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Although many people think saving and investing are very similar to one another, there are some key differences.

By being aware of those differences you may change your mind when deciding which action to take.

We listed some pros and cons of both saving and investing to help you to weigh which is the better solution for you.

Similarities and differences between saving and investing

The thing that connects the two is that they are both strategies to accumulate money! Saving or investing both imply putting your money aside for potential future needs.

They can both protect you from debt. However, if you find yourself in that situation, be active in the process and claim Payment protection insurance if needed.

The difference between the two is the type of assets used in the account.

Another one is that if you want to be able to use the cash quickly, save (but it can also be done for some long-term future plans).

If you don’t want to play it safe and your desire is achieving a higher return – invest!

Where to go?

Savers – go to a bank or a credit union and open a saving account. When opening a saving account, look for the APY (highest annual percentage yield) to maximize your earnings.

Investors – open an account with an independent broker, which includes mutual funds, bonds, stocks and exchange-traded funds. Also, keep in mind when investing that you should invest only the money you won’t be needing any time soon.

You should keep your funds in the investment for at least 3 to 5 years minimum.

Are there some risks?

While investing, you should always think twice before doing something. Saving is safe with the minimum amount of risk – it is very easy to do and the chance of losing money is equal to zero.
You are always familiar upfront with how much you will earn in your balance.

On the other hand, investing is always unpredictable and you have to be aware of the risk of potentially losing everything, but also of earning a lot more!

When talking about risk, the thing that needs to be mentioned is the price of saving and investing. Saving is not expensive, since opening an account is free.

But, you have to keep in mind some unpredictable factors such as inflation. Saving doesn’t protect you from it, while investing potentially can save you (if you think in a long-term period).

How should I decide whether I should save or invest?

This decision should be based on your wishes and needs.

If you’re looking for earning money and taking risks that can possibly have very good or very bad consequences, you should invest.

If you are thinking about putting some money aside just in case you might need it someday and you want to be able to use your money whenever you need it, you should save.

This decision is not always easy. Thinking it thoroughly, make the best decision for yourself. It can be a lot easier than you think – contact Optimal Solicitors in Manchester, they know what to do!

A recent article in a UK newspaper claimed 1.6 million Brits currently lease their car – but how many actually understand what they’re doing?

When I first leased a car, I had no idea how it worked. I assumed a lease was something you got on a retail building and not a car!

Don’t let the complexity scare you though. Leasing can be a practical and affordable form of car finance if you take the time to get to know how it works. In this blog, I’ll run you through what leasing is, how it works and a couple different forms of leasing finance.

What is a lease?

To understand the difference between leasing and buying, you need to have a look at what you’re actually paying for in a lease.

When you buy a car outright, your payment covers the full value that the vehicle is worth. Once you’ve paid the full price (either immediately or over time), you become the legal owner of the car.

With leasing, you essentially ‘rent’ a car for a given period of time and return it at the end of your contract. Unlike buying a car, you’re never the legal owner of the car, although you are usually its registered keeper.

Why lease? Because depreciation hurts

Leasing is an attractive option for a lot of people because it eliminates one of the major problems that comes with owning a car – the cost of depreciation (depreciation is how quickly a car loses value).

According to the AA, new cars can lose up to 10% of their value the moment you drive them off the forecourt. Worse, the worst of the bunch can lose up to 60% of their value in the first year of ownership!

With these motors, if you’re planning on selling your car after a few years, you’re in for a shock when you check what it’s worth.

Contract Hire

Contract hire (more commonly known as leasing) is an arrangement where someone ‘rents’ a new car for a set period of time from a dealer. During the contract, the individual pays just enough to pay off the car’s depreciation. (Plus a little profit for the dealer, of course.) At the end of the contract, the individual returns the car to the dealer and they both go their separate ways.

With leasing deals, you aren’t the legal owner of the car but you are the registered keeper. That means you have get the car regularly serviced and keep it in a good condition.

The best thing about leasing compared to other finance options is the monthly payments, which tend to be significantly lower. That’s because, as I already mentioned, you’re only paying off the depreciation. You can also trade your car in every few years for a brand new model!

Tom Butcher worked behind the scenes in print journalism for years until he discovered the wonders of the web. He writes for several publications, covering the finance, automotive and tech sectors. At the moment, he is helping LeaseFetcher teach the world about car leasing.

Exploring a few passive means of earning money isn’t bad for those that don’t want to opt for a second job. It’s quite natural for you to think of a consistent source of alternative income that won’t take the juice out of you. Even when you wish to create or join a platform that won’t prove to be taxing, you may need to put in your efforts right at the very beginning.

Consider few of the straight means of earning money as shown below:

Publish your book

Writing a book often lets you achieve a good amount of every sale after it gets published. Self-publishing of books is quite common nowadays; you can do it by checking the e-book options at large. Alternatively, you may get in touch with any publishing house.

Develop smart applications

Developing any smart-phone app has immense potential of earning money when a user downloads it. These apps can fetch a good amount of money as they get more popular with the target audience. Anything that you develop may get viral in no time!

Launch any static blog

Identify your areas of interest besides checking out things that tend to draw the attention of your target audience. Make the most of your website development skills in developing a website in these areas. It’s in your best interest to choose topics that may never get dated with your audience. You may even choose to host ads on a page wherein you have content worth good quality. A piece of content that’s always in demand can actually pay you back on time.

Submit a video on YouTube

Identify a few popular topics for shooting your videos. You may explore it as an opportunity to earn more by running ads on the more popular videos. Earning in seven figures has been a dream turned reality for video submitters on YouTube.

Take a few attractive snapshots

There are a few online sites that help you to sell photos. It’s actually a good ploy for those of you that are passionate about photography. If you’re an amateur, then you may test the water with sites like Shutterstock. For each downloaded image, you’re likely to achieve a commission worth up to $75.

Create your own graphics

Graphics and illustrations are often accepted by a few photo websites. For every download, you may earn a certain amount of money.

Be an insurance agent

By selling insurance policies, you may end up earning a handsome amount with each deal closure. Even when the policies are renewed by your customers, you’ll earn an extra commission.

Achieve stock dividends

Stock investments are among all natural ways of securing a passive income. These stocks yield dividends worth great percentages more frequently.

You must remember that every legitimate way of earning money takes you through a passing phase. It’s not like how easily you earn money in the casinos nowadays.

The ways mentioned above will help you create wealth without worrying much about how the legal authorities will perceive them. Leading a stress-free life is more important than pursuing money in an illegitimate way.

Irrespective of an ever-changing economic climate, some currency pairs will always be more appealing than others. This is because popularity and size of the market dictate what pairs are frequently traded. High liquidity and low spreads attract a higher number of traders.

The G10 are the world’s most liquid currencies. These are the US dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound, the Swiss franc, the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar and Canadian dollar, the Swedish krona and the Norwegian krona. Traders regularly buy and sell these currencies, making them the most traded currencies in the world. From here, let’s consider the best currency pair to trade.

EUR/USD

As you might expect, the trading of the world’s two largest currencies would be popular, as a result of its stability and liquidity. It’s a safe bet particularly for beginners, the pair is unaffected by other trades and is not considered volatile. The predictable nature of the way this pair trades, benefits strategists and newcomers alike. The high levels of liquidity mean that this pair often has a tight spread, meaning low trading costs. These low spreads can be taken advantage of by scalpers.

GBP/USD

The aforementioned benefits of EUR/USD are also relevant for GBP/USD. It is liquid, relatively stable and predictable, although slightly less so than EUR/USD. Generally speaking, the similarities continue for performance, the two pairs tend to move in a similar manner, although Brexit developments can impact on this GBP/USD, which have made it more unpredictable than the euro over the past year or so. Beginners are usually advised to not trade both GDP/USD and EUR/USD simultaneously.

Risk Off Sentiment

When market sentiment is negative, investors tend to seek safety in currencies which are traditionally seen as safe havens. The two main safe haven currencies are the Swiss Franc (CHF) and the Japanese yen (JPY). Therefore, when considering which currency pairs are the best to trade, it is also worth considering the trading environment that you are trading in. If it is a risk off environment, where the market is responding negatively to a particular event, then USD/CHF and USD/ JPY could be the best to trade. You could expect USD/CHF and USD/JPY to move lower when investors are searching for safe havens.

Commodity Currencies

Commodity currencies are currencies that move in line with the world’s primary commodity prices. They are Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Canadian dollar. They co-move with a particular commodity price because of these countries heavy dependency on the export of a certain raw material for income. If you are interested in commodity prices, the currencies could be the best to trade.

Which broker?

There are many different currency pairs to trade, depending on your personal preferences and interests. There are also many different brokers through which to chose to trade. However, it is important to choose a broker which provides first rate pricing and execution.

Vantage FX is an award winning Australian broker. It is a true ECN broker meaning that its pricing is inline with that of top institutions and it receives liquidity from the likes of JP Morgan, HSBC, Citibank and RBS to name but a few. Execution at Vantage FX is among the best in the industry meaning you have best chance of making your trade a winning trade.

If you are financially stable and successful in your life then you can go ahead and gamble some money away. Below are some ideas where can you wager your money on, as well as some top ways of earning more money. However, people always argue that these are not the right ways of obtaining more cash.

Different countries do have different tax structures for this income and your service charges will be more than your normal earnings taxes, so the deductions will take a higher portion of your total profit. The reason behind this taxation is that you have put less effort & thus got more money. But also here there is a high chance of losing everything. Means this is a game of no risk no gain.

Below I have listed 3 ways you can do this:

Earning money from lottery: If you are a huge fan of winning the lottery, that means you want to earn big. However, there is no assurance whether you will definitely get the money or not. Many people have lost their entire savings by investing in lottery tickets and yet they didn’t get anything.

Earning scope in casinos: Many night clubs do have casinos inside them & youngsters are very interested in clubbing, roulette and poker. This is nowadays one of the best & most popular mediums for refreshments. In casinos the winning stake can be huge if you know what are you doing, otherwise you might end as a big looser.

Earning by involving in sports betting: Many people in this world are into betting and there are many renowned betting sites like the ones listed on BettingTop10, where people can indulge in their favorite sports odds. Some are even earning few extra bucks but you have to be aware of the fact that there are many scammers all around, so you need to go for the correct one after doing your home research.

For me I am a simple family guy who doesn’t like clubbing a lot & I am always finding my refreshments in my family. I am not very rich, but yet I feel financially established. I have never tried the above mentioned ways of making money so I can’t be of much help if you would like to give them a go, but as a financial blogger I like to cover all sides of financing and all alternative ways of earning money.

I am very proud that you all are loving my blog & also sharing your valuable feedback. So, I’m looking forward to seeing your feedback for this post also. Finally, these money earning ideas in 2017 have included few nontraditional ways of earning money. But ultimately remember to work hard & then expect higher gains.