According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the increase in childhood obesity represents and unprecedented burden on children’s health. “If we don’t deal with children, this could be the first generation that will live sicker and die younger than its parents,” states Dr. James S. Marks, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which recently announced an unprecedented effort to reverse childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.

Obesity or being overweight is not only harmful to the self-esteem and mental health of youngsters in a society that places such high value on thinness, but there are serious physical health concerns as well. According to Dr. Melissa A. Kalt, Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine/Pediatrics, overweight kids are set up for premature health risks such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even poor behavior in school like inattentiveness, disruptiveness, truancy, and low grade scores.

Some of the environmental factors that are thought to contribute to obesity are: over consumption of fast food, simple carbohydrates, soda, or other high calorie, high fat foods; larger and larger portion sizes; lack of exercise and/or more sedentary lifestyles; under consumption of whole foods, fruits and vegetables. However, what may be underlying all of these factors or at the very least exacerbating the issue is children and media.

Facts:

According to the Task Force on Media and Childhood Obesity of the Federal Communications Commission, children today spend many hours each day watching television and are influenced by the programming and advertising they see.

The Kaiser Family Foundation states that young children cannot distinguish between programming content and advertising.

The U.S. Congress, Children’s Television Act of 1990 reports, by the time the average child is 18 years hold, he or she has spent between 10,000 and 15,000 hours watching television and has been exposed to more than 200,000 commercials.

Once research study documents that obesity in children increases the more hours they watch television. (Crespo, 2001)

Another research study shows that children who watch more than three ours of television a day are 50 percent more likely to be obese than kids who watch fewer than two hours. (Tremblay, 2003)

Another researcher reports that children who use a lot of media have a lower activity level which is linked to a higher rate of obesity (Vandewater, 2004)

According to the 2004 report “The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity” by the Kaiser Family Foundation, “during the same period in which childhood obesity has increased so dramatically, there has also been an explosion in media targeted to children: TV shows and videos, specialized cable networks, video games, computer activities and Internet Web sites.” And “much of the media targeted to children is laden with elaborate advertising campaigns, many of which promote foods such as candy, soda, and snacks.”

The Advertising Coalition reports that $10-$15 billion is spent annually on kids’ food advertising.

One study documented approximately 11 food commercials per hour during children’s Saturday morning television programming, estimating that the average child viewer may be exposed to one food commercial every 5 minutes (Kotz, 1994)

Another study found that children’s food choices were significantly impacted by which ads they saw, i.e. either an ad for fruit or an ad for candy (Gorn, 1982)

Other researchers found that for each additional hour of television viewed per day, daily servings of fruits and vegetables decreased among adolescents possibly due to television advertising (Boynton-Jarret, R, 2003)
…

While many researchers and studies are still establishing the role of media in child obesity and overweight issues, (the direct link between advertising and obesity has not been officially established), the advertisers certainly know that TV ads can influence children’s and family consumer choices. For example, fast food outlets alone spend $3 billion in television ads targeted to children. And according to “Advertising, Marketing and the Media: Improving Messages from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, food and beverage advertisers collectively spend $10 billion to $12 billion a year to reach children and youth.

So, what’s a parent to do to counteract unhealthy advertisements and the big dollars behind them? Here a few pointers on helping children be more healthy and fit:

First, educate them on the factors contributing to being overweight or obese:

1. Too much “fat foods” (fast foods, simple carbs, soda, energy drinks, cereal etc.)
2. Larger than life portion sizes
3. Not enough movement or exercise
4. Not enough whole foods (fruits, vegetables, whole wheat bread, whole grains etc.)

Second, reduce poor food choices in the home. Refuse to buy the sodas and sugar cereals or insist that these only be indulged in after a healthy meal.

Third, make whole food choices easy for them to prepare (i.e. pre washed, cut up fruits and veggies; oatmeal; smoothies; whole wheat bread; pre-cooked healthy snacks/meals like cubed chicken breast, string cheese, hard-boiled eggs, in single serving size containers. Make it tasty and easy (see green smoothie recipe below).

Fourth, encourage them to exercise (i.e. refuse to drive them to school; sign them up for sports; play with them outdoors; get a dog and go for daily walks). Make it fun.

Fifth, limit television hours per day. And teach them how they can mute the commercials or “tevo” the show and fast forward through the commercials.

And finally, teach them that being fit and healthy means eating healthy foods and exercising, in direct contrast to how television shows and advertisements portray super skinny people eating chips and drinking soda, it’s just not true. And educate them on the fact that advertisers make their money by portraying beautiful people eating junk food.

EASY, YUMMY recipe for “green smoothies”:
Give Your Kids a Great Dose of Fresh, Raw Servings of Fruits and Vegetables
(shhhhh, tastes so good, your kids won’t even know there is spinach in there!)

1. Put about 2 cups water in the blender
2. Add a few handfuls of spinach or kale or chard, blend until smooth
3. Add fruit, 1-2 bananas and 1-2 C frozen blueberries or mixed berries or fruit etc.
4. If you must, add a small amount of sweetener of choice.
5. Smoothie will be purple and yummy and you’d never know there were healthy greens hiding in the mix, ENJOY!

(Go for a green smoothie over a soda! Children who drink just one soft drink a day are 60 percent more likely to become obese, according to a 2001 study by Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital.)

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Basic computer hardware refers to the physical parts of the computer that you can touch and feel. There are several components that make up computer hardware. Here, we will just see a brief overview on all the basic components of computer that you should know generally. This will definitely not make you a hardware technician. It just concentrates on giving you some insight about computers.

Every computer has four basic functions to do. They are input, processing, storage, and output. To perform each of these functions, it is necessary that a device is used. For example, to input data or feed data to the computer, you definitely need a keyboard or a mouse. When it is necessary to process some data, a processor comes into picture. All these devices can be touched and felt. These constitute the basic computer hardware.
Apart from the input and processing devices, you must also understand that there are output devices such as monitor, printer, speaker, etc each of which gives some kind of output. Monitor is meant to give the visual output, while speakers are known to produce audio output. The printer is used to get a hardcopy of the text or images that you see on your monitor.

For storing purposes, there are memory storage devices such as RAM and ROM. If you happen to open your processing unit of your computer, you will get to see all these devices stacked inside the cabin. Also, there are buses that are interconnecting these devices to ensure data transfer. Storage devices can also be the CDs you use, or even the floppy disks that were once so famous. DVD is also a storage device.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A bank account goes dormant when, in the words of the British Bankers’ Association, a bank and a customer ‘lose touch with each other’. What this usually means in practice is that a customer has either passed away or moved house, and the bank haven’t been told and are unable to locate the account holder some time later.

If there are no transactions on an account over a period of around 12 months, the bank will write to the account holder at the last known address to ask them if they wish to keep the account open. If no reply is received, then the bank will change the status of the account to ‘dormant’. This means that from now on, no statements, chequebooks or other correspondance will be sent out to the customer.

The money in the account will still earn interest at whatever the normal rate of that account is, and the bank will still keep track of the account balance and keep a record of the last known address of the holder.

There are two main reasons for an account being made dormant. The first and most obvious one is to save the banks the administration costs of sending out statements and the like when there is no activity on the account from month to month (other than that initiated by the bank itself, such as interest payments).

The more important reason however is to guard against identity fraud. If a bank continues to send statements to an address when the account holder is no longer there to receive them, it is all too easy for these documents to end up in the hands of fraudsters, who could use the sensitive information they contain to begin a campaign of ID theft.

Most dormant accounts will have very small balances, but some will inevitably contain a substantial sum, often those belonging to someone who has passed away. If you think you may be entitled to money held in a dormant account, you can make a claim by filling in a form available from the bank in question.

You will need to give your reasons for making a claim, such as that the account belonged to a close relative whose estate was passed to you. You will also need to prove your own identity, and your connection to the original account holder if applicable.

If the bank don’t agree that you’re entitled to take over the account, you have the right to pursue an appeal, where your claim is re-examined. If the appeal fails, you can take your claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service, whose decision is final and binding.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The effects on your credit rating can be devastating and often take years to completely fix, so prevention is obviously better than cure. Here are ten simple ways to help you avoid becoming a victim.

1: Be careful with your old documents such as paid bills, bank statements, and receipts. Either keep them safely stored or destroy them if you don’t need them anymore. Don’t just throw them away, as fraudsters often start stealing an identity by searching for these very kinds of documents in household waste. Shredding or burning unneeded papers will prevent this first step.

2: Store your personal documents securely by keeping them somewhere out of the sight of visitors to your home.

3: If you change your address, make sure that you inform your bank, utility companies, and everyone else who sends you mail. Documents wrongly sent to a previous address are a favourite target of fraudsters.

4: Make sure that when you stop using a credit card or bank account, you actually formally close the account rather than letting it go dormant. Having an unused, forgotten about account resurrected by a fraudster might not even be noticed until serious damage has been done.

5: Watch your plastic – make sure you know where your credit, debit and ATM cards are, and tell the issuing banks immediately if you lose them or they’re stolen.

6: If possible change your PIN numbers and passwords to something easily memorable, and NEVER write them down, especially not on scraps of paper kept in your purse or wallet.

7: Don’t respond to phishing. Banks will never ask you for personal details via email, and won’t ask you for the password to your account. You don’t need to ‘reconfirm’ your details following an email request either – just delete the email. If in any doubt at all, call your bank to make sure the request is genuine.

8: Use anti-virus software and firewall on your computer, especially if you use online banking of any kind. Keep the software up to date as well to guard against attempts by hackers to discover personal information on your computer.

9: Check your bank account and credit card statements carefully when you receive them, and query with your bank anything that you can’t identify. Spotting a fraud in progress early on will vastly help in minimising the damage it causes.

10: Finally, monitor your credit reports regularly to see if anything appears that seems odd, such as applications for credit cards that you didn’t make, or missed payments on finance that you haven’t taken out. Services are widely available online which can help you do this by automatically informing you when something on your file changes.

None of us can be 100% sure that we won’t fall victim to the crime of ID Theft, but by taking the measures listed above you’ll be making the job of any potential fraudster very difficult indeed, and they’re likely to move on to an easier target!

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Many of these people are unable to get a standard account because they have a poor credit score, either because of past financial difficulties or simply a lack of positive financial history. While high street banks are always keen to deal with people with good credit ratings, they can be cautious about making credit facilities such as overdrafts available to people with sub-prime ratings.

A new kind of bank account was needed if the industry’s government prompted goal of increasing financial inclusion was to be met, and Basic Bank Accounts were born.

Basic bank accounts, also known as starter accounts or introductory accounts, are a very simple type of account which offer little in the way of credit or ways for accountholders to get into debt. There is usually no overdraft facility, no cheque book, and no debit card. The accounts simply provide a way for money to be paid in either over the counter or by electronic transfer, and withdrawn by cash machine.

This lack of features means that there is little risk or cost involved for the banks, and so their approval rates are much higher. In fact, about the only people who will have their applications rejected are undischarged bankrupts, or those with a history of fraud or very serious bad debt.

So how can getting a basic bank account benefit you? Firstly, most accounts will let you set up direct debits to pay your bills, and this will save you money as many companies will give you a discount if you pay in this way.

Also, the government is moving towards paying all benefits and pensions direct into bank accounts rather than in the old way over the Post Office counter, and basic bank accounts will let you receive money in this way.

Finally, this kind of account can be a ’stepping stone’ into other financial services, helping you to build up a better credit rating, and in the future to take advantage of other services available such as overdrafts and debit or credit cards.

Since they were introduced, basic accounts have been very successful, and there have now been around 5 million accounts opened. Both the government and the banking industry say they are committed to increasing this figure even more over the next few years, until ideally every adult has some form of bank account, and so we can expect to hear a lot more about basic accounts in the near future.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Every time you make a sacrifice and stay on budget you will be investing in your future. Always keep that in mind. Every step you make towards getting out of debt means you are closer to having your money work for you.

The major expenses you can control on a day to day budget are:

General Expenses It could be music equipment, car washes, computer games, anything. Any things you can figure out which are not your needs. Maybe there isn’t anything you can think of, but there probably is. Maybe at least once a month, when you go to buy something on impulse, you force yourself not to do it.

Food Expenses Stop going out to eat. This will be a huge sacrifice for most, but you have to stop going out to eat;it’s too expensive. You need to bring your lunch to work and, if you have a Starbuck’s addiction, stop buying $2 cups of coffee. Many people can save $50 a month just by brewing their own coffee, another $100 by bringing their lunch to work, and another $200 by not going out to eat for dinner.

Clothing Expenses Always decide what you are going to purchase before you go into the store and stick to it. Do all your “shopping” at home. If you truly need a new jacket because the old one has a hole in it and it’s really cold outside then you can go get a jacket. But don’t start looking around for the skirts and hats while you are there. Get the jacket and run!

Entertainment Expenses You like to have fun and you need to have fun. However, if you are in debt then, you need to sacrifice at least one major entertainment expense a month. Whatever it is you like to do (movies, concerts, plays, out to eat, sports, etc.) you need to reduce the frequency by at least once a month.

Gasoline Expenses As everyone is aware,gas prices have grown astronomically in recent times. For many years gas prices had been relatively level and it seems that they are making up ground ina short period of time. At $3 and more per gallon, gasoline has become a major expense for most households and needs to be specially addressed when looking at ways to control expenses. Getting a car with a good gas mileage and reduce your total driving miles can save you some significant amount of money. If you have colleagues leave close to you, then get them to carpool with you and share the gasoline expenses.

If you follow some basic rules on each of these tips on reducing debt and budgeting expenses and are willing to sacrifice you can save a good significant amount of money each month. That will put a dent in your credit card debt in no time.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Majority of people simply look at whether or not they can afford their monthly repayment when using at their credit cards. Many of them don’t even try to figure out how long it will take to pay them off and how much they are costing them over the long run.

For instance, $2,000 doesn’t seem like a huge balance on a credit card. In that case at an 18% interest rate, your payment is only around $40 a month. Sounds pretty affordable at the moment, doesn’t it?

Well, if you take a closer look at the number, approximately $30 of your payment goes towards interest. As a matter of fact only $10 is paid towards the $2,000 balance each month.

In case if you are only paying the minimum balance each month, it will take you over 30 years to pay off that $2000. Thirty years, that is too long. In addition you will have paid back $5,000 in interest in that time. Therefore your $2,000 credit card bill will really cost you $7,000 including interest in the long run.

The above payment does not include the extra payment incur in the case when you miss or delay your monthly repayment. In fact, many credit card companies are hoping you will miss your repayment so that they can charge you with extra interest and late payment fee and this would normally extend your payback period for the rest of your life.

There are many credit card debt calculators available on internet and you can use these calculators to calculate how long it will take you to pay off your current credit cards by using the minimum payment method. You will normally be shocked. And it is worth for you to put effort in finding ways to reduce and pay off your credit card debt.

If your credit card debts are reached to an unbearable stage; then, you may need to get service from a debt consolidation company to consolidate all your credit card debts. They are widely expert in dealing with creditors and help you to negotiate with your creditors for a better repayment plan. Follow the plan to pay off your credit card debts.

Credit cards have successfully minimized the use of paper money and become one of the most convenient ways to make payments for a shopping spree or while traveling. Though, if not used with restraint they may soon lead to a huge mountain of debt which leads you to a tizzy of financial woes. In simple terms credit cards are a really costly form of credit. If you must have one, paying off the balance in full each month so that you will not trap into a credit card debt.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

This article will list down some ideas on how to lower your expenses. While reading this article, you can make a list of you own ideas to cutting down your expenses.

Ways To Save Money

1. Reduce the Number Of Credit Cards

For many people, owning a credit card is the style of life and there are people holding 5 to 10 credit cards. It’s so convenient to make payment with credit cards and you many overlook your budget. Although to terminate all credit cards are not possible for many people, you could reduce the number of credit cards in hand.

2. Ask for a Lower Credit Card Interest Rate

A major consumer group conducted a study to find out how easy it is to get a lower credit card interest rate. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of those who simply telephoned their credit card company and asked for a lower interest rate got one instantly.Getting your credit card interest rate lowered depends on various factors. Normally the bank will approve your request if you meet the following conditions:

You have a good credit rating — meaning no late pay notations on your credit report and a good credit score;
You do not have a high debt-to-income ratio and you do not carry a big balance on your credit card;
You do not send in just the minimum payment required each month;
You have an excellent payment record with that particular creditor;
The credit card is not one that is categorized as “sub-prime”, meaning it is not a secured credit card or one marketed exclusively to those with bad credit.

When you call and ask for a lower interest rate, your reasoning should be based on the argument that you deserve it because you’re an excellent customer or you’re getting better offers from other credit card banks.

3. Always Buy Classic Style on Clothing

Clothing fads come and go so quickly and it will become out of fashion after a season.Instead, buy only good quality classic clothing that you can wear five years from now if you haven’t worn it out by then. This will help you to reduce the frequency of buy new cloths.

4. Know Your Budget on Food

According to some survey, people who do not know how much they spend on groceries each month are twenty times more likely to be over their heads in debt than those who know exactly how much they spend on food each month. A lot of money can be saved by with below practices:

Stop eating outside – Dinners you prepare at home is significantly less expensive than meals you pay someone else to prepare.
Don’t buy what you don’t really need – Good examples are soft drinks, sugary snacks and other sweets. Giving them up will improve your health, reduce your medical and dental-related expenses and fatten your wallet.
Get the best price by comparing supermarkets — Don’t shop at the closest supermarket just because it’s more convenient. Driving a mile or two down the road can save you as much as $50 per week on groceries.

5. Car pool with your neighbors

If you have neighbors who work close to your company, you can car pooling with them to save gasoline and transportation cost.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Create Your Budgeting Plan

Use simple household budgeting tips to get out of debt and get your finances under control. Estimate your housing costs, utilities, food, clothing, transportation and vehicle costs, medical and/or family expenses, entertainment and online services, credit card payments and debt priorities, and lastly, other expenses. In your budgeting plan, allocate a portion of your money under safety net account. The money in your safety net account can only be used on emergencies, to recover for unforeseen expenses, for income lost protection and for myriad of other financial busters.

Track Your Spending

After you have allocated your money, apply all extra funds to pay ahead on your debts. In using your money toward debt reduction instead of treating yourself to another fancy dinner or extra pair of shoes, you can watch your debt dissolve quicker than you might imagine.

Once you have set up your budget plan, track you spending to know where your money is actual going and whether it is within your budget. Keep a record of all money spent, whether it is by cash, check, credit card, etc. Once you know where your extra money is going, and oftentimes, realize how you can save hundreds of dollars that can apply directly to your debts and make huge strides to reducing your debt away.

Monitor & Review Your Budget Plan

Budgeting is a process of create a living plan and managing your money to meet your short and long-term goals. Your budget plan should be flexible and being review from time to time and make the necessary change in line with your current needs and circumstances. A static plan that never changes could doom you to failure right at the beginning.

Online Resources

There are tons of budgeting tips and tools which you can find from internet. From budget calculators and worksheets, to detailed software programs, research your options online for the one that best suits your needs. Use these extra information and help on your budgeting process.

Happy Budgeting!

Creating a budget doesn’t have to be a painful restricting process, what you need to do it to make it a habit to know whether your money is going; and by knowing the flow of your money, you have a better control on your money and eliminate unnecessary expenses and the saved money can by dump debt accounts to reduce your debts and get rid of it one day. You may not create a perfect budget plan at your starting stage, continue to review and make necessary changes to in line with your needs and financial capability and the most important is follow your budget plan to make it successfully relief you from debts.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

In general, it is unadvisable to spend your equity money on things that do not give you ROI (return on investment) such as frivolous vacations. Use your home equity to clear your bad debts is actually a type of spending on your equity money. You could avoid yourself from trapping into debts by carefully plan your budget and spend with what you earn.

A smarter way of using your equity is use it to grow your equity further, spend on things that will bring you ROI. Ways to use your equity smartly include:

Start Your Own Business

You can use your home equity to borrow a low interest loan to generate the capital necessary to start your own business. Just be sure that you have a sound business plan in mind and that you have other safety cushions in place.

During the initial stage of your own business, you could maintain your reliable first income stream (to protect you against any cash problems) while working to bring your own business up to the stage.

Home Improvement

A better home condition will increase your home’s resale value. Hence you can dip into your equity to generate funds for home improvement. Your home improvement project will improve your home condition and provide you with a more comfortable living, and you could get a higher resale price whenever you want to sell it. But remember that not all home improvement projects will contribute equally to your homes resale value.

Children Education

Growing equity is a great way to generate fund for your children education needs. You can get loan against your home equity for your children educational needs. Using your equity to invest on your children education will get them a brighter future and at a better position to compete in the challenging job market.

Improve Your FICO Score Debt is unavoidable for many people as long as we have credit cards, mortgage or car, but you could prevent yourself from trapping into bad debts condition by carefully planning your budget and spending with your financial affordability. Instead, your equity can help you to improve your FICO score. By paying off creditors, you can improve your FICO score and potentially qualify for a lower refinancing rate. To make the most out of this process, know your interest rates, for both savings and debts. You can get help from expert such as an accountant to help you with the calculations. With so many rate variables in play, its easy to get confused about how to consolidate, how to pick the right term for your home equity loan, and how much to allocate to savings and how much to allocate to payments.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

While there may not be any instant debt solution, there are a number of things that you can do to improve your debt situation; let look at a few things which you can start immediately to improve your debt situation:

Change Your Behavior of Spending

The more you spend, the more you incur in debt. Like most of people, you may about to spend a lot of money for the holiday season. To get rid of debt, the first to do is to change your behavior of spending; this is the time to give yourself some deep though to the ways you spend your money, and to think about your financial priorities.

We live in a world where every retailer and marketer will try to extract every last penny from us, especially during the holiday season, retailers and marketer with their holiday’s special offers are actually create a lot of impulse purchase of their consumer, you will actually spend more if your impulse purchases are not what your really needs. That’s why we often find ourselves in debt.

If you can save up several hundred dollars over a period of time by controlling unnecessary spending, you can use the money to pay your debt and reduce your debt balance over the time and get rid of it in a predetermined period of time.

Budget Plan As Part Of Your Debt Solution

Budget plan is one of the important elements for debt solution, if you have a budget plan in place and you follow it strictly, you will have a better control on your money and your spending behavior.

You can start with looking at how much your current lifestyle has been costing you. Seeing how you have spent your money in the last year or two can help guide your budget plan for this year.

In your budget plan, include all your repayments for credit cards and loans. Set a firm budget for yourself each month, and stick to it. If there is a surplus, use it to pay off extra each month on loans and credit cards, choosing the most expensive to clear first. This is an important part of your debt solution, whatever other methods you may add.

Cut Out Non Essential Items Of Expenditure

After draft out your budget plan, take another look at the list of outgoings. First of all, ensure the list is complete. Then go through the list an item at a time, and see if there is anything that can be eliminated or at least cut. You may find it useful for the first month to take a detailed look at your supermarket and other household grocery spends, to see if there are possible savings.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Like most of Americans, you may stretch your income to cover the regular monthly expenses, and always choose to ignore or not to think about the brakes that are getting spongy or the plumbing that’s beginning to make strange noises. And you end up a surge on your monthly expenses when the brakes wear off and the plumbing break out.

Planning and saving for those events can help prevent an ordinary life from turning into a crisis and can also cut down dependence on credit cards. Not having savings is a major reason people get into debt.

Here are some steps to help you get started to plan for your emergency fund, the “Saving” fund which will help you prevent financial disaster.

1. Identify your irregular expenses

Analyze your pass credit card statement and checking account registers to identify your irregular expenses occur throughout the year. Examples of these irregular expenses are property taxes, insurance premiums, vacations, car tune-ups, holidays and birthdays. List down in a piece of paper all the expenses which are not spent in monthly basis.

2. Write the anticipated amount on the calendar

In most of cases such as insurance premium and property taxes, you will know when the expenses are due to occur. And for those unknown cases such as car repair and plumping repair cost, try to anticipate their expenses and list them somewhat earlier than you actually expect them to come up. Be sure to update your calendar as you discover more expenses.

3. Plan-in the non-monthly expenses into your monthly spending

Based on the foreseen amount and anticipated amount that are captured on your calendar, plan ahead your non-monthly expenses into your monthly spending. For example, you know that your car insurance is going to due on May, set aside small amount of your money for this purpose starting on February. And when May rolls around you can transfer the expense to your spending plan and have money available to pay it. Setting aside even a few dollars each month for foreseeable expenses can prevent larger money woes ahead.

Sometimes, you may find it hard to set aside some extra money from your monthly income; but remember, repairing your car or paying your insurance is not optional expenses and you need to spend it soon or later. So you need to find a way to reduce your monthly expenses so that some money can set aside for emergency fund. You may need to track your spending; then, reduce or cut the optional expenses such as entertainment, dinner at restaurant and other impulse purchase, the money save from those optional expense can be put into your emergency fund.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The distribution advantages of a Roth IRA extend beyond the death of the IRA owner. But to make sure the spouse and children can benefit, things have to be set up properly. Here is a summary of the Roth IRA distribution rules at death.

Many people do not like the requirement that a traditional IRA must start required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 70 1/2. Perhaps they don’t need the income yet. Maybe they would just as soon let the IRA continue to grow. In any event, the RMDs are taxable. Depending on the circumstances, they may even make part of Social Security retirement benefits taxable.

RMDs during the life of the Roth IRA owner are not required. If and when income is needed, withdrawals can be made, but there is no IRS requirement.

When the Roth IRA owner dies, RMDs must begin. When they are required to begin and how the distributions are received is a function of several factors.

Your Spouse is the Beneficiary

If your spouse is the sole beneficiary of your Roth IRA, your spouse can make an election to be treated as the owner of your Roth IRA. In this case, RMDs can further be postponed until the spouse’s death.

Note the word “sole” beneficiary, as this is an area where a mistake could inadvertently be made.

For example, let’s say you named your spouse and your children as beneficiaries. The spouse would be prohibited from making the ownership election and RMDs would be required over the life expectancy of the spouse, thus reducing (the spouse could die before their expectancy) or exhausting the Roth IRA balance altogether. So much for your desire to leave part to the children.

If the Roth IRA owner dies before age 70 1/2, the spouse doesn’t have to start the RMDs until the IRA owner would have reached age 70 1/2. Here is another area where the spouse needs to pay attention. If RMDs are not started when required (or less than the required amount is taken out), the penalty tax is a whopping 50% of the difference between what was required and what was withdrawn.

If your desire is to extend the RMDs all the way to the death of your spouse, here is another “heads up”. Let’s say you named a trust as the beneficiary of your Roth IRA. Even if your spouse is the sole beneficiary of the trust, the election to have the spouse treat your Roth IRA as their own cannot be made. There technically may be a work-around (a rollover), but why not just set things up right from the start?

A Person Other Than Your Spouse is the Beneficiary

In this case, distributions must be made over the remaining life expectancy of the beneficiary. If there is more than one beneficiary, the life expectancy of the oldest is used. If the beneficiary is a trust with multiple beneficiaries, the oldest beneficiary’s life expectancy is also used.

Another caution: If an entity other than an individual is a beneficiary of an IRA (even if an individual is also a beneficiary), the IRA is treated as having no beneficiary. The distribution requirements for an IRA with no beneficiary are outlined below.

Probably the most common scenario involving a “non-person” is a charity. If you name a charity as one of the beneficiaries, the distribution rules are different and may be contrary to your desires. The solution is to roll part of your IRA over to a new one and name the charity as the sole beneficiary.

No Beneficiary

Where no beneficiary is elected, the entire distribution must be made over five years. This five year rule would also apply even if there were a beneficiary and the distributions were not started when the rules dictated they must start.

As I hope you can see, there are several ways to make mistakes which would have the distributions occur in a much different manner than your wishes. These examples are my interpretation of the rules and cannot be relied upon for tax advice. I would recommend sitting down with your financial planner, your accountant and an estate planning attorney to make sure everything is set up properly.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

1. Did the IRA owner die before or after the “required beginning date”?

2. Who is the beneficiary?

In order to carry out the wishes of the IRA owner, evaluating both practical and estate planning implications of various decisions during the IRA owner’s life is essential. Important choices occur when the IRA owner makes his beneficiary election and, if married, by the spouse after the death of the IRA owner.

If you do not know the rules as they pertain to your choices, you are shooting in the dark. The wrong decision can cost money and likely cause the distribution of your IRA to be different than you would want.

Let’s make sure you know the rules of the game.

The first element is the required beginning date. For traditional IRAs, SEPs, SIMPLEs, this is Aril 1st of the year after turning 70 1/2. This rule does not apply to Roth IRAs, which have rules of their own.

There are several broad categories of beneficiaries:

1. The spouse.

2. A non- spouse beneficiary.

3. No beneficiary.

Let’s take each of these beneficiary elections and see how distributions are treated, depending on whether the IRA owner dies before or after the required beginning date.

The Spouse as Beneficiary

If the spouse is the only beneficiary, he or she can make an election that has a bearing on when the distributions must begin. The election is to treat the owner’s IRA as if it were their own.

Heads up: This election choice is unavailable if a trust is the beneficiary of the IRA, even if the spouse is the only beneficiary of the trust. A rollover may circumvent this problem.

If the IRA owner dies before the required beginning date, the spouse is the only beneficiary and the election made, the required distributions don’t have to begin until the IRA owner would have turned 70 1/2. The spouse would probably elect to apply this rule if the IRA owner was younger.

If the spouse elects not to be treated as the owner, the required minimum distributions (RMD) start right away and are based on the remaining life expectancy of the spouse. When the spouse dies, the distributions continue using the remaining life expectancy of the spouse.

If the IRA owner dies after the required distribution date and the spouse does not make the election, the distribution must be made over the life expectancy of the spouse; however, the life expectancy of the IRA owner can be used any year it is greater. Taking the attained age of the IRA owner at death and looking in a table determines the life expectancy. Then each year you subtract one. The point here is that the spouse needs to make a comparison every year to obtain the longest pay out.

The “takeaway” from this is that knowledge allows for good decisions. The best choice will depend on how old the IRA owner is when they die, the age of the spouse, health status and whether or not there are children or grandchildren to provide for in a distribution.

Non-Spouse Beneficiary

Distributions are required over the remaining life expectancy of the beneficiary if the IRA owner dies before the required beginning date. If there is more than one beneficiary, the oldest is used.

Heads up: Let’s say the IRA owner is a widow age 80. She names her sister, age 82, and her children, ages 55, 58 and 60 as beneficiaries. Her desire to help her sister causes the IRA to be distributed over the remaining life expectancy of an 82 year old—probably much quicker than desired.

If the IRA owner dies after the required beginning date, the distributions must be made over the longer of the remaining life expectancies of the owner or beneficiary.

No Beneficiary

If the IRA owner dies before the required beginning date, the entire IRA account must be paid out over five years.

If death occurs after the required distribution date, distributions simply continue over the remaining life expectancy of the IRA owner.

I think you can see there are a number of scenarios possible. When you combine this with the complexities of the IRA distribution rules, it makes good sense to sit down with your financial planner, tax attorney and accountant and make sure your IRA, SEP or SIMPLE IRA is coordinated with your estate plan and the most probable distribution pattern coincides with your desires.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

First, it depends on what kind of IRA you have. The rules differ for Roth IRAs. Second, it depends on whether you retire before or after age 59 1/2. For our purposes, we are going to assume retirement occurs before age 59 1/2.

What Income is Taxable?

The first issue is to be clear on are the rules as to what IRA withdrawals are taxable income. With traditional IRAs, the answer is easy: All income is taxable. However, if you made non-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA, SEP or SIMPLE IRA, distributions are prorated. Any deductible contributions and earnings are taxed; your non-deductible contributions come out tax-free, inasmuch as you have already paid tax on them.

Distributions from Roth IRAs are treated as coming first from your contributions and then from earnings. In addition, Roth IRAs have a “qualified distribution” rule. The first hoop to jump through is to have had your Roth for five years. The five-year clock starts running when you make your first Roth contribution. If you have satisfied this five year rule, are under age 59 1/2 and disabled, you can take out contributions, as well as earnings, tax-free.

The 10% Early Distribution Penalty Tax

Withdrawals from IRAs that are includable in income and taken before age 59 1/2 are subject to a 10% early distribution penalty tax unless an exclusion applies. Note, as per the discussion above, that contributions to Roth IRAs are not includable in income when withdrawn.

Here are the exceptions:

1. Death. Granted, this is not the best way to start your early retirement, but it is an exception.

2. Disability.

3. Withdrawals that are a part of what are referred to as “substantially equal periodic payments” (SEPPs). Using this approach is one of the most viable solutions to early retirement and a subject all to itself.

4. Made for medical care. However, this is limited to rules on the deductibility of such items, which currently applies to those medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

5. For the payment of health insurance premiums, but only if you are unemployed.

6. Made to pay for qualified higher education expenses. Not only could you go back to school, but this also applies to your spouse, your children or your grandchildren.

7. Made for first time homebuyers. It isn’t likely that you are hunting around for your first starter home, but this also applies to your spouse, your children or grandchildren. The limit, however, is $10,000.

8. Made to a reservist while on active duty. This is a new exception included in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The exception period is after 9/11/01 and before 2008.

Now that you are armed with this information, I hope that you are in a better position to assess the viability of retiring early. I would recommend becoming familiar with the options available under the substantially equal periodic payments exception. These may be the key to your early retirement.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Studies have shown that 90% of married couples and 62% of single persons reach retirement owning their own homes. Coupled with non-monetary considerations of whether to stay or sell, one major objective is how to convert the equity in the home to an income.

In some cases, selling the home is the most attractive option. However, remaining in the home could be simpler and less stressful. Many people are too quick to jump to the “sell” option because they are not aware of all the options that would allow staying in the home and extracting the equity as well.

Weigh each of the following options against selling before throwing in the mental towel and listing the home.

An AARP study done in 2000 showed that more than 90% of seniors wanted to stay in their homes for as long as possible. Almost 82% still wanted to stay even if they needed care.

That is a very loud vote. Therefore, I would recommend looking at long term care insurance that either only provides home care or a more comprehensive plan that includes home care. Many seniors balk at the topic of long term care because they figure they will never go to the “home.” Statistically, 50% of them are right. What many fail to realize is that at some point almost everyone will need some kind of help. Home care benefits may provide the needed assistance while allowing the person to remain in their home.

As seniors age, the upkeep of the home may become overbearing. The lawn still needs cutting, the bushes trimmed and the flower beds kept free of weeds. The inside needs dusting; the carpet needs vacuuming and the windows need washing. Eventually, in many people’s minds, these become reasons to sell.

I would invite you to put a pencil to this. Look at hiring someone to come in and clean. Hire a lawn maintenance company or the teen-ager down the street trying to pay for his car. Having these things taken care of in this manner is a lot less expensive than moving to a retirement home.

If the home is too big, close some rooms off. If it cost too much to heat or cool, seal the vents in un-used rooms.

Sometimes it may make sense (both for the senior and the child) for one of the children to move in and serve as a caretaker, cook, lawn-cutter and/or pool boy/girl.

There are several ways to get the equity out of the home, while continuing to live in the home.

First, the home could be re-financed. Mortgage interest rates today are low. Properly invested, the funds released could cover the new mortgage payments. If not, the difference could be less expensive than rent. Depending on the person’s age, putting a part of the proceeds into an immediate annuity may even cover the mortgage payment and then some.

If the person has a retirement plan that mandates required minimum distributions starting at age 70 1/2, the interest deduction on the new mortgage could be a welcome offset to the RMDs, which must be included in taxable income.

For large estates subject to estate taxes, placing the home in a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT) can potentially remove the home, and any appreciation from the date of the transfer into the trust, from the taxable estate. Proper trust drafting can also provide for the housing needs of the survivor of a married couple and, ultimately, leave the home to the children.

Selling the home to the children is another option. By structuring the sale and lease back according to the rules, the $250,000 single person or $500,000 married couple capital gains tax exclusion could apply. Here, again, the parents would continue to live in the home and pay rent to the children. This removes the home from the taxable estate as well.

A gift-leaseback is an alternative. The value of the home will use up part (or all) of the lifetime unified credit. Consult a tax attorney if the value of the home is large and this option is one of the ones on the table.

If the homeowner(s) are age 62 or older, a reverse mortgage may be a viable option. The National Council on Aging calculates there are 13.2 million seniors who could qualify for a reverse mortgage of $20,000 or more. The average would be $72,000.

Reverse mortgages can reduce or eliminate the children’s inheritance. Today, there are Federal Rules for reverse mortgages and about 90% are federally insured. Fees can be high and will differ among lenders. Shop around.

Prior to making the decision to stay in the home or sell, each of these options should be part of the discussion among the senior, their children and financial advisors.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

As a woman, you need to understand your financial situation and learn more about money. You need to do more than just balance the checkbook and pay the bills. Here are some facts about women:

Women live longer than men; in average women live 7 years longer than men; hence, women need to plan for longer retirement period.
In general, women earn less than men, even though with the very same job.
Based on recent statistic, 50% of women failed in their marriage and the average of widowhood is 56.
90% of women become wholly responsible for their finance at some point during their lifetime.
The jobs market turn over rates are high for women. More women are out of the job market and spend in average of 11.5 years caring for children or an elderly relative.
Most women lack of knowledge to adequately plan for retirement.
For most women, social security is the only source of retirement benefits and many found it does not enough to support their retirement period.

Sound like a scary statistic. You need to understand that you as a woman have difference financial needs than men, always start your financial planning as early as you get started your first job. Things that you need to do so that you have a better control in your financial are:

Learn about money; you can control it if you do not know about it. Hence, the first thing you should do is learn about money such as how to earn it, save it, double it with investment, protect it, keep it along to and then pass it to your next generation.
Plan for a retirement fund is an important task in your financial planning process. You should start to plan for your retirement as early as your first job because you may not have the luxury 40 years in a career to save for your retirement fund.
Learn how to get away from bad debts and how to use good debts to increase your net worth.
Know your financial situation all the time and take charge of it. And after you are getting marriage, you need to share in managing your family’s finances.
Get to know how social security is fitted into your retirement plan.
Always find the answers on what you don’t know about money.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

So, what is an emergency fund? This is a fund to be used when a hurricane or a tornado blows the roof off your house, you lose your job, or your union calls a strike. The need could come in the form of a disability or an illness that keeps your our of work for an extended period of time, or it could be the immediate expenses of an untimely death in the family. In short, it is a poll of money that you put aside and the uses of any unexpected incidents.

How much should you Save? The is no an exact answer on how much should you save in your emergency fund, it be an amount that makes sense for you. It will depend on whether you are already debt-free or loaded down with debt. It will depend on whether you have a single- or dual-income household. The conventional wisdom is to have at least 3 months’ worth of living expenses set aside and if you can do it, six months’ worth stashed away is even better. The bottom line is your emergency fund should an amount that make you feel secure.

Please note that 3 months of living expenses is not the same as three months of income. The emergency fund is for you to cover at least for the basic of living. How you determine your basic living expenses? Take a look at your cash flow: what will it take to maintain your lifestyle, rent/mortgage payment, groceries, monthly utilities, childcare, insurance payment, and etc. That is the amount time 3 that you need to save in your emergency fund.

Where will I keep my Emergency Fund? This question is more important than you might imagine. If your Emergency Fund is too easy to access, you might be tempted to dip into it for things that are … well, not emergencies. At the same time, though, it needs to be liquid (easily convertible to cash) and kept somewhere that allows fairly prompt access. After all, they call them “emergencies” for a reason.

The money market is a good place to put the money. Use a mutual fund money-market account with check-writing privileges. A potential drawback here is that the minimum amount needed to open such an account is usually $1,000. You may think of other ways of saving your emergency fund, the bottom line is your emergency fund should not that easy to be accessed but it must be liquidized enough to cash out your money when emergency happen.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

First, let’s take a quick look at the requirements and advantages of naming your spouse as the sole beneficiary of your IRA. Choosing another beneficiary will cause you to lose some of these advantages.

The first advantage allows the spouse to elect to treat the IRA as his or her own. When the objective is to delay the required minimum distributions (RMDs) for as long as possible, the spouse would generally elect this option. This election allows the spouse to postpone RMDs until they reach age 70 1/2 in the case of a traditional IRA or SEP. RMDs are deferred all the way to the death of the spouse if the IRA were a Roth. If the spouse is younger than the deceased IRA owner, this makes a lot of sense where deferral is desired.

Using the life expectancy of the spouse and a beneficiary is one of the spouse’s options, thus potentially extending the payout period. If the spouse were not the sole beneficiary, the life expectancy of the IRA owner and beneficiary is the requirement. Given the fact that the IRA owner is older, this shortens the distribution period.

If the IRA owner dies before age 70 1/2, the spouse can defer the RMDs until the IRA owner would have reached age 70 1/2. If the IRA owner is younger than the spouse is, this could be an attractive option.

Despite these advantages and flexibilities, other beneficiary elections may make more sense.

Marital Deduction Trust

The use of a trust has many advantages such as the ability to “customize” the distribution of trust assets among beneficiaries, tax advantages and the ability to sprinkle income.

One main advantage of naming a marital trust as the beneficiary of your IRA is to include a QTIP provision (Qualified Terminal Interest Property). This allows the IRA owner to control where the property passes upon the death of the spouse. The most obvious use of a QTIP election is to make sure the children or a person are not disinherited due to the spouse’s own subsequent beneficiary election or a second marriage.

Credit Shelter Bypass Trust

These trusts take advantage of the unified credit the law provides each person. In simple terms, a credit shelter bypass trust has two parts, Part A and Part B. It receives all the estate assets. The spouse typically receives income from both parts. However, at the death of the spouse, their part flows directly to (generally) the children, thus removing it from double taxation. Today, proper planning and the use of a credit bypass trust can move $4,000,000 to the children free of tax.

RMDs from the IRA are still required and based on the life expectancy of the oldest beneficiary of the trust (probably the spouse). The tax advantages of the Credit Shelter trust conflict with the ability to stretch the RMDs out for the long possible time.

Dynasty Planning

Here, the goal is to provide for as many generations of beneficiaries as possible, as opposed to planning solely for the spouse. Again, RMDs are still required. The name of the game is to spread the payouts over the longest period possible by using the youngest beneficiaries. The advantage is the IRA account continues to grow at interest. Under the right circumstances, a $100,000 IRA could pay out over 20 million dollars.

Traditionally, a dynasty trust is used. While “the rule against perpetuities” is not in effect in all states, generally a person can spread the payout over several generations. The maximum would be the life of anyone alive at the death of the creator of the trust, plus 21 years. However, as we have seen, for RMD purposes, the life expectancy of the oldest trust beneficiary is required when a trust is the beneficiary of an IRA.

One way to get around this is to establish a dynasty trust for each beneficiary. Alternatively, to keep it simple, just name each beneficiary separately (i.e. children, grandchildren) and forget about the trust.

While naming the spouse as the only beneficiary of an IRA has its advantages, do not just blindly make this election. The size of your estate, the situation of your beneficiaries and your goals are some of the factors that may require another choice. This is the time to sit down with your financial planner and an estate planning attorney and review all the options and their consequences.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Of all the financial issues surrounding being a senior, the one that tops the list in terms of anger is the fact that, depending on the situation, Social Security retirement benefits are taxable. My experience indicates that some seniors are completely unaware of this fact. I have also had to sit and listen to the ranting of those who are aware. It goes something like this: “I already paid tax on the earnings during my working years. The Social Security withdrawn from my income each pay check was a tax. This sounds like a tax on a tax.” And on and on…

After letting the person blow off some steam, my response typically was, “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! I’m here to see if any of your Social Security benefits are taxed, if so, how much and what we can do to reduce or eliminate that tax.” So let me take you through the first part of our conversation.

Whether or not you are taxed depends on:

1. The amount of your income.
2. Whether or not you have income from sources other than Social Security.

The amount of your tax depends on:

1. Your marital filing status: single or married.
2. The amount of your income.

The tax on Social Security retirement benefits was put into effect in 1983. Tax was applied on up to 50% of benefits. In 1993 this was increased to 85%. Here’s how the calculation goes…

The first step is to calculate your “provisional income”. So grab last year’s tax return.

1. Subtract your taxable S.S. benefits (line 20b) from your Adjust Gross Income (line 37).
2. Add one half of your total S.S. benefits (line 20a).
3. Add any tax exempt interest (line 8b).
4. The result is your “provisional income”.

Once you know this number, you can apply the rules to determine how much of your S.S. is taxed. Again, this depends on whether you are married or single and the amount of your income.

Let’s look first at a married couple filing jointly. Here is the math…

1. If your provisional income is below $32,000, you don’t have a problem.
2. For provisional income over $32,000:
a. Take the provisional income between $32,000 and $44,000 and divide it by two.
b. If your provisional income is above $44,000, take the total provisional income, subtract $44,000 and multiply by 0.85.
c. Add 2a and 2b.
d. Multiply your total S.S. benefits (line 20a) by 0.85.
e. The lesser of your result on 2c and 2e above is the amount of your S.S. benefit taxed.

Now let’s look at the calculation for a single person…

1. If your provisional income is below $25,000, none of your S.S. benefits are taxable.
2. For provisional incomes over $25,000:
a. Take the provisional income between $34,000 and $25,000 and divide it by two.
b. If your provisional income is above $34,000, subtract $34,000 from your total provisional income and multiply by 0.85.
c. Add 2a and 2b.
d. Multiply your total S.S. benefit (line 20) by 0.85.
e. The lesser of your result on 2c and 2d above is the amount of your S.S. benefit taxed.

Now that you know whether or not any of your Social Security benefits are taxable, and if so, how much, the next step is to take a look at the ways you can reduce or eliminate this tax. In general, there are three solution categories:

1. Reduce your interest income. The most common is interest on CDs.
2. Reduce your dividend income.
3. Reduce your tax exempt interest income.

Note: The calculations above use a very simplified approach. Your situation may have other factors that would affect the math. It is strongly advised that you consult with a qualified tax professional.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Most of debtors that caught into serious finance issue are related to credit card. Statistic shows that American households are holding an average of $10,000 credit card debts. Credit cards are no longer a status symbol as it was a few years back. Everyone, and we mean everyone, can flash one around these days. Credit card provides easy and convenient payment in any of your purchases and you do not need to carry too much cash around while bringing your girl friend or family to dinner at a nice restaurant. Until, you forgot that credit card may be the evil that can lead you to serious debt trap. Here is one of examples on how you walk right into credit card debt.

Charge It To My Credit Card

Today, almost everything can be purchased with credit card. Most merchants understand that you won’t feel the pinch when you do not have to pay in cash and you can make your buying decision faster and easier if it do not involve “Cash” money. Hence, many merchants are working with the credit card companies to come out with various “0% interest Payment Schema” to purchase their products with credit card and payment can be made with 12 to 24 months with zero interest.

Now, a $4000 home theatre set can be purchased easily with only $166.70 per month pay in 24 months. What you need to do is charge it to your credit card. It’s easy right? So, you do it again and again to buy anything you liked, nothing could stop you from buying it. You don’t feel the pinch because you do not have to pay for it in cash. And the easy payment schema offer by merchant that charge your purchases on to your credit card and spread your payments across 12 to 24 months let you feel that the items you buy are within your affordability.

The situation goes even worse when you just pay the minimum payment on your credit card balances. The frequency of late payment increase because your find it hard to meet the payment schedule and minimum payment requirement. Debts are snowballing with the compound interest and late payment charges. You are walking your way into debt trap. Situation will getting worse if you do not know how to manage it and work the way out of it.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Unfortunately the answer is a resounding ‘No’. In this article I’d like to introduce you to online cash back shopping, explain how it works and why it is much cheaper than buying from online stores directly.

While the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests millions of Aussies shop online, it would seem that very few currently take advantage of the huge savings offered by cash back shopping and are hemorrhaging huge amounts of cash as a result.

I suggest that the savings which we made by switching from buying on the street to buying on the Internet are probably at least equaled by the savings we could archive by cash back shopping rather than buying from online stores directly.

What is Cash Back Shopping?
Cash back shopping means you buy an item from an online store and are later refunded part of the price you paid for it. For example, you might buy an exercise bike for $200 from xyzstore.com.au and later be paid back $20, thus reducing the price you paid to $180.

To achieve this you need to join one of the many cash back sites on the Internet and shop through them rather than visiting the store’s website directly.

While cash back sites often vary greatly in the amount of cash back offered for a particular store, as well as in the range of stores offered, they all basically function as follows. (Kindly see the resources section at the bottom of this article for an example of an excellent value cash back site.)

When you visit the cash back site you’ll search for store or product that you are interested in and you’ll be presented with links to matching stores. Clicking on a link will direct you to the store’s website where you can proceed to buy the item you want. When you return to the cash back site you’ll notice that the purchase you made has shown up on your account, along with the refund that you are due. A little while later you will be refunded the money by one of various means such as PayPal.

It is important to note that you shop on the same website whether you arrive via the cash back site or otherwise. If you arrive by typing in the address directly into your browser or by clicking a result from a web search you won’t get any money back, but if you click the link on the cash back site you will.

It really is that simple and it really does work.

How does Cash Back Shopping Work?
So why does it work? How does the cash back site give you money for shopping at someone else’s site? It’s all down to sales commission.

Traditionally when we shop online we probably surf the web for a while to find what we are looking for at the best possible price. We use various websites to aid us in this process including search engines, shopping comparison sites and shopping directories. In one way or another these sites are all driven by advertising, stores are prepared to pay a great deal of money to advertise their goods.

The Internet is such a huge place the risk is that stores can pay a lot of money for advertising and still not reach the right people, let alone make sales. These risks are reduced using affiliate marketing. ‘Affiliate marketing’ can basically be read as ’sales commission’; stores get to advertise for free but instead pay commission on any sales they make as a result of those adverts. Thus stores only pay for adverts which actually bring them sales and because of this they often offer very generous commissions.

Most shopping directories display affiliate adverts. When you visit a shopping directory and click a link to a store from which you buy something, that store pays commission to the directory which you found them in. In the same way cash back sites get paid commission by the stores they advertise. The difference is that cash back sites pass some of that commission back to you.

Conclusion
In conclusion, we are currently paying too much for our shopping because we are not taking advantage of cash back sites. In essence we all have a choice when we buy online. We can either:

1 – Arrive at our preferred store’s website via a search engine or shopping directory and let them have the sales commission on whatever we buy.

or

2 – Arrive at our preferred store’s website via a cash back site and take that sales commission ourselves, saving us money.

As neither of these methods involves more or less effort than the other, it would be very easy for us all to save a lot more money.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Rules of the Debt Game

In order to play well in the debt game, first of all you need to know the rules of this game. Here are the debt game rules:

Rule #1: What you borrow, you pay back with interest

There is no “Free Money” in the earth. The money lenders lend you their money to you and in return you need to pay back to them with the amount you borrowed plus the interest based on the contracted interest rates. Once you have signed on the dotted line of the loan offer agreement, you have committed yourself to repay that loan plus the interest as stated in the agreement.

Rule #2: If you don’t pay, you suffer

There are consequences when you don’t repay your loan. Unpleasant phone calls from creditors, urgent mail arrive at your home, and surprise visits from debt collectors hired by the lenders come to take back what you bought but didn’t pay for. In order to avoid this type of grief in your life, repay what you borrow.

Rule #3: If you pay your loan on time with interest and you are rewarded

Money lenders will like you if you pay your loan on time with interest, they think you are great and will want to borrow you even more money with a lower interest rate. With you good repayment record, they know chances are good you will pay them back.

Rule #4: Your performance in the game of debt earns you a score

One you are entering your first debt game by applying your first loan or credit card, a score system will be created for you and follow you for the rest of your life. Three primary credit agencies in the United States keep sophisticated records of each individual’s credit history, including yours. Based on your pass credit activities, a credit score will be assigned to you.

If you never miss a loan repayment and you always pay your loan on time each month, you will get a good credit score. If you have an excellent credit score, you will get better offers such as higher loan amount, lower interest rate, faster approval time when you apply for a credit. And you will have a better position to negotiate for an even better offer because many lenders like you to become their client and they willing to lower their requirement and provide you a better offer in order to get you signed up with them.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Debt won’t create any trouble if it is within your control but it will becomes problematic with it begins to control you. Your debt will begin to take control of you when you fail to make your payments on time. And when you continue to ignore it, it’s power grow every day by adding interest into your debt and the more power it has, the more stressful you will feel it.

First thing, ask yourself why you are in this bad situation. There are many reasons that may cause you to trap in this financial crisis. Among the common reasons:

1. Poor Money Management

You spend your money without tracking where your money goes and you spend more that what you earn; When the bills come, you pay only the minimum amount due on your line credit and when you have not enough money to meet the minimum due amount, you borrow more money by applying more personal loans and you continue to pay minimum for all you loans. In additional to this, interests are added more and more into your existing balances. This is how your debt is rolling to a big debt ball. Poor money management is usually is the key factor that cause the excess debt problem.

2. Unexpected Life Events

Unexpected life events can drag you into debt trap in short period of time. The sudden death of spouse who is the key living earner for the family, housewife that get divorce or separation, unforeseen medical bills due to critical illness or being laid off from you job are among the potential life events that can gives you a surprise. If you do not have emergency fund to prepare for any unforeseen life events, you will charge everything that need money to your credit cards and borrow more loans to cover for any shortages. If your financial situation is not recover fast enough to repay your loans and credit cards debts, your debt nightmare will get started with harassing creditors phone calls, red envelope letters from collection agencies and follow by others more dramatic actions from collection agencies.

3. Compulsive behavior

Gambling, drugs and alcohol addictions may cause you to spend more money that you have and lose the control of your money totally. It will be difficult to make any headway on reducing excessive debt if the addictive behavior is not addressed with the help of a professional.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

This is call impulse to buy tendency. Impulse to buy is something that may cause you to spend out of your budget and if you charge the overspend amount to your credit cards, it will become your debt if you can’t pay when the bill comes. In order to control your budget especially if you are in progress of getting out of debt, you need to eliminate the buying impulses and spending within your budget. Here are some tips on how to fight impulse to buy.

Buy It Later

When you see an offer for something you think you want, don’t immediate buy it. Instead, write down the information and phone number or the website address if the item is from an online store. Then, set it aside for three or four days. After this cooling-off-period, read the note and see if you still can’t resist the offer. Base on some survey that there’s better than 90% chance you won’t feel the buying urge anymore.

Make Shopping List

Make a shopping list, and stick to it. Bring it with you to the store and cross off items as you add them to the cart. Consignment stores are good place to buy clothes and for lamps, furniture and other big-ticket items, try to buy when they are on sales, especially during mega sales. Mega sales can cause someone to spend out of budget; hence remember to stick you want you need to buy only (listed at your shopping list).

Set A Spending Budget Before Go Out For Shopping

When you entering a supermarket, normally you will see many items are on sales that may trigger your impulse to buy. Hence, you must be firm on how much you want to spend. When shopping for groceries, set a firm spending limit before entering the supermarket. Take along a pocket calculator, and keep a running. If you are kind of person that is too hard to control your spending habit, leave your credit card and extra cash at home. Remember, if you don’t have it, you can’t spend it.

Aware Of Buying Environment

Many stores are count on impulsive spenders, and actually arrange their products accordingly to common consumer buying behavior and the best layout that can easily trigger the impulse to buy of the consumers. For example, Enticing displays for new products, pairing two products such as chips and soda on the same aisle, and various other tactics lure spenders to buy more than they came for. Hence, if you aware of how the store will arrange their best buying environment for consumers, it can help you to say no to excessive items in such situation.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

But if we are currently living from pay cheque to pay cheque, never seeming to get ahead or having any savings, how do we change things? Where do we start in our quest for financial security?

The best thing we can do, is sit down, take a deep breath and contemplate the differences between the haves and the have nots, the achievers and the laymen. What is it that the successful and wealthy do, that is different to us? What are the principles that they utilise to create wealth?

Once we find out the principles that others who have created financial security have used, it seems that then the only step left would be for us to try and duplicate the process.

Following is a list of some of the wealth building principles that I have discovered in my study of and conversations with successful people.

These concepts have been utilised extensively by those who have already created enormous wealth.

1. Use the power of Compounding Interest/Growth.

John D. Rockerfeller once described compounding interest as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”.

Compounding is also referred to as Rate & Time because the longer the time, and the higher the growth rate, the greater the effects of compounding become.

Compounding works by letting any interest earned get added to the initial investment, and then the next lot of interest is calculated on the sum of the two, and so on. Interest is earned on interest. This gives the effect of exponentially increasing the value of an investment.

One of easiest ways to calculate how compounding interest works with different rates of return is to become familiar with the Rule of 72. This rule states that “The number of years that it will take for your money to double is 72 divided by the interest (growth) rate”.
Therefore if you have $1,000.00 invested at 10% interest, then the number of years that it will take for your money to double to $2000.00 is 7.2.
72 divided by 10 = 7.2

2. Use the tried and true method of investing in residential real estate.

Statistics show that over 98% of the world’s millionaires have made their money through property.

It should really not come as a surprise, because everyone needs a place to live, and generally at least one third of the population are renting. Property is a necessity, so it can never go out of fashion.

As the population increases, so does the need for housing. The laws of supply and demand therefore will ensure that prices keep rising.

Banks consider property to be one of the most secure investments and because of this they will loan you a high percentage of the value. This leads to the next principle.

3. Using Other Peoples Money or Gearing is a tool used extensively by the wealthy.

Why is using Other People’s Money so important? The reason is that it is possible to use “leverage”, also known as “gearing” to obtain a greater result, than you could have obtained using only your own contributions. The word leverage comes from “lever”. As you know a small amount of force applied on one end of a lever, can produce force far greater than what was initially exerted. A lever has the effect of multiplying the power exerted.

In the case of investing, it is referred to as leveraging when you use just a small portion of your own money, say 10% deposit on a $300,000.00 house, and borrow (leverage) the rest, in this case 90%. The capital growth that you benefit from is then calculated on the full $300,000.00, not just the $30,000.00 that you personally contributed, having the effect of multiplying your capital gain.

Gearing allows you to purchase a far more expensive property than you could if you were using only your own money. Controlling assets of a higher value means that compounding growth has more to work on, and therefore your net worth will increase much quicker. Gearing allows you to build an investment portfolio more quickly than would otherwise be possible.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The basic accusation laid against the banking industry is that the various charges levied on customers who go overdrawn, miss repayments, or commit other misdemeanours are excessive. Under the financial services industry regulations laid down by government, any such charges must only be of sufficient size to cover the administrative costs the banks incur by dealing with miscreant customers. Many outside the banking industry think that this isn’t what’s happening, and that banks are inflating their charges to punitive levels, and using them as profit makers – both of which are illegal under current laws.

Naturally, the banks dispute such accusations, although when the row first blew up in the arena of credit card late payment charges, and the regulators insisted that these charges be slashed, all banks promptly agreed to do so.

Further, in many cases, bank customers have been able to reclaim past charges for going overdrawn, simply by asking for them back. As these repayments have sometimes run into four figures or more, and the banks concerned agreed to the refunds without recourse to legal action, the implication could well be that even the banks are unsure what the true legality of the situation is.

Thankfully, the matter should soon be clarified with the instigation of a test case to decide whether the charges are fair, or punitive and illegal. There is now an embargo imposed by most banks on refunding disputed charges, pending the outcome of the case. If the banks lose, the floodgates could open, and the costs could run into millions.

Would this be a good thing for customers?

Well, should the banks be faced with multi-million pound refunds because the decision goes against them, the money will have to be found from somewhere. And that’s without considering the further millions of pounds of income the banks will lose if charges are drastically reduced. Already, there are monthly or annual fees being introduced for current accounts, credit cards, and other financial services – irrespective of whether the customer goes overdrawn or otherwise breaks the terms of their agreement.

Make no mistake: the banking industry won’t allow defeat to erode their profits, and the lost revenue will be reclaimed from somewhere else. It may well be that mainstream banking customers will have to pay a fee to subsidise lower charges for those who bank less responsibly.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Two tiered marketing, where property companies sell investment properties (often off the plan) to interstate buyers, who are unaware of the current genuine market climate at highly inflated prices often $30,000.00 to $50,000.00 above true market value, have been rife in Australia for several years. The companies have a highly organised and professional approach, beginning with a free seminar that highlights the advantages of property investment and then offers a free assessment with one of their representatives to see what their current financial position will allow them to afford. After the initial pre-approval for finance process is complete they are offered free, or highly subsidised air fares to view interstate properties. The condition being that if they don’t purchase they will have to foot the bill for the air fares. On arrival the first stop is to visit the finance broker to confirm how much they can borrow, followed by an intensive tour of properties in their price range. The day concludes with another trip back to the office, where they are encouraged to sign the dotted line and purchase the property on that day. High pressure sales tactics are employed throughout.

The book “How to Research Investment Properties” by Debra Lohrere aims to educate people about how to carry out their own assessment of properties, so that they will be able to recognise the difference between a good buy and a highly inflated proposition. It begins with a brief introduction of the amazing potential that property investment has for creating substantial wealth and providing for a financially secure future. It discussed what type of property should be sought after and the various features that are desirable to make a property both easy to rent, and give it the potential for the greatest capital gains.

It discusses the varying price ranges of property – low end, median priced and high end properties and explains the advantages of each.

It covers the topic of Positive, Neutral and Negative gearing with an explanation of how these can all effectively be used. It gives examples of different investment strategies that will suit different investors, depending on their current financial situation and comfort levels.
This book aims to give all the information required, to prevent would be investors being deceived into purchasing overpriced properties.

The most important advice that anyone can ever give in relation to investing in anything, is to “Do your homework first”. Research and knowledge are the keys that enable people to make intelligent, well informed decisions. This manual aims to give people to information they require to do this.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Most self made, successful business people and investors have achieved their success by planning to do so.

They have set goals for themselves and achieved them. They invest time in reading and learning about wealth creation and are happy to learn from other people’s mistakes and experiences, as well as their own. They set goals, and realise that they will be far better able to achieve them if they familiarise themselves with the ways in which other people acted and the things that others have done to succeed. Wealthy people create wealth by carefully utilising the income that they have available to them to their best advantage. They know that working harder and longer hours is not the way to achieve financial freedom, instead they have to utilise what they have, and make it grow.

Having a goal enables you to focus your energies on devising ways to achieve it. When someone makes a decision and begins focusing on achieving a specific goal (and even better in a specific period of time), the powerful subconscious mind goes to work and begins playing with ideas and developing strategies of various ways to bring about the successful completion of the goal.

When you set yourself a goal both your conscious and subconscious start working on it and begin to develop an action plan. You will begin asking yourself questions about what needs to be done to enable you to reach your goal. Many find themselves coming up with amazing ideas and solutions to problems or obstacles that have been in the way of achieving their goal. The subconscious is an extremely powerful tool. The more often you remind yourself of your goal, the more your mind will work on ways for you to achieve it. Some people find answers come to them when they are asleep and dreaming.

Have you ever noticed that there is no correlation between being wealthy and having a high IQ or a university degree? If there were, every doctor and university graduate would be wealthy, and as statistics show, most of them end up in the same situation as 95% of the population.

Setting Goals helps you to focus your energy on developing workable strategies. Setting long term goals helps you look at the big picture. Once you can see the big picture, you can develop small sub goals. Sub goals are small simple goals that can be followed one step at a time. When you progressively achieve your sub goals, you will get closer and closer to your major goals. Goals are simply plans to succeed. It is said that if you “Fail to plan, then you plan to fail”. Goals help you keep motivated. Progressively achieving your goals can lead to a wonderful feeling of fulfilment.

5. Learn how to Budget.

Budgeting does not have to be tedious. All you need to do is to work out:
What your incomings are. What your regular outgoings are and then make sure that all of your other expenditure is less than the amount remaining. This will allow you to start saving and investing. Budgeting puts you in control of your finances.

6. Learn about investing – in particular about property investing.

Learn to research the property market, so that you will be able to purchase properties that will not only give a good rental yield, but they will also return the best capital growth possible. Read investment books. Read auto-biographies of successful people. Speak to people who have succeeded in doing what it is that you want to do. The more you learn, the easier it will be to recognize a good investment.

Find out about Negative, Neutral and Positive gearing – and why gearing is an invaluable tool, which will enable you to build up a wealth base in accelerated time, compared to if you only invested your own hard earned dollars.

Once you have educated yourself and understand why investing in property is such a powerful tool, you will be able to embark on the road to financial security.

In Australia, and many other countries less than 5% of the population reach retirement able to support themselves, without government or family assistance. If you want to be one of them, then now is the best time to start striving toward financial security.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Now before you start to think….”well I don’t have any excess left…if I was earning more money….then I would have some free”. Let me dispel this myth…and tell you that it is a known and excepted fact that the amount of money that people earn has little if any bearing on whether or not they have an excess left to invest. The only way to create an excess it to spend less than you earn, instead of spending all that you earn.

Even doctors and lawyers, who earn well over $100,000.00 per year, often end up at retirement with little more Net Worth than factory or office workers.

Net Worth is calculated by deducting the value of all the liabilities or loans you have from the income-producing assets owned to give you the net value of your income-producing assets.

Why aren’t high-income earners retiring wealthy? Why don’t they end up with a greater Net Worth than someone on a low income? It is quite simple. Human nature seems to dictate that whatever anyone earns….they spend….some even spend more than they earn and charge it on their credit card.

The higher your income grows…the more you spend and the only way to get out of this cycle is to realise that it is happening, and make a concerted effort to reverse this habit….and to begin reducing your expenditures so that you can free up money to invest.

The best way to do this, is to try the 10/90 plan. This plan simply means that as soon as you receive your pay….you put aside 10% of it for investment….and then use the other 90% to live off of. Put aside the 10%, and then pay all the bills and do the grocery shopping….and then after that whatever is left over you can spend.

Most people do it the wrong way around…they pay the bills, do the shopping and spend what is left over, never leaving any left to save or invest. By taking the investment money out first you will alleviate the temptation to spend it.

The road to wealth is not determined by how much you earn, but by how you utilise the income you have and how much you save and invest.

You need to take control of your finances. One of the best ways to start having more control over your money is to find out where it has all been going, and then amend your spending habits to allow you to live within the 10/90 plan.

If you write down a list of your monthly net income, then in another column write down a list of the essential items that you have to spend money on. You should be able to work out an average for telephone, gas, electricity, insurances and rates, from your previous bills. Work out an average of how much is spent on grocery shopping and petrol. If there are any other necessary utilities include them as well. Then deduct the second column from the first – and this will give you the maximum potential savings for each month.

It can be quite startling how high this figure can be and make you wonder where all the extra money went.

Another good learning experience is to simply write down for a fortnight every dollar spent and write next to it what it was for. You will soon find that there are a lot of unnecessary expenses, often caused by impulse buying, where you have spent money on items that you neither needed or really wanted, and could easily have gone without.

When you can begin to recognise these areas, and start to consider whether or not you are spending your money wisely, before you hand it over, then you will be beginning to take control over your money and are well on the way to embarking on your investment journey, which will enable you to have a financially secure future for you and your children.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

In fact, you do not need to have a complex formula in taking control of you money, a simple formula such as be aware of how and where you spend it, and invest it is the most effective way to create a wealthy financially lifestyle for yourself. In order to implement this simple formula in taking control of your money, you need to generate an effective plan for your money that can encourages you to develop a set of priorities that helps you to achieve your financial goals.

“What are my financial goals?” You can always start your financial goals setting process by asking this first question. Always start with your short-term goals. Set up a four-column list on a piece of paper, list down all your wishes of things like new cars and vacations which should also including upcoming financial obligations such as taxes and insurance premiums. In the first column, write down your financial goals, and put the estimation cost into the second columns. Every goal should have a date of realization; place these dates into the third column. From the estimate cost stated at second column and the date of realization, calculate how much money you will need to start saving each month so that you have enough money to realize your goal, write the monthly savings amount into the forth column.

The ideal case is your income is enough to cover the total monthly savings for all your financial goals, but in reality it may not be true. What if you find that you can’t save enough money each month to meet all of your short-term financial goals? Then, you have to one of two things:

1) Reduce your price expectations. For example, spend less on your vacation coming up in 6 months. Or change your vacation location from oversea to domestic.

2) Increase the amount of time before you achieve your goal. For example, delay the purchase of your new car for another six months.

Basically, your financial goals should be flexible enough to inline with your financial affordability and the goals should be reachable.

Once your have set your short-term goals, do the same for your long-term financial goals. In setting your long term financial goals, you also need to figure out how much money to be set aside for emergencies uses. The costs of retirement or college education for your children that won’t occur for a number of years are both certainly moving targets. Your long-term goals should be reviewed from time to time to ensure you are on track and if not, what are the adjustments should be made.

Certainly, you should try to save and invest as much of your monthly income as you can at all the times, but realistically your priorities change depending on which financial phase of your life your are in. Invest your money wisely to generate profit out from your money, not the opposite. Most investments have certain risks which you should consider before you put your money in, generally high gain high risk, follow your own risk profile and select the investment portfolio that suit your own risk profile.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

It is now possible to pay bills, move money between accounts, set up direct debits and standing orders, and even apply for overdrafts and credit all from your own home, all online and on your own PC.

Despite this convenience, for many people there is still a lingering mistrust of the technology involved : will your money be safe if you bank online? The answer is, for the most part, yes – so long as you follow a few basic principles.

Firstly, if you have the option to choose your own password for online services, then make sure that the password you decide on is secure. This means that it shouldn’t be easily guessable – avoid using the name of your pet or child, for example, and don’t use the numbers of your birthday. An ideal password should be easily memorable, but hard to guess, and using a combination of letters and numbers is highly recommended. For example, a good password could be the name of a food you hate, along with a number that is significant in some way to you – e.g. mushrooms37. Such a password would be almost impossible for someone to guess, but will also be very easy for you to remember.

One the subject of passwords, it’s vital that you never give out your personal details in response to a ‘phishing’ attack. Phishing is a subject worthy of it’s own article, but in brief: if you receive an email purporting to be from your bank, asking you to reconfirm your details or to log into your account urgently, then ignore it. It will NOT have been sent by your bank, but by fraudsters attempting to steal your identity.

Another important security measure is to avoid logging in to your online banking service on a publicly accessible computer – for example, at work or in an internet cafe. You can never be sure what details about your internet use are being stored on a PC you don’t own, and even if you log out of the service when you’ve finished it’s highly possible that the next user of the machine could, with effort, discover your details and log on to your account.

The final, and perhaps most important thing you should do to protect your banking security is to ensure that you keep your virus checking software up to date. It’s all to easy for your Windows PC to be infected by so-called spyware, via email or visiting unethical web sites, which criminals can use to intercept your passwords and other information they can use to illegally gain access to your account. Having well known and up to date virus protection software installed is a highly effective way to prevent this from happening.

Also remember that if the worst happens and your account is somehow compromised, any losses will have to be taken by the bank and not you, so long as you can show that you haven’t been reckless with your online security. Following the above measures will show that you have taken all reasonable precautions, and so will not be liable for any losses that may occur, however unlikely.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Consider All of the Options

Homeowners who are seriously considering re-financing owe it to themselves to consider all of the options available to them. They may have a friend who recently refinanced with a specific type of loan but this might not be the solution for all homeowners. Each homeowner should consider their situation to be individual and not likely to closely mirror the situations of others.

Some of the options to consider include the type of re-financing loan. The basic options are fixed interest rates and adjustable interest rates. There are also mortgages which combine these two options. The homeowner may have a specific type of mortgage in mind but the lender may or may not be willing to offer the homeowner this type of loan. Lenders are more likely to offer fixed interest mortgages to homeowners with good credit and adjustable rate mortgages to homeowners with poor credit.

Consider the Lender

Homeowners will also have to carefully consider the lender they select. This is important because not all lenders are going to be willing to offer the same interest rates and terms to the homeowner. Homeowners may have to receive quotes from several different lenders in a short period of time to make an accurate comparison. This is important because interest rates can change without notice and homeowners who wait too long to make a decision may find the rate they were originally quoted is no longer available to them.

When selecting a lender the homeowner should also consider how responsive the lender is to their questions. This is important because a lender who does not pay attention to the homeowner or respond to their inquiries in a timely fashion can make the process of re-financing considerably more stressful than necessary. Selecting a lender who offers slightly higher rates but is more responsive may be warranted.

Consider the Cost of Re-Financing

Re-financing is not cheap. There are certain costs associated with re-financing. These costs are typically very similar to the closing costs associated with securing an original mortgage on a property. These costs may include application fees, loan origination fees, property taxes, appraisal fees and other miscellaneous items. These costs can be quite extensive and homeowners may find they are often left paying more than the benefits they are going to gain from re-financing. In this type of situation the homeowner should make the decision not to re-finance because it is not a financially sound decision.

Consider the Hassle of Re-Financing

Let’s face it; re-financing can be an absolute hassle. The time and energy spent researching different re-financing options and contacting lenders to see who will offer the most favorable rates can be quite taxing. A homeowner should consider the time and effort required for this endeavor in deciding whether or not to re-finance. Simply stated, refinancing is a hassle and homeowners may better spend their time with family and friends rather than running around trying to find the best rates in town.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

However, as alluded to previously, some of the responsibility for keeping an account secure falls onto the account holder. Although in reality only the most extreme cases of negligence would lead to you being help responsible for fraudulent losses,such as logging into your account from a public computer and not logging out again, it only makes sense to do as much as we can to help security.

Firstly, you should always keep your login details safe and sound, and never give them to anyone else. If you receive an email asking that you confirm your details, ignore it – your bank will never do this and so you can safely assume it’s a fraud attempt. If in doubt, phone your bank instead of replying to the email.

Whenever you’ve used the online banking facility, always log off properly when you’ve finished instead of just closing the window. You should even log off if you leave the computer only temporarily. This is especially important if you’ve been using a computer where someone else may have access, such as at work or in a public library, and in general you should avoid using internet cafes and the like for carrying out sensitive activities such as banking.

Setting a proper password is important. While it should be memorable for you so that you don’t have to write it down – in itself a security risk, as your wallet could be stolen – it shouldn’t be easily guessable. It’s a bad idea to just use the name of a child or spouse, for example, as this is one of the first things a hacker would try. You should ideally use a mixture of letters and numbers, in both upper and lower case. To make it memorable you could always combine two unrelated topics in a way that you’ll remember, such as the name of a favorite city paired with the year a favorite song hit the top of the charts.

Although the whole point of online banking is that there is very little paper involved, any letters and documents you receive from your bank should either be kept in a secure place (such as a locked filing cabinet) or disposed of properly. They should be shredded or burned rather than just thrown away.

Finally, no matter how strong your security is, there’s always the chance that someone may somehow access your account, so you should remain vigilant. Check your accounts regularly and make sure you recognise every transaction listed. If something looks untoward, contact your bank immediately so that they can look into the matter and prevent any possible fraud from escalating and causing further damage.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The Advantages of Online Education

In today’s busy lifestyle, most people have no time to go back to school even they have intention to get more degrees for career advancement, job promotion or simply to learning something new. This is where one of the advantages of online education will benefit these people. Online education is able to provide you with a flexible learning environment from any location as long as you are offered with internet connection.

With a proper time management, you can easily plan your online learning sessions to fit into your busy schedule and follow your own pace of study to complete your degree program. Another key advantage of online education is you can attend the online classes from your comfort home or any location that you find convenient to you. This also means that you can enroll into any online degree program offered by any universities around the world as long as they make their degree program online. With that in mind, you do not need to worry about unable to find a degree that can’t meet your career or lifestyle requirement.

In general, you can complete a degree online in shorter period of time if compare to the same courses offer in campus-based programs. Unless you purposely delay your courses due to fail to proper manage your time. In term of tuition fee, although it’s not always true, but in general, online degree programs cost less then campus-based degree programs as most of learning materials are in downloadable format and the credit hours required to complete an online degree program is comparatively less. Hence, you could save some money by taking your degree online.

The Disadvantages of Online Education

The advantages of online education can become the disadvantages if you are not the right candidate for online education. The flexibility of planning your own schedule in online education could be the disadvantages for you if you are a type of person that can’t manage your time probably between your work, family and study. If you are this kind of person, a pre-plan schedule may fit you well, letting yourself to study at your own pace with your own schedule may causes you fail to complete your degree program.

As most of online learning materials are in text format, if you are not comfortable with this format and prefer to listen to the lecture instead of reading it. Then, it will become the disadvantage for you and you need to reconsider your decision before you choose online education to be your degree pursuing channel.

Are you able to communicate well through chats and discussion forum? You must understand that these media are the key communication channels in online learning environment and you must be able to adapt to it else it will become a disadvantage for you.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Many of us stick with the same current account all our lives, or at any rate stay with the same bank, and this is often the bank we choose by default because of family history or local loyalties. However, current accounts have changed dramatically over the last decade, not least because of the arrival of online banking, and by not looking at the alternatives more closely you could be losing out.

The first thing to look at is the rate of in-credit interest that the bank will pay on your balance. In traditional current accounts, this interest was a negligible figure of rather less than 1%, if it was present at all. Compare this with the rates paid by savings accounts, which even in the worst cases usually pay at least 3%, and you can see that such low interest is a raw deal. The advent of direct banking, both online and by telephone, has changed all this. The rates paid by banks on your balance have crept inexorably upwards, and nowadays you can expect to receive 5% or even more in interest when you’re in credit. This rate is even close to some of the best savings accounts rates you can obtain.

On the subject of savings, many modern current accounts come with an attached savings account which gives current account customers a preferential rate, which could well be higher than you receive on your existing savings accounts, making a switch attractive. You may also be given the opportunity to apply for a credit card at a preferential rate, which could obviously be of benefit to heavy card users.

Another feature which more and more current accounts offer is a cheap overdraft facility. Going overdrawn on a traditional account can be an expensive business, especially so if your overdraft is unauthorised. Modern accounts can offer an overdraft facility as standard, with no fees, and charging interest at a rate well below the almost punitive rates once charged. In fact, some accounts even waive interest payments completely in certain circumstances, such as going temporarily overdrawn or not exceeding a previously agreed level of debt.

There are many other features available in today’s breed of current account, from cashback on debit card payments, to special member’s club discounts and offers, but even the two main ones presented here – higher interest earnings and cheaper overdrafts – should be enough to make holders of old fashioned current accounts take pause and consider whether the time is right for making a switch. And with most banks now offering an easy switching service to transfer everything across with the minimum of fuss, you’ve little to lose by exploring the idea further.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The key statistics about early retirees have swelled to a substantial proportion, meaning so many are calling it quits and they can do it. We drool over the possibility of early-out and we see it happen prominently in our midst. How so? Can we, considering our relevant circumstances, retire early to our visionary oasis?

Testimonies of men and women who dumped their nine-to-fives in their 40’s or early 50’s propagating the early retirement trend replete the media and the web, and they unselfishly divulge their modus operandi on how to live the lifestyle that the entire humanity craves for. It’s not an unconventional formula they followed, there’s nothing peculiar with what they undertook, it is just a matter of adopting a perspective and adhering to it strictly. Following are some of their suggestions:

1. Be a scrooge. Live within your means, stretch your dollar, pinch pennies, however you want to do it – it’s a temporary situation, but the aftermath is so rewarding. People spend for things they don’t need with money they don’t have to impress people they don’t even know. And that’s why they end up neck-deep in credit card debts where they pay sky-high interests perpetually.

Some early retirees don’t show any embarassment shopping at thrift stores and buying clothes at yard sales. Some even grow their own vegetables in their backyards.

2. Save. Forage your cars and in the closet for pennies, nickels and dimes and keep them in a piggybank until you accumulate enough to deposit into a savings account. Banks offer a no-minimum-balance, no-monthly-fee savings account if you automatically deposit at least $25 a month out of your checking account. Instead of dining in a fancy restaurant once a week, make it a special occasion affair and increase your savings account with the amount of money you would have spent if you ate out. It will be expedient to watch Rachael Ray on the Food Channel and learn as she concocts delicious meals economically; duplicating such feat in your own kitchen is such a gratifying experience, and you save much by confining your appetites within your home.

Your bank will pay you eentsy-weentsy interest on your savings account, but what matters in the end, is you cultivate the good habit of saving.

3. Invest. The average populace gets terrified when the subject of investing is broached to them. There are stocks and mutual funds that do not need a lot of initial cash to start. Investment specialists will cordially give you adequate information for free. Investing early and applying the power of compound interest (which Einstein calls as the “8th wonder of the world”) is something that you should not ignore.

4. Be debt-free. Oftentimes, the enticing lures of those approved credit card applications that steep your mailboxes seduce you and next thing, you find ourselves engorged with all sorts of credit cards – with maximized credit limits and impending bankruptcy. Usually, when you have credit cards at hand, you tend to spend extravagantly because the outflow of money is invisible; you just get into a shocked mode when the account statements come in. But you can always start afresh. There are financial institutions that specialize in that aspect, and they surely do a good job. Otherwise, you can extricate yourself from debt slowly through your own efforts.

5. Focus on your vision. Look beyond the present ordeal (of scrimping and being a plain Joe/Jane) and savor the forthcoming benefits of your toils. Don’t be discouraged about what the Joneses may have and say; their Escalades may clobber your 1990 Ford, but its that behemoth vehicle that will keep them working until they are 69 and decrepit. A partner or spouse who shares compatible ideals with you will surely help ease your odyssey.

Most Baby boomers with ages ranging from 43 to 62, have their attention fixated at the idea of early retirement. The boom generation is known to be freedom-lovers; they have high anxiety about aging and death. So they are constantly searching for panacea for their fears, and wish to enjoy life more than other generational groups. They are capable of cultivating super traits to attain their aspiration, and a lot can be learned from taking their experiences into account.

The boomers have been noted to embark on Cruise to Cash, a unique home based business that is currently dominating the online travel marketplace, and have expressed warm commendation and delight about their smart choice.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

While there isn’t yet a consensus on what the final outcome will be, almost everyone agrees that we’re in for choppy economic waters ahead – we’re just not sure exactly how bad things are going to get.

However, amongst the doom and gloom, there is one group of people who might actually feel a benefit rather than the pinch: serious savers. To understand why, we first need to take a quick look at what the credit crunch is all about in the first place.

The basic operation of a bank is to make a profit by acquiring money cheaply, and lending it out again at a higher interest rate. The traditional way of doing this was to accept deposits from savers and investors, and then use these deposits to fund mortgages and other lending. By charging a higher interest rate on the mortgages than they pay on savings accounts, the whole endeavour becomes profitable. And if savings deposits were insufficient, banks could borrow from each other at cheap rates to make up the difference.

This sounds rather simple and straightforward, but in real life the financial markets don’t like things so simple – it spoils the fun – and so a whole range of byzantine ways of financing loans and mortgages was devised. One such way was to split up liabilities for mortgages into parcels which were bought and sold between the banks, so theoretically spreading the risks around. This gave banks the confidence to lend to people with poorer credit ratings than would have been countenanced previously – in other words, the sub-prime market.

This was fine while times were good, but as the economy faces tougher times, more and more sub-prime borrowers are failing to keep up with their repayments, and defaults are growing.

And here lies the problem. Because of the intricate system of parceling up debts and trading them between banks, no one is quite sure how much each bank is going to suffer from a downturn. This means that the credit worthiness of each individual bank is somewhat open to question, and so lending between banks has all but dried up, leaving some banks over extended with no way of funding future lending at a profit.

The upshot is that many banks are desperate for money to continue trading in the way they have been doing. The central and reserve banks have done their bit by injecting billions of cheap funds into the industry, but banks are loathe to take up this option for fear of looking weak and under threat. So how else can they raise cash?

By encouraging savings deposits with higher interest rates, more flexible features, and rate guarantees into the future.

So, even though for many the financial future is at best uncertain and quite possibly bleak, for people with funds to deposit into savings accounts, there are opportunities ahead.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

While the concept of offsetting can be used in a wide variety of financial situations, the most common scenario is combining a mortgage or home loan with a current account, and savings account. Sometimes, a credit card and/or a personal loan is added to the mix as well.

This is all well and good, but what does offsetting actually mean?

Traditionally, we took out a mortgage to cover the purchase of our home. We also had a current account to handle our day to day finances, and if we were financially prudent we’d also have some sort of savings facility to put money aside for a rainy day.

In offset banking, these various kinds of account are all rolled into one. Each month, when your salary is paid into the account, it is applied to your mortgage balance, temporarily making it smaller. A smaller mortgage balance means more of your monthly repayments go towards repaying the debt itself, and less towards the interest charged on it. Similarly, any savings you have also go towards reducing your mortgage balance, which will either decrease your monthly repayment or reducing the effective term of the loan.

The crucial thing to bear in mind is that your salary and savings are still instantly available for you to use as and when you see fit. There is no lock-in period – all that happens is that if you remove money from your account, your mortgage balance rises again. One way of viewing an offset account is as a huge overdraft that you need to clear over the period of your mortgage term.

But how does this help? Historically, your mortgage would cost you a higher rate of interest than a savings account would pay. Even with today’s high direct savings rates, this is still generally the case. Instead of earning a lower rate of interest on your savings, you’re instead avoiding paying a higher rate on your mortgage. This is clearly going to see you come out ahead in the end, even before taking into account that you’ll avoid having to pay tax on savings earnings, which makes the deal seem even sweeter.

As an additional benefit, your monthly mortgage repayments are usually not set in stone – you can vary them as circumstances allow, paying more or less depending on how much spare cash you have each month. Your only commitment is to clear the balance by the end of the term (usually before your retirement date).

But are there any drawbacks? The main one is that as offset accounts are so flexible, you’ll pay a little extra in terms of the base mortgage rate compared to, for example, a five year fixed rate deal. If you take full advantage of the offsetting benefits though, this difference is easily overcome.

The second drawback is that the flexibility requires discipline if you’re to keep your repayments on track. Ideally, you should only use the flexible payments feature to make overpayments, and keep any underpayments to an absolute minimum.

So is offsetting for you? If you need some flexibility in your repayments, for example if your income varies dramatically from month to month, then it’s an option worth considering.

Similarly, if you often have large amounts of surplus funds, for example if you are self employed and need to put money aside to pay your yearly tax bills, then you could find that your money works much harder for you in an offset account than in a traditional savings account.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Financial leverage is based on the same principle, and offers the same advantage. Let us assume that we have a certain level of business activity which we wish to reach. That level is now resting low on the lever. At the opposite end is our financial net worth, exerting a certain pressure as it strives to send business activity up. But the energy required to lift the business activity is greater than that exerted by the net worth pushing on the opposite end. This situation might be linked to someone whose net worth is not great enough to get a new business off the ground. He/she needs more money, or needs to apply more leverage.

There are basically two variables in the application of leverage which might add weight to net worth, providing it with enough force to accomplish the task. First, the size of the new worth itself can be increased until it out-weighs the resting force of the business. Second is the position of the fulcrum in relationship to net worth and business activity. If the fulcrum is moved towards the business activity, then net worth will be able to increase its effective power; or, if the distance between the fulcrum and the pressure-point of net worth is increased – by extending the length of that portion of the lever – the effective force of net worth on business activity will also grow.

Another excellent example of application of leverage can be found in the investor who wants to buy an apartment building for one hundred thousand dollars, but only has ten thousand dollars of his/her own funds available for the investment. He/she must, if he/she is to get the building, multiply the weight of that ten thousand. His/her answer is to approach various lending institutions and arrange the use of OPM (other peoples money) to execute the venture. His/her net worth and credit rating can be effectively used to gain the balance necessary. When he/she has succeeded in obtaining these funds, he/she has, in effect, used the leverage of his/her ten thousand dollars and credit standing to multiply the initial force of his investment reserve by ten, giving him/her the total amount necessary for the purchase. Again, we can see the practical use of financial leverage.

What if you don’t want to borrow, or can’t borrow money. In today’s economy, there are types of leveraging that is just as effective. You might approach the seller with the idea of taking over an existing loan, and paying monthly payments back to the seller on his/her equity. You are using your ability to sustain the existing loan, which assist the seller in keeping good credit, as leverage to acquire the property. Use your clout to apply pressure or leverage on existing conditions.

Putting Leverage To Work For You

We will now go through a simple exercises in money multiplication. Our first exercise will demonstrate the simple appreciation in value which can be obtained through a holding or the ten-percent factor in ganging wealth, which most people simply can’t visualize as viable in the use of their money.

First rule: 10% belongs to you. That’s right, ten percent of everything you make belongs to you. This is over and above living expenses. You must budget your spending to include this ten percent. I can’t stress this enough. DO NOT SPEND YOUR BABY. This is your ticket to wealth, retirement and peace of mind. Through out your working years, you must take ten percent and leverage it for your prosperity. If you are true to anything in life be true to this concept. The ten percent is for your security. It’s like making payments on your future. You pay into social security why not personal security? Pay your personal security account every payday, without fail.

Learn about money management and place that ten percent where it will best be leveraged into one thousand percent or ten thousand percent. Pay attention, keep your eyes open. Look at what happened in 1979 to gold. The price of gold skyrocketed from thirty eight dollars per ounce to today’s six hundred dollars per ounce.

In 1984 it was obvious the owner of DOS would be extremely wealthy. Today Bill Gates and his counterparts are the wealthiest people on earth. Had you been watching you could have boughten into Microsoft with your ten percent and. Most probably been very wealthy today.

Just following Warren Buffet’s investments could have and still could make you a millionaire. No, not overnight or in a month, but by constantly paying your ten percent into well chosen investments, you will be secure in your retirement.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

But Wait! We have to ask, if people followed these guidelines,, “why aren’t there more millionaires?” Come on, you know most of the answers.

1.People are not willing to set aside 10% of their annual pay for investments.

2.Many who do set this amount aside do not invest it for high enough return.

3.Other will spend their profits or “eat their children.”

4.Still Others have not developed the faith necessary to apply leverage or obtain OPM.

It is the sum total of all these abilities which we call “financial maturity.” Overcoming this stagnant attitude again demands self-control, a responsible standard of living and proper credit practices. Then you must have a plan and muster the discipline necessary to follow it.

We mentioned in a previous lesson that liabilities frequently increase as wealth grows. If you look at the total liabilities incurred during the tenth year, it would make average person sit down and gasp. Now set those liabilities against the worth of your total holdings to realize just how far in the black you really are. The resulting figure can be compared to the gross earnings shone on the balance sheet to a growing company. While liabilities have increased at a steady rate, the assets have grown even faster, resulting in a rapidly increasing net worth.

Make money by multiplication.
Actually, all great Americans — and foreign – financiers increased their wealth by the multiplication system. One of the world’s richest men, who made his money in shipping, was once asked by s financial reporter: “How could you earn so much so fast?” The billionaire reflected for a moment, then said, “By the using of other people’s money.” Another man, one of the world’s richest,, gave the same account. But he added some excellent advice to would-be millionaires. “Always keep your overhead low,” he counseled.

The low overhead actually applies to any type of enterprise. In this day and age, with a laptop computer, a office could be anywhere. One of the best-known wildcatters admits that he worked out of a small trailer for years. A future department store tycoon resisted the hiring of new personnel – and the building of additional branch stores – until his business was well underway. Sm of America’s greatest insurance salesmen started small, and kept their operation small until they could finally afford major expenses.

So as you invest $1,000.00, $2,000.00 $3,000.00 ask yourself honestly:

Do I need this large an office?

Do I require a full-time secretary? Couldn’t a part-time do the job?

Could a telephone answering service take care of my business needs?

Conserve money and reinvest.
Likewise, many future millionaires made do with old office equipment and furnishings instead of splurging on new ones. These men knew that they had to make some sacrifices to become financially independent. They realized the value of thrift. They resist increased personal expenses until they have earned a good deal of money. Instead of buying the speed boat with professional profits, they buy more real estate or mutual funds, or blue-chip shares. In place of a Hawaiian vacation, these smart investors stay home and put the money they would have spent into their multiplying money machines. Only their financial goal counts; the tropical, palm-fronted beaches just have to wait for retirement.

Even large corporations must analyze every penny spent. A large Colorado resort complex. For example, found that it had made a profit of $5,350.00 at the end of tourist season. The stockholders clamored for dividends. To everyone’s surprise, the corporation president resisted the public’s demands. Instead of paying out the profits, he invested the $5,350.00 into new land and machinery. This decision doubled his profits within twelve months. The system has been adopted by many other companies and by smart, forward-looking individuals. More than eighty years ago, an English writer said it well for us. “All the money in the world is no use to a man or his country if he spends it s fast as he makes it. All that is left is his bills and the reputation for being a fool, “ wrote Rudyard Kipling.

According to the American Banker’s Association, not enough people pursue the savings habit. Those who do save and then invest money will inevitably gain their financial independence. Some people even do better than that. Take the case of oil billionaire H. L. Hunt, for instance.

Hunt was one of eight children. His parents had great financial problems, but the future oil man managed to save every cent he could from his livelihood as a cowboy and lumberjack. When he was 21 years old, he had saved enough to buy some Louisiana farm land. He bought and sold land, always investing the profits before he went into the oil business. He did so on OPM, by acquiring leases on credit. One of these oil leases turned into a gusher. H. L. Hunt and the rest is history.

Now you have seen how applying your 10% with OPM becomes an easy task. The heart of any program is not in the program itself, it’s in your willingness to implement it. The program is not worth anything if there is no participation.

Thank you for your attention. Next chapter will deal with taking money and putting it into action.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The first kind of account we’ll look at is known as a regular saver. With these accounts, you deposit a certain amount every single month. In the past, this amount tended to be fixed at a specified figure, but these days most accounts allow you to deposit an amount within a specified range. These accounts are a good choice for people with no capital but some surplus income, and usually pay a good rate of interest.

The other kind of account is the deposit account, which has no stipulation as to how you pay money into it. You can put in small amounts as and when you can afford it, or you can deposit a large amount when you open the account and leave it there, or a mixture of the two. These accounts come in three basic flavours, depending on how easily you need to get at your money.

Firstly, the instant access type of deposit account places no restrictions on when you can withdraw your cash. Next, the interest penalty type of account will let you withdraw as you wish, but won’t pay any interest for the months in which a withdrawal is made. Finally, a notice account requires you to give thirty, sixty, or even ninety days notice before you make a withdrawal, or you’ll be hit with substantial interest penalties.

In general, the easier it is to get at your money, the less interest you’ll earn. Of course, this will vary from bank to bank, and you might be able to find an easy access account with a better interest rate than a notice account with a different bank, but the general rule holds. For these accounts, you need to trade off the likelihood of needing access to your money against the extra gains you could make by locking it away.

There’s one other kind of savings or investment account which takes this idea of access restrictions to the extreme, namely bonds. With these accounts, you invest a lump sum in the account which is then locked away for a specified number of years, with no access at all. In return, you’ll either get a preferential fixed interest rate which is much more attractive than normal accounts, a variable rate guaranteed to be better than average accounts over the length of the term, or a return linked to stock market performance with a guaranteed minimum return, These accounts will almost always give the best return out of all the types, but are only suitable for long term investments where you are certain you won’t need to access your funds before the term is up.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

1) Don’t be afraid to consider plans with higher deductibles. Health insurance, by definition, is protecting your health by means of a financial safety net. A good health plan, even one with a higher deductible, can give you that protection. Let’s look at some actual prices. In Los Angeles, a 40 year old in good health can get a Blue Shield PPO with a $1,500 deductible for $418 per month. Raising the deductible to $2,000 lowers the premium to $272. That’s a 54% savings which amounts to $1,752 in a year! Just for raising the deductible by $500. As a bonus, many of these types of plans will waive the deductible for routine office visits, routine physicals, and generic drugs.

2) Take a look at HSA plans. In the last few years a new type of plan has become available. These are called HSA (Health Savings Account) eligible plans. They are low cost, high deductible health plans that also offer outstanding tax benefits. For example, a 40 year-old with a family in Sacramento, all in good health, can get the Blue Cross PPO3500 HSA for $280 per month. That’s health insurance for a family for $280! On top of that the tax benefits are substantial. With prices so high these days, I think these HSA plans are going to get very popular.

3) If you don’t need maternity, drop it. You can lower your premium by choosing a plan without maternity. For example, a 40 year old in good health in San Diego will pay $349 per month for the Blue Shield PPO 1500. But the price for the Blue Shield Balance 1700, a similar plan without maternity, is $170. That’s a monthly savings of $179. And remember, for family coverage, not everyone has to be on the same plan. To lower your cost you can get a plan with maternity for the person who needs it and a plan without maternity for the other family members.

4) A word about basic, hospital only coverage: Caution. Yes, I know those super low prices are tempting, but there is a risk. You can rack up huge medical bills without ever stepping foot in a hospital. That being said, if that’s all that’s affordable at the present time, it’s better than nothing, and you can try to upgrade when finances allow.

5) HMO’s vs. PPO’s. Many people think that HMO’s are cheaper than PPO’s but usually that’s not the case. If you’re looking for good quality insurance at the lowest possible price and you don’t mind a deductible, then a PPO will be cheaper. If you want the richest possible benefits with little or no deductible, then you might consider an HMO. Remember, though, an HMO is less flexible and there are more restrictions on which doctors you can use.

6) Get some help. In your quest for affordable individual & family health insurance, sometimes it helps to talk with a professional. Make a few phone calls. Find an experienced, friendly health plan broker that offers several different companies. It won’t cost you anything (we’re paid by the insurance carriers), but it will probably save you time, money, and frustration.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Sometimes it takes a wake up call (like the possibility of losing a home) to make someone realize that they are not making enough money to survive. If you are barely scraping by each month and you do not put money away for savings, retirement, or emergencies, then it is time to start looking for a new job.

Many people think that just because they have been at the same job for most of their life, that leaving would be too much of a risk. But in reality, finding a new job can be the best decision you have ever made. If done correctly, you can earn more money, have a more fulfilling work day, and get better benefits.

Here are a few simple tips to make finding a job easier:

Update your resume and have several people review and critique it. Your resume is meant to provide enough information to the perspective employer to contact you and schedule an interview. It should include a cover letter and your resume should only be one page long. If you have a long list of previous employers, then only include the most recent, so you don’t exceed one page.

Once you have an interview, make sure you are dressed appropriately for the appointment. I always recommend wearing a suit to an interview, regardless of the company attire. However, dress slacks and a white button up shirt should be fine if the company attire is jeans and T-shirts. Always press your shirt and slacks before going on an interview; a wrinkled shirt is the first sign of someone who does not care about the quality of work they do.

Be prepared to answer questions about your previous jobs. Most interviewers will want to ask questions that can reveal how well you will perform in their work environment. Answer questions without rambling, or getting too far off the subject of the initial question. Try to be as honest as possible, without revealing your negative traits and without speaking negatively about previous jobs, co-workers, or bosses.

At the end of an interview, they will most likely ask if you have any questions for them. This is where you will have a chance to ask a few questions of your own, but make sure you are asking intelligent questions. Don’t ask something like “What happens when I am late to work” or “How long is the lunch break.” Ask questions that will show your work ethic and ability, like “Do you allow us to work overtime” or “What opportunities do you have for advancement.” It is important that you ask questions, because if you are serious about taking a new job, you should know as much as possible about your new perspective employer.

When you are facing a financial hardship like bankruptcy or foreclosure, there are many ways to save your financial situation, such as refinancing, dipping into savings to pay bills, or establishing a repayment plan with various creditors. But finding a better job will not only help with your immediate problem, but it can improve every aspect of your life for the longer term.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Bankruptcy has been a somewhat negative topic with homeowners, but bankruptcy was designed to help people through a hardship when they have nowhere else to turn. In my experience, this is exactly the situation foreclosure victims have found themselves in. We have been brought up to believe that we should always pay our debts and to not pay for our debts is shameful. This is one reason people have such a low opinion of bankruptcy and the people who file it. But bankruptcy is a legal option that was established to help those in need. It is not shameful to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. It shows that you are responsible for your debts and you will do whatever it takes to pay them.

Another negative aspect of bankruptcy is that it causes a drop in credit score, but when someone is facing foreclosure, their credit score is already very low. In reality, a bankruptcy could improve a foreclosure victim’s credit, or at least speed up the recovery process. The bottom line is: when a man is faced with losing his home and moving his family into the streets, he should embrace the legal system and take full advantage of any assistance it can offer.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is not the only option to stop foreclosure, but it is considered one of the top ways to stop foreclosure and it can be considerably less expensive than other alternatives. When compared to other options, such as loan modification, refinance, or forbearance agreements, bankruptcy is easily the fastest and most reliable option when it comes to saving your home from foreclosure.

If you are facing foreclosure then you owe it to yourself and your family to speak with an attorney and discuss the option of bankruptcy. Your initial consultation should always be free and you should never work with an attorney you do not trust, so feel free to meet with several attorneys before you make any decisions. Bankruptcy is not for everyone, but it has helped many families save their homes from foreclosure and gives them the second chance they are desperately looking for.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

One study showed the terrible aftermath that identity theft had on individuals. They had trouble with loan approvals, finding a good job and insurance acceptance. They could not conduct business in a bank, not even internet banking. Some ended up in very difficult positions.

The study suggested that banks, including internet banking institutions, would do well to proclaim themselves as the champions of identity protection. This would help them by limiting their losses. Besides this, they could charge a fee for the service.

Another study evaluated how people felt about the security of their internet banking transactions. 78% of them stated that they would like some kind of verification of their identities to be carried out at certain times. This, they thought, should be done at the moment that unusual transactions were being done on their internet banking accounts.

It seems as though many more people seem to be getting more comfortable with internet banking every year. One study showed an increase in internet banking of 9.5% between 2006 and 2007. Another study predicts that 76% of the households who have an internet hookup in the year 2011 will also do internet banking.

It is true that internet banking and online bill paying are predicted to continue their rise in popularity. However, viewing bills electronically is expected to decline. Payment by other means besides internet banking is also expected to go down, including bill paying by phone.

Some studies have made use of surveys that ask people if they want alerts for their internet banking accounts, and if so, what kind. It turns out that consumers do want alerts for their accounts. What is more, they want a lot of alerts for a variety of occurrences.

They want to be alerted when a bill is going to be paid and when it has been paid. They want to be able to set an alert to tell them when a certain check has cleared. They want to be alerted when there is any hint of fraud. This is an especially good idea.

The demographics of internet banking have also been studied. It seems that the middle income people who use internet banking are afraid they will lose control without better records. Anything that can be done to give them better records will make them more comfortable to use online banking.

The lower income people have many reasons for not using internet banking. The over-$100,000 group seems to use it more. They tend to use it without fear. This may be because they are in less danger of running out of money and overdrawing their account. Or it could mean that they have a better understanding of it as a whole.

A new field of study is social networking. This is a concept that involves the use of internet banking by networks of people. They are usually in their 30’s and 40’s. They put their money together to make deals with financial organizations. Study is geared towards finding out how this will affect internet banking for these people, and for all internet banking customers.

Internet banking research will continue to go on as long as online banking exists. The banks want to stay profitable. Hopefully, they are also interested in how to better service their customers.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

If you opt in for a traditional savings account instead of an internet account, you will get a very low interest rate. In fact, you probably wont make enough back on your money to cover the cost of inflation. Savings in traditional banks are generally around 1% annually.

This low interest rate barely makes it worth your effort to save. You might be better off to buy things at today’s prices. That way, when money is worth less, you will not have your money sitting in a traditional account where it will then buy less than it can now. Internet banking provides an alternative to this situation.

Many traditional banks have worked to establish incentives to encourage savings among their customers. They have set up programs where extra money can be put into savings automatically. They have also encouraged the use of automatic transfers from your savings weekly or monthly.

These measures do not work because the interest rates are so low that people see no future in saving. However, with the internet, all of that changes. Internet banking institutions tend to offer rates more along the lines of 4.5% to 5%.

This difference allows consumers to put money in internet banking savings accounts and know that it will retain its value over time, as long as the rates stay up. With the traditional savings, rates would have to soar to even come close to this level.

Another advantage of internet banking savings accounts is a good deal for the small investor. You may not have large amounts of money to save at one time. If not, you are like many financially strapped Americans.

In many traditional banks, this means that you will be given the lowest possible interest rates. If you go to a brokerage firm, you cannot open a money market account for less than $1000 as a minimum balance. Sometimes it is even more. This is not so for internet banking savings accounts.

If you have your savings through internet banking, you will be able to have high interest rates at any level of investments. You can start your internet banking savings account with as little as $100.

You might have to pay service fees until you reach a certain threshold, usually a few hundred dollars. After that, you will be making money at better rates than you ever could at a traditional bank.

One downside of internet banking is that some of the major banks will not deal with customers who demand a lot of time. They will discourage these customers from using their services because they are too hard to handle. This is not true of all internet banking, but if you need a lot of help, you should be aware of it.

Overall, though, savings done through internet banking institutions still work out better for most people than traditional savings accounts. There is just no reason to deny yourself the best interest rates your money can earn.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

If you ask a person how much money they would need to feel comfortable, they likely wouldn’t be able to tell you an exact amount. Most of us want to have enough for peace of mind. We want to be able to provide for our family, have money in the bank, and know that we won’t be bankrupt if the car breaks down or someone gets sick.

One way to ensure that is to create a debt-free plan. It is hard to build wealth with debt hanging over our heads. To stop living paycheck to paycheck we need to use our paycheck in a different way. It may seem impossible now, but each step will now be leading you out of debt.

A budget is the first step. It is hard to see what can be eliminated from our spending if we don’t know what we are spending. Budgeting is a scary word for keeping track of our finances. Write down your expenses and your income. Most of us are already spending more than we bring in. Though, one of the keys to building wealth is to have more money coming in than going out. Even if as little as $50 per month, the rule of thumb is to create more discretionary income by spending less than you make.

Decide what can be eliminated. If you eat out for lunch every day, start carrying your lunch to work. Packing lunch for the kids stops them from buying costly meals at school.

Take on some of the jobs that you would typically hire out for. Teach the kids to mow the lawn. Designate one Saturday a month as “clean the entire house from top to bottom” day instead of using maid service.

Now let’s have a look at those credit card bills. Paying the minimum won’t cut it. At that rate you will be paying them off until you are eighty years old. Start with the small amounts and work your way through them. Pay the minimum for all except that one. Pay larger sums to eliminate your debt one card at a time.

Speaking of eliminating debt, what is the biggest debt we take on as everyday hard working consumers? You’ve guessed it, a mortgage note! To cancel interest cost on your debt, accelerate your wealth and have your money working for you, establish a Money Merge Account. With this interest cancellation system, as your money sits in your account waiting for you to pay bills, your money is working for you instead of lenders.

Taking the first step to make a commitment to get started may get hard. Tell yourself that this is all for a good cause. By the time you’ve left easy street, bypassed hard street and hit skid-row, it will be harder to pull yourself above water. So make a commitment and take action. Once the credit cards are paid off, hide them away to be used for emergencies only. Don’t close them. That may count against your credit rating. Little by little you will gain control over your finances and with it will come the peace of mind you have been seeking.

Eventually, there will be more money at the end of the month than you can imagine. You have shown yourself that you can live happily without the extra things you were spending money on before. Funnel that money into a Money Merge Account and/or certificate of deposits or mutual funds. It is time that the money you worked hard to save does some work for you.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

We hear so much about the importance of saving on the nightly news, and yet very few Americans are able to put any money away for the proverbial ‘rainy day’. The consequences for not having any savings can be dire; if there is no money stashed away to cover those unexpected emergencies, like a larger than expected utility bill or a car breakdown, the money for that has to come from somewhere. All too often Americans find themselves putting these purchases on a credit card with a maxed out limit or a too high interest rate, or taking out a payday advance with complicated fine print. Both of these are risky moves, avoidable with some proper planning and money management.

When it comes to savings, a little bit can grow a long way. If you are able to stash a small amount of a paycheck each month in a savings account that draws interest, you are already ahead of the game. Depending on how much you have in your account, you could be currently gaining upwards of 4% on top of that money. That means for every $100 you deposit in your savings account, add $4.00 on top. That doesn’t seem like much, but in a year of monthly deposits, you could earn almost $50.00 for just having your money sitting in the bank.

Banks even sometimes offer higher introductory savings rates or other perks such as higher rates to those who use online banking, to get new business. Contact your local banker or search the internet to find out what the best rates and terms are. While you are at it, does your checking account draw interest? Many banks now offer checking accounts that accumulate interest on the money you have sitting in the account. Again, rates vary, and banks do run promotional offers for these kinds of accounts, but who doesn’t like earning free money for doing nothing?

While we are on the topic of checking accounts, is yours working hard for you? Does it have luxuries such as online bill pay or free checking? If it doesn’t, it should. Online banking is taking the country by storm. Gone are the days of envelope licking and stamp sticking; a new dawn of mouse clicks and instantaneous withdrawals has come. Many banks provide this service as an added convenience to their customers, but beware. Safety first when doing anything with money online. Many utility bills and house payments can be made online through legitimate banking procedures; auto payments, school loan payments, and credit card payments all can be done quickly, easily, and safely. The first rule of thumb when banking or bill paying online is to make sure you have a complex username and password combination. Many sites require a standard mixture of numbers and letters; use different combinations and unusual patterns to ensure no one can guess your security information. Also, use the security questions, as that is what they are designed for. Many of these sites require you to enter not only your username and password, but also to answer a series of pre-answered (by you when you set up the account) questions to confirm your identity. Store your usernames, passwords, and answers to security questions in a secure place where they will not be compromised.

These small steps can help you toward the path of financial fitness. Dig up the paperwork on your banking accounts; make sure they are working hard for you, not the other way around. Trim the fat in your monthly budget and find a way to stash some dough in an interest bearing savings account; it is free money just for letting yours sit around. Guard your identity when using handy online banking; make sure nobody is you except you. Making these small changes can make a large difference in your overall financial health.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Sign #1: Big Portion of Your Income Is Used To Pay Debt

You are afford to pay the monthly due for your credit card and loan payment, but the debt payment has eaten up a big portion of your income. After paying down your debt, the money left is just enough for you monthly expenses, you do not have extra money for savings and other wealth creation plan for the future.

Sign #2: You Do Not Have Savings For Financial Emergency

Financial emergencies can come in the form of a job loss, medical expenses or auto repairs. If do not have extra money to save for any financial emergency needs because your income is used to pay your debt and cover your existing expenses. It can be a sign of too much debt that prevent you from having a savings.

Sign #3: You Pay The Minimum Due Of Credit Card Balance

Paying the minimum due of credit card balance is one of key factor that caused many people trapped into debt problem. If you tend to pay just the minimum due of your credit card balance, the rest of credit card debt will snowball to a bigger debt with new debt added by your credit card purchases and high interest rate charges. It is a clear sign that you will face debt trouble if you continue your spending behavior and no action being taken to resolve your debt.

Sign #4: You Have At Least One Credit That Reaches The Maximum Credit Limit

If you have paid your credit card balance, it will not reach to the maximum credit limit, unless your keep buying your credit cards and pay just the minimum because your income is not enough to cover your expenses. This type of spending behavior definitely will drag you into a debt trouble. If one of your credit cards reaches the maximum credit limit, you are at the high risk of facing debt trouble.

Sign #5: You Use Cash Advances From Credit Card To Pay Bills

You use your credit cards like ATM cards: withdraw cash advances to pay your bills. The use of cash advances to pay for bills shows that you have negative cash flow which your outgoing cash (spending) is more that your incoming cash (earnings). Cash advances carry high interest rate, it is a bad idea to use the cash advances to pay bills. If you have done so, it’s a clear sign of too much debt.

What You Need To If You See The Signs Of Too Much Debt?

Takes Actions Now!! Don’t let your debt snowball to bigger debt, until your financial can’t afford to pay it. You should come with a budget plan and cut away those excessive expenses. Don’t ignore the signs of too much debt; instead you must take action to bring your financial to a healthy level.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Banks are really hyping up online banking. They offer special incentives for opening checking and savings accounts online; higher interest rates, free checking, free personalized checks, the list goes on and on. What are the advantages to using online banking? Well, there are many. First of all, many banks offer higher rates for your savings or checking accounts if you use online banking. The higher your interest rate is for either of these accounts, the more money you make every year.

Banks want you to use their online services because it saves them money. If a person can use online banking to electronically pay a bill or transfer money from one account to another, that means their phone bankers or tellers do not have to do this, enabling them to help more customers and in the end making the bank more money. So, the more customers use online banking the more business the bank can do, and the more profitable they are. More profit for your bank isn’t always a bad thing; if the bank is profitable then they may offer more incentives like even higher interest rates, which means more money in your pocket if you have an interest bearing account. Who doesn’t like more money?

Online banking can have a seedier side. In today’s climate of identity theft, one can never be too careful with personal information. Many banks require username and passwords to access account information online. Security questions are another method these sites verify customer identity. When choosing usernames and passwords many websites require a minimum number of characters, and some even require a combination of letters and numbers. The more complex a username and password is the less likely it is to be guessed by would-be-identity-thieves.

Remember; never ever give out your username and password, not even to your bank. They would never ask you to divulge this information to them; they don’t need it to access your account for you. If someone asks you for this information, you should report them to the authorities immediately.

Security questions are a second layer of defense against bad guys. Choose your security questions carefully and make sure they are ones you can remember. It is your choice as to whether or not you are truthful in your answers to these questions, just as long as you can remember the answers to them. If you choose to write down your privacy information, make sure you keep it in a secure place where no one can get access to it.

Online banking is an important part of our personal finances; it can make money matters easier to handle. Remember to use it wisely and responsibly, and you will reap its rewards tenfold.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

In the past having a checking account meant carrying around a little passbook where all of your deposits and withdrawals were recorded, and when it came time to pay a bill you have to put the little plastic divider down so as not to ruin the rest of your checks, write the check out, sign it, and hand it over. Today checking accounts can work this way if that is what the customer wants, but technology has delivered the debit card, the electronic check, and the electronic transfer. All of these things make paying bills easier and more efficient, clearing up some much needed time in our lives.

Debit cards are cards that look just like credit cards, but instead have your checking account number across the front and withdraw the money straight from your checking account. Most debit cards help guard against overdrafting because they will come back declined immediately if the money is not in the account. This stops the customer from making a purchase they cannot afford and helps individuals learn their financial boundaries. Debit cards are usually accepted anywhere credit cards are, and simply require a PIN number for identity verification. Using a debit card is faster than writing out a check at a store, thus making it a more convenient method of payment.

Electronic checks and electronic transfers are almost the same thing, and both are utilized in a couple of different ways. First, if you use online banking to pay a bill, the website normally requires that you enter in your checking routing and account number in addition to the bank name and the withdrawal amount. The merchant then processes the check, and during this process they withdraw the money electronically from your checking account. This is the part of the process called electronic transfer. These types of transactions show up on a bank statement with the merchant name followed by a 9 or more digit transaction number. In this situation, the paper check never leaves the checkbook, but the money is withdrawn just the same. This is convenient because paying by electronic funds transfer is immediate, but it is possible to overdraft because these transfers do not work as quickly as debit card transactions.

Some brick and mortar merchants use the electronic check system in a different way. The customer writes out a paper check and the salesperson runs it through the electronic cash register. The register scans the check, processes it electronically into an electronic transfer, and debits immediately like a debit card. This is convenient and inconvenient. First, the customer has to waste the time writing the check and the paper check is wasted, because the merchant normally returns it to the customer when it has cleared the register. This process is convenient because it has the immediate approval or denial that a debit card transaction does; the customer and the merchant will know immediately if the money was withdrawn or not before the customer leaves the counter.

With all of the new procedures to process money from checking accounts, it is a wonder anyone still bothers to write a paper check anymore!

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

In fact, there is an approach that can help you pay off your debt faster and with less interest. This approach is called Debt Avalanche. By paying your debt using debt avalanche approach, you will pay off your debt faster and pay less total interest to your creditors. How it work?

To use the debt avalanche approach, what you need is a list of interest rate of all your debts. Let make it simple by assuming all debts have the same tax liability, but if you want to compile for your debts that have different tax liability, then you need to determine the debts’ interest rate after taxes. You will need these interest rates for calculation in debt avalanche approach. Below are the steps involve in the compilation and calculation on which debt to pay more in debt avalanche approach so that you save money in term of interest and be debt free faster:

Step 1: Order your debts with highest interest rate to lowest.

List your debts on a paper (or spreadsheet if you use software) according to the interest rates, sort them from the highest interest rate to the lowest. Normally, credit cards will be ranked higher as typically credit card interest is 10% to 20% or more. Then, personal loans may be your next highest interest rate loan followed by auto loan, mortgage and home equity loan. Don’t border about the balance of each debt, it will not be used in this debt avalanche approach.

Step 2: Pay minimum due on each debt

Then, add a column on your list or spreadsheet for the minimum amount need to be paid each month. This is the amount you need to pay toward each debt, except the one on the top list. Then, compile the list for the total minimum amount that you need to pay for that month.

Step 3: Pay extra cash toward the debt at the top list

In order for the debt avalanche approach to work, the money you prepare to pay your monthly debt should have a bigger amount than the total minimum month due for all your debts. Pay only the minimum due for all your debt except for the top listed debt which has the highest interest rate. Allocate the extra cash (the money you allocate for your debt minus the minimum monthly due on each debt) to this highest interest rate’s debt, the top one on your list.

Step 4: Repeat every month

By paying the minimum due each month, you are meeting the payment requirement of every creditor. And at the same time, you hone in on only your debt with the highest interest rate. Repeat step 1 to step 3 every month, you need to re-order your list if your debt interest rate has changed. Remove from the list if the debt had been paid off (it might not be the debt on the top list if other amount is smaller).

If you record your payment each month, you will notice a significant amount save in term of interest and the time frame to pay off your debt is shorter. You can do a simulation in spreadsheet software if you want to know how effective the debt avalanche approach helps in paying off your debt faster and save in total interest.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Most of us do not have a savings account, or if we do it is too small to think about. Difficult decisions face us every day; whether to pay the electric bill or buy groceries, buy the kids new shoes or take them to the dentist; there seems like there just isn’t enough money to go around, and dreams about savings accounts fly right out of the window. There is hope. You can do small things every day to save money and grow your savings. Here are a few ideas.

First, be objective about your finances. You really need to be honest when you do this, because if you are not brutally truthful, the only ones you are hurting are yourself and your family. Sit down and think about your financial state of the union, and don’t sugarcoat anything. If the expense isn’t a necessity or isn’t benefiting you any longer, get rid of it.

Daily spending is usually the first place that can be trimmed down. Do you visit Starbucks in the morning before work? If you do, your latte could be costing you up to $130 dollars a month. If you put that $130 dollars a month into an interest bearing savings account that bore 4% each month, at the end of a year instead of spending $1,560 in coffee you could have $1622.40 sitting in your bank account.

Do you smoke? Besides the dire health consequences, lighting up has dire financial consequences as well. If your habit has you smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, that adds up to $270 a month. If you put that $270 a month into that same interest bearing savings account at 4%, instead of burning up $3,240 a year you could be growing $3,369.70 a year in the bank.

Next take a hard look at your monthly credit card or checkbook statements. Where do you usually spend most of your money? Is it at the grocer story or gas station? What about department stores, restaurants, or salons? Do you spend a lot shopping online? What about unplanned purchases? These areas can usually be trimmed down or eliminated all together to free up much needed funds.

You may wonder why you should bother giving up all these nice little things that make life worth living. Well, it’s because nobody ever sees a crisis coming; problems usually don’t call and leave a nice little message reminding you to have all of your ducks in a row for when it hits the fan. Unexpected car troubles, an ill child, a sick parent, an illness or injury that requires being out of work for awhile. These things are all facts of life, and the facts are that most Americans cannot pay for these things when they arrive because they are not prepared. So what happens is these expenses get put on plastic or get a payday loan advance taken out for them, complete with teeny tiny complicated small print and sinkholes. Before you know it, things have become so bad so quickly you can’t see the light of day, and panic sets in. This is the kind of thing we all need to be prepared for, because it can happen to any of us, at any time, with no warning. Preparation is the best medicine.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Credit is a tool that has to be handled with wisdom to be of value. Being able to borrow money or get credit cards doesn’t automatically make a person able to handle that power. In fact, it has gotten many people into serious financial trouble. Wouldn’t it have been better for many of them if they had not been able to obtain credit?

Bad Credit Rating – Two True Stories

A friend, whom I will call Jill, didn’t pay a phone bill early in adulthood, and made a few other minor mistakes that hurt her credit rating. While it was true that this made it difficult to get a home mortgage later in life, it is also true that it made it almost impossible for her to get credit cards. This was a a good thing, as even she will admit. She just wasn’t ready to handle that kind of responsibility, and so her poor credit rating has prevented her from getting deep into debt.

As a result, Jill has to pay cash for things, or wait until she saves enough money. Does this make her a less happy person? Not as far as I can tell. While it’s true that she wants to borrow and get credit cards, her inability to do so also means she doesn’t have the debt-stress that is so typical now.

Another friend, whom I will call Mark, started his adulthood with a good credit rating. He could get credit cards at will, and finance cars and snowmobiles too. He did all of it. With a decent job he was able to make the payments on his debts – at least at first. But by the time he was 30 years old, he had over $22,000 in credit card and other consumer debt.

Eventually it was too much to handle, and he only avoided bankruptcy by convincing the credit card companies to reduce his balances due. To do this he had to stop paying on the cards, or the companies wouldn’t believe his letter explaining his dilemma. Most cut at least 30% off what he owed, provided he paid the remaining balance right away, which he did with a home equity loan.

As a result of this maneuver, his credit rating wasn’t as bad as if he had actually declared bankruptcy, and he was able to rebuild his credit score – as well as his credit balances. He quickly began again the stressful process of overburdening himself with debts. So was Mark’s decent credit rating a good thing? He has some nice “toys”, but as his friend I also see the added stress and unhappiness.

Credit Lessons And Opportunities

A bad credit rating certainly is not something to aim for. On the other hand, if you already have one, why not see it as a lesson and an opportunity? The lesson? Your habits got you there and they would probably get you into more trouble if you could borrow even more money. The opportunity? Learn these lessons and develop better habits.

Pay cash. Get in the habit of saving for things. Knock down those credit card balances. Start setting aside money for a good used car that can be bought without a loan. Then start to put aside what would have been a car payment for a future down payment on house or even a business. Your bad credit rating can be a good thing, if you learn your lesson and seize the opportunity to become a better manager of your personal finances.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Suppose I were to ask you and a room full of others to make your best guesses as to when Thomas Aquinas was born. If you didn’t have any idea other than “sometime in the middle ages,” the average guess might be the year 1200. But what if I first announced, “Claudius Ptolemy was born in the year 85,” and then asked when Aquinas was born? Would that change anything? It seems that it shouldn’t, since it is irrelevant. But it almost certainly would change the guesses.

They would be much earlier, perhaps around the year 800. You and the others might not be aware that the first statement is affecting your estimates. You also probably wouldn’t suspect that subliminal techniques were being used on you, in this case a simple trick called “anchoring.”

Anchoring As A Subliminal Technique

Researchers actually do tests like this, and consistently get the same effect. Anchoring, in the terminology of behavioral economics, is our tendency to give weight to whatever facts or figures are introduced – regardless of their relevance – if we have insufficient information. Obviously, if you knew the date of birth you would not be swayed by this technique. However, “insufficient information” is a common occurrence in life, isn’t it? That’s why this subliminal trick works.

As you might guess, since the term is used by researchers in the field of behavioral economics, that the trick is used in financial matters. It is. In fact, the simplest example is one you’ll recognize immediately. Before you can form an opinion about the value of a product being sold on late night television, the announcer says something like “This normally sells for $189, but order right now and it’s yours for only $59.”

There may or may not be evidence provided as to why it is worth $189. The truth is that just saying it will increase the perceived value in listener’s minds. If you had to previously place a value on it, you might have said just $19 – if you had nothing for an “anchor.” But now that you have heard it is worth $189, it seems like a great deal at $59.

This trick is used in negotiations all the time. For example, you might think your house is worth the $285,000 you’re asking, but there is almost always insufficient information to be certain. So when a buyer offers $239,000, you say no, but you’re suddenly even less certain about the value. Then when the first buyer’s secret partner later makes an offer of $260,000, it seems reasonable. The only offer you’ve had was $239,000, and with that as an anchor, you may be happy to get $260,000, so you agree. You may never know that with time the house would have sold for $20,000 more.

Employers can use subliminal techniques like this too. For example, a furniture store owner might mention to the sales people how much they make if they sell 70 items per month. If the employees have no idea what the monthly average is for the industry, they’ll probably now guess that 70 is normal. They’ll work to achieve that, not knowing that selling 40 pieces of furniture monthly is closer to the average.

Besides protecting yourself, there is another reason to learn about these subliminal techniques: You can use them on yourself. If you want to write, for example, get to know prolific writers. If you know a writer who writes forty pages daily, this will affect what you believe and therefore do, versus knowing one who writes just five pages daily. Though you may not write that much yourself, you have an “anchor” that will probably encourage you to do more than you would have.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

If you have intention to be free from credit card debt, first of all you need to change your behavior of depending on credit in your purchases, before you talk about how to reduce and get rid of your exiting debt. You must adopt a “Cash is King” policy in all your purchase if possible and stop using your cards. The purpose of not using your cards is to avoid adding new debts into your existing debts while you work out to clear it.

Then, look at your credit card balance. Multiply it with a factor of 0.5 and the result is the amount that you need to pay in your next payment. For example, if you have a $1,000 credit card balance, you first payment is $500. In the second month, multiply again the balance of the month with 0.5, which will be the second payment. Repeat the step every month to pay off 50% of it. By doing so, your credit card debt will be pay off in 6 to 8 months.

In term of interest, if you calculate the exact interest that you end up paying, you will surprise how much interest you will save by just do this simple payment method. For example, if you credit card account had a 15% advertised interest rate, you would only pay 2.5% of interest by paying the 50% of total balance each month. You may find it difficult to pay the 50% of the first payment, especially if you have large amount of credit card debt, but you may make it possible by tracking and controlling your spending so that you can allocate more money from your earnings to pay toward your credit card debt. You may need to get a second job to earn extra money for the debt payment.

Another little tip, if you really need to use your credit card to buy large purchases, you should structure the large purchases where you can afford at least 50% payment schedule. For example you want to buy a $1,000 computer but you only have $500 cash in hand and you want to use the computer right away, then you have no choice but to borrow the money using your credit card. Then, get it with your credit card, and immediately pay the $500, and then 50% in the following months until you clear it.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

If you have intention to be free from credit card debt, first of all you need to change your behavior of depending on credit in your purchases, before you talk about how to reduce and get rid of your exiting debt. You must adopt a “Cash is King” policy in all your purchase if possible and stop using your cards. The purpose of not using your cards is to avoid adding new debts into your existing debts while you work out to clear it.

Then, look at your credit card balance. Multiply it with a factor of 0.5 and the result is the amount that you need to pay in your next payment. For example, if you have a $1,000 credit card balance, you first payment is $500. In the second month, multiply again the balance of the month with 0.5, which will be the second payment. Repeat the step every month to pay off 50% of it. By doing so, your credit card debt will be pay off in 6 to 8 months.

In term of interest, if you calculate the exact interest that you end up paying, you will surprise how much interest you will save by just do this simple payment method. For example, if you credit card account had a 15% advertised interest rate, you would only pay 2.5% of interest by paying the 50% of total balance each month. You may find it difficult to pay the 50% of the first payment, especially if you have large amount of credit card debt, but you may make it possible by tracking and controlling your spending so that you can allocate more money from your earnings to pay toward your credit card debt. You may need to get a second job to earn extra money for the debt payment.

Another little tip, if you really need to use your credit card to buy large purchases, you should structure the large purchases where you can afford at least 50% payment schedule. For example you want to buy a $1,000 computer but you only have $500 cash in hand and you want to use the computer right away, then you have no choice but to borrow the money using your credit card. Then, get it with your credit card, and immediately pay the $500, and then 50% in the following months until you clear it.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

If you have intention to be free from credit card debt, first of all you need to change your behavior of depending on credit in your purchases, before you talk about how to reduce and get rid of your exiting debt. You must adopt a “Cash is King” policy in all your purchase if possible and stop using your cards. The purpose of not using your cards is to avoid adding new debts into your existing debts while you work out to clear it.

Then, look at your credit card balance. Multiply it with a factor of 0.5 and the result is the amount that you need to pay in your next payment. For example, if you have a $1,000 credit card balance, you first payment is $500. In the second month, multiply again the balance of the month with 0.5, which will be the second payment. Repeat the step every month to pay off 50% of it. By doing so, your credit card debt will be pay off in 6 to 8 months.

In term of interest, if you calculate the exact interest that you end up paying, you will surprise how much interest you will save by just do this simple payment method. For example, if you credit card account had a 15% advertised interest rate, you would only pay 2.5% of interest by paying the 50% of total balance each month. You may find it difficult to pay the 50% of the first payment, especially if you have large amount of credit card debt, but you may make it possible by tracking and controlling your spending so that you can allocate more money from your earnings to pay toward your credit card debt. You may need to get a second job to earn extra money for the debt payment.

Another little tip, if you really need to use your credit card to buy large purchases, you should structure the large purchases where you can afford at least 50% payment schedule. For example you want to buy a $1,000 computer but you only have $500 cash in hand and you want to use the computer right away, then you have no choice but to borrow the money using your credit card. Then, get it with your credit card, and immediately pay the $500, and then 50% in the following months until you clear it.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Store Loyalty Cards

The “loyalty cards” many grocery stores promote give members special prices on various items. That much you know, and it does save you money on your groceries. But it can cost you money and privacy at some stores. Some grocery chains have been selling your purchasing information. Health insurance companies have been some of the buyers.

What does this mean? You might not smoke, but suppose you buy cigarettes for your friend or neighbor. If they are bought using a card with your name on it, you might pay more for insurance as a result. No matter what information you put on the application, the card still works, so be John or Jane Doe. At least put your middle name as your first, or use a different spelling.

Once you have a membership card, keep it in your wallet or purse so you don’t forget it. Depending on what you buy, you can get 10% or more off your total bill, and sometimes they have particularly good deals for members, so you can stock up on something you use regularly. Some cards are also good for a discount off each gallon of gasoline at many stations.

Forget The Coupons

Coupons sometimes work, but they are almost always for the name-brand products. Name-brand saltine crackers cost $3.29 as I write this, while it was just $1.29 for the store brand we just bought. A 50-cent coupon still leaves the expensive ones twice as expensive. Often the same crackers are in different boxes, with a store label for one and a brand label for the other, so experiment to see if the quality is the equal (the $1.69 ones we tried were terrible, while the $1.29 ones taste great).

Coupons rarely save you enough money to make a product cheaper than other brands that are available. An exception is some pharmacies that carry groceries and have really good coupon deals. They’re willing to lose money on certain products to draw customers into the store. When they have half-priced olives, nuts or canned goods, stock up.

Watch For Mistakes

Mistakes ringing up your order are common and almost never in your favor. The most common reason is sale prices that were never entered into the computer system. Keep an eye on that register, and have any mistakes corrected on the spot. Otherwise, you might spend three dollars in gas to go get your two dollars back later that day.

Don’t Bring Children

Teaching your children to be smart shoppers is a great idea, but most of the time they should be left home. They grab things and beg. Perhaps you give in to their demands less than most parents, but why torture them and make shopping more stressful for you? It’s almost certain that you’ll save money on groceries if you don’t bring the children.

Pay Attention To Unit Prices

Check the price-per-unit tags to find the best deals on each item. Larger sizes were typically cheaper per-ounce in the past, but this is changing. Many grocery stores now have the larger items at a higher per-unit price – possibly an attempt to trick you. Do the math.

Eat Before You Shop

Perhaps the easiest way how to save money on groceries is to eat before you go to the grocery store. Not only will you buy less than if you are hungry, but you’ll probably buy healthier foods as well.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

If you have intention to be free from credit card debt, first of all you need to change your behavior of depending on credit in your purchases, before you talk about how to reduce and get rid of your exiting debt. You must adopt a “Cash is King” policy in all your purchase if possible and stop using your cards. The purpose of not using your cards is to avoid adding new debts into your existing debts while you work out to clear it.

Then, look at your credit card balance. Multiply it with a factor of 0.5 and the result is the amount that you need to pay in your next payment. For example, if you have a $1,000 credit card balance, you first payment is $500. In the second month, multiply again the balance of the month with 0.5, which will be the second payment. Repeat the step every month to pay off 50% of it. By doing so, your credit card debt will be pay off in 6 to 8 months.

In term of interest, if you calculate the exact interest that you end up paying, you will surprise how much interest you will save by just do this simple payment method. For example, if you credit card account had a 15% advertised interest rate, you would only pay 2.5% of interest by paying the 50% of total balance each month. You may find it difficult to pay the 50% of the first payment, especially if you have large amount of credit card debt, but you may make it possible by tracking and controlling your spending so that you can allocate more money from your earnings to pay toward your credit card debt. You may need to get a second job to earn extra money for the debt payment.

Another little tip, if you really need to use your credit card to buy large purchases, you should structure the large purchases where you can afford at least 50% payment schedule. For example you want to buy a $1,000 computer but you only have $500 cash in hand and you want to use the computer right away, then you have no choice but to borrow the money using your credit card. Then, get it with your credit card, and immediately pay the $500, and then 50% in the following months until you clear it.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Thankfully, budget software and personal cash management programs take a lot of the work out of budgeting – and actually turn into good investments themselves. Here are five reasons to use budgeting software.

1. Sheer laziness.

Let’s face it – it’s not always easy to set a budget for the first time and track your income and expenditures.

But it’s especially not easy when you’re using a pen and paper, or creating your own spreadsheet. Budget software takes the guess work and “computer knowledge” out of the equation and allows you to simply enter in your personal variables – income, expenditures, goals, etc.

Tips for college students budget or anyone just getting started with a budget, is to find a simple, easy to use system. This way you are more likely to use the system. You do not want to have a learning curve just to learn how to use the software, or you will never get started. Simple to use software, such as http://www.MoneyTreeBudgeting.com software, can be used by a teenager to make a personal budget, or by the head of the household to make a household budget.

No muss, no fuss.

2. Improved insight and knowledge.

Budget software can compile your statistics better than you can and present them in new, interesting ways you might not have thought of. This results in an improved outlook on your finances: for better or for worse. It lets you know where you really stand, and takes all of the subjectivity of a spreadsheet you yourself created.

3. Seeing the picture for the first time.

Personal finance software also can compile your statistics and present them in graphs and charts that you otherwise wouldn’t see. This helps you to see the big picture for the first time – showing you how deep in the green or red you might be, or simply showing you that you spend way too much money on Chinese takeout.

4. Goal-setting.

A budget program worth its salt will allow you to set budget goals that are clearly defined, allowing you to also take out some of the guesswork involved in determining your own future. That’s not to say budget software predicts the future, but goal-setting options can help you reach your goals and have a better future.

5. Easy habit maintenance.

Budgeting is a habit, and being able to simply type in facts and figures in a matter of minutes will make budgeting an easy habit to maintain. Creating your own charts or spreadsheets will work, but it will also put more of the pressure on you to maintain the habit. Budget software does most of the work for you and, therefore, most of the habit maintenance.

So take control of your future today. Whether you are a college student or close to retirement, a budget will help you reach your financial goals. Don’t be part of the 95% that are dead or dead broke by the age of 65. A study done at Harvard Business School showed that the 3% of the participants who put their goals in writing, earned ten times as much as the remaining 97 percent put together. This pertains to business and financial goals. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The sooner you start, the greater the reward.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

1. Food. If you find that you end up spend more on food then you budgeted for, it probably because you dine out too often. It is 5 times more expensive to eat outside then preparing the meals for yourself. So, your action to plug this leak is to cut back on going out to eat. If you are the person who enjoy dine out, then you have to budget for it. Make dinning out a short-term goal every month, and set aside some money for it.

2. Retail shopping. Impulse buying may causes you overspend your money and live out of budget. Hence, remember to make a list on the things that you want to buy before you go out for retail shopping and insist on just buying the items on your list. If you see a thing that you like very much and thinking of buying it, bring the idea home for re-consideration, and if it is worth to buy, then make a budget for it.

3. Entertainment. People often spend more than they plan to on entertainment because of the impulsive nature of it. And, often you are unable to predict every time your colleagues or friends invite you out for an evening of fun, so it’s hard to have the money set aside for it. But, you still need to plan it into your budget plan. During your budgeting, you should always allocate some portion of your money for unpredicted occasions so that you have enough money to handle whatever unpredictable entertainment expenses should pop up.

4. Auto repairs, veterinarian’s bill and emergency medical expenses. These expenses are not a really leaks, but the emergency needs that can’t be planned for. To deal with this category, it’s crucial that you are building your emergency funds. Else, you may live out of budget if one of these emergencies happens suddenly and you do not have the money to handle it. Hence, you should build up ample savings that can handle these situations when they occur.

5. ATM. The ATM or the debit card can provide great convenient when go for shopping because you can access your cash easily, but it can be the biggest leak. Say you are at the grocery store, and you have budgeted to spend $100 on this shopping trip. If the total bill is $108, and you have got that debit card, you will probably pay the $8 extra and causes a leak to you budget. But, if you just take $100 cash into the grocery, you can only spend up to the maximum of $100. Although the $8 might not seem like much, but when you add up many of $8, small leaks become big ones.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Store Loyalty Cards

The “loyalty cards” many grocery stores promote give members special prices on various items. That much you know, and it does save you money on your groceries. But it can cost you money and privacy at some stores. Some grocery chains have been selling your purchasing information. Health insurance companies have been some of the buyers.

What does this mean? You might not smoke, but suppose you buy cigarettes for your friend or neighbor. If they are bought using a card with your name on it, you might pay more for insurance as a result. No matter what information you put on the application, the card still works, so be John or Jane Doe. At least put your middle name as your first, or use a different spelling.

Once you have a membership card, keep it in your wallet or purse so you don’t forget it. Depending on what you buy, you can get 10% or more off your total bill, and sometimes they have particularly good deals for members, so you can stock up on something you use regularly. Some cards are also good for a discount off each gallon of gasoline at many stations.

Forget The Coupons

Coupons sometimes work, but they are almost always for the name-brand products. Name-brand saltine crackers cost $3.29 as I write this, while it was just $1.29 for the store brand we just bought. A 50-cent coupon still leaves the expensive ones twice as expensive. Often the same crackers are in different boxes, with a store label for one and a brand label for the other, so experiment to see if the quality is the equal (the $1.69 ones we tried were terrible, while the $1.29 ones taste great).

Coupons rarely save you enough money to make a product cheaper than other brands that are available. An exception is some pharmacies that carry groceries and have really good coupon deals. They’re willing to lose money on certain products to draw customers into the store. When they have half-priced olives, nuts or canned goods, stock up.

Watch For Mistakes

Mistakes ringing up your order are common and almost never in your favor. The most common reason is sale prices that were never entered into the computer system. Keep an eye on that register, and have any mistakes corrected on the spot. Otherwise, you might spend three dollars in gas to go get your two dollars back later that day.

Don’t Bring Children

Teaching your children to be smart shoppers is a great idea, but most of the time they should be left home. They grab things and beg. Perhaps you give in to their demands less than most parents, but why torture them and make shopping more stressful for you? It’s almost certain that you’ll save money on groceries if you don’t bring the children.

Pay Attention To Unit Prices

Check the price-per-unit tags to find the best deals on each item. Larger sizes were typically cheaper per-ounce in the past, but this is changing. Many grocery stores now have the larger items at a higher per-unit price – possibly an attempt to trick you. Do the math.

Eat Before You Shop

Perhaps the easiest way how to save money on groceries is to eat before you go to the grocery store. Not only will you buy less than if you are hungry, but you’ll probably buy healthier foods as well.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Although credit counseling is a common debt solution for debtors, it might not be a good option for every debtor. You need to understand the limitation of helps that can provide to people in debt and how these helps can really help you if you go for this approach. Credit counseling service will be a good option for you if your debt problem involves these situations:

1. You can’t make the minimum payments on your credit cards.
2. Always late in paying one or more bills.
3. Receiving harassing phone calls and home visits by collection agencies and your creditors.
4. You try to work out a payment plan with your creditors but unfortunately the creditors have rejected it.

When you approach a credit counseling service, the credit counseling agency will first assign a counselor to help you to examine your finances which include all your debts and incomes. You need to provide them the detail information about all your incomes, monthly expenses and debt repayment of each debt. From the information you provided, they will give you ideas on how to cut your unnecessary expenses so that you can allocate more money toward your debt. Besides that, they will also teach you how to better manage your money so that you won’t create more debt into your existing debt amount.

Depending on your debt situation, if you need a debt restructuring plan, the credit counselor will contact your creditors and try to negotiate with them a new repayment plan that meet your financial affordability. After going through a few negotiation processes, the creditors might agree to accept smaller monthly payment, waive or lower your debt interest, which is something better than nothing if you were to go into bankruptcy. Once you have agreed with the terms and conditions resulted from the negotiation which is agreed by your creditors, you need to follow the payment plan. You just need to make one payment to the credit counseling agency and they will help you to distribute the payment to your creditors.

After putting all your debt repayment in plan, you will also need to attend the debt and money management courses conducted by credit counseling agency. The key purpose of these courses is to teach you how to manage your money so that you won’t fall back to the same debt issue as you currently experiencing. Many debtors may be tempting to skip these courses because they are no longer being hounded by their creditors, but you should stick to it. You definitely do not want to trap into such a harassing debt issue anymore, and you can only enjoy total debt freedom if you know how to manage your income and expense. This financial education will teach the knowledge to stay out of debt, use of credit wisely and create a future financial plan that inline with your financial capability.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

However, I do not think the proposed legislation goes far enough. First, the federal government is late to the party when it comes to limiting gift card fees and expiration. A majority of states now have laws restricting fees, expiration dates and disclosure policies on gift cards. While a federal standard will help in these areas, the two most important gift card issues that the federal government can help alleviate are merchant bankruptcies and their impact on gift cards, and regulating fees and expiration on bank issued gift cards (which are not regulated by the states but through the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency).

The recent surge in retailer bankruptcies and the negative impact they have had on consumers requires federal legislation to protect consumers. For example, customers of The Sharper Image and Bombay Company, both of which went bankrupt within the last year, were left with gift cards they could not redeem, with customers of the Sharper Image on the hook for over 20 million dollars in unredeemable gift cards. Customers of Bombay Company were only able to get 25 cents on the dollar in bankruptcy proceedings for their gift cards. The situation is even worse with small and local retailers, who continue to sell gift cards up until they declare bankruptcy, leaving their gift card holders with little to no option to redeem their gift cards. State law has not been effective here. What is required is federal law that forces merchants to set aside money to redeem gift cards during bankruptcy.

Another area federal legislation will help is with bank issued gift cards, otherwise called “open-loop” cards. These are gift cards that carry Visa, American Express, Discover, or MasterCard logo and can be used anywhere the card issuer is accepted. These cards are notorious for charging exorbitant fees for the convenience and flexibility they provide. Some of the fees include Initial Handling or Issuing Fee, Dormancy Fee, Renewal or Replacement Fee, Transaction or Statement Copy fee (charged for requesting a copy of gift card transactions or a copy of your gift card statement, typically $5), Foreign Currency Conversion Fee (charged for using your gift card to make purchases outside the United States, typically 3% of the purchase value in U.S. Dollars), Check issuance fee (charged when you ask the bank to send you a check for the rest of the gift card balance, typically $15), and Transaction fee / Balance inquiry fee (charged for point of sale (POS) balance inquiry).

This clearly is gift card fees run amok and should be reined in. While bank issued gift cards provide more flexibility than retailer cards (closed-loop cards), the convenience they provide does not justify the outrageous fees they charge, some of which are not apparent to buyers. Some have argued that retailers can afford not to charge fees on their gift cards since consumers typically spend more than the gift card value, thereby boasting sales, which compensates for the fees. Banks on the other hand only have two opportunities to make money on gift cards – through the card processing fees and upfront fees charged for buying the card. If that is the case, then why the need to charge all these additional fees, like Dormancy Fee, Renewal or Replacement Fee, and Check issuance fee? Congress should step in and protect the consumer from these over the top charges. If the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is not up to the job, then Congress has a duty to act.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Everyone knows profit is a good thing. It’s what our economy is founded on. It doesn’t sound like such a big deal. Make more money than you spend to sell or manufacture products. But of course nothing’s ever really simple, is it? A profit report, or net income statement first identifies the business and the time period that is being summarized in the report.

You read an income statement from the top line to the bottom line. Every step of the income statement reports the deduction of an expense. The income statement also reports changes in assets and liabilities as well, so that if there’s a revenue increase, it’s either because there’s been an increase in assets or a decrease in a company’s liabilities. If there’s been an increase in the expense line, it’s because there’s been either a decrease in assets or an increase in liabilities.

Net worth is also referred to as owners’ equity in the business. They’re not exactly interchangeable. Net worth expresses the total of assets less the liabilities. Owners’ equity refers to who owns the assets after the liabilities are satisfied.

These shifts in assets and liabilities are important to owners and executives of a business because it’s their responsibility to manage and control such changes. Making a profit in a business involves several variable, not just increasing the amount of cash that flows through a company, but management of other assets as well.

Most people probably think of bookkeeping and accounting as the same thing, but bookkeeping is really one function of accounting, while accounting encompasses many functions involved in managing the financial affairs of a business. Accountants prepare reports based, in part, on the work of bookkeepers.

Bookkeepers perform all manner of record-keeping tasks. Some of them include the following:

-They prepare what are referred to as source documents for all the operations of a business – the buying, selling, transferring, paying and collecting. The documents include papers such as purchase orders, invoices, credit card slips, time cards, time sheets and expense reports. Bookkeepers also determine and enter in the source documents what are called the financial effects of the transactions and other business events. Those include paying the employees, making sales, borrowing money or buying products or raw materials for production.

There are many different reasons and ways of making money that many small businesses and large corporations have need for accountants that are very good with keeping things in line. If you have ever invested any amounts of money into the stock market in any way shape or form, its wise to consider scouring the website for someone who can help you get to the top with your hard earned money.

There is a fellow by the name of Timothy Sykes that keeps very exact records on all of his trading activities that takes place in his life. You may want to fins out if the entertainment that he provides to many followers is something that you might be interested in finding out about.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Once you have determined what you really want, you may very well want a job. But you can then see it as a means to accomplish those goals that matter to you. It may also be a “limited engagement.” With that approach in mind, I have to say that jobs do have their advantages. Here are some ways to use a job temporarily, to get closer to more important goals.

1. To Save Money

Whatever your goals may be, a job is a way to create income – some of which can be diverted into savings for future plans. I used a good job to pay off my first home early – and then quit the job. Other jobs have been devoted to earning travel money. A job can provide the money for a business as well.

2. To Buy Time

People often claim they don’t have time for what is important – even for the ones they love. This is rarely true. Stop using a job to buy nice clothes or better furniture or whatever else you use it for, and it can buy time instead. Save enough money to take a week off from work to play with the dogs if that is what you really want.

3. To Get Business Training

Most people think of a job as an end in itself, or a means to a better job. But in many fields it is possible to use a job as a training exercise for owning a business. This is common in businesses like carpet cleaning and even restaurant management. You learn the business from the inside, and then move on to start your own with the training you have received.

4. To Learn Skills

Some jobs are a great place to learn skills. Many people join the military for this reason, but you don’t have to go to that extreme. If you work as a tax preparer for one season, for example, you can apply the knowledge and skills you learn to all of your future businesses. A year as a car salesman might prepare you with the negotiating skills to become a great real estate investor.

5. To Be Where You Want

If you want to be where the best skiing is, but can’t afford more than the occasional weekend vacation, what do you do? Get a job there! The next time you are in Aspen, Colorado, ask a few bartenders and other employees how they ended up there. Half came not for the job, but for the skiing opportunities. The job is just the means to that. You might get a job in the Florida Keys if you want more sun and ocean.

6. To Pay The Bills

This is not an exciting use for a job, but it is necessary at times. Unless you really love the job you get, though, make this a temporary solution. Remember, whatever job you get, if you got one that paid a little less you still would have survived, right? So pay the bills, but also put a little bit of every paycheck aside and start looking for ways to pursue goals that are more interesting. At the very least continue your job search until you take one more step up in income, and then save even more towards those important goals.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

One of the key ways to pay off debt is to make more than your minimum payments. But how are you going to do this if your barely scraping by at the end off the month. Well by reading this article I’m going to share with your tips and tricks of the trade to have more money in your pocket at the end of each month. That way you can have more money for chipping away at your debt.

The Grocery Store
The grocery store is somewhere you can save possibly several hundred dollars a month. First before you go to the store make a list of everything your going to need at the store to make meals. Think of affordable meals as well, spaghetti, whole chicken, veggies, rice, etc. When you go to the store stick to the list do not detour from it not only will it get your through the store quicker, it will keep your from impulse buying.

Home Repairs
If you own a home, you may realize how quickly you can add up cost in maintenance and repairs. Save money by prioritizing what needs to get done. Do the things that are in really in need of doing like your roof is leaking, put off things like remodel the bathroom if money doesn’t allow it. You just may have to wait until next year to do some of the things. If you hire a contractor to do work offer to pay them in cash if they cut you a discount; if they accept don’t pay it until the job is complete and you have inspected it. Try buying second hand home appliances, look in classifieds and online fore cheaper deals, this can save you several hundred dollars.

Save On Clothes
Money is a really one of the number one reasons people can be in debt. Really cut back your cloths shopping, you going have to do some second hand and discount store shopping to save money. Clothes have a 90 percent mark up in most department stores, so consider yourself a real sucker every time you shop there. Sell old clothes you don’t wear anymore before making other purchases. Also try and avoid fads, because you will purchase something, that you probably won’t wear again next year. Try and get classic pieces you can mix and match and don’t go out of style.

Save on Entertainment
Entertainment can be another money pitfall. Avoid bars all together, they just suck away you money. Instead try and have friends over to your home more often, plan a game night and cook some appetizers, this alone could save you several 100 dollars a month. Also look for alternative means of entertainment such as free concerts in the park, or free days at the museums, which is usually on Tuesdays. Drop your gym membership and take up a affordable sport such as running.

Conclusion
Yes you are going have to change your lifestyle a bit, but it is worth it to climb your way out of debt. If you do manage to get out of debt, avoid backsliding and going straight back into your old ways. You will soon learn that people can live on much less than they do and you will be happier not carrying around the weight of too much credit card debt.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Browse over some previous articles I wrote and learn how to save thousands of dollars:

-How to save money at the grocery store
-How to save money on clothing
-How to save money on car repairs
-How to save money on home maintenance

To add to the list today you will be learning about how to save money on entertainment. If you learn the tips within in the article series you should be able to save thousands of dollars a years. If you are doing this; then you will help yourself avoid foreclosure not only this year, but for years to come. Just because you are trying to save money doesn’t mean you have to lock yourself inside and never do anything — what fun would that be and how long would it last?

Free concerts. Many towns and cities have free concerts you can go to in the summer; check out a local newspaper. It will usually have a list of free ones in the leisure section. It is fun and you get to be around other people, listening to good music.

Save on movies. Instead of going to a movies sign up for Netflix and watch several movies a month for the same prices you spend at the theater. Plus you can eat popcorn and home and save yourself another 10 dollars and get twice as much.

Learn the happenings at your local library. A library is a good place to go when saving money. Here you can check out movies, CDs and books for free. Also they will sometimes have free events and book readings you can attend.

Take advantage of Tuesdays. Tuesdays are usually a slow day for businesses in general: restaurants offer food specials, museums are usually free and people want your business this day. So keep your eyes open for specials this day.

Board games. Purchases a few board games and having friends over for a game night is a good way to socialize and not spend much money. It can lead to hours of laughs and is better then hanging out at some noisy bar.

Take up running for your sport. Running is a free way to exercise and you get to see parts of your town you may not have been aware of before going out for a run. Instead of joining an expensive gym, do push ups and sit-ups at home, then go for a run. This right here can save you several hundred dollars a year.

So put some of these options into action and see how much money you end up saving a month. You would be surprised to find out how much it is. I know several people that go through half their paycheck in a week; if they learn to spend wisely they would have money in their savings account. You never know when you could loose your job or are in a financial hardship and it will be there for you to pay your mortgage.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

This is my third article on money saving tips to stop a foreclosure. The first article tells you how you can save several thousand dollars a year on grocery’s, article number two tells you how to save on clothing and this particular article will deal with saving money on car repairs. If you have a car it doesn’t matter if it’s a couple years or twenty years old — you going to spend money on keeping it in shape. There are some tips and tricks of the trade though that may help cut down on some of your mechanical expenses.

Get A Second Opinion and Estimate
If you were going to a doctor and they told you, that you would need to get this, that and this done; you would probably get a second opinion, before you just jump onto an operating table. Treat your car the same way; get a second opinion.

By getting a second look at your car by a different mechanic, you can confirm what the first mechanic told you and you can get a second estimate of costs. This is very important because most car mechanics prices can vary significantly. One person may quote you $1800 for a job, while a second mechanic may do for only $900. That is a big difference so it is very important to get a second opinion and estimate on your car’s repairs or maintenance.

Watch Out For Scammers
How often have you gone into a car shop to get your oil changed and all of sudden you find yourself buying brake lights or a new spark plugs or a oil filter? It is always something, isn’t it? Make sure if someone is examining your car for one thing, they don’t try to up sell you something you may not need.

This is another reason why a second look at your car with another mechanic is important. Especially if every time you visit your current mechanic for one thing, they prescribe ten things. See how many times this happens where you do business; if it starts becoming a pattern, it may be time to look for a new mechanic.

Buy Your Own Car Parts
Some mechanics have been known to charge a 50% mark up on parts. This is good chunk of change and worth looking into alternative options for parts. Even if you don’t know how to do the labor on a car, you can bring the parts you find for a cheaper price to the garage and just pay for labor.

Check out major auto parts stores since they will usually be cheaper then your mechanic’s garage. Or look in the classifieds if it is a major part because someone may be selling just what you need. Or possibly, check out a scrap yard and see what they have. This could just save you several thousand dollars.

Learn To Do Some Of Your Own Repairs
There are some simple repairs you can do on your own car, which can end up saving you saving you more than 80% on labor prices. For instance, if your car light goes out, a dealer will charge your $20 just to change the bulb. If you buy your own bulb at an auto store it is probably around $2. Then just do a little online research or look at some auto repair books and learn how to replace the bulb yourself.

So if you have any money concerns or are possibly worried about facing foreclosure in your future, read of the money saving tip articles and make every penny count. How would you like to have an extra $10,000 in your pocket every year? This can happen, if you put the time and effort into learning the tricks of the trade. If your boss offered you a pay increase of $10,000, but you would have to do more work, you would likely take it. This is same thing, put the work into saving money and you will have more money.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Same Income + Lower Prices = Wealthier

As I write this (early 2009) we are in a deflationary recession. Prices in general are going down, which is very rare, and not likely to last for long. But in any recession there are businesses and whole industries that have to drop prices to sell their products and services. Why not take advantage of that?

If you have the same income, but you get to pay less for some – or many – of the things you buy, you are effectively wealthier. It’s like getting a pay raise.

To find the best deals, look to those areas of the economy that have been hit hardest. For example, the price of some vacation packages have been cut in half. Or, if you have been waiting to get a car, this may be the time. Alternately, if you can spend less on necessities, this could be an opportunity to use the savings to start setting aside more for the future, or to pay down debt.

Real Estate Gets Cheaper

Real estate prices are dropping at the moment, but even in recessions that don’t lower prices interest rates go down. Either way you have an opportunity to buy a home or other property for less. You might also be able to refinance your current home and lower your payments.

What about the loss of value you suffer on your house? If you are not moving soon, it may not matter. Petition for lower property taxes based on the new lower value. Then wait, and the value will eventually go up again. Also, keep in mind that if you had plans to upgrade, you’ll save more on the more expensive home that has dropped 20% in price than you’ll lose on yours.

Stocks Get Cheaper

A good recession usually drives down the price of stocks. That certainly has been the case this time. No one can predict with certainty where the stock market will go from here, but you can be sure that if you buy a few good mutual funds when the DOW is at 8,000 you’ll be doing better than those who bought near 14,000, right?

If you still have a job or business income, there are some real benefits in an economic recession. If the recession has hit you personally in the form of a lost job or lower business revenue, try to see it as an opportunity to explore new ways of doing things. Maybe you’ll find your dream job or discover new ways to grow your business. More than one person has gone from good times to rough times only to find that the path lead to an even better future.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

For example, those who are called lucky usually are prepared. What kind of preparations do they make? Considering the unpredictability of the future, they usually do what needs to be done to take advantage of any opportunity that arises. That means having decent positioning, such as time to deal with the unexpected and several income sources. It also means having money set aside.

Look at what that money is worth now. Measured by real estate, it has increased in value by 30% or so. Or it can buy 100% more shares of most stocks now. This can be an opportunity for those who were prepared.

Attitude is another area where lucky people generate their own luck. For many people, the drop in the value of their home is seen as a negative thing. They feel poorer as a result. But “positive” and “negative” are largely a matter of perspective. Let’s consider how a person with a better attitude and perspective might deal with this.

To begin with, those who have a lot of good luck usually ask themselves, “What good can I make of this situation?” With that question in mind, a man might realize that if his house is worth 30% less he can probably get his property taxes lowered, since they are based on value. He may even find a cheaper home insurance policy. Now if he is paying less to live in the house, and he had no intention of selling any time soon, what is negative here? He has made this into a good situation.

More than that, remember that lucky people look for the opportunity in every problem and have some time and money prepared to take advantage of them. So is a 30% drop in real estate prices a problem for someone like that? What else can such a person do with this supposedly “bad” news?

Imagine that a woman owns a home that was worth $150,000 three years ago, but is now worth only $105,000 – which is about what she owes on it. Having the traits of lucky people, she naturally has some money set aside and lives below her income, and is always looking for the “bright side of things.” So she recognizes that the $250,000 homes she has wanted are also down by 30% or so, which means she can buy one for around $175,000.

Now, she could sell her existing home for what she owes, having lost $45,000 in value since the peak of the market. Even at that she would be happy, because she is saving $75,000 on the home she is buying, versus the peak price. But she decides to rent it out to cover her costs, and sells it for $157,000 a few years later when the real estate market recovers. By that time her new house is worth 262,000 – a gain of $87,000. That’s how the lucky get luckier.

Even those who lose their jobs during this economic recession can turn that to their advantage if they have the right attitude and habits. Six months of unemployment checks buys the time to start a new low-risk, low-investment business, for example. It might also be an opportunity to change careers, to find something more interesting to do. Adopt the perspectives and actions of lucky people, and you can generate your own good luck even in an economic recession.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

To begin with, you might want to turn off the stream of bad news on the television. You get the picture, and there isn’t actually that much “usable” information that you can get from these sources. Believe me, you’ll hear about any really “big” news anyhow.

Once you have stopped feeding yourself a diet of negativity, start developing new habits and perspectives. See problems as opportunities, for example. See every setback as a valuable lesson (and many of them will be more valuable and less expensive than the ones you got in college). Start choosing to be in the right places at the right times.

With the habits and thinking patterns of a lucky person, you’ll find ways to make the coming years some of your best. Here are some examples of the opportunities that are out there in the midst of this recession.

1. Buy Stocks On Sale!

If you have been hesitating for years to invest in stocks, hoping for a “half price” sale, this may be your chance. I won’t try to guess where the market is headed next, but it sure has to be better to invest when it is lower than back when it was at record highs.

2. Pay Less For Your Home

If you don’t yet own a home, you’ll be happy to know that they cost less now. In fact, even if you own one, the drop in prices offers the opportunity to get your property taxes and possibly your insurance lowered. Record low interest rates (this is being written in early 2009) mean you might be able to refinance and pay less each month on your mortgage loan.

Many people are only seeing the negative in the real estate slump. Those who create their own luck look to see how there may be opportunity in these problems. Paying less for a loan, insurance and taxes means paying less for a home – regardless of where the current value may be. Incidentally, you might make back everything you lost in home value if you buy a few rental homes while they are cheap, and interest rates are low.

3. Learn Valuable Lessons

The idea of learning lessons the “hard way” is not too inspiring, but why not? Many people have come back from bankruptcy to become wealthy. Others have lost jobs only to discover what they really want to do with their lives. The hard times come in any case, so why not make them into turning points on the path to a better life?

There are great opportunities during this recession for many people to learn about the perils of consumer debt and how better handle money. It’s a chance to rearrange priorities, identify what really matters, and build a sounder foundation for personal and financial success. This is not only true of individuals. As a country we might want to see this as a time to build an economy that is not based on ever-increasing debt, but on sounder principles.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

1. The Dealers Real Cost

The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) is the price that consumers supposedly are meant to pay. Of course, most know they can do better than that, so they look for the Dealer Invoice Price (usually listed on the sales sheet on the vehicle). They try to get a price close to that.

What many people don’t know is that this does not necessarily define the lowest you can go, because it is not the actual dealer cost. In fact, this number is essentially a lie that manufacturers and dealers create to help THEM with negotiations. For a variety of reasons, the dealers real cost is almost always substantially less than this, so keep that in mind.

2. Dealer Incentives and Holdbacks

Among the things that lower the dealers true costs are special incentives they are offered by the manufacturer, as well as holdbacks. A holdback is an amount paid to the dealer by the manufacturer upon the sale of a car. Doing it this way (rather than simply selling the cars to the dealer for less, is a way to artificially inflate the cost on paper, which helps with negotiations with “smart” buyers.

There are places where you can find out about holdbacks and incentives. Consumers Reports, for example, in addition to having some information about these things in their magazine, also has a service that provides you all of this sort of information about any car you are considering buying. Look for their “New Car Price Service.”

3. Overpriced Extras

Much of the profit on a new car is made from the extras that consumers buy. Some certainly can be worth the price, but others are almost worthless or at least grossly overpriced. Though there are exceptions, as a rule avoid undercoating, rustproofing, fabric protection, windshield etching and extended warranties.

4. Don’t Mention Your Trade In

Negotiate everything else before you mention that you have a car to trade in. Otherwise, the dealer may hold out for a higher price on the new car just so he can appear to be offering you a decent price on your trade in. Prior to going to the dealer, look up the value of your existing car in one of the used car price guides (available in your public library or online), so you know what you might get selling it on your own. Take the dealer offer if it is anywhere near this.

5. Buy At The Right Time

When is the right time to buy if you want the best price? Certainly you can watch for sales, special manufacturer rebates and such. These can save you hundreds of dollars or more. But one of the lesser known car buying secrets is to shop near the end of the month.

Why? Because many car dealers pay bonuses to employees based on total sales for the month. Towards the end of the month then, the sales people are often trying to meet some goal that might win them a bigger bonus. This gives you more negotiating power. Mention at some point “I might wait until (pick a day that is the first or second of next month) to make a decision.” You might just see the price come down at that point.

6. Buy Used

What is perhaps the most valuable of these car buying secrets, is also a secret of millionaires. Although millionaires may buy more Mercedes or BMWs than Honda Civics, about 40% of them buy these cars used. Why? Because they recognize value. Surveys of repair costs and other data show that a three to four-year-old car costs up to 50% less per mile to own as a new car (less if you are paying cash, because part of the savings is in the interest savings on a lower-priced smaller-loan car). A three year old car should look almost new in any case.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

These finances are highly useful to sort out various financial problems like purchasing a new car, vacation, funds for higher studies, home improvement, wedding, consolidating debts and many other purposes. Moreover, small personal loans can be broadly classified into two categories. The first category is the unsecured personal loan. This is one of the best credits which requires no property as collateral. It can be availed even by people who have bed credit score. The second category is the secured personal loan. To avail this finance, one is required to present assets and documents as collateral. This credit is available at lower interest rates to the borrowers.

The personal finances can be obtained by people who are the citizen of UK and have a valid bank account. The age limit to avail these small debts is at least 18 years. If you meet the above criterion, then you can easily avail these credits without any hassles. To get these finances, the applicant can download an online form and after that he or she is required to fill up few personal details in that form. Once the online form is successfully filled up and submitted, one is completely entitled to avail these loans. So, grab these credits and remove your monetary worries.

The good thing about these finances is that these debts can be obtained even by people who suffer from the problems such as CCJs, IVA, arrears, defaults and some other problems. Since, these finances are small in amount there is no problems while repaying them. They can be easily repaid in easy monthly installments. Hence, they are one of the best financial tool for the borrowers and offer so many benefits. This is why the popularity of such loans is increasing day by day in the UK market.

So, if you are planning for a dream vocation or you want to undergo a treatment or you want to meet any other need, the small personal loans are one of the best solutions for you. They work well in time of financial crisis by providing the urgent cash to you. This is why they are one of the favourite financial tool among the UK borrowers. These loans are easily available from various online sites. One can also avail them offline as well from several leading money lenders in the UK financial market. Hence, if you are facing urgent cash problem, just visit Internet and find out the best personal finance for you.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Eat Less

Okay, I am not suggesting that you actually go hungry as a way to save money on food. But the things that the average person eats vary tremendously in price, so why not eat less of those things that cost the most and maybe aren’t so healthy? You don’t have to eat less over-all to save money if you eat fewer expensive dishes. This is true at home or when you go out to eat.

In fact, this tip could just as well have been titled “Eat More,” because one of the easiest ways to cut your consumption of expensive foods is to eat more of the foods that are cheap. In other words, if you get in the habit of filling up on a delicious and healthy cheap dish like seasoned rice and beans, you might not even have room for that expensive and unhealthy desert. In a Mexican restaurant you could fill up on the free chips and salsa and then just order a delicious appetizer in place of a regular meal.

Be a Gastronomic Opportunist

There is a way to eat all the same things you currently do throughout the year and even add more variety, while spending less money. How? By learning to enjoy whatever is on sale at the moment instead of insisting on always catering to the fleeting demands of your taste buds.

For example, you might enjoy oranges, strawberries, and apples. Perhaps you normally buy whichever sounds good at the moment you are in the grocery store. But these each go on sale when they are in season, sometimes for as much as 70% less than off-season prices. So if you were to eat oranges when they are cheap, then buy strawberries when they go on sale, and do the same with apples, you would still get all the variety you normally do, right?

But you would pay an average of maybe 50% less for your fruit. In fact, add kiwi fruit or other fruits and vegetables as they become plentiful and so drop in price, and you get even more variety. What’s more is that by doing it this way you get the best products, because these foods most often go on sale when they are at the peak of the season and fully ripe.

You can apply this strategy in restaurants as well. Just always look at the specials which are offered. You’ll always get variety in this way, and save money on the food you eat as well. You don’t have to see this as denying your desires, since you’ll get to eat everything you like and also get more variety than ever. Just see each meal or grocery purchase as a surprise gift.

Eat Before Shopping

This is perhaps one of the most important tips on how to save money on food. My personal “research” into this shows that we buy as much as 30% more at the grocery store if we are hungry while shopping. Furthermore, it seems clear that if we have more food in the house we eat more – this is especially true of the snacks we load up on when hungry. That makes this a tip for healthier eating as well as a way to save money. Eat before you go. It also helps to have a list and stick to it, except when you find great sales to take advantage of.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

You’re perhaps looking for an emergency cash loan but have a poor credit history. In this case, conventional borrowing may not be a solution. You have to think about a cash advance loan to see through the existing hard times. A cash advance is a small, short term loan that helps to cover an unexpected or urgent expense until your next pay day. After you receive your pay cheque, the cash advance loan amount and its fee will be deducted from your bank account. Getting a cash advance is easier than you think. Try to do a small market analysis before applying for a cash advance. List your unavoidable emergencies and calculate the minimum amount that can help you settle the financial issues. As payday loans are a bit expensive as compared to other traditional lending services, try to get the least amount that can solve your problems. Remember to select your payday lender carefully otherwise your financial condition can get worse. A cash advance from a online lender is as close as the nearest computer.

You can apply for a cash advance loan completely online from the privacy and convenience of your own room, and your money will be deposited directly into your savings account the same day or the next working day of the lender. There is no need to step out of your home, wait in the long queues and face any hassles. Normally the time taken to fill up an online application form is less than 5 minutes. Nothing to worry even if you don’t have the perfect credit score. Most of the cash advance payday lenders require that you have a job and a current account, which you probably do. Most of the lenders are connected to others via a network. So if you can’t get approved with one lender they will suggest another lender who sometimes can approve your application.

You can use the cash advance for anything from emergency expenses and overdue bills to car repairs and credit card bills. Getting a payday cash advance is really simple. If you have a job, bank account and Internet access, you can get money in minutes.

Benefits of payday loans

No boring and lengthy paper work
your financial information won’t be shared with others

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Another false premise is the whole “golden years” idea. First of all, why wouldn’t we want to enjoy life at every stage? Secondly, isn’t this idea of finally relaxing and no longer working based on the assumption that we all have to work at jobs we hate all of our lives – jobs we need to someday escape? Maybe instead of concentrating on saving enough to quit it all, we should spend more time earlier in life choosing the right work.

I don’t actually have many new ideas about retirement, because it just isn’t a meaningful nor necessary concept. But there are parts of it that make sense. Two in particular come to mind, and both should be addressed without regard to retirement or age.

First, it makes sense to be prepared for a time when you cannot work. Saving and investing part of one’s income accomplishes this, but there is no need to call it a retirement account. After all, you might be in a devastating car wreck at 29 years old, or you might be healthy and making a good living at 89. Age is certainly not the only determinant of when you might need a non-job income to live on.

In fact, the idea of retirement lulls people into the assumption that it is only in old age that we require or benefit from this kind of “survival preparation.” It might make more sense to have a plan for the loss of job or self-employment income at any age. At the present time there are millions of people in this country who are unemployed, and I’ll bet that many of them wish they had made some preparations for that.

The second thing that makes sense about retirement is the idea of having the time to do what you want. Even if you have a job you love, it could be useful to have the time to pursue other interests or to explore other aspects of life. You might want to travel the world, for example, or help build a hospital in another country. A source of income that doesn’t require you to work makes for a lot of freedom and creative possibilities.

Of course the concept of retirement isn’t necessary at all for this. In my own case, I often took “mini retirements” from jobs to travel or write or pursue other interests. All I had to do to make this possible was to save money and keep expenses low. There are ways to do this throughout life, and it really doesn’t make any sense to put off some things until you are old. Climbing mountains (one of my interests), for example, is safer and perhaps more enjoyable when younger.

The concept of retirement may very well bankrupt our country, given the impossible demands that are coming on the social security and medicare programs. It doesn’t make any sense to remove the productive capacity of a person from our economy and suck off the production of others to make it possible for that person to play bingo and watch television for years. It’s bad for the recipient (those who retire die much quicker on average), and is a double hit on the economy. Furthermore, Social Security never has been a retirement fund since nothing has ever been invested. It is welfare, so it makes sense to limit it to those who need it.

Let’s just eliminate the idea of retirement. Let’s help those who need help – old or not, prepare for times when work isn’t possible – which can come at any age, and make space for “creative time” throughout life. None of these goals needs the idea of retirement, and it actually gets in the way.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

This is where many people fail, they tend to rush things and quit when they don’t feel like something is happening. You have to follow through with your plan; you have to have the right mindset in order for you to achieve your goal of being able to repair your bad credit.

The planning part is where people hit a blank wall, they don’t know what to do, where to start and most are consumed by the thought of them having a low credit score and the disadvantages of having such. Plus, the worry of having to slowly repair a bad credit drains people’s energy and makes them helpless.

That is what this article aims to address, to show people what to do, where to start, and how to act whenever faced by the challenging task of having to repair a bad credit. And it’s all but 4 easy steps.

Step 1: Secure a credit report and study it. Find out what is making your credit score low. Look out for; missed payments, defaulted loans, current debt, recent financial challenge such as bankruptcy, negative reports, and the like… This is where your action plan will be focused on.

Step 2: If you don’t know it yet, find out where your credit score comes from. Credit bureaus look at 5 factors in determining your credit score. These are your payment history, current debt, length of credit history, new credit, and credit mix. Knowing these will enable you to personalize your strategy and target which factor needs most attention, but keep in mind that you have to take care of the other factors too; you don’t want to be addressing one factor and completely ruining another.

Step 3: Draw up your action plan. Now that you know how credit scores are come up with and you know what is making your score low, it is time to determine the steps that you need to take in order to repair your bad credit. Depending on your situation, you might need to pay down your debts, close out some credit lines, or consolidate debts. You might want to consult an expert when determining your action plan.

Step 4: Follow through and stick to your plan.

Step 4 is probably the most important step in repairing bad credit because the best plans won’t matter if you’re not disciplined enough to stick to it. Everything is hard before it becomes easy and bare in mind that if you quit, you will have to do it all over again right from the start.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The rule of thumb, in order to have positive cash flow, the household income must be greater than household expenses. Therefore, you should keep this in mind when planning your budget plan. If it works the other way round, you will have negative cash flow; meanings that you need to borrow money, which you may using your credit cards to cover the extra expenses. A household budget works with the purpose to let you have a better control on how your money flows.

The problem of many debtors who are suffering from overwhelming debt is either they don’t have a household budget or they can’t stick to the household budget they have planned for. Without a household budget or a budget that works, they won’t know where their money is being spent and they can’t in-line their expenses with their income. That’s why they never will have income that is great enough to keep them out of debt.

Knowing the key reason of most people get into debt problem is they fail to manage their money with a household budget. If you want to avoid yourself from getting into the same situation, you should plan a household budget that helps you to generate possible cash flow and follow the budget strictly to ensure you spend according to what you have planned for.

Setting up a household budget is not as complicated as many people think of. Generally, it involves below 7 simple steps:

1. Determine your monthly earnings from all income sources.
2. List all monthly expense and bills.
3. Allocate a buffer of 5% for any unforeseen spending.
4. Cut down or eliminate expenses that are optional.
5. Track what you have spent.
6. Allocate a portion of your earnings into your saving account.
7. Review and adjust from time to time to make sure the household expenses are within the budget.

Impulse buying and the convenient of using credit card for cashless purchases are the two major factors that might cause you to overspend. Therefore, you should reduce the use of credit card and buy items with a pre-planned shopping list. If cashless purchases cannot be avoided, make sure you have tracked them into your expenses tracking record to make sure you stay within your household budget.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

But before you can learn how to budget or do any financial planning, it is important to examine your current income and your current expenses so you know what you have to focus on the most, and what you have to focus on the least.

When you spend more than you earn, you are heading for financial disaster. If you don’t calculate every cent you make and spend daily, no matter how small it is, or have an accountant do it for you, you are setting yourself up to get into a lot of unnecessary financial trouble and frustration. Don’t make the mistake of only calculating some things because everything adds up.

Here are 4 quick guidelines to keep in mind when you are learning how to budget your money successfully.

1. Calculate your regular income. Include income from your wages, tips, interest on savings, child support payments, and any other source of income. Include that of your spouse also.

You may also want to consider more variable sources of income. Do you receive regular overtime or a large bonus? Is it guaranteed? Can you calculate average amounts by using past bank statements or pay slips? Try to be as accurate as possible and get to an average ‘net’ (after taxes) income.

2. Identify your expenses. First identify your large, predictable expenses. For most people these will be housing, taxes, insurance premiums, and utilities. Then for at least one month, record every daily expense no matter how small the amount. Save all receipts and expenses for one month.

Ideally, you should carry around a pen and small pad with you for one full month. Write down every amount you spend, what it is for and where you spend it. Many people underestimate these small but frequent expenses if they don’t keep careful records, I know I did.

Also try to estimate a budget for large, infrequent expenses. These are things like house repairs, insurance deductables, and purchases like cars and computers. Convert these from estimates like $12000 every 10 years, to $1200 per year or $100 per month so you can compare them with the other expenses and income. This will make it easier to manage also.

3. Compare income to expenses. Money coming in (income) and money going out (expenses). If your expenses are more than your income, you need to take action fast! Which of the expenses identified above will be easiest to reduce?

I know for me, going out to dinners and movies 4 times a week was a big money waister, I also had the best TV cable package available and was only watching 10% of the channels, what a waist. Now these may not be the same for you but everyone in there life is waisting there money on something, find out what your waisting it on and stop it immedietly, that is if you want to successfully budget your money and have some left over instead of always being broke.

4. Pay off your debts as fast as possible and start making the money that you have saves, work for you, by investing it. It is important that you commit to eliminating your debt. It will be difficult at first, but will get easier the more you get rid of.

The more your savings start to increase, the more you should be reinvesting it, so it can grow even more. This is a common trait of rich and successful people, they all reinvest the money they make, they all have their money working hard for them, and not the other way around.

If you master how to budget your money successfully, you are not only building a skill that will forever free you from the horrible reality of being broke, you are also putting yourself one step closer to being truly financially free, and there are very few things in this world more life changing than that, learn how to budget the right way, it is well worth it.

So I hope this information has helped you in some way, shape, or form and I need your help. Leave me a quick comment below about this information and what you think about it because it really helps me create better content for all my readers and viewers like you, thanks in advance!

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

In early 1910, director D.W. Griffith was sent by the Biograph Company to the west coast with his acting troupe, consisting of actors Blanche Sweet, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and others. They started filming on a vacant lot near Georgia Street in downtown Los Angeles. While there, the company decided to explore new territories, traveling several miles north to Hollywood, a little village that was friendly and enjoyed the movie company filming there. Griffith then filmed the first movie ever shot in Hollywood, In Old California, a Biograph melodrama about California in the 1800s, while it belonged to Mexico. Biograph stayed there for months and made several films before returning to New York. After hearing about Biograph’s success in Hollywood, in 1913 many movie-makers headed west to avoid the fees imposed by Thomas Edison, who owned patents on the movie-making process. In Los Angeles, California, the studios and Hollywood grew. Before World War I, movies were made in several U.S. cities, but filmmakers gravitated to southern California as the industry developed. They were attracted by the mild climate and reliable sunlight, which made it possible to film movies outdoors year-round, and by the varied scenery that was available. There are several starting points for cinema(particularly American cinema), but it was Griffith’s controversial 1915 epic Birth of a Nation that pioneered the worldwide filming vocabulary that still dominates celluloid to this day.

In the early 1900s, when the medium was new, many Jewish immigrants found employment in the U.S. film industry. They were able to make their mark in a brand-new business: the exhibition of short films in storefront theaters called nickelodeons, after their admission price of a nickel (five cents). Within a few years, ambitious men like Samuel Goldwyn, William Fox, Carl Laemmle, Adolph Zukor, Louis B. Mayer, and the Warner Brothers (Harry, Albert, Samuel, and Jack) had switched to the production side of the business. Soon they were the heads of a new kind of enterprise: the movie studio. (It is worth noting that the US had at least one female director, producer and studio head in these early years, Alice Guy-Blaché.) They also set the stage for the industry’s internationalism; the industry is often accused of Amero-centric provincialism.

Other moviemakers arrived from Europe after World War I: directors like Ernst Lubitsch, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, and Jean Renoir; and actors like Rudolph Valentino, Marlene Dietrich, Ronald Colman, and Charles Boyer. They joined a homegrown supply of actors — lured west from the New York City stage after the introduction of sound films — to form one of the 20th century’s most remarkable growth industries. At motion pictures’ height of popularity in the mid-1940s, the studios were cranking out a total of about 400 movies a year, seen by an audience of 90 million Americans per week.

Sound also became widely used in Hollywood in the late 1920s. After The Jazz Singer, the first film with synchronized voices, was successfully released as a Vitaphone talkie in 1927, Hollywood film companies would respond to Warner Bros. and begin to use Vitaphone sound — which Warner Bros. owned until 1928 – in future films. By May 1928, Electrical Research Product Incorporated (ERPI), a subsidiary of the Western Electric company, gained a monopoly over film sound distribution. A side effect of the “talkies” was that many actors who had made their careers in silent films suddenly found themselves out of work, as they often had bad voices or could not remember their lines. Meanwhile, in 1922, US politician Will H. Hays left politics and formed the movie studio boss organization known as the Motion Pictures Distributors Association of America (MPDAA). The organization became the Motion Picture Association of America after Hays retired in 1945.

In the early times of talkies, American studios found that their sound productions were rejected in foreign-language markets and even among speakers of other dialects of English. The synchronization technology was still too primitive for dubbing. One of the solutions was creating parallel foreign-language versions of Hollywood films. Around 1930, the American companies opened a studio in Joinville-le-Pont, France, where the same sets and wardrobe and even mass scenes were used for different time-sharing crews. Also, foreign unemployed actors, playwrights and winners of photogenia contests were chosen and brought to Hollywood, where they shot parallel versions of the English-language films. These parallel versions had a lower budget, were shot at night and were directed by second-line American directors who did not speak the foreign language. The Spanish-language crews included people like Luis Buñuel, Enrique Jardiel Poncela, Xavier Cugat and Edgar Neville. The productions were not very successful in their intended markets, due to the following reasons:

* The lower budgets were apparent.
* Many theater actors had no previous experience in cinema.
* The original movies were often second-rate themselves, since studios expected that the top productions would sell by themselves.
* The mix of foreign accents (Castilian, Mexican, and Chilean for example in the Spanish case) was odd for the audiences.
* Some markets lacked sound-equipped theaters.

In spite of this, some productions like the Spanish version of Dracula compare favorably with the original. By the mid-1930s, synchronization had advanced enough for dubbing to become usual.

Just when you as a parent thought you had seen and heard everything, something more bizarre arrives like the pitch black mirrored contact lenses are now seeing you. The meteoric rise of this new contact lens design have peaked the interest of the young and the weird.

This new type of special effect contact lenses is causing a stir not only in Hollywood but on the streets of Small town USA. We would like some things in Hollywood but these fantastic illusionist creations for the eyes are gaining momentum even in your town. were formed but you see them now on regular everyday folk.

These special effect contact lenses do not help people see better. In fact most people who wear them have no need for any type of corrective lenses. These theatricals or special effect contact lenses are meant just for their effect. There is a prescription required because these lenses are considered medical devices.

You would hope that this requirement would deter your teenager from getting a set of these scarier than real life contact lenses but it will not. Even though children don’t want to wear even contact lenses to correct their eyesight, they will opt to wear the pitch black mirrored contact lenses just for their scare quality. Whether these fantastic eye creations are just a fad, only time will tell. But in the interim thousands of these eye creations are being sold.

The advice of optometrist to parents is not to give in to the whim of the child and consent to an eye examination just to have their teenagers fitted with these theatrical contact lenses. However, thousands of optometrists have written the prescription for non-corrective lenses because an eye examination is also part of the yearly physical.

As a result, teenagers receive the prescription for these darker than life contact lenses. There is not an alternative because non-prescription sales of these pitch black mirrored contact lenses or any of the theatrical type of contact lenses is illegal. This is more dangerous because of the possibility of eyes damage from contact lenses not being properly fitted.

So your teenager has to get a prescription from an eye care professional to look as if they are dead or dying. These professional will properly fit the child for this scary fashion accessory.

Some of the more reputable lens manufacturers produce these theatrical brands of contact lenses for the public. CIBAVision and Crazy Eyes from Coopervision have been contact lenses household names for years. Their brands for the unusual contact lenses are appropriately named Wild Eyes and Crazy Eyes. But it is this new fad that has eyes and ears burning.

The popularity of pitch black mirrored contact lenses are a result of the theatrical makeup used by the Hollywood stars in their scariest movie roles. Vampires, ghost, goblins, is what our children want to emulate.

The same precautions and cleaning requirements must be adhered to as if they were for corrective lenses. These contact lenses must be cleaned and disinfected between each wear. Caution your teenager to not allow anyone else to use their contact lenses. As long as the safety and medical guidelines are followed, there should be no problems except you have to look at them of have them look at you through pitch black mirrored contact lenses.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Classical Hollywood cinema or the classical Hollywood narrative, are terms used in film history which designates both a visual and sound style for making motion pictures and a mode of production used in the American film industry between roughly the 1910s and the 1960s.

Classical style is fundamentally built on the principle of continuity editing or “invisible” style. That is, the camera and the sound recording should never call attention to themselves (as they might in a modernist or postmodernist work).

The Golden Age

During the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, which lasted from the end of the silent era in American cinema in the late 1920s to the early 1960s, movies were issued from the Hollywood studios like the cars rolling off Henry Ford’s assembly lines; the start of the Golden Age was arguably when The Jazz Singer was released in 1927 and increased box-office profits for films as sound was introduced to feature films. Most Hollywood pictures adhered closely to a formula—Western, slapstick comedy, musical, animated cartoon, biopic (biographical picture)—and the same creative teams often worked on films made by the same studio.

After The Jazz Singer was released in 1927, Warner Brothers gained huge success and was able to acquire their own string of movie theaters, after purchasing Stanley Theaters and First National Productions in 1928; MGM had also owned a string of theaters since forming in 1924, know through Loews Theaters, and the Fox film Corporation owned the Fox Theatre strings as well. Also, RKO, another company that owned theaters, had formed in 1928 from a merger between Keith-Orpheum Theaters and the Radio Corporation of America.

RKO formed in response to the monopoly Western Electric’s ERPI had over sound in films as well, and began to use sound in films through their own method known as Photophone . Paramount, who already acquired Balaban and Katz in 1926, would answer to the success of Warner Bros. and RKO, and buy a number of theaters in the late 1920s as well, before making their final purchase in 1929, through acquiring all the individual theaters belonging to the Cooperative Box Office, located in Detroit, and dominate the Detroit theaters.[4] For instance, Cedric Gibbons and Herbert Stothart always worked on MGM films, Alfred Newman worked at Twentieth Century Fox for twenty years, Cecil B. De Mille’s films were almost all made at Paramount, director Henry King’s films were mostly made for Twentieth-Century Fox, etc.

One could usually guess which studio made which film, largely because of the actors who appeared in it; MGM, for example, claimed it had contracted “more stars than there are in heaven.” Each studio had its own style and characteristic touches which made it possible to know this – a trait that does not exist today. Yet each movie was a little different, and, unlike the craftsmen who made cars, many of the people who made movies were artists. For example, To Have and Have Not (1944) is famous not only for the first pairing of actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall but also for being written by two future winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature: Ernest Hemingway, author of the novel on which the script was nominally based, and William Faulkner, who worked on the screen adaptation.

Movie-making was still a business, however, and motion picture companies made money by operating under the studio system. The major studios kept thousands of people on salary—actors, producers, directors, writers, stunt men, craftspersons, and technicians. And they owned hundreds of theaters in cities and towns across the nation, theaters that showed their films and that were always in need of fresh material. In 1930, MPDDA President Will Hays also founded the Hays (Production) Code, which followed censorship guidelines and went into effect after government threats of censorship expanded by 1930. However the code was never enforced until 1934, after the new Catholic Church organization The Legion of Decency – appalled by Mae West’s very successful sexual appearances in She Done Him Wrong and I’m No Angel – threatened a boycott of motion pictures if it didn’t go into effect, and those that didn’t obtain a seal of approval from the Production Code Administration had to pay a $25,000.00 fine and could not profit in the theaters, as the MPDDA owned every theater in the country through the Big Five studios.

Throughout the 1930s, as well as most of the golden age, MGM dominated the film screen and had the top stars in Hollywood, and was also credited for creating the Hollywood star system altogether [10]; MGM stars included “King of Hollywood” Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Gary Cooper, Mary Pickford, Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, James Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, Grace Kelly, Gene Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, John Wayne, Barbara Stanwyck, John Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Audrey Hepburn, Buster Keaton and Judy Garland, Another great achievement of US cinema during this era came through Walt Disney’s animation. In 1937, Disney created the most successful film of its time, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . Also, in 1939, MGM would create what is still the most successful film, adjusted for box office inflation, Gone with the Wind . Throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood, theaters were also controlled by the Big Five studios: MGM, Paramount, RKO, Warner Bros, and Twentieth Century Fox .

Many film historians have remarked upon the many great works of cinema that emerged from this period of highly regimented film-making. One reason this was possible is that, with so many movies being made, not every one had to be a big hit. A studio could gamble on a medium-budget feature with a good script and relatively unknown actors: Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles and often regarded as the greatest film of all time, fits that description. In other cases, strong-willed directors like Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Frank Capra battled the studios in order to achieve their artistic visions. The apogee of the studio system may have been the year 1939, which saw the release of such classics as The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Wuthering Heights, Only Angels Have Wings, Ninotchka, and Midnight. Among the other films from the Golden Age period that are now considered to be classics: Casablanca, It’s a Wonderful Life, It Happened One Night, King Kong, Citizen Kane, Some Like It Hot, All About Eve, Duck Soup, Bringing Up Baby, North by Northwest, Dinner at Eight, Rebel Without a Cause, Double Indemnity, Mutiny on the Bounty, City Lights, Red River, Rear Window, Singin’ in the Rain, My Man Godfrey and Top Hat.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Mosaic ITES is an online marketing company and a LSI based SEO firm based in Noida, India. Since its inception in 2002, the company is offering customer specific solutions in search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, link building, and web designing and development services to a global clientèle. The company has expertise in creation of meta tags, keyword research, internal linkings, directory submissions, and e-book creation and submissions.

About the Founder: The company was founded by Mr.Vikas Malhotra, an electronics engineer with majors in finance. He has over 10 years of experience in business establishment, stabilization, and growth. His skills are in e-business strategy consulting and online promotions & strategic planning.

Technology: Mosaic ITES is a Google Adwords Qualified Company. The pay per click marketing experts working with the company are Google certified professionals.

Mission of the company: Mosaic ITES’s mission is to create a huge domain of knowledge, resources, relationships, and software in the sector of Internet and Online Marketing. The vision is to be the largest provider of online marketing services in the world by 10th October, 2010.

Tips For Getting Digital Printing Services Online

Digital printing is the representation of digital images on a physical surface (generally on piece of paper). Digital printing is normally used for short print runs, and also for the customization of print media. The typical features of digital printings are:

- There is no printing plates in digital printing consequently every print can be different

- Since, bring the image “up to color” and checking for registration and position is not required, therefore, the probability of wastage of chemical and paper least.

- It manufactured technically very sound therefore; it prints pages very fast and error free.

- Digital Printing is used for personalized printing because it is cost effective for small prints.

There are many Companies who are providing print services online. Customer Can demand for digital printing services online. All Companies offer various models of digital printers with advanced features.

There are various professional uses of such as:

Custom text banners- it is advanced medium, cost effective, and more attractive way of advertising once products and messages. From black and white to rainbow colors of texts in various sizes printed over the banner always eye catching. People bound to take a look of these banners. The purpose of these colorful custom text banners is to make maximum publicity and promotion of products and messages.

Custom text banner, as name suggest can be customize as per requirement of customer. However, it is available in many formats such as:

Vinyl lettered banners- used for making strong statement. It is an economical way of representation and promotion of information of any businesses, organizations, and communities. The customized vinyl lettered banners have been used to design explicitly to deliver resilient and beneficial images for indoor as well as outdoor uses.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

first-class functions
Functions are first-class; they are objects themselves. As such, they have properties and can be passed around and interacted with like any other object.
inner functions and closures
Inner functions (functions defined within other functions) are created each time the outer function is invoked, and variables of the outer functions for that invocation continue to exist as long as the inner functions still exist, even after that invocation is finished (e.g. if the inner function was returned, it still has access to the outer function’s variables) — this is the mechanism behind closures within JavaScript.

In computer science, a programming language is said to support first-class functions (or function literals) if it treats functions as first-class objects. Specifically, this means that the language supports constructing new functions during the execution of a program, storing them in data structures, passing them as arguments to other functions, and returning them as the values of other functions. This concept doesn’t cover any means external to the language and program (metaprogramming), such as invoking a compiler or an eval function to create a new function.

These features are a necessity for the functional programming style, in which (for instance) the use of higher-order functions is a standard practice. A simple example of a higher-ordered function is the map or mapcar function, which takes as its arguments a function and a list, and returns the list formed by applying the function to each member of the list. For a language to support map, it must support passing a function as an argument.

There are certain implementation difficulties in passing functions as arguments and returning them as results. Historically, these were termed the funarg problems, the name coming from “function argument”.

Four Powerful Features of JavaScript Programming Language

In the community of web developers and surfers, JavaScript is highly popular as client side scripting language for web browsers. In any web application, JavaScript can be used to implement simple features like rollover of images as well as to make asynchronous requests to server using ajax. Few years back when flash was not so popular, JavaScript was widely used to add beautiful effects to webpages and is still being used for the same purpose. Let’s take a look at some of the features of this language.

1) Browser support: To access flash content, you need to install flash plugin in your browser. But to use JavaScript, you don’t have to use any plugin at all. This is because all browsers have accepted JavaScript as a scripting language for them and provides integrated support for it. All you need to do is to handle some of the tasks that are dependent on DOM (Document Object Model) of different browsers properly.

2) Can be used on client side as well as on server side: As JavaScript has access to Document object model of browser, you can actually change the structure of web pages at runtime. Due to this, JavaScript can be used to add different effects to webpages. On the other hand, JavaScript could be used on the server side as well. For example, in Alfresco which is a popular open source enterprise content management system, JavaScript is used in creating webscripts. This makes adding custom tasks to alfresco quite simple.

3) Functional programming language: In JavaScript, function could be assigned to variables just like any other data types. Not only that, but a function can accept another function as a parameter and can also return a function. You can have functions with no name as well. Clearly, this gives you the ability to code in functional programming style.

4) Support for objects: JavaScript is an object oriented language. However, the way JavaScript handles objects and inheritance is bit different from conventional object oriented programming languages like Java. Due to this, JavaScript supports most of the object oriented concepts while being simple to learn and use.

These are some of the features that give JavaScript an ability to handle simple as well as complex tasks. Due to this, JavaScript has remained as the most popular programming language for a long time. It is also a good language for people who want to learn computer programming as it supports object oriented as well as function concepts and to use it, you just need a browser and a text editor.

How to Data Drive a Test Script Using IBM – Rational Functional Tester – RFT

Step – 1: Creation of a Project: Project is the first & foremost workbench required to store the test assets which are needed for testing any application.

Step – 2: Beginning of the test script recording: Involves two steps like:

a) Choice of Datapool record selection order: While playing back, the test script accesses various records in the datapool either sequentially or randomly. Thus choice out of these two options is done from the “Datapool Record Selection Order” box from the Select Script Assets dialog box.

# Sequential order: Records are accessed by the test script in a sequential order as they appear in the Datapool.

# Random order: Every record gets accessed by the test script randomly once from the Datapool.

b) Finish the selections: Click “Finish” to minimize the Functional Tester window and launching the Recording Monitor.

Step – 3: Navigation across the application to a point desired to be data driven:

# Click “Start Application” on the Recording toolbar.

# Now do necessary actions across the application as desired to be recorded in the test script.

Step – 4: Data Driving the test:

a) Opening of the Insert Data Driven Actions page after halting the recording of the test script. To do this; click “Insert Data Driven Commands” on the “Recording” toolbar,

b) Key in the initial values which are desired to be seen in the Datapool in the fields required to be data driven in our application under test.

While recording is halted, we avoid recording of unwanted actions in the test script by populating such fields.

Step – 5: Selecting the test objects: Under “Populate then Select Test Objects” select the test objects through either of the two methods:

Method -1: “Press and drag hand to select test objects” is used to select an object and all the descendents of the selected object. This is the most common and direct method of selecting an object.

Method -2: For opening the Select Object to Data Drive page, “Use selection wizard to select test objects”. To do this click on the “Drag Hand Selection” method with its options, alternatively click on the “Test Object Browser” method.

Step – 6: In case we had opted for method -1 under Step – 5 above i.e. “Press and drag hand to select test objects”

a) Use the mouse to drag the hand shaped, “Object Finder tool”, to the object in the application which is desired to be selected. RFT automatically outlines this object with a red border.

b) Now release the mouse button.

The Data Drive Actions page shall open now. The information about the objects selected by us appears under the DataDriven Commands table.

For viewing the line of the code inserted by RFT in our test script, we need to place the mouse pointer over a row in this table for data-driving our application.

Step – 7: In case we had opted for method -2 under Step – 5 above i.e. “Use selection wizard to select test objects”, click on “Selection method” arrow for making a selection out of either of the further two methods:

Method -A: “Drag Hand Selection” method is used to include only the selected object, the selected object and the immediate children of the selected object, or to include the selected object and all descendents of the selected object.

Method -B: “Test Object Browser” method is used to browse for the object desired to be selected.

Step – 8: In case we had opted for method -A under Step – 7 above i.e. “Drag Hand Selection” method

a) Select or clear the option “After selecting an object advance to the next page”.

b) Use the mouse to drag the hand shaped Object Finder tool, to the object desired to be selected in the application. RFT automatically outlines this object with a red border.

c) Release the mouse button.

d) Click on “Next” if we opt for not selecting the option “After selecting an object advance to next page”.

e) Click on one of the following options:

# “Just the selected object”
# “Include the immediate children of the selected object”
# “Include all descendents of the selected object”

Step – 9: In case we had opted for method -B under Step – 7 above i.e. “Test Object Browser” method

a) Browse the object tree to find the object required to be data-driven.

b) Click on the part of the tree required to be selected. Then Click “Next”.

c) Click on one of the following options.

# “Just the selected object”
# “Include the immediate children of the selected object”
# “Include all descendents of the selected object”

d) Click “Finish”.

The Insert Data Driven Actions page opens & presents all the information filled in under
“Data Driven Commands” and “Selected Command Description”.

Step – 10: Click “OK” to finish the data-driving process for the script. This closes the “Insert Data Driven Actions” page and RFT presents a Datapool containing all the data gathered from the application.

Step – 11: Perform all other actions in the application, which we want to record. The actions can be like: Recording a verification point or inserting desired script support functions into the script such as such as a call script command, log entry, timer, script delay command, or comment etc.

Step – 12: Close the application, if we want closing of the application to be part of the script.

Step – 13: Click on “Stop Recording” on the “Recording” toolbar, to append all the recorded
Information to the test script and update the Datapool with new variables and associated initial values.

RFT window opens and the recorded script gets displayed in the editor window.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

If you are looking at the purchase as a source of revenue then there are certain steps that you should take to ensure the home will bring in as much money as possible. When analyzing what your mortgage payment will be you need to compare it to rental rates in the same area. A good rule of thumb is the property should be able to rent or cash flow for $200.00 more than your total mortgage a month. For example if your mortgage is $1000 PITI (principle, interest, taxes and insurance) a month. You would want to be able to rent the home for $1200 a month.

Also, ask yourself, “am I ready to be a landlord?” This will involve the task of finding and maintaining good tenants, answering phone calls about the toilet not flushing and sometimes having to do what’s right for you and your property, not what’s right for the renters. If you have the tendency to be “too nice,” land lording might not be for you.

No matter what your property is intended for, be sure to cover all the bases. Be as diligent as you were when buying your first home. Even more so, you will be able to apply any lessons you learned during that process on the new home and you should be able to avoid any mistakes or area of stress that were present in the first purchase. Many people that buy a second home find themselves buying a third and a fourth. Once you start to climb the equity ladder its hard to stop!

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

1. Legitimate of Credit Repair Company

It is important to ensure that you are selecting a legitimate credit repair company to perform your credit repair work, else you may waste your money without getting your credit score improve; in addition, an illegal credit repair company may cause your credit problem goes even worse. The rule of thumb, any legitimate Credit Repair Company should be able to provide you with at least half a dozen of references and you should be able to call these references for further clarification.

2. The Credit Repair Company Has Good Reputation

If possible, you should ask your friends, family and relatives who know someone with success story on repairing their credit by a Credit Repair Company. You can get the service from this proven reputable Credit Repair Company to do the credit restoration work for you.

3. Fee Payment Structure

Most common payment structures for many Credit Repair Companies are using the monthly “auto-debit” fee. In this structure, you normally will be asked to pay an up front fee of $49 to $99 and then a monthly fee of $39 to $49. Although this payment structure has advantage on affordability to pay the fee in monthly basis, but you need to aware that it also comes with many disadvantages such as the Credit Repair Company has no incentive to process your case quickly because the longer they drag your case, the more monthly fee they will collect from you and earn more. If your selected Credit Repair Company is using this payment structure, then, you will need to ensure some protection written in the agreement on the maximum fee or a guaranteed duration in your credit restoration work.

4. Located in Home State

The Credit Repair Company is doing your credit restoration work on behalf of you and it should look by credit bureau that the work is done by you. If the credit bureau catches that your credit repairing is done by a third party, they may mark the dispute as frivolous and flag your credit file. In order to ensure any mail goes to credit bureau is postmarked from your home state; you should always consider a Credit Repair Company which located at your home state, unless the Credit Repair Company which located out of your home state has a service that ensure all the mailing send to credit bureau will be sent from your home state through their branches or partners which located at your home state.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The first benefit of having a credit card is the ability to keep close watch on your purchases. When you are walking around with cash in your pocket it is very easy to spend your money quickly without realizing you are doing it. A credit card helps you track your money with a two-fold method. The first part of the method is actually reaching in your wallet and pulling out your credit card.

This makes you very aware of the money that you are spending. For whatever reason, many people think a bit harder about charging a purchase on their credit card than they do when they have cash in their pocket.

The second method for tracking your purchases is through your monthly statement. You have a complete rundown of everything you have spent your money on throughout the month. If you are trying to budget your money, having a monthly list of charges makes it glaringly obvious where you may be wasting money. You can total up the number of times you purchased a three dollar cup of coffee and see what that seemingly harmless purchase can add up to in a month.

Another benefit of having a credit card is the availability of services that are only open to you if you have a credit card. It is virtually impossible to rent a car or hotel room without a credit card. A world is closed to you if you cannot produce a credit card.

The credit card company protects your purchases, as well. Some credit card companies even provide insurance for purchases and even extend warranties. Your credit card company will protect you if you are wrongfully charged also. And if your card is stolen most credit card companies will not hold you responsible for the purchases made by the thief.

The bottom line is that responsible credit card ownership provides many benefits to the consumer. If you are disciplined with your card you will find that the perks far outweigh any downside. Pay off your purchases at the end of every month and you will find that you are able to acquire all the benefits without paying the price.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A credit card terminal/equipment is a device where you scan a card and enter the amount of the transaction, after which it contacts the credit card processing company through a phone line in order to accept or reject the charge. Some merchant accounts will come with a free credit card processing terminal while others will need you to buy it separately.

Depending on your preferences and budget, you can opt for a new equipment or you can go for a leased one. Few of them will even offer free equipment as an incentive, so that you can work with them. Before finalizing any decision, take in-depth look on all the prevailing rates and only the initial cost. Always make sure that the commissions and rates will help you in the long run.

If you’ve decided to buy equipment directly from your provider, make sure that you would br able to get it along with you in case you change providers. Once decided, go for a generic model and not one that is specific to the provider. Find out what kind of conditions are applied if you are getting a reduced price on equipment.

The hardware required for your business includes a credit card terminal, key pad and a printer. Always go for a user friendly design that fits in your workplace area. After the installation, try to understand its functioning and several features. This way you can help your prospective customers more conveniently.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Well qualified and experienced CPAs are an asset to any organization as far as their bookkeeping management skills are concerned. They are expert in handling all sorts of bookkeeping jobs with proper accuracy and efficiency. Bookkeepers New York offer quality assistance to their clients, as they are well acquainted with the use and functioning of latest tax software module, which has been developed according to the peculiar requirements. Hence, with the help of all such new techniques and tools, these professionals can easily perform all tedious bookkeeping tasks such as recording daily financial activities, printing the receipts, payment vouchers and tax receipts. Moreover, their perfect sense of time management also acts as an added advantage. In times of any financial problem, owners are free to take their valuable advice and suggestions, so that a proper growth rate of the company can be maintained throughout. Hence, in total, you can stay assured of the fact that with the guidance of expert bookkeepers New York, your company will always be two notches higher than the rest, in this competitive corporate world.

Bookkeeping is a section, through which, one can analyze the reputation and capabilities of the company. It is responsible for estimating the accurate position of the organization that whether it is a profit making business or a loss-making venture. Therefore, it is natural that every intelligent owner, would like to handle his bookkeeping management, only to experienced and well trained bookkeepers, who can understand each and every aspect of this field and can work efficiently according to its requirements. So, if you are a resident of New York city, then you can easily get benefited by the valuable assistance of bookkeepers New York, who in turn, are true veterans of this field.

Bookkeepers New York are substantially a reliable source from where, one can get his bookkeeping job done without any tension of identity theft and misuse of given information or date. Even, if you are taking their help through outsourcing process, you can stay assured with their strict security network, where no piece of your offered information will be given to any third party . Moreover, they will make sure to offer you the best possible chances of earning huge profits and a good reputation in the market. Even the very technically sound reports that need PDF formation and bar charts can be easily created under the supervision of these bookkeepers.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Lardo di Colonnata, to give it its full name, is a delicacy produced from pork fat in and around the Tuscan mountain town of Colonnata. Happily for fans of cured meat, it’s not only a frugal way of preserving pork fat over winter – it’s delicious too!

It’s made in large vats known as conche, fashioned from marble quarried at the nearby ‘white mountain’ of Cararra, which are first liberally rubbed with garlic. Next, layers of pork fat, salt, and a special mix of herbs and spices are added until the vats are full. The conche are then sealed with a wooden lid and left in cool mountain caves for 6 months or longer to mature in the clean air.

After the maturation time is over, the conche are opened to reveal a silky-smooth, meltingly tender ‘meat’ which can be eaten in much the same way as Parma Ham or other prosciutto.

While Lardo is often used to keep roasted meats moist by placing a thin layer over the skin, it is also delicious simply sliced thinly and eaten with bread, olives, and a good extra virgin olive oil as part of an antipasto course. It is not at all tough or greasy, and is well worth trying even if the idea of eating pure fat leaves you a little apprehensive!

Despite the long years of making Lardo in the traditional way, most of the examples that you may find in your local deli or store will have been made in a much more industrial setting, mainly as a result of modern hygiene laws taking precedence over customs and heritage. Gone are the marble conche and the mountain air, replaced by stainless steel and air conditioning.

However, visitors to the area around Colonnata may still be lucky and get hold of Lardo made in the old way that has been proven over the centuries – just don’t tell the authorities if you do!

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The welfare of the animal, under this way of thinking, is paramount and takes precedence over such considerations as profit, economy and availability. The animal must be given the chance to live a life free from suffering, in conditions that allow it to express its natural behaviours, and when the time comes for slaughter the process should be as free of stress and pain as is humanly achievable – which is, in this day and age, almost wholly so.

Under these standards, what could come higher on the ethical list than game such as venison, pheasant, or wild duck? Opponents of game will often base their dislike of the subject on the fact that the usual method of killing the animals is through shooting, which suffers from a reputation problem by being linked in with other ‘blood sports’ such as fox hunting. In contrast to cruel sports, though, the results of a game shoot will be destined for the pot, whether that of the shooter directly or to a member of the public through a game dealer. The animals are not being killed cruelly, and with a good marksman will not feel any pain.

If we set aside any misgivings engendered by the link with sport, we can see that game is probably the most ethically sound meat we can eat. There’s no classification of meats into free range or organic here – each animal lived a completely free life, behaving exactly as its species has evolved to, and was very likely to have met its end without any stress or pain at all.

It will have eaten a completely natural diet, and will not have been given any routine medication such as antibiotics or growth hormones. It will not have lived in cramped, overcrowded, conditions, and will have in fact avoided almost all contact with humans completely!

Compare this to the misery we routinely inflict on intensively reared animals such as broiler chickens, pigs, and veal calves, both in life and death, and it’s clear that game animals will have had much the preferable existence and dispatch, whatever prejudices we may hold against those who shoot as a sport.

And luckily for ethical meat eaters, game is amongst the most delicious food we’ll ever put on our plates!

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

This article discusses the essentials of a VoIP dial plan, detailed examples, and necessary guidelines pertaining to the order of dial plans.

Dial plans are one of the most confusing areas for beginner VoIP users and therefore should be planned carefully and thoroughly tested before putting them into a production environment. If a dial plan is not properly configured you make end up locking someone out from dialing a specific number.

0800 Number Voice Over IP (VoIP)

One of the latest technologies in data networking is VoIP. The success of VoIP is because of its compatibility with the voice networking over traditional telephone networks and cost advantages as its does not charge per minute over long distance calls. VoIP calls can be placed across the Internet. The best thing about VoIP is that it can be integrated with your 0800 numbers.

VoIP works with a high speed broadband connection, a router and a VoIP gateway. Along with your 0800 number, the router sends the telephone calls over an Internet connection. The VoIP gateway converts the analog signals into digital format, which are further broken packets, so that voice data can be transmitted to and from the computer. The biggest advantage of 0800 numbers along with VoIP is that the customers can make calls from Internet connection. With softphones, which is a software application that loads the VoIP services onto the desktop or laptop, you can place VoIP calls to anywhere in the world, through a standard broadband connection.

VoIP services that come along with an 0800 number are caller id, call waiting, call transfer, three-way dialing and repeat dialing and features. Additional services such as call filtering, forwarding, sending of calls directly to the voice mail, can also be access with an additional fee. You can also check your voicemail over the web or PDA. With VoIP on 0800 numbers you receive free registration to use other features as well such as Voicemail to Email Service, Fax to Email , Scheduled Dial plan, Call divert, Route to an external provider, Personalize VoIP Accounts, Check VoIP Status etc.

Generally, the VoIP services provided by an 0800 number may vary in significant ways. So it is better to check the pros and cons before subscribing it. Also make sure that you have technical support for the possible compatibility on your 0800 numbers.

Sunrocket Vs Packet8 – Cheap Annual Internet Phone Service Plans

Sunrocket used to be the cheapest high-quality internet phone service provider, and also the only VoIP provider that offered an “annual” prepaid VoIP plan. In a bold effort to stay ahead in the VoIP price wars, competing VoIP provider Packet8 recently introduced an annual unlimited local and long distance VoIP service option at the same price. Whether Vonage will follow remains to be seen, but for now Sun Rocket and Packet 8 lead the pack in offering the cheapest, high quality internet phone service.

Sunrocket

At $199 per year (paid up front), Sunrocket unlimited local and long distance phone service works out to less than $17 per month. Sunrocket built their business on this “flat rate” pricing plan, and cost-conscious consumers love it. Sun Rocket internet phone service is one of the fastest-growing VoIP service providers in the United States, and also one of the “big three” VoIP providers (along with Vonage and Packet8) due to their top quality service and ultra-low annual pricing.

The Sun Rocket unlimited local and long distance plan includes calling within the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. With the annual subscription, you get several free popular calling features including voicemail, 3-way calling, call waiting, caller ID with name, call forwarding, distinctive rings, call return, speed dial, and more. The unlimited annual plan also provides you with $3.00 in free international calling credits per month, which can mean up to 100 free minutes of international calling, depending on where you call.

Sunrocket’s annual unlimited plan also comes with free E-911 service, two free directory assistance calls per month, and a free extra phone number (area code of your choice) that you can use for anything you like. Sun Rocket VoIP service is true “what you see is what you get” pricing. The $199 annual fee includes everything except any additional international calling charges you might incur. Unless you make a lot of international calls (in which case you should get the Sunrocket Sunspots Plan), you will not see another phone bill until the following year when it’s time for renewal.

Packet8

Packet8 has been known as a top quality VoIP provider for residential and small business telephone service for quite some time. They have always had great rates on unlimited local and long distance residential internet phone service ($19.99 a month), but have now gotten even better. Packet 8 recently implemented an annual pricing plan for unlimited local and long distance service. At $199 per year, their Freedom Unlimited Annual plan matches Sunrocket’s excellent price, but they don’t offer unlimited calling to Puerto Rico like Sunrocket does.

With the Packet 8 unlimited annual plan, you get more free calling features than Sunrocket offers. All the basics like voicemail, call waiting, caller id, call return, and call forwarding are covered; plus you get extras like voicemail to email, anonymous call blocking, and do not disturb, just to name a few. E-911 service costs an extra $1.99 per month, and additional phone numbers cost extra too. The $199 annual fee covers all calling within the US and Canada, and you won’t see any extra charges unless you make international calls. Packet8 also offers a video phone plan and a couple of business VoIP plans.

Both Packet8 and Sunrocket offer excellent customer service and technical support, and both internet phone service installations are easy and quick (anyone can do it – really!). You can use your existing phone with either service as long as it’s a touch-tone model, and both providers allow you to keep your existing phone number if you wish. As with all internet phone service, you must have broadband internet in order to use it.

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The ability to determine the receiver’s absolute location allows GPS receivers to perform as a surveying tool or as an aid to navigation. The capacity to determine relative movement enables a receiver to calculate local velocity and orientation, useful in vessels or observations of the Earth. Being able to synchronize clocks to exacting standards enables time transfer, which is critical in large communication and observation systems. An example is CDMA digital cellular. Each base station has a GPS timing receiver to synchronize its spreading codes with other base stations to facilitate inter-cell hand off and support hybrid GPS/CDMA positioning of mobiles for emergency calls and other applications. Finally, GPS enables researchers to explore the Earth environment including the atmosphere, ionosphere and gravity field. GPS survey equipment has revolutionized tectonics by directly measuring the motion of faults in earthquakes.

The US Government controls the export of some civilian receivers. All GPS receivers capable of functioning above 18 km (60,000 ft) altitude and 515 m/s (1,000 knots) [85] are classified as munitions (weapons) for which US State Department export licenses are required. These parameters are clearly chosen to prevent use of a receiver in a ballistic missile. It would not prevent use in a cruise missile since their altitudes and speeds are similar to those of ordinary aircraft.

This rule applies even to otherwise purely civilian units that only receive the L1 frequency and the C/A code and cannot correct for SA, etc.

Disabling operation above these limits exempts the receiver from classification as a munition. Different vendors have interpreted these limitations differently. The rule specifies operation above 18 km and 515 m/s, but some receivers stop operating at 18 km even when stationary. This has caused problems with some amateur radio balloon launches as they regularly reach 100,000 feet (30 km).

GPS tours are also an example of civilian use. The GPS is used to determine which content to display. For instance, when approaching a monument it would tell you about the monument.

GPS functionality has now started to move into mobile phones en masse. The first handsets with integrated GPS were launched already in the late 1990’s, and were available for broader consumer availability on networks such as those run by Nextel, Sprint and Verizon in 2002 in response to US FCC mandates for handset positioning in emergency calls. Capabilities for access by third party software developers to these features were slower in coming, with Nextel opening up those APIs upon launch to any developer, Sprint following in 2006, and Verizon soon thereafter.

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* Navigation: GPS allows soldiers to find objectives in the dark or in unfamiliar territory, and to coordinate the movement of troops and supplies. The GPS-receivers that commanders and soldiers use are respectively called the Commanders Digital Assistant and the Soldier Digital Assistant.
* Target tracking: Various military weapons systems use GPS to track potential ground and air targets before they are flagged as hostile.[citation needed] These weapon systems pass GPS co-ordinates of targets to precision-guided munitions to allow them to engage the targets accurately. Military aircraft, particularly those used in air-to-ground roles use GPS to find targets (for example, gun camera video from AH-1 Cobras in Iraq show GPS co-ordinates that can be looked up in Google Earth).
* Missile and projectile guidance: GPS allows accurate targeting of various military weapons including ICBMs, cruise missiles and precision-guided munitions. Artillery projectiles with embedded GPS receivers able to withstand accelerations of 12,000 g’s or about 117,600 \frac {\text {meters}}{\text {second}^2} have been developed for use in 155 mm howitzers.[82]
* Search and Rescue: Downed pilots can be located faster if they have a GPS receiver.
* Reconnaissance and Map Creation: The military use GPS extensively to aid mapping and reconnaissance.
* The GPS satellites also carry a set of nuclear detonation detectors consisting of an optical sensor (Y-sensor), an X-ray sensor, a dosimeter, and an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) sensor (W-sensor) which form a major portion of the United States Nuclear Detonation Detection System.

Precision-guided munition :

Precision-guided munitions (PGMs, smart munitions, smart bombs, guided bomb units or GBUs) are guided weapons intended to precisely hit a specific target, and to minimize damage to things other than the target.[1] A guided bomb differs from a guided missile in that a bomb relies on the speed and height of the launch aircraft for propulsion, whilst a missile has an onboard engine.

Because the damage effects of explosive weapons fall off with distance according to a power law, even modest improvements in accuracy (and hence reduction in miss distance) enable a target to be effectively attacked with fewer or smaller bombs. Thus, even if some bombs miss, fewer air crews are put at risk and the harm to civilians and the amount of collateral damage may be somewhat reduced.

The creation of precision-guided munitions resulted in the renaming of older bombs as “gravity bombs”, “dumb bombs” or “iron bombs”.

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The GPS navigation message includes the difference between GPS time and UTC, which as of 2009 is 15 seconds due to the leap second added to UTC December 31 2008. Receivers subtract this offset from GPS time to calculate UTC and specific timezone values. New GPS units may not show the correct UTC time until after receiving the UTC offset message. The GPS-UTC offset field can accommodate 255 leap seconds (eight bits) which, given the current rate of change of the Earth’s rotation (with one leap second introduced approximately every 18 months), should be sufficient to last until approximately year 2300.

As opposed to the year, month, and day format of the Gregorian calendar, the GPS date is expressed as a week number and a seconds-into-week number. The week number is transmitted as a ten-bit field in the C/A and P(Y) navigation messages, and so it becomes zero again every 1,024 weeks (19.6 years). GPS week zero started at 00:00:00 UTC (00:00:19 TAI) on January 6 1980, and the week number became zero again for the first time at 23:59:47 UTC on August 21 1999 (00:00:19 TAI on August 22 1999). To determine the current Gregorian date, a GPS receiver must be provided with the approximate date (to within 3,584 days) to correctly translate the GPS date signal. To address this concern the modernized GPS navigation message uses a 13-bit field, which only repeats every 8,192 weeks (157 years), thus lasting until year 2137 (157 years after GPS week zero).

Coordinated Universal Time :

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC),[1] French: Temps Universel Coordonné) is a time standard based on International Atomic Time (TAI) with leap seconds added at irregular intervals to compensate for the Earth’s slowing rotation.[2] Leap seconds are used to allow UTC to closely track UT1, which is mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

The difference between UTC and UT1 is not allowed to exceed 0.9 seconds, so if high precision is not required the general term Universal Time (UT) may be used.[3]

In casual use, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) can be considered equivalent to UTC or UT1 when fractions of a second are not important. Owing to the ambiguity as to whether UTC or UT1 is meant, GMT is generally avoided in technical contexts.[3]

Time zones around the world can be expressed as positive or negative offsets from UTC; UTC replaced GMT as the basis for the main reference time scale or civil time in various regions on January 1, 1972.

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After SA, which has been turned off, the largest error in GPS is usually the unpredictable delay through the ionosphere. The spacecraft broadcast ionospheric model parameters, but errors remain. This is one reason the GPS spacecraft transmit on at least two frequencies, L1 and L2. Ionospheric delay is a well-defined function of frequency and the total electron content (TEC) along the path, so measuring the arrival time difference between the frequencies determines TEC and thus the precise ionospheric delay at each frequency.

Receivers with decryption keys can decode the P(Y)-code transmitted on both L1 and L2. However, these keys are reserved for the military and “authorized” agencies and are not available to the public. Without keys, it is still possible to use a codeless technique to compare the P(Y) codes on L1 and L2 to gain much of the same error information. However, this technique is slow, so it is currently limited to specialized surveying equipment. In the future, additional civilian codes are expected to be transmitted on the L2 and L5 frequencies (see GPS modernization, below). Then all users will be able to perform dual-frequency measurements and directly compute ionospheric delay errors.

A second form of precise monitoring is called Carrier-Phase Enhancement (CPGPS). The error, which this corrects, arises because the pulse transition of the PRN is not instantaneous, and thus the correlation (satellite-receiver sequence matching) operation is imperfect. The CPGPS approach utilizes the L1 carrier wave, which has a period one one-thousandth of the C/A bit period, to act as an additional clock signal and resolve the uncertainty. The phase difference error in the normal GPS amounts to between 2 and 3 meters (6 to 10 ft) of ambiguity. CPGPS working to within 1% of perfect transition reduces this error to 3 centimeters (1 inch) of ambiguity. By eliminating this source of error, CPGPS coupled with DGPS normally realizes between 20 and 30 centimeters (8 to 12 inches) of absolute accuracy.

Relative Kinematic Positioning (RKP) is another approach for a precise GPS-based positioning system. In this approach, determination of range signal can be resolved to a precision of less than 10 centimeters (4 in). This is done by resolving the number of cycles in which the signal is transmitted and received by the receiver. This can be accomplished by using a combination of differential GPS (DGPS) correction data, transmitting GPS signal phase information and ambiguity resolution techniques via statistical tests—possibly with processing in real-time (real-time kinematic positioning, RTK).

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Examples of augmentation systems include the Wide Area Augmentation System, Differential GPS, Inertial Navigation Systems and Assisted GPS.

Wide Area Augmentation System :

The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is an air navigation aid developed by the Federal Aviation Administration to augment the Global Positioning System (GPS), with the goal of improving its accuracy, integrity, and availability. Essentially, WAAS is intended to enable aircraft to rely on GPS for all phases of flight, including precision approaches to any airport within its coverage area.[1]

WAAS uses a network of ground-based reference stations, in North America and Hawaii, to measure small variations in the GPS satellites’ signals in the western hemisphere. Measurements from the reference stations are routed to master stations, which queue the received Deviation Correction (DC) and send the correction messages to geostationary WAAS satellites in a timely manner (every 5 seconds or better). Those satellites broadcast the correction messages back to Earth, where WAAS-enabled GPS receivers use the corrections while computing their positions to improve accuracy.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) calls this type of system a Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS). Europe and Asia are developing their own SBASs, the Indian GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) and the Japanese Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), respectively. Commercial systems include StarFire and OmniSTAR.

Differential GPS :

Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) is an enhancement to Global Positioning System that uses a network of fixed, ground-based reference stations to broadcast the difference between the positions indicated by the satellite systems and the known fixed positions. These stations broadcast the difference between the measured satellite pseudoranges and actual (internally computed) pseudoranges, and receiver stations may correct their pseudoranges by the same amount. The correction signal is typically broadcast over UHF radio modem.

The term can refer both to the generalized technique as well as specific implementations using it. It is often used to refer specifically to systems that re-broadcast the corrections from ground-based transmitters of shorter range. For instance, the United States Coast Guard runs one such system in the US and Canada on the longwave radio frequencies between 285 kHz and 325 kHz. These frequencies are commonly used for marine radio, and are broadcast near major waterways and harbors.

Australia runs two DGPS systems: one is mainly for marine navigation, broadcasting its signal on the longwave band;[1] the other is used for land surveys and land navigation, and has corrections broadcast on the Commercial FM radio band.

Two systems for air navigation and precision landing of aircraft, in Australia, will eventually replace the Instrument Landing System. Both utilise DGPS techniques and are called the Ground Based Augmentation System and Ground based Regional Augmentation Systems. Both of these systems broadcast corrections via the aviation VHF band.

A similar system that transmits range corrections from orbiting satellites instead of ground-based transmitters is called a Satellite Based Augmentation System. Different versions of this system include the Wide Area Augmentation System, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, Japan’s Multi-Functional Satellite Augmentation System, Canada’s CDGPS and the commercial VERIPOS, StarFire and OmniSTAR.

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Film critics working for newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media mainly review new releases. Normally they only see any given film once and have only a day or two to formulate opinions. Despite this, critics have an important impact on films, especially those of certain genres. Mass marketed action, horror, and comedy films tend not to be greatly affected by a critic’s overall judgment of a film. The plot summary and description of a film that makes up the majority of any film review can still have an important impact on whether people decide to see a film. For prestige films such as most dramas, the influence of reviews is extremely important. Poor reviews will often doom a film to obscurity and financial loss.

The impact of a reviewer on a given film’s box office performance is a matter of debate. Some claim that movie marketing is now so intense and well financed that reviewers cannot make an impact against it. However, the cataclysmic failure of some heavily-promoted movies which were harshly reviewed, as well as the unexpected success of critically praised independent movies indicates that extreme critical reactions can have considerable influence. Others note that positive film reviews have been shown to spark interest in little-known films. Conversely, there have been several films in which film companies have so little confidence that they refuse to give reviewers an advanced viewing to avoid widespread panning of the film. However, this usually backfires as reviewers are wise to the tactic and warn the public that the film may not be worth seeing and the films often do poorly as a result.

It is argued that journalist film critics should only be known as film reviewers, and true film critics are those who take a more academic approach to films. This line of work is more often known as film theory or film studies. These film critics attempt to come to understand how film and filming techniques work, and what effect they have on people. Rather than having their works published in newspapers or appear on television, their articles are published in scholarly journals, or sometimes in up-market magazines. They also tend to be affiliated with colleges or universities.

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Montage is a technique in film editing that can refer to:

* montage (filmmaking), a filmmaking technique which uses rapid editing, special effects and music to present compressed narrative information
* Soviet montage theory in the 1920s

Montage may also refer to:

* Montage (TV series), Documentary television series from 1960s and 1970s
* Montage (software), computer software for screenwriting
* Montage, an album by Japanese Shibuya-Kei artist Kahimi Karie
* “Montage,” a song from the original soundtrack of Team America: World Police. A slightly different version had appeared before in episode 603 of South Park.
* Sports training montage
* Montage, a Brazilian electro-punk band.

Mise en scène :

Mise-en-scène (French pronunciation: [mizɑ̃sɛn]) is an expression used in theatre and film to describe the design aspects of a production. It has been called film criticism’s “grand undefined term,” but that is not because of a lack of definitions.[1] Rather, it’s because the term has so many different meanings that there is little consensus about its definition.

Stemming from the theater, the French term mise en scène literally means “putting on stage.” When applied to the cinema, mise-en-scène refers to everything that appears before the camera and its arrangement—sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting.[2] Mise-en-scène also includes the positioning and movement of actors on the set, which is called blocking. These are all the areas overseen by the director, and thus, in French film credits, the director’s title is metteur en scène, “putter on scene.”

This narrow definition of mise-en-scène is not shared by all critics. For some, it refers to all elements of visual style—that is, both elements on the set and aspects of the camera. For others, such as U.S. film critic Andrew Sarris, it takes on mystical meanings related to the emotional tone of a film.

Recently, the term has come to represent a style of conveying the information of a scene primarily through a single shot—often accompanied by camera movement. It is to be contrasted with montage-style filmmaking—multiple angles pieced together through editing. Overall, mise-en-scène is used when the director wishes to give an impression of the characters or situation without vocally articulating it through the framework of spoken dialogue, and typically does not represent a realistic setting. The common example is that of a cluttered, disorganized apartment being used to reflect the disorganization in a character’s life in general, or a spartanly decorated apartment to convey a character with an “empty soul”, in both cases specifically and intentionally ignoring any practicality in the setting.

In German filmmaking in the 1910s and 1920s one can observe tone, meaning, and narrative information conveyed through mise-en-scène. Perhaps the most famous example of this is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) where a character’s internal state of mind is represented through set design and blocking.

The similar-sounding, but unrelated term, “metteurs en scène” (literally, “stagers”) was used by the auteur theory to disparagingly label directors who did not put their personal vision into their films.

Because of its relationship to shot blocking, mise-en-scène is also a term sometimes used among professional screenwriters to indicate descriptive (action) paragraphs between the dialog.

Only rarely is mise-en-scène critique used in other art forms, but it has been used effectively to analyse photography .

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A language is a system for encoding and decoding information. In its most common use, the term refers to so-called “natural languages” — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. In linguistics the term is extended to refer to the human cognitive facility of creating and using language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation and usage of systems of symbols—each referring to linguistic concepts with semantic or logical or otherwise expressive meanings.

The most obvious manifestations are spoken languages such as English or Spoken Chinese. However, there are also written languages and other systems of visual symbols such as sign languages.

Although some other animals make use of quite sophisticated communicative systems, and these are sometimes casually referred to as animal language, none of these are known to make use of all of the properties that linguists use to define language in the strict sense.

When discussed more technically as a general phenomenon then, “language” always implies a particular type of human thought which can be present even when communication is not the result, and this way of thinking is also sometimes treated as indistinguishable from language itself.

In Western Philosophy for example, language has long been closely associated with reason, which is also a uniquely human way of using symbols. In Ancient Greek philosophical terminology, the same word, logos, was used as a term for both language or speech and reason, and the philosopher Thomas Hobbes used the English word “speech” so that it similarly could refer to reason, as will be discussed below.

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There have been several lawsuits such as Hepting v. AT&T and EPIC v. Department of Justice by groups or individuals, opposing certain surveillance activities.

Legislative proceedings such as those that took place during the Church Committee, which investigated domestic intelligence programs such as COINTELPRO, have also weighed the pros and cons of surveillance.

Privacy (in Latin privatus ’separated from the rest, deprived of sth, esp. office, participation in the government’, from privo ‘to deprive’) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively. The boundaries and content of what is considered private differ among cultures and individuals, but share basic common themes. Privacy is sometimes related to anonymity, the wish to remain unnoticed or unidentified in the public realm. When something is private to a person, it usually means there is something within them that is considered inherently special or personally sensitive. The degree to which private information is exposed therefore depends on how the public will receive this information, which differs between places and over time. Privacy can be seen as an aspect of security — one in which trade-offs between the interests of one group and another can become particularly clear.

The right against unsanctioned invasion of privacy by the government, corporations or individuals is part of many countries’ privacy laws, and in some cases, constitutions. Almost all countries have laws which in some way limit privacy; an example of this would be law concerning taxation, which normally require the sharing of information about personal income or earnings. In some countries individual privacy may conflict with freedom of speech laws and some laws may require public disclosure of information which would be considered private in other countries and cultures.

Privacy may be voluntarily sacrificed, normally in exchange for perceived benefits and very often with specific dangers and losses, although this is a very strategic view of human relationships. Academics who are economists, evolutionary theorists, and research psychologists describe revealing privacy as a ‘voluntary sacrifice’, where sweepstakes or competitions are involved. In the business world, a person may give personal details (often for advertising purposes) in order to enter a gamble of winning a prize. Information which is voluntarily shared and is later stolen or misused can lead to identity theft.

The concept of privacy is most often associated with Western culture, English and North American in particular. According to some researchers, the concept of privacy sets Anglo-American culture apart even from other Western European cultures such as French or Italian.[1] The concept is not universal and remained virtually unknown in some cultures until recent times. A word “privacy” is sometimes regarded as untranslatable[2] by linguists. Many languages lack a specific word for “privacy”. Such languages either use a complex description to translate the term (such as Russian combine meaning of уединение – solitude, секретность – secrecy, and частная жизнь – private life) or borrow English “privacy” (as Indonesian Privasi or Italian la privacy)

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Michel Foucault :

Michel Foucault, born Paul-Michel Foucault (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984), was a French philosopher, sociologist and historian. He held a chair at the Collège de France with the title “History of Systems of Thought,” and also taught at the University of California, Berkeley.

Foucault is best known for his critical studies of social institutions, most notably psychiatry, medicine, the human sciences, and the prison system, as well as for his work on the history of human sexuality. His work on power, and the relationships among power, knowledge, and discourse has been widely discussed. In the 1960s Foucault was associated with Structuralism, a movement from which he distanced himself. Foucault also rejected the post-structuralist and postmodernist labels to which he was often later attributed, preferring to classify his thought as a critical history of modernity rooted in Kant.[1] Foucault is particularly influenced by the work of Nietzsche; his “genealogy of knowledge” is a direct allusion to Nietzsche’s genealogy of morals. In a late interview he definitively stated: “I am a Nietzschean.”

Early life :

Foucault was born on 15 October 1926 in Poitiers as Paul-Michel Foucault to a notable provincial family. His father, Paul Foucault, was an eminent surgeon and hoped his son would join him in the profession.[3] His early education was a mix of success and mediocrity until he attended the Jesuit Collège Saint-Stanislas, where he excelled.[4][5] During this period, Poitiers was part of Vichy France and later came under German occupation. After World War II, Foucault was admitted to the prestigious École Normale Supérieure (rue d’Ulm), the traditional gateway to an academic career in the humanities in France.

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Another common argument[94] is: “If you aren’t doing something wrong then you don’t have anything to fear.” Some critics state that this claim should be modified to read: “As long as we do what we’re told, we have nothing to fear.”[95]. For instance, a person who is part of a political group which opposes the policies of the national government, might not want the government to know their names and what they’ve been reading, so that the government cannot easily subvert their organization, arrest them, or kill them.[96] Other critics state that while a person might not have anything to hide right now, the government might later implement policies that they do wish to oppose, and that opposition might then be impossible due to mass surveillance enabling the government to identify and remove political threats.[95][97]. Other critics point to the fact that most people do have things to hide.[94][96] For example, if a person is looking for a new job, they might not want their employers to know this.

Terrorism :

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.[1] At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism.[2][3] Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants.

Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war. The history of terrorist organizations suggests that they do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness.[4] Individual terrorists tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their organization than by political platforms or strategic objectives, which are often murky and undefined.[4]

The word “terrorism” is politically and emotionally charged,[5] and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. A 1988 study by the United States Army found that over 100 definitions of the word “terrorism” have been used.[6] The concept of terrorism is itself controversial because it is often used by states to delegitimize political or foreign opponents, and potentially legitimize the state’s own use of terror against them. A less politically and emotionally charged, and better defined, term (used not only for terrorists, and not including all those who have been described as terrorists) is violent non-state actor.

Terrorism has been practiced by a broad array of political organizations for furthering their objectives. It has been practiced by both right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments.[7] One form is the use of violence against noncombatants for the purpose of gaining publicity for a group, cause, or individual.

Crime :

Crime is the breach of one or more rules or laws for which some governing authority, via mechanisms such as police power, may ultimately prescribe a conviction. While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime; for example: breaches of contract and of other civil law may rank as “offences” or as “infractions”.

When informal relationships and sanctions are insufficient to establish and maintain a desired social order, there may be more formalized or stricter systems of social control imposed by a government, or by a sovereign state. With institutional and legal machinery at their disposal, agents of the State can compel populations to conform to codes, and can opt to punish or to attempt to reform those who do not conform.

Authorities employ various mechanisms to regulate (encouraging or discouraging) certain behaviors in general. Governing or administering agencies may for example codify rules into laws, police people to ensure they comply with those laws, and implement other policies and practices designed[by whom?] to prevent crime. In addition, authorities provide remedies and sanctions, and collectively these constitute a criminal justice system. Legal sanctions vary widely in their severity, they may include (for example) incarceration of temporary character aimed at reforming the convict. Some jurisdictions have penal codes written to inflict permanent harsh punishments: legal mutilation, capital punishment or life without parole.

The label of “crime” and the accompanying social stigma normally confine their scope to those activities seen as injurious to the general population or to the State, including some that cause serious loss or damage to individuals. Those who apply the labels of “crime” or “criminal” intend to assert the hegemony of a dominant population, or to reflect a consensus of condemnation for the identified behavior and to justify any punishments prescribed by the State (in the event that standard processing tries and convicts an accused person of a crime).

Often a natural person perpetrates a crime, but legal persons may also commit crimes.

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The U.S. has run numerous domestic intelligence, such as COINTELPRO, which have bugged the homes, offices, and vehicles of thousands of U.S. citizens, usually political activists, subversives, and criminals.

Law enforcement and intelligence services in the U.K. and the United States possess technology to remotely activate the microphones in cell phones, by accessing the phone’s diagnostic/maintenance features, in order to listen to conversations that take place nearby the person who holds the phone.

COINTELPRO :

COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States. The FBI used covert operations from its inception, however formal COINTELPRO operations took place between 1956 and 1971.[2] The FBI’s stated moti