How to Save Successfully to Meet Your Life Goals

Education

Everyone needs to be aware of how to save successfully to meet their specific life goals. We break down some tips to help you maximise your life savings for the big and small moments in life you’re saving for.

Tips on How to Save Successfully

We share five tips to help you get the most out of your life savings plan.

1. Don’t Forget to Factor in Inflation

When you don’t consider inflation when setting up your savings, you could negatively impact your savings. When interest rates go up, you must look at it in conjunction with the inflation rates to assess the full impact on your savings.

So, what is inflation exactly? Well, it’s the rate at which your savings depreciate over time, influenced by an increase in the cost of living, etc. Therefore, carefully consider the interest rate the bank offers you in conjunction with the inflation rate to prevent your funds from losing value.

2. Think Bigger than the Bank

If you want real results, you might have to look elsewhere than the traditional bank. The most important thing to remember is that your investment must grow by more than the inflation every year to achieve real return. When it comes to equities, it’s the only asset class that could potentially outperform inflation over a long term period.

However, it’s essential first to consider what you’re saving for. The potential of higher returns also comes with a risk of losing capital, so consider the term and reason for the investment before you commit.

3. Think Long-Term About Your Savings Plan

Don’t be surprised if you see a short-term savings plan underperform. Many investors make the mistake of selling as soon as they notice this. However, you could be missing out on a large chunk of your return in unit trusts.

When making decisions about your savings strategy, you should not let fear caused by market fluctuations guide you. Instead, you should only consider your personal circumstances and capital capacity.

4. Take the Time to Plan

When it comes to a savings strategy for big life goals, like saving for your child’s education, the sooner you start, the better. Not only will you have more time to save, but you’ll also give your savings plan time to allow your money to work for you.

5. Avoid the Debt Trap if You Can

When we don’t plan, we tend to resort to credit to help us meet our savings goal. Remember that, even though compound interest works for you when you invest, this same strategy works against you when you have a loan, as the total amount you have to pay back will snowball over the time it takes you to pay it back.

6. Hand it Over to an Authorised Financial Service Provider

Because there are so many factors that could influence (whether rationally or irrationally) your savings behaviour, it’s always best to put your savings in the hands of professionals.

With a more balanced and informed opinion of the market and its developments, you can trust them to make the best decision to get you to meet that savings goal.

Start Saving Successfully Today

When you work with an authorised financial services provider, you can ensure that they will use all the latest information and factors to consider to help you get the best results for your life savings plan.

____________________________________________________________________________

Continue Reading

An Informative Guide to Real Estate Investing For Beginners

Business

It’d help if you had stability in your life, and real estate investment is an excellent place to start.

Real estate is one of the most reliable and stable investment portfolios. It comes with great appreciation, leverage, tax benefits, and constant cash flow. In addition, properties are constantly rising in value and can quickly be sold.

So, how can you get started with real estate investment? Here is the ultimate investing for beginners guide.

Educate Yourself

The key to succeeding in real estate is to have the correct information. You’ll need about half a year to master the main steps of real estate investment. Consequently, you can either enroll in an online program or speak to an expert, such as BlokHaus Real Estate + Investments.

If you choose online information, you can go for YouTube podcasts, blogs, or online seminars. Having the correct information ensures that you’ll avoid the main problems of real estate investment.

Learning must continue even after you have mastered the basics. For example, the real estate market is changing, and you need to know the latest tricks. It’s also a good idea to know the latest laws.

Make a Plan

Once you’ve achieved the proper knowledge, you need to craft the ideal property investing strategy. A plan ensures that you don’t fail and can easily track your progress. It also introduces discipline since you can avoid impulse decisions.

The investment plan must list your short-term and long-term objectives. It should also highlight the preferred investment strategies and expected timelines. The plan should also have some contingencies in case your investments don’t pay off.

Finally, the plan must determine your investment budget and how you’ll spread it over the months and years.

Use Online Investing Platforms

There are many online investing platforms that you can use to invest in property. These platforms connect investors and sellers via a website or mobile application. You’ll get to learn of the various ongoing real estate projects and how to get financing.

It’s also possible to receive quarterly distributions via an online platform. Nevertheless, you need to know how illiquid and speculative real estate investments work.

Choose Real Estate Investment Trusts

Real estate investment trusts are the best way to benefit from the real estate industry without owning physical property. These trusts work the same way as mutual funds. In essence, you’ll be owning a company that, in turn, owns commercial and residential properties.

You’ll be receiving regular dividends depending on how the buildings are valued.

If you feel like the investment is not bringing enough money, you can always cash out. This type of property investing is better because you don’t have to deal with housing repairs and late tenant payments.

Use the Investing for Beginners Guide to Make Real Estate Investments

Real estate investments must be in your investment portfolios. This is because they provide stable and guaranteed income for an extended period. Nevertheless, you need to read the investing for beginners guide before you get started.

Are you looking for more investing tips? We have articles that provide accurate and relevant information.

Continue Reading

How to Raise Capital for Starting a Business

Business

Starting a business, whether small or big, may seem complicated, especially without resources such as capital. It first comes with the identification of business ideas the devising how to implement the concept into practicality. But to implement the business, you will, of course, need enough resources and finances. How do you find financial sources to fund your business? If you are pretty much into the desire for a new business, it is critical to consider several factors. It is also important to realize that many startups have definite desires to grow into multimillion companies but end up deteriorating for various reasons. However, the statement shouldn’t worry you either as long as you understand the business metrics and prepare a solid plan to keep your new business running. Where do you get funds for your new business? Also, you can get a best essay service to get an expertly written business plan.

  • Crowdfunding

It is one of the easiest and fastest ways to gather funds for starting any kind of business. All you need is to create an idea that can capture the interests of the public. There are several crown funding websites critical for offering better funds for newly growing or starting businesses. Among these sites are CrowdCube, Seedrs, and Kickstarter. Most of the sites provide funds at an exciting rate of about 5 to 7% of the amount you can afford to raise. It is also critical to consider that deductions occur based on the personal ability to reach funding targets. Crowdfunding has greater possibilities for getting a considerable raise in the capital. Usually, most of the fastest-growing sites have tremendously grown courtesy of Crowdfunding. The key idea in this platform is to ensure consistency and develop a solid profile for the same. After the entire period, a range of potential investors will be out to judge your business and, at the same time, make it shine.    

  • Find out, angel investors. 

In this case, angel investors are those people with a substantial history of financial records. Usually, they have historical regard as successful in business. Investors are a perfect source of cash for any business. Furthermore, the same investors will positively guide through business adventure. They will advise on some of the possible ways to advance your new business to successful levels.

Moreover, they will warn you against some of the previous business mistakes they made through their successful journey. Acquiring this kind of investors can be a demanding task altogether. However, it is considered more comfortable to get everything done on time. Google can be a quicker and easier option to get angel investors. A single tap can be more productive in your newly starting business. It is also critical to maintaining consistency in conveying updates of various business events, opportunities, and conferences. 

  • Governmental support through loan schemes 

Government loan schemes are one of the best and faster ways of getting your business idea up and running. Usually, various governments prefer to offer loans to upcoming entrepreneurs and young businesspersons. They provide an average amount for each entrepreneur with a repayment period rate of almost 6% per annum. The quality is not entirely fixed at 6% but adjusts periodically and according to various governments. Many students gain a lot from governmental loans, and such loan schemes aid them in building smaller businesses that can provide upkeep while at school. One better thing about this kind of loans is that the government considers an extra step of guiding the borrower on a perfect business plan. 

  • University schemes and competitions 

While most university students prefer conducting businesses within the constituent institutions’ premises, most universities can undoubtedly chip in to provide support. Through several universities’ nurturing spirit, students can get funds from a university support scheme and build their business ideas into productive outcomes. To access some of the university schemes, you can search online for funds linked to different universities and stay hopeful of getting support. You can check out business research paper topics to learn more about unviresities funding.

  • Personal funding 

If you find no reason to seek other funding organizations or schemes, you can opt to do it yourself. However, such an approach often comes with limited constraints. Saving is a good deal in such a case. You can save money little by little and until the time is ripe to set your business. The expectations here will be that you have savored enough cash to take you through your business endeavors. However, one constraint is so pressurizing in this case: time-consuming and therefore requires some patience.   

Conclusion 

There are several opportunities one can opt for in the quest to build a new business. Funds are more critical as you will not always have enough finances to get your business up and running. In addition to the above approaches, bank loans are also fair deals with friendly rates.   

Continue Reading

Cash Doesn’t Grow On Trees: Expanding Your Home Business In A Budget Friendly Way

Money

online casino

Large companies looking to expand have a luxury of being able to throw money at certain problems when growing. A smaller home-based business usually cannot do this due to cash flow and the need for a cost-efficient expansion. The good news is that expanding can be done with very little spending if done in a clever manner. The advantage a smaller company has is there are not multiple approvals that need to be received before starting out on a growth project. As the founder of your home business you can grow as quickly or slowly as you deem necessary with regards to the business’ health. Below are tactics that will help keep costs low when expanding so cash flow of the business is not decimated. 

Create Content Daily 

Creating content daily for social media accounts, the company blog, and offsite publications is important. Being able to rank higher on the search engines can be something that increases leads and sales immensely. If you are running some sort of drop shipping business then you understand how important online marketing is to generate sales. 

On social media you should be promoting content that is created as well as engage with followers. Not only engage with followers but also related social media accounts as this can generate followers in the company’s target demographic. Replying to customers about comments or complaints can also be quite useful. Salvaging a customer simply by acknowledging they might not have been happy with a product or service is at times enough. 

The company blog should be used to educate website visitors as well as be used as a resource by others in the industry. This can also host content like that of podcast, video, or a piece of interactive media. This is not the place to write up clickbait type articles as it is just a waste of time and money if you are paying a writer. 

Offsite publications can be a great way to increase brand awareness and showcase the knowledge of the company in an article. This is going to take outreach for a publication to accept a topic that you will write. Most publications are willing to give you a link in the article or in the author bio. Increasing your search engine presence as a company will end up helping with growth immensely. 

Sales Materials Mailed Can Increase ROI

Getting sales materials into the hands of a client with a custom proposal is important to say the least. Your company could be in competition with others that might be able to meet the client in person due to their proximity. To even the playing field getting sales materials to the client and trying to close a deal quickly can help salvage a sale that could have been lost to a competitor. Mailing 5X7 envelopes to “invite” the potential client to work with your company can be a touch that helps close the sale. Small details can make all of the difference so investing in print sales materials and the right custom envelopes will deliver on ROI. A sales prospect receiving sales materials the next day after a call will also feel like their business is valued which can be positive for your business. This type of diligence will have a potential client thinking that even if you do run a small company, the company will deliver high quality work. 

Ask Your Current Customers For Referrals

Incentivizing customers to refer your business to others can prove quite fruitful as far as sales go. Those that are proficient at sales just need an introduction from the right person to instantly have rapport with the sales prospect. If you feel uncomfortable asking current customers then asking former colleagues or reaching out to a former client that has moved on in their career can be effective. Reaching out on LinkedIn is a wise approach but not everyone monitors this platform so an email or direct call will get the job done in a faster fashion. 

Have Other Companies White Label Your Services 

The chances are that if you run a home based business is that your prices are lower than larger competitors due to having little to no overhead costs. Having a company sell your services as their own or white labeling them will not have an impact on your margins. Larger companies will set prices on your services to make sure they are earning without having to do any work besides sell the services. Hitting deadlines is far more important in these cases as the company selling your services has to worry about their reputation if a deadline is missed. 

Growing your small home based online business can be done without a large financial expenditure on your part. Track the ROI on all money spent as you might find putting money into a certain area yields great results. Grow your business without impacting your quality of product or service as this healthy growth ensures future success. 

Continue Reading

How to Protect Your Home Business from Financial Ruin

Money

52 percent of all small businesses are operated out of the home. And, this number keeps growing. The best way to protect yourself and your business from unpredictable future events is to have adequate insurance. However, research shows that 40 percent of home businesses are underinsured. Here is why you need home business insurance and what products you should consider.

Why You Need to Protect Your Home Business

A few real-life scenarios will illustrate the reasons why you need extra protection for your home-based business. First, let’s consider the uncertain future. Your digital or printed business data could be compromised if you are the victim of a technology failure or security breach especially if you don’t have a data protection officer. This could lead to lawsuits or lost income. You can protect yourself from these unforeseen threats with business insurance.

Your reputation and business could be in jeopardy if a customer were to sue you for negligence. But, you can protect your good name and company when you have the right policy in place. Also, most homeowner’s policies will not cover you if a delivery driver were to drop off a package for your business at your front door and injure himself taking a dive off your front steps. Yet, a strong business insurance policy will cover any potential costs associated with this accident.

How Do You Protect Your Home Business

There are almost as many different home business insurance policies as there are home businesses. The key is finding the right policy to manage the potential risks of your enterprise. A few of the most popular types of coverage include:

  • General Liability– This helps out when the delivery guy trips over his feet. Your business and your family are protected from lawsuits due to injuries, accidents, or negligence claims.
  • Interruptions in Business – If your home business’s operations are interrupted by a covered loss, you will still be able to secure some income when you have this product.
  • Workers Compensation – You will need this type of insurance when you have employees working for you. If a worker suffers an illness or injury due to workplace conditions, workers comp insurance will provide a schedule of benefits, regardless of liability.
  • Medical insurance– it is essential that self-employed people take out health insurance to protect you against loss of earnings if you were to fall ill and be unable to work. Independent workers are often under huge amounts of pressure to return to work quickly following illness. This can exacerbate the problem and prevent you from bouncing back to optimum health.
  • Business Property – With this policy, you can protect the merchandise, equipment, computers, tools of the trade, and any other property that is associated with your business.
  • Inspired – If you have a home business and worry about it going under, look at other agencies and see what they’re doing differently. Soniza is a network consulting company that is very successful, look at what they’re doing

This is just a sampling of what is available. If you operate a home business, it is just a smart idea to be ready for any obstacles you may face. Insurance could make the difference between a little paperwork and financial ruin.

Continue Reading

Net Worth: Why You Should Track it closely for Financial Success

Home Business Wiz

A person’s net worth is the ultimate determinant of their sum wealth. The net worth is the result of deducting liabilities from the assets. Calculating the net worth gives one a clear picture of the total cost and earned and spent in a lifetime. Tracking the net worth helps one keep their goals and perspective in check. For example, if a person’s total amount of assets amounts to $200,000 and liabilities equals $300,000, the individual will have a negative net worth of -$100,000. It is crucial to establish the financial status of a person or an enterprise so as not to accrue a deluded sense of net worth and fail to achieve success.

Reasons why it is imperative to track the net worth 

1. Considering that net worth is the honest reflection of a person’s wealth, it is a perfect way to determine if one is making positive or negative financial progress. Bob Berger of Forbes.com, states that a constant or increasing net worth is a sign that investments are bringing positive returns. A declining net worth means that one should deduce which activity is draining the money and work towards adjusting the situation.

2. A clear picture of the net worth eliminates the notion that income is equal to one’s wealth status. A person earning $500,000 per year with liabilities amounting to $200,000 in a year is worth $300,000. The same result applies to an individual making $350,000 with liabilities amounting to $ 50,000 annually. With this concept in mind, it is easier for one to plan the steps towards realizing financial success by reducing liabilities to increase the net worth. Besides, considering the assets only when establishing net value, such as a home or a successful investment, is a misguided way to achieve success. The difference between the property and the liabilities like debt determines the exact net worth.

3. When applying for a loan, most banks and lending firms will evaluate the borrower’s sum net worth to determine credibility. A bad credit loan automatically disqualifies one from receiving the cash. Keeping a positive net worth helps one acquire a higher credit limit that can be helpful in expanding one’s investments and ultimately reach goals.

4. A good net worth is essential in keeping the debt status in perspective. A significant amount of loan offsets a lot of people. However, if one’s net value exceed the amount, then it is clear that the debt level is not extreme. A loan that exceeds the net worth means that one should probably cut down on the amount borrowed and live within affordable ways to amass wealth. A low net value to loan ratio is also a great motivation for one to find means to realize a higher rate that translates to increased prosperity.

According to Investopedia.com, the net worth is bound to experience fluctuations just like the financial health of any other industry. As a result, the net worth will reflect the status of the financial health of the various assets and liabilities. It can be difficult to establish one’s long term goals and short term goals without a clear picture of the money owed and money earned. Determining the ultimate net worth with the help of a financial analyst, or a convenient net worth determining software application will save one the stress that comes from tapping into savings and investments, and accumulating unwarranted debt.

Continue Reading

How to Succeed as a Business Entrepreneur – 6 Top Ways

Entrepreneurship

Having taken the primary and most important step, which was to set the wheels of your business project into motion, the next step would be to discover new ways to make it grow and prosper successfully. 

It is important to realize that you need to dedicate your heart and soul to the initiative for it to receive a great number of responses.

maxresdefault

The most important thought you would need to inculcate is that this would be a result of all the hard work, the creativity and the love that you put in to bring the project to life. So be ready to breathe it, eat it, dream it and live it!

Make it a point to read some quotes every day. Motivational quotes have the power to influence your mindset and allow you to function effectively!

Here are six important pointers to help you become a successful business entrepreneur!

  • Become more vocal

It is imperative that you break out from that shell of yours and become more social. No better time than now to begin engaging with others who are in the same place as you. The best form of help is self-help.

So let’s start there. Make it a point to get to know different people, and tell them about your new project. Speak freely and with confidence. Make it an engaging conversation. Allow them to pass criticism and pick it up from there. When they see the fire and passion in your voice, they will begin to take you more seriously

  • Marketing Online

Another way to spread the word effectively is talk about on the internet. Create a website that elaborately depicts your project in an intricate, catchy yet professional way. Outline your project details effectively and highlight the essentials. Spread the word by sharing the website page on your social media accounts.

You could use your friends’ and family’s help by asking them to do the same as well. Build a strong front by exploring various such upcoming start-ups and mutually help each other to grow together.

  • Lend a Helping Hand

Remember that there are probably many out there like you trying to come up with their own business ideas, and so it’s much easier when you engage with such people. Don’t hesitate to offer them help and let them know when you come across new, innovative ways to sell your project. This will always come in handy because this way you get to learn so much and have a diverse exposure to all kinds of people and projects.

Also, when you lead a helping hand, you can be sure to receive the same when you need it!

  • Good Strategy and Testing

Come up with a good enough strategy to outline your project, beginning from the initial to final steps of development of the project, making sure you’ve kept in mind all the little details. It must be a fool-proof strategy, and you must be able to work out any shortcomings. Investing into franchises is a great way not to only make money but to start a business in the future.

The final step before delivering the product to the public would be to test it amongst close friends who would appreciate and criticize you at the same time. Absorb the good and work on the negatives.

  • Come Up With Good Customer Service

This is the next big thing which would help your business grow! Put in place a team which dedicates itself to satisfy the needs of your customers. This is highly necessary if you want good reviews and expansion of your business. This will go a long way to getting contacts as well.

  • Believe In Yourself

This is the first and last thing on your mind when you work on your project every day. Trust yourself to make right choices and stand by it. It all works out for the best when you believe in yourself and in your dreams.

Continue Reading

Don’t Leave Your Business Financially Strapped

Business

When running a home business, you’ve typically got much on your mind.

From lining up enough clients to make the business affordable to making sure said clients pay you on time, those are just two of the many tasks you’ve got going for you.

Before that home business ever literally opened its front doors, it needed some form of financial capital to help it get off the ground.

Whether you had money stored up previously, had assistance from family and/or friends, or even took out a loan recently, making sure your financial affairs are in order is critical.

So, how do you go about making sure to not leave your home business financially strapped?

Learn as Your Home Business Grows

Part of being a good home business owner is learning as you grow.

From knowing when your business is in need of a capital infusion to understanding how to obtain secure credit card processing, you must always be on your toes when it comes to finances.

Whether you are looked at as a high-risk merchant or someone who is hoping to have an Ecommerce business take flight alongside your other business ventures, you must make sure you and money are on the same page.

Ways to go about doing this include:

  • Not getting in over your head – First and foremost, always have a financial plan in place whether you’ve owned a home business for years or are just getting your feet wet in the arena. Some home business owners are great with ordering needed supplies, meeting customer deadlines, even managing the help under them that they may need along the way. So what could be their one fault? If you guessed managing money, you’re right. It is super important to not only know how to manage your company’s money, but to be able to sense the warning signs when things are not going well. Instead of burying you and your business in still more debt, recognize the signs when it is time to get assistance;
  • Getting paid on time – As a home business owner, you don’t get a paycheck every two weeks nor typically healthcare benefits managed for you as such in a “normal” corporate job. As the person in charge, it is up to you to make sure clients are paying you the money they owe on time. If they’re not, you can easily fall behind on your own bills, starting a dangerous precedent for your home business and your overall finances. Keep clients to a regular schedule when it comes to payments. In the event they are late with them, send out reminders, along with charging interest. If they totally remove themselves from paying their bills, look to a collection agency as a possibility, though you will end up paying a portion of the money you receive from the client to the agency in return for their assistance. For those customers paying by credit card, you need to always make sure their card info is up to date so there are no problems having a payment go through. If they pay by check, don’t excuse them if they get in the habit of bouncing checks here and there. Lastly, if you have friends or even family purchasing goods or services from your home business, avoid the old IOU policy. Yes, they’re your friends and/or family, but they should treat you as a respected business owner, knowing getting your payments on time is critical to you continuing to operate;
  • Keep business and home money separate – It can be tempting at times to borrow a little money here or there from your personal account or accounts in order to prop up your home business. You probably figure that both are tied together, so why not do it, right? There are a number of dangers if you decide to go down that road, so avoid it at all costs. The most inherent risk is that you will eat into your personal expenses for the sake of your business needs. When that happens, those dollars you had put away for personal needs and/or a rainy day fund can take quite a beating in just a short period of time. Always make sure that your personal expenses come first. No, you don’t want your home business regularly in the red or even potentially going under, but having a roof over your head, health insurance, food on the table etc. should always be your number one priority.

Having a home business under your direction can be one of your lifetime dreams.

The key is to managing it properly, knowing the warning signs of cash issues, and making sure you are doing everything possible under your power to be a financially smart business owner.

When you do those three things, you are less likely to leave your home business financially strapped.

Continue Reading