In two other articles I discussed the use of project management techniques in achieving personal success. In that case, we looked at “Project Success” and how we could plan for it. Why not apply more business techniques, this time to money, and develop a financial success system or plan?

In most respects, your personal finances are no different to a business’s finances. The underlying principles are the same. As a former professional management accountant, I can assure you that the way a company’s or organisation’s finances are, or should be, run is fundamentally similar to the way your own finances should be run.

Every company will have systems in place that are designed to further the success of the company, as well as protect its assets from misappropriation. In effect, they put in a financial success system that should enable them to run the business profitably and by so doing build assets.

The main elements of a company’s financial system can quite easily be recognised as good practice in your own personal financial system. The statutory requirements are quite different, but from a financial management point of view there are some helpful similarities an individual can learn from.

If you apply some of the following business finance fundamentals to your own approach to personal finance, then over time you will develop a finance success system that will grow your wealth for the rest of your life.

1. Budgeting

Setting and managing budgets is a routine part of any business; they are a key tool in financial control. A home budget is vitally important too. Get into the habit of setting and monitoring your personal budget of income and expenditure, and you will have the foundation of a financial success plan.

2. Investment Appraisal

Whenever a company decides to spend money on a large capital item or new product, for example, it may carry out an investment appraisal. You will not have such large spending decisions to make, but the important thing is to consciously assess the expenditure. Will it build your financial success or hinder it? For example, if you are buying a car, which will depreciate, there is a high risk it will diminish your personal assets significantly and set back your finance success plan. When it is time to indulge, be sure it is the right time.

3. Building Assets

A company builds assets by consistently being profitable, investing wisely, and developing the business at a sensible and sustainable pace. Being profitable is earning more revenue than you spend in expenditure. The same is true of you as an individual; always ensure you earn more each month than you spend. The balance (savings) goes into your spare assets, which can build over time, especially with sound investment.

4. Balance Sheet

Creating a balance sheet in a large business can be quite complex. A simplified version may help you keep an eye on your own asset status. Preparing a rough balance sheet once a year, showing your assets on one side and liabilities on the other, will give you an idea of your personal worth, in financial terms. By comparing year on year, you can ensure you are making progress.

If you use a home budget software program, it may have a balance sheet facility to help you.

5. Regular Financial Reporting

Companies have a legal obligation to produce accounts each financial year. Your legal requirements are for your personal tax purposes only.

However, a business does not rely just on annual accounts, and nor should you. It is likely they will have management accounts on at least a monthly basis, to allow management to keep track of the way business is progressing. You should also follow that example, and keep a close watch on your budget each month, and react accordingly.

6. Cash Flow Forecasting

Even a profitable company can have problems keeping going if it does not manage its cash flow properly. In fact, it is a common reason for companies to cease trading. As part of your budgeting, ensure you incorporate cash flow forecasting, that way you can allow for peaks and troughs in income and expenditure without hitting problems with paying bills on time.

Missing payments can prove expensive to your overall wealth, so is best avoided at all times.

7. Investment and Treasury

If all goes according to plan, you will have surplus cash. A company will have a treasurer for that, but in your case that treasurer is you. Take that role seriously, and over time you will be a financial success. If you have a partner, it makes sense to involve them in this, and other parts of your plan for financial security.

Investment is a fascinating subject, so if you can learn about it, you will be well placed to do better than an average investor. Investment is about balancing risk and return, and if you can master that without taking silly risks, you should do well financially.

On top of those purely financial aspects, there are other key areas to a business that will affect finances that you could learn from:

1. Marketing

Keep an eye on the market place for the type of success you are seeking and your areas of expertise. Try to anticipate how that market may develop and prepare yourself ahead of everyone else. You are worth more if you are ahead of the game, whatever field you may be. For example, when I was 20 I decided it was a good idea, long term, to learn as much about computing and finance as possible, as eventually they would be key in every organisation. That was before pc’s existed, and it proved a sensible decision, even though my main aim was to be a writer.

2. Education and Training of Key Personnel

As an individual, the more you educate yourself about many aspects of life, both personal and commercial, the better placed you are to become wealthy. Never become complacent about your own knowledge; over time it will decline in importance, so you need to refresh it constantly. Train yourself, educate yourself, continuous.

Those are just a few ideas of how you may use business finance practices to build your own financial success over the long term. Follow those, and you should not go far wrong, and prepare yourself for a rebound should anything ever go wrong, such as redundancy or divorce, which can scupper even the best of financial plans.

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A student loan interest deduction allows you to deduct up to $2,500. This amount applies to the interest paid against a student loan. Even if your loan is nullified, you can deduct this amount from your income. There are some loans that are excluded from this deduction and not everyone qualifies.

To qualify, your student loan must have been solely used to pay for higher education (as defined by the rules of the deduction). It can also be a loan you took for a dependent such as a son, daughter or spouse. The student loan must be used for college or vocational school tuition and expenses including fees, supplies, books, room and board, etc. You (or your dependent) must be at least a part time student and be enrolled in a degree, certificate or other qualified education program.

This tax deduction can not be claimed in some situations. If someone else claims that student as a dependent or if the loan was made by a relative then this deduction can not be claimed. It is also not available if you are married and filing a separate return for your spouse or you are not allowed legally to clear your student loan.

There are also other things that are taken into consideration. The costs you incur must be reduced by non-taxable distributions from a Coverdell savings account or another qualified tuition program. A reduction must also be made for interest from US savings bonds that are non-taxable and other non-taxable educational assistance.

As of 2002, deductions are permitted on voluntary interest payment rather than only on required interest payments. This student loan interest deduction is taken on your federal taxes on either Form 1040 or 1040A. Consult a tax advisor or an accountant if you need help in determining eligibility or applying for the discount.

With very little work, you can receive up to $2,500 in deductions for student loan interest. That is money that can be used towards other school necessities and expenses.

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Nonetheless, have you ever asked yourself why, even though you and your partner may be earning high salaries, it is near impossible to save money? You feel that the money quickly disappears just after seeing it arrive. you are really trying to save money but you find pretty much an impossibility.

Being able to save money isn’t as impossible as you may think. The first obstacle that people typically face when attempting to put money aside is organizing their finances. The reality is that you are spending more money than you think and it’s very likely that you are unaware of this.

An excellent way to start saving money is by keeping track of what you spend. You only need some paper and a writing utensil. This must accompany you everywhere and everything that you buy must be recorded down to the last penny. Even small purchases must be recorded in order to be as accurate as possible about your spending habits.

It is recommended that you do this exercise for about 2 weeks. This exercise can be tough to complete but just remember that it is one of the most effective ways to get rid of bad spending habits. Once you’ve completed this 2-week task, you will need to review all your expenditures. You will quickly start to see where all of your money is going.

People who do this task commonly get shocked by how much is spent on small items. For example, spending 1 dollar on a newspaper each and every day may seem small, but it amounts to 365 dollars over an entire year.

Once you find out how much money goes towards what seem like insignificant items, 2 things will take place. Firstly, you will not be too happy about your spending habits. It isn’t uncommon for people to spend thousands of dollars in a year on objects such as newspapers, coffees and small treats. As a result, people get angry with themselves about this. After getting angry with yourself, you will react by seeing how to reduce your spending. As a result, you will make a decision as to what items are necessary and what aren’t.

If you want to start putting money aside, a great money saving tip is to first start tracking your finances. Such an exercise shows you first hand your spending habits and what you can do to fix them and start saving money during an economic crisis.

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Start When They’re Still Young

When you think that your kids are ready you need to start telling them how it works. You will also have to make sure your kids understand that in order to have money we have to earn it. You also need to tell them that most things we need and use in daily life must be bought with money. If we have no money then we can’t get the stuff we need.

Another good topic to cover is the importance of saving money. Let them know that a child with a two or three dollars could buy candy that will only last about 10 seconds, or even a cheap toy that will likely break in about 10 minutes or be forgotten about the next day. However, if that child saves the money, they can buy a better item that will probably have more value and last longer.

Have A Savings Plan

One way to teach children about savings is setting a percentage they should save every time they earn money. Ten percent is an easy sum to learn; simply move the decimal point one space to the left. For every $1.00 earned, $0.10 will be saved ($23.48 earned, $2.34 saved).

Make sure that they know that the account is not for the better short-term item, but for a “rainy day”, a car or even their college fund. With the remaining 90% they get the candy or “better item” that you previously told them about. This principle is a good way to teach the about child being discipline and saving for long-term savings; like when they want to buy a house or retirement when they’re grown.

Sure, a six-year-old won’t understand the “rainy day” concept, and driving in ten years may be discouraging. But after saving 10% over the years, it’ll add up. This teaching is especially helpful when they get their first job and are already in the habit of saving that 10% for long-term use.

You can also share with them about putting some money to the side to give to a charity they are interested in. Concepts like this teach them even more about managing their money.

As Your Child Grows

When your child is older,take him or her to the bank with you and open savings account for them. Decide to take them to the bank monthly so they can deposit their savings into the account. Allow them to view the bank statement so they can see how money is grows with the assistance of interest.

Interest is a large part of spending and saving money. You will either pay more than what the item is worth or you can earn more money. Teenagers need to learn the concept that if you don’t pay the debt owed within 30 days, they will pay more for the item they purchased.

One way to show how detrimental or great interest can be is by doing some role-play. Pick an item your teenager currently wants to purchase on a credit card. Make a chart showing how making only the minimum payment affects the total debt (you’ll also need to explain APR), how long it takes to pay off the debt with minimum payments, and how much interest is paid in total.

Then you can take that same amount of months it will take to pay it off and compare the interest they pay with the interest they could earn if they save money for the item. While the interest earned won’t be much, your goal is to show them that if they save money to purchase the item, they will only have to pay the cost of the item plus tax, but they won’t pay any interest.

The purpose of teaching your child about money is to get them to see the value in proper money management.

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These young students have almost zero credit history, however the lenders can offer them a loan since this type of loan is government guaranteed. By far, student loan is the cheapest loan options when compared to other type of loans. The main idea is, students need the money they get from this to finance any of their education costs, from tuition, books, transports, accommodation, etc. The amount granted depends on the course opted by the borrower. It also differs on the type of course taken i.e. regular, part-time or distance education. Thus before taking a loan, students should make an estimate of the total cost of their education course including course fees and living expenses.

Student loans have interest rates based on the prevailing rate of inflation. The interest is calculated daily from the date of disbursement of the loan. Repayment of these loans starts after the completion of the course and only after getting a job with a minimum salary of 15,000. This minimum earning was increased from 10,000 to 15,000 in April 2005.

There are many banks, financial institutions and lenders both offline and online offering student loans. All loan applications are to be forwarded by the Local Education Authority (LEA). LEA, which is a part of local council, is responsible for funding higher education in UK. Students can also approach the Student Loans Company, a non departmental public body, which offers grants and loans to students.

Students should not entirely depend on student loans for completing their education. In turn they should apply for scholarships and grants to support their expenditure. If possible, they can also take up a part time job to supplement their expenses.

So a brilliant student dreaming of pursuing a career of choice but facing financial constraints has no need to worry. Student loans can always make their wish come true.

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Perhaps you have had some unexpected medical expenses or had repairs carried out on your car or home. If this is the case and you know that the following month’s money can cover the amount then a payday loan is an ideal method of arranging early payment of the bill. Lenders will forward you a sum, usually less than 1,000 dollars and once your next paycheck comes through they take the money when you get your next paycheck; it is a quick and easy way not only to get money but also to pay it back.

Most people with internet access now arrange their payday loans online as it is much more convenient. The online application should only take a matter of minutes and the funds can be transferred to your bank account directly. A few years ago, it was impossible to get a payday loan if you had no checking account as a checking account was the lender’s way to ensure that the crediting and depositing of the money was done without any problems.

Lenders today are much easier to please and often just proof of a savings account will do while some are actually happy to lend to people with a poor credit rating. Many just accept proof that the person is actually employed and receives pay regularly. Therefore, the next time you need to take a payday loan but have no checking account, relax.

As the process is simpler, you will only need to prove that you have a job or some money in a savings account. However, be careful not to get caught in a cycle of borrowing as these loans are pretty expensive and if you get into the habit of taking one frequently, you could be spending a lot of money. From time to time, we all need the extra cash but reliance on this facility is not the answer to organizing your finances better.

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There are specialized debt consolidation loans for people who have fallen into a bad credit situation. As your financial situation deteriorated, most likely you defaulted or were late on several of your loan payments, and each problem payment has a detrimental effect on your credit score. After enough of these problems, you would not be able to qualify for a regular debt consolidation loan, due to your poor credit rating. This can leave you between a rock and hard place, financially speaking.

These debt consolidation loans for bad credit would accept your application even with a low credit score, pay your bills on time every month, and in the process, increase your credit rating a little bit with each payment. In a year or less, you would regain not only your credit rating, but your financial reputation and self-respect.

The companies that offer debt reduction programs would negotiate with each of your creditors to get your credit terms revised to the best possible interest rate and repayment schedule. They can often negotiate down any late payment fees or penalties that are due on the account. This creates a win-win situation for everyone. The creditor gets paid, and you end up with a lower monthly payments and a restored credit rating. Each month, you would pay the consolidation company one payment that is lower than the sum of all the payments that were due before. This allows you to get out of debt as fast as possible while at the same time giving you more available cash to spend living rather than paying to credit card late fees and interest.

So, don’t let the depression related to over-indebtedness keep you from getting a consolidation loan today to begin improving your financial situation, stress level, and mental health.

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So there are a number of reasons to have a Chase credit card all of which will be of great benefit to the user over time. Probably the most used feature is its online capabilities used by workers and other people that have little time to go out shopping. Using the web site, secure of course means that managing your finances is only a few mouse clicks away.

At chase, they want to make managing your finances fast an easy and that is why they have so many happy customers. Chase credit cards also offer many deals and promotions like lower introductory APR’s and waived membership fees that allow the holder to save more money.

There is more than one type of Chase credit card and loyal customers can expect to be rewarded when they use the card. For those that don’t fly but still want rewards then they can have a version of the Chase card that will award you points when you spend any money. These points will then enable you to purchase from a Chase credit card catalogue and they will have your chosen item shipped to right next to your doorstep! There are holidays, plus other well sought after rewards and all at no charge to you.

Chase credit cards know that if they look after their customers they won’t lose them; a philosophy that many companies could learn from. Well all like our gifts but knowing that no matter where you are or what you are doing there is someone to talk to if you need them can often mean much more than material goods. You will really appreciate this if you are abroad and your card is lost or stolen because a new card will need to be sent to you as soon as possible.

If you are thinking about transferring your balance then this is the way to do it with a guaranteed six month zero percent interest rate which also incorporates current purchase balances as well. Unlike some other well known credit cards that charge you interest even when you pay it off completely, Chase credit card ensures this does not happen. Certain purchases will also qualify the card holder to apply for a cash reward alternative. Apart from these, chase credit card has no balance transfer fee for balances transferred during the introductory period and you have the privilege to apply online over a secure server.

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Every day you read in the paper or see on the news the price of a barrel of crude oil, and these prices are anything but leveling off. So what does this mean to the investor? Oil exchange traded fund investors want to know what the prediction for the future prices of oil will be. But should they be concerned about reports on the worlds oil supply? Yes, they should be concerned and watching closely. Commodity ETF trading is all about supply versus demand and futures.

Is the oil ETF investor making money when oil prices rise, or are only the oil companies profiting? To some degree all of the oil investors are making a profit. It seems that the price of all commodities go up with the price of oil, including oil ETFs. The reason for this is because the price of gasoline goes up with the price of a barrel of crude oil. When everybody is paying more at the pump, the people responsible for transporting all of our goods have to pay more to get it to the store, and so they have to charge more to the farmers or manufacturers. The manufacturers and farmers then have to raise their prices in order to compensate. So it might be a good idea not only to invest in oil exchange traded funds, but to mix them up with other commodity ETFs like agricultural.

The average investor is not likely going to be able to invest enough into the oil companies to make a good profit from them. Oil exchange traded funds, however, give this investor the opportunity to dabble in oil trading without breaking the bank. According to some analysts, there is plenty to be made in oil ETFs. All you need to do is watch the predictions for the future price of gasoline, which is talked about quite a lot in the news. However, other analysts warn that oil exchange traded funds are ready to come down and that now is not a good time to invest.

Oil ETFs may or may not be a good investment for you, only you can make that choice. Do your research and keep up with the trends and make an informed choice about whether to invest in this commodity ETF.

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With the risks of owning a second home abroad or in the UK being that much greater than your main home or residence, there is a real call for a second home insurance policy that is written in easy to understand English, that pays specific attention to the particular requirements for holiday homes, and that also has wide coverage. Not every property has a swimming pool. Certain features are considered to be of vital importance, and therefore overseas home insurance cover for loss of use, legal liability for domestic staff, public liability and accidental damage to domestic supplies should be included as standard. Your holiday property insurance should also ensure that all local taxes on overseas properties are included within the premium. Buildings and Contents cover should be flexible so that owners do not end up paying for cover that they do not need.

Holiday home owners who own a property overseas and have overseas holiday home insurance should be spared the difficulties of discussing their claim with a foreign agent via a continental telephone call, and should be able to speak directly to experienced English staff that will provide assistance and be fully responsible for liaising with the overseas loss adjusters. The true value of any insurance is however only fully appreciated when a claim is made.

You might think that the best thing to go for is cheap holiday home insurance, but you really need to ask yourself whether you are really that well covered with the cheapest policy? Although low premium rates are often of importance, the overseas house insurance cover should be simple to understand, offer a high level of security and in the event of a claim a satisfactory result.

It is essential that you get the correct property insurance to suit the specialized requirements needed for your holiday home. Using an insurance agent who does not specialize in, or fully understand the requirements of your holiday home or let property, you may find that you do not have adequate cover to fully protect your holiday home. You must get specialist overseas holiday property insurance. And you must get insurance for buildings and contents designed exclusively for properties used as holiday homes or let for holiday use.

As an owner of a holiday home abroad, it is vital that you fully understand the extent and limitations of your insurance policy. Do you have cover for legal liability for domestic employees? What restrictions are in place when letting and un-occupancy etc? And most important of all what do you do in the event of a claim?

If your holiday home insurance policy has been placed through an insurance agent in the following countries: UK, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus Greece, Ireland, Malta, Monaco or Andorra , it is more likely that they have not informed you and that you simply do not know.

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