50 Plus Finance

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Planning To Buy a Car? Know Your Type First

English: Toyota Camry (left) and Ford Excursion (right). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, buying a car has become a necessity as opposed to earlier times, when it was a luxury. You need a car to go to work, to meet friends, to drop your children to school and for a lot of other things too. Once you've worked long and hard enough and saved up enough money to buy your very own car, you wonder which one to buy. With the constant stream of new cars pouring into the market on a regular basis, it turns out that you can take your pick depending on your requirements. There are various types of cars in the market and each type has its own set of advantages to offer. Here are a few types and their characteristics, which can help make your decision on the type of car you want to buy.

SUVs: SUV stands for Sports Utility Vehicle, and buying one can give you some great benefits. This kind usually comes with a 4x4 wheel drive option for good off-road experience. Apart from this, SUVs are known for their spacious interiors, extra head room and leg room, high ground clearance and ample boot space. All these features are very useful in case of long drives and family trips. So if you’re a family guy looking to travel medium and long haul drives on weekends, an SUV is the perfect buy for you.
Sedans: Sedans are regular sized cars with two rows of spacious seats. Sedans are the most economical cars around and are also ideal city cars. They have low ground clearance, which means that there is less risk of toppling over. Sedans come in various types depending on their structure and design. Hatchback sedans, notchback sedans, fastback sedans and hardtop sedans are a few among them.
Coupes: Coupes are smaller versions of the sedan. They were traditionally described as “two door cars”, but these days they come with four doors too. One major advantage of buying a coupe is that it is inexpensive to maintain and can be parked easily anywhere since it does not take up too much space. Other than this, it is easily maneuverable, thus making for the perfect city car.

Apart from these three major categories, there are a lot of other categories of cars available in the market. Furthermore, these categories are subdivided into full size, mid-size and compact cars, depending on their size. Now that you have a fair idea of the options available in the market, you can make your decision on what to buy. Remember to check online for a good car insurance quote before you actually go ahead with the purchase. Select the most suitable car insurance quote, draw up the papers, get your driving license and you’re all set to drive your very own car.

Author Bio:

Crowley is a car salesman with a leading company and has over two decades of experience under his belt. He also writes articles for his company – RSA Direct, which are published on the website. His recent write ups include “How to buy the best car for yourself” and “Getting the best car insurance quote online”.

Handy Tips on Effective Tax Returns

taxes (Photo credit: 401(K) 2012)

After the back to back financial slumps in and after the year 2008, the structure of the world economy has greatly changed. There are millions all over the globe, who do not have a proper credit history. Hence it becomes a difficult task for them to get a loan. Besides getting the loan, one also needs to make sure that they manage their taxes in a proper way. In this article we will provide the correct tax planning tips that will help one to manage their taxes correctly.

Possessing the correct information on Taxes

Having the correct knowledge of the tax that you need to pay is the most important thing. There are various kinds of tax that one needs to pay such as local tax, federal tax, income tax and others. Often it is found that one finds it difficult to understand the nature of the tax and how much exactly they should pay. In such cases it is a beer idea to hire a professional who has a fair idea in tax returns. Such professional will also be able to help you to find ways to save on your taxes. There are numerous ways in which one can save on their taxes using legal methods.

Maintaining a Record of the transactions

Keeping a record of the tax payable is an effective way of managing your tax payments. That way you will not lose track of the amount of tax that you need to pay and the time at which you need to pay it. Many a times it is found that individuals inadvertently skip their tax and eventually end up paying more. Maintaining a folder or a file will help one to keep abreast of the tax returns that they need to make.

Hiring a Professional Tax Consultant

Hiring a professional tax consultant is of utmost importance. The entire scope of tax returns is huge and it is virtually impossible for an individual to get a proper idea of it. There are numerous ways in which one can benefit by hiring a tax consultant. The most important benefit of hiring professionals is that, they will be able to help you in saving money on your tax. Moreover they will also be able help you to easy ways of tax return. Hence resorting to the help of a professional is certainly a great way to manage your finances.

On a Concluding note

On a concluding note it can be said that in order to manage your finances in the best possible way, you need to keep in mind all the above mentioned points. A recent study has shown that many individuals lose thousands in penalties for not paying their tax on time. Hence you should consider hiring a consultant to manage all the aspects of tax return. There are many tax consultants out in the market. Make sure that you choose an experienced one to address your needs.

Author’s Bio: Alisa Martin is a freelance writer, professional blogger, and social media enthusiast. Her blog Money Exchange Rates focuses on Finance bloggers. You can follow her on Google+

Pros and Cons of Using the Internet to Sell or Rent Your Property

Anybody who is looking to sell or rent a real estate property, wants to sell it quickly, and that too at good price, but a layman might not even be aware of exactly what’s the good price for his/her property, let alone managing to get that price. This is why majority of people goes for real estate agents for buying, selling, or renting their properties.

A real estate agent or broker can assess your property and give you an idea of the right price according to neighboring communities and the overall situation of the real estate market. They can also help you with marketing, home staging, and closing a deal, except that they will charge a hefty fee or commission for their services, precisely the reason why many people prefer to avail one of those online property portals or classified websites for finding a buyer or tenant for their homes or offices.

But just like any other option, selling or renting a property via internet, without getting any help from a real estate agent might save you some bucks, but it has its fair share of disadvantages as well. So, while I am all for making the most of Internet, you must have an idea of the downsides, so that you can do something to deal with these shortcomings.

Let’s have a look at some pros and cons …

Advantages:

1. Save on the Commission Fee:

As earlier suggested, real estate agents will be charging hefty amounts for their services. If all you are looking for a buyer or tenant for your property, which is located in a big city, you can easily catch the attention of many interested parties by simply putting an ad on property portals or classified ads, and that too for free. You can also upload some pictures and floor plan, and you will be getting calls from interested buyers or people looking for rental property, in next to no time.

II. 2. More Control:

Using Internet to sell or rent your property means that you will be free to make your own decisions. Not that dealing with a real estate agent will bound you to listen to their advice, still some of them might talk you into a deal that you will regret later on. Remember that they will be looking to get the deal done ASAP because that is when they will be getting the commission, and sometimes your might miss a good prospect in hurriedness.

III. 3.Clash of Interest:

If your real estate agent has many properties on hand, and they are expecting bigger commissions from other properties, they will be keener to sell or rent those properties sooner than yours, while making you wait. Turning towards the Internet and doing it yourself means that you can make a wholehearted effort and attract the potential buyers without wasting any time.

IV. 4. Learning:

Property portals are not just used for selling or renting properties, they can help you in more than one ways. For example, you can compare property prices in your neighborhood and decide the right price, you can also get some handy tips from their knowledgebase, or you can initiate discussion or post queries at their communities.

Disadvantages:

1. Time Consuming:

Remember that not only you will have to take all calls from interested parties (including some at odd timings), asking all sorts of questions and making weird offers. That is quite time consuming, as well as annoying, not to forget that even if you have uploaded pictures of your property, many people will be interested in visiting the home, so you will have to take out time and arrange a visit for many interested buyers or tenants.

II. 2. Negotiation:

Real estate agents are usually quite good at persuading and price negotiations. That’s part of their job and something that they are doing day in and day out. You might not be as good as a professional agent or broker at communicating or convincing when it comes to persuading buyers or renters to go for the property.

III. 3. Documentation

All real estate transactions, doesn't matter if it is renting out a property or selling it; need to have some well documented agreements. A real estate agent will be able to help you with the legalities and nitty-gritty of a transaction; you’ll have to be extra careful and vigilant while handling it yourself.

Farah is a contributing writer for a London loft conversion company, that specialize in planning and carrying out high quality loft conversions in London, Hertfordshire, and Essex.

3 Benefits of a College Degree

(Photo credit: pennstatelive)

In this age of globalization and competition, a college degree has become a must for all those who wish to work in knowledge based organizations. Here is what a college degree can mean to you:

Strong Knowledge Base

A college degree increases your ability to understand the subject in depth. It gives you the time to absorb the subject through a practical and focused approach. It teaches you the application of theoretical aspects of the subject, it gives you the education requirements for you career choices, enhances your writing and speaking skills and gives a broader exposure to the subject and everything related to it.

Higher pay package

A college degree could make a difference of at least $30,000 in the annual pay package that you can command than without it. Even a 2-year associate degree is better off than just a high school certificate.

Greater potential

College education can open up more job opportunities than you imagine. The general perception of bachelor’s degree holder is that this person is more equipped to deal with the challenges of work as compared to one without it. So if you have a college degree in your hands then you are better to attract more jobs your way.

So go ahead and get yourself a college degree, you will be glad you made the decision

Monday, December 17, 2012

Fleet Management Tips for a Growing Business

In general terms, fleet management is the process of maximizing the return on investment companies make in their equipment. In practical terms, this means getting as much production as possible from the equipment, at the lowest per hour cost, over the longest period of time, while obtaining the highest sales value at end of life. In order to do this, an owner has to monitor and manage the company assets through modern business techniques and technology.

The first step in proper fleet management is to obtain the vehicles in the most cost conscious way. Contract hire is one way to make vehicle acquisitions.

Contract hire is a type of vehicle lease. This type of lease allows you to hire a vehicle on a long-term basis with payments made for every month of use. The amounts that you are charged will be based on the amount of driving you do using the vehicle, which is measured using the mileage and value of the vehicle. In addition to mileage and the van's value, other factors that will influence your rental fee include the length of the rental period and the resultant depreciation at the end of use. Contract hire is one of the most popular ways business pays for its equipment.

Vehicle tracking: Just as it sounds, vehicle tracking is the process of knowing where a piece of equipment is at a specific time and date, or where it has been over a period of time. Functionally this means answering questions as diverse as “are they where they can be the most productive?” and “where did they go today?”

Theft mitigation: Closely related to traditional vehicle tracking, theft mitigation allows a construction company to know if a piece of equipment is being stolen. Data gathered for theft mitigation includes when a piece of equipment is started outside of normal working hours, when a piece of equipment is moved (with or without engine start), when the equipment is being transported and where the equipment is at any time.

Productivity: Managing productivity means being able to understand when and how much a piece of equipment is running, idling, working, moving, etc. This information should be specific to the tasks the piece of equipment is performing as well the project on which it is working. For example, a backhoe might be working but not moving about the job. The system needs to account for this.

Maintenance: Knowing how much a piece of equipment has been running, idling and working allows a construction company to know an equipment’s hour meter reading very accurately and in real-time. In addition, sensors on the equipment can identify when and measure how long or how far a piece of equipment is being run in reverse, how many lifts or dumps have been made and a host of other activities. This knowledge makes it possible to accurately employ a very effective preventive maintenance program.

Operator behavior: While you can’t directly measure operator behavior, you can infer it from other data collected while the operator is using a monitored piece of equipment. Knowing when a piece of equipment is started in the morning, how much time the equipment runs during the day how much time the equipment idles during the day, how much time the equipment moves during the day and how much it worked can be interpreted to get a reasonable view as to operator behavior. This is particularly powerful when management has the ability to look back over months of data and identify trends.

Increased efficiencies and increased profits are the main goals of modern fleet management. The majority of these increases can be obtained through the implementation of new fleet management methods or the enhancement of existing fleet management processes.

Five Benefits of Having Natural Daylight in your Offices

office setup (Photo credit: Rob 'n' Rae)

If you walk through the office after lunch and notice that your staff seems a bit sluggish and maybe even drowsy, it might not be the lunch they just ate. Take a look around the room; are there blinds on the windows? The problem with the lack of energy and therefore the lack of productivity could be the fact that they are sitting under artificial lights.

There are numerous benefits of letting the sunshine in through the windows or skylights. Maximizing natural light in the workplace will result in more productivity and efficiency. Let’s have a look at some of these benefits.

Increased Productivity

When you have the sun streaming in through the windows, the serotonin levels of your workers will be on the higher side. This will put them in a better mood, making them more active and keep the workforce bustling with energy. It might become a little noisier in there, but you shouldn’t mind that as long as they are accomplishing more.

Health Benefits

Your company probably loses a good amount of money and production when people call out sick. Having natural sunlight in the office will increase the production of Vitamin D. This will increase everyone’s immune system and have them at their desks instead of at home. Recent studies have shown a 15 percent decline in absenteeism when employees worked under natural light conditions instead of artificial lighting. So, by just “keeping the blinds open” (hypothetically speaking), your employees get better health and you get more work done. Need I say more?

A Better Atmosphere

People are just happier when they have the sun shining on them, especially in the relatively cold regions or weathers. It means, everyone feels good about coming to work. They show up on time, don’t take too long on breaks and do not jump up at exactly 5 o clock. Remember, if you are keeping your shades drawn, your employees are not getting much daylight at all. They do not have a chance to get out during the day to soak up the energy. This can make them grumpy at work, and just as a smile is contagious, so is grumpiness. Who wants to go to a workplace, where everyone seems to be in a sour mood?

Increased Sales

If your staff is some kind of a marketing or salesroom, having natural light will increase their creativity and salesmanship. Because they are more chipper, it will help them with customer service, lead generation, or sales. Not to forget that if your showroom has a lot of sunlight, even your customers will be in high spirits, hence more likely to do business with you. Sunlight has dual benefits when customers and sales are involved.

Financial Benefits

Any time you use natural daylight to light up your office, and avoid having overhead lights on, you are saving money on your electricity bill. But that’s just one of the many financial benefits. As earlier mentioned, lower absence rate will mean you’ll not be paying for temporary help while also paying for an employee’s sick day, giving you more savings. Not to forget that an increase in production, and eventually in sales will also improve your bottom line.

When you consider all the advantages of using natural light in your offices, you will wonder why you didn’t think of it before. You may think it is the lower power bills, increased production and better sales that have you feeling so happy, but in reality, it is just the talk of extra sunshine that has you feeling great.

Scott Ryan is a home and office interior design expert, follow him on twitter.

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012