Archive for the ‘Finance’ Category

Choosing The Best ISA For Your Needs – Start Today!

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Individual Savings Accounts

Individual Savings Accounts get the job done, but that doesn’t mean that it’s always so simple to figure out what you need to do in order to get where you need to go. Saving for the future is something that everyone talks about, but is it really something that you need to think about in order to push forward? Of course it is!

You see, you have the right to save your money, and there are many different vehicles that are in place for you to do this. It’s all about the type of risk profile that you’re building for your finances.

UK savings and finance isn’t anymore complicated than any other country’s finances, but you do need to look at your options. That’s what we’ve come here to do today.

So let’s bring the conversation back to Individual Savings accounts, shall we?

Individual Savings Accounts are just a financial product that allows you to invest money without being subject to income tax or even capital gains tax if you pull it out to use it for something else. A lot of people assume this means that the funds have to be used for retirement but this isn’t the case at all. You might be saving money for a home purchase or another major purchase where liquid savings would be a wise idea. A broad range of investments can be held within the Individual Savings Account structure, so keep this in mind.

There are two major types of ISAs: cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs. You might also hear about Junior ISAs as well — we will get to those in just a moment.

You see, a Cash ISA is exactly what it sounds like. You can deposit cash into the account like any other savings account. The money is tax-free at this point, which can definitely save you a lot of money.

However, there’s the stocks and shares ISA which also tends to get people a little confused. You see, the money that you invest in a stocks and ISA can be put to different investment vehicles while still letting you enjoy tax free growth. You can put money towards a future investment — which would be considered the “cash” portion of the S&S ISA, or you can go into investment trusts. There’s also OEICs, unit trusts, stock market company shares, public debt securities, Eurobonds… the list goes on and on. Suffice it to say that you will definitely have a lot of choices when it comes to how you invest in a stocks and shares ISA.

Earlier we spoke a bit on risk profiles and risk management. With so many different investments you have to realize that a stocks and shares ISA can definitely be a lot riskier. In fact, the only way a stocks and shares ISA qualifies per se is if you can lose up to five percent of the overall value. So while there is reward, there is also risk as well.

So, what about those Junior ISAs? Well, as you can tell by the name, they are going to be the ISAs that are available to those under 18. The child in question must be born on or after 3 Jan 2011 and be a resident of the UK.

There are some limits to an ISA that you need to know about before you get too excited about them. For example, you need to keep in mind that you cannot put in more than the annual limit into ISAs.

The overall limit is 10,680 GBP. The cash limit is going to be 5,340, so keep that in mind when you’re trying to invest money into an ISA — the remainder can go into a stocks and shares ISA. You should also be aware that there can only be one of each — if you try to take out too many accounts, you will lose the benefits and be subject to penalties.

Now is the perfect time to start thinking about ISAs — why not get started today?

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Benefits of a Trust Deed

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Trust Deed

If you’re a Scottish resident and you’re struggling with unsecured debts that you can’t afford to repay in full in a reasonable period, there is an approach that could help you.

A Trust Deed is a legally binding form of insolvency, available exclusively in Scotland.

The pressure of having debts that you’ve lost control of, especially in the current climate when many of us are getting by on tight budgets, can be tough, which makes it all the more important that you get the professional advice you need as soon as you can – so you can find the best approach for you.

Let’s take a look at how entering a Trust Deed could help you regain control of your unsecured debts at a pace you can manage.

What is a Trust Deed?

A Trust Deed is a formal insolvency solution, designed to help people repay whatever they can afford towards their unsecured debts. On successful completion, your lenders will actually write off whatever part of the debt you can’t afford to repay.

Visit Wilson Andrews to find out more.

What are the benefits of a Trust Deed?

A Trust Deed could be agreed with your unsecured lenders, if they consider it the best way of getting back a decent amount of what you owe overall.

Once a Trust Deed is agreed, you will:

•    Make reduced monthly payments, based on whatever you can afford to repay after you’ve covered your essential outgoings
•    Stop any further legal action from your unsecured lenders
•    Have whatever debt you can’t afford to repay as part of the agreement written off on successful completion – usually after 3 years.

Furthermore, if you’re a homeowner, you should be able to stay in your home, as long as you stick to your side of the agreement. However, you may have to release some of the equity in your home so you can repay your lenders more of what they’re owed.

A Trust Deed will affect your credit rating for six years from the day it begins.

How could I set up a Trust Deed?

As it’s a form of insolvency, a Trust Deed requires an Insolvency Practitioner (IP) in order to be set up.

Basically, if all your other options have been assessed and a Trust Deed is found to be the best option for you, the IP will go through your finances with you and use this information to draw up a Trust Deed ‘proposal’ with you.

This document will show your lenders exactly how your Trust Deed will work (e.g. how much you’ll repay every month and for how long). Your Trust Deed proposal will then be sent to your unsecured lenders (and the details advertised in the Edinburgh Gazette), and unless more than half of your lenders (or lenders who account for more than a third of your debt between them) reject it, your Trust Deed will become protected by law.

Is a Trust Deed right for me?

There are various debt solutions available in Scotland, depending on what situation you’re in. Even if a Trust Deed isn’t suitable for you, another approach – such as the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) – could help you.

You should always get professional debt advice before making a final decision.

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Financial Ruin Can Be Subtle – Do You Know the Signs?

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Financial Ruin

One of the greatest myths in the world of personal finance is that you are always aware of your debts. Sometimes debt really can indeed sneak up on you, and sometimes it comes to a point where you really need to step back and make sure that you keep your eyes on what truly matters. Yet if you don’t know where to begin, how do you really put the pieces together? Of course, if you’re already a personal finance junkie, then it might be hard for you to imagine that other people really are that clueless about their own finances.

The reality here that we all need to face is that you have to take matters into your own hands. But if your parents never said anything, and your teachers never said anything, and your relatives never really said anything, then you really might not realize the gravity of the situation until it’s too big to ignore anymore.

There are a few signs that you might be running into financial problems that you’re not realizing.

The biggest one is the shift from cash to credit. If you’re starting to use credit cards a lot more, then you’re going to need to make sure that you really are thinking about getting out of that situation as soon as possible. Building up credit card debt is not good because the payments can easily get out of control. If you’re spending your money on the essential items rather than luxurious ones, you might not have enough income to support your current lifestyle. You will have to modify as necessary.

This is where feelings can get hurt, because nobody wants to be told that what they’re doing may not be yielding them the results that they’re looking for. Yes, we’re well aware that not everyone can run out and find a job. However, there are plenty of people that find another way to make a second income in a safe, legal fashion. You might have to do odd jobs or network in your community. If you have a skill that is in demand by someone, you can usually charge them a modest fee to help them out. If you get good enough, that’s a side business that can produce some extra income.

Don’t wait till the last minute to realize your lifestyle is out of control. If you don’t have a budget, now is definitely the time to make sure that you have that under control. If you don’t have what you need, now is the time to get what you need. That’s really the only way to go if you’re really serious about living a better life in the long run.

Did we mention that it might be hard to face these things? We may have earlier, but it bears repeating — nothing about hits will be easy.

Another thing that comes up often is disconnection bills. When you’re starting to get a lot of disconnect notices, you really do need to start making changes. When there are collection agencies calling you, it’s time to make some changes. Even before that when the original creditor is calling you; it’s time to start thinking about a change in your lifestyle.

Getting out of debt is a process and a system. It’s one that isn’t overnight, but you can build a plan to get out of debt. Even if that means that you will have to get a job, then you’re going to have to do whatever it takes to get out of the situation and onto a different chapter of your life — hopefully a better chapter of your life. If you can live with roommates or family to save money, you might need to do that. You may need to safely try to buy less food or take public transportation rather than trying to maintain a car. Either way, you will need to ensure that you take care of the situation one way or the other.

Looking at your life and seeing the things around you — the stress of handling financial emergencies, the stress that comes every time there’s a time where there’s going to be extra money required — and realizing that things are broken is a tough pill to swallow. But ignoring the problem will truly only make it worse — don’t be in that situation if you can help it. Break out, move on, and rise higher — it takes time but it’s really worth it!

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Get Help Getting Your New Business Off the Ground – Check Out The Win your Business Contest

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Trying to build a business is a great deal of hard work, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth fighting for. You will have to make sure that you think about all of the angles involved, including funding, support, marketing, advertising and just general publicity.

That sounds like a lot of work, and it definitely can be. However, the rewards are pretty great — a system to make income that can far surpass a regular job.

What if you could get help from the very beginning? That’s what Orange, a major company dedicated to providing services that everyday consumers can use, wants to do for you.

A different business model is often necessary for success, but how do you know which one? The Win Your Business contest can help you get started on the right track.

Orange isn’t going to leave you just hanging – they’ve created the Win Your Business contest to help you move in the right direction. Although the top prize is 200,000 GBP, you’re not just going to get funding. You will truly have a supportive environment to grow your business in. Some of the UK’s most successful leaders are going to be judging the competition, and the will also be waiting to help the winning business team take their business to dizzying heights of success from the very start.

It’s a given that many will enter, but there’s only going to be one top prize earner. You’re going to have to think about business differently. Making a different business is about doing things differently and standing by those principles. That’s what has allowed Orange to grow so rapidly and provide such quality services across the UK. Read the rest of this entry »

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Answering the Eternal Question – Should You File For Bankruptcy

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File For Bankruptcy

Let’s tackle the first burning question that’s probably in your mind when you get to this site: should you even file for bankruptcy? It’s a question that has some merits, good and bad but we’ll cover it in its entirety.

First and foremost, it’s hard to really give a yes or a no question to this. Bankruptcy has gotten a bad rap because a lot of media outlets have made it sound like you can just charge up credit cards and run away, leaving the oh-so-honest tax payers of the country to pay for your mistakes. That’s not the case at all, and you have to avoid doing things like that because it can be seen as bankruptcy fraud. There is a time and a place for bankruptcy, because you have to be able to get your personal slate wiped clean. If you can’t do that, then there’s no chance to start over and get things done.

You have to look at your own personal financial situation as well as your long term prospects for the future. Indeed, you will want to make sure that you get things taken care of because it’s better that way from every angle. The last thing that you will want to do is rush into something that can change your life so deeply. Yes, bankruptcy is going to take a hit on your credit. That’s the biggest thing that critics of the bankruptcy process say, but the truth is that your credit is probably already affected.

Think about it — you’re probably behind on at least one of your bills at the moment, and the bill collectors are calling you continuously. You might even have your wages being garnished right now, which is making it even harder to pay for the essentials in life. Wouldn’t you live better if you could get an end to the wage garnishment and the bill collectors? It would certainly be a lot less stress in your life, that’s for sure.

Bankruptcy clears that away for you, but that doesn’t mean that filing for it is a cakewalk, either. You will need to make sure that you take the means test and figure out which chapter of bankruptcy you can file under. Unless you have significant assets, you will most likely file under Chapter 7 — that is a complete liquidation plan that pretty much sets you free after the discharge. The downside is that you will have the credit hit of course, but you will emerge from bankruptcy having those debts wiped away. It’s just harder to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy if you have a high income and you can pay back some of the debts.

Chapter 13 is considered the wage earner plan where you have steady enough income to make monthly payments on all of your debts that are included in the bankruptcy. This will let you pay them and still work out terms that are much more agreeable. The payments actually handle the principal because the interest is low or nonexistent. Once you emerge out of the process, your debts are considered paid and you cannot be pursued for those debts again.

Overall, the time is right to choose bankruptcy, especially when you realize that you need help getting things done. Why not get started today?

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Basic Bank Accounts Give Everyone a Chance at a New Financial Beginning

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It’s often said that you can’t turn back time, and if you’re dealing with bad credit, you know that lesson all too well. It can often feel like everyone’s all too willing to just judge you on the things that you’ve done in the past without realizing that you should always have a chance to improve in the future.

One of the most basic tools of managing your finances is a bank account — but basic bank accounts can be difficult to find if you’ve had bad credit. Again, some banks are so concerned with everything that has happened in the past that they don’t stop and think about actually what you’ve managed to accomplish since those negative credit problems have occurred.

You might think that nobody is ever going to give you a bank account, let alone actually extend you credit. Yet basic bank accounts are actually the gateway to getting the good credit that you deserve. You want to show the bank that you can handle a basic bank account without any overdrafts. That’s a sign that you can manage your money without having to let the bank step in and handle problems for you. That’s really the best way to do things, if you ask us.

From there, you can build up a level of trust with the bank and then ask them about a secured credit card. Many banks offer these or signature loans as a way for people to eventually clean up their credit and start getting out of the debt spiral. When you start seeing progress, you start truly feeling like things are actually starting to change in your life. It’s tempting to just assume that there’s no way that you’re ever going to get back to good credit — especially if you’ve had bad credit for so long. The truth is that you will need to go ahead and push forward, which means that you start with a bank account.

Looking online for information on starting a basic bank account is really the way to go. As long as you’re willing to keep a minimum amount if money in the account, you should be good to go. Some people even set up direct deposit as a way of covering the opening deposit — that’s another avenue to getting a bank account. After all, the bank likes knowing that they can count on a certain amount of money hitting your account each and every month — sometimes even twice a month, depending on how frequent your paychecks come in.

If you’re really ready to go ahead and get your financial life back on track, it’s a great time to start thinking about a bank account. Not convinced? Think about it from this perspective — the last thing that you want to do is now that there were options that you could take and you refused to take them because you were afraid. That’s no way to live, so why not get started today? You will truly be glad that you did!

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Managing your Money with Credit Cards and Share ISAs

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Managing money is something that we all have to do. It might not be the most thrilling thing in the world but it is certainly vital and makes good financial and common sense. There are a few different financial tools that you can use to help successfully manage your money and make the most of your finances. Two of these are credit cards and share ISAs. This article looks at a few of their main features and how they can help people who are looking for money management strategies.

Credit cards – interest free

When it comes to credit cards, interest free credit cards are a really good option if you are looking to get control over your finances. This is because, as their name suggests, interest free credit cards allow you to make purchases and then pay them off over an extended period without having to pay any of the interest you would normally be expected to pay.

This has the benefit of often helping people to pay off what they owe faster than they otherwise would have done. One thing to keep in mind with interest free credit cards is that the interest free period will normally be for a limited time only, and so it can be worth paying off your balance before this runs out to avoid accruing any interest on the balance of your card.

Credit cards – 0% balance transfers

0% balance transfer cards can also be a good way to help manage your money. For instance, it is estimated that there are more than 30 million credit card users in the UK with upwards of 58 million credit cards between them. This means that most people with credit cards have more than one, something that is fine for most people but some can find it harder to manage.

0% balance transfer cards are useful if you are looking to consolidate multiple credit cards down into one card. They allow you to transfer over the balance of existing cards and then pay off the balance at a 0% interest rate, so the only fee associated with it will be the administration costs of taking care of the balance transfer.

Again, this is something that is very useful in helping people to pay off what they owe faster and more cheaply than they otherwise would have done. Just remember that any other purchase you make on a 0% balance transfer card will be charged at the normal rate of interest.

Credit cards – limits and payments

Credit cards also have a few other benefits that can help people looking for a money management strategy. For instance, when you are accepted onto a credit card you will be given a credit limit that tells you how much you can spend on your card each month. Also, as a consumer, you have the right to ask for your credit limit to be lowered or to reject any limit raises that are offered to you. If you are trying to keep down the amount of money you are borrowing, this can be helpful.

Something else helpful about credit cards is that items that incur a higher rate of interest are paid off first. This helps to keep down the amount of interest you pay overall and can help pay off balances quicker. For instance, if you have a 0% balance transfer card and transfer over £500 at 0%, but then spend £250 at the standard APR, the £250 would be paid off by your credit card lender before the transferred balance would be.

ISAs – regular saving

Share ISAs are also helpful for many people. You are probably aware that ISAs are a tax-free form of savings; every year you are given a limit for how much you can save tax-free in an ISA. Cash ISAs are common, but if you go for a share ISA then you will be able to save more over the course of the year because as well as the cash element, there is also a stocks and shares element to the product. This means that ISAs are particularly good for people who like to save regularly and want to take advantage of the tax-free interest.

ISAs – potential for investment

Something else offered by share ISAs is the potential for investment: some of the money you invest will be put towards stocks and shares. While the stock market can naturally go down as well as up (meaning there’s a chance you could get back less than you put in), this investment choice can be a good option for people who are thinking about long term financial solutions and are interested in the potential offered by stocks and shares investments.

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3 Ways to Handle a Big Windfall of Money

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Big Windfall of Money

It’s everyone’s dream come true — coming into big money. However, a famous rapper once remarked that “mo’ money, mo’ problems.” They’re actually quite right — the more money you come into, the more headaches you will come into.

If you get an inheritance, you will have to pay taxes. It’s better to make sure that you have the taxes taken care of before everything else. It can be tempting to just ignore this point, but you’re actually going to be doing yourself a disservice. It’s just better to make sure that you can handle your finances from the start.

Be prepared for some big changes in your life, and not just from the money directly. You have a lot of decisions to make, and you need to make sure that you keep your head attached to your shoulders — the airy, giddy feeling that you get when you come into money can really make you feel like you’re drifting away from the world.

If you’re looking for a few constructive ways to use your money, we came up with a good guide to get you started.

First and foremost, you will want to gather the entire family and sit down for a long discussion. You want to make sure that money stays a tool in your life, and not a personal god. When you start turning money into an idol, bad things happen. The money is a great thing, but you don’t want to let it get to your head. That can make things strained between family members and even your friends. However, if you decide as a family how you will handle money, there’s no reason why things can’t just even out in good time.

When you sit down with the family, you will want to make sure that you let your family tell you how they want to handle requests for money, as well as any charities that they want to contribute to. If there’s something that everyone wants to do, you might want to go ahead and embrace that as well. You don’t just want to think that you won’t have requests for money — trust us, when people find out that you came into money, they will have plenty of places for you to store your money.

Speaking of places to store your money, you might be tempted just to put all of the money into the bank. That’s a good way for your money to be safe, but it won’t grow. Instead, the better option is to first talk with a financial adviser.

Now, we’ve written before on the power of hiring a financial advisor, but the truth is that hiring such a person to handle your financial affairs is a good thing. They can also be a stockbroker, which means that they can help you build an investment portfolio. You don’t want to skip over this step, because you have the right for your money to grow strong. Yes, there is a chance that your investments might go down in value, but generally speaking, the return on your investment is high enough that it warrants the risk. The market generally grows by 8 percent — through rain or shine. That’s pretty powerful. Your financial adviser can help you build a plan to protect your principal a bit more by choosing more conservative growth. Aggressive portfolios generally aren’t wise unless you know what you’re doing.

Now, this guide isn’t saying that you can’t think about nice things that you might want to own. However, it’s a lot smarter to think about the type of long term plans that you have for the moment. If you really do want to take that trip to the Mexican Rivera with 15 of your friends, that’s perfectly fine — just make sure that you’re actually able to pay for it first.

If there’s one area that you will want to take care of before you spend money on the fun stuff, you really need to make sure that you are paying of four debt. Clearing your debt will immediately bring a return on investment of your money. In addition, it’s important to ensure that you pay off your debts because you want to avoid being taken to court. It doesn’t give you as much time to challenge anything and actually negotiate to have the tradelines removed from your credit report – which raises your credit score. Just because you come into a windfall doesn’t mean that you should just skip over sound financial practice, you know!

As you can imagine, there really is a lot to think about when you come into a windfall of money. No matter the amount, putting the ideas in this guide to good use will help you come out on top in the end — get started today!

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The Best Way to Save Money Looking for the Best Car Finance Deals

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Car Finance Deals

Is a new car in your future? Think that you have to have cash before you can get a new car, so you decide dot save up? We have some good news that you have to hear. You see, there was a time where credit restrictions meant that you really couldn’t go out and get a car and have someone finance it for you. However, things are changing. The marketplace is becoming more and more uncertain, and lenders are realizing that they’re going to have to be better at letting people finance cars. This means that more people are going to become customers, which in turn means that the lender is going to benefit form that.

Of course, there are a way ways to save the most money looking for the best car finance deals. You just have to look online. Gone are the days of driving around to dealership after dealership and hoping that they’re going to be able to finance a good car for you. It’s a lot better to actually ensure that you look online in a systematic way.

One site that actually goes above and beyond to help people get the car finance that they deserve would have to be Creditplus car finance. They are a company that pulls together the best lenders for all credit types.

For example, you might still assume that only people with good credit ratings can get finance options. But that’s not the case at all. If you’ve made strides towards a better credit life, and you have stable income you should be able to get what you’re looking for in the long run. It’s just a matter of filling out the application in the first place. Some people will skip over this and give up, but we hope that won’t be you! Good car finance is right around the corner.

Filling out one application and getting quotes from tons of lenders is the new way to really do your finance shopping. Creditplus even has calculators available so that you can estimate what your monthly payments are going to end up being. The more that you can plan for your car purchase, the easier it will be to work the payments into your budget. Everyone knows that it’s not just enough to get approved for a car finance — you have to also be able to deal with the monthly payments consistently until the car is paid off. If you cannot do that then you will just end up losing the car and who wants to go through that?

Check out Creditplus car finance today and see just what options you really have!

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Talking to Your Elderly Parents About Equity Release Schemes

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Equity Release Schemes

When you grow up and start seeing success in your own life, you naturally want to reach out and give your parents the same things. However, where do you really begin? Well, if you love your elderly parents, then it’s natural that you’re going to want to start with them. You want to make sure that you do everything that you can do to make sure that you get things organized and proper for them.

Retirement is the goal for many people, and if you want to help your elderly parents plan for a better retirement, then it’s time to start talking to them about equity release schemes. They are one of the best things that you can discuss if you know that your parents actually own their own home. It’s a way to release the equity in their homes in a way that’s done tax-free. After all, it’s highly likely that your parents worked their whole life to be able to get the house. Why shouldn’t they reap the benefits of the equity?

One thing that you will need to do when it comes time to talk with them about the equity in their home is to think about the best scheme program that fits their needs. Of course, you don’t have to help them all on your own. Sometimes the best thing that we can do for our parents is to encourage them to seek out qualified expertise that can help them make better decisions. This isn’t a bad idea at all — it just takes time to create, and you shouldn’t feel like there’s no way to achieve the goal your parents ultimately want.

When it comes to equity schemes, you want to choose the one that’s going to give your parents the least amount of interruptions. This means that once they start the scheme, all they need to worry about is how they’re going to spend the money. Since the money is often paid through an annuity, they aren’t going to have to worry about how they’re going to get their money, or if it’ll arrive on time. Thankfully that’s one of the last issues to really take care of.

Once they have the money in hand after the equity release has taken place, you will need to make sure that your parents are spending the money wisely. Even though the equity will be delivered monthly in a scheduled way, that doesn’t mean that the money won’t dry up through mismanagement. You know your parents better than anyone — help them find out what goals they actually want to achieve, and then build their budget around that. If they can’t live from month to month with the extra money, then they won’t have a good retirement at all.

At the end of the day, you want to make sure that your elderly parents are going to be taken care of for the rest of their lives. Anything less than that just isn’t going to lead to a happy life, so it just makes sense that you’re stepping in to give your parents the care and support that they deserve!

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What is a Profit and Loss Statement?

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profit and loss statement

Building a business takes time, work, and accounting. Accounting? Yep, that’s right — accounting. If you really want to build a legitimate business that will allow you to get funding from banks and other lenders, you’re going to need to show that your business is viable. That can’t be just throwing a few numbers out there. It’s the way you actually organize those numbers that’s really going to make the most difference here. It’s one thing to assume that you don’t have anything to worry about, but the truth is that you really do need to think about the type of display your business has in the long run. If you do nothing but hope that someone will take your business seriously, you’re not going to get anywhere fast.

The best way to show outside lenders and investors that you have a viable business is through the profit and loss statement. Along with your business plan, this will actually help your business stand out from the crowd. The profit and loss statement doesn’t hide anything from anyone, which means that you will definitely want to only show it to interested parties. If you’re a private company, you don’t have to post your financials publicly anyway.

If you’re a bit worried about generating this document yourself, don’t worry — your accountant can do it for you. In addition, there’s also software out that can take your accounting books and generate a profit and loss statement automatically. There’s no need anymore to try to become an accounting major overnight with the sheer amount of information you would have to learn.

So let’s get into exactly what a profit and loss statement entails.

What you need to understand first is that profit and loss statements cover a certain period of time. That’s fixed — every P&L statement will have the exact time that it covers. Usually it’s a period of about a month, but it can vary — some businesses like doing it quarterly.

The general format of the P&L is that it’s essentially split in half. You’ll have the first half which is revenues and gains, followed by expenses and losses.

In the first half, you’re going to have revenue from primary activities, revenue from secondary activities, and gains. Gains would be like the gain on the sale of long-term assets, and gains on lawsuits if you’re unlucky enough to get involved in those.

Primary activities refer to the things that actively drive your business forward. By that token, secondary activities are the ones that happen passively in your business but still make you money.

Now then, let’s talk about the flip side here — expenses and losses. These would cover the expenses in primary activities, expenses from secondary activities, and losses. Losses are pretty self explanatory here.

Overall, there’s nothing keeping you from building a P&L statement if you really wanted to. Keeping good records beforehand will actually make this quite effortless. The only time it gets hard to define a P&L statement is when you haven’t been keeping good records and you have to go through sales receipts and expense sheets by hand. If you make your accountant do that, you can trust that your bill is going to be much higher than if you cut down on the research factor ahead of time.

The time is right to build a P&L statement — why not build yours today?

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An Up-Close Look at Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

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As we start looking more and more at bankruptcy, we realized that we were overlooking some information that’s very important to our readers. We know that everyone is at different stages in their financial blueprint. Right now if you’re dealing with a lot of debt, you might not want to pursue debt consolidation. You might not want to try to run from creditor to creditor and hope that they’ll work with you. No matter what anyone says, if a creditor digs in their heels and decides that they don’t want to negotiate anything with you, they can do that. Technically speaking, it’s not really in their best interest to go that hardcore with you, but sometimes they do that. It means that you might have to file bankruptcy to get out from under the rock of debt. Yet when do you really decide when to file? Do you file when your debt is at a certain number or something like that? You actually want to make sure that you think about the type of debts that you have. If you know that the debts that you have will fall off in a bankruptcy, then it’s really in your best interest to make sure that you really do drop those debts as soon as you can.

But what about bankruptcy? Generally speaking, unless you have a high income, Chapter 7 is definitely going to be the way to go. Why?

It’s simple: Chapter 7 bankruptcy is essentially a very large liquidation sale. You might have seen a few businesses in your area do something like this — they sell off most if not all of their assets and then use the money to pay debts. This is the same principle except that once you go through the process you’re discharged and you come out with a new credit life. Is it all rainbows and sunshine? Definitely not. There are going to be times where you wonder why you filed for bankruptcy at all. Your credit is going to take some time to heal, but that’s okay. The longer it takes your credit to heal, the easier it will be on you to learn new credit habits. You will want to inhale as much as you can on the world of personal finance. Budgeting, saving, stocks, investing, and real estate — it’s all finance, and it’s all things that you will need to know. You might have gotten yourself into high debt because you really didn’t understand everything. Once you’re an adult, the excuse of ignorance is actually not an excuse at all — people will want you to know things. They will expect that you know what you’re doing. If you truly don’t know, then you have no business entering into new agreements, right? Right! That’s why the time after bankruptcy is really a good time to start evaluating your life and figuring out where you want to go next.

The nice part about the bankruptcy laws is that once you do indeed file bankruptcy, all of the collection actions against you stop cold. Creditors and bill collectors aren’t even allowed to call you. They need to do business with your attorney, and trust us — you’ll definitely want to get an attorney. There are some cases of DIY bankruptcy, but playing with your family’s future is not a DIY project that we recommend you take on. it’s better to start thinking about the type of life you want to have, and then realizing that it’s better to entrust your future to a professional that’s definitely “been there, done that” more than just a handful of times. Most attorneys that deal with bankruptcies actually have a lot of experience in the matter, and they can catch things that you might miss otherwise.

What happens in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is that there is a trustee. What, you didn’t think that the courts would expect you to go through your own assets and sell them, would you? That would be hard to actually make sure that every filer is as honest as possible. Yes, that means that you’re going to have someone getting very intimate with your financial details. In fact, you’re going to have quite a few people that will know the “dirty details” of your debts. However, you can’t get worked up and start worrying about that at all. You want to make absolutely sure that you’re being as open as possible. Just like attorneys, trustees are very good at finding out information. If you are shown to have held anything back in hopes of keeping it — like trying to hide assets with a neighbor or a friend or even a family member, you’re in for a lot of trouble.

You don’t have to lose all of your assets in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You will just need to make sure that you actually look into the matter with your bankruptcy attorney.

If Chapter 7 sounds like a breeze, it’s definitely meant to be that way. It’s estimated that over 65% of bankruptcies done are actually under Chapter 7, which means that there are good chances that you’re eligible for this type of bankruptcy. People that own corporations are going to want to choose a different path for removing debt. Bankruptcy is still possible, just not under this code.

Overall, now is a good time to review your options and see if bankruptcy is even the right track for you. Why not check it out today for yourself?

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