Gadgets vs Mutual Funds: Where should you invest more and why?

Money is a commodity you certainly cannot survive without. You may have various sources of money, but how you choose to use it depicts whether you’ve utilized the value of money to its full potential or not. Regardless of the amount of money you have in hand, you should always plan to spend some and save some.

Many of the individuals are tempted to spend a lot more than necessary when they have exposure to significant amounts of money at any given time. With the increasing advancement in technology and frequent launches of new gadgets, this just adds to the temptation.

The launch of the Apple iPhone series took the world by storm and it was just the start of a more technological advanced era. Almost everyone gravitated towards the idea of a Smartphone having a multi-touch screen as the user interface. However, one thing they ignored was its cost and the financial impact it would have had on their other more important expenditures.

As long as you have planned your expenditures, which would mean that you have included the cost of any particular gadget you wish to buy, spending on gadgets will not impose any threat to your financial security. Just like you plan your expenditure, you should also plan your savings. You should set out a certain portion of your total monthly income for your savings.

Amongst many other ways, the best way in which you can achieve greater value for money is by saving your money in mutual funds. There are a wide variety and styles of mutual funds that can be accessible to you. You may choose the one that is best appropriate for your requirements.
Basically, mutual funds are a type of investment in which a certain group of investors assemble their money and appoint a portfolio manager. The manager in turn invests these funds in bonds, stocks or any other investment securities.

The manager obviously charges a fee for his services but keeping in view the rewards those investments undertaken by him may bring, the fee may not seem to be that big of an amount. Mutual funds can be an efficient way of investing your money if you are planning to save money for your retirement, education or any other financial goals.

Gadgets and mutual funds are in complete contrast to each other. While the value for money held in mutual funds increases over time, the value of gadgets depreciates over time. Purchasing any gadget requires a massive investment initially as the purchase price and then in subsequent periods as repairs, if required.

Over time, gadgets depreciate in value as you continue to use them and if a new version of the same gadget is launched in the market, it depreciates even more. If you go on to sell your gadget, you may at times have to settle for less than half the price.

Though, some of the gadgets are way too expensive, their cost can be completely justified with the features they have. However, one does not necessarily need to buy these expensive gadgets; instead they can settle for their cheaper alternatives. For instance, there are many alternatives of Smartphones to those of Apple iPhones, though with obvious differences in quality and extensive features.

Many of the individuals tend to get carried away with these gadgets and the added features each new version launched in the market has, to an extent that they might even continue to spend on them completely ignoring their personal financial situation and stability. Even worse, they might even end up being in heavy debt. However, if such a situation arises, the individual should be alert of the consequences this can have on him and his dependents, if any. Before anything else, you should first learn how you could settle credit card debt.

Though, spending on gadgets is not a bad idea completely, but it should not be over-excessive. There are some people who are gadget enthusiasts and want to possess every new gadget that is launched in the market. However, if you are already facing credit card debt issues, it would not be wise for you to continue spending on these expensive gadgets instead you should learn how you could settle credit card debt first.

The above article is composed by Sarah. She is associated with finance related companies as their freelance writer. In her free time she writes articles related to finance and saving money. She always recommends people to learn how you could settle credit card debt.

How to establish your compensatory claim

Employers, no matter what line of business they operate in, have a duty of care towards their employees and must train you properly to help them avoid any risks associated with the role.

What kind of accidents must be reported?

Employers are also legally obliged to hold records, in an ‘accident book’, of accidents and incidents, as well as to pay you sick pay if you’re entitled.

Accident books are primarily for the benefit of the employer, because it provides a useful record in case any employee makes a claim for compensation – and it’s also useful to help improve conditions.

Records of the following must be held:

• Work-related fatalities;
• Serious injuries (e.g. amputations;permanent impairment to the sight; broken arms, legs or ribs; and injuries where a person became unconscious or where they were in need of resuscitation/was hospitalisedfor 24+ hours);
• Diagnosed industrial diseases among employees, past or present;
• Any injury that prevented an employee from working for seven+ days.
• Near miss incidents e.g. scaffold collapses, explosions, escape of dangerous substances etc.

However not all deaths, injuries or diseases need to be reported – for a list of those that do, visit www.hse.gov.uk (Health and Safety Executive, or HSE).

Who is responsible for health and safety at work?

Your employer must carry out a risk assessment and do what's needed, e.g. train employees accordingly/train enough first aiders, to ensure the health and safety of employees and any potential visitors. This includes deciding how many first-aiders are needed and what kind of first-aid equipment and facilities should be provided in the event of any possible injuries. First-aiders have no statutory right to extra pay, but some employers do offer this.

However, that said, employees are also responsible to ensure their own health and safety by following the guidelines and procedures as presented by their employer.

Making an injury claim 

If you’ve been injured in an accident at work due to what you believe to be employer negligence, then you could well have a case for a claim – but any accident at work claim for compensation must be made within three years of the accident date.

Employers are legally required to be covered by an appropriate insurance plan to ensure that they can pay out if anything should happen and a claim were to be made, and also to make details of their insurance policy readily available to employees.

How to make a claim

If necessary, ensure that your employer has reported the accident/incident in question to the HSE. Then, check your for information about sick or accident pay, and if there’s any dispute of any kind, make your best attempts to settle it with your employer first.

And finally, if there are any health and safety issues at work, highlight them to your employer/ employee safety representative, and ask for them to be dealt with.

This article was brought to you by medicalsolicitors.com.

Have Financial Freedom with Reserves

Americans prefer to use their credit card often from buying simple daily bread to luxury items. At times this usage becomes so unmanageable that it crosses the credit card limit and people just crumble under the heavy debts.

Financial freedom is something that everyone strongly desires for, but having fewer amounts of debts in life is so common that gaining total control sometimes puts a question mark. Achieving financial freedom that too with little or no saving, it is similar to get eaten by a dinosaur.

Studies show that average people have savings below $7000 and that too they are having debts due to their credit card misuse. So having a good financial reserve really becomes a big question and we have to achieve a permanent solution for it.

When we are under the scope of no savings along with heavy debt, then we are bogged down to such an extent that we feel that we are left alone. Just make the point clear where you are thriving yourself and where you want to move ahead? Today we are going to discuss a little about why and how to become financially free.

Well, as the title suggests we will be stressing on the point that reserves are essential in order to attain financial freedom.

I think having reserves is quite important if you want to gain a financial freedom. Well, reserves are able to provide us with more than what we need. If we are having cash in our reserves then we do not have month of money to pay out the outstanding bills, we do have a year.

We do not have a year of income rather we have ten years. There are people who think of reserves in terms of money, like income, cash reserves, insurance and savings to mention a few. However, it is recommended to think beyond financial reserves.

To achieve financial freedom no doubt money reserves are the most sought after. However, do we know how good it is to become financially free without excellent health, a jolly good relationship and an amazing life?

There are some examples where one can easily increase their reserves like health ( that includes maintaining of health, weight, having good food habits and to do regular exercises). Next is relationship (that includes our healthy and loving connections with family and friends); space (that allows us to do what we want from whom we and when we want it); last but not least is the time (this allows us to complete all our activities with full attention).

If you are able to nurture the financial life in a better way then you can make your life enjoyable. These above examples are just minor places where you can concentrate your mind to increase the reserve. Take a minute just glance in your life and just focus on those areas where you need to develop yourself or build good reserves.

If we consider this article then we can confirm that achieving financial freedom begins with a full life of reserves that too including areas that are just beyond money.

Oliver Haskins, author of this article, is working with renowned contact center services for over a decade. He is having adept knowledge of lead generation, insurance call center, answering services, customer care, and other inbound and outbound call center services.

Be Proactive in Managing Your Business Online Reputation

Currently,most businesses have some type of online presence and sell some type of product or service here. This is a response to the consumer's need to have access to products and services from their home. It's just so much easier to buy the product from home and wait for it to arrive than it is to drive to the store and find whatever you are looking for. So as a business, it is important to keep your online reputation as upstanding, clean and positive as possible.

The Implications

Your online reputation will affect your company over many years. Even just one customer with a bad experience can cause havoc to your profit line. If you neglect your online reputation and wait until it is tarnished, then it may take a few months or even years for you to repair the damage created.

It’s All About Adequate Management

Your online reputation should be managed long before that derogatory comment comes in. Of course, building a positive online presence takes some work, but it is an effort that is well worth the price. As a business, you should start considering reputation management issues even before you get that bad review, and there are several online services like Reputation.com for business reputation management that can help you do just that.

Why is This so Important?

The Internet is a main staple in most homes; it is a tool turned to frequently by consumers looking for information about a product or service. This offers many businesses an excellent inexpensive opportunity to advertise, offer information, and share their services and products. However, it can also have a negative effect if online reputation management techniques are not implemented. All it takes is one bad review, especially if there aren’t any positive reviews out there.

Be Proactive – Not Reactive

When it comes to your online reputation, it is much better to be proactive rather than reactive. Repairing a damaged reputation takes much longer than setting up a positive one right from the start. The problem is many businesses are already affected by negative reviews, slander and false information posted to the internet and don’t even know it yet.

Steps You Can Take to Manage Your Online Reputation

Even if you don’t currently have the budget to hire an experienced online reputation company, you can take certain steps to protect your reputation. These are simple practices you should perform regularly to see what information is available online that pertains to your business. These include:

 - Look for your Business in the Search Engines – note any slanderous or false information that is published about you.

 - Generate positive information about your company – Ask customers to post great ratings on your social media profile or blog. Ask for a positive review on a well-known local review site.

By continually reviewing the information available you can take further steps to protect your reputation. If you do see, negative information posted, then it may be time to take steps to bury this type of information by hiring the services of a professional online reputation changer.

5 stumbling blocks to your Entrepreneurship dream

Nowadays, it’s no more about your certificate, it’s not about the degree you earn, but how much you are able to build your capacity for success, being rich or poor is a matter of choice, there is a place for hard work.

Climbing the ladder of success is not that easy, it is not just a day's job, you have got to be made, then you are ready for the journey.

It started from your education, but it is never based on the degree you own. The major players in the business world were drop outs, they had a thing in mind, and they faced it, and they succeeded.

Becoming an entrepreneur, involves a lot of sacrifice, but it takes only the man of vision to succeed. If you have got no vision to do business, I mean your personal/created business, it is better you take your certificate and get a job to survive.

There are so many hurdles in becoming an entrepreneur. Let’s take a look at 5 of them.

-Fear

For real, it isn't easy, especially in my own kind of environment when thing are not working, but if you had learnt to face challenges, you will find yourself breaking loose and riding at the top. Becoming an entrepreneur entails a lot of challenges, the major being capital.

Sometimes, you don't really need big amount to get something started, and if you had need a sum, never let that weigh down your entrepreneurship dream. Whenever the dream comes, always act on it and never let fear weigh you down, make moves on how you can get the capital, at least part of it to get something started.

One way of doing that is by getting a loan, talking to family members, or open up a partnership, by the time you begun to move around to get the problem solved, you will surely get a solution.

-Procrastination

Procrastination is an enemy of time, pushing things that is suppose to get done today till tomorrow is dangerous enough to crumble a entrepreneurship dream, you are suppose to make all arrangements and get started immediately, but you kept on delaying. I was suppose to start up a piggery farm, I needed to talk to an old man who has a pig farm so as to get knowledge as well as some space to set up my piggery, I pushed the appointment of meeting the old man by one week, and unfortunately for me, when I was ready, the man has already travelled, I had to wait for another 3 months before the old man resurfaced, never delay, make all arrangement, meet necessary people on time, an get started as an entrepreneur.

-Bad company

People you move with had a lot of influence over your life, most of my friends are of the idea of getting a degree and get a good, settle down and get married, but personally, I am not into all this, I love freedom, spending my energy on myself, never like somebody to be bossy over me, I loved to do something on my own, but they were not motivating me, even killing my spirit and dream instead, but I have to break loose, not that I totally de-friend them, I had to move far to them, and make a distant contact, I looked for new friends, people of the same dreams and visions, entrepreneurs and intending entrepreneurs like myself, guess what? The experience was so wonderful; you will see yourself getting the energy to move on.

-Limitations

As an entrepreneur, I wanted to start up an online business which I had learnt so well, but I had no laptop, internet was so expensive here, and the worst of all, power is damn bad. At first, I was thinking it would never be possible for me to run these internet deals due to these limitations, but one day, I said to myself, "Rise above your limitation". a friend had got a laptop which is not so useful to him, another had got a modem, a neighbor works with a generating set almost 24 hours a day, I just have to talked to them, and after getting those things, I kicked off, and within months, I am able to solve the problems one after other, I started by getting a generator, my own laptop, and now I got modems from different providers. As a successful entrepreneur, you have to look beyond the limitation, never say it is impossible because situations had rose against you.

-Excuses

Successful entrepreneurs don't give excuses, always say "it is possible" instead of "its not possible", always admit that it has not got done because you had not acted. Excuses paralyses dream, don't allow it to pull down your entrepreneurship dreams.

You can make it, you can be a great entrepreneur, just be bold and get started and before you know it, you will be riding at the top.

Konga Felix is an entrepreneur, blogger and writer; he also shows people that www.opendoorlans.co.uk can give an instant loan.