The summer is just around the corner and for most families, that means flying away somewhere south to enjoy the sun, sand and sea. With the entire family gone, however, your home is at increased risk of burglary as burglars almost always target empty properties. Before going on vacation, you are therefore highly recommended to secure your home and take measures to deter burglars.

Here are the top to-dos before going on vacation:

Have a full audit of your locks and latches. Don’t assume that your locks and latches are fine just because you don’t have any issues with locking the door or closing the windows. According to Livingston locksmiths, many homeowners are completely unaware that they have a malfunction and as a result, they are unknowingly putting their property at increased risk of burglary. They recommend to periodically have a professional audit of locks and latches to make sure they are working properly.

Have your home security system tested. Again, don’t assume your home security system is working but test it instead. If you notice any irregularities or aren’t sure whether everything is working as it should, don’t hesitate to contact the professionals to check it out for you and do the necessary repairs if any are needed. Be sure, however, not to wait with the testing to the last day before the departure in order to have enough time to deal with any issues detected.

Don’t forget about the obvious – cancelling the mail and deliveries. You don’t want a full mailbox and large boxes sitting in front of the entrance while you’re away. Remember that burglars almost always go after non-occupied homes and uncollected mail and deliveries mean just that – there is no one home. So don’t forget to cancel your deliveries (e.g. newspapers, milk) and contact the post to hold your mail until you return. Alternatively, ask your neighbour to pick your mail and have the deliveries – if expecting any – redirected to a friend.

Make your home appear occupied. One way to do that is to put the lights and radio on timer. You are also highly recommended not to reveal your vacation plans to potential burglars by posting your itinerary – and above all the time of your vacation – on social media because many burglars utilise Twitter, Facebook and the likes to find their targets. It’s also a good idea to ask a neighbour or a friend to keep an eye of your property and take care of anything that may give away your absence, e.g. piles of leaves at the entrance.

A lot of terms relating to these home loans are confusing. Here are some things that you need to know about major terms relating to your loan application, as well as other specific practices relating to these home loans.

What is an HECM Loan?

HECM stands for “home equity conversion mortgage.” To put it simply, an HECM is a reverse mortgage that you get through the federal government’s HUD and FHA organizations. Other similar mortgages are available from private lenders, but they are mostly just referred to as reverse mortgages or reverse home loans.

In terms of their general purpose and the basics of how they are applied for and paid out, they are all very similar. The difference is that the government insures home equity conversion loans that are provided through FHA and HUD. They don’t insure private loans in the same way.

What is Home Equity and How is It Calculated?

Before you can understand how a home equity-based reverse mortgage works, you need to know how home equity is defined and calculated. Your home equity is the value of your home if you were to sell it at the present time, but any home loans you already have must be subtracted from that amount to get your current home equity amount. That number can go up or down as you repay loans or make additions and improvements to your home. It also depends on the current housing market.

In terms of your reverse mortgage, your current home equity value is only part of how the amount you can borrow will be calculated. Your age and any outstanding regular mortgage you may have will also factor in. There is also a cap on the maximum amount that you can borrow with this sort of loan, but that cap does change from time to time. It’s important to know what the current cap is before you apply. You can get that information from your lender. 

How is a Reverse Mortgage Different from a Standard One?

It’s important to understand what type of loan you are applying for, so what is a reverse mortgage exactly? The term itself can be a bit confusing. It isn’t really the reverse of a standard mortgage. Both options involve borrowing against the value of your home. But the “reverse” part comes in because the lending company can pay you every month when you have a reverse home loan, rather than you making monthly payments back to them for a regular home loan.

Eventually, you will still owe the full amount of the loan plus interest, but not until you pass away or move out of your house. The idea that the lender pays you instead of you paying them monthly is the part that is “reversed.” Of course, the lender may not pay you every month when you get a reverse loan. You could opt to receive one large payment instead. So, in that way the name is a little misleading. 

What is a Home Equity Line of Credit?

Another major term you will come across when applying for a home equity conversion mortgage is “home equity line of credit.” That simply means that you can request a credit line instead of set regular payments. Then you can just use that credit line when you need or want to, much like you would use a credit card.

As you can see, reverse home loans are quite flexible. You have a lot of choices as far as how you are paid. That’s what makes them useful for retirees looking to increase their available spending money.

If you are like many people, you enjoy wine. You may also be looking for ways in which you can enhance the look and feel of your home. One step that you may want to consider undertaking is the addition of a wine cellar to your residence. There are a variety of benefits that you can glean through the addition of a wine cellar at your home

Enhance the Attractiveness of Your Residence

One of the benefits associated with the addition of wine cellar to your residence is that it can add a uniquely attractive touch to your home. You can take the attractiveness of a wine cellar up a notch by adding decorative iron doors to the addition.

You have a good many options available to you when it comes to the addition of iron doors to your wine cellar. You can find premade iron doors that may work well with your wine cellar addition. In the alternative, you can have iron doors for your wine cellar custom made.

Bring a New Dimension to Travel

If you are a person who enjoys travel, and like to pick up wine along the way, having a wine cellar at your residence gives you more flexibility in this regard. You can be more liberal in purchasing wine while traveling once you have a reliable storage area in your residence. You can have wine purchased while traveling shipped home and have the cellar in which to store your selections.

Save Money on Wine Purchases

Another benefit associated with adding wine cellar to your home is that you can purchase larger quantities of your favorite wine and save some money in the process. You oftentimes can save money when you purchase wine by the case. With a residential wine cellar you have the place to store larger purchases. In addition, you also will be better able to always have your favorite vintages on hand all of the time.

Enhance Your Knowledge of Wine

With the addition of a wine cellar at your home, you put yourself in a better position to enhance your knowledge about wine. You can allow different vintages to age in your own cellar. This gives you an opportunity to understand how aging can alter the chase of a particular vintage.

Opportunity to Collect

You may have had some interest in collecting wine, but lacked any space to do so. Thanks to the addition of a wine cellar you are able to undertake collecting. Indeed, with addition of a wine cellar, cellaring and collecting may become your new thing.

Investing in Wine

Some people make money through investing in mind. Have no illusions about making a huge amount of money when you make the decision to start collecting wine. With that said, with the addition of a wine cellar in your residence, you can give investing in wine a go. Whether you make much money in the process, you may end up like a good many people and enjoy striving to make a bit of money through buying and selling wine. You might even want to consider starting a wine investment club after the addition of a cellar.

Optimal Conditions for Wine

A practical benefit associated with adding a wine cellar at your residence is that it allows you the ability to maintain optimal conditions for your wine. With a wine cellar, you are in a far better position to keep temperature and humidity at the best possible levels as far as storing your wine is concerned. This ensures that the quality of your wine, including more expensive vintages, is best maintained into the future.

Add Value to Your Residence

If you are like nearly every homeowner, you are on the lookout for ways in which you can increase the market value of your home. Adding a wine cellar to your residence is a solid way to increase the value of your residence. You can take that a step further by including iron doors on your wine cellar addition.

Entertain with Style

Yet another key benefit that can be realized through the addition of a wine cellar to your residence is that you will really be able to entertain with style and class. There is something highly unique and appealing when it comes to entertaining and having a wine cellar. Depending on the design of your wine cellar, and its actual location in your home, you might even be able to make it the focal point of some sort of event at your home.

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Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Abby Iron Doors. Abby Iron Doors specialize in designing and manufacturing wrought iron entry doors, wine cellar doors, windows and balconies for residential and commercial customers.

After enjoying fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit from your own garden during the summer months, you may be disappointed when winter comes around. Of course, you can buy organic produce from many local markets. However, there is something enriching about the process of growing your own produce.

The reality is that you do not have to completely abandon growing your own produce in the wintertime. You can cultivate an indoor winder garden. What follows are some tips, suggestions, and strategies to grow vegetables, herbs, and fruit indoors during the colder months of the year.

Herbs

Herbs represent the easiest edible plants to grow indoors during the winter months. With that in mind, basil is the simplest of the herbs to grow indoors — and, if you are like most people, basil is likely one of your favorite herbs. Growing basil can be done successfully by planning seeds in a pot placed next to a south facing window.

Other types of herbs oftentimes can be better grown indoors if you start them from cuttings, rather than seeds. These include rosemary, thyme, parsley, and oregano. These herbs can be planted in a pot place in a south facing window as well.

Root Vegetables

You may have grown different types of root vegetables outdoors. You can grow some of these successfully indoors during the winter months.

Radishes definitely can grow in an indoor setting because this vegetable doesn’t root as deeply as other root vegetables. Certain varieties of carrots can also be grown indoors as well.

The key to cultivating radishes and carrots indoors during the winter months is to select a box or trough of an appropriate depth (deeper for carrots). Seeds should be planted any time from mid-autumn to late winter.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms can be grown inside during wintertime. You may be unfamiliar with cultivating mushrooms. Indeed, you may think that there is just something too mysterious about growing mushrooms. In fact, you can cultivate mushrooms fairly easily.

You need to have a draft-free, dark place in your home. A cupboard of pantry can work. Ideally, the space should be such that you can maintain a temperature between 50 and 60 degrees.

You do not need to begin the process of growing mushrooms completely from scratch. You can purchase special compost that contains mushroom spawn. All you need to do to start the process of growing your own mushrooms is to water the soil and then leave it in your predesignated space.

Leafy Greens

If you want a bit more of a challenge, you can cultivate certain leafy greens indoors in wintertime. This includes lettuce, spinach, and arugula.

Leafy greens require more sunlight than the other vegetables previously discussed. IN reality, leafy greens are likely going to need more sunlight that can be gleaned even in a window with a southern exposure in wintertime. Therefore, you need to seriously consider investing in fluorescent grow lights to supplement natural light. You will want to leave the grow lights on between 10 to 12 hours each day.

Beyond the issue with ensuring leafy greens get enough light, the rest of the process of tending to these types of vegetables is not hard. You begin the process by planting seeds in moist potting soil. You need to water your leafy green crop regularly.

Tomatoes

You do not have to abandon home-grown tomatoes in the wintertime. As with leafy greens, tomatoes to require a bit more effort when grown indoors during the winter months.

You do need to select smaller varieties of tomatoes. With that said, you will still want to stake the plants to ensure that the weight of the fruit properly is supported. You will also want to use a larger pot or container to accommodate a tomato plant.

Edible Flowers

You may not have yet had occasion to experiment with edible flowers. You might want to take the plunge to growing and using edible flowers during the winter months.

Two edible flowers are particularly easy to grow indoors in wintertime. These are impatiens and calendulas.

These two types of edible flowers are delicious addition to salads. They are perfect salad toppers, adding color and an additional dash of flavor.

As with most of the other plants recommended for an indoor winter garden, edible flowers can be placed in a south facing window in your home. The amount of natural light received each day via a window on the south side of your house should be enough to sustain the growth of edible flowers.

Jessica Kane is a writer for Grow Ace, your best online option for getting your new hydroponic grow operation up and running quickly and easily.

The Rustic Cave

A perfect look for man cave is the rustic look. One of the best courses to take in this regard is to have design elements like exposed brick and perhaps even a fireplace. A thought is to go for the look and feel of a log cabin.

Consider complementing the space with woodsy colors. In addition, consider complimenting brick with natural wood, including on the floors, whenever possible, with this type of man cave.

Stylish Cave

At the other end of the man cave spectrum is the stylish cave. This is a space that is designed to focus on style and comfort. Rather than being something that appears to have been thrown together in a haphazard manner, the stylish man cave is attractive in its appearance. Indeed, it is a space that took time to conceive. There is a definite commitment to interior design in creating this type of man cave.

No, this doesn’t run against the concept of a man cave. Rather, this underscores the fact that different people have varying ideas and concepts about what a particular room in a residence is to look like. This includes men and their caves.

The Arcade Cave

The arcade man cave is designed to take into consideration the pub or bar experience. Even in this day and age, a good many neighborhood puns feature arcade games. Tis includes the ever-popular pinball machine.

The arcade cave is designed to pay homage to a neighborhood pub, with its arcade games, pool tables, and dart board. This type of man cave usually does come complete with a bar, perhaps even a wet one. The bar itself blends seamlessly in with the games, turning the space into a truly enjoyable man cave.

The Sports Bar Cave

A space somewhat related to the arcade man cave is the sports bar man cave. As the name suggests, this man cave includes memorabilia of the kind commonly featured in the typical sports bar. The sports bar man cave usually features at least one big screen, oftentimes two or three. This really ads to the look and feel of a sports bar.

This man cave really is suited to watching games and other sports events. It is the place where friends and family gather to watch games and enjoy each other’s company, perhaps over a favorite brew.

The Rock and Roll Cave

Many a man enjoys rock and roll. Different men may enjoy rock from different eras, but many males do tend to like this kind of music.

The rock and roll man cave is designed to celebrate the particular rock era, or star, that an individual man likes. The rock and roll man cave nearly always is outfitted with a solid audio system, including high quality speakers. However, big screens and bars are typically the order of the day in this type of man cave as well.

The Upscale Cave

The upscale man cave is a space that takes the stylish man cave up a notch. In reality, this is probably the least used man cave theme. However, when it is the underlying theme for a man cave, the results are not only stylish, but amazing.

It would not be out of the question for this type of man cave to include a chandelier. High quality furniture and other accoutrements certainly will be featured throughout this time of man cave.

There is likely to be a fully operational wet bar. The space may have something of an upscale movie viewing room presentation. This is the type of man cave that comes into being when a person has a bit more money to spend on this type of space than is the norm.

The Retreat Cave

A final type of man cave is what appropriately can be called a true retreat. On some level, this probably is what many people think of when they contemplate a man cave.

In the grand scheme of things, there is no unifying theme for this type of man cave. Rather, it is a complete and absolute reflection of the needs, goals, desires, and tastes of the man who needs this cave.

Of course, having explained the underlying concept of a retreat man cave, all man caves can be categorized in this manner. However, in the case of a retreat man cave, there is less of a focus on developing a space in which a man can entertain others. It really is a space where he can retreat to spend a little time with himself.

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Jessica Kane is a writer for The Pinball Company, the best online source for new, used, and refurbished pinball machines, arcade cabinets, and more!

Curb appeal.

Realtors typically defined curb appeal as: “The general attractiveness of a house or other piece of property from the sidewalk. This term is often used by Realtors trying to sell or evaluate a piece of property.”

If you have made the decision to put your home on the market for sale, a key consideration is whether the curb appeal of your residence is up to par. If you think this may not be the case, you need to begin to consider what you should and should not do to enhance the curb appeal of your home. There are a number is tactics that you will want to give a good look at when it comes to increasing the overall curb appeal of your home.

Refresh or Redo the Paint

One very basic step you can take to enhance the curb appeal of your residence is to refresh or redo the paint. Generally speaking, this is a step that you can take without breaking the budget. You can also accomplish this task in short amount of time.

You also have two courses to consider about accomplishing this task. First, you can go the do it yourself route. Second, you can hire a professional painter.

Improve the Lawn

Take a good look at your lawn when you are contemplating what does and does not need to be done when it comes to enhancing the curb appeal of your home. If you are like most people, there very well may be issues with your lawn that need remediation. You may not have really focused on this issues.

The reality is that simply because of its presence in front of your home, the state of your lawn does send a message to prospective buyers. Right or wrong, fair or unfair, prospective buyers who see a flaw or issue with your lawn may take that a step further. These people will conclude that you are not on top of other elements of home maintenance.

Odds are what needs to be done with your lawn will not prove to be very complicated. Indeed, it more than likely will prove to be a matter of laying some fresh sod here and there or reseeding in certain places.

Establish the Right Greenery Balance

On a related note, examine what is going on in your front yard in the way of plants, trees, and bushes. A mistake that some people make when it comes to striving to enhance the curb appeal of their homes is to plant more of just about everything. By taking this approach, these individuals overkill.

In the final analysis, when it comes to plants, trees, and bushes in your front yard, moderation matters. You want the front of your house to look vibrant. On the other hand, you don’t want to leave a prospective purchaser with the idea that if he or she bought the house, that person would be left caring for a proverbial jungle.

Deal with Concrete Cracks

Another step you will want to take when it comes to improving the overall curb appeal of your home, you need to make sure that the driveway and sidewalks are in good repair. Take the time, and make the investment, in repairing any issues associated with concrete in front of the residence.

Ensure an Attractive Entryway

Make sure that the entryway to your residence is up to par. Once a prospective buyer evaluates the general appearance of the overall front side of your home from the curb, that individual’s focus is more than likely to zoom onto the entryway and front door. You need to make sure that the entryway looks inviting and well kept. Unless you’ve allowed the property to get off track for some time, dealing with the entryway should not be a significant task.

Final Note on Safety

If you plan on taking on some curb appeal enhancement project on your on, in anticipation of putting your home on the market, you must keep safety in mind. The last thing you want to have happen is to end up injured as part of a DIY home improvement effort.

When it comes to sprucing up the front of your residence, including painting and landscaping, you may find yourself using a ladder or scaffold. These have the potential to be to dangerous pieces of equipment.

You need to make absolutely certain that a ladder properly is positioned and a scaffold appropriately assembled. A common cause of accidents associated with a ladder or scaffold are incorrect position of the former and improper assembly of the latter.

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Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Scaffold Store, the favorite and trusted scaffold supplier of the largest contractors.

If you are like a considerable number of homeowners across the United States, you spend a decent amount of time working on the appearance of the front of your home. This includes tending to the lawn as well as gardens that you may also have fronting your home.

With all the time you spend tending to your front yard, you may wonder what can you do to get more out of that space. You may ponder what steps you can take to make your front yard more livable. one addition you can take to make the most out of your front yard is the addition of a privacy fence around your front yard.

Privacy and a Front Yard Fence

A primary way in which a perimeter fence around the front of your home makes your residence more livable is because it adds a level of privacy you would not otherwise enjoy. In this day and age, a majority of people really are able to make little use of their front yards precisely because they have so little privacy.

When it comes to a homeowner making use of the front yard, this oftentimes is limited to planting some trees, some bushes, and maybe a flowerbed or two. Because the typical front yard is exposed to the world, many homeowners spend no time in that space, save for tending to the lawn and foliage.

By adding a fence, the front yard becomes far more private. A homeowner can engage in an array of enjoyable activities on the front lawn without feeling completely exposed to the neighborhood.

Security and a Front Perimeter Fence

Not only does a front perimeter fence make you yard more livable, it makes your home more habitable as well. One of the primary reasons why installing a front perimeter fence makes your home more habitable stems from the fact that it renders your home safer and more secure.

This is a day and age when crime occurs in all types of neighborhoods. In many ways, no one is immune from the dangerous conduct of criminals. For example, one out of every five Americans will be victims of a home invasion during the course of their lifetimes.

One of the most important steps that you can take to make your home more livable by making it more secure is the installation of a fence. Not only does a fence provide a deterrent to a criminal actually accessing your property, its very existence will likely dissuade a criminal from even trying.

One additional note. As a part of your overall home security efforts, consider adding lights on or around your perimeter fence. Lighting renders your fence an even greater deterrent to a criminal with at least some thought about entering your property and your home. In addition, because of the wide selection of different types of lights, the illumination provided by them can enhance the overall look and appearance of your home.

Curb Appeal and a Front Yard Fence

A nicely designed fence can work to enhance the curb appeal of your home. With that said, you don’t have to abandon planting a lovely flower bed in front of your home, or other types of foliage, in a manner that can be seen by others. You have the ability to setback a fence a bit. By taking this step, you are left with a zone in front of the fence in which you can display your gardening prowess.

Enhancing the curb appeal of your home will make you an even prouder homeowner as long as you live in your residence. In addition, should the day come that you want to sell your residence, enhance curb appeal will make your home far more appealing to house hunters.

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Jessica Kane is a writer for Viking Fence, the number on fence rental company in Houston.

The topic of family money management is one that comes with raised eyebrows. Apparently, everyone seems to have their own idea of money management, and in some cases, it makes it hard to progress. It is estimated that around 30% of couples clash over monies. This is because of priorities, tough choices and personal preferences for money management. Luckily, there are few things that can restore calm and ensure a good return for every dime spent.

Good Budgeting

There is no perfect budgeting criteria that can end all family clashes over finances. However, there are a number of things that can help a family with good budgeting.

First, you need to embrace the habit of creating one. Many people know about budgeting but rarely do it. All kinds of expenses emerge every day and you need a realistic and systematic way of ensuring efficient fund use.

Secondly, you need to set your priorities straight, which is the sole purpose of a budget. Good budgeting will focus on family priorities creating a win-win deal for everyone. Start good budgeting today and you will lessen family clashes.

Consulting and Support

Many hands make work light and two heads are better than one. It is not wrong to seek out advice and support from other people who have been in your situation before. This will really help you more than you can imagine.

You will not only gain great insight into successful family money management but also avoid certain mistakes that generally cut across most families. So, take an initiative to seek counsel and advice. You will be one step ahead.

Account Consolidation

Some people have multiple accounts. This may mean having multiple credit card balances over time if you are in need of money. Managing all these credit accounts can be very expensive. Consider taking out a loan to consolidate existing debts, thereby reducing the managing costs by settling everything all at once.

Time-savers for Money

Family comes with tons of responsibilities and you will never have enough time in your hands to do everything. So why not try out some options to save time.

A good example is checking with your bank to see what kind of services they offer to their customers. Do they have mobile banking? Can you automate bill payments? Is it possible to schedule savings? And can you have a system for email and text alerts concerning your finances? These are all awesome ways of saving time and creating room for other things.

Successful family money management can be achieved with discipline and effort. These tips are just a few reminders of what you need to do.

The idea of getting a pet can be ever so tempting, especially when the kids keep asking, asking, asking. However, pet ownership is not to be taken lightly, and it’s not something that everyone can do well. So before committing to a pet in your home, there are a few things that you should definitely consider first.

Research The Idea

Don’t even begin searching for a pet until you have done all the research necessary. That means firstly researching which kind of pet will work best for your family, and then discovering everything you can about caring for them. Sit everyone down and have a serious meeting about all the things that will need to be done, and ensure that everyone understands they will all have to pitch in. From walking a dog to feeding your pet the right foods, to treating them for fleas and ticks with treatments from VetIQ, there is a lot to do. Some pets require less care than others. A dog, for example, needs a lot more looking after than a goldfish. However, that doesn’t mean that that care should fall to one person, or that just because you don’t want to take your dog for a walk or clean out your hamster’s cage you can leave it for another day. This talk will determine whether you’re actually ready for a pet at all; gauge your family’s reactions, and you’ll know what the answer should be, even if it’s not the one you, or they, were hoping for!

Be Honest

If you want to get a pet, you must be honest with yourself about your lifestyle. Are you at home enough to take care of it? Do you have the room? Could you afford the vet’s bills? The bedding? The food? If you can’t, or even if you’re not sure, it’s best not to get a pet. It should be easy to work out a budget and see if you have the spare money to care well for an animal. It should also be easy to determine how much space you have, and how much time you’re at home. Animals will need company, and they will need room not only to move around in but for all their equipment too. These observations could also help to determine which type of pet you get, and how big it could be, so it’s an important step to take. If your children are the ones pushing for a pet, it’s essential that they take part in this preparation stage too. If the answer is no, they will be able to understand why.

Choosing The Right Pet

There are pros and cons to every type of pet, so it’s important to think of them before deciding which one to choose. Dogs and cats may be popular choices, but they need a lot more attention and are harder work than many smaller animals. Guinea pigs can be an ideal first pet because they are social creatures, and are easy to handle. Gerbils and hamsters are lovely, but due to their small size they can be hard for children to hold properly, and that means they soon lose interest. Whatever you get, make sure that all of your family are happy with the choice, and that they will all want to get close and take care of the pet. There is no point in having a lizard, spider, or snake in the house, for example, if someone won’t go near. What would happen if it managed to get out of its cage or vivarium? What would happen if everyone was sick and just left the one person who couldn’t stand to be near the creature to feed and care for it? It wouldn’t be fair. If it is to be a family pet, it has to be one that everyone will love. Pets that aren’t going to be suitable for a family include rabbits. Rabbits bite and scratch, and although some will eventually get used to being held, many won’t. This can mean a lot of nasty nips for the kids, and the rabbit could potentially suffer from a broken back or limbs from being dropped. Chinchillas are cute and soft, but they are also high maintenance and need a lot of specialist equipment. They also like to take dust baths, so they make a lot of mess. Some dogs are just not happy being around children, so you’ll need to do your homework if you have your heart set on a pooch.

Find A Way For Everyone To Contribute

If the only thing standing in the way of you saying yes to a pet is that you don’t think your younger family members can deal with the work involved, try coming up with ways to make it possible and to make it fun. If it’s fun, they’ll want to be more involved anyway, and making things into a game, or, better still, a competition, is a good way to ensure that no one’s chores are pushed to one side. A small child may not be able to clean out the fish tank successfully, and they may not be able to walk the dog. They certainly shouldn’t be cleaning out a cat’s litter box. But they can take part in some way. This ensures that they are having good values instilled in them, and by the time they are ready to carry out the work, they can do.

Be Prepared

Once the novelty of having the new pet wears off, some children may start to lose interest in helping out. Be prepared to get stuck in yourself. Someone has to do it, after all. Despite what your children may have promised (and some will promise the world to get their longed-for new pet), things change, and if no one is there to take responsibility then it is the pet that will suffer. How you handle your child’s change of heart is down to you and your own method of parenting, but the pet needs to be considered.

As a retiree, you know that you are looking for savings accounts that will yield the best interest rates in the shortest period of time, simply because that is the stage of your life you are now in. When you first began working and raising a family, you had decades to look forward to when saving larger sums and, so you could be complacent with accounts that grew slowly, over time.

However, as a retiree, you want to take advantage of your money now while also saving for any future eventualities which might require you to draw significantly from your accounts. Anything from medical bills to assisted living may require you to withdraw sizeable funds, so it’s time to look at the best savings account for a retiree.

Will Your Adult Children Be on Your Account?

One of the things you should seriously consider when choosing the right savings account for you as a retiree is whether or not you will be adding one or more adult children on your account. While it can be risky adding someone to a jointly owned account, many older adults like to have their children as co-owners in the event that they should need to make immediate financial decisions for their aging parents.

Sometimes ill health requires a sizable withdrawal and other times we put our children in charge of everything financial so that we can simply relax in our golden years. A savings account that can fund our living expenses is ideally suited for this purpose, but also, if you should suddenly pass, the portion of money belonging to co-owners of an account isn’t going to be subject to inheritance taxes if jointly owned. That is a huge consideration for retirees and why so many add their children to their accounts even if their children won’t be accessing the account during their lifetime.

Various Types of Savings Accounts to Choose Between

If you are looking for a savings accounts with the best rates, one thing to be aware of is that there are various kinds of savings accounts and not all banks offer the same types. You can choose between traditional savings accounts, Certificates of Deposit (CDs) or even Money Market savings accounts. Some banks offer all three while others have only one or two of those options.

The thing to realize is that with a traditional savings account you can draw as much or as little money as you want at any time that you want but Money Market and CDs operate in a different way. Some are set up in such a way as to incur a monetary penalty if funds are withdrawn before the account reaches maturity and others allow you to write checks against them periodically. This type of account may not penalize you for using your money if you stay within the pre-specified amount and number of withdrawals.