Investments - Work-Club.com

Thrifty Ways to Keep Your Home Clean Year-Round

March 30, 2018 Investments, Other carpet cleaning, thrifty ways

Keeping a clean house has lots of benefits. Living without clutter and grime can seriously improve our stress levels while doing household chores like vacuuming and dusting can also be counted as low impact exercise. Add to that the reduction in airborne allergens obtained by having a clean house and regular carpet cleaning and you’ll understand how health and cleanliness go hand in hand.

But many of us are strapped both for time and money so cleaning our houses often falls to the bottom of a very full list. If you can’t afford to hire a professional maid on a weekly basis, what can you do to make sure your place is kept spotless? Here are a few tips to help you create a clean living environment without breaking the bank.

Remove Your Shoes

Part of maintaining a clean home is respecting your house. In order to keep your floors and carpets cleaner for longer, make sure that you kick off your shoes when you enter your house. Teach your kids to do the same and try to keep on top of dirty pet paws by hanging a bath towel near the door to use when you lead Fido home after his springtime walk.

Tidy Everyday

Decluttering goes a long way towards feeling like your home is calm and contained. Even if you can’t get to the bigger jobs like window washing and dusting the ceiling fan, spend twenty minutes a day cleaning your space. Put items back where they belong, hang up clothes, or even wipe out your bathroom sinks. Done everyday, this kind of tidying will help you feel like you’re in control and you’ll have less to do during your longer weekend cleaning tasks.

Use Natural Cleaning Products

The cost of chemical cleaners can really add up – and there are a lot of natural products that are just as effective, cost much less money and leave less of an environmental impact. Try household vinegar – stronger than the culinary kind – to clean counters, glass, bathroom fixtures and a multitude of other surfaces. Add in baking soda for more bite, and you can even scent the mixture using essential oils.

Splurge Once a Month

If you are seriously strapped for time, consider bringing in a professional cleaner once a month. This way, your hired help can do the deep cleaning – floors, windows, bathrooms – while your 20-minute daily sessions will keep the worst of the grime at bay at much less than hiring a more regular cleaning service. Combine this service with a regular carpet cleaning and no one will ever know that you struggle to keep your house clean.

Follow these tips and you’ll be surprised by how much easier it is to keep your home sparkling clean for a whole lot less.

What Makes a Modern Granny Flat a Good Investment?

March 2, 2018 Investments, Other grannyflats, investment

If you’re reading this, you probably already know about granny flats. You probably know they are attached or detached secondary residences that are added to an existing property. What you may not know is just how lucrative fronting the money for a granny flat investment can be for you, and your family. More specifically, you may not know how solid an investment a modern granny flat is for your family.

Aside from the obvious perk of being able to keep your loved ones close to you – a sign of the modern times thanks to the increase in intergenerational living – there are indisputably attractive economic reasons to seriously consider adding a secondary dwelling to your property.

Read on to find out more about how you can use a modern granny flat to enhance your household income.

Highly Flexible

Any reputable granny flat builder will give you tons of options in terms of design, so you can create them with your budget in mind. Most granny flats are around 60 m2, but you can make them a little larger or smaller depending on the needs of your family.

Housing Shortage

Thanks to a steadily increasing population in Australia and worldwide, there is a shortage of affordable housing. This makes granny flats ideal if you have a loved one who is having difficulty finding a home to suit their budget. It also makes building a modern granny flat a great opportunity if you want to bolster your monthly income, since you can rent out your flat. This will garner you around $20,000 a year, which means in a few years, the building of your granny flat will have paid for itself.

Increased Property Value

Modern granny flats can increase your property value by up to 30% — if you build wisely. Some tips to keep the capital coming include making sure the design of your granny flat is in line with the stylistic feel of your primary dwelling, as well as the neighborhood, choosing green, energy efficient building materials and appliance options that will entice potential renters (should you choose to rent), and keep monthly bills down for your family member.

Financing is (Relatively) Easy

Compared to the hoops you have to jump through to get the financing to build a primary home, building a secondary dwelling is pretty easy. This is because it is a small investments, comparatively speaking, and because banks and lenders know the value a granny flat can add to your property. This makes lending you the money a sound and profitable investment for them.

Of course, you can’t just start building. Because municipalities, cities and counties don’t want granny flats crammed onto properties, depreciating their aesthetic value and driving down the real estate in the area, you have to make sure your jurisdiction allows you to build a granny flat. One of the best ways to do this is to talk to a professional granny flat builder in your area. They have the local expertise and building experience to guide you through the process. Otherwise, call up your city or town council and see what they have to say.

Go Long or Short: The Ups and Downs of Short-Term and Long-Term Investments

March 1, 2018 Business, Finance, Investments

Investing your hard-earned money is not something that you can do in one stroke. It takes a lot of careful planning. It’s not just one click away. It’s a step by step process. It needs your full attention, it eats a lot of your time, and it requires patience and commitment.

Furthermore, investing is not as stable as you think. That’s why before you invest, you need to know every single detail about how investment works. A good start for you to learn the essentials in investing is to know what is the advantages and disadvantages of short-term and long-term investments. Sites like Movablemark may your guide to in terms of finance matter.

You may have an idea of what short-term and long-term investments are, but do you know that much? If you’re quite unsure, let’s dig into it and widen our knowledge about its ups and downs.

But before anything else, let’s get to know first what short-term and long-term investments are?

Short-Term Investments

It is a type of investment that matures or held for just 12 months or less. It is also known as temporary investments. When you invest in short-term stock, you can have the ability to transfer its ownership quickly. Examples of short-term investments are a savings account, short-term bond funds, checking accounts, lending, etc.

Long-Term Investments

This kind of investment is held for several years. With the long-term investment, the probability of maximizing your returns for several years is high. Moreover, long-term investments may never be sold. Examples of long-term investments are land, agricultural products, and other properties that have a maturity date of over one year.

Advantages

Both short-term and long-term investments have their different advantages. As for the short-term, you can have flexibility in your investment. You don’t have to bond your money for an extended period. Another thing is that in short-term investments, the returns you can get are substantial. You can get great returns in just a short period.

On the other hand, long-term investment has a significant edge for anyone can do it. With this kind of investment, learning different trading styles or platforms is hassle-free because you’re not an active trader. You can also get a good night sleep in long-term investment as you don’t have to wake up early for opening bell every day.

Furthermore, investing long-term saves money, because as you hold your stocks longer than a year, you will pay fewer taxes. Another edge of long-term is that when you make mistakes, it’s easy for you to correct some or all of them because you have the time.

Disadvantages

Learning about the cons of short and long-term investments is as necessary as its pros. The disadvantage of investing short-term is that you pay your regular federal income tax rate regardless of your earnings. Another con for short-term is that this investment has great potential for risks and it’s not always possible to earn profits in a short period.

For the long-term investment, the negative part of it is that the growth of returns is slow and needs a lot of time to mature. Moreover, in long-period investments you have less control of your money, you just have to wait until your investment matures.

Takeaway

Investments are unstable. If it’s long-term or short-term, either way, the value of its stocks still fluctuates. So, when we decide to have our investments, it is essential that we know first all the pros and cons of what we are investing for. In this way, we can be ready for future fluctuation of the market, and avoid too much loss of money.

Thus, the information mentioned above is an excellent help for you when you start to have your investments. Also, visiting sites like Ashe Morgan also is a great help for you.

What The Heck Is An Estate Planner, and Why Do People Keep Telling Me I Need One?

September 27, 2017 Finance, Investments

Planning for death is widely considered unpleasant and even morbid, but let’s be real — ignoring it will only lead to problems for family and friends down the line. Having a detailed plan of what should happen to you, your possessions, and your estate is essential to reduce the stress of the people left behind.

When people talk with you about things like this, they might mention something called an “estate planner” from time to time. But what is an estate planner? Do you need to hire one? Let’s explore these topics to give you a better idea on how to plan for your future.

What is An Estate Planner?

An estate planner is a specialized lawyer trained in helping people figure out what they want to happen to their possessions after death. Closely related to elder law, they’re in charge of planning for and reducing the amount of uncertainties after their client has died.

How Can Estate Planners Help?

Duties vary depending on what a client requires, though estate planners are commonly hired to write or revise a will. In it, they will outline how to distribute a client’s property after death, as well as any other valuables or assets they own. Assigning guardianship for minors or other dependents is also possible, as it declaring power of attorney in the event the client is indisposed but otherwise alive.

They can also help a client find ways to minimize or eliminate estate taxes through strategic distribution of assets among loved ones, as well as provide general legal advice related to estate planning.

When Don’t You Need An Estate Planner?

Though having an estate planner help you with your end of life problems can be helpful, certain situations may mean you don’t need or don’t want to utilize the services of one. For example, if you plan to sell your life insurance (surrendering a policy for its cash value) to help with expenses or get some extra money, an estate planner’s services might come in a little redundant. Or perhaps you feel confident enough to write your own will with little assistance or the use of an automated program, or maybe you just lack the money to hire an estate planner.

It’s also possible you simply don’t have anything you feel is worth planning out in the event of your death, wishing for probate law to assign your possessions.

Conclusion

Hiring an estate planner can certainly help reduce the stress your loved ones feel after your death, but hiring one is not required, either. If you require professional help planning for your passing, you may wish to look into hiring one in the near future — ultimately the key is planning ahead.