INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Before you can create a solid financial plan, you need to be clear about your goals. Common financial goals include: planning for retirement, paying for education, purchasing a home, creating an inheritance for beneficiaries, or developing a financial “safety net” to guard against unexpected expenses, disasters, or life changes. You can find templates for worksheets to help define your financial goals by searching online. Ensure your goals adhere to the SMART acronym. That is to say, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.  For example, you may not be saving any money and your goal is to save more. Changing this goal to save 5% of your monthly income is not only specific, but it is also measurable (you can easily tell when you have achieved it or not), and likely attainable in a reasonable time frame. Write your goals down. This not only ensures you will remember them, but it keeps you accountable. A good system is to write short, medium, and long-term goals. For a financial plan to be successful, it is essential to quantify your goals. That is to say, take a specific goal, and translate it into a dollar figure.  For example, a common financial goal is retire by 60 or 65.  Although it is often stated that 70-80% of current income is a reasonable goal for retirement income, others have suggested 50-60% of income for couples, and 60-70% for singles is more reasonable.   If you are currently making $80,000 per year and are single, your retirement income should be around $40,000 per year using the 50% figure above. This would be an example of translating a goal (retire by 65), into a specific dollar figure ($50,000 per year of income). Once this amount is known, it is possible to create a plan to determine how much money saved and/or invested you will need to supplement your other sources of retirement income to hit the $50,000 year mark. You can find templates online to help you calculate your needs for retirement and other goals.

SUMMARY: Determine what your key personal and financial goals are. Be accurate in your goals you want to accomplish. Determine how much you will need to achieve your main goals.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Every state/country is different. Depending on your space, operating hours, and types of beverages sold, you’ll need a different license. Consult the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission’s website for the specific license you’ll need. In some areas, you simply have to fill out paperwork and pay a fee, but in other areas, inspections, detailed-lists of beverages being sold, and a projected ratio breakdown of food to alcohol sales are needed. In some areas like San Francisco, new liquor licenses are not distributed by the city; instead, you have to purchase a license from someone else — probably a competing bar owner. In this case, you have to buy another bar owner’s business in order to open your own. In order complete the transfer, you’ll need:  A “Consent of Transfer” form from the current owner 4 copies of your floor plans signed by you, the owner A signed lease or proof of ownership of the building where the license will be used Property tax clearance from your county treasurer Under ideal circumstances, your application may be approved or rejected in 8 to 10 weeks, but may take up to 12 weeks for processing if the local authorities are backed up.

SUMMARY: Figure out what license you need. Purchase an existing license. Submit the paperwork.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The dynamics of a sister-in-law (S-I-L) are complex at the best of times but no more so if she has spent much of her life causing her immediate family to run to her beck and call. The drama queen thrives off drama and having everyone pay attention to her as a result.  Sit back at your next family occasion and simply watch. Notice how she interacts with her family members, and how they in turn react back. If you witness a lot of step-toeing around her and acquiescing to her, she is clearly used to getting her own way. Consider what happens when she raises a drama-filled topic. Do other family members rush to agree with her about how "outrageous" the price of child care/electricity/shampoo/dog grooming/car maintenance/etc. is? Do they confirm her quibbles as quickly as possible, thereby engendering even more complaints? This shows that they enable her complaint-filled view of the world and sadly, have long been used to pandering to it. You can't change them but you can set a new role model by not complaining yourself. Notice what happens when you disagree with her. Does she pout, throw an adult-style tantrum or try and put you down? While it's important to stand your ground on things that matter to you, if she does react childishly, you'll need to learn how to manage this carefully. Learn not so much to disagree as to fail to agree––there is a fine line but it's about acknowledging her underlying need (notice me, care about me, help me, etc.) without buying into her view of the world. Your S-I-L can let off steam, vent away and curse all she wants but there is no need to join the negativity. Avoid taking any of what is said personally––the crazier the reactions and actions, the more your S-I-L is grasping at straws to try and provoke you and restore the limelight back onto her. Let her have the limelight in her own home but don't hang around to be vented upon. If it gets really bad, simply announce that you will come back when she is feeling calmer and leave. Equally, if it's happening in your own home, tell it's time to leave. (You can even make up a fake appointment or an early bedtime if you really need a polite excuse.)

SUMMARY:
Realize that you may be dealing with a drama queen. Do not get involved with the drama.