Piano (Photo credit: esc861)
Entrepreneurs frequently need to flex, bend and break the rules of personal finance. Sometimes it means putting up safe assets for a risky investment. At other times an entrepreneur needs to accept a higher total cost to abate short term cash issues. No matter the rule you break, an entrepreneur wants the risk to be calculated. The trouble is that it?s not always easy to separate your entrepreneurship dreams with the cold hard math of reality.
How do entrepreneurs differentiate between calculated risk and foolish mistake?
My wife, Mrs. No Telly No Trouble, has been bitten by my entrepreneurial bug. She wants to start her own private music studio this fall. For years, she has been an elementary school music teacher, but the long 50 mile commute and scheduling changes due from budget cuts has taken its toll. Since she?s started work, we?ve also become parents of two wonderful kids and private teaching will allow her to be more involved in their childhood than working/traveling 11 hours a day. Success means great benefits for my wife and my family.
I?d like to think that we?re making a calculated risk, but I seriously doubt I?m an object voice. What better place to put it to the test than to ask the financial blogging community? What do you think?
Of course, you?ll need a little information to make an assessment. Here?s a rundown of costs, assets and issues surrounding starting a music studio.
As a public school teacher, my wife can take the year off without pay and still go back to her job next year should things work out. It?s nice to know that there is potential income safety net. However, my wife will need to make a decision to leave or return to work 6 months before the start of next year. So while delaying is definitely a plus, it doesn?t leave a lot of room for building up a customer base.
Unfortunately, our finances aren?t as sounds as I?d prefer. Without a second income, we?d get by on emergency savings, but expenses would exceed income. I have full faith that we?d be ok for a year, but a second year would be tight if not impossible.
Luckily, our house can easily be used for a studio, but some investment will be needed. We?ll need to purchase a new piano since our electric is broken and our current piano can no longer hold a tuning. As you can imagine, pianos are costly; between $5,000 and $7,000. Leasing is no longer a common practice among piano stores. If we buy, we?re going to have to get a loan or pay for it out of the emergency fund that is necessary for making up for loss of income.
The school district where my wife works has cut so deep, she?s next in line for unemployment should additional cuts occur next year. In a way, this only increases the need for us to diversify income. However, that safety net we thought could replenish our losses could be nothing more than a mirage.
It?s not all worries and concerns. My wife already has a lead on 10 or more potential students this year. A full studio would be between 40 and 45 students. Few businesses opportunities start with 25% of capacity. Not without buying an existing business anyways.
We also live in an excellent location, where there is strong community interest in music. Additionally, our house is situated on a main road with plenty of commuter traffic. It should be easy to attract notice with little more than a sandwich board sign.
What do you think? Calculated risk or foolish mistake?
John @ Calling the Puts writes Save Money by Learning to Spend Wisely ? The first step to investing is saving, and the key to saving money is learning how to spend it properly.
J Wayne @ All Things Finance writes The True Cost of Car Ownership ? Car ownership costs much more than people think. It?s not just a matter of what you pay each month, but many more factors such as depreciation, insurance, fuel, interest and taxes.
harry campbell @ Your Personal Finance Pro writes Why Borrowing From Your 401k is a Bad Idea ? here aren?t many loans out there that allow you to borrow without a credit check and pay yourself interest, but that?s what a 401k loan does. Sounds pretty awesome right? Well it isn?t all good, and although pundits argue that 401k loans are a good alternative to commercial loans and definitely a better choice than an outright distribution, a 401k loan goes against the whole principle of retirement investing.
Squeezer @ Personal Finance Success writes Dividend basics and important dates to remember ? Dividends are when companies pay shareholders (investors) for owning a portion of the company. Money must be invested by a specific date to earn the dividend.
Darrow Kirkpatrick @ Can I Retire Yet? writes Choosing a Compact RV or Camper for Retirement Travel ? Owning an RV can be a good road to cheaper travel. Nearly 10% of U.S. households own an RV of some sort, and the number is rising. Of households that don?t own an RV, almost 15% express some interest in purchasing one in the future. An earlier article of mine focused on operating costs for using an RV, so here I?m going to discuss some of the issues around the RV purchase decision.
TRL @ The Retired Landlord writes Real Estate Leverage ? Using it to Your Advantage ? Are you wondering what real estate leverage is? Find out the answer and how to leverage your money to build wealth faster without the risk.
Luke @ Learn Bonds writes Emerging Market Debt: Having Your Cake and Eating it Too ? Emerging market debt trades at ? twice the yield of developed country debt and triple the fundamentals.
PITR @ Passive Income To Retire writes Negotiating Your Salary and Benefits ? Find out important career tips and what you can do to negotiate your way to a better job.
Eddie @ Finance Fox writes The Cold Hard Truth On Being a Personal Finance Blogger ? What I Learned In Less Than 2 Years! ? Looking back now at your blogging journey, you can agree with me on this: Being a blogger and blogging is anything but easy.
Tushar @ Start Investing Money writes How Are Stocks Classified? ? Read my article to learn how Stock are classified, and in the process gain a possible new perspective on them.
A Blinkin @ Funancials writes Should I Die This Year or Next Year? ? 2013 Federal Estate Taxes When you?re dealing with a death in your family, the last thing you want to think about is what fraction of the estate goes to the United States government. What?s remarkable is that depending on WHEN you die, that fraction could be significantly higher (or lower).
Passive Income Earner @ The Passive Income Earner writes Is RIM a Good Investment? ? Research In Motion (RIM for short) has been an icon for Canada with their Blackberry but the fierce competition it has faced since Apple came out with the iPhone has challenged their market hold on the smartphone. Not only has Apple taken a bite of their market but so has the Android based smartphones.
A Blinkin @ Funancials writes The Ideal Budget for a Single Guy (Age 24) ? The transition from college student to young professional can be one of the most fun times in your life, but it can also be a time of stress. The increasing inflow can be extremely exciting, but only if it exceeds the increasing outflow. The bills that mom and dad used to cover (without your knowing) are now directed to your mailbox. This article will tell a 24 year old single guy how to budget.
MR @ Money Reasons writes Is A Roth IRA One Of The Best Protection Against High Future Tax Rates? ? With tax hikes more than likely in the future, is a Roth IRA your best protection against the government being able to tax all of your money?
MMD @ My Money Design writes Blogging Tips from All the Dumb Mistakes I Made My First Year ? I made a lot of mistakes within the first year of my blog. Here?s a look back at them and my blogging tips for doing things the right way!
JP @ My Family Finances writes No. You Don?t Need to Buy Life Insurance for Your Children ? Buying life insurance for your children to guarantee insurability is like paying money to protect hypothetical people.
Amanda L Grossman @ Frugal Confessions writes My Advice to a Person Budgeting for the First Time ? Someone asked for my help this past week in creating a budget for their household.
Ted Jenkin @ Your Smart Money Moves writes 4 Tax Law Changes We Need To Make Permanent ? With the presidential election beginning to heat up in America over the next several months, we are all going to hear a lot about income taxes.
Jen @ Master the Art of Saving writes Preparing Our Finances 4 Home Ownership ? By estimating our mortgage and bills and preparing our finances for home ownership now, we can begin to adjust our budget to avoid a financial apocalypse later.
BARBARA FRIEDBERG @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance writes 5 TIPS TO GET RICH AND BUILD WEALTH ? Building wealth is a key to independence and freedom; and it?s not all about the money. More people get depressed, get divorced, and get stressed over money issues than most other worries. By eliminating the living paycheck to paycheck fears and building long term wealth, emergency savings, and money for retirement, you remove one of the life?s greatest stressors.
Ryan @ Early Retirement Investments writes How Solar Power Can Make You a Passive Income ? Learn how solar power can make you passive income. I bet your in for a small surprise!
PPlaner @ Provident Plan writes Is Prepaid or Traditional the right credit card for you? ? Last week I talked about whether you should avoid debt. In case you haven?t read the article, I talked about how managing our finances, like much of life, is never black and white. This applies to debt. In many ways it may be advantageous to be debt free, but not always.
Jason @ Work Save Live writes 4 Ways to Build an Emergency Fund Faster ? Should You Have an Emergency Fund? Despite conventional wisdom suggesting that it would be wise to have a stash of savings set aside for unforeseen events that life could throw your way, many Americans opt to forgo the safety net and face life?s challenges on a whim.
Kevin @ Thousandaire writes Prepare For An Emergency Today!!! ? Let me tell you a story about what happened to me and my girlfriend Tag over the weekend. It was seriously one of the scariest moments of my life.
Evan @ writes A Covered Call Traditional IRA Update The Great, The Good and The Bad ? After years of largely ignoring my small traditional IRA I decided in March of this year it was about time to try out a covered call investment strategy I had thought about for a long time.
Evan @ My Journey to Millions writes A Covered Call Traditional IRA Update The Great, The Good and The Bad ? After years of largely ignoring my small traditional IRA I decided in March of this year it was about time to try out a covered call investment strategy I had thought about for a long time.
Jason @ Live Real, Now writes Selling Your Home: The Real Estate Agent ? The hassles of selling a home include marketing, an objective price analysis, advertising on the internet and in newspapers, providing a yard sign, negotiating the sale price, reviewing and filling out the contracts, and navigating the entire process for you. The aren?t meaningless duties, so make sure you are getting what you pay for if you hire a realtor. You need to find the right realtor for you.
Mr. Money @ Smart on Money writes Can You Contest that Will? ? Many of us think of the will as the final word in inheritance. However, this is far from the truth. Some things, like beneficiaries listed on retirement accounts and life insurance policies, supersede what is in a will. And, there is always the possibility of contesting a will if you feel as though distribution wasn?t what it should be.
Aloysa @ My Broken Coin writes How Much Money Are We Supposed to Spend on Friends? ? Friends. My biggest monetary pet peeve lately. Nowadays it is not easy to be a good friend. Nor it is cheap anymore.
Lazy Man @ Lazy Man and Money writes Real Estate: To Invest or Not to Invest? That Is the Question ? When it comes down to it, I view real estate investing as the ultimate in forced savings. We had to come up with the down payments and we lose a couple hundred dollars a month. (That negative cash flow was a consequence of buying at the height of the market for reasons other than ?investing.?) The expected result in 15 years is profound. It is a significant portion of our early retirement planning and it provides great diversification of our income in the future.
SBB @ Simple Budget Blog writes Is Budgeting Worth Your Time? ? Find out how you can keep budgeting simple and avoid the time consuming tasks that are often associated with managing your finances.
Corey @ 20s Finances writes Young Adult Retirement Planning ? Benefits of Saving a Lot Early ? Find out when you should start saving for retirement and how much you should be saving for retirement.
Greg Field @ NerdWallet writes I left my job, should I roll my 401(k) into an IRA? ? If you leave your current job, what should you do about your 401(k)? Here are some tips and suggestions about rolling it into an IRA. Enjoy
Corey @ Steadfast Finances writes Should You Invest in Dividend Stocks? ? Find out if dividend stocks live up to the hype. The payment structure seems to have an advantage on other stocks, but is that really the case?
Robert @ The College Investor writes Do You Make These 6 Investing Mistakes? ? Here are six common investing mistakes that you could be making right now! Read up, and try to avoid them going forward!
Daisy @ Add Vodka writes Planning For Homebuying ? I will admit that I am really not always the most patient of people. When I get something in my head, I want it now. Not in a year, not in three months, NOW.
Invest It Wisely @ Invest It Wisely writes I Don?t Need to Worry about Retirement Yet, Do I? ? When is it time to worry about your retirement savings? Read my article to learn when?
Suba @ Broke Professionals writes Brown Bag It: Tips For Making Cheap Lunch ? Deciding to brown bag it doesn?t meal relegating yourself to a life of school lunches with PB&J and baby carrots. Here are my favorite adult lunch ideas.
Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes Make Time To Enjoy Life While Swimming in Chaos ? You never know what is around the corner, so make sure you make time to enjoy life! You only get one shot at it!
Roger the Amateur Financier @ The Amateur Financier writes Couples and Money ? Splitting the Bills ? A guide for couples on how to split the bills they are now facing together, presenting three different ways and the advantages of each.
Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy writes Clearing Out the Clutter ? Clutter is the enemy to us all! Read my attempt to conquer it!
Dr. Dean @ The Millionaire Nurse Blog writes They?re Your Medical Records, Too ? Medixbase is an online medical record system developed by Michelle Mourre, RN. With Medixbase you?re in charge of your records and they?re readily available.
Penny Thots @ Penny Thots writes Do You Want to Be a DIY Landlord? ? So you think you might like to own some rental property. You imagine cash and checks rolling in around the first of each month as your happy and responsible tenants pay their rent on time. In your mind?s eye, you can actually see your bank account growing. Life is good and your financial future looks secure! Well, hold on just a minute, ok?
John Border @ The University of Money writes How Much to Save for retirement ? The big thing to ask is how much to save for your retirement and how much is enough. This post delves into a step by step process of finding out how much you will need.
Don @ MoneySmartGuides writes Living Paycheck to Paycheck ? In my recent wanderings on the world wide web, I came across an article on CBS MoneyWatch that said 38% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. This is up from 31% back in 1997.
Jon the Saver @ Free Money Wisdom writes Lack of Liquidity May Be Why You Don?t Feel Rich ? Having a lack of liquidity has real negative consequences that can be really bad for your finances.
Crystal @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes Budgeting Can Change Your Life And Get You Out Of The Debt Hole ? Budgets and budgeting are the key to savings and getting out of debt.
Maria @ The Money Principle writes Real estate ownership: a blessing or a bother? ? I am on holiday and the real estate problems I have in Bulgaria is heavy on my mind. To rent or to sell?
YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes 2 Home Buying Tips That People Never Tell You! ? I would like to talk about home ownership, in particular, mortgages. Now everyone tells you that home ownership is better than renting.
IMB @ Investing Money writes Investing Money is Important ? Find out why investing money is important. You could be missing out on a lot of money.
Paul Vachon @ The Frugal Toad writes Decidiing When to Retire ? Deciding when to retire can be a difficult decision to make. Will I have enough income from my retirement accounts, pension, and social security to live comfortably in retirement?
Investor Junkie @ Investor Junkie writes What Is an Annuity? ? There are many different types of annuities, and different structures for annuities. Additionally, it?s important to understand that annuities aren?t right for everyone, and they can have a number of different fees.
Debt Guru @ Debt Free Blog writes Prioritizing Your Debt Pay Off ? Find out the best strategy to paying off debt. Learning the best way to pay off debt can motivate anyone to get started now.
Teacher Man @ My University Money writes Investing In Yourself Doesn?t Have To Be Expensive ? There is plenty of buzz out there these days about ?investing in yourself?. Usually it is in reference to some magical product that you should buy. The logic is that by investing in what they have to offer, you are really just spending the money to improve themselves, and really, who doesn?t want that?
Young @ Young And Thrifty writes How Far Would You Go to Score a Deal? ? This is my journey to get myself 16,500 free Aeroplan points. It took a while, but in the end I was able to take a mini vacation!
Boomer @ Boomer & Echo writes Are You Counting On An Inheritance? ? Many boomers are not well prepared for their own retirements and are expecting an inheritance windfall to reduce their debts and provide an income.
Jeremy @ Modest Money writes Vehicle Insurance ? Better Safe Than Sorry ? I am sure none of you are guilty of this, but amazingly some people take the risk of driving without insurance. Here in BC that is illegal?and a pretty dumb risk regardless where you live.
Hank @ Money Q&A writes Fee Based Vs Commissioned Based Financial Planners ? There are two main types of financial planners ? fee based and commission based. Both types of financial planners provide financial advice on how to best manage most aspects of your financial life.
krantcents @ KrantCents writes Start a Business at 59 Years Old? ? Would you start a business at 59 years old? Bob Chinn did! His seafood restaurant is the highest grossing restaurant in the United States. It is not in New York or Chicago or Los Angeles! It is in Wheeling, Illinois. It is just thirty (30) miles from Chicago.
J.P. @ Novel Investor writes What Are Target Date Funds? ? Target date funds were created as an easy way to invest for retirement. It?s probably one of many options in your retirement account. But is it for you?
Wayne @ Young Family Finance writes Steps to Achieve Financial Security ? Learn three basic steps to achieve financial security. Everyone should be striving for this goal because of what it offers.
Shawanda @ You Have More Than You Think writes How to Make Extra Income With Online Odd Jobs ? Where to find fresh opportunities to supercharge your earnings without the hassle of starting a traditional business.
John @ Married (with Debt) writes We Did It: Debt Free ? How we became consumer debt free, and how you can too. Intentional living for married couples. Get out of debt.
Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes What Determines the Value On Your Home Loan? ? You?ll see a lot of three-letter acronyms thrown around as you shop for a home loan: APR, FHA, PMI. It?s enough to make your head spin. But there?s one mortgage acronym ? LTV, short for loan-to-value ratio ? that?s always puzzled me. Read more to get the lowdown!
Sustainable PF @ Sustainable Personal Finance writes That Old Refrigerator May Be Costing You ? Got an old fridge? Tired of soaring energy costs? Here are some strategies to save you money!
SB @ One Cent at a Time writes How to replace HP Laptop ? Effectively managing financial institution accounts is equally important as saving money. Still we don?t usually put much attention on managing side of the personal finance. In personal finance, diversification is as important as managing that diversified portfolio. Do it effectively
Marie at FamilyMoneyValues @ Family Money Values writes What is retirement? ? Preparing for retirement is so much more than just financial planning. If you are thinking of retiring, make sure to consider all aspects of retirement, not just the financial ones.
Deacon Hayes @ Well Kept Wallet writes Why it Pays to Go Back to the Store ? Every time I go to Fry?s, they post the ads on the right as soon as you walk in the door. I have made it a habit to go over to see if there is anything that is a good deal or worth looking at. Well, this time I noticed that a radio I had bought within the past 30 days was on sale for $20 less. I remembered that they had a price match guarantee and decided I would ask if they would give me the difference.
Everything Finance @ Everything Finance Blog writes 3 Places People Flock to Retire ? Living options for retirees are expanding. No longer are you confined to Florida, California or Arizona. Indeed, with the entire world to choose from, you can choose the retirement option that is best for your lifestyle and your wallet.
Shilpan @ Street Smart Finance writes The Best Investment Strategy for Growth and Income ? There is no doubt that both value and growth investing styles have their share of staunch followers. Those who believe in Graham and Warren Buffett?s value investment style believe that growth investing is for roulette players. On the other hand, growth investors believe that value investing is a thing of the past with mediocre return at best for the serious investors.
Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey @ My Personal Finance Journey writes Should I Add Long Term Bonds to My Investing Portfolio and Asset Allocation? ? During the years of 1992-2012, long-term bonds actually outperformed the S&P500 index by almost 30%. Jacob from MPFJ took this finding and set out to reevaluate his decision to exclude long-term bond index funds from his investing strategy for retirement. He ultimately decided to keep long-term bonds out of his portfolio, and this post details his reasoning why.
Steve @ Canadian Personal Finance writes Is it OK to get a discount if you are good looking? ? Would you turn down a discount because you were good looking? A customer received a discount for being good looking. This was simply a joke by the server but honestly it brings up a good question, do good looking people get discounts?
Andy S @ Saving to Invest writes Federal Taxes as a Percentage of Household Income ? Amazing how politicians can both take the same data on federal taxes and household income (per the graphs) and spin it in different ways.
Matt @ Dividend Monk writes Dividend Discount Model Overview ? The simple and effective way to determine a fair stock price for a company that pays dividends.
Steven @ Grocery Alerts writes 3 Monthly Expenses to Cut to Save you Money ? Although monthly expenses don?t seem like very much, but they can really add up. For example, a $100 cable bill on a monthly basis equates to $1200 at the end of the year. Here are a few tips on some monthly expenses that you could consider cutting.
new york philharmonic marines urinating on taliban critics choice awards super pac dre kirkpatrick mls superdraft school cancellations
No comments:
Post a Comment