Author Archives: alanhs961

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5 Ways to Make Money with the Extra Space in Your Home

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Posted by Kate Cygan on May 13, 2019 4:34:18 PM

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For most people, our homes are our biggest tangible assets. So it seems like a no-brainer to put them to work and make a little money if we can. Airbnb is a big success story, but not everyone wants to rent out their homes for vacationers. Luckily, turning your house into a short-term vacation rental isn’t the only way to make money with your extra space—and we’ve got five creative ideas that prove it.

5 Ways to Turn Your Home Into Income

1. Share Your Garage or Workshop for Projects

Your unused space doesn’t need to be fancy to earn a little extra income. Your garage or workshop might be a real lifesaver for a weekend mechanic, local artist or a group of musicians needing rehearsal space. To find these creative neighbors, try reaching out on your neighborhood email list or in your church bulletin, posting on the local Craigslist or just putting up some flyers in the coffee shop near your home.

2. Offer Your Home as a Potential Filming Location

Similarly, your home doesn’t have to be a mansion to be useful as a filming location for movies, commercials or TV shows. Lots of productions need “real” homes that look lived-in and authentic. Your state or local film commission may maintain a database of homes that are available as film locations—especially if you live in an area with significant film/TV production like Toronto, Chicago, New York City, L.A. or Atlanta. You can also list your home on referral sites like SetScouter.com, which help location scouts find available properties easier.  

3. Rent Out Extra Parking Space in Your Driveway or Yard

If you live in a big city, downtown area or anywhere near a sports venue, beach or other popular destination, you know that parking is at a premium. Depending on demand, you can make some extra money by charging people to park in your driveway or even (temporarily) in your yard. Covered parking would likely generate the most money, but people will pay for parking convenience even without special amenities. If you live in a congested business district, you might even find a renter looking for an ongoing monthly deal. Finding parking space renters might be as easy as putting a sign in your yard or taking a flyer to a few office buildings nearby.

4. Share Your Empty Storage Space with a Neighbor

Surely you’ve noticed the proliferation of storage places across the country. But who said people have to store their stuff in a big commercial building? You might have an empty bedroom or extra space in your garage or basement. Maybe you own a warehouse, or your property includes some empty space or an RV pad. Someone in your area is probably looking for space to store things like ski equipment, holiday decorations, heirlooms or even a boat. They might as well rent your extra space! Check out Neighbor.com. Their platform makes it safe and easy to find and connect with potential renters, with free background checks, secure automated payments and a $2 million host guarantee. Also check out Stache.com. By shopping around with both Stache and Neighbor, homeowners can ensure they get the best deal possible.

5. Share Your Home With a Housemate

If you’ve got an extra bedroom, in-law suite or basement room, homesharing might be a perfect solution. Having a housemate—in other words, a compatible renter—can bring in some pretty considerable income while also providing companionship and even some help around the house. 

Making money from your extra space might be simpler than you think. With today’s connected communities and helpful technology tools, it’s easier than ever to put extra space to work. It just takes a little creative thinking and willingness to be flexible. We hope these innovative ideas have opened your eyes to the potential in your home.

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Restoring Your Home After A Fire

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It’s during the summer months that you can find that your home is just a bit too warm, so you end up going out a lot. But when we are going through those incredibly hot southern summers, it can switch our brain off from time to time, and this is where our lack of judgment can mean that we burn our food, or even worse, suffer a fire. And when this happens, it can feel devastating. While you’re more than relieved that everybody is okay, you’ve still got to deal with the cleanup. What can you do to make sure that you rebuild and restore your home effectively after a house fire?   

Assessing The Damage

After you’ve called the insurance company, you should think about bringing in a professional fire restoration contractor. They can recommend a structural engineer to examine the property so you can get the ball rolling. It’s important that you contact the insurance company right away because the claims process can take a long time. Once you’ve secured the property, you can get on with addressing the structural repairs. This follows with the assessment of the electrical system, and then it’s time for the cleanup.

Restoring The Property

In terms of a house fire, there are two main sorts of damage apart from the fire damage itself. There is soot damage and smoke damage.

You’ve got to be careful when it comes to soot damage, even if the fire didn’t completely gut your property. Soot can be very dangerous to your health. You’ve got to be careful not to breathe it in. And when you are cleaning up the property, you have to start from the top and work down to the bottom because soot could fall from objects while cleaning. Because soot can be oily and stain carpets, you have to make sure that the carpet is secure. Once you are confident that the search has been removed from all of the high up areas, you can vacuum it all up. Be sure that you protect yourself in terms of the appropriate breathing apparatus.

Smoke damage is a different beast. It’s something that you can see for the most part, but you can smell it more. Even if you don’t see particles deposited, you will always be able to smell it. And when you are attempting to clean up specific materials, it’s important to go for the textiles first. And if you’re wondering what are textiles, they consist of items that don’t break, so this could be blankets, clothing, toys, sports equipment, and so on. Cleaning these can be difficult to get rid of the smoke residue and the odor, but there are some homemade techniques that you can use. To begin with, you can use a bucket of warm water with non-corrosive detergent on surfaces, and in terms of clothes, a good quality washing powder should do the job. Because it can be a lot of money to replace all of these items, you naturally want to be able to recover most of it. But if there are items damaged beyond repair, especially in terms of clothes, this is something that you need to discuss with your insurance company.

Additional Cleaning

In terms of soot and smoke damage, you’ve also got to be aware that your home should be protected from future damage. Mold is one of those things that may not enter your mind because of the severity of the fire. But if there’s minimal damage to your walls and ceiling, you can use a solution of hot water and bleach to wipe down the walls and prevent mold and mildew growth. It’s also important to realize at what point you should bring in a professional. Some homes will need to be treated right away by a professional. And again, this is something that you will have to discuss with your insurance company, but you can also look at local contractors that provide services for cheap. It’s difficult to find the right contractor because your insurance company will have specialized ones that they use. Generally, it’s far better for you to have an expert deal with it that comes highly recommended, rather than finding a cheap contractor that may not do everything to a high standard.Restoring your home after a fire is a long process, and can be emotionally draining. But you have to remember that, despite the hardships you are going through, and the time that it may take to get the home back up to code, that you shouldn’t lose heart.

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Startup Success 101: 5 Ways to Make Your Capital Work Harder

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Student, Typing, Keyboard, Text, Startup, People

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There’s nothing quite like having that Eureka moment of a new business idea. However, it doesn’t take long to realise that turning concepts into profits is hard work. In many cases, the hardest challenge revolves around getting through the initial phases. If you can do this, your hopes of success become far, far greater. Keeping a firm grip on the outgoings and overheads will make a monumental difference.

So, how can you make your capital work harder? Here’s all you need to know.

Work From Home

Formulating ideas and putting them into action could take months. Rather than paying for commercial spaces, you should try working from home. This instantly reduces the costs while you can take the DIY approach even further. Use 123inkjet Canon cartridges to do your own printing, and use call redirecting to handle your own calls. As long as you continue to maintain a positive work-life balance, you’ll be fine. If it worked for Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and co. it can work for you too.

Outsource

Aside from removing the costs of running an office, outsourcing can reduce direct staffing costs. You can hire freelancers to complete the works that you require, which is cheaper than full-time staff or contractors. Meanwhile, you can use this as an opportunity to try out new people, keeping on the best and losing the rest. For the sake of productivity as well as your finances, this could be the smartest move of all. Outsource wherever possible for increased success.

Embrace Digital Marketing

Marketing is one of the most significant strands of any business venture, and efficiency is vital. Essentially, there’s little point in gaining $1m of sales if you spent $2m on marketing. Digital campaigns require creativity to stand out from the crowd, but allow you to achieve great results on small budgets. When supported by free resources such as Google My Business and on-page SEO, you will see great results. Better still, it’ll enhance offline sale and offline sales at once.

Sell Online

A few years ago, the costs of setting up an eStore were quite high. Nowadays, it’s far cheaper. For a small business, the annual costs are probably lower than a monthly rental in a real world location. However, you can also use eBay stores and Amazon stores to sell items in a trusted place. This helps you build the client base before directing them directly to your venture and can work wonders for long-term prospects. Besides, this is the ultimate way to increase your potential audience size.

Avoid Unnecessary Ideas

When starting a new business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing things because it’s the done thing. Whether working from home or a commercial setting, saving time will ultimately save you money. Replace unnecessary meetings with emails and group chats. Get rid of any activity that doesn’t actively benefit the company. Be happy to say no before trialling ideas that you know will fail. When all of these issues are under control, the waste of time and money will fall.

When your business actively makes its capital work harder, fewer sales are needed to turn a profit. If that doesn’t encourage you to make a change, what will?

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3 Good Reasons to Do a Camping Trip Soon

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With more and more of us living in cities and other built-up urban environments, the natural world isn’t necessarily something that plays a prominent role in our everyday lives, as a rule.

Still, there is undeniably something deep within the human psyche that draws us towards the natural world. That must be part of the reason why nature documentaries are so popular, and why so many people are so concerned with environmental issues.

In order to reconnect with nature, many people go on camping trips when the opportunity arises.

If you’ve been thinking about investigating roof boxes for your car, dusting off your tent, getting back to nature and doing a camping trip of your own recently, here are a few reasons why you should go ahead with that plan.

Time spent in nature helps you to reset your body and mind

An incredible number of people in today’s world apparently suffer from disrupted circadian rhythms, and various hormonal and mood issues – not to mention health problems – as a direct result of this.

There are many reasons for this, including the prevalence of bright artificial light in the evenings, and abuse of caffeine, nicotine, and other stimulants.

The interesting thing is, research has shown that when people go camping in nature without artificial lights for a few days, their circadian rhythms are radically reset, and they are brought into much better alignment with the natural cycles of night and day.

Time spent in nature help you to reset your body and your mind in a variety of ways. It helps to get you back to a healthy baseline.

Time spent in nature helps you to radically destress and gain a sense of perspective on things

People who spend more time in nature appear to be healthier, happier, and more stress free, than their counterparts who live in built-up urban settings and spend all their time there.

This has been a consistent finding among researchers of various types.

When you get out in nature, you can see your everyday situation from a different perspective, and can better identify solutions to issues that might have been hidden from you before.

It’s not exactly clear why this is the case, but throughout history, many notable people have reported that walking in nature has been a key for helping to inspire them to come up with solutions for complex problems.

Time spent in nature helps you to experience the wonder of the world at large

There is just something majestic and awe-inspiring about a beautiful natural environment, and the fact that such an environment isn’t the product of human artifice.

When you are spending time out in nature, you put yourself in a position where it’s much easier for you to experience the wonder of the world at large, and to regain some of the childlike sense of enthusiasm and curiosity that we typically lose sight of as we get older.

Nature is something to experience, and not just something to understand. And in order to experience it properly, we have to give up a little bit of our control, and just marvel at the sights and sounds that surround us.

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Live Smart: Making A Smart Home Work For You

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Your home is your haven; it enables you to have quality time to yourself, and helps you escape the modern world. In this respect, you need to have your home work with you to make life easier. And a smart home is one of those things that everybody ponders, but may not necessarily think it’s easy to implement. But when you think about what a smart home can do, like regulate your heating, put the television on, it makes you maximize your downtime with major efficiency. But upgrading to a smart home can be difficult. But upgrading in this respect doesn’t necessarily mean putting everything through the internet; it could also help you to minimize certain expenses. So, with this in mind, how can we upgrade our home so that it becomes smarter?

Minimizing Your Expenditure

If you worry about money, you’ve got to ensure that your home is energy efficient. There are numerous ways you can do this, such as by getting solar panels, or other alternative forms of generating energy. If you are interested in this, you can look at the solar panel installation process to get an idea of it. But when it comes to money worries, if you can make your home smarter by installing a smart meter, as well as a few upgrades to minimize your water use, like a low-flow shower head, all of these things will add up to a significant saving. If you install a smart meter that can tell you exactly how much you are spending on your energy each and every day, it becomes an ingrained habit to turn the heating down by one degree or so, so you can see exactly how much you are saving. And it’s not just these practices, you can use natural cleaning products or make your own for very cheap, or install energy efficient light bulbs. There are so many different ways for you to upgrade your home, but also save you money.

Choosing Your Assistant

Whether it’s Alexa, Siri, or Google’s Assistant, it doesn’t take much effort to connect to these so you can control your lights, the heating, or any electrical items. It can take a while to get accustomed to this. But when you think about the efforts you have to put in now, this will make life easier for you further down the line. When you upgrade to a smart home, you’ve got to make it work for you. But this requires a lot more effort at the very beginning. And picking your assistant certainly comes with a lot of questions, but you need to decide what aspects of life you need to make easier. Heating is a great example because if you’ve had a long day in work, and you live by yourself, by getting the heating to come on 20 minutes before you walk through the front door, it’s going to make your property a lot more welcoming, especially during a dark and dreary winter.

Of course, there are so many different components of a smart home, but you’ll have to decide which ones you really want. Some people don’t feel comfortable with a smart home, but if you decide that you need to make life a bit easier, picking an assistant, but also minimizing your expenditure are two simple aspects to make life so much simpler.

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Easy Steps To Protect Your Business & Secure Your Website

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Business and your website security will extend far beyond protecting any sensitive data behind a particular firewall. Hackers are looking more and more at attacking websites and as a result, can be a threat to an entire business system. The goals that they have range from small disruptions to the day, to large and costly takedowns that can really impact the website and then the business as a result (through like data hacks and breeches). Cyber attacks can lock you out of a website, until you pay a ransom, sadly are things that are on the rise. But there are steps that you can take to protect the website that you have the data that you have. You can keep customer information safe and clear, and protect online assets with smart security choices.

So with all of that in mind, here are some of the ways that you can protect your business, as well as your website, and all of the data that comes along with it.

To start with, you have to think about the basics. And some of the basics of website security starts with having preventative measures in place that will help to keep the hackers out in the first place; there are a few things that can be simple to do. For example, start off with the following:

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  • Automate any of the operating systems that you have and auto-updates for your website, so that ‘human error’ is eliminated.
  • Make sure that you use strong passwords, change them regularly, and even use two-step authentication if needed.
  • Keep email systems secure and make sure employees know what to look out for (such as not opening attachments from people that they don’t know, and so on).

Security Protection

Malware is a term for all  threats that are used to attack computers, online data, and other online systems. These things, like viruses, can get into a system and cause a lot of problems, as well as steal vital information. They can lock systems, websites, and even bring down a network. So steps need to be taken to make a difference to reduce the threat of this. So maintaining up-to-date software for viruses and firewall systems, will help to add another layer of protection from attacks. The whole thing around computer security systems can cybersecurity can feel really overwhelming as you don’t know where to start. So if that sounds like you, then you could click here to learn more about how you can get started with your IT services and how to manage them.

Secure Hosting Service

If you are able to use the right web hosting service then it can be a great way to reduce the risk of any security worries. This is definitely of importance when it comes to have an ecommerce platform, so it is worth doing your research to make sure that you choose a secure host for your website. You’ll have the added back-up and help from them a host too, so it is worth having.

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Give Up Perfection and Try Gratitude: 3 Rules for Living Well

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Posted by Silvernest Team on Jun 4, 2017 7:32:31 AM

By America’s Favorite Coach for Adults, Midlife and Better, Barbara Waxman MS/MPA

I’m a huge believer in the power of gratitude. I’ve worked with cancer survivors whose gratitude for life’s little and big gifts astounds me. And I’ve worked with people blessed with so much, yet stymied because everything isn’t just right. Regularly focusing on gratitude makes everyone happier. And happier people are most often those living lives of love, meaning and purpose. Brené Brown, one of my favorite storyteller/researchers has worked on this very subject and has found that the happiest people actively think about things they are grateful for. They don’t wait for everything to be just right.

So what stops us? Why do we continue the quest for perfection before giving ourselves credit for small achievements? Perfectionism is actually an overzealous defense mechanism. Like rules, perfectionism is there to protect us. If things are perfect, then we aren’t vulnerable and if we avoid the enormous risk of making ourselves vulnerable, then we can’t fail. The problem is that it keeps us from feeling happy.

How did we get stuck in this rut? Most of us grew up with subconscious messages about how to live so that we would not be vulnerable to failure: “Do well in school and you’ll go to a good college; go to a good college and you’ll meet the right people; meet the right person and things will go just like it did for the Cleavers in ‘Leave it to Beaver’, and on and on.” We’ve seen how well that works. Making all of those right choices on paper and protecting ourselves from going for anything less than perfect was supposed to mean that we’d avoid pain, humiliation, or loneliness.

But life experience tells us that it just doesn’t work out that way. Life is like a perpetual whitewater rafting ride. Sometimes you are in the whitewater and excitement turns to fear or regret for even going on the ride. Then the whitewater passes and it’s calm — but we know that will change so we must be alert to what keeps us safe while also enjoying the thrill of the ride to come. Will we get knocked out of the boat? Will we be able to get ourselves out of the freezing cold and back to safety? We won’t know until we try and if we don’t try, then life isn’t all that thrilling.

Here are my three rules for living life well:

  • Create a ritual of giving thanks daily. This can be for big things and should absolutely include those other things we often take for granted. One of my favorite times is the early morning when I go through the ritual of making my tea. Choose the cup, steep the tea until the color is just right, take in the aroma and warm my hands. I am thankful and I haven’t even taken a sip yet!
  • You are what you think. It is your beliefs, thoughts and intentions that form the basis for everything you do and how you show up at home and at work. The actions you take and decisions you make are based upon how you think of yourself. Make a choice to view things realistically, but on the positive side of the equation. If your thinking hasn’t served you, shift your thoughts. It’s difficult, but it’s effective. Give it a try.
  • Grab those opportunities when they present themselves. Some have called this ‘The Secret.’ But there is really no secret to it at all. What you put forth into the world will come back to you. And this only happens when you take the risk of being vulnerable and maybe even failing. What is something you have avoided for fear of failure? Block out your critics, follow your intuition and go for it.

Choose to be happy! Be well.

Barbara Waxman

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10 Top Health & Wellness Trends this 2019

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This article first appeared on MadebyHemp.com

This year has been a year when most of the world focused on health and wellness in a more holistic manner: both physical and mental wellness. And it is beginning to look like 2019 will be a glorious continuation of what we have been opening our minds up to in 2018. So what can we expect to see in the health and wellness sphere in 2019?

1. Ayurveda

The 5,000-year-old health system, Ayurveda (in Sanskrit means “knowledge of life”) is responsible for a lot of health movements in 2018. Perhaps the most familiar of which would be the ketogenic diet. Ayurveda is an old system of medicine that incorporates plants and animal products, particularly fats. The practice of Ayurveda involves using fats both for consumption, meaning eating fats like ghee, and external use, like oils for the skin. The practice connects both mind and body in bringing about wellness.

2. More Plant Based Alternatives

2018 has seen the rise of plant based food, a whopping 23% rise in sales. Gone are the days when the choices we had regarding plant based food were TVP and tofu. Now it is beginning to look like there will be a huge movement in the plant based fish sector. Expect your local Whole Foods aisles to have more plant based fish meat choices. The plant based fish movement stemmed from the awareness of people of the negative impact of overfishing has on our environment.

3. More Sleep

A lot of people, students and workers alike, are severely lacking in sleep. In the coming year, we will have a better understanding of our circadian rhythm and the effects of melatonin and cortisol on our sleep patterns. If these two hormones get out of whack, our circadian rhythm will be thrown out of its cycle and our sleep gets messed up.

4. CBD Oil

This year has seen a massive rise in popularity of CBD oil. Despite its being taboo in certain circles, Whole Foods Market’s projection predicts that CBD oil will have an even higher spike in popularity in 2019.

Expect that in the coming year, we will be learning more about the endocannabinoid system or the ECS. This is a major bodily system which compounds like CBD and other cannabinoids interact with. We have seen how CBD oil has helped manage anxiety and we’ve marveled at its anti-inflammatory and anti-seizure effects. Cannabis might also help with setting our sleep pattern straight. It most certainly helps with keeping a lid on anxiety and stress.

5. Eco-consciousness

More and more people are becoming aware of global warming and the dire situation the Earth is currently in. Expect that in 2019, the strong rise of the eco-friendly movement will continue. It is predicted that the use of single use plastics and other single use items will see a further decline and the BYOB (bring your own bag) movement will continue to become more popular.

6. Mental Health

This year, mental health continues to be given its due importance. People are now realizing that in order to be physically healthy, you need to think about your mental health as well. Hemp based products (like CBD oil) has become a more popular alternative to the usual stress medications. It is predicted that 2019 will see the continuation of this mental health trend.

7. Oat milk

Is oat milk the new soy? This year, sales have grown by an impressive 45%. Lactose averse people have found a good alternative to dairy and soy milk and the rise of its popularity does not seem to be ending soon. Grab yourself a bottle of oat milk this 2019 because it looks like they will be flying off the shelves still.

8. MCT oil

Aside from CBD, 2018 brought MCT (medium chain triglycerides) oil into the spotlight. This oil is odorless and colorless and stays liquid at room temperature. Putting MCT oil into your coffee, making it “bulletproof” is a good way of boosting your energy. Expect to see MCT become even more popular in 2019 as more people become aware of its benefits.

9. Body Positivity

Thanks to Rihanna and her Fenty brand, body positivity moved from the fringes to mainstream. Body positivity saw a rise in popularity in 2018 as more and more people focus on loving their bodies instead of shrinking them to fit into the mold that society wanted them to look. As more people shift their focus to mental health, this 2019 will see an even bigger rise in the body positivity movement.

10. Hemp based products

Aside from CBD oil, hemp based products have found their way into our lives from our beauty products, to our food. With the 2018 Farm Bill already signed into law, hemp based farming will be legal nationwide. Expect that in 2019, there will be more choices in hemp based products.

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Hope for Family Caregivers Who Give So Much

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Originally posted by the Silvernest Team on their blog, Apr 9, 2018 1:52:56 PM

The Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act offers some help for family caregivers

By Carol Marak

Back in 1998 through 2007, my sisters and I cared for our parents. Our mother lived with several chronic diseases, and father lived with Alzheimer’s disease. We were among America’s 40 million family caregivers. At the time, I was working full-time but both sisters were retired.

It’s difficult to combine caregiving and working because both are full-time. I’ve often heard the saying, “There’s no leaving the job at 5:00 PM, an employee will always bring the workday home.” I found out as a caregiver, the same goes for elder care, “A family caregiver never leaves the worry and stress about parent care in the home, they’ll bring the concerns and issues with them to work.” That was my story. It was difficult to separate the two.

Each day, I prayed to win the lotto so I could be with my parents, since their care demanded a lot of assistance. I asked HR for Family Medical Leave but was rejected. Back in early 2000, HR didn’t get how elder care was such an issue, however, they could relate to child care much easier.

In June of 2017, I praised Congress for passing the bipartisan Recognize, Assist, Include, Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act.” Hooray for families! And on January 22nd, the US President signed into law the RAISE Family Caregivers Act. It’s the first step in creating a national strategy aimed at the relatives and partners who provide care.

How the Support and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act can Help

One of the goals of RAISE is to increase financial security for family caregivers — it’s a much needed support for those of us giving care. I know the types of financial supports I’d like to have seen back in my caregiving days, like earned credits in Social Security if I took a leave of absence. Also, work-related strategies like telecommute, or part-time and flexible hours would have been a big relief. But that was early to mid-2000’s. Today, employers and HR departments tilt in favor of elderly caregiving.

Here are other examples that the Seniorcare.com Aging Council hope to see in the near future:

Advice from home care experts

How experts feel the RAISE Act can help

  • “Provide a Social Security earnings credit to family caregivers who take unpaid time away from employment, either by leaving their job or reducing hours. This prevents future Social Security benefits from being penalized due to caregiving. 2) Expand government programs that pay family caregivers. 3) Expand benefits programs and tax credits that help with out-of-pocket caregiving expenses.” Connie Chow, DailyCaring.com
  • Many family caregivers give up jobs to be able to care for an aging or ailing family member. Being able to access Medicare or another medical insurance program would allow them to take care of themselves as well as someone else. Further, if a caregiver, usually a woman, stops working, her retirement is jeopardized. Most programs for the elderly/caregivers are for those who qualify for Medicaid, thus eliminating benefits for those who are over the Medicaid limit and they are the ones who need help the most.” Donna Schempp, LCSW At Home with Growing Older.
  • “One of my clients who works for a large law firm has a HR department that does many of the phone calls and research family caregivers often need to do during work hours.” Margo Rose, BodyAwareGrieving.com
  • “A lump sum policy can be used to pay relatives or partners providing home-based custodial care. Since Medicare does not pay for custodial care, we recommend lump sum first diagnosis (cancer/heart attack/stroke) insurance and/or a whole life policy. A whole life policy that has accumulated cash value can also assure financial security for family caregivers and allow seniors to remain in their home.” Maureen Fitzgerald, Ph.D., BestMedigapRate.com
  • “The problem with the current support services and financial reimbursement for caregivers is that it all runs through the Medicaid system. You have to be already impoverished to get the little bit of help offered. Opening Adult Day Care centers and offering financial help through unemployment insurance or social security to people above the Medicaid limits would go a long way to provide financial security. It doesn’t seem possible though with Social Security already under attack.” Caren Isaacs , GetHealthHelp.com
  • “Financial security will become a major problem in the United States given current demographic predictions. Individuals are outliving their retirement savings and have, in general, not saved enough for the astronomical cost of home care. I believe that advanced planning is advised so that as many contingencies are covered as is possible. Working with a professional financial planner as early in the aging process as is practicable would be wise.” Marci Lobel-Esrig, Silverbills.com
  • “One of the biggest issues that arise when relatives and partners step in as caregivers is that they typically have to give up some earning capacity. They’re investing hours to care for loves ones and sacrificing compensation as they do. There must be formal measures in place to help make up for that lost income, and it would seem that tax incentives and tax credits would be a natural place to start.” Wendi Burkhardt, Silvernest.com
  • “Education! Every family should understand the financial implications associated with caring for an elderly or disabled loved one. Education should at a minimum include estimates of realistic costs associated with care, general information about the differences between Medicare and Medicaid, and the importance of purchasing long-term care insurance well in advance of any potential need.” Eboni Green, CaregiverSupportServices.com

The RAISE Family Caregiving Act is finally here and one that America’s first responders in elderly care are eager to see what’s next.

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Creating The Right Working Environment In Your Business

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There are a myriad of reasons why it’s crucial to create the right working environment in your business, including maintaining high productivity and motivation, retaining the best staff, and avoiding accidents, as well as lawsuits. Happily, you can read all about how to create such an environment below.

Managing health and safety

Firstly, when it comes to creating the right environment in your business, it’s essential that you look after your employees’ health and safety. Of course, this can require quite diverse strategies, but the main idea is that your workers aren’t put in danger because of the tasks you ask them to do, or the behavior of anyone else on site.

To that end, health and safety may deal with things like adequately training and educating employees on the safe way to operate machinery, or enforcing a zero tolerance policy of drug use.

The latter being something that you can use testing facilities to help you achieve. After all, if you make it clear to all of your employees that there are regular drug tests the incidence of use and so the risk involved with this in the workplace will be significantly reduced.

Dealing with bullying

To create the right working environment, you also need to look after your employee’s psychological well being. One of the most important ways of doing this is to deal with any incident of bullying in the workplace, as this can not only affect your workers mental well being but also have a seriously detrimental effect on moral as well.

Of course, the key here is to empower people to be able to communicate effectively and resolve problems before they turn into victim-perpetrator situations. Although, once past a certain point, intervention by another party that reminds each party what company policy is, how they need to behave, and the consequences of not doing so can also be useful.

Employing the right people

Next, if you want the best working environment possible, it’s essential that you put some extra effort into screening and recruiting the right people.

In fact, this can be beneficial in several ways. In particular, in that by thoroughly assessing potential recruits personality type as well as their qualification for the job you can get a better mix of people on each team. Something that can make communication and interaction between them much more straightforward.

Praise not blame

Lastly, if you want the best environment possible in your business making an effort to change the culture is crucial. What I’m talking about here is a move away from a blame culture were the first thing that happens when something goes wrong is that one person or team gets thrown under the bus.

Instead, the idea is to work towards a culture of responsibility that is enhanced by encouraging praise for a job well done. This being something that can be an incredibly motivating and morale-boosting tool.

Of course such as seed change will take time to achieve. Yet, it’s well worth the effort as it can result in a fantastic working environment that will benefit both your employees and your business.

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