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There are three fundamental ways to meet your long-term care needs. Long-term care costs can be covered by long-term care insurance of by qualifying for Medicaid. Self-insuring is typically the other option. If you are interested in going down the self-insurance path, you’ll need to save the appropriate amount of money to meet your long-term care needs.
As you or a loved one, grows older, long-term care might be required if you or they can no longer perform the essential daily tasks required to take care of oneself. This might also be the case if you have a child with special needs. Long term care costs can vary widely depending on the area of the country that you live in, and the level of care required. As you prepare to meet your financial obligations, you should understand what such long-term care may potentially cost over an extended period.
As a parent or spouse, your most valuable financial asset may be your ability to work and earn a living. If you get injured, become disabled or suffer a severe illness and are unable to work, would you be able to maintain your current standard of living? Savings can disappear quickly, so disability insurance can provide the financial security you and your family will need if the unthinkable occurs. You’ll want to consider all of your monthly financial obligations and the amount of time you will be out of work in assessing your needs.
The purpose of life insurance is to replace your income in case you die so that the family that you are leaving behind can maintain their current lifestyle. How much you need is best decided by working with a qualified financial planner. Things to include your current assets and investments. How much do you currently have saved and how much earning power will be available for supporting your family in your absence? Compare that amount to your anticipated liabilities and expenses. Moreover, don’t forget to include items such as college tuition for your children or paying off your mortgage, in addition to your standard living expenses.
Health Savings Accounts (HSA) offer an opportunity for you to build tax-free savings to pay for current and future qualified medical expenses. Used in conjunction with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) a high-deductible plan may cost less overall than making monthly premium payments to a traditional health plan and making co-payments when you require medical care. If you use the HSA/HDHP method, you’ll pay some of the initial medical costs out of your HSA, up until you meet your HDHP deductible. A traditional health plan would pay for most of those up front, after a more modest deductible. Which method is best for you depends on your medical care needs and the HSA/HDHP and Traditional Plan options available to you.
The break even point for a product or a business is the point where sales revenue equals your fixed plus total variable costs. If you are below the break even point, you are losing money. If you’re above the break even point, you are generating a profit. To break even, your sales revenue from each sale needs to exceed the variable costs of creating or delivering the product or service. The resulting gross margin can then be used to cover the fixed costs of your business. Once your fixed costs are covered, your business is at the break even point.
The gross margin of a product is measured by subtracting the cost of goods sold from the selling price. Cost of goods sold includes all costs associated with producing the products or services sold by a company. Gross margin percentage is obtained by dividing gross margin by sales revenue. Many companies offer multiple products, so understanding overall gross margin is often an exercise in understanding how various unit sales, price points and costs for each product or service contribute to the overall business.
Managing the inventory of a business is an important. Having insufficient inventory on hand can often result in lost sales and dissatisfied customers. But having too much inventory on hand can be financially strenuous as your available cash is tied up in product that sits in your warehouse. Businesses that successfully manage their inventory keep enough on hand to satisfy demand and replenish that inventory just as their supply is running out. Businesses that are seasonal in nature or that have fluctuating demand keep a ‘safety stock’ on hand to make sure they can accommodate unanticipated need.
While there are potentially many ways to value a business, one popular method is using the discounted, or present value, of your estimated cash flow. This method takes your current income, before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization and projected income for a defined number of years and determines the present value of that income, based on the cost of capital. Some businesses are less valuable because of their marketability and as a result a discount is often applied to reflect the difficulties that may be encountered when trying to sell the business. Keep in mind that this method does not include the value of your companies assets, only its ability to produce income.
Accounts receivable are monies owed to your business for goods or services delivered to a customer, but not yet paid for. Successful businesses collect money that is owed to them in a timely and efficient manner. Having too much money tied up in receivables means you’re not collecting the cash to pay for the goods or services you’ve provided. Not extending credit may impact sales. The ‘Receivables Turnover Ratio’ measures a businesses effectiveness in extending credit and collecting debt. The higher the ratio, the more effective the business is in dealing with its receivables. The accounts receivable to sales ratio looks at the amount you have tied up in receivables in comparison to your same period sales. The Average Collection Period shows how long, on average, it takes for you to collect your debts.
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