Money and Personal Finance

A lot of people who give you advice on what to buy and what not to buy are the brokers who sit near your place where you live. Now these brokers will generally execute your trades via some broker dealers. These

An informative guide to investing in rental properties for beginners.

There are many ways to make money in real estate, but investing in rental properties is by far the most lucrative, offering investors a twofold investment return; a steady residual income from the monthly rental and the equity from the property itself. Building wealth from rental property investments should not be taken lightly though; there are many things to consider before you purchase your first property. Here is a practical guide to investing in rental properties for beginners.

Look for properties that will require little or no repairs to get it ready to rent, down time means you will have no income from the property until it is rented. It is also important to use a balance sheet for each property that you intend to rent, this will show you how much you have invested in the purchase and repairs with the amount of return you can expect once the property is rented. Every detail of your investment strategy should be well planed with attention to the day to day management and maintenance as well as rental contracts. It is a good idea to also have a list of qualified repairmen to handle any potential emergency situation. You should also research the area you plan to rent in. Knowing the personal and financial climate of the area will give you valuable information to help you determine if the location is right for you.

Properties in popular seasonal locations have the potential for higher rental rates and could also be rented weekly. Another great rental investment idea is business property, rental rates are almost always higher for this type of property and most rentals of this type require a long-term commitment. Consider each possible rental property you view with its overall potential for quick profit, and ask yourself; is this an ideal location for such a property? How quickly can this property be ready to rent? What is the total amount I will need to invest, and what is return amount on my investment?

If you plan on purchasing your first rental property with a loan, then you will need to develop a spread sheet for the property you intent to purchase. A typical spreadsheet will cover a 12-month time line and include all income and expenses for the property; most of this information can be found in your personal balance sheet you created for the property. Along with your spreadsheet you will need to have a business plan that outlines your proposal to purchase and maintain your rental property. Your business plan should include the type of property you plan to rent, how you intend to manage and maintain your property and be sure to include any information that shows your ability to be profitable; a popular seasonal location or high traffic business or commercial property or other rental property with a high profit potential. You will also need to include how you intend to overcome any potential obstacles. Investing in rental properties for beginners is a lucrative means to achieving a long term residual income.

Eating to lose weight is not as complex as some make it out be. It can be very simple and the biggest challenge most have to overcome is realizing they do not have to starve themselves while on a weight loss diet. If this is true then how do you lose weight without starving yourself?

Losing weight should never be thought of as starving yourself ever. There is absolutely no need to even consider the option of starving yourself. Think of someone that tends to do that to themselves, they are really good at trimming down at the last minute and fitting into that bathing suit when the time comes, but as soon as they are back to their normal routine that weight just piles right back on. Think of the millions of women and men that suffer from anorexia, do you ever wonder why they continue on that vicious cycle? In some cases it can certainly be a severe emotional and mental cycle that is hard to break, but for others it can just be that they are fully aware of what can happen when they start eating again which is a serious weight gain. Starving yourself can only be a temporary thing as your body will eventually stop working properly and your mind will even suffer from it as well. Starvation is not a healthy or even successful method to lose weight, believe it or not eating more is actually how you lose weight faster and keep it off longer.

How can this be, eating more to lose weight that sounds a bit too good to be true? Well, the fact is when you take food away from the body the very first that goes is your muscles. Your muscles are natural fat burners and they need fuel to continue burning fat for you, even while you are sleeping. To eat more to lose weight you need to know what foods to eat and how often you can eat them. All professional body builders and weight loss trainers teach others how to eat right. They must eat more often during the day such as six small meals versus the three large ones everyone was trained to eat for years. When you eat more often during the day you are helping your metabolism to operate faster and that is what you need to lose weight.

Choose foods that are rich in healthy carbohydrates and solid proteins and lay off of the fatty and refined foods. If you choose to eat vegetables and protein sources all day long you can actually eat more food in one day than if you ate junk food or fast foods. High protein content and good carbohydrates will keep you fit and trim for a lifetime. Eat something every two to three hours, even if it is just an apple. Your body will be happy about his change, you will have more energy, sleep better and lose weight in a matter of weeks versus months.

If you are not going to use your own funds to invest or set up in an Italian business then there are several options open to you. The first and most obvious routes are through your accountant (commercialista) and your Italian bank. You will need to make sure you have a detailed business plan and that it has been translated into Italian and is set out in an acceptable format. Italians can be very rigid in the way they expect things to be done, so it is as well to conform to that and present something in a format they recognise.

The perfect scenario is to have an Italian partner who knows the ropes and the people concerned, as Italy is still a country where the personal touch is invaluable when doing business.

Main Lending Types:
The following list shows some of the main lending tools available for business in Italy:

Mortgage
Lease
Secured loan
Short-term credit
Medium and long-term credit
Evergreen credit
Factoring

Grants and Incentives

Funds and incentives for businesses are available from the EU, the state, the region and the provinces. Research is key and it may take some time to discover what is available.

As well as any geographic considerations, the finance and incentives available can depend upon the type of business. The main incentives cover R&D, training, SMEs, new investment, export and international business and investment in manufacturing, training and research.

For women in business, as we have seen in the case study for Caserma Carina, there are special funds and incentives available (agevolazioni per l’imprenditoria femminile).

EU:

There are over 450 different types of grants available from the EU available from various EU bodies including the European Investment Bank, the Council of Europe and the European Commission. These are awarded according to location and business sector and a useful link is here.

ZFU:

Based on the French scheme, the Zone Franche Urbane (Urban Tax-Free Zones) is a new incentive launched in June 2009. It is targeted at new small or ‘micro’ businesses and focuses on the urban regeneration of very small areas in 22 central and southern Italian towns (see below). Setting up a business is tax-free, with no payments for ICI, income tax or IRAP for 5 years. In a press release, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said: “The Italian measure will foster new business activity in deprived areas and thus boost local employment. In the longer term, the promotion of business activities will help engender positive development in vulnerable areas at both a social and economic level, without disproportionately affecting competition.”

The 22 Towns

Sicily: Catania, Gela, Erice

Calabria: Crotone Rossano and Lamezia Terme

Basilicata: Matera

Puglia: Taranto, Lecce and Andria

Campania: Naples, Torre Annunziata and Mondragone

Molise: Campobasso

Sardinia: Cagliari, Quartu Sant’Elena, Iglesias

Lazio: Velletri and Sora

Abruzzo: Pescara

Tuscany: Massa Carrara

Liguria: Ventimiglia

State:

Invitalia is the government agency for inward investment promotion and enterprise development dedicated to assist companies in all stages of the investment process, to support new business ventures and to enhance local development.

Invitalia’s Inward Investment arm promotes inviting business opportunities and strives for the success of each investment project. It is the single national reference point for advising companies eager to expand or to set up a new business in Italy by providing a full spectrum of services in all stages of the investment process.

The service kit spans from updated information on the business environment, to investment opportunities in specific sectors and business advisory services throughout the implementation process. Invitalia’s services are tailor-made, free of charge and confidential.

Region:

The different regions of Italy have their own economic policies. Some benefit from a wide range of EU structural funds while others offer their own incentives for SMEs. Globus is a platform for all the Italian Chambers of Commerce to aid Italian companies in ‘internationalizing’ their companies and has details of a range of regional grants which are updated regularly.

Some regions are more proactive than others. It is a good idea to do a web search see if the region you are going to invest in has any kind of grants or incentives available. One example of the kind of site you might find is from the region of Piemonte. The Piemonte Agency offers free advice to companies wishing to invest in the region and who manage the regional investment contract for Piemonte.

Province:

The regions are divided into provinces and these too can be sources of finance. Contact your local Chamber of Commerce to find out the latest details of any provincial funds available.

Considering stock investing in these troubled times is much like plunging your hand into a vat of killer sharks and hoping for the best and I say this because the market is seeing some really tough times of late due to the economic recession. Sure, we have a great president on the seat of the American White House but it will take some time before his initiatives and packages get felt by the economy and investor confidence gets back into the market. More than 60% of stock investors have either barricaded their position or have sold most of their assets in the hope to recoup some of their losses and not get stuck in a position where they have to fall down with the Titanic.

Many big companies have felt the bite and names that would never have appeared in the red in the collective minds of investors the world over have done that very thing and confidence in the market is about as concrete as tissue. So you need to look elsewhere because those of them who are still in the market are people with either enough capital to shore up any sort of loss or those who have been in the game long enough to know when to capitalise and where to make the most money – and usually that equation will come up with the expense of you. So consider other markets before you do and one of the markets that has been gaining attention of late is the online paper trade, or the Forex market.

Now, with commodity that forms the backbone of the world economy, there will always be money to be made and since it is a zero sum game, you will be assured that there will always be a winner and there will always be a loser, so you know which position you must be in for you to succeed. Why do I say that the forex market is one of the best solutions out there? Well for one thing, there is this thing called mini Forex, which I think most of you reading this article should start to consider as step 2 (with step one being getting yourself involved in a dummy account provided by anyone of the online and offline brokerages all over the world), because with the mini Forex market, you get a lower leverage, higher margin and less risk, because it takes much less capital for you to enter the market and you are in an environment that is surrounded by people of the same calibre as you (normally).

Seasoned investors will not waste their time entering a market that has a shorter potential to making them money than the run of the mill Forex market. This is good practice for you as well, as the losses that you make will not be as extensive as the ones you make on the real big marker; treat every loss as a lesson for you to learn. Once you gather enough expertise and see the value of the Forex market, you wont even remember what stock investing is all about.