Many Canadians are dreaming of heading south for the winter, but not just to beat the cold. They have real estate investing on their minds. Our strong dollar combined with a collapsing housing market in the U.S. spells opportunity for many. But Canada and the U.S.A are not the same country, and as much as we have in common we have differences. Any Canadian investor considering putting money in the U.S. should have a basic understanding of some key differences between buying real estate in Canada versus buying real estate in the U.S. So, before you start putting your loonies in Florida or Texas, read on.

Tax Systems:

Talk to an accountant that is experienced with American real estate investment as the countries differ considerably in terms of taxation of investment properties.

In the U.S.

1031 Exchanges allow the capital gains from the sale of an investment property to be deferred and rolled into a purchase of a similar type of property if it’s bought within 180 days. T

Full Article…

As questions continue to develop around the major banks’ decision to raise their variable interest rates despite the Reserve Bank of Australia deciding to hold rates steady, more and more individuals and businesses are turning to alternative types of financing. More specifically, many customers are turning away from the big four when it comes to mortgages and loans, looking towards smaller lenders.

Also gaining attention in the news headlines is the important role credit unions play in the financing mix. Credit unions have always been an integral part of our nation’s history and may be re-emerging as a critical player in today’s economy.

Whether you’re looking to make a future home purchase or are seeking out for alternatives to small business finance, it’s worth investigating the role of credit unions as a potential provider of your finance needs.

What is a credit union?

Credit unions are established to serve its members and customer base, instead of standard financial institutions that are owned by shareholders. A very si

Full Article…

Truly effective time management isn’t something you can do once and then forget. The clock keeps ticking, and your efforts to stay on top of everything must keep up. The good news is that you don’t have to start from scratch every day. Establishing good time-management habits and routines will give you a strong foundation and help make managing your time come naturallly.

The first habit you must develop is prioritizing, or actively ranking the relative importance of the things you want and need to do. Try these prioritizing tips:

• Acknowledge life’s fluctuations: Your priorities must be constantly in flux. For instance, the tax return that was merely important two months ago is urgent in the hours before it is due. The point of prioritizing is not to create a set-in-stone list of the order in which you’ll perform tasks. The lar

Full Article…

Many companies allow you to work from home as a dispatcher. This usually involves much time on the telephone and can be a great job for anyone wanting to stay home and make good money. It normally requires you to have a good sense of direction for the areas you will be dispatching.

Trucking companies are among the highest who hire dispatchers for routing their trucks to locations to pick up a load of freight. Once the truck driver has delivered their freight, the dispatcher is to find the next load in a close or nearby town for them to pick up again. This requires having some type of mapping software and a general knowledge of the computer. It can be an independent dispatcher that is a member of boards which list freight available for pick up, or it can be a dispatcher which works for a company and the loads are already contracted.

Another field that has many dispatchers are home health facilities.

Full Article…

There are many ways to waste money every day, but using some common sense to manage finances can go a long way towards securing your financial future.  Taking a small amount of time to think about what you are doing and plan the best course of action will prevent you from making simple money mistakes that will cost you dearly over time.  Here are some common sense tips to follow in your everyday life.

Don’t Be Lazy

Laziness will cost you much more than you think over the course of a year because you are paying for the convenience of immediate gratification or the convenience of having someone else do your tasks for you.  Taking your clothes to a cleaning company will cost you 5 to 10 times more than doing your own laundry at home or at the Laundromat.  Eating out raises the cost of a meal to triple or quadruple what you would have paid to buy the ingredients and cook the same meal at home.  Take the time to do tasks for yourself and keep the money you would have paid to others in your bank account for your own needs.

Think Before You Act

Simple mistakes like parking in the wrong spot or not putting enough money in the parking meter can be very expensive when you receive a ticket for the action.  All fines received for mindless actions should be classified as wasted money and avoided as much as possible.  These unnecessary expenses can be easily evaded by being careful and taking the time to think about your actions before performing them.

Take Advantage Of Discounts

Using the discounts found on many everyday items can save you thousands of dollars every year.  From using buy one, get one free coupons on everything from shoes to groceries to purchasing new clothing from the clearance racks, there are hundreds of different ways to use discounts to save money.  People that take the time to review the discounts found in their areas may be able to buy everything they need for at least 25% less than the person who does not take advantage of discounted items.

Bank of America started it all with their ridiculous $5/month fee to access your own cash by using a debit card and customers reacted by moving to credit unions or online banks like PerkStreet or Ally Bank. Verizon followed up with a fee for paying your cell phone bill online and customers cried “FOUL” so loudly that the company quickly backed down. It seems that companies, like governments, are obsessed with finding new ways to extract additional cash from customers and citizens.

There’s nothing wrong with getting your customers to give you more money … so long as you provide them with more value. Where these two giants erred was that the customer got nothing in return. Customers will gladly fork over more cash when the product or service warrants it. But whe

Full Article…