One statistic that is a little bit concerning is that nearly 30% of people that are self-employed have not saved anything for their retirement. That’s not good matter how you slice it. While it’s true that if you own your own business or work from home you can certainly keep working well past the regular retirement age, there will ultimately come a time in everyone’s life when they’re just not able to work anymore or earn enough money to pay for everything that they’re going to need. It’s with that in mind that we put together this blog article about how to save for retirement if you’re self-employed. We hope it gives you some good ideas and valuable information so that you can start to put money aside for yourself starting today. Enjoy.

Frankly, there are quite a few different ways that a self-employed person can save for retirement but the hardest part is simply having the willpower to put your money somewhere safe and let it stay there. Without the benefit of having money automatically deducted from your income and put into a retirement account like a 401(k), the responsibility falls squarely on your shoulders if you work on your own. On the other hand, you have access to many of the same investment opportunities that most people who work for others have and, even better, there are opportunities for you to save even more with certain tax-deferred accounts.

If you want to start but you won’t be putting in over $5000 a year an Individual Retirement Account or IRA is probably your easiest option. Setting up and IRA can be done quite easily at most banks although doing so will virtually guarantee that you will pay higher fees and possibly lose quite a bit of money over your working career. It would be better to contact a mutual fund company (T. Rowe Price or Vanguard come to mind) and set up an IRA with them. Once it is set up you can transfer money directly from your checking account into your IRA with very little effort.

If you’re not educated as far as investing (and it’s okay to admit that) a good option for you is possibly an S&P 500 index fund. This type of investment will charge you approximately 0.1% 0.2% of the value of your account per year for fees whereas with most banks you’ll be paying 3% or higher. (Most likely higher.) When you consider that a 7% per year gain is about average you can see that setting things up with your bank means losing approximately half of your profit every year, numbers that over time (and taking compound interest into account) can add up to thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars lost to bank fees.

Getting back to being educated about investing, while it’s okay to admit that you might not be Warren Buffett it would behoove you to take some time once a week and start doing some research and educating yourself. With the wealth of information to be found online all you need to do is put “mutual funds explained“ or something similar  into your browser bar and your search engine will spit back literally millions of pages of information that you can start using.

If you make enough to put more than $5000 into your retirement account every year you might do well to consider a Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Arrangement (SEP IRA). All of the major brokerage firms offer them (Charles Schwab and Fidelity to name just 2) offer this type of plan and you can actually contribute up to 25% of your net income until you reach $51,000. (That’s for this year, 2013.) Just like with an IRA any contributions you make to your SEP IRA are tax-deductible.

Lastly there isthe Solo 401(k). With this retirement account you can defer up to $17,500 and also invest up to 25% of your net income just like with an SEP IRA. If you go to the IRS website you can also get IRS Publication 560 and a number of worksheets that will help you to figure out exactly the amount that you are allowed to put into these accounts. One caveat is that, although you can put a large amount into a Solo 401(k), it can be a bit complex and there are a number of extra expenses involved in managing it. For this reason it might be a good idea to work with a financial advisor or accountant when you set one up.

Hopefully this blog has given you some valuable information that you can use to start saving for your retirement sometime very soon. Frankly, there’s no time like the present to get started and this information is really all you need to do so. We hope you enjoyed it and that you come back often as will be presenting much more valuable financial advice in the future. See you then.

An onlooker can also find ads for individual house for sale at different locations right from his or her own city to different places around the globe. Same goes for those groups of people who want to post the said ad online. If you belong to the latter group you can use some real good ad tactics to give maximum exposure to your ad and harness desire customers to get the best price for your house on sale.

Many methods are available on the internet to host real estate classifieds, one of them is banner ads, they are the small advertisements put on webpage intended to bring traffic to the advertisers’ website. Putting banner ads with city specifications promotes real estate businesses. Proper placement and targeted Banner Ads catch the attention of potential clients henceforth increasing the chances for lead generation. Commercial property businesses are increasingly using online real estate classified advertisement websites for a range of real estate related services and offering options like searching for a vacant retail space within a specific market, analyzing rental rates for office space etc. A larger number of customers could be reached by putting ads on websites dedicated to real estate classifieds, as commercial real estate related services are browsable from any region or country. Customers can perform city searches for real estate on online classified websites. Another method better known as contextual advertising targets customers by putting ads, similar to the context of the webpage the visitor is viewing. These ads in the form of banner or pop-ups helps to approach the buyer based on his requirements, and promote realty businesses.

 A seller must always opt for the good old classified ads sites. This way one is targeting even the vast majority of people who are not only looking for flats or houses to purchase, but might prove to be a prospective buyer if they find the offer lucrative and hence finish off the deal quickly. It is advisable to be cautious, even while, one does post ads on properties for sale. For security measures, one should try to avoid furnishing personal info on them except the contact phone numbers. Using the internet and posting an ad in the proper place one can receive instant response within minutes of posting the ad. All it means is that one can validate the trade or facilities in a very reasonably priced way.

North Dakota, although it does get more than its fair share of snow,is an excellent place to retire due to a number of factors. One of them is that it has excellent hospitals and five beds for every thousand people, tied for second best in the entire country. North Dakota is also one of the best in terms of state and local taxes at approximately 9% of total income and has the second lowest crime rate in the United States, all of which make it a definite option for retirement. Just make sure to bring a pair of longjohns and a warm coat.

Another state that gets its fair share of cold but is still an excellent option for retirement is Nebraska. Boasting one of the lowest cost of living factors in the country and a crime rate that is below average, Nebraska also has a state and local tax burden at about 10%, making it one of the lowest in the United States. Like North Dakota however, you’ll definitely need to bring some warm clothes with you.

Quite a bit further south we have Alabama  with temperatures that are some of the warmest in the United States, extremely low local and state taxes and a cost of living that is one of the lowest in the country. The trade-off with Alabama is that its crime rate is relatively high and it’s access to medical care is a bit lower than the national average. With an average temperature of about 63° all year long however the state is quite alluring for retirees, especially those who wish to be able to go outside on a regular basis.

If you’re a fan of low crime rates, lower than average living costs and some of the most amazing opportunities to fish and hike, West Virginia is a great choice for retiring. The average temperature is about 52° which is a little on the chilly side but West Virginia is an old one of the safer states with a lower than average crime rate and winters that are relatively short, making it a great choice for retirees.

Right next door to West Virginia is Virginia which boasts many of the same attributes as its neighbor and has one of the lowest crime rates in the country. If you love wine it’s a great place to settle down for retirement as it boasts some of the most beautiful wineries and vineyards in the country as well as having a lower than average cost of living.

Mississippi is next on our list and is the fourth Appalachian state to make it. The reasons; one of the warmest climates in the United States, lower than average cost of living and also one of the lowest physician to resident ratios in the nation. The first two are excellent but, depending on your state of health, the third might not be as much. Still, Mississippi is an excellent place to retire, especially if you’re keen on enjoying the outdoors on a regular basis.

Offering an extremely low cost of living, Kentucky has some of the lowest costs for groceries, transportation, healthcare, housing and utilities in the United States, warmer than average temperatures as well as some of the most beautiful flora and fauna to be found on this list. Kentucky’s crime rate is also slightly lower than average and, if you’re into horseracing, we hear that there is a Derby held there every year that you might want to check out.

Heading back up north we find a South Dakota. While the Mount Rushmore state may surprise you to be on this list (and so high) it actually is an excellent choice for retirement for a number of reasons. One of the best is that it has the lowest crime rate in the country. Another is that you will be taxed at less than 8%, which is lower than every state except, brrrrr, Alaska. While it may not be as cold as Alaska however, it does tend to get chilly there so if you’re not a fan of snow and ice you may wish to consider somewhere else.

With a combination of low taxes and beautiful weather year round, Louisiana is number two on our list. Surprisingly it has the highest average temperature of every state except Hawaii and Florida, better than average medical care and a cost of living that is relatively low. The only problem that we find with Louisiana is that it has a relatively high crime rate. In fact it’s one of the highest in the nation unfortunately or else Louisiana would probably be number one.

Which state tops our list? Why it’s Tennessee, with the second lowest cost of living in the country, the best access to medical care and weather that is warmer than average. The Tax Foundation ranks it as the third lowest in the nation as far as state and local taxes as well, making it an excellent choice except for the fact that it has one of the worst crime rates in the country.

Of course this list was dependent on cost of living, state and local taxes, access to health and medical care and crime rates. There are many other states that have lower crime rates, for example, or lower taxes but none of them have the combination of the 5 stats that the 10 on our list happen to have.

That being said, anyone looking to retire in a different state from where they are now living should go online and do as much research as possible to find out as much as they can about the state where they are keen on moving. We hope this blog has been helpful and that, no matter where you decide to spend your ‘golden years‘, you enjoy them in good health.

If part of your investment portfolio contains after-tax brokerage accounts then be aware that you will have to pay tax on any capital gains and profits that you make when you sell it. If you hold onto your investment for more than a year it will actually be assessed at a different tax rate for long-term capital gains and, if you’re in the 15% tax bracket, these capital gains will amount to zero. You can thus take advantage of this by selling your stock and then buying it back right away to reset your cost basis, reducing your capital gains taxes when you finally do sell at a later time.

Carrying your home mortgage into retirement is, technically speaking, a bad idea. The reason is simple; without a mortgage you will be able to withdraw less money from your tax protected retirement accounts. Indeed, getting rid of as much debt before you retire is an excellent idea for the same reason. Withdrawing money from your retirement accounts that are tax-deferred will have a big impact on your tax liability and, if your taxable income is under a specific amount, you won’t be taxed on your Social Security benefits.

We’ve written a number of blogs about the best states for retirees as far as taxes and cost-of-living. Frankly, some states are much better than others for retirees simply because of the tax bite that they can take out of your income. States like California and New York have some of the highest taxes in the country and so, if you’re keen on keeping more of your retirement money, you may wish to move out of those 2 states and to another that is much more lenient on your taxes.

Keep in mind that, although some states like Alaska, Texas, South Dakota and Florida have no state income taxes, they usually make up for them with other taxes including sales tax, fuel tax and property tax (to name just a few). Make sure that you’re not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire when you move by moving to another state that has no state income taxes but has ridiculously high taxes on everything else.

If you decided to leave the United States completely and retire in another country you may want to consider establishing your residence in a state that has no state income taxes as, when you’re not there, you won’t be taxed.

Property taxes are also very important to keep in mind before you decide to relocate to another state in order to lower your tax burden. In some states the property taxes are extremely high, including the aforementioned New York and California as well as New Jersey and some others. Other states meanwhile have extremely low property taxes and, even if some other taxes are higher, the overall tax burden may be lower. In other words, before you make any moving plans make sure that you do your due diligence and research as best as you can the tax rules in the state that you plan to move to so that you can compare them to the state that you’re already living in. (And if this has put you in a state of confusion, make sure to ask a professional for help.)

Simply put, we Americans pay more than our fair share of taxes while we are working so, in retirement, it’s a great idea to minimize your tax burden as much as possible. As far as we’re concerned, the less that you have to pay to Uncle Sam the better.

We hope that this quick blog has helped you and giving you some ideas and thoughts about retirement planning. Make sure to come back and check in often as will be presenting more information on retirement, taxes, retirement plans, financial information and a wide array of other tips and advice in the future. We hope to see you then.

With America’s high unemployment rate expected to continue due to tax issues, mandated government healthcare and the uncertainty of many new regulations, hiring in corporate America is not expected to increase anytime soon. It is for that reason that franchising is expected to grow by leaps and bounds. Not only is it a viable career alternative for executives but franchising is also an opportunity in waiting for recently graduated college students who can’t find employment in the regular corporate world.

The new 1099 – K form that the IRS put into place to help small business last year has instead been a cause for alarm and extra stress for many small business owners. One of the reasons why is that, if the figures that a business reports on their tax return don’t exactly match their 1099-K, it can trigger an IRS audit, something that historically has never been much of a party. Not only that but, if a small business does not have a tax identification number (TIN) they will have taxes withheld at 28% until they can provide one.

Not surprisingly, customer service like the kind that people use to find in most stores and service companies all over the United States has once again begun to trend, especially with the support of digital tools that most small businesses have acquired. These new tools, most of them either online or featured on mobile smart phones, have provided small business owners with a way to return to traditional, high-quality customer service at a relatively low cost. By expediting non-core business functions they allow owners to again focus on delivering excellent customer service.

Social media has had a big hand in this trend as more and more small businesses have started asking for and gathering customer feedback through websites like LinkedIn, Twitter and the omnipresent Facebook. As more and more small businesses take advantage of this powerful new medium customer service has slowly but surely risen back to the forefront in their minds, rather than just customer acquisition.

Another trend that has been growing for quite some time is health and wellness. The reason; America is quickly getting older as more and more baby boomers are reaching retirement age every day. When you couple this fact with the fact that people are living longer lives than ever before you can see the obvious need for health and wellness companies and indeed they are springing up like mushrooms in a pile of fresh manure.

What an interesting trend that has been seen recently is that, after major catastrophes like floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, the small businesses that were quickest to get back up and running were the ones that did most of their business in the cloud. Frankly we see this as a very smart and safe move because, when information and services are cloud-based, they are not only easily accessible by anyone, from anywhere with any device, there is nothing physical that can actually be destroyed or lost due to any force of nature.

One of the biggest trends in small business is the growing reliance on tablets like apples iPad and Google’s Nexus 7. Tablets offer incredible opportunities for mobility and the ability for a business owner to handle daily tasks from anywhere, something that can cut down on many time and energy wasting chores. A small business can leverage apps on their tablets to accept payments, create invoices and keep up with accounting chores, saving not only time but revenues and man-hours.

The way we see it, those are some very interesting trends and will shape the way small businesses do business throughout the rest of 2013 and into the foreseeable future. We hope you enjoyed our blog and that you found it quite trendy (pun intended!). Please take a moment to bookmark our website and come back to visit us sometime soon as we’re always looking for new trends, financial information and tips to give to you, our dear readers. See you then.

The little things include simple tasks that can be done on a regular basis to monitor your finances and make sure that everything is as it should be. These allow you to catch mistakes as soon as they happen rather than on down the road when it’s harder to prove.

Sign Up for Your Credit Report

Once a year, you can obtain your credit score free. Through this, you can evaluate your current financial position and how your credit score is doing. You can also note any particular discrepancies that might reveal larger problems such as identity theft. Since it is only once a year, many people tend to forget about this. Don’t let that be you. Instead, set up a reminder on Google calendar or some other free programs so that you get your free statement each year.

Balance Your Checkbook Regularly

Bounced checks, insufficient funds, and other similar tidings of woe can quickly ruin your day and add steadily mounting fees to your strained finances. The one way to keep this from happening is to make sure that you regularly balance your checkbook. This doesn’t mean that you have to get out ledger and work through everything on your own. You can purchase or download free software programs that will do most of the work for you. The important part is that you do it, and you do it at least once a month. Ideally, you should consider doing it once a week to ensure that you have an accurate grasp of what you actually have versus what you have to pay.

Stick with a Budget

Most people tend to think of a budget as a constraint. It’s something that takes the fun out of spending in life. On the contrary, it can be quite freeing. When you set up a budget, you know how much money you have and how much money you can spend. This is essential to living within your means. Additionally, it can allow you to plan for larger issues on down the road such as tax payments, insurance payments, and the like. Otherwise, when those times come, you have nothing but what’s left in your checking account, and that’s generally not enough. This is why a lot of people end up turning to credit cards with their high interest payments because they can’t otherwise make ends meet.

By creating a budget and sticking to it, you prepare for those events in advance. This not only reduces stress, it also allows you more freedom to spend money on the things that you can afford. It will also help to avoid additional costs through high interest payments on credit cards.

When you say the words “investment opportunity” images of a swindler selling you snake oil medicine comes to mind.  Instead, you should be thinking of solid investments that are sure to outpace inflation through retirement.  Personally, I’ve always believed that dividend paying stocks are the way to go.  Solid stocks that have increased dividends year or year can provide peace of mind, and stabilize your investments against inflation to boot.  If feel investing a lump sum of money into one stock is just too risky for your taste then there are always dividend paying mutual funds!  Yes, I invest in these as well.

Commodities can be another sound investment.  In most cases, commodities aren’t going to deliver eye popping returns, but they will provide a good return for years to come.  They are products that the world has decided they cannot do without.  Gold, silver, corn, oil, these are all examples of commodities that get traded every single day.  Think orange juice futures from the movie “Trading Places”, that should provide a clear picture of what a commodity is, and make you laugh while you’re at it

Now for the riskier side of investing!  Having a balanced portfolio is smart for an investor of any age.  However, the younger you are the more risk you should be undertaking.  I know that may make you feel queezy, but it’s simple a necessity if you want desireable returns over the next 30 years of your life.  As the companies across the world begin to globalize we realize now more than ever that investing on foreign soil can bring some very solid returns.  I don’t go crazy with this, but I keep about a quarter of my total portfolio in mutual funds that deal with foreign companies.

Last, but certainly far from least, is currency trading.  Places like this site offer a investing medium for those interested in hedging foreign investments.  The dollar, pound, euro, and yen fluctuate every day.  So much so, that it can seriously affect the returns on your other investments.  This is where forex trading comes in handy to hedge the effect of the currency fluctuations.

What’s involved?

The majority of auction goers will be people in the trade and therefore in the know how, so if you’re thinking of trying your luck, it’s important you do your research beforehand. One thing’s for sure, you’re not going to get as much choice as you would find going through estate agents. The properties you’ll likely come across will be ones which wouldn’t sell on the open market. Or in other words, properties which are un-modernised and need a lot of work.

Before you go to an auction house, be sure to pick up an auction house catalogue of property (referred to as lots) which are printed roughly 2 weeks in advance of the auction. Use this time wisely, to visit the properties and view the legal packs which carries all the information you need to know (apart from a valuation or survey!).

From this, you can decide if you want to commission a survey – which will usually cost you between £500-£800. A lot of money to lose if you bid at the auction and get defeated. But equally, if your bid is successful and you haven’t commissioned a survey, then you have saved a lot of money. There are plenty of services out there who will be able to advise you in this situation, such as blogs or your local estate agents such as Rentify.

Once you’ve fixed a price, let the bidding commence. If you’re lucky and the hammer has fallen, then you’ll need to move fast as the process is very quick. You’ll be expected to pay a 10% deposit straightaway and you’ll also need to take along some credible ID.

Of course, expect some admin fee’s to apply – typically between £200 – £400. You’ll then have around 28 days to complete the purchase which means careful planning of finance is vital pre-auction.

The Pro’s

-          Bagging a bargain

-          Finding something unique

-          Timescale is very quick

-          Transparent purchase and fair competition

And Con’s

-          You need to be very organised RE finances

-          You could lose your deposit if you renege the deal

-          You could bid for more than its actually worth

-          You might not be quick enough/someone bids higher

-          There’s no time to reconsider. Research is KEY.

• No matter where you are as an investor always be looking for new investment ideas and opportunities.
• Only invest in what you understand.
• Never invest in something you don’t understand completely. You can’t determine its value if you don’t understand it.
• When it is absolutely, completely obvious that the odds are in your favor it’s time to buy.
• Invest in strong, healthy businesses. They are less risky and get better results.
• Companies with strong, proven management are a good investment value.
• Following the rules above, by the cheapest businesses available.
• If you are not a patient person, become one. Patients will serve you incredibly well when investing.
• Research, read and learn about investing regularly and continuously.
• Study the great investors like Warren Buffett.
• Invest in something you’re passionate about. Very few great investors lack passion.
• Beware of relative valuations. A stock that’s cheaper than similar stocks is not always cheap.
• Before you buy a stock break down the reason you are buying it.
• Intrinsic value is not a precise figure. Using it as such is very risky.
• If there is a true risk that your capital could be lost, don’t invest.
• Search for investment situations where intrinsic value is rising.
• If you can’t figure out why the stock you are considering purchasing is such a bargain, don’t purchase it.
• Read annual reports. That’s what Warren Buffett did.
• Read the footnotes. Buffett did this too.
• Find companies that are dominant in their industry and invest in them.
• When investing, focus on where said investment will be in five years. Most people think much too short term.
• Waiting for the economy to turn around isn’t a great idea when it comes to investing.
• The only way to improve your performance is to track it and be brutally honest about your results.
• Companies that can survive and prosper in a poor economy are good investments.
• If you want to increase your performance, use checklists.
• If you think you have it all figured out, beware. Many investors who thought they did self-imploded.
• Risking what you need for what you want is a bad idea as far as investments are concerned.
• Don’t rely on your investments for cash. This is not only bad for your psyche but can cause you to make stupid, expensive mistakes
• Read and then reread Warren Buffett’s shareholder letters

These are some of the very best tips and advice that either Mr. Buffett has given or that people who have studied him have given over the years. There are others but we think these are at the top and if you can follow them to the letter you will undoubtedly become a much smarter (and much richer) investor.

Will be putting together another blog article similar to this in the near future with more excellent tips from the master so make sure to bookmark our website and come back to visit us often. See you soon.

Replacing all of the windows in your home is probably going to be an even bigger cost than replacing the roof but, if it’s necessary, it should be done no matter the investment cost. The good news is that putting new windows in will immediately start saving you money on your energy bills. Your home will stay warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer and your new windows will also greatly increase the overall value of your home. With those things in mind let’s get started looking at other factors that should be taken into account when it comes to your home’s windows. Enjoy.

One of the easiest signs that your windows need replacing is that your home is very drafty. Over time as windows wear out they simply begin to let more air in. Older, wooden frame windows are especially prone to this and in many cases this wear can make them difficult to open and shut or cause large gaps between the window frame and  your homes frame, allowing air to get in and conversely allowing air-conditioned or heated air to escape.

In some cases weather-stripping can be used to counter this problem but, if all of your homes windows have it, it’s probably time to start replacing them. Indeed, most experts will tell you that any type of sealing that you do on your windows is really only a temporary fix. If you truly want to make sure that draft is gone you’ll need to replace the window.

As we mentioned above, the older a window gets the more difficult it can be to open and close. As a matter of fact, a window that is really hard to open or close is probably a window that needs to be replaced. If you have an older style double hung or single hung window with a balance mechanism you can also face the dangerous prospect of a window slamming shut when you thought it was going to stay open. In this case it closes too easily and can create a dangerous situation. Keep in mind that practically all types of windows can experience operational failures and that wood and metal window frames that haven’t been properly maintained can also fail.

If you have double or even triple pained windows and there is condensation inside of the glass (it kind of looks like fog) it may be necessary to replace just the glass or you may have to replace the entire window. This depends on the seriousness of the problem. For example, if you have moisture inside the window it may be a sign that the window’s seal has failed, in which case the insulated glass is no longer doing what it was intended to do, which is to create a barrier between the cooled or heated inside of your house with the air outside.

One easy way to know if the seal has failed is by checking to see if there are any calcium deposits on the glass. Even though you may not see any visible condensation, if you find calcium deposits it’s a good bet that the  insulated glass has been compromised.

Lastly, one of the  most obvious signs that your windows need replacing is that your energy bill is much too high. It might be hard to determine this fact but, if you’re not sure, you could always ask a few of your neighbors that have similarly sized houses. If their heating and cooling bills are much lower than yours it may point to the need for you to replace  your windows.

One final bit of advice from the Department of Energy (DOE) is that if your home is very old and has very inefficient windows replacing them is probably going to be more cost-effective than trying other ways of improving their energy efficiency. We agree with them and agree that even though the investment cost may be high the energy savings will eventually catch up and thereafter afford you a good bit of energy savings and a home that is much more comfortable.