Are You Overpaying Taxes If You Use Tax Preparation Software?
For many business owners the answer to this quandary is tax preparation software. Fill out a fairly simple interview, click print and out comes a completed return that will pass muster with the IRS. The answer to all your problemsor is it?Can One Software Program Cover All Businesses?Take a moment ... more...

The Three Largest Factors In Your Interest Rate
There are three major factors that affect how much you pay for a loan. Understanding these factors can save you time, money and frustration.1. The Federal Reserve Discount Interest Rate.Banks and other lending institutions borrow money from the Federal Reserve Banks. The discount rate is the ... more...

Think INSIDE the Square to Keep Those Love Fires Burning
I was sitting in my sanctuary in my back yard contemplating the worlds mysteries and minding my own business when a fellow neighbor walked up to me and started a conversation. As he looked a little distressed, I invited him into my little spiritual oasis and offered him a cup of coffee. He ... more...

Negative Gearing Its Not to Your Benefit!
The concept of negative gearing has been originally developed to encourage real estate investment in Australia by allowing any income losses from property investment to be deductible from other income as a tax benefit. This means that the taxable income of the owner will be reduced after the ... more...

Consolidating Credit Cards
Credit card consolidation is a popular solution for those with significant credit card debt, usually distributed on three or four different cards. Basically, this means putting all your debts together on a single card, like transferring it all to one loan. Of course, the goal is to pick a card that ... more...

The Three Factors of Credit-Worthiness
Between the Internet, well-meaning family and friends, and know-it-all articles in the print media, it's hard to know where the facts end and the nonsense begins. Facts are everywhere, but so are urban legends, hidden agendas, and opinions posing as truth. Fact or fallacy - it can be devilishly ... more...

Conventional Financing For Wholesale Deals
This info is very important for both new and experienced wholesalers, AND buyers of fixer-uppers, to carefully read and understand. We learned it painfully, hopefully you won't have to :-)Often times we are asked by investors about using conventional financing for their investor deals. In other ... more...

An Interview with Gary Dunn, Publisher of the Caretaker Gazette
I am always on the lookout for innovative, unconventional, and first and foremost, cost-saving ways to travel. I recently came across the concept of "caretaking", i.e. looking after other people's (often beautiful) properties and estates, as a way of procuring rent-free living opportunities in ... more...

The Advantages Of Department Store And Gas Station Credit Cards
If you are attempting to rebuild damaged credit, department and gas station credit cards may be a good solution. As opposed to bank credit cards, gas and department store cards are easier to be approved for and even if your credit is damaged, you may qualify. It is very important to use them ... more...

How to Deal With A Death in the Family and Still Run Your Small Business
As a small business owner we have to deal with tax law changes, local ordinances, environmental laws, Workers Compensation, etc. Just when we thought we had everything under control, something terrible happenes. A death in the family. Oh my God you say? What do I do now? Well since I have been ... more...

Protecting Your Expatriate Family
If you and your family relocate overseas, one of your first priorities from a financial planning point of view may very well be establishing health care.Costs and services abroad can differ greatly to what you are accustomed to back home. Therefore its essential to make sure that you are fully ... more...

Why Invest In Property?
Why property, some people ask when looking for an investment. Well, as far as I am concerned, property investment is, and always has been, the most powerful type of investment for building wealth. It has been said that over 90% of the world's millionaires got there by owning property. The reason ... more...

Marketing Success - Marketing Strategy - Brand Identity Guru
Marketing message x Credibility x Visibility = Marketing SuccessThese three variables, when working positively together, create success. Period. But determining how to get those variables to work together is the trick.Your marketing message isnt a static entity. It can have a high or low impact on ... more...

Debt a Glossary of Terms
Bankruptcy - Having been legally declared financially insolvent. There are two types of bankruptcy - liquidation, in which your debts are cleared (discharged) and reorganization, in which you provide the court with a plan for how you intend to repay your debts.Collateral - Property acceptable as ... more...