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I encourage you to start investing at least $5 a month>

Posted Sat 9th Mar 2013 8:28 PM by Dan Britchford in Nutrition

You can start to invest with as little as $5 a month and with $100, you can have an equity position of almost $20,000.

We like to do a few things before we invest. Firstly, we like to get a sense of whether the company we’re investing in is a good fit for our portfolio, we usually get help from companies like SoFi, who can pretty much find the right fit for you. If you’re a US-based investor, it might be worthwhile to take a look at the US market in general, and to learn about companies who operate there. Also, you should read up on the company’s history and how it got to that point. This could tell you whether the company is a good long-term investment, and whether its current financial performance is promising.

Another way to determine whether a company is a good fit is to see whether its management is up to snuff. Many funds are set up by people who have a lot of capital, and some management teams may not be up to speed when it comes to risk management. On the other hand, if you invest in companies whose management is good, you can usually count on good investment returns. Some of the most common signs that a company is a good fit are as follows: The management team has little, if any, experience in the industry. Even if the management team is experienced, it may not have much expertise in the particular business being managed. Management isn’t burdened by a large number of debt obligations. There are very few companies in the world with more than $2 billion in debt, and many companies that are considered “leveraged.” The management team doesn’t have a history of getting into financial trouble. While the company might have been acquired in the past, the management team has typically rebuilt the company, either by buying companies back or by forming new businesses. If a management team is financially strapped, it’s unlikely that management will keep investing money in business ventures to stay afloat. Because the management team isn’t very well-regarded, it doesn’t have a history of major corporate missteps, so it won’t make changes that might affect the bottom line.

Borrowing to get through rough periods

Often times, businesses that can get through rough periods have a higher degree of debt. For instance, a company might have an asset base of $500 million or so and have a financial ratio of 12 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA. This means that after adjusting for things like interest rate, the company’s revenue is 12 times the amount that would be needed to keep the business going. A company that has a low credit rating, such as a big government-subsidized recipient, might have a ratio of 8 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA. This means that after adjusting for things like interest rate, the company’s revenue is 8 times the amount that would be needed to keep the business going. In a down period, businesses with a much lower debt-to-EBITDA ratio have better chances of making it through a recession, because they can service their debts more quickly and increase their revenue from investment.
In 2012, Goldman Sachs put its median EBITDA ratio for private-equity firms at 8.3. The company that had the most expensive loan on record that year, Apollo Global Management, with a median debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 28.1, had a median EBITDA ratio of just 7.4. Other firms

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About the author

Dan Britchford

Dan is the Editor/Designer/Developer, and Main Author of liftingthebar.com. His knowledge is gained through forum haunting and an active intrigue into all things fitness and nutrition based with a scientific grounding. When he isn't working on passion projects, or in the gym - he's selling himself trying to make it as a freelance web developer.

Dan has posted 30 times since 2013-01-31 15:06:30

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