Geocoding And Its Importance to Businesses

The value of geo-location and geo-targeting technology is manifold. It has done wonders for businesses in any sector in driving up customer awareness and increasing its sales. With location intelligence technology, businesses can better identify business solutions and make better business strategies.

In the marketing sector, GIS data has helped advertisers better target their products and services to the right audience. By appending demographic data to latitude and longtitude data, marketers are able to identify where specific consumers are located. They can therefore create marketing ads that caters to the interests of a specific target group and hence, boost profit.

Furthermore, insurance companies can better set premiums and make accurate underwritings that are based on a client’s specific location. If they are for instance, located in hurricane or flood prone areas, insurance companies can account for such factors in their insurance rate estimates, as well as make other offers that would help customers better cope with the financial responsibility in case their property gets hit with an occurrence.

Geocoder technology are also being used by the average consumer. Think about. How many times have used Google Maps or GPS mobile app to look for a specific restaurant or to find directions to a specific venue?

Many businesses have also incorporated geospatial technology into their online presence as well. Nowadays, if you were to visit a store’s website and inquire about their weekly flyer, the site would usually ask for your postal code which will then provide customers’ specific sale offerings that are available in their area. Through integrating GIS data into their website, businesses are able to provide a more enhanced and personalized experience for online visitors and even drive traffic into their retail store.

Geospatial technology is as important to consumers as it is to businesses. This blog post hopefully has helped you better understand the workings of geospatial technology and its value.

Mortgage Broker Role In Home Shopping

In business, there are many activities that are to be done. Investing is one of this main activities people do. Investment can be stocks, savings accounts or even real estate. Real estate examples can be a house, apartment, condos and even land.

Purchasing real estate is really a big kind of investment. It is not like shopping at the mall for a pair of boots. It is a bit more serious and it entails a large sum of money. People should get help before they make this important decision. The assistance comes from mortgage brokers Toronto. The broker is not necessarily the person that gets you a house. They are the person in charge of realizing the financial situation with the price of the home. They need to make sure the people can afford the dream house chosen. The first thing to they do is study the buyer’s financial situation. The persons will need a down payment for the first instalment of the house. The remaining price is almost improbable to pay in cash. This is why they need a loan. The broker revises the financial situation and they decide on what kind of loan the person we can get. Secondly, they are to revise the rates the person will borrow in. The rate and the info will determine how long the person will need to finish the loan.

The Toronto mortgage broker is extremely important in this exchange. They are the ones that ensure that the dream of getting a job is realistic depending on the financial standing. People should get help because it is extremely important.

Sensors, Tech and Life Applications

The technology that is developed by both science and engineering are constantly being used in daily life applications. The amazing thing about these developments is how they can make life easier for you. Understanding how these work sounds quite complicated in theoretical terms but when thinking of applications it is a whole other story.

First of all are the Load cells that transform force into an electrical signal. Load cells are quite popular when people want to measure. They can be found in multiple kinds of scales such as in platform and portable weigh scales. Then, the accelerometer is a device that measures all kinds of acceleration. They look at the weight and the frame of reference in order to measure. Some accelerometers can even measure an object that is not in movement by only using the force of gravity, otherwise known as the G-force as the reference. In the electronic applications you can find this development in smartphones or game stations such as Play Stations. In the next case are pressure sensors which measure the pressure of usually gases and liquids. It is the pressure that stops a fluid from expanding. The types can be absolute, gauge, vacuum and differential. They have a few applications as well. The measurement can be pressure sensing, altitude sensing, flow, or depth sensing.

Utilizing the applications are great manners to make daily tasks easier than what they can be. Scientists all over the world are working towards the improvement of societal development as a form of solution for daily life.

Internet Banking - Just A Click Away

Many people usually go to a bank branch to run financial errands such as depositing, paying bills, making investment transactions, etc. During rush hour after work, you end up being part of a long, never ending line which makes banking process into a hassle. With internet banking, these financial errands can be done instantly without a wait.

Online banking can be done anywhere as long as there is an internet access. This allows you to do banking whenever it is convenient for you, not limited to branch's operating hours. Also, internet banking offers as much as traditional banking does; both financial and non financial banking can be done online.

Online banking lets users to view and track their transactions anytime, helping them with managing money. Instead of waiting for a monthly bank statement, which is already outdated for few days during the delivery, users can see updated bank statement instantly. Loan and credit card applications can be made online as well.

Financial transactions can be done online as well. Instead of sending monthly cheques or travelling to a branch to pay, you can pay all your bills at convenience of your own house, or anywhere. This means you can pay for your bills even when you are on a trip. With one click, you are on time for your bill payments: no more forgetting the deadline and paying for late penalty. Setting up recurring payments of transfer is available as well. With this process, you don’t even have to log on to make monthly transactions. Everything will be done for you automatically at the same time of the month. You can make investment purchases and sales through internet banking as well.

With internet banking, there is no need to travel to a brand to run errands after work. Almost all financial errands can be ran at your convenient time, anywhere. You can finally rest after work without having to rush to a branch and get trapped in that miserable line - banking is only a click away.

You Could Be Richer Than You Think: Tax Free Saving Account

In general, tax free is the most fascinating appeal to the public. Though there are limits on this banking account, we still can see benefits more than limits. The followings are the dos and dons about TFSA:
You can carry everything into , such as cash, GIC, stock, mutual funds and bonds. Basically TFSA can carry in possibly every type in RRSP (registered retirement savings plan) but with tax free. More than that, money in deposit won’t get tax deduction when doing TFSA. Without the disturbance from interest dividends, money and other things you are worrying about all can http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifbe saved with tax free.
But everything has two sides, same to the TFSA Scotiabank. There is contribution limit in tax free saving account policy. It is important to keep in mind that you can only contribute 5000 thousand in every tax free saving account. Once you exceed the contribution limit, bank will penalize you 1% for every month over contribution amount remaining in the account. And if you withdraw off the account, you can’t redeposit any portions of these funds until one year after withdraw. So, it will be much better to consult your personal income notice of assessment when planning to take unused terms withdraw from TFSA.
When facing high tax rate, people always keep complaining about government. Though we all know tax is the resources for government to pay the society services, new roads and hospitals for the public. Basically, we can’t live without tax, and tax can’t exist without the public. There is tax in work, goods, drinks and everywhere. How to save from tax and to invest for the future becomes an issue people start caring about. Under the situation like this, bankers are launching a new banking product called: TFSA, tax free saving account, which is different from genetic saving account. It may be easier to think about TFSA more like investment vehicle or a basket can carry everything in it. In short, TFSA is a good way to save.

Advice to rookies

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know that I have become a football fan. People change over the course of their life and pick up new hobbies and interests. For me, it’s football. So this Sunday, I watched the Ravens score a crushing victory against the Steelers. It was a beautiful game! I also watched the kickoff last Thursday. Two games in a week; that is pretty good for a rookie fan, no?

In this new season, with rookie players on their field for their first games, there is an abundance of discussions and articles about these newcomers. In the New York Times yesterday, there was an article about finance and financial advice to the rookies. The link to the article “Financial Lessons from Sports Stars’ Mistakes” is at the end of this post.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the statistics about football players mismanaging their money are pretty staggering. The article mentioned several star athletes who have had brushes with bankruptcy: Michael Vick (recently acquired by the Philadelphia Eagles); Bernie Kosar, formerly of the Cleveland Browns; and Mark Brunell of the New York Jets.

Some have argued that the behavior of football players is similar to those who win the lottery. Flushed with large sums of money that come to them suddenly, players squander it and are left with little or nothing a few years out. I do not think that this is a good analogy. One difference between football players and lottery players is that we know the former are very talented people: Who else could do the things they do when they are out in the field? Moreover, these people know discipline; they show up to practice every day. They also know the correlation between efforts and outcome; if one works steadily at something, he will get better. These are great skills that can be applied not only to playing football but also to managing money.

So, why do we see players going bankrupt? One of the reasons why people (including football players) make mistakes is because they lack financial knowledge. This problem can be particularly acute for young, inexperienced people whose highest earnings are concentrated at the beginning of their career. But this is not an impossible problem to fix, and the New York Times article outlined a set of lessons that could be learned from some players’ mistakes.

I have three pieces of advice for rookies. (There is more advice to give, but let me start with this simple list; I will follow up in future posts.)

1) Do not spend it all. The career of football players is short and risky; you want and need to have provisions for the future and for uncertain events. An example? The recent lockout. What would have happened if the lockout had continued? Another example? Even superstars have injuries and/or cannot play for health reasons. Peyton Manning, for example, just had neck surgery.

2) Take it in your hands. Money management is too important and too personal to be delegated entirely to someone else. You are the one who knows your needs, your aversion to or love of risk, your objectives for the future. If you leave it to others to manage your money, chances are they will not make the decisions you had wished for. Even if you seek financial advice, rely on reputable experts and stay involved in the process. After all, it is your future that is at stake here.

3) Be humble about finance. My research repeatedly shows that the majority of people are overconfident about what they know of finance. Four out of five Americans gave themselves high financial knowledge ratings but, when asked questions about basic concepts, they answered incorrectly. And ignorance hurts. Study after study documents that it is those with low financial knowledge who pay more for financial services and who are more likely to end up in financial distress. Do not be afraid to speak up about what you do not know; it is not a weakness, it is a strength, and you will intimidate anyone around you when you admit it. Most people do not have that kind of courage. Do not jump into projects or investments you do not understand well. Tell people around you, “I want to be smart about my money.” Over time, you will be.

When I got my first job as an assistant professor at Dartmouth College about twenty years ago, I showed up in the Human Resources office and was given all of these forms to fill out, requiring me to indicate which of the three pension providers I wanted and how I would allocate my pension money. I remember feeling puzzled that such an important decision would be asked of me without inquiring about my knowledge and whether I needed any help. Throughout the years, I have worked to change that process and, with the collaboration of some great people at Dartmouth’s HR office, there are now programs in place to help new hires. I take a little pride in that.

The NYT article is posted here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/10/your-money/financial-lessons-from-sports-stars-mistakes-your-money.html?pagewanted=all

Think big, in a practical way

I left for Italy in mid-August feeling pretty discouraged. Most of the recent discussions I had heard about financial literacy were focused on cost. This is clearly an important concern, but, in practice, when people talk mostly about costs, it often means they are not interested in “buying” it. And while the cost of improving financial literacy is a very legitimate concern, how about the cost of this financial mess we’re in. How about that?

The discussion around some financial education programs was also not a mood booster. Some of the papers I saw presented this summer covered programs in which individuals—often impoverished and with little education—were brought to a classroom and given a few hours of “financial education.” The expectation was that those few hours would transform people into savvy entrepreneurs or investors. And what was the main discussion around this? How much these programs cost!

This dominant concern about cost obscures the fact that we face a very important and challenging problem in need of a solution. But we need to think big; we need creative ideas that can help overcome big barriers. Lack of financial knowledge is not something that can be tackled by bringing the adult population back to a classroom for a lecture or two on financial education. We need to be practical, too, regarding what can be implemented. As my college friend—a successful entrepreneur I get together with every time I return to Italy—put it: "think big, in a practical way."

Being in Italy, with a break from my daily routine, allowed me to focus on big ideas, and I have some recommendations, that are also practical, to at least start the discussion, and I would like to hear from others.

Big Idea #1: TEACH THE YOUNG. Financial literacy needs to be implemented in schools. It is too difficult to reach the adult population and it is hard to do any teaching if there is little or no base to start from. Also, we need people to be financially literate before rather than after they engage in financial transactions. There will and should be costs of educating the young. It is meaningless to mandate financial education without, for example, training the teachers to teach those courses. Mandates do not make people any smarter, but having a well-developed curriculum that is followed by trained teachers might.

Big Idea #2: FOCUS ON WOMEN. Women have low levels of financial literacy (lower than men), but they also know that they lack knowledge. Moreover, they want to be “treated”; in most financial programs I have been involved with or read about, the majority of participants have been women. It is going to be much easier to reach and deliver to a population who is interested in financial literacy. This is a simple truth that has been mostly ignored. There are costs of only thinking about costs!

Big Idea #3: MAKE IT SIMPLE. Some financial decisions are truly complex, but there are universal concepts that are at the basis of most financial decisions and that can and should be explained in very simple ways. I am talking about the power of interest compounding, the effects of inflation, and the benefits of risk diversification. In fact, even this is economic jargon we can get away from. Let’s use plain English and explain these ideas in very simple ways. We can even come up with ways to tell stories to teach the concepts so that even a five-year-old could learn them.

Speaking of five-year-olds and of being practical, I was given the following test to see whether one can think practically. Here it is: How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? The answer is at the end of the post, but please do not look before you come up with your own solution. I thought about it for five minutes and came up with a method about as simple as putting a man on the moon. That evening, I saw my little niece Giorgia drawing a picture of the family dog, depicting him with 9 legs and 2 enormous eyes. I thought she would be an ideal person for the giraffe test, so I asked her very innocently: “Giorgia, how do you put a giraffe into a fridge?” She looked up, gave me a big smile, jumped from her chair, and ran to the fridge. Moral: you can never beat the creativity of a five-year old!

Question: How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator? Answer: You open the door and put the giraffe in.