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As if seniors were not already aware, aging can be expensive. The June 9th, 2008 edition of BusinessWeek, page 11 presents some interesting data on just how much more seniors are spending than the “young” (25 – 34 year olds).

On average:

• Seniors spend more than 4x what the young do on Health Insurance
• Seniors spend almost 3x on Housing Upkeep
• Seniors spend more than 4x on Prescriptions

While seniors spend much less than the young on items such as Mortgages, rent and alcohol – the article also cites assisted-living facility costs have risen 25% since 2004, and the annual costs of nursing homes has reached almost $80,000 annually!

Consequently, it is absolutely critical that seniors are aware of all of their financial options including reverse mortgages, long-term care insurance and selling unwanted life insurance policies in senior life settlement transactions.

While “borrowing” against a home in a reverse mortgage has provided many seniors additional funds for necessities, donations or fun; a lesser known and often better financial option is the selling of unwanted life insurance. Eligible seniors can sell their un-needed or un-wanted life insurance policies for up to 4 times the cash surrender value or more. Unfortunately, many seniors are unaware of this option and surrender their policies for the cash value or even let them lapse!

As a senior citizen, you can sell your policy to a bank or to any financial institution. These institutions will then provide you a cash settlement that could exceed the surrender value of the policy. Senior settlements are also called life settlements and can prove to be a favorable option to letting the policy lapse.

Contact your attorney, certified financial planner or CPA, or go online and see what your policy might be worth using our free calculator.

Know your financial options – and offset the rising costs of a comfortable life.

To learn more about your financial options, to subscribe to the “Senior Financial Week in Review” and receive a free and instant Life Insurance Settlement estimate – contact chrisc@thelifesettlementnetwork.com or visit http://www.thelifesettlementnetwork.com

A classic book on wealth by George S. Clason. This book is written in a fascinating and informative story format that is easy to read and understand. The ideas are so simple that you will scratch your head and wonder why you did not apply the useful theories in your life before?

If you follow the ideas that are written in the book, you are guaranteed a road to happiness and prosperity. So here goes the cures of the lean purse!

First Cure. Start the purse to fattening.

Do you spend all the money you received every month? People struggle in life and complained that life is hard because the boss is not paying them enough money to keep food on the table. So why are people not paying themselves first? No matter how much we earned, we cannot be rich without first knowing how to pay ourselves first. If you have a basket and everyday you put in 10 apples in the morning and remove 9 apples in the evening, what will happen to the basket over time? It will become overflowing with apples. So what will happen if you save 10 percent of your income no matter how much it is and what will happen to your bank account overtime? It will be overflowing with money!

Second Cure. Control the expenditures.

If you are thinking… if you are not even earning enough to feed yourself, what is there left to pay yourself? But we have seen people with different amount of income that ends up broke. So it is not the difference in income that is going to hinder you in paying yourself. You will need to differentiate between necessities and desires. If you buy everything that you desire and leave nothing to yourself, you can’t be rich. Instead of splurging, you may instead reward yourself with some of your desires that is still affordable within 90 percent and that is after spending on your necessitities. Warren Buffett one of the richest man in the world and Ingvar Kamprad owner of IKEA are some of the examples we can learn from. Buffett still live in his house that is bought in 1958 for $31500 and Ingvar Kamprad is still driving a 15 years old car and still flies economy and both man have a net worth that is in billions.

Third Cure.Make the gold multiply

To be rich, it is not enough to just save money. The amount we saved must be able to labour and produce more money. A man’s wealth is not in the money he have, it is the income he build that continually flows into his purse that keep it bulging. Investment like stocks, fix deposits or anything that allows your money to work will do the job. One important note, before jumping into any investment, gain an education first. I have lost some money due to lack of education before, don’t repeat the mistake.

Fourth Cure. Guard the treasure from loss.

Education, education and education. Learn and understand anything you want to invest before parting with your money.

Whenever you want to buy a 2nd hand car, what will you do? You will check out the car, test drive the car, check whether there is any welding to ensure that the car has not crashed before and asking your friend who is more of an expert then you before deciding to part with the money. In Singapore, whenever you buy a car, it is almost guaranteed to lose money and yet people will put in so much effort to research the car to determine whether it is worth the money. Yet when it comes to investment, people just throw money into it without doing a proper research. How many people are guilty to listening to your friend’s advice and just dumped money into stocks without research? Raise your hands up.

Warren Buffett’s Rules in Investing.

2.Always remember rule number 1.

Fifth Cure. Own your own home.

Do rich people own their own home? Yes they do! So we will learn from the great role models. Maybe if we can own a few more house and start to collect rental and this will be one of the reliable income streams that we created.

Sixth Cure. Provide in advance for the needs of growing age and protection of the family.

We need to prepare for the time when will be old and for the needs of our children that are escalating with inflation. Keep money in plans that would provide money for the children’s education and insurance that you will know to take care of the family in any case of mishap.

Seventh Cure. Increase the ability to earn.

How much will a novice be paid compared to a master. If you think that you are not earning as much as the colleague beside you. Learn from them! Increase your capability and money will soon follow through. People will be rewarded if they are a master in their craft.

There is abundance in wealth and those who practice the stated rules are assured for success.

“Always bear in mind, your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing”

Abraham Lincoln

Read more articles on personal development and personal finance at Hit Your Goals at http://www.healthmoneysuccess.com Cheers Vincent

Unlike a fixed monthly cost such as your mortgage or car payment, the amount you spend on groceries each month is somewhat flexible. While the common advice of clipping coupons and buying generic brands to save money while shopping is sound, by far the best way to truly keep your grocery shopping expenses under control is by understanding how grocery stores entice you to spend more than you really want. By fully understanding the ways grocery stores encourage you to spend, many of which you probably never even noticed before, you can combat their strategies and spend money only on the merchandise you really need.

Although a grocery store may appear to be simply a place to purchase food and other household necessities, in reality it’s a cutting edge example of “how to sell more than consumers really need.” Since you are the consumer, it’s important that you realize these sales tactics so that you walk into a grocery store to get only what you need while avoiding everything else that the grocery store wants to sell you. Here are some ways that grocery stores manipulate you into spending more than you had planned and some simple steps you can take to counter them:

Smell: One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter a grocery store is the mouth-watering smell. There is a specific reason why grocery stores smell of freshly baked goods, and also why the bakery is almost always found near the store entrance. The reason is that a bakery making bread and desserts gives off an enticing smell, and that smell is likely to make you hungry. The grocery store also knows that if you feel hungry while you shop, you are likely to spend more money – a lot more – than if you are not hungry.

A simple way that you can combat this is by going grocery shopping only after you have had a meal and are full. If timing doesn’t allow for you to do this, at least drink a couple of glasses of water before leaving to make you feel full before shopping. Shopping while you’re full makes it much easier to resist the great smelling temptations that the grocery store will flaunt in front of you.

Overall Store Layout: Did you ever notice that when you only need to buy a few staple items, you have to travel the entire grocery store floor in order to get them? While one might assume that the convenience of putting basic staple items in the same general area would make happier customers, grocery stores know that the longer that they can keep you in the store, the more money you are likely to spend. They also know that making you walk as far as they can inside the store will make it more likely that you’ll pick up impulse items. Stores are specifically designed in such a way as to make you spend as much time as possible inside them and walk the entire store floor to get the basic staples that everyone needs.

Although there is no way around going to the far corners of the store to get the groceries you need, you can avoid the trap of impulse purchases on the store floor by taking the time to make a list of the items you need and sticking to it when shopping. Getting into the habit of making a single trip once a week to take care of all your grocery shopping needs instead of several smaller trips throughout the week will also greatly reduce your time in the store and the chances that you’ll buy items you don’t really need.

Item Display Layout: Manufactures of brand named products pay hefty stocking fees to stores to have their merchandise placed on the shelves at adult eye level (and child eye level in the case of products aimed at children such as cereal). Manufactures are willing to pay these prices because they know that you are much more likely to purchase something that you can easily see as you are walking down the aisle than something you have to stop and search for. The result is that the products placed at eye level are usually the most expensive.

Before grabbing the first item you see, take a few seconds to look at the upper and lower shelves. Similar products are placed together and simply looking will often reveal the same product at a much better price.

“Sale” Merchandise: Grocery stores will advertise a certain number of items at rock bottom prices (called “loss leaders”) to get you to come to the store. While these can be genuine bargains, don’t get fooled into thinking that everything that has the words “sale” or “bargain” above it is really that. While aisle ends are reserved for these “bargains,” they aren’t always the deals they seem to be and the discounted products are often displayed along side higher price products. You can sometimes even find similar products in the regular aisle section that are less than the end of aisle “sale” merchandise.

The important thing to remember when grocery shopping is to focus on the price of the product and not all the fancy advertising and slogans promoting the product. Take the time to check the other brands and see if there is a better deal. Also, remember that if you weren’t planning to buy the item and you don’t really need it, then it really isn’t a bargain for you no matter what the price. Only consider those items that you regularly use and you have a need for.

Product Appearance: Product packaging at grocery stores is bright, usually in red and yellows since these colors attract the eye. Just because something grabs your attention, however, doesn’t mean that you have to buy it. Keep focused on your shopping list and don’t get distracted by products you don’t really need.

Packaging will also be much larger than the actual product for many food items. Manufacturers know that shoppers assume that larger sized packaging equals a better deal. It would make sense since bulking items together saves the manufacturer on packaging, shipping and stocking which they can pass along to you. With a mantra “buy in bulk” now firmly grounded in most people’s minds as a way to save money, manufacturers are taking advantage of this. While still not the norm, more and more larger sized packages are less of a deal than their smaller sized counterparts since manufacturers know you will make the above assumptions and probably not compare the per unit cost.

Before grabbing the largest box of a product, take the time to calculate the per unit or per weight cost. More often than you would expect, smaller packages of an item are actually a better deal than buying the same item in a larger package.

Check-Out Layout: The check out aisle of a store is like a mini mart in itself. This is because grocery stores know that they have a captive audience while you wait in line to pay for your groceries. They squeeze in every little thing that might remotely peak your interest to rack up a large amount on impulse sales.

The best way to avoid these temptations to is plan your shopping during off peak hours. Avoid the weekend if at all possible since this is when grocery stores are most crowded, as well as the evening when everyone has just gotten off work. With many grocery stores now staying open 24 hours a day, late night and early morning trips when the aisle and check out lanes are practically bare are the perfect time to get in and out of the grocery store as quickly as possible.

By taking the time to understand how the grocery stores try to influence your shopping and spending habits, you have now put yourself in control. Utilize the suggestions about how to counter the grocery store’s selling techniques and you will be able to control your grocery spending to a much greater extent and should have a much easier time keeping to your monthly food budget.

Copyright (c) 2004, by Jeffrey Strain

This article may be freely distributed so long as the copyright, author’s information and an active link (where possible) are included. A complimentary copy of any newsletter or a link to the site where the article is posted would be greatly appreciated.

About The Author

Jeffrey Strain has published hundreds of money saving articles and the creator of the Daily Money Saving Challenge Program. He is the co-owner of http://www.savingadvice.com — a website dedicated to saving you money.

savingadvice@gmail.com

Starting a small business isn’t for the faint of heart. Think of it as a huge jigsaw puzzle that each piece needs to be put perfectly in place in order to have a successful startup. What happens if there’s a few missing pieces? If those missing pieces fall into your business’s accounting, your startup will be shaky. Here’s the Accounting 101 information you need to have:

1. What is your business structure? You need to choose the best small business ownership structure for you. Many small businesses choose the simplest of legal structures, the sole proprietorship, but there are more to choose from. Your choices include partnership , limited partnership, limited liability company (LLC), or an S-corp. Knowing which to choose can be confusing, so you might want to talk to an accountant or, at the very least, do some research so you understand the basics.
2. Filing deadlines are different for small businesses than for individuals. We all know the April 15 th deadline for personal tax returns, but corporate and business returns are due in March. This mistake could cost you extra fees and penalties for filing late.
3. You’ll need an EIN (employer identification number) to file your taxes and to be recognized by the state. How do you get one? By registering your business with your state. You should be able to find this information at your state’s web site.
4. Don’t forget to get business insurance when you’re tallying up those business expenses. Whatever risks are associated with your business, you need to get the proper small business insurance to protect you AND your new business.
5. Choose your accounting software and system. Even if you plan on having an accountant, you still need to have a basic understanding of your business’s finances. Again, if you have any questions, you should talk to an accountant to help you choose correctly.
6. Are you hiring an accountant and/or bookkeeper? If so, there’s no reason to wait. A financial professional will be able to assist you in all accounting aspects of starting your small business.

The above is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, but rather a starting point of the necessities you shouldn’t forget to take care of. Your small business startup will go much smoother, and be much more successful, if you’ve dealt with the above accounting issues.

If you are starting a business the Accounting Aisle can help you find the right small business accountant.

The current U.S. Welfare system needs to have a complete overhaul, not only to provide better programs for those who really need it, but to help close some of the loopholes currently ravaging the program. Some people, like Stephanie and her friend Maria, who currently work at the Columbus Port International Airport, have a familiar scheme they use to cheat the system.

Stephanie and Maria work as customer service representatives for an airline, where they make $9 an hour. They both work full-time and put in lots of overtime hours, but since each has three kids, according to their household income, they are qualified to receive welfare assistance for as long as they earn a certain salary amount per month which is below the poverty level. Therefore, each month, they report to the welfare office that they only work part-time. They don’t tell the exact number of hours they each have worked, and welfare equates their hours with cash assistance to make up what they didn’t earn at work. In doing so, they keep getting money from the welfare office plus their real monthly earnings.

Other examples of those who might be exploiting the welfare system are the cases of Angela, Jackie, John, and Helen.

Jackie is a 45 year old woman, who has two grown daughters. Her husband passed away when the kids were 19 and 17. She lives in a nice apartment in a Section 8 division where she doesn’t pay any rent. She never graduated from high school and only has had a few odd jobs on and off, in her whole life. If you go in her apartment, you will not think that she is a welfare recipient, because she has a large TV screen, DVDs for almost every movie ever released, and she smokes about two packs of cigarettes every day. Jackie is completely healthy and is capable of finding and having gainful employment, but because she chose not to, she doesn’t have to work because she relies on her welfare benefits.

Helen is a 29 year old young lady and has 6 kids. Her oldest daughter is 13 years old and each child has a different father. Helen doesn’t have to work and she probably never will, because she receives welfare. For each child, she receives a certain amount of money each month, and she too lives in section 8 housing where she doesn’t have to pay rent.

John is 52 years old and has 5 kids. Each of his children live with their different mothers. For years, he has been in and out of jail for selling drugs, and now lives with his girlfriend in a one-bedroom apartment in section 8 housing, where they don’t have to pay rent for as long as they have no income. His girlfriend works, but she gets paid under the table and she doesn’t have to file her federal income tax, because of fear of losing their welfare benefits. John still sells drugs, and they have three different cars, except not one car is in their names, but in his brother’s name and his oldest daughter’s name.

Angela is a 46 year old lady, who has been legally deaf since she was in the 8th grade. She doesn’t have to work, never has, and probably never will, because she is legally disabled and therefore she receives federal welfare, which are housing, food and money each month.

As portrayed in the above examples, the current welfare system does not have the needed tools in place to help forcefully combat welfare fraud. It also handicaps and makes people to become lazy, because the longer they stay on welfare and don’t have to work, then the more they lose the will to ever look for a job. In addition, they may even forget any work they might have done when they were employed. These are the people who could be out there working, helping to contribute to the national economy, but they simply chose not to work and live off of welfare without having to ever worry about working and paying for rent, utilities and food.

America is the richest country on earth with the largest economy. The American government is well known around the world for taking good care of its own people, in terms of social welfare and socio-economic empowerment.

Most Americans, even those who are on welfare or live below the poverty level are still far better off compared to those in many other countries. However, in continuing to provide unrestricted welfare to some citizens, the government has been handicapping some of the welfare recipients by continuing to provide them with all their necessities without ever trying to help them improve their skills in order to find jobs in the future.

In achieving these goals of caring for its people, the U.S. federal government has instituted many programs designed to implement policies to achieve the highest well-being for every legal resident. The U.S. Welfare system is one of the best social programs in the U.S. designed to provide the necessities for those who are unable to work and have income to support their well-being.

The U.S. Social Welfare system was first introduced after the Great Depression in the 1930’s. The U.S. Social Security Administration website states that beginning in 1932, the Federal Government first made loans, then grants, to States to pay for direct relief and work relief. After that, special Federal emergency relief and public works programs were started. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed to Congress economic security legislation embodying the recommendations of a specially created Committee on Economic Security. There followed the passage of the Social Security Act, signed into law August 14, 1935.

The current Welfare program provides necessary food coupons, known as food stamps, and housing assistance, known as Section 8 programs, for low income families and those who are unable to earn a living because of health related issues, as well as monthly cash stipend to some recipients.

Because of the current welfare system which most observers believe has loopholes, there have been talks about reforming the welfare system for many years. In 1997 President Clinton took the initial step in reforming the welfare system with his initiatives of a Welfare-to-Work program. The Welfare-to-Work program was specifically designed to help provide welfare recipients with the needed recourses, training and skills, so that they may get jobs in the future and not continue to solely rely on the federal welfare system. In doing so, the program will help more welfare recipients to return to the workforce.

According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Welfare-to-Work program was tasked to encourage states to provide certain logistical support such as funding for transportation, vocational training, child care, and substance abuse treatment assistance for welfare recipients. However, many states have complained that they could not meet some of the requirements such as providing transportation and child care. Due to logistical and political reasons, the program abruptly ended in September 2004.

Some applauded the program while many thought that the program was designed to force people to work. In 2003, O’Neil of the New York Post wrote that politicians from both left and right perceive the Welfare to Work program as a success beyond expectations, but yet the program is nonetheless under political siege that requires it to reauthorize its basic component and it is now a year overdue and seems like it may never pass through Capitol Hill politics. In this article, O’Neil simply characterizes how some politicians from both left and right may say one thing, just to score some political points for future re-election purposes, but fail to fulfill their obligations and do the opposite.

President Clinton’s goal and purpose were to reform the Welfare system in order to better serve its purpose. He reinforced his rigorous commitment to provide welfare recipients with opportunities of attaining educational training and development that further help improve their knowledge and necessary skills in finding better paying jobs in the future and that help rid them from continually receiving welfare assistance.

However, when Bush came in the office in 2000, he had his own agendas such as the No Child Left Behind program, but not to make sure that the Welfare-to-Work program survives the political hurdle. It was also just a few months of him in office when the U.S. was hit by the act of terrorism in September 2001, and thereafter the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq followed in October 2001 and March 2003 respectively.

Thus, maintaining and continuing to fund certain programs such as the Welfare-to-Work program might not have been a priority for the U.S. government during these years of war on terror and the recession. The U.S. economy has been slowing down since the early part of 2000, and up to now, in the year 2008, the economy has really never recovered to the point where the government may want to include certain programs such as the Welfare-to-Work system in its monstrous budget to fight and combat terrorism.

The Welfare-to-Work program was designed to be a solution to the welfare system and to provide constructive benefits to the recipients. However, President Clinton’s plan collapsed because he and his advisors failed to study it more on how to make it work better, given its complex task and States’ requirement. An addition to the cause of its collapse, the House was mostly controlled by the Republican lawmakers who severely opposed and voted against most of President Clinton’s proposals.

Thus not having provided all the needed tools, recourses and funding might have helped to contribute to the collapse of the program. If it was well studied and developed, then it could have lasted for a long time to help provide better incentives to help some people and families from solely relying on the federal government welfare subsidies.

In the article “Welfare-to-Work Transition” by Jacqueline J. Kirby, which appeared in The Ohio State University’s Human Development and Family Life Bulletin, she describes the history and the after effects of the Welfare to Work program and used data and information from various sources to compare her argument such as the concern related to the inadequate federal regulations mandating matches in state funding, the lack of specific eligibility requirement for each state around the country, and no stated guidelines and specific requirements about how or where the money will be spent in each state. She depicts a program, which was implemented for a good intention but lack proper execution.

There are a few federal programs that are well-managed and strictly designed to make it hard or almost impossible for anyone to cheat or take advantages of them. Programs such as the educational Pell grant and some states have programs such as unemployment benefits, which have some of the best controlling programs designed to measure and check qualifications for anyone who may apply for either.

The educational Pell grant has two prominent and strict rules – felony and time cap for completing the first undergraduate degree. Under these rules, when someone applies for the federal financial aid, in order to qualify for the Pell grant, the applicant must not have a drug felony on his or her record and must graduate for the first undergraduate degree within eight years. If one applies for the financial aid and has a drug felony on his or her record, then that applicant will not be qualified to receive Pell grant for his or her education. Also, if the financial aid recipient does not graduate with his or her first undergraduate degree within eight years, then after eight years, he or she will not be eligible to receive a Pell grant.

For unemployment, when someone has been laid off work for any reason other than quitting or resigning, when that person applies to claim unemployment benefits for every week, then he or she must provide complete details of him or her looking for work for each week claimed. If he or she fails to look for a job, then he or she is not eligible to claim unemployment for that week or any other weeks he or she has not looked for a job.

These two programs work fine and they have tools and resources in place that help prevent fraud and make it hard for anyone to continually receive the benefits. They encourage their recipients to make sure that they must follow and abide by their strict rules in order to be eligible for their benefits. However, the current welfare system does not have a limit of how long someone can continue to receive welfare benefits.

In some European countries such as Denmark, the government provides their citizens with government income subsidies, but they have an incentive program that encourages the citizens to work or do anything that may generate income for their households. In the U.S., it is different. For as long as one is unemployed and has a reasonable excuse to convince welfare officials, then he or she can perfectly and safely have access to government sponsored (section eight) housing without ever having to worry about paying rent.

Therefore, if the Welfare-to-Work program is reformed to equally and efficiently serve the needs of both the federal government, the states, and the welfare recipients, then it will help more welfare recipients to find jobs, which in turn will help them to become productive and that will help increase the GDP. A portion of the money spent in the program can be used towards other social programs.

Reforming the Welfare system has been a subject that has been discussed by many pundits over the years, but putting it into action yields little. Even our current presidential candidates, McCain, Clinton, and Obama rarely talk about it. But it is one of many issues that need immediate attention.

It poses no fair compliment to those who get up each morning going to work, just to help fund the welfare system for those who simply chose not to work, because they just do not want to work for as long as the welfare system finances their well-being.

In an article titled “Reforming welfare with work” Gueron decries how our country has been debating the question of how well to redesign the welfare system, especially the federally supported welfare Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which is equipped and is tasked to provide them with cash assistance for single-female-parent households. Gueron questions whether the welfare program should be continued with focus on providing broad assistance or it should simply become a “reciprocal obligations” program, whereby recipients must be required to find work within a given time period.

There are many Jackies, Johns, and Helens in most neighborhoods around the U.S. Let’s reform the Welfare system in order to help rehabilitate and empower them, give them the necessary training and skills and put them to work in order for us to further strengthen our economy.

Work Cited

Welfare-to-Work (1996, June). U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Retrieved Wednesday, April 9, 2008, from http://www.opm.gov/wtw/index.htm.

O’Neill, J. (2003, April 14). Welfare Reform Works. New York Post, pp.A11, A14.

Kirby, J. J. (1995). Welfare-to-Work Transition. The Ohio State University’s Human Development and Family Life Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 4, Winter 1995. Retrieved Wednesday, April 9, 2008, from http://fcs.osu.edu/hdfs/bulletin/volume.1/bull14a.htm.

Gueron, J. M. (1987). Reforming welfare with work. New York: Ford Foundation.

Simon Kapenda Blog at http://princesimon.wordpress.com and his company is RentersQ at http://www.rentersq.com