Selling Your Home: 5 Deal Killers That Are Lurking In Older Homes

You’ve listed your home for sale, you have a Buyer and now their Inspector is performing an inspection. You think you have a pretty good home, but do you really know for sure? What is he finding? Why is it taking so long? Here are 5 deal killers to watch out for when selling your home.

Deal Killer #1: FPE Breaker Boxes. These breakers and breaker boxes are known to have performance issues. They are no longer made, however they were very popular between the 1950′s and 1980′s. Many homes still have them.

Some of the problems were that the breakers would trip but still allow electricity to pass through the breaker. Another issue was that the breaker would not trip at all causing an over current condition which could lead to fires.

Just because the home is 30 years old and you’ve had no problems, don’t expect any Professional Real Estate Inspector to look past a FPE breaker box. The time theory does not hold water with electrical components. In my market, the cost to replace the box with a new 150 amp breaker box is anywhere from $1000 to $2500 depending upon the company and the extent of the work.

Deal Killer #2: Aluminum Wiring: The problem with aluminum wiring is that it expands and contracts more than copper wiring. So the components meant to be used with Copper wiring did not work well with Aluminum. The Aluminum would work its way loose over time and cause arcing, which lead to excessive heat, which leads to fires.

Even after the alloy was changed in Aluminum wiring, problems still persisted with the wiring.

Special outlets have to be used. These are marked CO/ALR. This means that the outlet is designed to work with either Copper or Aluminum.

“Pigtailing” the Aluminum wiring with Copper so that the Copper wiring can be attached to the outlets (remember, less expansion and contraction” is allowed by the National Electrical Code. No one is sure why. The Consumer Product Safety Commission does not see ‘pigtailing’ as a safe alternative.

Rewiring the home can be costly. The total price depends on to many variables to give you a price range here.

Deal Killer #3: Asbestos: Asbestos was used in many building materials and is still used in a very few even today.

Areas a Seller or Buyer will have to worry about it are in a few places. Pipe insulation on older heating pipes, vermiculite insulation, some paints and to a lesser extent, on roof and siding shakes.

Asbestos causes the most problem when it is in a loose state (friable) where particles can float around. We’re all aware of the health problems concerning Asbestos, so I’m not going to go into them here.

If you have Asbestos siding or roofing shakes/shingles, then there is a lesser worry because these are not friable unless broken.

Asbestos removal can be very, very costly and not likely a cost a new buyer will want to tackle shortly after moving into their new home.

Deal Killer #4: Composition Wood Siding: Some of this type of siding is known by it’s generic terms like Masonite and LP siding (there are other brands). This type of siding was (and some are still) involved in class action lawsuits.

This type of siding is basically constructed from pressed and glued wood particles, some as small as sawdust.

Some of the problems arise from poor installation techniques that allowed this siding to get wet. It would then start rotting and letting more water into the structure.

There have been many homeowners who joined the class action lawsuits, received money to replace the siding, but instead pocketed it and put their homes up for sale.

Composition wood siding companies only pay once for siding on a home. If a claim has been filed and paid out on a home, there’ll be no more money coming down the pipe for siding replacement on that particular home!

Deal Killer #5: Polybutylene (PB) plumbing lines: These are water supply lines that are grayish in color.

The problem was that this type of piping is known to burst, especially at the seams. Many of the class action lawsuits have been closed and it may be difficult, if not impossible, to receive any money for replacement if the home you are buying has PB plumbing.

Replacement cost can be in the thousands of dollars. Any good home inspector will call this out on their inspection report and likely recommend a licensed plumber to investigate. I don’t know of one reputable plumber who will recommend keeping the pipes in your home.

Granted, many of these Deal Killers only exist on older homes. However, especially in rural areas, we’ve seen these components show up on newer homes. How, I don’t know unless someone had a stockpile of these materials.

A pre-listing inspection by a reputable and qualified home inspector will bring these Deal Killers and other potential deal killing threats to you attention before listing your home. Playing ignorant about what is in your home (like some real estate agents recommend) will not save you from having to fork over some greenbacks before you home will sell.

Health and Fitness Tips to Eliminate Stress

Our society is one that is under a lot of stress and this stress is literally making people sick. Stress can run down your immune system, cause sleep problems such as insomnia or over-sleeping, cause gastrointestinal issues such as ulcers and much more. It is extremely important to add a health and fitness routine to your daily life in order to feel better and to reduce stress levels. Stress can be caused by a number of factors such as an illness, a death of someone you love, job expectations, financial difficulties, relationship problems and many other reasons. It is important to understand where the stress is coming from and to learn how to eliminate it from your life.

When developing a health and fitness plan, it is very important to include an adequate amount of exercise. Exercise is not only good for the body, but it is also a great natural aid in reducing stress and tension. Activities such as walking, biking, aerobics and swimming can be great examples of good exercise habits. The average person would greatly benefit from working out for at least thirty minutes, three-five times per week. Exercise alone can greatly reduce stress and anxiety and many doctors highly recommend some form of exercise for their patients who are experiencing an unhealthy level of stress.

Another factor to consider when creating a health and fitness plan is a healthy diet. It is imperative to avoid sugary foods, caffeine, salty foods and foods that contain empty calories such as candy bars. These foods should be replaced with healthy alternatives such as fruits and vegetables, foods that are rich in protein such as nuts and cheese, and yogurt. A proper diet can help to build up an immune system that may be weakened by high stress levels. When the immune system is weakened, there is an increased chance of getting an illness or disease. One should also cut out red meats and eat lean meats such as chicken or fish. These changes can greatly improve the way that a person feels.

It is possible to reduce stress by utilizing a health and fitness plan. It is important to speak to a physician about the stress that a person is feeling and to gain assistance in creating a treatment plan. Stress can interfere with your health and happiness and the sooner that it is under control, the better.

8 Marketing Tips That Can Catapult Your Business Into Success

Growing a business takes time. There are some people who can make a lot of money in a short period of time, but most of the time, these are the people who have a large customer list and have been in business for a long time already.

But if you have neither, then this article will be particularly useful for you. Because inside this article, you will learn 8 great marketing tips that you can use to take your business to the next level. It won’t happen overnight, but with time and a steady focus, it will happen eventually. Let’s take a look at the first tip:

1) Generate leads

You will want to generate leads so that you can follow-up on these leads over and over again to make it easy to close the sale. It’s hard to sell your products in a small ad, therefore you want to generate a lead so that you can present your full sales presentation in future contacts with your prospects. Here’s the next tip:

2) Operate in a niche market

If you try to market to everyone, more than likely, you’re going to have poor conversion rates. If you can operate in a niche marketing and structure your message according to one kind of prospect, then you will have more success with your marketing efforts.

Niche marketing is all about separating yourself from your competitors and marketing to a specific kind of prospect. The more specified your marketing efforts are, the better your results will be when it comes to closing sales.

3) Create a free offer

Everybody loves things for free, so with a free offer, you give yourself the opportunity to generate a lead or inspire people to come into your store. And you don’t have to limit yourself on ways to apply this to your business. Your free offer can be a free report, a free consultation, a free sample of your product, and more. You want to mention this free offer in your ad to get as many people as possible to respond to it.

4) Use a variety of marketing tactics

You want to find multiple ways to get your message out in front of your prospect. You can do direct mail, yellow page advertising, newspaper advertising, press releases, joint ventures, val-pak advertising, and so much more.

The possibilities are endless and wherever you advertise, be sure to include your free offer to generate the most response.

5) Contact your current customers more often

You’re missing out on a lot of business if you’re not contacting your customers on a monthly basis. 80% of all business profits come from the backend, so this is why a strong backend marketing strategy is key.

You can send your prospects a free monthly newsletter, or simply coupons with special offers every month. You always want to find good reasons to contact your customers so that you don’t lose them to a rival competitor.

6) Promote one product a time

When contacting your customers, it’s best to focus on one product at a time. If you have a catalog of products that you sell, this is fine, but you should highlight one product at a time to your customers so that you don’t confuse.

Your opinion has weight in the eyes of your customers, so if you recommend something useful for them, they will take your word for it and purchase the product that you recommended. But recommending more than 1 similar product will only confuse them, so be sure not to do this.

7) Offer a money-back guarantee

You want to offer a money-back guarantee on all of your products. This will only increase your response rates and will inspire trust amongst your prospects. By offering a money-back guarantee on your products, it means that you stand behind all of your products, and it also lowers the barrier to making the sale.

8) Track everything

Testing and tracking is important because you want to know what is winning for you and what is not. This way you can cut out all the losers and only market the winners. This in turn will decrease your marketing costs while improving your profits. So testing and tracking is key.

Use these 8 tips to boost your business now while you still have the chance. They will prove to be very useful for you.

How to Leverage Video to Market Your Business

It is reported that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, used by almost 47% of Australians. Given the enormous use of Search by consumers these days, these facts alone should convince you that video really should be a part of your marketing mix. If not, this article may convince you – plus it provides tips on how to really maximise video for marketing and make it work hard for you.

Don’t tell me SHOW me.

Apart from the cold hard facts, there’s the human element. Video is eye-catching, it can help you stand out from the crowd and draw in potential customers. Video can clearly define your business and in a succinct, much more interesting way then text. And importantly, video can bring faces, voices, personality and heart to your operation, while also demonstrating your authenticity. So if a picture speaks a thousand words, a video speaks a million!

Spread the word. Strike that… Spread the video!

Like any content, video can be shared easily to help spread the word about your products and services. Create a YouTube channel and embed your YouTube videos in your website, blog and all social channels. Links between your YouTube channel and website can boost your rank in search engine results, as can the added visitor count if your video encourages viewers to visit your website.

What Kind of Content?

Different types of content work for different types of businesses, here is a list of ideas to get you started:

  1. Success stories – bring case studies to life.
  2. A brief company intro or value proposition video.
  3. Product demonstrations (even for simple products).
  4. Interviews or Q&As with your CEO, clients, industry experts etc.
  5. Record any external conference or seminar presentations you give.
  6. Product reviews and testimonials – check out Bravo to capture user generated content.
  7. “How-to” videos or short tutorials, eg. if your business sells child safety equipment, create a video on how to child proof the home featuring your products.
  8. A video tour of your premises – if this acts as a selling point or benefit for customers, then show them.
  9. Introduce users to staff that have consumer contact, such as customer service – it’s nice to put a face to a voice.
  10. Record internal training presentations – this content could be valuable for both consumers AND staff. Important company announcements – don’t just post an update or press release.

What about production?

Your videos don’t have to be big Hollywood productions to be engaging and effective. In fact, you should focus more effort on video planning & marketing, than video production. You don’t need to use expensive camera equipment or even record in HD when for the web. It’s possible your web cam or smartphone will do the job just fine. And in terms of editing, YouTube offers its own free video editor, Windows Movie Maker is bundled with Windows, and iMovie with Macs.

Here are seven tips for creating your own videos:

  1. Short is sweet – and definitely no more than 5 minutes.
  2. Focus on first 10 seconds – engage viewers from the very start.
  3. Work to a topic guideline, not a script.
  4. Maintain a fairly fast pace to keep the content punchy and interesting to watch.
  5. Lighting is important. (Avoid windows behind you).
  6. Camera shy? Try Animoto or screen capture such as Ezvid.
  7. Include a call to action.

Share, post, blog, tweet, update…

Once you’ve created your video content promote it everywhere! Upload to video sharing sites – YouTube (see below), Blip.tv, Vimeo, Viddler, Metacafe – post on Facebook, tweet on you know where, share on LinkedIn. You can even (and should) embed videos in your email marketing. And encourage your staff to promote via their network and social channels. To reiterate, you should focus more effort on video marketing rather than video production.

Leverage YouTube – it’s free!

Nowadays YouTube is much more than an entertainment channel to watch funny cat videos or hear Harry announcing that Charlie bit his finger. It’s a powerful (and cost effective) communication tool so be sure to create a YouTube channel for your business. And like all your web content, your YouTube videos must be optimised.

  1. Give your video a title that includes your strongest keyword (relevant to the content).
  2. Complete the description with a short synopsis of what the video entails, including keywords and a link.
  3. Use tags that are true to the content of your video and include your business name too.
  4. Because consumers won’t necessarily be watching your video on your channel, embed your logo via YouTube’s Channel Settings (InVideo Programming).
  5. And maximise links to your website from your YouTube channel.

In summary if you run a business or manage the marketing for one, there’s a lot of compelling evidence suggesting that online video marketing should be a part of your marketing activity.

For more advice, or assistance with your marketing get in touch via our website or call 03 9504 6216.

What Are Some Benefits of Shopping Online?

If you have never shopped online, you have missed out on one of the most convenient, and often affordable, ways to purchase items, whether for yourself or as gifts for someone else. There are many benefits to shopping online, including these:

Convenience

The most important benefit of online shopping is the convenience. When you shop online, you do not have to leave your home. You can do all of your holiday shopping, for instance, from the comfort of your easy chair with your laptop in hand. You can avoid the crowds, save gas, and eliminate the stress of visiting a store and finding that they were out of what you needed. Online shopping is, perhaps, the most convenient type of shopping.

Shop Whenever You Want

When shopping online, you do not have to worry about the time the store closes. After all, getting to the store before 9 is not always easy when you do not leave work until 6. You have to eat dinner and spend some time with the family before you can go to the store. When you are online shopping, Canada and U.S. merchants are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You do not have to stress about the clock when you are shopping on the Internet, because the stores are always open.

Compare Prices Easily

Saving money is always a good idea, but when you are shopping in a traditional way, you have to drive from store to store to compare prices. You may be able to compare prices when calling, but not all stores will share prices over the phone, and this presents quite a hassle, because you have to wait for the clerk to find the item, check the price, and then quote it to you.

When you shop online, you can compare prices from several merchants on one computer. Within minutes, you can know who has the best price, how much they will charge for shipping, and how quickly the item will be at your house. In this way, you can get the best possible price for your purchase.

Expand Your Shopping Range

When you shop at traditional retail locations, you are limited by your geographic area. Unless you plan to drive for hours to get to the next shopping mall, you must shop only at the retailers that are in your area. This may not give you the best selection.

When you shop online, you can shop from retailers in other parts of the country, or even the world. You are not limited by geographic area, with the exception of the cost of shipping, which may increase if you shop with a retailer that is quite far from you.

By increasing the number of retailers you can choose from, you do two things. First, you increase your selection. This is especially important if you are shopping for a unique or popular, hard-to-find item. Second, you give yourself the ability to find the item at the best possible price. By increasing the amount of competition for your business, you decrease the price of the item.

Find Online-Only Discounts

You can find discounts online that are not available in the store. Major department stores often circulate discount codes and free shipping offers that lower the price of your item even more. Before you make an online purchase, be sure to search for these coupon codes. Type the name of your merchant and “coupon code” in your favorite search engine, and you may find a discount that you did not know existed. When you combine a coupon code with an already low price found by shopping online, you will get great bargains.

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  • After Work Drinks, Everyone?

    As the days get warmer and beautifully longer, there is always an increase in the amount of alcohol that office workers consume. The allure of a beer garden is just too hard to resist when the sun is beaming down. After all, you never know when it will be this sunny again so of course you must make the most of it.Problem being that a stark increase in drinking inevitably leads to a stark increase in hangovers, carryovers and many other ghastly things from the night before. Whilst prevention is better than the cure there’s not much you can to do to curb your workers drinking habits. In this situation it seems that pre-empting is the only cure.Whilst a few naughty workers will pull a sick day, plenty more will still come into work despite the fact that their productivity and general usefulness is at an all time low. Dig through your office supplies to see what things can help snap your workers out of their alcohol daze.Hydration is paramount to beating a hangover. Water coolers or water filters are ideal ways to make sure workers have as much access to the liquid gold as they need. Do not over look another key refreshment – coffee, the caffeine will surely give them a much needed kick start in the morning. A few emergency packets of biscuits should also be on hand for a sugar boost. Offices can be unbearably hot in the summer, especially when trying to recover from the night before. Invest in some good quality fans and instruct whoever arrives first to turn them all on, thus creating a cooling environment for when the stragglers arrive.The day after a heavy night drinking is probably not the best time for your workers to be on the phone. So use this opportunity to encourage them to catch up with filing and any other tasks that are usually ignored. By the end of summer you could have yourself the most impressive and organised files in the country. The glare from a computer screen can also be unbearable when you’ve got a headache. Treat your office to some anti-glare screens to help employers work to the best of their ability.This may seem like a lot of extra effort to attend to the hangovers of our workers. However when you consider that hangovers cost the economy around 2.8bn each year due to productivity loss, it seems a small price to pay.

    Freelance Photography: How to Begin Your Career

    Photography is a vast world. There are many different types of photography and many different kinds of people that enjoy it. It’s a hobby that be relatively inexpensive or one that you can invest a lot of money on. Photos are so special because they give us memories of times and places and events in our lives. We can hold onto these memories forever with a photograph.As much as people love photos, many people love taking them even more. Whether it’s a mother who takes photos at every of her children’s moments in life (first smile, first step, first spaghetti meal) or maybe it’s the father who never forgets his camera for a football or basketball game, or maybe it’s the young girl who loves nature hikes with her camera; these people are not exceptions. They all have an eye for those special moments and they all appreciate the camera’s ability to capture that moment and freeze it in time forever.- What is Freelance Photography?What if you love photography so much you wish you could do it for a living? I mean, you actually get paid for your photographs! But you work solely for yourself, selling each photo or series of photos individually. You don’t have a boss. You work sometimes on assignment and you may sell to magazines. That is freelance photography.Freelance photography may be your entire career or it may start out as something you do in your spare time but begin making money from it. It’s just like freelance writing in this sense that many people turn it into a career and enjoy the freedom of working essentially for themselves on their own time and making money doing something they love doing anyway.- How to Build a PortfolioTo start getting jobs as a freelance photographer, you need a portfolio. A portfolio will show samples of your work. Even if you have never had photographs published or publicly displayed, you can start a portfolio of your best work and then add onto it if you win photography contests or start receiving paid work.- How to Get JobsAs we mentioned, building a portfolio is the first step in submitting your work for pay but when it comes right down to it, it’s the quality of the photo that will determine if you get paid for it. Some people have more of a natural talent for taking great pictures than others but it is a skill that anyone can learn. There are schools dedicated to the art of photography and you can even get a degree in it. If you are just getting started, you can look into classes provided by your local community center or community college. Some cities have photography groups that meet to share photos and tips. There are also many groups online dedicated to photography and freelance photography.You need to view as many famous photographs as possible. Take a look at what is getting published and compare it to your own photos. This allows you to compare and learn from other’s work. It takes more than just point and shoot to get a great photo. You need to learn about focus, lighting, colors and backgrounds and much more.Once you start learning about photography and creating a portfolio, you can start submitting your photos to contests and magazines. Get a list of photography markets and start submitting to ones that accept your type of photos. Don’t expect to make it to the big times right away. Few people actually achieve this but you can start small and eventually make your way into a nice living from freelance photography.

    Save Taxes – Basics of an Irrevocable Life Insurance Dynasty Trust

    For US persons, an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) is arguably the most efficient structure for integrating tax-free investment growth, wealth transfer and asset protection. An ILIT comprises two main parts: (1) an irrevocable trust; and (2) a life insurance policy owned by the trust. An international (or offshore) ILIT is a trust governed by the law of a foreign jurisdiction that owns foreign-based life insurance. An offshore ILIT is better than a domestic ILIT because it is more flexible and less expensive. Regarding US tax laws, a properly designed international ILIT is treated virtually the same as a domestic ILIT.An ILIT becomes a dynasty trust (or GST trust) when the trust’s settlor (or grantor, the person who establishes and funds the trust) applies his lifetime exemption for the generation skipping transfer tax (GSTT) to trust contributions. Once a dynasty trust is properly funded by applying the settlor’s lifetime exemptions for gift, estate and GST taxes, all distributions to beneficiaries will be free of gift and estate taxes for the duration of the trust, even perpetually. The individual unified gift and estate tax exemption and the GSTT exemption are both $5 million ($10 million for a married couple) during 2011 and 2012, which are the highest amounts in decades.Under the US tax code, no income or capital gains taxes are due on life insurance investment growth, and no income tax is due when policy proceeds are paid to an insurance beneficiary upon death of the insured. When a dynasty trust purchases and owns the life insurance policy and is named as the insurance beneficiary, no estate tax or generation skipping transfer taxes are due. In other words, assets can grow and be enjoyed by trust beneficiaries completely tax-free forever. Depending on how a trust is designed, a portion of trust assets can be invested in a new life insurance policy each generation to continue the cycle.Private placement life insurance (PPLI) is privately negotiated between an insurance carrier and the insurance purchaser (e.g., a dynasty ILIT). Private placement life insurance is also known as variable universal life insurance. The policy funds are invested in a separately managed account, separate from the general funds of the insurance company, and may include stocks, hedge funds, and other high-growth and/or tax-inefficient investment vehicles. Offshore (foreign) private placement life insurance has several advantages over domestic life insurance. In-kind premium payments (e.g., stock shares) are allowed, whereas domestic policies require cash. There are few restrictions on policy investments, while state regulations restrict a domestic policy’s investments. The minimum premium commitment of foreign policies typically is US$1 million. Domestic carriers demand a minimum commitment of $5 million to $20 million. Also, offshore carriers allow policy investments to be managed by an independent investment advisor suggested by the policy owner. Finally, offshore policy costs are lower than domestic costs. An election under IRC § 953(d) by a foreign insurance carrier avoids imposition of US withholding tax on insurance policy income and gains.Whether domestic or offshore, PPLI must satisfy the definition of life insurance according to IRC § 7702 to qualify for the tax benefits. Also, key investment control (IRC § 817(g)) and diversification (IRC § 851(b)) rules must be observed. When policy premiums are paid in over four or five years as provided in IRC § 7702A(b), the policy is a non-MEC policy from which policy loans can be made. If policy loans are not important during the term of the policy, then a single up-front premium payment into a MEC policy is preferable because of tax-free compounding.An offshore ILIT provides much greater protection of trust assets against creditors of both settlor and beneficiaries. Courts in the US have no jurisdiction outside of the US, and enforcement of US court judgments against offshore trust assets is virtually impossible. Although all offshore jurisdictions have laws against fraudulent transfers, they are more limited than in the United States. In any case, an offshore ILIT is necessary to purchase offshore life insurance because foreign life insurance companies are not allowed to market and sell policies directly to US residents. An international trust, however, is a non-resident and is eligible to purchase life insurance from an offshore insurance carrier.An international ILIT may be self-settled, that is, the settlor of the trust may be a beneficiary without exposing trust assets to the settlor’s creditors. In contrast, in the United States, the general rule is that self-settled trusts are not honored for asset protection purposes.In Private Letter Ruling (PLR) 200944002, the IRS ruled that assets in a discretionary asset protection trust were not includable in the grantor’s (settlor’s) gross estate even though the grantor was a beneficiary of the trust. The trustee of a discretionary trust uses his discretion in making distributions to beneficiaries consistent with trust provisions. Previously, it was questionable whether a settlor could be beneficiary of an ILIT without jeopardizing favorable tax treatment upon his death. The new ruling gives some assurance to a US taxpayer who wants to be a beneficiary of a self-settled, irrevocable, discretionary asset-protection trust that is not subject to estate and GST tax. As a result, the trustee can (at the trustee’s discretion) withdraw principal from the PPLI or take a tax-free loan from the policy’s cash value and distribute it tax-free to the settlor, as well as to other beneficiaries. In other words, a settlor need not sacrifice all enjoyment of ILIT benefits in order to achieve preferred tax treatment.An offshore ILIT is designed to qualify under IRS rules as a domestic trust during normal times and as a foreign trust in case of domestic legal threats to its assets. The offshore ILIT is formally governed by the laws of a foreign jurisdiction and has at least one resident foreign trustee there. As a “domestic” trust under IRS rules, the trust also has a domestic trustee who controls the trust during normal times. If a domestic legal threat arises, control of the trust shifts to the foreign trustee, outside the jurisdiction of US courts, and the trust becomes a “foreign” trust for tax purposes. A domestic trust “protector” having negative (or veto) powers may be appointed to provide limited control over trustee decisions. An international ILIT protects trust assets against unforeseen lawsuits, bankruptcy and divorce.The objective of PPLI is to minimize life insurance costs and to maximize investment growth. The life insurance policy acts as a “wrapper” around investments so that they qualify for favorable tax treatment. Nevertheless, PPLI still provides a valuable life insurance benefit in case of an unexpected early death of the insured.Initial costs of setting up an ILIT are high, but are recouped after a few years of tax-free investment growth. Initial legal and accounting fees are typically in a range of $25,000 to $50,000. Premium “loading” charges are in a range of about 3% to 5% of premiums paid into offshore PPLI (compared to 8 – 10% in domestic PPLI). Annually recurring charges depend on policy value and vary widely among PPLI carriers, so careful comparison shopping is advised. For example, annual asset charges should be in a range of about 40 to 150 basis points (0.4% to 1.5%) of the policy’s cash value. The annual cost of insurance is not substantial and declines over time. Annual costs for maintaining an offshore trust are several thousand dollars. Finally, investment manager fees are paid regularly out of policy funds.Cash may be contributed to the ILIT, which then purchases PPLI. If asset protection of vulnerable fixed assets in the US is a concern, then equity stripping can be used to generate cash, which is then contributed to the offshore ILIT. Of course, stocks and bonds and other assets may also be contributed to the ILIT and used for investing in PPLI. Various value-freezing and valuation discounting techniques can be used to leverage the GSTT exemption.An offshore “frozen cash value” policy is a variation of PPLI governed by IRC § 7702(g). The minimum premium commitment is about $250,000. During the life of the insured, the cash surrender value is fixed at the sum of the premiums paid. Withdrawals up to the amount of the paid-in premiums are tax-free, but cash value in excess of the premium amounts is inaccessible until after death of the insured.Another alternative investment for an ILIT is a deferred variable annuity (DVA). There is no cost of insurance, so investment growth is faster. Tax on appreciation is deferred, but DVA distributions are taxed as income.Generally, for public policy reasons and because the insurance industry possesses strong political influence, life insurance has long enjoyed favorable tax treatment. Over the past two decades, numerous IRS rulings have clarified the tax treatment of PPLI and irrevocable discretionary trusts. At the same time, strong, new asset protection laws and reliable service providers in numerous foreign jurisdictions have enabled safe, efficient and flexible management of international trusts and insurance products. As a result, an international irrevocable, discretionary trust owning PPLI can provide tax-free growth of a global, variable investment portfolio managed by a trusted financial adviser in full compliance with US tax laws. At the discretion of the trustee, trust assets (including tax-free insurance policy loans and withdrawals) are available to the settlor during his lifetime. Upon death of the insured, policy proceeds are paid tax-free to the trust. Thus, a well-managed life insurance dynasty trust perpetually secures the financial well being of settlor, spouse, children and their descendants.Warning & Disclaimer: This is not legal advice.Copyright 2011 – Thomas Swenson

    A Short Introduction to Automotive and Car Dealership SEO

    Online success for automotive repair shops and car dealerships is realistically achieved through search engine optimization. If you own one or both businesses, it’s time to know how automotive and car dealership SEO strategies work.Knowing SEOSearch engine optimization is a process used to gain higher rankings on major search engines. Companies providing the service often target first page rankings and top ten listings.Basic strategies use keyword research, article creation, and back link building. Keyword research involves finding terms used to search online. These phrases are usually related to the service or product they want. Say, a web user wants to find a clothing store in New York. This user will likely type in those words when looking for listings. The keyword specialists working in SEO firms must anticipate these phrases and relate how these fit with their company’s clients. They can supply terms like ‘clothing shop in NY,’ ‘clothes store NYC,’ and so on.Once they have a list of keywords, the next phase consists of writers and editors. Writers will use the keywords on articles, blogs or other content. They will observe word count along with keyword density (number of times it appears in an article). Word count and keyword density depends on each SEO company. Editors will edit and proofread these before sending these to a submissions team. The team in-charge will then upload these works on different article directories.Back link building combines some writing skills along with finding high page rank (PR) sites. SEO specialists need to make relevant comments on these websites. They incorporate keywords and seed these with the client’s links so the client’s site gains rankings.This process is not just for clothing stores or other businesses, as it’s also for car dealerships and automotive. SEO, when done properly, delivers more sales opportunities to these businesses too.Are car dealerships or automotive SEO processes any different?It depends on the company hired. Some automotive and car dealership SEO businesses employ the steps mentioned. There are also those offering different automotive internet marketing strategies.So what can an automotive or car dealership SEO company deliver?An automotive or car dealer SEO company provides higher web rankings. This visibility allows your company to gain more customers as you maintain better positions. Potential clients can visit your site more and increase web traffic. While they do, they can also explore what your firm offers. They can make inquiries and schedule orders as they please. Overtime, this can translate to word of mouth if they find your product and service consistent.What to do nowThe first thing to do is to find a company offering sound practices and proven results. Find the top ranking car dealership or automotive SEO firms in your area. Key indicators should be their past years’ performance along with client base. The more experience and clients they have, the better services they might give.

    Additive and Subtractive Programs

    The terms additive and subtractive bilingual education came into use in the last quarter of the 20th century as it became apparent that substantive differences existed between two major forms of bilingual education. The terms suggested totally different aims and goals. They are commonly attributed to Wallace Lambert, who used them in a 1975 publication. In their simplest definitions, the terms relate to the linguistic objectives of the program: to provide students with an opportunity to add a language to their communicative skill sets or, conversely, to insist that children participating in the program subtract their home language from active use and concentrate all efforts on rapidly learning and refining their English skills.This simple statement of differences between program types masks important attitudes and ideas that underlie the ways in which language diversity is viewed by school people and education policymakers. In this entry, these differences are explored. Other entries in this encyclopedia delve more deeply into related topics mentioned here. Factors affecting the choice: additive or subtractive? The choice of either a policy aimed at fostering and enhancing the child’s home language as part of the goals of bilingual education or one that seeks the opposite-abandoning home language use as quickly as possible-does not occur by chance.Such choices are rooted in underlying assumptions concerning the benefits, risks, utility, and cultural valuing of languages other than English in the wider society. Similarly, whether native speakers of English are included in these programs determines in part what the objectives of the program will be. In the main, children who are native speakers of English would not be involved in programs of subtractive bilingual education.When such children are involved, the programs are often referred to as two-way immersion programs, also known as dual-immersion programs, because the learning of the two languages occurs in both directions. This distinction does not always hold in n in other countries. Hence, the analysis below is limited to what is clearly the case in the United States.