Moms, Stay at Home and Make Mega Cash!

There are many stay at home dads and even more at home moms managing the family and the home losing the dream of a career. They can now start dreaming again! There are thousands of online business opportunities available; learning how to leverage those business opportunities will establish a foundation of positive cash flow.

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Moms, Stay at Home and Make Mega Cash!

Are You A Caregiver?

According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, many of us help older, sick, or disabled family members and friends every day, but we don't think of ourselves as "caregivers". We do it naturally out of our love and respect for the people we care about and feel rewarded by it. Over time though, helping someone can become increasingly demanding and can lead to extreme stress and exhaustion. We want to be able to help the people we love who need us but when juggling busy work and family schedules, it starts to become a game of racing time, waning energy, and feeling guilty and depressed.

Are you a caregiver?

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Caregivers can be spouses, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, neighbors, etc. They manage many different responsibilities for their loved onesincluding:

• Buying groceries, cooking, household chores, and/or laundry.

• Help with getting dressed, trampoline, and/or taking medicines.

• Help with transferring someone in and out of bed, in and out of a wheelchair, injections, feeding tubes or other medical needs.

• Taking someone to doctor appointments, making/managing appointments, and/or picking up prescriptions.

• Spend time handling crises or problems from work or at other times when you are away from the person.

• The "go to" person for issues related to the person's needs.

Depending on your loved one's needs and the availability of other family members for support, your responsibilities can be few or many. Caregiving becomes particularly challenging when thecaregiver has many responsibilities in providing care as well as in managing his/her own life.

Caregiving can happen gradually over time or it can happen overnight. Caregivers may be helping full or part time, live with the person, or be long distance. One misconception that caregivers often have is that their role will be short-term and the care recipient will only need help until he/she is "better". But when that person has a chronic illness such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, or cancer, the care and support needed by that person could go on for many years.

Identify Yourself as a CAREGIVER and Get Help Now:

• Statistics show that once you acknowledge that you are a caregiver you will become better equipped and bring back balance with work andlife.

• Line up service providers for the home such as home care, home modifications, assistive technology, housekeeping services, meals on wheels, daily money management (bill paying services), etc.

• Consult with a reputable elder law attorney to ensure you have advanced directives in place such as power of attorney, healthcare proxy, estate planning, etc.

• Keep your loved one's medical history, list of medications, list of doctors, and insurance cards and copies of ID cards in a folder in a safe place. This will make it easier to communicate with hospital staff when there is a medical emergency.

• Hold a family meeting to delegate responsibilities to other relatives for caring for your loved one. Out-of-State family members can helptoo!

• Check with your employer's human resources department to see if your benefits include an employee assistance program that may help pay for elder care.

• If affordability for helpful services and products is a concern, look into the following things:

-Does your loved one have long term care insurance?

-Does your loved one on his/her own home? A reverse mortgage may be a suitable way to access the equity in the home. Call 631-439-6829 for a list of resources for this.

-Is your loved one a veteran or surviving spouse of a veteran? He/she could apply for the VA Aid and Attendance program. Visit http://www.veteranaid.org.

Are You A Caregiver?

Another Leadership Opportunity Missed

Leadership is like good advertising-tough to describe but you know it when you see it. However, examples of leadership usually includes a few common characteristics like courage, sacrifice, inspiration, and boldness. We would hope the politicians running the country would display some type of leadership in these troubled times to give us at least a slim sliver of hope that they know what they are doing. However, that rarely happens and, unfortunately, with the filing of his taxes, President Obama missed a golden opportunity to act in a leadership mode for once.

But first, a little background. The President seems to have this obsession with revoking the so-called Bush tax cuts for those earning over $ 250,000 American families a year, claiming that they make too much moneyand they should pay more in taxes to help reduce the deficit. There are a number of troubling problems with his stance:

1) First, no one in any position of power in this country should say an American makes "too much" money if that American worked for it in a hard and honest way. This is the land of opportunity, if you can earn more than the average worker by being smarter or working harder, some politician should not be the arbiter of telling you that you make too much.

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2) Second, the President never says that these increased taxes will be directly set aside to pay down the debt and the deficit. The increased taxes will likely just go to the government and the political class that operates it, which will undoubtedly spend it it on wasteful projects. He would have had a lotmore credibility if he set up a virtual lock box for the increased taxes, forcing those increased revenues directly into a Treasury account whose sole purpose is to immediately pay down the debt. Giving it to the political class is no better than flushing it away.

3) Third, even if you raised taxes on those earning over $ 250,000 in 2011, it would hardly make a dent in the deficit. This year's deficit and the wasteful spending that goes into it will be about $ 1.5 TRILLION. If those American families earning more than $ 250,000 in 2011 were taxed at the pre-Bush tax cut level, which is only a few percentage points higher, only about $ 70 billion would be generated in tax revenue. Thus, if the President got his way, this year's deficit would be reduced by less than 5%, assuming that thepoliticians in Washington did not spend it.

Which brings us to his 2010 tax returns, the details of which come from an April 18, 2011 Associated Press article:

The President reported income of $ 1.73 million in 2010, down from $ 5.5 million in 2009. He paid in Federal income taxes 3,770, about 25% of his income. He made more than 5,075 in charitable donations, about 14.25 of his income, quite a healthy level of charity. His family had a home mortgage interest deduction ,945 for their home in Chicago, indicating that they are not poor by any stretch house of the imagination. Not only are they not house poor, for four years they have no utility bills, no car insurance payments, no homeowners insurance bills, and no food bills. They are living the good life forsure.

However, the President missed a golden opportunity at leadership: what if he had overpaid his taxes to the tune of the Bush tax cuts-levels? Now that would have been bold and inspiring, he would have been walking the walk of his obsession, paying more in taxes since he obviously earns more than $ 250,000. He could have gone to the country "and said:" Look, I am doing my part, paying more than I have to pay, paying more to the level of what I told the country they need to do. "

But, alas, likely many other leadership opportunities, the blown President blew this one also. If my math is right, the President and his family would have paid another ,000 or so in Federal income taxes if HO had operated from a position of leadership. And the U.S. Treasury would haveaccepted his gift of extra taxes and would have directed it to paying down the national debt. According to the Treasury's website, they have had a program for many years that allows Americans to contribute more than they legally owe to pay down the national debt.

An interesting side note is the assertion that the President has made more than once that the rich in this country "want" to pay more in taxes. He never provides a source for this data and conclusion, just asserts it as if it is a fact. Thus, his creditability takes another hit in this area if you look at the Treasury program cited above. In 2010, Americans intentionally overpaid their Federal income taxes, to help pay down the debt, by about $ 2.8 million. This comes out to less than $. 01 for American.

I find it hardto believe that rich Americans are dying to pay more in taxes, like the President claims, when less than $ 3 million a year is ponied up for that purpose. Heck, if only the President had paid to the pre-Bush tax cut levels, he himself would have increased the annual size of this pot of money by more than 2%. Thus, one must conclude that even if the rich "want" to pay more in taxes, they certainly have not backed up that "want" with real money and neither has the President.

He filed his taxes just like every other American: not courageously, not with great sacrifice, not, and not boldly inspirationally. A missed opportunity at real leadership. But that should not surprise us. There are very few instances in the past two plus years where he has acted any differently than how he actedon his taxes this year. Not one time where he stood up and faced down the hard choices that would make the country better, more unified, and got it moving in a positive direction. It is just his style, same old typical politics time after time.

Unfortunately, given these trying times, being timid, selfish, not inspirational, and leading from the rear is not what we need today. We will know when we see it leadership and everywhere on our political class horizon we are coming up empty.

Another Leadership Opportunity Missed

3 Strategies For Buying Property With No Money Down

Everyone has heard a story or read about someone who bought a property without paying a single dime as a down payment. But how does this work?

Down payment by definition means specifically money that is used to pay down the total purchase price. This does not include money that is necessary for closing costs, points, interest, and other items such as appraisals or insurance, though in some cases those expenses may also be financed into the loan or paid by the seller.

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There are several "classic" methods commonly used to purchase real estate with no money down. There are an infinite variety of circumstances that could lead to an opportunity to structure a purchase agreement that would allow you to purchase a property without needing a down payment. But for the sake ofreality, I will focus on those that are most commonly seen.

1. Seller second-The buyer obtains a new first mortgage for most but not all of the total purchase price. The seller finances the rest by taking back a second mortgage for an amount equal to the down payment needed. For example:

Purchase price: $ 100,000

Buyers loan: $ 90,000 (90% LTV) (new first mortgage)

Sellers finances $ 10,000 (in the form of a new second mortgage)

The buyer has borrowed 100% of the purchase price. Thus, you have100% financing and no down payment was paid by the buyer.

This is not a difficult strategy to employ if the seller has enough equity, is willing to hold a second, and the first mortgage lender approves.

One thing that is not mentioned in most articles aboutthis strategy is the requirement for lender approval. The lender who is making the first mortgage loan will probably need to approve of the second mortgage as part of qualifying for the first mortgage.

Loan guidelines may also restrict second mortgages. Check with potential lenders before you sign a contract with a seller, and make sure you can use a second mortgage to fund your down payment. Every transaction is different, and lenders vary in their underwriting requirements. If you are buying for investment, you'll want a lender who is specializes in investment property loans.

When it comes to finding a seller who will help you create a no money down deal, consider buying from an investor or any seller who is willing to be flexible. Some sellers are willing to do creativefinancing simply because they understand that it helps them sell houses. Some are motivated by other circumstances such as a need to move quickly for a new job. It never hurts to make an offer that includes a selling second. You never know until you ask.

2. Another common way to obtain a no down payment loan is to utilize one of the many "low" or "no down payment" programs that exist. Most of these loans are intended for owner occupants, and since the housing market crash, they are usually found in specific programs such as VA loans for veterans or USDA loans for rural properties. In most cases, the property must meet certain requirements to qualify for the loan program.

There are loans out there that are designed for a variety of property types. Some for properties in ruralareas, some for properties found in certain parts of the city, or in an "enterprise zones". Talk to a lender first, and find out what kind of special "no down payment" programs may be available for the property you have in mind.

3. More common among professional investors is buying wholesale properties, using hard money to purchase and rehab.

When the rehab is done, you get a new mortgage that pays off the hard money loan. Since this is a refinance, you can take cash out of the property. You may have to bring some money to closing on the hard money loan, but you get it all back when you refinance, so you end up with no money out of pocket. This becomes not only a "no down payment" deal, but also a "cash back at closing" deal.

It works like this:

Purchase price$ 100,000

Repairs $ 15,000

Hard money loan $ 115,000

Purchase and repair, then get new loan to pay off hard money.

New loan is based on 90% of After Repair Value. (ARV)

For our example, the ARV is $ 150,000

90% of $ 150,000 is 5,000.

New loan for 5,000. Subtract hard money loan pay off of $ 115,000 leaves $ 20,000.

You keep the extra $ 20,000 in cash, tax free since it is a loan, rent your house out and let the tenant pay the loan back.

Your gross profit is $ 20,000 cash and $ 15,000 equity. Total gross profit ,000. Not too bad for a couple months work.

If you do 3 houses per year, and you only net $ 25,000 total, after paying all expenses on each of the 3 houses, you are still netting $ 75,000 cash and equity in about 6 to 8months. Plus, if you are renting these properties, you are also creating additional streams of income through monthly cash flow as well as drifting equity in each property.

This is a solid strategy to achieve a retirement nest egg and ongoing income for life in less than 10 years. If you look around at the real estate investors who are wealthy, the vast majority own rental property, be it residential or commercial.

They understand the concept of buying at a discount, then holding their properties for years. They get to the point where their holdings are worth double or triple the price paid. This is free money that you can earn simply by buying and holding long term.

3 Strategies For Buying Property With No Money Down

Violent Crimes On Victims Adds To The Victim's Woes With Unpaid Medical Bills and Bad Credit

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Violent Crimes On Victims Adds To The Victim's Woes With Unpaid Medical Bills and Bad Credit