It can be difficult for someone in the financial services industry to know how the investor feels, especially when first choosing which advisor to work with. I recently had an experience that put me in your shoes for a change.

A couple of mornings ago, my teeth began hurting for a short time after I brushed them. It had been awhile (too long) since they were cleaned so I decided to go to the dentist for a cleaning and check-up.

I only have one set of teeth and I know that they need to take care of me for the rest of my life. Unless I want to exist on soft food, it’s vital that I take care of them. Likewise, someone retiring only has one nest egg and their lifestyle and ability to remain retired will depend on what happens to it. Make a mistake and you can lose a good portion of it.

How do you choose an advisor? How do you choose a dentist? I could look in the phone book and I can ask people that I know whether they are pleased with their dentist. Still, how do I know if their experience with a dentist is going to be the same as mine? It’s not like you can interview a dentist, get a price list and an extensive list of references!

Worse, the reason I was looking for a new dentist was because I wasn’t pleased with the dentists I’d used in the past. Surely this time I would find one that I would like! So I called a dentist that seemed to do a good job for another family member and I set an appointment.

A red flag went up during the first call. I asked for an appointment after the stock market was closed for the day and amazingly, they just happened to have had a cancellation and I could get in that very day! Having a sales background, I know that’s a common tactic to use because you don’t want to give the impression that you aren’t busy.

Another red flag was raised as soon as I walked into the office. There was leather furniture, a cafe and a plasma screen television. The coffee table featured literature on various cosmetic improvements. The plasma TV, it turned out, was just playing a loop designed to sell those improvements. I never realized that having whiter teeth would have such a positive impact on my entire life!

The phone sales tactic I picked up on was confirmed when I heard the receptionist say the same thing to others that were calling in. In the financial services industry, these are seen as harmless statements. “It’s no big deal, they’ll never know,” the advisor might explain to the assistant. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I don’t want to be treated that way and neither do my clients.

Soon, I was ushered into the chair where I thought I was going to have my teeth cleaned. After a few pleasantries, the dental assistant said that she needed to take some x-rays and that they recommended the 360 degree one. “It is $199 for both sets, is that OK?”

While examining my gums she mentioned that oral cancer was very hard to detect and affected many people. They had a test that would screen for it and it only cost $49 would I be interested? No.

My appointment was for a cleaning. But all I received was the x-rays and the initial consultation’. It’s possible’ I have a cavity under one of my existing fillings and the dentist recommended it be fixed, not with a traditional filling but with a new crown that would be much better.

I left feeling like I paid $200 for some x-rays and a sales pitch. The full cleaning, it turns out, will cost over $500! That partial crown would only be $850! For comparison I called another dentist. This one seemed to be more old school. His cost for a cleaning? $110.

Have you ever felt like I did after going to an investment advisor? Undoubtedly, some of you have and I am ashamed to say that it is becoming more common. There are advisors out there, though, that are more focused on your needs than their own. Trust your red flag indicator, don’t move quickly, and do extensive research on any recommended products.

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Yes, it is true that foresightfulness is required for doing investments. But it is also true that knowledge of investment is not a missile science but it needs a little study and financial research. Some people are scared of doing investment due to lack of knowledge. Some people think they don’t require it. But, nowadays many people are utilizing investment solutions UK for having a prosperous future.

Different people understand the term investment differently and its meaning differs for different people. Some perceive it as a saving while some others as an additional income. We can say that an investment is an expanse which will result in financial gain eventually. An investment has the potential to grow in value or give you an income in future. You might know about numerous kinds of investment products offered by investment solutions UK. The various investment products are combinations of four variables.

The four variables which may combine to become an investment product are cash, (deposits), corporate bonds and gilts (UK Government bonds), equities (shares) and property. These four variables combine together and produce different investment solutions UK like lump sum investments, Maxi ISA, regular savings, Cash ISA, guaranteed income, wrap accounts, investment bonds, review existing investments, distribution bonds, national savings certificates etc.

Also, these days most investment products are available in the form of funds. These pool together people’s money and invest in a mixture of different things like equities, bonds or even cash and property. A fund manager looked after these funds. Financial experts advise to take great care in choosing the fund manager. An expert fund manager has an in depth knowledge about different investment solutions UK. These fund managers can identify the top performers in the financial market also.

Moreover, your investment can fall as well as rise so while investing always take calculated risks to increase your chance of getting higher returns on your money. You should be more cautious if you are investing for the longer term. Do check the various risk factors while buying any of the investment solutions UK products.

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You are spending a lot of your time in making money. You are expanding your sources of income and you are working so hard. But are you doing a proper financial planning to manage your income, expenses, savings and investments. Financial planning services are efficient tools for managing these issues.

Generally a financial plan is a guide which helps in managing your wealth and spending habits efficiently. We can say that financial planning is a process of money management that includes budgeting, tax planning, insurance, retirement and estate planning, and investment strategies. Financial planning services coordinate all the elements with the aim of building, protecting, and maximizing net worth of an individuals, families and businesses.

Financial planning services manage your wealth and investment plans in many ways. They educate you regarding investment strategies and asset management. They suggest you financial planning tools like bonds, equities, funds etc. You can seek advice regarding banking solutions for better financial management and savings.

Furthermore, it would sound ironic but it is true that financial planning services also help to avoid financial implications of divorce. It is necessary for a couple on judicial separation, divorce and nullity of marriage to have cash balance for emergencies in a bank or building society account. These amounts are matrimonial assets and need to be identified as part of the overall assets to be divided by both the parties. Financial planning services ensure that on divorce any bank or building society account held in joint names should be closed and replaced with single name accounts in order to avoid any future problems relating to signatures for withdrawals. We can say that these services are multifaceted and you can utilize them to avoid any financial problem in emergencies.

Nowadays, it has become very easy to check various financial planning services online. You can choose these services for leading a peaceful life without any financial problems.

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There are plenty of lessons that could be learned from the Bear Stearns madness starting last Thursday, but I will just focus on a few. I also would not be trying to make a quick buck on Bear right now. At this point in the game, you would be really gambling with your money to do anything with this stock. There is no doubt you COULD make a lot of money in the short term but remember you could just as easily lose it. This is something way to risky for this guy.

One lesson would be to limit the amount of money you invest in beaten down industries. The brokers have been hurting in a big way for quite awhile now and to own them you are certainly taking on additional risk. There isn’t anyone out there that can call a top and bottom and to try and do it is foolish. You can certainly dip your toes in the water to try and take advantage of a stock being undervalued but is smarter to take your shot with the best of breed in the industry.

Second is cost averaging on the way down is a dangerous game and you could end up torching your own money by doing it. The Bear situation is obviously an extreme case but the result can be similar with any stock on the way down. I can guarantee you plenty of investors that held Bear on Thursday or way before that went in and bought more stock on Friday because they thought the market over did it. Some I’m sure double or tripled their position to try and get their money back. Can you imagine reading an article Sunday evening that Bear Stearns was sold for two stinking dollars? My friend that is what I refer to as pain.

Third is statistics can be great tools for investors to use to catch an edge but they are not the only thing you should be looking at. You have to look at many factors when doing your homework to purchase stocks. For example, the Book Value Per Share for Bear Stearns is sitting around $84, so during last Friday’s action you may have thought it would be a great time to buy this stock since it was in the 30′s. However, I suspect that anyone that bought it on Friday is thinking it was no bargain.

Fourth is if you purchase stock through your employer, then you need to occasionally sell some of it to stay diversified. Even if you just happened to own a disproportionate number of shares in any stock, you had better lighten your load from time to time or your portfolio could suffer a massive beat down. The old saying, “don’t have all your eggs in one basket” is spot on in cases like this. We should have learned this most recently from the Enron issues a few years back. You need to stay diversified to help minimize the damage in cases like this.

Last but not even close to the only lessons to be learned in this collapse, is take what you hear from a CEO with a grain of salt. Last Wednesday the CEO of Bear, Alan Schwartz, went on CNBC and said his firm was not having liquidity issues and their earnings were in the range with Wall Street’s expectations. Now maybe there was a “run on the bank” between Wednesday and Friday, but the point is if you based your decision to buy the stock on Schwartz’s news then you paid a steep price. I do not know of to many CEO that are going to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when on TV talking about their company. I am not saying they deliberately lie, but try to see if they are dodging questions that are asked of them.

There are many painful lessons to be learned when dealing with the stock market and God knows I have made plenty of them, but you have to learn from your mistakes so they are not repeated. We can even learn to correct mistakes before they happen and avoid losses in our portfolio.

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When you think of commodities in Asia what do you think of? Do you think of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) and its Gold contract? Or do you think of the Greasy Wool futures of the Sydney Futures Exchange? Perhaps you may even think of Oman Crude Oil of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME). Have you ever heard of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) of India or The Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand (AFET) or how about the DaLian Commodity Exchange (DCE) in China?

Perhaps you may think that Bursa Malaysia trades only its benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) and the country’s equity issues but it’s the home of the Crude Palm Oil future (FCPO). Malaysia is the worlds largest exporter of palm oil accounting for around 50% of the world production. Palm oil is used in margarine and shortening fats among others. In addition the palm oil fruit, the source of palm oil, also produces palm kernel oil a non-edible oil used in cosmetics. For every 10 units of palm oil there is 1 unit of palm kernel oil.

India has a long history of futures commodity trading. During the American Civil war (1861-1864) the British where buying cotton or the “white gold” from India to feed the looms in Lancashire and Manchester when they could no longer buy from the Americans. As early as 1875 the Bombay Cotton Exchange was established only 5 years after the Chicago Board of Trade.

Today, the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) and the National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE) comprise the bulk of commodity exchanges in India. There are 73 products offered by India’s largest commodity exchange, the MCX, alone. Spices such as Cardamom or Jeera, Metals including Aluminum (Aluminium for some), Lead and Nickel. Rice, Maize and Soybeans are just some of the grains also available for trading. It is an impressive basket of goods.

The second commodity exchange, the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange offers an equally broad product range such as Guar Seeds and Mustard oil but trades many of the same products as the MCX. These exchanges will undoubtedly consolidate in time which will increase liquidity, lower costs and improve price discovery.

Apart from TOCOM there is the Tokyo Grain Exchange (TGE). The TGE was founded October 1952 and offers futures and cash settled futures in its agricultural products Azuki Bean, Coffee (Robusta and Arabica), Corn, Raw Silk, Soybeans, Soybean Meal and Raw and Refined Sugar. The exchange currently has 134 member firms which is 30% more than TOCOM with just 102.

Electronic trading to the TGE is available from the comforts of your own home too. When electronic trading went live at the exchange October 1 2007 GL Trade was ready with its new SLE (Server Link to Exchange) via Fimat (Now part of Newedge).

There is also the Central Japan Commodity Exchange (CCOM) trading 10 products Gasoline, Kerosene, Gas Oil, Eggs, Ferrous Scrap, RSS3,TSR20, the Rubber Index, Aluminum and Nickel. In September 2007 CCOM rolled out the upgrade of its electronic trading system called “Trinity-X” and has 37 members. It also signed an MOU with the Shanghai Futures Exchange late last year.

The Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand trades “White Rice 5%” (5% means that a maximum of 5% of the rice can be broken) and “Natural Rubber Ribbed Smoked Sheet No.3″ or RSS No.3 (the number 3 is the middle grading of the quality on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being the best as stipulated by the international Rubber Quality and Packing Conference).

Thailand is also the number one producer of rubber in the world. Further still they produce “Tapioca Chip” and “Tapioca Starch Premium Grade”. Tapioca is produced from the cassava plant and Thailand is the number 3 producer in the world behind Brazil and Nigeria.

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