financial situation, know how much you earn, how much you spend and how much you can save to invest. Fortunately, you can start investing with relatively small amounts of money. The sooner you start to invest, the better your long-term results.

Step 2: Learn the basics. You do not have to be an expert in finance so you can invest, but you have to have the basics to make the best decisions. Learn what is the difference between the main financial instruments, shares, bonds, investment funds, deposit certificates, etc. You also need to know some basic investment principles such as asset allocation and diversification of investments to mitigate the risk and get the best results.

Step 3: Set your investment goals. Once you have found out what is the amount you have for investments and what are the basic notions you need to set your investment objectives. Although all investors want to earn money, your goals need to be more specific. Capital security, earnings, or capital appreciation are a number of factors to consider when setting your goals. What is best for you depends on your age, the moment of your life and your needs.

Step 4: Determine your risk profile. A decrease in the total value of your investments gives you the creeps? Before deciding what investments are right for you, you need to know how much risk you are willing to assume. Do you like car racing and amusement parks or do you prefer to read a good book in the quiet of your house? Your risk profile varies depending on your age, income, and financial goals. Find out how well you tolerate the risk before investing.

Step 5: Identify your investment style. Some investors prefer speculation while others prefer long-term investment. Once you have set your investment goals and risk profile, you need to see if the two are compatible. If you like racing cars, but you prefer capital security then it is better to tackle a conservative strategy. A conservative strategy involves investing in relatively low-income, low-risk financial instruments, while an aggressive strategy implies taking high risks to get high profits.

Step 6: Find out and understand the costs of your investments. It is very important to understand the costs of your investments because they can reduce your investment’s profitability. In principle, passive investments tends to have lower costs than active investments. Each type of investment has different costs. Before investing, be aware of all the terms and conditions that this investment entails in order not to have surprises later.

Step 7: Find a good consultant. To start investing, you need a trusted investment broker or consultant, with whom you can communicate very well and have professional experience and a good reputation. Establish some criteria that it has to meet and asks for recommendations. Schedule a meeting with him to see if he is the right person to guide you to the investment world and set the terms of your cooperation if you are happy with your choice.

Step 8: Choose the investments. Now you have all the elements to choose the investments that will be part of your portfolio. Depending on your investor profile and the consultant’s assistance, you can choose the investments that best suits your needs. To have a balanced portfolio, you need to diversify and allocate your assets wisely. With the asset allocation you will choose investments with different risk grades but also with different returns, from the safest to the least secure according to your risk tolerance. By diversifying, you will have a portfolio that will contain financial instruments from different categories and from diverse domains.

Step 9: Do not make emotional decisions. If you have not found out before, it’s time to know that emotions can negatively impact your investment. Do not let the fear and the greed to diminish your gains or increase your losses. Make an investment strategy and respect it strictly, otherwise emotions will influence your decisions and may be a greater enemy than ignorance. Greed can lead you to maintain a position in the hope that prices will increase even if the market is declining. And fear will make you sell a holding too early or keep a loss asset. If your portfolio does not let you sleep at night, it is best to reassess your risk tolerance to adopt a more conservative strategy.

Step 10: Evaluate and modify. The last step, as important as the others, on your investment journey is to evaluate and review your investments. Over time, depending on the evolution of financial markets, the structure of your portfolio will change, and you will need to make changes to it, to balance it again.

Start investing as early as possible and keep your interest in the investments you make. With time you will gain more and more experience and make wiser decisions.

The best way to make savings in 6 simple steps

By Smart money, , ,

Making savings is not at all a common activity in our “modern” times …
On the contrary, most people are only interested in buying the things they want as quickly as possible, and for this purpose they often resort to credits. They thus end up paying much higher amounts for objects whose value decreases continuously from the first day and which they will soon want to replace with new ones.
This way of thinking is very wrong.

On the other hand, putting some money aside, making some savings, and ONLY THEN buying those things is a more responsible and effective way to act. Plus, having some savings available – as they say, those “white money for black days” – is a very useful thing in this times of uncertainty that we are crossing. Because those who make savings on a regular basis will be less concerned about any unforeseen events and will be able to cope more easily with such negative circumstances.
The problem, however, is that even if they want to make savings, many people would not be able to do so in an efficient way, because the vast majority of them apply a wrong method: they want to save what is left after they have finished spending on a month. This is a mistake, because there is usually nothing left to save, as spending is at least as high as income.

So what do you have to do?

Here’s the best way to make savings in 6 easy steps:

Well-known investor Warren Buffett, one of the richest people in the world, strongly believes in the habit of saving, although he has a fortune of several tens of billions of dollars. He says, “Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what’s left after you’ve saved.”

And Robert Kiyosaki, a successful investor, author and speaker, who became famous thanks to the bestseller “Rich dad, Poor dad”, advises us in his direct way: “First Pay Yourself!”

So the best way to make savings can be implemented as follows:

1. Know yourself.
First of all, write down your earnings and spending in recent months carefully and analyze them to really understand what your money is doing.

2. Make a plan.
Set realistically a certain amount you want to save each month. Many specialists generally recommend 10% of revenue, but may be more or less depending on your personal situation.
Even if you save only 2% or 3% of your income, you will see that in the long run you are MORE gained than not doing anything.

3. Savings FIRST.
The first thing after you earn the monthly income, put those savings into a separate account that you do not touch. Now there are banks that can automatically do this for you, with the amount you set.
Try to “forget” this savings account, in order to avoid the possible temptations that may arise …

4. Make the spendings only AFTER the savings
Carefully plan the costs you have to do to fit the amount you have left. Try to get used to the idea that these are the only money you can spend.

5. Be consistent.
Follow your plan every month. In this way, your savings account will grow and you will be more motivated to continue.

6. INVEST!
Making savings is extremely useful. But if you want to become truly prosperous and, in the long run, even financially independent, then this is not enough.
You have to find more profitable ways than bank deposits to place your savings. That means you have to invest.

So, first informe yourself about your risk profile, because there are plenty of opportunities to get better returns than bank deposits. For example bonds, properties renting, peer-to-peer lending. Not to mention investment in capital markets.

The most important thing is to make it a habit to constantly look for serious and profitable investment options, because in the long run, only they will help you build a more prosperous future.

The simplest and most effective 11 truths about money

By Smart money, , ,

About money, personal finances and how you can have a more prosperous life has been written a lot.
But if it were to make it as simple as possible, you would see that everything is reduced to just a few extremely effective ideas, because the Pareto’s principle applies to personal finances too: 80% of the positive results are obtained with only 20% of the efforts made.
So before complicating yourself with too many details, maybe it would be a good idea to consider those simple and effective things that will produce the best results.

Here are the simplest and most effective 11 truths about money that can bring you a more prosperous life:

1. Financial education is more important than money.
Be constantly preoccupied with learning about money: how to manage, how to invest and how to keep them. Day by day, you MUST be the “master” of the money and not the other way round. Once you understand how money “works”, improving your personal finances becomes just a challenge and not a stress.

2. Spend less money than you earn and save the rest.
You can get everything you want. Just adjust your earnings and expenses accordingly.

3. Do not try to impress with the things you have.
Only superficial people will judge you for the things you have. True friends and important people in your life, however, will judge you by your character.

4. You must start investing as early as possible – the younger you start, the more time you have to build your well-being.
If you start investing earlier, you will have more time to learn, gain experience, and recover your mistakes or unprofitable investments.

5. There are “good” debts and “bad” debts, be careful not to confuse them.
If you use a credit to buy properties or goods that bring you income and whose value increases over time, then this is a “good” debt, because it will help increase your prosperity.
But if you make credits for consumption, they will make you lose money because of the interest you pay and the depreciation of things bought, so they are bad debts. Although the two types of loans seem quite similar at first glance, they are actually very different and have opposite effects: one brings you money and the other takes them out of your pocket.

6. Live simply and surround yourself with positive people, not things.
The more you fill your life with things, the more they will consume more time and energy. The more “toys” you have, the more you have to pay and maintain, and in the end you will be less free. Instead of being the owner of these things, they will come to rule you. Just live simply and makes wise decisions.

7. Be always prepared for unforeseen situations, both financially, physically and mentally.
Make a plan, organize yourself and put aside some money for such situations.

8. Nobody takes more care of your money than you.
You do not have to have 100% confidence in someone else’s opinion about the value, profitability or safety of a particular investment (or business) than after you have studied the subject yourself and made the calculations.

9. Think long term and plan your future.
Learn to postpone the rewards you are tempted to give you right away. Weigh carefully all the important financial decisions you have to take. The future will arrive sooner than you think and you are the one who will bear the consequences of the decisions you will take.

10. Do not treat the money superficially and do not waste them.
You have to treat the money as you treat a good friend: with respect and gratitude, because once you have maked them, you must take great care to keep them.

11. Trust yourself!
Learn to listen to the “whispers” of your self and give them more attention than to the “cries” of your ego. You have the opportunity to create the life you want. You are never a victim of circumstances. You have the power to control your thoughts, actions and perspective on life.

Be optimistic and always look at the good side of things!

Viventor peer-to-peer lending marketplace overview

By Peer-to-Peer Lending, , , ,

Viventor logo

Viventor is a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that connects non bank lenders from the one side, and investors all across Europe from the other side.

Lending companies independently select their borrowers, issue loans, and offer these loans on Viventor. Further on, investors can select from the pool of loans listed, and invest in ones meeting their requirements. Viventor’s business model provides access to “crowd capital” for the lenders, and makes secure investing simple and accessible for investors!

Who is eligible to invest?

Viventor is both open to private investors and companies.

In order to qualify as an investor, an individual must be at least 18 years old, possess a bank account in one of the countries of the European Economic Area (European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), and verify his/her identity to Viventor.

In what currencies can investments be made?

Investments can be made in: EUR.

Loan types

At the moment on the Viventor platform can be made investments in the following types of loans:

  • Mortgage-backed loans
  • Consumer loans

Investment in loans can be done in two ways: through the primary market (where new loans are displayed) or through the secondary market (where the loans are offered by other investors).

How can funds be transfered

The first deposit at all times must come from investor’s personal Bank Account, in order to comply with Anti-Money Laundering requirements.

For later deposits, external services like TransferWise, PaySera, and others may be used, for the sake of convenient multi-currency transactions, faster money movements and smaller commissions.

Investing

There are two ways to invest in loans: manual investing (when the investor browse loans currently listed on the Viventor marketplace in either the primary or secondary market and select loans individually to build your portfolio) or automatic investing using Autoinvest.

AutoInvest is an advanced investing tool that allows investors to create an investment portfolio, based on customs sets of criteria. After setting up and launching a portfolio with AutoInvest, the system will automatically filter and invest in loans meeting the requirements continuously. If there are not enough loans on the platform meeting the specified criteria to reach the maximum portfolio size, the excess funds will remain allocated in the Investor’s Account. Every time new loans are added to the market, the system will automatically perform search from anew, and invest in the new listings that qualify. AutoInvest is a great tool for saving time and ensuring diversification.

Mobile application

In December 2016 Viventor launched their mobile application. The app serves to make investing more accessible at any time.

The application can be downloaded from:

App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/es/app/viventor/id1173535557?l=en&mt=8
Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.viventor

 

 

 

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