With the New Year bearing down upon us, now is as good of a time as any to look back and reflect on what we’ve done over the past year. There will no doubt be successes and shortcomings to consider, but in the case of the shortcomings, there is good news in knowing that a new year awaits in trying to address them. New Year’s resolutions are commonplace for those who may wish to lose a few pounds, drop a bad habit or pick up a good one, but it can be hard to keep track of our plans – let alone our progress – as the year...

If you have lots of spare money knocking around in your bank accounts, it might be time to start looking at better ways of using that cash. Why let a high street banking chain keep it in their pot when it could be used to amass even larger funds? Don’t worry if you don’t have any experience with making investments as it’s much simpler than most people imagine. So long as you stick to the tried and tested methods, everything should be fine. It’s only those who opt for high risk / high return solutions that tend to lose their capital....

You’re likely familiar with “Murphy’s Law”–anything that could go wrong, will go wrong. Admittedly, Murphy must have been a pessimistic fellow and a killjoy at parties, but, unfortunately, there is some truth to his “glass is half empty” adage. It will likely rain on the day you forget your umbrella, your lottery numbers could come up on the day you neglect to play them, and the minute you let your health insurance lapse, you may find yourself requiring acute–and expensive–medical...

Managing your finances without a budget is like driving a car with your eyes closed. You may reach your goal–if you’re really lucky–but you will likely take a beating, making one wrong turn after another, smashing headfirst into unforeseen obstacles, and forking out a whole lot of money to clean up the mess you create along the way. Yes, following a budget allows you to see exactly where you’re headed and reach your goals with your finances firmly intact. Still not convinced? Here are some of the ways that devising...

More and more, early retirement, an aging labour force and a declining birth rate are contributing to the worker shortage in the country. So just how do you go about motivating and building up your workforce? For starters, before an employee gets to the point of reward and recognition, they need to decide who they are and what they want for themselves. Sadly, though, too many managers don’t consider such things. And they’re important if an employee is expected to align him or herself with the company. But ask many an employees and...

Doesn’t the idea of early retirement sound awesome? There’s your co-workers, many of them probably your age or a little younger, still grinding away at the full-time gig, as you smile and glide out the exit and into the sunset, ready (and still young enough!) to enjoy the rewards of your slogging through work for all those years. Sure, it sounds good. But then along comes Mister Reality who slaps you in the face with the cold hard truth that, despite your dropping out of the workforce, you haven’t dropped out of the...

In India, property purchases have always been considered auspicious. Most middle-class families save up and then invest in land purchases in their hometown where they construct retirement homes. After retirement, they usually relocate from large urban cities to smaller second tier or third cities to enjoy a simpler, relaxed lifestyle. However, the actual profile of property investment has changed in modern India, states BusinessToday. Initially, where most families used to invest in a single property or land deal as a part of retirement,...

Josh Leibowitz, partner at McKinsey & Company, wrote an opinion piece about Coca-Cola’s innovation strategy, in which he posted an interesting observation: “An important part of that success has to do with their (Coca-Cola’s) marketing investment strategy. About 70% of their investment is in “Now”, or established and successful programs; 20% goes to “new,” or emerging trends that are starting to gain traction; and 10% goes to “next,” ideas that are completely untested. This is what Coca-Cola applied to their company...

With everyone “going green” these days, trying to save money, it’s incredible to think that having green doesn’t mean what it used to mean. Consider Celeste Baranski, a 49-year old engineer with a net worth of around $5 million. She lives in Menlo Park. And, while the couple doesn’t worry much about college for their children, they do worry about their own long-term financial health. This is the new breed of working-class millionaires. It’s the individuals who keep their nose to the grindstone, but are...

Asset protection It is the desire of many people to hold their assets in the right manner. When you have an offshore foundation, your assets are well protected. This is important since you have the capacity to take care of your assets from any location in the world. You will have less amounts of running the account which you can easily manage. Less taxation Many companies have to undergo the huge burden of taxation. This does not have to be the case when you have the offshore foundation. You will find it is much easier to get on with...