A Quick and Easy Guide to Savings Accounts

There is a wide variety of different kinds of savings accounts available on today’s financial market and, in order to maximize the interest you can earn on your hard earned cash, it is crucial that you find the best one for you. From high street banks such as Santander to online financial organizations, it is important to scan as wide a range of sources as possible. To help get you started, here’s a quick guide to a few of the most popular and most common kinds of savings accounts that you are likely to come across along your way.

1. The ISA. In Britain, everyone is entitled to a certain amount of tax free savings every year. This amount may vary from one financial year to the next, but you’d be a fool not to make the most of the opportunity it presents. ISAs are of greatest benefit to those who are saving long term, as the more you are able to accumulate in your tax free savings account each year, without making any withdrawals, the greater the amount of tax free interest you will receive each year.

2. The fixed term savings account. This is where you agree to leave your savings in the bank for a particular amount of time, from 6 months to 2 years. As this gives the bank a clearer idea of what they have to invest at any given moment, they are willing to reward you for your commitment with a higher rate of interest. If you don’t want to touch your money for a while, this could be a great way to earn more on your savings.

3. Online savings accounts. These are perfect for those who want to save while maintaining the flexibility of being able to choose to spend their money when they like. Many banks and building societies offer savings accounts that can be accessed quickly and easily online and that will allow you to make instant transfers to a credit card or current account.

Golden Steps For Small Business Growth



As a business owner, you will face many obstacles. Everyone wants to grow their business, but many do not now exactly how to do it. Here are some building blocks to help you reach a new level of success.

Building a business takes more than just having a great idea and a lot of passion. You must take the proper steps to build your business to ensure steady growth for the long run. Let’s take a look at some of the key building blocks that will help you grow your small business.

Building Block #1: The Business Owner’s Mindset

It all starts with you the business owner. You must make the mental shift from working your business as a self-employed job to building a business you that you can sell, scale, or own passively.

This means consistently reminding yourself that you are a temporary producer, and that your business must finally replace you from its day-to-day operations.

Here is a good saying to keep yourself motivated: The more I work, the more work I have to keep doing. The more work I allow my business to do, the more I can focus on growing my business.

Building Block #2: Systems

Systems are the reliable processes and procedures that empower your business to consistently produce excellent results for your clients.

These are documented practices that increase your company’s efficiency and reduce expensive mistakes; the checklists your shipping clerks follow to make sure that all orders are shipped correctly; the orientation technique for all new clients when you start working together; and the standardized contracts you use with all of your new hires and vendors.

Building Block #3: Your Team

Every business needs gifted people to help make it successful. My insistence that your business’s success be independent of any one person does not mean your team is unimportant.

In fact, it is just the opposite. The only way to build a great business is to have a great team who consistently perform for your company.

Building Block #4: Clever Business Controls

Controls are the clever processes, procedures, & safeguards that protect your company from uninformed or inappropriate decisions or actions by any team member. They are also your business’s way of ensuring that key work is getting done on time and the right way.

The three major types of business controls are:

• Visual and Checklists Process Controls,
• Scorecards and Metrics, and
• Embedded Controls

Building Block #5: Scalable Solutions

Scaling your business requires building it in such a way that your business model and systems can be rolled out and replicated on a much bigger playing field. This also means when you are solving a business challenge, you look for solutions that can be scaled.

For example, this might be outsourcing your shipping to a third party fulfillment company.

Or this might mean choosing your database solution based on your future needs & not on today’s costs?

Or it could mean tweaking your business model so that your service is more scalable & not so dependent on or key people?

In essence, building with scalable solutions mean that the systems, controls, and team solutions you pick are ones that can handle multiples of more volume.

Remember, too much growth that increasingly relies on older, outdated systems is what causes most growing businesses to fail. The systems that worked for a $500,000-a-year business will no longer prove to be sufficient enough to handle a $5 million business, and not even close to being adequate for a $50 million business.

At first, the additional sales will cause a few problems but soon enough, your business will have sales and revenue flowing in. That is why the final building block of a great business is scalable solutions.

This article was written by William from Home Loan Finder.

Life Insurance Annuities – How Safe are They?

In an era of time, when the nest egg of many baby boomers has dwindled in size due to a crash in the economy, more and more smart investors are looking to annuities instead of stocks, mutual funds or even a regular life insurance policy. An increase in life expectancies is also prompting some to cash in on their whole life policies and invest the surrender value in an annuity. Since annuities are least affected by market fluctuations they a very low-risk investment vehicle for the safe-keeping of your retirement funds. Currently, sales of fixed annuity are at their highest numbers in spite of extremely low interest rates.

What is an Annuity?

An annuity is a financial product sold by life insurance companies, but is very different from life insurance. Life insurance financially protects your family after your death; annuities financially protect your retirement funds, while you are still alive.

How does an annuity work? You pay your life insurance company a lump sum amount or choose to make regular payments over a period of time. In exchange for your payment, you are guaranteed retirement benefits after a certain age throughout your life. Annuities accrue low interest rates but if you are looking for a safe and financially secure investment to safeguard your future, then an annuity is the best type of insurance, assuring you of a steady income for the rest of your life.

Benefits of an Annuity

Benefits from an annuity can be received immediately or you can choose deferred payment. Immediate annuity, as the name suggests, allows you to start getting a steady stream of reliable income immediately against a lump sum amount paid. Deferred annuity is more suitable for younger people whose retirement benefits would be deferred till they reach a certain age set by the life insurance company.

Unlike traditional retirement vehicles like the IRA, 401(k) and Roth 401(k), there is no income ceiling on an annuity, there are no limits on contributions and withdrawals are not compulsory. Moreover, earnings that accumulate in an annuity are tax-deferred and are backed by state guarantee funds.

Types of Annuities

There are two types of annuities:

1. Fixed Annuity: This type of annuity guarantees the rate of return on investment.

• The principal amount is guaranteed by the company.
• Interest is added to the annuity every year. The longer the term period, the higher the interest collected.
• 10% of the balance can be withdrawn annually. Withdrawals that are beyond this amount will be charged a penalty.

2. Variable Annuity: In a variable annuity, the interest accrued is invested in mutual funds selected by you.

• Your principal amount remains safe, but you may gain or lose more interest depending on the economic situation.
• You can get periodic payments, death benefits and tax-deferred benefits.
  In both types of annuities, you can choose payoffs according to your preference: either a lump sum amount or payments of specific amounts at pre-determined intervals.

Conclusion

You should seek advice from a financial advisor who can give you independent and objective advice taking your personal financial situation into consideration. Before choosing an annuity, study up various types of annuities, the pros and cons of each. There are recurring charges that could include administrative fees, distribution fees, investment fees and surrender charges that you should be aware of. If you decide to purchase an annuity make sure it is from a reputable life insurance company with a history of strong performance. And a word of advice: don’t buy into a product you have not completed understood.

Compare the features of various life insurance annuity options from different life insurance companies to assess which one suits your particular situation the best. Before you buy life insurance online, consider purchasing an annuity in addition to your life insurance policy. There are BBB-accredited websites that offer personal service from unbiased life insurance professionals. These qualified professionals can give you free life insurance advice. Remember, annuities do not give you the high interest rates you may be looking for, but they do offer a reliable steady growth of your investment, and prove to be one of the few safe havens you can rely on. In times of economic uncertainty, the security of your investment trumps all other factors!

“Today’s guest post was provided by Denise Mancini of Accuquote. Check out Accuquote.com for free term life insurance quotes from top-rated companies.“