Welcome to June, when thoughts turn to vacations. School vacation, work vacation, whatever — it’s summer and it’s time to chill. Or travel.
Looking for something fun to do this month? Here are some events to fire up your brainstorming and kick off the summer season:
Chicago Blues Festival. This free three-day event takes place June 7-9 at Millennium Park and celebrates the history of blues in Chicago with live performances on six stages by local and national artists.
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival is June 13-16 in Manchester, Tenn. The event features more than 150 musicians and performance artists on 10-plus stages along with art, events, a 5k, and education about sustainability.
The U.S. Open Golf Championship is June 10-16 in Pebble Beach, Calif. Will Tiger Woods win another Major after his dramatic win at the Masters?
The Belmont Stakes, the third leg in the Triple Crown of horse racing, is June 8 at Belmont Park in Elmont, NY.
Firefly Music Festival is June 21-23 in Dover, Delaware. A music and camping weekend, the lineup includes Panic! At the Disco, X Ambassadors, Death Cab for Cutie, Travis Scott, Vampire Weekend, and dozens more acts throughout the weekend.
The South Carolina Festival of Flowers is in its 52nd year and will be held June 7-9 in Greenwood, SC which kicks off a month-long calendar of events. Likewise, the Mackinac Island Lilac Festival in Michigan runs June 7-16 and is in its 71st year. Events include tours, a 5k, parade, and kite-flying.
The Saratoga Balloon & BBQ Festival is June 21-23 at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds & Expo Center in Ballston Spa, NY.
Taxes and retirement: What is taxed?
Upon retirement, you don’t get a paycheck with the proper amount of taxes withheld. That’s obvious.
What may not be so obvious until you retire is the amount of taxes you owe. Unlike employees, retirees write checks for their taxes, making them acutely aware of their tax burden.
Of course, everything we save for retirement is taxable at some point and in some way.
If you are ready to retire, here are some things to look forward to:
- Social Security taxes: You have to pay tax on your benefit. You can have amounts from 7 percent to 22 percent withheld from every check. See form W-4V (for Voluntary).
- Pension and annuity taxes: See Form W-4P to instruct the payor how much to withhold.
- IRA distributions: The law requires 10 percent be withheld unless you tell the distributor not to withhold. You can also tell the distributor to withhold all of the taxes.
- Company plans and lump sums: Some of these plans are taxed at 20 percent.
The etiquette of doing business abroad
Every facet of U.S. business abroad depends upon its international relationships. As a result, it’s vital that business professionals understand what is expected of and from him or her when visiting a foreign country on business.
According to Business Etiquette International, research and retain as much as you can about the specific region of the country you are visiting. Learn the cultural nuances of the area, and–at a minimum–be able to use the local words for “Yes,” “No,” “Please,” “Thank you,” and “Help.” Clients truly appreciate the visitor who is trying to speak their language, if only in a few words or phrases.
Keep in mind that etiquette has no uniform set of standards around the globe. A gesture or remark in the U. S. may have the opposite meaning in other cultures and countries.
Business relationships cannot be overstated in international business etiquette. How you meet and greet residents in a foreign country is probably the most important part of your visit.
Behavioral studies show that, in the U.S. and abroad, most people judge your social position, economic, educational, and success levels within 30 seconds of introduction. In the next five minutes, they also form their opinions about your intelligence, reliability, friendliness, and compassion, among other traits.
Be sure to rehearse your meeting in advance and dress for it in a manner reflecting the culture and your client’s expectations. Establish clear objectives for your meeting, communicate politely, and be upbeat.
The more you know and understand about the nation’s culture–and local language–the deeper your relationships will become.
Determining Comps When You Want to Sell Your House
The home you’ve cared for and loved might seem incomparable to you, but when you sell (or get a home equity loan), someone is going to have to find a comparison.
In the language of real estate and mortgage that is called comps.
Comps help answer the biggest question on your mind and a lender’s mind when you look to sell your house: What’s my home worth?
The answer? It depends.
It’s important to note that home values boil down to educated — and sometimes uneducated — guesses. They are merely opinions, with the one that truly matters being the bank’s. Toward the end of the process, the buyer’s bank needs to approve of the purchase price in order for the loan to be approved.
Before then, however, you have a few ways of gathering information. The best is to consult with a real estate professional who can provide you with a figure based on “comps” — comparative sales. The agent will conduct a comparative market analysis, or CMA, and give you their professional opinion on your home’s potential sales value. This is generally a far better option than relying on your neighbor’s or your uncle’s opinion, as the agent is trained and experienced at comps.
What goes into a CMA? The agent will find recent sales of similar properties in your location; the best comps are within 90 days or less, though if you live in an area that’s less populated, you’ll likely use comps from six months back and sometimes longer.
If your home is ranch style, it should be compared to sales of other ranch homes. A cape or a contemporary is different. Comps also take into consideration the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the acreage, whether there’s a garage and a basement, and things like central air and the type of heating.
The key is to work with someone who understands your specific market and who has a track record of accurately providing figures. Top-selling agents (not necessarily top listing agents) are generally the ones who do best at this. As a seller’s agent, they know how to price your home to move while also getting you a fair price; as a buyer’s agent, they typically understand how to negotiate well.
How to make the most of your gas mileage
Whether you drive a big truck or a small car, everyone can benefit from making the most of their gas mileage. Sometimes, people think they’re doing everything they can to get good gas mileage, but they may not realize there a few tweaks here and there that could make a big difference. Especially in the summer when you might be going on road trips near Cypress, TX, you’ll want to do your best to get good gas mileage, so continue reading to learn some tips from InsureUS.
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Stay within the speed limit
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Avoid rooftop cargo boxes; haul cargo behind your vehicle and remove rooftop boxes when not in use
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Clean out your vehicle, and don’t haul around extra weight
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Don’t let your vehicle idle for more than ten seconds
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Take advantage of cruise control
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Drive sensibly; avoid sudden stops and starts, and don’t accelerate when you will soon need to slow down
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Regularly check and maintain your engine
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Keep your tires at the correct pressure for your vehicle; check them often, especially in extreme temperatures
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Use the oil that is recommended for your vehicle
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Combine trips and plan stops so you don’t backtrack
Simply making a few of these suggested changes can improve your vehicle’s fuel economy, and if you make an effort to change in many areas, you will start to see a big change. Another great way to save when you have a vehicle is by making sure you have the correct auto insurance for your needs. Talk to an insurance agent at InsureUS near Cypress, TX today if you have any questions about your policy.
Some 401(k) fears valid, others not, experts say Fear: The boss might steal it.
Somewhere on an assembly line is a young worker who once told a reporter: I wouldn’t put my money in a 401(k) because the boss could steal it.
Rest easy.
In average situations, there is very little chance the boss could steal the money from a 401(k), which would be a crime, probably involving fraud.
Contributions to a 401(k) go to a financial company. Maybe the boss picked the company, but the boss can’t access your money. The boss doesn’t own it and can’t spend it.
Fear: I can’t afford to contribute.
There are a lot of benefits to a 401(k). The money you put in isn’t taxed. It’s only taxed when you take it out at retirement.
If you took about $100 a week out of a paycheck every month for 15 years and put it in a 401(k), you would probably have more than $146,000 at the end of 15 years. At the end of 30 years, you’d have $611,729. This example by the Motley Fool assumes a return of 8 percent.
So, when you reach retirement, you might have your Social Security (depending on government future plans), and you’ll be able to add to it by taking 4 percent of your nest egg each month. You’ll be comfortable then if you sacrifice now.
Fear: I’ll lose all my money.
Over the long term, there is a 99 percent chance you will make money. But sometimes you won’t. Recently, retirement plans have racked up interest of 10 percent and higher. In 2008, during the housing crisis, people lost money…but not all of their money.
If you can’t stand losses, you usually can have your plan administrator put your money in highly conservative, safe investments. They don’t make as much money, but they don’t lose it either.
Fear: What if the company goes out of business?
Your money is safe because the company usually doesn’t manage retirement accounts. They have big financial companies like Fidelity, Vanguard, or Principal do that. Those companies manage millions of retirement accounts. Motley Fool says be skeptical if the plan administrator is “Scruffy’s Retirement and Fried Chicken.”
Business Book Review: How crazy ideas sometimes change the world
Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries
By Safi Bachall
St. Martin’s Press
In 2004, a team of engineers was gripped with a fantastic idea: They would make a handheld phone with a big color screen and give it the ability to connect to the internet. Plus they would set up a store where people could download applications for the phone.
Sound familiar? Surprise. Those engineers were not at Apple. They were at Nokia, where that crazy idea was shot down soon after birth.
Three years later, writes Safi Bachall, Nokia engineers watched Steve Jobs introduce their dumb idea on a stage in San Francisco.
Bachall’s book chronicles Loonshots, crazy ideas that change the world — or would change the world, if they weren’t buried and forgotten.
Bachall’s exceedingly readable book combines the principles of science with business to show how good teams often kill good ideas.
The structure of companies and teams means more than culture, he writes. Bachall points out that small, starving companies can produce dazzling results because the stakes are high for all members. Rank doesn’t matter. But as the teams get larger and more successful, the stakes aren’t nearly as high. Then rank matters more. At that point, good ideas can be ditched.
Small changes in structure, not culture, can transform a team, he writes.
This book will interest business leaders for its unique take on teams and culture. But anyone who wants to know about the nature of success and failure will be fascinated by the many stories Bachall tells.
Top cybersecurity threats in 2019
Data breaches, hacking, and skimming — all of it poses a threat to consumers and business during 2019.
According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), data breaches increased sharply in 2018 with 1,027 breaches reported and 57,667,911 records compromised.
Today’s hackers are very deft at outsmarting security measures, said Michael Bruemmer, Experian Vice President of Data Breach Resolution, adding that, “cybercriminals always seem to stay a step ahead of new security gates.”
Experian’s top five threats for 2019 are:
1) Biometric hacking and detecting flaws in touch ID sensors, passcodes, and facial recognition. Although biometric data is the most secure method of authentication, it can be stolen or altered.
2) Skimming a major financial institution’s national network with hidden devices to steal credit card information, and invading bank network computers with undetectable malware.
3) Attack on a significant wireless carrier with simultaneous effect on iPhones and Androids, stealing personal information from millions of smartphones and possibly disabling all wireless communications in the U.S.
4) A breach in the security operations of a top cloud vendor will jeopardize the sensitive information of major companies.
5) The gaming community will be faced with cybercriminals posing as gamers for access to its computers and the personal data of trusting players.
According to the ITRC, significant breaches from 2005-2017 rose from about 200 per year to more than 1,300. Billions of data pieces have been exposed, allowing cybercriminals to monetize stolen data, leading to an increased risk of identity theft.
What can consumers do against security threats?
- Do not share personal information with strangers over the phone, email or text messages.
- Sign up for free credit report monitoring to receive alerts about your credit activity.
- Get a free dark web scan to see if your Social Security number, email or phone number has been compromised. Hackers sell stolen information on the dark web.
Customer Service: What to do when the customer is lying
The customer says the pizza tastes bad, but the customer ate half of it.
The shopper asks for a refund for a shirt that has clearly been worn and worn out.
The caller says the gadget he bought was broken on arrival. It has been six months!
In small business, when you’re running close to the margin, customers who want your product for free are not only annoying but also expensive.
How should you treat this situation?
Give them the benefit of the doubt, says CXService360. Small business has a huge investment of time and money in each customer. You generally want to keep the customer, if there is any chance the customer is telling the truth. Customers return to a company where they’re treated with respect. Not only do these customers come back but they also tell their friends, comment on social media, and discuss positive experiences with family and friends.
That means treating even the unlikely complaint with respect and professionalism. Agents can thank the customer for calling or showing up and then point out the shirt looks well-worn and make an offer that is somewhat less than a refund. To make this work, the agent or sales person has to be trained.
Some customer service situations occur because the customer is angry, not about their current complaint, but about something else. Customer service representatives can make polite chat about how often they shop or use the service and whether they have had other complaints. It could be a learning situation.
If the business does make an exchange or refund on an item in which the credibility of the customer is suspect, a record should be made. You don’t have to keep a dishonest customer. All you have to do is keep your temper because losing it usually goes badly.
While some companies are terrified of bad talk on social media, remember that while happy customers talk you up, and unhappy customers can talk you down, dishonest customers pass the word around. If you are too easy, there is a slice of humanity out there who will exploit it. Some larger retailers make 100 percent lifetime quality guarantees and they have accepted routinely dishonest customers as a cost of business. But talk to the customer service reps and they’ll tell you: the word gets around. If you aren’t a giant retailer, that’s a word you may not want out there.
Why Should I Get Renter’s Insurance?
With so many bills and so many more interesting things to spend your money on, purchasing renters’ insurance is probably not high on your to do list, if it is there at all. You already pay for auto insurance because the law requires it, but you probably wonder why you should get renter’s insurance if it is not required in Cypress, TX. Is it not just adding an unnecessary bill to the already huge stack you have?
Imagine that you are renting a home that you have spent a great deal of time and money on to make it “your own”. You are sleeping soundly one night when your dog wakes you in a panic and you find yourself in the midst of a fire. You and your dog are able to escape through your window and get away from the house. Once you are safely waiting on the fire department, the gravity of the situation hits you. Everything you owned was in that house, down to your wallet with last week’s pay and your cell phone. You have nothing left but your dog and the pajamas you are wearing. And if that is not bad enough, you soon find out that your landlord’s insurance will only cover the house, not your possessions. Now you face the daunting task of starting over without the help of an insurance check.
No, renter’s insurance is not required by law in Cypress, TX. Unless your landlord requires it, you do not have to get it. Consider though how much you would regret not having it in the example above. InsureUS renter’s insurance policies cannot prevent a fire, a theft, a storm, or any other situation that could destroy your rental home possessions. They can, however, make the road to recovering your life easier. Give InsureUS a call today to discuss renter’s insurance options and to understand your coverage options.
