REDEFINING TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS TEACHING - STRATEGIES FOR A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM/SCHOOL AS MANUFACTURING COMPANY

The simplest way to fully comprehend each activity, responsibility, outcome and the entire education process is to view it as a productive/ manufacturing company. The processes and activities within a productive company can be summarized into INPUT AND OUTPUT.

INPUT refers to human resources(labourers, supervisors, managers etc) and material resources (raw material, power, plant and machinery), while the OUTPUT refers to finished goods. Juxtaposing the processes and activities with the educational/school system, INPUT refers to, teachers and learning situation and the OUTPUT refers to an educated individual that can fit into the society.

For a manufacturing company to get its desired OUTPUT, it has to put in the required INPUT, hence the need for quality control, standards, employee motivation and maintenance of plant and machinery. If one of the components of the manufacturing company is sloppy or not working to full capacity the desired OUTPUT cannot be achieved and a drop in expected revenue.

Education is a process of being initiated into knowledge and understanding which in turn regulates the recipients’ attitudes, emotions, want and actions. The recipient has to be more than just ‘knowledgeable’, the knowledge has to alter his view of the world, that is, the interpersonal world, the world of social, economic and political institutions. While these knowledge and understanding have to be worthwhile, the process of acquisition must also be ethically defensible. And these processes include all organizational modes in which these processes are promoted. They include the formal, non-formal, informal and casual modes.

Education is a most powerful instrument for social progress. It is the greatest power yet known to man for his own improvement. According to Brembeck (1966), education can heal or kill, bind up or tear apart, lift or deprave. Broadly defined, it is the aggregate of all the processes by means of which a person develops abilities, skills and other forces of behaviour of positive (and sometimes of negative) value in the society in which he lives (Fafunwa, 1982). For us, education is seen as a tool used for the integration of the individual into the society so that he can achieve self-realization, develop national consciousness, promote unity and strive for social, economic, political, scientific, cultural and technological progress (Afe, 1995).

Teaching has existed for ages so that sometimes it is difficult to trace precisely its origin. It is one of the oldest of human activities or occupations. As an activity, it consists of a body of “actions intended to induce learning, through the “conscious and deliberate efforts” by a matured or experienced person to impart knowledge, information, skills, attitudes, beliefs, etc to an immature or less experienced person (Afe, 1998).

“The Teacher” in the educational process refers to the person who instructs to provide the teaching-learning process. He assumes various capacities as educator, instructor, tutor, lecturer, counsellor, professor and so on. He is the mainstay or prime mover of the educational system. According to Aghenta (1991), as an input operator into the educational system, the teacher plays a big role in the conversion of raw materials (particularly students) into finished products i.e. graduates.

Within the school system if the teachers and learning situation are not well organised, or the teachers are not putting enough energy or better still if the teachers display wrong attitudes, the desired outcome of the school system will not be achieved, which is an educated individual.

IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OUTPUT BY IMPROVING TEACHER ATTITUDE

WHAT IS ATTITUDE?

Attitude is important to understand human behavior. To define what exactly an attitude is, many attempts have been made in literature. Generally it is defined as a complex mental state involving beliefs. Anastasi (1957) defines attitude as a tendency to react in a certain way towards a designed class of stimuli. People’s attitudes towards their profession have an effect on their performance. It is also valid for teaching profession. The quality of education is directly related to the quality of instruction. Teacher is instrumental for better instruction. He is required to have a higher professionalism because of rapidly changing circumstances. He is expected to use the best practices and strategies to meet the challenging demand of his career, which involves imparting knowledge and developing essential skills in the students. A good teacher is expected to be committed to his work and have the ability to take the initiative (Sparks, 1979). Teacher is expected to not only to master the subject and various methods of teaching but also to show that he is capable of selecting the various study materials according to the teaching goals and varied group of pupils. He also possesses the potentials to create a learning environment for the students (Vermunt and Verschaffel, 2000).

Gupta (1996) describes that the task of teachers is central to education. Teachers must transmit to new generation the cultural heritage of society - the knowledge, skills, customs, and attitudes acquired over the years. They must also try to develop in their students the ability to adjust to a rapidly changing world. The effective teacher is capable of creating a desire to learn (Conant, 1993). Teaching is a complex and demanding profession. To sustain their energy and enthusiasm for teaching, teachers need to maintain personal commitment to the job (Day, 2000).

Smith (1990) has claimed that teacher’s personality in the attitudinal sense is a significant factor in teacher’s behaviour and it has great impact on student’s achievement. The teachers must know the art of communication, understanding others and ability to learn from the experiences. They should be able to facilitate learning effectively (Reddy, 1992). Bhatia and Bhatia (1988) describe that the teacher is a servant of the society entrusted with the task of modifying and developing the behavior of the young child for maintaining and improving social patterns. The teacher can render this service to society only if he, above all, is a humanist - a human being in the true sense of the world. He is a person of high ideals and engaging personality. Wright (1987) describes that the primary function of teachers is to motivate the learners who are not motivated and to nurture those who are already well motivated to the task of learning. A teacher is required to have a higher level of professionalism because of rapidly changing circumstances. The importance of teachers’ professional development is being too much emphasized today. Hayon (1989) says that the teachers who posses professional and interpersonal skills are more effective in their classrooms in terms of students behaviour, attitude and achievement. Every individual has a variety of attitudes, which might be positive or negative and can vary according to their favourability and un–favourability for various attitudinal objects. Luthans (1993) says that professional attitude serves in many valuable ways and knowing these attitudes can also serve a lot.

Attitude of teachers largely depends upon their personal characteristics and disposition, both seems to be highly interlinked. The teaching profession requires certain dominant behaviors which show teacher’s intellect, desire to excel, extended professionalism and teaching as a life concern. This is a profession, which exalts service above the personal gains (Goodings et.al., 1995). Teaching involves human nurturance, connectedness, warmth and love (Hargreaves, 1994) and the teacher’s beliefs about his role in caring for the students plays a crucial part in developing the personality of the students (Kelchtermans and Ballet, 2002). Attitude of teachers have also been determined to be influenced by gender (Dodeen, et al., 2003). They found that female teachers have more positive attitude towards teaching profession as compared to male teachers. Flores (2001) explored from the newly graduated teachers that what affects their attitude towards teaching profession. They indicated that social and political control existing over teachers and the profession, in addition to the economic problem. She also reported that the workplace also plays a crucial role in shaping teachers’ attitudes towards teaching, especially behavior of principal, and the nature of the communication with in the school. Teaching is perceived as a difficult job among people. Many reasons can be named for this perception. It can be said that teachers face several difficulties when they start teaching. They start to feel deprived, alone and isolated in the society. It may cause a negative attitude towards the teaching profession. Attitudes of teachers play a crucial role in the teaching profession. Negative attitude of a teacher may have a negative impact on one’s teaching. Smith (1993) has summarized the relationship between teachers’ attitude and teaching as:

TEACHERS’ ATTITUDE TEACHING STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE AND

TOWARDS PROFESSION ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Teachers are expected to be positive role models for their students, both inside and outside the classroom. Rose (2005) has examined the role of educators as role models in formal and informal education, and stressed that role models can expose groups to specific attitudes, lifestyles and outlooks. Children often see teachers as important role models on par with parents (Rose, 2005). According to Carr (2000), teachers, regardless of subject area, have a moral role to play in education. It is the teachers’ duty to be socially acceptable by keeping themselves morally upright, refraining from gambling, abhorring drunkenness and other excesses, and avoiding immoral relations.

Referring to Sava (2001), teachers’ actions could actually have some lasting negative effects on students. Unfortunately, on top of that, Kearney, Plax, Hays and Iveys (1991) reported that researchers often tend to overlook teachers as a potential source of problems in the classroom. Compared to the large body of literature that focuses on positive teacher communication behaviours, fewer studies have been done on negative teacher communication behaviours (Wanzer& McCroskey, 1998).

STRATEGIES FOR A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Everyone’s life – home, school, work, and social – is full of ups and downs. It is normal to feel positive at some times and negative at others. How can you stay positive at work? First, understand what makes up your work attitudes. Then develop ways to help you maintain a positive work attitude.

WORK ATTITUDES

Your work attitudes has three components: attitude toward self, attitude toward work and attitude toward the workplace.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS SELF

The way you feel about yourself has a major effect on how you feel about work. Attitude toward self is called self-esteem. When your self esteem is high, you feel good about yourself. You are self confident; you know you can handle any task that comes your way. Your level of self-esteem affects how you deal with people and situations. When your self-esteem is high you can see other people as equals and co-workers, not threats. It is easier to sympathize with others or be understanding.

When your self-esteem is low, you tend to see people as threats. You might not be able to sympathize with others or be understanding.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS WORK

A person’s attitude towards work is often called his or her work ethic. People with a good work ethic feel that work is important. They want to get their work done on time and at a high quality. They don’t expect work to always be easy. They get satisfaction from doing a good job, and they feel that the work is rewarding. People with a good work ethic are willing to pitch in when problems arise and are willing to put in extra hours when asked.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE WORKPLACE

Attitude towards the workplace means how you feel about the school or organisation you work for. A positive attitude means that you respect the organisation and the people who work there. You respect the school and you are proud to tell people about your work.

No job is perfect and every job has its ups and downs. It is never easy to be positive all the time. The following are strategies to maintain a positive attitude.

1. EXAMINE YOUR ATTITUDE REGULARLY

Think about your day at work. Think about your relationship with your co-workers, head teacher, and proprietor. Is your attitude positive or negative? Constructive or destructive?

If your attitude is negative, try to determine why. Ask yourself these questions:

· Am I unsuited for my job?

· Are personal problems interfering with my work performance?

· Do I dislike my co-workers or head-teacher?

· How can I change destructive attitudes to constructive ones?

· Do I need more training to perform my task effectively?

Most likely, you will discover one or two areas where you need to adjust your attitude. Ask yourself this questions:

· How would my head-teacher describe me?

· How would my co-worker rate my human relations skills?

2. BALANCE WORK WITH YOUR PERSONAL LIFE

All work and no play is not healthy, and all play and no work is not good either. Only you can decide how to allocate your time and energy. Figure out a balance that works for you. Decide your priorities. When you know your priorities, it is easier to make the decisions that are right for you.

When you are at home, focus on your family and friends. Leave work problems at work. Similarly, when at work, put home problems on a back burner. Focus on your work. If you do not feel stressed about your priorities, it is easier to maintain a positive attitude towards work.

3. FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE

If one aspect of your job gets you down, don’t let it overshadow the positive aspects. Focus on the positive in your work and in your relationships on the job. Remember you can have good working relationships with everyone, even with those who differ from you in many ways. Focus on the values and goals you share, such as building a productive school or department.

4. TURN UNEXPECTED CHANGES INTO OPPORTUNITY

Human beings are creatures of habit. It is the rare person who likes surprises. We are comfortable with the familiar- friends, co-workers, head-teacher, routines, and foods. However, change is an inevitable part of life. If you stay on a job long enough, some unforeseen changes are sure to happen. Head-teacher and co-workers come and go. Your duties change.

Your first reaction to changes at work may be negative. You might not like a new boss or a new assignment. However, you can learn to accept change and remain positive. Focus on what you can learn. Be honest if something is bothering you and talk to your head-teacher or head of department about it. Every new situation can be a learning experience if you are open to learning. What you might learn is how to adapt to something you don’t like. Adopt the attitude that every change presents a new opportunity to grow.

5. EDUCATE YOURSELF

It is tough to be positive if you are having trouble doing your job. Education is the key to being confident about your abilities. You can take courses to keep up with your field. You can read articles and new books by experts in the field. Education is necessary for advancement in any career, even if that is not the case, education is never wasted. Be a lifelong learner. The more you learn, the more confident you become.

6. MAINTAIN YOUR INTEREST

In the first months on a job, you are learning new things. The excitement and challenge keeps you interested and your attitude is positive. As time goes on, you might begin to feel bored. You might feel that you are not being challenged or that work is not much fun as you expected. If this happens, look for ways to regain the interest you once felt. Analyze your duties. Look for areas where you can take more initiative. Come up with new ideas for doing routine tasks.

7. MAINTAIN A SENSE OF HUMOUR

Humour can help your outlook on almost anything. Taking yourself and others too seriously will not solve problems. It may cause you to dwell on mistakes or focus on the negative side of situations that cannot be changed. Having a sense of humour does not mean joking or clowning around. Having a sense of humour means developing the ability to see lighter side of situations. People with a good sense of humour can say just the right thing to make everyone laugh and break the tension. Find someone with a good sense of humour and learn by observation.

8. TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR HEALTH

Poor health habits can affect your job performance and your attitude. The negative effects of poor health habits might not happen immediately, but over time, such habits can reduce your productivity on the job. A steady diet of junk food will sap your energy. Staying up too late every night will affect your ability to be alert the next day. A lack of exercise may result in a build up of tensions and lack of energy. Abuse of alcohol and drug will impair your ability to perform.

9. DRESS FOR SUCCESS

Your attitude and your appearance are related. If you look good, you are more likely to feel good about yourself. Everyone has favourite outfit that can improve a mood instantly. Choose clothes that make you feel good about yourself. Your appearance also affects others’ opinion of you and their reactions to you. Be aware of the dress code for the job. Pay attention to person

Start up capital/Expending paradim

RAISING START-UP CAPITAL/FUND

No matter what the economic situation, someone somewhere, eyes bright with potential, is looking to start a new business. Funds are often the biggest hurdle to what could otherwise be a lucrative opportunity. Here are some ways - traditional and/ or creative - to raise money for your start up business.

Ways to Raise Start-up Money

1. Personal savings . There's nothing like having your own money saved, to put into your start-up. You have the satisfaction of having saved it on your own, and the knowledge that you don't owe anyone.

2. Partner savings. Having a partner helps spread out not only the business management but the financial burden. A good partnership is also synergetic, bringing more success than running a business alone.

Risk : A fed up partner who wants out; arguments; irresponsible partners who leave you with all the debt; broken friendships.

3. Sell your stuff . Sell anything you haven't used in a year or longer. The same goes for leased items.

Risk : Regrets, or worse: going out and spending to replace the item(s) you sold.

4. Windfalls . Invest any tax refunds, gifts, lottery winnings into your business.

Risk : Getting hooked on lotteries and gambling to "fund" your dream business.

5. Blood money . Borrow from family, friends, colleagues, or employees . An alternative to this is to have one of the aforementioned co-sign a bank loan for you.

Risk : Meddling lenders, constantly reminding you of what they gave you; ruined friendships.

6. Get a bank loan. If you have a solid business plan and the lender agrees, this can often be the cheapest (interest rate-wise) loan sources available.

Risk : Besides the fact that it's often hard for a startup to qualify - since there's little evidence you'll be profitable - if you do get a loan, it can be like a ticking time bomb if your business isn't doing well.

7. Private offering. Turn your blood money lenders into part owners, so that they have an emotionally vested stake in seeing your business succeed.

Risk : You might lose partial control of the business, and if you have to have meetings to make simple decisions, that could hinder your ability to work effectively.

8. Consignment. This isn't so much as a fund source as it is a source of product to earn revenue and then pay "suppliers" after their products sell. Small boutique shops often take this approach, thereby reducing their operating costs to rent, electricity, phone and few other items. Stock costs drop potentially to nil.

Risk : If you're not disciplined enough to sell the product, product takes up space and suppliers get upset.

9. Freelancing or contracting . You may not be able to hold down a regular job while also running a start-up, but part-time freelancing or contract might be an option for producing extra income.

Risk : Time spent freelancing or contracting is time that you cannot spend on your start-up.

EXPENDING

1. Transform your mindset – If you were rich, what would you do with your money? The answer to this question will determine how much money you will have in the end.
2. Boost your financial IQ by learning from anything and anybody related to managing your money.
3. Start investing a small percentage of your income to build your asset and increase this percentage to the highest possible over time.

THE EXPENDING PARADIGM

To expend means to simply use up for specific purpose. To be financially independent or to live in absolute financial freedom one has to learn to use his/her resources to meet and satisfy specific need. The truth is you can’t satisfy all your wants but I dare say, you can satisfy your needs. Many times we have resources but misuse our resources because we find it difficult knowing what need to meet given the amount of resources we have at our disposal.

Whether you are a business owner, an aspiring entrepreneur, you need to learn how to manage your finances, that is, using your money for specific purposes only which is what the expending paradigm is about.

1 Save before you spend

*Don't save what is left after spending; spend what is left after saving.

2 Don’t be an impulsive buyer.

*If you buy things you don't need, you'll soon sell things you need.

3 Don’t be a seasonal buyer

When you buy things during festive period you pay more than what it costs

4 Don’t buy a label but a shirt/dress

What you need is a shirt/dress and not a label, learn to avoiding buying designers because what they sell to you is their label/brand.

5 Spend within/below your means

Ascertain what you earn before you spend, i.e. have a consciousness of what you earn.

6 Delay every major buying

Delay every major expenses for at least 3 days.

7 Disassociate yourself from people that are extravagant spenders

Show me your friends and I will tell you who you, as long as you stay with extravagant spender you will start spending like them.

8 Make a budget

Learn to make weekly, monthly and even yearly budget, assign resources to specific needs. A Budget is a plan that outlines an organization's financial and operational goals. So a budget may be thought of as an action plan; planning a budget helps a business allocate resources, evaluate performance, and formulate plans.

While planning a budget can occur at any time, for many businesses, planning a budget is an annual task, where the past year's budget is reviewed and budget projections are made for the next three or even five years.

9 Draw/have a financial plan

A financial plan guides how you earn, spend and even save money. A proper meaning of the phrase separately and there common meaning needs to be understood carefully. Personal means somebody’s owned thing or a personal affair. Financial means the position of a person or a company in monetary terms. Planning means thinking of future. Now together Personal Financial Planning means thinking of future in monetary terms by a person for himself. personal financial planning refers to the making of plans or policies or decision or strategies that may affect the future in monetary terms or monetary position in comparison to present position by a person for him or his family.

10 Don’t spend to impress

If there’s one thing, just one thing that can pretty much kill any hope you have of a solid financial future, as well as any semblance of a healthy form of self esteem, it’s spending money to impress other people.

Deep down inside, we know it’s not prudent, yet most of us at the very least, feel the urge to do it and I’m not going to even discuss the various psychological reasons why people go on to actually do it. So how do you stop the urge of spending money to impress other people? Here’s the thing. If you’re ALREADY spending money to impress other people, it’s SO hard to stop.

To have a DEFINITE PURPOSE for your money that’s HIGHER than your need to impress other people based on your own personal values.

11 Question every high yield investment

12 Don’t spend with the hope of getting money

13 Look for alternatives

14 Pay yourself from your income

15 Pay your house rents monthly

16 Avoid loans that will not be used for investment

Wealth Creation a mindset, a consciousness 1

Until you make wealth creation a summation of who you are, you will definitely find it difficult creating and managing wealth. I used to think wealth and financial management is a passive activity that would just happen, i never knew, you have to make it a life style. You can create wealth if and only if you can manage the little penny, cent or naira you make.
Creating and managing finance is a function of expending your income or better still, it all depends on how you make consumption decisions. It's so amazing that we spend so much time learning elementary economics and we practice little of it. Back then in high school we were thought how to make choice, outline all our wants or make a scale of preference in the face of limited resources and conflicting and pressing needs. The irony is we hardly practice any of these, we buy whatsoever appeals to us without putting it to reason if we actually need the item or not.
If i can visit your house today i will be able to identify most needs you don't need at all that you bought because it appeals to you or your friends are buying or using same. We need to come to that point whereby we are very conscious of how we use our money. We need to ask ourselves this few questions before spending on anything.

1. Why am i buying this item or paying for this service?
2. Do i need this item or service?
3. What is driving/influencing me towards this item and service?
4. What are the alternatives to this item and service?
5. Whats the durability?
6. Will a fairly used be ok if you are not going to use it for long?

I know the questions are a little much but there's more you can ask personally, like, am i using this item to show off?
Many people are living above their means unknowingly because they are not conscious of how they spend. For you to create wealth you have to check how you spend what you have because wealth creation and financial management is hinged on expenditure i.e how do you spend?

Investment the key to abundance

According to Genesis, after God created man he gave man a mandate to be fruitful, to multiply and replenish the earth, in the message translation that place reads, PROSPER! REPRODUCE! FILL EARTH! TAKE CHARGE! AND BE RESPONSIBLE. From that part of the scripture you see God has already made man in a way to prosper but have you pause or better still SELAH which is pause and think and ask yourself why is everybody not prospering. The book of Ecclesiastes states categorically that as long as the earth remains poor people will never cease. Then this brings me to the next question, who is a poor man? To me a poor man is that man that’s lacks initiative, understanding, knowledge, not to mention wisdom, a poor man is that man that cannot see beyond where he is, he in unadventurous, he cannot manipulate his surrounding, cannot and does not think about his future, he is concern about here and now.
Is God impartial? Why does he make some rich and the others poor? A rich man is the opposite of who a poor man is. In churches today our major concern most times is how we may prosper forgetting the fact that in Genesis 1 God already blessed us and declared us prosperous, why have we not thought about how we can use the little we have and make it grand. If you need a tree you don’t need to plant a tree all you need to plant is a seed, for a seed as small as it is brings forth a tree. So the little we have if only we can apply the principles of increase we will definitely prosper.
Lest I for forget before I start painting your minds with colors of words too big then causing color riot in your head and making you confuse all the more and retiring to fate that you are indeed born to be poor, let me state here that you can be a millionaire if you want to, mark my words I said IF YOU WANT TO. I know in your mind you will be saying can all be rich? Of cause all can be rich. We can live that life we’ve always dreamt of. Are you not familiar with these words? “I GET MONEY BEFORE OOOOO”
Haven’t you wondered that even the unbelievers are indeed richer than some of us Christians, it’s just because they are applying the simple principle of investment as a key for their future. They know what to do and when to do it; they know how to differ their greatest pleasure for now as a sacrifice for their future. Think about the Dangote’s , Jimoh Ibrahim’s Mike Adenuga etc. These are Nigerians despite the fact that at certain times, certain economic policies were formulated that were rent seeking in nature by our big wig politicians favoured them they were men that started investing with little of nothing. My greatest joy tonight will be that as may of you that are here, will be able to catch what am about to expose to you. Many of you here have at one time or the other have listened to what am going to show us but have not made any progress towards prosperity, my prayer is that you will catch it in a dimension that will make you not to rest in Jesus name.
The simple principle that I will show you today is the principle of sowing and reaping or better still investment. In the bible there’s a that Jesus told of a master that gave talents (money) to his servants and two of them invested and gain more but one did not but dug a hole and kept it. I know we are very familiar with this story and we are so quick to judge the last servant that dug his own money but have we asked ourselves what we have done with the little money we have had all our lives? It’s not a matter of how small the money is there’s always an avenue of investment. Remember in the story the master rebuked the servant by telling him that it would have been better if he had kept the money in bank for in so doing he would have had interest.
From the fore going you will find out that it doesn’t matter how much you have but the willingness to invest. Prosperity and wealth is not spontaneous but conscious and persistent effort, not relenting but focus.

CHAPTER 2

MEANING OF INVESTMENT

According to the oxford advanced learners dictionary “investment is the act of investing money in something. It can also be referred to as the money you invest, or the thing you invest in.
Investment is the choice by the individual to risk his savings with the hope of gain. Rather than store the good produced, or its money equivalent, the investor chooses to use that good either to create a durable consumer or producer good, or to lend the original saved good to another in exchange for either interest or a share of the profits. (wikipedia)
In investment an asset is usually purchased, or equivalently a deposit is made in a bank, in hopes of getting a future return or interest from it. The word originates in the Latin "vestis", meaning garment, and refers to the act of putting things (money or other claims to resources) into others' pockets.
In finance, investment is the buying of securities or other monetary or paper (financial) assets in the money markets or capital markets, or in fairly liquid real assets, such as gold, real estate, or collectibles.
Simply put, it’s the sacrifice of today’s pleasure for the pleasure of tomorrow.

KINDS OF INVESTMENT

401K PlansThe easiest and most popular kind of investment is a 401K plan. This is due to the fact that most jobs offer this savings program where the money can be automatically deducted from your payroll check and you never realize it is missing.Life Insurance

Life Insurance policies are another kind of investment that is fairly popular. It is a way to ensure income for your family when you die. It allows you a sense of security and provides a valuable tax deduction.
StocksStocks are a unique kind of investment because they allow you to take partial ownership in a company. Because of this, the returns are potentially bigger and they have a history of being a wise way to invest your money.
BondsA bond is basically a promise note from the government or a private company. You agree to give them a set amount of money as a loan and they keep it for a set number of years with a predetermined amount of interest. This is typically a safe bet and one that is a good investment for a first time investor because there is little risk of losing your money.
Mutual FundsMutual funds are a kind of investment that are based on the gains and losses of a shareholder. Basically one person manages the money of several or many investors and invests in a list of various stocks to lessen the effect of any losses that may occur.
Money Market FundsA good short-term investment is a Money Market Fund. With this kind of investment you can earn interest as an independent shareholder
Real EstateReal Estate is a tangible kind of investment. It includes your land and anything permanently attached to your piece of property. This may include your home, rental properties, your company or empty pieces of land. Real estate is typically a smart and can make you a lot of money over time.
Trading
This is simply the act of buying and selling of consumable products. This is one of the oldest form of investment.
There are three types of investment, namely:
· Short term investment
· Medium term investment
· Long term or life time investment