Nerdistan

Those that have successfully made the transition from manager to leader have found the importance of continuously asking questions. Constantly receiving feedback from front line workers enables aleader to understand what is going right and where improvement is needed. At the same time, the leader is showing interest in the front line workers through these questions. However asking questions can become harmful if two key steps do not follow them.

First, it is important that the leader acts on what was learned from the questions. If a front line employee offers information about a problem they expect to have the issue addressed. Effective leaders have been able to eliminate unnecessary paperwork, streamline operations, improve customer responsiveness, and many other positive results. The employees that make these suggestions translate these changes as an indicator of their value to the organization.

Second, the employee needs to be provided with recognition once the leader has implemented a solution to the employee’s suggestion or complaint. Although traditional leaders believe this has to be monetary, the reality is that employees are very happy with verbal recognition. In the event a solution was not possible, the employee should still be acknowledged and provided with details about why the policy or procedure change, or the suggestion could not be enacted.

Here are some sample questions to ask in your daily contact with your employees. Notice the questions take a positive aspect to focus the employees on what is going right. An effective leader practicing active listening skills will listen to the hidden message and then probe for underlying frustrations from a positive point of view.

1. How are we providing the support you need to accomplish your work?

2. What are you finding most rewarding about your position?

3. What is your favorite part of your work?

4. Do you have any ideas to improve processes or procedures?

5. What customer interaction was most pleasurable today?

6. What is the most productive use of your time?

7. Do you have any ideas of how our organization might save money or time?

9. What is the silliest thing we have asked you to do?

Remember: Ask the questions, listen to the answers, enact solutions where possible, and value the employee with verbal acknowledgement of results.

This is just one of the best practices of today’s most effective leaders. Max Impact offers a seminar for leadership team reviewing this and other great ideas and tips with an emphasis on things participants can put into immediate action. For more information call 248-802-6138 or send an email to info@getmaximpact.com.

Rick Weaver is an accomplished business executive with a wealth of experience in retail, market analysis, supply chain enhancement, project management, team building, and process improvement. Building on a strong retail background, Rick moved to full supply-chain involvement, working with hundreds of companies to improve sales, processes, and bottom-line results.

As Rick’s interaction in varied industries expanded, he became troubled as he increasingly noticed that people and companies had untapped or unfocused talent.

Coupled with Rick’s passion for training and development, popular style of interactive workshops and seminars, and strong desire for continuous improvement, he founded Max Impact Corporation to be singularly focused on helping individuals and organizations achieve high performance.

Rick is a popular speaker at seminars, workshops, and conferences. He has spoken in 43 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, and in Canada and Puerto Rico. He is available to speak at groups of all sizes.

Companies that issue credit cards want to make a profit. No one disagrees with that. The problem is that, we as consumers have, is when they have hide or disguise what it really cost for you to use a card.

Here are some ways that you could be paying more, not even knowing it for your credit cards.

Those Teaser Rates

As these rates are low at the beginning but rise after six months or a year. This is a popular way for credit card issuers to attract new cardholders. I don’t know if you’re aware of this but when the low rate expires, any balance that you may have left on the card automatically jumps to the new rate and just not on new purchases. This is something you should discuss or read before you even get a new credit card with low teaser rates

Those Costly Cash Advances

There is usually both a finance charge or interest and a transaction fee for cash advance cash even though the as may say “no finance charges”. There is no grace period for that cash advance. You will pay all the interest from the day you take that advance. The transaction fee may be as high as 2-5%.

Extra Fringe Benefits

Cards that were offering benefits like percentage discounts, rebates, purchase protection, etc., may have been cutting back on those benefits and without any notice. Watch your mail when you get those updated versions for your credit card. If you don’t read it, then you didn’t know it changed and unfortunately it’s your fault.

The Grace Period.

These high limit cards may sound great but may not have a grace period. If you ever noticed on your credit card bill, you may receive the bill five days before the due date. How are you supposed to then pay your bill on time?

If you don’t want to take any chances in having to pay a finance charge, then pay your bill in full each month. If you receive your bill late, call the credit card company and tell them that.

Two cycle billing.

Two cycle billing means the credit card issuer charges interest the first month that you don’t pay your of balance in full.
Always read through your terms and conditions on your credit card bill and if you have any questions just call the credit card company and ask questions!

Copyright 2005 Fern Kuhn, RN
Specializing in Diabetes

http://www.diabetestestingcenter.com
http://www.mortgageratecenter.info

You may reprint this article as long as you keep the links active

David Strom wrote fascinating editorial regarding formats and provides a historical lesson (ah, the old days of floppies… first black, then green, orange, red, and blue). Imagine if an automotive company decided to produce a car that uses a new kind of gasoline — not leaded, unleaded, or diesel — a brand new one also manufactured by the company.

How stupid would that be? Customers won’t buy the car knowing it limits their gasoline options and the places to go for filling up the car. The company thinks it can make more money by requiring its brand of gasoline for the car. Let’s try to spell it out as I am lousy with numbers.

Note: An average car puts on 10,000 miles. We’ll give this car a rate of 15 miles per gallon (higher than SUVs and lower than energy efficient cars).

5 cars using the company’s gasoline purchased One car costs $10,000 Gas costs $2.20 per gallon 15 miles per gallon 667 gallons per year Gas cost for one year: $1467

Company earns $57,335 for five cars and gas.

But if ABC Automotive had brains, it would build a car that uses the standard unleaded fuel. People like the car and since it works with standard fuel, the gasoline barrier doesn’t exist. Thus, more people buy the car.

6 cars using standard fuel purchased One car costs $10,000

Company earns $60,000 without selling gasoline. However, it’s likely to sell more than six cars since the gasoline barrier doesn’t exist. It’s only a one car difference and the company makes more money.

We haven’t covered competition. Someone out there will duplicate the gas and offer it for a lower price, thus taking money away from the company.

My point? Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft do this with their game consoles. I had considered the Sony Clie, but one factor prevented my buying it… the memory stick. I don’t like its limitation of working with only Sony products.

When we wanted to get Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), which only comes with PS2 and Xbox — we learned PS2 had better DDR choices, but Xbox had a better collection of games and features. Imagine how much more money each company could make if the software could work on both systems? But the software development companies stand at the mercy of the hardware companies. Hence, many games have a version for various platforms including the PC and the handheld devices.

But it’s gaming and they are going to make it proprietary. The companies want it that way. The PSP is Sony’s jump into the handheld gaming arena where Nintendo has a monopoly.

The 5.25 floppy was not a standard when it came out. The standard was 8″ floppies. 5.25 became the standard when the two biggest bullies on the block (Microsoft for software and IBM for hardware) got in bed together and made it the standard by sheer market dominance. Same thing here.

Nintendo has the dominance in the handheld arena. Sony wants in on the action… SO what do they do? Sony creates its own handheld and format (UMD - Universal Media Disk). Furthermore, a couple movie companies Disney, Columbia (Surprise! Sony-owned) will produce movies in the format. So Sony is furthering its efforts by having their movie company make movies for the format. Disney just jumped on board.

Until a uber-dominate power is in place, you are going to have the multiple formats. HDTV has been around since 1996 or so. The “standard” has finally settled will be in wide distribution 2007. I expect gaming to take much longer… if ever.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl’s notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn’t wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.

The stress of calling on a offline gaming hall can be sufficient reason not to go there if it’s not unavoidable. All those traffic jams, the stress, and list of tasks this entails are too much to justify the exertion merely for this chance of taking your chances at offline gaming hall, all the same, provided you are the kind that simply ache for gaming establishments then going virtual is sure to be the self-evident solution. Are you up to the challenge? Try your hand at online sports gambling here.

Here, you won’t have to move outside to go for online texas holdem and related games since you’ll do everything from your home provided you have a laptop or pc with internet access. Nevertheless, make no mistake— there are plenty of guidelines and details that you positively should pick up regarding online texas holdem and related games, in particular if you happen to be a beginner in this area. Ok, so dullen that tizzy of yours and survey the following words of wisdom. Here is our little layout which describes what to observe when choosing a creditable online texas holdem and related games webpage. The foremost thing that I as a shrewd Web risker will check is an online texas holdem and related games Web site of the kind capable of offering top odds. Also, read on for a number of alternative infos regarding deciding on your online roulette etc Web site.

Always take care to confirm the online roulette etc Web site is actually licensed, for instance by examining the govt. operating authorization on the casino site’s pages. If you are unable to unearth any govt. operating authorization on that chosen online roulette etc Web site, do not remotely think of risking on that site. In the next step, you’ll survey conscientiously the sundry bonuses that the online roulette etc Web site presents clients with. Beyond, further big advice is to wager for starters in petty amounts in lieu of throw away big dollars right away. Check, first of all, the stability of this online roulette etc framework rather than provoking any undue injury- in particular financial ones… Finally, here is another most significant cue regarding virtual casino. It can obviously only be always to remember that betting should mainly be about having fun and much less about high winnings. Betting in an online casino is definitely no vocation, instead it’s a leisure pursuit that should make you ecstatic and life as a whole delightful.

So simply having minded the advice above, you can now defer to the beguilement of online roulette etc!

Your most important responsibility as an adult is to achieve financial independence for yourself and for your family. Aside from the practical tangible benefits of having all the money you need, there are even more important reasons for obtaining financial freedom.

To achieve financial freedom you have to be in control of your life and you cannot be in control of your life if you’re constantly worrying about not having enough money to pay your bills. Constantly worrying about not having enough money will rob you of any feeling of being in control of your life more than anything else.

The feeling of security is one of the most important and basic human needs. Every person wants and needs to free from feelings of poverty, being destitute, and the feeling failure that is associated with it. The lack of security causes more unhappiness and more underachievement than any other single factor.

Financial freedom is only possible when you accept complete responsibility for your financial condition. You must refuse to make justifications, excuses, or rationalizations for the financial situation you are currently in. You have to accept full responsibility for your current situation before any meaningful financial change can take place.

Financial independence begins with a specific goal and a plan to achieve it. You must decide exactly how much money you want to make in the next 12 months, the next 5 years, and in the next 10 years. Then, you must make a detailed plan of action as to how you’re going to reach the financial goals you’ve set.

For example, are you going to reach your financial goals and financial independence through entrepreneurship, investing in the stock market, or investing in income producing real estate? Set your goals, make your plan, and then work your plan.

You also have to be able to delay or withhold gratification. You have to learn to withhold unnecessary spending in the short term so that you can enjoy the rewards of financial independence in the long term. This begins with small efforts of savings and sacrifice with the knowledge and belief that these efforts will eventually lead to continuous, monthly cash flow that will enable you to eventually become financially free.

We’ve all heard the saying, “It takes money to make money.” This is true because when you save money it activates the Law of Attraction. So when you begin to save money it creates energy that begins to attract more money to you. As long as your attitude towards money is positive, you’ll find yourself acquiring more and more of it.

As you increase your savings and invest your positive emotions in them, you’ll find more and more money attracted to you from a variety of different sources. The key thing to remember when you save money is that the more money you save the stronger the force of attraction will be and more money will come to you.

Your starting point for a savings program should be to make a habit of paying yourself before you pay anything else each month. With each paycheck you receive you should put 10% of you net income into a savings program. For example, if your net income after taxes is $2,000 per month, you should be saving $200 every month.

You might be asking, “What if I’m already in debt and don’t have enough money as it is to last out the month?” If this is the case, then you have to start out by saving what ever you can. With a little effort, you can easily save 1 or even 2 percent of your net income and then live on the other 98 or 99 percent. As you become more comfortable living on this amount each month you’ll find that you will be able to increase your saving to 3 or 4 percent, and then later up to 5 or 6 percent and finally up to 10 percent.

The next step in your plan towards financial freedom is to save enough money so that you have a supply of quick access money for emergencies. You should have an amount that will protect you from the ups and downs of the dynamic economy of the 21st century. Your goal should be to have at least three to six months living expenses in savings for you and your family should anything happen to cut off your income.

Having this type of financial cushion will free you from worrying about money. It will enable you to work at a job that you choose or leave a job that that you don’t like. You’ll be able to choose the kind of work you want and work with the kind of people you want to work with.

The next step towards financial freedom is insurance, as you save you must be insured in order to feel secure about our financial status. You need life insurance but only if you have a spouse or a family to provide for.

If you have a wife or a family you should buy term insurance. Term insurance is much cheaper than whole life insurance. Term insurance builds up no cash dividends. Whatever amount you buy, it will pay out the face amount to your estate or to your family when you die.

Your term insurance policy should be for an amount that enables your family to live at their current level from the proceeds from your policy should you die unexpectedly. For example, if your current income is $50,000 per year, you should have a term life insurance policy with a face amount of $500,000.

You should also have insurance coverage for your vehicles and other personal property. In addition, you need to have health insurance and disability insurance is a very wise investment as well. No matter what success you achieve, a catastrophic illness or natural disaster can quickly erase an uninsured fortune. Once you have built up your wealth and have an estate to protect you should also look at purchasing whole life insurance.

For both men and women whether they’re single or married the achievement of financial independence is the most important issue that determines whether or not they become all that they’re capable of becoming. Once you develop the right mindset and begin to save 10% or your net income every month you will have taken an important step towards achieving financial freedom and never having to worry about money again.

Copyright©2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many businesses around the world, on the subjects of leadership, achievement, goals, strategic business planning, and marketing.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

Aging, a steady decline

The History of the world is filled with stories of individuals trying to find eternal youth. Wealthy people going to private centers for magic elixirs. Many individuals taking megadoses of certain vitamins, drink green tea, use coenzyme Q10 etc, hoping to find the “fountain of youth”. Lets take a closer look and see what happens to our bodies as we age.

Time,our worst enemy

Growth Hormone declines steadily at the age of 31 and at the rate of 14% per decade. Along with aging, we become vulnerable to diseases. Our ability to fight illness declines, the body’s ability to metabolize sugar, handle cholesterol, and clear the kidneys of toxins, becomes more and more difficult. Ultimately, the slow deadly disease of aging creeps in.

As a person ages, hormone levels fall. Decreasing levels of certain hormones shows symptoms such as:

-gray hair
-wrinkly skin
-reduced skin thickness
-forgetfulness
-low sex drive
-weight gain
-bone or joint problems
-immune system weakens
-decreased muscle strength

These symptoms can be the possible result of, reduced
Human Growth Hormone. Until age 21, Human Growth Hormone is abundant in the body being solely responsible for muscle building, bone growth, skin elasticity, increased energy, lean body mass, and sexual vigor.

Graying Hair

Gray hair is caused by the slowing production of melanin over time within the hair follicles. When this happens, the hair follicles produce less and less melanin, and the result is a loss of hair, color and strength.

The Skin

Hormonal breakdown and free radicals is the major contributor of skin aging because of the reduction of the body’s Hormone production or lack of. Hormones such as Human Growth Hormone and testosterone are only produced in noticeable quantities up to the age of 20. These Hormones are responsible for physical fitness, regeneration and the immune system. Due to a declining Hormone level, the breakdown of organs, tissues and cells begins.

Another factor are free radicals. These are parts of molecules that are found in the Human Body. As a result of external factors such as ultraviolet light(too much sun), smoking or unhealthy eating habits, under these circumstances free radicals are inclined to react. Meaning that they are in search of other chemical substances to bond themselves with. Ultimately, the breakdown of the skin begins. The body protects itself against these aggressors with naturally occurring anti-oxidant’s. Until
you reach the age of twenty and onwards, this natural defense mechanism slowly declines, until eventually the skin can no longer defend itself.

Supplementing with vitamin or supplements
and a better, healthier life style is your best defense against skin aging.

What can be done about aging?

Well,about your actual age nothing, but could a healthier lifestyle, proper diet, or maybe vitamin and supplement intake, would that help turn back the aging clock? Is there something out there that could:

-Alleviate menopausal and premenstrual symptoms
-Reduce body fat
-Restore gray hair
-Increase energy
-increase sex drive enhancement in both men and women
-Restore the function of organs and glands
-Improve memory
-Improve vision
-Enhance one’s spirits
-Stabilize blood pressure
-Enhance the immune system

Well quite possibly, there just might be! Read below…

Submitted by Mr Andy Casasanta. Author of this article and the creator of a tremendous health and pharmacy website. In this site you will find up to 40 health articles, a 7000 reciprocal link exchange page and Generic medications. Savings of up to 80% on all popular drugs. Viagra, Lipitor, Meridia, and hundreds more all for pennies on the dollar. Please visit
http://www.medheadquarters.net

People have taken a number of approaches trying to do their own advertising ranging from silly all the way to insulting. These people choose there approach for various reasons. Some were ignorant about advertising and marketing while others were acting on incorrect information - usually in the form of cliches such as “sex sells.” If you’re in doubt, I can assure you that unless your business is in Nevada, sex does not sell. If you’re going to handle your own advertising, here are a few things to avoid:

Pictures that have nothing to do with your product or service - If your company is in the carpet cleaning business there is no reason to have a picture of a baby. No one is going to say “What a cute baby, I think I want this company to clean my carpets.” The same goes for pictures of sexy people (male or female) in provocative poses and little clothing.

Cheesy headlines - I actually saw an ad with a headline that said “We might be able to afford a bigger ad if you’d buy something from us.” Yes, this will probably get someone’s attention, but do you want to be remembered as the company that is having financial problems?

Illegible fonts - Most people will not take the time to decipher your ad when it is written in brush script, in which case, even the most persuasive copy is rendered useless. You want to use simple, clean fonts for headlines and body copy. Save the artistic fonts for accents and things of that nature.

Jeremy L. Knauff is the founder & CEO of Wildfire Marketing Group, a full service Marketing Firm specializing in helping small companies compete with larger companies.

As a guest on a local television show recently, I decided to
bring along my vacuum cleaner.

No, it wasn’t for a segment on household hints. I wasn’t there
to share secrets for deep-cleaning a carpet. Instead, I was
using my vacuum cleaner as a memorable visual (aural?) aid to
talk about mindfulness.

My host, Roland, gamely turned it on during my bit, and we
attempted to shout over the roar of the machine. After a few
seconds, we gave up, and as he turned it off, the ensuing
silence was a welcome relief.

I used the vacuum cleaner to talk about how we have this noise
in our heads all the time. Our thoughts are creating a swirl of
sound, and it can be exhausting to try to concentrate, relax or
get creative with all that racket going on.

This mental vacuum sucks our energy and makes it difficult to
gain clarity, let alone peace of mind. We need to turn it off in
order to have the quiet space we need to truly pay attention.

The surprising part of this is that turning on a REAL vacuum
cleaner and running it across your floor provides an excellent
opportunity to quiet the noise in your head. You can use your
power switch to make an intentional shift toward mindfulness,
and let this housecleaning task become your chance to watch your
thoughts.

Any slow repetitive physical task lends itself beautifully to
mindfulness practice, and the back-and-forth motion of your
vacuuming can give a soothing rhythm to your thought-watching.
Set your body on auto- pilot and focus on the thought parade in
your head.

Or, you can choose to use your dust-sucking time to focus on the
physical activity required. Feel the muscles as you move. Focus
on your shoulders and arms as you stretch and retract, stretch
and retract. Switch arms and watch how it feels to relax that
one side while flexing the other.

The point here is to make use of the task as a trigger for
mindfulness, but remember this: fun is a huge motivator in all
things. So, if you can’t get too excited about vacuuming in
general or thought/body-watching in particular, I heartily
recommend Option #3–the “Mrs. Doubtfire” approach to
mindfulness.

You remember the scene in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire when Robin
Williams, dressed as the matronly nanny, rocks out while
vacuuming to Aerosmith’s “(Dude) Looks Like A Lady,” right? This
must be the greatest housework scene ever. It makes me want to
go to my cleaning closet and dance with the vacuum wand myself.

That’s what I’m talking about.

If you’ve ever been stressed about something and gone on a
cleaning binge, you know how good it feels to scrub the floor
and wipe away your frustration at the same time. You might as
well get something done while you’ve got that adrenaline
pumping, right?

So, if a meditative vacuuming session doesn’t inspire you, you
can still use this time to be mindful by focusing on your air
guitar moves. Pay attention to your sense of fun as well as your
sense of perspective. Exercise your concentration. Focus on what
it feels like to cut a rug while cleaning it.

Mindfulness doesn’t require stillness, and it certainly doesn’t
have to be serious. Turn on your vacuum, and let the focusing
begin.

Suck it up.

Do you have a nest egg? You know, a place you are stashing away money for the future - retirement, down payment on a house, the kids education. That kind of thing. How’re you doing?

If you have been putting it in the stock market you have been watching it get smaller instead of bigger. Your nest egg is becoming an omelet instead of hatching into a wonderful creature. There are places for your money, but for the next few years you will be better off in a simple savings account or money market fund.

Stay away from the big name mutual funds. If you don’t believe me have a look at what they have done with your money for the past 3 years. Most have lost about 50%, some 60% and more. Their story now is they are “cheap” and a great buy; they can’t go any lower - but they probably will. Mutual funds only work in a bull market and the bull was chased back to the barn in 2000. The bear is now out of his cage and has the run of the premises.
When the stock market bubble (let’s call it an egg) broke 3 years ago your broker, financial planner, banker had no plan to protect your capital. None of them had ever seen a bear market and none were trained to protect customers’ money. Brokers are salesmen and are not there to help you make money even though they think they are. Their employer not once has ever told them the great secret of the market. That secret - SELLING.
Having been a member of the exchange and a floor trader for many years I learned how and when to sell. If you didn’t you would not last very long.
You would be broke.

There is a way to keep your egg from becoming fried, poached or scrambled, but your broker will not tell you. Most of them don’t know and their companies don’t want you to find out. Selling and putting your cash in a money market account does not make them any money.

There is a thing called a stop loss order for stocks. The simplest one is for 10%, but you can make it any amount you wish - 5%, 15%, whatever. The best time to calculate your stop is Friday or Saturday. If your stock is $40 you figure 10% or $4.00 and you call your broker on Monday morning and tell him to place a Good ‘Til Cancelled Sell order at $36. As your stock advances move the stop-price up, NEVER down. This allows the market to tell you when it turns weak rather than you trying to guess when to sell. Your stock might go to $100 before you are stopped out at $90.

Now is the time to protect all your eggs with a big soft stop-loss cushion.

(c) 2005

Al Thomas’ best selling book, “If It Doesn’t
Go Up, Don’t Buy It!” has helped thousands
of people make money and keep their profits with
his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter
to receive his market letter for 3 months at
www.mutualfundmagic.com to discover why he’s
the man that Wall Street does not want you to
know.

Self-employment offers a multitude of tax benefits. Opportunities to maximize your income while increasing your income may actually mean you are paying more tax, but at a lower percentage of your income. As Americans it is our duty to pay our fair share of tax to support our government, however, IRS and legislature have provided many opportunities to maximize personal benefits while minimizing personal tax debt.

The following tips are commonly known, although many do not use them well.

1. Keep good records. While a good accountant may be beneficial to your business, and services of a quality accounting service are fully deductible, this is often not a financial option for smaller businesses. However, good record keeping is always an option. Most computer programs have minor accounting programs that will handle basic record keeping for a small business.

2. Office space is deductible. Maintaining an office in your home or business site, both require space and there are allowances for a home office. Specifically the square footage that is dedicated office space for your business, any and all equipment purchased to operate your home office, and improvements made for the purpose of efficiency.

3. Business expenses are important. Along with keeping good records, it’s extremely important that you keep records of all business expenses. A daily diary where you log any expenses for business costs is an excellent way of managing your petty cash. A checking account to pay all larger costs is imperative. If credit cards are used, you must keep detailed expense records, in order to deduct interest on cards. (Mentioning these in your daily diary is an excellent method to keep track of them.)

4. Childcare is deductible. Even when your business is home based, childcare is a deductible personal expense. Often household help is overlooked as a deduction, when in fact it is often a necessary expense, and the reality is you are creating income for another person. Lawn care and household help are both business related expenses.

5. Set up a Retirement Plan. A retirement plan not only benefits you later in life. It is a method of reducing your current tax liability, and often reducing taxable payment on a set amount of money during any point in time. Your taxable income at retirement will most likely be a lower bracket than your working income.

6. Employ family members legitimately. If you have family members who can do various aspects of your business, it makes sense to employ them and offer benefits related to health care and retirement/college funding. (Although these benefits must be paid for all employees, your tax savings may benefit this payment.)

7. Defer billing/income. If you work on a cash basis and realize payment of a specific job is going to shoot you into a higher tax bracket for a specific year, it is acceptable to defer billing/income to the next year, decreasing your tax bracket. This method isn’t recommended for many uses, but if your next year income will increase you to a higher level in the next bracket, this method may be recommended.

8. Use cost analysis and investment savings. By using depreciation wisely, your costs in any given year, and your investment savings in equipment purchases can be beneficial to your tax plan.

9. Year-end investment purchases. A continuation of the depreciation benefits, year-end purchases of necessary equipment for your purchases can increase the value of your business while decreasing your tax liability. Planning for new purchases when the year has been particularly profitable, makes sense for several reasons. Your business will be more profitable with newer equipment, resulting in increased income.

10. Get the right help. Often a small business denies themselves quality advice because of the cost, without realizing those costs are deductible, and pay off in the long run. A quality accountant, or a tax consultant who knows the law well enough to advise about purchases, investments, and appropriate deductions can save your business money, by offering excellent advice.

Valuable Tax Advice can improve the longevity and financial structure of your business. Scrimping on quality tax advice is like scrimping on safety concerns. Ultimately, it may cost you more.

Know your rights as a Tax Payer, and hire a qualified Tax Consultant who understands the value of your dollar. Invest in accounting services that benefit you. Visit Jan Verhoeff, a Consultant with more than 20 years of Tax and Business Planning Experience, at http://www.freewebs.com/janverhoeff