Get up early.

To be able to accomplish this and still avoid losing any precious sleep, you can go to bed just a half hour earlier to get up a half hour earlier than you usually do.

What this got to do with self improvement?

For different people the answer can vary slightly. To start with you need to fully awaken yourself and get rid of early morning sluggishness.

After you are completely alert step outside of your house and watch the sunrise. Nothing like the view of a fresh morning to set you out on your self improvement destination.

This simple but immensely satisfying act will lift your spirits and help with self improvement.

If you are unable to do this, take a brisk walk, jog or run depending upon what you prefer and what you are physically capable of.

Eat breakfast.

To start your day out on the right foot and stay in keeping with your self improvement plan this is practically a necessity. You need the energy this will provide you with to accomplish your daily tasks.

If you are overly pressed for time you might try cereal and milk or even a few pieces of fresh fruit would do.

Any of these are better alternatives than skipping breakfast.

Smile a lot.

When you go places, smile more at other people, even if you find it a bit difficult at first. Just curve your lips up a bit as you make eye contact with another human being.

An effective goal is written.

The primary purpose of your self improvement worksheet.

This is extremely helpful and essential because there will be times when your self improvement goals will make you uncomfortable and you may lose site of them.

When this happens, you need to have them written down to keep yourself on track and accountable. Posting your goals on the refrigerator, bulletin board, or in your planner ensures that you will be reminded of them on a daily basis.

Review them on a regular basis.

You must review your self improvement goals in order to stay on track. Check out your worksheet on the schedule you set. Reviewing them causes you to commit to their achievement.

According to studies, only 1% of the population actually understands how to effectively set goals. This is the reason why so many New Year’s resolutions are not followed.

And this is also why people keep failing at the very same goal. The desire to improve yourself is genuine, but the process you go about while seeking this desire is faulty. Then how can you achieve the self improvement results you want?

The positive results of achieving any goal are unforgettable. An individual’s failure to achieve is not because they are incompetent but because they simply do not know the process of success.

Have an effective self improvement worksheet. Follow what is written, be patient and celebrate your success to come.

Setting clearly defined short term and long term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve personal satisfaction once you have successfully met your goals. Charting your progress will also enable you to actually see the stages of completion leading to the actual realization of your goals. This eliminates the feeling of a long and pointless grind towards achieving your goal. Your self-confidence and level of competence will also improve as you will be more aware of your capabilities as you complete or achieve your goals.

The basics of goal settings will involve deciding what you really want to do with your personal life and what short term and long term goals you need to achieve it. Then you have to break down goals into the smaller and manageable targets that you must complete in your way to achieving your lifetime targets. Once you have your list waste no time in tackling your goals.

A good way to have a manageable list is to have a daily and weekly set of goals. By doing this you will be always in the position of going towards you life plan goals. Everyday will give you the opportunity to fulfill a certain goal giving you the feeling of accomplishment.

Here are some pointers that should be taken into consideration in setting goals and achieving them.

Attitude plays a very big role in setting and achieving your goals. You must ask yourself if any part of you or your mind holding you back towards completing your simplest goals? If there are any part of your behavior that is being a hindrance or puts your plans into disarray? If you do have problems in these areas then the immediate thing to do is to address this problem. Solutions may include a visit to a doctor or psychiatrist to control your emotions.

Careers are made by good time management practice. Failing in a career is often attributed to bad time management. Careers require a lot from an individual which often makes the career the life of the individual. Plan how far do you want to go into your career.

Education is key in achieving your goals. If your goals require you to have a certain kind of degree or require a certain specialization or demand a certain skill to be developed, make plans in getting the appropriate education.

Your family should never be left out of your plans. If you are just starting out then you have to decide if you want to be a parent or when you want to be a parent. You also have to know if you really would be a good parent and how well would you relate to extended family members

Personal financial situations also play a major role in achieving your goals. Have a realistic goal on how much you really want to earn. You also must be able to create plans or stages by which you will be able to reach your earning potential.

Physically gifted individuals may be able to achieve sports related goals like being in the National Basketball association or National Football League. Determining your physical capabilities should be one of your priorities. Physical limitations could however be conquered with proper planning.

As the saying goes -’All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’, or something to that effect, is by all means true down to the last the letter. Giving yourself a little pleasure: should be included into your plans.

To start achieving your lifetime goals, set a quarter of a century plan, then break it down to 5 year plans then break it down again to 1 year plans, then 6 month plans then monthly plans, then weekly, then daily.

Then create a things-to-do list for the day.

Always review your plans and prepare for contingencies.

The basics of goal settings should not be so difficult once you get to be familiar with them.

Many people believe that there are a lot of rules to follow when making a personal budget. People believe you must work on your budget every day, and keep track of every penny you spend, or else your budget won’t work. Most people think budgets are a lot of work.

Most people also believe that budgets are hard. They think you need to be an accountant to be able to create and maintain a personal budget.

Budgets can be a lot of work, but they don’t need to be, if you follow the First Rule of Making a Personal Budget: Keep it Simple. Yes, like a lot of things in life, the KISS rule applies to your personal budget.

Don’t try to create a complicated series of linked spreadsheets with fancy graphs and tables. Don’t try to master the most complicated personal budgeting software. Don’t believe that you have to go to school and study bookkeeping and accounting to make your budget work for you. Keep it simple.

Start with a blank piece of paper, or a blank spreadsheet, and make a list of what you spend money on every month. That’s right, you are not making a budget; you are making a list – how easy is that?

Most people can’t even make a list of what they spend each month, because they have no idea what they spend their money on. No problem. Keep it simple. Get a pencil and a piece of paper, and carry them with you everywhere. Whenever you spend money, write in down. At the end of a normal week, you will have a good idea of where you spend your money.

You could then take your week’s worth of notes and make a monthly budget. But, to make your budget even simpler, do a separate budget for every pay check, or make a separate column on your spreadsheet for every paycheck. That means if you get paid every week, have a column for every week.

Then, make a plan for how you will spend every paycheck. It’s much simpler to decide how to spend your paycheck this week than it is to try to budget for the next six months.

Read that sentence again: make a plan for how you will spend your money. That’s the only reason for making a budget. By keeping track of where your money goes, you can make a plan to spend your money where you want to spend it.

If you keep it simple, your budget will be a success. And remember, if you don’t follow this simple rule, your personal finances will be a mess, and you could have to declare personal bankruptcy. So keep it simple, because proper budgeting is the best personal bankruptcy alternative.

You don’t have to be a professional Investment Manager to professionally manage your investment portfolio, but you do need to have a long term plan and know something about Asset Allocation… a portfolio organization tool that is often misunderstood and almost always improperly used within the financial community. It’s important to recognize, as well, that you do not need a fancy computer program or a glossy presentation with economic scenarios, inflation estimators, and stock market projections to get yourself lined up properly with your target. You need common sense, reasonable expectations, patience, discipline, soft hands, and an oversized driver. The K. I. S. S. Principle needs to be at the foundation of your Investment Plan; an emphasis on Working Capital will help you Organize, and Control your investment portfolio.

Planning for Retirement should focus on the additional income needed from the investment portfolio, and the Asset Allocation formula [relax, 8th grade math is plenty] needed for goal achievement will depend on just three variables: (1) the amount of liquid investment assets you are starting with, (2) the amount of time until retirement, and (3) the range of interest rates currently available from Investment Grade Securities. If you don’t allow the “engineer” gene to take control, this can be a fairly simple process. Even if you are young, you need to stop smoking heavily and to develop a growing stream of income… if you keep the income growing, the Market Value growth (that you are expected to worship) will take care of itself. Remember, higher Market Value may increase hat size, but it doesn’t pay the bills.

First deduct any guaranteed pension income from your retirement income goal to estimate the amount needed just from the investment portfolio. Don’t worry about inflation at this stage. Next, determine the total Market Value of your investment portfolios, including company plans, IRAs, H-Bonds… everything, except the house, boat, jewelry, etc. Liquid personal and retirement plan assets only. This total is then multiplied by a range of reasonable interest rates (6%, to 8% right now) and, hopefully, one of the resulting numbers will be close to the target amount you came up with a moment ago. If you are within a few years of retirement age, they better be! For certain, this process will give you a clear idea of where you stand, and that, in and of itself, is worth the effort.

Organizing the Portfolio involves deciding upon an appropriate Asset Allocation… and that requires some discussion. Asset Allocation is the most important and most frequently misunderstood concept in the investment lexicon. The most basic of the confusions is the idea that diversification and Asset Allocation are one and the same. Asset Allocation divides the investment portfolio into the two basic classes of investment securities: Stocks/Equities and Bonds/Income Securities. Most Investment Grade securities fit comfortably into one of these two classes. Diversification is a risk reduction technique that strictly controls the size of individual holdings as a percent of total assets. A second misconception describes Asset Allocation as a sophisticated technique used to soften the bottom line impact of movements in stock and bond prices, and/or a process that automatically (and foolishly) moves investment dollars from a weakening asset classification to a stronger one… a subtle “market timing” device.

Finally, the Asset Allocation Formula is often misused in an effort to superimpose a valid investment planning tool on speculative strategies that have no real merits of their own, for example: annual portfolio repositioning, market timing adjustments, and Mutual Fund shifting. The Asset Allocation formula itself is sacred, and if constructed properly, should never be altered due to conditions in either Equity or Fixed Income markets. Changes in the personal situation, goals, and objectives of the investor are the only issues that can be allowed into the Asset Allocation decision-making process.

Here are a few basic Asset Allocation Guidelines: (1) All Asset Allocation decisions are based on the Cost Basis of the securities involved. The current Market Value may be more or less and it just doesn’t matter. (2) Any investment portfolio with a Cost Basis of $100,000 or more should have a minimum of 30% invested in Income Securities, either taxable or tax free, depending on the nature of the portfolio. Tax deferred entities (all varieties of retirement programs) should house the bulk of the Equity Investments. This rule applies from age 0 to Retirement Age – 5 years. Under age 30, it is a mistake to have too much of your portfolio in Income Securities. (3) There are only two Asset Allocation Categories, and neither is ever described with a decimal point. All cash in the portfolio is destined for one category or the other. (4) From Retirement Age – 5 on, the Income Allocation needs to be adjusted upward until the “reasonable interest rate test” says that you are on target or at least in range. (5) At ret

Controlling, or Implementing, the Investment Plan will be accomplished best by those who are least emotional, most decisive, naturally calm, patient, generally conservative (not politically), and self actualized. Investing is a long-term, personal, goal orientated, non- competitive, hands on, decision-making process that does not require advanced degrees or a rocket scientist IQ. In fact, being too smart can be a problem if you have a tendency to over analyze things. It is helpful to establish guidelines for selecting securities, and for disposing of them. For example, limit Equity involvement to Investment Grade, NYSE, dividend paying, profitable, and widely held companies. Don’t buy any stock unless it is down at least 20% from its 52 week high, and limit individual equity holdings to less than 5% of the total portfolio. Take a reasonable profit (using 10% as a target) as frequently as possible. With a 40% Income Allocation, 40% of profits and dividends would be allocated to Income Securities.

For Fixed Income, focus on Investment Grade securities, with above average but not “highest in class” yields. With Variable Income securities, avoid purchase near 52-week highs, and keep individual holdings well below 5%. Keep individual Preferred Stocks and Bonds well below 5% as well. Closed End Fund positions may be slightly higher than 5%, depending on type. Take a reasonable profit (more than one years’ income for starters) as soon as possible. With a 60% Equity Allocation, 60% of profits and interest would be allocated to stocks.

Monitoring Investment Performance the Wall Street way is inappropriate and problematic for goal-orientated investors. It purposely focuses on short-term dislocations and uncontrollable cyclical changes, producing constant disappointment and encouraging inappropriate transactional responses to natural and harmless events. Coupled with a Media that thrives on sensationalizing anything outrageously positive or negative (Google and Enron, Peter Lynch and Martha Stewart, for example), it becomes difficult to stay the course with any plan, as environmental conditions change. First greed, then fear, new products replacing old, and always the promise of something better when, in fact, the boring and old fashioned basic investment principles still get the job done. Remember, your unhappiness is Wall Street’s most coveted asset. Don’t humor them, and protect yourself. Base your performance evaluation efforts on goal achievement… yours, not theirs. Here’s how, based on the three basic objectives we’ve been talking about

Base Income includes the dividends and interest produced by your portfolio, without the realized capital gains that should actually be the larger number much of the time. No matter how you slice it, your long-range comfort demands regularly increasing income, and by using your total portfolio cost basis as the benchmark, it’s easy to determine where to invest your accumulating cash. Since a portion of every dollar added to the portfolio is reallocated to income production, you are assured of increasing the total annually. If Market Value is used for this analysis, you could be pouring too much money into a falling stock market to the detriment of your long-range income objectives.

Profit Production is the happy face of the market value volatility that is a natural attribute of all securities. To realize a profit, you must be able to sell the securities that most investment strategists (and accountants) want you to marry up with! Successful investors learn to sell the ones they love, and the more frequently (yes, short term), the better. This is called trading, and it is not a four-letter word. When you can get yourself to the point where you think of the securities you own as high quality inventory on the shelves of your personal portfolio boutique, you have arrived. You won’t see WalMart holding out for higher prices than their standard markup, and neither should you. Reduce the markup on slower movers, and sell damaged goods you’ve held too long at a loss if you have to, and, in the thick of it all, try to anticipate what your standard, Wall Street Account Statement is going to show you… a portfolio of equity securities that have not yet achieved their profit goals and are probably

Working Capital Growth (total portfolio cost basis) just happens, and at a rate that will be somewhere between the average return on the Income Securities in the portfolio and the total realized gain on the Equity portion of the portfolio. It will actually be higher with larger Equity allocations because frequent trading produces a higher rate of return than the more secure positions in the Income allocation. But, and this is too big a but to ignore as you approach retirement, trading profits are not guaranteed and the risk of loss (although minimized with a sensible selection process) is greater than it is with Income Securities. This is why the Asset Allocation moves from a greater to a lesser Equity percentage as you approach retirement.

So is there really such a thing as an Income Portfolio that needs to be managed? Or are we really just dealing with an investment portfolio that needs its Asset Allocation tweaked occasionally as we approach the time in life when it has to provide the yacht… and the gas money to run it? By using Cost Basis (Working Capital) as the number that needs growing, by accepting trading as an acceptable, even conservative, approach to portfolio management, and by focusing on growing income instead of ego, this whole retirement investing thing becomes significantly less scary. So now you can focus on changing the tax code, reducing health care costs, saving Social Security, and spoiling the grandchildren.

The good:

Interactivity

Flash’s Actionscript opens up a vast field of possibilities. Programmers and designers have used Flash to create interactve features ranging from very lively feedback forms to attractive Flash-based games. This whole new level of interactivity will always leave visitors coming back for more.

A standardized site

With Flash, you do not have to worry about cross-browser compatibility. No more woes over how a certain css code displays differently in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera. When you position your site elements in Flash, they will always appear as they are as long as the user has Flash Player installed.

Better expression through animation

In Flash, one can make use of its animating features to convey a message in a much more efficient and effective way. Flash is a lightweight option for animation because it is vector based (and hence smaller file sizes) as opposed to real “movie files” that are raster based and hence much larger in size.

The bad and the ugly:

The Flash player

People have to download the Flash player in advance before they can view Flash movies, so by using Flash your visitor range will decrease considerably because not everyone will be willing to download the Flash player just to view your site. You’ll also have to put in additional work in redirecting the user to the Flash download page if he or she doesn’t have the player installed.

Site optimization

If your content was presented in Flash, most search engines wouldn’t be able to index your content. Hence, you will not be able to rank well in search engines and there will be less traffic heading to your site.

Loading time

Users have to wait longer than usual to load Flash content compared to regular text and images, and some visitors might just lose their patience and click the Back button. The longer your Flash takes to load, the more you risk losing visitors.

The best way to go is to use Flash only when you absolutely need the interactivity and motion that comes with it. Otherwise, use a mixture of Flash and HTML or use pure text if your site is purely to present simple textual and graphical information.

Basically, there are three ways that you can flip a house, although each one has it’s own terms, motivation, and type of property. The first method is known as retailing. What this means, is that you buy a house in bad shape, do the repairs to fix it up, then turn around and sell it. There are a variety of houses in need of repairs out there, and several ways that you can quickly flip a house to net profit. All you need to know are the techniques that will get you the most money in the least amount of time.

The second way you can flip a house is though wholesaling. Wholesaling involves finding a home for sale then flipping it to an investor for a fast, yet small profit. To do this, you’ll need to know the real estate investors in your area, the types of homes that flip the best, and how to fund your property so you can flip it to them. If you live in a big area or a city, you’ll find that using the wholesaling method of flipping houses is actually easier to accomplish.

The third way to flip a house is by assigning the purchase. Using this method, you’ll commit to buy the house. Instead of closing the deal yourself, you’ll assign it to a real estate investor – of course for a small fee. The investor will take the contract over and close the purchase themselves – flipping the house. This can be very profitable, especially if you invest in the right home. You don’t need to have your contract worded any special way to be legal, although you will need to determine the assignment fee.

If you’re looking to break into the real estate market and make big bucks, you’ll need to learn all about flipping houses. Flipping houses is very profitable, especially once you have learned the basics. The first and third methods are the best, although they will both take quite a bit of work on your part. Restoring homes isn’t easy, and you’ll need to have a team qualified to handle any repairs. Assigning the purchase may be difficult when you first start out, although it will get easier with time. If you stay at it and do your best to make a profit – you’ll be an expert at flipping homes in no time at all.

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Millions of homeowners have an old refrigerator in their garage or basement, which is often a hand-me-down from the kitchen. These older refrigerators may still run, but can consume twice the amount of energy of a new energy-efficient model. At a time when homeowners are looking for ways to cut their energy bills, spending as much as $125 a year to keep a few sodas or beers cold may not make sense.

In a home where the extra refrigerator is regularly stocked with food, replacing it with a new Energy Star®-qualified refrigerator is an option to consider. You’ll still save up to $275 over the next five years, plus you’ll get better performance. New Energy Star- qualified refrigerators are available in a variety of sizes and price points, so you don’t need to buy anything extravagant (some companies make refrigerators designed just for the garage).

If the extra refrigerator tends to be empty, or home to just a few batteries, stale sodas or mystery containers of food, you should probably get rid of it altogether. Think of all the extra space you’ll have in your garage for storing equipment or tools.

If giving up your second refrigerator causes too much angst, consider opting for a smaller compact fridge. These units are smaller than a regular refrigerator but can still hold extra sodas and other small items. They also use only a fraction of the energy of a full-size model. Look for one that has earned the Energy Star and save up to $80 per year.

If a large amount of food storage is needed, but only at certain times of the year, some families may find it better to keep the old model but only plug it in when it is needed. Leaving the old refrigerator unplugged for 10 months of the year can save as much as $105.

These models help reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels and use less energy than a 75-watt lightbulb.

Is there an energy hog feeding in your basement? It could be costing you as much as $125 a year to keep a few sodas.

This “genie” I found was call “Marl” and he is a stock bot.
He has no emotions, so he can pick stocks on cold hard statistics. He can also analyze 100s of stocks in the time it would take a stock analyst to do one! Like I said there is always risks with stocks but “Marl” almost eliminates the chance for failure. For the full story on “Marl” check out his site at Stock “Bot”

This article comes from our friends at Card Hub, a leading marketplace for secured and unsecured credit cards, prepaid debit cards, and discounted gift cards.

We put our money in banks for security, but despite the sturdy vaults at brick-and-mortar institutions or the sophisticated firewalls protecting their online counterparts, our hard-earned money can still find its way into the hands of others if, for example, a credit card or a debit card gets lost or stolen. Simply using cash won’t sufficiently safeguard you either – though it might seem like an obvious solution – because, unlike the aforementioned payment methods, cash does not have a $0 liability guarantee. That’s right, you won’t ultimately be out any money if your credit/debit card gets lost or stolen and you report it as such promptly. However, handling credit card fraud could be quite different from how you deal with debit card fraud, which is why so many consumers still ask: “Which will better protect me from fraud, a credit card or a debit card?” It’s fair to wonder why this would matter if you won’t be on the hook for unauthorized charges made with either a credit card or a debit card anyway. The reason has to do with fundamental differences between the two payment methods. A credit card provides a line of credit, which means that you don’t actually pay for the purchases you make right away. The bank does and you pay it back. That means if your card is lost or stolen and unauthorized charges are made, it won’t be your money being spent and you will have enough time (at least 21 days) to notice and sort out the fraud prior to paying for it. A debit card, on the other hand, is tied to a checking account, from which funds are immediately removed when a transaction is made. Therefore, while your money will eventually be returned to your account in cases of fraud, it will be missing for a period of time, which could have a detrimental effect on your overall finances. For instance, what if you don’t notice missing funds until you go to make a big-ticket purchase or write an important check? You might not be able to buy what you’d planned or your check might bounce, leading to a number of other headaches. What’s more, if someone somehow gets ahold of your PIN, the charges might not be covered by the bank’s $0 liability and the bank might not reimburse you. It’s, therefore, obvious that a credit card is naturally better suited to combat fraud. Even so, it’s natural to seek even greater security for your finances, especially considering all of the sensationalism on the evening news. There are some steps you can take to do so, including the following: • Obtain a free copy of your Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax credit reports every 12 months and check for inaccuracies or suspicious activity

• Use strong passwords, only disseminate financial information over secure (https) connections, and run up-to-date anti-virus software regularly

• Shred important documents in order to thwart dumpster divers

• Put a lock on your mailbox in order to prevent the theft of bills, tax information, credit card applications, etc.

• Never provide financial information to parties who contact you (rather than the other way around) By taking these steps, you’ll not only be protecting your money, but also ensuring a better night’s sleep!

San Jose Homes

San Jose properties pool is 276,417 residential properties including San Jose new homes. The median age of real estate in San Jose is 1972. The average household size is 3.62 people. 5% are one bedroom homes, 20% are 2 bedroom homes, 37% are 3 bedroom homes, 30% are 4 bedroom homes, and 6% are 5+ bedroom homes. Architectural styles of home vary in San Jose. Victorians, craftsman bungalows, and condominiums abound in this historic and contemporary city.

San Jose Mortgage Statistics

Homes With No Mortgage 17%
Homes With Mortgage 83%
First Mortgage Only 61%
First & Second Mortgage or HELOC 22%

San Jose Area Real Estate Tax

San Jose Real estate Tax: Median Real Estate Taxes (2000) were $2,423 compared to 1999 Median Family income $ 74,813. Compare to USA median yearly Real Estate Tax $1,300 and USA median Family Income $42,000 (1999).

San Jose School District: Children make up 26.4% of San Jose population. San Jose has 236,124 under 18 years old residents, or 0.55 kids per one worker, or 0.85 kids per one household.

San Jose Real Estate & San Jose Homeownership

There are 49755.06 or 18% one person households, 77396.76 or 28% two person households, and 46990.89 or 17% three person households in San Jose, California. The median residents’ age is 32.6. Senior citizens (65+) make up 73,860 or 8.3%% of San Jose population.

There are 427,984 workers (over 16 years of age) in San Jose working in all sectors of industries. The technology field, however, dominate. While public transport is available, 90.45% of workers drive to their place of employment. Approximately 4.08% of workers in San Jose take public transportation. An estimated 1.44% walk to work.

Median San Jose homeowner’s housing expenses are 22.3%

Crime in San Jose (2003), crimes per 10,000 residents per year
Violent Crimes 37.75
Robberies 9.11
Aggravated Assaults 25.2
Property Crimes 231.84
Burglaries 37.03
Larceny-Thefts 153.86
Motor Vehicle Thefts 40.94

Invest in San Jose Properties

When making a decision about buying real estate in San Jose California area, you should consider following statistical data:
Near Medium City
Near Large City
San Jose Zip Codes 95101, 95102, 95110, 95111, 95112, 95113, 95116, 95117, 95118, 95119, 95120, 95121, 95122, 95123, 95124, 95125, 95126, 95127, 95128, 95129, 95130, 95131, 95132, 95133, 95134, 95135, 95136, 95137, 95138, 95139, 95140, 95141, 95142, 95148
San Jose Area Codes 408
White population 47.49%
African-American population 3.5%
Asian 26.86%
American Indian & Alaskan
Hispanic (of any race) 30.17%
Median Family Income (1999) $ 74,813%
Population Below Poverty Level 8.7%