IRS Eases Investment Rules for 529 College Savings Plans

By Doeren Mayhew

Saving for college is always hard and is even more so during the current economic downturn. One of the most popular college savings plans is the "529 plans." Recently, the IRS announced that participants in 529 plans will be able to change their investments more often in 2009 than in past years. The IRS will now allow a change in investment strategy twice in 2009. This is good news for 529 plan participants, especially those that may have otherwise been locked into a mix of investments that has turned out to be more speculative than initially contemplated.

Tax-Free Distribution A 529 plan is qualified tuition program. By contributing to a 529 plan, taxpayers contribute to an account established for paying a student's educational expenses. Eligible educational expenses may include the costs of tuition, books, and fees at eligible institutions, such as colleges, vocational schools, and other ostsecondary institutions.

Contributions to 529 plans are not tax-deductible. However, earnings are tax-free, and distributions used to pay the beneficiary's qualified education xpenses are tax-free.

Be aware that A 529 plan should not be confused with a Coverdell Educational Savings Account (Coverdell ESA). A Coverdell ESA is also a savings account for education expenses that offers tax-free distributions. The funds saved in a Coverdell ESA can be used for elementary and secondary school expenses as well as college costs.

Investment Decision For the most part, participants in 529 plans must select only from among broadbased investment strategies designed exclusively by the program. The IRS has also traditionally permitted a change in investment strategy only once a year.

Because of the economic slowdown and the turmoil in the financial markets, the IRS will allow investments in a 529 plan to be changed during 2009 on a more frequent basis. A 529 plan won't violate the investment restriction if it permits a change in the investment strategy twice in calendar year 2009, as well as upon a change in the designated beneficiary of the account. - 23305

About the Author:

Visit Doeren Mayhew online for more information. Doeren Mayhew is located in Troy, Michigan.

Forex Trading Tips: Economic Indicators and Trading

By Bart Icles

Forex investors have to deal with a lot of information while they conduct trading in the forex market. Not only do they need to be on the lookout for changes in currency quotes, ask prices, and bid prices, they also need to be aware of forex signals. Forex signals, as the word signal suggests, give investors an idea of what trends to expect in the volatile forex environment. Oftentimes, forex signals are based on economic indicators.

It is not unusual for forex investors to keep watch of economic indicators since these indicators determine the economic state of a certain country. Economic indicators report changes in the economic conditions that have direct effects on the price and volume of the currency of a given country. Although economic indicators are not the only ones that affect forex signals, they still provide valuable hints on the future valuation of currencies.

Some of the most popularly used economic indicators in forex trading include the GDP, CPI, retail sales, and industrial production. The GDP or gross domestic product represents the total market value of the goods and services produced in a country during a given period of time. The CPI or consumer price index measures the changes in the prices of consumer goods across categories. The retail sales report the total receipts in all retail businesses in a certain country. And the industrial production shows changes in the production of industrial facilities, including utilities, within a specific country.

In conducting an analysis of forex market trends using economic indicators, it is helpful to have an economic calendar handy. An economic calendar lists different economic indicators and dates when they are due to be released. It also helps to keep a close watch of how markets move. Oftentimes, markets move according to expectations on the indicators or reports that are bound to be released. Investors must also be able to determine the economic indicators that often grab the attention of the majority of the players. More often than not, these indicators are the catalysts of largest price and volume movements.

As much as expectations are valuable, investors must also be careful not to rely too much on them. Investors are better off taking notes of market expectations, the economic indicators and reports being released, and the actual market results. In this manner, they are able to make comparisons of the differences in the three factors so they can make assessments as to what might have possibly caused the variance.

Monitoring economic indicators is indeed important when trading in the forex market. Investors must always be observant on changes in economic indicators, market reports, and market prices so they can react more accurately to future reports and forex market movements. - 23305

About the Author:

Forex Trading starts with a desire to learn and a drive to become a great trader. A Forex Strategy takes dedication and a good teacher. But once you learn how to trade and do so successfully your life will change and you have options and financial resources you never had before.

Flexible Forex Training

By Ahmad Hassam

Most of the people had never heard of trading the foreign exchange markets only a few years ago. The recent stock market crash in 2008 has made the word forex trading among the small investors popular. Much information is available online. A mass of information will become available for free. You just have to type in the word forex training in a search engine.

Most new traders begin learning on their own through a trial and error process of winning and losing. However, this is probably not the best approach to getting good forex training. These are seven forex training secrets that you should always keep in your mind when seeking good forex training:

1) Follow the rules of a simple trading approach. Keep it simple.

2) You should also learn to accept responsibility for the personal decisions and actions you take while trading. No system and no methodology are responsible for your interpretation of the markets while trading.

3) Make sure, you trade a demo account successfully before moving into the world of live trading. Once you are ready to trade, only then consider first trading a mini account with a very small amount of margin to ease you into the world of live trading. Once you have achieved success on a mini trading account, you should consider moving to the standard account where risk and profits are higher.

4) You should do your due diligence in choosing a right forex broker. You should avoid brokers that like to play games such as holding trades in slow and fast moving markets to gain advantage at your expense. Establish a live account with a forex broker known for integrity. Choice of the right forex broker will determine whether you succeed in trading or not. Always plan a trade with more than a scalpers mentality of making 1-5 pips per trade. This way a broker has ample time to cover a submitted trade or pass it onto a clearing house.

5) Invest in personal education when trading forex even when you have experience of trading other markets. The forex is a totally different industry with much more volatility than other markets. When selecting a mentor to assist you in developing the skills necessary to survive trading the forex and make profit, make sure the mentoring person is walking the talk.

6) Only disciplined traders succeed in the long run. Learn self discipline as a forex trader. The greatest distance to overcome in each trade is between the ears. Attitude is everything in the markets.

7) Persevere in the markets. Dont give up! It is necessary to just hang in there even if it takes times to trade the demo account and a mini account. All too often, traders go live way too soon and lose their money because they have skipped the necessary steps. - 23305

About the Author:

Mr. Ahmad Hassam is a Harvard University Graduate. He is interested in day trading and swing trading stocks and currencies. Discover A Revolutionary New Forex Robot. Develop your own Forex Trading System.

Importing from Low-Cost Countries

By Davina Cruella Sandwich

Organisations have been having their products mass produced in and around Southern China (now recognisable world-wide as the manufacturing capital of the planet) for more years than I care to remember.

The reason for this is that you get a lot more for your money in China than you do pretty much anywhere else because of the exchange rate, a single unit of their currency (Yuan) is worth far less than a single unit of ours.

That is pretty much the main reason that a lot of companies source their products from Asia. I mean, what more reason does a company need to do something if its going to save them lots of money in the long term? But there are some other advantages, and a few disadvantages.

There are only a few advantages, but I still think that they by far outweigh the disadvantages. The main one I have already talked about, the price. For every single GBP you get 11.2CNY (Chinese Yuan), so your money really does go a lot further.

The second advantage I will mention is how close you can get to the Chinese trade industry, which is of course advantageous, and thirdly you will probably end up a lot closer to your raw materials, therefore saving money on that as well.

One of the main disadvantages of this, is the cost of importing the products from China. This can be seen as extra expenditure, but compared with the money saved on the manufacturing, I would say this bares an insignificance.

Also there's the time that the shipping takes, this could be seen as a greater disadvantage as, depending on level of demand, it could result in loss of turnover. Another disadvantage is that there may be some issues with production quality nearer the beginning of manufacturing as the factory staff become acclimatised to your product, but if you get a good sourcing company to do the communications for you, then you should end up with a high quality production line from start to finish. As well as that, it is difficult to predict what the local conditions are going to be like, financial or otherwise.

In summary, it is my personal belief that sourcing form low cost countries such as Southern China is far more advantageous to businesses than domestic sourcing. - 23305

About the Author:

A great company to do all your import and wholesale product work with is Red House Global. They have had decades of experience and are well known among the Chinese traders, ensuring you the best price.

Forex Investing

By Samatha Ferguson

There are many ways to bring in cash these days. That old nine to five job is certainly not the greatest way of making income. Actually, millions of people have ventured out beyond the standard career in order to supplement their income. Some are taking their income to a whole new level you can not reach from a nine to five job.

The stock market for example is a huge vehicle to making money. People around the world trade and maintain portfolios on a daily basis to ensure that extra cash for the future. Yes indeed, investing is a goal that many of us venture into at some point in our lives. The regular traditional job just doesnt offer the security it once did. Its time to get smart and explore the world of money making. One of the more recent opportunities to capital is currency trading online.

Have you ever heard of currency trading, foreign currency exchange, or Forex? I was doing some browsing through cyberspace and spotted a website that dealt with learning currency trading. At first it seems a scam, but trading in currency is a long held investment tool. It has only come to light of the masses in recent years.

Apparently you can invest an amount of money in specific companies and turn a regular profit. This process concerns buying and selling via the internet. What if you could acquire a percent every time certain transactions were made in cyberspace? I know, it sounds strange. Even if you gained a small amount each day, wouldnt it be well worth it? Lets say you invested 50 dollars, or a similar amount of money that wouldnt faze you.

Now, each day that sum of money has the ability to earn a certain percentage. If you made one percent every day for an entire month, then you just earned 60 extra dollars. Of course this is just an example. Who knows; you could get five percent some days and more or less on others. The point is, with currency trading online you would be consistently earning capital. You can hardly beat that.

If you are further interested in currency trading online, you should dive into cyberspace now and gain a better understanding of the process. There are numerous websites that will help you fathom the concept of currency trading online so that you too can do a little investing for the future if you wish. - 23305

About the Author:

How to Invest Today is a free website updated daily for investors of all needs. Samatha Ferguson is the editor of How to Invest Today.