Buying a new house? Plan your Budgets before you make a decision

The course of life of any individual comprises numerous financial investments or transactions, from minor to major.  It is a common tendency followed by most of us not to plan in case of minor investments but for major investments as everyone takes time to plan out before finalizing the deal. Buying a new house is a type of financial investment that happens just for once in many of our lives.  It is considered as a lifetime investment and hence severe planning and extensive budgeting is required to spend the rest of the life in peace after purchasing a house.

In addition to the cost of the new house there are numerous financial aspects associated with it. You must prepare a detailed list of every expenditure which could be a one time investment or permanent in nature such as monthly, quarterly  or yearly. Many of us are not aware of detail about all the financial aspects, in such case it will be wise to consider the service of a reputed real estate firm or else you must carry out an extensive research on the subject. You must be certain about your source and total earning and other financial liabilities. This will provide you a clear picture of an amount of money that you can afford to spend if your monthly expenditure increases.

 It is essential to find a home mortgage lender whose rate of interest and repayment option will be suitable enough for you to maintain the terms and conditions without fail. A general trend is noticed that our maximum concentration is devoted on finding such a lender but you also need to keep in your mind other expenses. Apart from loan repayment, you have to pay your utility bills and taxes regularly. If proper budgeting is not done, it is seen people falling behind in paying such bills. To get an idea of an amount of such bills you could ask the prior resident of the house. In some cases it is seen that a house requires to be repaired before shifting, hence make sure to check out this aspect before taking a final decision because some house require heavy repair work and frequent maintenance.   

Tips for Choosing the Right Online Bank

It is quite tempting to make a move for online bank account in an era, where we turn to internet for almost everything. Today, a lot of people are turning away from land-based banks and moving towards banks, which are strictly doing their businesses online. These bank accounts provide you with a convenient method of managing your money from the relieving environment of your home. However, just in the search of convenience, you should not miss out on looking at certain aspects, before choosing an online bank. Since it is operating strictly online, you need to assure that you are getting associated with a reputed one and not just a random option functioning on the internet. Again, they should be offering you an irresistible deal as well.

Let us check some of the methods of identifying the right online bank:

APY (Annual Percentage Yield) is one of the factors, which almost all the banks compete on. They try to offer with the best available rate in the market to lure the attention of the customers. Therefore, it makes sense from your end to compare the figures of the best bank, before making up your mind to go for one.

Another thing, which you should look for, is the services that are on offer. You must ensure that your online bank is offering you with everything, which you need from your financial institution. Some of the important services, which is a must for them to have, include online transfer to other bank accounts, online payments to utility bills or scope of opening Certificate of Deposits (CD). You should consider all the services, which you might have been using at your current land-based bank and you might require the same sometime down the line.

You should also consider the fact that you are not going to see people face-to-face in an online bank. Thus, it is of primary importance to check their track record and how good have been to their customers. Again, it is a safer bet to open an account at a place, which has been in business for a length of time, rather than something, which has just opened up. You must have a comfort factor, while you are getting associated to a bank. If there are a lot of others having account in the same bank as your prospective option, it will serve you with a sense of security.

Following these methods, you can easily get associated to the right online bank and live a comfortable financial life.

Steven Lemma, the Ponzi Scheme Victim Who Established Portland’s Securus Payments

Who would have thought that a person scammed and lost all of his savings years ago would become one of the top young executives in Portland? Almost nobody did except for Steven Lemma – co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Securus Payments, the leading credit and debit processing payment services company in Portland.

Before Lemma became one of the sought-after young business leaders in Portland, he was just like any other American looking for ways to become a successful business owner or entrepreneur. However, the life and career story of Lemma was somewhat different from other successful executives of today. In an interview with the Portland Business Journal, he shared that before becoming an accomplished CEO, he had undergone several challenges. He revealed that he was duped in a Ponzi scheme; and after which, he decided to go to college to become a registered nurse. Lemma was not destined to become a registered nurse but a successful executive. Before finishing his nursing school, he was invited by his colleague Mychol Robirds to become partners in a business. Without even thinking twice, Lemma joined Robirds to establish Securus Payments – and the rest is history.

Presently, Securus is one of the most respected credit and debit payment processing services firms not only in Portland but in many parts of the country as well. In fact, the Portland Business Journal has named the company as the fastest-growing private companies. In addition to this recognition, the company’s CEO, Lemma, was likewise recognized as one of the top executives under the age of 40. These recognitions and citations have helped the company to further establish its solid reputation in the industry.

The company has helped many small, medium, and large companies since its establishment in 2009. It has been focusing on providing business ventures better methods in accepting credit and debit payments. Due to the company’s youthful, dynamic, and no non-sense management, it is able to cope with the demands of the ever-changing and challenging market. The wise and expert ideas of Lemma and the company’s key people, the firm is able to hold a solid stake in the industry.

Securus Payments: Starting Businesses From the Ground Up

When it comes to starting up a business, it is a fact that a large capital investment can only take a company so far. For a business to truly hit its mark, the people behind it must be able to apply their knowledge therein and establish their own brand of innovation. Using their creative spirit and proficient critical thinking, business creators will be able to become front runners in their chosen industry.

This is exactly what happened for CEO and founder of Securus Payments Steven Lemma. In truth, Steven was not even someone who particularly excelled at his studies. In fact, he even hated going to school. Just like any average guy, his interest was in playing basketball, dreaming to be one with the stars of NBA. However, he found his true calling with one phone call. Apparently Mychol Robirds, his co-founder, gave him a call while he is in class and sparked up the idea of the two of them starting up their own business together. Before he knew it, he was up for the idea and out of his class, ready to take the risk. 

In the present, his decision has proven to be the best one he has ever had in his entire life. Right now, their company has become highly distinguished as one of the most successful companies in the whole state of Portland. Their service which entails the processing of credit and debit card payments for merchant clients, from the smallest establishments to the biggest corporations, has become one of the most sought after payment system for many different business establishments. The truth of the matter is, the private company that the duo built has seen the fastest growth rate of any company in the whole state. This is probably because they are able to effectively combine advance technology with their experience and dedication in the business solutions that they deliver to their clients. They help fashion a business into a profitable venture. 

With the accomplishments shown by Securus Payments, they have proven how a bold decision can turn out to be one’s door to their success.

Change: The Only Constant Thing in Financial World

Change is looked upon as something pretty bad by almost everyone across the world. It leads to a modification in our daily routine. Sometimes, it even throws us off the track. However, in actuality, you should not take changes in your life as a surprise. Rather, you should expect the same. One of the areas of our life, which is bound to have a change almost every moment, is the financial aspect. It is necessary to withstand this change and then adapt to this new flow.

One of the worst parts about income changes is that you cannot predict it. Let us first consider the worst-case scenario:

In case a household income is reduced, it can be devastating for the family. One might lose a job or there might be an unexpected requirement to meet at the financial end. In most of the households across the globe, members are counting on the monthly income for their survival. If there is a loss in income, it is necessary for the family to start giving priority to expenses. You should determine the areas, where you can make the cut to adjust with the existing income. While doing adjustments, you might come across things, which you would feel hard to exclude. However, you should convince yourself to live within your prevalent means.

Financial Changes will not always be negative. It might go in the positive direction as well and you could see yourself blessed in all possible manners. You may see a raise at your job. Again, there may be a healthy bonus, which would have those extra dollars for you to use. However, this situation doesn’t call you to be careless. You should not use the extra money to make unnecessary expenses. Rather, you should take this surplus amount as an opportunity to save for those difficult times, which might pay a visit in the future.

Whether it is negative or positive and invited or uninvited, financial changes will be there in your life. You will have to learn to live with the same. You will also have to find out ways to quickly adapt as well. 

Securus Payments and TouchPay Payment Services Merger Helping Companies Achieve Market Success

After the recession, the economy has been dealt a serious amount of blows which has basically landed the world marketing industry on the ropes for years and as an effort to reduce incurring further damages partnerships have been a viable option for those which were hit with an awful hand once the recession reached full circle. 

Securus Payments while a leading name in their field also needed a boost after the financial collapse and they have signed an agreement to join with TouchPay Payments Services in order to manage the losses they have experienced. TouchPay is one of the leading providers of accounting equipment in the country and the online banking service provider will be able to use their partnership with the equipment provider to the fullest by incorporating the trusted products into their company. While not exactly something created out of trust but out of necessity, companies that are able to effectively synergize their content are able to not only bounce back from the slump but achieve higher success than ever before.

One thing that holds true with these arrangements is that both parties will be able to benefit from their partnership as one firm’s weakness can be covered by the other’s strengths, and vice versa. Securus Payments have secured a strong ally when they partnered with TouchPay and will surely see improvements with their efficiency, on the other side of the equation their partner will be able to increase their sales by incorporating a company that works in the same field as them. Like a great Mongolian conqueror once said; a clan is like an arrow, alone they are easily broken but together in the hundreds they are unbreakable. It is quite interesting indeed that aspects that are applied in warfare before can be applied in the business industry today.

With the merger of two of the top payment processing services firms, consumers are assured of better security especially for online transactions. With the two companies working together to provide excellent service, credit card transactions such as online commerce and even online banking have never been easier and more secure.