Now that we’ve turned over the calendar to 2016, I thought it might be helpful to take a look at current 401(k) and 403(b) trends across the country. The marketplace is continuously changing, and 401(k) and 403(b) sponsors can maintain competitive and low cost plans by keeping current.
Category Archives: Entrepreneurship
5 Ways to Get Lower Rates On Unsecured Business Loans
Borrowing money is a way of life for most entrepreneurs and business owners. I recently read that 80% of businesses rely credit to finance their ongoing operations.
Entrepreneurs often don’t have many options when it comes to procuring credit. And any time you don’t have collateral to put up against a loan, you’re venturing into the unsecured business loan market.
Many small business experts advise against taking out an unsecured business loan. The rates are high and the terms can be kryptonite to your bottom line.
But for many of us, unsecured business loans are our only option. If you ever find yourself in this situation, this post will cover 5 ways to improve your rate on unsecured business loans.
What No One Is Telling You About Long Term Disability
When someone mentions the word insurance, most of us think of one of three things:
- Aaron Rodgers doing a discount double check
- The GEICO Gecko using his British accent
- The coverage we carry on our cars, our home, our health, or our life
What most of us don’t think of is our long term disability coverage.
Since tangible assets like our cars and homes are easy to visualize, they’re often top of mind when it comes to insurance protection.
But what about the risk that we get sick or injured, and can’t work?
Long term disability insurance is meant to replace our income if this happens. And coincidentally, our ability to earn a living is probably our biggest and most overlooked asset.
Earnings Capacity
Let’s take a moment to think about your ability to earn a living. Just imagine for a moment what your lifetime earnings will look like.
Your lifetime earnings includes every single paycheck you earn throughout your entire career. It counts every single raise, every single promotion, and every single bonus.
When you add them all together you’ll get a massive number. It will be far bigger than the value of your home, your car, and probably your retirement nest egg.
Your ability to go out into the work force and earn this money is your earnings capacity.
Now Imagine It’s Gone
Many people consider the possibility that they die, and the impact that would have on their family. But what if you were hurt or sick and unable to work?
Your family would be left with monthly expenses like a mortgage, utilities, and grocery bills. They’d also be left without your steady paychecks to afford them.
Plus there’s a chance you might need additional help from a caretaker if you’re permanently disabled. The end result? Higher expenses, lower income.
It’s More Likely Than You Think
If you’re thinking “that’ll never happen to me,” the statistics would disagree with you.
The social security administration says that 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year-old’s will become disabled for some period of time before they retire.
And if you’re under 45, the chances that you become disabled are far, far greater than the chances that you die.
Let’s Think About This
- Our earnings capacity is our biggest and most important asset
- Becoming disabled is far more likely than we realize
- Losing our earnings capacity could cause our family severe hardship
Small Business and Tax Policy
For small businesses, two topics are consistently near and dear to our hearts in presidential elections: taxes and health care costs.
There’s been heated debate on the issues during this election (and most for that matter). And while I’m no political expert, I’m confident our new president will push for changes that affect the small business community – both good and bad.
To help sort through negative ads, debate & media circuses, and smear campaigns, I’ve compiled the remaining candidates’ positions on taxes and health care.
The Candidates
I’ve sorted them by where each falls on the political spectrum with regard to their tax policies. We’ll start with most conservative, and work our way toward the most liberal.
Ted Cruz
Personal Taxes
Ted Cruz has notably emerged as a proponent for a flat tax. Cruz wants to tax all personal income and wages at 10%, and eliminate the estate tax and alternative minimum tax entirely.
Corporate Taxes
On the theme of a flat tax, Cruz wants to replace the payroll and corporate income taxes with a 16% flat business tax. He also wants to eliminate tax on business profits earned abroad.
Cruz’s position is the most radical of the republican candidates, but the camp still claims that social security and medicare would remain fully funded after implementing his measures.
Interestingly the Tax Foundation, which is a group that supports lower tax rates, claims that Cruz’s plan would increase the federal deficit by up to $3.6 trillion over the next 10 years. With potential economic growth, that number decreases to $768 billion.
Cruz has also been outspoken against the IRS, and wants to relegate tax collection and enforcement to another arm of the treasury. He’s been critical of the IRS since their targeting scandal, and believes they should be made irrelevant through his tax plan.