Want to bet on the dollar falling and the Euro rising? What about the Yen vs. the Indian Rupee? It’s all a game of chance. Here are a few rules to keep in mind BEFORE you play the game!

1. FOREX – (foreign exchange trading) is speculative.

2. The market almost never sleeps. Don’t go to bed with your position open.

3. Anyone with $300 or more can play. Forex brokers don’t ask questions about your net worth like stock brokers do.

4. Be wary of thinking you will grow rich. Many start out making money in their “demo account” only to lose when they start playing with real money.

5. You can make a fortune, or lose it all—it is truly like “rolling the dice.”

6. There are safer ways to hedge your bets. If you want to invest abroad, consider CDs in foreign currencies that you can buy at some banks or shares of mutual funds that own foreign currencies.

I myself am not into the wild roller coaster ride of rolling the dice, but I don’t play the slots when I am in Vegas, either. What about you?

With the economy what it is, unemployment up, and prices higher, it is becoming more and more difficult to make ends meet. One area many people rely on as their “emergency fund” is their IRA. Should you tap into your IRA?

Pros: If you are younger than 59 ½ and you have had your IRA for more than 5 years, you may be able to make a penalty-free withdrawal to pay for certain things such as your home or medical expenses. To see if you qualify, go to the irs.gov site and search for Publication 590. Also, there is a provision that allows you to withdraw money from an IRA so long as you roll it over into a new IRA or redeposit it back to the same account within 60 days.

Cons: You lose the potential for investment gains, just as you do when you borrow from a 401(k). You can take advantage of a one time 60 day window only once a year, and if the money doesn’t find its way back into the IRA within 60 days, you will owe tax and a 10% penalty if you are younger than 59 ½.

The bottom line here is that this your financial future—if you can avoid tapping your IRA then don’t tap into it!

For more information or if you have additional questions on this subject, visit www.theentrustgroup.com.

Want to help women in need? Here are a few charitable organizations that help women.

CARE: Fights global poverty with a special focus on poor women www.care.org
Mercy Corps: Offers aid amid disasters, conflicts, and poverty. www.mercycorps.org
Circle of Health International: Improves women’s healthcare. www.cohintl.org
Women Thrive Worldwide: Pushes for U.S. assistance that benefits women in poverty worldwide. www.womenthrive.org

I received this in my e-mail and thought it was important I share it with all of you.

‘What would those women think of the way I use, or don’t use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.’

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden’s blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of ‘obstructing sidewalk traffic.’ They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cell mate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the ‘Night of Terror’ on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson’s White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women’s only water came from an open pail. Their food–all of it colorless slop–was infested with worms.

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won’t vote this year because…why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn’t matter? It’s raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO’s new movie ‘Iron Jawed Angels.’ It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women’s history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was–with herself. ‘One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,’ she said. ‘What would those women think of the way I use, or don’t use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.’ The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her ‘all over again.’

HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn’t our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn’t make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: ‘Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.’ Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

History is being made.

Read more:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/tactics.html
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/brftime3.html

I recently read an interesting article in the Financial Advisor Magazine. A study by the U.S. Census Bureau and Allianz Life Insurance Company reported the following:

- Women will control 60% of the wealth in the U.S. by 2010

- More than half of women with business degrees out earn their husbands.

- 90% of women feel financially insecure, despite controlling more wealth, having more education, and being more involved in financial decision making.

- 80% of women will, at some point in their lives, be solely responsible for all household financial decisions.

- 70% of women will fire their financial professionals within one year of their husbands’ death.

Amazing statistics aren’t they? If you are in a financial services or business that caters to women, hopefully this information will give you some food for thought!

How many female investors, whether they invest in equities, real estate or business, do you really know? Female investors are a growing market. We are getting smarter. We have our own money and we want to invest!

I would encourage all wise women investors to be educated. Stay up-to-date with the investment choices you make. Consider joining a women’s investor association where you can network and learn from like minded women who are looking to control their financial futures.

Understand the prospectus you read, understand what an IRA or an Individual (k) is and how you can accumulate wealth through these retirement accounts (to learn more about this subject visit www.theentrustgroup.com). After all, your goal is to maintain a certain lifestyle in retirement. Don’t underestimate how much money you will need in retirement.

Finally, be flexible and patient with your investments. The more you go “in and out” of something, the more it will cost you. Sometimes taking the slow and steady approach makes more sense. Think out and plan your financial strategy and re-evaluate it every year.

With more women creating successful careers and businesses, we need to also not forget to create an investment strategy to keep us from starting over!

When you do your own research,h it will pay off. Here is where to find the research to make a great offer on your next property

Affordability index in your location: www.nahb.org
Median price in your area: www.realtor.org/research/research/metroprice
Housing supply information: www.realtor.org/directories
Price-to-rent ratio: www.money.com/pricetorent
Housing forecast in your market: www.money.com/homeforecast

Happy hunting!

Did you know the cause of stress changes with the times? Two years ago, for instance, the economy was much stronger than it is today and was less of a stressor. Based on the just published American Psychological Association’s 2008 mid-year survey, here are the top 5 worries in our lives today.

1. Money. Women are worried about losing their jobs, foreclosure and the cost of living. This is the number one fear amongst women today.

2. Too much responsibility. Multi-tasking or being super woman is not working. It is causing us more stress, not less.

3. The job. Many women, especially those who work by themselves are feeling isolated, lonely and in need of a real connection. The 3 most stressful jobs:
Librarian – isolation, repetitive work.
Manicurist – playing counselor to customers.
Flight Attendant- rude passengers, exhaustion, exposure to noxious chemicals.

4. Intimate relationships. Caring for kids, multiple worries and money problems have put some of us over the edge. The last thing some parents want is to be intimate.

5. Terrorism. Many women still worry that 9/11 will happen again.

If your IRA custodial cash deposits are sheltered with a broker/dealer or mutual fund house and not with a bank, they may not be federally insured. Generally, if a bank fails, the U.S. backed-FDIC provides insurance up to $100,000 per person per bank and up to $250,000 for certain retirement accounts. This is important to know in today’s marketplace where several banks have gone under and more may continue to do so.

The cash from an IRA with The Entrust Group is FDIC insured. Not all custodians guarantee this. Protect yourself and your IRA. To know more about how to open an Entrust self-directed IRA, visit www.theentrustgroup.com

If you are in a sales profession or in a business where you need to build credibility, make others feel good about you and increase your success rate, these 3 proven persuasion tips just might make a difference to your success!

1. Speak confidently. Get directly to the point, but make sure you are not domineering.

2. Make eye contact. Holding someone’s gaze builds trust and rapport. If you are uncomfortable doing this, practice in the mirror until you do become comfortable. Building rapport is essential to business success. Eye contact goes a long way to build rapport.

3. Be expressive. Smile, gesture as you talk, nod while others are speaking. This shows your interest in others. You will increase your likeability and, in turn, your influence.