My On-Going Quest for Financial Freedom

Financial Freedom.

No matter what you are currently doing for a living. No matter what how much you enjoy your current job, there will come a time when you have to think about your financial future. I know I have.

Let's face it; we can not rely on our pensions as previous generations might have done.

According to my latest pension statements, my pensions would barely get me beans on toast once a week!

There's the growing number who have to put off retiring way passed the standard retirement age. Working people of pension age have nearly doubled over the last two decades, reaching 1.4 million in 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics. This is only going to increase over the coming decades.

So unless you are one of the lucky few who are already financially secure, you are going to have to stop burying your head in the sand.

What do I mean by Financial Freedom? Well quite simply, having sufficient personal wealth to live indefinitely without having to actively work for food and basic necessities.

With the pension age increasing, I seriously asked myself:

Do I still want to be doing what I'm doing when I'm 65, 67 or even 70!

Well things are not going to change without steps are taken to change them, which is why I have been studying Financial Freedom for the last 3 years. Really, the only question you should be asking is: Why did it take me so long to start. - I mean I have (Sort of) known I need to do something very different, pretty much all my working life, it just never made it to the top of my priority list.

How am I going to achieve Financial Freedom? There are of course many, many roads that will lead in the right direction. You just have to decide on one and then take positive action to travel the road, no-matter what.

The road I'm taking is called Internet Marketing, and I am documenting my journey here in my blog. I will be telling you which courses I am studying and books I'm reading, and will be reporting the good and the bad, the highs and the lows.

Essentially, what we are talking about is starting an Online Business that will bring the required results. As with any business, there is always going to be an investment in both time and money.

It often bemuses me that people are happy to put serious time and money into a hobby or interest, but they are unwilling to invest time and money on their financial freedom.

Take a hobby or sport like golf. In order to get to a good level of proficiency in golf, people will invest in a good set of clubs, a golf bag, maybe also a trolley. Then there is some suitable attire maybe a water-proof jacket (Essential here in the UK lol.) A good pair of golf shoes.

Then they will invest heavily in both time and money in mastering the game. First stop invest in some golf lessons from a pro. After all, the pro knows what they are doing, and can help guide the student on the correct path. Plenty of time is invested at the driving range practicing what has been taught.

Then there is the golf club membership, often a 12 month membership - possibly paid in monthly installments for a suitable surcharge.

And after all, there is still the time required to actually play the game. A round is going to take at least 4 hours at a weekend. And that's before traveling to and from the course, socializing, etc.

When you add it all up, the investment in both time and money is very fundamental, and golf is by no means alone in this. I only chose to pick on golf because I also enjoy playing golf and therefore know first-hand how much time and money it can take up.

And yet if you ask someone to put the same level of time commitment into their financial future, they will think you are mad ... When you ask them to part with the same amount of money that they happily spend on their hobby, to invest in their future happiness, they think you are trying to scam them!

I have seen lots of people who have looked at Internet Marketing as a way of making more money, but somehow expect to get results in Internet Marketing without spending hours and hours of time and effort, to put in the foundations of a business.

Let's be sensible here, you only have one life and you have to enjoy your life. Therefore if it's a warm summer evening, I will not be indoors staring at my computer screen, and I am not suggesting that you lock yourself away at the computer either. - Absolutely not!

You should be out doors enjoying the wonderful sunshine. But if it is a dark cold winter evening, instead of spending the evening sitting in front of the telly, playing computer games or on YouTube watching skateboarding kittens, you can be sure that I am working towards my Financial Freedom.

Discover How a Quick Weight Loss Can Be a Healthy Weight Loss - Phase II

We left off with my last article of "Discover How a Quick Weight Loss Can Be a Healthy Weight Loss - Phase I". As a recap, you learned how you should adjust your diet to ensure that your healthy weight loss is also a quick weight loss. Now, we are on to Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. So, what is the next fitness tuning path that I must pursue after you have adopted a complete and healthy diet?

Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey is exercise. Now that you have adopted a complete and healthy diet, and your body has all of the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and proteins that it is supposedly to, it is time to put all of that good work to use! Exercise is the next key ingredient to the amazing recipe of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss. Not only must you exercise, but you must do so intelligently. There is no need for you to try to kill yourself in the beginning. Instead, it is better for you to take baby steps and to work yourself up to advanced workout routines. The road to a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss will only be as bumpy as you choose to make it!

Start you healthy weight loss and quick weight loss workouts slowly. That means that you should work yourself up to doing advanced workouts. My working out started with cardiovascular activity, and body training. I would suggest that you do the same. Body training will consist of using your own body weight to train your muscles. This means that you do push-ups, sit-ups & crunches, pull-ups, squats, lunges, dips, reverse crunches, calf-raises, and flutter kicks. These are excellent exercises to start Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss, and builds up your muscles' endurance. Do as many minutes of cardiovascular exercise that you can, following the completion of your body training exercises. Start yourself at ten minutes and work your way up to thirty minutes. This is the preparation step necessary for a successful Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss.

The next step of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss is to move your fitness tuning efforts into the gym. Once you are able to pump out your body training exercises like a professional, then you are ready for weight and resistance training. Depending upon your body type and desire for body type, the method of gym training for your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey differs. To plainly put it, if you want to put on muscle size and increase strength, you will use more weight with fewer repetitions; if you are solely concerned about core strength and toning your body, then you will use less weight and more repetitions. Deciding upon what body type you want is the easiest part of a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. With either method, use the pyramid set structure. This means to increase your weight with each set of the exercise, and complete 3 sets per exercise. Refer to my fitness tuning website, listed below, if further information is needed regarding healthy weight loss and quick weight loss exercises or exercise techniques.

During Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey, remember to use your head. When you are starting a new exercise for the first time, use an extremely light weight. Not only will this ensure that you do not injure yourself doing the exercise, but it will also allow you to use proper form for the exercise from the very beginning. Achieving a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss is impossible if you injure yourself in the gym. In fact, a gym injury can set your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss exercise program back weeks, even months. Remember, if you can not do ten repetitions of your third set of an exercise, that's OK as well. As long as you can do ten repetitions of the first two sets of the exercise, then ever your strength will build enough for you to do ten repetitions of the third exercise. This is the fitness tuning method of Phase II of your healthy weight loss and a quick weight loss, and has been working for fitness enthusiasts for years.

The gym portion of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss is simple. You do three exercises per muscle group, and do two muscle groups per day. This means you can do chest and triceps the first day, back and biceps the second day, and legs and shoulders the third day. Finish your exercise routines off on those three days with twenty or thirty minutes of cardiovascular exercise. On the fourth day, do only abdominal exercises, unless you are working your abdominal muscles on the other three days along with the other muscle groups. If this is the case, then the fourth day is a complete day of rest. In order to be completely successful in your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey, you must give your body time to recuperate. You are giving your body the nutrients that it needs to recuperate from your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss efforts, but the last ingredient is rest.

By utilizing these exercise methods and techniques, you will ensure success in Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. Once you have mastered the gym routines listed above, then you are ready for more advanced training methods. You are able to find out more information on all of the fitness tuning training techniques for a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss program listed in this article, as well as more advanced training methods, by clicking on my website's link below. You can join my free membership website, and gain access to all of the nutrition, dieting, and fitness information that I send to all of my members. You will also be able to build the workout routine that is best for you, and ensure your success in Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey today!

Converting Cassette Tapes to CD - Easy Guide

Today, you no longer need to have a studio in order to transfer audio from cassette tapes to CDs. You no longer need special knowledge and skills to accomplish this. In fact, any average person can do the task as long as he has the right home recording software and hardware. Therefore, read this article for more information on how to convert your favorite and important audio cassette tapes to CDs and bring old memories back.

What You Need To Do This?

Again, what you need are home recording tools. You basically need a cassette player and the cassette tapes you want to convert. You would also need a computer to run the conversion. Then, of course, you need a CD so you can store the audio. You would not be able to do so though if you do not have the right software. That is why you need to find an audio recording program and install it. To connect everything together though, you also need stereo cables as well.

Connect Your Cassette to the Computer

Start by connecting the input of the computer to the output of the cassette player. Take note though that computers may have RCA outputs. So, you may need to a special RCA to 1/8-inch cable adapter. The good news is it's quite easy to find the said cable in hardware stores. If the cassette has a--inch output, this is the size you should buy.

Record and Convert the Audio in Your Computer

Before you start the conversion, make sure that you already have the software needed for the recording, conversion and burning of CDs. If you do not have the said programs, there are some affordable software on-line. Make sure that you use a software which supports all the required features in one interface. If you use multiple software to record, edit and burn CDs, you may end up loosing a chunk of quality from your recordings. Do not worry, there are several products that support all features in one interface.

Now, Open the program used for playing and recording of the cassette audio. Then make sure that the input of the recording program is set to "Line In". Then start recording in the computer program and play the cassette player too. When the track is finished, simply stop the recording in the computer and the cassette player as well.

After recording the track, you can edit it to remove certain segments or commercials. Please note that editing the track is not necessary but you can do that if you want. After editing the track, you can save the recorded file in various formats like wav, mp3, mp4 according to your desire.

Burn The Recorded Files To CD

Since the files are already in the playable form, all you have to do now is to copy the audio files into a CD. This feature is available in most cassette to CD converter programs. You just need to add the tracks you want to burn and start burning a CD. You'll not need any separate software to burn the CDs but just one software will do everything for you.

Equipment Leasing - Benefits And Pitfalls

Talk of business growth and profits, the two most essential elements that come into picture are equipment leasing and equipment finance. There is universal need of getting equipment on lease or get a financial solution for starting, building or acquiring a business. But there is very limited understanding of how the process of getting a suitable lease program among the business owners.

Equipment Leasing is the best choice for business financing. It is the largest type of asset based lending and is steadily on the rise. Everything from computers and office furniture, to heavy duty equipment and farm equipment can be eligible for lease financing. The business of leasing is generally focused on special type of assets.

The basic of it lies in simplicity- Less purchases an asset and provides the asset to the Lessee for business. This is done in exchange for lease payments. Here, instead of making a principle and interest payment, you make a lease payment. A lease quote is a form of financing. The main benefits of it are as follows:

You do not have to extend additional capital.
Turns equity into reusable capital.
Process can be completed in a single day also.
Vendors work with on site programs to accelerate the closing of the sales process.
You are able to get finance a larger percentage of the asset purchase in bad credit situations too.
It reduces the amount of monthly debt servicing.
The initial cash down payment is lower as compared to purchase.
Business owners are able to the generation working capital necessary to keep their business operate and grow.
Allow the Lessee to turn back the equipment for disposal or resale to company or in some cases for extension of lease too.
Potentially reduce the amount of business tax.
Offers flexibility to your needs and business.

Equipment Leasing has certain pitfalls to avoid also like:

Surprise end- term: Avoid getting caught short-handed. Before you sign a contract, understand what you will own and what you will owe at the end of your lease.
Insurance policy- In case you do not have insurance, most leasing companies will add the cost of coverage to your invoice or may add insurance to your quote.
Sales Tax- Know how taxes are interpreted in your state and look for efficient way to minimize these expenses.

Ask questions and read your contract thoroughly.

Comments: What is a Blog?

Private Health Funds - Helping People Have More Financial Security

With the world becoming more obsessed with finances, Australia is no exception. Many people are eager to travel or migrate to the Land Down Under are now looking closely at public and private health funds in Australia to know how the system works to their benefit.

What is medical insurance in Australia like?

Medical insurance in Australia can be classified into two: (1) public health and (2) private funds. Public health funds are derived from public taxes and provide coverage for citizens. Taxes are at work in public medical facilities and clinics all over Australian territories as these institutions provide equipment, care, and medication. If an Australian gets sick, he or she may go to a public hospital and seek services for injuries or illnesses that may require hospitalization.

The next is private health funds. Australia citizens often get private health funding to attend any emergency or hospital care not covered by public health coverage. Individuals apply and pay for this coverage separately out of their own income.

Is it compulsory to seek private health funds if you are an Australian citizen?

Not really, but the government does encourage it. The Australian government has what is called a Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) to persuade more individuals to take out private health funds. Australia's MLS is applicable for taxpayers who are above specified wages, but do not have any private hospital coverage. If a person belongs to this category, a surcharge calculated at 1% of taxable income is added on top of the Medicare Levy originally pegged at 1.5%.

The government imposed this step to less dependency on public health system. In a nutshell, less dependency means more savings on the government's part. It also means having enough budget for future generations of children and older citizens who may have to depend on the public health system.

Why is it wise to go for private health funds in Australia?

Having enough expenses for medical emergencies is the prime motivator why individuals should go for private health funds. Australia has a great public health system, but there is nothing like being prepared to face any medical predicament. Hospital care and medicine could have been especially burdensome for an individual if he or she pays for it in its entity.

Having private medical coverage has helped save countless individuals from paying out-of-pocket costs or their own savings when emergencies suddenly occurred. It also helped many people stay away from obtaining high interest loans just to respond to emergency or hospital care.

Is medical travel insurance covered by medical insurance in Australia?

Travel insurance covers medical emergencies either one is traveling domestically or internationally. This is separate from the usual medical insurance in Australia. If a person takes out travel insurance and the individual suddenly suffers from a heart attack while in a foreign country, travel insurance coverage kicks in and helps the person.

Depending on the coverage, this insurance may pay medical or dental expenses, as well as injury and death while traveling. It could also cover emergency medical help and hospital care due to injury or sickness.

Since medical insurance in Australia is a big issue, consumers should be careful when choosing their insurance provider. They should also be wary in signing up on a coverage right away. Buyers must instead examine several offers and company backgrounds so they get the most out of their money on this deal.

What is a Social Media Article?

It will seem intriguing to write a 'social media' article unless perhaps the article is about reviewing one of such sites. There are rules to write a press release, a business plan, a story, a resume and even an obituary, if you ask me.

And yes over the past decade or so we've come across web content optimized for search engines using keywords as weapons in the armor. Again there are certain rules to write search engine optimized articles.

But social media article? How does that fit in a proclaimed writing style? Are there rules - or at least clues if not rules - about how to write one?

Seems there are as we'll explore in this article, and they're from experts who have successfully exploited the increasingly relevant social network marketing.

The one point that stands out is there is no way one must ignore the social media. It is the 'in thing' in these times. For if incidentally an article is digg-ed or stumbled upon or furled among many available options, chance is there'll be torrent of viewers embarking on it in a short time and may be even later.

To talk examples, there are instances where after an article is digg-ed by someone, it has fetched as many as 100 'diggs' in just under 5 minutes - and who knows how many visitors!

That ought to be reason enough to get unabashedly attracted to social media if only to induce short-term viral marketing at perhaps negligible cost.

To me however it's still a mystery as to what may qualify as a good social media article. How do you know which article of yours is a good click for social media visitors and which is not? Hanging about in social network sites will surely offer some clues. But wisdom says there's indeed a bigger picture in all this.

To get a feel of that I've been looking at a few articles by bloggers who have seen it and done that.

Briefly, here are my takes:

1. Social media articles are those that thrive on fresh news. People like reading them especially if they're dipped in juicy narration. If there's some tangible benefit to be had, nothing like it, but served of course with catchy details.





2. Hanging about social networking sites is a big help. That gives fair idea about what succeeds and what doesn't.





3. As far as feasible, it's better to stick to one's own style while writing a 'socially relevant' article and not try something so offbeat that it puts off core readers.





4. Social networking traffic is in most cases unpredictable. Today you've a torrent you can barely manage. Tomorrow they're gone! Too bad, won't you say?

Well, that to my understanding is what a social media article is in present time. What the future holds for it is anybody's guess. Readers' views are welcome.