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Glossary of Money Terms

The best way to start on the right path to financial wellness is to learn more about personal finances. Here are some of the most common terms you’ll encounter as you learn more about managing your personal finances.

AssetA personal financial asset is something you own, and includes cash, savings accounts, and personal property. In a balance sheet, assets such as the value of your home are offset by liabilities, such as your current mortgage.

Balance sheet
A balance sheet is a financial statement that shows your financial assets (such as your savings account and home equity) against your financial liabilities (such as your mortgage, credit card debt).
 
BudgetA budget is a document that shows your spending goals for the month or year.

Compound interestCompound interest is interest that is earned on interest that was earned in prior periods. For credit cards or other loans, compound interest is interest charged on interest that was charged in prior periods.

Financial plannerA personal financial planner can help you with your personal financial situation, including investments and savings goals. Fee-only financial planners are paid for the appointment, and do not receive a commission for your purchases.

Gross incomeGross income is the total amount of money that you make, before subtracting expenses and taxes.

LiabilityA personal liability is the amount that you owe. For example, many households have their home loan, car loans, credit card bills, and student loans as their liabilities.

Net incomeNet income is your earnings after subtracting out expenses (for self-employed individuals) and taxes.

Net worth
You net worth is the difference between your financial assets and your financial liabilities. If you are in debt, your net worth is likely to be negative.

Tax advisorA tax advisor is a tax professional who can help you in planning a tax strategy, and can prepare your tax returns for you.

Teaser rate
A teaser rate is an introductory interest rate offered by credit card companies. When the introductory period is over, the rate typically increases dramatically.

Source: http://www.moneymanagement.org

MSP earns high grades for small-business friendliness

On July 1, in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, online business directory Thumbtack released its annual small business survey of U.S. cities. Minneapolis-St. Paul finished in eleventh place and earned an overall "A" rating, falling behind several cities in Texas and smaller Mountain West towns like Colorado Springs and Boise.

The Thumbtack-Kauffman survey subjected the Twin Cities to more than a dozen measurements, based on responses from surveyed small business owners.The region earned an "A" grade for ease of starting a business and an "A+" for the availability of training and networking programs. It earned decent"'B+" grades for environmental and zoning regulations, and a "B" for health and safety. Licensing rules and employment, labor and hiring protocols came in at the '"B-" mark, with the local tax code and ease of hiring scoring "C+"

The Cities' rankings showed marked improvement over the past two years. Minneapolis-St. Paul's overall rating was "B+" in 2013 and "'B" in 2012. The change in availability of training and networking programs was particularly noteworthy, with a jump from "C-" to "A+" between last year and this year. The overall regulatory environment and ease of hiring improved significantly as well.

Although the Twin Cities could have scored higher in some areas, the region fared great next to some well-known locales. Buffalo, Providence, Sacramento, and San Diego earned "F" grades for overall business friendliness, and many other East and West Coast cities failed to clear the "D" bar. At the state level, California, Illinois and Rhode Island earned failing grades.

The survey also sourced subjective opinions from business owners across the Cities. Some of these were glowing: A Minneapolis-based designer reported that "I'm in a great location and have a lot of room for growth." Others were more skeptical of local governments' role in business, with a Minneapolis pet sitter complaining about the state sales tax on dog-walking services.

Relatively high taxes, coupled with byzantine regulations, were a common complaint. But some respondents actually argued for a more hands-on approach by local regulators, including a Minneapolis voice teacher who complained that hands-off licensing was creating room for scam artists in the field.

Thumbtack's survey collected reponses from about 12,000 U.S. small business owners (in the Lower 48 only) over a two-month period in early 2014. For a copy of the full report, contact jon.lieber@thumbtack.com.

Source: http://www.thelinemedia.com

Wisconsin Makes Minnesota Offer On Tax Reciprocity

 Wisconsin’s latest income tax reciprocity offer to Minnesota does not include an additional payment of up to $6 million a year that its neighbor wanted, a demand that the head of Wisconsin’s Revenue Department derided Thursday as “unprecedented.”

Still, Revenue Secretary Rick Chandler and Wisconsin lawmakers who live on the border with Minnesota said they hoped the two states could reach agreement for the 2015 tax year before a Sept. 30 deadline.

An agreement would simplify income taxes for the roughly 80,000 who live in one state and work in the other. Currently, those people have to file tax returns in both states. A deal would allow them to file just one, but the two states have been unable to reach an agreement since Minnesota canceled a 40-year agreement in 2009 because it was losing money.

Minnesota made an offer to Wisconsin in June that would require Wisconsin to pay up to $6 million more a year to make up the difference. But Chandler, in a statement announcing Wisconsin’s latest offer, said Minnesota’s demand for $6 million more was unreasonable.

“We hope Minnesota will put taxpayers first and not block a new agreement with an unprecedented new condition,” Chandler said. “We’re close to a new agreement, so let’s come together.”

Minnesota Department of Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans said the state’s latest offer to Wisconsin, made in June, trimmed $1 million from its prior request. Minnesota lawmakers authorized the cut last session in an attempt to reinstate reciprocity.

“We’ve seen no effort by Wisconsin to deal with the revenue lost by Minnesota,” Frans said.

Chandler said Wisconsin’s latest offer means payments from Wisconsin to Minnesota would increase from the $58 million paid for tax year 2009 to $87 million for tax year 2015. Future payments would be made based on a study both states completed in 2013.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin urged Minnesota to accept the offer.

“Taxpayers lose precious time and money each year because we have not reached an agreement to restore reciprocity,” state Rep. Dean Knudson, R-Hudson, said.

An estimated 56,000 Wisconsin residents work in Minnesota. About 24,000 Minnesotans commute to jobs in Wisconsin.

Source: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com

Financial Fraud Deja Vu

It's surprising to find that most people really don't understand what fraud is. Sure, they hear about it, usually on a grand scale, but they don't understand what really happens and the devastating effect it has on people, companies and economies. My discussion of the 57 varieties of fraud is eye opening and thought provoking; this is not your usual speech about ethics. Looking for where fraud is most likely to occur is a key discussion - knowing where fraud is likely to occur can be the first step in learning how to avoid it.

It's time we start publicly talking about fraud; what it is and what it does. Knowing and understanding white collar fraud helps employers, workers, students and teachers come to the realization that fraud will most certainly happen again. It's time to get serious in learning about fraud, to begin developing a knowledgeable attitude and the position that it's "not happening here".

Sometimes people can't resist the temptations, be they the CEO, CFO or the employee working on the dock, because fraud doesn't always occur at the top. We're lead to believe this mostly by the media, so we only get to hear or read about the really big ones, since they make the biggest news. Fraud is all around us every day.

Financial Fraud Déjà Vu, a coming 'round again, why can't we see it coming? To deal with and combat fraud, we need to begin accepting that we can eliminate it no more than we can get rid of all the germs in the world. Most people are unaware of what fraud is and what they should be looking for. There is a screaming need for awareness concerning fraud. And as a result, we seem to choose to overlook how it may affect us personally; as relationships are hard hit, strained to the max, loss of character then faith, disbelieving that it could happen here, to each of us.

We have a lengthy, recent history of frauds perpetrated by individuals and companies, but whatever the name they all have in common the drastic financial effect on innocent people; who, suddenly find themselves on an involuntarily trip down harm's way. We must begin to face the reality that some form of financial fraud is occurring under our noses now, even though ethical procedures and policies are in place "acting" as preventatives.

Every company, every college classroom, every club, society and association can benefit by knowing what fraud is, how it happens, why it happens and how to avoid it. Financial Fraud Deja Vu, keeps coming 'round and 'round.

Email Marketing - A Powerful Tool for Any Business

When it comes to marketing today, the Internet is by far the most sought after platform, as companies and businesses acknowledged the fact that consumers are no longer using traditional outlets to search for products or services, but are solely relying on the Internet. And even within this field, there had been many discoveries and marketing strategy approaches, from bulk email marketing to social media and banner promotion, all in the attempt of catching the eye of the consumer and attracting him. Email marketing has been among the very first types of Internet marketing and has allowed companies to advertise their products and services quickly and in a targeted manner. However, as social media platforms appeared and became amazingly popular among consumers, many turned their attention in that direction and didn't want to buy email lists anymore and promote their business that way. Nevertheless, social platform advertising, as enticing as it may have seemed at the beginning, failed to convert into sales, which determined many companies to come back to email marketing and resort to steady support, such as companies that offer email data and software.

There are many benefits to bulk email marketing and it has been proven to be a very powerful tool that still works, regardless of the many changes that have occurred in the online world, consumer behavior and market trends. One of the greatest advantages of this type of marketing is that the email hits the customers' inbox instantly, which means fast promotion and quick generation of sales. Furthermore, if you buy email lists in bulk, you are able to advertise your products and services to thousands of potential customers, not to mention that it is a very inexpensive manner to build and maintain a large contact database for your company. Last year, 90% of all major companies online made use of email promotion for branding and the results were more than satisfactory. By using email lists, companies were able to target consumers by state or city and even promote their business internationally, which significantly helped with performance improvement.

It is very important for companies that choose to buy email lists and take advantage of the great opportunities that bulk email marketing offers to find a reliable and professional email data and software provider, in order to benefit from fresh and updated lists with outstanding deliverable data. It is also essential for the lists to include not only the email address, name, city and state of the targeted consumer, but also IP address, website source, verification date and time, in order for companies to make sure they are using new, fresh data, compiled from live feed. There are several such providers on the web and companies should do a thorough research before choosing to collaborate with one or another, as email marketing seems to be here to stay and this collaboration might turn into a long term partnership, which is why it's so important to find a good provider.

Source: http://emailflow.com

5 quick-hit history facts about the 4th of July, aka Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July! Happy birthday to the United States of America!

It's been 238 years since the founding fathers declared independence from Great Britain and formed a country of 13 colonies.

You know that, of course. But it's been a while since history class. So here's a quick-hit history lesson on the holiday.

We should be celebrating on July 2.

Representatives of the 13 colonies, called the Second Continental Congress, actually voted on July 2, 1776, in Philadelphia to declare independence.

John Adams believed that day would be marked with celebrations throughout the nation's history.

But it wasn't until two days later that a congressional committee approved the final draft. And it wasn't until Aug. 2 that delegates signed the document.

But when it went to the printer, July 4 was affixed in big letters at the top of broadsheets. 

You probably haven't memorized the first line.

Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian delegate who became the nation's third president, wrote the declaration as a formal explanation of why the colonies should secede in June 1776. Adams, later the second U.S. president, and Benjamin Franklin edited.

Its first sentence is a doozy:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

The second sentence is a much catchier – and better known: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The Revolutionary War started before independence was declared.

The declaration did not kick off the Revolutionary War.

The battles of Lexington and Concord, in April 1775 in Massachusetts, achieved that. (That's when Paul Revere made his midnight ride.) Though at that point, most colonists still hoped for reconciliation with Britain.

The Constitution came a decade later.

During the Revolutionary War -- which eventually involved Spain, France and the Netherlands and ended in 1783 -- the colonies were governed by the Articles of Confederation. In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was created to give a central government more power. (That's the "We the people" you remember from grade school.)

We don't call it Independence Day.

Why Americans refer to the holiday as simply the Fourth, rather than Independence Day, is a question for the ages. We don't wish our neighbors happy October 31 while trick-or-treating, or a happy Jan. 1 while singing Auld Lang Syne.

At first, the new country hardly recognized an Independence Day. But after the War of 1812, copies of the Declaration of Independence began circulating again. The deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on July 4, 1826, may also have helped to promote the idea of July 4 as a date to be celebrated, according to Slate.

Independence Day was officially made a national holiday in 1870, as part of a bill that officially recognized several holidays, including Christmas.

Some history just can't be explained.