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In The DetailsUncategorized

Tips for Living Life Responsibly

by Evan
A girl meditates as part of living life responsibly

Table of contents

Life is what you make of it, and you can choose to live yours any way you want. However, if you’re concerned about the quality of your future, and the future of the planet we are leaving to the next generation, your choices can have a huge impact. Listed below are a few ways to enjoy your life and live it responsibly at the same time.

Build Personal Wealth

Creating and sticking to a household budget will allow you to curb poor spending habits and build personal wealth. A budget promotes awareness of not only how much money you spend, but also what you spend it on. You can use the budget to allocate funds for things like buying a home, purchasing large ticket items, and securing money for your retirement.

Sustainable Living

Doing your part to preserve the environment for your children and grandchildren is easy. Purchasing recycled and second-hand items, eco-friendly and biodegradable products such as bamboo toilet paper, and conserving energy will all reduce your carbon footprint and lessen waste in landfills. 

End Harmful Habits

Excessive drinking, smoking cigarettes, and abusing drugs put your health at risk. If you are unable to quit on your own, ask for help. There are treatment centers open in most states that specialize in these types of addictions. 

Spend Quality Time with Loved Ones

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee in life that you will live to a set age. Take advantage of every day and use it to enjoy spending time with the ones you love. Missed opportunities are just that and you can never go back in time. You don’t have to spend a ton of money. Go to the park or do crafts or have family game and movie nights. 

Eliminate Disposables 

Recycling is important because it helps to reduce waste in landfills and decrease the number of toxins released into the air. When possible, opt to use alternative products that you can reuse or those that naturally decompose over time. Using a bamboo charcoal toothbrush instead of one made of plastic or nylon, a water filter instead of bottled water, and a coffee pod instead of disposable cups, are a few examples. 

Stop Procrastinating

Putting things off until the very last minute adds a boatload of unnecessary stress. At home, it ends up frustrating the ones you love the most. At the office, you end up falling behind and possibly missing out on a promotion. Learn how to manage time and don’t take on projects you know you can’t complete.

A peaceful lily pad with flower

Keep a Routine

Staying on track is much easier when you have a routine. Waking up at roughly the same time each day will give your life order and eliminate wasted time. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have downtime, you simply plan for it in your weekly schedule. Setting time slots aside for meals, fun activities, and running errands is important so that you don’t become overwhelmed. 

Healthy Living

Maintaining your health gives you a better chance of a good quality of life. When you feel good, you are able to tend to the needs of your family and your job. Eating foods with a high nutritional value and exercising 3 to 4 times each week will keep your body fit and strong. 

Take Care of Yourself

You only have one life, so make the most of it. Schedule an annual physical and contact your doctor if anything feels off. Drinking plenty of water, getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep nightly and finding ways to unwind after a long day at the office will keep your mind and your body functioning properly. 

Think Positive Thoughts

It’s easy to think negative thoughts. However, if you maintain a positive outlook you’ll eliminate the time you waste stressing over things that are out of your control or that haven’t yet happened. Surround yourself with people who view life in a positive manner instead of those who live life with doom and gloom. 

These are just a few tips to help you live your best life. Take a look, but remember: you get to make your own choices and live your life in a way that helps you feel the most fulfilled. 

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Small Business

How to Pick a Small Business Attorney

by Brixton
An attorney in her office

Table of contents

6 Steps When Picking a Small Business Lawyer

Business owners must be aware of legal pitfalls to keep them on the right side of the law. Sobering statistics show that one in five small businesses have been in some sort of legal dispute over the last five years, and far too often, these businesses don’t have an attorney on retainer to provide legal advice. However, choosing an attorney is not a simple task and must be approached in a systematic manner. To help companies find competent counsel, here are the steps to take when picking a small business lawyer:

1) Understand your business and the type of lawyer you need. Because laws and regulations are continually evolving, it is crucial to pick an attorney that has experience in your type of business. For example, a film production company would need an attorney with a different area of expertise than a business that sells insurance. 

2) Decide when you need a lawyer. While it is never a bad idea to consult an attorney before you even file the paperwork, a small business using simple structures like an LLC, or limited liability company, may not need an attorney for forming the company. However, for more complex business structures like C corporations or nonprofit entities, you will want an attorney to be sure everything is properly set up. Smart business owners know the best time to hire an attorney is before you really need one. 

3) Decide how much you can legitimately afford to pay an attorney. Bear in mind that attorneys fees can range from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars an hour! As the saying goes, good legal advice isn’t cheap, but bad advice can be very expensive. In other words, getting bad legal advice can end up costing you much more in the long run if you run afoul of the law. 

4) Perform research. There is no substitute for doing your homework before hiring an attorney. You will want to seek referrals, read online reviews, and confirm the attorney’s standing with the state bar. Begin by asking friends, family, colleagues, and other business owners if they know a competent business attorney. Once you have a shortlist, call the legal bar association in your state to confirm potential prospects are in good standing with them. 

5) Perform interviews. Begin interviewing after you have a few well-vetted names. Here is a list of interview questions you should ask:

  • When you call to set up the appointment, ask if the attorney offers a free initial consultation. If the answer is no, then you may want to skip on down your list. Remember, this is a job interview where you are the employer, and the attorney is a prospective employee, and you should not be expected to pay for it.
  • How many years of experience do you have as an attorney? 
  • What specific areas of law do you practice
  • How many years of experience do you have in these areas?
  • Are you a junior- or senior-level partner?
  • Will I be dealing directly with you?
  • How accessible are you?
  • What methods do you use to communicate with your clients? 
  • What is your typical response time?
  • How many long-term clients do you personally have?
  • What is your position on maintaining relationships with your clients?
  • In what hourly increments do you bill in? 

To find a qualified attorney, you must be willing to dig for details and be at least a little skeptical of the answers. While you want someone who has the confidence to believe they can get the job done, you need to be wary of an attorney who promises too much.

Letters spelling out L-A-W

Some Notable Small-Business Attorneys

There are many highly-qualified business attorneys across the country. Here are three notable names:

Carl A. Fornaris, a Miami attorney, has been practicing law for over 20 years and is Co-Chair of his firm’s Financial Regulatory and Compliance Practice. Carl works in all types of financing transactions and represents lenders and credit entities in dealings with state and federal regulatory entities, such as the Federal Reserve. 

Cory Briggs, a San Diego attorney, founded Briggs Law Corporation in 2002 and works to defend San Diego taxpayers against the city. Cory has been practicing law since 1995 and spent time in the Nation’s Capital working in the areas of environmental law and regulatory compliance. Briggs is currently seeking election to be the City Attorney of San Diego.

Ashley Nicole Kirkwood, an Illinois Attorney, graduated at the top of her class at Northwestern Law. Ms. Kirkwood is a trial lawyer for Fortune 100 companies across the U.S. In addition to her legal practice, Kirkwood speaks at conferences and colleges around the globe. Her firm, Mobile General Counsel, helps business owners with crucial business aspects, including contracts and trademark protection. 

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Personal Finance

5 Ways to Stop Debt from Controlling Your Life

by Craig
Fence with barbed wire, signifying the control debt can have over you


Table of contents

Many individuals struggle with managing debt. Consumer debt is a profound issue in the United States, with US consumer debt at a whopping $13.86 trillion. The average American under thirty-five years old is in $67,400 worth of debt, and the average American between ages 35 – 44 is in $133,100 worth of debt.

Debt is an unfortunate reality for most of the US public. However, there’s something that can be done about it, starting now. While services like Strategic Consulting are ready to help consumers manage their finances, people can start doing things on their own. The following are five ways to stop debt from controlling your life:

Making a purchase with a credit card

Cut Back on Non-Essential Purchases

While there are many options out there for debt consolidation and credit repair, one of the most useful ways to manage debt starts in the consumer’s own home. Americans are infamous for exorbitant spending – it is, after all, a nation characterized by consumerism. Should you take time to draft up a financial budget to limit spending on extraneous items, you are liable to save thousands per year.

 You may consider if your routine trip to the shopping plaza is necessary. Can you afford to purchase groceries at the local discount store rather than the health food market? It’s your choice as to which needs to prioritize in your spending, but if you genuinely want to keep debt from controlling your life, you may want to draft up and adhere to a budget plan that limits excess spending habits.

A stop sign

Limit Credit Card Usage

Stop. For millennials in the United States, credit card debt amounts to twenty percent of total debt owed. It’s so much easier to purchase with imaginary money than it is with cash in hand. Though it’s easy to imagine that credit cards are real forms of funding, they’re more like a promise to acquire funding today and pay it back later. It is imperative to limit credit card spending only to what purchases are necessary. Should you have to use a credit card for essential purchases, consider seeking out government aid in the form of food stamps or cash assistance before taking out a credit card. When you make credit card purchases, it’s advisable to pay off this credit card purchase at least monthly.

Most contemporary banking applications will allow you to check the next due date for your credit card payment easily. When you adhere to these scheduled payment dates, you improve your credit score and are liable to qualify for loans with lower interest rates in the future.

Refrain from Small Purchases

A snack purchase in the grocery store line may be minimal in and of itself, but if you find yourself engaging in purchases like this time and time again, those dollars can add up. Exponential small buying choices can lead to accruing more debt through the seemingly confounding loss of small amounts totaling larger ones.

Money spread out on a table

Make Budgeting a Part of Your Routine

While it is easy to view debt through a lens of dread, seeing finances as a positive subject helps ease financial woes. Create a written budget for your week rather than avoiding looking at debt. Be active in your debt recovery process.

Create Your Budget

There is much to be said for allowing oneself to regain sovereignty over debt. Doing so requires the drafting of and adherence to a detailed, itemized budget.

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Uncategorized

Assessing the Cost-Benefit of Buying an Electric Vehicle

by Evan

Table of contents

An electric vehicle, or EV, is a vehicle that is powered partly or wholly by electricity. Different kinds of EVs have various benefits for consumers. All-electric vehicle batteries tend to drain more quickly than hybrid vehicles, but they also generate power from braking, partly recharging the battery as you drive. After the battery depletes, they can be charged in 30 minutes up to an entire day. Some hybrid cars switch over to an internal combustion engine after the battery gets depleted.

Some places have charging outlets to replenish EV car batteries away from home, but they remain few and far between. When EVs become more mainstream, they may become as common as gas stations, or more so. When you buy a new electric vehicle, you can also install an electric vehicle charging station in your garage. This way, you can connect straight to the electrical grid from the comfort of your own home.

Environmentally friendly lightbulbs

Environmental Impact

Aside from electric vehicles being more efficient than gas vehicles, they also positively impact the environment. Since all-electric cars do not use any gasoline, you’re using an almost infinitely renewable resource: electricity. The lack of gas also means that no harmful emissions are muddying the air. Even with hybrid vehicles, you use less gas, which contributes to a healthier environment.

One potential drawback of electric vehicles is that the emission of CO2 may remain the same. CO2 emission depends on where the charging stations are drawing power. Solar power can cut down on these negative aspects as the power generated is stored in batteries separate from the electrical grid. Electric cars also use certain metals of which there is a finite amount deep in the earth’s crust. Depleting these resources could hurt the production of electric vehicles in the future.

Financial analysis

Cost Benefits

While electric vehicles are a little on the pricey side now, that may not be the case in the future. There exist a few methods to potentially save on money with the new purchase of a vehicle. A prominent example would be purchasing a solar panel or two along with the car. Most of the money spent will be recouped in time, at least breaking even in the long run or ending up with more money. If standard home improvement solar panels aren’t cutting it, you can upsize them to generate and store more electricity. The price of gasoline fluctuates continuously, while the cost of electricity has remained relatively stable over the years.

All-electric vehicles lack the vast majority of parts associated with internal combustion engines. Fewer small parts equal fewer breaking parts, which means lower repair costs. This applies partly to hybrids at the same time, even with the use of gas. Another benefit is the potential tax incentives associated with purchasing an electric vehicle. These incentives could end up reaping a few thousand dollars a year, which can go right back into your pocket. Some places even give a tax credit if you install a charging station in your garage.

As with all things, there are benefits and drawbacks to electric vehicles. While they could end up saving tons of money, they could also deplete other earthly resources in the future. Overall, they seem to have a positive on the planet.

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Personal FinanceUncategorized

How to Finance Major Purchases

by Brixton
Counting out hundred dollar bills


Table of contents

For many people, making major purchases can seem scary, especially when there are many zeros on the price tag. Some of the common major purchases that people make include houses, cars, boats, and motorbikes. Depending on income and preference, people might save up money to pay down the entire purchase or take out a loan to pay back over a certain period.

There is no right or wrong way to finance a major purchase, as it all comes down to factors such as income, credit-worthiness, personal preference, and availability of options. Here are some of the different ways to finance major purchases, broken down by type of purchase.

House for sale

Financing a House

Houses are a great investment option because their value keeps appreciating over time. Here are two of the many options available for financing a house purchase.

Conventional loans are usually offered by lenders such as banks and credit unions. Unlike federal loans backed by government agencies, these loans are governed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Federal Housing Administration sets loan limits for these types of loans, and these can range from 15 to 30 years. 

When applying for some of these conventional loans, a borrower has a better chance of getting a good loan if they have a good credit score in the high 600s. Additionally, a debt-to-income ratio that is lower than 50% qualifies one as a good borrower. 

Additionally, if you have significant savings set aside for purchasing the house, taking out a conventional loan is a good financing option. However, if you are putting down less than 20% as a down payment on this type of loan, you would need to obtain private mortgage insurance. Putting less than 20% down on the loan simply means that you own less than 20% equity on the house. 

With seller financing, you can finance your home purchase by eliminating the need for a bank or other third-party lender. Here, the seller of the house acts as the bank, allowing you to create an arrangement in which you, as the borrower, pay back the seller over a set period.

Seller financing also avoids the hassle of the closing process and its associated fees. However, the simplicity of the entire process largely depends on the seller. Some sellers can end up being more complicated than banks, while other sellers can make the closing process seamless.

Parking lot full of cars

Financing an Auto

The process of financing an auto is somewhat like that of financing a house. However, cars are usually cheaper than houses and depreciate over time, unlike houses that constantly appreciate.

When taking out an auto loan from a bank, you need to remember that getting a good loan depends on credit-worthiness and the amount paid down on the car when purchased. Your credit score greatly influences the interest rate on the auto loan, with higher credit scores qualifying you for a lower interest rate.

It is also advisable to pay down as much as you can for the down payment on the car loan. Paying down at least 20% on the loan allows you to have a shorter loan term, over which you pay less interest on the loan. 

You should also take some time shopping around for loans with short terms and cheap interest rates that can fit your budget. Sometimes you can find independent lenders that offer good rates on car loans in your area. For example, a small company called Oportun provides auto loans in California, with the goal of making the borrowing process more accessible and personal for borrowers. This helps borrowers avoid the hassle of borrowing from banks.

You could also apply for an auto loan directly from your local credit union. The advantage of borrowing from a credit union is that since it is a member-owned cooperative, it offers much lower rates than other banks. 

Credit unions also tend to be more lenient with members who have lower credit scores, providing an alternative to the higher interest loans offered by banks.

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