Author: James Hendrickson

Housing Risks During the Winter Months

As the weather changes and the temperature in the northeastern coastal areas turn cold, more people move indoors to stay warm. This means your heating system will be run more often and many people turn their heat way up to keep warm. This is a natural reaction to the blustery outside air, but there are a few precautions you should take no matter what type of heat system your home has. Below are five tips to staying safe when the weather turns cold this winter, and remember this rule: stay warm but stay safe!

Heating System Safety

When running your heating system, it’s not a good idea to run it on high for too long. Always select the “auto” option rather than the “fan” to get the evenest heating and turn it to around 68 degrees when you leave the house. Check pilot lights to make sure they are all working. If your heat does not start up for the first time this winter, you may want to check the pilot light. Sometimes the pilot light can go out over the summer or early fall months when it is not in use, or strong wind can blow it out. There is a specific technique you should follow for lighting your pilot light with most electric furnace systems. There are various videos on this procedure, but the basic process is the same. It’s also a good idea to vacuum out your furnace once in a while to keep dust and debris from collecting around it.

Fireplace Safety

Many people enjoy starting up their fireplaces during the winter months, especially in the eastern locations where it is typically colder. Fireplaces are a wonderful asset to a home, and they create a warm and inviting atmosphere. But you should take care to make sure the flue is clean as this is the cause of many house fires, so on the east coast ensure you have adequate home insurance coverage in Ontario and other parts of Canada, where the winter wind blows colder than in other locations.

Radiators and Standalone Heaters

One of the greatest dangers when heating your home inside is the use of standalone electric heaters and radiator units. These units can overheat quickly and, when left alone, they can catch fire. The key to avoiding this disaster is to make sure there are no blankets, clothing items, or flammable materials within at least 10 feet or more of the unit. Also, never keep these standalone units burning by themselves or run off and leave them running when you leave the house.

Watch Christmas Trees

Christmas is near and it is a time many people enjoy with the introduction of a real tree. The disadvantage to real trees is that they can catch fire from the Christmas lights. This is especially true if you use the bare larger light bulbs that increase in heat as they are used. They can overheat if they are next to a tree branch and catch your tree and house on fire. Don’t risk this. Use smaller more contained lights and keep your real tree moist by watering it daily. This may reduce your chance of fire from a Christmas tree.

Burning Leaves: A Hazard Waiting to Happen

In addition to the potential for fires in your home due to heating units or Christmas trees, you should be careful when burning leaves near your home as well. Never burn your leaves on a windy day and watch for “no burn warnings” in your area.

Take Control of Your Finances

When it comes to our personal finances, we’re understandably very deeply invested, no pun intended, in our financial future. Like they say, money makes the world go ‘round, and we can’t afford to be left twisting in the wind if the money runs out. This can seem truly dire considering all of the many parties constantly vying for your hard earned cash. Between bills and groceries, and then some, it seems like our money is just siphoned straight out of our wallets and bank accounts and right into the hands of some big corporate boogeyman. However, there are ways to save your money; you just have to know how and have the will power to execute on these techniques. Here are some tips to help you take control of your personal finances.

First and foremost, you might be compelled to give up certain luxuries in order to save money, and while that’s the responsible thing to do, we all deserve some creature comforts to help us keep our heads above water. The daily grind is often maddening, and we need all the help we can get in order to survive and thrive. That’s why you should sometimes find ways to save on the luxuries most important to you, and there’s rarely a luxury more important to people than Summer vacation. Here’s a Beaches coupon to help you get started saving for your vacation, but other coupons and sales can help you save even more. Whatever luxuries help you get through the day, there just might be a way to make them much more affordable. You just have to know where to look.

Coupons and sales are generally a great way to save money in this capitalist society. After all, retailers frequently employ these tactics as a way to drum up extra business. This means that a savvy shopper can get most of their shopping done at a discount, if not all of it. You just have to keep your eyes peeled for savings.

Invest in Confidence: Why Having an Investment Attorney Is a Smart Move

Even as economic investment opportunities may be drying up elsewhere, such opportunities abound in the United States.

For about the last twenty years, China has been a sought-after destination for foreign capital, as relaxed laws and a growing economy made a very attractive investment environment. But the September 2017 economic figures from China were incredibly weak almost all across the board, leading many to speculate that the country has yet to move past the economic crisis of 2016, which included two stock market crashes and a currency devaluation.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, the Brexit controversy drags on, creating a great deal of uncertainty not only for the UK, but in the remainder of the European Union. There are signs of slower economic growth and higher unemployment rates, and that combination spells trouble for new investors.

Why America?

For the past several months, traditional gateway cities like New York and Los Angeles have been investment hotspots. While opportunities remain in places like these, they may not be as plentiful — or as financially attractive — as they were in early and mid-2017.

Fortunately, the United States is a very big place.

Places like Nashville, Phoenix, and Denver offer a lower cost of doing business and emerging opportunities in the energy and manufacturing sectors. Many other locations, most notably Salt Lake City and Raleigh, are in the midst of significant employment booms, and all those people with disposable incomes need places to spend them.

Investor Visa Benefits

All these opportunities are simply theoretical without assistance from qualified lawyers, because attorneys are integral to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. Whereas some other countries offer limited-purpose investment visas which are essentially only valid for a few business trips, the EB-5 is a green card visa that has significant benefits for both investors and their families, including:

  • The ability to live in, work in, and travel to any location in the country without any need for renewal or re-application. So, if that opportunity in Seattle does not work out, you can follow up on a lead in Las Vegas, and stop to see the sights in San Francisco on the way.
  • The potential to own your own business, as opposed to the limited potential of investing in someone else’s business.
  • A path to naturalization for both you and qualified members of your family, because they all get green cards as well.

The minimum investment has always been as low as $500,000, and in 2011, the State Department made some changes to make EB-5 visas even easier to acquire.

Qualification

Attorneys can also help expedite the process of qualifying for these visas. EB-5 investors usually have two full years to invest the minimum amount of capital and create, or preserve, at least ten domestic jobs.

Because they create so many jobs in both construction and in the service industry, many EB-5 investors gravitate towards commercial real estate and other such ventures, and these kids of opportunities are tailor-made for the burgeoning, high-employment locations mentioned earlier.

Unlike some other visa programs, there are no national limits or caps to worry about. Everyone capable of contributing to the American economy is more than welcome here.