Hub Blogs

Hub Blogs contains fresh contributions written by Financial Independence Hub staff or contributors that have not appeared elsewhere first, or have been modified or customized for the Hub by the original blogger. In contrast, Top Blogs shows links to the best external financial blogs around the world.

Six tips to make Travelling easier

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Billy & Akaisha Kaderli

By Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Travelling is challenging enough with all one has to think about: getting the best price on airline tickets, arranging for lodging reservations, and being sure your passport is up-to-date with no expiration in the next six months. Who will watch your home, pets and garden while you are away?

Then there’s packing.

Are you one of those people who packs everything just in case you might need it? Or you pack something because you like it, even if it’s not seasonally appropriate and goes with nothing else in your bag?

The following tips can help you bring order to packing chaos.

1.) Days before you leave, make a list of what you essentially need for your trip and add to that list as you think of items. Then when you pack, you can confidently check off your list instead of relying on memory and being anxious about forgetting something.

2.) When you travel, wear heavy clothes like your jacket on the plane, including your heaviest shoes. Pack lighter footwear in your luggage. Shoes are the heaviest items, so pack fewer of them and make do. Continue Reading…

Global Recruitment trends: targeting Millennials with social media

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By Edward Page

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Today’s fast-paced and growing technology is indeed changing the world, especially in the business world, by contributing undeniable implications to businesses including workforce recruitment and employment.

With these advancements, a lot of relevant changes have taken place. Recruitment processes and systems have been greatly affected through this generation’s technological breakthroughs, as more employers and applicants have been relying on social media for their job searches.

Continue Reading…

100 Kilometers per Hour to Full Stop!

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By Heather Compton 

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

You’re busy!  You’ve been diligently advancing your career, paying bills, raising kids and saving for retirement.  Lots of your available life hours spent grooming for, travelling to or toiling away at work.

Now fast forward to your first day of retirement — nowhere to be; no need to get out of your bathrobe or into the car.  For some that sounds like nirvana; for others, their worst nightmare. Even nirvana wears thin if it’s a steady diet with no variety.

The shift from active work-life to part-time work or full-time retirement is one of the important tasks of mid-and-later life.  Psychologists speak of it as a transition, and like other life transitions it brings both bumps and bonuses. Imagine adjusting, as one of my clients put it, to “twice as much husband on half as much income!”

What’s Next?

What comes next? You may need to reclaim or rediscover yourself.  You’ve defined yourself as parent, partner and businessperson and now you’re “out of work” on two fronts – kids grown plus the job has flown.  Where does your routine, sense of purpose, identity and social engagement come from?

A rockin’ retirement isn’t a given, it’s an intention.  A rich life is a goal worth meeting, but it takes focus that goes far beyond your net worth statement.

A Life with Style

At the core of virtually all measures of life-satisfaction is your state of health.  Now you are driving an older vehicle, one where replacement parts don’t function as well as the factory originals. Creating a vehicle-maintenance schedule becomes your new job.

The World Health Organization describes health as, “a state of physical, mental and social well-being.” That requires a focus on all aspects of your health – financial, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being.

Begin Again

Continue Reading…

How to set up a faster Payments system in your business

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(Sponsored Content)

In this fast-paced business environment, the ability to offer faster payments is what makes the difference between being an extremely efficient organisation focused on customer satisfaction and one that is potentially headed towards  disaster.

Faster payments significantly reduce the waiting time for transactions to take place, which means peace for both parties. Nowadays, with the world advancing rapidly every business is doing what it can to surpass others in its race towards dominance. Setting up a faster payments system for your own business will significantly boast the operations and the reputation of your firm.

With the right tools you can observe benefits you did not know your company could enjoy. Here is a brief guide to setting up a faster payment system in your UK-based business.

Learn how faster payments work                                                             

Faster payments offer customers the opportunity to make quicker electronic payments or even transfer revenues online or via phone. Instead of taking days for a transaction to complete, the task of a faster payment only takes a couple of hours. What’s more, those who have this feature in their business are free to conduct electronic transfers at any moment 24/7. The service is even available on official holidays including the days when banks are off.

Faster payments are made electronically within the duration of two hours, given that both the sender and receiver are part of the Faster Payments service. They are mainly used to make a significantly large number of small value payments that include expenses, bills, online transfers and supplier payments.

Whilst most Faster Payments are usually restricted to 250,000 pounds; many individual banks impose a lower limit to transactions. Since the Faster Payments was launched in 2008, more than five billion payments have been processed using this very scheme.

Analyse the benefits for your business

As the name implies, faster payments are payments that take less time to be processed and are delivered at a more rapid pace in comparison to a regular payment. Continue Reading…

What to expect when applying for CPP

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What should you expect when applying for CPP (Canada Pension Plan) benefits? As my latest Retired Money column for MoneySense explains, age 64 is not just the age the Beatles ask the question “Will you still need me, will you still feed me?”

It’s also the age when Service Canada can be expected to reach out to you with a letter to your home address, giving you details of how the Government of Canada will feed you with CPP benefits once you turn 65 (or as early as 60 should you choose reduced early benefits).

But fear not, Ottawa will also  still need you, in the form of taxable revenue: like Old Age Security, CPP benefits are fully taxable.

The full piece can be accessed by clicking on the highlighted headline: CPP application: Here’s what to expect during the process.

The piece’s focus is on the actual application process but does touch on the age-old topic of the optimal age to start receiving benefits: which can be anywhere between age 60 and 70. The Hub has tackled this several times in its almost three years of existence. Use the search engine to the right and enter CPP, or click here.

Try the Canadian Retirement Income Calculator

The piece also links to a useful web tool provided by Service Canada: the Canadian Retirement Income Calculator, which you can access by clicking on the highlighted text.

Continue Reading…