Archives for March 9, 2018

In five years, Grant Sabatier of “Millennial Money” went from having $2.26 in his bank account to $1 million, thanks to a side hustle that he turned into a lucrative consulting company.

“As soon as I began this journey, I looked up the best-reviewed personal finance books on Amazon,” the now 31-year-old tells CNBC Make It. Since, he’s read over 360 personal finance books and “the best book on money, period,” happens to be the first one he picked up: “Your Money or Your Life,” by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez.

The 1992 classic, which was recently revised and updated, changed Sabatier’s relationship with money and his approach to spending and saving, he says: “The premise of it is that you exchange your time for money. And when you start thinking about how many hours of your life it took to save up the money to buy something, you really start thinking twice about your purchases.”

“Say I work eight hours a day and after taxes, make $10 an hour, meaning I’m earning $80 a day. I want to go out for a nice dinner on Friday and that costs about $80, meaning I spent an entire day of my life working for this meal. And then you start thinking about even larger purchases, like a $1,000 TV, and you think, ‘How much of my life did I trade for this? Is it worth it?’”

He’s not the only self-made millionaire who recommends the read. One New York City-based millennial who goes by the pen name J.P. Livingston on her blog “The Money Habit” retired with $2.25 million before age 30.

She had financial independence on the mind as a kid and picked up a copy of the personal finance classic “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” at age 12. The second money book she ever read was “Your Money or Your Life,” which “opened my eyes” to the idea of early retirement, she tells CNBC Make It. “That book, the concepts of it really stuck with me. That was the one that actually, of the two books, really spurred things for me.”

Then there’s Chris Reining, who buckled down to focus on his finances in his late 20s and became a self-made millionaire at age 35. Robin’s book is “the book that changed my life,” Reining writes on his blog.

It introduced him to the idea of tracking his income, spending and investments in a spreadsheet and graphing his “cross-over point”: when monthly investment income crosses above monthly expenses. “When this point happens is when you can seriously consider retiring because you are officially financially independent!” he explains. “No more income is needed from a job.”

Turning your financial goals into something visual such as a graph is crucial, says Reining, because “it drives home the point that you can, in fact, retire early.”

He tells CNBC Make It: “Once you start tracking this stuff and seeing it month to month and then year to year, you really start to understand, ‘If I spend less, that means I’m saving and investing more. And if I’m saving and investing more, I’m going to be able to walk away sooner. I’m going to be able to have financial independence sooner, because these numbers all work together.”

As a small businesses owner, it’s important to watch carefully how your business allocates its hard-earned money. You may have limited cash flow, and if something unexpected happens, such as a fire or robbery at your business, you would need sufficient insurance to cover your losses. Sometimes you have to spend some money to save some money. Below are some key considerations.

The roof over your head

Your business premises must be covered against structural damage such as that caused by fire, flooding or a burst geyser. If you are the owner of the premises, you are responsible for the maintenance of your building, but if you are renting, these responsibilities fall on your landlord. Keep in mind, however, that some rental contracts state that tenants are responsible for windows on the premises, or even cleaning gutters – so it is best to obtain clarity to make sure you meet any maintenance expectations.

Everything under your roof

Your business’s contents need to be sufficiently covered. The cost of replacing everything must be factored in, keeping in mind that you must also take inflation into account. You can also have all-risk cover for the items you take with you to and from work, such as your laptop and cellphone.

Business interruption

We find that small businesses focus on insuring portable, expensive all-risk items – those that can affect immediate cash flow. However, a more prudent approach is to focus on things that could interrupt your operations and ultimately put you out of business. It is possible to insure against business interruption. If your trading is interrupted, how will you cover stock supply and financial commitments such as your overdraft, salary and rental payments? Rebuilding what you lose may be next to impossible without cover.

Professional liability cover

Some professions provide advice and services to clients that can be costly if incorrect. Depending on the industry you’re in, there are specific elements to consider when determining the right cover to protect you against claims made against you. The limit of the indemnity cover is determined by various aspects based on your previous year’s gross fees and income, as well as current-year estimates and forecasts for the next financial year. To determine the premium and required excess, the insurer will look at your qualifications (and those of your business partners), insurance and claims history.

Goods-in-transit cover

If you’re in the business of transporting goods to your customers, road accidents are a risk, and happen more often than you might think. Goods-in-transit cover does not extend to transporting your own goods (for example, if you are moving to different premises) but does cover goods you are delivering on consignment. This will cover you from the time the goods are loaded and secured at your business premises to the time they are offloaded at the consignee’s premises.

Fidelity insurance

Fidelity insurance is designed to protect you against losses incurred as a direct result of fraud or theft by an employee. There are a few technicalities, such as that the employee that commits fraud must have gained financially. When the crime was committed will also have a bearing on the outcome.

Determining how much cover you need will be based on your risk profile and other relevant information, such as how many staff you have, stock flow and possible incentives to commit fraud. If your business sells luxury items, for instance, and the value of your stock is high, it will be more susceptible to crime, as it is physical stock that can be stolen.

For small businesses, stock theft or even low-level financial fraud could be financially crippling without cover.

Cyber security

Many business owners make use of the cloud to store data. Although this puts you at risk of your data being compromised or stolen through a cyber-attack, many of the same risks exist if your data is stored locally on your own server.

Risks can be difficult to eradicate completely, but you can insure against data risks under a cyber insurance product. As with any other type of insurance, providers will have certain requirements you must fulfil for them to assume liability.

It is reassuring to know that you can insure yourself against these risks, but commercial insurance does tend to be complex. It is, therefore, best to consult a qualified adviser who can help you to assess and quantify the risks unique to your business.

Proven tricks of the trade, will help you plan an event with minimal resources, without making it obvious that you were on a shoestring budget.

We can all agree that planning any event can be a really expensive affair. Even without getting into the nitty-gritty, the whole process is a taxing and possibly daunting experience. Without proper research and planning, it is very easy to miss out on the important details. This will ensure that your event ends up being a huge flop.

That’s why most people don’t believe that it is possible to plan a great event on a small budget. In event planning, the truth is that some events need a bigger budget than others because of a wide range of factors. But many believe that that the higher the budget, the better the event will be. Most times, this simply isn’t true.

What you need are some proven tricks of the trade. These will help you plan an event with minimal resources – without making it obvious that you were on a shoestring budget. So here are 5 tips that you can follow to ensure that your event maintains high standards without necessarily having to break the bank:

1. Location First

The most important step to throwing a great event is to pick the right location. This will also take up a huge chunk of your budget. So make sure to do your research and explore your options early on in the planning stages. This is because you need to negotiate the price & compare event venues to determine which one is suitable for what you want to plan.

Keep in mind that finding an event location is already an uphill task without the limitations of a small budget. Avoid last-minute bookings because they only mean that you will be spending more than what you allocated.

2. Get Creative with Food and Drinks

Catering to a large group of people can be difficult. That’s because everyone has a diverse palette and tolerance for certain foods. Unless you are hosting a culinary event, the food and drinks shouldn’t feature as a highlight. This means that, while you will be serving great food, you shouldn’t necessarily focus on fancy entrees and appetizers.

With a limited budget, stay away from the mundane and conventional options. Think in the lines of salad bars, water stations and signature cocktails for the event. You can also provide meal and drink vouchers for your guests.

3. Go Digital

A high-class event means that there is an exclusive guest list and invitations to go with it. Get creative with your invites by going digital. Gone are the days where you would have to print and deliver the invitations to your attendees. Thanks to technology, you can easily create these invitations and send them out with any updates to your guests digitally.

4. Location and Transportation Costs

Limiting the location and transportation costs is one way to slash your expenses considerably. A high-class event means that some of your guests will require transportation to and from the event. This all comes down to the location of the place.

So select a central location that is easily accessible by various means of transport. This is a great way to ensure that your guests will be responsible for their own travel arrangements. If this isn’t possible, get creative and think about carpooling or other affordable transport services.

5. Set the Date

Many planners think that the events that make the headlines have to be held during the weekend or other important days. But keep in mind that choosing a more “normal” date means that it will be cheaper to rent the more popular event locations. Pick mundane days that make sense in terms of travel time as well as the availability of your guests.

Book early with Asian airlines for Christmas and ‘peak-east’ flights

Most airlines – especially east Asian ones – get their business from local passengers. This means prices are set according to national holidays and in Asia this means that flights around western holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, are often underpriced – as the airlines don’t anticipate demand then. This is when good deals can be available. For example, last year AirChina had flights from the UK to Australia over Christmas in the low £400s. Garuda Indonesia also underpriced its flights to Bali and across Indonesia during the Christmas and New Year period. All east Asian airlines, and in particular Chinese airlines, are worth watching for this.

For last-minute flights consider charter airlines

Savings are available on last-minute flights from the UK if you look into charter airlines. Most airlines, even budget ones, will typically raise fares for nearly all routes a couple of weeks prior to departure, purely because they know that last-minute travellers are less budget-conscious, as they are often travelling for business or due to an emergency. However, specifically in the UK, there are two charter airlines that are an exception to this: Thomas Cook and Tui (formerly Thomson).

This is because they structure their business around package holidays and, often left with undersold capacity, will offload their last-minute seats for low fares. If you’re keen on a last-minute one- or two-week getaway somewhere exotic but where the specific destination is not that important to you, I’d look there to score the biggest savings. Here is an example of how to spot them on Tui, showing fares such as return.

It’s rarer to find cheap last-minute flights with non-charter airlines. With those airlines the best time to book is around 6 to 12 weeks in advance – which is based on statistics garnered from tracking all flights. However, it varies heavily by airline, route and season, making it difficult to predict these. It’s all based on supply and demand, so if a certain route has a lot of demand this year it won’t fall in price.

Look out for flash sales

Getting a cheap flight is really about timing. Prices fluctuate heavily and often on all routes. Booking a flight today from London to Bali could cost £600, but tomorrow it could be £300 on the same airline. These unannounced sales – when an airline suddenly drops its prices – are triggered because airlines release tickets 11 months in advance and predict what percentage of tickets will be sold as time moves on. For example, after five months they may expect to have sold 30% of the tickets but if sales are not as high as anticipated, it will announce a flash sale. Prices will plummet (by up to 60% on occasions) for a few days until demand catches up.

This varies from airline to airline: during Christmas and January last year, Qatar Airlines were selling flights to Bali and Thailand for around £300; and a few months ago, Singapore Airlines launched routes from Manchester to Houston for as little as £200 return.

Don’t look blindly to spot these sales. Track fares to your destination(s) using tools such as , then book the moment you see a significant price drop.

Don’t assume flight aggregators offer the best prices

Some think that aggregators such as Skyscanner or Kayak always lead to an online travel agent (OTA) with the cheapest flight price. But while they can help with some airlines, others are better booked directly. These include low-cost carriers such as Norwegian, and charter airlines such as Thomas Cook. Anything but a standard full-service international carrier will often have cheaper prices if you book through the airline itself.

Always check, and be discerning. Sometimes OTAs won’t include all of their fees upfront. Also, if you think you might need to change or cancel your flight, it’s better to book through the airline as aggregators add cancelation fees. Only book with an OTA if you are certain of your flight dates – and only if you’re getting a significantly lower fare. For example, on long-haul KLM flights there is only £15-£20 off if booked with an aggregator. With BA, aggregators could offer a discount of up to £60 on a long-haul economy ticket – a more significant saving. And most short-haul European flights are best booked directly with the airline as the price is often roughly the same.

Take advantage of one-way flights heading west

Avoid one-way flights when flying east from the UK but grab them when travelling west. The way the airline industry is developing means there are a lot of airlines – like Thomas Cook and Norwegian – offering budget long-haul flights. The routes these airlines have started flying are mainly between Europe and North America.

While most airlines put a heavy surcharge on one-way tickets (often charging 80% of or sometimes the same price as a return), airlines such as Norwegian offer one-way tickets for roughly half the price of a return. This affects other airline’s prices, such as TAP Portugal and KLM, too. This means for trips to the US, particularly those when you might not know the exact date, or airport of your return, it makes sense to book a one-way ticket there, and another one back.

Flying east, however, there are few routes that allow you to fly one-way at a decent fare. So you should book a return flight; and if it’s multi-city, book it all at once.