Guide to Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy
Unique Points Bergamo is a beautiful city, with a medieval hilltop old town. It is easily reached by Ryanair flights from Glasgow, London, Paris, Girona, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stockholm, making it an ideal short break destination. The airport is near the city and can be reached ... more...

Fit To Be a Father
The fairytale marriage comes to an abrupt end. The glass of the framed wedding picture has been broken. The living room furniture, once considered a place for family meetings and fellowship, has been divided; it will be termed community property in legalese and will be fought over in a family court ... more...

Smokers, Death Benefit Arguments, and Poly-behavioral Addiction
Do Governments Save Money by Watching Smokers Die Prematurely?This was the conclusion of a report, commissioned by Philip Morris, who looked at the cost of smoking in the Czech Republic in 1999. They concluded that tobacco can save a government millions of dollars in health care and pensions ... more...

Financial Issues in Business Startup
A primary inhibitor of business start-up is that few people have the financial cushion to give up a job for the uncertain income of a start-up venture. In a recent survey, about 30% of new business founders identified inadequate funding as their biggest hurdle, and a similar amount said lenders ... more...

Private Lenders Can Get You the Mortgage Terms You Want
There are two primary places that you can find money to support your new home purchase, commercial banks and private lenders. Although there are a few more, these are the ones that people turn to first.Commercial banks usually have terms put out on the table that you are either expected to accept ... more...

Patio Canopies: Protecting Your Patio From The Elements
Most working individuals with families target a home as their primary investment. Since the home is generally considered symbolic of ones social status, many exert much effort to make their homes a beautiful and comfortable one without sacrificing functionality and the budget. This attitude also ... more...

Challenging the Gospel of Growth -- Must Business Grow to Survive?
A cherished business doctrine is that growth must be a primary business purpose: grow or perish is a mostly unquestioned truth. At South Mountain we favor certain kinds of growth, but not expansion for its own sake, which author Edward Abbey described as the ideology of the cancer cell. We embrace ... more...

Real Estate Value: Knowing yours is Key to Mortgage Success
The value of the real estate you own, whether it is your personal residence or an investment property, is critical to your mortgage and financial success. If the balance on your mortgage is close to or higher than the value of your property, your real estate is not the financial machine it should ... more...

Real Estate Tip: Escrow Accounts -- Do You Really Need Them?
If you have a mortgage on your property, whether it's for your personal residence or a real estate investment, chances are you have an escrow account. But if you are working on building wealth through real estate, you may want to take a hard look at your escrow account (or accounts, if you own more ... more...