Tony Brewer

Not too long ago I was talking to a businessman who seemed to have a unique approach to the current economy and how every-one’s bad credit is going to change the business world.   The conversation started out with a discussion on different credit repair services and how so many people are interested in learning how to fix credit ratings.  Everyone is afraid that if they don’t have good credit that they will be unable to buy a car or rent an apartment down the line.

His take on the situation is that no one should have to pay for credit repair services.  He feels that it won’t be too long before everyone is in the same boat and that the businesses are just going to have to bite the bullet and take a chance.  If they don’t take a chance they are going to end up with a lot of unsold product and empty apartments!  And that won’t be good for business at all!  He may have a point there, but just the same I’m going to try to protect my credit as best I can!

One of the things my parents taught me about investing money is to diversify my investments.   When it comes to Stock Trading I like to use the services of an Online Broker.  I feel that Online Trading is a good value for several reasons.  One of the reasons being that their overhead is lower so they can afford to charge a lower commission for their work.

And I like the fact that they don’t put any personal pressure on you to make a decision you don’t want to make.  They give you the facts and then let you make the decision based on that fact.  And I like the fact that they are available 24/7.  I realize that the stock market itself isn’t open 24/7, but I like being able to reach my broker any time of the day or night.  Leaving messages on voice mail and playing phone tag is not something I enjoy doing!

Do you remember the gold rush of the 1980’s?  So many people were taking their precious metals to brokers and selling them for their melt-down value.  My sister’s hubby used to work for a company that bought and sold coins and stamps.  During that period of time they were very busy buying silver and gold from the customers that wanted to make a quick buck by turning in their precious metal jewelry and home accessories.

My sister’s hubby would frequently come home from work with a pretty gold chain or bracelet to give her.  He said that he bought it from the shop at the melt-down value but it was so pretty he thought she would like it.  I can remember her showing me a very pretty gold bracelet that had dozens of opals in it.  It was very ornate; I can’t imagine anyone wanting to get rid of that!  She told me that she gave her hubby her gold class ring from high school to sell to the broker.  She never wore it anyway, so she figured that she might as well get some money back out of it!

Credit repair seems to be the up and coming business lately.  I don’t seem to be able to watch any television show without seeing commercials pounding the message to the audience that they need to use their service to find and improve credit scores.  A lot of commercials try to convince the viewer that with a bad credit score you won’t even be able to land a job!

So obviously clean credit is very desirable.  However, I’ve heard from a lot of different sources that having bad credit will only effect your ability to get SOME jobs.  And only if that bad credit is because the debtor has not paid off government subsidized student loans.  So I think that these commercials are preying on the audience’s ignorance of what can actually happen to a person with bad credit.

Unfortunately, people with bad credit do find themselves paying higher interest rates because they are a higher risk.  What is so sad about that is the fact that these are the people who need lower rates to help them to get their finances in order!  I feel that the entire credit industry is upside down on this one!

It’s been quite a few years since I did any Stock Trading the “old fashioned way” with a stock broker.  I got tired of playing “telephone tag” and having to place orders to buy or sell and then wait until the next day to find out what my costs/income ended up being.  And paying his commission fees just aggravated the heck out of me!  With Online Trading I pay lower commission fees and the transactions are done much quicker.

Switching to an Online Broker is probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made when it comes to investing in the stock market.  I like being able to go online 24/7  to place my orders.  And I don’t ever have to worry about my broker going on vacation or calling in sick!  My broker is ALWAYS there!  I also like how easy it is to get good and relevant information about the companies that I am interested in investing my money in.