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If you are in debt, chances are high that you are looking for a solution to be debt free as quickly as possible. The three most common forms of debt solutions are debt consolidation, debt management plans, and debt settlements. Debt relief can also involve:

• extending the terms of loans
• lowering loan interest rates
• partially or totally reducing the amount of the outstanding principal

Typically, creditors will opt for debt mitigation if it’s a better alternative than debt default when the repercussions are too severe.

The 5 most common Questions asked by Debtors

While every debt relief case is different and no two debt relief companies are exactly alike, there are 5 questions that every individual usually asks when exploring their debt relief options. These are:

Are there any guarantees that all of my debt will be settled? Unfortunately, NO. Every debt relief case involves some type of negotiations. No debt relief company can guarantee that kind of an outcome or how the negotiations are going to proceed. The success of the debt relief company is usually based on the debtor’s ability to save enough money each month to cover the payment amount that will be due.

Can I negotiate with my creditors? YES, you can, if you want to save anywhere from 18% to 25% off the debt you owe. Most debt relief companies are going to charge you between 15% to 25% depending on how much you currently owe and the state you live in. Many people call debt relief companies so they can avoid dealing with creditors as much as possible or because they lack the confidence to negotiate with them.

How much time is involved in becoming debt-free? That typically depends on how long it takes you to accrue the funds and save up the settlement amount. Debt relief programs can range from 24 to 48 months. So, the faster you can save up the money to make that settlement offer, the sooner you’ll be out of debt and feel financial relief. Just remember that it would take 10 to 20 years to pay off a credit card if you only make the minimum payment each month. Plus, you could wind up paying 2, 3, or even 4 times the amount you originally owed.

Will debt relief impact my credit? YES, in varying degrees depending on the debt relief option you choose. Typically, the immediate impact to your credit score will range from relatively minimum or small to severe damage while the long-term impact ranges from a minimal to extremely long recovery period.

Will I still get calls from bill collectors? Unfortunately, this is still a possibility despite the federal and state legislation that was designed to protect the consumer from being harassed by debtcollectors. Just keep in mind that the goal with debt relief companies is to get the creditors to call them and not you. That will save you hours of phone-calls and harassment.

Do you know what would happen to your money, property and possessions if you died without making a will? For most of us, writing will content isn’t high on our list of priorities. But if you knew what could happen when you die without making a will, you would realise that it could be one of the most important things you ever do.

Dying without leaving a will – which is known as dying intestate – has some very serious consequences, which all too often, people are unaware of. The intestacy laws which exist in the UK determine what happens to a person’s estate when they die intestate. These are strict rules which dictate who may inherit from a person in the absence of a will. And they may not operate in quite the way you assume they would.

The rules on who can inherit from you if you die without leaving a will, all depend on your marital status. What applies to a single person, doesn’t apply to a married person, and doesn’t also apply to those who are in a relationship, but not married. The following is what happens to your estate when you die without a will:

Some things you should know about intestacy

When you die without leaving a will behind, the only thing you can be guaranteed is that the laws of intestacy take effect. Intestacy just means you died without making a will.

Under the rules of intestacy, it is usually only a spouse who can inherit from you. If you do not have a spouse at the time of your death, then children, parents, siblings and a few other relatives are entitled to your money but the order in which they inherit is strictly determined by law, and is laid out below. If no surviving relatives can be found, including distant relatives, the government takes possession of your estate.

Whilst under the laws of intestacy your property might be shared to your relatives, it might not be in the way you would have done it, or to relatives you would not have chosen. It’s important to understand how the law would divide up your estate if you were to die without making a will. It is also especially important to understand how dying intestate affects a surviving partner if you are in a relationship, but not married.

Here are some of the most common scenarios:

INTESTACY AS A SINGLE, UNMARRIED PERSON

If you are unmarried and have no children, your money is automatically given to your parents, if they survive you, along with all of your property. In cases where both of your parents are no longer alive at the time of your death, your siblings are next in line to receive the proceeds of your estate. This also includes any half-siblings.

The money or property will be divided among them in equal parts, no matter how many beneficiaries there are. If you are not survived by parents, siblings or children of your siblings, then your mother’s closest relatives get half of the money or property, while the closest surviving relatives from your father’s side get the other half.

The last condition to this is that if you die and are survived by children, then the entirety of your money and estate goes to your children. All will have an equal share of your money and property. If they are no longer alive, then your inheritance would be passed to any surviving children that they had (your grandchildren). If you had two or more children, and one dies before you, and that child has a child or children, then the children of your child, as well as your other surviving children get the money, divided equally between them.

INTESTACY AS A MARRIED PERSON

Married partners or civil partners inherit everything you leave under the rules of intestacy, if your estate is worth up to £250,000. Note however that this only applies if you were actually married or in a civil partnership at the time of death. That means that divorced ex-partners have no rights to inherit from you under the rules of intestacy.

If however, there are surviving children and your estate is valued at more than £250,000, then your spouse or civil partner will inherit the first £250,000 of your estate, and all of your personal property and possessions, and half of the value of the remaining estate. The other half of your remaining estate after the first £250,000 has been taken out, goes to your children, divided equally between them.

INTESTACY FOR AN UNMARRIED PERSON IN A RELATIONSHIP

Most of the laws of intestacy have no provision for those who are unmarried, no matter how long they have been together, and no matter whether they have children together or not.

It should be noted however, that in the case of jointly-owned property, if both partners owned property or a bank account together then the remaining partner would automatically become the sole owner of the home or money that was previously jointly owned.

Despite this, it can be particularly distressing and heartbreaking for grieving partners to discover that they have no share or access to their partner’s money or possessions, when it is too late to do anything about it.

Writing a will is the easiest way to prevent this circumstance from occurring. Writing a will allows you to name whoever you like to inherit from you and ensure that your loved ones are taken care of after your death in the way you would like.

The importance of having a will cannot be understated. It allows you to take control of your estate and ensure that those you most wish to benefit from your estate after your death will be able to do so, without having to fight for it in the courts. Making a will is easy and needn’t cost a lot of money. Seek advice from a solicitor or professional will writing service if you don’t feel confident drafting your own will, as they are the experts when it comes to ensuring your final wishes become legally binding.

No matter what kind of business you run or which industry you operate in, there are always opportunities for you to save money. But for too many businesses, saving money quickly becomes a punishment game where employees and middle management shoulder the blame for systemic weaknesses in the way a business operates. Reducing costs and maximizing profitability should always be a concern for a modern business.

Here are some simple ways that you and your business can reduce your expenditures and ensure that you are keeping as much of what you earn as you can.

Get Smart With Your Marketing

A common mistake made by many businesses is to think that their marketing is a problem best solved by throwing enough money at it. In fact, you can utilize many of the most effective marketing methods out there without having a huge amount of money to spend on it.

Viral content, for example, can explode in popularity and become self-sustaining. If many of the viewers of your marketing are then showing it to their friends, they are doing your job for you. The best part is that you only need to pay for the creation of the initial content. Your audience will do the rest.

Always Be Cutting

No matter what your business is or how much of a stickler you are for efficiency, we can all but guarantee that there are some cost-cutting measures that you could take. Even small savings add up over time, so always be on the lookout for cost-cutting opportunities.

When you need new supplies, small or large, make sure that you shop around for options. For example, if you are renovating or upgrading part of your business and need some more space, it often makes more sense to use steel buildings, rather than renting expensive real estate. Through businesses like Armstrong Steel, you can buy prefabricated steel versions of most buildings. You can look here for more information about the buildings they offer and how much they will cost per square foot.

Reconsider Your Real Estate

This one very much depends on the kind of business you are in, but some people have little choice about where they work. However, for many people, a change in location can mean some pretty significant savings.

If you run a retail business or a business where the customers come to your premises, you will obviously need to think carefully before making any drastic decisions. But, regardless of the business you run, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that this is something beyond your control – it rarely is.

Once you start looking for ways of reducing your overheads and cutting costs, you may well find yourself going from thinking that your business is already operating efficiently to having a whole binder full of potential new cost-cutting measures. Don’t just make this a one-off thing that you do in response to unfavorable financial conditions. Instead, make cost-cutting a core component of your corporate ethos and encourage workers at all levels of your business to get involved.

Fitness professionals, gym owners, and personal trainers work with clients to help them be fit, lose weight, and get rid of their chronic injury. Although a job that provides a lot of value in the client’s life, being a personal trainer or a gym owner comes with significant risks.

Fitness training requires lifting of weights and utilizing the strength of the body to its maximum potential. Clients might get injured, or may claim of not being satisfied with your training, and services. This condition can lead them to file a legal suit against you. Trainers in the gym working for you may get injured at your gym premises, and you being the owner of the gym will be held responsible. Moreover, some clients will not be satisfied with your services and may demand compensation.

If any such thing happens, you will have to face a significant loss in your assets and can turn out to be disastrous for your business. While some of these conditions can be avoided by being extra careful, there are a few situations which are not under your control. To avoid such problems, gym owners and personal trainers should always buy personal trainer insurance and a group health insurance.

Although none of these insurances are mandatory to buy, there is no good reason to avoid them.

Public Liability Insurance

Public liability insurance is one of the most critical insurance fitness professionals should buy. People working out in the gym may get injured. This injury can be as small as a muscle strain and can be serious conditions like fractures, and dislocations. Although the trainer is not always responsible for the injury, if the client files a lawsuit against you for being responsible for the injury, you will need to spend a lot of money while defending yourself. Public liability insurance covers the cost and expenses you will incur while going through the legal and court proceedings.

Having public liability insurance gives you mental peace while working because injuries in the gym are common. And, a minor looking muscle pull can turn out to be some serious muscle tear.

Employers Liability Insurance

Insurance liability insurance is a type of group health insurance that covers the cost of injuries that can happen to your employees in the gym. If you are a personal trainer or a gym owner with no employees, you might not need employers liability insurance. But, if you have a few employees in your gym working for you, group health insurance is vital.

Employers Liability Insurance covers the cost you might incur if any of your employees get injured or fall ill while working for you in the gym. The employer’s liability insurance also provides coverage if any of your employees get into a quarrel with a client or sudden events in which your employee gets assaulted by a client in your gym.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Your clients may not feel satisfied with your services. Or, your clients may claim they have not noticed the desired progress that was promised. In some cases, your clients can sue you for not providing adequate services.
Professional indemnity insurance is important because no matter how good a trainer you are, or how effectively you manage your gym, there will be some clients who will not achieve their goals.

Some of them will accept that it is their responsibility to stick to their routine and recommended diet; some of them may file a lawsuit against you for not working properly with their regime. Therefore, professional indemnity insurance covers the cost of defending yourself in the costs and providing your clients with their compensation payments.

James Eckardt is the founder of Peak Advisors Inc., a boutique insurance brokerage on Long Island, NY. The firm has a stellar record of service with three decades of experience in health insurance coverage and hundreds of clients including small businesses, commercial enterprises, sole proprietor-ships and seniors.

Are you planning to make your first investment? If so, there are several things you need to consider to ensure that your venture is successful. As a first-time investor, you may face obstacles along the way, although these can easily be avoided if you stick to these guidelines.

Using capital you cannot afford

One of the biggest mistakes many first-time investors make is taking the approach of ‘go big or go home’, resulting in a significant investment that can bring with it financial difficulty. This is because they do not take all of their outgoings into account, as not only is a larger property more expensive, but it is also much more costly to manage.

The best advice for first timers is to start small with an apartment, or at least invest in a property you can afford. So, before choosing the property, you should consider every outgoing, including your purchase price, property management fees, renovation costs and more. You can then compare to this to your potential returns, which includes rental income and capital appreciation. This will allow you to work out your estimated net yield. First, take your expected annual income and minus your outgoings. You must then divide this calculation by the property price and multiply it by 100. This will help you establish whether your investment is worthwhile, or if your profits are not sufficient, you should look at properties elsewhere.

Lack of diversity

Once you’ve invested in your first successful property, you will most likely get the investment bug and want to expand your portfolio. This is when big mistakes are made, as many investors believe that because their first property was successful, they should invest in something similar. However, just because the first investment worked out well does not mean the same will happen for your second purchase. Instead, you should try your best to diversify, for example, if you invested in a semi-detached home the first time, why not consider purchasing an apartment next? This will cater to a completely different tenant market, and could even offer you even better returns.

To help you invest successfully, you should seek advice from property experts like RW Invest, who help their clients to diversify with their luxury apartments and off-plan developments, enabling an impressive portfolio. This allows investors to reduce their risk, especially if one type of property faces a decline, as they can fall back on their other investments and still reap lucrative returns.

Making impatient decisions

Whether you’re investing for the first time or the tenth, it is important to be patient and choose a property carefully. This avoids the issue of loss, especially with first-time investors who tend to go full-steam-ahead into an investment that they haven’t had the time to research.

Investors should remember to take the slow and steady route, especially in the beginning when you’re still getting to grips with the property market. Taking time to decide will also be more beneficial in the long-run, as being picky will allow you to benefit from both short-term and long-term financial advantages.