May 7, 2010
What Free Software Do You Use?
Here are eleven pieces of free software I use pretty much every single day. Some of these come in free and paid versions - in each case, I've become such a loyal user of the software that I'm now a paid user, as I'm a big believer in paying for what I use.
Xmarks - http://www.xmarks.com/
Xmarks enables me to access all my bookmarks on all of the computers. It works with Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Google Chrome. Even my iPod Touch has all of my bookmarks. Picasa
Picasa - http://picasa.google.com/
I'm starting to build up an image archive of photos taken with my own camera for various projects. Picasa has become my organizing tool, as it keeps them all organized and easy to find, enables me to do simple touch-ups , tagging, and easy web sharing, though I still use Flickr for most sharing purposes.Skype - http://www.skype.com/
I use Skype for my business-related calls. Most of the features are free.
Dropbox - http://www.dropbox.com/
I often use this for sharing files between various computers, as well as sometimes making files available to others that I want to share with. While I have home networking set up, it isn't seamless and it doesn't allow retrieval from anywhere, so Dropbox fills in that gap incredibly well.
Remember the Milk - http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
Remember the Milk handles my to-do lists for me. I usually use RtM hand-in-hand with processing my "inbox" (mail, notes to myself, and so forth). If there's a task I need to do, I put it into RtM, and when I need to get down to business, RtM simply has my to-do list ready to go for me. I've used it for years.
Gmail - http://gmail.google.com/
The best thing I ever did was consolidate my email inside of Gmail. It enables me to effortlessly search through all of my email from any web browser, which is incredibly useful for both personal and professional things. I often just email things I need to remember to myself so I can search for them and find them later on within Gmail.
Gcal - http://www.google.com/calendar
This serves as an incredibly effective personal schedule for me, enabling me to quickly see (from almost anywhere) what's going on today, tomorrow, this week, this month, and so on. Recurring appointments, the ability to color-label different kinds of things, and the plethora of different views just a mouse-click away makes this an essential tool for me.
Digsby - http://www.digsby.com/
I use Digsby on any Windows-based computer I'm on to keep up to date with Twitter, Facebook, and the instant messaging programs I use all at once. Whenever something new comes along, it pops up in the corner and I can click on it to reply if I so choose. It's great to have on if I'm just searching for ideas and it turns off with just a click when I need to focus.
Notepad++ - http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/
Notepad++ is what I use when I'm writing posts (this article was typed out in Notepad++), writing code, or trying to organize ideas. It does so many little things better than the default Notepad that I consider it essential. I even type out long emails in it, copying and pasting when I'm finished.
Google Docs - http://docs.google.com/
When I'm assembling longer documents, doing basic spreadsheet work, or assembling presentations, I usually use Google Docs. Doing this allows me to work on those documents no matter where I am. Even better, you can effortlessly share these documents for collaborative purposes, allowing other people access to the document and allowing them to make changes and keep track of them.
Google Reader - http://reader.google.com/
I try to keep track of different blogs. I use Google Reader to do this - it simply shows me the latest posts from all of these sites at once. I can group these sites into whatever collections I like and it keeps track of which ones I've read and which ones I haven't.
This list pretty much sums up the software I use - and it's all FREE.
To Your Success!
Azhar Laher
Thornhill Wealth Forum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May 14, 2010
10 Ways to Improve Your Credit Score
To Your Success!
Azhar Laher
Thornhill Wealth Forum
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 21, 2010
REIT vs Owning Rental Property
What is a REIT? A Real Estate Income Trust is a company that owns property, collects rent, and distributes the profit to shareholders. It's an easy way to get real estate investment exposure without getting your hands dirty or managing tenants. However, the investor has no control over properties, purchasing or selling decisions, and especially the market.
Rental Real Estate
Advantages
There are advantages of owning rental real estate directly.
Downside
As with any investment, there are also drawbacks.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
The Good
The Bad
Final Thoughts
There are many advantages and drawbacks of both owning rental properties and investing in REITs. Either can be successful depending on your aptitude and interest.
What do you think? REITs or rental real estate?
Azhar Laher
Thornhill Wealth Forum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May 28, 2010
$50 Per Week x 45 years = $1 Million
Here's the Math
Many people think: "I'll never be a millionaire!" But with the power of compound interest, and time, you too can have a million bucks.
Here's how: Let's say you're in your twenties and you have about 45 years until you want to retire. (If you're older, keep reading-the basic math still applies.)
If you invested $50 a week, in one year you would have put away $2,600 ($50 X 52 weeks = $2,600).
But in 45 years, those cash deposits alone would only add up to $117,000 ($2,600 X 45 = $117,000). How does that turn into a million?
Just add water
Every day that your money is invested, it gains interest, then your interest earns interest-and your savings begin to snowball.
Assuming your money earns about 8% per year, on average-a reasonable assumption-here's how your savings would grow:
* In 10 years you'd have $40,000
* In 20 years you'd have $128,000
* In 30 years you'd have about $325,000
* In 40 years you'd have over $764,000
By year 45, you'd have $1,001,605.
Try the Thornhill Wealth Forum Millionaire Calculator to calculate ow much you
have to save to be a Millionaire!
To Your Success!
Azhar Laher
Thornhill Wealth Forum
What Free Software Do You Use?
Here are eleven pieces of free software I use pretty much every single day. Some of these come in free and paid versions - in each case, I've become such a loyal user of the software that I'm now a paid user, as I'm a big believer in paying for what I use.
Xmarks - http://www.xmarks.com/
Xmarks enables me to access all my bookmarks on all of the computers. It works with Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Google Chrome. Even my iPod Touch has all of my bookmarks. Picasa
Picasa - http://picasa.google.com/
I'm starting to build up an image archive of photos taken with my own camera for various projects. Picasa has become my organizing tool, as it keeps them all organized and easy to find, enables me to do simple touch-ups , tagging, and easy web sharing, though I still use Flickr for most sharing purposes.Skype - http://www.skype.com/
I use Skype for my business-related calls. Most of the features are free.
Dropbox - http://www.dropbox.com/
I often use this for sharing files between various computers, as well as sometimes making files available to others that I want to share with. While I have home networking set up, it isn't seamless and it doesn't allow retrieval from anywhere, so Dropbox fills in that gap incredibly well.
Remember the Milk - http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
Remember the Milk handles my to-do lists for me. I usually use RtM hand-in-hand with processing my "inbox" (mail, notes to myself, and so forth). If there's a task I need to do, I put it into RtM, and when I need to get down to business, RtM simply has my to-do list ready to go for me. I've used it for years.
Gmail - http://gmail.google.com/
The best thing I ever did was consolidate my email inside of Gmail. It enables me to effortlessly search through all of my email from any web browser, which is incredibly useful for both personal and professional things. I often just email things I need to remember to myself so I can search for them and find them later on within Gmail.
Gcal - http://www.google.com/calendar
This serves as an incredibly effective personal schedule for me, enabling me to quickly see (from almost anywhere) what's going on today, tomorrow, this week, this month, and so on. Recurring appointments, the ability to color-label different kinds of things, and the plethora of different views just a mouse-click away makes this an essential tool for me.
Digsby - http://www.digsby.com/
I use Digsby on any Windows-based computer I'm on to keep up to date with Twitter, Facebook, and the instant messaging programs I use all at once. Whenever something new comes along, it pops up in the corner and I can click on it to reply if I so choose. It's great to have on if I'm just searching for ideas and it turns off with just a click when I need to focus.
Notepad++ - http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/
Notepad++ is what I use when I'm writing posts (this article was typed out in Notepad++), writing code, or trying to organize ideas. It does so many little things better than the default Notepad that I consider it essential. I even type out long emails in it, copying and pasting when I'm finished.
Google Docs - http://docs.google.com/
When I'm assembling longer documents, doing basic spreadsheet work, or assembling presentations, I usually use Google Docs. Doing this allows me to work on those documents no matter where I am. Even better, you can effortlessly share these documents for collaborative purposes, allowing other people access to the document and allowing them to make changes and keep track of them.
Google Reader - http://reader.google.com/
I try to keep track of different blogs. I use Google Reader to do this - it simply shows me the latest posts from all of these sites at once. I can group these sites into whatever collections I like and it keeps track of which ones I've read and which ones I haven't.
This list pretty much sums up the software I use - and it's all FREE.
To Your Success!
Azhar Laher
Thornhill Wealth Forum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May 14, 2010
10 Ways to Improve Your Credit Score
- Clear up any errors on your credit report. Incorrect credit limits, late payments, or collection items that aren't yours may be silently wreaking havoc on your credit score.
- Always pay your bills on time. Delinquencies have the biggest negative effect on your credit score.
- Reduce your overall debt. If you don't have the funds to pay down debt, consider taking a loan from a family member or friend. That doesn't reduce what you owe, but it does move debt off your credit report and give your credit score a quick boost.
- Don't close unused credit cards accounts. Canceling a card can actually lower your score because it leaves you with less available credit relative to your total debt. It may also shorten your credit history, which will ding your score.
- Never max out your credit cards. A good rule of thumb is to keep your balances below 30% of your credit limit - even if you pay your accounts off in full each month.
- Do your loan shopping quickly. Having lots of credit inquiries can decrease your score. But the system won't treat a cluster of credit inquires (for a car or home loan, for example) within a short time period - like a week or two - unfavorably.
- Get a secured credit card. You'll have to dish out an upfront security deposit of at least a couple hundred dollars, which the card issuer holds as collateral. Check out the Public Savings Bank Visa and more secured offers on Creditcards.com.
- Get a gas or retail store card. Even though you may want to buy more than gas and clothes on credit, making small monthly charges that you pay off in full and on time each month will work wonders for boosting your credit score.
- If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you already have good credit, why would you want to risk doing something radically different? A score over 750 is excellent and means that you've been doing everything right when it comes to your credit.
- Closing an account doesn't make it go away. A closed account will still show up on your credit report, and may be considered by the score.
To Your Success!
Azhar Laher
Thornhill Wealth Forum
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 21, 2010
REIT vs Owning Rental Property
What is a REIT? A Real Estate Income Trust is a company that owns property, collects rent, and distributes the profit to shareholders. It's an easy way to get real estate investment exposure without getting your hands dirty or managing tenants. However, the investor has no control over properties, purchasing or selling decisions, and especially the market.
Rental Real Estate
Advantages
There are advantages of owning rental real estate directly.
- To start, you get control over the property, cash flow and tenants.
- The investor can pick and choose which properties to purchase, as well as which repairs or upgrades to create value.
- There's something to be said about having capital in a physical property that's more "real" than having money in the market.
- There are many tax deductions when owning rentals and if you own multiple units, you can claim a portion of your vehicle and home office.
Downside
As with any investment, there are also drawbacks.
- Owning rental real estate is a business and can be time consuming.
- Working with non-paying tenants can be challenging and stressful if cash flow is tight.
- Owning rental real estate directly is illiquid and quite costly to dispose of should the need arise (real estate, legal fees, time on market etc).
- Leverage (mortgage) may be required along with the now minimum 20% cash down payment.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
The Good
- What I like most about REITs is how "hands off" it is and how picking strong REITs can provide a steady passive income source.
- The investor can get real estate investment exposure without directly dealing with clogged toilets and late rents.
- The barrier of entry is much lower where any investor with a brokerage account can get REIT exposure.
- One of the major advantages of REITs over rental properties is the diversification possibilities. Instead of having a large portion of your capital in a single property, you can have them spread out over many properties across the country via a REIT.
The Bad
- For those of you who like the "control" of owning rental properties, REIT performance depends on the management of the company.
- Your investment capital will be at the mercy of the volatility of market.
- Leveraging REITs can negatively impact the tax deductibility of the investment loan.
Final Thoughts
There are many advantages and drawbacks of both owning rental properties and investing in REITs. Either can be successful depending on your aptitude and interest.
What do you think? REITs or rental real estate?
Azhar Laher
Thornhill Wealth Forum
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
May 28, 2010
$50 Per Week x 45 years = $1 Million
Here's the Math
Many people think: "I'll never be a millionaire!" But with the power of compound interest, and time, you too can have a million bucks.
Here's how: Let's say you're in your twenties and you have about 45 years until you want to retire. (If you're older, keep reading-the basic math still applies.)
If you invested $50 a week, in one year you would have put away $2,600 ($50 X 52 weeks = $2,600).
But in 45 years, those cash deposits alone would only add up to $117,000 ($2,600 X 45 = $117,000). How does that turn into a million?
Just add water
Every day that your money is invested, it gains interest, then your interest earns interest-and your savings begin to snowball.
Assuming your money earns about 8% per year, on average-a reasonable assumption-here's how your savings would grow:
* In 10 years you'd have $40,000
* In 20 years you'd have $128,000
* In 30 years you'd have about $325,000
* In 40 years you'd have over $764,000
By year 45, you'd have $1,001,605.
Try the Thornhill Wealth Forum Millionaire Calculator to calculate ow much you
have to save to be a Millionaire!
To Your Success!
Azhar Laher
Thornhill Wealth Forum