3 Common Options to Spend Retirement Money And Gain Profit

retirement (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

A lot of people are looking forward to retirement. There is so much freedom when you reach your retirement years. No more worries about performing responsibilities in the office, going home late, waking up early, and the list goes on. And probably, the best part of retiring is getting hold of your retirement money. Yes! It means you will have a budget to finance your needs and wants. But, retirees should be careful in spending their hard-earned money. In an instant, it can disappear. 

For those who want to secure their future, investing your money is a clever option. However, you cannot just jump into any decision and put your money in any investment opportunity. Investment requires you to analyze, study and foresee the possible outcome. If you have not decided yet where to invest your retirement money, here are three options you can take into account. 

Stock Market

Taking part in the stock market offers remarkable return of investment (ROI). In other words, it involves great profit generating opportunity. If you are interested in this kind of investment option, you need to fully understand the risk associated to it. Being a stock investor is not easy. It is either you can gain big bucks or lose big amount of money. However, it does not mean that it is impossible to become a good stock investor. Seek out the help of stock consultants to educate and guide you all the way. Make sure you work with a reliable consultant to truly learn the ins and outs investing in the stock market. 

Start a Small Business

After spending half of your life working in a company, retirement is a perfect time to start your very own business. Are you into handicrafts and home decoration pieces? You can open up a handicraft store in your local area. If your interest revolves around car and automobile, a mechanical store is suitable for you. You can sell spare parts of the vehicles and even, mechanical services. For those who enjoy cooking, you can start a small restaurant (which you can grow bigger later on). There are so many types of business you can consider. All you have to do is think of your interest to help you decide. 

Buy Properties

Real estate is a booming industry these days. Might as well take advantage of this trend. Look for properties with remarkable opportunity to make money. There are real estate companies out there that can help you find a suitable property. Buy a vacation house in an area close to the nature or beach. You can offer this property for rent during summer holiday break or anytime of the year. Make sure the location is promising to attract vacationers. During off-season, you can spend your vacation in your property to relax.


If you have an eye for city-based properties, there are many land developers constructing apartments in Atlanta GA, Houston TX, Boston MA and other major cities in different states. Of course, you need to take into account your location. Check out property developments in your area. Later on, you can venture into nearby areas for another profit opportunity. Remember, properties are good investment as their value goes up as year passes by.


Retirees can double or even triple their retirement money if they spend it wisely. All it takes is great determination (strong will to succeed) and a lot of patience.

Prepaid Cards Can Help You Manage Your Money Better

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When customers need access to reliable credit cards for recurring payments or security purposes, the Kaiku Visa prepaid card will help them through. These prepaid cards are accepted anywhere that Visa is accepted so making payments is quick and simple. 

By using the Kaiku Visa prepaid card, customers will have complete control over their accounts and payments. All that anyone who purchases prepaid cards needs to do is make sure they load the card with sufficient funds to make any payments. 

This method of managing payments will work well for those who sometimes struggle to make payments with their regular debit card. With the Kaiku Visa prepaid card, they will know exactly how much they have on the card at any given time. 

The Kaiku Visa prepaid card offers users so many exciting and practical uses that include making daily purchases, whether online, on the phone or in the store. Customers can get cash from a Allpoint ATM network machine, or they can request cash back during a grocery visit when using it as a debit card. 

Parents can use the Kaiku Visa prepaid card to help teach their children about managing money at an early age since cards are a common means of payment today. Children will learn to keep track of their available balance daily. 

Kaiku monitors each card's usage to try to detect fraud attempts and stop them in their before escalating, and each customer's personal information is safely encrypted to avoid the possibility of identity theft.

Educational Grants for Over 50s

Because of the economic downturn during the past decade, many seniors are beginning to panic that their retirement savings may not be enough to sustain them or that the Social Security Program may be completely gutted. This has caused some to look toward working longer or re-entering the workforce; however, one glance at the tuition and fees associated with going back to college to better their skills or get a degree has caused many people over the age of 50 to turn back from this course of action. What few of these seniors know is that just as they save money by using coupons at the grocery store or buying their clothing at thrift shops, they can also get a discount on education by applying for grants.

Money obtained in the form of a grant never has to be repaid, so this is the perfect way for those living on a small income to return to college. Some grants cover the entire cost of tuition, but obtaining several smaller grants can add up and make a big difference. The following opportunities are just a few of the ones available for seniors who need to get more job training:

• Federal Government Pell Grants: Most people think Pell Grants are only given to young people right out of high school, but this is not true. This government funding is available to people of any age who have an income low enough to qualify for assistance.

• State Funding: Unfortunately, every state does not have a grant program to aid seniors in returning to college, but several do. These include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, and Maryland. Other states may offer some type of college funding for people over fifty through the State Community Service Block Grant Act 676. Ask about applications at the financial aid office of a local college.

• AARP Grants: The American Association of Retired People is well known for supporting the educational efforts of its members. Funding from this organization is designed to help those over the age of 55 to obtain the skills that they will need to stay in the workforce or return to it.

• Foundational Grants: Several special foundations offer grant money for seniors to use for educational purposes. Some of these include The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Donald W. Reynold’s Foundation, and The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. Check online for specifics about each of these opportunities and to find application forms.

Because of the large number of applications received and the limited amount of money available, competition for college funding for seniors is fierce. However, seniors willing to search for the best sources of money and those who fill out the forms necessary for a grant will find that their patience and hard work will ultimately be rewarded. By using grant money to upgrade their skills and education, they will be able to keep their nest eggs intact and complete their training without having to pay back huge loans. In the process, they may just keep their minds sharp and healthy as well.

Guest author Michelle Williams writes for www.CollegeGrant.net, a site that has more details about applying for grants.

How Obamacare Is Helping People Get Health Insurance

English: Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Efforts to transform the American Health Care System in the so-called Obamacare plan seem not to be working as it was promised. Observers are afraid of a disastrous result with democrats and republicans setting up their own health marketplaces that have to be ready for the consumers to make a health care choice by October 1, 2013. Considered by some as just an experiment, Obamacare is not helping people get health insurance because applying for it is not easy anyway, and many people are absolutely clueless how to make and educate decision when it comes to health insurance, if nobody seems interested at all in educating citizens about the insurance options. 

Decreasing Rather Than Increasing Your Chances 

Curiously, it is supposed that the best and easy way to receive the benefits of the Obamacare plan is through your employer, but everyday more and more companies reduce their number of workers or reduce the working hours to avoid providing their employees with such health coverage. People who are left out of a company plan is expected to approach the health marketplaces to come in October, but there is not enough information on how to purchase coverage and how much they will have to spend on it. 

Getting Ready for a Duteous Application 

Now, the government said that it would never be so easy to buy health care insurance, and that anyone could do it much in the same fashion they buy at Amazon or similar online stores. However, what Obama did not say is that the application includes around 15 pages that require the completion of nearly 21 steps and that many of these steps require further answers to more questions and requirements. Moreover, after the application is submitted, at least three federal agencies will review it to check your identity and veracity of the information, including a verification performed by the IRS. 

Shopping at Amazon, Dream On 

If you think it will be that easy to buy health care insurance when the enrollment season begins this fall, you are probably dreaming. Obama's Affordable Care Act requires the above process to learn more about your financial situation, because it is meant to provide generous support to lower income people. However and regardless of your financial status, once approved for Obamacare, the hardest part is choosing a health plan because all the information that is provided in pure insurance jargon that not all people understand along with a number of additional steps before you can actually purchase health insurance. 

Fortunately, for some, unfortunately for many others, taking out health insurance will be mandatory starting in 2014, so that American citizens are uncertain about what the future is bringing. For people who actually have health insurance through Medicaid or Medicare, it is expected that nothing will change, as they can continue under such health coverage, same as workers who receive other types of health insurance from their employers. However, for people who do not carry health insurance yet, the panorama is not promising, but seems to add more hassle than benefit to their lives.

Multi-Level Marketing or Franchising?

We are in the age where everyone is practically looking for a business opportunity that will give him or her extra income. But what will you choose? Multi-level marketing or franchising? 

Here are some facts that will help you choose between franchising or multi-level marketing. 

Franchising has been defined as a commercial relationship that is composed of three influential factors and these factors are the use of marketing plan, trademark and franchisee fee. 

A franchisee or the buyer is allowed to use the trademark of a popular brand with a franchise fee. 

Franchisee fee is not a one time payment, as a franchisee you have to pay the franchise fee every year as long as you are using the marketing plan and trademark of the brand. 

Aside from the franchisee fee, you also have to pay royalty fee. Royalty fee is a percentage of your earnings in relation to the sale that you have incurred while marketing the brand. 

The royalty fee and the franchise fee do not include the products that you have to sell. For example, you are franchising a food chain, the franchise fee and royalty fee does not include the burgers, fries, juices that you will sell in your burger shop. 

You have to buy the products direct from the franchising company and you have to remember that you are not allowed to buy any product outside the franchise company. 

On the other hand, multi-level marketing is a business opportunity that gives huge income even without paying royalty fee and franchisee fee. 

Meaning, in multi-level marketing, you do not have to pay millions of franchising fee or royalty fee. You can already be a member of multi-level marketing with just a small membership fee. 

In addition, the membership fee in multi-level marketing is just a one time payment unlike the royalty fee that you have to pay yearly so not to loose the right to market the brand. 

But if the business is not good, where will you get the payment for franchising fee and royalty fee? This is the reason why most franchisee investments are not long lasting because you have to pay millions of money for franchisee fee and royalty fee without an assurance that it will give high returns.

 
In addition, why choose to market products that will require you to pay them half of your earnings where in fact there are other business opportunities that will give the freedom to own and manage your own business investment? 

As a whole, multi-level marketing is a better alternative than franchising because the terms of multi-level marketing is more practical, economical and gives higher returns of investment than a franchising. 

Bio – Terry is a free lancer writer of www.smallbusinessmoney.org/ and he enjoys writing about business for home topics.

Seven Android Apps To Help You Get Great Deals

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If you are one of those people who enjoys shopping, then you may want to take a look at the different deals that you can get. There are a lot of great deals out there, just as long as you know where to find them. Finding a good deal used to be easy in the past, as most people would just take a look in the newspaper or see an advertisement. These days, things are even easier thanks to the Internet. If you have a smartphone, then you can use it to scout out the latest prices and even compare prices between different companies. These apps will help you to find out where the best prices are and get the best possible deals that you can find. 

ShopSavvy

As the app states, you can be a little more savvy when you shop with this app. If you want something in particular, you can use this app in order to find a lower price for it. All you need to do is use the app to scan the item and see if there is a cheaper one.

LivingSocial

This app can give you access to a number of different discount deals. Some of the deals can be as high as ninety percent off the original price. This is certainly an app that you will want to take a look at if you are interested in making some big savings.

Groupon

This is one of the most popular types of app out there now. Groupon is similar to LivingSocial in many ways when it comes to the deals that it offers. The only difference is that Groupon has been known for a much longer time than LivingSocial has, and is still a very popular website.

Decide

Decide is an app that is used by shoppers to predict prices. If a particular product comes out now, you may want to find out how much it is going to cost in a couple of months. Decide will be able to calculate that this and give you a rough estimation of how much it is going cost.

Milo

This is an app that has a large database when it comes to price and availability. Definitely a handy one to have when you decide to for a day of shopping.

Best Buy

With this app, you will have access to the entire catalog of Best Buy products. Users with this app will also be able to compare prices in order to find one that they like.

eBay

Everyone likes shopping on eBay, but there is often a lot to go through. Thankfully, there are plenty of different choices available now when it comes to this app. You will be able to browse through all of the new offers on eBay and find out more regarding other options.

Author Bio:
Liam is a freelance writer and blogger. He writes on various different topics, including coupons, savings, style, design, fashion and travel. For Great deals visit the site Tiger Direct Coupons. Use promo codes and reduce your expenditure.