Reside Globally

Insurance companies are paying out more in claims than they are collecting in premiums. Underwriters are forced to increase premiums due to this or implement stricter qualifying requirements to get coverage. The general public is asking for the government to step in and regulate the industry as astronomical premiums are being quoted that are putting an average homeowner on to the street. Is it time for a disruption to the industry?

In the past being a millionaire was the biggest thing ever, but these days in some parts of the world you are a millionaire just for having ownership in a house, but you must not forget the liabilities associated with it and any other debts you may have incurred.

Mint a free money management personal finance and online budgeting application can help you keep a pulse on your wealth on an ongoing basis.
https://www.mint.com

Residency these days means different things to different people. We have the traditional individuals that settle to live and work in one place. Then we have those nomads/gypsies moving from place to place every couple of weeks or months and travelling the world so they don’t really have a permanent place. Regardless, residency is no longer just the country/city you reside in anymore but it is the type of home you live in.

Today people are living out of vans, campers, cars, trucks, buses, tiny homes, camping, mud homes etc… Nothing surprises me these days it is just about survival and adventure. If you are setup to travel around and live in different styles of homes don’t think twice just do it. You will have memories of a lifetime! If you don’t know what we are talking about here start researching as the world is changing rapidly.

When I was applying to college in the U.S., the Internet had yet to be born, so I only knew about universities in my state.  The application consisted of a single ACT score, biographical information, and payment. Times have changed.

With so much information available online, students from around the world can learn about any college with the click of a mouse.  The Common Application allows students to streamline the process of applying to college by providing a single application with biographical information, test scores, an essay and activity list that goes to many schools.  This has increased the number of institutions an individual student can apply to and thus made all colleges more competitive. The top 100 colleges in the U.S have literally thousands of applicants each season. The Harvard Crimson reported a whopping 42,742 applicants in this 2018 application cycle.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/2/14/applications-numbers-2018/

As the selectivity rates of American colleges continues to spiral, we have seen an increase in the need for Educational Consultants to help families navigate the process.  Here are some of the many reasons that families elect to hire an Educational Consultant:

1. If you want to help your child stand out from the rapidly increasing crowd –  Most families are too close to see the obvious about their child.  They tend to unwittingly drive negative stereotypes about their student or fail to see that an essay is lackluster.  It takes an experienced outsider to choose the things to highlight as well as the things to diminish about an individual profile.  An experienced consultant can point a student toward a good college fit and know how to best manage the contents of the application.
2.  If you homeschool or have a nontraditional educational profile – While U.S. colleges are getting more comfortable with homeschoolers, the burden of proof is with the family to show that the student is prepared.  A homeschooling family must submit the same type of school report that a traditional school would submit. This includes a transcript, course descriptions, school profile, and counselor letter.  An experienced Educational Consultant will help you prepare documents that are professional and trustworthy.
3.  If your child is gifted – These students frequently take an unusual path through their secondary education such as taking some classes and standardized tests extremely early.  Their activities are often adult-level and unfamiliar. Twice Exceptional students (gifted kids with disabilities) have amazing strengths and sometimes glaring weaknesses.  All of these factors need to be explained carefully to potential colleges.
4.  If your student has an interrupted educational journey – Some students experience devastating health issues that force them to leave school, sometimes for extended periods. Others might choose to suspend school temporarily to pursue a business opportunity or a mentorship of some kind.  None of these issues is a deal breaker for selective colleges, but must be explained well.
5.  If you need to preserve the relationship between parent and child – It isn’t easy being a teen or being the parent of one.  Even families with close relationships find that the ordeal of college applications can bring their relationship to the breaking point.  I am frequently hired as an Educational Consultant to become the voice of reason in a child’s life, to push when they need to get moving, enforce deadlines, and to be honest about their work.  The wise parent knows that their relationship with their child must go the distance and college applications are not the hill they choose to die on.
6.  If you are affluent and don’t have time to help your child with applications – Some busy families are able to outsource everything and this includes hiring an Educational Consultant to oversee the college application process.
7.  If you are middle class and need scholarships for your child to attend college – Many people are under the mistaken assumption that only the wealthy should hire an Educational Consultant.  While there are certainly some firms that charge a huge fee, many do not. And, even if the initial outlay may seem high, when compared to the overall cost of college it is a small price to pay for finding the best fit and being prepared to compete for scholarships.  I often work with students to fine-tune their scholarship applications and prepare for interviews. The training has allowed many of them to land full ride or full tuition scholarships. A few hours spent with an expert can mean the difference of thousands of dollars in scholarships.

For many reasons, an Educational Consultant can be a valuable ally as you navigate the important high school years and college applications with your child.

Travelling used to be jumping on a plane, car, train and staying at a hotel, motel or possibly a bed and breakfast. It might have even involved camping.

With the Internet, new ways of travelling and accommodations have evolved. We now have house/pet sits, RVing, house swapping, relocating cars or RVs, sailing, house renting, live aboards, etc…  The sky is the limit.

We really now can reside globally!

With the population aging rapidly in various countries and medical costs rising gives rise to Medical Tourism. This relatively new coined term is when individuals of various ages escape to warmer countries typically to get treated medically and enjoy a vacation. Not only that, the costs to get treated are significantly lower and the care better.

I hear of many instances where people are not even purchasing medical back home but instead when they need it jumping on a plane to get repaired. He/she can pick the top physician anywhere in the world to get treated or go to get care in a place where substantial research and tests are being performed on his/her medical condition such that different options can be tried. Love how when you think globally, you have so many more options!

Educational Consultants seem to have become a big thing since immigration. It is quite common to have one in foreign countries, whereas here in Canada starting in high school we have Guidance Counsellors.  What is the difference?

Educational Consultants help you develop a career plan once you have determined what you would like to be. However, if you are uncertain, they can guide you towards trying different things you may be interested in pursuing. They develop a plan to help you meet your goals and check in with you regularly to make sure you are meeting them and provide additional insight or contacts to get you where you want to go. They are your coach and big cheerleader.

Educational Consultants have a more global view on admission requirements for entry into academic institutions and have the contacts as well. They also have more time to spend with you in terms of getting to know you and mapping out your goals.

This is the first time we have really ever heard of this concept. In order to have revenue taxed in a lower tax bracket, a husband and wife can loan one another funds. The idea is to basically have the higher income making individual loan money to the lower making individual to invest and the higher making individual would earn interest on it and the lower one would invest to make money but be taxed in a lower tax bracket and can write off the interest paid as the money was used to earn income.

A key tax-splitting interest rate is about to double:
http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/a-key-tax-splitting-interest-rate-is-about-to-double