4 Common Financial Mistakes to Avoid in Your 50s

When you enter your 50s, you likely start thinking about life differently. If you have had kids, they are likely out of the house, and if you have built a career, you might be thinking about retirement. 

There are many things that could be on your mind, but it is important not to get overwhelmed and to stay focused on your most essential responsibilities. One of these is the financial well-being of yourself and your family. 

Unfortunately, many people in their 50s are more financially stable than ever, but they may also be vulnerable to silly mistakes.

Retaining your family’s security and avoiding financial missteps is easy when you simply know what to look out for. Rather than handling your money mindlessly, consider the following four errors that middle-aged people commonly make, and determine to avoid them at all costs.

Not Establishing a Will or Trust

According to the AARP, more people in their 50s are choosing to establish trusts over wills, but no matter which you choose, it is essential that you draft a document indicating how your assets and property should be divided after your death. 

It is understandable that many people do not want to do this—it is unpleasant, after all, to consider your own passing—but failure to do so can put your family through the massive hassle of navigating probate and debating over who receives what part of your estate. Invest in professional estate planning now.

Failing to Research Investments Wisely

Entrepreneurs such as Donald Gayhardt have made a name for themselves by fostering a portfolio of diverse and lucrative investments. Indeed, many people start thinking about the stock market for the first time when they are in their 50s. 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make, though, is failing to research your investments wisely and make financial decisions accordingly. According to Investopedia, taking bad advice is often costly, and there is no shortage of bad advice floating around. 

Consult with a knowledgeable professional before you dive all the way into the world of investing and trading stocks.

Burning Through Funds Set Aside for Retirement

It might seem like no big deal to dip into your retirement savings to help cover big and small expenses in the meantime. Perhaps your kid needs some assistance or maybe the car needs repairs. 

No matter what the justification is, though, the result is the same: you may wake up one day and realize that your savings have evaporated. Financially successful individuals such as Donald Gayhardt have proved that it is possible to become wealthy in your 50s and beyond—but you won’t accomplish it by slowly depleting the savings you have accumulated towards retirement.

Planning Poorly for the Future

The future is scary, and nobody would blame you for maintaining a live-in-the-now philosophy. As you enter your 50s and beyond, though, it is never more important to consider how your financial future will play out. 

Will you remain at home for the rest of your life? Do you still have debts to pay off? If you plan to reside in an assisted living facility, how will you finance the cost? 

These are questions that you should think about and begin formulating answers to. If you put them off for too long, somebody else may answer them for you.

Financial planning is essential at every stage in a person’s life, but it is particularly imperative when you are in your 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. 

Even if you have not invested in any professional financial advice, it is not too late to do so, and this decision could save you and your family from considerable stress in the future.

Broken Wallets: How to Manage Your Personal Finances after a Personal Injury

Personal injuries can happen to anyone and at any time. Usually, they lead to great financial distress as you have to pay for medical care and the fact that you will be out of work for some time. 

Even people who are covered by health insurance will have to pay a portion of the medical costs. Depending on the severity of the injury, you may have to spend a lot of time from work, and the opportunity cost will mount over months.

It is important to learn how to manage your finances after a personal injury accident as this will help to ease the stress experienced through the period. Here are some helpful tips to help you manage your finances in case of such events:

Find out how Much Money you have

It is not possible to plan your finances if you don't have a specific figure to work with. When calculating your money, be sure to include all assets that can easily be liquidated. Other assets can be used to calculate your net worth, although this figure will only be relevant if you are going to be out of work for a very long time. 




You should include the last paycheck that you got or are about to get. Any other money that will be coming in during the period should be taken into account.

Review your Budget

Without a paycheck, you will have to edit out some purchases. In your budget, you can eliminate or reduce the expenditure on non-essential products and services. If your finances are still overstretched, you can reduce the expenditure on essentials. 

For example, you can choose to buy foods with generic branding. Cable TV can be cut or reduced for some time to lower your costs. Electricity bills can also be adjusted to suit the prevailing financial situation.

Entertainment costs don't have to be cut off completely unless you are in a particularly tight situation. A little entertainment can keep you occupied and relaxed when you aren't reporting to work for several months. 

You can simply reduce your expenditure by opting for more affordable entertainment. For example, you can find a cheaper theatre or restaurant to go to on weekends.

Negotiate with Creditors

Instead of hiding from creditors, you can renegotiate the payment plans in light of the situation. Some are even likely to extend financial help through the stressful period. You can suggest a reduction in the monthly payments or such arrangements. Here are some further tips on how you can negotiate with creditors.

Find a Part-Time Job

Even with an injury, you can get work. For example, many online jobs can be done by people who are physically challenged. 

Also, short-term disability programs can employ you for the period that you will be out of work. Whatever income you get from these temporary jobs can be used to expand your budget and allow you to live more comfortably.

Legal Expenses

The biggest expenditure in cases of personal injury is legal fees. Good personal injury lawyers don't come cheap. 

It is not advisable to choose lawyers based on their cost, especially in cases that relate to personal injury. Instead, pay the best lawyers and increase your chances of getting a settlement for the inconvenience you have undergone.

Normally, the settlement should cover your costs and inconveniences that result from the injury. If you win the case, you will be able to sustain your normal lifestyle even without a paycheck. 

Attorneys like those at Ahlander Injury Law, a group of personal injury lawyers in Las Vegas can help you get the amount of money you deserve after the accident. Depending on your financial plans, you can choose to get the settlement money in installments, or as a lump sum. 

Generally, the latter option is preferred if you intend to make investments with the money.

Personal injuries can lead to difficult financial situations. You have to adjust your lifestyle and expenditure because of the shrinking budget. 

If you are a victim of personal injury, take the step of making a claim for settlement. This can potentially save you from financial turmoil, especially if you go for the best personal injury lawyers.

Fantastically Frugal: How Families Can Save Money by Buying Online

Saving money is one of the top priorities for most families. Even if there is income in the household to cover all of the bills and any extras that the family wants to do each month, saving money for an emergency or for a large investment is still a worthy goal. 

Instead of looking for ways to save money in stores, consider shopping online to get more savings on the things that your family uses on a regular basis, such as clothing and food.

Wait for Certain Days

There are a few days during the week when you want to shop online. Monday and Tuesday are often the best days to get deals. People tend to shop in stores over the weekend because they get paid at the end of the week and want to get out of the house to enjoy spending the money that they make or to get errands out of the way. 

If you're looking for cheaper airline tickets, search for them on Sunday. A Saturday is usually the best time to look for books and other indoor activities that are sold online.

Sign up for Deals

When you go to a store, you're usually offered a rewards card. Make that card your best friend. Sign up to receive special offers that only cardholders are entitled to, such as buy-one-get-one-free sales. 

Sites like Joinesty keep track of sales online and will send an alert to either your email address or your mobile device when there is a deal on items that you enjoy using or that you're interested in trying.

Drops in Price

Instead of returning an item that you purchase online, use a new sale as a way to make money. Monitor the price of the items that you purchase for the first few days after it arrives. 

If there is a lower price and only a certain number of days have passed per company policy, then the store will usually refund the difference of what you paid and the new price of the item.

Be Nice

If there's something that you want to try but don't want to spend a lot of money on it in case you don't like it, there is a way you can get it cheaper. 

Talk to the customer service representative online in a chat window. Explain that you want to try the product but that you would like to know if there are any discounts possible. If you're polite and offer suggestions or even ask a few questions, then you can usually get some kind of discount.

An easy way to save money is to shop online. From grocery stores to retail stores, you can do almost all of the family shopping online and save more money than if you were to shop in the store. 

Organize all of the emails and other online information that you have available so that you're ready to pad your wallet.

Useful Tips for Property Development Loans

A property development loan is given to property developers who are looking to construct buildings and sell them or rent them out to other business. Factors to consider when looking for property development loans are:

Conducting Enough Research

It is important for individuals who are looking for property development loans to conduct a thorough research. One of the commonly made mistakes by homeowners or builders is choosing the wrong area for rebuilding or impatiently rushing into building the project. 

Conducting proper research and asking the right kind of questions at the start itself, will give the individual the right idea and the potential of the area that needs to be rebuilt and less likely to face issues in the future. 

Obtaining Permission

Obtaining the right kind of permission and approvals is very important before applying for property development loans. The individuals looking for the loans should determine if the intended development needs specific approvals from the government or the local authority. 

This can be a lengthy process. The type of development usually influences it. Even if the loans are approved by the lenders, it would mean nothing if the permission is not granted by the local authority. 

The Experience of The Customers or Developers

Lenders will enjoy the experience of working with people who have previous experience of working on property development. This is the main reason why lenders ask for the resume of the developers before proceeding with the conversation on the property development loans. 

If the customer has extensive experience in delivering quality projects, the lender will be more favorable. 

Competitive Quotes and Budgets

Before applying for property development loans, the customer should use quality workers to conduct the survey for property development or hire excellent external contractors for getting competitive bids. 

The cost of every development project will go up and it is a good option to take over running time or over budgeting into consideration.

Owning the Site of Property Development

If the property developer owns the site of the property development, the application will become more favorable in the eyes of the lender. If there is no debt associated with this land, a lender won’t mind in giving a 100% property development loan. 

Filling the Documentation Accurately

The property developer should not rush through. They should ensure that all the papers are filled accurately with precision. An incomplete form shows that the developer lacks interest and automatically reduces the possibility of getting the loan from the lender. 

The developer should be completely transparent, divulge all the details truthfully, and ensure that no information in the form is inaccurate. 

Fund the Development Appropriately

There are diverse ways to structure the financing component of the development project. Solutions can be flexible and they can have built differently in terms of schedules and different repayment models. 

One of the common options is the short-term finance for building cost and then a long-term loan option or commercial mortgages.

Many lenders in the market lend money based on the development project in hand and the geography of the site where the property is going to develop. 

The developer should look for an exit plan if things go wrong. The exit plan can include selling all the properties or refinancing them into a mortgage for the long-term.

The Developer Should Consider Using a Project Manager

Although, a project manager is an additional expense to the builder, he will be a cost-saving effort in the long run. In addition to being a middleman between different contractors, a project manager can make a significant difference on how well the budget and timeline can be maintained.

Overall, a property development in a rural area will be looked as a less secure option when building a property in a residential area. Considering these factors, getting the required approval for property development is not an easy task.

About the Writer

This post is written by Joseph Webb. Joseph is an excellent blogger and philosophers, His keen observation to provide useful information which helps readers to get more ideas. He can be found on Facebook and on Twitter as @aussiesmag.

Frugal Spender: 4 Ways To Cut Costs On Your Everyday Bills

Saving money is something that many people try to do on a regular basis. Even if there are multiple incomes in the household, it's always a good idea to cut everyday bills and put a little money into a savings account in the event that there is an emergency. 

Sometimes, it seems like you're never going to get ahead because bills continue to increase no matter what you do about them. This is when you might want to consider changing a few services completely so that you deal with a new company instead of just trying to save a little money here and there.

Cutting Away

There are probably several things that you can cut out of your daily and monthly expenses that you don't need. One of them might be your morning coffee. 

If you save this small amount each day, it can add up to a significant amount by the end of the month. You can get a travel mug and make coffee at home to take with you to work in the morning or when you leave the house. 

Avoid going out to eat. This can sometimes be hard to do if you don't have a lot of time to cook at home, but if you take the time to prepare meals yourself, then you're going to be serving healthy meals that are less expensive. 

Another item that you can cut out is clothing. This doesn't mean that you can't get clothes and shoes when they are needed. It just means that you should look at secondhand stores and yard sales to get deals on items that are a fraction of the price that they would be new.

Changing Companies

After talking to the utility companies and other businesses and getting nowhere with lowering your bill, you might stand a better chance of getting a lower rate if you change companies. 

There are numerous companies across the country that offer many of the same services that may be at a better price than what you were paying before. Make sure you do your research, for instance some may think of this as an ACN Pyramid Scheme, when in reality ACN is a company that is offering the services you’re looking for at a more affordable price. 

Some companies will offer added incentives or discounts for signing up with them, saving you money while giving you a few perks.

Save Loose Change

Put a jar on a counter where family members can put their loose change inside. It could be change that you find in the car, in the couch or even from a yard sale that you have. 

At the end of the month, count the change that you have collected. Put this money into a savings account for emergencies. Another way that you can use the loose change that you have collected is to stock up on toiletries that you know you'll need. 

You could also pay extra on a credit card bill or an electric bill so that you have a small cushion for the next month.

Do Away With Buying Expensive Items

Buying name brands can sometimes lead to spending more money than you have to. In many cases, store brands are just as good as the name brand item, but they are less expensive. 

You can also get clothing that is considered the store brand instead of jeans and shirts that are only known because of the name that is associated with them. When you're shopping for holidays and birthdays, avoid spending a lot of money on expensive gifts by making your own.

Cutting costs on things that you use on a daily basis can be hard. Sit down as a family to come up with a plan of action. When you start to see that your savings add up to more than what you normally have available, then it will be easier to continue these habits.

6 Tips on How to Improve Your Online Sales

Shopping online is growing more and more popular every day. It is easier in the sense that it gets done quickly and you do not have to go anywhere. 

However, it is very demanding for the website owners as the customers can be skeptical towards buying something they haven’t touched or seen, tried on etc. It works better for the services, but then again, competition is vast so you have to come up with a way for your online sales to stand out.

Organize your shelves

The same way you put a thought into organizing your store shelves, equipment, and sales personnel, you need to think carefully about how you layout information on your website and what information it contains. 

Remember that it is your sales assistant and try to write descriptions of products or services as to answer any questions a customer may have.

Reach out to people

Set up social network accounts. This will allow you to regularly update your potential customers without too much hassle. You can even target them by joining certain groups. 

Encourage your visitors/customers to leave comments on your social network profiles and link them to your website. That way, newcomers will be able to read up on different experiences with your product/service.

Invite people to act promptly

Make the best use of your call-to-action buttons. They need to be striking and impossible to miss. You need to make your customers want to click on them badly even if it is just a sign-up. 

Having subscribers will allow you to send out newsletters and remind people of your existence regularly. Make the sign up as quick and easy as possible, perhaps even by using an account they already have with let’s say Google. 

This is a place to hire an SEO company to assist. Also, they could help increase traffic on your page which will boost the sales.

Record yourself

It doesn’t have to be you personally, but you can have promotional videos of your offers embedded on your website. 

Perhaps, you could even offer instructions on how certain products are used or even tour guides depending on the services provided and link them to your website. People prefer watching someone do it while learning how to do it over reading an instruction manual.

Analyze

Use analysis tools to find out which pages of your website are the most visited and successful when it comes to sales. 

You can then adapt other pages to be more like the top ones. Also, analyze the products you are selling and divide them to your top and your bottom sales.

Offer good deals

This is a typical marketing strategy so you need to use it, offer good deals to your visitors. You now know what your most popular products are, so use them to sell other, less popular related products. 

Also, you can target the less favored ones and try to point out why someone would benefit from buying them even if they perhaps are not really top notch. Try offering quantity discount, buy one get one free etc.

Remember that your online visitors have a wide range to choose out of. You need to make sure that they choose you. Offer them as much information as possible so they feel like they are making a sane decision and are not being pushed into anything. 

Try to answer all of their questions related to a product. If possible, enable live chat on your website to assist them. Once they know they are making an informed decision they will think more of you and have greater trust for their future shopping.