Reltix

Mutual Funds Tutorial

There have probably been enough books written on how to compare mutual funds to fill up Kennedy Airport, but the basic principles can be written on the back of an envelope. Yet these are principles only a fraction of investors know or follow.

Principal Number One is to know what this fund is really costing you. Studies have shown again and again that most investors go into a fund – often on the basis of a broker’s advice – without a clue what its costs are.

There are two kinds of costs, loads and operating expenses.

Loads are the commissions you pay your broker when he/she sells you a mutual fund. These can be horrendous, like 5% or more, and your broker may well “forget” to mention the load at all – or may even tell you it’s a “no-load fund” when in fact it carries a big sales charge if you sell within some given number of years. How do you determine for sure if a fund has a load? Read the prospectus before you invest. Or hire a financial advisor on a fee-for-service (not a commission) basis. You should always invest in no-load funds, which historically have performed just as well as load funds (in fact, better, when the load is factored in).

Second, be aware of the operating expenses of your fund. This means marketing expenses, salaries, overhead, etc. involved in managing the fund, as well as profit to the fund developers. Again, you have to read the fund’s prospectus to find out what the expenses really are. Look in the expenses section for “Operating Expenses.”

Principle Number Two in making mutual fund investments is to not rely entirely on what nearly everybody relies on in making fund choices, namely historic rate of return. Just looking at a list of funds’ historic performances for the past few years is a terrible way to pick funds. Too many things can affect those performances, and they are too easily manipulated by fund managements. You should always review rates of return – together with volatility – over eight to ten years or more. Assess these rates of return and riskiness (volatility) in light of your own investment goals. And always read at least the first few pages of the fund’s prospectus before investing (no need, however, to wade through the whole thing, say most experts).

Principle Number Three, and last, is to become familiarized with the tax-friendliness of a fund before forking over your money. What does this mean exactly? Some funds produce far more taxable distributions, namely capital gains and dividends, than others. If the fund manager is extremely aggressive about timing the market he/she will buy/sell more actively, resulting in more capital gains distributions for you to pay taxes on each year. Another consideration is dividends. If the funds pays high dividends, higher-tax-bracket investors may be subject to higher taxes.

According to some experts December is the month in which most mutual funds make capital …

Importance of Office Cleaning Services

A green and clean surrounding is what keeps today’s generation motivated. Nobody wants to have to work or sleep in a polluted or smelly location. Each and every one of us dreams of a home or office that would be the envy of all our friends and kin. Keeping our homes clean is the job of every family member, while keeping the office clean is the job of the management to hire a cleaning service. The importance of commercial cleaning services is these people, will help maintain the company clean and organized. These people will work 24 hours a day 7 days a week to care for the company’s surroundings.

Another importance of office cleaning services is their reliability. Even in the worst of weathers these individuals will find a way to make the surroundings presentable and at worse conditions, protect the company’s assets from harm like floods and accidental fires that may destroy an integral part of the corporation. Where can we find a group of individuals who would care for our investments at just a small price? Nowhere except companies that offer office cleaning services.

That’s why we can never forget the importance of office cleaning services. A clean and harmonious environment will benefit not only the employees but the company as well. Investors look upon how a company looks and its stability not only on its years but also on its company structure. So a elegant and well-kept environment would lead towards a budding company that maybe the envy of other corporations for the years to come.…

A Look Into Professional Cleaning Services

Cleaning service is an institution since 1988. It specializes in cleaning household and commercial establishments. Nowadays, in all sorts of place in the US, there have been several companies that are engaging in services like this.

The basic services we can get is cleaning everything around your establishment from the kitchen down to the bathroom. It is a total cleaning package wherein you get to feel relax by just letting them do it without any hassle at all.

• Housecleaning

Depending on your budget, whether you want to hire a professional cleaning service, it is a must that we clean up our house. It is where we accept guests and the company of our families and friends so you better make sure it is clean and dirt-free. These services’ role is to make sure they clean up using the specified tools from the ceiling all the way to the floor. Their goal is to maintain the areas and equipments as clean as possible. The good thing about them is that you don’t need to provide them with cleaning tools because they all have it in one package. All you need to do is to pay for their services.

• Industrial and Commercial Cleaning

Hiring maintenance is not enough for a commercial building. It needs a lot of people to help maintain the building’s cleanliness and orderliness. If you have a full carpeted floor and a lot of equipments, then professional cleaning should be hired. Keeping them in shape and seeing it as new as it was bought – these services have the tools for making it possible. They have a wide array of package services and quality maintenance performance. In addition, custodial services are open for providing the best cleaning you desire. The program offers 24 hour service, reliable personnel, bonded and insured, and programs that fit your budget. All of these in one package.

Cleaning services can also serve as a way of helping your cleaning needs. It’s the same way as other services that provide you with a quality and high performance level that suites your needs. So remember to choose the best cleaners in your area and make sure that you have a clean and organized home or building.

You cannot take for granted the benefits of keeping things clean, whether you’re talking about your home or office. And because you can be too busy with your own work, you probably cannot do everything yourself. Hiring professionals is then your best option.…

Did you know that processed sugar significantly increases brutal health risks, such as morbid obesity, type II diabetes, and heart disease? That’s reason enough to want to phase processed sugar out of your life. But most people have a genuine problem with simply quitting because your body becomes addicted to the sugar. So, read on for a quick rundown on how to phase processed sugar out of your healthy lifestyle.

Get Educated on the Effects of Sugar on Your Mind and Body

One of the best things you can be, in terms of your good health, mind, and body, is educated. Do your research. Find statistics, read personal stories, and ask your doctor. Get to know the ins and outs of what sugar can do to you, and how an overload could affect your mind, body, and overall health. Even modern pharmacy software systems should be able to track and chart your fluctuations in health and blood sugar, so be sure to go with a pharmacy that you like for the long-term.

Fruits are Nature’s Candies

Fruits are juicy, naturally sweet, delicious, and they are PACKED with vitamins. For example, oranges are heaped with Vitamin C, which bolsters your immune system, combats colds, and promotes good digestive health. Or, another example, apples are also sweet, delicious, and crisp, with loads of antioxidants that cleanse your arteries, reduce the risk of some cancers, and rehydrate your skin cells.

Chew Seeds, like Sunflower or Fennel Seeds, to Give Your Sweet Tooth a Natural Fix

Sunflower and fennel seeds have a natural sweetness and sugar-cutting fiber that naturally relieves the cravings you have for processed sugars. When you feel the urge to reach for a candy bar, cake, or cookie, chew a handful of these seeds to give your sweet tooth time to settle.

Another, more classic and tried-and-true, method to phasing out processed sugars is to replace your cravings with unsweetened drinks, like water and unsweet, naturally flavored teas. When your body feels hydrated and healthy, you have fewer cravings for the things that are unhealthy. Plus, you can retrain your taste buds to WANT healthier alternatives.…

Picking the Right Ingredients For Home Made Cleaners

A lot of different ingredients turn up in recipes for natural cleaning products. And you’ve got to wonder whether some of them are all that natural or not. “Natural” is a bit of an ambiguous term that isn’t really clarified. It certainly doesn’t mean “organic” or “of vegetable origin”. Not all “natural” cleaners are organic (e.g. baking soda, which is mined) or of vegetable origin (e.g. soap, which often contains animal fats (tallow)).

Some writers have a very loose definition of “natural” when writing recipes for home-made house cleaning products and tend to mean something like “any raw ingredient that you can buy cheaply in your local shop and use to make your own products.”

By “natural”, this writer tends to mean “has the minimal possible effect on the user and the environment throughout the life of the product from extraction/manufacture to breakdown”.

Ingredients that are used for making home-made cleaning products can be divided into Organic and Inorganic, and into Nice (meaning that the product has a low impact on the environment and does not expose you to a barrage of toxins and/or horrible smells when you use it) and Nasty (meaning that the substance is poisonous, noxious or repulsive). And it’s not the case that everything organic is Nice while everything not organic is Nasty. No – you find things in all four possible categories.

All the ingredients listed below have been used in home cleaning products at some stage or another. Use the lists to help you select what’s right for you.

Organic and Nice:

* vinegar

* essential oils

* glycerine

* alcohol (either ethyl alcohol or some strong spirit from your local liquor store)

* cornstarch

* sugar

* lemons

* beeswax

* olive oil (and any other sort of vegetable oil)

* soap (which also contains some inorganic ingredients)

* potash – make your own by taking the ashes from your fireplace (if you burn wood) and making sure they’re ground finely.

Inorganic and Nice:

* baking soda

* sand

* salt

* petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline). It’s a petrochemical by-product so is bordering on Nasty, but it is fairly low in toxins when you use it.

* fuller’s earth

* borax

* water

Organic and Nasty. Few recipes for cleaning products use these nowadays, but they did in the past. Just have a look at the original Mrs Beeton if you don’t believe me.

* ox gall

* human urine (used as a bleach)

* (possibly) saliva – where did you think the phrase “spit and polish” came from?

Inorganic and Nasty. These ingredients really did turn up in a book on how to make “natural” home cleaning products. If you are switching to natural cleaners in order to reduce the toxins you are exposed to, forget it. If you are making your own cleaners to save money, you may consider these. Your choice. But remember the golden rule for products in this category: NEVER …

One of the first things that you’ll be told with healthcare consulting is that patients hate waiting rooms. They always feel like they’re wasting time, especially if their doctor is late for their scheduled appointment. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize their annoyance with a well-designed waiting room. Here are just a few tips for rebuilding the space from the ground up.

1. Install Customer Service Kiosks

Instead of waiting on the attention of a receptionist, customer service kiosks allow patients to help themselves. They can check in, make payments, schedule new appointments and even write notes to their doctor that will be delivered before the doctor comes and fetches them. Kiosks are a great way to cut down on lines, and they can give patients a very positive and proactive feeling, too.

2. Offer Multiple Forms of Entertainment

Gone are the days when patients were satisfied with magazines. You’ll need to step up your game if you want to entertain your patients in today’s fast-paced world. Here are just a few ideas for waiting room excitement:

– Popular movies on communal televisions
– Games, puzzles and toys for the kids
– Real books that they can start reading as they wait
– Smartphone apps that they can download in conjunction with their visit

There are many other things that you can add to your waiting room, too. For example, adult coloring books can soothe patient anxieties, and fidget spinners can be employed by all ages to calm down. Don’t be afraid to get a little creative with your waiting room gadgets.

3. Encourage Conversation

This will be impossible during busy days when your receptionist doesn’t have time to make conversation, but when they <i>aren’t</i> swamped, encourage them to talk to your patients. Keep them engaged. Time will fly when they’re sufficiently distracted from the clock, and that’s good for the patient, the receptionist and the doctor as well.

While you can’t entirely eliminate the negative feelings associated with waiting rooms, you can certainly minimize them. Use these tips to design a better space with better patient attitudes.…

How to Start a Cleaning Business – The Critical Importance of Systems

Take a close look inside any service business start up, and you’ll very often see the same picture. An owner/operator stuck balancing the drive for new business and getting existing business serviced, all the while trying to pay the bills and answer phones. One of the recurring themes that you’ll hear from us at the How to Start a Cleaning Business Blog is the importance of putting systems in place early on so that all parts of the business function smoothly whether you’re there or not.

Every aspect of the business needs to be systemized in the company’s infancy so that down the line you’re offering a consistent product at a reasonable price, growing your business steadily without pulling your hair out, and getting paid to do the work that you’ve just finished.

Here are three of the most vital areas of the cleaning business start up that need to be systemized when the doors open.

Develop a marketing strategy

Many cleaning business entrepreneurs immediately shy away when we begin discussing marketing. It’s one of the areas that they know they need to dial in and focus on, but don’t have a clear enough picture of what should be happening with marketing to take control of it. We’re not saying that you need to spend vast sums of money on marketing here. But before you spend $1 on ANY form of marketing or advertising, you need to understand your demographic and your market so that once that first marketing dollar leaves your wallet, you can effectively evaluate whether or not it was money well spent. You’re never going to get it right each and every time you employ a marketing strategy. That’s why you MUST be able to evaluate your efforts.

Develop an operational checklist

It’s an inevitable situation. You start the business cleaning properties yourself along with your two trusty employees. Then you get the call that your child is sick and needs to be picked up from school. You leave your two fantastic employees to finish the last three houses of the day and that evening, the calls start to come in. They missed the master bathroom at the Jones house. They completely forgot the kitchen counters at the Smith residence. And guess who gets to go back and literally “clean up the mess” tomorrow. Yes, you do. An operational checklist is absolutely critical in the cleaning industry. When you go to McDonald’s do you think they just guess at how long to cook your fries or what they’ll put on your hamburger for toppings? No, they don’t. They deliver the same product each and every time. And you must do that as well in order to manage and meet customer expectations.

Employ a communications strategy

Far too many cleaning business owners are coming close to the edge of sanity each and every day trying to balance operations and coordinating communication with prospective customers and existing …