Money Saving and Personal Finance

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Many people in this generation are in trouble and much concerned about money and on ways to save it. There are a lot of people who are spending more money when compared to their income and they lack financial knowledge. There are lots of ways to save your money and with the exception of any emergencies which can be used in critical situations. The most common way to save your money is to plan before making the deals and expenditures. Most of you might have made a New Year resolution to save money and stay stress free during emergency situations.

Here are some tips help you to save your personal finances that require proper planning prior to your expenses and can save for emergency needs.

• Food & Shopping: There are lots of things need to be planned before buying or purchasing anything. This goes with food and shopping. Many people spend a lot on shopping as there are different things which are unnecessary and excessive. You should try to avoid those things and make a difference in your savings. Also you should check on food as there are a lot of luxuries. Every time when you make an outing try to plan your expenses.
• Personal Expenses: These include personal and emergency expenses. There are lots of things to be planned before every expense and some people don’t follow which leads them to unwanted situations. You need to look on everything for your savings from cable provider to your utility bills. Always compare your prices and packages with your plan operator and by this way you can save on your expenses which are unnecessary.
• Automotives: This is also an important area where your personal finances matter. Always make sure that your car parts are working properly especially the air filter and spark plug as with this you can save more. Also you need to look at the speedometer and avoid driving fast as this saves fuel and money. There are a lot of new cars which decrease their power and mileage in first two years. You just need to maintain the vehicle and see the change in the savings.
• Entertainment: There are many ways to spend on entertainment and you should always look for offers and discounts. You can go for memberships which saves a lot of your money. Many people subscribe entertainment magazines which are such a waste of time and money, if you want information regarding anything you can take help of internet and it saves lots of money. Wasting money on DVD’s of your favourite movies is also the same instead of buying you can watch it online for free.
• Household: This is also other important issue you need to look on as you need to purchase electronic appliances by their power saving ratings. By this way you can save lots of money as well as electricity. You also need to check with the daily used appliances as switching the TV, PC or your coffee maker. If you are going out, turn off all these appliances which save a lot of electric power and can also control your expenses.

About the Author:
This article has been posted by Maria, a professional content writer and blogger who is writing articles on PPI claims and shows keen interest in finance. You can reach her at finacneport

Des Moines, Washington To Benefit From EB-5 Program

A councilman from Des Moines, Washington, is counting his lucky stars that he took up an invitation to meet with a local hotel owner during his visit to China recently.  The man he met with actually owned the hotel in which the councilman was staying, and their conversation has led to a proposed $45 million hotel project in this small town along the Puget Sound.

The councilman, Bob Sheckler, was in China on a mission to establish a sister city relationship with Des Moines, but after learning that the owner of the hotel was looking to develop a project in Washington, Sheckler sensed an opportunity.

The Chinese businessman was deciding between Des Moines and Tacoma, Washington. Although it may seem unusual for such a large project to be developed in one of two rather small and obscure towns in the Pacific Northwest, Sheckler was told that both of the cities had certain geographic and infrastructure features that made them attractive investment locations. 

Sheckler made his best pitch for Des Moines.  He reminded the Chinese hotel magnate that the U.S. Open championship would be held at a nearby golf course in 2015, around the time the hotel is scheduled to open.  Moreover, as part of Washington’s effort to develop deeper commercial and cultural ties to China, SeaTac, Seattle’s international airport, has announced daily nonstop flights to Shanghai beginning next summer.  Des Moines sits just a few miles south of SeaTac and very close to a major highway that leads to the airport.  Tourists from China and elsewhere could potentially be shuttled directly to the hotel in Des Moines as soon as they have collected their baggage, which would certainly be convenient for travelers who have just spent over 12 or 13 hours on a flight.  And the scenic beauty of the Puget Sound and surrounding mountains would not hurt, either. 

Sheckler sold the Chinese hotel developer on the idea of Des Moines as the home of his new project, called Artemis, and construction is scheduled to begin sometime next year.

The Des Moines hotel project is an example of the USCIS’ EB-5 visa program in action.  It will be funded almost entirely by the Yareton Hotel Investment Funds Regional Center.  An EB-5 regional center, like Yareton, is financed by foreign entrepreneurs, but is generally managed by U.S.-based business executives.  Regional centers can pool money from multiple foreign investors and use it to pay for the construction and development of large-scale projects.  In order to receive EB-5 regional center designation, immigrant entrepreneurs must prove they have the funds necessary (either $500,000 or $1 million) to finance a commercial enterprise and a business plan based on sound economic models that reasonably ensure that at least 10 permanent full-time jobs will be created.

The Chinese hotel owner who struck the deal with Sheckler is the majority investor in the Yarteton EB-5 regional center, and his American counterpart is currently in the process of attracting additional foreign investment to the project.  It is estimated that about 170 jobs will be created by the hotel, which will include a casino, a café, a bar and two restaurants.

Visit EB5Investors.com to gain knowledge and assistance on the EB-5 process. EBInvestors.com provides numerous amounts of resources including legal professional counsel.

EB-5 Program Reform Part of the Economic Solution

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Throughout the campaign process, both candidates have spent much of their time speaking on their ideas and plans to “fix” the struggling US economy. With growth at a lower than needed pace and unemployment hovering around eight percent, people are looking everywhere for solutions. One economist believes he has a solution, and it’s not what many people might expect.

Charles Kenny, a fellow at the Center for Global Development and the New America Foundation, believes that what the country needs is immigration reform, and he believes it needs it urgently. He believes that current US policies are unfriendly to immigrant workers, and are adversely affecting industries with high numbers of immigrant workers, such as agriculture and technology. Specifically, he believes that the limit on the number of H-1B visas for “specialty” occupations needs to be increased, and that the US needs to make it easier for foreign students graduating from US universities to stay in the country upon graduation. He also believes that the EB-5 visa program is in need of reform to increase the number of immigrants taking advantage of it.

The EB-5 visa program was created by Congress as a means to stimulate the American economy, promote job growth and attract capital investment by wealthy immigrant investors. The program grants US visas to foreign entrepreneurs and their dependents in exchange for a considerable investment in a US enterprise. The investor must invest either $500,000 in a business located within a targeted employment area (TEA), a rural or high unemployment area, or in any desired location in the US. The investment must create or preserve ten full-time jobs for US workers within two years.

The EB-5 program, named that because it is the fifth category of employment based visas issued by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, is estimated to have created about 34,000 jobs over the life of the program. That number looks to be rising rapidly, as the program is now more popular than ever. The number of applicants for the EB-5 Visa has risen from 1,000 in 2009, to 2,000 in 2010, to over 3,000 in 2011. But Kenny thinks it can be even higher.


Kenny claims that the job creation requirement of the program as it stands leaves the visa holders open to deportation if the jobs that their investment creates are not created in the exact way that was predicted in their application. He believes the process is simply too rigid, and that this rigidity is why only 13,719 people applied between 2000 and 2010 and of these, only 3,127 were granted a US residence permit or green card. With some reforms, perhaps the number of applicants and green cards granted under the EB-5 program will go up, and with each successful applicant comes a large capital infusion into the US economy and 10 new permanent jobs for US workers. With the EB-5 program, it truly is “the more, the merrier.”