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Credit Card Debt – To Eliminate or Consolidate?

You’re at the end of your rope and you simply can’t do it anymore. You’re drowning in debt and sick and tired of trying to gather enough money each month just to make the minimum payments due on your credit cards. You can be certain that you’re not alone. There are many people who are facing a financial crisis much like the one with which you’re dealing. It’s overwhelming and scary, especially if your accounts are delinquent and you’re receiving threatening and harassing calls and letters from debt collectors. Take comfort in knowing that you will overcome this financial burden because, fortunately, there are options available to you.

Freshbooks - an online billing service company

Freshbooks (an online billing service company) recently announced that they have more than 80,000 users. Not a shabby accomplishment for a "web 2.0" company with an active and working revenue model. CEO Mike McDermont agreed to share some insights with us about their success.

Invoice Factoring Financial Documentations

The process for signing up as a new factoring client includes asking for current financial information. You should consider putting together a small loan package prior to seeking a factoring company, unless your company is a pure start up, in which case you will apply without this type of documentation. For revenue driven businesses, those companies going after invoice factoring would find it helpful to have the following material close at hand. The company Balance & Income Statement, Profit & Loss Statement, Current Accounts Receivable Aging Report, Accounts Payable Aging Report, and in some cases (but not all) a copy of the latest company tax return.

Securities and Stock Market Fraud

"The market is a place set apart where men may deceive each other!" Diogenes Laertius (Circa 200) There can be as many ways to cheat investors as there are swindlers, con artists, and unscrupulous brokers... and there are quite a few of those out there! When you invest your hard earned money with a stockbroker, you do so with a level of trust, and this trust is backed up with strong legal protections to protect your interests. Nevertheless, investment and broker fraud is all too common.

Hybrid Debt Securities

What are Hybrid Securities? A broad classification for a group of securities that combine both debt and equity characteristics. Hybrid securities pay a predictable (fixed or floating) rate of return or dividend until a certain date. At that date the holder has a number of options including converting the securities into the underlying share.

9 Ways to Improve Construction Contractor's Cash Flow

From ConstructionDeal.com

1. Bill Promptly - It's easy to think about moving on to the next job, but it's important to send homeowners a detailed bill with obvious payment dates. Also, send a reminder about two weeks before the official due date.

2. Stick to Budgets - Know what you’re going to spend for new equipment, equipment maintenance, and on company supplies and stick to it. It can hurt your cash flow and cut into your profit margin.

3. Offer Early Payment Incentives - You'll be surprised at how offering a 1% to 2% discount for early payments will make your clients mail out their checks in a hurry.

4. Pay by Credit Card when Possible - Do this only if you're receiving 0% credit card offers for an initial period. It's a great way to keep cash handy and you can transfer the balance to another card once the initial time period is up.

5. Schedule Payments - Pay suppliers as late possible, avoid late fees, and plan out a payment schedule so that you're not paying everyone all at once. Spread out regular payments and try to arrange alternate payment dates to work with your schedule.

6. Avoid Slow or Non- Paying Customers - In your qualifying phase, make sure the homeowners have payment options in place. If they have trouble even coming up with the initial deposit, you might have to pull away from the job. Think of the man hours you'll spend trying to collect on the job during and after.

7. Barter Instead of Cash - See if you can find a barter arrangement for services. You might provide plumbing work in exchange for a website design - talk with your potential clients to find out if they provide a service you need.

8. Don't Spend it When You Get It - Avoid the urge to spend a portion of any payments you receive. Try to find an accountant or money manager who ..

Financial Terms to Know

Alternative minimum tax (AMT) A federal tax system created to ensure that wealthy individuals pay a minimal level income tax. The AMT is often triggered when an individual has numerous personal exemptions, such as for state and local taxes; large miscellaneous itemized deductions or medical expenses; or Incentive Stock Option (ISO) plans.

Bank Foreclosures One of the Easiest Ways to Buy Foreclosures

Bank foreclosures are homes and properties that are currently owned by various banks or lenders. These banks own them because they are the result of foreclosure actions. The previous owners of the home had fallen behind in their mortgage payments and the bank foreclosed on the home. Bank foreclosures are actually one of the easiest and safest ways to buy foreclosures.

Profitable Growth through Brand Rationalization

By: MarkPlus&Co Companies spend vast sums of money and time launching new brands, leveraging existing ones and acquiring rival brands. They create line extensions and brand extensions, not to mention channel extensions and sub-brands, to cater to the growing number of niche segments in every market, and they fashion complex multi-brand strategies to attract customers.

Financial Strategies for the Later Years

When you first started out in your career, you may have focused on paying off student loans, buying a home and, hopefully, starting to save for retirement. Generally speaking, these are pretty straightforward goals. But by the time you enter your 50s and 60s, your financial objectives may be somewhat more complex, so you will need to take great care in creating and implementing the right strategies.

High Gas Prices? Gas supply kept tight

Any disruption could be problem BY NICOLE GAUDIANO | GANNETT NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON - The oil-refining industry might have helped create a gasoline market that's so tight that some industry experts and critics say any hurricane, pipeline break or other disruption is likely to cause price spikes.

10 nasty money habits to kick

By Bankrate.com Remember the movie "Groundhog Day," the one where Bill Murray kept reliving the same day? Some people live their financial lives like that, making the same mistakes over and over.

Cash strapped schools looking for corporate sponsors

By Judy Keen, USA TODAY SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — A growing number of cash-strapped cities and schools are selling naming rights to parks, gyms, locker rooms and even the principal's office.

Product Pricing - The Price Is Wrong

Tom Taulli Ten years ago, Anirudh Dhebar, a marketing professor at Babson College and an expert on pricing, sent an invoice to a money-center bank for a one-day seminar he facilitated. Within a few days, a representative from the company’s human resources department called and told him: "I know how good you are, I know how much some of your colleagues charge, and I would like you to submit a new invoice with a 50% higher fee."

Free Money: My Opinion on 0% APR Credit Card Offers

From PluggedInFinance

Ok, I risk making waves amongst the 0% APR chasers. However, I’ll make my opinions known.

My background: At the age of twenty-five, I had never looked at my FICO score, but I had a credit representative tell me it was the highest they had ever seen. Forty-two months later I had been married and divorced. My FICO score was now in the mid five-hundreds. Eighteen or slightly more months later the FICO score was back up to mid-7s. Now it's 771. It took a slight hit and fell from 780s surrounding my recent home purchase.

I believe first in keeping the number of inquiries on your credit report to a low number. Right now I have seven unique inquiries in the last two years. Credit lenders typically look at any series of inquiries occurring within a 15 day period as related and count them as one unique inquiry (I’m reasonably confident on the number of days, but correct me if I’m wrong).

If I get my inquiries below 7, perhaps around 5, I’ll probably get the HSBC 1% rebate MasterCard with a one year 0% APR. Once the one year promotional APR is over, I’d switch back to my 5% and 2% rebate credit cards. It's important to note that you must exercise a reasonable amount of due diligence to find a credit card that doesn't charge a 3% balance transfer fee. The HSBC MasterCard is not one of those. If you need one of those, the Discover miles card might do this for you. Anyways, I generally hate BALANCE TRANSFERS because they only prolong the inevitable (facing reality and paying it off). Only those that set up parallel high yield savings account(s), avoid hurting themselves to bad; however, their FICO score still suffers a bit.

Other credit card tidbits:
a) You're FICO score is partially determined by your "credit card available balance percentage." If you have a credit card with a zero balance and close it, both your FICO score and perce ..

Wealth creation - Getting rich is simpler than you think

Blend three ingredients -- a paycheck, discipline and time -- and, you, too, can be a millionaire. It's not always easy, but it's simple. And you have no excuse not to do it. By Harry Domash Here is the single most important thing you will ever hear about investing: Getting rich is simple. Not easy, but simple.

Money management - From Porsches to bankruptcy

Winner: Shefik Tallmadge. Year: 1988. Jackpot: $6.7 million, $335,000 each year for 20 years. When Tallmadge was 29, he became the biggest winner in the Pick lottery at the time. He bought a $60,000 nougat-brown Porsche 911 Carrera convertible the day he got his check, quit his $10.75 per hour job at Yuma Proving Ground and took his mother and his sister on a luxurious world tour to Honolulu; Bangkok, Thailand; and Sierra Leone.

How to do a startup with very little initial investment

Forbes.com article with insight and tips on how to do a startup with very little initial investment. Startups On The Cheap Tom Taulli When Todd Luttinger co-founded Videré Conferencing about five years ago, there was little cash for fancy offices, furniture and office equipment. Some creativity was called for.

Fractal Transactions - Launching a New Era in the Future of Money

By Thomas Frey, Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute

Imagine yourself sometime in the future sitting in front of a television, watching your favorite show, and a pizza commercial comes on. This is one of those commercials that hits you at exactly the right time and you instantly start craving pizza. For the next few seconds you stare at the screen and your mind thinks of nothing other than pizza. Finally you give in and utter the single word “yes”.

Bank Fees - A Hornet's Nest of Traps

One of the most horrendous customer abuses is the fees some banks charge their customers in overdraft fees. The over-draft charge itself is only part of the problem. They also abuse their customers with their “shame on you” attitude that gets released when you find yourself deep inside a hornet's nest of traps they purposely set for you.

What to Do If a Bill Collector Crosses the Line

Here's what to do if a bill collector uses abusive tactics. It's stressful to be unable to pay your bills on time. It's even more stressful to hear from a bill collector about those overdue debts. Although bill collectors can be persistent (that's their job), many are careful to follow the law when contacting you. Unfortunately, some are not. If a bill collector oversteps the bounds of the law, you can take action.

Up Your Cashflow by Next Week: 13 Ways to Have a SALE!

by Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen" Nothing gets people buying products or programs like a special promotion in your e-zine. Now, I know right now you're thinking, "I can't have a sale on my products or services. That's sooo cheesy!"

Top 10 Myths of College Funding

College is not a luxury for anyone seeking a lucrative career; the difference in lifetime earnings between a high school graduate and a college graduate is over $1 million and climbing. However, no matter how much time parents spend fretting about college most families are still at a loss as to how to pay for it. Below are the Top 10 Myths of College Funding and a reality check for each.

Global equity meltdown costs investors $2 trillion

By Chris Sanders NEW YORK (Reuters) - The month-long slide in global stocks has wiped out at least $2 trillion in wealth, leaving investors few alternatives to preserve their holdings aside from bonds and money markets.

Become Your Own Investor

How to break through the next level by owning notes with little or no money - By Tracy Z. Rewey "You can make a living brokering notes but you get wealthy owning notes!" When I first heard these words of wisdom from a long-time cash flow investor it provided one of those "light bulb" moments. Note ownership and long term interest income are truly attainable with little to no investment of your own cash funds. But how does a note consultant start making the move to note owner? Here are five strategies that were presented at one of my Cash Flow 2006 sessions.

Five Mindsets to Success

1. We are all different, we are all the same. First off, we are all different, whether you look at our backgrounds, style, ethnicity, goals, etc, etc. Embrace those differences as they can be your greatest allies to your uniqueness (yes, that is a good thing). But at the same time remember that we are all the same in some ways. We all desire, family/friends, health, purpose, and a future. If you remember, particularly in a difficult negotiation or situation, that we are all really coming from the same place, it can often aid you in both business and personal situations.

New Bill to Relax Roth Conversion Rules

President George W. Bush signed a new tax-cut bill on Wednesday, April 17th that allows anyone with a Traditional IRA, even high-income taxpayers, to convert their IRA into a Roth IRA, which allows tax-free withdrawals. But taxpayers are not eligible for income limit-free conversions until 2010.

Joint Venture Loan Program

When investing either as debt/equity investor assuming you like the business model and management team you have to ask yourself three questions: How much is needed? How long will it be needed for? How am I going to get out it? In this summary, you will find the answers to those questions of Assets, Time, & Liquidity. Below the Bank Guarantee version, Stand By Letter of Credit version, and finally the practical applications of the program which can work in tandem with any financing program currently employed.

9 Ways to Increase Cash Flow For Small Business Growth

From: Small Business Finance Blog

Cashflow Idea No. 1. Use ‘cashflow’ sales checklists.
For sales people, get them to ask every single customer to make another ‘add-on’ purchase with the one they’ve already made. A great way to do this is to have a shopping ‘checklist’ of what the customer could buy.

America's Oldest Business Heirlooms

From BusinessWeek
America’s Oldest Business Heirlooms — from bells and brews to canvas and food, here are 10 of the longest-lived family businesses in the country.

Is that stock a sell? 5 key tests

By Jim Jubak Are you about to sell the wrong stocks? Again? Admit it. We all make too many of our sell decisions based on the fear that somebody is about to take our gains away. I do it. We all do it.

The golden rules of investing

The Sensex is on fire, notwithstanding Wednesday's dip. It's a bull run like no other witnessed by Indian investors. And investment gurus -- like Marc Faber -- say this bull run could last for a decade or more!

Lawsuit Financing: A Viable Option for Those Struggling to Pursue Justice

Are you and your family suffering financial hardship while you're fighting a pending lawsuit? If so, don't get discouraged and settle early for a lower amount. Consider using lawsuit financing to meet your financial needs.

Factoring invoices can help stabilize cash flow

The immediate cash that factoring provides can be used to cover payroll, tax payments, and general business expenses or to expand into new markets. In addition, the qualifying process is often less demanding than requesting bank financing. Large companies in the textile, manufacturing, distribution and service sectors have traditionally used factoring to fund their growth. In the last few years, due to changes in traditional commercial finance, small to mid-size businesses, are also taking advantage of the opportunity to factor and are realizing the benefits.

Business Cash Flow: New Revenue Sources

By Wayne Hurlbert Business income is important to all entrepreneurs, whether new to small business or along time independent business owners. Without cash flow, the organization will not be able to meet its financial obligations. No revenue from the business means...well...no more company.

6 Ways to Improve Your Cash Flow

By Joseph Anthony One of the challenges of running a small business is dealing with the feast-or-famine nature. That's not just about the flow of business, but also the flow of cash. Sometimes things get tight; here's how you can improve your business's cash flow.

How Excel Can Help Streamline Your Accounting Tasks

Business accounting practices have come a long way, thanks to technology. So have spreadsheets, the stalwart finance-tracking and analysis tool of the modern era.

Can Bankrupts Borrow?

By Karen E. Klein Q: I own a small sign shop and I am currently under a bankruptcy order. I have two more months before the court will discharge it. Can I get a secured loan to purchase equipment now, or do I have to wait for the bankruptcy to be dismissed?

Budgeting and Cash Flow

After planning, budget preparation is the second stage in an on-going business cycle.

Locate Billions in Free Grants

The Federal Government and Private Grant Foundations issue billions of dollars in grant money to a variety of groups each year. Grants are awarded to individuals each and every day from all walks of life, with large and very small bank accounts, for an ever-increasing array of purposes.

Grant programs are not Loans. You decide how much you need. As long as the amount is lawful and you meet the Foundations and Government Agencies Requirements, the money is yours to keep and never needs to be repaid. This grant money is non-taxable and interest-free!

Here's two sites to get you started:

Uncle Sam's Money
Federal Grants

What is a Cash Flow Forecast?

The cash flow forecast can be used to predict the amount of money a business may require in the future to get through periods of low sales, for example, or for expansion.

Improving Corporate Cash Flow Forecasting

Having problems with your cash flow forecast? If your answer is "yes," then you're not alone. Most organizations, both public and private, have ineffective forecasting processes and methodologies. A recent survey by Treasury Strategies Inc. indicates that more than 70 percent of treasurers have plans to review or improve their cash flow forecasts in 2005. The good news is that all forecasts can be improved—regardless of how sophisticated or complex.

Selling Annuity Payments for a Lump Sum of Cash

Annuities provide regular cash payments for the future, but what if you need to meet large, unplanned expenses today?

State and Local Public Funding

In an effort to improve their local economies, most states, and many municipalities and counties, sponsor a variety of public funding sources for small business concerns. At the state level, nearly all states have some form of state economic development agency and/or state finance authority that make loans or loan guarantees to small businesses. State Commerce Departments often have direct or participating loan programs that may be even more attractive than SBA-guaranteed loan programs.

SBA Microloans

Small businesses needing small-scale financing and technical assistance for startup or expansion may be able to obtain up to $35,000 through short-term loans of public money called "microloans." The average loan size is about $10,500. These loans are administered through responsible nonprofit groups, such as local economic development organizations or state finance authorities, that are selected and approved by the SBA. The SBA loans the money to the nonprofit organization which then pools the funds with local money and administers direct loans to small businesses.

Blinksale - The Easiest Way to Send Invoices Online!

Blinksale - The Easiest Way to Send Invoices Online!

The ultimate tax shelter: Owning your own business

By Jeff Schnepper The No. 1 way to reduce your taxes with a smile is to convert your personal expenditures into allowable deductions. It sounds tricky, but it may not be so difficult as you think.

Asset-Based Lending: More than Last-Resort Business Financing

While asset-based lending may often be considered "last-resort" funding, commercial borrowers of all types and sizes are using this flexible, cost-effective financing to meet their cash flow needs.

Business Plan Basics

By Matt Bacak If you are just starting a company and looking for funding, or looking for additional funding for growth, you will need to develop a traditional business plan. Creating a business plan is a business hurdle that entrepreneurs seem to dread. Do you do it yourself? Do you hire someone to do it? How do you get it done quickly, but without spending too much money on it? Will what you do yourself be adequate to get funding?

Internal or external - where's the money coming from?

Internal sources of finance are available to the firm, but these may be more limited in scope and for large projects, the firm may be forced to turn to banks or other institutions (external sources) to help them raise sufficient funding. The main internal and external sources are:

Your Toolkit for success is Cash Flow

Profit and loss statements and cash flow statements take your company's numbers and crunch them in different ways for different purposes. • The profit and loss statement looks at how you are using your resources to make sales. • The cash flow statement, if maintained monthly, lets you visually measure how your money is flowing in and out of the business.

Business stages and loan needs

Your company's place on the business life cycle will help determine the type of loan you need. There are three basic phases in a company's early years: seed, startup and growth.

10 Tips to get the Cash Flowing for Attorneys

by Ed Poll Cash is the grease that makes the business wheel turn, and the practice of law is definitely a business! Without enough cash at the right times, your entire practice will grind to a halt. Here are ten tips to help attorneys keep that cash flowing:

Preparation Essential to Successfully Selling Business Notes

If you plan to sell your business using owner financing, it's important to follow certain criteria, in case you decide to sell the note later. Carrying a business note lets you cast a wider net when promoting the sale of your company-not to mention have more control over the financial terms of the deal. It enables you to collect regular payments from buyers who may not want or be able to complete a cash purchase. Carry-back seller financing, as it's often called, is quite popular in the United States. In fact, nearly 85 percent of all business sales involve business notes, representing literally millions of dollars.

Effective Techniques for Record-Keeping and Cash Flow

A successful business rests on sound recordkeeping practices and solid cash flow. Without good records it is impossible to determine the financial condition or profitability of a business. Similarly, in order to survive a small business must achieve a positive cash flow in the long term. This Financial Guide provides the basic information the owner of a small business need to establish good recordkeeping practices in your business and to minimize cash flow problems.

Working Capital Cycle

From Planware:

Cash flows in a cycle into, around and out of a business. It is the business's life blood and every manager's primary task is to help keep it flowing and to use the cashflow to generate profits. If a business is operating profitably, then it should, in theory, generate cash surpluses. If it doesn't generate surpluses, the business will eventually run out of cash and expire.

Small Business interest in illegal immigration

by Raymond J. Keating Is the U.S. in need of immigration reform? Of course. There are some 11 million immigrants in the nation illegally, legal immigration channels are clogged, and our border security is porous. That’s not good for our economy or our national security.

Capitalizing on Equipment Leasing for Your Business

If your capital budget is tight, but you need equipment to establish, maintain or grow your business, don't worry. Do what most other companies do: Take advantage of equipment leasing.

Ten Reasons Young People Are Afraid to Start Their Own Business

From Salon.com

Don't Have the Skills

Don't Have the Self-Confidence

Don't Have the Ideas

Don't Have the Money

The Deck's Stacked Against Entrepreneurs

Couldn't Handle the Failure

Don't Know the Process

Don't Have the Time

Couldn't Handle the Stress

Couldn't Handle the Loneliness

Q: How can we get our company funded

Seth jumps on the "screw VC funding" bandwagon with this piece that offers an alternative to the strict VC-shunning, self-funded approach. (in short: sell a project, not the whole company).

Advantages of certificates of deposit (CDs)

Liquidity If you buy CDs and need to sell them prior to maturity, you may be able to do so in the secondary market. The price you receive in the secondary market may be higher or lower than the price you originally paid, depending on market conditions.

Fixed Income - Zero Coupon Instruments

(Source: Merrill Lynch)

A safe and reliable investment
If you are seeking a safe, reliable investment that provides attractive, predictable returns, zero coupon instruments can be an ideal solution. Their many advantages include the following:

• Assured growth, assuming you hold the securities until maturity.

• Low minimum investment

• Automatic compounding of interest.

• A wide selection of issuers, and maturities ranging from one year to 30 years or more.

• Liquidity through a secondary market

Cash flow Management practices

Good cash flow management means you can anticipate when your cash flow needs will occur. Your cash flow budget will help you predict what's coming, but you have to be diligent in daily record keeping and reporting of cash in and cash out. The following steps can help you monitor cash flow: • Use prenumbered cash receipts and account for all receipts • Deposit checks daily • Send customer invoices within two days • Collect receivables within 60 days • Take advantage of cash discounts • Use prenumbered checks for all disbursements

How to deal with profit?

What do I do with all this cash? If you have managed your cash flow effectively, you should end up with extra cash. What you do with those profits should be directly related to your cash flow budget. Remember that you created this budget to predict cash flow needs. There may be some outstanding debts ballooning in the future or inventory that needs restocking. These anticipated needs determine where and how long you can reroute cash.

Cash flow: Offer customers credit carefully

You may find yourself in a situation where offering credit is necessary for doing business, or you may decide to accept credit as a way to generate more business. Of the two types of credit, trade and consumer, consumer is the easiest to offer and maintain.

Two Steps to Take Now to Avoid Bouncing Checks in the Future

From pluggedinfinance

(1) Ensure all of your personal accounts at the bank are linked. I was personally a victim of this with Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU). A few years ago, I had my money in a NFCU money market account collecting the highest possible yield. I wrote a check for an amount well less than the funds that I had between my accounts only to find out that the accounts were not linked together. After bouncing this check, I asked if my checking account could be linked with my other account and was told NO!

My other bank does this. It routinely will tap a savings account in the event the checking account balance is insufficient. While your results may vary, I highly recommend you ask your teller or customer service representative if linking accounts is possible.

(2) Apply for a line of credit and have that line of credit attached to your checking account. I do this with all of my bank accounts now. In the event your checking account has insufficient funds, funds will be debited from your line of credit. Lines of credit typically run between 10 - 12%. You don't get charged anything if you don't use it. However, short term use in exceptional circumstances can be far cheaper than bouncing a check.

Are You Making Any of These 10 Deadly Small Biz Mistakes?

These traps/mistakes are common to many entrepreneurs: 1. Getting Wedded To an Idea And Sticking With It Too Long. Don't marry a single idea. Remember, ideas are the currency of entrepreneurs. Play with many ideas and see which ones bring money and success.

Mad Money Recap Daily Summary

A dedicated fan site celebrating Cramerica

Boo-Yah!

www.MadMoneyRecap.com

How to Better Manage Your Cash Flow

Cash is king when it comes to the financial management of a growing company. The lag between the time you have to pay your suppliers and employees and the time you collect from your customers is the problem, and the solution is cash flow management. At its simplest, cash flow management means delaying outlays of cash as long as possible while encouraging anyone who owes you money to pay it as rapidly as possible.

HYIP: Playing It Right

Mention anything that could lead to High Yield Investment Programs and people will listen. There are good HYIP’s and there are bad. Anything that is good has always attracted the wrong people.

Getting Cash for Annuity Payments Offers Quick Access to Funds

Annuities, undoubtedly, are an excellent vehicle for providing steady, long-term income for retirement or other purposes. Unfortunately, they lock you into an inflexible payment schedule that may not fit your immediate financial needs.

The Price Is Wrong - Forbes.com

Figuring out how much to sell your product for is tricky. Here are a few tips.

Price On Value, Not Cost

It is common for startups to use the cost-plus method for pricing: A company adds up the costs of developing the product or delivering a service and then marks up the price to reach a certain level of profit.

The problem? Well, the method does not account for the value you are providing to the customer. After all, if Starbucks used the cost-plus method when pricing a cup of coffee, it would be leaving lots of money on the table.

Another problem: What if a competitor matches your price? In this case, you may be forced to lower your price to a point that results in losses.

Free and Clear Property in 5 years or less

The program provides the help, and protection everyone needs, not only to become debt free. Better yet it enables you, the property owner to obtain income from your property, which would ordinarily just be sitting there doing nothing. When we, refinance your property, we allow you to use 17% of your equity, to pay the cost of the warrantee. It is a fact that after 8 to 10 year you have paid for your home. We believe that your loan has stopped working at this point. Now it only works for the lender. Your loan worked for you in the beginning, by helping you get into your home, automobile, yacht, or whatever. Loans work for borrower on a short term basis. The longer your loan is stretched out, the more you pay. When a loan is amortized for thirty years, you almost pay four times the amount originally borrowed. Now clearly that loan is not working for you!!! That’s why we offer you “the loan warrantee. Again the loan warrantee Protects you from 25 years of debt, and makes your loan work for you again, and only for 17%, which is, 17 pennies out of every dollar of your equity to enroll into this beautiful program. That is actually all you need to do, to pay your entire loan off in five years!! !”the loan warrantee” will do the rest!!!

Contact us Today to get started!

Cash Flow or Nest Egg

There is always the debate of should you go for prioritize Cash Flow or should you concentrate on building a good Nest Egg. As you may have expected from reading some of my other articles, the answer is both.

US - The Coming Collapse of Income Tax

Thomas Frey: Within the next ten years the income tax system in the United States will be dismantled. A number of emerging new forces coupled with the universal dislike of the system will soon gain enough of a toehold to cause it to collapse.

Entrepreneurial Proverbs

From O'Reilly Radar

Money

• Start with nothing, and have nothing for as long as possible -- small budgets give big focus (probably another line I'm stealing from Jason Fried: it sounds like something he'd say...) Don't go out and raise a ton of money right away. Instead, give yourself just enough to get going, and use the limits that imposes to motivate yourself.
• The best investor pitches are plainspoken and entertaining (not in that order) -- think about what this implies. A plainspoken pitch is the surface of a very solid business. If you have to fudge and lie to get investors interested, why is that? If you're running a great business, it is not hard at all to lure investors into it; the worse your business, the bigger (and more odious) your fundraising task is. Entertaining implies a fun person to work with, and VCs like working with people they like as much as the rest of us do. If you don't bring the funny, bring the person who brings the funny.
• Never let on that you're keeping a secret -- telling an investor "I don't want to talk about that" is terrible. It's the natural converse of being plainspoken. It's good to be aware, though, that some potential investors will listen to you and then share your information with your direct comptitors, and not always because they're invested in those comptetitors. Knowing that, you have to keep some secrets -- but be as diplomatic about that as possible. Respond to the idea behind the question, without giving away more than you feel comfortable discussing. Learn to steer the conversation in the way you want it to go. And then give up more information as you become more comfortable with the potential investor.
• No means maybe and yes means maybe -- you should never take a "no" from someone you want to work with. Accept the no, ask f ..

Create Multiple Streams of Income From Your Core Product/Service

By Dr Kem Thompson When you got started in your business, did you envision yourself getting trapped in the overwhelm of it all? OR did you get into business to make things easier for you? If your business pays you by the hour (meaning if you don't work you don't get paid), then you're just a glorified employee, and it's time you got more mileage out of the business without compromising the quality of life you desire.

Reading Your Financial Statements: What Every Entrepreneur Must Know

By Germaine A Hoston As you consider which legal entity or entities--corporation, limited liability company, or limited partnership--you want to use for your business structure, the decisions you make will depend heavily on your current financial situation, both personal and professional. But do you know how to read a financial statement on your own? Do you know how to read your own personal and business financial statements?

DaVinci Institute - Emerging Trends

From the DaVinci Institute

5.) Economic Boom in the Building Industry.  Hurricane Katrina and China place huge demands on building materials and natural resources, forcing prices to skyrocket.  But the money freed up to pay for the re-building of New Orleans will create an economic boom time for the building industry in Louisiana with strong ripple effects into other areas of the country.

Despite the gloomy forecasts about job loss and negative economic impact being bandied about in the media, the “streak” of positive job growth now stands at 30 straight months even as the Gulf region continues to struggle.  GDP (Gross Domestic Product) also continued to grow, reaching the surprisingly strong rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter. Unemployment held steady despite the displacement of thousands of workers from the storm-ravaged area. And the nation’s oil supply recovered far more quickly than expected.

The analogy I like to make is that the dot com boom in the late 90’s was largely fueled by money spent to fix the Y2K problem.  This money worked its way through the system and supercharged the emerging dot com world.  The $200 billion spent to rebuild New Orleans will work its way through the system causing a boom in surrounding industries.

Investment in R&D for New Medicines, Bird Flu etc.

There press release...

We are glad to tell you good news. Sam Colins, our CEO, has just returned from a business trip dedicated to making new contacts on investments into research and development of new medicines, especially those preventing birds flue virus.

Our business partners are willing to continue co-operation and, for that reason, we want to allow non-VIP investors in this investment opportunity. We would like to learn your opinions on a short-term (approximately 60 business days) placement of your funds. The daily rate will be almost twice as high as the current one, but it will not exceed 6% daily. This is a very high-yield and short-term offer, we have already made substantial investments in this field and have signed several contracts that would allow us to continue our work this and next year.

Lawsuit Loans Help Keep Cases and Lives Financially on Track

Lawsuits can help victims receive compensation for pain and suffering caused by negligent acts. But cases can drag on for years, making it difficult for plaintiffs to survive financially until they receive their settlement. That's where lawsuit loans can help.

Asset-Based Lines of Credit

Many company which have a fairly large volume of business (ie. $100,000 per month) with other companies that have good Dunn & Bradstreet ratings, can qualify for an Asset-Based Line of Credit (ABL). Even if they have been turned-down by their bank for some reasons, they very well may qualify for an Asset-Based Credit Line with a very competetive rate!

Letters of Credit (LCs) Used as Collateral for Construction/Acquisition

Very often Letters of Credit are used as collateral for Large Project financing.  The main concern is that the clients have the ability to pay for the instrument, and to protect it with an acceptable third party Bank or Insurance Company commitment to take out the LC before its maturity, with payoff or permanent financing.  This is NOT a loan program. We only provide the instrument upon which Developers and/or Projects can borrow.

Ten Great Business Games

From Forbes:

The newest crop of business-themed board and card games caters to hard-core capitalists--the greedier the better. Some square players against each other in the pits of the stock market. Others demand strategic thinking to build vast real estate empires. Want to smuggle controlled substances during Prohibition? You can do that, too.

Tip For Ending Personal Debt

Steve Martin was the guest host of Saturday Night Live last week, and did a fantastic skit on personal finance — click on the arrow to watch it here.

Retirement Plans for Entrepreneurs

by Sue Stevens

It's easy to neglect setting up a retirement plan when you own your own business. With so many existing administrative tasks--payroll taxes, insurance benefits, bookkeeping--adding one more benefit may seem overwhelming.

But retirement creeps up on you much faster than you'd expect. Setting up a retirement plan is essential--and the sooner you do it, the better.

StevePavlina.com Podcast #006 - How to Make Money Without a Job

This podcast is about how to make money through multiple streams of income without actually having a job. This is a high-level overview of the general process and mindset involved in generating passive income streams. It would take a lot more than a 15-20 minute podcast to share all the exact implementation details. But with the right mindset, you’ll be able to figure out the details over time.

Enjoy the podcast…

Pavlina-006-How-to-Make-Money-Without-a-Job.mp3
(Time = 16:34, Size = 7.6MB)

Converting Outstanding Bills Into Quick Cash through Invoice Factoring

Cash flow shortages can happen to almost any business, but invoice factoring can provide a quick, easy solution. Invoice factoring involves the selling of your account receivables or invoices to secure immediate working capital.

Business Tax Center

A common challenge to most start-up entrepreneurs is complying with the Internal Revenue Service and ever changing regulations. Fortunately, the I.R.S. has an Internet based Tax Center which contains a great deal of information that will assist you. You can learn about operating a business with employees, business deductions and tax credits, filing and paying taxes, recordkeeping and choosing an accounting method. You can also secure business income tax forms for all of the types of businesses.

Interest Compounding

One of the most central and powerful concepts in finance and investment is compound interest. When an investment begins to pay interest on interest, it is said to be "compounding interest" or paying "compound interest". This concept has been extended to "rates of return" which are said to be "compound" over a time period with multiple intervals.

Why Do I Need A RRSP?

A Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is very important to an individual's financial security. It should form the cornerstone of a personal investment portfolio.

Who Are All These Financial People?

There are many "financial people", each with a role in the world of finance. Since the financial industry is supervised, or "regulated", by government their role reflects what they are legally licensed to do.

Does Your Organization Need to Fundraise?

Have you experienced some cutbacks in funding lately? Are you finding more red than black in your organizational books? Are you tired of being so dependent on Government funding? Fundraising can provide the critical difference between break even and deficit financing. The key to successful fundraising is the planning and followup involved with each fundraising event.

Dimewise is a web-based financial management tool

Dimewise, A constant reminder of saving money

It's cheap: Five bucks a month lets you manage an unlimited number of accounts.

It's web-based, so you can log your purchases from anywhere.

It's simple: it does exactly what you need, and tells you exactly what you need to know.

KPIs - Key Performance Indicators

Article on The Accounting Blog

What are KPIs ?
KPIs are quick measures of your business' overall health and well-being. They focus on aspects of your company's performance that are vital to ongoing and future success. In essence, KPIs work like a report card to tell how the business is performing in crucial areas. As a result, they allow you to:
1) quickly get a clear picture of what's happening with the business and
2) get an early read on trends and future profitability (i.e. while there's still time to take action that will influence the outcome).

High Yield Investment Program - for the rest of us...

This group has come highly recommended. Please do your due diligence before investing in any program.

SOLID INVESTMENT is a group of experienced, mature, certified financial professionals. We act as fully authorized representatives of a large and well-established internatinal investment bank (group) offering a wide range of investment and merchant services. We possess first-hand direct contacts with numerous financial institutions and private lenders throughout North America and Europe.

Our group has been in this business since 1998 offering investment opportunities to private individuals. Our customers' funds are involved in the following financial activities: bank debentures, hedge funds and private placements. In order to make our assets more diversified and for the company to be more versatile we also deal in the real estate (the US, Europe and certain Asian countries), precious metals and more.

We invite you to invest in the above-mentioned financial instruments without any of the restrictions you would face in case you invest on your own. The funds you entrust us with become the part of our investment capital which is managed by skilled professionals and guarantees stable income for at least another 10 years. There is no need to submit the source of income or to disclose personal details, we do not require you to do that. Normally such investments require from at least $1M to $10M. If you invest with us, your money becomes a part of a huge pool of funds. We provide full disclosure of our operations, you can watch the progress of your funds from within your account. Unlike others, we allow the investor to stay in full control over funds.