Investment property is often a sound financial decision for most people who understand all the intricacies of investment finance. The reality is that only a few people are well versed with how investment finance works; however a high number of people are investing in homes and do not necessarily know the implications the financial decision means to their future. The purchase which seems like the best asset you could have ever acquired may end up driving you into a financial rut.
Why you need the services of a financial expert
Just like a term life insurance policy safeguards the future of your loved ones should you meet your untimely demise; a financial expert helps you to secure your investment property preventing the likelihood of debts related to it. Acquiring the asset may plunge a number of people into debt compelling them to change the lifestyle they are accustomed to, put up with low or no return on investment (ROI) and entirely fail to generate returns out of the asset.
The financial implications investors overlook
A number of investors do not know a thing about purchasing assets and turning them into money making ventures. Most people think that the asset will ‘sell’ itself and generate returns. It is these people who end up with homes and other assets which they cannot seem to turn into successful money generating business ventures.
People who acquire property through mortgage may end up with unforeseen debts if they do not have a clear payment plan to service the mortgage loans. They may find that their personal home is at the risk of repossession when they fail to meet mortgage payments.
Investors may overlook the implication of an asset purchase on their tax benefits. They may unknowingly deplete all their financial options and find themselves without anything to fall back on.
The role of insurance in securing property investment
Holding a term life insurance policy could just save your property and safeguard your loved ones in the instance that you die before completing payments on the acquired asset. The policy generally pays up following your demise and avails a source of money for your family to complete pending investment payments. The funds also help your family to maintain the lifestyle that they are accustomed to.
What the financial expert does
The financial expert helps you to make sound investment choices and ensure that your finances remain intact throughout the repayment period. Your account helps you keep up with taxes and your financial planner helps you to allocate funds when purchasing the asset; only a financial expert can help you indentify the future implications the investment will have on your finances. The financial expert is always there to help you come up with a strategy to evade any financial hurdles you may encounter. The financial expert will also help you structure the asset to improve money generated from it.
11 JulLet a Financial Expert Help You to Secure Your Investment Property
23 FebWhich is better: term or permanent life insurance?
The biggest financial decision you are likely to make is buying a home, closely followed by less expensive must-haves like a vehicle. But the one deal you should aim to get right is the decision on life insurance. This is the difference between leaving your dependents with an adequate amount of cash to see them through the times of economic hardship after your income is lost, and leaving them with nothing. In this, the decision on term as against permanent insurance is the key. Put the wrong key in the lock and you open a door into real financial hardship. So what’s wrong with term insurance? Think of this as like a bet. If you die within the term, your dependents are the winners. If you prove healthy and live too long, you lose the premiums you paid and your dependents get nothing. Now, when it comes to permanent insurance, this builds up a cash value. The longer you have the policy in place, the more valuable it comes as the premiums you pay attract investment returns. During your own life, you can take some of this money back or borrow using the fund as collateral. When the sad day finally comes, the benefits are paid out to your dependents less whatever drawings or borrowings you have made.
From these short sentences, you will immediately suspect the other difference between the products. Term life insurance is the cheap option. It gives you security in the amount of the benefits for the number of years you select. If you buy one term policy after another, the premiums are higher each time because your life expectancy is less on each renewal. Permanent insurance premiums are higher because a percentage of what you pay is invested on your behalf to generate the cash value. So your fund receives the benefit of the interest, dividends and other returns the investments generate. This makes the total of the cash value the key factor. Do you want a higher rate of return on the premiums? This can be for your own benefit should there be an emergency during your life. Or it can build up over the years for your dependents. If the answer is yes, you must be prepared to pay more to start off the policy – the first year’s premiums often disappear into a black hole representing set-up costs and the selling agent’s commission. But the amount you pay stays the same throughout the lifetime of the policy. So, with inflation, what starts out a struggle slowly grows easier to pay.
The real problem is the uncertainty of the future. Who knows how inflation may affect different aspects of life. What may be cheap now, may be expensive tomorrow and vice versa. So here are a few simple rules. If all you want is cover over the next few years (no more than ten), get life insurance quotes for a term policy. Ten years is not a long enough period of time to build up a worthwhile cash value. Estimate what benefits might be needed, e.g. your daughter will need $50,000 to cover her college tuition fees, and the total will set the amount of the insurance. If you are looking at a period of at least twenty years, you should think seriously about permanent insurance. Again, get life insurance quotes but you should also take advice on the different types of policy available and create or review your estate plan. Between ten and twenty years is a gray area and whichever way you decide is not going to be wrong.
07 SepPriorities Bring Focus to the Family Budget
For many families the household budget can be an intense source of familial conflict. Not everyone always agrees with how the money should be spent or how it should be managed. More often then not the rest of the family reluctantly defers to whoever brings home the most pay when it comes to financial decision making, but many times this can cause resentment towards that person.
Money is an important part of any family’s life and many times family peace and cohesiveness are threatened by the lack of a sound financial plan that has little or no direction. By including everyone in the decision making process and setting a list of priorities and goals that everyone agrees on you can bring peace and harmony to the family money situation.
Here are four steps to bringing peace to your family budget:
1. Set Priorities – Priorities and goals are not necessarily the same thing. These are things in your family’s life that you want to focus on in the long term. This could be anything from purchasing a new home, college savings, or any other long term financial plan. The goals you set in step 2 are specific targets you need to hit in order to bring your priorities to fruition.
Do not set to many priorities. No more than 2 or 3 at the time. Remember these are long term plans that will have a positive impact on your family’s life. As you and your family set your priorities write them down and keep them conspicuous. This will give your entire family the focus they need to meet these plans.
2. List Your Goals- Once your priorities are set you can start listing the goals that will support the priorities. Goals are specific and measurable conditions that are met in such a way that they bring you closer to fulfilling your priorities.
When you set a goal it should be a target that is achievable with a sound financial plan that starts with the family budget. A goal can be paying off a certain debt in a certain amount of time or saving a set sum of money in a year’s time. If you set one to two goals per priority you will find yourself staying focused on the task at hand.
3. Meet Your Goals – Once you have set your priorities and goals it is time to start working towards them. The first step is the implementation of the family budget. This will allow you to track the family money, both income and expenses. It can be as simple as writing it down in a notebook or you can buy personal accounting software that helps you manage your family finances. Which ever method you use it is imperative that you track your family’s money with a budget.
4. Periodic Evaluations – From time to time check to see how you are progressing towards your goals and priorities. This is something the whole family can do together. As you check off goals met it will give you and your family member a certain feeling of satisfaction. As you meet your goals and then your priorities re-evaluate your current situation and set new ones that can be met.
Andrew Bicknell researches and writes on a variety of subjects. To learn more about building a family budget please visit his website Household Budgets by clicking here.