Tips for Recession Proofing Your Portfolio

Anti-Recession Tips for Effectively Shoring Up Your Portfolio

The economy can be hard on your portfolio.  This has happened before and it could happen again.  Now that we’re officially in a recession, what better time to pump up your resources and shore up your portfolio than to make it recession-proof now or at least weather the tough economic times?  Here are some anti-recession tips you might want to consider:

Aim for quality.

If there’s one thing that markets abhor, it’s uncertainty.  This is especially prevalent in the way investors behave when faced with companies that produce predictable figures.  This is also the reason why investors are loathed to take chances on companies that don’t perform as expected.  These companies are usually the small ones, ones that need investors’ faith the most.

To start shoring up your portfolio, try to avoid companies that will rely heavily on you, the investor.  It will be easier for you (and safer for your investment) to rely on companies that more or less show predictable growth because this points to better earning quality.  Opt for these companies instead – these are usually large firms, big players in an industry that have proven staying power regardless of the economy and have plenty of money to continue to run, do business, pay debtors, produce and make their investors happy.

Invest in health care.

Take your pick: drugs, medicines and pharmaceuticals or health services.  Whichever way you go, you have a better means of shoring up your portfolio if you put your faith on this sector that continues to enjoy a healthy performance.

And it shouldn’t surprise you one bit: what the health care industry can offer is a staple among consumers – good health and a means to cure.  Unless someone comes up with a miracle cure soon, the health care industry will continue to thrive.  Until then, this is one more segment of the market that you might consider putting your faith on.

And yes… the fact that certain segments such as pharmaceuticals pay a lot in terms of dividends doesn’t hurt.

Stick where the crowds are.

By crowds, we mean consumers.  Consumers are the lifeblood of economies.  Without their support and willingness to spend, economies can crash and burn so easily.  As an investor looking to shore up your portfolio, here’s an anti-recession tip for you: invest where consumers bloom.

This means putting your money on industries that cater to the most basic of consumer needs, such as food and beverages, personal care and household needs.  Other than the fact that consumers have been proven to continue spending for basics even during a bad economy, these industries have also performed well during less-than-ideal economic times in the past.  You’re less likely to experience disappointment if you go where consumers go.

Diversify.

Recession always brings out the worst – and best – in people, especially investors.  Which way you wish to take is really up to you.  However, wouldn’t it be better to view the recession as an opportunity to find other means to make money?

If you want to shore up your portfolio and avoid the negative effects of a recession, consider diversifying.  But do so only by carefully considering the pros and cons of the industries that you wish to invest in.  Focus on industries that have behaved so well under pressure, particularly those that continue to stay steady even during a recession.

Related articles

• INSTANT MBA: You Can’t Be Recession-Proof, But You Can Be Recession-Resistant (businessinsider.com)
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• Tips for Buying Property During a Recession (taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com)

Controlling the Effects of the Recession on Your Business

Recession’s Effects on Your Business and How to Control them.

The impact of recession can be very damaging not only to households but to businesses as well. Learn about these effects of recession and prevent your business from succumbing into its deadly claws.

1. Customer scarcity

When you have too few customers, consequently, your income suffers as well. The rising prices make customers too picky or less interested in giving you business. Existing customers may also be re-assessing their spending, which results in fewer orders for you. So what do you do? How about changing your customer acquisition techniques? Have you tried online marketing? This may not be suitable to all businesses but there’s no harm in considering it. Online marketing has many forms and doing your assignment will prove to be helpful in determining which technique will benefit most your business.

2. Ridiculously high credit card debt

Inflation is likely to happen during inflation, which means your expenses can be higher than normal. If you have been relying on your credit card for payments, you now need to monitor your spending really closely. This is because losing track of your expenses can surprise you one day when you no longer have enough funds to pay off all your debt. You do not want to have problem with your credit card because a bad rating will not be of great help when you are trying to obtain approval for loans.

3. Increase in cost of utilities

The rising price of food, electricity and gas can put a big dent to your business. This can be especially true if you run your business form a physical location. Increase in monthly bills means lower income. So how do you resolve this? There are so many ways to save money on utilities. One is to cut back on non-essentials. It the weather does not need for a full blast AC unit turned on, turn it off. If you can turn off the lights more often without making the business operations suffer, then do so. If you can use less expensive packaging methods or materials, please do take advantage of cheaper alternatives. Re-assess all the nooks of your business. Take a harder look to your books to get deductions. Lessen expenses in every way possible. Make the most out of technology. If you can automate parts of your business, do so. You can also hire contract workers such as virtual assistants to help you be more productive and to allow time for you to brainstorm on how to improve your business.

4. Funds gone kapoot

If you started your business using a loan, you might find yourself out of savings to fall back on if you need funds to survive the recession. To control this, have a suitable savings plan, wherein you can put in some of your income. This allows you to have a backup plan whenever the current downturn happens.

5. Low staff morale.

Slow periods mean sadder employees. Why not add incentives and create contests to boost the morale of your sales team? This is the best time to get your creative juices flowing to help motivate your employees. Having motivated employees means increased sales. So, don’t be too stingy with incentives and praises.

Have you felt any of these yet? If so, what are you waiting for? Try out the suggestions on how to control the effects of recession.

 

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Parkway Realty the Name to Remember When Leasing Office Space

Leasing office space can be a challenge if you do not plan.  Understanding what is the cost of the lease to not only you but to your potential clients is important to the sustainability of your company?  For instance, if the lease is $1000 a month, but you are not in the idea location for your clients to visit your location then the lease is useless, right?

The process of locating usable, accessible space is important to the success of your business, so hire a knowledgeable real estate agent.    Parkway Realty has such knowledgeable agents.    Not only does the company have knowledgeable agents, it philosophy is about “caring for its customers.”  The company prides itself own adding little touches to its properties such as, “flags, flowers,  and fixtures.”  These items give pride in ownership of  the establishment that your potential clients are visiting and it is the hope of Parkway Realty that it will cause you to continue leasing from the company.

Parkway Realty also provides the consumer with familiarity of market trends and prices in the potential areas that the consumer maybe looking to relocate or locate to.

The most important service that Parkway Realty provide is easy to follow lease agreements.    The latter is important because different office buildings may quote lease rates using different formats.  The formats may be:

• full service
• gross lease
• triple net lease
• modified gross lease
• percentage lease

No matter which lease is offered Parkway Realty offers a short concise version of the lease to make the leasing agreement as painless as possible.   Therefore, the next time your company is looking for office space to lease give Parkway Realty a try.

 

Mortgage APR Made Simple

Originally posted 2010-01-18 05:00:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

This post is written by Steven Parker.  Steven Parker is a financial writer and contributor for the last five years.  He specializes in mortgage and real estate industry and has written many articles on mortgage, reverse mortgage, loan modification, foreclosure and many more.

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Put Your Marketing Efforts on Steriods

Originally posted 2009-04-05 05:00:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

“Read All About It”, is what the newspaper boy yelled when handing out newspaper in the old days. Well, if you are looking for the same undivided attention to your headlines, business news, business, books, etc. then Today.com has the advertisement diversity that you have been waiting for.

Today.com announced its launch of a low cost banner program that any cost conscience business owner would love. It is called the “Headliner Package”

For only $4.99 per month a business owner can catapult his or her business to the stars. The Headliner Package low price can catapult your marketing efforts to potentially 3.5 million stars of business owners, bloggers, readers, etc. it can stimulate your newly founded bail out package.

Get your Headliner Package today to benefit from receiving at 1000 visible impressions from the entire network of Today.com.

http://www.today.com/ctr.cgi?idx_mem=8994&mode=vip

Tips to Not Allowing Your Fixer Upper to Be a Money Pit

If you decide to become a real estate investor some time in your career you will purchase a “fixer-upper”. In today market, you find a lot of homes will need some work before they are habitable. Often you will purchase these houses at a bargain price. However, it should be noted that not every house that is available for a low price is a bargain. Sometimes, people only find this out after doing a lot of work. You do not have to be one of these people if you adhere to these tips.

First you need to realize what a  “money pit” is.  It is  a house which looks like a bargain when you initially buy it, but when you soon realize the extent of the renovations that needs to be done before the property is habitable you realize that you will have to spend a lot of money.  If you are selling the property, you may not make a profit.  If you plan to live in the property, you’d  spend more on fixing it up than you purchase the property for.   Of course, by the time you have found this out, it’s already a little late.

Before buying a house which requires work, it is always advisable to have a inspection of the property by the contractor that does your rehab work.   If the contractor you have do the inspection of the potential property is an employee or subcontractor that you use you may save money on purchase a property that you will have to put a lot of money into to make it habitable.

Therefore, the biggest piece of advice is hiring a contractor before hand, check his reference, and have the contractor bid on small jobs to get a feel for cost and establish a working relationship before using the contractor in your real estate business on a regular basis.

 

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Credit – Latest News

Latest news about credit from around the blogosphere:
The Credit Crisis is Not Over :: The Market Oracle :: Financial …

The Credit Crisis is Not Over :: The Market Oracle :: Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting Free Website.

CreditBloggers: Possible Cause of Credit Limit Reductions or …

Why did the credit card issuer do this to me? This is certainly one of most common questions we’re getting these days as credit card issuers are continuing to lower credit limits, close accounts, and increase interest rates. While many.

Banks’ Exposure to Derivatives Credit Falls in Q309 : HousingWire …

Derivatives activity in the US banking system continues to be dominated by a few large institutions, but credit risk in bank trading activities fell again in Q309, according to a report by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency …

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A Bankruptcy Does Not Have to End Your Credit Life

A bankruptcy does not have to end your credit life.  Did you know that you can apply for a mortgage after only four years if you file a Chapter 7, 11, or 12 bankruptcy and two years after a Chapter 13 bankruptcy?  However, to be eligible you must do certain very simple but important things.

First, you must re-establish your credit right away.

Secondly, send a copy of the discharge letter and list of creditors included in the bankruptcy to all three credit bureaus, and request that the bureaus update your credit report to show all creditors involved in the bankruptcy balance as zero and request the bureau to list all creditors involved in the bankruptcy.  By completing the latter it will demonstrate that the creditor is no longer owed.  Once this update is complete you should receive an updated copy of your credit report.

Once again, the three credit bureaus are:

• Experian
• Equifax
• Transunion

Do not give up on every purchasing a home just because life happened and you had to file a bankruptcy.  Just remember, that paying your rent on time for at least 24 months gives you alternative credit that may help you to be able to qualify to buy a home.

Still yet, paying your utilities, car insurance, cell phone bill, etc. on time are also alternative credit or industry termed alternate trade-lines of credit.

If you are interested in more tips similar to the tips above, then purchase and read, Dale Robyn Siegel’s new book, The New Rules for Mortgages.

She has 28 pages dedicated to help you improve or maintain your credit so you can purchase or refinance a home.  Purchase it today at a bookstore near you.

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10 Surprising Ways to Get Money From the Government Involving Real Estate

If you purchased your home using a HUD/FHA insured mortgage, you may be able to get a refund on part of the insurance premium.

To qualify for the refund, you must have purchased your home after September 1, 1983.  You can not be in default on your mortgage.  You also must have paid on that mortgage for seven years.

You can search HUD’s website at http://www.hud.gov/refunds/index.cfm your name or case number to find out if you are due a refund or write:

US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Post Office Box 23699

Washington, DC 20026

or call

800-697-6967

Did you know that the government and more importantly the IRS gives 70% tax credit for an investor that invest and owns low income housing?  To file visit http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8586.pdf.

The IRS requires that the owner files the claim as part of his or her business credit.    There are, however, special requires for the owner to qualify.  The owner must completed Form 8609, and it  must be filed with the owner’s Federal income tax return.   In addition, the owner must file the Form 8609 for each of the 15 taxable years of the compliance period.   If the owner fails to file the proper forms  the compensation received will be treated as a mathematical or clerical error.  Therefore, if you feel that you qualify please review the rules for Form 8609.  Once you have reviewed and complied with the requires of Form 8609 then file it as required.

Still yet, did you know that you can get a ten percent credit from the IRS for fixing up building buildings built before 1936?  You will need to meet the requires listed on Form 3468.

If you are adventurous, then why not fix up a historic building for a twenty percent credit.  Once again, you will use Form 3468.

How Does Personal Grants Support Real Estate Ventures?

If you are US citizen looking forward to buy or construct a house or invest in property and real estate business,  the US Government is a source to give your dreams a reality. Investment in the real estate includes offices, hotels, land, …

$15000 Free is Available From Obama Government Grants For New …

3. Up to $275000 in grant money to enter the real estate market. While many eyes are focused on the negative aspects of the current recession, the Obama government is ready to spend $1 trillion in the next year in government grants for …

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<a href=”http://newyork.realestaterama.com/2009/11/19/home-headquarters-receives-100000-grant-from-neighborworks-america-to-help-strengthen-auburn-and-binghamton-communities-ID0916.html”>Home Headquarters Receives $100000 Grant from NeighborWorks …</a><p>Washington, DC – November 16, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — NeighborWorks America today announced that it awarded a special $100000 grant to Syracuse-based Home HeadQuarters, Inc.,  a member of the national NeighborWorks network, …</p><a href=”http://www.erierealestateblogs.com/my_weblog/2009/10/grant-to-remove-lead-paint-from-homes.html”>Grant to remove lead paint from homes – Erie Real Estate</a><p>More than 200 property owners in Erie County will benefit from a new $4 million federal grant to control the hazards of lead paint in homes. It’s being run by the city of Erie — but the offer is open…</p>

<a href=”http://pennsylvania.realestaterama.com/2009/11/24/congressman-fattah-awards-844000-in-affordable-housing-grants-gaudenzia-newcourtland-new-directions-for-women-and-pec-receive-funding-ID0294.html”>Congressman Fattah Awards $844000 in Affordable Housing Grants …</a><p>Philadelphia, PA – November 24, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Chaka Fattah (PA-02) today announced the awarding of $844176 in grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLBank) to four new affordable housing projects …</p>

Your Limited Liability Corporation Maybe in Jeopardy

If your limited liability corporation is owned by just you, then you may want to ensure that you filed it appropriately.     The limited liability corporation that you formed is still a good options, but as a single owner the way it was filed may cause a challenge if it was not designated at the time you filed.  Let’s examine.   There was a case that challenged the single owner LLC; the case was Littriello vs.  United States.

The primary reason that a business entity is form is to protect the owners, managers, and/or members from personal liability.  However, the business entity must be structured correctly to accomplish that goal.  Mr. Littriello did not classify his company.  For tax purposes, he needed to check a box to declare his company as an association or corporation.   As a results of Mr. Littriello not checking the appropriate box the IRS treated his company as a sole proprietorship for federal tax purposes.  This reclassification resulted in Mr. Littriello being held personal responsible for the employment taxes for the company he formed.

This is not the end of Mr. Littriello’s dilemma.  Mr. Littriello did not operate the company he had a general manager that did the daily operation of the company.  This general manager embezzled money from the company in 2000 and 2001 that created the dilemma that Mr. Littriello faced with the IRS over the employment taxes. 

The actions of Mr. Littriello’s general manager led to the court proceedings true enough, but the fact that Mr. Littriello did not classify his company as a corporation led to him being held personal responsible for the payment of the employment taxes.     Make sure that you check the appropriate box on the LLC documentation, so that you will not be held personal responsible.    The designation of the LLC is very important if you are a single member and/or manager of the LLC.  Consult an attorney or accountant to make sure that your single owned LLC is set up properly.

 

History of Limited Liability Corporation

Wyoming was the first state that created the LLC.  The LLC that Wyoming created had the corporation characteristics, but not the corporation tax structure.  Remember, a corporation’s disadvantage is double taxation.  The creation of the LLC solved that problem.

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