FreeMoneyLessons

15 Ways to Teach Kids About Money

2008-05-09T23:02:00.000-07:00

Introducing Kids to Money

Money gives people -- both young and old -- decision-making opportunities. Educating, motivating, and empowering children to become regular savers and investors will enable them to keep more of the money they earn and do more with the money they spend. Everyday spending decisions can have a far more negative impact on children's financial futures than any investment decisions they may ever make. Here are 15 simple ways to help educate children about personal finance and managing money:

1. As soon as children can count, introduce them to money.

Take an active role in providing them with information. Observation and repetition are two important ways children learn.

2. Communicate with children as they grow about your values concerning money

How to save it, how to make it grow, and most importantly, how to spend it wisely.

3. Help children learn the differences between needs, wants, and wishes.
This will prepare them for making good spending decisions in the future.

4. Setting goals is fundamental to learning the value of money and saving.

Young or old, people rarely reach goals they haven't set. Nearly every toy or other item children ask their parents to buy them can become the object of a goal-setting session. Such goal-setting helps children learn to become responsible for themselves.

5. Introduce children to the value of saving versus spending.

Explain and demonstrate the concept of earning interest income on savings. Consider paying interest on money children save at home; children can help calculate the interest and see how fast money accumulates through the power of compound interest. Later on, they also will realize that the quickest way to a good credit rating is a history of regular, successful savings. Some parents even offer to match what children save on their own.

Allowance and Spending Decisions

6. When giving children an allowance, give them the money in denominations that encourage saving.

If the amount is $5, give them 5-1-dollar bills and encourage that at least one dollar be set aside in savings. (Saving $5 a week at 6 percent interest compounded quarterly will total about $266 after a year, $1,503 after 5 years, and $3,527 after 10 years!)

7. Take children to a credit union or bank to open their own savings accounts.

Beginning the regular savings habit early is one of the keys to savings success. Remember, don't refuse them when they want to withdraw a portion of their savings for a purchase--This may discourage them from saving at all. You can also introduce children to mutual funds or create a college fund for them as well.

8. Keeping good records of money saved, invested, or spent is another important skill young people must learn.

To make it easy, use 12 envelopes, 1 for each month, with a larger envelope to hold all the envelopes for the year. Establish this system for each child. Encourage children to place receipts from all purchases in the envelopes and keep notes on what they do with their money.

9. Use regular shopping trips as opportunities to teach children the value of money.

Going to the grocery store is often a child's first spending experience. About a third of our take-home pay is spent on grocery and household items. Spending smarter at the grocery store (using coupons, shopping sales, comparing unit prices) can save more than $1,800 a year for a family of four. To help young people understand this lesson, demonstrate how to plan economical meals, avoid waste, and use leftovers efficiently. When you take children to other kinds of stores, explain how to plan purchases in advance and make unit-price comparisons. Show them how to check for value, quality, repairability, warranty, and other consumer concerns. Spending money can be fun and very productive when spending is well-planned. Unplanned spending, as a rule, usually results in 20-30 percent of our money being wasted because we obtain poor value with our purchases.

10. Allow young people to make spending decisions.

Whether good or poor, they will learn from their spending choices. You can then initiate an open discussion of spending pros and cons before more spending takes place. Encourage them to use common sense when buying. This means doing research before making major purchases, waiting for the right time to buy, and using the "spending-by-choice" technique. This technique involves selecting at least three other things the money could be spent on setting aside money for one of the items, and then making a choice of which item to purchase.

Buying Smart

11. Show children how to evaluate TV, radio, and print ads for products.

Will a product really perform and do what the commercials say? Is a price offered truly a sale price? Are alternative products available that will do a better job, perhaps for less cost, or offer better value? Remind them that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

12. Alert children to the dangers of borrowing and paying interest.

If you charge interest on small loans you make to them, they will learn quickly how expensive it is to rent someone else's money for a specified period of time. For instance, paying for a $499 TV over 18 months at $31.85 a month at 18.8 percent interest means the buyer really pays about $575.

13. When using a credit card at a restaurant, take the opportunity to teach children about how credit cards work.

Explain to children how to verify the charges, how to calculate the tip, and how to guard against credit card fraud.

14. Be cautious about making credit cards available to young people, even when they are entering college.

Credit cards have a message: "spend!" Some students report using the cards for cash advances and also to meet everyday needs, instead of for emergencies (as originally planned). Many of those same students find themselves having to cut back on classes to fit in part-time jobs just to pay for their credit card purchases.

15. Establish a regular schedule for family discussions about finances.

This is especially helpful to younger children--it can be the time when they tote up their savings and receive interest.
Other discussion topics should include the difference between cash, checks, and credit cards;
wise spending habits; how to avoid the use of credit; and the advantages of saving and investment growth. With teenagers, it's also useful to discuss what's happening with the national and local economies, how to economize at home, and alternatives to spending money. All of this information will be important as they take on more responsibility for their own financial well-being.

Adapted from "Dollars and Sense," in the April 1999 issue of Our Children, the official magazine of the National PTA®.
Paul Richard is executive vice president of the National Center for Finance Education (NCFE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people learn to manage money.

P.S.

Teaching children about money doesn’t always have to be serious. You can make it fun by playing board games like Monopoly as a family. It brings the family together and it may spark an entrepreneur side in your child. Another board game that I would recommend is Cash Flow 101, Cash Flow 202, and Cash Flow for Kids. These board games are created by Robert Kiyosaki (Author of Rich Dad Poor dad) and are considered a great investment for you and your family. Whether you decide to invest in these board games or not is totally up to you. Just wanted to point out other ways of teaching kids about money that can be a fun, learning experience for your child.

Planning For Retirement

2008-05-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

Is it better to invest while deferring payments of taxes until you are retired? Or is it better to invest with pre-taxed dollars until you are retired? Most of you would probably prefer to invest with pre-taxed dollars, because you can accumulate money with no tax. With the first option, when taxes are postponed and your money is allowed to grow tax-deferred, the tax liability increases. Anyone want a big chunk of their retirement taxed by Uncle Sam?

ROTH IRAS

Many of you have recognized the advantage of your investment growing tax-free, and many of you have deposited money or convert traditional IRAs, or 401 (k) s into Roth IRAs. Most of us would agree that contributing to a Roth IRA is a great step in the right direction. Sure our contributions are not tax deductible. But all your earnings are tax free, provided that withdrawals meet certain requirements.

Withdrawals can distributed without penalty

On or after the owner of the fund reaches 59 ½
In case of the owner’s death
For the purchase of a first home, with a limit of $10,000
In the case of the owner’s disability

Your eligibility to contribute in a Roth IRA cannot exceed a certain yearly income for married and single taxpayers. In addition, your yearly contribution is limited too. Check with a professional for more information. In addition, Roth IRAs can be rolled over tax-free to other Roth IRAs.

Employer Matching Benefits

True matching is where the employer agrees to match dollar for dollar. If an employer is willing to match your 401(k) contributions dollar for dollar, then it’s in your best interest to accept. Given you contribute the least amount required to qualify for the full matching benefit. Many employees contribute more than the minimum required, thinking that it’s the best way to save for retirement. It’s not the best way to save for retirement, because in a 401(k), any distributions will be subject to tax. It makes more sense to contribute the minimum, and invest the difference in a fund that grows tax-free. Then you will have your 401(k) that you and your employer contribute to, and your other fund that grows tax-free.

Conclusion

It seems like today the responsibility for your retirement is you, not anyone else. The most important factor in choosing investments is to choose investments that give you tax-favored benefits during accumulation. There will be more articles that talk more in depth about investing and planning for your retirement.

Some More Investment Tips

2008-05-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

I am positive that you guys found the previous article helpful. Now here is another follow up. I don’t know if any of you has been watching the news or reading the paper lately. I mean it’s hard enough to turn the T.V. to CNN or whatever news station and not hear the R talk. RECESSION! What else is new? What we all need to be informed about is even though our economy is on its decline and probably will continue to decline throughout 2008. Chinas economy is booming and on the rise. So I decided to do my homework to see what possible investments in China can turn out to be profitable, and guess what? I smell opportunity.

China Business Economy

The average profit growth rate in the first quarter of 2008 for the 436 Chinese companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges was an astonishing 50%! http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/Issues.aspx?The-Chinese-stock-market-comes-roaring-back-1710. Take into consideration of China’s business economy.

Food

Did anyone notice that the price of wheat increased. I mean it was like yesterday I could buy Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheat for $6.99. Now I paid a little over $8 for the Mini-Wheat’s. At least give me more wheat!

This doesn’t only apply to wheat. We will see an increase in food prices in years to come. I received an e-mail from Money and Markets on 05/01/08 that lists the types of foods that went up in price, and will continue to rise

Corn, already up 177% in the past thee years, could triple in price.
Soybeans, already up 111% in three years, could easily double again.
Wheat, which has jumped 160% in the past three years, could surge another 400% to as high as $38 a bushel!
And rice, which has already almost tripled in price, could triple yet again.

The prices of everything from eggs, to milk, to beef are also headed higher. I expect them to triple and even quadruple in the next few years.

This information was provided by Larry Edelson from Money And Markets.

Oil

The auto industry recorded 8.8 million vehicles sold in 2007, which is an increase of 11% from 2006. Put 2 and 2 together, and what we get is China’s demand for oil will only increase.

Conclusion

I always try to keep the blogs short and simple while trying to list as much information as needed. Nobody likes a long article that repeats itself over, and over, and over, and over again. Sorry. Anyways for more information on China’s economy I recommend you visit http://www.moneyandmarkets.com. Is investing in China right for you? I don’t know, but China is an investment opportunity that you might want to consider.

Posted on 05/01/08

Some Investment Tips

2008-04-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

I just read an interesting piece from Martin Weiss on http://www.martinweiss.com/. He mentioned 3 investments to buy in today’s current economy.

Buy Prudent Global Income Fund (PSAFX)

This mutual fund is a good hedge against the dollar decline, because it holds mostly short-term, fixed-income securities denominated in foreign securities. What this means to you is when the dollar is decreasing like it is now. The value of the fund naturally goes up. Its euro investment is rising nicely in Germany, and may continue to rise due to expectations that the European Central Bank will raise interest rates. This fund is resistant to interest rate rises and declining bond prices. Invest in this fund

Buy StreetTracks Gold Trust (GLD)

This fund offers you an easy and convenient way to profit in the long-term market in gold. As long as inflation exists, the value of gold will continue to rise. Investing in this fund is like investing in gold without having to store actual gold coins and such.
Its prices roughly at 1/10th the price of gold. For example, if the price of gold is $1,000 an ounce. GLD will be $100 a share. This Exchange traded Fund (ETF) is great for the long-term investor, and individuals with a conservative side.

Invest In Coca-Cola Company (KO)

No matter if the economy is good, or bad. People will always consume nondiscretionary goods like soda, juice, and water can still generate profits in a recession.
Investors are flocking to companies that generate most of their revenue overseas. That’s because when our dollar falls, the yen, pound, or euro earned overseas are worth more in dollar terms. To see the currency exchange rate visit http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html
Coke gets about 30% of its operating income from the European Union, 20% from Latin America, and 20% from the Pacific Rim and Asian nations.

Conclusion

For more investment tips you can visit http://www.martinweiss.com/. Hopefully there can be more investment tips that we all can benefit from. You can also read 6 Tips How to Profit In a Declining Economy on http://www.hachefinancial.com/ for more information. It’s a $1.99 investment to read, but it’s an investment that is worth every penny and some.

Posted by http://www.hachefinancial.com on 04/30/08

Keys to Financial Success

2008-04-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

Everyone wants to be successful. Some people desire to be successful in terms of becoming a millionaire or a multi-millionaire. Probably even a billionaire! And some just want to be able to pay the bills and have some left over each month. Regardless of where you want to be, nobody wants to live paycheck to paycheck. Would you agree with that? I would.

Given where our economy is heading now, the need to be financially successful is more important now. The number of foreclosed homes and families losing their homes is at a ridiculous rate right now. And the way it’s looking, it may even get worse. I am sure that we all heard about the recession talk, and with money being pumped into the economy to bail out the banks is only decreasing our purchasing power and causing prices to increase. This hurts the lower to middle income families. I almost forgot to mention about high gas prices (Hopefully you read my other article “Improving Your Gas Mileage”).

The first solution most of you will say, if not all of you, is to make more money. Not a bad solution but sometimes making more money allows the temptation of spending more money. And most of us are not disciplined in the matter of money. Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” said that most of us are book literate, but not financial literate. While making more money is a really good solution to becoming financially successful, managing what your make goes hand in hand. There is a quote that I heard, “It’s not how much you make, but how much you keep.” I am assuming you want me to get to the point. Let’s do that.

Always Spend Less Than You Earn

Plan a budget and stick to it. Easier said than done right? Keep in mind some of the wealthiest people out there are the most disciplined with their money. Planning a budget can include putting together a shopping list and sticking to it. Eat in instead of eating out. Paying off your credit card debt, which most of us will agree is our financial setback. I posted a video on my website titled “How to Be Financially Successful” that does talk about tips on paying off your credit card faster. You can watch this video at http://www.hachefinancial.com/videos.php?cat_id=2. For some additional tips on saving, visit http://www.feedthepig.org/, this site has calculators and additional articles that provide some helpful information on saving.

Avoid Splurging

We all have that temptation of buying on impulse (myself included), and most of time when we buy on impulse, later on we regret our purchase. But we still repeat that behavior. One principle that I adopted that eliminates my impulsive buying is this. When I see a product, or service that is over $150 (your dollar budget will be determined by you) that I want to buy that very day. I will wait 90 days before I decide to do anything. And if I still want the product just as badly as day 1. I will purchase it, and I will purchase it with cash. If I don’t feel the need to buy it like I did one day 1. Then I won’t buy. This principle helped eliminate my desire to purchase things on impulse and will result in an increase of retained earnings. And having more retained earnings only enables you to become closer to financial success.

Invest

There is only one thing better than money. MORE MONEY! Using your money to work for you is a must to achieve financial success. When you spend less than you earn, you have money to invest. Definitely eliminating your credit card bills frees up some cash to invest. Whether you want to invest in a 401k plan, invest in a business, or in stocks to build your wealth, investing is a must. There are a ton of things you can invest in. Seeking the services of a financial planner can be a wise step to determine what investments are right for you. I also wrote an article titled “6 Tips How to Profit In a Declining Economy.” There is a $1.99 investment to read. I received an e-mail from someone saying that charging $1.99 to read the article is kind of greedy. I wouldn’t call it that, not only because I wrote the article, but this article is an investment. I list specific investments to buy when the value of our dollar decreases (which it is decreasing now) that not only hedge your money, but increases in value. I also list investments that you should stay away from in a declining market that won’t be profitable for your hard earned dollars. I also mention a number of tips on saving money with your monthly expenses. With that said, saving money on your monthly expenses, and providing investments that increase in value, when our dollar decreases is a sure way to financial success. And I am offering this for only $1.99. You might be asking, “Why don’t you increase the price if the article is so great?” Come on now. Let’s not get greedy. This article could save and make you thousands upon thousands of dollars. For $1.99 you can’t go wrong. You can read this article at http://www.hachefinancial.com/tips.php. If you feel that I should increase the increase the investment to read the article, please let me know. Just kidding.

Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I will post additional information on what investments are good to consider and why. Investing is the key to building wealth and financial success. Some of these investments you may want to take advantage of and some you may not. Either way, the information will be provided for your use.

Posted by http://www.hachefinancial.com/ 04/30/08

Managing Your Commercial Property

2008-04-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

You just received title to your recently purchased commercial property. Now you’re going to have tenants leasing the space. Great! Now we will discuss management of your new commercial property.

The Lease

Negotiating your commercial property is obviously by far the most important aspect of your management. When a qualified tenant wants to lease your property, you want to realize he wants to rent the place as badly as you want to rent it to him. You need to be informed of what spaces are renting for and your vacancy rate. In addition be aware of the square footage you are leasing and your usable space when factoring the monthly rent. Have your attorney structure a lease agreement that will best suit you and your tenant. A website that I discovered that has a lease agreement that you can probably base off of is http://www.alllaw.com/forms/leases_and_tenancies/commercial_lease_agreement/. Or use an attorney. The amount of time your tenant stays in your property will only equal more profits to you (granted your tenant pays the rent). You may disagree with some of these tips, but you can offer some incentives that will be motivating to your tenant to rent the space longer. You can write in the lease agreement a 2% discount if the rent is paid 5 days before the due date. This obviously promotes an incentive to pay earlier and rent with you longer. You may even consider a month or 2 of free rent if the lease is long term. I am not saying to give away the store, but little incentives like that structured in your lease agreement may increase the length of stay, and your renters may b happier as a result.

Acoustics

Buildings with reduced sound levels are good qualities to have when managing a commercial property. It appeals to your renters and adds value to your property. Sound levels can be reduced if the building has been designed with adequate sound attenuation in the form of sound traps ductwork, vibration isolation on mechanical equipment, and the treatment of partitions above the ceiling line to isolate noise from one space to the adjacent space (Commercial Real Estate, Edited by Jack Corgan).

Signs

Address the sign issue as soon as possible. To your tenants, signage issues can be deal breakers or deal makers.

Cleaning

Cleaning specifications should be made clear and very definitive. The lease cleaning provision can only result in a better relationship with the tenant, allows you to provide the service, if you desire.

Power

The type of electrical system in your building is very important. It is useful to know how comparable buildings are charging for electricity. Is it a fix amount per square foot? Is it metered directly by the local utility? Or is it sub metered by you as the landlord? The most beneficial rate would be the average cost paid by the landlord, because this provides the benefit of the decreased cost of bulk purchasing.

Life Safety

More and more tenants are concerned with fire hazards in office buildings. All buildings, as a minimum, should meet the local code requirement. Exceeding these requirements proves only beneficial to you and your tenant. Developing an emergency evacuation plan doesn’t hurt you either.

Exterior Appearance

Curb appeal is the basic requirement to attracting tenants, and paying attention to the landscape, exterior finishes, parking lot, lighting, and whatever else is exterior to your commercial property are critical.

Renovations

You may want to add in the agreement about renovations your tenants may want to implement during their term. Whether you as the landlord will contribute or not contribute. Renovations can add value to your property, and you may want to add that in their lease agreement.

Restrictive Covenant

You may want to the restrictive covenant clause depending on what type of commercial building you own. This will appeal to your tenants because it prevents competitors with similar businesses opening nearby.

Property Management Companies

If you decide to go this route in managing your commercial property, you can visit http://www.allpropertymanagement.com to determine which property management company will best suit your needs.

Conclusion

There is an abundant of books out there that talks more in detail about managing commercial real estate, if you would like to get more information. Feel free to e-mail us at support@hachefinancial.com if you have any questions.

Posted by http://www.hachefinancial.com

Financing Commercial Real Estate

2008-04-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

Once you determine the town/ are you want to buy commercial real estate in, and then your next step is to find a commercial building you feel that is ideal. After you’ve done that and you want to make an offer on that commercial property, and the seller accepts. Get excited, your day went just the way you wanted it to go, and you have already been pre-qualified for the commercial property you want to purchase. Rewind, back up, this is a perfectly realistic example, but before you begin your search for commercial real estate, it serves to your advantage to have an idea of some of the requirements when purchasing real estate.

Commercial Real Estate is Not Residential Real Estate

What this means is your credit score is not the main picture here. In purchasing residential real estate you want your credit to be as high as it can be, because your credit determines your interest rate, your monthly mortgage payment, and the amount of money you put down. In commercial real estate, lenders are not worried about your credit. They are more worried about your financial credentials in the respect of how much money you can put down. This leads to our next tip.

Banks Will Usually not Finance More Than %75 of the Appraised Value of the Property

Regardless of credit score, that is the general rule that lenders follow. Does this mean you have to come in with the %25? Not necessarily. A portion of it can come from you and the other portion can be done through seller financing (visit http://www.hachefinancial.com/articles.php?a_id=11 for more information on seller financing). For instance, let’s say the bank approved you %75 of the appraised value, and you can put down %15. The bank will not have a problem if the seller is willing finance the %10. If the seller is willing to finance the entire %25, then you may have a deal. But I must point out that deals like that are rare.

The Commercial Property Must Show Sufficient Debt-Repayment Ability

What lenders like to see is the ability that %75 of your gross income from your commercial property can pay the mortgage of your loan (Principle, Interest, Taxes, and Insurance). This information is determined by appraisers or you can ask the seller of the commercial property you wish to purchase.

Conclusion

I can go into lending guidelines and finance programs for commercial real estate, but that will be too lengthy and boring. For more information on commercial real estate you can e-mail us at support@hachefinancial.com or you can visit http://www.loanuniverse.com/realestate.html for some articles regarding commercial real estate. Realtors are definitely a good source of information regarding commercial real estate. We look forward to any questions and comments you may have. Thank you

posted by http://www.hachefinancial.com

Searching For Commercial Real Estate

2008-04-29T00:04:00.000-07:00

So you want to invest in commercial real estate? Not a bad choice if I may add. Whether it is you want to develop commercial real estate or buy commercial real estate. This article will provide some helpful tips to aid you with your search.

Metropolitan Area

Some developers or investors in commercial real estate typically work in their hometown or pretty close to it for reasons of familiarity. In some cases, individuals are even searching out of their hometowns for opportunities in commercial real estate. Some things to look for in developing or investing in commercial real estate are

1. Cities whose need for commercial real estate or housing has not been satisfied. Cities with availability of land are typically great cities to choose. Sometimes these cities have a much higher percentage of residential homes than commercial properties and can show great potential in purchasing commercial real estate or developing. Going about this may involve you driving around the town to get a better idea of the town’s surroundings. Sometimes even asking locals can prove to be helpful. But most of you will probably choose going to the city and obtaining public information about plans and future construction(s) to see what the city has planned for the future.

2. Target metro areas with good mid- to long term growth potential. Some examples are:

· Checking the demographics to see the cities diversified employment base for high growth potential
· Strong economic growth locally in the past five years or even a year if you choose
· No signs of overbuilding
Going to the city, talking to a Title Representative to get the demographics, and checking the census will be good ways of finding out information on the town you would like to invest in. Whether it be developing or purchasing in commercial real estate.

The Next Step

After you complete steps 1 & 2 to determine which town you want to develop or purchase in. The next step would be to decide what type of commercial property will give you the best return on your hard earned dollars. In my previous article, “Investing in Commercial Real Estate” I used an example of my friend who invested in a 30 unit apartment complex in Tennessee. The reason why he decided to purchase a 30 unit apartment complex was because he took the time to visit the city and discovered that a few shopping centers were going to be built in a 5 mile radius, and one of the locals in town told him about a military base that will soon be in town. In addition, he checked with a title rep to learn about the demographics and discovered that the median income is about $58,000 a year. With the impending construction of shopping centers and no immediate plans on building homes he felt that purchasing the 30 unit apartment complex will give him the best return on his money.

You may also want to consider this scenario. If there are numerous amounts of homes and not enough commercial properties to accommodate the city, then perhaps purchasing a commercial property or developing one may be your best option. What to develop or buy will be entirely up to you. You may decide to build, or buy office space, shopping centers, or warehouse(s). But check with the city, talk to locals, get in contact with a title rep and drive around town to see what potential is there, because you don’t want to invest in a restaurant if the town is saturated with restaurants, you probably don’t want to develop or buy an apartment complex if the towns median income is above $100,000. Do your homework, weigh your options and then you can best decide on what you want to do from there.

Conclusion

If you are deciding to develop or purchase commercial real estate, now is the time to do it whether it be a good economy or a declining economy. There is always a need for businesses. I hope you view this article as helpful. I know there is an abundance of information regarding commercial real estate. They’re some great books that talk about investing in commercial real estate. All comments are welcomed. Thank you for your time.

Posted by http://www.hachefinancial.com/

Improving Your Gas Mileage

2008-04-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

Gas prices are extremely high! WOW! I would never think that gas prices will ever go up to $ 4.00 a gallon. I mean, they will always talk about it, but it seemed like gas prices would always go up and down in an irregular, fluctuating manner. Believe it or not, Gas Prices affects all of us if not most of us. Some of us took advantage of the hybrids fuel economy and some of us are stuck with our original cars, whether they are gas guzzlers or fuel efficient cars (but not as efficient as the hybrids). Despite what car you drive, they’re some tips on improving your gas mileage that we all can implement easily to defend ourselves from this increasing trend in gas prices. Some of the gas saving tips will be easy to implement for some and some may be more difficult than others.

1. Aggressive Driving - For some of you who own a sports car or you just simply have a heavy foot. Discipline yourself. Only if you care, but if you are reading this article you must care about something. Aggressive driving such as speeding, rapid acceleration and braking can reduce your gas mileage by 33 percent on highway speeds and around 5 percent around town. Improving your gas mileage by 33 percent will definitely help with rising gas prices. Would you agree?

2. Cruise Control – Using cruise control on the highway maintains a constant speed and in most cases, this will help you improve your gas mileage.

3. Properly Inflate Your Tires – You can improve your gas mileage by properly inflating your tires. Keeping your tires properly inflated increases your mileage by around 3.3 percent. I know it’s not a significant number but with gas prices the way they are. Every percent helps.

4. Rush Hour – This is an obvious given. If you can avoid rush hour by changing your work hours. You will consume less gas by not sitting in traffic.

5. Air Filter- Replacing you air filter when needed is huge. In your owner manual it will recommend when you should replace you air filter. In addition replacing a clogged air filter will improve your gas mileage by 10 percent. Having a good air filter in your car is like having good lungs. Less dirt and impurities allows you car to run smoother.

6. Oil Change - Sometimes with out demanding schedule and lifestyles it is hard to find the time to change your car oil. The value of an oil change can sometimes be overlooked. Changing your car oil allows the engine to run smoother and more efficient which will result in an increase in gas mileage. In addition, using recommended oil for your car in an oil change will improve your mileage by 1-2 percent. Once again, not a lot but it does add up.

7. Products That Claim to Improve Your Gas Mileage – I am sure some of them are out there that may actually even work. Which ones are they? I have no idea. But whoever knows, it will be nice to see a comment on this blog and share your success story.

Hopefully these tips serve to be some help on increasing your fuel economy and defending against gas prices. Maybe I should’ve added take the bus as your defense against inflated gas prices. Just get a hybrid. I would’ve saved myself a lot of writing. For additional tips on improving your gas prices you can visit these websites.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt064.shtm

http://www.howtoadvice.com/GasPains

http://www.improvegasmileage.com/

Posted by http://www.hachefinancial.com

Investing In Commercial Real Estate

2008-04-25T21:33:00.001-07:00

Is one of the best income generating investments that you can ever make. Commercial real estate offers something that residential real estate doesn’t offer. WAY MORE MONEY EARNING POTENTIAL! Think of it like this. Residential real estate, like a single family residence, a duplex, or a 4 unit offer great monthly income, but the only downfall is the maintenance, and dealing with the tenants. With commercial real estate, once you have the property rented, you don’t have to worry about maintenance, because the tenants deal with all of that. In addition to all the tenants’ responsibility for the maintenance, sometimes tenants make upgrades to your property for the aesthetic purposes of their business. Not to mention the long term leases your tenants may have in commercial real estate. Unlike residential real estate the tenants stay tend to be short term, but in commercial real estate your tenants tend to stay for many years. Sometimes even longer than the term of your loan, and who would object to your mortgage being paid by your tenant, and collecting an income from it? I sure wouldn’t object to that.

Commercial real estate includes many different forms of properties. Most individuals think of commercial real estate as office buildings, and industrialized units. Let’s not forget that commercial real estate is also: any number of apartment units that is 5 and higher, health care centers, hospitals, retail structures, warehouses, and more. If you owned a commercial building of any of the ones listed above, could you see the income potential in investing in commercial real estate?

Not only does commercial real estate holds its value well (even in a declining/ recession economy), but the potential cash flow is incredible. For example, I have a friend who bought a 30 unit apartment complex in Tennessee for a little under a million dollars. Imagine the amount of money he will profit if he charged each tenant living there a $1,000 a month. That will well cover his mortgage and he is pocketing over $20,000 a month. In addition, he checked with the city to find out what other construction will be going on nearby. It turns out a military base is going to be built 5 miles away from his property as well as a few shopping centers. This will only add value to his property and attract tenants. By the way, let’s not forget about the length of the lease when you are dealing with office buildings, industrialized units, hospitals and etc. You mortgage note will basically pay for itself and some, because of commercial real estate.

I’m going to keep this short but hopefully this article triggered your interest about the income potential towards commercial real estate. There will be additional articles relating to commercial real estate that will talk more in depth about what to look for in investing in commercial real estate, tips on financing commercial real estate so that you can be prepared, and protecting yourself from additional troubles owning commercial real estate. Very broadly said but we will further expand in future articles. If you have any questions please feel send us an e-mail in our contacts link, and we may post a Q & A’s link so that other visitors can learn and benefit from. Thank you for your time.

For more informative articles. Visit http://www.hachefinancial.com

Why the Federal Reserve Violates the US Constitution

2008-04-24T21:58:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows about government conspiracy. We just can't put our hands on it, but we know it exists. And in the same respect, we don't seem to care about it. We go about our day with work, spending time with our friends and family, and paying our bills. Then come April, uncle same needs his piece too.

Okay okay. I will get to the point. There is no ifs or buts whether the Federal Reserve violates the constitution. It's simply YES! Money is created with no backing and out of thin air. It's ruining our value and sky rocketing our inflation. Any country with uncontrollable inflation rates will eventually be primitive.

We don't even control the Federal Reserve! It's owned by private bankers that lend money to the U.S. on interest. The cash that's in your pocket. DEBT to the federal reserve. The money in your bank account. Figurtavily speaking YOURS. Literally speaking DEBT! The money that Bernanke pumped into the economy to stimulate spending. Even though it's out of thin air. Guess what?! It's loaned at interest. And we gotta pay for it!

Does this affect you? Definetly yes. Not only does this decrease our spending power, it also violates the US constitution! Our money should be backed by Gold and Silver according to the constitution.

Besides the point of precious metals. There is a deeper conspiracy that we all must know about that they hide from the people. And trust when I say this. They are hiding it from us really well. It will be too long to say, but there is a video posted that you can watch that explained everything about the Federal Reserve and the Conspiracy behind it.

You can watch this video at http://www.hachefinancial.com/videos.php?cat_id=19

Comments are welcomed

Negotiating Tips, Advice, and Lessons From Our Readers

2008-04-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

This is a follow up to my negotiation articles. Negotiating Lessons 1,2,3, &4. I am sure that those of you who read the articles can now feel a little bit more savy in negotiating. Or something like that. Since we all can agree that negotiating is a subject that has many lessons, and cannot be explained in 4 lessons. One thing I would love to offer for anyone who wants to participate in is to e-mail us at support@hachefinancial.com to give us some additional tips you would like to share. Chances are we may post them on http://www.hachefinancial.com to share with others so they can benefit and learn.

Even if you just want to be curious in what others are offering. We urge you to check it out. Or at least read the article because no matter who you are. Negotiating is very important in our lives. Thanks again for your time and I look forward to your responses

Negotiating Lesson 4

2008-04-23T00:38:00.000-07:00

Come Up With Some Possibilities Before Making A Decision

Having options in negotiating is very valuable, because when you have options, you have choices. Granted some would rather have that ONE RIGHT ANSWER because it’s easier. Choices enhance our ability to choose the best alternative. Wouldn’t you agree? So many times we, as people, are so focused on the “one right answer” that we forget that other alternatives do exist that may serve better.

It can be a number of reasons why we think there is only ONE SINGLE ANSWER in negotiating whether it be our premature judgment or whatever else it may be. It can probably be because we just want to come to terms and go on about our lives. Let’s talk about ways of developing alternatives in negotiating.

Look for Mutual Gain

Doesn’t it seem like in negotiating that some one is always trying to “Stick it to the man”? Or if one wins, then the other loses. Maybe in marriage (I am only joking), but in negotiating there is one thing that you must remember as a consumer. The other party wants to finalize a deal just as badly as you do, if not more. One way to go about looking for a mutual gain is to identify each others shared interest. Inventing an idea that meets their interest as well as yours is great for both parties (Lesson 3 elaborates how to identify interest).

As far as looking for mutual gain goes, when a price is presented to you. Always ask, “CAN YOU DO BETTER?” in a non-threatening, mutual manner. Chances are they can do better.

To read the rest of this article about Negotiating visit http://www.hachefinancial.com/articles.php

Creating Wealth with the Mind Rich Program

2008-04-21T23:57:00.000-07:00

Think rich, then become rich. Turn your income into paper rich assets.

Watch and learn at http://www.hachefinancial.com/videos.php?cat_id=18

6 Steps To Massive Results For Any Business

2008-04-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

Whether you are a business owner, or an individual setting bigger standards and goals for yourself. This video will be a great tutorial for you.

Watch it at http://www.hachefinancial.com/videos.php?cat_id=17

Negotiating Lesson 2

2008-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

SEPARATE THE PEOPLE FROM THE PROBLEM

Easier said than done right? We all can agree that it is hard to deal with a problem without people misunderstanding each other, and taking things personally. For example, a friend of mine got his car towed because he parked in a NO PARKING area. When he got the contact information and talked to the other person on the line. Some words were exchanged that shouldn’t have been exchanged. My friend had forgotten that he broke the rule, not the person that he was speaking with. His emotions took complete control of him and he blamed the other person, not himself, because remember he did park in a NO PARKING zone. I understand that this example had little to no relevance in negotiating but I just wanted to point out how out emotions can sometimes get in the way.

A basic fact about negotiating is that you are dealing with the representative of the other side. Whether it be a used car salesman, a banker, loan officer, and etc. But keep in mind that the representative you are dealing with does have emotions, values, different viewpoints, and are human beings. This basic fact of negotiation can be helpful to you because in negotiating, trust, respect, understanding, and friendship are built and will lead to smoother and more efficient negotiations.

On the other hand, people do get angry, hostile, frustrated, offended, and many other emotional reactions if you, or the other party, fail to deal with the others sensitivity as human beings.

Everyone involved in a negotiation wants to reach an agreement that satisfies their interest. In addition, a negotiator may have an interest in building a relationship with the other side. For example, a Loan Officer wants to make a profit, and give his client the best deal possible, and hopefully that client will do repeat business with the same Loan Officer.

You can read the rest of this article at http://www.hachefinancial.com/

Negotiating Lesson 3

2008-04-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

FOCUS ON INTEREST NOT POSITIONS

The basic problem in negotiating are when parties conflict between each others needs, desires, wants, fears, concerns, and etc. For example, you see a house for sale for $350,000. And you offer the seller $330,000. Then the seller counters and says he cannot accept anything less than $350,000. You react by responding, “I won’t pay anything higher than $330,000!” Do you notice anything in this scenario? Doesn’t it seem like the seller and buyer are focused on their positions? The seller says he won’t pay anything higher than $330,000, and the buyer says he cannot accept anything lower $350,000 and that’s their POSITION. What if the buyer took the time to understand the seller’s interest such as why is the seller selling the house, what he needs the money for, and etc. Then the buyer discovered the seller is going through a divorce and needs at least $340,000 to settle with his wife. Despite earlier in the example the seller said he cannot accept anything lower than $350,000. What I am trying to explain is when we focus more on the other side’s interest, you can use that to your advantage and you may come to terms more smoothly and efficiently.

How Do You Identify the Other Parties Interest?

As stated, the benefit of understanding their interest is clear, but going about it is not so clear. Some interest’s of the other party, in most cases, is not so explicit and figuring out their interest will help come to terms more smoothly, and give you some leverage in the negotiating process.

Ask “Why?”

In other words, try to put yourself in their shoes. Just like in the Seller and Buyer example. If the seller tried to put himself in the buyer’s shoes, and asked questions such as, “Why are you selling the house? How did you come about the asking price? Is the price negotiable?” Or whatever questions that are asked to find out the buyers interest. The buyer could have found out that the seller is selling his house because he is going through a divorce, he based the price on houses being sold in the neighborhood, and the seller is willing to accept $340,000. Asking questions to understand their feelings, needs, wants, and etc is a good way of trying to identify their interest.

To read the rest of this article visit http://www.hachefinancial.com

Making it Rain. The HacheFinancial Story

2008-04-17T15:24:00.001-07:00

This Video is for humor as well as education. Not because the video is educational but the video promotes the site http://www.hachefinancial.com/. On the site they're some educational articles and videos. This video has humor to hopefully grab your attention and perhaps motivate you to browse through the site, watch the videos, and read the articles.

I hope you find the video pleasant. Here is the youtube link to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUQ01qaycxc

Negotiating Lesson 1

2008-04-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Negotiating Lesson 1! A series of articles explaining tips on negotiating. Lesson 1 we will provide basic tips on negotiating, and then our later lessons we will offer more advance negotiating tips.

IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE TO BARGAIN OVER POSITIONS

How many of you are guilty of this? Come on, come on don’t be shy. The honest answer is many of us. Many of us on a regular, bargaining basis engage in positional bargaining. Each side takes a position, argues/defends that position, and hopefully the other person (hopefully not you) gives in. Or maybe you might be the one that gives in. Here’s an example of positional bargaining. “If you want to go to the movies with me, we are watching 21 or nothing at all.”

As you can see positional bargaining can strain and sometimes even shatter the relationships between the parties involved. Bargaining should lead to a wise agreement that each party involved can cope with. Bargaining should be time efficient. And it should improve the relationship(s), or at least not damage it.

Does this mean that you must be nice when you negotiate? NO! We acknowledge that being nice is a more gentle style of negotiating that leads to an agreement in an efficient manner, but being nice is not the answer because it makes you vulnerable to someone who happens to be the positional bargainer.

Then what is the alternative if Positional Bargaining and Soft Bargaining are not the answer? Somewhere in between of hard and soft, in the middle, someone that bargains on principles is the alternative. Some basic principles are:

1. Separate the people from the problem.

People should deal with the problem and the people separately. Taking positions makes things worse because people’s egos get in the way. We should be working together, side by side, attacking the problem, not each other.

Positional Bargainer: The other party is my enemy

Soft Bargainer: The other party is my friend

2. Focus on the interest, and not the position.

Compromising between positions is not likely to produce an agreement that may suit your interests.

Positional Bargainer: Focused on his/her position

Soft Bargainer: Looses focus on his/her interest and gets the bottom line

3. Come up with some possibilities before making a decision.

Having more than one option helps you to decide on a solution, or spark your creativity to create more options that will help you to a decision.

Positional Bargainer: Demands only one possibility

Soft Bargainer: Accepts one-sided loss to reach an agreement

Conclusion

Hopefully we explained clearly why bargaining over positions does not make sense. And we hope that the 3 principles of negotiating sparked other alternatives to consider for your future negotiating. We will further expand on these principles in our other articles. Thank you for reading Negotiating Lesson 1! Look out for Negotiating Lesson 2 SEPARATE THE PEOPLE FROM THE PROBLEM.

You can read Lesson 2 and other lessons that will be published at http://www.hachefinancial.com/. Hoope you found this article informative and beneficial.

Is Now The Time to Buy Real Estate

2008-04-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

The answer is yes! Or you should at least consider in investing in real estate between now (This article was written in March 2008) and the next few months. And we will tell you why.

1. There is so much supply and not enough demand

By rule of simple economics, when there is more supply than the demand can meet. Prices must come down. Same goes the other, when the demand exceeds the supply. Prices will be higher (hope that wasn’t too elementary for you). It seems that every block you drive in there is a house or two for sale. And with so many houses on the market, sellers, and realtors are becoming more desperate to sell. If you are a qualified buyer, it makes logical sense to submit an offer below (or even way below) asking price. The offer you submit to the seller is entirely up to you, your budget, and what you feel the house is worth.

2. The amount of time it takes to sell a house

Like it was said in #1, sellers and realtors are becoming more desperate to sell. Realtors are not seeing the constant flow of commissions like they did a few years ago, and sellers are losing their homes due to adjustable mortgages and would want nothing more than to get their house sold. Since homes are taking a lot longer to sell (90 days or longer), and slashing prices are used to motivate buyers. It doesn’t hurt to submit an offer below asking price and if they accept, GREAT! If they reject, GREAT! Because it doesn’t affect you, and there is still plenty of inventory to shop around.

3. Banks want to lend money and not hold on to the house

When you see a bank owned property for sale. These are going to be golden in the near future, if not now. The way banks make money is when they loan money and collect interest (once again, hope that wasn’t too elementary for you). Common sense tells us banks are not making money, if they are not lending, and if they have to hold on to the property until it is sold. In addition, more bank owned properties are going to take place. What does this mean to you? A better deal for you, banks must perform a short sale (sale of real property where the fair market sale price is less than the loan balance) to get a property sold. This benefits you, because you have the upper hand, and you tell the bank what you are going to pay. Then it is up to them to take it or leave it. Once again, submit an offer below asking price.

4. Interest rates are more in your favor

Everyone has been hearing about the Fed cutting down interest rates to stimulate the economy. And judging from what we are experiencing, they might even continue to cut rates even more. Do we know that for sure? No! But the way rates are today and home prices are continuously decreasing it is definitely a good time to look into buying real estate.

Conclusion

Whether you are deciding to invest in a home now, or you would prefer to wait to see how the economy affects prices is entirely up to you. We at HacheFinancial just want to point out the reasons why now, or maybe later on, is the time to consider investing in a home. We hope you found this article informative and beneficial. If you have any questions about qualifying for a loan, you can click on the CONTACTS link or check out our Home Buying article. Allow us to earn your trust.

This article as well as meny others can be read at http://www.hachefinancial.com

6 Tips How to Profit In a Declining Economy

2008-04-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

America has always called itself "The land of opportunity." And with the recession talk that we are all hearing about, it's very tough to believe that America is still the land of opportunity. With the Federal Reserve printing money out of thin air to stimulate the economy, this is doing nothing but devaluing our American dollar. Gas prices are rising; our income is not keeping up with the inflation created by the Federal Reserve, unemployment is increasing, companies are going under (banks in particular), and not to mention our home values have sharply decreased. It will only get worse!

You may be asking yourself "What can I do to protect myself", or even "profit in a declining economy?" This detailed and researched article will explain 6 Tips to profit and hedge your money against inflation.

This article can change your financial life! Invest in yourself and take a great step toward securing your financial future.

You can read this article at http://www.hachefinancial.com/

Story Of Stuff

2008-04-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

This video talks about our consumer driven culture. Meaning why we buy the things we buy, how media tells us what to buy, and the ways we react to it. I feel that everyone should be aware of this video and watch it. This video probably won't change your lifestyle, make you rich or anything like that. But it will definelty open your eyes to why we do the things we do and what costs we are paying for it.

You can watch this video at http://www.hachefinancial.com/videos.php.

I hope you guys enjoy it. Thank you