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Posts Tagged ‘personal finance’

When you make an investment – from a simple bank certificate of deposit to a large shopping mall – you are going to be buying from someone whose greatest skill is employing sales closing techniques. Their skill in closing a sale will not include safeguarding your money or earning you any profit. And their number one priority is to make their sales quota to keep their job. It is only your personal education, experience and due diligence that can protect your money from the numerous people on the other side of the table.

It is a dilemma that in order to invest, you’ll be face to face with professionals who do not have your financial interest at stake – but they will all appear to be. Sales people will appear to be on your side right up until the moment you write a check or sign a commitment. Then any problems are yours alone, their verbal promises go up in smoke, they stop returning your phone calls and the fine print suddenly negates the possibility of getting a single dime back from your investment. In my experience, a salesperson’s top priority is never your best financial interest, and you need to realize this no matter how friendly they are or how polished their sales pitch appears. As you walk into a bank or brokerage office, or call a broker, you need to keep in mind that their personal goal is not in alignment with yours. To see past their sales routine, you need specific education, experience with the industry, and, hopefully, a knowledgeable mentor.

For example, I once received a solicitation from a loan broker who wanted to get me into a triple-net lease commercial building with a million-dollar loan. After a few questions it was clear that he was acquainted with lending, but not very experienced. But continued questioning revealed that his knowledge of commercial real estate would barely fill a thimble. And he was the principal agent trying to slam me into a million-dollar loan so he could collect a commission check and move on to the next deal. Although he sounded quite confident on the phone, his responses destroyed my trust in his ability to maneuver through the numerous issues and problems in my best interest. By studying an industry and talking to experienced players, you’ll be better able to ask questions with impact. And in this case, it was the difference between me keeping my money or locking myself into a contract guaranteed to be a huge financial disaster.
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1-Make List of Your Debts
First of all know how much deep you are in credit card debt. Many credit card holders are shocked when they know the total credit card debt to be paid. They unconsciously stay away from compiling this list. But you will have to know your total debts. List down lender name, date of debt, total amount to be paid and interest rate. Arrange list according to interest rate. Highest interest rate credit card debts should be shown first.

2-Pay Credit Card with Highest Interest Rate
Now start paying highest rate credit card first. Always pay more than minimum amount. If you are addicted to minimum payment traps then you will never be out of debt for whole of your life. Banks have arranged minimum debt trap in such way that a loan could take many years to be paid off if you are just paying in minimum amounts. Always pay more than minimum. These small extra payments will save you literally thousand dollars.
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The last thing most people think about when starting a business is doing taxes. But proper planning will make doing your taxes much easier – and keep the IRS happy!

Here are 3 simple tips for keeping proper records:

1. Whenever you buy anything for your business, keep the receipt!

Not only will this make record keeping a lot simpler, but if you are ever audited (having your tax return reviewed in detail by the IRS), you can prove your expenses, and save yourself money.

2. Write down all your expenses and income as they happen.

As your business grows, you’ll have more and more activities to keep you busy. The last thing you’ll want to do each April 15 is to organize your records for the year. So, it’s a good idea to write down all your financial activities as they happen. You’ll find preparing your taxes will take much less time if you are organized.
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