Review of for rent richmond va::How Can I Find Houses in Virginia That Are Extremely Cheap ...
Review of for rent richmond va::How Can I Find Houses in Virginia That Are Extremely Cheap ...
As a full-time freelance writer, I'm one of the 26 million sole proprietors in the United States tasked with providing for my retirement on my own. But I'm only 28, unmarried and a homeowner living in the relatively low-cost city of Richmond, Va.. So I have a head start. My income varies drastically in proportion to how much I can -- and need -- to work. In the glory days of pre-2008 when business was booming, I could barely work fast enough to keep my clients happy. I was earning between $5,000 and $8,000 a month and felt energized and eager to save. Since the economic downturn, however, business has been a struggle; I feel pleased if I can bring in even half of what I used to earn. Unpredictability is the nature of my business; I can't predict my income, annual retirement contributions, retirement age or many other components critical to making wise financial decisions. Small-Business Owners Bear Repercussions of Clients' Frugality Earning a comfortable income has become harder over the last two years. Clients are staying in their shells; they're afraid to come out in full force, lest they get knocked further down by an unexpected economic blow. And when clients are ready to do business, many are much more frugal than they once were -- sometimes even asking for half-price discounts when they used to comfortably accept my going rate. The big question among many of my self-employed friends is this: How can freelancers possibly save for retirement in this temperamental economy when we can't even predict our month-to-month incomes? Sometimes, our savings accounts are the only things keeping us from declaring bankruptcy. We can't file for unemployment income when work is scarce. There's no severance plan when clients zip shut their pocket-books. While I continue to contribute to my retirement savings when I can, my financial focus is simply staying out of debt. For retirement, I'm on my own. I've never had a plan through another employer. I'm OK with that independence, but I'd love for someone else to pay for my coffee breaks, sick days and health care expenses. Yet, thanks to my parents' influence, I've made wise decisions that are helping me secure a financially comfortable retirement. Here are some: Invest in Real Estate I bought my house at 23, five days after graduating from college. It's an 86-year-old Richmond row house, purchased using a zero-down payment FHA mortgage loan for an astoundingly low $143,000 -- just months before comparable houses on my block sold for more than $300,000. Despite decreasing home values across the country, my home is currently appraised at about $240,000. When I decide to move, I can either rent the house out (it's located about two miles from Virginia Commonwealth University, where there are thousands of eager renters), or I can sell it for a hefty profit. Either way, the house will contribute significantly to retirement. Plus, while my mortgage draws away a substantial portion of my earnings, because I have a home office, I can deduct a percentage of my mortgage -- and associated home expenses -- from my annual income tax burden. Ideally, I can roll that savings into my IRA. Save and Invest While Young In my first two years after college -- before I became a full-time freelancer -- I had a salaried job as the assistant director of a nonprofit business resource center. I made $25,000. At the end of every month, I was at least $600 deeper in debt from basic living expenses, which broke down like this: • mortgage: $1,200 (including taxes and insurance) • groceries: $250 • fuel: $100 • utilities: $300 • health care: $200 • miscellaneous: $150 (car insurance, home supplies, car maintenance and repair) There was no budget for entertainment and personal expenses. I remember my boss telling me I needed to purchase a better professional wardrobe. I nearly broke down in tears, thinking, "I can't even pay my heating bill and you want me to buy pin stripes and high heels?" Trying to save for retirement was out of the question. The financial demands of grown-up life forced all my extra energy into developing my writing business. My efforts paid off; within a year, I was making more money freelancing than I was through my salaried job. I soon accrued a retirement savings of about $20,000 that I dispersed between my Roth IRA, brokerage investment account and personal savings. After two years, I left my salaried job and focused full-time on writing. However, in 2006 and 2007, I followed some bad investment advice. I bought stock in oil and banks on margin. My loss was about $10,000 -- about the cost of a full year of in-state graduate-school tuition. My dad justified the loss as "tuition to the school of life." And then 2008 arrived, and the entire U.S. economy turned into a financial Tilt-A-Whirl that left so many plastered against a wall as the ground dropped out from below. Exercise Self-Employment Retirement Savings Options Sole proprietors have a unique retirement savings opportunity: In addition to being able to have an individual IRA (Roth or traditional), we can also tuck money away into tax-deductible, employer-sponsored IRA plans (SEP or Simple). Employer-sponsored IRA plans are similar to 401(k) plans in that employers and employees can contribute. There are annual contribution limits and rules associated with each plan, so sole proprietors should be sure to investigate both options thoroughly. When I opened my Simple IRA in 2008, I made the maximum employer contribution allowable ($10,500), followed by an employee contribution of about $3,000. My account manager invested my money into American Family mutual funds. But I again watched my savings account dwindle from a comfortable five figures to just four measly digits, where it has hovered for about a year, give or take $1,000. My gut reaction has sometimes been to pull money from the stock market. Yet, partly because I agreed to accept the up-and-down pattern of long-term investing -- and partly because Warren Buffett says the first rule of investing is to "never lose money" and the second rule is to "never forget Rule No. 1," -- I refuse to sell those mutual funds at such a loss. If the mutual funds don't begin to rebound after another year or so, I may cash out then. Maintain Perspective, Even if It Requires Sticky Notes to Do So Despite financial losses, it's increasingly important to remind myself of the positive things I can accomplish by continuing to work hard and staying enthusiastic. And when the global economic situation becomes too overwhelming and clouds my positivity, I sometimes find it helpful to refer to the well-placed sticky notes peeking out from above my computer with trigger words like, "Successful," "Positive," and "Energetic." I now tell myself to not invest on margin. The worst that can happen if the economy continues to putter along at its current pace -- or somehow gives out -- is that I'll end up with zero retirement savings. In such a case, I'd find myself in the same place as millions of others. Moreover, like my mother reminds me, at least I'm not losing money because I have to pay for a serious illness or other devastating situation. Learn About Finances and Personal Frugality in Tough Times I'm now revisiting my father's investment advice by spending the summer bolstering my understanding of investment principles. In light of the Federal Reserve's second-quarter decision to keep interest rates low, I, like the Fed, am not confident the economy will dramatically improve soon. Therefore, I'm moving forward with my retirement plan cautiously. I've invested roughly half my Roth IRA into stocks that pay between 6 percent and 12 percent annually; I've invested the other half into companies that I think will grow by the time I retire in 40 years or so. I know my situation is not unique. People are hurting everywhere. I'm grateful for loved ones who are eager to picnic and walk around the park, rather than spend an evening taxing our wallets at a restaurant or bowling alley. I've become more frugal, like my cost-conscious clients, and I worry about the sustainability of the businesses I am no longer frequenting. Yet, I feel optimistic that consistent contributions to my retirement savings accounts will have a positive long-term impact, even if I'm seeing a whole lot of red right now. After all, my house I love so much was built one significant, well-shaped brick at a time until it became a cozy shelter. Here's to having experienced advisors, two hands capable of working hard and boundless energy to keep moving forward and trying again. |
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Review of rent in richmond::where can i rent a car in winchester, indiana
Review of rent in richmond::where can i rent a car in winchester, indiana
One day I was getting ready to make a trip to Ft Lauderdale from Richmond, VA and my kid, who is up in Watertown, NY, says: But mom, come visit me first. You know, like I just really like going 9 hours each way out of my way. No biggy, eh? But then she says... There's a real castle here. *perk* Castle? Well why didn't you say that to begin with! I was on my way.... And let me tell ya. She lied. There was not *A* castle, oh no... there are TWO castles here! See, Watertown is on the edge of what is known as Thousand Islands. This is a chain of islands along St Lawrence Seaway. Some of these islands are in the US, some are in Canada. As long as you're on a boat tour, you do not need a passport or have anything at all to do with Customs. Yes, there is actually that many islands... they did 3 separate surveys over a 3-year period, and each time came up with a different number. Heh. But, the nearest anyone can tell there is approx. 1,788 islands in this little section of river. I believe them. From the US side the easiest thing is to drive up 81 til ya hit 12 then go north. Go on a few miles and you will hit Alexandria Bay. This is a quaint little waterside town of some very cool shops and wonderful restaurants. It also has several boat tours happening. We opted for Uncle Sam's 3-hour tour of the islands. I couldn't believe this was only $16 a piece! What a deal. This was a double-decker ferry kinda boat. We sat up top (except during the lightening) and oh what fun we had. Part of the island chain is Heart Island on which you will find a true castle in the medieval style. This is Boldt Castle and was built at the turn of the 20th century by a guy for his wife. Unfortunately she died before completion and there it sat for years and years. It's now owned by the 1000 Island whos-its and they are keeping it as Boldt left it upon his death. There is another castle on Dark Island. This one is called Singer Castle and has lots of hidden passages for you to explore. This one is about an hour boat ride from Alex Bay so do check the schedules and get there to allow yourself enough time to explore. This one even has a Murder Mystery Dinner you can get in on... absolutely the better of the two castles. If you think I'm going to go over all 1000 Islands individually, you're nuts. But part of the allure here is that this used to be Pirate alley. A lot of rum running and smuggling in general went on in this area. Parts are in Canadian territory, parts in US territory. The best way really is to take a long tour to get the whole feel of it all. There's Millionaire's Row and oh what fantastic places these are. There's the little bitty hermit island with a very interesting story behind it involving the planned assassination of Abe Lincoln; There's an island owned by the not-so-secret Skull-n-Bones Society; The big ol' bridge that connects Canada to the US and was built in different sections by different countries. Talk about a mish-mash... they didn't even try to make it the same. Funny. There's Grindstone Island, which is completely owned by farmers and as such requires no driver's license, no insurance, no license plates, no speed limits... I think I may have to move there. As to the river itself, well, it isn't just about touring the islands. There are numerous spots to begin a kayaking journey or white water adventure. You can rent Jet Skis or a powerboat. A few of the islands are parks where you can go rock climbing or lay on the beach all day. We saw some young guys cliff diving as we passed one of these park/islands. I hope that picture turns out. In short; this is just a very ultra-cool place to visit. There is so much to do here. Azure and I got there about 11AM today and didn't leave until 9PM. We have to go back this week again to cram in more sight seeing. Seriously. And the whole area is just so damn gorgeous. The trees, the water, the cranes... just the whole package. If it didn't get so cold as to freeze that huge river in the winter, I'd consider moving up there. Oh my hell and the food! Restaurants everywhere and such incredible eats it is too. By the end of the day we were both in such pain from eating entirely too much. Do stop in at Cavallario's. You won't miss it, there's a big billboard on the highway with a Knight on it. This place is all castle-themed to the max and that food is just to die for. Another good bet is Admiral's Inn in Alex Bay. Good lobster tails and the staff are very friendly. This one is on the main drag in Alexandria Bay. Then of course there are all the gift shops full of tourist crap... the stuff life is made of in my eyes. Do look through them all though before you buy because a $20 beach dress in one is $15 in another up the block... Parking is free if you take a boat tour. I didn't have to stay in a hotel since my daughter lives 20 minutes away from it all, but there are plenty to choose from if you need one. I know Pine Tree Point has a 3-day/2-night package for like $99 PP/dbl. I noticed this one because the rooms overlook Boldt Castle. heh. Do I recommend a visit to this area? Do you even have to ask? This is a place worthy of planning a vacation around. If you get bored here, it's your own damn fault. |
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Labels: Average Rent in Richmond VA, For Rent in Richmond Indiana, Houses to Rent in Richmond, Pollard and Bagby, Property Management Richmond VA, Rent in Richmond CA, Richmond Homes for Rent Listings, Rooms for Rent in Richmond







