How to Compare and Choose the Right ULIP Plan

A ULIP is an investment product launched by a few eminent insurance providers as compared to the more generalized form of insurance policies developed by others. It’s actually an integrated plan that creates both the opportunities of coverage and investment for the policyholder simultaneously.

The life coverage that you enjoy will claim a portion of your premium. The remaining portion is invested in a preferred fund so that you achieve a safety-shield for protecting the entire household financially. A ULIP plan yields great returns on the vested amount even in the event of any untoward incident. ULIP plans have always been preferred over other forms of insurance due to their lucrative features.

Things to consider while choosing ULIP plans:

Multiple funding options – When it comes to asset allocation, a plethora of options is created by the best ULIP plans in the industry. Compared to investing your entire savings in just a couple of funds, you may consider picking a ULIP plan with multiple funding options that offer a more diversified allocation in equities. A ULIP will help you gain a few additional investment options or an appropriate plan besides curbing your investment risks.

Choosinga plan online – These days, it has become a lot easier to choose an online ULIP plan due to their lucrative options. You may pick the right plan that matches your financial situation. It’s much easier to compare all ULIP plans online as you can check their features simultaneously.

The cost factor – You must pick a ULIP plan that seems more feasible in order to avoid the financial burden of meeting your premium. Your policy might lapse in case you’re unable to meet the cost of the premium. This isn’t a good thing for your financial situation.

Opportunity to switch – There are a few ULIP plans that yield the facility of switching between each of your funds. You’ll gain the flexibility to restrict investing in a certain fund and opt for another suitable fund of your choice.

Facility of redirecting premium – Choose a ULIP plan that comes with the advantage of premium redirection. It enables you to choose the right investment fund and percentage of premium that you wish to pay for it. You’ll even gain the flexibility of lowering and increasing the percentage depending on your changing financial needs.

You must ensure that your ULIP policy yields all the right features that other similar plans provide for. You must have the facility of transferring the accumulated investment from the current fund to a better one within your preferred time. It’s in your best interest to gain an opportunity for redirecting the premium in your chosen funds.

Gaining access to your wealth by way of partial withdrawal and loans is even important. You may also need to explore the option of paying your premium within a specified period while enjoying insurance protection and wealth accumulation for a longer duration. Besides that, you must also achieve tax benefits as per the Sections 10D and 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

How Binary Trading Options Valuable for a Web Trader

For binary options traders, the web existence is really important. To gain the utmost benefit out of every trade, some useful online tips and secrets are highly beneficial. Those traders who would like a prolonged success in binary options trading should follow them firmly. The tiny helpful take note can sometimes result in a significant margin of earnings, so traders are suggested not to disregard the tips whatsoever. An investor may take advantage of the web guides in the perfect way regardless of the backdrop experience in any kind of trading.

Online trading websites and binary options websites

There are many online binary options trading systems, including the Mt4 and Mt5 platforms, websites and message boards that will be ready to provide useful, simple, unsophisticated and well-timed information and data about the current and previous scenarios regarding the underlying property that ensures the assured come back on the trader's investment. Furthermore, such trading companies also supply the possibility to the professional and seasonal traders to believe from the field by getting the global point of view of the financial market segments.

Binary options broker's online guide

As it pertains to the binary options brokers, they offer a variety of helpful tools for the Crypto currency and forex to the website's participants by means of articles, sites, tips, recommendations, resources, tools, techniques, graphs, binary options signals, graphs plus much more. There are lessons to view and get up to date frequently. Furthermore, the ECN brokers offer their respected clients with dedicated websites that are mainly for the trading data and information for the shareholders. This all shows that there is absolutely no lacking resources or information online, which can advance the data of the market Trader and finally brings about success. The assistance of all reputable brokers is quality structured with no rip-off included. All the latest information, happening, politics changes and other aspects are recognized immediately after they are put on the broker's website.

Other online techniques for investors

For the steady success in binary options trading, the entrepreneur should be distinct enough to keep carefully the record and record of all latest news, reviews, press releases, conferences, speeches, plans and other macroeconomic aspects which may have the direct effect on the price change of the property, goods, securities, forex and other derivatives involved with binary options trading. Any kind of response from the respected country may fluctuate the worthiness of the advantage in the only second that can impact the success of the trade, performed by the Web Trader. Therefore, the demand and offer graph of the actual asset which investment has been made should be carefully discovered and examined, to earn the significant amount of cash from the trade.

Bonuses:

Most of the binary signals providers, working online offer bonuses for those who sign up. Some will give you free credit to try out their system; others will add a certain percentage to your deposit. It's a good idea to start trading on a platform that offers higher bonuses and possibly free money - this makes it safer for you to try them out.

Common Invoice Factoring Mistakes You Should Know

Factoring is used by many businesses to increase their capital. A factoring agreement is where the funding source, called the factor, buys the right of the seller (client) to collect on an invoice at a discount.

The factor usually pays most of the value of the invoice upfront and the remaining balance upon actual payment of the buyer. It is not a loan and helps keep the business cash flow steady. Here are some common invoice factoring mistakes to avoid:

1. Not sending an invoice - This one is pretty obvious, but a lot of companies don’t send invoices. Invoices should be sent for both written and verbal contracts. This is a means to remind your customer that they need to pay you and exactly how much they owe. People tend to have a lot of things going on for them and payables can easily happen.

Invoices are part of your records and if you’re not careful with your accounting practices, you could be at risk of being overcharged by the factor. Make sure you plan for how you account for the advance and fees attached to it.

2. Failing to ask for the maximum limit upfront -The factor will usually appraise your business and set a maximum amount that you can advance. You need to find out how much is available to you before you enter into an agreement. It is important that the amount is enough to fund your business so you that you can look for better alternatives if it is not enough.

On this note, you should also ask how much is the upfront percentage that you will receive. As already mentioned, the factor will pay a percentage of the total advance (75% to 85%) and pay the remainder once the buyer pays the invoice.

3. Not exploring all your options - Just as it is with any aspect in your business, you need to do a thorough research on your options for funding. Different businesses have different needs and thus have different financial solutions. Just because a friend’s business is doing well by using one particular facility does not mean it is good for your business to. Explore your options by finding out what’s available out there, weigh the pros and cons of each option and determine whether or not these apply to your business.

Consider your options before committing to a contract with one funder. Speaking of contracts, don’t commit to a long-term receivables finance contract of several years. You need to make sure that you have the ability to refinance or not and a long-term contract will limit this capacity. Make sure that you have an alternative plan and that you can gracefully exit the agreement and switch strategies when you see the need.

4. Not monitoring your factor’s relationship with your customer - Remember that once you enter into a debtor financing contract, your factor will be the one who will handle collections. They will be the ones who will deal with your customers in terms of invoice payments on your behalf. Make sure that the factor has exceptional customer service. They should make sure that your relationship with your customers remains intact and positive.

A good way to check your factor’s responsiveness and customer service practices is to try out their contact points yourself. Send them an email, give them a call and chat with their chat support and see how well they handle questions and attend to concerns.

One other important issue in this matter is that when you turn over your invoices to a funder, you will lose track of your customers’ payment habits. You will not know whether or not your customers are paying promptly. You will also not be able to keep track of your cash collection cycle. These are things you would want to think of when considering invoice factoring as a financial solution.

5. Invoice factoring vs. invoice financing - Make sure that you are entering into an invoice factoring agreement and not one for invoice financing. The difference between the two is that for invoice factoring you are turning over collections of your invoices to the factor as a third party in the sales contract with your customer. Invoice financing is where your invoices are merely used as collateral for a loan from the financing company.

It is also important to note that as a business owner, you should not turn to invoice factoring as a solution for every small setback in your business finances. Note that most invoice factoring finance companies have higher interest rates compared to business cash flow loans. However, it is easier to procure invoice factoring than it is to get a bank loan.

6. Failure to understand all the terms of the contract - Make it a habit to read everything when you are running a business. This is particularly important in contracts because you will be binding yourself to these terms and you will be held liable for any violations or non-conformity. Read the fine print, make sure that there are no hidden fees or conditions that were not made known to you upfront.

Be sure that you know the term requirement or whether you are required to meet monthly minimums. Find out what will be the penalties if the terms are not met. Determine these factors before you enter into an invoice factoring contract.

Business is not a simple, one-sided operation. There are so many factors to consider and this compilation of common invoice factoring mistakes will hopefully help you make sure that your business runs as smoothly as possible.

Whatever your business decisions are in terms of funding, debtor factoring etc, the most important factor to consider is whether or not you do need to bring in a third party into your business relationships. Consider the benefits as well as the risks and continually weigh these extremes because things and circumstances change. What you need now may not be what you need in six months or a year.

Aside from regular self-evaluation of your business practices and standards of procedure, take into consideration your customer. Are they happy with your practices? A good business standard is to make sure that your customers don’t just buy from you once. They should want to keep coming back to you to buy more.

Do-It-Yourself Investing: Can It Be Done?

For anyone wanting to make the most of the money they have, investing is often one of the most important and lucrative ways to do so. If you are someone who is thinking of trying to get started in investments of whatever kind, then you are probably keen to make sure that you get it right. This means that you should have a keen eye for what seems to work and what works less well, do whatever you can to make the right decisions, and try not to stress too much in the early days particularly. In this post, we are going to look at this style of do-it-yourself investing which requires the use of no agents or other similar help. Can it really be done by the layman?

No Agent Doesn’t Mean No Help

It is important to remember that just because you are going for a do-it-yourself kind of investment portfolio, that doesn’t mean that you can never have any help whatsoever. In fact, there is plenty of help to be had, and the main thing is that you know which to accept and which not to. Given that you are keen on investing in this way, you will likely want to turn away from anyone who appears to be seeking to tell you what to do with your money. But that doesn't mean you shouldn’t use services like Fundrise Reviews to discover how easy investing can be. With this kind of service, you will find getting started in investments much easier and simpler, and it might even mean that you get more out of them in the long run.

Building A Portfolio Takes Time

No matter who you are or what skills you have, building a portfolio is always going to take some time. It is wise to bear this in mind from the start so that you don't start the process with any unrealistic expectations which could only end up hampering you. If you are aware from the off that you will need to invest mostly a lot of patience in your investments, then you won’t be so disappointed when the results are not immediate, and you can instead choose to continue on until you reach what you are looking for. Patience is the key characteristic of many a good investor, and one which you should definitely not overlook if you can help it.

Learning The Art Of Timing

If there is any skill which will really serve to set you apart from others, it is your ability to time well your purchases and sales. Ultimately, investing is all about timing, as you want to make sure that you get hold of those assets at a low price and ultimately sell them on for much more. Learn the art of timing, and you will be able to make the most of your investments, regardless of what actually happens in the marketplace during that time. This takes time and a certain ability to look closely, so make sure that you try to develop that ability within yourself at the same time.

Why You Should Start Investing for your New Born Child Right Away

When you have a baby, your life will completely change. Although it is an exciting time, there are certain things that you must do without any delay. One of the important things you must reconsider is your finance.

A baby brings in several new expenses today and in the future. It is important that you start investing immediately to maximize your returns. When your child is younger, you have a long time to accumulate a good corpus that may be used for his/her higher education. Here are two reasons why investing early for your child is beneficial.

1. Power of compounding

When you invest your money, it earns certain returns. By compounding these returns further, earn additional income. As a result, you are able to accumulate wealth and build a good corpus over the long-term.

2. Lower stress

If you start investments for your child as soon as he/she is born, you will need to invest a lower amount. As your child grows older, you have lesser time to accumulate the amount needed for his/her further studies. Therefore, you will have to invest a higher monthly amount to ensure you have adequate funds. This may result in some financial stress, which is easily avoidable by starting early.

Financial planning is important to ensure you have sufficient funds to take care of your child’s future. If you failed to start planning when your child was born, it is still not too late. Here are different strategies you may use for your child’s secure financial future.

1. Equity-oriented portfolio

If your child is three to four years old, consider investing in equity and related financial products. The returns on equities may not be guaranteed due to market fluctuations and volatility. However, when your child is younger, you may assume a higher risk through equity investing. Historically, equities have delivered the highest returns amongst all asset classes in the long-term. You may also invest in mutual fund equity schemes through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs). This reduces your risk of direct equity investing while giving you the opportunity to earn higher returns.

2. Balanced portfolio

When your child is older, you may have only five to nine years to save and build a decent corpus for his/her education. Therefore, you have to reduce your risk while achieving balanced growth. Distributing your investments equally among equity and debt may be a suitable option.

You may opt to invest in mutual funds through balanced schemes that invest the fund corpus in debt as well as equity instruments. If you want to further reduce your risks, you may consider monthly income plans (MIPs) offered by asset management companies (AMCs). Such funds limit the equity exposure of the fund corpus to an approximate rate of 15% to 20%. However, the returns on MIPs are lower when compared to other types of mutual funds.

To include debt in your portfolio, you may commence a recurring deposit (RD) with a maturity date around when your child starts college. However, if you are in the highest tax bracket, consider an SIP in short-term debt funds for greater tax efficiency.

3. Debt-oriented portfolio

If your child will begin college within one to four years, you should reduce your investment risk. Therefore, building a debt-focused investment portfolio is recommended. It is advisable that you assume only 10% to 15% equity exposure as your child nears college.

This shift from growth to investment protection is crucial to ensure you do not run the risk of losing your entire savings due to unfavorable market movements. A sudden downturn may significantly reduce the value of your investments or may even completely erode its value. Therefore, discontinuing your equity SIPs and shifting towards short-term debt funds is recommended.

Financial planning is not a one-time procedure. You must regularly update and modify your plan to match your changing life situations. Here are two things you must remember.

1. Regularly monitoring

It is important that you regularly monitor and review the status of your investment portfolio. You must make modifications to your holdings as and when required to ensure you stay on track to achieve your goal.

2. Increase investment amount

Just like your income increases each year, increasing your savings and investments over the years is important. This will go a long way in helping you build wealth over the long-term.

Financial planning is not easy. ARQ,the proprietary investment engine in Angel Wealth’s mobile application simplifies this procedure. It uses over a billion data points to match recommendations to your goals and risk profile. A differentiating factor of this investment engine is that all recommendations are machine-oriented and free from any human bias.

Download the Angel Wealth mobile app today and save for your child’s financial future.

Welcome To The World Of Investment

A warm welcome to the world of investment. If you’re reading this article, it is most likely because you’re a business and you want to get into investing. If so, then you’re in the right place. Investment is such an exciting area to get into, there’s just so many things that you can invest in. But at the same time, it is a really risky gamble. You might already know that not all investments pay off, and you want to be sure that yours does. Money is at stake, so it is often a rather stressful situation to be in. But with the help of this article we’ll make sure you’re making the right investments, and going about them the right way. Read on to find out more!

Types Of Investment

There are so many different types of investment that might appeal to you. One of the most popular is definitely real estate. It is such as exciting area to get into, and for business it could even lead to another little business venture. You’ll most likely have the right amount of money to get into this as well through your own company savings. All you need to do is first talk to an advisor who can help you out a little with how to get into it. It is pretty easy, but you need to talk about when is the right time to invest, what properties are going to make you the most revenue, and how much you should spend. Another area that is really popular is other small businesses. With this one you might not need any outside help deciding which you should invest in. You’ll already have a clear understanding of the business world and how it works.

Professional Help

There are professional people out there who have years of experience dealing with many different investments. These are the people you need to be talking to and getting some knowledge from. Take Chris Pivik, and investment analyst with years of experience. Someone like that is who you need to steer your investment in the right direction. They don’t necessarily have to control the whole investment for you, but if you work side by side with them, there’s no end to the money you could be making. Because at the end of the day, investment is really hard to get right, and it is a gamble. So you want to make sure you’ve got enough professional advice on board before you enter into it.

Money Worries

If you’re having money worries when it comes to investment, well… you’re well within your right to. We’ve already explained that it is risky, so you obviously are going to be worried about whether it’ll pay off. The main thing to do here is make sure you’ve got the money aside to actually waste. You don’t want to be throwing money into it hoping that you’ll get a return. It has to be money you’ve saved it purposely for this, just so you’re not putting yourself out of pocket.

Doing trust management through binary options

Trading binary options has long become one of the favorite occupations of thousands of traders — having the simplest mode of use, this tool really works and brings impressive profits. Despite this, many traders look for possibilities of passive earnings by means of trust management. In this article, we will explain what trust management is, and how reasonable and realistic using this service in binary options is.

What is capital trust management

Classical capital trust management is an investment tool that allows those who do not know how to trade to earn by investing in the professionals of the trading business. This service has long been practiced in the stock and currency markets, where it has originated. Capital trust management is, in fact, precisely the service that allows absolutely everyone to earn in the financial market. This service is an optimal tool for investors who do not know how to trade or do not want to dive into all the nuances of exchange trading, as well as traders who know how to earn professionally and need additional funds to increase the amount of their profits.

The working principles of the trust management are based on the following scheme:

1. The managing trader with professional skills in earning carries out trade using the investor’s funds and receives commission.

2. An investor wishing to earn without trading himself, transfers a certain amount of funds to the manager for a certain period of time; the latter uses them for trading or managing in the financial market.

The manager and the investor sign a legal contract according to which the transfer of funds and the payment of profit and compensation to the manager is carried out. The investment contract always includes the duties and rights of both parties, the amount of funds, the investment period of managing the investor’s funds, the amount of commission payment.

It is worth noting that in the classical trust management the amount of investor’s funds remains in his own account, to which the manager is granted temporary access. This means the investor can monitor and control the entire process of options trading and block the manager’s access to trade transactions at any time. Another traditional feature of direct trust management is that for the distribution of profits, the investor first needs to withdraw funds from his account and then transfer the percentage (the monetary compensation) to the manager through a payment system.

Where can I use the trust management service

Although a growing number of binary options traders are looking for this investment service, it is only available from stock brokers and investment companies. That is, the classical binary options brokers do not provide this service. This is because direct trust involves large amounts of investment (starting from several thousand dollars) not available to the majority of binary brokers’ clients, especially in companies that offer the most minimal trading conditions.

Why does trust management require large amount of investment? The high investment threshold is due to the fact that in order to be effective, professional trader should only manage a small number of accounts simultaneously; if the amount of funds is small, the percentage of the manage (that is, his earnings) will be scanty.

Thus, those who want to profit on binary options with small investments have only one option — learning how to trade on their own. Moreover, today you can learn binary options trading free of charge on the websites of broker companies that provide comprehensive training programs for novice traders. For example, Binomo broker provides traders with a stock exchange dictionary, interactive tutorial, video lessons, step-by-step instructions and a demo account on a real platform with virtual funds for training.

In addition, the broker’s platform features tools that allow you to apply various strategies of market forecasting: a set of built-in technical indicators and graphical tools, extended list of quotes with various functions. Also, the broker offers an option yield of up to 90% and a profit withdrawal within 24 hours. Thus, a trader can quickly learn to trade independently and earn using an advanced trading terminal.

When it Comes to Your Finances, Doing Nothing is the Worst Thing You Can Do

If you’re currently dealing with a troubling financial situation, you need to think carefully about what you should do next. The one thing that you should definitely not do is nothing at all. If you allow bad situations to develop at their own pace without intervening, you will live to regret it. Here’s why you should never do nothing when the situation concerns your personal finances.

Inaction Comes From Complacency and Overconfidence

The first thing to note is that people’s inaction so often comes because they are complacent about the situation they find themselves in and they don’t feel that anything too bad could possibly happen to them and their finances. If only that were true. To put it simply, your overconfidence and complacency will cost you if you take things too far and become too relaxed about serious situations.

Bad Situations Tend to Get Worse When Nothing is Done

When you do nothing in a situation regarding your finances, you will find that bad situations tend to get worse. This is the golden rule that you should always assume is true for you and your situation. You can’t just close your eyes and hope things will get better. Maybe 5% of the time issues will resolve themselves. But in the vast majority of cases, real action is required.

There Are Plenty of Ways to Get Yourself Out of Financial Trouble if You’re Willing to Act

There are so many things out there that you can do in order to get yourself and your finances back on track. That’s what it’s most important to recognise and realise. You don't have to remain trapped in the negative situation you find yourself in. It’s all about acting when the time is right for you to do so. Places like debtconsolidation.co can help you with consolidation. And you might even be able to get the debt reduced if you talk to your creditors.

Talk to People if You’re Unsure of the Next Step

Independent debt advice is out there waiting to be taken advantage of, and that’s what you need to do. If you’re willing to be aware enough to reach out and ask for the help you need, without your pride ever stopping you from doing that, you will get yourself back on the right path sooner rather than later.

Don’t Expect Something to Arrive Out of Nothing

There is never going to be a situation in which you can expect something to magically emerge that will solve all your problems for you. If you want to learn how to be more realistic and practical in life, head to theemotionmachine.com/a-realistic-approach-to-thinking. It might give you the advice you need to start taking action and stop waiting for things to simply resolve themselves for you.

Your finances are precious and you need to be looking after them properly at all times. If you just allow things to become problematic and you don’t do anything to put those situation right, you’re only going to land yourself in even more trouble before long.

Big Steps Towards Better Financial Happiness

While money doesn’t explicitly buy happiness, it sure helps when making big decisions. Taking the first steps towards greater financial happiness can be a scary time, but worrying about it will only end with missed opportunities.

But how can the average person achieve such financial contentedness? With the options available nowadays, there are a plethora of opportunities possible for you to take advantage off and work towards that financial freedom that so many crave. Here are just some.

SEARCH FOR SMART INVESTMENTS

There has never been a better time in history than now to get involved in investing. Every day, companies are being founded, and new technologies are being developed that look set to revolutionise and disrupt the way the world works.

By identifying these companies early on through smart and thorough research, you might just be onto a winner. Looking at recent tech trends, and areas of the market that have been neglected will allow you to find the perfect startup to contribute to and reap the rewards once it makes it big.

While nothing is certain when it comes to investments, approaching it intelligently and investing your money wisely opposed to a dangerous and haphazard approach, you might just find the world’s next Google, Netflix, or Apple.

DEVELOP YOUR OWN BUDGET

Budgeting can be a truly dull thing to do and taking a look at your finances often makes you wish you hadn’t bothered. But, to attain more financial freedom and happiness, a proper budgeting plan will almost make it feel like you have generated money out of thin air.

For things like this, it is good to start small. Do you need that Starbucks on the way to work every day? Do you really need to order takeout when you have all this food in the house? Eliminating the small spends early on will set you on the right path towards approaching some of the bigger money drains that you might identify along the way. Once this has been achieved, you will have earned yourself a reward, be it a new gadget or a change of scenery, all because you’ve begun pinching the pennies, instead of throwing them away.

SELL YOUR HOUSE

It might seem like an extreme suggestion at first glance, but the realities of being able to sell your house for cash in today’s market will allow you to explore other avenues in life. Being tied down to a certain location can get monotonous after a while, and choosing to do away with one of those anchors can open up opportunities for you to take advantage of what the world has to offer.

Further benefits of selling your house for cash include not being let down by the buyer, as there is no need for the deal to fall through after getting a loan rejected. This has the potential to set you up nicely for whatever path you choose to take next.

While it pays not to be wholly dependant on financial happiness, choosing some simple (and some not-so-simple) steps will aid you in setting yourself up nicely for the future. You may feel that everything will work itself out, but creating good financial habits now will pay great dividends in the future.

10 Financial Services You May Not Know You Need

When it comes to your finances, it’s safe to say that you usually know what you’re doing. Most of us know how much money we earn, and roughly how much our bills come to each month - even if it’s just because we tend to know what we have left to spend each month. Either way, it’s relatively easy to know where you’re at with your money without being a financial expert.

But if we were to take that idea one step further, and say that you’re generally incredible with your cash and you even have systems in place to make sure you do stay on top of things, you may consider yourself to be a bit of a financial pro. So much so that you don’t really need much help with how you handle things. But if that’s how you think, you’re more than likely wrong. Because most of us may require some kind of financial service without really knowing it.

Sometimes, the financial services we need are things that we could implement now just to make life much easier, and sometimes they’re going to be things for the future. And sometimes, they’re even things that could come in handy, despite never really knowing that we may need them. So, if you want to make your financial life even more efficient, here are the financial services you should consider taking on board.

An Accountant

When it comes to accountants, you’ll often find that people are all for them, or they’d rather do without. Even if you tend to fall in the latter camp, it may do you some good to realize that actually, an accountant is going to make your life much easier. When it comes to filing your tax return, it may take you hours and hours to do each year. Whereas hiring an accountant could be quicker and most-cost effective for you, as you can get on with other things as they do it.

A Financial Advisor

Next up, you may also want to consider taking on some financial advice. Again, this isn’t going to be for everybody, but it could prove invaluable to you. You may think that you know what you’re doing with your money, savings, and investments, but you may not be getting the most out of your money. With a skilled financial advisor, you’ll be able to maximize your savings and ensure that you’re getting the best return.

An Assistant

If you’re self-employed, you may also want to think about taking on an assistant. Because it doesn’t make a lot of sense for you to be spending all of your time working on your financials when you have other work to be doing. So, it will often pay for you to hire an assistant to handle, chase, track, and manage your finances for you, freeing you up to get on with your work.

Specialist Finance

Lots of people will require different kinds of finances in life, you’ve probably had a loan or mortgage in the past. But what about specialist finance? From working with a bail bond company to a business investor, you may not know it now, but they could be essential for your future. Because you may not always have access to the money you need for specific ventures.

Realtor

Then, there’s also a realtor to think about. And before you say that technically they’re not a financial service, they are there to help you sell your house and they want to help you make as much money as possible. There are many benefits of working with a real estate agent, but their expertise is always one of them. Not only will they help to maximize your properties worth, but they can also manage any rental property you own which can make it more efficient for you.

Insurance Broker

Next, there’s also an insurance broker. This is going to be a particular service you should take advantage of if you have lots of different insurance needs. From health to home to business to car, and more, you may find that having an insurance broker to handle the policies for you means that you can get them cheaper overall.

Specialist Dealer

Again, we have another service here that isn’t quite a financial service as such, but it’s there to make you money - so we’re going with it. And it’s the service of a specialist dealer. Should you be interested in collecting things like art or jewelry, you may wish to sell certain pieces at some stage, and this is where the specialist will come in. As they will have the expertise and connections that will allow you to get the most money for your sale.

International Bank Account

From here, it’s the on to the idea of your international financial affairs. Because if you work overseas, or have some international interests, then you may find that you won’t be getting the most out of your money by constantly transferring between currencies. So, you may want to work with an international bank for this exact reason. With an international account, you won’t have to keep losing funds when exchange rates are poor.

Cryptocurrency Advisor

With talk of international transactions, it then leads us nicely to the idea of cryptocurrency - which is taking the world by storm. It’s proving essential for international transfers due to the lack of fees. But, if you want to get involved with cryptocurrency, and you have no idea what you’re doing, or you just don’t have the time, you may want to consider working with a cryptocurrency advisor.

Financial Software

Finally, you may also want to consider taking up the use of financial software. Staying on track with your finances is only easy if you’re organized and you stick at it. But we don’t always have the time to do this ourselves. And while you may not want to hire someone as point three suggested, you may choose to work with a software service instead. This could streamline your financial life and make it so much easier to manage.

What You Can Buy with Frequent Flyers Points

Have a lot of frequent flyer points but don’t know what to do with them? If the answer is yes, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will discuss the things that you can buy with frequent flyer points.

Booking a Flight

One of the most obvious ways in which you can use your miles is by booking a flight. It is recommended that you use these points for an expensive long distance flight, instead of a quick local flight that you can otherwise afford to pay for. It is recommended that you book it as early as possible, in order to get the best value for your points. If you aren’t sure how the point system works, it is recommended that you check out Pointsbank to increase your knowledge.

Use Them to Get an Upgrade

Another great way in which you can utilise your points is by using it to get an upgrade to business or first class. However, before you take any decision, it is recommended that you study airline alliances, so that you can make an informed decision. 

Add a Destination

You can enjoy a free stopover and visit that one city or country that you always wanted to go to. Most airlines allow you to do this, but again, it is a good idea to do your homework first. 

Use It as a Gift 

You can use these points to gift someone a free trip. Such gifts are always special, as it gives a new graduate the chance to explore the world, or newlyweds the chance to add a new destination to their honeymoon itinerary. You can also send other presents like flowers, by purchasing it from the airline’s website in lieu of your points. This is not recommended but it’s still an option you can consider.

Shop with Miles

A lot of people don’t believe in using your miles for merchandise, but there is no harm in checking it out. This is suitable for people who can’t take a trip and are getting near to the expiry date of the points. It’s better to buy something than waste your points.

Donate Your Miles to Charity

If you won’t be using your points, you can donate them to charity or welfare services such as Make-a-Wish - they help sick kids to travel to a place of their choice. 

Use as Employee Perks 

Another option is to use these miles as employee perks or rewards. 

What Not to Do with Your Frequent Flyer Points

Here is what you shouldn’t do with your frequent flyer points:

• Using them for auctions.

• Using these miles for hotel stays. 

• Using them for club lounge access.

• Using it for cheap flights. 

• Letting them expire.

• Waste them on fuel surcharges. 

So, there you have it. These are some of the things that you can buy with your frequent flyer points.

Don't Get Ripped Off When You Start Your Business

Starting a business is hard work. It will swallow up all of your time and cost you a few hours you didn’t know you had. This means you’re tired but excited. And you’re vulnerable to get ripped off. Making bad decisions at this early point could lead to disaster and failure before you ever get going. Here are just a few ways you can lose your cash and reap nothing from your new company:

Going in too big too soon

Sure, we all want to make a great impression. But if you’re not comfortable with being the little guy, all shiny and new, you might be about to make a big mistake. Pretending to be bigger than you are could be expensive. You might choose to take on formal premises before you’ve seen your first sale. Perhaps you’re registering as a formal company structure before you have the cash available to pay your accountant each year?

Spending money before you’ve made money could be harmful to your financial health. Start as you mean to go on. Test the waters with an honest approach. You might be charging less, but you have fewer overheads at this early stage. And no, you don’t have a business if you don’t have a customer. Avoid the financial woes of legal obligations when you don’t yet need to get that involved.

Hiring staff is an enormous responsibility. These people depend on you to be able to put bread on their tables. Don’t go giving false impressions that jobs are secure and financially covered for a year if they’re not. Be honest and tell them if it’s commission only. Let them make an informed decision. They might walk away, or they might work their backsides off to help you take your company to success.

Tech troubles

Lots of companies have tech teething troubles in the beginning. You’re not sure how much you should spend up front to give a good impression but protect each transaction. You can’t afford to let fraud cost you. You might need to invest in state of the art identity verification services if your business requires it. Smaller value goods and services should also be protected. Use reputable paying services, and take secure website options if payments come in this way.

As for maintaining your website, you don’t have to spend a fortune here. A good hosting service should offer near 100% uptime. And first year hosting is often offered at a hugely discounted rate. If you’re not really sure what you’re doing, then choose a WordPress option. This is as simple to figure out as it gets. Pick a template, add the plugins you need for marketing and shopping cart facilities. Then start posting your content and pages. You can invest in a professional upgrade later when the money starts coming in.

Secure data is essential. After all, you’re handling customers’ personal details like their name, address, phone numbers and credit card details. If you prefer to store this offsite in the cloud, make sure you have a high-security service provider. This might cost a little more, but you will be offered certificates to post on your website that will enhance customer confidence. Essential for the sale!

Other Essential Services

If you’re not sticking it out as a home business right now, make sure you’re not ripped off by service providers in your new offices. Cleaning services, telephone and internet providers, and even security services are essential. The trouble is, you might be paying for more than you need at a price higher than is necessary. Always shop around, and don’t be afraid to negotiate. Energy bills, waste services, and window cleaning will all be added to your basic rent. Can you afford to do this right now?

As soon as you’re in formal business premises, the overheads for your company will shoot up. You need to decide where your money is best spent, and what you can live without for a while. The higher the overheads, the higher the price you need to charge your customers or clients. Are you at that place yet, or do you need more proven experience and client history?

It’s not easy to stay on top of the cost of running your business. This is why so many entrepreneurs get the clients before formalizing their business structure. If you’re working with business clients, you might be credit checked, and a formally registered company might be essential. Of course, virtual offices and assistants might be able to help you here. Where do you need to spend to stay safe and viable when you start up?

Money-Management Tips For Rainy Day Emergencies

Are you financially prepared for an emergency? You need to be, as disaster can strike at any time. You may lose your job. Your car might unexpectedly fail. You may suddenly need medical treatment, at a hospital or at the hands of a dentist. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you can never predict a disaster, though you can plan for it, to reduce future financial woes. So, to help you when those difficult times arise, here are some of the things you can do to prepare for a financial emergency.

Keep an emergency fund

Putting your savings into a jar isn’t going to help you. The temptation to put your hand in for non-emergency situations, such as buying a takeaway, may be too strong. You need to put money somewhere you can’t touch it, such as a savings account at your local bank. This way, when you have a genuine emergency, you will have reserves at hand, that may also have built up a little bit of interest to boot. Shop around on your local high street, and find the best deal the local banks have to offer.

Get insured

While you will be keen to save money, insurance is something you shouldn't skimp out on. We recommend you look at the offers found at Health Insurance Innovations to help you pay for your medical care. Life insurance is also vital, in the sad event of the passing of the main breadwinner in your home. Homeowner’s insurance will help should you get burgled or face a threat from a natural disaster. Car insurance is a legal requirement, but there may be optional extras, such as ‘collision insurance’ which will protect you from costly repairs. You may not think you need insurance at all, but you will only pay out more money when disaster happens if you don’t have it in place.

Find a financial planner

To help you get a better handle on your finances, work with a financial planner, who will advise you on the best way to manage your money. This not only includes ways to budget and save money, but a decent advisor will also give you guidance on where to invest your money, and how to reduce your taxes. They can help you reach short and long-term goals, such as planning for retirement or going back to school. Like insurance, hiring a financial planner is one expense that can ultimately save you money, rather than losing it into a monetary black hole.

Cut living costs

The cost of living is high, and there is so much to pay for before we even get to save money or reward ourselves with the occasional treat. However, you don’t need to spend a fortune on your utility bills, when you can use a price comparison service to find a better deal. A few simple habits in your home will also reduce the amount of energy you use. Setting a budget each month will also help, letting you keep track of what you are spending, and where you can cut back. The more money you save each month, the more you have to put away for those rainy day emergencies.

Finally

Follow our advice, and when a crisis hits, you should have money to fall back on. Don’t put off making changes to another day. Disaster may strike tomorrow, so do what you can today to better manage your money. You will thank us for it later.

Small Changes For A Huge Financial Shift

When it becomes clear that you might need to try and get your finances in order, it can be hard to know where to begin. There is so much involved in the process that it can be challenging just working out the problems and their associated solutions. Fortunately, there is always something you can do, and at the end of the day the important thing is that you begin somewhere, wherever that might be. In this article, we are going to look at some of the small changes that can drastically add up to make a big difference to your finances. Many of these will be especially useful if you are struggling to come to terms with your financial situation, so let’s take a look.

Put Your Debts In Order

No matter how much debt you have, it helps hugely if you can find a way to put them in order of priority. This mens that you know which is the one that needs paying off first, which is second, and so on. If you get this right, you can then begin to pay off your debts much more quickly than if you don’t know whether you’re coming or going. To begin to prioritise your debts, you will first want to look for any that might be on the verge of causing a big problem in your daily life. If you have had bailiffs threatening to come round for a particular debt, then that is clearly the priority. Put those debts at the top of the list first.

But then what? Well, then you want to look at what debt is actually going to cost the most in the long term. This means sitting down and calculating the costs of the whole debt, including the interest, so that you can know exactly how much you will have to repay. This is often a scary moment, and it’s rarely a nice feeling to see your debts laid out like that, but it is also one of the most sensible things you can do in order to get a better understanding of the true extent of your debts. Once you have your debts in priority order like this, you can then begin to pay them off - and in a way which will be much more logical and will be a lot quicker than if you were just paying them all off basically at random.

This first change is small, but if you have any debt at all it is likely to be profound in what it can do for your financial situation. Of course, you might not have any debt at all, in which case this won't apply. Either way, once you have your debts cleared, or at least are beginning to, it is time to start thinking about saving a little money.

Change Your Savings Account

If you have had your savings account for longer than a year, you might be able to benefit from switching it over to another provider. Savings accounts generally have generous upfront interest rates, which often last for six months to a year, and after that will drop again. For something like a cash ISA, you can remove the money whenever you want - so you might as well make the most of hat and put it into a new savings account with the introductory interest rates. This is a change which s easy to do, and yet could make you hundreds in interest over the course of the year. Of course, it does depend on how much money you put into it - but it is still going to do something for you either way.

If you do decide to do this, you will want to make sure that you know exactly what savings account is currently going to be the best for you. You need to shop around, as this is not the kind of thing you can easily rush into. You might find it helpful to look online for advice on which savings accounts to use - there is a plethora of information out there, and much of it will be incredibly useful if you are keen on finding the best option. Get this right, and you might be much better off, so it is worth considering if you are in a rut and would like to make a big change in an easy way.

Ask For Help

There are many times in life when asking for help is clearly the best way to go, and yet many of us can find it extremely difficult to do. When it comes to finances, a lot of people struggle especially with asking for help, as it can be so embarrassing. However, we all need assistance from time to time, and appreciating that will help you to understand that there is no shame in asking for help. Of course, there are many different kinds of help that you might need for your money situation, and it’s good to know what they are so that you can understand what you actually need to ask for, and what you might be okay without.

One of the most common kinds of help in finance is when people need a little legal help understanding a difficult or dense situation. Money and the law are tied up together very intricately, and it can help to have a professional work it out with you. A number of pro law firms offer services in the financial area, and this can be especially useful if you are facing a difficulty, such as unpaid debts for example. This kind of help can often save your skin, so it’s worth remembering that it is there when you need it.

Besides legal help, you also have the help of friends and family. This is good to have, but it is also probably the most embarrassing situation for most people. If you are in need of actually having to borrow money, it can feel like a shame. But everyone is in this situation from time to time, and it’s worth remembering that if it happens to you too. It might just be that you need to borrow a small amount for a short period of time, which can be frustrating but is not the end of the world. Or, if things have really taken a downturn, perhaps you need to ask for quite a lot more. Either way, there should be no shame in it, and you should feel free to ask your friends and family for help - as long as you are fair about it, and pay back anything you might need to borrow.

Invest In Something

There is often this general idea that to invest successfully you need to have a lot of special knowledge or to have a certain amount of money to begin with. But if you have a basic understanding of how money works and you have a dollar to spare, you can start investing today. What’s more, it just might be one of the most sensible decisions you have ever made. Investing is a sure sign that you are starting to take money seriously, and it can be another one of those small changes which could make a big difference further down the line.

What you invest in is up to you, but if you only have a little money consider going for something relatively new. Investing in Bitcoin could be a good start, for example, or some simple binary options trading. Whatever it is, just make sure only to invest what you can afford to lose. Other than that, keep your fingers crossed - and who knows, you could be in luck.

Save Money In Unexpected Ways

Living sensibly and learning where to save yourself some cash is a skill. It can take years to truly be able to manage your finances effectively. However, there are a few ways that you can start saving up some money in unexpected ways and it will add money to your pocket without too much extra effort on your part.

Make your own food and snacks

Although eating out all the time is great; it saves you the time cooking and it’s convenient; it is also a very expensive way to live. If you struggle in the kitchen, the best way to tackle this is to stay home and begin learning some basic techniques. If you can learn how to cook pasta and rice, you have a world of opportunities opened up to you and your family food wise. To save even more money on your food shop, opt for easy one-pot recipes which you can make a batch of and use throughout the week. It will save you time on busy work nights and save you washing up loads of dishes!

Use Supermarket Coupons

Whenever you visit a supermarket and spend a certain amount of money, you will likely get a voucher to use on your next shop. Ost of the time, you may end up ignoring the offer or losing it in your purse, but using the voucher you have will help to save you money- so use it! If you get a voucher for something like beans, you could plan your meals around them. Make up a big batch of chilli for your family using the beans and saving yourself a little money along the way.

Write Down What You Spend

If you struggle to keep tabs on what money you have, you may need to start writing it down. It will make you see what you are really spending your money on and may encourage you to refrain from buying that takeaway on Friday night. This is also a great way to track your expenses alongside your bank account so that you are able to identify any unknown transactions from your account.

Utilise Offers and Cashback

Did you know that if you took the time to switch your bank account you could get a welcoming bonus of over $100? Also, you can get 1% cashback when you buy a mortgage with particular lenders- you can find out more here. Shopping around for deals is nothing to be ashamed of, and you could save yourself a tonne of money by switching your bank, energy providers and mortgage lender.

Pay With Cash

Many of us don’t take cash out and about anymore, because it is much more convenient to pay for everything on your debit or credit card instead. The only problem with this is that spending money is so much easier when you can’t see what you spend. Next time you are out and about, take cash and you’ll see how much more reluctant you are to splash the cash.

Business Pitfalls You Might Want To Avoid

Running a business is no easy thing to do, and I think we can all agree on that notion. But, while there are always things that can go right, there are business pitfalls any entrepreneur will want to avoid. Being involved in every aspect of running a business can often mean that you end up spreading yourself thinly across every avenue you need to go down. Which is why these issues within your business can take a hold so suddenly. I thought I would share with you some of the common business pitfalls and how you can avoid them.

Legal troubles within the business

Issues can arise within a business that can be of a legal nature and many of which cannot be avoided. While, of course, it can mean that you have different aspects of the issue to fight, it certainly doesn’t mean the end. This is when an appeal attorney can really help you out. Enabling you to ensure that you do all that you can to resolve any legal issues within your business that you may be faced with. 

Invoices not being paid on time

Cashflow and finances are a huge problem for businesses, so it is so important to ensure that you get your invoices paid on time. Of course, many businesses offer a thirty-day window for payments, but this can sometimes leave a business short on funds. There are companies that will buy off the invoices for you, so this could be something you may want to explore if you find yourself struggling with finances and invoicing.

Not advertising in the right way

Marketing and advertising is a key aspect of any business strategy, so getting it right is essential. One huge common pitfall any business can face would be either not having the right strategy in place or focusing on the wrong sorts of advertising. It is all well and good posting to your social media, but if you don’t publish at the right time or engage with your audience, it can be a pointless task.

Not having the right team in place

It is always essential to make sure you have the right team in place. These people, after all, are at the forefront of your business. They could be front your stores or greeting clients in the office, or simply they may be answering the phones. But these people are the face of your business, so it is vital for you to get the decision right when it comes to hiring the right team. Staff turnover can be quite a high cost for any business to overcome. 

Risk management

Finally, risk management can be a huge business pitfall you most certainly will want to avoid. It is a case of identifying them and ensuring that the risk is easily identified and a solution is found to resolve the issue before it becomes a problem to your business or worst still a customer. The last thing you want is to create your own business pitfall to overcome.

I hope that this helps you become more aware of some of the issues your business could face.

Secrets Financially Savvy Millennials Would Love To Tell You

Millennials seem to have a reputation of being a bit ‘cheap’ as they feel entitled to a lot of things. They are also said to be quite financially risk averse too. But both of these negative stereotypes can actually make way for a generation that is actually more financially savvy than their forbearers. If they learn to be frugal using these stereotypes, then they can turn a negative into a positive quite simply. These are the individuals that have grown up in a recession for the most part and have seen a crumbling jobs market fall around them. So they have had to learn some valuable lessons, whether they recognize it yet or not. So here are some secrets from some financially savvy millennials; what can we learn from them for the future?

Live With a Purpose

When you live life with a purpose, then you realize that there are no guarantees in life and that for a lot of things, life is what you make it. While there can be no guarantees, it also means that there are no constraints either. So living with this kind of mindset can be really positive. It means that there are no limits to what you can do. So if you are going through life in a zombie-like state at the moment, then this is lesson number one to learn. Set your own path and don’t let anyone else dictate what you are able to do.

Plan an Independent Future

If you are financially savvy, then you will be setting yourself up for a great financial future. One where you are not reliant on others and can go into something like retirement with your head held high. Making a plan to be financially savvy is lesson number two to learn. Are you furthering your education so that you can get the best job to be able to set aside money each month for your future? Have you ever considered getting a bachelor's degree if you don’t have one already, or even a master’s degree? But what is a Master's Degree and how can it help you? Giving you a more in-depth area of study, it puts you above everyone else that is out on the job market. So it could be a stepping stone to getting to your financially savvy future. 

Know Your Worth

Another thing that you might find tricky to do, is to know your worth. Knowing how much your time is valued at can mean a good financial situation or a bad one. Take a freelancer, for example. They may have just started out so have lower prices than their competitors. But if a client comes to you offering you much lower than you would normally work for, be prepared to say no. Don’t devalue yourself just because one client thinks that your time is worth something different. We are rarely given any financial security in life without having to do some hard work for it. So keep working hard and keep a check on your value.

Budget

If you aren’t creating a budget plan than you are planning to fail. Think about your income, your expenditure, and then look at what you have spare each month. Saving some money is a good habit to get into. In this day and age, you never know when you will need it. Don’t be someone that barely knows that is in their bank account. Check it regularly and keep on top of it all. Someone that gets themselves into debt is never a good place to be, and will certainly not be a good place for the future.

Invest in Yourself 

With so many ‘Go Fund Me’ pages cropping up here, there, and everywhere, we may have been lead to believe that millennials aren’t up for working hard, and don’t consider things like insurance as a necessity. However, this is certainly not true. If you’re someone that invests in yourself, including things like life, medical, home, and car insurance, you will be able to maximize the use of your savings when you have them. If you need to retire early because of ill health (one of the leading reasons why people do retire early), then it can have a detrimental effect on your financial future if you’ve not invested well or saved enough. Hospital bills can keep you without money if you haven’t invested enough in your health. These days that is certainly something that millennials are doing well. Keep your health in check, and you can look forward to a more financially savvy future.