Category Archives: Financial

An Insider’s Review Of The Primerica Business Opportunity

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An Honest And Critical Primerica Review (Don’t Join Before Reading!)

An Insider’s Perspective From A Former Primerica Regional Vice President & $200K/Year Ring-Earner

Primerica (formerly known as PFS/ALW) is a financial services company that uses a Multilevel Marketing model. Over the last 33 years, the company has produced a multitude of 6-figure and 7-figure a year earners. In early 2010, Primerica went public after breaking ties with Citigroup, it’s long time parent company. Currently, the sales force is made up of 100,000 licensed reps. Primerica is a legitimate business opportunity and has maintained a good rating with the Better Business Bureau.

However, there are some very significant pros and cons to Primerica’s Opportunity. In this review, I’ll give you a brutally honest Primerica Review, list the pros and cons of the business and address the question of whether or not it is a viable opportunity for the average person to make a significant income.

First, let’s start with the Pros:

1. Primerica gives someone with NO experience at all in financial services to join the company and get licensed and certified to market financial product.

2. Primerica offers a part-time opportunity for it’s reps. This is a huge feature since agents can learn the business at their own pace while making income from their jobs.

3. Unlike most Multilevel Marketing opportunities, someone can make a decent income by personally marketing products like insurance, securities and mortgages.

4. Primerica provides a lot of support, mainly due to the training available vie RVP-run local offices.

5. As mentioned earlier, Primerica has one of the most documented track records in the industry and has produced many 7-figure a year earners. Currently, there are almost 70 leaders in Primerica that make $1,000,000 or more in yearly income.

Now, let me give you the Cons…

1. The product training is basic, which is sad for some clients that are being serviced by new reps. As for me personally, I would not want my families finances handled by a financial rep that has little to no experience.

2. Primerica pays a much LOWER commission to reps when compared to what they can make if they were an independent financial services rep.

3. At Primerica, you’re a “captive” agent. In other words, you can’t offer other company’s products and your clients are NOT your own. Without the ability to shop around for the best possible products for your clients, you may be selling them products that aren’t suited for them. While shopping around is a regular practice by independent reps, it is strictly forbidden at Primerica.

4. You lose approximately 80% of your team’s recruits because of licensing. The company stats indicate that ONLY about 20% of incoming reps pass their life insurance exams. What about the eighty percent that don’t pass their exams? Basically, they fall through the cracks and become a statistic. Imagine building a group that is recruiting 100 new people on a monthly basis. Think about this, out of those 100, 80 were people you couldn’t build with because they coudn’t pass their state tests for whatver reason.

5. This is a important part of the comp plan that isn’t shown in the presentation – When you get promoted to RVP, you give your best one or two legs to your upline RVP. This is known as “ownership exchange”. Imagine, working your tail off to earn your Regional Vice President promotion, only to pass up your best leader(s) to your upline and starting the building process all over again… Only this time around, as an RVP, you have office expenses to worry about and you are full-time with no other sources of income. By the way, Primerica requires it’s RVPs to be full-time and forbids them from making money elsewhere. This is extremely important to know if you are seriously considering the Primerica Business Opportunity.In other words, if you are interested in building multiple streams of income, you can forget about it once you hit the RVP position.

In closing, Primerica is a legitamite opportunity where someone can learn how to sell financial services and build their own MLM team. Just be sure to do your due diligence on the compensation model so you know exactly what’s in store for you.

So… Should You Join?

If you’re looking for a business that doesn’t require HOURS of financial product training, the probability that you’ll lose a ton of people during the licensing exams and the fact that you have to give your upline your best leaders, then Primerica is definately not for you.

However, if you’re interested in the idea of recruiting financial reps and potentially opening up your own financial services office, then Primerica may be what you’re looking for.

Finance Lease Companies In Canada Experience The Benefits Of Leasing Company Offerings

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Leasing company solutions can be the true ‘ success story ‘ of any business that requires assets and technology. But does the business owner/financial manager really understand how to maximize benefits achieved from this method of asset financing? Let’s dig in.

Over the years the lease finance industry has gravitated to financing every type of asset – they call that from ‘ micro ticket ‘ to ‘ large ticket ‘ which can be an office photo copy machine for 2k or a corporate aircraft for 20M$.

The borrower, aka ‘ the lessee ‘ that knows the differences of applying for and getting approved for different asset categories. Owners/managers can also waste a lot of shoe tread in dealing with the wrong firm when it comes to your company’s credit quality, geographical location, etc.

When it comes to the small ticket market (people disagree on the exact maximum deal size within this market segment) a large part of the financial approval is often based on the personal credit history and guarantees of owners. If your company doesnt have a truly very strong profile (strong = growing sales, growing profits, growing cash flow, acceptable debt levels) it can almost be guaranteed that personal guarantees will be requested.

The one thing we want to mention about guarantees is that owners/managers who can present their company financials properly can often have some ‘wiggle room ‘ in the personal guarantee conundrum. That might mean a ‘ partial guarantee ‘ or a ‘ declining balance’ guarantee. In some cases it might make sense to negotiate the type of ‘ covenants ‘ that are often related to bank loans – i.e. debt to equity / working capital ratios.

Old school credit granting is not quite dead yet also, so traditional criteria such as years in business, usefulness of the asset being financing relative to revenue / profit generation, and commercial credit references also can play a large part in the overall approval process. If there is one good thing happening in financing approvals is that timelines these days are close to instantaneous in the small / mid market – typically same day or 48 hrs max.

We’ve always maintained that clients focus far too much on rate, if only for the reason that that finance lease companies are in a highly competitive environment – ultimately your firm’s credit quality will always drive the lowest rate in a competitive environment. Owners/managers would be cautioned to spend more time on areas such as terms of the lease, renewals, buyout options, and down payments or security deposits that might on occasion be required.

While we’re talking in the main about ‘ lease financing ‘ remember also that term loans for equipment might ultimately make as much sense for your financing needs – Also assets already owned can be refinancing under creative sale leaseback or bridge loan scenarios.

Larger transactions for any leasing company will receive a lot more credit diligence when it comes to financial statement analysis, cash flow reviews, and consideration for nuances in the particular industry your firm might be in. Unfortunately some industries temporarily find themselves ‘ out of favor ‘.

We can’t over emphasize the need for time spent on documents – that might be a ‘ Master lease ‘ scenario, or the rights and obligations you have under and operating lease. The ability to ‘ add on’ to any current lease transaction is typically always available.

Amortization terms for finance lease companies tend to range from 2-7 years, in truth the majority of transactions are on a 3-5 year term which makes sense for a large category of different asset types.

What then are the most touted, and real… benefits of equipment finance they include :
Ability to access other credit facilities other than current borrowings
Rates
Ability to finance 100% of any asset acquisition
If you’re looking to maximize on the benefits of a leasing company solution seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor who can assist you with your asset finance needs.

Stan Prokop

How To File For A Tax Extension In Five Simple Steps

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April 15 is the official deadline to file tax returns and pay taxes in the US every year; and though aware of this deadline, many people fail to do so. While some people put off the filing work for no reason, few others dont find the time to gather all their tax documents. No matter what the reason, failing to file the tax return forms within April 15 results in hefty penalties, which keep on accumulating one above the other until the dues are paid off; unless a provision for tax extension is filed. For the benefit of taxpayers of US, the IRS allows a provision for extending the deadline to file tax returns up to 6 months, called IRS tax extension and all it takes is filing the tax extension form 4868 within April 15 and getting it approved. Not only it extends the deadline to file a tax return, but also avoids all sorts of penalties associated with late filing. So without further ado, lets discuss the simple, five step methodology to understand how to file for a tax extension.

1. Understanding Tax Extension

The first and foremost thing to do before knowing how to file for a tax extension is to understand what are its features. An extension essentially extends the time to file a tax return but doesnt extend the deadline for paying your taxes. April 15 shall remain to be the last date to pay all your tax dues and more importantly, April 15 is also the last date to file for a tax extension.

2. Reviewing the Need for Extension

Most people make the unnecessary move of learning how to file for a tax extension without even reviewing the need for an extension in their case. If you have all the documents ready, your accountant available at your service and no financial complications to pay the taxes, there is absolutely no need to buy extra time. It just becomes an excuse to procrastinate and delay filing further and further.

3. Form 4868 and 7004

In order to file for an extension, you need to fill the form 4868 for individual purpose and form 7004 for business. These forms are available both in paper form and online, the latter being the most preferred one. You can download and print the form for free from the IRS website or even take the help of an e-file provider website who also offer an online tax calculator.

4. Filling the Form

Though you know how to file for a tax extension, your form could get rejected by simple entry errors or incorrect information. So fill out the form carefully by providing valid information; and your name, contact information and social security number are the only documents you would need to fill out the form. Once done, you can track the status of your submitted form and get an email confirmation from the IRS on its reception.

5. Filing Tax Returns

Getting an extension of 6 months shouldnt be an excuse to delay filing tax returns. Once you get an approval, gather all the documents you would need, consult your accountant if there is one and ensure you take every aspect into consideration such as tax deposits, tax refunds, due amount etc. to file a tax return that helps your financial interests.

These 5 points are explained in brief and give an outline the process of filing. To know more about how to file for a tax extension, do your research or take the help of an e-file provider website which will not only help you file the extension form but also offers features like online tax calculators and advisory services.

A Guide On Managing Hotels Kpi

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KPI management is as important as implementation process of Balanced Scorecard. Sure thing, the choice of the right key performance indicators and development of the right strategy is vital for BSC success. At the same time maintenance of Balanced Scorecard and management of key performance indicators is a critical success factor for efficient use of Balanced Scorecard. By the way, improper management of key performance indicators is one of the most common mistakes in implementation and maintenance of Balanced Scorecard. Just having a set of key performance indicators is not enough. It is necessary to adequately measure them, exchange obtained information between different managerial levels, as well as use evaluation results in decision making and strategy revision. This also concerns hotel Balanced Scorecard. Hotel industry is known as being extremely competitive. Indeed, there is no lack of options when looking for the hotel to spend the night there or the entire vacations. Hotels are eager to use
Balanced Scorecard since this system can certainly help transform strategic plans into real actions. This is only possible if all rules and norms of Balanced Scorecard maintenance and KPIs management are observed.

As known, Balanced Scorecard consists of four categories: financial, customer, internal business processes, learning and growth. What makes Balanced Scorecard unique? Unlike similar performance evaluation systems of Balanced Scorecard evaluates nonfinancial indicators as well. In terms of a hotel industry these indicators refer to customer satisfaction, improvement of hotel personnel professional level, optimization of internal processes, for example laundry, dining services, housekeeping and cleaning, reception services etc.

No less imagine such a situation hotel top managers have developed a strategy and selected a set of key performance indicators that fall into the above mentioned four categories. Now is the time to start using Balanced Scorecard and evaluate the selected KPIs. It needs mentioning that key performance indicators should be measurable and understood. As time passes by the first results are obtained. This is perhaps the most important stage since top managers have to find out whether are not they have made the right choice and assigned the right weights for indicators. For instance, such a key performance indicator as room occupancy may not matter much as visitors tend to stay for more than three days in a hotel and maintenance of vacant rooms requires little expenses. This is just a hypothetical example.

Having obtained the first results, top management needs to analyze them. KPI evaluation results show progress or regress of a hotel on its way to implement strategic goals. Thus, hotel managers and owners locate problematic areas and make decisions as to necessary improvements. For instance, if your kitchen performance prevents hotel from optimize an overall performance, relevant decisions need to be made (e.g. hiring new chef, changing food supplier etc.). Balanced Scorecard will work only in case the information it provides is actually used to initiate changes. Balanced Scorecard will not change the situation by itself but rather offer important and valuable information for top managers and business owners.

Debt Help Provided By Bankruptcy Courts To Individuals In Financial Crises

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A severe debt situation can arise due to a number of reasons. It is important to clear a debt burden as quickly as possible, in order to get back the stability of your financial life and save your credit records from getting permanently damaged. Bankruptcy is one of the various debt solutions that can be availed to emerge out of a difficult debt situation. While it can be quite a challenge to file for bankruptcy owing to the various pessimisms involved in the procedure, adequate information obtained from experienced legal advisors can help in determining if it is appropriate for you.

If you are trying to cope with severe debt crisis, and planning to file for bankruptcy, it is important to obtain all necessary information regarding the rules and laws followed by the bankruptcy courts. Despite involving a number of negativisms, bankruptcy can help you clear the debt burdens efficiently. There are various kinds of bankruptcies that need to be known and evaluated before you can choose the right one for you. Consulting an expert legal attorney is important to decide on the most suitable type of bankruptcy for you.

If you are an individual trying to overcome a debt situation, filing for personal bankruptcy can help you clear your financial difficulties. Personal bankruptcy is divided into two types, namely chapter 7 bankruptcy and chapter 13 bankruptcy to help individuals in different financial situations.

In chapter 7 bankruptcy, the court seizes the non-exempt assets from the debtors and liquidates them for making payments to the lenders. However, there are certain bankruptcy laws that allow people to retain some of their valuable assets even after bankruptcy filing. An experienced and knowledgeable legal advisor can provide you adequate information on how to keep you assets in spite of filing for bankruptcy.

In chapter 13 bankruptcy however, you dont have to lose control over your assets. In this form of bankruptcy, you are provided with convenient repayment plans allowing you to make debt payments at affordable monthly rates and over a fixed period of time. Once you file for chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy courts work on your behalf to negotiate with the creditors and provide you with easy repayment plans that are designed only after taking into consideration your monthly income and the necessary expenditures you have to make. You are expected to make the monthly payments only after you have paid for all your necessary monthly bills, and for a definite period of time. One of the most advantageous aspects of this type of bankruptcy is that it relieves you of any remaining debt amount after the lapse of the fixed time period.

Personal bankruptcy can help individuals immensely in overcoming severe financial crises. However, there are various bankruptcy laws made by the court that need to be known:

Personal bankruptcy can be filed only to clear unsecured debts. It cannot help in clearing unsecured debts.

You have to compulsorily complete a credit counseling course and present the certificate of completion at the court during the time of filing.

It is also a compulsory rule to pass a means test in order to prove the eligibility to file for chapter 7 bankruptcy.

While you are allowed by the court to file for bankruptcy yourself without an attorney, it is always advisable to take professional help for an efficient and successful bankruptcy filing.