Are your savings enough to help you handle a financial emergency or manage your expenses in case you lose your job or live comfortably during the golden years of your life? Your savings determine the kind of choices you make later in life and how you end up living those golden years of your life.

David Laibson estimates that about 10% of Americans save too much, while perhaps 30% of us have a healthy savings habit. And the rest of us? “When there is money in the bank account, we go out and spend it”.

With some basic understanding of simple and compound interest, you can easily manage the way your money grows. Savings is a responsibility that you owe towards yourself and your family members. You might now end up asking yourself, “How can I save money when I can barely make ends meet?” Believe it or not, this is a common reaction many people have when they are first approached with the idea of planning for their financial future. At first, saving may seem like a daunting task, Remember, though, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Saving money from a first job salary can be tough; however, the essential thing to understand is that the habit formed will help you in the later years of your life. Saving is the habit you must start with and stick to it for the rest of your life. By transferring a little money to your savings account with each pay check, you will accumulate an emergency fund off the bat. Setting a clear goal in mind will help you move smoothly through this saving journey. Are you putting away money for a rainy day, a new car or retirement? This helps you stay motivated and on track. Well, a good 10% savings for retirement will help you lead a comfortable life during old age.

Of course, you will be bothered about your kid’s education and settling him up in life. Colleen Schon, senior vice president of the Barrett Group of Raymond James & Associates suggests that parents in their mid 30s with two kids should put about a quarter of their savings in their retirement funds, about a quarter in 529 accounts and the rest in other savings, to cover home repairs, vacations and other needs. Get your kids into the habit of saving money. One good way is to make it a rule that one third of all income whether its allowance, earnings or gifts from grandparents goes immediately into savings.

Automated savings helps you ease out this process. Sit down in the beginning and determine how much you want to save each month. Once you have cut back on bills and expenses, have that money automatically deducted from your paycheck. Thus, you will end up saving a good amount of money without actually putting too much of your head into it.

You need to understand that the government or your company will not take care of you. Read, listen and learn about personal finance, investments and strategies. In the end, your financial well-being is in your hands, so make the best efforts. Saving not only fulfills your responsibility towards yourself and family, it helps build security and gives you the peace of mind.

written by REI Circle (www.reicircle.com)

One of the commonest reasons for failure in business is a lack of financial planning. It is essential to pen down each and every expense that you are expecting in your business. A smart way is to brainstorm all your needs, from tangible goods (such as inventory, equipment and fixtures) to professional services (such as remodeling, advertising and legal work). Now start calculating how much you will need to pay for these goods and services.

First, you will have to come up with an estimate of one time costs to get your doors open and then develop an operating budget for the first year of your business. If you have trouble figuring out how much money you need, do research on other companies in your industry and region of the country. Talk to other business owners about how they figured out start up costs and ask specifically about expenses they forgot.

Take your time with this step, do some price checking and look for legitimate bargains. If you are still doubtful about your projections, in that case overestimate your projections and underestimate your sales. It is a good idea to double your projected start up costs so that you get a realistic number.

Once you are done with your calculations, the next step is to focus on getting your hands on cash. You are of course, aware of the fact that the traditional banks don’t fund start up ventures with minimal cash flow and unproven track records. Well, then what are the other options you can look up to?

An important asset to funding your small business is personal savings. Well, digging into your personal savings will obviously depend upon the life stage you are in. If you are the sole bread earner of a family it is recommended to not use your savings completely and also not be tempted by your retirement savings.

Family and friends can also help you with expenses and thus relieve your financial burden to an extent. Make sure that they are clear that their entire money can go waste and thus it’s always a good idea to take this money as a gift. Of course, you can look at your credit card for help. But be careful as the money drawn from credit card can bring in a lot of stress along with it. Another way to put your hands into cash is to ask for grants from certain organizations such as the National Association for the Self Employed. Their contributions can go a long way in helping you managing your expenses.

Is the thought of a start up frightening? In a way. And yet also in a way encouraging. The very uncertainty of start ups frightens away almost everyone. People overvalue stability – especially the young people, who ironically need it least. And so in starting a start up merely deciding to do it gets you halfway there. After you are done with the basic planning and have found a good funding agent for yourself you are almost there ready to start your own business.

written by REI Circle (www.reicircle.com)

Apartment owners are going through one of the worst business years in the last two decades. The vacancy rate in US has reached to 7.8 percent and is at the highest level in 23 years.

Vacancy rate is continuously on rise after the recession. According to a recent report published by Reis Inc., a New York real-estate research firm that tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 U.S. markets, the US apartment vacancy rate rose to 7.8 percent in the third quarter and is highest since 1986.

The primary factor behind this increase in the vacancy rate is job loss. People who have already lost their jobs or have fear of losing their job are very cautious for rentals and considering different options to minimize their spendthrift on property. Landlords are now offering less rent for their properties still the occupancy rate is not increasing.

The vacancy rate is expected to increase further in the coming months and can cross the 8 percent mark by perhaps next quarter. Victor Calanog, Reis director of research says, “It makes me wonder whether the avalanche is on its way for office and retail (real estate) unless things change really quickly and really drastically. Vacancy could be worse if landlords didn’t realize fairly early on that this end game was not going to end well and lowered rents really quickly”

The problem is further compounded with the increase in the number of new buildings and the number can reach up to 100, 000 units. With the sharp decline in the financial sector and job loss property rent can further go down and vacancy rate will not show any improvement in the coming months.

written by REI Circle (www.reicircle.com)