Employer-provided life insurance policies explained

In the old days employers used to provide welfare benefit to any employees who got into difficulty and some of the retirement plans were remarkably generous. Those were the compassionate times when employers recognized the levels of pay were low and prevented the employees from saving for their retirement. Indeed, this practice actually hung on through the decades and new laws were required as recently as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. This deals with the management of the retirement funds established over the years. All employees pay a small percentage of their pay into the fund and it tops up the pension when they retire and leaves enough to cover funeral expenses.

While the country remain in the grip of these socialists, everyone saw good returns from these retirement funds. Even though there were minor recessions and more serious depressions, these funds were solid, steady performers. During the boom years, they grew spectacularly. And that's when the problems began. The owners of these businesses began to question why so much cash was being left sitting around doing nothing. With the economy doing well, many of these funds were therefore used to fund dramatic expansions of the businesses. The owners always meant to pay the money back except, this was a cheaper source of funding than using the banks. Repayments were therefore delayed.

When they looked at the retirement plans, many owners discovered the plans could be amended without having to ask for permission from anyone. This came as a surprise to many who had retired. They began receiving notices regretting the reduction in their benefits. A recent case against Qwest Communications International has just been decided by the Court of Appeals. The employers won. So the moral of this story for you is a simple one. If your employer currently offers you a pay package including insurance and retirement benefits, look at the small print very carefully. If you see anything along the following lines, "the Company reserves the right to amend or terminate any of the benefits under this section. . .", don't rely on the plans and policies apparently on offer. The courts are not going to protect the rights of an employee against an employer in the face of an express contract term.

The life insurance policy you buy, whether directly or through an agent, is a contract made for life. So long as you continue paying the premium installments and don't cancel, that policy is good for decades. But no matter what the appearances, including the appointment of well-known individuals as trustees to administer the fund, no employer who reserves the right to amend or terminate the plans can be relied on to leave the fund untouched. If this applies to you, you should seriously consider topping up the coverage apparently available. Discuss your options with an experienced life insurance agent and find out how best to protect your retirement prospects and the welfare of your family.

Car rental companies and road trips with children

When you're young, you can go anywhere, anytime, and either just hang out or go hang-gliding or anything else ending in "ing" that involves putting your life on the line. You're free of responsibilities and, as you think about the world over a couple of beers as night draws in, it never really occurs to you that having children is a life-changing event. Only when confronted by the practical reality of two toddlers does it occur to you that hang-gliding with them suspended from your belt might not be a good idea.

So the burning question is where do you go and what do you do when you get there? Let's start with a fairly obvious problem to avoid. If you've been carefully training these little ones to sleep when it gets dark, going too far north into Alaska is a bad idea since the sun tends to stay in the sky more hours than you like. Stay in the southern regions where it goes dark at a sensible time. Now think about how much kit you need to keep the toddlers clean and fed during the driving. In addition to the seating to keep them safe, you need easy access to all the stored essentials without having to stop and dive into a crowded trunk every time you need something. Now think about breast-feeding. You need adequate room and it might be a good idea to have curtains at the windows in the back of the vehicle.

Do a strategic run-through in your own vehicle to get an idea of how much space you're going to need and then check on what makes and models will give you what you need with a miles-per-gallon rate that won't break the bank. Once you have the field narrowed down, it's on to the internet to find one of your preferred makes and models from car rental companies at a price you can afford. That's potentially going to need some negotiation with the car rental companies to get child-friendly seats of the right size fixed in place ready for you.

Cheap flights and what to do if refused boarding

There are some very comprehensive rules protecting European citizens when they travel around Europe. If the airlines fail to comply with these rules, they will be prosecuted and heavy fines are payable. So it's in your interests to know your rights. Let's start with the not uncommon situation of overbooked flights. You have paid for your ticket, you told the airline you were coming, and you present yourself at the airport on time only to find there are too many bodies waiting to get on the same flight. If this happens to you, the airline must first call for volunteers to give up their seats in return for agreed compensation. But suppose no one volunteers. Well, the choice falls to you.

If you decide not to travel, you are entitled to a full refund and compensation of up to 600 Euro. The actual amount varies depending on how long the intended flight and how many miles. But if it will still be worth traveling onward, you are entitled to be booked on to the first available flight to your destination. If you are offered a seat upgrade, the airline cannot ask you for the difference in price. If you must now break your journey and catch a connecting flight, all expenses must be met. Food and accommodation may also be necessary. Should the only available seats be in a lower class, you are entitled to a refund of the difference in ticket price.

As to cheap flights, particularly those booked as a package through a travel professional, you will be in line for significant compensation if you lose the benefit of car rental or hotel accommodation. If you did buy through a travel agent, the airline is obliged to compensate the travel agent and, in turn, the agent is obliged to pass on the compensation to you. If you have any complaint about the airline and the treatment you received when you were refused boarding, make a complaint to the National Enforcement Body in your home state. Officers are supposed to help you recover the full amount of compensation available under EU law.

Keep in mind your house safety to get lower home insurance rates

If you own an apartment or a a house a sound idea is to obtain an insurance policy for your property. There are many risks your home may be exposed to over the course of the years, from natural perils to technological disasters and simple human misbehavior. In situations like these your property may be damaged to a great extent and paying for its repair will prove to be very costly. Home insurance is designed to protect you financially in such circumstances since it pays for repairing or rebuilding your property in predetermined situations. Still, for some people the cost of having their homes insured seems to be very high. They will say that they can't afford to have home insurance because of the rates. Fortunately, there are many effective ways to reduce the costs of having your property insured. And improving your house's safety is certainly one of the most effective and beneficial of them.

Security and safety play a very important role in all forms of insurance. Insurers base their rates on the risk they undertake when covering a certain item (home, auto, jewelry, etc.). This risk is determined by many different factors, yet the security of the object is naturally a crucial one. The lower is an object's (or subject's) security, the higher is the risk of the insurance situation taking place. For example, if your car doesn't have an alarm it is more likely to be stolen than if it had one. And that's obvious why insurers relate their pricing on the security rating of the object they are to insure.

Let's project this knowledge on houses and try to understand which measures should be taken for improving home security and optimizing home insurance costs. Fact is that home safety and security can be a bit complex and overwhelming since there are so many aspects involved. From simple pluming optimization and minimization of leak risks to fire alarms and video surveillance systems - it all may look too costly and time consuming. But no one's rushing you here and you can easily take one step at a time.

Consider the most common perils home insurance is designed for: fire, flood, windstorms, burglary, earthquakes, lightning, etc. Some of them cannot be prevented or protected from like in the case of earthquakes or technological disasters, while others are quite simple to prevent. Fire damage risk can be minimized by installing smoke detectors, fire alarm or even an extinguishing system. Even having a common fire extinguisher somewhere within reach can be a good measure that the insurer will take into account. Checking your roof and walls for leaks and maintaining your pluming system can be very good for decreasing flood damage. Lightning damage can be easily eliminated by having a lightning rod at the top of your house. Burglary can be prevented by having sturdy doors, quality locks, alarm and surveillance systems installed in your house.

One by one, these measures will gradually make your house more secure against a range of risks, and the insurance company will surely notice that. The better you are at securing your property the lower will be your home insurance rates because insurers like it when the customer minimizes the risks for them. So you're actually killing two birds with one stone here since you both make your house safer for you and your family to live in and decrease the cost of insuring it.

Cheap air tickets and children behaving badly

Back in Victorian times, the Brits had a saying, "Children should be seen and not heard". In other words, although children are the only way of perpetuating the species and so we have to put up with them, it's much better if we never have to tolerate their bad behavior. How many of us have stood or sat transfixed by a child demonstrating the art of the tantrum. It usually starts with a yell of outrage over some imagined disruption to quality of life. If we're lucky, the resulting reaction is purely verbal and, yes, we're frequently amazed at how colorful even the youngest children can get when they have the bit between their teeth. They can hold their own with dock workers and others famous for their ability to swear nonstop for ten minutes without drawing breath. If we're unlucky, there's physical involvement. This can be passive resistance but, more often than not, the first step is to look for things to throw. When the available ammunition has been used up, it's into violence against anyone within range of flying fists and feet.

Allowing for the fact children are more likely to lose their self control when they are tired and traveling can be a very tiring experience, and boredom on a long flight adding fuel to the fires, we see rather more bad behavior than we would like in airports and on long haul flights. In a recent survey, more than a third of those patient and long-suffering Brits said they would willingly abandon cheap air tickets and pay more for the privilege of traveling without any young children on board.

So ask yourselves how many times you have had the pleasure of a child sitting behind you and kicking the seat, or with children throwing food or spitting at you. Would you be prepared to pay a few more dollars to avoid the frustration of parents who seem incapable of controlling their children? Do you think airlines should offer this service? Just think. They could batch all the families with younger children together, and leave the rest of the skies free of noise for the rest of us. Would you surrender cheap airline tickets for peace and quiet?

Getting cheap air tickets has only happened in recent years

When you look back at the last century, the consistent story is the pace of technological development. Just think. The Wright Brothers took to the air at Kitty Hawk in 1903 for the first powered flight. Today, the Airbus A380 would seat 525 people in the usual three classes of cabin space. But if it was economy class throughout, about 850 could sit and travel in relative comfort. So, in the space of one-hundred-twenty years, we've gone from no passenger over a short distance, to hundreds of passengers being taken more than 9,000 miles without having to stop for fuel. Although it wasn't always the case it is now remarkable that when you measure the number of passenger deaths per mile, flying is now the safest form of public transportation.

When flying started, it was considered too dangerous to allow paying passengers. Only slowly were the rich allowed to buy their way onboard. This was reckless of them, but there was a certain glamor to being seen to live dangerously. When you actually look at the conditions, the cabins were not pressurized and desperately noisy. Passengers were crammed together like the proverbial sardines in a tin. Ignoring the A380 experience which is still somewhat limited, all the cheap air tickets are in smaller airplanes and the seating experience is often cramped. It's a simple problem of economics. If you put the maximum possible number of seats in the plane, the cost per passenger is lower. If you increase leg room and allow greater width in the seats for the increasingly overweight passengers, the cost per passenger rises. It's the same aviation fuel cost and overheads divided among fewer people.

It is, in reality, no more comfortable to travel by air today than it used to be sixty or seventy years ago, which produces something of an irony. The only real advance has been in convenience. You're not shaken around so much and the noise level is more bearable. So the choice comes back to you. Cheap air tickets are always going to be less comfortable. Will you pay more to be more comfortable?

Book keeping outsourcing services

For a company who wants to reduce costs, outsource bookkeeping companies are heaven-sent. Outsourcing bookkeeping has become the trend for small and medium sized businesses. Such practice guarantees great savings in accounting costs. Outsourcing bookkeeping allows the company to pay either an hourly rate, or a one-time fee as the service is required instead of paying for a fixed cost for salaries and wages. It has become the best solution for small and medium business as well as large companies who wants to reduce cost.

 

But cost reduction is not the only benefit of outsourcing bookkeeping. There are also many other benefits that make outsourcing bookkeeping very reasonable. Here are the added benefits of outsourcing bookkeeping:

 

1. Focus on core activities. - This is considered to be the most important reason why outsourcing is popular among small and medium businesses.

Business owners will have all their time to focus on developing the business and not be bothered by the things that are not in their line of expertise like bookkeeping. Without having to worry about the financial records, they will havesome mental relaxation hereby conditioning their minds to innovate and make better decisions.

 

2. Expert services. - Outsource bookkeepers give expert and more professional service than in-house bookkeepers. It is believed that the reason for this is that in-house bookkeepers have the security of tenure unlike outsource bookkeeping companies who have a lot of competitors. Thus, in terms of performance, outsource bookkeeping companies is always motivated with the goal to maintain a competitive edge to stay and be popular in the business.

 

3. Less paper work. - This is in the aspect of corporate social responsibility. Outsourcing means more computerized works thereby contributing in saving paper. Reports are not presented in printed format at all times for they usually communicate reports and do the work online.

 

4. Reduced administrative burdens. - In terms of employee issues, this is the greatest benefit in outsourcing. There will be no need to spend revenues in hiring and training potential employees. There is no worry about succession plan, retention plans and employee work descriptions. In addition, no compliance to government authorities relating to employees. The bookkeeping service company is the one responsible for the bookkeepers they provide or assigned to their client.

 

5. Better use of office space. - Without having to maintain an accounting department means more office space. The business owner can either use this area for more revenue generation or h can save on the rent.

 

6. Less year-end issues. - Outsource companies guarantee a no-delay presentation or submission of reports. There will be no need of over-time and last hour rush during deadlines or tax season. Outsource bookkeepers work on a daily basis eliminating pending work issues.

 

7. More employee motivation. - Outsourcing bookkeeping eliminates disputes between accounting department and other departments. There will be no issues on salaries and overtimes which are being handled by the accounting department and which is often a big issue. If the payroll is being handled by a more professional firm rather than by the few in-house bookkeepers, there is an increased transparency - an effective way to motivate employees.

 

With all the added benefits, outsourcing bookkeeping NY function is more effective than having one permanently in the office. Ponder on this and start searching bookkeepers Manhattan in the web to find trusted and reliable bookkeeping outsource companies like NYC Bookkeepers.

For more information on  Book keeping outsourcing services you can visit http://www.pro-accountants.com/bookkeeping.html

 

Mini Net Book

Mini Net books are also called as notebooks. These are lightweight and inexpensive. These are used for general computing and accessing web applications.

 

In 2007 smaller notebooks came to market for low weight and low cost. It has small screen and small keyboard and also it requires less power when compared to computer. Net books ranged in the size from below 5" screen to over 11.6".

 

It weights about 1kg. It is less expensive than laptops. In short period net books have grown in size as well as features. Now it's still smaller and lighter.

 

The first net books are released in 1999. Net books are less powerful hardware than laptops. Some net books even don't have a conventional hardware. The memory storage capacity is less when compared to others and it varies about 8, 16 or 32GB. All net books support Wi-Fi wireless networking.

 

Most notebooks such as Dell, Acer, Asus, Toshiba uses Intel Atom note book processor.

In January 2009 U.S are estimated to ship with windows. Now Microsoft tested windows 7 for net books and it works.

 

Net books are running using other operating system including FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Darwin. 60% of net book buyers never take their net book outside. Now children's editions of net books are released under Disney branding.

 

These are low cost, less risk, lack of DVD player, smaller keyboards etc. Net books are growing in education for several reasons. The need to prepare children for 21st century lifestyles, combined with hundreds of new educational tools that can be found online, and a growing emphasis on student centred learning are three of the biggest contributing factors to the rising use of Net book technology in schools.

 

Net books offer several distinct advantages in educational settings.

First, their compact size and weight make for an easy fit in student work areas. Similarly, the small size makes Net books easier to transport than heavier, larger sized traditional laptops. In addition, prices ranging from 0–0 dollars mean the affordability of Net books can be a relief to school budget makers.

 

Despite the small size and price, Net books are fully capable of accomplishing most school-related tasks, including word processing, power point presentations, access to the Internet, multimedia playback, and photo management.

 

Net books come with their share of costs and management issues. Most schools invest in some type of security cart, where the computers can be securely stored when not in use, and plugged into to recharge all at once.

 

Recharging 30 or more computers at one time have the potential to overload electrical circuits, especially in older buildings. Having an electrician inspect the building's electrical infrastructure is advisable. The wireless capability of Net books is one of its most attractive features, but only if the school has a bandwidth connection capable of supporting 30 wireless Internet connections.

 

With the limited storage capabilities of Net books, an investment in a server or external database with a greater capacity for storing information may be needed. If printing is a necessity, look for one that connects with Net books either wirelessly, or via USB cable.

 

To maintain all this equipment, a successful Net book program needs to have a highly trained and proficient IT service professional. Being familiar with the network, building infrastructure, and operating system of the computers are all absolutely necessary.

Derek Elliott ? Empowering Business Entrepreneurship with Effective Strategy

The word empowering is nothing but the process of increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. This important method involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.

Generally there are two critical factors for the success of business entrepreneurship. They are:

Identifying opportunities
Minimizing the risks inherent to these opportunities.

Both the two factors are generally influenced by an effective strategy. Hence the effective strategy plays a very important role in the entrepreneurial ventures.

Business Entrepreneurship: The Business entrepreneurship always involves in creating a Powerful Strategy with the necessary approaches and steps.

They also hire more number of Consultants for the Strategy Development.

A structured approach to business entrepreneurship involves many steps such as,

Devising a business plan: A business plan represents the concrete version of an entrepreneur's business idea. The plan focuses on the business goals and how to attain them. The plan covers most of the products/services, client base, target audience, business processes and procedures in detail. A business plan which focuses on both the promotion and branding is called as a marketing plan.

Business structure: The business structure during the initial stages are in different forms. A business can be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or a limited liability company.

Pitching: The Venture capitalist and financing companies are responsible for most of the business ideas which have a substantial profit generation capacity. Normally, an entrepreneur faces difficulties in arranging the finances at some critical situation.

Spotting market opportunities: To identify an opportunity and exploiting it to the maximum is the fundamental objective of the business development. Then Devising the possible solutions for this inefficiency leads to profit potential.

Internal operations: These are the internal Decisions need to be made on internal management, like hiring people, establishing processes, managing revenues and communication with the clients.

Marketing product/services: Marketing process is nothing but understanding the consumer behavior and determining the same. Only an efficient advertising and marketing plan can serve as the backbone of sales and subsequent revenue generation.

Business Entrepreneurship:
The expertise of the professional consultants can prove to be critical only during the success formulation of an effective strategy. The Consulting agencies can easily offer a help in identifying the market inefficiencies and to exploit one's benefit.

Thus the business entrepreneurship specialize in developing the business strategy, marketing and managing the finances. Most of the organization strengthens both the internal and external processes which are fundamental to the long term success of the business entrepreneurship.

eBooks for Troops

Donated Accessories

Len's co-founder is former Artillery Officer Ken Clark who helped develop the initial 'Kindles for Kandahar' into 'eBooks For Troops', expanding Len's idea into a worldwide non-profit organization dedicated to provided eReaders to Americans troops everywhere, at home and abroad. Included with the eReaders are reading lights and camouflage jackets for the Kindles, donated by M-Edge Accessories, and also Amazon gift cards that can be used to purchase eBooks. The first two Kindles were posted to the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan at the end of April.

 

Soldiers have little downtime, particularly when abroad on active duty, and that they do have is very prized and well used. When not on patrol or other forms of duty, troops must have some means of relaxation so that they are alert and ready when they have to be.

Some watch TV when it is available and others play games, but reading has unsurprisingly always been a popular way to pass the time.

 

Troops have very little space for personal items and being able to pack hundreds of books into a small package lighter than the average magazine is of tremendous benefit to them. A Kindle 2, with its high storage capacity and Wireless downloading of eBooks, is the ideal reading platform for troops for whom even one book would be taking up a significant amount of space.

 

Distribution by Raffle

Due to the demand, Kindles in Afghanistan are distributed by free raffle, and rather than pass around the few physical books that are available round the entire camp, each being read by the same soldier several times over, troops can now pack 1500 books into a 10 ounce eReader.

As noted in the article "Kindle for Sale in Europe" (dbReaders), the electronic libraries available to Kindle users are vast, with Amazon offering over 200,000 titles in the English language, and publishers such as Penguin, HarperCollins and Faber and Faber signing up to offer Kindle-compatible titles. The Amazon gift vouchers enable them to select their own choice of reading material and download to their Kindle through the Wireless internet connection.

 

Kindles (must be K2) are either donated by the public or purchased with money obtained from donation or fundraising events, and then posted to the Army units where they are distributed either individually by means of a free draw, or for use as a shared resource. It is intended that eBooks For Troops will eventually be extended out to all branches of the armed forces. Says Army Chaplain Capt. Jim Mitchem at FOB Cobra in Iraq: "The lottery is working great – causes some excitement each week as the name gets out."

 

In order to receive Kindles, an Army unit must be sponsored for the program through a sponsorship form published on the website, with reasons provided why that particular unit is a good candidate to receive the free Kindles.

 

Why the Kindle 2?

The Amazon Kindle was chosen by eBooks For Troops because it was believed to offer the best set of capabilities for troops. The Kindle 2 is specified because it is of the best design for field use, being slimmer and with a more secure back than the K1, and of a smaller profile than the DX. The firmware of the K2 is also still supported by Amazon unlike the K1 to which OS upgrades have not been applied.

 

There is also the benefit of economy of scale, where buying in bulk enables a lower price to be negotiated. This would not be the case were a mixture of models and manufacturers/distributors used. By including M-Edge Accessories in the venture, eBooks For Troops also have resource to the accessories that make eBook reading easier and safer for troops on active duty in the extremely hostile environment.