Over the past two to three years, most people have viewed the stock market with much uncertainty. Hence, investors, as an alternative investment strategy, have taken the plunge into the silver market. It is a huge task to determine whether investing in silver is the same as investing in a mutual fund or if it is something really different.

Fixed income investments have been a very popular form of investment. They usually pay the returns on a fixed, predetermined schedule, although the amount of the payments could vary. While the individual bonds may be the most-known kind of fixed income securities, the category of fixed income investments also includes money market funds, CDs, bond funds, and fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which shall be discussed in this article.

A bond fund is one of the popular investment pools. Basically, a fund that is invested in bonds or other debt instruments is called a bond fund; it is also known as a debt fund. Investments of bond funds may contain government, municipal, agency, corporate bonds and assets-backed securities. Some bond funds focus on covering the wide bond market by investing in both short and long-term bonds and some other bond funds focus on the narrower portion of the bond market investing in short-term treasury fund or a corporate high-yield fund.

Prepaid cards at one time were the last option for the individuals who couldn’t meet all requirements. However, in the mainstream financial market, there is an inclusion of new elements and features in prepaid cards. Therefore, they are one of the most popularly used financial products by consumers today. Prepaid cards with the best 50 US banks and credit unions accounted $118.09 billion in spending at the merchants in 2013 and a 6.1% expansion from the previous year.

Equity release is a means of keeping the use of a house or other objects which have their own capital value, while also obtaining a portion or a steady stream of income, using the value of the house. In this financial criterion, the “catch” is that the income-contributor should be repaid at an upcoming stage when the homeowner passes away.

After all the years of hard work, work stress, you get a handshake and a nice farewell with cake. You call it retirement from service and it will be time to find a peaceful haven or a permanent vacation. While in service, most of us long for this day. We will keep wondering when that day is going to come but not too often do we give a thought to where we want to retire.

A credit score is a numerical value used by the lenders in the US to determine the credit-worthiness of a borrower. A good credit score is an indication of the likeliness of the borrower to repay the debts owed by him/her. Along with a credit report, these credit scores help the lenders to assess the credit risks involved in lending a debt to a borrower.

An Individual Retirement Account, commonly referred to as an IRA account, is a retirement savings account that gives the investor sizeable tax breaks. IRA is not the investment, it’s a container for investments you make including stocks, mutual funds, and bonds. There are various types of IRA accounts such as traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, and Simple IRAs.

Did you know that stress is one of the major triggers for a wide range of health problems? A widespread culture of a sedentary lifestyle coupled with dwindling concerns for emotional and physical well-being has led to this heightened level of stress in most people. When ignored for a long time, this stress manifests in the body through stiff muscles, joint pain, back pain, and muscle spasticity.

Wine and yoga – The latest power couple of the fitness industry You know what’s an absolute dilemma on a Friday night? Choosing between the gym or the bar during happy hours! Hitting the gym means you lose out on booze and a much-needed socialization session with friends. Alternatively, if you choose to party, guilt will definitely creep up as the night ends and your fitness goals will pile up.

7 reasons to start yoga today You are at the gym, sweating it out, lifting weights, spending hours on the treadmill to lose those extra pounds. It can be pretty exhausting and discouraging because of the amount of stress and strain experienced by your body. As a result, a week of quitting the gym and those love handles are back on your waist, leaving you demotivated.

3 ways to jazz up your cereals for breakfast Cereal has to be one of the most popular breakfast foods for all of us, but, have you ever thought of ramping it up into a more comprehensive breakfast dish? Let’s face it, the most we do with cereal is add some fruits or mix a couple of flavors to feed our culinary fantasies.