Author: admin

Is Whole Life Insurance Investment a Worthy Investment

admin  Investment

A whole life insurance investment is a relatively simple concept. You will be presented with a product that has a set premium and you will be paid the agreed upon amount of the death benefit at the end of the policy holders life. You will also have an investment component included in the policy. All money you contribute over and above the premium will be placed into a cash value account which is then invested on your behalf by the insurer.

Apart from providing you with cash value account and a guaranteed death benefit to leave to your heirs a whole life investment has some other features as well. You have the option to borrow against the cash value your policy or fully withdraw an amount if you have an emergency need for the funds available during the life of the policy.

The theory behind a whole life policy is that it will pay out set death benefit and a cash value to your beneficiaries all while you are guaranteed a set, unchanging premium for the life of the policy. It does more than this, though, when you consider the fact that all the money is tax free and/or tax deferred.

Because of this tax free feature you will have the ability to make a portfolio that can achieve a number of goals that you otherwise may not be able to. You can actually use the whole life policy to secure a smooth succession in the case of a family owned business or to protect your other assets.

You may be met with derision about your interest in a whole life insurance investment by detractors who say that it isnt a real investment because it isnt run like ones stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. While it may not grow that fast, it has the potential to a much safer long term investment since it is done in a safer manner that is designed to ensure your money keeps growing despite market ups and downs.

A whole life insurance investment policy is generally seen as a “savings asset” as opposed to an “investment asset” because your money is saved and grown in a much less aggressive fashion than regular stocks and bonds. With a whole life insurance policy your additional money will be placed into a savings account where it will accrue interest. You dont have to invest the money within this savings account, but you can do so if you wish to. The savings account on its own, though, will become a huge asset over time.

Protecting Trees During Construction

admin  Construction

Whether it is new home construction or an extensive renovation, minimizing the impact on the surrounding landscape takes careful planning and commitment from both homeowners and contractors working at the site. Experienced builders are becoming increasingly sensitive to preservation of the natural beauty of a home site and many have perfected methods to minimize construction damage to trees, shrubs & other vegetation.

An Educated Consumer
As with most significant changes in industry, the move towards preserving natural beauty during construction is consumer driven. Most homeowners are very much aware of the positive effect that mature trees & shady areas have on their quality of life . . . not to mention property values. In new housing, buyers are increasingly requesting that their homes be positioned to take advantage of rock outcroppings & mature tree specimens. They are disenchanted with developments that offer dozens of homes scattered on a barren landscape, with just a couple of forlorn trees left standing strangely out of place.

It is no coincidence that home sites that border wooded areas are most sought after. During renovations & foundation work, there are often many landscape considerations. Often times trees & shrubs are planted near a home when it is built and they grow to be a perfect compliment to the structure. When that structure is expanded, it takes a talented builder and committed homeowner to retain the services of an experienced tree mover for relocation of living specimens.

It’s All in the Planning
In new construction, builders will typically develop a topographic map to show land grades, slopes, streams & areas of large rock. Homeowners can request that builders include the location of specimen trees, wooded areas & rock outcroppings on these maps, allowing for optimal placement of the home in relation to the natural beauty of the property. Dwight Mossman of Hobbs, Inc., a builder of distinctive homes in the northeast, recommends including trees greater than six inches in diameter on the topographic map. He also includes the species of the trees involved in order to maintain maximum outdoor visual appeal during all seasons. “My clients pay the same attention to outdoor details as they pay to indoor specifics,” Mossman explained, “They place a high value on landscapes that include mature trees since trees provide natural cooling & a buffer to the wind. My clients understand that specimen trees cannot be replaced and should be taken care of during construction. Careful mapping & injury prevention provides an enhanced product.”

Site management plans can include specifics on traffic flow & parking to minimize the impact of vehicles on the environment. In addition, construction fencing should be placed at the dripline of the tree, anchored as far from the trunk as possible. Visualize the tree as if the canopy were an umbrella- the drip line is where the water droplets would fall to the ground. According to Mossman, “Cabling & bracing may be needed when the stability of a large tree is compromised. It improves the tree’s chance of survival.”

Sources & Symptoms When tree roots are removed or damaged, or fill is placed on the soil surface, trees may show decline symptoms within a few months. Trees on construction sites are injured by: Lowering of groundwater

Compaction of soil

Removal of top soil

Loss or damage to roots

Damage to trunk & leaf crown.

Symptoms include small or off-color leaves, premature fall color, extensive water sprout development on the trunk & main limbs, dead twigs and eventually dead branches.

Naturally, the best way to protect trees on a construction site is to prevent, or at least minimize any changes that may cause injury. Trees that have been injured are best treated by first stabilizing their environment. Next, deliver the appropriate amount of moisture & avoid additional stress factors caused by insects & disease with an accredited plant health care program. Follow up with maintenance pruning, cabling, bracing & the implementation of a nutrient program designed to recolonize the soil with beneficial mycorrhizae and provide the nutrients required for healthy growth.

When homeowners & builders are committed to preserving natural beauty, they can work together to minimize the impact of construction & renovation, creating a home to be enjoyed both inside & out.

For more info about the company, visit the website SavATree.com

Used Porsche 911 Buying Tips

admin  Sales  , ,

The following article is some handy hints of what to look for is you are buying a used Porsche 911. The used car market is full of sharks and certainly where high performance cars for sale, you can find that the prices are marked up on vehicles that are not of a high standard. Here are a few tips if you are specifically looking to buy a used Porsche 911 in the UK.

Service History
Unless the car is a really old classic Porsche 911’s from the 1960’s, I would always go for a car with a good service history record and copies of receipts from previous work that had been undertaken on the car. A used Porsche 911 without any service history is a risk and you do not want to be footing the bill for any major problems after the warranty runs out.

Check the Bodywork
Looks are always a big factor with used Porsche 911 vehicles, you want people to admire the car, any imperfections on the car will only stand out like a sore thumb. Older cars will have paintwork that is not perfect, so be prepared, especially the older reds that may have faded. What you want to look out for are stone chips and faded paint. Any high end dealer will fix minor imperfections for you, but make sure you tell them to do this before you pick the car up. Unscrupulous dealers won’t work on a car unless they have to. Any small faded areas on the roof and bonnet are a sure of bird droppings and owner neglect with storage and washing. Any used Porsche 911 should have impeccable bodywork as the build quality is very high.

Check the Tyres
When you get time at the dealers, check the back tyres for unusual wear. If the back tyres have flat spots and very worn, this could be a sign that the car has been thrashed by the previous owner or garage. Although used Porsche 911 vehicles are high performance machines, you don’t want to buy a mistreated vehicle.

Be Suspicious
If you are buying a used Porsche 911 from a garage you would not expect to be selling such a high end car, be suspicious how they acquired it. Find out by asking questions and make sure you do all security checks and HPI checks before you part company with your cash. If you are buying a used Porsche 911 privately, then be even more suspicious, vehicle crime is getting more and more sophisticated. A deal is a deal and its always worth going for a bargain, but that does not mean ignore specialist used Porsche dealers.

Spend Time on the Interior
Checking the engine and mechanical areas of a used Porsche 911 is vital. But don’t over look the interior of the car. Damage to the interior of cars can really affect resale values and are very expensive to repair. So take a long time to inspect the interior of the car, if you are looking at an older used Porsche 911 cabriolet, check for leaky roofs. Never feel rushed to inspect a vehicle and always go at your own pace. Tell the sales person to go and sit down and leave you to it if they are rushing you.

Remember that you are going to be paying a lot of money for your used Porsche 911, so if anything seems just not right, no matter how small. Walk away from the deal and never buy anything without checking out HPI and VIN numbers. If you have the money, get the AA or a mechanic to give the car the once over.

How To Make Your Fortune With Door To Door Sales

admin  Sales  , , ,

A lot of people look down their nose at door to door sales but actual measurement shows it is a very effective way to sell.

Knocking on doors to sell is no more of an interruption than any other form of advertising. Even TV and radio advertising interrupts your shows or music. Like ll other advertising and sales, if you product or service is needed by the customer, they are glad you came by. If they don’t need what you are offering, they view you as a pest and an interruption. For example, if your toilet started dripping and flooding just before a pluming company knocked on your door, would you be glad they came by? Sure you would. That’s why raising interest quickly is so important in door to door sales.

A Great Way To Get Through

Door to door sales will get you through to a decision maker. You won’t get voice make, receptionists or other gatekeepers to stop you. If the door opens, you got through and you have a few seconds to raise interest and tell them how you can help them. Door to door sales allows you to get through to people you would never reach any other way. Door to door sales also gives you immediate customer feedback. If too many people don’t like your approach, your price or your product, you can change it quickly.

Undivided Attention

When someone answers the door, you have their undivided attention for a few precious seconds. There is no other form of advertising that provides this golden opportunity. TV commercials interrupt the show. Many people leave the room. Newspaper ads are an interruption for people trying to read the news. Telemarketing calls are taken while people eat, watch TV and do all kinds of things. Only door to door sales gives you their undivided attention.

Impulse Selling

Door to door sales gets impulse sales. Most other forms of advertising require a person to think now and act later. For example, TV ads require you to remember the name and number of the advertiser and decide to call them later. The same is true of billboards, radio ads etc. Only door to door sales puts a salesperson with an order form in front of a customer you have convinced to buy right now. That is the miracle and the magic of door to door sales.

No Cost To Try

Unlike all other forms of marketing, door to door sales costs nothing to try. If you can knock, you can sell. This allows small startup companies to compete with the big dogs and can bring in immediate cash to new businesses.

Easy To Evolve

Unlike other kinds of marketing that may take weeks and thousands of dollars to change, door to door sales is easy to evolve and improve. You can change your presentation, your price and your approach before you knock on the next door. The cost of this market research is zero. Give it a try and see who salutes it.

Used By Respectable Companies

Some people fee that door to door selling is only used by swindlers but some of the largest companies use this medium successfully such as AT & T, Time Warner and many others. Be proud if you sell door to door. You are in a good group of sales companies.

Door to door is as American as the front porch and as friendly as meeting your neighbors. It is a great way to market, and it should be a part of every salesperson’s sales tools.

Construction Chemicals How They Are The Spine Bone Of Any Construction

admin  Construction  , , ,

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY:

The construction scene is going through tough times in the United States of America. A large section of Hispanic population in America almost all the time work for free. Labors come cheap in some parts of the United States and a family from New York or California could invest really cheap in areas like Texas for as low an amount as one lakh sixty thousand dollars. Here is a bit of both positive and negative news which is that there is a rise in about twenty eight percent in the demand for new homes in February of the present year but a rise in only about three percent in the construction jobs.

Construction business is booming in Canada and also in the rest of the world. There is a surge in the building of apartments and residential complexes. In the rest of the world there has also been a positive growth in the firms of building materials, construction and engineering sectors. In Australia there has been a growth of about six percent last November thus heralding better days in the construction business in the days to come. The government in Australia has also been proactive in building new schools in the country and which served as the impetuous in the non residential construction sector. Analysts at the Commonwealth banks comment on the fact that the construction boom in any country could last for a whole two to three years adding a two to three percentage points to economic growth.

ABOUT A FEW CONSTRUCTION CHEMICALS:

Readymix concrete is a mixture of cement, aggregates and water. Concrete is basically a mix of paste and aggregates. The paste like component in the ready mix structure is made up of cement and water and also coarse and fine aggregates like sand and rocks. The concrete can be put into any shape. Ready-mix concrete can be used to build high-rises, sidewalks, superhighways, houses and dams.

We, at Krishna Colours & Constchem Pvt. Ltd. have been in the construction business for a span of ten years and more. We cater to both large and small scale construction business with our construction chemicals. We work on both repair and alteration projects. At present we are concentrating on the residential projects but planning to span out into the commercial construction projects. As admixture manufacturer in India our construction chemical industry provides the chemical solution to commercial, industrial, residential and infrastructural segments of industries.

As readymix concrete supplier in India we understand that quality is topmost in the mind of the builders and construction companies so we take care to manufacture construction chemicals in accordance to international standards. As admixture supplier in India we can say that admixtures are those ingredients in concrete other than Portland cement, water and aggregates which are added to the mixture immediately before or after adding. Admixtures can be of various types like water reducing admixtures, plasticizers, accelerating admixtures and such the like.

Material for construction is used in the construction industry for constructing buildings and structures. Material for construction is vital for any construction industry.

Gary Cardone Knows A Thing Or Two About Energy

admin  Energy  , , ,

Gary Cardone And His Contributions To The Energy Industry

Gary Cardone has been linked to the energy industry for quite a while. He has a long history with such major providers as Dynegy and Accord Energy.

After the profitable sale of Accord Energy Gary Cardone served to create Dynegy Europe which developed into one of the most productive U.S. energy companies operating in Europe. After three years of operations it had obtained 87% of the Storage of Natural Gas in great britan, had 600 staff members with power and gas positions in Germany and Holland with establishments in Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Holland.

Gary Cardone was managing director of Dynegy UK and Dynegy Europe. Cardone, who had been earlier director and gm of Energy Trading at Dynegy UK, took over responsibilities for all of Dynegy’s UK and European gas, power and crude oil trading and marketing activities and development of new business prospects.

When Gary Cardone was chosen as managing director of Dynegy UK and Dynegy Europe, Chuck Watson, chairman and chief executive officer of Dynegy, said, “We are pleased that Gary has decided to tackle the job of managing director as Dynegy moves to participate in the deregulating energy markets in Europe”

Gary did exactly that.

Cardone joined up with Dynegy in 1987 and relocated to London in 1994 in order to develop its European energy organization. The business began trading the U.K. and Scandinavian power markets.

Gary has worked in all sectors of Dynegy’s commercial activities across the US and Canada. Cardone joined Dynegy UK in 1993 and was a key component in the formation of Accord Energy, a joint venture between BG and Dynegy. When operational control of Accord was transferred to Centrica at the begining of 1997, Gary became director and general manager of Energy Trading in the recently formed Dynegy UK.

Gary Cardone ran lots of functions purchasing as well as managing gas acquisition with the North Eastern States, Gulf of Mexico and flows to California as well as imports from Canada. Left in 1993 to build up a business for NGCH in Europe.

Accord Energy was a joint venture whereby Gary was the architect of between British Gas PLC and Natural Gas Clearinghouse to exploit the inefficiencies inside gas and electric industry in britain.

Following the successful sale of Accord Energy Cardone helped make Dynegy Europe which became one of the successful U.S. energy companies doing work in Europe. After three years of operation it had acquired 87% of all Storage of Natural Gas in england, had 600 employees with power and gas jobs in German and Holland with office buildings in Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Holland.

Gary Cardone functioned as Commercial Advisor with a large Private Equity firm leading them on discovering deals on the sell and buying side. He focused on opportunity to co-invest, midstream acquisitions including pipelines, expansions, platforms, and divestments of gas and oil properties, midstream assets, and renewable assets.

Accord Energy was a joint venture that Gary Cardone was the architect of between British Gas PLC and Natural Gas Clearinghouse to take advantage of the inefficiencies within the natural gas and electric industry in great britain.

Auto Electrical Service Watch Out For These 6 Warning Signs!

admin  Automotive  , , ,

If the six signs below look or sound familiar, your vehicle may beginning to have starting problems commonly associated with starters or alternators. It is time for some form of auto electrical service. As a lot of vehicle owners have learned from experience, ignoring problems doesn’t fix them, they only get worse! You may up with real car problems ranging from “slow” starts to a car that refuses to start at all.

6 Warnings Signs of auto electrical problems:

1. Dashboard Lights These lights are warnings that something needs immediate attention. Don’t ignore them, hoping they will go off on their own.
2. Strange Sounds If the engine is starting to make strange sounds, schedule an auto electrical service as soon as possible.
3. Burning Smell A burning smell could be caused by over-heating electric connections, indicating a circuit or fuse malfunction.
4. Dim Lights Dimming lights is an indicator of a failing alternator–the car battery can’t keep a charge to run the lighting system.
5. Dead Battery This is especially common during the winter months when lights are on for longer periods of time or if the lights are left on after turning the car off. A simple jump-start should take care of the immediate problem, but don’t forget to have your battery checked. Weak batteries can cause damage to starters and alternators.
6. Electrical Malfunctions — A broken connection or single little wire can lead to a series of electrical malfunctions. A simple auto electrical service, such as reconnecting an on-line fuse or connection can bring life back to your car.

** In the News…Southwest Airlines Will Use Renewable Jet Fuel From Forest Waste.

“According to the Green Car Congress, Southwest Airlines is the latest carrier to experiment with renewable jet fuel. It recently signed an agreement with Red Rock Biofuels to purchase low-carbon fuel made from forest residue. Southwest will buy approximately 3 million gallons of the renewable fuel per year, with the first deliveries expected in 2016 for use in the San Francisco Bay Area. Red Rock Biofuels’ first plant is expected to turn 140,000 tons of the forest residue into 12 million gallons of fuel per year.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines started using biofuel on flights between New York and Amsterdam last year, while South African Airlines and Boeing plan to test a tobacco-based fuel grown in the airline’s home country. In addition, Boeing is also involved in the development of “green diesel,” which is made by splitting molecules from waste oil and fats with hydrogen. All of these efforts could help lower the airline industry’s overall carbon emissions, which account for 2 percent of the global today. By some projections, that total could rise to 5 percent by 2050.” **

Having problems with starters and alternators? Contact our ASE Certified Technicians at Clausen Automotive by calling (608) 221-8321 or go on-line at http://clausenautomotive.com for more information about auto electrical service. Since 1975, our family-owned auto shop has proudly served vehicle owners in Madison, WI, and the surrounding communities.

Delivering High-performance Car Radio Designs At Low Cost With Digital Low-if Cmos Amfm Automotive

admin  Automotive  , , ,

High-growth economies such as Brazil, Indonesia, India and China have an emerging middle class and rapidly growing automotive markets. The vehicle retail price in these markets must be relatively low, putting cost pressure on components in these vehicles. Additionally, automotive markets in developed economies such as the United States, European nations and Japan are also seeing an increased demand for cost-sensitive solutions after the global financial crisis that began in 2008.

Traditional technologies used in automotive AM/FM tuners are typically BiCMOS tuners with a 10.7 MHz IF tuner architecture. This technology/architecture delivers on radio reception performance, but the process and architecture are cost prohibitive for mixed-signal architectures where RF circuits are integrated with digital processing engines such as DSPs and microcontrollers in a monolithic circuit to deliver fully processed audio outputs.

Digital low-IF CMOS AM/FM receivers very much fit the bill due to the much lower cost points of CMOS foundries and the use of a digital low-IF tuner architecture. Digital low-IF AM/FM receivers have been in use in the handset and portable media player markets for a number of years.

RF Dynamic Range
In crowded FM spectrums that are very common in urban settings, the abundance of radio stations can overwhelm the radio receiver tuned to a desired station whose signal strength is relatively weak. The most severe and common non-linear distortion resulting from strong interferers is third order inter-modulation (IMD3) distortion resulting from two strong close-in blockers that show up on-channel on a weak desired station tuned to.

In many applications an external tracking filter is used on the front end of the receiver to attenuate the blockers. This technique, however, is costly in terms of components and PCB real estate.To minimize IMD3 distortion products, the dynamic range of the receiver front end must be adequate.

Selectivity and Dynamic Bandwidth Control
Selectivity refers to a tuner’s ability to receive a weak station in the presence of stronger stations at small frequency offsets. This is especially important for receivers in crowded FM spectrums in urban environments. An important performance requirement, especially for European markets where the channel spacing is 100 kHz for FM broadcast, is adjacent channel selectivity, which refers to suppression of signals 100kHz away from the tuned frequency and which is usually no better than 30dB in many tuners found in the low-cost category.

While 30 dB selectivity performance may be adequate for many field conditions, there are many situations in the world in which a listener is tuned to a station broadcast from a distant location while driving past towers broadcasting multiple stations in the local region. In this scenario, much higher selectivity is required.

Sensitivity
Sensitivity refers to a tuners ability to pull in weak stations. If you live in a rural area away from the transmitters of most radio stations, the sensitivity of a tuner will be of great importance. With current car radios, the performance requirements are typically microvolt level sensitivity, allowing the car radio to pull in an extremely weak signal and extending its ability to tune into a station dozens of miles away.

Alternative frequency (AF) Check
In Europe, alternative frequency (AF) technology is an optimal choice that allows the car radio tuner to tune to a different frequency that provides the same station when the first signal becomes too weak when moving out of range. This technology is often used in European car radio systems, enabled by radio data system (RDS) technology where the AF list is transmitted via RDS data.

In summary, continuing cost pressures in the global automotive market are driving the development and deployment of highly integrated and innovative CMOS radio receiver IC solutions that will provide significant cost savings in transitioning from traditional architectures and analog-centric semiconductor processes typically employed for car radio tuners.

Guatemala Pensionado Permanent Residency Program

admin  Business  , , ,

Introduction Guatemala is offering a Pensionado program. This is a permanent residency allowing one to live in Guatemala for the rest of their life. The Pensionado receives a Cedulla which is a national identity card that would allow the person to open a bank account in Guatemala without showing the passport from their home country. The Cedulla is a high tech digital ID card. The identity card can reflect a lawful name modification for additional banking privacy. With the Cedulla one can travel without a passport to five other central american countries, off the grid so to speak.

Time Frame The process takes approximately 2-4 weeks, so three weeks is a fair approximation of the time frame. One does have to be in Guatemala during the process. Five Star hotels run about $100 to $145 a night depending on the season. It is possible to stay in Antigua, Guatemala which is a lovely resort community (google Antigua Guatemala). A large steak dinner in a five star restaurant is about $20. You will find things cheap here.

Fee The complete fees are $8,000 for one person, $9500 for a couple. Each child is an extra $1000. Children must be under 18 years old. All fees are paid at the start of the application. Fees can be paid by cash or wire transfer. We do not take checks because they take longer to clear (30 days) than the program requires to complete.

Pensionado Economic Requirements The program is for retired or disabled people. There is no age restriction. One does have to show financial responsibility. An income of $1000 a month is needed. This is $1250 for a married couple. This is so stated in a declaration to the government. The income is proven with bank statements, stock broker statements etc. Income can be private sourced from investments, rental properties etc. It is a good idea to also present gold and platinum Visa cards as additional support for financial independence. You will not have permission to work as an employee for others. You can be self employed in your own business.

Guatemala Taxes Guatemala does NOT tax offshore derived income. Money coming in from outside of Guatemala is NOT taxed. Your pension, investments etc from outside of Guatemala are not taxed. If you had a shoe store in Guatemala you would pay taxes. There is a VAT of 15% on some goods. A plasma TV costs a few hundred dollars more than in USA. USA cars are about same price without the discounts which are better in USA. European and Asian cars are higher priced. Solid wood furniture is far cheaper than in USA and better quality.

Official Documents Needed One needs their passport, birth certificate and marriage license if married. If possible marriage license and birth certificate should be the more modern variety with seals etc.

Language Requirement None. You do not have to speak Spanish. It is a great idea to start taking spanish lessons ASAP when here or before. There are a number of computer programs that are excellent. Rosetta Stone is popular. We do advocate learning the language. Our law firm and staff all speak English well. The better hotels and restaurants will have English speakers. Most of the Doctors speak English. Many establishments do not speak English as well.

Rights in Guatemala You have the rights of a citizen except you cannot vote and cannot get a passport. As a Pensionado you are not supposed to seek work as an employee for others. This is not the purpose of the program. You can own property, start businesses, own corporations, have bank accounts, get mortgages etc.

Time to Become a Citizen The normal time is five years. After you are a resident for three years to can apply to have the residency time shortened to three years from the normal five years. Only citizens can have passports, not residents.

Cross Border Travel as a Resident There is a Free Border Treaty in Central America. With a Guatemala Residency ID card you can travel by land or boat into the following countries without any passport needed: Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. Costa Rica has signed the treaty but is known for not honoring it so don’t count on them. If you go by commercial airline you will need a passport. Your home country will not know where you are since the passport is not being swiped. You will not be able to open bank accounts in the other countries by just showing your national identity card (Cedulla), just Guatemala.

Name Change What can be done is the maiden name of your mother can be added onto your resident ID (Cedulla) as a third name. If you were Daniel Boone now and your mother maiden name was Smith you could now be Daniel Boone Smith. This is a lawful and customary practice in Latin America but of course optional. Now when you open your bank account in Guatemala it will be in name of Daniel Boone Smith and not reference your home country in the records. No lies and nothing illegal yet this allows you to fall through the cracks.

Guatemala Banking As a Pensionado resident in Guatemala you can have a bank account in Guatemala without showing a passport or any ID from your home country. NO passport needed. What can be done is the maiden name of your mother can be added onto your resident ID (Cedulla) as a third name. If you were Daniel Boone now and your mother maiden name was Smith you could now be Daniel Boone Smith. This is a lawful and customary practice in Latin America but of course optional.

Now when you open your bank account in Guatemala it will be in name of Daniel Boone Smith and not reference your home country in the records. No lies and nothing illegal yet this allows you to fall through the cracks. Guatemala has NO tax treaties for information sharing with any country. There will be no sharing of any banking information for tax reasons (any sort of tax or tax related case). Guatemala has no Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with the USA, Canada, UK or EU Countries. This means sharing of information for criminal cases will be difficult.

Other Countries Pensionado Residency Programs – With the Panama Pensionado program there is a zero chance of ever opening a bank account without showing your home country passport. We know people who have tried this with a number of Panama Banks. The Panama banks are not allowed to take the pensionado ID or even a permanent residency ID to open a bank account. The cell phone companies in Panama will not open an account without one showing a home country passport no matter what sort of Panama permanent residency they have. All the panama residency programs, permanent, pensionado or otherwise, are nothing more than long term tourist visa, period. Panama residency ID’s of any sort do not allow for any cross border travel without a passport.There are very few Pensionado programs in the world today. There are residency programs. They usually take about six months to process a residency and one needs to remain in the country during this period of time.

Does One Live Free in Guatemala ? Oh think of it like the USA in the 1950’s. The police cannot come into your home without a search warrant. None of this “I heard a cry for help” garbage. Warrants from the patrol car radio are not happening. The police will need evidence of a violation of law to get a warrant. We did not say probable cause as in a reasonable person would deduct blah blah blah, that is USA not Guatemala. Not a common thing to see a search warrant issued here. If the police stop your car you can refuse to let them search it. You can also call your lawyer and wait until the lawyer comes and then the search proceeds, your choice. The police will generally be polite and a request to search a car would be like when there is an emergency and a roadblock scenario to catch fleeing felons who were shooting at police or something drastic. Not a common thing.

We have a kind of police called Transito. Traffic cops is what they are. They have no guns. They have cool yellow green uniforms with white helmets like Bermuda Police. They can only do traffic or auto equipment violations. Normally they will have a side of the road setup and look at cars to make sure they have a current sticker. They will check trucks to see if their loads are secure or not. When pulled they ask for driver license to make sure it is current. None of this – “where are you going, can I look in your trunk, do you have any weapons, have anything I should know about”. None of this happens with a traffic stop. If you do get a ticket just send your lawyer down to appear for you and pay fine. No point system. Very rare to ever see radar and never saw laser yet in Guatemala. People don’t even bother with radar detectors. Never saw any speed or red light cameras. They do offer parking tickets for parking violations and they can be generous in this area in some locations. Tickets are cheap, relax. Some towns like Antigua boot cars. Never park illegally in Antigua they love parking enforcement. Antigua has a special tourist police force that are on almost every corner when it is busy. They often speak English and you will find them very polite and eager to help. If you say you want leather belts they will even tell you where such a store that sells that is located.

The regular Guatemala police are called the black police (policia negro) because their cars and uniforms are black. They have guns. They do not work traffic and cannot pull you for traffic reasons. They are crime fighters only. They generally ignore you. The police will probably never show if you call them to come to your house or if they did it would take a lot of time. I never knew anyone to have their house robbed. We live in gated communities with armed guards. We have alarm systems. When the alarm goes off two ex military guys from the alarm company on a motorcycle come with guns. Often in about five minutes. One hides behind cover and the other walks around to see what is up. They have body armor and are serious fellows. So you have the armed guards in the community, some sort of fence, the alarm and now the alarm guards show up. Never knew anyone to have his home robbed.

The lawyers and court system does not work in a harassing way like in USA. This is not a society that likes lawsuits. Lawyers do a lot of contracts, real estate law, family law, criminal law but not a lot of civil litigation. If you go about your business and do not bother other people, no one will be bothering you. People here do not go out and start trouble with their lawyers like up north. People will tend to settle their differences more sanely here than the USA. That being said never ever sign any real estate agreement or any contract without a lawyer to review it. I think this rule applies anywhere. The freedom here is very noticeable.

Firearms A resident can apply for permission to own and carry concealed firearms. Assault weapons are not allowed to be purchased now which means no centerfire rifles under a current law which is going to expire in a few months and will most likely not be renewed, as a political guess. There are some already registered assault rifles that could transfer but would have to be kept in the home only, no carrying. They will be hard to find and most likely in .223 caliber.

You can have handguns in any common caliber and 12 ga. Shotguns in semi-auto, pump, double barreled etc. Glocks, CZ, Beretta, Sig Sauer, Walther, Jerico, and Bull are the popular quality handgun brands. Mossberg and Remington are popular shotgun brands. Franchi makes a 14″ pump in 12 ga that is sold as a regular shotgun and can be included on a carry permit, legal and nice for the car. One can get plastic shoulder stocks for some glock pistols and Jerico pistols. The stocks are not a restricted or controlled item. This is called a short barreled rifle in some countries. The most popular handgun calibers are 9mm and .40 but there are a lot of 45acp., .380, and .22 pistols available. Anyone who thinks they cannot defend themselves adequately with a Berretta or Glock handgun and a 12 ga pump shotgun in an urban environment does not know what they are talking about, end of story.

A person is only allowed to purchase 700 rounds of ammunition per month for each gun owned, range ammo excluded. Most manage without shedding any tears. Importing guns is a possibility but they are never going to consider more than two guns being imported. A forty two gun collection is either an arsenal or a store to the customs officials, forget it. Same with your 35,000 rounds of ammo. We have quality shotgun ammo and premium Magtech, handgun ammo in the gun stores. The gun and ammo variety in the USA is not here but we have anything you need for functional self-defense. No handloading. That is considered an ammunition manufacturing facility in most Latin America countries.

One can own an unlimited amount of firearms in their home. Each firearm has a title certificate for it similar to a car title. A person can only have 12 weapons included on their carry license. Rotating guns on the license is possible but a big pain in the neck, ill advised. There are at least 18 gun stores in Guatemala City and the suburbs. There are a lot of guns in Guatemala. We have 100,000 security guards most with a Mossberg 12 ga maverick pistol grip or a .38 caliber revolver. We keep our homes, communities, stores, malls, restaurants safe that way. It does not let the criminals take root.

This paragraph is so extensive because a lot of people are escaping police states and gun ownership is a cherished right and we applaud and support this right. On the other hand no law says you have to own a gun and many people do not own guns. Guatemala is a free country and we do not impose our will on people.

Knives and Edged Weapons Many people carry machetes on their belts, usually in the countryside. Can be startling at first since it looks like a sword. They use them to work on the land. A single edged folding knife with a blade of 3.9″ or less can be carried in a pocket or on the belt in an urban area but is not restricted in the country. There are no size restrictions in the code for non-folding knives. There is a prohibition against automatic knifes, stilettos (not sure of legal definition) and daggers (again not sure of legal definition). If you ask where assisted folders etc stand the answer is we do not know. Could be construed as an automatic or not? Same for flippers. Laws not defined clearly. Generally speaking knives are not considered a prohibited item and enforcement is not tight, but follow the law. This section was included because many of our clients are escaping from oppressive police states and their rights are very important to them and thus to us as well.

Drivers License Of course you can have a driver license as a resident. It is a bit bureaucratic and some red tape. You can drive on your home country license for some time while you adjust into your new home.

Health Care You will find the health care better than North America and Europe. The Doctors almost always have English. The staff is three times nicer than what you’d expect. The hospitals are cleaner and far cheaper. A hospital suite is about $165 a day in an expensive neighborhood. Pharmacies generally do not require a prescription and drug prices are about one third of the USA price.

Pharmacies deliver, many round the clock. Doctors make house calls for $25 to $30. Dentists are about 25% of the USA price and are very good. Veterinarians also make house calls for same price and are excellent. If the pet needs to go into for x-rays etc they transport for you. Without the oppressive prescription laws you can treat a lot of pet infections yourself by just buying the drugs or the pet store will help you out. We have a lot of homeopathy practitioners. There are chiropractors and naturopaths. There are some health food stores and organic food is becoming more and more available. Plastic surgery is popular and affordable. In a word health care way more affordable and better.

Real Estate We live far better than North Americans or Europeans imagine. Most of our single family detached homes are at least 500 sq. meters. A sq. meter is 10.75 sq. feet. Most housing that is top drawer will run $900 to $1100 a sq. meter. In the countryside real estate prices are lower. The more rural the lower it gets. It is common to see homes of 800 to 1000 sq. meters. Hacienda homes will run up to 1800 sq. meters. For a perspective one can get a 3000 sq. foot (not meter) executive townhouse in a gated community with armed guards new for $200,000 with fenced yard, garage etc. Check out a community called Antigua, Guatemala in google. You can get a great townhouse there for $150,000 a beautiful patio home $250,000 to $350,000.

Beaches We have beaches on the Pacific and Caribbean. Simple but acceptable beach homes can be had for $100,000 to $150,000. The Pacific beaches are about ninety minutes from Guatemala City. Beaches are warm and humid.

Weather Guatemala is at about 5000 foot altitude. It is 55 to 75 degrees year round. Homes have no air conditioners or heaters. Think of savings on utility bills. We do use fans, usually ceiling fans. It never snows except on the very top of the volcanoes. Warning: Do not bring ice skates, they will rust.

Schools There are a number of k-12 private schools. They are generally bi-lingual english and Spanish. The schools have campuses with playgrounds etc. They are far nicer than USA schools and the teacher student ratio is much lower. Costs vary from school to school but will be a fraction of USA price.

Domestic Help A live in maid runs $175 a month plus you feed them and supply uniforms. A gardner handyman can run $400 a month if you need one every day. A driver would run $500 a month live in. A nanny for the kids would run about $225 a month live in. Elderly folks can hire two maids and a driver and avoid going to a rest home. There are always two servants on premises and they can go on car trips, to the doctor, shopping, beauty parlor etc. They do not have to clean, cook or drive. Beats the heck out of the alternative.

Food The food is close to organic or free range meat. Prices are a fraction of USA prices and quality is wonderful. Numerous fruits priced so low almost for free. All kinds of vegetables, breads, juices etc. The food is Central American style not Mexican so it is not very spicy. We have restaurants offering anything you could want including: French, Greek, Italian, Steaks, Chops and Ribs, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese. Middle Eastern, German and much more.

Internet We have 1 meg DSL and cable connections available.

Cell Phones We have great cell phones, 3G etc.

How to start Call, email or Skype us. We will create an immigration case file for you. We will have you send us scans of the documents required for review by one of our lawyers. If the documents are not in order we will have you correct them before coming since it is much cheaper and easier this way. Next after the documents are in order you will need to schedule a trip to Guatemala. The hotels will send a shuttle bus to pick you up at the airport. We will have one of our English speaking drivers collect you from the hotel and take you to our executive offices to begin. A bi-lingual associate from the law firm will accompany you to all the needed visits to government offices for fingerprinting, signatures, photos etc. You never go to government offices yourself. We do require a $1000 deposit in order to open a file and begin the work. This fee is 100% applied to the Pensionado fee. It is not an additional fee. This is paid by wire transfer.

1. First you fill out an online order form. Click Here
2. Next you send us scan of passports of all parties applying (husband, wife kids, etc). These are sent in an email as a file attachment to .
3. Then we will forward wire instructions to you. We do need to have the $1000 fee paid before we can schedule an appointment. You can pay the remaining fee when here in cash or by wire transfer. You could also elect to pay the whole fee before coming as many immigration clients do for convenience.
4. Then you come to Guatemala.When you come for your appointment you remain here and process for the Pensionado. Figure about three weeks. You will not be busy every day so there will be time for sightseeing. We have beaches, Mayan Ruins, Volcanoes to hike up and there is always Antigua. One could always drive over to a nice white sand beach, all inclusive hotel in El Salvador like the Decameron with a three and a half hour drive time. In about four hours you can be in Mexico where there is a lot of cheap shopping. In any event many of our clients just enjoy a nice rest hanging around the swimming pool at one of our many five star resorts. Warning Our food, beverages and wines are so good here do not even think about dieting.

Build Your Dream Home with Bordeau Builders – A Trusted Name In Construction

admin  Construction  ,

Instead of purchasing a home, many consumers are opting for new home construction. Unlike buying someone else’s home, these homes are especially created for the homeowner. This guarantees that the individual will love their home. In addition, having a new home constructed may benefit the individual in numerous ways. The style, quality, and designs of these homes are impeccable.

Construction is not as costly as many would be homeowners may believe. As a matter of fact, it may be possible to have a home constructed for the same price in which you were to buy one! This is especially true for those that may own land. Home prices have soared and for some it may be more economical to have a home construction company build their dream home.

There are a variety of Construction companies to choose from. Many have show rooms and may allow you to make changes to floor plans. However, not all home construction contractors operate in this way. Your local home designers can either modify a pre-designed home or create completely new plans, depending on your budget and specific requests. Be sure to utilize only experienced professionals for your house design plan. Errors, inaccuracies, and omissions can cost you big when you have to make changes once the home is already under construction. When you work with professional house designers, you can be confident that not only will your house be the home you’ve always wished for, but that the blueprints will be meticulously compiled and correct. Experience and a proven track record are the two most important factors when evaluating difference new home builders, so keep these factors in mind when you’re assessing contractors in your area.

Bordeau Builders, Inc. has become a trusted name in construction. With our experienced and efficient staff who strive for excellence, paying attention to all details of your home. The use of the most energy efficient and innovative high quality products has given us the reputation of being one of the best homebuilders in the Capital Region. Family owned and operated, Bordeau Builders, Inc. is known for their dependability, responsibility and customer service when it comes to Home Builder NY. We strive in making the largest investment of life, a dream come true. Let Bordeau Builders, Inc. ‘Open The Door to Your Future’.