The cost of hiring a property management company to handle investment properties is significantly less than most property owners believe. Investment property owners who manage their own property with the idea that property management costs are too much might be mistaken as to the actual real costs. Additionally, a large percentage of property owners do not take advantage of all of the tax strategies available to them. For example, if a property owner manages their investment portfolio out of their home office there may be some business related items they are not expensing. Interest in all forms including mortgage interest, equity lines of credit interest, and any business loan interest are all expenses which are typically deductible. Losses like casualties, disasters, and thefts are expenses which properly accounted for are deductible. The most overlooked deduction is depreciation on investment properties, and for real estate professionals as defined by IRC 179, an investment property owner can supercharge their depreciation deductions. To maximize one’s return on investment each property owner should educate themselves about tax strategies, and thoroughly evaluate their entire tax planning roadmap with a tax attorney or competent certified public accountant.Combined Tax Bracket Percentage Determines the True Cost of an Expense in Your Investment Property BusinessFirst of all a property owner must fully understand this basic concept. If their annual income from all of their activities placed them into the combined, federal, state, and local tax bracket of 50%, then their ordinary and necessary business expenses are in actuality fifty cents ($.50) for every one dollar ($1.00) spent. It’s simple to think about it this way: If a one dollar ($1.00) is spent on advertising then that one dollar ($1.00) is legally expensed. If a person is in the 50% combined tax bracket then they have actually only spent fifty cents ($.50). This is because the one dollar ($1.00) they spent actually reduces their taxable income by one dollar, thus, reducing their tax liability by fifty cents ($.50). So each ordinary and necessary expense is truly only 50% of the actual cost.Now that you have your mind around that concept if a property manager is charging you $200/month to manage their single-family residence rental property the actual (end of year) cost to the owner is only $100/month because the property management fees are an ordinary and necessary business expense and fully deductible. Now consider that 50% reduction in your perceived cost and maybe property management doesn’t seem so expensive anymore. Add to that the impact on your time, energy, effort you spend managing that property. Add to that the gasoline expense necessary to drive by that property once or twice a month. Finally, add to that the comfort of knowing a professional property manager could in fact be taking care of your property and you wouldn’t have to have all of these expenses, time, energy and effort and maybe, just maybe, you would reconsider using a property manager going forward because you now realize that they really aren’t that expensive for the services they provide.Home Office Deductions are Tricky, but can be LegitimateIf a home office is used 100% for ordinary and necessary business reasons then there is no reason a person shouldn’t be taking advantage of expensing the home office square footage, the equipment, the materials, the supplies and any utilities paid to help operate the office. The problem lies when the home office is used for personal reasons because it is difficult to prove what percentage of the home office is actually an ordinary and necessary business expense. There are many Internal Revenue decisions on this vary issue, and each one shows the difficulty in achieving the correct balance between business and personal expense, and more importantly, being able to prove it in an audit. If you are considering running your property management business out of your home office be careful. Although there are a lot of legitimate expenses which are clearly available to you, there are several that are not.Interest Expense is Sometime OverlookedWhen you are evaluating your interest expenses do not forget to expense any interest from your home equity line of credit as this can be easily overlooked. Also, if you have a small business loan that interest is deductible as well.Disaster, Theft Losses are DeductibleIn the event that a loss occurred during your business cycle those expenses are deductible provided you had a good record of the items that were lost. There would almost always be an offset as well for any insurance reimbursements, but the point here is that losses must be fully evaluated while you are preparing your tax strategies.Depreciation and the Real Estate Professional Internal Revenue CodeWhen planned correctly the “non-cash” expense of depreciating one’s rental property can be the difference in paying taxes or realizing the benefit of a tax-loss. Most residential investment properties are depreciated over 27.5 year period. Commercial property is depreciated over 39 years. However, if a person were to be classified as a “Real Estate Professional” pursuant to Internal Revenue Code 179, then the benefits of owning investment property become much greater. Without going into great detail a real estate professional’s own personal property portfolio is treated differently than a typical investor. If this is enticing enough one should investigate the benefits of this little known exception in the IRC and real estate industry.Contact a Competent Tax Attorney or Certified Public Account to Review All of Your Current Tax Strategies and any Planning Going Forward with Your Investment PropertiesThe information contained in this article is by no means tax advice, but merely some ideas to contemplate the next time you consider your tax situation. Every person who owns a rental property business should consider tax planning and tax strategies with a competent professional specializing in tax. There are numerous legal ways to take full advantage of tax laws and your professional status within the property management context, however these decisions need to be considered carefully with a tax professional.
The Top 6 Triathlon Nutrition Supplement Mistakes
In reality, most triathletes take supplements. With the advantage increased energy and nutrient requirements, a desire to enhance performance, and a greater degree of food and exercise based inflammation, we really can get a bit of a benefit by popping pills (legally, of course).However, many athletes indiscriminately grab their “morning handful” of capsules, swallow them, and “check off” their nutrition supplements for the day. The fact is, this supplement shot-gunning approach can result in sub-par absorption and utilization of the nutrients, vitamins, minerals or other desirable compound in the nutrition supplement.So here are the top 6 nutrition supplement mistakes, and how you can avoid them:Nutrition Supplement Mistake #1: Eating Fiber With Your Fish OilMost people take their fish oil supplement in the morning, along with breakfast. The problem is that most breakfast foods are high fiber. And soluble fibers such as pectin, guar gum, and oat bran, and also the insoluble fiber lignin (found in plant cell walls) can affect fat absorption by “wrapping” fatty acids within the digestive tract and decreasing their absorption. Fatty acids and cholesterol that are bound to fiber are less absorbed – and only free fatty acids allow for fat to be transported through the walls of the small intestine. Fiber-bound fatty acids will mostly pass into the large intestine.In other words, by popping your fish oil capsules with a high-fiber morning cereal, you’re basically making expensive fish oil poop. So what should you do? Try taking your fish oil with an afternoon, fat-based snack, such as a handful of olives, almond butter on pita, or avocado with crackers.Nutrition Supplement Mistake #2: Taking High Dose Antioxidants RegularlyThis can be confusing, especially if you’ve been indoctrinated with the idea that all antioxidants are good, but recent research suggests that antioxidant nutrition supplements, such as high dose Vitamin C, may actually impair recovery, increase inflammation, decrease insulin sensitivity, and lead to a lower fitness response to exercise. The basic idea is behind this is that antioxidants protect the body from the damage produced by free radicals, but if you’re always taking high dose antioxidants, your body never learns to generate it’s own antioxidant activity, and thus does not not grow strong free radical buffering capacity on it’s own.While this is a fairly new topic in sports nutrition, and research is scant, my recommendation is to save any high dose antioxidant supplements for your harder training days (such as long training weekends) when your body probably needs a little extra help. But on recovery days and easy or short training days, hold back on the antioxidants. You probably don’t need them and they may be doing you more harm than good.Nutrition Supplement Mistake #3: Eating Amino Acids When You’re Trying To Control AppetiteBranched Chain Amino Acids, also known as “BCAA’s”, are in a ton of different during-exercise and post-exercise nutrition supplements. But it is a little known fact that in cancer patients who need to gain weight, BCAA’s are actually used to stimulate appetite and help people to eat more. Obviously, if you’re trying to lose weight or control appetite, eating a handful of BCAA’s in the evening before dinner may not be such a good idea. This is only a worry for a select few folks who are focusing on appetite control and weight loss, but is certainly good to know if you regularly experience food cravings.Nutrition Supplement Mistake #4: Taking Proteolytic Enzymes on a Full StomachProtelytic enzymes, like BCAA’s, are found quite regularly in recovery-based nutrition supplements. Check the nutrition label of your recovery nutrition supplement for words like “papain”, “bromelain”, “trypsin” and “chymotrypsin” – these are all proteolytic enzymes. The primary benefit of these enzymes is to enhance recovery by decreasing inflammation. But the inflammation-reducing benefit of proteolytic enzymes is significantly decreased when the enzymes are taken on a full stomach or with a meal. Therefore, popping your post-exercise proteolytic enzymes with your post-exercise meal is not the best idea.Instead, take any supplements containing proteolytic enzymes on an empty stomach, such as in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon, or even right before you go to bed at night. If you tend to wait for 1-2 hours post-exercise to eat a meal, this would also be a good time to take proteolytic enzyme nutrition supplements.Nutrition Supplement Mistake #5: Not Timing Fat Burning Supplements ProperlyThe premise behind “fat burning” supplements is that they contain components such as insulin and blood sugar stabilizing components such as chromium, vanadium or even cinnamon. From a strategic standpoint, these compounds should be absorbed and active in your body well prior to eating a meal. Swallowing a fat-burning supplement with breakfast, directly before breakfast, or directly after a meal is not going to do much for you. So the best time to take a fat-burning supplement is 30-60 minutes prior to consuming your 2-3 main meals of the day. Incidentally, I do not recommend high caffeine or ephedra based fat burning supplements, as they can be hard on your adrenal glands and central nervous system.Nutrition Supplement Mistake #6: Allowing Fish Oil or Flax Oil To Get WarmWhen the fragile oils in fish oil, flax seed oil, or just about any other seed or vegetable based oil becomes warm or heated, the oil can become oxidized, and form free radicals that can do cellular damage to your body. A warm fish oil does you more harm than good. So if you drive in your car with fish oil or flax oil sitting in a gym bag on the back seat, this is a very bad idea. So is traveling to a race with fat-based nutrition supplements in your backpack or race bag, if it is going to be in a hot airplane compartment or sitting in the sun. It would be better not take these nutrition supplements at all if that will be the case.Instead, keep fish oil or flax oil type supplements in your refrigerator or freezer, and keep them as cool as possible when traveling. If they do get warm, throw them out. They’re not going to do you any good at that point.
How to Open Up About One’s Mental Health Problem
Stress has become an inevitable part of everyone’s life these days. With hectic work schedule and daunting deadlines to meet, most people have got accustomed to living pressured lives. In such a fast-paced world, it is not easy for a person to have control over the rapidly changing circumstances, which has an adverse impact on his or her mind and body.Consequently, in this ever-growing tussle, more and more people are getting exposed to various mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, which prevent them from fulfilling their potential. Sadly, not many people get help for their mental issues due to the stigma and myths surrounding such disorders. Moreover, a majority of patients hesitate to discuss and share their mental health concerns with others, which often leads to a delay in seeking medical help.As a result, many continue to struggle with their condition without any help and support, ultimately leading to chronic disabilities and life-threatening conditions. One can combat the crippling symptoms by following certain self-help techniques. But first of all, one must be upfront to discuss his or her mental issues with a loved one so that adequate steps could be taken to mitigate the risks.Listed below are some tips that can help an individual to open up about his or her mental illness:Deciding whether to say it or not: The first thought would certainly be “let’s not do it.” Talking about one’s own mental condition can be tough, considering the negativity prevailing in the society regarding the issue. However, it is important to overcome this denial and be courageous to speak up about one’s mental health condition and then seek medical help at the earliest.Selecting a confidante: The society at large lacks knowledge and information concerning mental health. Due to this, most mental disorders are surrounded by myths, misconceptions, marginalization and stigma. Apparently, not everyone understands the plight of a person fighting a serious mental health condition. Therefore, it is important to look for some trustworthy people who can understand the real concerns, while keeping the sufferer’s confidentiality intact.Deciding when to discuss the issue: It is better to confide in someone before the situation goes out of control. While opening up about one’s condition with friends or loved ones, it is important to select a person who is most willing to help and provide the needed support. Making oneself comfortable and decluttering the mind before initiating a conversation with a person he or she has confidence in can go a long way in creating a positive environment.Letting the cat out of the bag: Once someone decides to confront the situation upfront, the next important step is to initiate the conversation regarding the struggle that he or she is dealing with. It is always beneficial to let the person know beforehand about the significance of the discussion so that he or she comes prepared for it.However, one must keep in mind that throughout the conversation, it is not mandatory for someone to share every single details with one’s confidante. Instead, one should only share the things he or she is comfortable sharing with and choose to keep intrinsic details private.Seeking profession helpAt Sovereign Mental Health Services, we take the utmost care to ensure that our patients are kept in a positive environment. Personalized attention, positive interactions with doctors and effective group therapies go a long way in helping people recover.