A Financial Check-up by Dane Smith

Whether by choice or circumstance, people are finding they have more time and more need to ponder finances these days. Very few people are making their way out of this recession completely unscathed and most are trying to be a little wiser about money in the process. In these times of layoffs and pay cuts, giving yourself a financial check-up is a good way to save money and perhaps change some bad habits.



Accounts

Take a look at all of your accounts, starting with the savings account. Either through past paper statements or online, take some time to check balances, interest rates and make a savings goal. If the savings account is near empty, make a goal to save $1000 over the next six months, or perhaps start a new monthly savings goal, say $150 a month. Many financial counselors recommend having as much as six-months' worth of expenses saved. Job uncertainty is high these days and having a just-in-case cushion is not a bad idea.



Whatever the amount in a savings account or individual savings goals, it's important to check interest rates. New York Times financial columnist Ron Lieber recommends looking into Internet savings account that offers better-than-average interest rates. Compare interest rates at banks and other savings sites. If the savings goal is very long term, then money should be put into a different kind of account with a higher rate of return (although there are usually penalties for withdrawals, so make sure the money is not needed in the short term).



Next, take a look at checking and other accounts to assess the fees. Banks can charge different fees for different types of accounts, as well as penalty fees for overdrafts or ATM withdrawals. If the fees seem excessive, talk to someone at the bank about how to restructure the accounts to avoid fees. The same goes with credit card fees and interest rates. Be sure to read the fine print and make payments on time to avoid fees, which can add up very quickly.



Another way to get your accounts to work for you are cash-back credit cards and bank savings plans like keep-the-change. Doing some web research will garner all kinds of offers for credit cards with perks. Start with the companies of the cards in your wallet and see what kind of cash back incentive programs they have. Also, banks offer ways to bolster your savings by automatically depositing the "change" from any debit card transaction into a savings account.



Insurance

An important part of the overall financial health picture is insurance coverage. Look at the deductibles on all forms of insurance coverage: car, homeowners, health, etc. Consider how the insurance was used in the last year, i.e. did you have a car accident or hospitalization. If insurance coverage is used minimally, consider raising deductibles and lowering monthly payments. Also, check into good-driver discounts and other ways to get a better deal, which are usually not offered unless asked for.



Will

If you haven't written a will, especially if children are involved, get one done. Start by pricing lawyers and getting recommendations from friends. It is a relatively easy process and could save headaches and heartaches down the line. Also consider putting in advance directives for future major health decisions.



Gift cards

The last part of your financial check up is fun. Spending gift cards is one of those things that people mean to do and then forget. The cards sit around, sometimes losing value, and more often than not accidentally get tossed out. Take some time to find the cards and then go have some fun spending them.


Ki turned his Austin real estate hobby into a business. He maintains a website with a Austin MLS search. Potential buyers can investigate what is available in the Austin real estate market for free and keep up with market trends on his real estate blog.


Article Source: A Financial Check-up

Think Like An Entrepreneur!

Think Like an Entrepreneur!
By Gary Ryan Blair

There was a time when being the biggest, most experienced corporate
kid on the block guaranteed success and dominance. However, in the
new economy, organizations that lack the commitment and capacity
for leveraging size and experience strategically will see these
attributes as vices instead of virtues.

The new economy will require an entrepreneurial mindset. Competition
will come from anywhere at anytime. Technology will empower smaller, nimbler competitors dramatically.

The days of sitting back, waiting, and depending on corporate size and reputation to attract business are effectively over.

To be clear—the relationship between size and entrepreneurial
behavior doesn't have to be an inverse one. People like Bill Gates
have already demonstrated convincingly that huge companies like
Microsoft can be as proactive and aggressive as the most
entrepreneurial start-up. In fact, entrepreneurial behavior can no
longer be the exclusive preserve of just the young start-up.

Everybody has to get in on the act!

Entrepreneurship is a bit like dieting: Everybody's in favor of it in
principle, but only a few have the intestinal fortitude to do what it
takes to reap the rewards.

In my view, the major source of the problem is cultural and is rooted in our fear of failure.

The new economy calls for a far more entrepreneurial corporate
culture, one where experimentation, risk taking, and even failure are
not only tolerated, but also actually celebrated. After all the only
real alternative to experimentation and risk is decay and decline.
The essence of risk is the possibility of failure.

Honor your errors. To advance requires a new frame. But the process
of going outside the conventional method is indistinguishable from
error.

Evolution can be thought of as systematic error management.

Scratch a successful entrepreneur and what you'll find is someone who failed a time or two or... get the idea?

The emerging rigors of the new economy leave us little choice. We
must experiment, and experimentation carries with it the near
certainty of at least occasional failure. In a truly entrepreneurial
culture, failure tends to be regarded as a learning opportunity, a
necessary pre-condition to eventual success. The status quo is simply
not a viable option any longer. You can stand still if you like, but
your competition certainly won't.

One other critical point about entrepreneurs. They are above all men
and women of action! Entrepreneurs instinctively understand the
importance of real-world experimentation, trial and error, and speed.
Experimentation, feedback, failure, learning, adjustment,
action—that's what successful entrepreneurship is all about.

Entrepreneurship, like innovation, is a profoundly relative concept.
At its core, it implies a willingness to risk challenging
conventional wisdom and prevailing approaches.

A company may employ you, but you work for yourself! Two defining
qualities of an entrepreneur are an appetite for risk and a strong
bias towards action. For many years, business conditions operated
strongly against the entrepreneur.

Size, stability, and industry experience were the only commodities recognized as having value in the business world; without them you could forget about making an impact. That's changing.

The business landscape of the new economy will be more hospitable to the entrepreneur than any we've seen before. The volatility and unpredictability of global competition have completely devalued most existing corporate currencies and virtues.

What good is size if your organization is too slow and muscle bound
to capitalize on new, fast-moving opportunities? What use is lengthy
industry experience if your most ferocious competitor is likely to
come at you from out of an entirely different sector? What's the
point of conducting exhaustive market surveys if the market changes
so fast they're obsolete before you've analyzed them?

Under these kinds of conditions, what counts is the willingness and
ability to take risks, get real-life feedback and react quickly. In
short, the ability to be entrepreneurial.

As a genuine entrepreneur, either inside an organization or
independent of one, you should prove to be ideally adapted to the
evolving imperatives of the new competitive environment.

Emboldened by its competitive dynamics and liberated by new
technologies, entrepreneurs will build not only bridges to the new economy but castles on the other shore!

Everything Counts!

Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. A visionary and gifted conceptual thinker, Gary is highly regarded as a speaker, consultant, strategic planner, and coach to leading companies throughout the globe.

He helps business owners, corporate executives and sales professionals manage their time, set their priorities, and stay focused so they can achieve their goals, grow their business, and sustain a lasting competitive advantage. Learn more at http://www.personalstrategicplan.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Ryan_Blair
http://EzineArticles.com/?Think-Like-an-Entrepreneur!&id=641378