Author: Herbert Whitney

Finance 
Finances Effectively

How to Plan Your Finances Effectively

Herbert Whitney 0

There is always the right fit formula for financial success. Although everyone differs when it comes to his definition of financial success, financial planning works for everyone. It is best to manage your finances if you want to become extraordinarily wealthy or at least financially stable. Your family and loved ones will really appreciate it if you know these proven steps of effective financial planning.

Begin and End With Cashflow

If you make efforts to increase your cashflow now, you’ll realize it’s the same thing you’d want for yourself in the future. Approach a company that can help you manage your finances and help give you advice on how to reduce expenses and improve cashflow. There are many more ways to generate cash, not only through your job. Get an expert Financial Planner who can help you become a better manager of your daily finances.

Have an Emergency Fund

Having an emergency fund will shield you from many unnecessary dips into your investments. In case you have to face actual emergencies or just unavoidable expenses, then you have a fallback. Begin with $1000 or even $2000 if you can. The most important thing is that your emergency fund is at least equivalent to six months of expenses in case something unexpected happens to your income source.

Grow Your Wealth Through Investments

One of the necessary steps to financial planning is to learn ways of investing your cash. Don’t immediately venture into something you don’t completely understand, even a simple franchise business. You need someone who knows the ins and outs of investing money wisely. Get into a Wealth Management Program that holistically approaches your financial life. If you don’t do this step, then marriage, career, and children might end up as obstacles to your finances. Here are some popular investment options:

  • Buy and Hold investments like real property
  • Negative Gearing that lowers your tax bracket
  • Property Trusts that include different kinds of assets in a professionally managed portfolio

Manage Debt and Loans

Managing debt is not as easy as paying off loans regularly. It is still the most significant and most crucial step, though. Pay your bills on time every month and pay your credit cards on time. You should pay at least the minimum charges. If you think you need one, then seek credit counseling in order to get back on track. Also, make sure you make a monthly budget plan in order not to make the same mistakes again.

Some Final Words

Financial planning is a serious task. This is because money problems are not a joke. Financial issues can derail your success, cause enormous stress, and even lead to divorce or substance abuse. That’s why you need to plan your finances as early as possible. Always seek expert professional advice when dealing with your home loans and investments financial planning services. In the end, only you can help yourself and can make yourself financially stable. No one else can and will do it for you.

Insurance 

How Wearable Gadgets Can Affect Your Health Insurance in Future?

Herbert Whitney 0

The trend of wearable gadgets to monitor health is presently in its nascent stages. The increasing popularity of these gadgets and its high-end usability to benefit health poses some new challenges. Very soon, wearables could be a compulsion and the use of these gadgets may redefine your health insurance benefits. Before you move on to know how these gadgets can impact the insurance holders, let us know what exactly are the different health wearables.

What are Wearables?

Wearables are health monitoring gadgets that the patients can wear on their wrist or some body part. Here are the many different ways in which health monitoring devices and gadgets help:

  • Chronic disease management is made possible. Individuals can actively control their existing health conditions.
  • Keeping obesity in control is also made possible. Physical activity is encouraged by offering special discounts.
  • The wearables make it possible to identify diabetes and blood pressure issues well in advance and take corrective action at the right time.
  • The wearables also help to identify super-fit and super-healthy individuals instantly.
  • Wearables can also help in monitoring health of people who are addicted to smoking or alcohol and the right measures can be taken to avert it.

Know About the Growing Trend of Wearables

In the past, health monitoring gadgets were bulky and inconvenient to use. As the technology is advancing, the wearables are also altering in look and feel. They are available today in sleek and attractive styles. The growing trend of wearables is observed in today’s health conscious world. Such gadgets are marketed during health awareness campaigns and marathon series.

These wearable devices help to monitor a healthy hear rate. These can help to detect any variation in normal health and take action on a timely basis.

New Rules About Wearables and Health Insurance

While wearable devices as a compulsion for health insurance has not yet been introduced, it could be a possibility in the near future. Insurance companies have long been considering the multitude of insurance possibilities with the help of health monitoring devices.

As the different health monitoring gadgets can help to monitor health, it will give sufficient data to health insurance providers to craft a scheme accordingly. It will also help to enhance customer engagement and keep him in control of his health situation.

Changing Office Work and Health Cultures

At present, the health of an individual employee is not a matter of concern for the company. While the company sure hold responsibility for overall health and wellbeing of the firm’s employees, an individual’s health is still not under introspection. This may not always be the case. As wearable technology is now in vogue, people may have to show their health track record before they buy health insurance.

Companies that provide health cover to their employees may now offer varying benefits to their employees based on data available from health tracking devices. The different health tracking wearables available today make it possible to maintain data on the diet, exercise and sleep habits of each individual. As these factors greatly impact individual health, people who take greater care of their health may enjoy more benefits from company health insurance policies.

There are two sides to the same coin. While this may give the companies a better way to monitor the health habits of the employees, it may make it obligatory for the employees to maintain their health regimes. It will encourage people to take their health seriously. Such wearables may prove useful to monitor addiction habits like smoking and drinking in employees and take corrective action at the right time. The best health insurance plans in India will come up with more customer friendly schemes based on the health data available from such tracking devices. 

The Objections and the Risks

While the wearable gadgets are pro-health and pro fitness, there are some risks associated with such gadgets that also need to be considered. If used positively, the data can help to take the right health measures but the risks of data theft are also high. Information regarding one’s health is a private matter but if it gets into the wrong hands, it can be a huge risk. Security concerns must be tackled properly before making wearables compulsory.

Health Insurance Companies May Follow Suit as Car Insurance Firms Take the Lead

We know that you need to maintain a good driving record to maintain a car insurance. This has encouraged people to take road safety seriously and always take the right measures. There is a chance that the different health insurance companies may follow on the same footsteps. They may provide with health insurance benefits based on your health consciousness and how well you take care of your health.

Now you may ask, ‘Is that possible?’. It is quite possible if wearable technology becomes the norm. Then, before you buy health insurance, you will be asked to present the wearable gadget records for the past tenure. The modern wearable gadgets can make a note of your location through GPS, your daily exercise routine using heart rate sensor and pedometer, your diet using glucose monitoring and many other aspects of your daily health routine. Such detailed check on your daily health may provide the health insurance firms with the much-needed data to classify their customers and provide benefits accordingly.

The best health insurance plans in India with many years of industry experience will be the first to try and benefit from the advanced technologies. On a positive light, as wearables become a norm, more people will start taking their health seriously. If there is a compulsion on the number of sleep hours and exercise routine, the companies will not be able to overburden employees with erratic work hours.

Before the government considers the wearable technology as a plausible option, it needs to assess all aspects like health, security and the impact on economy. This will lead to a well-informed decision that is the need of the hour in India.

Debt 
5 Options to Choose From When Consolidating Debts

5 Options to Choose From When Consolidating Debts

Herbert Whitney 0

We all know that most debts accumulate interest. When you fail to pay your credit obligations each month, you can end up owing more than you should in the first place. This won’t only hurt your credit rating, but your financial health as well. This becomes an even bigger problem if you have several different debts – either by credit cards or loans. How can one pay all these debts at once?

Debt Consolidation Loan

Debt Consolidation makes it easier for you to pay debts with high interest into a single payment with a much lower interest rate. Through debt consolidation, you get to reduce the total amount of debt you owe and pay it faster. Are you wondering how you can consolidate debts? Here are a few options to consider.

Debt Consolidation Loan

The first loan option that comes to mind is debt consolidation loans. Banks and non-profit debt consolidation companies offer such loans to combine all of your existing debts. Before applying for this type of loan, make sure to read all terms and conditions before signing. Failure to do so will have you end up having a loan cost that is higher than your existing debts due to the extra fees included.

Reverse Mortgage

A houston reverse mortgage is a loan option available to seniors who wish to use their home equity to consolidate debts. You can use this type of mortgage for any purpose – including consolidating debt. The best part about choosing a houston reverse mortgage when tackling debts is that this is tax-free. You get to choose between receiving a line of credit, lump sum, fixed monthly payment, or even a combination of these to pay for your debts.

Life Insurance Policy

That’s right – you can borrow your life insurance in consolidating debt. While this may not be the best loan option, but you can use this to borrow cash, and pay for all existing debts. The thing is, there is usually no need to repay your insurance company as long as the amount you are to borrow is less than the policy’s cash value. However, your survivors might not get anything if you choose not to repay the loan.

Good Read: How to Choose a Life Insurance Policy

Personal Loan

If you’d rather take a personal loan, then you can choose between banks, online lenders, and credit unions who will approve your loan. The thing about personal loans is that while it has lower interest rates and gives you several years to pay the loan, some lender requires you to pay an origination pay. You can get approved if your credit rating is poor

401k loan

This loan option meant borrowing funds against your retirement fund. When choosing a loan to consolidate them, let this be your last option. This requires you to pay the amount back within five years. If you fail to do this, they will treat it as an early withdrawal, subject you to income tax and even give you a penalty.

Using another loan may not be ideal to pay your existing debts. However, knowing what your options are if you in need of debt consolidation is always a good thing. Weigh in all options and understand the risks of each option before choosing one.

Finance 

E-Way Bill and the Changing Face of Indian Economy

Herbert Whitney 0

Earlier this year when the Central Government announced the implementation of e-way bills for movement of goods, it met with a mixed feeling of joy and confusion. Joy, because goods carrier can generate eway bill electronically using software. Confusion – as most transportation companies believed that e-way bills in the country were implemented without discussions and given enough time to fulfill the necessary documentation processes.

Here are some important things you should know about eWay Bill and how it is set to transform the logistics and transportation businesses in India.

State movement of Goods: eWay Bill is a Compulsory

Due to illegal transportation of goods, especially contentious smuggling of alcohol, sugar, grains and meat, eWay Bill was a compulsory mandate announced across India. With eWay Bill, goods carriers can freely transport their cargo from one state to another and intra state. This has greatly streamlined the movement of logistics and reduced possibility of bribery and in advert delays.

eWay Bill could be checked at any time of the transporting of goods, including the stage when it has already been delivered to the destination.

Registered Persons Can Only Make a eWay Bill

eWay Bill can be generated by registered companies or individuals,

Who is a registered person? Let’s try to define this.

A registered person could be a consignee (buyer) or the consignor (seller of the goods) causing the movement of the goods or consignment using a motorized vehicle, hired or private, or by ship, train or railways. The E-way bill software would allow the registered person to generate an eway bill electronically using a common portal online.

If the consignor or consignee both are not registered, then the transporter would be the party considered as a registered person who has to generate the eway bill using the software.

In short, the consignor, the consigness and the transporter can all be registered person or parties in the completion of eway bill generation as registered parties.

The eWay Bill is applicable for cargos and goods transported via road, rail, air, or by ships.

What is Supply and what is Return?

When do you need a eWay Bill?

The eway bill generation process has two steps:

Part A

This has to be furnished by the consignor, a person who is causing movement of goods of consignment evaluated at Rs. 50,000/- or more.

Part B

Transport details that are furnished by the registered transporter carrying the goods in their vehicle.

The eWay Bill can be generated between persons and transportation companies who are ferrying goods via motor vehicles only.

Empty Cargo containers: No eWay Bill Needed

If there is no goods or cargo in the container ferried by the motor vehicle, goods companies need not generate an eWay Bill. This means that if the motor vehicle is returning from its supply destination back to its source without any goods, no eWay Bill is demanded.

The consignor or consignee himself generates the eway bill if the transportation is being done in own/hired motor vehicle or by railways, by air or by ship. Using an online portal reflects the status of Eway bill receipt if the consignee or consignor has formally accepted or declined the supply of goods as mentioned in the bill.

Finance 

Discount or Fulltime: Which Brokers to Choose and Why?

Herbert Whitney 0

If speaking of stock marketing, investing, buying and so on; there are different types of things that have to be kept in mind. Most of the individuals take assistance of professional brokers when they step into stock marketing. These brokers are the middlemen when talking about purchasing and vending stocks.  These professionals handle your orders to sell or purchase a particular stock.

There are mainly two kinds of brokers Discount brokers and fulltime brokers. The former brokers fetch you all the information and give you exact guidance that too without any additional charges.  However, speaking of the latter one, they facilitate things for investors and might charge investors for even the things that investors weren’t needed. Anyhow, it is the personal choice of investors whether they want to go for Discount Brokers India or fulltime brokers.

These are the brokers that cater a platform for transaction and the services that are essential to complete a transaction. The alteration between a discount one and a full-service broker is reproduced by the transaction cost on low-cost stocks or on the substitutes trading.  There are various brokerages who charge a least amount for stocks below a specific price. Their aim is to guard their brokerage in absolute terms as low-priced stock could give them small brokerage if they get calculated in the terms of percentage. Similarly, in the realm of options trading (that are usually low-priced, mainly out of cash options) different brokerages have a flat quantity per contract. This is a technique of calculating brokerage that has a massive impact on the profitability of client.

Once more benefit of a discount fellow agent is that they are impartial. Yes, it is because they cater no advice. They are not going to make you vend a good stock or at the same time, make you buy one. They are not going to trouble you with their research calls and remind you about that of all the trading calls that clicked while conveniently brushing recommendations under the carpet that did not perform.

It is important for you to know that Indian financial markets have undergone a drastic change for the good over past decade. Electronic trading has not just got transparency in a business that was infamous for opacity but it has also brought down prices. Web trading has raised the transparency and payment parameters to a completely new level. Internet trading has also fetch in a set of brokers who offer cheap rates for transactions. These are the fellows who are known as discount agents or brokers in industry parlance.

Charges: what are they for?

A broker charges brokerage for offering a platform to transact. The conventional brokers charge higher brokerage simply as they claim to offer value addition by catering research calls. Though a conventional broker could sound kind by claiming that his  well-researched calls are produced by a huge team of highly educated and more importantly highly paid analysts with sole goal of helping client increase wealth, the truth is quite different. A broker makes money only in case any client transacts. And the more a client manages, the better brokerage goes to the fund of the brokers. Brokers generally have differing rates of brokerage that rely on the client and quantum of trading.

Conclusion

So, after reading it all you might have made up your mind regarding discount or fulltime brokers.  

Loans 

Who are discount brokers and how are they different from regular brokers?

Herbert Whitney 0

In stock marketing it is not easy to buy or sell trades. You have to be a professional in your tasks if you want the things to work out in the most effective manner. Certainly more nadi more brokers are going towards discount brokers and there is a reason for that. An apparent advantage of discount brokers is that they are impartial. As they offer no type of advice, they are never going to make you sell a great stock or at the same time, make you purchase one.

‘Discount Broker’ is the answer to high transaction price afflicting the financial sector. This type of broker is a no-add-on broker like a low cost airline. All the broker does is catering the platform for transaction and the services that are necessary to complete a transaction. They would only help you take to the destination in a proper and safe manner.  The near rock bottom brokerage price makes a lot of difference for a client. Research or stock calls in present day are available in plenty on the internet or via newspapers, periodicals and websites. And of course there are various types of paid newsletters and content providers too who give trading and investing ideas. These get done at a fixed fee.

The difference between a discount broker and that of a full service broker is replicated by the transaction cost on low priced stocks or on options trading. Many brokerages charge a least amount for stocks below a specific price. Their aim is to guard their brokerage in absolute terms as low priced stock is going to give them tiny brokerage if they are calculated in terms of percentage.  Similarly in options trading that are generally low priced mainly out of the money options, many brokerages possess a flat amount per contract. Such a method of calculating brokerage has a great impact on the success of the client.

Another benefit of the discount broker is that these fellows are unbiased. Since they cater no advice, they are not going to make you sell a good stock or at the same time, make you purchase one. They will not trouble you with their research calls and they are not even going to remind you of all the trading calls that came up while conveniently brushing recommendations that did not really perform.

Please note!

Before you run to open an account with a discount broker make sure that you check if there are any concealed costs behind the low brokerages that are advertised. You also have to check the infrastructure of discount broker, his internet connectivity speed and even more importantly in case there is a reserve mechanism if either your internet or the broker’s connectivity is vulnerable.

Conclusion

So, since you have a great idea about discount brokers, it is up to you to choose them for your trading.  Remember, both the conventional and discount professionals are good but you have to figure out which one suits your needs utmost.

Finance 

The Basics of Getting A Second Mortgage To Pay Off Your Debt

Herbert Whitney 0

Second mortgages are loans that you can take in order to get some cash out of your home’s equity. This is done to pay off any high interest debts, the tax man, or any emergency expenses you may have. This type of a mortgage allows you to borrow against the value of your house.

A second mortgage can look like various types of loans:

  • A Lump Sum: a onetime loan given by a lender that can be repaid over the course of a set timeline. All you have to do is keep up with the fixed monthly payments. 
  • Line of Credit: not exactly a second mortgage but still a loan agains your property. Line of credit can be referred to as a pool of money that you can tap into when needed. You don’t have to use the money but you can be assured that if the need arises, it will be available.

The two advantages of a second mortgage vs a regular loan.

There are 2 main advantages of obtaining a second mortgage:

  1. Increased Amounts

When you opt for a second mortgage, you can borrow a larger sum of money because of the fact that the loan is based on an asset; your home and its market value. Depending on the value of your house, and the lenders flexibility, you may even be able to secure up to 80 percent of the total value of the house through a second mortgage. 

  • Low Interest Rates

Majority of the times, second mortgages will have drastically lower rates of interest vs any unsecured credit (such as credit cards, tax debt, etc) because the loan is secured through the value of your home. This drastically reduces the risk factor that is felt by lenders and allows them to become more lenient when it comes to interest. Chances are you may get rates that are in single digits.

For more information on 2nd mortgages search for your local mortgage broker.

Mortgage 
Rapid Prototyping And the Expansion of The Economy in China

Rapid Prototyping And the Expansion of The Economy in China

Herbert Whitney 0

There a lot of notions about product manufacturing in China that needs to be cleared up in the open to get a better grasp of the type of market we are dealing with. Many things have happened in China over the past two decades that have shaped a new way to do business with manufacturers in the mainland. The country is now a market of exceptional value that no longer sacrifices quality over quantities. The most prevalent standpoint in the current market is that rapid prototyping China offers state of the art products at meager costs, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The facts are out there for everyone to see: rapid prototyping in China has evolved beyond the now outdated preconception that the label “Made in China” was synonymous with low-quality products. Long gone are the days of creating prototypes following Shouban principles, this method required long hours and experts handcrafters that translated in really high costs. The average value of this type of prototypes could go from $1,000 to $5,000 easily. The final take could need revisions that could increase the overall cost of the project. The new technology for Rapid prototyping has made away with all that.

The Estate Behind the Growing Initiative of a Business Front:

This forward thinking within the manufacturing industry started at the turn of the new millennium. A lot of prototyping companies invested vast amounts of money in CNC machining equipment and rapid prototyping technology. This quickly made the prices of prototypes to decline in a matter of months. The current cost of a prototype is still going down as tech developers create new technology that is able to work with new materials and 3D printers that can create functional products. Revisions are no longer an issue, and any project can be handled in a matter of weeks.

There is also no mistake in the fact that China’s ruling state offered a lot of support to local businessmen to transform their operations and make them compliant to the standards of quality demanded by international regulations. These very companies are the same pushing forward for the quick evolution of CNC technology and enhanced 3D printing equipment. The results can be seen all around the world, with these machines now being developed for home use as well as industrial. All these machinations have helped China’s economic growth in the last twenty years. Their GDP has expanded at a rate of 10% on average since 2000, and the lowest point has been near 7% in the last five years.

Credit 

Four reasons why you need to take your company credit score more seriously

Herbert Whitney 0

Well, when it comes to filling new tender, approaching new investors etc your company credit score to play an important role. It’s crucial for a company to have a strong credit score so they can approach right as well as beneficial options for their work. Along with that, the individual also needs to understand that their personal credit card score plays no role in their company credit score. So no matter how great your personal score is, it will not be going to affect your company credit score.

Get the reason how credit card score of your company contribute in the whole scenario

For helping out the companies as well as individuals to maintain their credit score, there are options such as Experian from where they can get the better as well as deep information.  However, if you are running a company, then you should take care of your credit score as it can help a lot in making your business successful.

# Get the report on your objective picture

The credit score is used in order to get a picture of how’s your company financial stat is and the objective picture too.  The report has the detail information related to untestable credits, comprehensive demographic as well as a record of the public and financial. Along with that, the reduced can also show the company habits of paying and other crucial information regarding your company.

# Helps in avoiding unwanted surprises

Well, the credit score of your company decide lots of things about you, along with that companies also make the decision on the basis of that. It helps to determine the loan for application success, the credit that will offer to your business, also the interest charges against your company etc.  Because of all these reasons your company credit card need to be good so you can do the monitor as well as do the basic changes for avoiding future risks.

# Good scores mean more funding options

Bad scores in your company credit can shut all the options that you can get. Not just it will be hard but also make it impossible for the investors to invest in your business. The credit card score of your company is important if you want to target a much effective and efficient option for funding. It’s also crucial to build the good scores so you don’t limit the opportunities that can your company to grow and to be successful.

# Bad scores harm your company’s reputation

The credit card score of your company basically paints a picture of your work in front of everyone. Incorrect or bad things will present your company as wrong and it will shut the options of growth in the market.  Because of which your targeted audience and the suppliers may even take their decision based on the whole thing which will be wrong for your company. That’s why you need to monitor how your company credit score is going and build the possibilities to make it good. It will not just help your company to work better but also boost up the reputation in the market.