3 Reasons To Invest In A Vacation Home

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Lighthouse Animal Shelter – our first Costa Rica “Home.”

What vacations do you cherish the most? You may enjoy variety as much as anyone with incredible wanderlust may, but when all is said and done, we all have that one experience we could repeat to infinity and still feel a sense of refreshing satisfaction each time. It’s worth considering this, because it may help you think of more than just where you wish to travel to this year, either with your family or loved one.

In fact, if you have an idea of this already, it may be that considering investing in a vacation home near said destination could be a great idea. This is a real financial opportunity to curate, especially with services such as visiolending.com offering such as range of fixed-term rental loans for the long term. Yet many can feel that running a home of their own is intensive enough, and so curating another property abroad may not be the best idea.

Of course, we’re not here to assess your financial decisions for you through an entitled frame of mind. But we can offer three reasons as to why this may be a worthwhile pursuit. Please, consider the following:

Retirement Potential

Of course, the most obvious reason for a vacation home is so you have somewhere you can cheaply reside when taking your yearly or bi-annual holidays. But what about if you curated this home space, renovating it over the years, in order to give yourself a beautiful retirement property in a country you adore? Odds are you’ll feel as though this safety net is waiting for you with nothing but excitement, and that in itself can be a wonderful thing to look forward to.

A Long Term Investment

Of course, it may be that through renting to purchase or another such scheme, the property may be worth a pretty penny by the time you come to own it. Who knows how the valuation trends of a certain area may change by the time you come to sell, allowing you to purchase much more real estate elsewhere or a prime lot in a nicer area? It can’t hurt to think of this pursuit as a worthwhile investment, because for the most part, that’s what it will be.

A Secure Living Environment

A retirement home can also serve as a fantastic means of giving your children somewhere to travel to, either alone or with their friends. You can feel much more comfortable knowing that they have somewhere to enjoy, in familiar surroundings, when branching out for the first time in this direction. Not only this, but a home away from home can feel much more secure, and you also be able to get the most out of the surrounding area due to your understanding of it. Simple things, such as fishing or enjoying a boat out by the lake can be helped via this discipline – and you’re sure to notice a difference in utility and confidence compared to other vacations.

With this advice, you’re sure to invest in a vacation home for the right reasons.

Smart Graft: Why Working Hard Isn’t Enough In The Modern World

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People have long held the belief that working hard is the key to success in life. When you work hard at school, you will get good grades. When you work hard at your job, you will find it easy to get promoted, and your career will only grow. When you reach retirement, though, things might not have panned out quite as you expected. Unfortunately, hard work isn’t the only key to success in the modern world, and you have to live your life smartly to ensure that you have the best chances in the future. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring this area, giving you the chance to start working smart, not just hard.

Why Is Working Hard Not Enough?

You’d think that working hard throughout life should be plenty to ensure that you are able to enjoy a pleasant retirement, though a lot of people never manage to achieve this goal. Times are always getting tougher, and people across the world are struggling for money, with the older generations often suffering the most.

To start, a lot of pension pots have shrunk or changed over the last few decades. The amount of money you expected to get at the start of your career may have gone down, the conditions could have changed, or you may have lost it all together, and few governments are taking steps to make this right.

Alongside this, it’s also worth thinking about the help you need as you get older. You will be visiting doctors more often than you used to, and this can cost a small fortune if you don’t have the right insurance. Most providers won’t want to give health insurance to someone over 60. Options like ERL retirement villages make it easier to live a comfortable and independent life, though a lot of people struggle to make sure that they have the money for something like this, and will have to rely on their family to help them.

As time goes on, these issues are only getting worse, and the population is aging at a rapid rate. This means that serious work has to be done to solve these problems, or a lot of people are going to be left with very little for their retirement, and this isn’t fair when people have worked so hard for it. Thankfully, you can take action for yourself.

Saving & Investment

With governments finding it hard to honor their pension commitments, it makes sense to look at private options for this sort of product. There are loads of pension providers out there, and many of them offer far more security than what the state is able to bring to the table. You will have to invest a lot of money into something like this to make it worthwhile, but will benefit from this hugely once you reach old age. Of course, you could consider making your own savings and investments to achieve a similar goal, though this will usually be a harder way to manage this side of your life.

Relationships

Independent living is hard when your body is getting old. You won’t be able to move like you used to, and it will hurt to do certain things, making a lot of people’s lives into a living hell when they are completely alone for it. It’s worth working hard to maintain relationships with your family and friends as you get to this stage in your life, as they can provide a huge amount of help and support during these times. You don’t have to rely on them to look after your personal needs, but having them there to talk to and share your burdens will be extremely helpful.

Payments

There will always be times in life where finances are tough, and many people live life on the edge of their bank account. The banks, government, and other financial service providers won’t care about this, though. If you miss payments on things like tax, your pension, or your insurance, you could find yourself without support when you need it the most. This makes it worth working hard to keep up with payments, along with using your smarts to make sure that you’re not putting money into things which won’t improve your future.

The Right Employers

Jobs have always come with their own benefits, and many employers work hard to make themselves stand out from the crowd. In a lot of cases, these benefits will directly relate to the future, making it well worth choosing an employer which offers the best chances at a good retirement. Some will offer private pensions, while others may give out equity in the company to their employees, and there are those out there which offer professional financial advice for free. All of this is well worth your time, and you should be working hard to find companies which are offering these features.

Don’t Miss A Trick

The internet has changed the way that the world works over the last couple of decades, and a lot of older people have struggled to keep up with this. The internet will be crucial when it comes to researching the support you can get during retirement, though, and a lot of people miss out on the help they can get because they don’t know how to look for it. There are charities which can help with this, and you may have family members who are willing to support you, but it will still be worth learning to use the web better on your own. The perfect options could be a simple search away, but you have to make the search before you can find them.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of living a smart life to prepare yourself for the future. A lot of people struggle with this sort of work, and it’s becoming harder to make sure that you have a good retirement, but you shouldn’t let this hold you back. You can be the master of your own destiny.

3 Essential Factors to Consider When Choosing a Life Insurance Beneficiary

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We purchase life insurance coverage to ensure our loved ones are taken care of financially.
However, no one tells you who you should name as the beneficiary of your life insurance policy.
In some cases, choosing a beneficiary is simple. For example, you may intend to leave the
whole amount of the policy to your spouse or your children. It is important to be aware of a
multitude of factors in choosing your beneficiary to ensure a smooth transition and to protect the
interests of the intended recipients.

1. Who Can Be Designated as a Beneficiary on My Life
Insurance Policy?
Any person, related or otherwise, can be named as a beneficiary under your policy. In
addition, you may name a business, charity, or trust as the beneficiary. When choosing
your beneficiary, think about what the purpose of purchasing the life insurance policy
was in the first place.
Let’s say your goal is to provide your adult grandchildren with financial stability, but you
know your only child, one of their parents, is not great at managing money (even after
you paid for that business school degree). Naming your only child as the sole
beneficiary of your life insurance policy may not be the best way to accomplish your
goal.
Be careful about naming a minor as a beneficiary of a policy. In many cases, the child
will not be able to access the money until they are of legal age, and state regulations
and courts can limit how much of the funds will go to the intended beneficiary. This
process can be lengthy and invite the unwanted influence of other adults upon what
should be a straightforward process.
One solution is to create a trust in the name of the child and designate a trustee to follow
your instructions in the administration of the trust. Think of it as an opportunity to tell
someone what to do.
Know also that your life insurance policy can have multiple beneficiaries, and the
percentage of the death benefit each receives can vary. Another opportunity to continue
telling your family or friends what to do.

2. What Happens if the Primary Beneficiary is Unavailable to
Receive the Death Benefit?

By the time we are mature enough to know and have the funds to provide life insurance
benefits for our loved ones, we understand that life happens and circumstances change.
No one likes to think about their loved one passing before them, but it is a possibility and
one that must be acknowledged in naming your beneficiary or beneficiaries.
For this reason, you should always name a secondary beneficiary. A secondary, or
contingent, the beneficiary receives the money in the case that the primary beneficiary
predeceases you.
If none of the named beneficiaries are unavailable, the life insurance proceeds will go to
your estate. Your estate will be dispersed by a probate court, which can be a lengthy
and expensive process for the remaining of your loved ones who will eventually inherit.
In order to avoid this, it is important to make sure that you name contingent
beneficiaries.

3. Keep Your Life Insurance Policy and Intended Beneficiaries
Up-to-Date.
From time to time family situations change. Marriages, divorces, births, deaths, as well
as personal issues, can alter the nature and structure of your relationships. Many
people purchase a life insurance policy and forget about it, assuming that their family will
be taken care of from it.
You should constantly be updating your life insurance policy as your life situation
changes. Often, a spouse from a second marriage or a last born grandchild is
accidentally left out from receiving money under the policy.
You must update the beneficiaries of your life insurance policy to ensure that the money
reaches the people you want it to reach. If there is a conflict between your will and the
named beneficiaries on your life insurance policy, the life insurance policy will govern
who gets the money. For this reason, it is important to periodically check and update
your life insurance policy as your intentions change.

Additional Factors to Consider when Choosing a Life Insurance
Beneficiary
The Effect of Receipt of Life Insurance Benefits on SSI and Medicaid
If your intended beneficiary relies on any sort of income-based assistance and will continue to
rely on it after your death, you should take the amount of money they will receive into
consideration. If the money from the life insurance policy increases their income over a
threshold, your gift could disqualify them from being eligible to receive Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) and/or Medicaid. ‘

State Law Governs Spousal Rights to Life Insurance Benefits

You should also be aware of any state laws that will affect how your beneficiaries receive
money. In some states, a spouse is required to sign off on any beneficiary, while in other states
there are no such restrictions. In those states, you could put your life insurance policy in the
name of anyone – even if your spouse does not know that person.
Speak With a Professional to Ensure Your Goals Will Be Met
Naming a life insurance beneficiary seems like a simple process and oftentimes, it is. You
should, however, be aware of the factors that can affect how efficiently and effectively this
money is disbursed to your intended beneficiaries. The purpose of life insurance is to continue
taking care of those we care about, even after we are not physically with them. You may wish
to speak with an insurance professional about your specific situation to ensure that the intended
outcome is reached.

About the Author
Veronica Baxter is a blogger and legal assistant living and working in the great city of Philadelphia. She frequently works with national life insurance beneficiary attorney Chad W. Boonswang, Esq.

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