You Can Optimise Your Business Finances For More Money

Keeping track of all of the income and outgoings can be quite tricky for a business. Money flows from all kinds of areas in your business, and to make the most of it you need to apply varying plans and techniques. They can end up saving you money down the line and can work for a physical business or an online one. Some may not work for you, whereas others might. Take a look and see where you can start saving money.

Outsource Your Payroll

If you’re thinking of hiring someone to look after your payroll it could be a huge mistake. Having another employee can be a huge drain on your finances, even if you have a large workforce. You’ll need to pay then an annual wage, and not a small one as they will require a sense of expertise with payroll systems. You’ll also have to invest in pricey software, as well as another computer and workstation. When you add it all up it becomes way more logical to outsource your payroll to a third party. You’ll of course have to pay them, but it could work out far less than employing another worker, thus saving you money. Sometimes you can get more services too like timekeeping and HR services.

Use Tax Specialists

Tax can be the bane of many businesses across the world. There are some great government grant schemes available and tax breaks depending on what kind of business you operate. It is also prudent to use tax accountants because it will streamline your tax operation and limit potential mistakes and overpaying. You can really benefit from a consultation and the opportunity to save money by doing it is very real.

Freelance

When you’re first starting out, or even when you have established your business and client base it can be a good idea to outsource certain jobs to freelancers. This way you pay for exactly what you need instead of a rolling monthly outgoing. You can use them for varying things such as content creation or in a business analyst role. They can also help you with your I.T systems. You can find different freelancers on specific websites where they can bid for the job you offer. It all depends on the amount of work you need completed, so weigh up the costs of employment and freelance against the length of time someone will be working.

Get Rid Of Your Servers

Cloud based services can be used instead of server based computing. Servers can be expensive and not too reliable. They are vulnerable to acts of god like extreme weather and when destroyed can delete piles of sensitive company and client data. Servers need to be updated, and it can be expensive to do so. You need varying types of towers, which need to be in spacious and well ventilated areas that take up vital office space. They will also need professional upkeep, which will mean, again, employing someone or or paying someone on an as needs basis to keep your systems running smooth. The cloud takes away all of these issues and allows your business more flexibility.

Simple Ways To Get Your Finances To Sizzle

If you’re looking for ways to improve your financial situation there are a number of different options that you can consider. For instance, the logical way of boosting your income would be either to seek out a job with better pay or take on another position. But, let’s be honest. Most of us want our finances to grow without actually taking on more work. That desire does limit the choices considerably. You can’t take on a second job if you don’t want to do any more work than you’re already handling right now. So, what are your options? As it turns out, your best bet is investments that are low risk and could lead to high gains. Or, jobs that don’t seem like work at all.

Get Blogging

We suggest you start by blogging. With a blog you can raise a lot of money without doing much work at all. Starting a blog is simple, and there are numerous builders that you can use that operate with simple software. Wordpress is easiest, but you can also look at Blogger. Once you have setup a blog you need to make it attractive and more importantly, give it some content. This will help you attract followers and in turn, lead to you making some money. To make money, you need roughly one thousand followers, but you should be aiming to multiply that number by one hundred. This is the point where you can start seeing your blog as a solid income. To do this, you need to create winning content that is easy to market and promote. If you don’t know how to deal with these promotions, hire a marketing team. That might seem like an expensive investment, but it will pay off.

Buying Property

If you have some money saved you can invest in property. Remember, you only need about five percent of the asking price for the property to take it off the market. Although, obviously the more you have to put down the better because it will mean a cheaper mortgage. You have two options when buying property. You can either sell it on or lease it out. Most people opt to sell it on because they think this is less of a commitment. While this is true, renting can be more profitable in the long term. If you’re worried about commitments and time constraints you can use a property manager. They will look after the property for you and ensure that it maintains it’s value. Thus, renting out a property can be just as easy as selling it on.

Forex Trader

You may want to think about dabbling in stocks and trades to make a little extra money. If you do this, we recommend that you look into forex. Forex is the trade of currency, and you can invest as little or as much capital as you like. Doing this, you will then be trading based on the value changes in currency. Thus as long as you are keeping an eye on the stock, it’s very easy to increase your ROI.

Do any of these ideas interest you? We think they could improve your financial situation dramatically.

Quick Tips To Instantly Knock Money Off Your Auto Insurance

Car insurance is one of those annoying monthly costs that can add up big time. The costs of buying and maintaining a vehicle can be rough enough as it is. While it’s essential to take out proper coverage for your car, many people look for ways to get cheaper insurance.

If you feel like you’re paying too much, it might be time to reassess your auto insurance. Even if you’ve already taken out a quote, there are ways you can make your costs cheaper. If you haven’t gotten insurance yet, there are even more ways to get a good deal. Here are some tips to instantly knock some money off your car insurance.

Compare Quotes

Comparing costs from different insurance providers is always the first thing you should do. Even if you’re already insured, you should check the market and see if you could be getting a better deal. Insurance companies are highly competitive, and you can often knock a lot of money off your monthly costs by switching.

The best way to compare insurance is by taking to the internet. There are many sites which let you compare car insurance quotes to find a better deal. Changing the kind of coverage you go for can also help you cheapen the costs.

You can cancel your old insurance or just choose not to renew it. You can get the same amount of coverage at much lower prices if you do your research.

Take A Defensive Driving Course

When insurance providers take customers, they want to know they’re safe and responsible drivers. But accidents can happen on the road, and you might find yourself with a traffic ticket for speeding or getting involved in a collision.

You may worry about your insurance premiums in these cases. After all, they can look bad to providers. But one way to instantly lower your costs is by taking a defensive driving class. There are many of these around the country, and you can even take some online.

Before you take any course, check their FAQs and your state regulations. The rate of insurance discount you get can vary. You can sometimes get penalty points removed by taking one of these courses also.

Change Your Job Title

You may not realise how one tiny detail can make a massive difference. But the career title you choose to use in your insurance applications can impact your insurance costs by a great deal. Some studies found that tweaking your job title could reduce your car insurance by up to 25%. There are many examples of this. For instance, describing yourself as a civil servant instead of an administration clerk will save you money. A “factory worker” can get a lower rate than a machinist.

Of course, you should never lie. But occupations often have many different names, and choosing the right one can save you more. If you’re a stay-at-home parent or retired, make sure you list yourself as “unemployed”- it can result in massive savings.

Remove Add-Ons

Sometimes just changing your coverage can give you massive savings. There are many add-ons you might not need. For instance, you can remove windscreen coverage and pay the small cost for repairs yourself. Some providers charge you more for protecting contents like sat nav, but you can take them out of your car to prevent theft instead.

There are some useful add-ons. For instance, things replacing lost or stolen keys can save you a lot of money in the long run. But consider what you need and reduce your extra coverage to a minimum.

Real Estate Blues: How to Plan Profitable Developments That Rake in Cash

Real estate development can become an extremely taxing and stressful job if you don’t handle it correctly. Thankfully, there are many real estate investment strategies that you can utilise, such as exploiting market conditions, which will improve your sales and profits if done correctly. However, those are big ideas that need to be implemented on a large scale.

Here is a concise guide on how to stretch your investments as far as possible. You won’t need to delve into market strategies or open a glossary of terms. These will be simple and straightforward tips that even a beginner can understand.

Refurbishment

One of the easiest ways to quickly make a profit on real estate is to buy a home that needs refurbishment or repairs. Many homeowners across the country will be looking for a quick sale on their homes because they’re either beyond repair or need to move in a hurry. These types of properties are an absolute steal and a quick Google or local directory search of “Cheap house for sale” will bring up hundreds of properties around you that are waiting to be snatched up.

It’s important that you take a look at the home and hire a professional to come with you to assess the damages and repair costs. It’s simple math from then. Add the cost of the repairs to the cost of the house that the homeowner is willing to sell it for and compare it to the cost of housing in the area and check if you have a goldmine on your hands.

Invest for the Future

Many locations around the country are brimming with low-cost houses and residential lots. They’re usually cheap because they are in newly developed areas or remote locations that don’t have many local amenities or travel services to offer. However, a popular location will undoubtedly receive state funding sooner or later to build rail services and amenities, and large corporations will swoop in to develop their brand names there as well.

Take advantage of this by checking for cheap housing areas, and do research to determine if in a few years time there will be more amenities and attractions in the area. You’ll need some connections to get access to the information you need, or you can use the power of the internet to look up state-planned Developments.

Targeted Development

Your developments in the area need to be suited towards the demographic you’re selling to. For example, if you’re in a modern city area then chances are, many buyers don’t have vehicles and instead, they use public transport. As a result, a garage is a rather pointless addition and could be converted into a living space or extra bedroom which will add more value than an unused garage.

Similarly, if you’re in a popular holiday location then you need to renovate the house so that it screams “holiday”. Chance the decor, upgrade the furniture and market it towards holidaymakers who want to rent or buy a holiday home in another country.

Three Niche Property Investments That’ll Blow Your Socks Off

Sometimes setting yourself up as a property investor can be a grind. Contrary to what people believe, it’s a job with long hours and a lot of research. Buying and selling typical properties inside a city or on the outskirts, renovating them if needed and then pitching it to various buyers is the regular workflow for a property investor. Profits can typically range from “livable conditions” to “well-off” but unless you start dealing with extremely high-profile properties and business areas, then you’re likely not going to get rich quick.

However, some investors have taken an alternate path in the world of property dealings. Instead of dealing with typical properties such as apartments and houses, they take on special niches that can bring them huge profits with a single sale because they’re so unique. Here are a couple of niche property investment markets that could transform your daily grind into a special journey that’ll make you more money than you’re getting now.

Islands

Yes, there are people that buy and sell entire islands—but not just that. They also sell amenities on the islands that are developed specifically for private owners to use. Sometimes investors will just buy and sell the island, but clever (and wealthy) developers have taken it to the next level and will build mansions, storage bays, harbours, power generation services, water filtration machines—they might even throw in a boat so you can get on the island.

In addition to buying and selling islands, property investors might also divide large islands into multiple plots for sale or simply rent out islands as holiday homes. It’s a versatile and unique market that doesn’t get much exposure, but wealthy holidaymakers and rich individuals will be all over your island property.

Ranches

A ranch doesn’t have to smell of animals and be covered in hay. Far from it. A ranch conversion turns old farmland into luxury homes with thousands of acres of land, potential for private fishing and other outdoor recreation, and some incredibly serene environments to take hikes and bike rides in. There are many ranches for sale if you look through a quick Google search or in specialised magazines and these properties are extremely popular due to the amount of space you get for the money.

Even if there’s no farmland to convert, you can invest in large patches of land near forests, rivers and other natural attractions and build luxury recreational homes near them. They are popular with enthusiasts that need a lot of space to carry out their hobbies, so when making sales and listing the property make sure you state how much free and untouched land is available.

Castles

Castles are extremely old pieces of architecture that will need a lot of renovating, but snatching one up at an affordable price and converting it into an extremely decadent and luxurious medieval property can create massive profits. Each castle has a long history of kings and queens and people love to learn about the history of the property they live in. Castles are usually massive structures that could house hundreds of people, so it’s possible to split a castle up into several occupancies as well.

5 Reasons Why You're Home Isn't Selling

Are you struggling to sell your home at the moment? If so, there’s a good chance that you are making one - or more - of these common mistakes. In today’s guide, we’re going to reveal some of the top reasons why homes don’t sell, and how to fix the problems. Let’s take a closer look.

It’s not the right time

The simple truth is that during particular periods, no one is buying a home. On an annual basis, this time tends to be around Christmas and the holiday season, but economic downturns are also a factor. Plus, there are occasions when there just isn’t demand to match the supply. Unless you need to move fast, it is almost always best to bide your time, tighten your belt, and wait it out until the market looks a little brighter.

You are overconfident

According to Time.com, overconfidence tends to happen a lot in a seller’s market. You start thinking that you will sell your home with no problem at all and fail to do all the important tasks you should be doing to make your property more appealing to buyers. It’s the little things that count the cost, such as your curb appeal, levels of clutter, and tidiness. Make sure your home is looking its best before you put it on the market - you will save yourself a lot of pain, worry, and embarrassment. But most of all, be realistic with from the very start of the process.

You are at the bottom of your agent’s list

Your real estate agent should be working for your interests. But if your home is worth less of a payout to them, there’s a good chance it will go to the bottom of their to-do lists. In cases such as these, it can be hard to stomach - the price is right, your home looks great, but it still isn’t selling. You could wait until your contract period finishes, and move real estate firms to solve this issue. Or, you could take matters into your own hands. According to SellHouseFast.com, there are plenty of private investors who will buy your home in almost every corner of the United States.

Your home needs some love and attention

Ultimately, if your house does not look like a home, you will struggle to sell it. Prospective buyers want to picture themselves living there and don’t want to imagine cleaning up for weeks or taking months to do repairs and renovations. Make sure everything is looking perfect - nothing less will do. Keep clutter out of the way, spruce up your outdoor space, and you should find things a little easier.

Old appliances

Believe it or not, old appliances are one of the biggest turn-offs for home buyers. Yellowing, tired-looking fridge-freezers or grease-stained ovens will both put people off - as will filthy HVAC systems, heaters, and boilers. Never overlook the importance of cleaning up your appliances, or people will start wondering what else needs repairing.

OK, so there you have it - some of the most common reasons why your home might be struggling to attract buyers. Get these problems fixed, and you should have a good chance of success. Good luck!

Smarter Ways To Invest Your Money In The Coming Year

Making money in the modern age seems to be getting harder than ever. There are more and more ways for scammers to take your investment for themselves. And, there are more and more investments popping up that make it hard to know which are the safest. But, when investing your savings, it’s well worth know thing risk. To help you out, this post will go through some different types of investment, as well as the risk that comes with them.

Property Investments

Property investments are a common go-to for new investors. And, there’s a reason. Property is one of the easiest to predict and safest markets to buy into. When you buy a building, you have something tangible that can’t be taken away until you fail completely. And, it’s hard to fail in this market. Whether you decide to rent or sell, you’ll almost always find customers. And, it’s easy to get a loan to buy a property.

The safest way to invest in property is renting privately. Buying a home, renovating it, and then leasing it out can be a great way to make a good return. In fact, the rent money you get could entirely pay for the property and more. This gives you a lot of control over your investment but also takes a lot of work. You will be responsible for finding a tenant and maintaining the building. Of course, you can pay someone else to do this. But, that will eat into your return. When buying for the private sector, it can also be very lucrative to sell. If you buy a run-down property, working on it can make it worth much more. You just have to do some number crunching beforehand.

If you don’t mind a little more risk, you can invest in business property. Renting to businesses usually, ensures income for a set period of time. So, you know how much you’re going to make. This makes it very secure; because a business has to stay for a certain period. But, there is a little risk. If a business runs out of money, it can be very hard to remove them. And, finding a new tenant can be tricky. You can also try a different route, with business property. Buying a selling business property is usually a hard game. Taxes can be massive, and the properties themselves are usually expensive. But, with the help of a system like a 1031Gateway, you can avoid these taxes. If you’re willing to reinvest on a sale right away, you can use a gateway to trade your property. In this sort of exchange, you’ll hand over a current property as well as some cash. This avoids the taxes from the sale of the old property and makes it faster to get the new one.

Stock Investments

Property investments are always long-term. For some, something a little shorter is required. For this, stock and share investments can be a great place to turn. But, instead of trading on the open market, you can limit risk by using a fund. Funds are operated by government accredited banks and companies. They collect a pool of cash from investors, and then invest the money for you. You can often choose the level of risk you are willing to accept. But, the higher the risk; the higher the payout. So, it’s up to you to decide what’s important. For this sort of system to be effective, you need to be able to invest for a few years.

Of course, you can always just invest in stocks yourself. But, this is a hard game. Knowing which stocks will go up or down is an art that can only be mastered through experience. There are some tools to help, though. You can pay for access to systems that will help you choose the best stocks to buy. Obviously, these systems can’t be perfect. There’s still a lot of risk involved. But, the risk is limited somewhat. Before trying to trade in stocks or shares, you should do some research to make sure that you know what you’re doing.

Bonds And Savings

For some people, any risk is too much. But, for those people, there are still investment options. Bonds and savings accounts with banks can be very useful to investors. The will have set interest rates, so you can calculate your earnings before you even begin. And, they will always payout. Even if the bank itself can’t; most governments insure banks to cover losses like this. Bonds are the best way to do it if you don’t mind not having access to your money. They provide generous interest rates, but your money has to be kept inside them for a set period. Savings accounts are good if you need access to your money regularly. But, they won’t make you quite as much money.

Invest In Businesses

For a little more risk and some higher rewards, you can invest in business. Sometimes, it’s good to go down a traditional route and provide a business with funding for equity. But, nowadays, it’s much easy to invest in business in the form of loans. Peer-sourced loans are becoming much more popular throughout the world. The allow people to invest whatever they want, in projects that they like. Once enough people lend money, the loan is given to the project. The project owners then have a set amount of time to pay the loan back. During this time, interest will have to be paid on the loan. A small chunk of the interest comes back to you, in the form of an investment. These systems could be considered very risky, as the loan might not be paid back. But, most services that offer this have procedures in place to lower this risk.

Hopefully, this will inspire you to start investing your money wisely. Of course, the more risk you take on, the greater the potential rewards. When you invest, you do so at your own risk. Nearly no option is entirely secure, so it’s worth doing some research.

High-Energy, Financial Rehabilitation Ideas Following Time Off Work

If you’ve been hurt in an accident or have taken time off work because of illness, your finances have probably suffered a great deal. With the combined effect of increased medical costs as well as lost income, it can be a difficult time. Not only do you have to deal with the injury itself, but you also have to cope with the financial insecurity that it brings.

The good news is that financial rehabilitation is easier than you think. Take a look at this advice for getting back on your feet.

Change Your Occupation

Double Finance is a website that discusses personal finance issues. In an article recently published on the site, it suggested that injured people, or those who are too ill to go out and work, think about changing their occupation.

It sounds like an idea that’s a little far-fetched, but the modern economy continues to churn out surprises. One of those surprises is just how many opportunities there now are to make money all from the comfort of your own computer.

For instance, if you’re able to teach yourself how to do graphic design, you can earn up to $150 for every infographic you produce for businesses. If you’ve got a college education, you can do things like write model essays. Even people with no formal skills can earn money through answering surveys, transcription or categorizing articles for search engines.

Apply For Compensation

As the legal experts at http://gtakg.com/ point out, there are many opportunities to get compensation after an injury. This compensation doesn’t just cover the price of medical care or even damages for pain and physical discomfort: if successful, it can also help you recoup lost earnings from the guilty party.

Average payouts are substantial if successful, often amounting to five figure sums or more.

Move In With Relatives

One way to solve both the financial and emotional problems associated with injury is to move in with family while you recover. By moving in with family, the average person stands to save more than $2,000 a month in living expenses meaning that time out of the labor force isn’t so damaging to your personal finances. Not having to pay the rent and other bills will make the period of recovery more relaxing and help your body recover from injury quicker.

Apply For SSI

According to http://www.disabilitysecrets.com/question2.html, there are plenty of opportunities to apply for compensation following an injury, such as SSI or SSID. These forms of benefits are a type of social security that is paid out when a person gets injured. It should be pointed out that this is not welfare. If you’ve paid taxes, you’ve already contributed to SSI and SSID, and so now you’re injured, it’s the opportune moment to take advantage of these financial benefits.

It’s a good idea to get the process underway as soon as possible since applications can take a long time to process and it can be a while before you receive any money. If you’re successful, you’ll get a cheque from the federal government once a month.

How To Rebuild Your Credit Score In The New Year

If your credit score isn’t great, it can take a fair amount of work to get it up to where it should be. You won’t see immediate effects, it’s more likely to be the result of a long-term change in attitude towards your finances, and creating a more efficient financial system for yourself. Although it won’t be fast, all is not lost Here are five things you can do to strengthen your credit score so that you’re more likely to be accepted for a loan in the future.

Spend carefully

Chances are, your credit score is low because of frequent and unreconciled debts. The first thing you need to do is to pay much closer attention to your finances and personal budget. Keep an eye on your balances at least weekly, if not more often. Pay off your credit cards on a monthly basis, or more often if your credit company will allow it, as soon as you are able. Keep on top of this, and never spend more than you can pay off.

Don’t take risks

You don’t want any potential lenders to think that you are a risk taker, so don’t even hint at risks. Missing regular payments or allowing huge fluctuations between monthly spending could indicate that your spending behavior is erratic. Taking cash advances, or using your credit card at a pawn shop or divorce lawyers could also indicate that you are about to enter financially dubious water, which your card supplier will notice and it could affect their lending in future. You want them to view you as financially and emotionally stable as much as possible.

Pay bills on time

If you’re looking to borrow money, lenders can see when your bills are overdue. The main ingredient for a great credit score is proof that month after month, and bill after bill, every payment is paid like clockwork. Fluctuations show instability, which does not make someone a good prospect for a loan.

Leave old debt on there

As soon as you’ve paid off any debt, it can be tempting to try to get it struck from your record. This won’t necessarily improve your score. Bad debt that has been handled poorly will leave your record in time, and arguing to get it removed sooner can make you look bad. Good debt that has been handled well and in a timely fashion will just strengthen your score. This is why your credit score is important - it shows to potential lenders not just how you are currently doing financially, but also how you have dealt with difficulties within the last few years.

Watch the date

Importantly, keep notes of crucial financial deadlines in a calendar. Missing payment dates can be detrimental, and it’s also important to keep note of when more money will come into your account for lining up repayments. Also, each time you put in a credit application a small dip in your score is created. This lasts a year, so it’s important to make a note of this, so you’re not submitting multiple applications in one year.

Your credit score is crucial to your future borrowing, so if you plan to get a mortgage, a vehicle on finance, or apply for a student loan in the foreseeable future, now is a very good time to start trying to strengthen your credit score.

How to Plan Your Annuity to get Highest Regular Income

Retirement planning to ensure financial security and stability is crucial. Often, it is overlooked; however, if a person wants to sustain his or her present lifestyle, planning ahead is very important.

There are several financial instruments that are beneficial in generating regular income during the post-retirement years. To maximize the benefits of these products, it is vital to opt for goal-based investments.

Individuals must create an investment portfolio that appropriately suits their risk profile while meeting their financial objectives. Several Indians choose bank fixed deposits (FDs) to generate regular income. However, considering the returns after adjusting for inflation is important to determine actual earnings.

Here is how you may get regular income after retirement

Listing expenses

The first step for planning regular income after retirement is to list down the estimated expenses. These may include medical costs, children education, and any outstanding debt obligations. Individuals must also include monthly expenditures, such as groceries, utility bills, and other related costs. Based on this estimate, they may take help of an online pension calculator to determine the amount they would need to meet all these costs. Dividing the expenses by duration is beneficial in choosing the right financial product.

Income generating products

A large number of individuals consider investing in Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Employee Provident Fund (EPF) to plan retirement income. This is because these are the most easily understood pension plans and offer guaranteed returns on the investments. In addition, both PPF and EPF offer tax deductions under section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Moreover, these plans are under the EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) category, which means the investment capital, interest, and maturity benefits are all tax-free.

Other fourinvestment options are as follows

1. Post office monthly income schemes (POMIS)

These schemes have a maturity period of 5 years and interest is payable each month. The Ministry of Finance determines the interest every quarter; the current rate is 7.8% per annum. Although POMIS is simple to understand, it does not offer tax benefits. In addition, the interest earnings are taxable, which reduces the real returns.

2. Tax-free bonds

Individuals may purchase these bonds that have a maturity of up to 20 years. These are issued by public sector undertakings (PSUs) reducing the possible default risk. In addition, the interest earnings are not taxable. However, there are limited issues of such bonds and liquidity is not high, which may reduce the earnings in case of emergency exits.

3. Annuity plans

Unlike pension plans, annuities are acquired by investing a lump sum amount with an insurance company. The insurer offers a regular income to the investors during their lifetime. A major advantage of these plans is that the insurer assumes the risks and the investors are assured of a regular income for their entire lives. However, the potential returns on annuities may be lower.

4. National Pension System

National Pension System (NPS) is a defined pension plan. There is an increase in the number of its subscribers because of the favourable NPS tax benefits. The NPS allows individuals to accumulate a corpus through periodic investments. On maturity, the subscribers may withdraw up to 60% of the accumulated amount as a lump sum and convert the balance to an annuity plan offered by an insurance provider.

Investors may choose among the seven empanelled insurance companies. They also have the choice of opting for different annuity plans, such as

• Uniform annuity during life

• Annuity payable for specific period and during the lifetime of the annuitant

• Lifetime annuity and payable to spouse on demise of the annuitant (this is the default option)

• Increasing annuity at 3% simple rate

When an individual opens the NPS account, he or she receives a unique Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN). The PRAN status may be checked with the regulator or with the bank where the NPS account is availed.

Individuals may choose between different products to achieve financial independence and security during their retirement years. Seeking expert advice should be considered for maximizing the benefits.

Is This Your First Time Buying a Home? Take These Vital Steps

Buying your first home is a huge step to take in life. If you don’t get it right, you could make big mistakes. So, you need to make sure that your first home-buying experience is as good as it can be. Preparing for the journey and making sure that you take the right steps will help you out a lot. So, here are some of the key steps that you must take if you want to get the process right.

Make Your Expectations Realistic

First of all, you need to think about your expectations. If you can’t set the correct expectations for what you want to buy, then you will probably find yourself disappointed later on, which is never a good thing. Be aware of how much you will be able to spend, and what that sum of money will be able to buy you. Don’t expect to be buying something huge in the very best area because it usually won’t work out that way. Remember, this is your first home. It’s probably not going to be the best one you ever live in, so be realistic with your expectations.

Set Savings Targets

Next, you need to think about saving up for this huge purchase. You should calculate how much you want to spend on the home, and then figure out how much the deposit will be. Then you can set yourself some savings targets that you aim to hit each and every month up until you buy a home. You can’t go ahead with the actual purchase of the home until you have your savings in place. That’s the money that you will be reliant on to push the purchase through. Keep saving until you are sure you have enough for the purchase.

When It’s Time to Buy, Use an Agent

When the time finally arrives to make that purchase, you must make sure you use a real estate agent. Only they will be able to help you with everything you need to do. There is nothing wrong with hiring an agent and letting them get on with it. It will still be you who makes the final call on what property you buy. And they will be able to make sure that you are exposed to the kinds of properties you want to buy. Companies like Homesmart International will be able to help you when you want to find an agent to help you out.

Buy What You Need Not What

You Want You should always try to buy the kind of home you need, not the one you want. This is very important when you are buying your first home. There is always a temptation to chase after your dream, but that’s not what’s most important when you are buying your first home. Think about what you need from a home. The location will be important because you will want to be near friends, family and your place of work. And you will need the right amount of space. But don’t worry about making it perfect.

Finance-Proof Your Future: Where To Put Your Money Now

Working on the best ways to finance your entire life doesn’t have to be hard. Once you’ve got the hang of managing your money in an easy and reliable way, you can start to think about the ways that you can invest in your future. It doesn’t even have to be a formal arrangement just yet, but it’s smart to think about the financial situation you want to be in when the time comes.

Whether you want to put money away for a rainy day, retirement, or even to ensure that your children live a comfortable life, it’s time to start putting the wheels in motions and decide what you want to do.

Insurance

Before you even think about the ways that you can invest or spend your money on a better future, it’s wise to take a look at your insurance. If you have no policy in place right now, now’s the time to get one. You want to make sure that you and your family are covered, should anything happen. You could choose sickness cover or life insurance by considering policies and prices online (sites like cheaplifeinsurancenoexam.net can help) and then finalize the details to get your cover in place.

Property

Perhaps you’d like to invest in something other than the stock market. It can be wise to look into property as an alternate option. Your motives could be to get a return on your investment right away, or you might even see your investment as a retirement plan. Putting your money in property could mean that you have a place, or multiple places, to stay in when you grow old, to sell it for the money or even to hand over to your kids.

Fixed Bonds

If you have finances that are free to be tied up, you should look into fixed bond options that might suit your needs. When you tie money up for a set period, you can get some great rates of return. If the money is not needed for a while or even a particular period, opening up a fixed bond could provide you with a good deal. If you require no access to the funds right away, you can save them for the future, when they might be more useful.

Art

Placing your money into the art world could be just the idea you’ve been looking for. Art is always a good investment. There are traders in the industry that always have buyers, and you could even end up with something beautiful to display in your home. Over time, you may even decide to keep your investments in art within the family, allowing future generations to benefit from any profits.

Retirement

And finally, you might want to think specifically, and only, about your retirement fund. You could already have a 401K set up and be happy with what you’ve got lined up, but if you’re not, why not think about your private retirement plan? You could speak to an advisor on what options are available or take matters into your own hands by tying money up until the time comes for you to take your retirement.

Balancing Your Personal Budget

If your resolution for the coming year is to look after your body, that’s admirable. Good for you!

It’s good to focus on improving yourself, but something we often look past in favour of trimming our waistlines, is actually trimming our budget.

While me may feel good about reigning in the snacks, it’s hard to close the purse-strings as spending does make us feel good. Exactly like snacking.

But while it’s high-time to balance our weight, we should also look to balance our budgets in 2017 to achieve financial security as well as our health goals.

The easiest way to do this is to cut out unnecessary purchases. Do you need that gym membership if you’re not going? Can you work out from home instead or go for a run? If you’re trying to eat healthy, you’re going to constantly question every eating or fitness decision you make. The same applies for balancing your budget. Question every spend you make and try to assess the worth of the items or services you purchase.

Do you want to kick-start 2017 with a new idea? Or get back on track? A loan could be a good option, but you’ve got to look around for the best deal for you, and the loan you can afford to take. An option like www.cignoloans.com.au/bad-credit-loans/ might not be a bad idea if you’ve got a plan and need capital to enact it. Your budget should always come first, though.

A great method of balancing your personal budget is to create a budget. Assess the value of your paycheck and the items you buy, cut out anything that isn’t needed and see what you can save. Balancing the budget is as easy as tracking your purchases.

When you start to track and acknowledge what you spend your money on, you can start to see patterns. If you keep a spreadsheet of your purchases, this converts the emotional decision of a purchase into recorded data. Data is easier to manage, analyze and track than emotional decisions and memories of purchases. By converting your budget into data, you can see where you’re leading your money and where you are going wrong with your cash.

Also, you should be watching your footing if you want to be stable with your cash. Do not sign up to finance deals and credit cards if you cannot afford them. This is a recipe for disaster. If you cannot afford products, do not entertain the idea of purchasing them. You should only ever spend what you can afford and if you must have something, why not save for it instead? It’s a more fulfilling goal and a true way to see if you truly desire something.

Balancing your budget isn’t about cutting fun out of your life, it’s stopping you relying on cash to enjoy it! Your money should safeguard your future, not define your day-to-day life. With a few easy steps, you can take back control of your money and look forward to healthy 2017, in all aspects.

Safeguarding Your Finances In The Age Of Instability

It doesn’t seem like the right thing to say, but money is everything, That can’t be true, surely? We’ve been taught that there are things in the world that exist that are so much stronger than money. Love and friendship should rule the day. The sad truth is that you can’t buy a roof over your head, or a warm meal with love.

It depends on your priorities, and maybe love and friendship are genuinely worth so much more than money, but there’s absolutely no denying that money is important.

Money is important, because what having money means is that you are not destitute and on the streets. Having a small amount of money entitles you to a small amount of success. More amounts of money mean you are not dependent on your job and living from payday to payday. Having even more money means that you will be secure, no matter what happens.

Money allows you to have some degree of control over your life; you can travel the world and seek out opportunities with cash. You can get fit and join a gym thanks to money. You can drive and have a sense of relative independence with money.

Another reason why money is so important is because money allows you to give back. Think of charities and fundraisers. Money allows you to help others that are less fortunate.

So yes, while money may not be totally everything to most, having a sense of control, safety and independence are something that shouldn’t be taken for granted and money and wealth afford you that.

But how do you get to a point where you feel like that? Most people are living from paycheck to paycheck! If that’s the case, we need to look for more opportunities to make money. It’s hard, but we should try and save money so we can secure our futures. It’s the age of instability right now. There are more freelance roles than ever, and the ‘gig economy’ is in full swing meaning the chances of a secure and locked down job are decreasing in favor for short-term employee driven roles.

Saving is the key. You don’t need to be ultra frugal and start cutting your hair in your bath to save cash, but you’ll need to employ some common sense and reign in your spending.

For example, if you have two coffees a day brought from your local coffee store, maybe you can cut that down by half? If you have three beers on a night out, why not try having two from this point forward? It’s not about cutting out the fun in life, but focusing on it with quality over quantity. Chances are you’re going to chug through beers if you know they are coming. If you know, you’re allowed two coffees today, you won’t focus on the first because it’s not the only one you’re enjoying today.

Employ the practices of mindfulness to your spending and really drink in your purchases. Take your time and enjoy them for what they are, not how much you can get into you. So, if you’re saving a few dollars here and there by cutting out quantity, you need to immediately plant these savings, however small, into a savings account. If you don’t do this, you’ll allow your savings to build up, and it will only be willpower stopping you from an end of month splurge. Willpower isn’t a factor we want to bring into this discussion, and if you can automate your savings to put two or three dollars away a day to represent your savings, you’ll have done your job admirably.

Insurance is key to safeguarding your finances. If you’re a freelance worker, it’s likely that gadgets like your laptop, phone or mobile tablet are helping you complete your work on a daily basis. Even if you’re not a freelance worker, it’s probable that you cannot afford to replace your phone if it’s broken. On a larger scale, what about investment insurance? Can you afford to lose your savings? If you can’t afford to lose a phone, than losing your money made via investments or savings will be a nightmare you cannot afford. What about if you’re a business owner? You need the right solutions, and there are many insurance options on the market (like www.bswllc.com/captive-insurance/, for example). The bottom line is that insurance might just be your best friend in a time of trouble.

If you’re fortunate to have saved enough to invest, you can’t go wrong with property investment. Putting your cash into a physical presence enables you to hire or rent the site out to a tenant. What this means is that the mortgage and loan will be paid off by the rent paid to you by the tenants. Any excess is your profit. It’s as simple as that, and it’s worth a look at if you want to push your money further while keeping it secure.

Safeguarding your finances will involve a considerable amount of admin, and it’s always worth speaking to an accountant to make sure your business or personal cashflows are working for you.

The threat of scams and hacking is ever-present, no matter your income. Ensure that your information is kept secure and that anti-viral software are used on your laptops. Make sure that any financial information isn’t stored on the cloud or noted down. This information is always for your eyes only and shouldn’t be given out. Look after your debit and credit cards and ensure that you take the time to pore over your transaction history to make sure it’s all above board.

Above all, the easiest step to safeguard your finance is to just apply a conservative mindset to your spending, whether it’s business or personal purchases. Reigning in your spending and putting your savings away is the best and easiest method to secure your financial future. It might seem hard at first, but after a while, it will become second nature, and you’ll never look back.

The Biggest Mistakes You Can Make In A Settlement Agreement

With legal recourse being more accessible than ever, more and more employees are finding themselves in a position where they have to negotiate some kind of settlement agreement with their employers. If you’ve been offered one, and you’re pretty inexperienced with these kinds of negotiations, then naturally you may be wondering what the next step is. If you feel you’re being sold short, or you’ve got some wiggling room for getting more from your employer, here are some big mistakes to avoid.

Not Planning Ahead

If your boss calls you into a room, sits you down, and offers you a pre-planned settlement agreement, then you may feel pressured to give them an answer immediately. If you know this situation is coming up, then I advise you to ask for a few more days to mull it over. Official guidelines recommend that employers give their employees several days to consider a settlement offer. This may not be a legal requirement, but it’s something all responsible employers will take into account. Give careful thought to what you actually want to get out of the settlement, along with the best and worst possible ways it can play out. You may be able to get much more out of the settlement than you first thought, or experience some delays and have to look into settlement advance loans.

Failing to Consider the Employer’s Incentive

Before you walk into your boss’s office and ask for more on your settlement agreement, consider why they should give you more. Obviously, no employer is going to want to pay out any more of a settlement than they have to, so you’re going to have to make some smart moves to set the gears in motion. Let’s say that you refused the original settlement. You could then attend an employment tribunal where you aggressively seek compensation. In this case, the main incentive for your employer to pay you more is that in return, you’ll agree not to pursue any other claims. Naturally, your employer is also going to be somewhat concerned about the confidentiality of the proceedings. With most settlement agreements, there’ll be a clause requiring you not to disclose the terms on which your employment is ending. This can also be leveraged to secure a more favorable settlement. 

Damaging Good Will

If you’re in a genuine redundancy situation, and your employer has no choice other than terminating your employment, then you may not have much leeway for convincing your employer to pay a larger settlement. Having said that, you may be able to persuade your employer to pay you more on the basis of good will. These kinds of grounds could be based in factors which won’t come up in an employment tribunal. You might be able to leverage the fact that you’re going to be in a very difficult situation after losing your job, evidence that you’ve contributed a lot to the business over the years, or even personal sacrifices you’ve had to make for the greater good of the company. Good will is more important than you think, so don’t tarnish it!

The Best Ways To Manage Your Money

With Christmas fast approaching many of us are likely feeling the pinch. It’s a time of year where all senses of financial management seems to go out of the window, but it is important, to be successful with our wealth we need to manage it wisely, here are some tips to get you started.

Track Your Spending

Sometimes we just buy on impulse, and before we know it we’ve bought all sorts of stuff we don’t need or regret, so start tracking everything you buy, if you do this you can see it all adding up and it’ll stop more needless spending. Once you’ve started to do this you can start using a budget, I know a budget may sound complicated, but if you do it religiously it saves you a lot of time and money in the long run. Keeping a budget may sound complicated but it's easier than you expect.

Consider Hiring An Expert

If you have money in a few different accounts and really don’t know how to make the best of them then you could potentially hire an expert. Everyone wants the best money and investment tips, what better than to have your own, Ian Filippini is a great example. Experts can manage your wealth and come up with budgets to help you function. They can ensure you save just the right amount and come up with strategies to make sure you’re making your money work for you.

Make a Bill Calendar

Knowing when each company will bill you for services rendered is vitally important. You can budget your finances accordingly and know what to keep back ready for a payment. It also makes sense to combine finances with your partner. Doing this makes paying mutual bills much easier and ensures transparency. You could potentially phone your providers and ask them to change the billing date, this can spread out your outgoings over the month of if you’d prefer lump it all together at the month’s start so you know exactly what you have to spend for the rest of the month.

Build An Emergency Fund

Put money into an Emergency fund. You never know what life is going to throw at you, perhaps you or your partner could unexpectedly lose their job, or your house could become damaged in a storm. Whatever happens, it's always great to have an emergency fund in back up. It can stop you getting into trouble if you have any unexpected bills at the end of the month and ensure you don’t end up paying overdraft fees.

Use The Right Saving Accounts

There are many savings accounts across the land and each are vying for our custom. Do your research. If you’ve got some savings you know you’re not going to touch then it may be worth investing into a cash ISA. It means you can’t touch the cash for a set period of time, but you get much better interest rates. You should also keep an eye on the terms, they may only give you great interest rates for one year, after which they’ll significantly drop, so be sure to keep swapping your ISA to the next best provider, this will keep the interest pouring in.

Financial Sages Weigh In On What Seniors Should Be Doing With Their Money

There’s a lot of advice out there from financial experts about what seniors should do with their money. And there should be, after all, from a financial perspective, going into senior life can be one of the most challenging times. You have to think about your investment portfolio, your maturing annuities, how you’ll finance life in retirement, how you’ll pass on your wealth in the future, and the money you should be putting aside for healthcare.

Because of all these complexities, we’ve put together a curated list of financial advisors and experts, giving their opinions on what seniors should do with their finances. Let’s take a look.

Don’t Overallocate Stocks

Bob Klosterman is a senior partner at a wealth management company. Over recent years he’s seen an investing trend among seniors away from bonds and CDs to stocks, thanks to the low rates of interest in the bonds market. Because retirees should be saving for the long term, Klosterman doesn’t think that this is a good idea. Bonds tend to go up in value no matter what, whereas stocks jump and bounce around all over the place, making returns unpredictable. Back in 2008, millions of retirees lost vast amounts of wealth, primarily because they had bet on the stock market, and their bets hadn’t paid off.

As Klosterman points out, a market decline of just 20 percent means that it has to rise by more than 33 percent to just break even. If you do invest in the stock market, Klosterman’s advice is to keep some money in cash so you can ride out the storm should there be another crash in the market.

Think About Life Insurance

Life insurance is a financial tool that people can use to make sure that their families continue to be looked after once they’re gone. Essentially, you pay the life insurance company and they agree to pay out upon your death a certain sum of money to family members. Getting life insurance without the exam, however, can be difficult. Insurance companies want to know whether you are in good health, or whether your health is failing you. According to Chris Walter of Policy Genius, having a life insurance plan alongside your will is essential for making sure that your family is well looked after when you’re gone. Your children should know where the plan is and how to activate it, should the worst happen.

Get A Medical Improvement Plan

One of the biggest concerns for seniors right now, according to Whitney Lee, an analyst at a finance firm, is the rising costs of health care. Health care costs are now double what they are in most developed countries and still rising fast, despite attempts to curtail prices. At the moment some health care is available to seniors through Medicare, Lee points out, although the amount of cover that seniors qualify for is usually very limited. She suggests that seniors look into Medical improvement plans which don’t cost any additional money up front. These plans are mostly helpful for seniors who require ongoing cardiovascular care, people who have diabetes or those who have chronic illnesses that typically push up the price of their bills. The great thing about these plans, Lee says, is that they cover the costs of some of the most expensive and long-running medical conditions.

Balance Your Portfolio

Thanks to the fact that seniors are living longer into retirement than any generation that came before them means that planning is now more important than ever, according to Eric Nelson, chief financial officer at a wealth management company. Nelson says that elderly people will need more long term investments to provide a longer period of income while in retirement. He suggests using two particular approaches to accomplish this. The first is to put a substantial proportion of assets into low-risk assets. This includes things like government bonds, gold and physical plant. These assets should be short-term, says Nelson, to protect investors against sudden crashes in the stock market, allowing them to get at their money in case of an emergency. The second tactic, he recommends, is to maintain a lifelong commitment to nurturing a broad base of global stocks using index funds. Although the market is prone to crashing, Nelson points out that the stock market has a track record of producing real returns on investments over the long term.

It’s important that seniors regularly review their financial position and make sure that their portfolios are working for them. There are various pension income calculators and tools online that allow you to see how much income you are likely to receive as a result of your various pension plans and investments.

How To Keep Your Online Business Financially Secure

The internet has made payment very easy. No longer do you have to trek down to the bank every time you want to cash in money or pay a client. That said, there are dangers to dealing with money online. All the crooks that used to plan their time breaking into banks have now moved onto the web. Protecting your business against these hackers and scammers can be easily done by following these steps

Be careful of suspicious emails

One of the main ways fraudsters get people to divulge their account details is through emails posing as charities, loan companies and sometimes even your bank. Having a spam filter should filter most of these out. If an email seems suspicious, avoid clicking on any links as these could lead you to virus-filled pages.

Install digital security

Some people will try to get away with not having to pay the cost of anti-virus software. You shouldn’t do this with your personal computer and you most definitely shouldn’t do this with a computer that you’re using for business, which is likely to not just have your details but the details of staff and clients too. Buy yourself the latest internet security and make sure that it is constantly updated and renewed. Most reliable antivirus software will update and renew automatically.

Protect yourself against all types of payment

Some forms of payment can be more risky than others. Cash should be exchanged in person when possible to prevent receiving counterfeit money. When dealing with credit cards, look into merchant services to ensure a secure transaction. Some companies have been recently accepting bitcoin, which can come with extra added risks. Don’t accept this form of payment unless you’re familiar with bitcoin already.

Regularly change passwords

An obvious one, regularly changing passwords will put off hackers. At the very last, you should have different passwords for different log-ins and different PIN numbers for different accounts. This way of a hacker does discover one password, they cannot get into the rest of your personal information. If you have colleagues or employees of whom you communicate with online, do not share passwords with them online.

Encrypt financial information

Encrypting files is the best way to put off would-be hackers, as the effort of then having to decrypt them isn’t generally worth it. Some services such as VISA USA and Mastercard, will only work with companies that have taken the step to encrypt their files. Encrypting files can be done simply on most Microsoft and Apple computers although you can download additional software to do it too. All files can be encrypted including those stored on the Cloud. Make sure that other staff members are aware of necessary passwords to decrypt these files if they need them, but again tell them in person – not in a message.