Category: Contributed Posts

Technology Is Finally Pushing Down Healthcare Costs. Thank Goodness

Two focuses of my blog are Health/Wellness and Technology. Many illnesses and conditions that made life unbearable a century ago are now treatable and curable due to technology. What’s also true is that our new medical technologies are driving down the costs of healthcare. The following contributed post is entitled, Technology Is Finally Pushing Down Healthcare Costs. Thank Goodness.

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Experts evaluating the costs of healthcare tell us that it is nothing but up, up, up from here on out. The prices of advanced technology combined with an aging population mean that we have no choice but to bite the financial bullet. As the health of the nation deteriorates, the cost of medicine will go up. There’s no way around it.

But is this the whole truth? Is there really nothing we can do to push down the cost of healthcare?

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It turns out that technology may hold the answer to the problem. While it is still early days, there are indications the tech – as applied to the medical industry – will likely have the same effect as it does everywhere else: namely, bringing costs down.

Telehealth Brings Down Costs Tremendously

Imagine if you could connect with a doctor and talk to them via the internet, no matter where you were in the world. A technology like that could dramatically bring down the costs of medicine.

Think about it. When doctors operate using telehealth systems, they no longer have to be tethered to an expensive clinic. Instead, they can work from wherever they like, eliminating transport and overhead costs. There’s no longer a need to charge fees to pay rent or anything like that. It is just a direct transfer of services via the world wide web.

Furthermore, Delaware County telehealth research indicates that there is no substantive difference between in-person and online appointments. Patients get the same quality of care, regardless. So could this be a technology of the future? Almost certainly.

Anti-Aging Medications Could Prevent Disease

Experts believe healthcare costs will spiral out of control in the coming years because of the aging population. As millennials retire, they will get all the same expensive health conditions as boomers, and the nation’s finances will deteriorate.

But that logic assumes that aging is an inexorable force we can do nothing about. It is not. In fact, there are already techniques that you can use to improve the chance that you will live considerably longer than otherwise.

Basics such as diet and exercise are one option. But researchers at Harvard and The University of California are making headway in their quest to find chemicals that tap into anti-aging pathways. You can already buy a bunch of supplements based on the technology through Amazon, and many of them stand a good chance of working. It is the closest thing we have right now to a fountain of youth.

Cheaper Diagnostics Improves Efficiency

Diagnosing patients is costly. Doctors have to take samples and then ship them to expensive labs where paid technicians carry out the tests. The whole process is long and time-consuming.

The emergence of cheap diagnostic devices, however, could change all that. Instead of requiring an entire lab, technology miniaturized it down to the size of a large office printer, thus reducing the cost. Physicians can then take samples, feed them into the machine, and get an output they can interpret for diagnosis.

Now, doesn’t that sound like a brighter future?

The Health Problems Most Associated with Aging

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. There are some things that we will all experience if we live long enough. Even if you’re one of the lucky ones to have the majority of your health later in life, there are health problems associated with aging. The following contributed post is entitled, The Health Problems Most Associated with Aging.

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As we get older, there are things that we all experience and go through. If you’re supporting an elderly relative and you want to make sure that they stay as healthy as they can be now and going forward, or you’re thinking about your own health, there are some things to understand. We’re going to talk about the health problems most associated with the aging process, so read on now to find out more.

Visual Impairment

Visual impairment is a health problem that old people often experience. Our senses all reduce as we get older and that’s just a part of how our health changes over time. So making sure that elderly people get their eyes tested and checked regularly is important in order to ensure the right treatments are provided. As we get older, we’re more and more likely to need to use glasses, even if we haven’t needed them earlier in life.

Oral Health Issues

Seeing a dentist also becomes more important when you get older. There are lots of oral health and dental health problems that have the potential to develop in later life and it’s something that you’ll want to stay on top of, either for yourself or an elderly relative you’re seeking to look after better. Make sure that you or the relative you’re concerned about attend dental checkups two times per year.

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Hearing Problems

Another sense that will start to decline over time is hearing. We all hear less as we get older and getting the right treatments for that is very important. Hearing aids can offer the solutions that you’re looking for and understanding hearing aid troubleshooting issues will help as well. Our hearing changes over time and it can decline further, so adjustments might need to be made to your hearing aid over time.

Increased Risk of Physical Injury

As we get older, we also become more likely to experience physical injury as a result of problems like falls. When you’re at risk of falling, it can knock your confidence a lot as well. This is something that can be combated in a variety of ways. For example, you might want to install grab rails in the home and ensure that any additional risks and threats are removed.

Cognitive Health

Cognitive decline is something that’s relatively common in later life. Making sure that the hearing problems we discussed above are dealt with appropriately is one of the most important things to do if you want to combat the threat of cognitive decline. Remaining mentally active and looking after all the other aspects of your health will also help to prevent further cognitive decline too.

All of these problems are commonly associated with aging and it’s up to you to make sure that you’re aware of their signs and symptoms, especially if you’re caring for an elderly relative. There’s help out there for all of these things and getting the right treatments as early on as possible definitely will make a difference.

Why Accountability Is So Important

Two of the focuses of my blog are Creating Ecosystems of Success and Health/Wellness. A little known secret of life is that accountability is critical. Accountability is an important but difficult attribute but it is essential. The following contributed post is entitled, Why Accountability Is So Important.

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Photo by Helena Lopes from Pexels

Whether it is at work or home, being accountable is a vital characteristic. Accountability is the foundation of honesty, compassion, integrity, and it will help you to build deeper and more meaningful relationships.

It’s a simple concept to be truly accountable. All it requires is for you to own everything that you do, and that happens to you. From your attitude and your actions to your communication and mistakes. While it is simple in its concept, it can be hard to apply this to all areas of your life, however without it you will make your life harder, potentially hurt people and, in the long term, you won’t live a full and rounded life.

Accountability in personal relationships is essential. It helps to diffuse arguments and strengthen love. Everyone makes mistakes; however, it is how we deal with these mistakes that matters. If you can hold your hands up, apologies to the person you love and truly understand why and how your actions have affected them, they are more likely to forgive you and move on. Many people will only focus on what matters to them. This is why a lot of marriages fail. Two people are unhappy, and they are trying to communicate what is hurting them, however, if only one person is accountable, then the relationship will become unbalanced. As one person grows, the other stays the same, and it is this which divides marriages and ends love. Put simply, someone who is accountable for their actions will outgrow the relationship if you cannot do the same.

We all make stupid mistakes from time to time. Maybe you went to help a friend who was upset, and you were doing a good deed. He offered you a drink, and you agreed. As the night went on, you had a few more, and without thinking, you drove home. All you could think about was being a good friend and getting back to your family. Unfortunately, if you are stopped, the police won’t be interested in any of that. You will end up with an OUI, and your licence will be taken away. However, if you show accountability, don’t focus on excuses for your actions but admit you should have said no to the first offer of a drink and made better arrangements. If you can prove to a judge that you are accountable for your actions, and you are sorry, then you may be able to obtain a hardship license. This could mean you are able to continue to drive under licence and not lose your job. Even the law respects accountability.

At work, it is vital. We are faced with many situations in our working day that could leave us feeling bitter and resentful. Imagine you went for a promotion, you had been at the company for a long time, and you were confident that you were good enough for the position. However, your boss tells you that he has hired someone else. Instead of losing sleep over it and letting it lower your productivity, you need to speak to your boss and listen to his decisions. Listen to what he tells you, perhaps there are things you do at work that need to be improved. If you don’t find out, then you will never know and you won’t be able to improve yourself or achieve the fantastic things you are capable of. If after listening to his decisions, you still believe your boss is wrong, then accept that it is his choice and the consequences of making the wrong decision lie with him. Let it go.

You may also find a situation where one of your colleagues criticizes you. Perhaps they say that your team doesn’t think you listen and that you always seem to communicate negatively. If you defend your actions, then you will only enforce their thoughts. An accountable person will seek to listen and understand. If we make people feel a certain way, then it’s essential to know why. You should always thank someone who has the guts to talk to you; it’s tough to criticize someone, especially if you have to work with them every day.

Being accountable isn’t just about doing the right thing for other people. It is about understanding who you are and how you are perceived. Having the strength of character to question, listen and accept will make you a popular person to be around. Your life will feel much happier, and you will move forward instead of staying in the same place your whole life.

Do Dating Apps Undermine Our Ability

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Health/Wellness and Technology. Society is facing unprecedented challenges in the area of interpersonal relationships between the sexes. In large part it’s a combination of changed gender norms and the coming of technologies such as dating apps. The following contributed post is entitled, Do Dating Apps Undermine Our Ability.

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On the face of it, dating apps seem like a great idea. Everyone posts a short advert about themselves, along with a few pictures. Then they use it to reach out to like-minded, compatible people.

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But when you delve into the psychology of it a little deeper, you soon realize that things aren’t as rosy as they sound.

In the past, people didn’t choose each other a la carte. Instead, romantic encounters were happenstance events. People met in all sorts of weird and unusual situations, and, importantly, it happened in real life.

Dating apps subvert the process of finding a lover. Daters get to compare each other like products in the grocery store, inspecting people and comparing them to each other. Apps have made the process of finding love more akin to shopping, and less like organic and real.

Data suggests that these apps are changing our behaviors. When we liked somebody in the past, we had to muster the courage to fire up a conversation with them. The price of engagement was the fear of rejection. You never knew whether the object of your desire would feel the same or even entertain a conversation with you.

Theoretically, the same is true of dating apps. But there’s a big difference between clicking a button that says “wave” and marching across a room and talking to a stranger. Apps mean that we’re now less invested in love than ever before.

The second problem is how apps turn dating into a marketplace. Sure, we’ve always had beautiful, intelligent, wealthy, and influential people who have their pick of the bunch. But never have we had a situation where you can compare two people so directly, like on a price comparison website, and choose the best deal for you.

Dating apps also have a fundamental business problem that works against their customers: successfully matching people is not in their interest. The moment you find love, you stop searching for a new partner and cancel your subscription. Agencies, therefore, continually send you emails, showing you all the juicy new people with whom you could have a romantic fling. It’s a constant temptation, and it distracts you from the primary object of your affections.

Dating apps are also dangerous. Some criminals have received 15 years in prison as a result of their actions. This risk is also making people more suspicious of other users, making it more challenging to get things off the ground. People are reluctant to meet up.

Perhaps the old way of doing things was better. Research now shows that relationships that start in-person are much more likely to survive than those that don’t. Furthermore, people who use dating apps are more likely to report mental health problems than those who don’t, perhaps because of the emotional brutality of the scene.

Whatever the case, it is unlikely dating apps will be going anywhere, anytime soon. The coronavirus lockdown means that these services are the only way that many people are going to be able to find love. All the usual venues are closed.

How To Gain A Career In Special Education Teaching

Two of the focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and General Education. In important part of the education sector is Special Education. There will always be a need for Special Education teachers and their valuable skills. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Gain A Career In Special Education Teaching.

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Image Credit Pixabay.com License CC0

Special education teachers play an essential role in the education system. They help and support children with a wide variety of different mental and physical needs to ensure that they get the maximum benefit from their education.

Special education teachers support children with differing needs including dyslexia, hearing and visual impairments, autism, and emotional disturbance. It can be a very challenging role, however, if you are interested in this career, it can also be very rewarding in many respects.

This type of teacher can often be found in the classroom supporting children on a one-to-one basis, however, they may sometimes teach whole classes.

In this article, we’ll discuss the role of a special education teacher and how you can get a career in this area.

What Skills Are Required

First and foremost, when looking for a career as a special educator you will need to demonstrate excellent communication skills. This is so that educators are able to interact effectively with students, parents, and other educators. Being able to communicate with students with very specific needs is essential. That means that they must be patient listeners who are able to get the message across as required.

In addition to communication skills, you will also need good IT skills and the ability to keep accurate records of each and every student’s progress. Technology will also come into play when it comes to helping students access the technology required within their education as well as any study support aids that they may need.

You will need to have a good understanding of the specific special needs of the students that you are teaching. Knowing specifically how to communicate in a positive way can be learned, but having the patience to deliver education in this way takes the right personal skills.

For teachers working with hearing impaired, they will need to know how to communicate using sign language.

Above all else, special education teachers need to have a positive and encouraging demeanor. They need to be creative thinkers with flexibility and the ability to motivate and inspire all of their students while helping build confidence and encourage learning. They also need to be resilient. There may be times when teaching special needs students can be challenging.

What Training Will Be Required

The type of qualifications will vary depending on where you are applying to become a special education teacher. In the United States, special educators are required to hold a license in addition to their qualifications.

You will need to at least have a bachelor’s level degree in special education in order to be considered for licensing. You may need a master’s degree in some areas.

In addition to a degree, you may need a qualification such as Dyslexia Professional Development and Dyslexia Training or other specific additional courses relating to a certain aspect of special needs education. This might be additional training delivering education to visually impaired students, or managing and teaching students with behavioral issues.

Because there are always developments in this field, training is often ongoing and you may be encouraged to keep engaging in your personal and professional development throughout your career. This may mean regular training days, or it could mean taking a part-time course alongside your work.

What Are The Alternative Career Options?

If the classroom setting is not for you, there are other options for helping others while making use of the skills and qualifications that you might have gained for working in the special education sector.

Because the special educator role can be very mentally and physically demanding, it is not uncommon for people to change lanes in their careers as they progress so that they can continue putting their hard-earned skills to good use in a different setting.

The types of jobs that are available with this skillset might include management level roles in special educational needs schools, recreational therapists, or occupational therapist.

A recreational therapist will have obtained a degree in recreational therapy or something very similar. This type of therapist will work with people who have cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities. As part of their job roles, they will assess those that they work with and create and implement training plans and programs. They may use activities such as art, music, sport, and theater in beneficial and therapeutic ways.

An occupational therapist will have obtained a master’s level qualification in a related subject. Occupational therapists will treat those who are disabled or injured through the use of various different types of therapy.

Changing Brand Perception With The Right Story

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A critical piece of any business is its branding. Interestingly branding isn’t something that’s entirely static. There are some elements of branding that are fluid which must evolve over time. The following contributed post is entitled, Changing Brand Perception With The Right Story.

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Brand perception goes a long way in business. If people have a general mistrust or misliking of a company, their reputation can start to permeate all of their dealings, making it harder to keep customers loyal and to make the right first impressions. However, stories can change over time, and there are ways that your business can help them change sooner.

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Respond to the perception
If there has been a negative reaction to some part of the business, whether it’s how it handled some marketing or support issue, or a misconception around an aspect of the product or service you provide, ignoring it only works sometimes. If that perception is too widespread, it’s best to know how to get ahead of it and to respond appropriately to criticism. The best way in the majority of cases is to welcome it and accept it with humility. If you can end up entirely solving a customer concern and publish the results of how you did that, it can win your business a much better reputation.

Do some good
There are some elements of your business you can’t change. For instance, some industries and products have a reputational bias they have to fight, often due to people simply misunderstanding how they work. For an example of how to handle that, look at how charitable CBD companies use cause marketing to not only do good and live up to their brand values but to shine a spotlight on aspects of their industry that customers might understand. Don’t try to use social corporate responsibility to distract from criticism, but rather to keep a platform that allows you to better inform and assuage customer concerns.

Make sure your selling point gets through
Sometimes, the “bad” parts of your company’s reputation and the audience’s perception of the brand isn’t all that damaging, but you simply haven’t provided enough of the good to balance it out. Make sure that you’re using brand messaging to your advantage by investing more in your online marketing campaigns. By making sure that customers are hearing the right message about your business, not only the wrong message, you can slowly shift perceptions in your favor.

Be authentic and consistent
If you want to boost another message about your business, whether it’s the good your products and services do, the way you handle negative criticism, or the good that your company does, you have to make sure it stands up to scrutiny. Do what you can to keep your branding consistent by, for instance, publishing the story you want to tell as part of the company’s core values. This is more than public signaling, this also helps the team ingest and integrate those values by acting as a constant reminder of the ideal they’re supposed to aim for.

If you’re finding that the perception and reputation of your brand have been taking a hit as of late, then consider ways that you change the story that’s told about it. Consider the tips above and put a genuine effort into showing the good side of your business.

Run Your Own Profitable Handyman Business In 3 Steps

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. There is a lot of power in learning the skill trades. Not only are they profitable skills on an individual level as a singular ‘handyman’, but they can be powerful once harnessed into a business. The following contributed post is entitled, Run Your Own Profitable Handyman Business In 3 Steps.

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If you would like to start up your own small business and you know exactly what you would like to do with it, then that is something that you will want to think about long and hard before taking the necessary steps. One of the small businesses that many people think of turning to when they want to just help people out in their local area is the handyman business. This is where you are essentially a general handyman for the people in your area, and help them out with whatever home problems they might have. It’s a great career choice if you have always thought of yourself as a handy person to have around, and you will find that it is varied enough that it remains interesting, while ensuring that you get plenty of custom. Let’s see how to make it profitable.

Image Credit – CCO Licence

Know How To Market Yourself

First of all you have to make sure that people are actually going to hear about your services, which is not necessarily something that will always come easily. Marketing yourself as a one-person small business means that you want to focus on making yourself the brand image and vice versa. As long as you do that, you will find that you are going to get many interested people wanting your services. It’s a simple matter of advertising yourself in the local paper, on local radio, and simply by talking about your services with as many people as possible too. If you do all that, you are going to find that you are getting many more customers in no time.

Schedule Yourself Properly

It’s important to ensure that you tread the line between having no customers and being far too busy. That means that you need to learn how to properly schedule yourself, which is something that anyone can easily learn – but it does take some patience and practice to do so. One of the best ways to make this easier for yourself is to get hold of some decent handyman software, scheduling software which can help you with every aspect of running your business – from planning out your days and weeks to chasing up invoices and everything in between. By scheduling yourself properly, you show yourself respect and you ensure that you are operating in a profitable manner.

Image Credit – CCO Licence

Define Your Ideal Customers

It’s important to know who your ideal target customers are going to be, as that will inform the way in which you market your services and you will find that you are going to be much more likely to have a lot of them flooding in at any one time. This is likely going to be based on research you have carried out in your local area, and that requires that you have a good understanding of the people that you live and work amongst. That is vital in making yourself a part of the local community in a strong way, and therefore building trust with people as you would hope to.

Building A Business From Your Passion

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One of the best businesses you can start is a business built on your passion. You have to be smart about it though. The following contributed post is entitled, Building A Business From Your Passion.

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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

There is a saying that if you love what you do, then you will never work another day in your life. Those that say that, probably haven’t ever run their own business, the truth is, if you love what you do, you will work harder, lose all your boundaries and take everything quite personally. You will, however, enjoy every part of it.

Starting a business is simple; anyone can do it. You don’t even need to have a particularly good idea. Sustaining a company and making it work is different. This is much harder to achieve but, if what you do is what you love then you’ll make it happen. If you don’t love what you do, then all of your stakeholders will feel that. When you are genuinely passionate about your work, everyone will see it and your enthusiasm will become infectious.

You must know enough about the industry you love before you embark on starting a business. If you are a jewellery maker, then you need to know what is the material that everyone wants to buy right now. You might be creating stunning pieces that are gold plated, but if the market prefers 925 sterling silver, you might need to adapt your work. You also need to know all of the best places to source equipment and materials. If you don’t have any experience, you might make some simple mistakes. This could lead to overspending or under budgeting.

Talk to other people in the industry. Check on LinkedIn or Facebook to see if there are any networking events in your area. This is a great place to pick up vital tips from people who have shared a similar journey to the one you are about to start.

Don’t sit still. You haven’t got to throw the towel in at your current job and go head first into business. Take some time to create a strong business plan and an economic forecast. You need to understand what money and time you need to make this work. It’s a good idea to speak to a financial advisor to help you work through all the figures and make sure you haven’t missed anything. This will also help you understand any tax obligations that you may not have known about.

When you do take the plunge, you need to surround yourself with positive people. However, you also need at least one friend to help keep you grounded. If no one in your circle challenges your decisions, then you might not make the right decisions. We need people to cheer us on but guide us too, as sometimes we can be blinded by our passion.

Whatever you choose to do, if you have the passion, then you will find the dedication, and this will help lead you to success. Prepare to work harder than you have in your life and understand you will need to make sacrifices, the journey is a long one, but you will have a future enjoying every moment of what you do.

Stop your PC From Lagging with This Step by Step Guide

A key focus of my blog is Technology. If you own a PC, you want to get the most out of it in terms of performance. The most common metric users associate with high performance is speed. The following contributed post is entitled, Stop your PC From Lagging with This Step by Step Guide.

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Waiting for a computer to turn on is one of the biggest annoyances in life. If you want to make sure that your PC is running properly and that it is also not taking hours to load, then you can find some great tips to help you with that right here.

Uninstall some Programs

When you buy a new computer, there will be a lot of programs installed onto it. Older PCs tend to accumulate them over time and the best thing that you can do is stop them from running in the background. If you want to remove these programs, then you need to go to Start and then onto the Control Panel. You can then go onto Programs and Features. At this point, you can scroll through the list and uninstall any of the ones you don’t use.

Source: Pexels (CC0 License)

Delete your Temporary Files

Whenever you use the internet, your browsing history will stay on your PC. It’s like ordering a product and then not disposing of the packaging. If you want to get rid of all of this clutter then you need to click on My Computer and then click on the Windows folder. You can then open the Temp folder. Use your mouse to right-click on this folder and then in the “view” option, click on details. When you have done this, click on all of the files that are older than the current date and press delete.

Invest in a Solid State Drive

If your PC takes forever to turn on, then you may find that your hard drive is at fault. Typically your hard drive will have a lot of moving components and it can take a very long time for it to load up. A solid state drive will use flash memory which is very similar to a huge USB stick. It can read data way faster and this will speed up your start-up in general

Use a Mouse Sensitivity Calculator

Another thing that you can do is use a mouse sensitivity calculator. If you feel as though it’s taking a while to turn your character around, or to point and shoot at an enemy then the problem may not lie with lag. It may be that you need to turn up your mouse sensitivity to accommodate the game. If you are using your PC to play games then try and use this CS GO mouse sensitivity calculator to improve your performance.

Get More Storage

It doesn’t matter how tidy you keep your computer sometimes because if you know that your hard drive is getting too full then this will almost certainly affect the overall speed of your computer. If you use your system for heavy tasks such as video recording or even media, then there is a chance that your HDD is full. You can easily get storage drives which are well over 1TB in this day and age, so you don’t have to worry about that at all now.

Stop Start-ups that Aren’t Necessary

Whenever you turn on your PC, you may find that some programs automatically run in the background. Things like Spotify and even Skype are very guilty of this. All of the applications that run will be using up your computer memory so you need to try and ditch the ones that you are not using. If you want to do this then go to start-up and then type “run”. When you see a box come up, type in MSConfig. At the top of the new list, click on Start Up and this will list all of the applications that start up when your computer loads. Manually untick the ones that are not required, but always keep necessary ones like antivirus running.

Get some More RAM

Have you ever noticed that when you try and run a lot of different programs at once, such as your internet, email and MS Word, that your computer struggles to flick between them all? This means that your PC is having a hard time going between all the programs. If you want to help your computer here, then you need to try and make sure that you install more RAM if you can. This is the only way to solve issues such as this.

Defragment

You should never be scared of things like this. It’s a great way for you to optimise your hard drive and its efficiency overall. If you want to go ahead with this then click on “my computer” and then select the hard drive. When you have done this, you then need to click on “properties” and under the “tools” tab, you can then click on “defragment now”. This is an incredibly easy way for you to boost your PC’s performance overall and you would be surprised at how easy it is for you to really get a great result out of your PC’s hardware.

A Quick Guide To Investing For Beginners

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. Unless you were raised in a family of investors, it can be a whole new world. In addition to beginning your investing journey, it’s important to begin it as safely as possible. The following contributed post is entitled, A Quick Guide To Investing For Beginners.

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Picture by Nattanan23 from Pexels – CC0 Licence

‘Investing is the act of allocating resources, usually money, with the expectation of generating an income or profit’ Investopedia.com.

If you’re eager to invest but unsure where to begin, this quick guide covers the basics to escort you in the right direction. Below are a few commonly asked questions that you may be thinking about, coupled with answers to help you decide; whether investing is right for you, the opportunities available, and some top tips to help you invest with confidence.

Is investing the right option for me?
Before investing, firstly think about whether you have a substantial amount of savings, like an emergency fund. And whether you need to pay off any high-interest debts such as credit cards and finance agreements, as these should ultimately be your top priorities.

Beyond this, if you have the means to ride out the current pandemic without jeopardizing your finances. Money leftover to play with, and time to invest for the long-term, before a particular life event such as retirement. You’ll have a better chance of riding out the ups and downs of the market, and investing could be an excellent option for you to boost your future income. Especially when the interest on savings accounts at the moment is pitiful.

However, if you’re hoping for a get rich quick scheme, investing may not be of interest to you. It takes time to accumulate wealth from investments, and there is always the risk you could lose the money you put in.

What investment opportunities are there?
From tangible objects to living things, there’s a broad spectrum of items for you to invest in. Here are a few for you to consider;

➢ Property – commercial and residential buildings
➢ Foreign Currency
➢ Cryptocurrency
➢ Real estate
➢ Shares within a company
➢ Art and antiques
➢ Commodities such as oil, coffee, and gold

A concept and currency that’s piqued the interest of newbie and experienced investors alike is virtual currency, and sites like Bitit, have made it far easier to begin investing. To find more on Bitit, there is a wealth of information online to help you decide whether investing cryptocurrency is right for you.

Top tips for investing?
With an array of different opportunities to invest your cash, research and familiarize yourself with your options because you should;

‘Never invest in a business you cannot understand.’ – Warren Buffett

When learning about investing, you’ll often see the term investment portfolio mentioned a lot. It’s a sensible money management technique used by investors to create a diverse collection of investments, which shall hopefully provide them with a higher prospect of making a return. For instance, should one of your investments cause you to lose money, you would still have other investments in your portfolio that may endure the volatility of the market.

In summary, the top tips for investing are;

➢ Research investment opportunities you are interested in
➢ Diversify your investment portfolio
➢ Refrain from withdrawing your money too soon. You need to stomach the ups and downs and refrain from withdrawing your cash too early.