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In a survey I conducted of 200 individuals, who stated they wanted to make the transition from corporate to business owner, the top two things they indicated stopped them were:

• Inability to replace current income
• Not having a stable income

What can you do to counter these top two fears? How can you make it possible to have a stable income that replaces your current corporate salary? Below are the four areas to focus on in order to set these fears aside:

1. What do you really want to do with your income: replace, upgrade or down grade? There are many people who would be content earning less if it meant they could do what they loved. Others may want to keep their current level of income or even gain more. Getting specific with what you truly want and need is essential to be able to create your customized financial plan.
2. Based on what you want to do, how much money can you make? This includes considering tax breaks that may yield you more income than you thought. Even if you can generate enough money to give you what you need, I highly suggest you find other ways to supplement your income. There are many ways of increasing your income streams, the key here is to increase your financial IQ and then find the investment(s) that will work for you.
3. Put together your personal financial plan. Consider things like the consistency of your business and make sure that you are accounting for any fluctuation. What are your short and long term expenses? Talk to someone who’s got a similar business to determine what these might be for you. Once you’ve got this figured out it will help you see what changes need to be made to your business plan in order to pay yourself the salary you desire while investing in your business. This is also an area that supplemental income streams can come in handy.
4. Invest in your nest egg. As your business grows, and other income streams grow, the more money you can put away as a nest egg and the more income you can be generating. The number one piece of advice the most successful entrepreneurs suggest, think Donald Trump, Sir Richard Branson and Robert Kiyosaki, make your money work for you. Build up your nest egg and then have it work for you by providing you the passive income you need to live.

The financial fears you may have now, will dissipate once you develop and execute on a plan to create the income you need. The important thing is to think through what you really need and then get creative on how to make it happen.

Read more from the original source:
Top two fears for people wanting to become entrepreneurs

Academics are not the only thing you should worry about as you grind through the horrendous prison that is college — parties, booze, spring break — oh, the horror!

According to a recent study by Sallie Mae, the average college student will graduate with $4,100 worth of credit card debt, a staggering amount in addition to what they’re already owing from their student loan and other college related expenses.

If starting a new life after graduation with unnecessary debt isn’t your idea of awesomeness, here’s a list of 11 ways you can fail financially while you’re in college: avoid the actions listed below and you just might come out financially ahead when you graduate!

Taking an Excessive Long Time to Finish School

“I’m on the special six-years program,” my friend will often say as people ask him whether if he was a junior or senior in college. While some people will often joke about being a “super senior,” many times there are negative financial consequences if you prolong your stay in college.

Although its perfectly reasonable to switch major as you discover your true passion, lingering while in college can increase your overall tuition cost and prevent you from stepping into your “wage earning years.”  For those that are juggling multiple projects or part/full-time jobs while in college, this can especially be a problem as you try and balance between work and academics.

Signing Up for Unnecessary Credit Card Accounts

The Sallie Mae study revealed that on average, college students have 4.6 credit cards, and half of college students had four or more credit cards.  The number of cards a student carry also dramatically increases as a student progress through the years in college.

Keep it simple and avoid tackling on additional debts by sticking with one credit card through your college years.  If you’re unsure of your ability to properly and wisely use credit, consider opting for a debit card instead — you get the same conveniences, and if your debit/check card is from a major national bank, you get the same level of fraud protection from a credit card.

Doing a Poor Job in Managing Your Financial Accounts

One reason to avoid carrying an excessive amount of credit cards — beyond the risk of increasing your credit card debt — is that managing financial accounts are simply not one of the major priorities for most college students.  You can keep the organization simple by using online account access that are provided by most major banking institutions.  Many of these online accounts offer bill alerts via email or SMS; they also offer online bill pay along with automatic bill payment — two modern conveniences that should make paying your bill late obsolete.   The more you avoid overdue bills, the less late fees you’ll pay, the more reasonable your interest rate will stay and the better your credit history will look.

Letting Your Vices Consume Your Money and Time

Beyond alcohols and other nefarious substances, your vices can be anything that consumes an unhealthy amount of your money or time: massive multiplayer online games,  gambling — heck, maybe even your significant other (yeah we said it).  Your college life certainly doesn’t have to be 100% about school work, but when 90% of your time is spent solely on one particular activity, you may be doing yourself a disservice that not only threatens your financial outlook but potentially your very own well-being.

Failing Academically While on Scholarship

Although looking like a stash of colorful curtain when you graduate will certainly make your parents proud, not everyone needs to graduate cum laude.  You should, however, do well academically especially if you’re on scholarship or grants.  Remember that you’ve earned the scholarship or grants due to hard work — don’t let the free money slip away by neglecting your studies.  Even if you’re not on an academic scholarship of sorts, you should still keep academic probation at bay, simply because it will eat up more of your time and money.

Choosing Expensive Out-of-Campus / Away-from-Home Housing

Fact is, some college dorm rooms are just out right horrible.  We understand that.  But college is also a time where you need to keep the belt tight and the wallet even tighter.  Many people make the mistake of taking out additional student loans in order to live in more upscale neighborhoods or housings.  Some even move out of the house even though the school may be less than an hour drive away.  Being able to find independence is all fine and well, but having to go back to your parents to help with your loans because of your college housing choice probably won’t be a good first step toward independence.

Opting for a Brand New Car Instead of Cheaper Alternatives

Everyone loves a new ride.  The soothing chemicals from a new car smell… ahhh.  Problem is, new cars are a known depreciating asset.  The minute you drive it off the lot, a good percentage of its value disappears into the misty air.  Many time it will be practical just to purchase a reliable use car over a brand new car.  You can do one step better by grabbing an out-right beater or skipping a vehicle altogether if you attend a college with plenty of public transportations.

Attempt to Keep Up with Peers on Materialistic Possessions

It can get easy to get carried away when you get in the “Keeping up with the Joneses” mentality, especially in our younger years when image may be important. But spending the time and money in order to keep up with your peers on materialistic possessions will only rack up the credit card debt. If you find yourself constantly feeling like you need to buy certain products or apparel just to feel like you belong to a crowd, it may be time to start seeking friends that value you beyond your possessions!

Using Your Student Loans Excessively on Other Purposes

The majority of your student loans should be spent on your tuition and tution related expenses: housing for college, books, transportation and food.  Your student loan shouldn’t be spent on a lavish spring break trip to the carribeans, nor should it be spent on a set of snowboard along with snowboard racks for the car.  The minute you start allocating your student loan for purchases that are far from daily necessity, you will head down a slippery slope of debt accumulation.

 

Living it Up (Beyond the Means of a College Student)

Everyone can probably agree that college life is more than just academics; after all, if you subject yourself to hours and hours of studies without taking the occasional break to enjoy life, college can quickly become a tiresome experience.  But enjoying life should be met with some sensible amount of balance.  Just because you know an acquaintance that frequently take trips to Europe during spring break doesn’t mean you should do the same.  Living beyond your means is always a bad idea, living beyond your means when you’re a poor college student?  Even worse of an idea.

Borrowing Too Much in Student Loans

It is a known fact that the cost of college tutition has been increasing at a rapid pace in recent years.  A problem many college student face today when graduating is that they grossly overestimate their expected starting salary, often finding themselves not earning enough to pay their costly student loans.  Here’s a good rule of thumb: if your total student loan debt exceeds your expected starting salary for your first year in your career, you’re borrowing too much.  Be realistic with your expected salary and plan ahead on how you’ll cover the cost of college.

~ BillShrink Guy

Read the original here:
11 Ways to Fail Financially While in College

According to the Labor Department, the June unemployment rate for those 55 and older hit 7%–the highest on record. That’s bad news for seniors who are out of work or being forced to re-enter the work force to make ends meet. The Dolans have some job hunting tips for the 55+ crowd, including good news about some advantages you may have over the younger competition.

Dear Ken and Daria:

Thanks to the investment losses I’ve suffered, I have to come out of retirement and go back to work. Do you have some job hunting tips for seniors?

–Maureen

See the original post:
Ask the Dolans: Tips for unemployed seniors

~ Mark Bridge ~

The economic crisis has prompted many people to seek help from personal finance books, with Amazon reporting a significant uplift in sales. Classics of the genre promise a quick route to riches, while recent examples, written since the start of the downturn, tend to be more cautious and realistic in their claims.

Times Money has looked at the five bestselling financial self-help books at Waterstone’s and asked financial planners for their views on the key ideas, rating the books from one to five stars. All have a snappy style and are accessible to the novice, but some are considerably more helpful than others.

Note that the recommended retail prices shown can be beaten easily. All the books are selling at a discount at Amazon, and the fifth, by Richard Templar, is half price at Waterstone’s.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Sphere, £8.99
This 1997 book, the centrepiece of the author’s self-help empire, tells the perhaps allegorical story of two fathers: Kiyosaki’s own and his best friend’s. The former, poor dad believed in working hard for a company and keeping “secure”. He died penniless. Rich dad chose to own businesses and boosted his income “passively” by investment, becoming one of the richest Hawaiians and leaving tens of millions of dollars.

Kiyosaki admires the “positive-thinking” guru Napoleon Hill (see below) and touts mantras such as “I choose to be rich and I make that choice every day”. The focus is on getting rich, rather than being comfortable. He explains that his “personal basis” is property.

Expert’s verdict
Zac Ghadially, of Yellowtail Financial Planning, says: “Building an investment income stream can work, but not for everyone. Also, we are advising people to scale down on property at the moment — to use it to meet their life goals, but not as an investment.”

Times Money rating (out of five): 1 star

How to be Smart With Your Money by Duncan Bannatyne
Orion, £12.99
This new book has the advantage that it was written for a British market with the credit crunch in mind. It offers a comprehensive guide to earning, spending, borrowing, investing, saving and budgeting — with sections on choosing a savings account and buying a car, for example. It also has a list of questions to ask when shopping for a loan. There is no get-rich-quick carrot or big “secret” to success.

Bannatyne takes a more cautious line than Kiyosaki, writing, for example, that “the golden rule of investment is to spread your risk” — a strategy dismissed by the American as for people who “go nowhere”. He emphasises that readers should stop worrying about money and start to think about it and make changes.

Expert’s verdict
Mr Ghadially agrees that thinking about money is the first step to healthier finances, and says that Yellowtail asks its clients to complete a written review — something readers of Bannatyne’s book can do on a shoestring using its budgeting charts.

Times Money rating: 5 stars

Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill
Vermilion, £8.99
This was first published in 1937 to spread the author’s “secret” to those who, without it, might “go through life as failures”. The secret is never spelt out but will “jump from the page”, apparently. The book is big on popular psychology, particularly positive thinking and the importance of identifying goals.

Hill’s style is rambling, with lengthy diversions on telepathy and the “transmutation of sex energy” — something apparently achieved by the author’s namesake, the French Emperor. The tone is old-fashioned and some of the specific advice is out of date.

Expert’s verdict
Jason Witcombe, of Evolve Financial Planning, says: “We start with the premise that everything is possible. Clients come to us in a financial mess because they don’t know what they want from life. Any book that makes you think about that is a good thing.”

Times Money rating: 2 stars

The Naked Trader by Robbie Burns
Harriman House, £12.99
The cover of this 2007 edition sets the laddish tone, showing the author naked at his laptop.

Burns says that anyone can make money trading shares. He explains how by outlining the mechanics of trading online and listing “winning strategies” and rules, with the classic caveat: “Only play with money you can afford to lose.”

Much of the other advice is conservative, too. For example: “My research involves finding out everything I can about a company before I consider buying.” He does offer some more original tips, such as to consider shares in companies moving up from an AIM listing to the main stock market.

Expert’s verdict
Mr Ghadially has doubts about “anyone” being able to make significant sums in the markets. He adds: “If he had a ‘system’ to make easy money, he would not be writing books.”

Times Money rating: 3 stars

How to Spend Less Without Being Miserable by Richard Templar
Pearson, £9.99
This is another book that is written with the recession in mind and offers 100 money-saving tips. These range from the very general, such as “get organised” and “remember the glass is half-full”, to specifics such as suggesting that you go out later in the evening to reduce your beer bill. Some suggestions are a little extreme. For example, readers are advised to fill old jars and bottles of premium-brand products with supermarkets’ own-brand alternatives to trick fussy loved ones into eating them.

The theme is lifestyle, rather than broader personal finance, so there is no overlap with Bannatyne’s book. Overall, the advice is uncontroversial, but may irk readers who are already fairly savvy. For example, a reviewer at Amazon.co.uk writes: “There is absolutely nothing in this book to justify its existence. It is full of banality, such as do not shop when you are hungry and use any vouchers you might have. This must be some kind of joke. Avoid at all costs.”

Expert’s verdict
Mr Witcombe says: “Your grandma told you ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’. It’s not true. You have to look after the pounds first — addressing big issues such as debt. It’s good to reduce day-to-day spending by cutting out things such as coffee, but do not put off going for a drink with friends. You won’t be happy and that impacts on everything, including your finances.”

Times Money rating: 2 stars