May 26, 2009

Safety Tips when Traveling with Children

There is a big difference between traveling with anadult and traveling with children. Even if you havetoddlers or an infant with you, it is a specialspecification that adults accompanying their childrenmust observe safety first when traveling. There arenumerous ways to make traveling for you and your childsafer. Here are seven:

1. Maintain seatbelts or restraints at all times. Naughtiness can become one reason for your child toget hurt and cause one to another. Your child can moveall he want as long as his seatbelt or restraint arefirmly attached to their bodies. Furthermore,turbulence can go without warning.

2. Keep your child’s essentials inside your hand carrybag. You can survive every ounce of tantrums when youkeep in your bag a handful of useful merchandise likediapers, food and medicine. If you have an infant, youcan bring in two bottles of milk.

3. Position you child away from the aisle. It would bemore appropriate to sit him in between two adults. Ifyou don’t like being seated along the aisle, for yourchild’s sake, sacrifice. Children love exploring andreaching out things. They can get hurt unknowinglywhen their little arms and hands get bumped by walkingpeople or by the serving cart. You can also sit him atone corner beside the windows.

4. Bring toys. Make sure these are not deadly ones.Toys can serve as perfect modalities to catch yourchild’s attention and refrain him or her from makingunnecessary noises and activities. Never bring toysthat can hurt, easily break or is heavy. Electronicgames can only be used while the plane is cruising.

5. Control your child. It is your responsibility tocontrol your child’s behavior while inside the plane.The flight attendant is never responsible for thesupervision of your child. You don’t pay them tobecome baby sitters. As much as possible, don’t fallasleep during the flight. Children take thisopportunity to wander around the plane and eventuallyget lost. You also have to be careful when walkingaround the plane with your child for he might reachhot cups of coffee or silverware.

6. Upon the deployment of oxygen masks, put yoursfirst. Contrary to what most parents would think, itis much advisable to put an adult’s mask first beforetheir child. Why? for practical reasons. There wouldbe a greater chance of saving both your lives thanjust your child’s. If the adult puts the oxygen maskon their children first, it will take only few secondsfor hypoxia to come over wherein episodes of confusionor passing out will happen. A child, especiallysmaller ones, will be of no help once you pass out.This is one very good reason why you must put on themask first.

7. Always be prepared for the possibility ofemergencies. Be aware of the procedures that can beappropriate for your child. First, ask the flightattendant if they have emergency equipments that aredesigned especially for children. Next, be familiarwith the preflight briefing. Lastly, if your child hasa condition that can be an issue, inform theattendant.

Generally, you have to plan ahead. Ask yourself whatare the things that can help you and your child to besafe through hours of being suspended on air. It isyour sole responsibility to take good care of yourchild by practicing these safety first tips when traveling.

Safety Tips when Traveling through the Internet

Traveling can be in different forms. Either on land,air or sea, it is always mandatory to be safe at alltimes. Although another kind of traveling is nowrampant and is continuously happening inside your ownhome. It’s journeying through the internet streets. Unlike traveling outdoors wherein you have to gothrough a lot of twists and turns and is quiteexhausting, traveling indoors by means of yourinternet connection can be a breeze. Perhaps this isthe first time you would encounter this kind ofexperience or if not, probably your kids or youngersiblings, whoever it is, there are certain precautionsand safety tips especially for first timers travelingthrough the Internet.

Interacting with people via the Internet can be riskyand dangerous. Indeed, a lot of Internet users, evenexperienced ones, get molested, abused or fooled justby hanging out for about 15 minutes, talking to astranger. Others can even get robbed because they weretoo honest and trustful of their identity that theyare giving it all out. If you are just new, you canpick up some ideas on how to avoid this kind ofpredicament.

The secret when dealing with strangers through theInternet and making sure that you are safe every stepof the way is through proper communication and keenobservation. How? Pay attention:

When someone asks you things that are quite personal, like information about your real name or address, bealert. Never give out something as important as yourhome phone number, age, name of friends, and mostespecially, your family income. Not unless you knowthis person by heart, never spill out anything thisvaluable. You may put the lives of your family,friends and even yourself in danger.

If a certain company or a representative from a firmor agency tells you beautiful things on how to earnbig, big bucks in just a couple of minutes or tellsyou that you can cultivate massive income in not lessthan a week, such an exaggeration can put you at risk. It can spell out catastrophe. Never give into theirsweet words, that in the end, will entice you to giveout something as important as your credit card number. This can turn out to be a scam and wipe out everythingin your account. Before trusting anything, ask. Askfor the person’s or the company’s credibility, statusand standing in the business that is being related.

Passwords are keys to another world and openssomething personal or top secret. Never give this outnor share it even with your closest friends.

If you have met someone through online chatting, youhave to be sure of the person’s identity and how farcan he or she be trusted before meeting in person.Hope this doesn’t burst your bubble but there aresyndicates roaming around the Internet waiting fortheir next victim so be very careful. If in doubt, youcan ask someone to accompany you or meet somewherepublic.
Treat the person whom you are talking to with respecteven if the person’s not giving it back. Never try tosend bad messages or use explicit or mean languages.

You have to be wary of strangers because not all havebad intentions. Others can be decent and are properlybehaved. Just to be sure, always apply safety firstwhen traveling trough the Internet.

Safety Tips While Traveling and Riding a Foreign Taxi

Riding a taxi can generally be safe. It’s safer thanjourneying through the subway, at least. But, thereare things, bad things that can happen when riding aforeign taxi. There have been reports of kidnapping bytaxi drivers in which you have to be aware of. beforeboarding any kind of vehicle, consider your safetyfirst and then be alert of your surroundings whentraveling especially when you’re alone.

Tip # 1 – Locate a taxi stand.
If you just came out of the airport, you can easilyfind taxi stands around and near the area. It would bea bit similar to what you have in your country. Youjust have to notice the congregating taxis under asign that you can’t read and that would probably beit. If unsure, ask a police person. In general terms,only cabs that are authorized by the government toboard passengers are the ones that can park underthese stands. This also means that the taxi driver islicensed. Never let drivers that are aggressive to winyou over. They might have another intention thanbringing you to your destination.

Tip # 2 – Know something about the place where you’reheading.
Look at the color of the taxi. Is it he same withothers? Do they have certain similarities that canassure you of some firm evidence that the cab isreally safe? You can never trust a taxi that seemsdifferent from the others because in some places,thieves use fake cabs to get your money or sometimes,more.

Tip # 3 – Observe for cab similarities.
Sharing your cab with someone can minimize yourconsumption and impose some kind of safety within you.Although, you should try to say “No.” if your taxidriver wanted someone to share with you no matter howpeaceful the stranger looks – especially in foreigncountries. You could end up being kidnapped becausethe peaceful-faced stranger is wearing a mask and isactually a monster.

Tip # 4 – Keep your belongings close.
If you’re traveling alone and your are carrying areally big and heavy luggage, sit beside it. Keep itvery close to you. Otherwise if it’s in the trunk, itwill be very difficult for you to pull it out if incase anything bad happens.

Tip # 5 – Note phone numbers.
Taxi companies love advertising. That is why,legitimate taxis are the ones with plastered companynumbers either on the trunk, doors and roofs. Neverget into a taxi that doesn’t have the company’s phonenumber on its interior or exterior surface.

Tip # 6 – Sharing alert.
You should have even the slightest idea regarding yourdestination. If necessary, try to avoid shortcutsbecause this can confuse your memory and lead toanother street that you are unfamiliar with. Notice Ifyou’re heading south and the taxi is going north, bedetermined to ask or otherwise make the cab stop forif not, juts jump out of your seat and ask for help.

Tip # 7 – Get a hold of the door handle.
Don’t ride a taxi when the door handle inside it ismalfunctioning or is broken. It would be verydifficult for you to escape a predicament with abusted cab door.
If in case all of these tips fail, always have anemergency line where you can call local officials. Itis always a remark to put safety first when travelingespecially in foreign countries.

May 3, 2009

What are Bonds

There are certain things you must understand about bonds before you start investing in them. Not understanding these things may cause you to purchase the wrong bonds, at the wrong maturity date.

The three most important things that must be considered when purchasing a bond include the par value, the maturity date, and the coupon rate.

The par value of a bond refers to the amount of money you will receive when the bond reaches its maturity date. In other words, you will receive your initial investment back when the bond reaches maturity.

The maturity date is of course the date that the bond will reach its full value. On this date, you will receive your initial investment, plus the interest that your money has earned.

Corporate and State and Local Government bonds can be ‘called’ before they reach their maturity, at which time the corporation or issuing Government will return your initial investment, along with the interest that it has earned thus far. Federal bonds cannot be ‘called.’

The coupon rate is the interest that you will receive when the bond reaches maturity. This number is written as a percentage, and you must use other information to find out what the interest will be. A bond that has a par value of $2000, with a coupon rate of 5% would earn $100 per year until it reaches maturity.

Because bonds are not issued by banks, many people don’t understand how to go about buying one. There are two ways this can be done.

You can use a broker or brokerage firm to make the purchase for you or you can go directly to the Government. If you use a brokerage, you will more than likely be charged a commission fee. If you want to use a broker, shop around for the lowest commissions!

Purchasing directly through the Government isn’t nearly as hard as it once was. There is a program called Treasury Direct which will allow you to purchase bonds and all of your bonds will be held in one account, that you will have easy access to. This will allow you to avoid using a broker or brokerage firm.

How Much Money Should be Invested

Many first time investors think that they should invest all of their savings. This isn’t necessarily true. To determine how much money you should invest, you must first determine how much you actually can afford to invest, and what your financial goals are.

First, let’s take a look at how much money you can currently afford to invest. Do you have savings that you can use? If so, great! However, you don’t want to cut yourself short when you tie your money up in an investment. What were your savings originally for?

It is important to keep three to six months of living expenses in a readily accessible savings account – don’t invest that money! Don’t invest any money that you may need to lay your hands on in a hurry in the future.

So, begin by determining how much of your savings should remain in your savings account, and how much can be used for investments. Unless you have funds from another source, such as an inheritance that you’ve recently received, this will probably be all that you currently have to invest.

Next, determine how much you can add to your investments in the future. If you are employed, you will continue to receive an income, and you can plan to use a portion of that income to build your investment portfolio over time. Speak with a qualified financial planner to set up a budget and determine how much of your future income you will be able to invest.

With the help of a financial planner, you can be sure that you are not investing more than you should – or less than you should in order to reach your investment goals.

For many types of investments, a certain initial investment amount will be required. Hopefully, you’ve done your research, and you have found an investment that will prove to be sound. If this is the case, you probably already know what the required initial investment is.

If the money that you have available for investments does not meet the required initial investment, you may have to look at other investments. Never borrow money to invest, and never use money that you have not set aside for investing!

Types of Investment

Overall, there are three different kinds of investments. These include stocks, bonds, and cash. Sounds simple, right? Well, unfortunately, it gets very complicated from there. You see, each type of investment has numerous types of investments that fall under it.

There is quite a bit to learn about each different investment type. The stock market can be a big scary place for those who know little or nothing about investing. Fortunately, the amount of information that you need to learn has a direct relation to the type of investor that you are.

There are also three types of investors: conservative, moderate, and aggressive. The different types of investments also cater to the two levels of risk tolerance: high risk and low risk.

Conservative investors often invest in cash. This means that they put their money in interest bearing savings accounts, money market accounts, mutual funds, US Treasury bills, and Certificates of Deposit. These are very safe investments that grow over a long period of time.

These are also low risk investments.
Moderate investors often invest in cash and bonds, and may dabble in the stock market. Moderate investing may be low or moderate risks. Moderate investors often also invest in real estate, providing that it is low risk real estate.

Aggressive investors commonly do most of their investing in the stock market, which is higher risk. They also tend to invest in business ventures as well as higher risk real estate. For instance, if an aggressive investor puts his or her money into an older apartment building, then invests more money renovating the property, they are running a risk. They expect to be able to rent the apartments out for more money than the apartments are currently worth – or to sell the entire property for a profit on their initial investments. In some cases, this works out just fine, and in other cases, it doesn’t. It’s a risk.

Before you start investing, it is very important that you learn about the different types of investments, and what those investments can do for you. Understand the risks involved, and pay attention to past trends as well. History does indeed repeat itself, and investors know this first hand!