Money Management Tips for Small Businesses

When you’re a small business owner, you don’t just rely on customer transactions to fuel your success — you rely on solid money management skills as well. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been running your own business for years, there are a few money management tips you should follow.

Budget, Budget, Budget

Once you have a business plan, you need to have a budget too. You should be keeping track of all your expenses and sales in order to see where you can/should cut costs for bigger profits. If you don’t have a budget you could be costing yourself money through unnecessary and unwise spending.

Save Where You Can

In order to make the most money, you’ll want to save as much as you can. You can do this by cutting out unnecessary expenses and spending the money you do allocate for expenses wisely. Buy supplies in bulk and buy modest furnishings that cost much less than “fancier”styles. You should also check with your city’s local government to see if there are tax credits you can take advantage off.

Implement Strategies to Increase Revenue

Perhaps you want to start a rewards program for frequent customers or offer discount codes through email blasts. Whatever strategy you choose, it’s important to offer incentives that get customers in the door and making purchases.

At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to retirement planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Money Lessons to Learn Before You Turn 20

Think back to when you were 20 years old — how much did you actually know about financial responsibility? We’re guessing you didn’t know all too much. Unfortunately, not much has changed in terms of young people knowing how to properly manage their money. Whether you’re the parent teaching your kids or the kids trying to gain some wisdom, these are some money lessons to learn before you turn 20.

You don’t need to accumulate debt to build credit.

While having loans and responsibly paying them off helps build credit, you can also get a very basic credit card with a small monthly limit. As long as you don’t charge too much and pay off your bill on time, you can build your credit without drowning yourself in too much debt. Important: Debit cards do not help your build credit, so stop assuming they do.

Choosing the right kinds of student loans can save you money.

Remember these two words: subsidized and unsubsidized. Subsidized federal student loans don’t charge you interest while you’re in school, which can save you a lot of money in the long run. And when it comes to private loans, try to make them a last resort since they may not offer the same perks as federal loans.

A healthy lifestyle can equal a healthy wallet.

Think about how much money you spend on food and drinks each month? If you decided to cut back on ordering takeout and going out, you could save potentially hundreds of dollars a month, not to mention give your body a break from all that unhealthy junk.

Identity theft can affect anyone, so stop losing your debit card.

It’s not just inconvenient to lose your debit card or ID while you’re out — it’s dangerous. Anyone can find those cards and use them to wipe your bank account clean or open fake accounts in your name. If that happens, forget building credit — yours could be ruined. Make sure to always secure your personal cards and also avoid putting any personal information online as much as you can.

At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to 529 savings plans, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

4 Money Tips You Should Know Before Moving Out

There comes a time in every young person’s life when he or she decides it’s time to move out of Mom & Dad’s place and find his or her own spot to call home. If you’re in this position, before you go and apply for a lease, there are a few things you should be well aware of when it comes to living on your own.

Build Your Credit

If you don’t have good credit when you go to buy a place, you could end up paying higher interest rates or get denied on your loan altogether. Renters are affected too — some landlords won’t rent places to people with bad credit for fear that they won’t be able to keep up with rent. And if they do, you might have to put a larger security deposit down than you would’ve needed to if you had better credit.

Budget, Budget, Budget

Write out your current expenses, then add in the ones you’ll have to pay for in your new place — rent, utilities, groceries, etc. This way you’ll be able to save up money to easily start paying for everything and avoid the stress of figuring out how’ll you’ll cover things each month.

Pay Off As Much  Debt As You Can

Like we said, moving out comes with a lot of new expenses, all of which are a lot easier to pay for when you don’t have as much pre-existing debt weighing on your wallet. It might be a better idea to wait until you pay down some student loans and other debts before you decide to move out.

Practice Paying Bills

Take a few months to practice paying bills so you’re comfortable doing so by the time you move out. If you find that you’re having trouble making payments, you should consider cutting back on your expenses where you can and work on saving more money to use towards bills.

At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to retirement planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

The Most Important Birthdays of Your Life

When you think of important birthdays, what comes to your mind? We’re guessing 16, when you can get your driver’s license, 18, when you’re legally an adult, and  21, when you can legally drink. While those are definitely milestone years, in our opinion, the most important birthdays of your life happen once you’re “over the hill.”

Your 50th Birthday

At 50, you can take penalty-free withdrawals from a qualified employer retirement plan as long as you’re a qualified public safety employee and your employment ends during or after the year you turn 50. Usually, you’d incur a 10% early distribution penalty if you withdraw from an employer retirement plan before you turned 59 ½.

Your 55th Birthday

If you’re not a qualified public safety employee, once your turn 55, you can take penalty-free withdrawals as long as your employment ends during or after the year you turn 55.

Your 59th ½ Birthday

Once you reach 59 ½, you can take penalty-free withdrawals from any qualified retirement plan or IRA, regardless of whether or not you’re still employed. Regular income taxes usually apply to these distributions instead.

Your 62nd Birthday

At 62, you’re eligible to start collecting Social Security benefits. However, since you’re not yet at the “full retirement age” of 66-67, your benefit will be reduced by up to 30%

Your 65th Birthday

Now is when you’re able to enroll in Medicare. While Medicare Part A coverage is automatic for those eligible for Social Security, you’ll need to apply for the voluntary Part B coverage, which requires you to pay a monthly premium. To get the coverage as early as possible, apply two to three months before you turn 65.

Your 70th ½ Birthday

This is the age when you are required to take minimum distributions from most tax-deferred retirement plans — otherwise, you’ll face a 50% penalty on the amount you should have taken. The amount you take is dictated by life expectancies determined by the federal government.

At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to retirement planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Easy Ways to Pay It Forward

While we’re firm believers that you should be kind to people every day, but around World Kindness Day, we think it’d be a good idea to be extra nice to the people you encounter. The best part is, it takes very little effort to be kind to someone. If you’re stuck on how, these are some easy ways to pay it forward.

• Donate something anonymously to someone in need.
• Invite a neighbor over for dinner at your house.
• Donate some extra food to your local food bank.
• Donate your old clothes to a homeless shelter or other charitable organization.
• Pay for a stranger’s coffee.
• Do yard work for someone who can’t do it themselves.
• Visit people in the hospital who may usually not have any visitors.
• Volunteer at an animal shelter.
• Offer to coach a kids’ sports team.
• Buy your coworker or friend lunch.
• Send someone flowers or an Edible Arrangement to cheer them up.
• Pick up stray garbage to clean up your neighborhood.
• Give someone a ride who doesn’t have a car.
• Send a thank you note to someone who was kind to you.
• Treat someone to a movie.
• Visit your parents or grandparents just to say hello.
• Donate blood.
• Support local mom-and-pop shops in your area.
• Give a stranger a compliment.
• Tell someone how much your appreciate them.
• Be the first to say “I’m sorry.”
• Smile at everyone.

At American Investment Planners LLC, we make charitable giving easy by offering multiple gifting strategies to help prepare you and those around you for bright financial futures. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Life Insurance 101

If there’s one, simple fact we can all agree on, it’s this: Life is complicated. And unfortunately, life insurance can be just as complicated at times. A lot of people assume there are only two kinds of life insurance, but there are actually many kinds you can get that fit your personal needs.

Term Life: This is considered the most basic form of life insurance since it simply offers a pure death benefit without any cash value build up. These policies cover a specific length of time and are often very affordable, especially for people who are young and in good health. Typically, the premiums for level term life policies remain the same throughout the time the policy is active.

Decreasing and Increasing Term Life: In decreasing term life policies, the death benefit goes down over time, with the policy ultimately ending when the death benefit reaches zero. These policies can be used to cover an unpaid mortgage — as the mortgage decreases, so does the policy. The latter policy increases the death benefit over time and may be considered by a young parent to cover his or her needs.

Permanent Life: This policy offers death benefit protection as well as a cash value component. It differs from term life in that there is no time limit and is intended to last for the remainder of the insured person’s life — as long as the premium is paid.

Whole Life: In this policy, the premium amount is set and will remain the same for the entirety of the policy. The amount in the cash value component can grow on a tax-deferred basis, allowing it to increase a lot over time. Whole life policies are good options for those who want to stick to a budget since they can buy the policy young and not have to worry about the premiums getting higher as they age.

Universal Life: This policy is like a whole life policy, but it has more flexibility, allowing the policyholder to decide how much of the premium will go towards the death benefit and how much will go toward the cash value — within certain guidelines.

Variable Life: These policies offer a death benefit as well as a cash value, but variable life policies allow policyholders to participate in different investment options. This means that the policy can grow much more over time, but it also adds more risk when it comes to the ups and downs of the market.

Everyone has different life insurance needs, and speaking to a financial advisor can help you determine yours. At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From life insurance policies to retirement planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Advice for Retirees

It seems that no matter who you talk to, someone is always ready to offer you advice. If you’re wise, you’ll take that advice, as long as it’s positive. When you get closer and closer to retirement, we figured it may be nice to hear some advice from retirees to prepare you for what’s to come.

Think about where you want to live.

If you’re planning on relocating, take some trips while you’re still working so you can move right in once you retire. If you want to downsize, it may be easier to buy a new home while you’re still working as well.

Think about how retirement will affect your partner.

If one of you retires first, he or she will have more time to take care of household chores that need to be done, potentially taking some responsibility off the other. This can make for a happier partnership if one of you feels less pressure from everyday tasks.

Be ready for the unexpected.

Make sure you’re financially sound enough to be able to handle any curve balls life could throw your way. A natural disaster, a death in the family, a stock market plummet — this are all things you should anticipate and save for, so you don’t get too affected by any big surprises.

Get involved while you’re still working.

Even though you’re working, and potentially still parenting, find time during your week to join activities or clubs that interest you. This way, once you retire, you can use your surplus of free time to really dive into those activities and pursue your passions with things you already know you like doing.

Learn to say “no.”

A lot of people think that once someone retires, they will have all this free time to donate to committees and boards, but that may not be what you want to do. Don’t feel pressured to volunteer for things that don’t interest you. You’ve spent your whole life, so far, working to get free time to do things you enjoy — so only do what actually makes you happy.

Stay physically and mentally active.

No one wants to be the grumpy old person who sits on his or her couch all day. Take up a language or join a swimming club to keep active. By keeping your mind and body sharp, you’ll enjoy retirement more and stay healthier as you age.

At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to retirement planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.

Scary Ways Your Credit Score Could Be Hurting You

This Halloween season, we’re sure you’ll come into contact with plenty of spooky situations, but one of the scariest things you can encounter is a poor credit score. And what’s even scarier than having a bad credit score are the ways it could be hurting you.

You Could Pay More in Interest

The better your credit is, the best interest rates you can qualify for when taking out loans. If you have a bad credit score, you will end up receiving a higher interest rate and pay way more than you would have to if you have a higher score.

You Could Have Higher Auto Insurance Rates

A lot of car companies believe bad credit and bad driving are somehow related, so it’s not uncommon for them to check your credit score when you try to buy insurance. If it’s on the lower side, your car insurance could be higher than you expected.

You Can Miss Out on Rewards

A lot of credit cards offer travel points or cash-back options that get you free stuff, but you have to be approved for those kinds of cards. Thing is, you often won’t get approved if you have bad credit, so you end up missing out on all the perks you could be enjoying otherwise.

You Might Have to Forfeit Your Dream Home

If you have a bad credit score when applying for a mortgage, you could receive a much higher interest rate or be forced to find a cosigner — that is, if you get approved in the first place. That could, unfortunately, force you to give up your dream of owning your dream home or any home at all.

Improving your credit score can be difficult, but it’s easier with the help of a financial advisor. At American Investment Planners LLC, we make it a priority to help you prepare for the best financial future possible. From managing your cash to retirement planning, we’re here to help with anything you may need. To schedule an appointment with one of our advisors, please call (516) 932-5130 or email info@americaninvestmentplanners.com.