Is 15 minutes a week for 100% return really worth the effort?…

I recently attended a webinar given by Senan Pauser. He is bringing online an investment opportunity that requires 15 minutes each week. The aim is to achieve at least 100% in 12 months. He has been running a similar service offline for seven years so knows that what he has to offer works.

As he talked I was struck by one comment he made. He said that he knew for a fact that 80% of the people who signed up to his service wouldn’t stick with it. That’s right 80% of his membership would not spend 15 minutes each week on creating what would eventually become a passive income.

Is that really true? Surely anyone can spare 10 minutes on a Sunday to watch a 10 minute video and then 5 minutes on a Monday morning placing a trade following the instructions given in the video. Apparently not it seems that many will give up part way through.

Doesn’t that seem strange? The idea that for just 15 minutes a week you could achieve financial freedom in a few years and people give up part way through…perhaps some of us can’t provide the necessary focus and dedication that is needed for something like this. I know personally that what sounds simple and straightforward to one may be anything but to another.

And in a way I think part of the problem is having little or no emotional attachment. You see most people who develop systems are looking to find something where you as an individual have no choices to make. You follow the instructions, wait for the result and hopefully a profit will appear at the end of it.

Nice in theory but of course being totally detached means there is little to get excited about and so I can see why other things begin to take over and seem more important.

Senan’s point was well made and I have no doubt that it is an accurate assessment of people’s behaviour. Having said that anyone who is serious about increasing their income needs to accept that if we can’t do it through our own efforts then we can at least commit to following instructions from others who are willing to help us. We need to show the focus and diligence to follow through. Don’t tweak things or ‘just see if…’ as that isn’t what you are being asked to do. Stick to the well trodden path and accept that now and again we have to switch off our emotions if we are ever to prosper.

A Passive Income Opportunity by Invitation only…

One of the things I’ve learnt whilst I’ve been editing this blog is that substantial returns are possible if you have deep pockets to start with. The more I read the more I’m convinced that truly savvy investors can reap rich rewards if they know who and what to do.

For the vast majority of us however the sums needed to even be considered are way out of our league. And yet perhaps all is not lost.

I’ve been given access to a special interview recording that has the potential to offer those of us with shallower pockets the chance to invest in a passive income opportunity. The recording is highly plausible as it explains just how those who have the money, the contacts and the know-how can make significant ongoing profits.

They haven’t been badly hit by the economic recession because they knew it was going to happen way before it did and were able to mitigate any potential losses for themselves.

Now, you and I have the chance to learn more about how we might be as prepared and ready as they are. The interview is the first in a series of two. Note that you will need to listen to the full interview as you’ll need a password in order to gain access to the second one.

Rather than make the link public I’m going to ask anyone who is interested to send an email to private_at_onlineinvestingguru.com (replace _at_ with @) with the subject line ‘Interview Part One‘.

I’ll respond with the website link and then it’s up to you if you want to learn more.

Just so that you don’t waste your own time the minimum investment is likely to be $1,000 and for this they are suggesting that annual returns of 100% are possible.

PTV Partner Admin speaks out…

In a recent post I made the argument that Online Investment programmes needed to tidy up their act and be more honest and open with potential investors.

In a somewhat similar vein Garrett, the Admin of PTV Partner has made clear some of his views on the world of online investing and ecurrency providers in particular. In an interview at Money-News-Online Garrett provided his thoughts on the progress of his own programme and what some of the plans are for the future.

It’s refreshing to see that this venture is laying down a standard for others to follow. Of course a successful programme like PTV Partner cannot rely upon one person alone and he took the time to introduce the various moderators, administration and IT support that is involved. From personal experience I know that both the forum and chat room are very active places and there is always someone available to answer your questions.

It’s clear that Garrett has clear plans for the future and this involves providing access to other banking facilities such as bank wires which is nearing completion. You can tell from the interview that he appears to be frustrated with payment processors in general and is working to make them more accountable and responsive to members.

He also mentioned that 70% of investments are in the Prestige Plan that pays 190% after 40 days (this includes the principal). I don’t think this is any big surprise as the stability of the programme provides greater confidence in the ability to deliver on the returns they promote. I assume that other investors are working their way up to when they can take advantage of the Prestige Plan or perhaps they are happy with the shorter timeframes and reduced returns.

One thing that Garrett was rightly cautious about was divulging too much about other investors involved and he did admit that his voice is altered when he broadcasts as he knows that being identifiable can bring its own problems. This is something of a two edged sword of course but in this particular instance I believe he is doing it for the right reasons.

As PTV Partner develops and matures I will be making plans to invest more significant amounts as I believe that there is a high degree of integrity surrounding this particular opportunity. Even so I wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket as we have seen too many examples, and some very recent, where legitimate programmes failed for one reason or another.

Gold Nugget Invest face up to their problems…

For some time Gold Nugget Invest has been subjected to a problem with a bank they deal with. It seems that the German financial authorities have frozen the assets of this specific bank because of a particular client irregularity and this has resulted in many accounts being inaccessible. One of these is GNI.

Combine this with other problems related to abuse of referral payments and unusually high request levels for principal withdrawal and the end is result is problems for GNI.

Now, they could have thrown their hands up and walked away but they are not doing that. What they want to do is restructure significantly to stabilise and create a long term future. The alternative is to fold and I don’t think anyone would want that.

What this means is that outstanding withdrawals are being cancelled and members will have the option to leave them as pending or to re-invest in the new plans being implemented. In place of weekly plans the new proposal is for monthly payments of 16% which will last for 14 months (this period will include return of principal). Premium members will receive 20% a month.

Whilst it’s disappointing that GNI find themselves in this position I’m encouraged by the level headed approach being taken and will continue to maintain my investment with them once they get things back to normal.

Given the stellar performance of GNI up until now this is a salutary lesson that no-one should put all their faith in one online investment especially if they try to use it for payment of everyday expenses.

I’m optimistic that the refreshed GNI will be a success and I look forward to the future.

HCI25 website back online…

Well it’s taken an exceedingly long time but the HCI25 website is finally back online. With it there is a newsletter in the back office and in fact I’ve also received copies to my email address which didn’t happen for some time when the last site was up.

As explained in the newsletter the hosting company lost much of the member database which has resulted in an older backup from HCI25 themselves being used. What this means is that if you can’t login they you’ll need to register again and send an email that includes proof of payment and batch number of contracts purchased.

The admin also rebuffs any accusation that this is a scam and berates those who try to make these statements.

As it happens there are still 615 pension plan contracts available so it will take a little time to complete. Note that you can hold a maximum of 27 contracts per individual.

There is talk of some photos being provided soon of the first user meeting held in New York before Christmas and whilst that won’t necessarily prove anything in the long term it shows that HCI25 are sensitive to comments that are circulating.

Let’s see how the next few months turn out.

Imperia Invest closes for contract purchases on 01 February…

As things start to settle down in this New Year I wanted to remind everyone that Imperia Invest will close purchase of new contracts on February 01 which is just over three weeks away.

I know how quickly time passes and before you know it January will be over and there won’t be another chance to invest at Imperia.

As a reminder Imperia Invest are trading in Traded Endowment Policies (TEP) and for a very reasonable investment you receive a generous return. You should note that TEP’s have to be ‘in trade’ for 6 months so if you purchase between now and the end of January you wouldn’t receive the payout until July.

Another point to note is that Imperia have had various problems with payment processors and now recommend Procurrex. Given that you would need to open an account here and fund it you might want to act soon to ensure you have enough time to purchase contracts.

Like any online investment you should do research before making an investment. Whilst the sum involved here is not that great you should be aware that it does carry risk. There are many people who are happy to accept this risk as they can see that the return is significant, however there is also a chance that payouts won’t happen so please think carefully before parting with funds.

Invested in WBwso to start the New Year…

Last October I was contacted by a subscriber who told me about WBwso. This is an investment opportunity where your funds are used to leverage the income that can be made from websites.

When I first looked at the site it took a while to get my head around how everything works and what the potential returns might be. You do have to join the site to gain access to the detail that explains how it all works but as joining is free and you don’t need to make an investment then that is not really a problem.

One thing I like is that there are several investment options so there is generally something available to suit all investor appetites. I’ve decided to go for a longer term investment and that will hopefully provide a very good return over the designated period.

Given that I joined in October of last year and have now only just invested you’ll probably realise that I’ve been keeping an eye on how things have progressed and decided that now would be a good time to invest.

As investors you have no work to do yourself and the company behind WBwso have refined their processes for it to be highly automated. This enables a fast turnaround and provides continuing opportunities.

There are a wide range of payment options including AlertPay, Liberty Reserve, Perfect Money and cGold.

HCI25 still offline but more information made available…

As the saga of the missing HCI25 website continues there is still no forecast for when the site will be available again. We can only wait and see what they eventually come up with when they re-launch.

It does seem that some people have received a separate update by email (I wasn’t one of them) that suggests it shouldn’t be too long to wait now, we will have to wait and see.

The update also indicated that members may need to re-submit the original details for when they joined including payment references for investments made. If members are able to login without any problem when the site returns they shouldn’t need to re-submit things so it’s important they try to login before sending any info.

As much of the HCI25 team appear to have been on holiday over the Xmas break we probably won’t see any real movement until next week so I’d suggest you make a note to check to see whether the site is available on Wednesday or later.

The message is still being given that all investments are totally secure and still earning so hopefully once the site comes back we will be in a better position to know what the future plans are.

HoldingInt is Holding out to VanFund members…

At the end of November Vanfunds notified their members that they had made the decision to sell to HoldingInt based in Hong Kong. The message was that this would ensure members continued to receive a premier service and be part of a major financial institution.

To say this came as something of a shock to existing VanFund members would be understating things hugely. There was no prior indication and we were not given any option in the matter, our funds were transferred immediately.

So, what’s happened since then? Well as far as I can tell nothing of any importance to VanFund members. No communication whatsoever and no timeline for when we will be able to access our funds.

In an effort to find out what the plans are I contacted HoldingInt by email on 22 December. As yet I’ve not had a reply but given the holidays I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until early next week before making any further enquiry.

In my email I made the point that online investors are very sensitive to the level and frequency of communication they receive and wanted HoldingInt to provide some indication of what news we would get and when.

To me the fact that nothing has been communicated for nearly a month is not very professional and at the time made the statement that the VanFunds website should have been retained until the transition is complete.

Hopefully 2010 will bring greater clarity and openness from HoldingInt but we need to see some positive move in this direction very soon.

QCOOPERS offers a twist on the RPP model…

Many online investors have come across Reverse Pension Plans (RPP) as a passive investment opportunity over the last few years. In fact, there are several either coming to a close or already closed. Frustratingly none of those that have closed to new members has yet paid out.

So, you’d probably think that my introducing another passive investment that works in something of a similar fashion to an RPP would be unwise.

And yet, I do believe QCOOPERS may just be different enough to be worth further investigation. The programme has been created in association with seven companies that have agreed to perform distinct tasks in order to succeed.

Before I get ahead of myself let me explain that QCOOPERS is just one investment opportunity being offered by Quatro Worldwide that is a company originating in Europe. If you join the main company you would be able to get involved with 4 existing opportunities and there are plans for more to be introduced on a regular basis.

However, QCOOPERS is being offered to investors who are not members of Quatro Worldwide and this means that you are able to make a relatively modest investment. Assuming that the offering is a success it is clear that other offerings from Quatro Worldwide would be of great interest and hence membership of the parent company would rise quickly.

In terms of the QCOOPERS it requires a one-off investment of €60 (payment by credit or debit card). Note that this is just an Administration fee and is not refundable. When the required number of plans are sold (30,000) then the company estimate that payouts would start between 8 and 12 weeks after.

You should know that full members of Quatro Worldwide (€195 membership fee) have the chance to purchase multiple policies at €60 each. Non-members can only invest in one.

Whilst that might sound somewhat limiting there is a carrot dangled in front of you. The 30,000 limit is actually the first of 5 phases. So, if payouts occur how quickly do you think the second phase (limited to 60,000) would take to fill. My guess would be very quickly. But you will have to be a full member to take part in stage 2 so you can see that membership could grow very quickly.

The other interesting point revolves around the payout. Assuming that you make a single investment the return is €60,000 but this is not paid out in one lump sum. You receive a lump sum payment of €11,000 and then twelve monthly payouts of €3,000. The remaining €13,000 is provided as investments in other Quatro Worldwide investments.

I won’t go into any more detail as this post is long enough already. If you would like more details I have the date and times of webinars that are scheduled between now and Monday 21 December. If you would like information please send an email to qcoopers_at_onlineinvestingguru.com (replace _at_ with @). Subject Line should be ‘More Details Please’