Money and Kids: Teaching Kids to Earn Money

Tagged Under : Earn Money, Kids Earn, Kids Earn Money, Money

Before kids can spend money, they have to have some in their pocket. How do your kids earn money?

The avenues that children have to earn money are very limited, and every parent has a slightly different philosophy about how their children should earn money. Here are the pros and cons of some common ways cash finds it’s way into the little pockets of our kids:

Grandma
Birthdays, Christmas, Granmda sneaking money to the kids when you’re not looking. Sometimes kids just get gifts. Obviously this doesn’t teach them about earning money, but it’s a good opportunity to teach kids about generosity and gratitude. (Please teach your kids to write thank-you notes. It’s worth it.)

Allowance
Lots of parents give their kids an allowance – a certain amount of money each week to spend. An allowance implies that they receive the money no matter what – they haven’t necessarily “earned” it. Often kids are required to do chores and contribute to the household, but the two things may not seem related – especially to very young children.

One positive thing about giving kids an allowance is that they know how much money they’re going to have and when they’re going to have it. I think that can teach so

Read more…

Irvine Bank Owned Condos Real Estate report.

Tagged Under : Bank Owned, Real Estate, Report

This report is for standard sales and bank owned foreclosure Condominiums in Irvine , and is brought to you by the Broker at eVantage Real Estate. Currently, there are a total of 298 condo units currently listed for sale in Irvine . The median price for these listed condominiums is $399,900 and the average price per square foot is $293 . Of this total, 27 are bank foreclosure condo listings. The median price of these bank REO condos is $349,900 , and the average price per square foot is $279 . The ratio of bank owned condo listings to total listings is 9% .

For condominiums, there are now 213 attached units in escrow, and the median price is $389,900 . Of this number, 19 are bank foreclosure Condos in escrow in Irvine . These bank Owned condos are 9% of the total units in escrow, and the median price is $389,900 .

For attached condos, there have been a total of 198 condominium sales in the past 3 months. The median price was $198,000 , and the average price per square foot was $292 in Irvine . In addition, there were 23 bank foreclosure condos that sold and closed escrow during this same period of time, which was 12% of the total number of units sold.

Read more…

SSE to compensate mis-sold doorstep switchers

Tagged Under : Doorstep, Doorstep Switchers

Energy provider SSE says it has put aside £5 million to compensate customers who were wrongly persuaded to switch their gas and electricity supply to the company on their doorstep.

From January, the provider is implementing a sales guarantee for household energy customers under which anyone who shows that they switched their energy supply to SSE after being given inaccurate information or being misled will have any resulting financial loss made good.

The guarantee will apply to any household energy sale made by SSE since October 2009, when the industry watchdog Ofgem placed new obligations on energy suppliers to make sure sales activities are conducted in a fair and professional manner.

From late January onwards, SSE will write to all 400,000 of its existing customers who it signed up through the doorstep sales channel between October 2009 and July 2011 to make them aware of the guarantee and to let them know what they need to do if they believe they have suffered any financial loss.

A sales guarantee information line (0845 0707 388) has been set up and a helpline will become fully operational in late January, when SSE starts to write to customers.

While admitting it is not possible to predict precisely how many customers may have suffered financially as a result of switching energy supplier, the provider believes that around £5 million should be sufficient to meet any claims.

SSE became the first energy supplier in Britain to call a halt to commission-based doorstep selling of gas and electricity in July. <

Read more…

Burton Malkeil on Bonds

Tagged Under : Burton, Burton Malkeil

Interesting piece in yesterday’s WSJ by Burton Malkiel (of Random Walk Down Wall Street fame).

The point of his piece is that bond yields will most likely fall below inflation for years to come due to excessive debt and low interest rates and that investors should take a look at their portfolios and make some changes. He recommends…

I think there are two reasonable strategies that investors should consider. The first is to look for bonds with moderate credit risk where the spreads over U.S. Treasury yields are generous. The second is to consider substituting a portfolio of dividend-paying blue chip stocks for a high-quality bond portfolio.

For the first, he recommends tax-exempt municipal bonds that get reliable revenues:

The first class is tax-exempt municipal bonds. The fiscal problems of state and local governments are well known, and the parlous state of municipal budgets has led to very high yield spreads on all tax-exempt bonds. Many revenue bonds with stable and growing sources of revenue sell at quite attractive yields relative to U.S. Treasurys.

For example, the New York/New Jersey Port Authority gets reliable revenues from airports, bridges and tunnels to support its debt. Lon

Read more…

The True Value of a Property Management Company

Tagged Under : Management, Property Management

For a property owner to do business with a property management service, they must feel that their 8-10% management fee is valid and deserved.  When you take a call from a prospective client, you must sell yourself based what you truly offer.  This article covers some key areas to explain when discussing your companies role in the business.

1. Responsive Service.

If a manager doesnt handle all incoming rental leads quickly, you can believe that theyll move on to the next listing. In a market where the competition for renters is stiff, you need to jump on every opportunity. Also responding quickly to maintenance or payment issues is of utmost importance.

2. Ability to deal with all types of tenants.

Being a landlord sometimes requires less-than comfortable interactions with tenants. Your role is to serve as their liason in all dealings no matter what.  At the same time, understanding and compassion is a key trait. Your company must react to each situation in way that best reflects the interests of the property owner.

3. Experience in Marketing and Applicant Screening (Judging the good from the bad).

One bad tenant can turn their profitable venture into a money pit. Ow

Read more…