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About Income Investing: Q & A

Just the other day, I was discussing “retirement readiness” that has a small group of folks, many of whom were already retired. Not one of them owned, or had even read about, either equity or income Closed End Funds (CEFs)… vehicles that I have owned in professionally managed portfolios for years.

It is assumed that readers have read the six Q & A questions taken care of in Part One.

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7. Why does it look like CEFs, Public REITs, and Master Limited Partnerships are now being ignored by Wall Street, the Media, and a lot Investment Advisors?

All three are income producers, as soon as they are “out there” available on the market, they trade like stocks… independently fundamental merits possibly at a price solely dependent upon supply and demand. Unfortunately, income programs have just never attracted the type of attention and speculative zeal which has been there for virtually every breed of growth vehicle.

Income mutual funds and ETFs can produce shares when needed, holding market price equal to NAV (net asset value). But the sole aim of each is to cultivate the rate and to make a stock market comparable “total return” number… salary is rarely mentioned within their product descriptions.

An income purpose security may relax in the same price neighborhood for decades, just spitting out 6% to 10% in income to invest in college educations, a retirement lifestyle, and world travel. But most investment advisors, ETF passivists, and mutual fund managers are rated around the annual “total return” that their portfolios or indices produce… income programs just don’t generate year end trips and substantial bonuses.

I was fired more than once myself, right before the dot.com bubble burst, because my 10% to 15% “returns” from premium quality stocks and income producers just couldn’t contend with the speculative fever that propelled the NASDAQ to 5000…
But because the markets crumbled in 2000, the “no NASDAQ, no IPO, no mutual funds =’s no problem” operational credo produced significant growth and income.

Another dilemma is broker/advisor compensation in Wall Street firms… totally determined by selling proprietary products and “investment committee” recommendations. There’s no room for slow growth based on premium quality dividend paying equities and income purpose closed end funds.

Finally, government cost and cost performance myopia precludes any inclusion of CEFs in 401k along with employer sponsored investment programs. Vanguard’s VTINX retirement fund pays under 2% following a minimal fee; many much better diversified CEFs pay 7% and much better after 2% if not more in fees. Yet the DOL, FINRA, as well as the SEC have somehow determined that 2% income is better than 7% of what they have incorrectly labeled “retirement income programs”

You won’t see a CEF, even equity or balanced portfolio CEFs, inside a 401k security selection menu. Public REITs and MLPs are not likely to be there either.

8. How many several types of CEFs exist; what can investors purchase them; and therefore are there any penalties for trading them frequently?

CEFConnect.com lists 163 tax free funds, 306 taxables, 131 US equity, and 204 non-US as well as other.

A partial number of types and sectors includes: biotech, commodities, convertible bonds, covered call, emerging markets, energy, equity dividend, finance, general equity, government securities, health, high yield, limited duration bonds, MLP, mortgage bonds, multi sector income, diversified national municipals, preferred stock, real estate property, senior loans, 16 different single state municipals, tax advantaged equities, and utilities.

CEFs are ordered in the identical manner as well as the same cost as individual stocks or ETFs, high are no penalties, fees, or extra charges for selling them frequently… they trade totally free in managed, fee-only, accounts, and constantly pay more cash than their peer ETFs and mutual funds.

9. What about DRIPs (Dividend Reinvestment Programs)?

There are in least four main reasons why I choose to never use DRIPs.

I do not like the idea of exacerbating positions higher than the original cost basis.
I can’t stand to shop when demand is artificially high.
I would rather pool my monthly income and select re-investment opportunities that permit me to relieve position cost basis and increase yield at the identical time.
Investors rarely help to increase portfolios in down markets; just when I need flexibility to provide new positions.

10. What are the most crucial things investor’s should understand in terms of income investing?

Actually, if the investor can wrap his mind around just three things, he is able to become a successful income investor:

Market value change doesn’t have a impact on income paid, and rarely increases financial risk,
Income security prices vary inversely with monthly interest change expectations (IRE)
Income purpose securities has to be evaluated within the amount and dependability on the income they produce.

Let’s point out that, three decades ago, we obtained a 4.5% IBM bond, a 30 yr 2.2% treasury note, and 400 shares of your 5.7% P & G preferred stock, all at par, and invested $10,000 in each. The $1,240 annual income continues to be accumulating in cash.

In now frame, rates have ranged coming from a high above 12% and recent lows around 2%. They have made no lower than fifteen significant directional changes. The monatary amount of our three “fixed income” securities may be above and below “cost basis” many times, as the portfolio “working capital” (cost foundation portfolio holdings) was growing regular.

And anytime the prices of such securities moved lower, their “current yield” increased while the identical dividend and rates of interest were being paid.
So how does Wall Street make this type of fuss when prices fall? Why indeed.

Over many years, we’ve accumulated $37,200 in dividends and interest; the web link and treasury note matured at $10k each, along with the preferred stock remains to be paying $142.50 per quarter.

So our cash account is $57,200 and our working capital has risen to $67,200 basically we haven’t lifted a finger or spent a short time concerned about fluctuating market values. This will be the essence of revenue investing, and the reason it makes no sense to consider it in precisely the same way as equity investing.

Investors ought to be re-programmed to focus for the income production of greenbacks purpose investments, and realize reasonable profits when they’re produced by growth purpose securities.

What after we reinvested the income regular in similar securities? Or sold the securities once they went up 5% possibly even… and reinvested the proceeds in portfolios of similar securities (CEFs), instead of individual entities, for diversification greater yield?
Assuming just $500 profit each year and a 5% average rate of interest, the portfolio “working capital” would grow to $168,700… a gain of roughly 462%. Income could be $8,434… a gain of 680%

I’m hoping why these conservative income numbers enable you to get a little more anxious about having a serious income purpose allocation inside your “eventually a retirement income portfolio”… particularly income CEFs. Don’t let your advisor talk you out of trouble of it; wall street game investments are not designed to have the income job done… dependably, over our retirement lifetime.

CEFs allows someone to invest in diversified portfolios of fixed income securities, by design, always at above individual security rates.
CEFs offer a uniquely liquid entity that permits investors to learn from IRE caused price modifications to either direction. Yes, it is exactly what I used to say.

11. Why take profits should the income from the security hasn’t changed?

Compound interest would be the “holy grail” of greenbacks investing. A 5% profit realized and reinvested today works a whole lot harder than 5% received over the course in the next a few months. Also, when interest levels are rising, profit opportunities are scarce, and proceeds can be used to work more productively compared with falling or stable rate of interest environments.

So suppose we have a “limited duration” bond CEF yielding 6%. We’ve held it for 8 months so we’ve already received 4.5% and that we can sell it today in a 4% profit. Thus, we could realize a nifty 8.5% (actually a extra since we’ve reinvested the last earnings), in only eight months.

Then, we can easily shop around with all the proceeds for the new CEF yielding 6% or older and desire to do a similar trade sometime soon with another in our holdings.

A second re-investment method is to help to increase several positions which are priced below current cost basis and yielding a lot more than the CEF we merely sold. This is a fantastic way to improve the “current yield” of existing positions while, at exactly the same time, assuring you will have more abundant profit taking opportunities when interest levels cycle downward.

12. How does one keep “working capital” rising

Total working capital, as well as the income it generates, will continue to develop so long since the income exceeds all withdrawals on the portfolio. Note that capital losses have no influence on income in the event the proceeds might be reinvested at the higher “current” yield… but working capital does take a short lived hit.

Portfolios are maintained on their asset allocation “track” with every batch of monthly re-investment decisions, nevertheless the larger the income purpose “bucket”, the simpler it is to ensure steady development in both income and dealing capital.

13. What is Retirement Income Readiness?

It will be the ability to get this statement, unequivocally:

Neither a currency markets correction nor rising rates of interest will have a negative affect on my retirement income. In fact, it’s more likely that either scenario enables me growing both my income and my working capital even faster.

My articles always describe elements of an investment process I have owned since the 1970’s, as described in my book, “The Brainwashing with the American Investor”. All the disciplines, concepts, and operations described therein interact to produce (in my opinion) a safer, more cash productive, investment experience. No implementation really should be undertaken and not using a complete knowledge of all aspects in the process.

Financial Freedom For All

Blocvault, a truly unique opportunity

Over the past 5 years I’ve been investing in crypto on exchanges and Defi. Recently I’ve been looking for a project that can bring me sustained returns even when the market enters a bear run. In my Defi search I was rugged by more projects than I would like to admit. That was until I found the Blocvault ecosystem and their latest module that lets you generate passive income!

The team is different from other projects because there is no false hype and no empty promises. A utility is developed and is ready at launch. Too many projects launch a token and then there is an agonising wait for utility if it comes at all. Not with Blocvault. Build it first then bring the hype.

What is the Blocvault ecosystem?

Blocvault is a fully doxxed public registered company in the UK. They are building a series of independent modules that revolve around a central token (BLVT token). Each module through the use of smart contracts will have buybacks of the BLVT token. The Ecosystem will be a one stop shop for investors and project alike to buy, sell, swap, invest or launch a token.

The first module that has been developed and delivered is Blocvest which has the BVST token.
What is Blocvest

Blocvest can deliver sustainable passive income through the innovative 3 vault system. The different vaults allow investors to tailor their returns to suit their investment strategy.

To make this sustainable Blocvest has put the following measures in place

A treasure contract
Anti whale tax
Microfees
Limited supply of gold and platinum NFTs
Limited number of trickle vault claims
A max deposit limit on trickle vault
A max compound total on trickle vault

Trickle Vault-
The principal is simple, The longer you compound the bigger it gets. Withdraw or compound at the starting rate of 0.50% every 24hrs. If you want larger rates of return you can purchase NFT boosts.

Bronze –     .75%
Silver-     1%
Gold-     1.5%
Platinum-    2%

You are limited to 365 claims in the trickle vault to make it sustainable but if you compound 6 days and claim on the 7th it’ll take you 7 years to deplete your wallet. The returns are mind blowing

Shareholder Vault-

The Shareholders vault is tied directly to token taxes. A staggering 50% of all Buy & sell taxes is directly converted to BUSD and added to this vault. Earn passive income month on month by harvesting your BUSD share on the first day of each month. Vault unlocks 3 months after initial deposit. Dollar value of deposit reclaimable if you choose to exit. Watch your investment grow with mass token adoption over time.

Accumulator Vault-

We all save to accumulate but it’s the REWARDS that count. Accumulator is a crypto Worlds first 5/1 or 20% interest rewards vault. Choose from weekly by weekly or monthly deposits and earn 20% monthly as you do so. Release your tokens for use on other vaults or sell them to take profits. Participants can release the first instalment once they deposit the second instalment over and over again while gaining an HUGE 20% reward monthly.

Planning A Move To The U S Understand U S Tax Residency Rules

If you are contemplating a move to the United States (U.S.), note that you should consider tax implications well ahead of your actual move date. Your tax liability in the U.S. is dependent on your citizenship or residency status in the U.S.:
  • U.S. citizens and resident aliens are taxed on their worldwide income
  • Non-resident aliens are only taxed on their U.S. source income

This may present opportunities to structure your financial affairs before being subject to the full U.S. tax system.

US Tax residency

How U.S. Tax Residency is Determined

From the standpoint of the U.S., you are either a U.S. citizen or an alien. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you are considered a resident alien or a non-resident alien. Aliens may be considered resident aliens under the following conditions:

  • Green Card Holder – lawful permanent resident
  • Substantial presence test
  • Elections to be treated as a U.S. tax resident

An income tax treaty can override U.S. tax residency.

Each of these categories of U.S. tax residents are discussed below in addition to general U.S. state tax residency rules and U.S. estate and gift tax residency rules.

U.S. Citizenship

If you are a U.S. citizen, you are taxed on your worldwide income, no matter where in the world you may reside, and no matter where your income may be derived. Generally, you are a citizen of the U.S. if you were born in the U.S. or born to a U.S. citizen parent who lived in the U.S. for a certain number of years after age 14. This can sometimes create issues for Canadians born in the U.S. or to U.S. parents; these people may be accidental Americans.

U.S. citizenship can be renounced, but this can create issues if you have a high net worth or income, or have later plans to work in / travel to the U.S.

Green Card Holders

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may issue a (lawful) permanent resident card (LPR) allowing you to reside and work permanently in the U.S. as an immigrant. You would then be referred to as a Green Card holder or LPR. The tax treatment of Green Card holders is like that of U.S. citizens: you’re taxed on worldwide income no matter where you may reside or earn that income. However, your Green Card may be revoked if you abandon the intention to reside permanently in the U.S.

A Green Card may also be surrendered/abandoned.  In the case where a Green Card has expired but has not been formally revoked by USCIS (via the filing of an I-407 Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status) or surrendered by the holder, you are still subject to U.S. worldwide taxation and reporting.

If you are a non-resident alien receiving a Green Card during the year, you should determine the start date of your U.S. tax residency (e.g., the day from which you become subject to worldwide reporting in the U.S.) If you do not meet the substantial presence test, your first day of tax residency in the U.S. is the day you are issued your Green Card. If you do meet the substantial presence test, you first day of tax residency in the U.S. is the earlier of:

  • The first day of presence during the year under the substantial presence test, or
  • The day you are issued your Green Card

Substantial Presence Test

The substantial presence test may deem a non-resident alien to be a resident alien based on the number of days they have resided in the U.S. To qualify under the substantial presence test, you must be present in the U.S. for a least:

  • 31 days during the current tax year; and
  • 183 days over the current year and preceding two years, calculated as follows:
    • All of the current year days spent in the U.S.; plus
    • 1/3 of the days spent in the U.S. in the first preceding tax year; plus
    • 1/6 of the days spent in the U.S. in the second preceding tax year

You are considered to be present in the U.S. on any day in which you are physically present in the U.S. at any time during the day, except:

  • Days where you commuted to work in the U.S. from a residence in Canada or Mexico and back again, if you regularly commute to work from outside the U.S.
  • Days where you are present in the U.S. for less than 24 hours and where you are in transit between two locations outside of the U.S.
  • Days you are unable to leave the U.S. due to a medical condition that develops while in the U.S.

If you meet the substantial presence test, you can still be treated as a non-resident alien because of a closer connection to a foreign country. This closer connection is met if you:

  • Are present in the U.S. for less than 183 days during the current tax year;
  • Maintain a tax home in a foreign country during the current tax year;
  • Have stronger residential ties to the foreign country in which you have a tax home; and
  • File Form 8840 Closer Connection Exception Statement for Aliens with your U.S. return for the tax year

It is important to note that if you are physically present in the U.S. for 183 days in the current year, you may not claim closer connection to another country and are a U.S. tax resident. Also, if you have made an application for a change in status to Lawful Permanent Resident (Green Card holder) and are substantially present in the U.S., you are a U.S. tax resident under Regulations 7701(b)(3)(B) and (C). There may be relief from U.S. taxation through operation of the tax treaties in both these situations, but a U.S. tax return disclosing, but not taxing, worldwide income and full foreign information reporting would still be required. Careful planning around timing of the application for a Green Card is required.

If you are a non-resident alien qualifying under the substantial presence test during the year, you should determine the start date of your U.S. residency (e.g., the day from which you become subject to worldwide reporting in the U.S.) Under the substantial presence test, the first day of residency in the U.S. is the first day of presence in the U.S. However, you may exclude up to the first 10 days of presence in the U.S. for the purpose of determining the first day of residency if:

  • Those 10 days are non-consecutive;
  • You are a resident of another country during the excluded period; and
  • You have a tax home in another country during the excluded period

As an example, let’s meet Cassie. Cassie was born and raised in Canada and came to the U.S. for a work assignment in 2021. Her parents are not U.S. citizens.  She was in the U.S. for 142 days in 2021. She was in the U.S. for 99 days in 2020 and 42 days in 2019.

Cassie does not meet the substantial presence test in 2021 based on the calculation below. We could possibly file Form 8840 Closer Connection Exception Statement for Aliens for Cassie for 2021, as she was in the U.S. for less than 183 days in the current year, and presuming that she had a closer connection to her home country.

Year Days Present in U.S. SPT Inclusion Ratio Days Counted for SPT
2021 142 1/1 142
2020 99 1/3 33
2019 42 1/6 7
Total     182

Elections to be Treated as a U.S. Tax Resident

There are a few different elections available if you wish to be treated as a U.S. tax resident. These are summarized as follows:

  • First-Year Election 7701(b)(4)
    • If you will meet the substantial presence test in the next tax year, you may elect to be treated as a part-year (dual-status) resident of the U.S. in the current year, as long as you were present in the U.S. for at least 31 consecutive days in the current year, and in the U.S. for at least 75 percent of the time beginning with the first 31 consecutive days in the current year and ending December 31st of the current year.
    • Advantages:
      • May be able to claim additional exemptions for spouse and dependents
      • Can claim post-arrival foreign deductions and foreign taxes which would not ordinarily be available
    • Disadvantage:
      • Post-arrival worldwide income is now subject to U.S. taxation, however a foreign tax credit may mitigate the increased U.S. tax
  • Full-Year Elections 6013(g) and (h)
    • Spouses who are not both full year residents may elect to be taxed as full year residents, under certain conditions
    • This enables you to file joint returns (which can only be filed by full year residents)
    • Advantages:
      • Can use married, filing jointly tax rates and tax brackets
      • Can claim post-arrival foreign deductions and foreign taxes which would not ordinarily be available
    • Disadvantage:
      • Entire year’s worldwide income is now subject to U.S. taxation, however a foreign tax credit may mitigate increased U.S. tax
    • Please note that filing a Married Filing Joint U.S. tax return is a silent election to have both spouses treated as U.S. resident taxpayers for the full year. This election cannot be easily revoked after the filing deadline.

Income Tax Treaty

At the time of this writing, the U.S. has a tax treaty in force with 66 countries.  If you are arriving from one of these countries to the U.S., it is likely that the residency article of the respective tax treaty will help determine your U.S. tax residence status. As an example, Article IV of the U.S.-Canada Tax Treaty states:

  • Paragraph 1 – A “resident of a Contracting State” is defined to mean a person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax by virtue of their domicile, residence, citizenship, or other criterion. This basically outlines that tax residency is first determined under each country’s tax rules.
  • Paragraph 2 – By virtue of paragraph 1, an individual may be a resident of two Contracting States at the same time – a dual resident. When this occurs, the U.S.-Canada Tax Treaty provides tie-breaker rules for determining the country in which you are a tax resident. The tax residency tie-breaker rules look at the following, in order:
    • The country where you have a permanent home available to you
    • The country where your centre of vital interests is strongest. Your centre of vital interests is defined as your personal and economic ties, such as the location of your family and social relations; your occupations; your political, cultural, or other activities; your place of business; the place from which you administer your property; etc.
    • The country in which you spend the greatest amount of time (habitual abode)
    • The country of your citizenship (note that a U.S. Green Card holder is not a U.S. citizen)
    • Competent authorities of both countries will settle the question of your tax residency by mutual agreement if the above sequence of tests is not conclusive

U.S. State Tax Residency

Generally, each state has its own tax residency tests, which typically differ from the U.S. federal concepts. Many states use a domicile test, which considers you a tax resident of that state, even if you were outside of that state for a temporary period. Domicile is the place where you have your permanent home and where you intend to return if you are living or working temporarily in another state. Your domicile is a question of fact.

Many states also have deemed domicile tests. As an example:

  • Arizona deems you to be a tax resident if you spend more than nine months of the tax year in the state
  • New York deems you to be a tax resident if you maintained a permanent place of abode in the state, and, spent more than 184 days in the state during the tax year

Note that you can be a U.S. state tax resident, but not a U.S. federal tax resident. Likewise, you can also be a U.S. federal tax resident, but not resident in any state.

U.S. Estate and Gift Tax Residency

U.S. estate and gift tax has a different concept of residency than income tax. You are subject to U.S. estate and gift tax if you are:

  • A U.S. citizen, or
  • Domiciled in the U.S. (see above for definition of domicile)

No-Lapse Rule

If after departing and terminating U.S. tax residency in one calendar tax year, a non-resident alien returns to the U.S. and resumes U.S. tax residency at any time during the subsequent calendar tax year, the alien will be classified as a resident alien for the entire continuous period. This can lead to unintended U.S. tax implications, and thus should be closely monitored.

Conclusion

As you likely gathered from this article, U.S. tax residency is complicated! It is best to review your unique situation with a qualified cross-border tax planning advisor and financial planner as soon as you begin spending more than a couple of months a year in the U.S., and well ahead of your actual move date to the U.S. There may be opportunities to structure your financial affairs before being subject to the full U.S. tax and reporting system. For more information, please contact Cardinal Point.

How Can Personal Finance Software Help Me?

 

In the good old days, personal finance for most people meant simply balancing their checkbook once a week and making sure they had enough money in the bank to cover the monthly bills. Of course that was long before the days of multiple credit cards, electronic fund transfers, PayPal, and the dozens of other complicated financial transactions made by even the average person on a daily basis. These days, keeping track of person finances can be quite a chore and can often overwhelm you, leading to a less than perfect financial situation.
Modern life has created additional headaches in our daily lives, but fortunately it has also provided new tools to use to control them. Personal finance software is the best option for keeping one’s personal finances organized and up to date.
Personal finance software comes in many varieties, each offering a specific set of financial tools. The simplest forms simply keep track of multiple bank accounts, including credit card accounts. The most complete versions offer tax tracking, investment tracking, budget analysis, electronic banking and a long list of other features. How much you need depends on your situation and how closely you want to track your finances.
Most banks now offer free electronic banking to their customers. Make sure that whichever program you choose, it is capable of taking advantage of electronic banking. The vast majority of programs offer this feature as standard so you shouldn’t have to look hard. With electronic banking, you can easily check your balance, automatically download statements, transfer funds among accounts and have all your information seamlessly transferred into your electronic account register.
The two powerhouses of financial software are Quicken from Intuit Corporation and Microsoft Money. Both companies offer several versions of the program and generally offer the same features. The interfaces are slightly different and one’s preference will likely come down to which one appeals to you most. New editions are released each year to account for changes in banking and tax law and owners of the previous year’s edition will receive discounts to upgrade.
Another option that is growing in popularity is software that is kept entirely online. You never actually download a program to your computer and can access your information from any computer connected to the Internet, including SmartPhones. This is referred to as “cloud computing.” Some websites offer a low monthly fee to use the software and other sites are free and entirely advertising supported. Some people prefer this method for its convenience and other people stay away from these programs due to security fears.
Once you begin to use personal finance software you’ll wonder how you ever managed your finances without it. People become addicted to seeing the computer generated reports of exactly where their money goes each month. They often find this makes it easier to create a budget and stick to it. Even if you simply want to keep your basic checking account up to date, personal finance software is worth the small price.

Looking at Mortgage Prices On the Web

 

House owners who’re about to re-finance their residence might find the web to become a extremely worth it reference. The net is effective as it may give your property owner a great deal of info plus the power to assess various costs coming from various creditors from their own ease. Although these types of alternatives make re-financing a far more handy procedure there is certainly far more risk of threat. Nonetheless, house owners that exercising handful of wise practice with the web pertaining to re-financing end up finding they’re not from any extra chance.
Shop around anytime
Just about the most common benefits to studying re-financing on the web is to be able to shop around in the homeowner’s benefit. This will be significant simply because many householders perform extended hours and sometimes discover they’re not capable of meeting using loan companies through normal enterprise hrs due to employment vices. The world wide web, on the other hand, is actually wide open At any hour and also enables home owners to analyze his or her possibilities, help make crucial computations or even obtain on the internet estimates whenever you want of waking time using computerized techniques.
Property owners could also take his or her period researching the particular quotations these people get readily available creditors on-line rather than sensation urged to offer a sudden result. Whilst home owners might have a number of added time at hand, the house owners need to comprehend they are doing have to work fairly rapidly in order to secure quotations these people obtain because rates tend to be moment vulnerable naturally and should not become assured with regard to a long.
Only use Reputable Assets
House owners who will be online to analyze re-financing alternatives and get rates ought to cautiously look at his or her solutions when generating essential judgements about the issue regarding re-financing. Property owners that stay with popular loan providers along with set up web sites will never probable knowledge troubles nevertheless people that decide on a fresh loan provider might be surprised at the final results from the re-financing test.
House owners who’re uncertain regarding the trustworthiness of the certain useful resource as well as financial institution must do further investigation around the organization. One of several simplest ways to get this done would be to seek advice from better Organization Institution (Better business bureau). Your Better business bureau might be able to provide you with the home owner together with useful details concerning the amount of prior issues contrary to the organization. A firm who’s a lot of wavering grievances should be thought about the hard to rely on firm. Nevertheless, home owners shouldn’t believe organizations with no substantial amount of issues are usually respected except if the business has been doing lifetime for several many can be a person in the particular Better business bureau.
Property owners also needs to try not to become confused by simply expensive web site design. A domain that appears extremely skilled is just not always an internet site that can be correct as well as educational. Several experienced web site creative designers can make internet sites which can be equally desirable as well as professional. These kinds of site developers also can boost a web site regarding distinct mortgage similar key phrases thus people obtain the web page quickly when you are evaluating these kind of conditions yet this doesn’t automatically make web site custom proficient in the topic in order to re-financing.
Verify Loans directly just before Choosing
While you shop regarding re-financing alternatives on the internet is definitely simple and easy, home owners must look into doing the application form procedure sometimes directly or older the product as opposed to counting on an automatic method. As you move the World wide web will work for study reasons, property owners will take good thing about one on one conferences or perhaps mobile phone meetings ought to a bunch of their appropriate queries. Inquiring these concerns may help the particular property owner to be sure they know the credit conditions along with all his / her available alternatives.
Doing your re-financing procedure directly or higher the telephone may also steer clear of the property owner coming from staying surprised at any kind of portions of your mortgage re-finance. This will likely consist of further service fees that are added upon in the control with the request, prices that are only accessible in some scenarios or even additional factors with the re-financing contract that could considerably result the actual homeowner’s making decisions course of action.

Dany Bahar’s Why Not? Choosing the Right Attitude in Life

 

Who says you can’t have dreams in today’s business environment? To not have vision is to not have ambition. To not have ambition is to not have regard for yourself and others around you.
It is sad to know there are people who can’t see over the horizon. They walk towards it but when they reach it, they stop and don’t know whether to go left or right. So they stay where they are, lacking challenges and bogging further down into their own personal mire.
When people ask ‘why?’, the answer should be, ‘why not?’. The word ‘can’t’ doesn’t exist in the dictionaries of visionaries, captains of industry nor business owner’s dictionary. They say the word ‘CAN’T’ doesn’t exist because in every situation, whatever the hurdles ahead, ‘YOU CAN’.
Lack of experience or self-confidence should not prevent anyone from trying nor taking up opportunities. Look at some of the recognised world leaders: John F Kennedy for example – he refused to believe there is any other alternative to CAN. The CEOs of global conglomerates such as P&G, IBM and their ilk refuse to take ”CAN’T’ on the chin. These are leaders of men. Take Dany Bahar, CEO of Group Lotus, for example. He has actually proven this in both his personal and professional life; the word ‘can’t’ is obsolete. Undoubtedly, this attitude has led people to question his motives, but not his achievements.
When in the past, people have told him he can’t do something or, more maddeningly, that ‘it is not possible’, he got annoyed. Such is his determination of character and natural instinct that he has taken negative comments and turned them into positives actions. In fact, in every instance, he has gone out of his way to prove his disbelievers wrong, such is his nature.
There is a deep-rooted ambition inside people like Bahar – a motivation to achieve something extraordinary, something that goes beyond the norm, which propels them on. By focusing on the negativity of individuals, he believes that situations can be turned around to a positive energy. This has led to several conflicts in the past but only with those who lack vision. Although this approach has led to some individuals thinking him arrogant, this has never been his emotion nor intention.
He comes from very humble beginnings: his mother was originally a hotel cleaner and his father an electrician, but they both eventually aspired and achieved greater things. This gave him the inspiration to aspire to greater things and to accept opportunities when he was lucky to have been given them.
People like Bahar have never been attracted by so-called ‘normality’. They have never followed ‘the crowd’ as they say. They are people of their own convictions. They don’t want to walk in other people’s footsteps – they’d rather walk in their own.
They strive to achieve something different and the Dany Bahars of the world embrace things which are different. When he was given the opportunity join Group Lotus he embraced it. He had to put up with his cynics – those who said they didn’t know the ‘real’ Bahar – who said he was an enigma. But people like this man shrug it all off and say ”Does it really matter?
They are who they are and that’s what really matters and that’s also what makes them want to drive their businesses forward. In Bahar’s case it is driving the Group Lotus brand and propelling it – against the odds, mind you – back to the glories of its past but with a futuristic frame of mind.
He’s only been in the driving seat for a little over 18 months and he wouldn’t have moved from Ferrari if he hadn’t believed in himself and knew that the Lotus brand, which he already knew so well from his formative years, was destined for greater things.
He took over the helm from a very much respected, accomplished and able CEO – Mike Kimberley. He had to follow in great footsteps. But he was also coming from a different direction and he wouldn’t have been true to himself if he hadn’t employed the principles of his experience from the past. Where Kimberley was first and foremost a brilliant engineer, Bahar comes from another discipline. This was probably why his appointment was viewed with a certain amount of cynicism from both the media and those in the industry.
But everyone brings their own talents to a job. He is proof that if you apply the ‘why not’ attitude then you can succeed.
His real start in business came in the ’90s when he saw a vacuum in the sponsorship marketplace. His ‘why not?’ attitude led him to approach Benetton, a major multinational, when he was promoting in-line skating in Switzerland.
He was young and inexperienced, but had the arrogance of youth and the vision to believe that he could achieve something with that project. It set the stage for the next level of his career and he’s not looked back. With this philosophy, he has instilled an inspiration into the Group Lotus workforce.
Bahar – and others like him say that everyone has the opportunity to be inspired and to aspire to greater things and so perhaps ‘why not?’ should become the mantra for everyone. It has certainly worked for Dany Bahar.

Family and Personal Finance – Managing Your Personal Finances

 

Managing your Personal Finances is no different than a company managing finances. It’s all based on fixed and variable costs.
Family and personal finances are much like a company’s finances. Both are managed on fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs for your family would be the mortgage, car payments, insurance, heating, gas for the car, grocery, water and electricity bills. Variable costs might include eating out, movies, general entertainment, gym memberships, new clothes, or simply that coffee you buy in the morning. You won’t be able to completely do away with fixed costs. You’ll still have to pay a certain amount for these, but you can impact these costs and change the amount you spend. For instance, if your family only needs one car, but you have two, then eliminating one car payment is a tremendous monthly savings.
You can also change some habits, such as buying in bulk and spending less on groceries. Simple things like turning off the lights, taking quick showers instead of baths, and not running the water, also help. All of these little things can make a difference. However, the variable costs are those costs you can impact the most by changing your behavior. Not buying that A�1.00 coffee in the morning might seem like nothing, but everyday you decide not to buy that coffee is A�7.00 saved a week, A�30.00 a month, and over A�360.00 a year.
How often do you eat out for lunch or dinner? How much is that costing you and your family? The point here is not to say you should never buy anything. Rather, the purpose is to be aware of what you spend your money on, find areas to cut back on, and save money. It’s not as difficult as you might think. It simply starts with an understanding that you have both fixed and variable costs, and that you can impact both.
Take the time to write down your own list of fixed and variable costs and their appropriate amounts. After you’ve compiled your list, set a plan to reduce some of these costs. As you start to cut back, make sure that you apply the 70/30 ratio to your debt and savings. 70% of what you cut back on should go towards paying down your debt, and the remaining 30% should be added to your “pay yourself first” plan.
o Fixed costs: mortgage and car payments, heating, gas, water, electricity and grocery bills.
o Variable costs: eating out at dinner and lunch, entertainment, going out with friends, movies, coffee in the morning.
o Set up your own list of fixed and variable costs: Take the time to write down your own monthly costs. This will provide a better perspective on where your money goes.
o Use the 70/30 rule: Take the amount you are able to cut back on and apply 70% to pay down your debt, and the remaining 30% to your “pay yourself first” plan.
While this all may seem like a lot to do, it really is as simple as making smart choices. It’s simply a matter of deciding upon your priorities. The intention is not to lock yourself up in your home and never enjoy going out and having fun. However, you do need to make some concessions on how much you spend as a family. It’s not easy, but it is necessary.

Personal Finance – Understanding Personal Income and Expenditure

 

“It takes as much imagination to create debt as to create income” quote attributed to Leonard Orr; if this is the case, then why is it that we create debts more easily than an income? well, most of us do, I know I do… I work so hard to create my income but on the contrary I easily get into debts.
In the last 5 years I have found myself getting into more and more debts, the more debts I get, the easier it gets for me to get to the next one and the next. My bank does not help either, the more debts I have, the higher the borrowing rates I am banded in, I guess it is because I am considered as a high risk to the bank.
Then there is overdraft charges, bounced direct debit charges, checks, late payments on my loans, utilities, mortgages all compounding into increasing my debt thus lowering my credit score and consequently increasing my APR… my debts feels like snow ball, free falling from a hill getting bigger by second, getting more and more out of control.
I took upon myself to look back at how I got into debts in the first instance; I knew if I have any chance of regaining control of my finance, I will have to know how I got in. It pays to understand how one gets into debt, and to do so, understanding income and expenditure is important.
Income is any earning that lands at your disposal, it may be money earned through paid employment, as business profit, or from investments. Expenditure (or sometimes known as expenses) is any transaction that takes away your earnings, for instance paying bills, mortgage, loans etc.
Income and expenditure chart, table or write up, (also known as cash flow) is a snap-shot of your earnings versus expenses. It is in essence looking at what you earnings (income), usually monthly against expenses (outgoing). An average person would not bother writing down his/her cash flow.
Using cash flow, it is easy to see how one gets into debt. When income is lower than expenses (also known as negative cash flow), the shortfall (deficit) has to be covered somehow from somewhere and for most of us it is covered by borrowing (loan, credit cards, store cards).
I began to learn that, if I am to avoid getting into debt, I will have to “live within my means”, i.e. at least break even between my income and my outgoing. To do this, I needed to master my will, guts and learn not to be ashamed of where I was, financially.
Most of the time, the pressure of conforming to other people’s expectations (keeping up with Joneses) is the one that gets us to live beyond our means, thus getting into debts. What we don’t understand is, debts have crippling effects and they are addictive in nature.
Robert Kiyosaki, in his book Cash Flow Quadrant (2000, p205) rightly said, “people who cannot control their cash flow work for those who can”; if we are to become free, we have to learn to control our cash flow and this begins by WRITING DOWN monthly cash flow account (personal income and expenses account)… it is surprising how those unplanned A�5 expenses quickly adds up to A�100’s plunging one down into ‘negative cash flow’.
The aim is to take control of the personal cash flow with the objective of creating income higher than expenses, positive cash flow (surplus) and use the surplus to get out of debt, invest to create more surplus and of course to ‘spend’ on pleasure. My personal motto is: “live within my means, then increase my means”, for pleasure, use surplus only… thus, no surplus, no pleasure.

What is a Rate For Life Credit Card?

 

There are as many different types and styles of credit cards as there are financial institutions. The different types may be more suitable to one situation than another. A Rate for Life credit card can be a useful tool for helping to get debt under control by fixing a flat rate to the transferred balance.
* What is Rate for Life?
The premise is simple though the name can be interpreted differently. Rate for Life specifically refers to the life of a transferred balance to the card. Different providers will offer a low interest rate on the transferred balance but have a normalized APR for additional purchases made on the card. This low interest rate usually only applies on transfers made within a specified amount of time after the card is approved and until the transfer balance is paid off.
* Example:
Rate for Life Credit Card A offers a 5.9% interest rate on all money and balance transfers made to it within the first 90 days of acceptance with a 1.5% handling fee. Credit Card A features an APR of 16.9%. No matter what other purchases are made on the card, the original transfers will only be billed at 5.9% interest rate. Any additional purchases with Credit Card A will fall under the 16.9% APR and be subject to possible fluctuation of the rate.
* What kind of duration can I look forward to?
Unlike an APR that can fluctuate, a Rate for Life will not. The fixed rate will stay in effect for the duration specified by the card provider. This will differ between providers. Some companies offer a zero percent rate for transfers for 12-15 months that will convert to standard charge rates at the end of the grace period. Other cards will offer a low Rate for Life for the lifetime of the transfer balances no matter the duration. It simply depends on the card and provider.
* Example:
Credit Card A offers a consumer a 5.9% Rate for Life on balance or money transfers made within 60 days of establishing the account. That initial transfer balance will always enjoy that rate until it is paid off or switched from that particular card.
Credit Card B offers a consumer a 0% Rate for Life on balance or money transfers made within 60 days of establishing the account. After 15 months, this rate will convert to the standard APR of the card. Any additional charges on the card other than the grace period transfers will be at the regular APR.
* Can a Rate for Life credit card help me reduce debts?
There is no clear cut answer to that question. It will largely depend on your own personal circumstances and what you currently owe. A Rate for Life card can be an excellent way to get large debts locked into a good interest rate for future repayment. One will need to sit down and do the math behind their current payments and what they will be agreeing to. It should also be noted that many providers charge a small percentage of the balance being transferred as a handling fee. This fee should also be figured into the final calculations of the transfer cost.
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