Online gambling has widened the gambling market considerably. Thanks to its rise, you can place a bet in almost any sports event available. One of the more exciting aspects of online gambling is the opportunity to bet on live sports. However, if you’ve never tried live sports betting, it can look daunting to jump right into. [Read more…]
Playing It Safe: 3 Tips for Online Gambling
Gambling is a pastime that is as old as the hills. Part of the appeal of gambling is that it activates pleasure centers in the brain when you win. Pleasure centers can be activated by many things, such as positive interaction with family, a delicious meal, laughter, and intimacy. However, the kind of pleasure one receives from a sport like gambling, can quickly become addictive. [Read more…]
Stick to the Rules
My friend Jeannette was chatting to me the other day, and she knows I like to gamble a little bit online when I have a free moment. Neither of us is rich, so we can’t afford to be adopting the attitude of playing until you win. But she did ask me about online casinos and which ones I play on and how do I go about picking the best? My answer to her was rather easy, especially rule number one: [Read more…]
Choosing a Legitimate Online Gaming Casino
You might always be looking for new areas to apply years of gambling knowledge – you might be seeking your next punt on the latest online game, but chances are you can actually benefit from selecting respected and reliable casinos, whose well-trusted games can be both highly lucrative and legitimate. It’s important to choose a reliable source and to try and remain wary of dubious online casinos, not just for financial interest, but for legal reasons as well.
Do I Really Need to Register My Business Formally?
One of the most common ways to try and save money among self-employed people, entrepreneurs, and people who generally make money outside of formal corporate structures is choosing not to officially register their operation as a formal business entity. The cost-saving implications of not officially registering your business are in many instances understandable because in addition to making sure your registered business remains legally compliant, the process of registering the business in itself costs a bit of money. How much it actually costs to officially register differs according to which country your business will be registered in, but there are always some costs involved.
Forgoing formal registration of your business also means certain national or state regulations specifically aimed at formal businesses don’t apply to you, like perhaps otherwise having to contribute to your state’s equivalent of the Job Seekers Assistance Fund, through contributions worked into your business’ tax bill. Formal workplace health and safety regulations can also be quite costly to have to adhere to; something which is likely a non-entity if you’re not formally registered.
Why Register a Formal Business then?
For all the cost-saving benefits you can inherently take advantage of by simply choosing not to formally register your business operation, in the long run it makes for better practice to register your business.
Personal Legal Protection
Perhaps the biggest reason why you’d want to make the existence of your business official is the personal legal protection it offers. Your economic activities are otherwise directly tied to you as an individual, so heaven forbid, but if someone were to get injured as a result of your economic activities, you’d be personally liable if you haven’t officially registered a business. Registering a business separates you personally from the business and should your registered business run up debts or incur any other liabilities, your own personal assets cannot be tied to the business and subsequently seized in an attempt to pay off those debts and other liabilities. You’re obviously still responsible for all activities and consequences of your business operations, but only in your capacity as a director or business owner, and not in your personal capacity.
Legitimacy
Whichever field or industry you’re involved in to generate your income, your personal reputation and acclaim can only take you so far. Also, it can take one bad experience with just one of your customers or even a competitor to undo all the hard work you put into building up your reputation. This is where the legitimacy that comes with officially registering your business becomes apparent because a formally registered business’ credentials can be verified by vigilant prospective clients who are otherwise not too comfortable entrusting an individual with their money.
If you’re involved in the research and development of new products, services and solutions, the legitimacy that comes with registering your business also opens you up to benefits such as qualifying for R & D tax credits. As an individual, it would otherwise prove to be very difficult to demonstrate your compliance with the regulations surrounding the requirements for you to even qualify for Research & Development grants and perhaps some other sources of investment and funding.
Essential Information for Buy to Let Investors
Considering a buy-to-let property as a means of stable investment, and actually going out and investing in a buy-to-let property are two very different process. While it may seem like an incredibly profitable investment – granted many people have made their fortune on BtL – it is important that you do not jump into things before having considered all the possibilities.
New buy-to-let investors would do well to look online for advice and assistance when choosing their ideal property, as this can be one of the largest investments you make in your lifetime. It is important that you choose wisely, or risk making one of the worst possible mistakes you can.
Choose a Promising Area
You want to make your property as attractive as possible to potential tenants. Ideal property locations are within walking distance of the town centre – not too close and not too far away – and within reasonable proximity to railway stations, bus stations and taxi ranks. For properties that are likely to attract families, proximity to local nurseries, schools and colleges is also important.
Consider your Target Tenancy
Depending on the location you have chosen, you will want to consider the types of tenants often attracted to properties in that area. Your safest type of tenants are couples or families in a long term, committed relationship with both spouses employed and contributing to the rent of the property. These tenants are more likely to provide a reliable source of income Then come single tenants in long term professional employment, new or young couples in employment, single professionals in short term employment, students and tenants on disability or housing benefit.
You will be able to determine the types of tenants who are likely to view your property by looking at the surrounding area and what it has to offer each sub-set of tenants. For example, a built up city area with a high employment rate is likely to attract young professionals looking to make their fortune. A city area with a college or university in close proximity is likely to attract student tenants or graduate tenants.
Avoid Fixer-Uppers for First Time Investments
Some property tycoons make a mint by buying old, run down properties, doing them up and then renting them out or selling them on for an arm and a leg. These people, however, often have money to waste and can afford to take a risk with such properties. As a new buy-to-let investor, you are better off investing safely and then gaining some profit before making a larger risk such as buying a run-down property.
Try for newer properties that are stable and secure, or older properties that have recently been renovated. If you are unsure you can always ask the assistance of a solicitor or chartered surveyor, as they will be able to offer expert advice on the condition of a property if you are interested in a purchase.
Consider your Personal Level of Investment
Do you want to have a personal relationship with your tenants, or would you prefer that an estate or property manager took care of everything? Whether or not you want to have a personal level of investment determines your need for a property manager. While they do charge their own management fees, it puts all responsibility in their hands; including sorting out repairs, insurance and the like. This can help to alleviate a lot of stress otherwise taken on by landlords and can help leave you to enjoy the finer things in life.
On the other hand, you will save money by conducting this business yourself. This does mean that any time the tenants find a problem, they will speak to you instead of a property manager. In some ways this can be beneficial, but if you have problem tenants that seem intent on breaking everything, you may end up in more trouble than your money is worth. Take each option with a pinch of salt and go with what you think will work best for your needs in the long run.
While buy-to-let investments can be a really profitable business if done correctly, there are a number of risks involved and if you just jump ahead without having read all of the fine print, there are so many ways in which you can get burned. There is no such thing as doing ‘too much research’ on a subject and if you are entirely unsure about a property, you can always take your money elsewhere; it is not the end of the world.
Article provided by Mike James, an independent content writer in the property industry – working alongside a selection of companies including London-based investment specialistsPrime Centrum, who were consulted over the information contained in this piece.
Jack sandwich
A card is selected, remembered and returned to the deck. You riffle the end of the deck with a snap and two cards magically turn face-up – the two black Jacks. Unfortunately neither of them is the selected card. The Jacks are replaced in the deck but left face-up and the deck is cut several times. Finally the cards are spread out to reveal that the two black Jacks have now trapped one card between them. It is, of course, the chosen card…
This uses the key card handling in a slightly different way. Before you perform the trick, you must take out the two black Jacks and place them face-up at the bottom of the face-down deck. When you bring out the deck, don’t reveal the presence of the face-up Jacks.
Begin by holding the deck face-down in the right hand and shuffle off some cards into the left hand as you ask a spectator to call out ‘Stop’ any time they like; the same selection procedure as used in the Card Crime trick.
Thumb off the top card of the left-hand packet and ask the spectator to look at and remember it before putting it back. Drop the right-hand packet of cards on top of the selection and square the deck. You can, if you wish, now shuffle off a few more cards from the top to the bottom of the deck. Just be careful not to disturb the cards in the middle of the deck, which is where your two face-up Jacks now lie.
Tell the spectator that you’ll snap your fingers and make the selected card turn face-up in the deck. Snap your fingers, but do it twice. Spread the deck between your hands to reveal that there are now two cards face-up in the middle of the deck – the two black Jacks (1). ‘Oops: sorry. Should have only done that once – is either of those the card you chose?’
They aren’t, so you offer to use the black Jacks to find their selection. Take all the cards which lie above the face-up jacks and put them to the bottom of the deck. Then spread the top few cards so that the Jacks can be seen. ‘The black Jacks will find your card: let me show you.’ Because of your handling earlier, the card immediately below the Jacks is the spectator’s selection.
Square up the cards in the left hand but, as you do, stick your left little finger under the third card from the top so that it keeps a break between the top three cards and the rest of the deck (2). The illo shows an exposed view from the side. From the spectator’s point of view, the break is totally invisible.
With your right hand, lift off the top three cards together. The right fingers are at the front of the packet and the thumb at the inner end (3). The left thumb then peels the top card of this packet back on to the deck and pushes it forward slightly so that it overhangs at the front. This is known as an ‘outjog’ (4). From the audience’s point of view you are just displaying the two faceup black Jacks, but in reality you have the spectator’s selection hidden under the right-hand Jack. Place this Jack under the deck so that it sticks out a little at the inner end. This is known as an ‘injog’ (5). Be careful that you don’t expose the face-down card hidden below it.
‘Two Jacks with another fifty cards between them and one of them’s yours. Watch the Jacks go into action.’ Square the Jacks up so that they’re flush with the deck and then give the deck a complete cut. Hand it to the spectator, inviting him to give the deck a second cut. Make sure he completes the cut, taking a block of cards from the top and placing them on the bottom.
Then ask him to give the deck one more cut, ‘for luck.’ That’s three cuts in total. To the audience, it’s the equivalent of mixing up the cards but, as explained in the previous trick, this cutting procedure doesn’t alter the sequence of cards. What the cuts have done is brought the two black Jacks together either side of the selected card.