Personal Finance Management: What It Means Before And After You Retire

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Personal Finance|Personal Finance Management: What It Means Before And After You RetireManaging personal finances is one of the critical tasks that every adult must consider. Without effective management of what you have, or what you might have, you’ll always be struggling to make the ends meet.

However, it is noteworthy that personal finance management is not the same for everyone. Particularly, when it comes to managing finances in the present, for the future.

So, how to do it the right way?

When You’re Working…

When you’re young and employed, you can take up much more than you think. To put this into perspective, in younger years you have surplus energy and time to put into strengthening your personal finances. Take a look at some of the tips below to learn how.

Invest and Save for post-retirement

Though it seems difficult, saving for retirement can help you live the life for when you’re not earning. Before you invest in any Risk Management & Insurance, however, you need to know a few things. For instance, you need to assess how much you can spend on these financial investments. In addition to this, you must also try to figure out the returns you can expect when your investments mature.

Create and Scale your Income Sources

Having a primary income source is what you need to stay sustainable. However, if you wish to save and invest for retirement, you need to grow your income. Notably, looking for a secondary income source such as rental income from real estate investments can be a good option. Likewise, you can also invest in mutual funds and reap profits. All of this secondary, or passive income, will help you support better during unlikely times.

When You’re Retired…

When you’re employed it is way easier to earn and invest, as already mentioned. However, when you’re retired, you do not have the same income sources as before. After all, that is what retirement means.

So, how do you manage your personal finances when you’re retired?

Prepare your Retirement Budget

The very first thing that you must do as soon as you retire is assessing your savings and retirement plan’s value. You need to create a budget for your day to day expenses based on the money that you have. If possible you can also think of creating a secondary income source after you retire. For example, you can start offering consultancy services. Or you can scale your rental income during your retirement years. Notably, you should create sources demanding minimal investments.

Optimize your Expenses Efficiently

This might seem a bit obvious, but believe us when we tell you that most people fail to do the same. In most cases, the retirement funds, also known as Provident Funds, are disbursed in one payment. And people usually don’t know what to do with all that money. Perhaps, they end up exhausting their funds before they know. A rather easy way to escape this tragedy is to break your expenses for day to day errands and chores. And the remaining amount can then be used for reinvestments. Thus, creating you a secondary income source too.

The Bottom Line…

Managing personal finances is all about preparing for the future that you don’t know in the present. And only with the right knowledge and skills is it possible to live out a life that you dream of, both pre- and post-retirement.

Seven Top Tips for Working Remotely

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Working Remotely|Seven Top Tips for Working RemotelyIn the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, more and more companies are allowing their employees to work remotely. This may be the case in your business, given the difficulties many are still having with workers in the office. Whether you are an employee who has recently been working from home or a CEO/HR manager wondering the best way to set up your remote employees, this guide has the ultimate overview for making remote work a success. Read on for seven top tips.

Use a Remote Hosted Desktop

A hosted desktop is a form of cloud technology that allows you to run office systems that usually play on a desktop while using a virtual machine. This is especially useful when you are on the go, as it means that you can log into these systems from just a phone or a tablet, meaning that you no longer have to say: “I’ll check this when I’m back on my computer.” By doing this, you are then able to access your business from anywhere in the world. If you are interested in using a hosted desktop, Evolvit offers a great system.

Invest in a Dongle

To make sure that you always stay connected to the internet, no matter whether you are on the go in a country with poor connectivity, sitting in a cafe with poor and risky Wi-Fi, or your home internet cuts out; it makes sense to invest in a dongle. These are USB devices that you can plug into your computer that allow you to have 4G (or more recently, 5G) access to the internet. You can use them as you would a phone, with a monthly deal that can be offered at a highly reasonable price.

Use a VPN

To make sure that the connection you have back to the office is secure, meaning that no one can hack into what your company owns, it is essential to use a secure virtual private network that encrypts your IP address. This should be downloaded in collaboration with a firewall that allows for simple communication between devices as well as containing the necessary security protocols to make sure that the system is less vulnerable to data breaches. A VPN is also a great way to keep connected to the country you usually operate from if you travel abroad because a lot of online offerings can be restricted by their location, especially in China.

Set Weekly or Daily Video Meetings

Just because you or your employees are working remotely, this doesn’t mean that you have to lose control of what people are working on. That’s why it makes sense to make use of videoconferencing software, which has risen in popularity due to the coronavirus pandemic, in order to keep in touch with everyone. For good practices, depending on the size of the company and its current needs, you can set either a weekly meeting or daily meetings via video call to replicate an in-office feel.

Invest in Cloud Services

To make sure that everyone is on the same page when working with systems that require a lot of data exchange, it makes sense to have strong cloud services that allow you to see who is working on what and when. This way, data sharing becomes extremely easy no matter where in the world employees are logging in from. There are a variety of different cloud services available online that can be used to facilitate this easily.

Use Project Management Systems

In connection with a data transfer system, it also makes sense to invest in project management software. This is so you can keep track on who is working on a particular project as well as realize ways to assign work and make sure that everyone meets their respective deadlines. Find a solution that works well with your team and allows everybody involved in your business the ability to keep on top of their respective workloads.

Set Yourself a Schedule

While in-office work can be dictated by constant negotiation between members of the team as they talk through everything that they need to do, this type of workflow can be rather different when working remotely, even with the aid of chat management software (something that you should definitely download). That’s why it’s highly important to set yourself a schedule to make sure that everybody in the office has an idea of what they should be working on, and to signal to others your daily tasks and your expected time of meeting them. If you are the CEO, these can be implemented with the help of tracking tools that ensure that everyone in the office is meeting their deadlines and there is no cyber-loafing in the virtual office.

6 Ways You Can Market Yourself Effectively

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Market Yourself|6 Ways You Can Market Yourself EffectivelyA lot of marketing advice discusses ideas based on your business including how to maximize sales or get the most out of your employees. This advice is crucial, of course, especially for entrepreneurs who are always looking for more out of their professional endeavors. However, this big picture is not always where you should direct your focus. As much as improving your company is important, you’ve got to remember how essential marketing yourself is, too.

Marketing yourself will vastly improve your chances of finding the best business opportunities, which will help you grow your company in ways that everyday marketing can never live up to. If this sounds appealing, but you aren’t sure where to start, consider these ideas.

Know Your Worth

Finding your self-worth is one of the most challenging things, no matter how confident or successful you are. But, you will not be able to market yourself effectively if you do not understand what you can offer people in a professional and personal setting.

This is the first step you need to take when looking at ways to market yourself. If you know what you can offer by understanding what you are best at, you will be able to set yourself apart from others. Through this, you can push yourself ahead of the competition and make you the most appealing individual around.

Get to Know People

Networking is always a vital element of business success, and this is why getting to know people is more beneficial than you might believe. The problem here is that some people are not as outgoing as others, which could affect your chances of meeting the right people.

So what can you do? Swallowing any nervousness and acting as you belong in any scenario is useful, but it can be exhausting to keep up. Besides this, look for influential people who are similar to you, as this can make you feel more comfortable in their company.

Remember the Details

Marketing yourself is not always about how you speak or feel about yourself. You also need to consider the details. These details can apply to anything physical, whether your attire or holographic business cards rather than traditional but ultimately drab alternatives.

As you want to stand out in any situation, especially in competitive industries, these details could be the difference between winning promotions, new jobs, or increasing your influence. They will prove that you can match your substance with some style, and although you need substance over everything else, it’s always worth trying to impress others, as long as you don’t try too hard.

Trust Your Knowledge

Imposter syndrome can affect anybody. It’s easy to feel like you don’t belong and that you’ll be found out one day. But, you need to understand that you are much more capable than you give yourself credit for, and you can use this understanding to establish yourself as someone worth hiring.

While you needn’t spend all your time making bold but baseless claims about things you don’t know anything about, you can still trust what you know. If you want to be even more certain, make sure you prepare for interviews or casual meetings, as this will boost your confidence even further.

Put Your All Into Everything

If you want to build your reputation, you need to make sure you are someone who puts their all into everything, no matter how small a project might be. While it might feel like you’re doing too much, it demonstrates exceptional work ethic, and this will make people take notice.

It’s never a good look to merely go through the motions, especially if you want to increase your standing in the industry, and the harder you work now, the easier it will all be later.

Be Consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to finding success, and there are many aspects of consistency you need to remember. High-quality work is one area, but you should also remember that consistency across social media is an important tool for marketing yourself.

This means making the most of the platforms available to you. Use the same picture across your professional profiles so that people recognize you and develop a brand voice that ensures your audience knows who is talking.

Your Time

Marketing yourself is one of the most effective methods to increase your chances of finding new opportunities. Whether you want to grow your company or look for a new position in another industry, you will discover significant success by establishing what makes you a valuable asset to any company.

6 Ways to Stay Motivated and Productive on the Night Shift

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals | 6 Ways to Stay Motivated and Productive on the Night ShiftMany Americans are snug in their beds once the clock strikes the witching hour. This, of course, doesn’t apply to employees who are required to work at night. Some remote workers, security guards, health care professionals and call center agents of companies that offer 24/7 customer support have to work the graveyard shift.

A lot of people wince at the idea of working at night. After all, staying energetic when the city is dark and quiet is difficult to do. If your job or employer requires you to work on a graveyard schedule, don’t fret. You can take steps to make your nights on the job relatively enjoyable.

Here are a few strategies to stay positive, energized throughout the graveyard shift and maintain optimal performance at the workplace:

1. Stay Hydrated, But Moderate Your Caffeine Intake

Coffee is the best friend of night shift workers. The caffeine in this popular beverage can help you stay alert during your shift.

Just make sure that you don’t drink too much coffee. Too much caffeine in your body could prevent you from getting some shuteye once your shift is over. So make sure you drink your coffee at the start of your shift.

If you’re looking for other options, consider drinking fresh juice (or sugar-free, fruit-flavored sparkling water if you’re not a fan of sugary beverages). Staying hydrated will help keep you awake and reduce the risk of dehydration.

2. Commit to a Solid Routine

If you see yourself working the graveyard shift for quite some time, you’ll need to create and stick to a nighttime routine. Switching between nights and days will only make things hard for you and prevent you from being productive.

Here’s an example: let’s say you wake up at seven in the evening to prep for your graveyard shift. Then, you go to sleep on or before 11 a.m. During your days off, follow that routine. Avoid the additional stress of altering your sleeping patterns on weekends.

3. Make Friends with People at Work

As the saying goes, best friends make the difficult times easier and the good times better. If you’re going to work a long, graveyard shift, you’ll want to spend it with people who can make you happy and motivate you to succeed. Great work friends offer an outlet for healthy social interaction. What’s more, connecting with friends helps relieve work-related stress and makes going to work fun.

4. Get Quality Sleep

Staying productive at work is next to impossible when you lack sleep. If you’re having trouble obtaining quality rest time after your shift, try out these suggestions:

  • Minimize the Noise – Although nights are generally peaceful, you can’t say the same during the day. If you live in a busy neighborhood, you’ll likely be distracted by children playing outside, construction work and honking car horns. If these noises are driving you crazy, use a sound machine to minimize or drown out the unpleasant sounds. Alternatively, wear earplugs or wireless comfortable headphones with a noise-canceling feature.
  • Set the Ideal Sleeping Temperature – The temp usually dips at night, making you crave for your favorite blanket. The opposite, however, can happen during the day. You can prevent waking up in a messy sweat by regulating the temperature in your bedroom. Your goal is to replicate nighttime conditions, so that you can sleep soundly and comfortably.
  • Implement Light Control – Sleeping is difficult when you have bright, morning sunshine entering your windows. Regulate the amount of light in your room by installing blinds or curtains that effectively block the sun. If you’re on the budget, put on a sleeping eye mask.

5. Adhere to a Healthy Diet

Fueling your body with the right food can keep you energized and motivated throughout a long graveyard shift. Unhealthy sweet snacks, such as donuts and cookies, won’t do much to get you through the night.

Although sugary treats provide an energy spike, they’re temporary. You’re likely to experience a serious sugar crash hours after eating. This could sap your motivation and make you feel miserable for the rest of the night.

Instead, munch down on small, healthy snacks throughout the night. Foods, such as nuts, raw veggies and fresh fruit, can provide your brain with the nutrients and energy it needs to keep you going.

6. Work Out Regularly

Staying active outside of your work shift helps prevent fatigue at work and keeps you physically and mentally fit. Before your shift, do some light exercises and stretching to get your blood pumping and prepare your mind for work. Also, make sure to work out regularly on weekends.

These suggestions will help you stay pumped and energized during the graveyard shift. Although working at night is hard, it does come with a few benefits, such as higher pay and a shorter commute time.

Ways to get an Affordable Mobile Contract

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Mobile Contract|Ways to get an Affordable Mobile ContractNowadays, smartphones are considered a necessity. The advent of the internet and advancement in technology has made it possible and necessary for people to stay connected with their loved ones no matter their location. Just a single click, and you can reach your family members and friends from anywhere in the world.

You are more likely to enjoy owning a smartphone if you have the right sim-only/pay as you go plan. After all, there is no point in using a 4 G or 5G smartphone if you have a costly data connection that might hold you from using it. Sure there are many phone plans in the market, but not all of them are affordable or suitable. If you have been looking for the right phone plan that will allow you to save money, here are different ways to find the best at the most affordable phone plans.

Track your mobile text, minutes, and data needs

It is tempting just to choose the cheapest deal you can find because you think you can save some money. But thanks to various penalty charges, it is often not the case with most phone contracts. The moment you use more than your allocated amount of texts, minutes, or data, the chances are that you will face steep fees for anything you’re likely to use over the allowance.

This is why you should track the amount of texts, data, and minutes you use each month and choose a mobile plan that fits your requirement. Keep in mind that you should not go for a contract that offers more than you need. Many phone contracts nowadays come with unlimited amounts of data, calls, and texts. But not all mobile plants do. So knowing your mobile usage will help you choose a mobile plan that best suits your needs.

Determine the amount of data you need on your phone contract.

Generally, your data allowance is the first to exceed because the charges are extortionate, and it is incredibly easy to use more data without realizing it. So, it is important to use specific settings on your phone to determine which apps use more data. Make sure you use these apps only when appropriate.

It is also possible to set some apps to work only when your device is connected to Wi-Fi. This will save you a lot of data. Apps like Netflix and Spotify can easily drain your data allowance quickly, which is why you should use your phone settings wisely and set these apps to only work once you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network.

As for how much data you should sign up for, many average users find 5GB sufficient. But if you intend to watch TV on your smartphone or start streaming content, you should go for an unlimited deal or a mobile contract that offers 10 GB or more per month.

Get affordable mobile phone insurance.

When you own an expensive smartphone, it is important to acquire an insurance cover in case of an accident. Most phone insurance providers will sell you what is commonly known as a comprehensive insurance package for a few pounds monthly. However, when it comes to the crunch, some companies try to find different excuses to avoid paying it. So, it is essential to carefully read the insurance contract paperwork before you sign up for a phone insurance policy.

Find mobile phone contracts with cashback offers or discounts.

Increasingly, most mobile contract websites have begun offering cashback deals with most of their contracts. Most of these deals are legit, but the chances of getting your cashback will depend on the specific mobile contract on offer. “Cashback by redemption” and other similar deals are the ones to watch out for because this means you will have to send in your monthly statements to claim your cashback successfully.

It is easier for many users to choose “instant cashback” as a lump sum by checking various cashback websites. To know more about whether or not your mobile contract provider offers cashback plans, contact them to learn more.

Wrap up

Different carriers provide different packages to serve everyone’s interests and needs. That means choosing the right and the most affordable mobile plan allows you to minimize your monthly bills and probably increase your savings. Even though the long list of mobile plans or mobile contracts means you have many choices, it can be challenging to find the right mobile plan if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

That said, it is important to understand the amount of mobile texts, minutes, and data you need per month, choose the right mobile phone insurance, and find the right phone contracts with a cashback plan. Be sure to analyse each mobile plan carefully and only choose what’s best for you.