Hoping to Retire? Ask Andy Barkate

Right now can be a scary time to think about retirement. It can also be the most important time to contact a retirement professional like Andy Barkate to ensure that you are doing everything you can to plan for your financial future.

Working for a family business I know how stressful it can be to consider what will happen the day you are ready to retire. Andy Barkate specializes in small business and individual retirement plans so he can help with both your personal and business planning.

Whether or not you are concerned about retirement in the near future it can't hurt to have a plan. It is important to not only implement an initial process of saving and investing but also to manage that plan if you want to continue toward long term success. Consider not only savings plans but tax deferrals and benefits that arise from long range planning. Andy Barkate has several offices in California that will discuss your current objectives and review the plans you have now to ensure that you are prepared for your future.

Property Manger Tim Arel

Now more than ever it is important to keep a close eye on real estate property ventures. Although the market is now down it can be a great time to invest, if you have the means, and properly managing your investments is essential. Tim Arel is a property manager currently working for North Point Property Management who can help answer questions and manage your property investment.

Tim Arel specializes in property management that works with a wide range of social and economical concerns. He strives to maintain involvement in a number of community groups and local boards and committees.

Consider contacting Tim Arel if you have questions about how to make the most out of your property. With the current real estate market it is essential that you do everything possible to maximize your investments.

Awsome Announcements

I spent the last week or so searching for a place to order some birth announcements for our new baby. I wanted to use photos to customize the announcements but the going rate for many of the printing sites that do this seems to be around $2.00 per card (more than I could budget to spend on the project).

The cheaper sites that allow you to customize your own cards didn't have the style of cards I was looking for - they were cartoony and cute when I wanted a more elegant feel. Finally today I did a search for "affordable photo cards" and came up with exactly what I was looking for.

www.simplytoimpress.com has announcements cards that were perfect. They offer both templates to create your own card or custom editing services for a slightly higher fee. I used one of their templates and easily uploaded my pictures and customized the wording for a quick order.

I would recommend this site to anyone looking for announcements or invitations online.

Fashion Glasses Online!

My local resource for my glasses closed recently so I decided to go online to look for a new place with a large variety to choose from. I wound up at eyeglasses.com where I had a tough time picking out some fashion friendly frames from among all their options.

My first attraction was to the Kate Spade glasses where there were a lot of trendy frames that appealed to me. I almost picked out a pair but decided to keep looking to see if there were any additional designers that I found appealing.

I also took a look at the Dolce and Gabbana glasses because that designer was not available at the previous local store where I shopped. There was a very large selection and luckily the site loaded quickly so that I didn't have to sit and wait for the pictures of each pair. I also perused the Gucci glasses just for fun before settling on a pair of the original Kate Spades.

The website was easy to use and also sells sunglasses so as the weather starts to warm up again I'll be making another visit to eyeglasses.com to pick myself up something for the summer months.

Valentines Roses

I have a part time job working in a construction office so this time of year I get asked quite often if roses are "too generic" a gift for Valentines Day. The answer is always - No Way! While flowers for Valentines are good, the tradition of roses is even better.

For me it doesn't get any better than the beautiful dark red roses for valentines that are the epitome of the romantic day. I even had the same roses at my wedding and I never get tired of them.

If you are looking for some very nice valentines day roses and a convenient order try 1800flowers.com where you can do a quick search for whatever you need and set up a delivery. It doesn't have to be a gigantic bouquet - something small and elegant will do just as well. Think about getting it set up now and you can save a few bucks and still show that you can plan ahead for the romantic day.

Valentines Gifts

With the big romance holiday coming up quickly I have to say that although valentines flowers and goodies are the traditional fare they have yet to disappoint!

The best bet for me is to wrap them all together in an adorable package that is made for the special day. This year I am ordering my valentines gifts in advance for delivery because I am scheduled to have a baby just a few days before V-Day.

In my search this year I found that 1800flowers.com has flowers as well as yummy cake and candy treats so it has been helpful for me to make the order for all the valentine's gifts from one source. With my order done early this year I'm looking forward a stress free day (except for that newborn baby I'll be handling who will be just a few days old at that point)!

Photo Books

It is pretty common these days to use online photo sharing sites. In fact, most of my family no longer prints photos on a regular basis. The disadvantage to this is that you don't have a book sitting around that others (or you - if you're the nostalgic type) can flip through on a whim. The upshot is that you don't have photos falling out all over the place and no longer have to deal with those annoying "sticky pages" that used to be all the rage in photo albums.

The best of both worlds for our house has become printed photo books. It is very easy to upload your digital photos and to order a print copy. Sure, you can buy some blanks and print them yourself if you have a photo printer but the options available for ordering one are amazing. I get one once a year with our family photos and have it bound in leather so it's nice to have sitting around.

The kids love it and I don't have to worry about the photos falling out or getting lost. So far I've had great results with My Publisher so I'd recommend them in a second. Whoever you try out the software should be easy to use and it's actually a fun project. Let me know how it goes!