With the country deep in a nasty recession, it should come as no surprise that new statistics show roughly 64% of those soon to retire won’t have enough money saved to maintain their lifestyles.

When you retire, you have expectations of being able to do pretty much what you want to do. But what if you don’t have enough money to do that? What if your standard of living dropped instead, to a level you never imagined was possible?

If you don’t have medical issues, things might be just dandy. However, with the advent of better technology, we are living longer. Living longer may well mean some type of long-term care. While this may be a reality, there are a lot of couples that are not prepared financially to pay that kind of expense out of their pockets. This is where long-term care insurance comes into the picture.

While you might get tired of hearing that insurance of any kind is easier to buy when you are younger, that’s the truth; it is easier. Sure you wonder if it’s worth the expense when you are in your 40s or 50s and in pretty good shape. Even if you are in relatively good health, thinking in advance is a smart thing to do for your future and that of your family as well. The other hard core truth is that if you wait too long to buy the kind of insurance that you need, you might not be able to buy it.

Here are a couple of statistics that will get your attention and get you thinking. They’re from the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance who reveals that virtually 70% of all those who apply for long-term care insurance who are 45 to 54 get accepted. Those in the age bracket of 65 to 74 don’t always get accepted, and the approval rate plummets to about 40%. Policy costs also double for those 65 and over; that is double the cost of what it would have been had you applied when you were 55.

It never hurts to think that you will always be healthy and never need long-term care, but to be blunt, that is honestly not a very realistic point of view. Other studies have indeed shown that just about half of us will need some form of long-term care. Sure you might think that long-term care insurance is expensive and you might not need it and besides, you have a higher chance of being hurt in a car crash or your home going up in flames. That well may be true, but you “do” have insurance for both of those events, so why not have insurance for the possibility of long-term care? It only makes sense and protects you later when you need it the most.

The American Stroke Association says that about one-third of stroke victims become permanently disabled and that one-third of stroke victims are under 65 years old. Those under 65 would not have had the chance to finish stashing money in their retirement fund before losing their ability to work. Think about this - the costs of long-term care. On average it runs about $75,000 a year with one in five Americans needing care for at least a year and about 3% requiring care for more than five years. Some patients with dementia will need care for longer. There is no way your family will be able to afford those costs.

On the other hand if you did buy long-term care insurance early and paid $100 a month, that total at the other end when you really needed it would far outweigh any retirement savings or financial reserves you may have at your disposal. Which chance would you rather take? Not having long-term health care and being unable to afford it? Or having long-term health care and knowing your care will not be a problem for you or a burden to your family. These are tough questions and ones that should be discussed with an expert insurance broker. They won’t sugarcoat what you need to know and will tell you precisely what would work for you for the long-term.

You’re at the auto dealership, ready to close the purchase of a new car you’ve been excited about for months now. The kids are with you because you want them to experience the rewards of your hard work and good credit. It’ll give them a good example of the virtues of honest living. You’ve gotten a great deal, they’re throwing in the rust proofing and you’re meeting with the finance manager to get the loan straight, sign the papers and drop the kids off at their friend’s in the new car that’ll raise their status just a bit.

Just then the manager asks if you have alternative means of paying for the car.

“Why, is there a problem?”

“Well, yes. There are several things that need to be taken care of before we can get you approved for a car loan.”

You have no idea what they’re talking about. You pay all your bills you’ve always paid on time. Well, except the one time when you took that long vacation at the wrong time of the billing cycle but, even then they waived the late fee. What things need to be taken care of?

As the manager starts to list several accounts that have been listed as charged off, you stop him and ask to see that report for yourself. Feelings of anger, embarrassment and wonder course through you as you see items listed on your credit report that you didn’t open. There’s a half dozen accounts listed as collection accounts that you never opened. They’re all from about six months ago. You pull out the keys to your old car and direct the kids to go to the car. You realize that you’ve now got bigger issues to deal with than replacing the old family hauler.

Identity theft is a silent crime. You can be a victim and not realize it until months have passed. Thieves use your personal information to turn a quick profit and then give the scraps to other thieves outside the country to turn the attention of law enforcement away from them. They’ll take your information, open new accounts after changing your address, max out those charge cards and, of course, not repay the account. You won’t know anything about it until you apply for some form of credit where your report is pulled. Even then, unless you’re applying in person, you won’t know for a week or two after the request is made. You’ll get a notification of being declined for credit in the mail with some general reason for the decline and information on how to contact the credit repository whose information was used to make a decision.

So now the work starts. First of all, you’re protected by the bank card companies because they have fraud protection. You won’t be liable for the fraudulent charges. They all spend a lot of money in advertising telling you that so you’ll feel secure in using their product.

But what they don’t tell you is that you have 60 days to dispute the bill. If the charges haven’t been disputed by you after 60 days, then the creditors expect that the charges are legitimate. Seemed reasonable to them, seemed reasonable to Congress who made it the law. So, despite the best assurances of Madison Avenue, you friend are on the hook for the tab.

Recent statistics from the US Government show that you can expect to spend on average 600 hours and $1200 working to restore your good name should it be compromised. Yes, 600 hours. 600 hours of maddening telephone holding, dealing with bureaucrats and poorly titled customer service individuals all through no fault of your own. Or you can hire a company to work to restore your name. Kroll Fraud Solutions is one private company you can hire that uses licensed investigators and others to restore your identity. They currently charge $899 plus $15.95 monthly for ongoing credit protection. Of course, if you had their ID Theft Shield plan when your identity was compromised, you wouldn’t have to pay that $899. But this plan doesn’t cover the cost of paying those fraudulent charges that weren’t yours and are over 60 days old.

When you are starting a home search, the first subject you must become familiar with is how to finance your purchase. In this author’s opinion, the best way to go is with a lender or broker who was referred to you by someone you trust. When you decide on someone, the next step is to find out if you really qualify for a loan.

Credit Score, Income, and Debt

The first question a mortgage lender will want to know is “what is your credit score?” (Tip: Most first time home buyers don’t realize that they do not have to give every possible lender their social security number to get an estimate of their rates. If you know your credit score, you can just tell them what it is and let them give you the rates they have, then you can come back and give them your social to process the loan.) Most lenders will not even look further into an application with a credit score lower than 580, while others will try to take advantage of bad credit customers with high priced products. Generally, customers with credit scores over 700 will have an easy time getting a fair mortgage loan. If your credit score is less than desirable, you may want to reconsider your decision to purchase a home at this time.

How Much Home Can I Afford?

So one of your first questions to tackle is “how much home can I afford?” The general rule is that your total monthly home costs should be no more than 28% of your gross monthly income. Monthly home costs include mortgage payment, taxes, insurance and any home repairs and upkeep. (Tip: You can find many mortgage payment calculators by doing a simple Internet search.) You also need to find local information about your tax and insurance rates.

Another important formula that most lenders will consider is your debt-to-income ratio. You generally do not want your total monthly debt to exceed 36% of your gross monthly income, or you may be in a trouble zone as far as trying to get your home purchase financed at a reasonable rate.

Debt and loans can turn into a vicious cycle and without realizing it you can get pulled into the cycle of debt that seems to be never ending and accumulating by the day.

If you find yourself in this kind of a predicament then what you can do is to consolidate all your loans and credit and put it into one debt instrument. Therefore, all the credit cards, store cards, car and personal loans can be put into one big loan that fetches you the best options and interest rates. You can do this by getting a best homeowner loans. Even if you have bad credit rating history from the past experiences, you can still go on to select the best option from the various best homeowner loans in European countries available to one.

The best home owner loans can be got from an amount that is as low as 3000 pounds to about 25,000 pounds too. The loan term can be decided by you from three months to even as long as twenty-five years. Then, you will need to specify the home property against which you want to take the Best home owner loans and the details about it. This will also include the mortgage details if any, the years remaining, any late payments and details about you and your employment history. Once all of this information has been keyed in, you will be informed about the Best homeowner loans and whether you go ahead to qualify for it.

Balajee Kannan
Financial Consultant
Author: Best Homeowner Loans
The Best Homeowner Loans will ensure that you are able to secure the best possible loan for yourself at the cheapest rates. This will help you to gain control over your finances like nothing else can. You don’t need to bring a proof of income or if self employed your revenue generation statements.

There is a reason why God gave us two ears and only one mouth. Sadly, many home business owners don’t understand that reason and that’s why they fail with their home business. Well, in this article, I’m going to explain to you why this is true so that hopefully, after you’re done reading, you won’t make the same fool mistakes that 97% of the people online who run their own business make.

Okay, I probably don’t really have to explain to you that the reason we have two ears and one mouth is so that we listen more than we speak. A wise man once said that you can’t learn anything when you’re mouth is always jabbering. Think about it…anything that comes out of your mouth, you already know. So you’re learning absolutely nothing. It’s only when you listen to others that you become educated. Ah, but who should you be listening to? That’s the key.

As a home business owner, you should be listening to two groups of people. The first group is other home business owners who are already having success. This is especially true if you’re first starting out as your knowledge of running your business is pretty limited. By listening to those who have done this for a while and have shown that they’ve achieved success, you’ll learn what to do and what not to do. This can save you a lot of time in reaching your ultimate goal…running a successful business.

But you should also be listening to another group of people. And this is where so many drop the ball. I’m talking about listening to your customers, or potential customers. They’re going to tell you what they like and don’t like about your business. If they think your product is overpriced or shoddy, they’ll let you know. If they think your customer service is poor, they’ll let you know that too. And if there is no market for your product, they’ll let you know that too with their pocketbooks.

You can’t possibly grow your business if you lock yourself up in your own little world and listen to nothing but your own thoughts. You need the input of others…those who know how to run a business and those who know what they want in a product or service. Only then can you really reach your potential as a home business owner.

I have worked in retail for a while. Something that is a little embarrassing for me to say but hey its money. I have noticed and observed many things in my time in this world of green, corporations and “customer service” and while some are based on customer service and are customer service oriented some retailers are just money hungry and just want to expand there pockets. It’s all about how many houses they have or cars or what investors are into the company and what imagine the company has and how much green it can bring to the wallet and what they can do to expand there wallet. The sad part? We all need retail outlets for essentials and there is nothing that will change that really. Corporations will continue to put more and more weird, addictive chemicals in food and sell them to a retail chain and the chain will see green and money and the hand-shake from hell will occur.

And what about this Self-Checkout that a lot of retailers are trying to incorporate into there stores? What is this all about? Is it easier? How does it benefit the store? Well I’ll tell you how it benefits the stores that do have them.

1.) They are easier to use and often quicker with small orders.
2.) You don’t have to worry about getting shorted at the registers by a cashier because it’s all computerized.
3.) Saves the hassle of going through someone’s line who doesn’t give a darn and in turn ruining your experience there.
4.) Most of all it helps that store out immensely because they don’t have to hire new employees to run it and can have three; four or five self-checks making it faster for you and cheaper for them.

Training associates in this time and era just isn’t cheap so when a company sees an opportunity to have more registers but the same amount of coverage, of course they will jump all over that. It will make them seem like they care about convenience and at the same time help there bottom line and wallets. Now I am not trashing self-checkouts at all, I prefer them to regular registers. Some may not like it because if you get overcharged or something rings in twice, it’s instantly your fault. It is definitely more efficient and reliable and despite sometimes giving you headaches it can make shopping easier. Kudos to the there who incorporate self-checkouts into there store. Those who do not, well that’s the way you want it and the direct customer service approach is good… I think it’s old. Customers are looking for faster checkouts, accurate checkouts and that’s what you’ll get from the self-checkout machines.
I do have one grievance with the people who use the self-check out machines. They all say that they are doing the job of the employee and should be paid for ringing out there own stuff. I think that Americans have better things to do then call the headquarters of Wal-Mart, Stop and Shop and some others to claim there pay for 1-5 minutes of trouble. It’s not like the cashiers get paid a lot of money either. If you want to argue over 10 cents then go ahead but if I go through a self-check out machine and I encounter a problem with a price or it keeps saying a repeated message I will calmly go over to the employee who is running the area and ask them to clear this because I did indeed scan it and they do and I can move on. I can sense people’s frustration over these machines and I can empathize with you but you also have to keep in mind that you’re not at the machine trying to ring out things for 9 hours… just a few minutes.

What would life be like without the Internet? Before I had the Internet I did a lot more recreational reading, and was a more frequent visitor of my local Everett Public Library. I also read more magazines. I have several free subscriptions to Christian magazines that basically are collecting dust because on on-line Internet sites such as Helium.

I would spend more money on postage stamps. My deceased mother and I spent a small fortune on postage stamps submitting our poetry to numerous poetry anthologies. I currently have two poetry sites that I submit poetry to, poetry.com and poetry.poem.

Before arthritis made handwritten letters and poems more painful, I would write Baptist Missionaries, and other loved ones by sending them cards and letters.

I would probably spend more time listening to music, and talk shows on my older modeled entertainment center. However, the home construction workers outside of my house are listening to enough music to suit me. Although I would probably not turn their radio station on. I would favor relaxing jazzy music on KIXI or listen to religious broadcast stations such as KCIS.

Currently I watch the TBN and DAYSTAR Christian television stations and Hall Mark. I also watch the weather channel Two. Sometimes I watch local news broadcast stations such as KOMO, KING and CBS, if I can not find anything else to watch. Because I am a single female, I would probably watch more television.

I would probably spend more time talking to friends and family on my cordless vtech telephone I purchased last year from my local Everett K-MART Store.

I would ride Everett Paratranist more often than I do now, in warmer weather I would ride the fixed route buses. I would spend more time in Forrest Park than the occasional weekends with my close friend Mary. I would go to the Everett Mall just to walk around and look at all the specialty shops they have there.

I would go for more walks with Mary and her dog Studly walking around the Everett Marina, and walking along the sandy beaches in Mukilteo. I would ride the Mukilteo and Wood-bey Island Ferry, and check up on my Uncle George. He recently lost his wife last year.

I would visit Jetty Island with Mary and friends. I would lead a more active life. I would probably become more involved in my local central Everett Faith Lutheran Church. I would visit Serenity Club, and the Drop in Center more often, by participation in their weekend activities. I would take Mary and Studly along with me.

In everyday language we often use the word quality to mean grade. When we say something is high quality what we really mean is that it’s high grade. Consider two very different cars as an example: the 7 series BMW and the Toyota Corolla. The layperson might say that the BMW is the higher quality car, but the businessman or woman may very well disagree.

This is because the business definition of quality is that a product or service is fit for purpose. In other words, if all of the design goals are met it should be considered as being of good quality. This lets us recognize that the Corolla succeeds in providing reliable and economical transportation. By this definition it’s a quality car, although not one that’s high grade. Also, notice how there’s an implication of consistency. It’s not enough for just some Corollas to be reliable and economical; every single vehicle must meet the design goals, and therefore be of the same quality.

A product or service that meets the needs of the customer, at a price he or she is willing to pay, and does so every time they purchase or use it, is a quality product. If a customer feels that the product or service failed to meet their expectations, (which naturally, includes a sense of value-for-money,) they are unlikely to come back. That customer has been lost forever, and may tell other people about their bad experience, possibly even through on-line reviews read by thousands of consumers. For the business to survive it will have to go to the expense of advertising and perhaps offering some initial discounts. It’s usually less expensive to hang on to existing customers.

Some business owners will argue that they can’t afford to provide a quality product or service, or that their customers aren’t willing to pay the price they’d need to charge. In times past the general approach to ensuring delivery of a quality product or service was to inspect, and if necessary rework or replace the offending item, but that’s now seen as being wasteful. Of course, it’s also expensive, so the modern business practice is to incorporate quality from the beginning.

This means ensuring that things are made or done right first time. One way of doing this is to establish procedures that detail how every job is to be done. This avoids the inconsistencies and errors that result from people taking different approaches. Checklists can also help to ensure that nothing is overlooked or forgotten. Another technique is to error-proof the process by making it impossible for a job to be done wrong. (This approach is often used in assembly operations.)

If you ever visit a fast food chain you’ll see that they have defined their processes thoroughly, to the point where the product is very consistent, regardless of the time you visit, and even between locations. In fact this remarkable ability to deliver the same product time after time, and at a low price, is one of the factors in their success.

It must be admitted though, that procedures, checklists, error-proofing, and the staff training that goes along with them, do have their costs. So the businessman or woman needs to balance the cost of providing bad quality (refunds, complaints, wasted materials and lost customers,) with the cost of ensuring good quality. However, the cost of preventing problems is usually relatively low, so most businesses find there’s an immediate return from investing in quality.

Having been in the sales line and with three different kind of pay packages, namely 100% commission, a low salary with the commission component and a 100% salary based, for the past three years, I can safely assure you that salary does have a certain place in a sales environment.

The sales environment is all about a Numbers game and a career with potential good earnings. Basically your earnings depend on the amount of commitment in your daily sales activities. But a sad truth is that the sales environment is one of those with a high turnover rate and the first group of people to be retrenched when the economy is bad.

What Is Wrong With The 100% Commission Environment?

This Reward Plan is definitely the best model for Sales Personnel who know this trade inside and out, they have their killer moves to seal the deal and their daily stable of referrals to follow up with. With this 100% commission environment, the earning is the sky is the limit.

The negative aspect is that there are bound to be some black sheep who are good in this line and only keen in selling high commission products or services. This, in turn, will not benefit clients who are in need of an actual solution (which may come with lower commission for the salesperson, think mis-selling!)

Another negative aspect is that for many of those who are just starting this line, the only time that they will get to see their commissions is when the client signs the dotted line, hand over the cash and over the money-back guarantee period. Meanwhile, they may have to depend on their savings and such to tide them over. Think about the expenses they may have to incur before being able to enjoy the fruits!

What About The Idea of 100% Salary In A Sales Environment?

The idea of having a 100% Salary is not one of those ideas that are welcomed by all sales personnel. In reality, the best sales personnel having a fixed salary is really short-changed in their rewards and for their efforts. The best reward model should be of Part Salary and Part Commission.

The 4.5 Benefits Of Having A Part Salary Part Commission In A Sales Environment

1. Salary, the fixed amount of money you will get every month, will help the sales person with their daily expenses - transportation, entertainment that’s commonly related to sales activities. The commission will serve as the reward for their persistence, their sales skills and patience.

2. Think about Needs-Based Selling. By getting part salary, these sales personnel do not have to worry about selling high commission items to ensure that they have enough money to last for the month. Instead think about the good karma they’ll be getting with needs-based selling. They are more than willing to serve any clients with any needs and provide a real solution.

3. The Business Cycle. Once a client is well-taken care of their needs because the Sales Personnel has done a good job, there is actually a business cycle that’s being formed. Happy clients will help to promote and share what they have gotten and many others will in turn be interested to know if they can get the similar deal. This is a good testimonial and good advertising for the sales company and sales personnel.

4. Think about the turnover rate. Most salesperson leave the job for greener pastures because they are facing a stagnant stage of their sales career (which is very common). You have to consider the accounts they leave behind and all these new clients have to build a new relationship with the new sales personnel, which is very time-taking.

4.5 Climbing Up The Sales Career Ladder. With the above benefits, most Sales Personnel will be more motivated to climb the Sales Career Ladder. These Sales Personnel will even be more confident to go for a 100% commission environment because they have the skills, referrals and accounts to work on.