Travel Tips – Know The Enemy!
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric showcased the horrors of holiday travel and advised us to get our tickets now! Don’t wait, the fares will only increase. More people are traveling this season and airlines have smaller planes and fewer flights scheduled. You’ve also heard the horror stories about lost luggage, and the strange requirements for carry-on baggage. It’s enough to make you want to cancel your plans and hide at home until next year. Unfortunately, for many of us this is not an option if we want to be with our families on the holidays. So here are some helpful travel tips to make the experience less grueling.1. Get to the airport early – Allow enough time to go through all the necessary airport procedures, including check-in, security and arriving at the boarding gate on-time. When you leave everything to the last minute, you become stressed and irritable, and increase the odds that your checked-in baggage will not make the flight.2. Leave a minimum of 60 minutes for connecting flights. Tempting as it may be, booking connecting flights with less than an hour between them is just asking for trouble. Yes, if you miss your connecting flight you can go on standby for the next flight, but if that flight is full, you are out of luck.
3. Avoid the coffee bar. Sure, the coffee stands in the airport look inviting, but think about the long flight ahead of you. When you can’t get any sleep, you will remember that gallon latte you downed in the terminal. If you don’t want a trip to hyperspace, order the decaf.4. Bring what you need with you – Airlines do not give you anything more than safe passage. Due to cost cutting, the airlines do not offer these amenities — magazines, blankets, special meals, diapers, pillows, an infant bassinette, bottled water or even headache tablets. Plan ahead and think about what you will need on the plane so you can bring it with you.5. Bring some entertainment. Chances are you will be delayed, bring an MP3 player and block out the airport noise, or check out a DVD and watch a movie while you fly. Come prepared.Lastly, make sure you get free savings bonds for your travels. You can book all your travel with BondRewards’ Discount Airline Ticket Partners: United Vacations, Priceline, Orbitz, CheapTickets, Travelocity and Delta Airlines.
Property Management – Finding a Good Property Manager
So you decided you don’t want to manage your own rental property… Finding a good and reputable property manger isn’t as difficult as it may seem.We recommend that you start by contacting your local Board of Realtors and get a list of property managers from them. Now, sometimes the different boards of Realtors may not separate their membership into the category of “Property Manager”. If you are unable to get a list from your local Board of Realtors, then Google for property managers: “property management any town, any state”.A third option is personal referrals; contact your realtor friends or others who may know a property manager. Personal referral is probably the best resource out there. Once you have your list, visit their web site and then narrow the list to 2 or 3.Then visit their place of business and interview them personally. When you go for the interview, note how organized they seem to be… or don’t seem to be. The condition of their place of business is a good indication of how organized and “together” they are. Remember, they will be representing you and managing your property. Ask yourself this question: Could this person find the file on my property is a reasonable length of time if they had to? Next, ask questions to see if the two of you communicate well and on the same level and if you have the same values of money. In our multi-cultural communities actually understanding the other person’s language, nuances and accents can be difficult. but also, even when we all speak the same language, it is sometimes difficult to get the meaning of what the other person is trying to convey. Be sure that communication works between you.When I talked about making sure that the two of you have the same value of money, what I mean is this; You may be the type of person who wants to be sure to be smart with you money but, always take care of your property. If something goes wrong, you will want it fixed, especially if it is for instance, a water problem. You want to fix it right away to avoid further damage to the property. If your prospective property manager is of the mind to avoid spending money on properties no matter what then, there is a disconnect between the wo of you.Another thing to be sure to find out is whether or not they will be keeping your funds in a trust account… this is required by law and can be a major red flag if the answer is no.Through this process, you will know when you have found the right property manager for your property.In summary; Check with your Board of Realtors or others who may refer you to a reputable property manager. Visit their place of business and interview them. Be sure there is a positive connection, both in communicating and in your value of money.
From Where to Purchase Life Insurance?
It is very important to buy the right type of policy suitable to one’s need. However, it is also very important to buy policy from the right Insurance provider who needs to be financially strong along with providing the appropriate policy.Whether individuals need insurance or not, is a crucial question. Professionals from the Insurance industry having more than 40 years of experience claim that they hardly know any person who could say no to this question. Policy buyers, who are young, require insurance only to safeguard their immediate expenses. Though, as they grow older, they should revise their policy and buy an additional one. So, we can say that for individuals with dependants, Life Insurance is indispensable.Prior to the purchase of Life coverage, buyers should be conscious of certain facts. It is not an easy task to make appropriate choice from a number of Insurance providers offering various types of policies. To simplify the matter one needs to concentrate on why individuals need Life Insurance. The basic function of a Life Insurance is to provide financial security to the beneficiary of the policy owner.The method of purchasing Life coverage also holds vital importance. It is highly recommended to purchase Life Insurance online. People should be aware of the fact that Insurance policies need to be revised continuously. A number of factors like Marriages, Divorce, the birth of a new born or the necessity of care for aged parents, add to change in one’s Insurance needs. Though, if policy buyers have saved adequately for the future, then they may choose to not to pay for insurance at all.Life Insurance is a complicated topic. Insistent sales executives with strong sales pitches may mislead the Policy buyers. For the financial security of a family, purchasing Life Insurance is almost indispensable. Now days, it is easy for a buyer to purchase Insurance online after doing significant research with the help of internet.One can purchase term Life Insurance policy online, which is cost effective. Term life is defined as financial security for the one who cannot afford to pay for whole life Insurance.A combination of life coverage with an Investment component forms the Whole Life coverage. Consequently, high premiums are attached with such type of policy. Thus, while purchasing insurance buyers should remain conscious regarding the type of insurance cover they purchase.To purchase Insurance from a financially strong company is crucial. It is advisable to ensure that Insurance provider have an “A” or higher rating by the agencies like Standard And Poor’s, A.M. Best, Weiss, Duff And Phelps , Moody’s and Fitch ratings.
Apply For a Small Business Loan Online
Apply small business loan refers to business owners applying for funding via an online application. Many lenders, including commercial banks, credit unions, and non-traditional financial companies, now provide online applications to speed up the approval process for loans. While the amount funded, interest rates, and repayment options vary by lender and by type of loan, most online applications are very similar. It’s important to note that the Small Business Administration does not offer electronically submitted applications. However, they do provide applications that may be downloaded and printed out for the applicant’s benefit.In order to apply for a small business loan online, applicants must first make sure they meet the criteria required by the lender and by the loan type. Most commercial banks and credit unions require personal and business financial statements, credit checks, and a working business plan from applicants. While a business may fill out and submit an electronic application, it may be asked to fax, mail, or otherwise present the necessary documents to the lender before the application is considered for approval. Non-traditional loan companies, however, usually do not require as much documentation as traditional lenders; therefore the only item required for loan consideration is a completed application. Be aware that because these lenders do not require credit checks or other financial information, their interest rates may be much higher than other loans.The next step needed to apply for a small business loan online is to complete the online application. Most applications ask for basic information: name, address, date of birth, contact numbers, social security numbers, and others. It’s best to make sure that all information is correct before submitting the application.Applying small business loan usually refers to business owners applying for a loan. Commercial banks, credit unions, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and independent financial companies offer loans to small businesses. The loan amounts, interest rates, and terms of repayment vary from lender to lender, but all of them usually have the same loan requirements.When applying for a small business loan, business owners must first research the type of loan they want to make sure they qualify for it. Some loans are made specifically for start-up expenses, while others may require a business to have been in operation for a certain period of time. Still others are general-purpose loans available to any business that meets certain requirements.The next step in applying for a small business loan is to make sure a business has all of the necessary financial documents needed to apply. Most traditional lenders require businesses to submit business and personal financial documents, credit reports, and a detailed business plan. Lenders use this information to determine if an applicant presents a high-risk, in which case he or she will most likely have to pay a higher interest rate with stricter loan terms. A low-risk business proves its ability to profit and, therefore, repay the loaned funds.Once all documents are gathered, a business must apply for the small business loan. Applications can be accessed at a lender’s place of business or through the lender’s website.
3 Tests To Qualify For A Small Business Loan
Banks and other lenders are really only concerned about one thing; getting repaid.After all, that is how they still make the bulk of their revenue; making loans and getting repaid both interest and principal.Thus, to qualify for a business loan, you simply have to demonstrate that your business can service the loan request – meaning being able to make the loan payments for the life of the loan.Most lenders will perform the following 3 analysis calculations to determine if your business has the cash flow to service the proposed new loan.1) Spread The Financials:Banks / lenders will require three years of past financial statements at a minimum. The reason is to see if your business could have serviced the loan over the last three years. If it passes this test, then your business should be able to service the loan for the next three years.Thus, they use your past business performance to determine what your future performance should be.To spread your financial, most lenders will do the following for each past period that your business provided financial statements:
Take your net income (that is your net profits after all operating costs, taxes and interest payments).
Add back any non-cash accounting items like depreciation (deprecation is not an ongoing cash expenses but an accounting anomaly to reduce taxable income for tax reporting purposes only).
Add back any one-time charges or expenses – expenses that are not expected to reoccur in the future.
Then subtract out the interest charges for the proposed loan – only the interest portion at this stage as interest payments are considered regular business expenses.
This results in the true net positive (hopefully positive) cash flow of the business – cash flow that will be used to pay the principal portion of the business loan.Now, if your business’s cash flow at this point can cover the principal portion of the loan, you have almost pasted this test.Most lenders will not just want to see if your business’s cash flow meets the minimum principal portion of the proposed loan but would like it to cover 25% or even 50% more. The reason is that should your business have a slow period and revenues decline by say 25% or 50% – your business’s cash flow would still be sufficient to make the loan payment.Example: Your business requests a $100,000 loan for three years with a monthly payment of $3,227 – broken down as interest of $449 and principal of $2,778.Therefore, your monthly cash flow should not only cover the $2,778 in principal but say 1.25 times more or $3,473.Also, keep in mind that this cash flow figure should not only cover the proposed loan’s principal but the principal payments of all the business loans the company has.Principal payments are not income statement items and are not accounted for based on normal operating income and expenses but are balance sheet items and are paid out of net income (after all operating expenses).Interest charges from loans are an operating expense and accounted for when the financials are spread.Financials could be spread monthly, quarterly or even annually – depending on the types of financial statements requested or the policies of the lending institution.If you can past this test via your past business performance, then it is highly expected that your business will do the same in the near future.2) What If Scenarios:Here, the lender will perform a series of “what if” scenarios on your financial statements.For example, they may take your total revenue per period and reduce it by 10% or 20% – keeping all other items (your expenses) the same.Then, spread those numbers again to see if your business could still service the proposed loan – e.g. still have the cash flow to make the payments.Again, reassuring the bank or lender that your business would still be able to repay them should your business hit a slow period.3) Debt-to-Equity Ratio:Lastly, while your business may be able to service the proposed loan’s payments, banks also want to ensure that your business is not over leveraged – meaning that your business does not have too much debt in comparison to its equity.Let’s say that the entire market declines or crashes and your revenues fall so low that you are forced to shut down the business. In this situation, would you still be able to repay all your lenders – including this proposed loan?Thus, lenders look to a safety measure known as the debt-to-equity ratio.Measuring your debt-to-equity is simply taking your Total Liabilities and dividing them by your company’s total equity.The higher this ratio, the more risk the business has as it is relying on too much outside debt financing.A ratio over 3 (meaning that the business has three times the debt as it does equity) is too much risk for most lenders to feel comfortable with.Most businesses will have a debt-to-equity ratio between 1.5 to 2 and are considered safe to their prospective lender.Now, if your business does not pass all these tests with flying colors and you still need a small business loan to grow, then it is up to you (the business owner) to manage your company in such a way to bring your business in line with these tests.It all starts with your understanding of your business and the measures it has to pass to qualify.
New Business Loans: Helping an Entrepreneur Wear the Hat of a Financer
Okay, so you are high on the clouds! You have a great business idea and you just want to get on with that. You have a business name, you have the intellectual force, management plan, you have everything. Well, almost everything. You don’t have the required funds. There is this major hurdle – raising funds. New business loans can channelize your business initiative in the right direction.New business loans are a huge responsibility. A proper new business loans is fundamental to starting a business and ensuring its expansion. Raising money for new business will not be possible without proper information and preparation. The most common source of new business loans funding comes under banks and credit unions. There is no need to believe that new business loans are harder to procure.Prepare written proposal especially if you are looking for new business loans. Approval of business loans considerably depend on how well a proposal is written by you. You would not find new business loans if you falter in your presentation. Every lender will be looking for repayment when he is making a decision about extending new business loans. A written proposal will contain general information and details about financial status.Business name, name of proprietors, with their social security numbers will constitute the general information. Details about the new business loan, the amount required, its purpose and usage will be imperative. Also, mention the nature of new business you are trying to venture in. Provide some information about your education, experience, skills and achievements. Your personal financial statements and of partners will be required. Don’t forget to give details about the collateral you are offering.New business loans proposal will be practically incomplete without business projections. Business projections will include details about how positive cash flow will be achieved. Give information in the profit and loss figures explaining income and expense. Provide concrete examples, easily identifiable from industry standards. Write in a way that can be described with industry standards and which is easily understandable.New business loans can be either long term or short term depending on your financial demands. Short term loans will have a loan term up to one year. On the other hand, long term loans have loan term ranging from 1-7 years. This term can extend to 25 years in case you are applying for equipment and real estate new business loans. Entrepreneurs can get start up business loans ranging from £15,000-£250,000. Some lenders may be willing to offer more as new business loans. However, you should be able to prove that you will be able to repay it.An important consideration of new business loans lenders is credit ratings. Credit history and credit score is the single most significant criteria that helps the lender to decide whether to provide the borrower with the loan or not. Many people are practically unaware of their credit score or whether they have a credit score or not. Three major credit scoring agencies – Experian, Trans Union, Equifax – will enable you to find your credit score. Check your credit report carefully and see if there are any mistakes or changes. They can be easily corrected if you happen to inform the credit reporting agency. Credit score above 620 is considered good credit. Anything below will start having problems finding credit on their terms. Below 540 is considered bad credit. New business loans are available for bad credit borrowers. But, only few borrowers are willing to work with them and will come with the drawback of higher interest rates.When starting new business, dedication and passion are not enough. You will find that finances are something without which your skills and efforts will not be suitably translated. New business loans can provide you with the finance that you want and get you the success that you deserve.
Financial Problems Are The Main Reasons For Starting A Gambling Addiction Therapy
A recent survey of one of the largest suppliers of online self-help treatments against gambling addictions has revealed the main reasons for patients seeking help. Somewhat surprisingly, partnership problems were the issue mentioned most often among people starting the therapy. Financial problems and debt were a close number two and fears of losing the job was at number three. Many gamblers who live in a relationship or in a marriage start lying to their partner. They try to hide their addiction and the dimensions of it. Usually, partners are deeply shocked when they discover the amount of debts involved with the addiction. This is often the moment when they decide to leave their partners. Gamblers hide their addiction because they are afraid of the partners’ reactions and because of feelings of guilt and shame. Confessing an addiction, obviously, is seen as a sign of weakness. When addicts look for help, it often happens after getting pressure from the partner. In many cases, the partners set an ultimatum – either a therapy or the end of the partnership. Gambling addictions also lead to a different type of problem in relationships. It’s common for the gambler to change character and become more aggressive, impatient, anxious and tired. All of these changes make it difficult to lead a harmonious partnership.
Financial problems and debt were another trigger for starting a treatment against gambling addictions. Either the gamblers have no access to money anymore and need to look for help or they recognize before that their life cannot continue like before. In many cases, gamblers lose many friends as the addiction proceeds. Often, they borrow money from friends and family and are never able to pay it back. Fears of losing their jobs were mentioned third most often as the reasons for looking for help. Gamblers change personality and often become less concentrated, less interested and more aggressive at work. In the survey, it was also mentioned that in many cases colleagues were asked for money, lunch time was used to gamble and in extreme cases online gambling was done from the computer at work, during working hours.
When addicts look for help and when they are motivated to change their lives and overcome the addiction, chances are excellent that they can break their problems. Partners and employers should be patient as relapses are common at first. However, support and understanding especially from friends and family are important for sustainable success. In good gambling addiction therapies, patients will recognize the underlying reasons for their addictions as well as the daily triggers for craving. With cognitive behavioral therapy, patients will learn how to deal differently with the urge to gamble and will set themselves new aims in life. Other parts of effective therapies include debt and money management, relaxation techniques and defining new aims in life. Relaxation techniques are important for addicts getting used to lower levels of excitement and finding relaxation through alternative sources. New aims in life need to be broken down into new, meaningful everyday activities.
What Are Pros In Gambling But Cons In Trading?
A beginning trader who has no knowledge of the market has the tendency to jump straight into trading every time he opens the chart. I myself had experienced this when I started trading in the Forex market. Anyone could be tempted into trading right away because of the ease of using the Mt4/ Mt5 trading platform, you just to have to enter a position size and click either the bid or ask.
Forex is also open 24 hours and 5 days a week. Some brokers offer 24/7 and because of the tight competition of brokers, some even offers to let you open a trading account as low as $5. To some people, it’s just like a casino on your laptop, you will be able to place a bet anytime and everywhere you want. These are some reasons why most people thought trading is a form of gambling. Let’s try to discuss what are some pros on gambling, but cons in trading in order to clarify the difference between these two.
No. 1 Pros in Gambling – Requires No Analysis
In gambling, a gambler has no means of analysis in a game in order to have a better chance to win. You only get to place a bet and start gambling right away. That’s why you always have a 50/50 chance of probability in winning a game in gambling.
No. 1 Cons in Trading – Requires A Handful Of Analysis
In trading, You have two types of analysis, Fundamental and Technical analysis. In fundamental analysis, a trader must analyze the economy of a country, GDP, inflation, growth in jobs and the central bank’s interest. This requires a lot of time in order for a trader to make a decision to start a trade on a currency pair. This kind of analysis combined with technical analysis is always used by large institutions as they handle billions of dollars in their portfolio.
In technical analysis, traders use a chart as the main tool to analyze the market. This tool shows the historical graph of the price movement of a currency pair which shows some patterns to which where the price would possibly go. Within the chart are tools like price action, trend lines, Fibonacci retracement levels, indicators and etc., are combined to find the confluence zone (an area in the chart where indicators meet at a certain point) to further raise the probability of winning a trade. This kind of analysis is often used by retail traders. That’s why as a trader, you have to analyze first in order to have a better edge in the market and have a higher probability of winning a trade or else you will be like a gambler.
No. 2 Pros in Gambling – Requires No Patience
In gambling, you don’t need patience. Why? Games like poker, slot machine, and other casino games do not last for hours or days. You just watch the game for a few minutes and after it, you either win or loss.
No. 2 Cons in Trading – Requires a lot of Patience
Forex market is the most volatile market due to the high trading volume and liquidity, the prices move up or down in just a matter of seconds. People without patience won’t be able to stay in an open position for a long period of time. In trading, there are four styles of traders. Position traders which last for months up to few years, Swing traders which last for days up to a few weeks, Day traders which last for minutes up to a few hours, but does not hold any overnight positions and Scalp traders which only last for few seconds to a few minutes.
As a result, most beginning traders are likely to choose to be a scalp trader who scalps on the lower time frames like 1 minute or 5 minutes but has the highest chance of experiencing a market noise. Most of the time he will get stopped out if a news comes out. Traders without patience often close their position if the market starts to move against them even if their stop-loss has not been hit by the market price yet. When the price starts to continue on its trend, the trader will realize that if he only been patient enough, he should have gotten a better trade. That’s why trading requires a lot of patience in order to be a consistently profitable trader.
No. 3 Pros in Gambling – Only the poker game requires great Discipline
All games in gambling require a little discipline only for the game poker does not. In trading psychology, poker is always compared to trading. Professional poker players require a great discipline in order for them to be a consistent winner. Maybe if you want to be a gambler, I suggest that you should start a career in the game of poker. It has a higher probability of winning a game than the other casino games.
No. 3 Cons in Trading – Require Great Discipline
Great discipline is the hardest to achieve. Only a few people with a great willpower will be able to do it. Often times a trader plans his trade for a few hours, but later if someone tells him a good trade or he found a better trade, most of the time he will not trade what he had planned to trade. He will likely follow the one that he was advised to trade. Or if that trader has a system that requires him to only trade twice a day, even if those 2 trades are losses then he should not trade anymore.
But often times, when a trader loses a trade, he will most likely revenge on his next trade and will forget to follow his daily rules. If you want to be the successful trader like everyone dreams of, you really need to practice a great discipline. As the good ol’ pros always tell, “Plan your trade and trade your plan.”
To sum it up. Gambling is for those people who want to have a good time and has a lot of spare money to gamble with. While trading is for those people who are serious about making money and are disciplined enough to place a trade.
History of Gambling and Transformation Into Gaming
Gambling is something that many of us today cannot run away from. It has been in existence for thousands of years and is not about to go anywhere. Some even say that it is intrinsically linked to humanity itself meaning that gambling is well within our very own human nature.
Gambling is the wagering or money or anything else of value with the primary goal of winning a material object or money. The wager is often placed with the consciousness of the risk the gambler is taking. For gambling to take place, three elements must be present, which is the consideration or amount wagered; the risk and the prize. Today gambling has evolved into what is now looked at as modern day gaming and is even regulated in most countries and licensed by gaming authorities. It has truly become a, international commercial activity and is said to contribute millions to economies.
History
Gambling can be traced back to as early as before history was written or as early as 3000BC with the six sided dice. Its history can be traced to ancient China where betting on animals fighting was a common practice. It was not until the 10th century that lottos and domino games appeared in China and gambling started to take its shape. The popular games that we know today like poker appeared in the United States in the 17th Century and they say; the rest is really history.
When gambling became mechanized it became easier for the winnings to be regulated more accurately and for the odds to be in everyone’s favour. No more did people have to rely on the goodness of the betting houses since the machine basically determined the outcome.
Online Gambling/Gaming
The breakthrough for online gambling came in 1994 when Antigua and Barbuda passed the Free Trade and Processing Act into Law allowing the licensing of organizations applying to open casinos online. Between then and 1996 a number of laws were passed all of which were directed to online gambling and in 2003, the first live dealer casino was introduced.
Gaming today
The more technology has advanced, the more the gambling industry has also evolved with developments being made geared towards making the lie of the gamer much easier. Given how lucrative the gaming industry is and the fact that people actually like to play, many governments have had no choice but to allow gaming and only control the industry through licensing
Gambling Stories 101
A win at a gambling table can be fun narrating. The gambling is being popularized by word-of-mouth technique as there are many who have such success stories to share with the aspirants. These can be real fun but one has to actually win for getting started with such a story. Winning is not always easy. But experienced gamers do observe a lot and then sit on the table. Shuffle tracking etc. are the main techniques for winning a hand of poker. Poker and black jack are associated with tricks but still they are very popular among the people thus they are still played at all places.
Though a lot goes in to making a great gambler, but the contribution of the casinos and the internet is immense in making the game of gambling a global phenomena. The novelists have also taken this as their theme and written loads. Gamblers are always associated with glamour and glitterati. A gamblers life is one of a prince who decides to risk all the dough he has. That’s sheer extravagance. A lot of credit for the popularity of card games like poker and blackjack goes to the airing of tournaments of these as sports events. Before that poker and other card games were played in the stinky places.
With the advent of popular gambling, casinos have become the most sought after places for the gamblers. This has tremendously increased the flow of money toward he casino owners. People like Donald Trump, Steve Wynn have converted their estates into luxurious casino resorts and they are minting money with both hands. The concentration of such establishments is basically in Las Vegas, Nevada, but most of north America has casinos mushroomed all over it.
The movie-goers have also been greatly influenced by gambling plots put up in the films like The Cincinnati Kid, Rounders etc. It becomes such an influential film theme because of the fact that it has all possible glamour attached to it. The leads are shown always winning and getting envied by the bad guys. This also influences the not-so-stable minds of the viewers. Gambling in the rural and old background has also influenced a lot of literary luminaries. The likes of Fyodor Dostoevsky have written works like ‘The Gambler’ almost more then two centauries back.
Gambling has, since its legislation, has taken many different forms. There are lotteries and there are raffles. People call it charity and enjoy the benefits. This goes on to prove that the people are still treading on chance and through one way or another gambling is finding its followers.
Gambling it self sounds very scandalous and scandals are a part of gambling all the way. The techniques developed by the experienced gamblers over the years like shuffle tracking and card counting etc. have made the casino owners stay on guard. Breaking the hose advantage in the game of blackjack has been the aim of the many players. With timing and experience many have also succeeded in doing so. But the business is run on principles. The cops are behind the probable cheats and they are on the look out with the help of the casino owners.
Although gambling is a mixture of luck, crime, tricks and trade but still it attracts many customers from all strata of the American society. Gambling is now a way of life and as long as life goes on gambling will live along.