A student bank account is one of the most important things you should take care of before starting your first year at college. Choosing the right kind of bank account helps you through your university years smoothly, while enabling you to manage money more efficiently. To ensure that you make the right choice, here are four things you should know about student bank accounts.

Student accounts come with overdraft facility

Being able to pull through your college years only with the money in your account can be great. However, that’s not usually possible for most students. When you are out of cash and need more money, you can approach the bank for help. Banks offer what is called the overdraft facility, which is more or less like a small loan.

When you select a bank for your student account, be sure to check the size of the overdraft and the interest rates that are applicable to it. While some banks offer only ‘upto’ a certain amount per annum, some have a tier system and may increase the overdraft amount every year. For instance, banks following the tier system may offer ?1000 in the first year, ?2000 in the second, ?3000 in the third and so on, while others may offer a fixed overdraft of upto ?2000 every year. 

Added advantages of student accounts

Many banks are generous when it comes to student accounts. They offer incentives like discount coupons for laptops or other useful appliances and gadgets, student insurance, rail cards, traveller’s cheques etc. However, it is best to have clear idea about what these incentives actually are and how they can be useful for you before making a choice.

Interests and fees

When it comes to overdrafts, banks usually charge an interest on the amount they lend you. Some banks may not charge overdraft interest, but that is only for a certain period, or upto a certain amount of money borrowed by you. That is why, it is important to go through the terms and conditions that apply to overdraft before you select an account.

What to avoid

When in university, it is best to stick to bank overdrafts in case you need additional money. At all costs, you should avoid unauthorised loans or use credits cards as they have very high interest rates.

Forex is the biggest financial market in the world, attracting millions of investors looking to make a profit. However, not all forex traders are successful in making a profit. Here are a few common mistakes that novice forex traders should avoid to prevent losses.

Being unprepared

A number of investors, who are into stock or futures trading, assume that forex trading is easy and enter the market without any preparation. This, obviously, leads to making the wrong moves and losing a good amount of money that could’ve been turned into profit easily.

Although forex trading involves in buying and selling of a financial instrument (currency), the functioning of the market and the factors that affect the value of the currencies are different and should be known to every forex trader.

Emotional trading

Like with any other form of trading, emotional trading is a big no-no in forex trading, especially when you have a live forex account with thousands of pounds deposited. Rather than being impulsive, forex traders should be disciplined and place their trades strategically, rather than going by a hunch or a feeling. Also, you should avoid trading when you are feeling overly emotional, and are not able to think logically.

For example, you may be so happy about making a big profit on a trade that you might be tempted to trade all your winnings, thinking you can gain more. However, forex market is volatile and trading without logic might take away your entire profit as well as the capital.

Predicting market movement

Trying to predict the forex market movements is a big mistake that a few novice traders do. Understand that the forex market is volatile, as it is affected by a number of factors. And to accurately predict how a currency will behave, you may have to put in a lot of time and effort to consider all the factors involved.

Rather than trying to make a prediction, forex traders should keep a close watch on the market for positive trends. When the opportunity presents itself, go for it and make a profit.

Over leveraging

In forex trading, leveraging means that you make a big trade with a small account balance. Should the market turn in your favor, you would earn a profit. Otherwise, you will end up losing more than what you have put in. While using too much leverage can be highly profitable, it is also highly risky and is a mistake that especially novice traders should avoid.

One of the main advantages of spread betting is that it allows you to access different markets and bet on a variety of financial instruments. The range of spread betting markets you can have access to depends on the spread betting company you choose. However, almost all the brokers allow trading on indices, individual shares, currencies and commodities.

Indices

Index trading has the biggest market when it comes to financial spread betting. Betting on indices is most preferred by novice and potential bettors, as it allows them to bet smaller stakes, which is not possible when they trade through the futures markets. Every spread betting firm in the UK provides index betting, and the spreads are usually represented in pounds.

Currency market

Forex trading is no more just for the wealthy investors or big firms. Forex is the largest and the most liquid financial market in the world, which makes it a favorite among individual investors and spread bettors. When beginning with forex spread betting, it is best to start with one or two major currency pairs like the EUR/USD or the USD/JPY, and gradually move on to more.

Commodities

Commodity trading involves in trading futures of commodities like gold, crude oil etc to make a profit. Commodity markets are fast becoming popular with growing number of spread bettors, as they are highly liquid and have low trading costs. Usually, the commodity categories at brokers such as Capital Spreads that spread bettors can bet on include energy (crude oil. Natural gas etc), metals (gold, silver, iron, copper etc) and softs (sugar, wheat, soybeans, etc).

Individual shares

Spread betting on the individual shares from all over the world is easy and now possible through the electronic communication systems used by brokers in the UK. When you spread bet on shares, you are wagering on the performance of a particular stock without actually owning it. The fact that several brokers in the UK need low deposits and allow minimum bets on shares has made the market very attractive to both novice and experienced spread bettors.

Bonds and interest rates

Spread betting on interest rates and bonds is similar to betting on indices, shares or commodities. Usually, brokerages allow spread betting on the interest rates of government bonds from the UK, US, Japan and Eurozone. While spread betting on interest rates and bonds is not as popular yet, a number of brokers provide this option.

Binary betting is fast becoming a popular method of investment. One of the biggest advantages of binary betting is that it allows traders to earn a fixed amount of profit from market movement regardless of the degree of change. Although this puts a cap on the possible profits, it offers a straightforward option for investors to capitalize on market movement. In binary betting (otherwise known as binary options) a trader wins or loses in equal measure. There are several types of binary bets. All the types require traders to choose a side. Up bets and the corresponding down bets are the most types of binary bets.

Up Bets

The proposition behind an up bet is simple – by the end of the trading day, the market will rise on its current rate. If you believe that the market is likely to close up, you may place an up bet. While betting, the difference between the odds provided by the broker and the upward movement in the actual market odds should be factored.

The odds offered by the broker depend on the existing market price. As such, the odds are likely to fluctuate constantly. When taking an up position, it is advisable to wait for a drop in the price, provided that you believe that the market will move upwards by the end of the trading day. In certain cases traders have the option of closing out their position before the end of the day. Although the action results in smaller profits than otherwise available, the profit is guaranteed.

Down Bets

Down bets are closely aligned to up bets. Here the trader bets on the proposition that the asset or market in question will move down from the opening point by the end of the trading day. As this bet depends on a fall in the market in comparison to your entry point, it will settle at zero, even if the downward movement is minute.

The bulk of daily binary trading is formed by up and down bets. Daily/Hourly bets is another classification of binary bets. Daily bets are the most common ones. Although up and down bets represent the most basic type of binary betting, implementing them can be tricky. Traders capable of leveraging these bets to their advantage can gain substantial rewards.