Financial retirement planning is a necessity; something that we all know we should do, and something that we absolutely understand the importance of. However, translating that core theoretical understanding into direct action is often a little trickier. Below, we’ve highlighted the two primary reasons people tend to avoid planning their retirement finances, and how the related concerns can be overcome…
1) Lack of time
In the modern world, schedules are always full, and keeping up-to-date with your to-do list for actions today is often more than enough to keep you occupied – so finding the time to plan for a future that could be 30 or 40 years away seems impossible. While it’s not possible to create more hours in the day, you may find it beneficial to focus on why starting to financially plan for retirement is so important, even at a young age – essentially, the sooner you start, the greater your savings will be when the time comes for you to give up work. Making the time today can lead to a brighter tomorrow, and it’s also worth remembering that when everything is up and running, the ongoing time investment on your part is relatively minimal.
2) Confusion
The world of retirement finances can often seem like a complex one and there is no doubt that there is some truth to this statement. However, there is help available that can make the process of learning about the various options far simpler; the infographic below is a great way to learn more about IRAs and other avenues are also covered in-depth in online videos or articles. You can therefore take your time and learn at a pace that suits you, before making the decision as to the best route for your future.
There are many things that we hope for our family, including, of course, that everyone is happy and healthy. In order for that to be the case, however, you need to ensure that the financial aspect of family life has been well taken care of. While it is possible to be happy without millions in the bank, that goal becomes much easier to manage if you’re in a financially stable position. It provides the platform upon which many other positive things can grow. But it’s also true that it can be a little difficult. In this blog, we’re going to take a look at how you can create a secure financial landscape for your family, both now and in the future.
It doesn’t matter how much you earn: if your outgoings are greater than your incomings, then you’re going to be in trouble sooner or later. As such, one of the best things you can do for your family is to spend an afternoon getting a complete overview of your finances. Take an in-depth look at the money you’ve got flowing into your bank account, and the money flowing outward. You might spot a couple of expenses that are unnecessarily harming your finances.
Savings
While everything might be fine right now, it’s always important to remember that things could look a little different in the future. If things change for the worse, then you’ll be in a much better position if you have savings. Aside from helping you to stay financially secure if you hit a rough patch, savings can also help with other important and enjoyable things, such as helping to pay your child’s college tuition and taking family trips overseas. You don’t have to put huge chunks of money away each month if you’re not in a position to do so, but it should be something. Every little helps!
Think of the Future
It’s not something that we like to think about, but it’s important to consider what would happen to your family should something happen to you, the primary breadwinner. While you can’t predict the future, you can take steps to ensure that your family is in a strong position to weather the storm by being prepared. This can involve buying life insurance, so you can have peace of mind that your family would be financially secure if something bad happened. Other types of insurance policies are also recommended, such as home and business insurance, if you’re running your own company.
Teaching Good Practices
Finally, remember that though there’s a lot you can do to keep your family financially sound, you’ll also want to teach your children good habits too. This isn’t something they’re going to learn about in school! Ultimately, the best way to ensure that your children are financially stable in the future is to give them the tools they need to manage their own money (and, of course, make their own money too). It’ll give you peace of mind that they’ll always be OK.
Anyone can start a business, but the real question one should ask is should you start a business? Creating a business is not like any other form of profession. Normal working hours will no longer apply to you and your hard work will not be acknowledged by a boss, because you answer to yourself. So that also means, no one is there to hold your hand, tell you when to speed up, or instill any kind of discipline in you. However, this new life will come a test of character. Many people pass cognitive tests such as planning and networking but very few pass the tests of mental strength, confidence and self-criticism.
The test of integrity
Many entrepreneurs lie on their resume or about an aspect of their business. Most investors, B2B partners and even employees expect that. It’s not uncommon for a young hard-charging entrepreneur to boast about how many contacts they have in the industry or how far along a product is in terms of completion. However, some people will not be willing to work with you if you display this sort of behavior. Integrity is simply priceless and so many entrepreneurs don’t understand what the value of having it would do for their success. Remember that your words will carry more weight when they have been consistently true. ‘Just trust me’ doesn’t convince people as much as ‘my track record is impeccable’. When you meet with investors, just be honest. Don’t think you’re going to scare them away by showing them the issues you have. Someone who is truthful is seen as a long-term partner.
Persistency before consistency
The biggest challenge you’re going to face is the repeated nature of being knocked back. When you feel as if things are going right, all of a sudden something will push you back to square one. It’s part and parcel of being an entrepreneur. By the very nature of that title, you are making waves, breaking barriers and trying to innovate beyond your competitors. So before you achieve consistent results, you will need to stay persistent. Get used to overcoming odds as an entrepreneur as getting feedback and seeing results from consumers will be something you need to chase after. A mass texting campaign may garner little to no results in the first couple of tries. Eventually, you will learn to get the timing and techniques right and slowly increase your customer engagement skills. During the process of persistency, you will be learning a lot.
Become action-oriented
If you stop to wait for things to happen, you will be waiting for a long time. In the meantime, you will watch your rivals overtake you. Part of being an entrepreneur is chomping-at-the-bit. You need to be action-oriented. This means you need to make educated but quick decisions. Being adaptable is thwarted by being too slow. Learn to trust your gut which should be making assumptions based on experience. Read books on leadership as you progress as a business owner.
If you want to be successful you must get used to being honest every step of the way. You must learn to make good decisions in a timely fashion. And most of all, be persistent as it will lead to you becoming consistent in many areas.
Small businesses need to be creative about saving money, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cutting costs down is an essential requirement to protect your staff and keep the business afloat. Therefore, small business owners are looking at a variety of options to reduce their expenses. Remote work is not always a viable solution. As a result, many companies that didn’t perform any essential work during the crisis have been forced to shut down temporarily. Therefore, you may be tempted to delay business expenses to maximize cash flow when you’re ready to re-open for activities. For instance, business maintenance comes at a high cost when you’ve got no revenue for several weeks. However, skipping maintenance duties is a false economy that will come back to bite you in the future!
Ultimately, your business relies on working equipment. If you’ve had to furlough your team for the lockdown or to reduce employee presence, chances are that your day-to-day equipment has been left untouched for several weeks. Using out-of-sync equipment or tools that might not be in sufficient working condition is going to cost you money in the long run. Corrosion, degraded machinery, devices that have not been upgraded are some of the factors that can dramatically increase your cost. For a start, without regular maintenance, your equipment might break. Additionally, injuries are more likely to happen with damaged tools. Finally, repairing damages will incur a higher cost than maintenance duty.
You put your employees at risk
We’ve just mentioned it above. Failure to maintain your equipment and workplace can lead to accidents. When your employees and customers are injured due to poor maintenance, you are likely to be found responsible for the accident, which means you will have to pay monetary compensation. Injury experts, such as Krzak Rundio Law Group, are specialized in ensuring that individuals can claim against negligent behaviors. As a company, you can’t afford to fail to maintain equipment and fleet that are in regular use without being liable for the consequences of your decision.
How much are you likely to lose if a fault holds the production? As a rule of thumb, a single hour of downtime could cost a manufacturing business approximately $10,000 in lost revenue. When you have no choice but to be productive to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, skipping maintenance can be the last draw that drags your business down. Giving yourself the best chance to generate revenues post lockdown is detrimental to your survival.
What will the press say?
Unattended damage and issues that force a business to shut down its production line or pay compensation to workers and clients are not just bad news. They are also bad press about your brand. Boosting your reputation as a company that supports your community economy and takes part in the national effort to rebuild financial stability is the way forward out of lockdown. You can be sure that negative events caused by your negligence to maintain your equipment and workplace will reflect poorly on your reputation.
Saving money by cutting down unnecessary costs is a smart approach. However, as a business, you need to be very careful about what you perceive as unnecessary. Carrying on maintenance checks on your assets is not a luxury. It is indispensable to the survival of your company and the protection of your team. Don’t be the business that saves money by putting profits before people’s best interests.
Good businesses are always looking to reduce their overheads. No matter if you’re a small entrepreneur, or heading up a sizable enterprise, there is always a benefit to be had in streamlining fixed costs, reducing waste and adding to the bottom line without having to raise prices. We all work in a competitive global marketplace, and that means the difference between success and failure often comes down to the details. Everyone knows of promising start-ups that failed to go the distance due to issues with cash flow, or even established businesses that got complacent and ended up in financial difficulties. Therefore, finding strategies to reduce cost and maximise profit must be a part of your operational focus on a constant basis. Don’t wait until something comes up – be proactive and reap the rewards of making small savings frequently. Here are some of the best places to start.
Improve Your Processes
There is almost always money to be saved by improving your business processes. Often over time, operational ways of working evolve organically, to suit the person doing the task, But this may not be the most efficient way of doing it. Areas of duplication, low-value time intensive actions and administration are all areas it pays to tighten up. Set deliverables for each area of your business that can alert you if standards are dropping, and look into automating the most basic processes or outsourcing things like telephone management services to save money on staffing costs.
Look To Your Assets
Often liquidizing some much-needed cash in your business is just a case of looking at your assets a little differently, and carefully managing them. For example – if you need to refurbish your office, then why purchase new when you can easily buy office furniture second hand in barely used condition? Think about the essential machinery that you have – are there things that you could hire instead of purchasing outright? This is often a good way to access the latest technology without the heavy upfront costs, or to respond to peaks and troughs in customer demand or seasonal conditions. If you have a vehicle fleet, look in detail at the costs. What is nearing the top of it’s mileage agreement, possibly incurring additional charges or making it harder to sell on? Is it a good idea to look at 12-Volt DC Fuel Transfer Pumps so you can move fuel around where it’s most needed? Are there internal services that you could make chargeable? Often a bit of creative thinking will unlock lots of small areas where you can make a saving – and this adds up to larger cost reductions overall.
Renegotiate Your Contracts
If you have long-standing relationships with suppliers, now could be the time to get a little tougher on charges. If you can guarantee a certain amount of custom in advance, could they reduce the unit cost? Negotiation with suppliers can yield significant extra profit if it’s done right.Seek out trade partners who can give you more leverage, and always adjust payment terms to the benefit of your own organization wherever possible.
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