Great, Useful Tips
brought to you by "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate"
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Tip #1) Never pay off your mortgage. Here's why:
a high mortgage protects your home from lawsuits and other creditors - they cannot take your home if the bank really owns it, and
borrow your equity and reinvest it. Chances are your investments can earn you more than the additional cost of your mortgage, putting more cash in your pocket
Tip #2) You pay no taxes on money you save, but to spend a dollar you must earn $1.43 (if your tax bracket is 30%) because of income taxes (state & federal). By clipping coupons etc., if you can save $20/week, that is equal to giving yourself a raise of $28.60. Moreover, these savings can add up and be invested, earning even more money for you.
Tip #3) If you own an older vehicle, consider dropping the collision and comprehensive insurance. Older cars have less value if destroyed, and the cost of the insurance is usually far more than the vehicle's value.
Tip #4) Avoid buying any life insurance other than term life. Policies that build cash values etc. are far more expensive, and the yield is far less than you could get by investing the difference on your own.
Tip #5) Set up a home office. Tax rules on home offices were liberalized in 1999, and a home office deduction can trim thousands off your tax bill.
Tip #6) Do you run a small business of any kind? You can pay your child up to$4400/year without the child owing any taxes, and without you having to withhold. Use $2000 of this every year to invest in a Roth IRA for your child - no taxes will be due on the funds when withdrawn, either. Use the other $2400 to cover school clothing or other items your child needs anyway. Meanwhile,you take a $4400 deduction for salary to your child.
Tip #7) Want to lose weight without exercise or dieting? Drink (6) 16 oz glasses of ICE WATER every day. Your body must burn about 200 extra calories per day to warm the water to your body temp. That's 1400 calories/week, folks! Water also flushes carcinogens from the body, reducing cancer risk.
Tip #8) Reduce stress, fear and pain for your child when he/she is treated by a doctor or dentist - sit beside your child and distract him/her, and get them to participate. For example, you can ask your child which cartoon character is his/her favorite, and why. While concentrating on the subject that interests him/her, the child is often unaware of what the doc is doing.
Tip #9) Faster pain relief - use liquid pain relievers. Liquids are absorbed by the body faster than caps or tablets.
Tip #10) Save criticism for what is really important. Love and other good relationships can be eroded by criticism. Unless the issue is of some real importance, hold the criticism and hold on to the relationship.
Tip #11) Don't beat yourself - or anyone else - up over mistakes - our education is built from mistakes. Learn from them, and grow wiser and more prosperous.
Tip #12) Don't set yourself up to fail by tackling formidable tasks head-on. Instead, break large tasks into smaller pieces that can be easily handled. You cannot sit down and just eat a cow, but you CAN butcher the cow, and eat one steak or burger each day. Eventually, you will eat that cow.
Tip #13) Gaining too much weight but find dieting difficult? Try "grazing". The body can only use just so much nutrition at any given time - any excess is turned into fat. The old American standard of 3 big meals a day can pack on the weight because three times a day the body gets too much fuel, while the rest of the day it does not get enough. Break up each meal into two portions, and eat one of these six "meals" every 2-3 hours. Your body is more apt to use all of it, resulting in less weight gain. Think natural - before the days of supermarkets and microwaves, early man had to forage throughout the day for sustenance - a variety of foods, in small quantities, throughout the day. NOTE: each mini-meal should be balanced, just like larger meals.
Tip #14) Accomplish more. Tackle the worst, hardest, dirtiest jobs first. By doing so, the rest of your day will look much brighter, less stressful. This strategy also helps eliminate procrastination.
Tip #15) Simplify your life, and profit. Clutter can make life much more difficult than it needs to be. Taking one room at a time, go through it and gather anything that hasn't been used more than once in the last year, as well as anything that has no real value to you, or relevance. If it has true value for you, keep it. If it has no value at all, discard it. If it has value, but not especially to you, donate it to charity and take a tax deduction.
Tip #16) Don't be judgemental about what is good or bad. Rather than seeing a crisis as bad, consider that the crisis might teach you something you need to learn in order to become more successful. You might view pain as being bad. But if you could not feel pain, you would never know when you need a doctor, or when you have an infection. Not being able to feel pain would be the death of you - literally. Remember - just because it looks or feels bad does not mean it is bad. Become less judgemental, and happiness will be your reward.
Tip #17) Under age 40? Save just $5.50 per day. Each year, put it into an IRA invested in stock funds. The average stock funds, over a 30 year period should easily average 15%/year, resulting in $1 million for your retirement.
Tip #18) Planning to buy a new car? Buy a good, used 2 year old car, instead. You will still have a nice car, and save the thousands of dollars in depreciation that affects new cars the minute you drive them off the lot (around 40% depreciation). Take that savings and invest it. Just $2000 saved, and wisely invested over a 30 year period could add up to $50,000 to your net worth. Add to that the savings from lower insurance premiums on the older car and your net worth can rise even more. Remember- a car has only one function- to get you from point A to point B. If you need the ego boost or status of a brand new car - or a luxury car - you will pay dearly for it in your overall net worth. You have a choice - put as much money as you can into appreciating assets such as stocks or real estate, and grow wealthy, or sink your cash into depreciating assets such as cars and boats, and watch your dreams of wealth fade away. Time enough to get those toys once you've reached your wealth goals.
Tip #19) Eight foods that cut risk of cancer: onions & garlic block formation of nitrosamines (potent carcinogens); broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts & cabbage contain anticancer compounds known as glucosinalates; nuts & seeds contain antioxidants and protease inhibitors; whole grains contain fiber that helps isolate carcinogens and remove them from the body; legumes (peas, beans, lentils) have fiber and saponins that block tumor growth (soybeansare best); fruits contain antioxidants and cancer-fighters monoterpenes & glutathione (blackberries, strawberries & raspberries contain ellagic acid, which binds and deactivates carcinogens); tomatoes have lycopene which blocks formation of carcinogens; and carrots, parsley, celery, cumin, anise, caraway & coriander are sources of phytochemicals which help prevent cancer.
Tip #20) A recent study shows that 1 in 5 toothbrushes are contaminated with E.coli bacteria caused by flushing a toilet with the cover in the open position. Close cover before flushing. (this will also make the wife happy) :o)
Tip #21) Email without attachments cannot communicate a virus to your computer, but those with attachments can. Delete any email with attachments that come from unknown sources, or that you did not specifically request.