RETIREMENT – CAN YOU AFFORD IT?

Written by Mandy Nield


Every day you work is one day closer to your retirement. But can you afford to stop work? If you were unable to go to work for 6 months due to illness or injury, would you still have enough income to support yourself and your family? Even if you kept working, would you have enough money put aside to comfortably retire after a hard lifetime of work? If you kept working or doing as you’re doing today, forrepparttar next 10 years, would you be in a better position to retire? Have you ever calculated whether your superannuation orrepparttar 150129 pension is going to be enough for you to retire on?

For most people these questions either remain unanswered or have negative responses. Facts say that most people ARE NOT planning for their retirement and if they are, they’re not putting anywhere near enough away to support themselves.

So where does that leave us all? What can we do about our plight?

Well, there is some great news. There is an investment vehicle that can not only put cash in your pocket immediately, but also has a proven track record of doubling its value every 7 – 10 years. What is this golden investment? It’s none other than PROPERTY.

How to Balance Your Checkbook – Get a Calculator and Pencil and You are Ready To Go!

Written by Robb Ksiazek


Despite how easy it is to balance a checkbook, very few people takerepparttar time to do it andrepparttar 150128 few who do, don’t always do itrepparttar 150129 right way. If you write down in your checkbook ledger what should be deducted and added, you are onrepparttar 150130 right track – if not, start there and follow these nine easy steps to a balanced checkbook. Once you are comfortable with these nine steps, it is possible to balance your checkbook each month within 30-45 minutes.

9 Steps

  • Make sure that all deposits, withdrawals (maintenance fees, ATM fees, and automatic payments) are added and subtracted and calculaterepparttar 150131 balance as ofrepparttar 150132 last transaction made.
  • Keep all check-card receipts, duplicate checks (or returned checks fromrepparttar 150133 bank) and withdrawal slips until you sit down to balance your checkbook.
  • Mark an “x” in your checkbook by each transaction that has gone throughrepparttar 150134 bank. It is easy to do once your statement arrives and you can put all checks in numerical order and easily check them off.
  • Dorepparttar 150135 same thing with any ATM withdrawals or check-card purchases.
  • Make any adjustments necessary to “true-up” your ledger and comparing deposit slips and purchases/withdrawals. *If you notice any discrepancies between your records andrepparttar 150136 bank’s – give your bank a call.
  • To calculate your balance write down your checkbook’s current balance atrepparttar 150137 top of a piece of paper (normallyrepparttar 150138 backside of your statement will have a worksheet to complete for this task).
  • Subtract any amounts for un-cleared deposits and bank fees such as monthly fees or for any insufficient funds charges.
  • Add any un-cleared checks andrepparttar 150139 interest you have earned to this figure.
  • Finally, comparerepparttar 150140 final figure that you have to your bank statement – they should match.

With very little effort, it is easy to keep track of expenses and stay out of trouble with your bank. Balancing your checkbook is very important because you will avoid overdraft or insufficient funds fees due to bouncing checks because of not knowing your balance. In addition you will protect your credit and verify that your financial institution has made no mistakes. You’ll also be able to keep better track of cash flow and manage your money with far fewer headaches and surprises.

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