Global growth is becoming a popular investment option for IRA owners looking to capitalize on markets outside of the U.S.

I recently attended an investor meeting where the speaker discussed international investments. If this is of interest to you, here were her top three choices of areas she recommends to her clients for investment.

South Africa. As a leading supplier of gold, platinum, coal and diamonds to more than 80 countries around the world, South Africa is rich in mineral resources.

Commodities. Your IRA can invest in oil, gold, silver, water rights, wind, and more! To learn how to do this type of investing within your retirement plan visit The Entrust Group to get more information.
Commodities act as a hedge against inflation and a safe haven during times of political uncertainty, as well as a buffer to the declining dollar.

Asian Real Estate. In China and in India, millions of people are migrating to cities for employment opportunities driving up the demand for new housing and increasing prices on existing properties. If this interests you, consider a U.S. based REIT (real estate investment trust) that has an Asian exposure.

With all of the bad news in our economy, your cash does not need to sit idle. Don’t forget to research and feel comfortable with an investment before you buy. Never let others talk you out of your money!

I live in earthquake territory and invest in hurricane as well as wildfire lands. I am always trying to cut costs but realize that one area of my budgeting cannot be altered. Insurance. Last year’s wildfires caused a wake up call for many of us. Do we have the limits on our homeowner’s insurance to re-build our home should some “act of God” or other catastrophe occur? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Associated General Contractors of America, 58% of us have too little coverage to be able to fully rebuild our home should disaster strike. With hurricane season starting just a couple of weeks from now, do yourself a favor and:

1. Look over your existing insurance policy. Make sure you have an extended replacement cost provision which pays you the set amount (dwelling limit) plus at least a 20% margin. Construction costs have rose dramatically over the last few years. Add this margin to cover any inflationary costs.

2. If you live in an area of the country which could have a natural disaster (hurricane, wildfires, etc.), try to get them covered or get an additional policy. I have earthquake insurance for California and hurricane insurance on my rentals in Florida. If you don’t have those in your policy, there is a good chance they won’t be covered should disaster strike.

3. Know what it would cost per square foot to rebuild and factor that number into your insurance limits. The national average is $250 a square foot, however if you live in California the cost could exceed $400 per square foot, a big difference.

4. Document what you own. If you expect to be reimbursed you need records: pictures of your personal belongings, serial numbers, and anything else of importance.

Well, our 2007 tax year is over and if you are like me, we missed an opportunity to save more on our corporate taxes. Believe it or not, we should start planning for our next tax return NOW. Here three easy things you can do now that may save you dollars down the road.

1. Equipment Purchases: Don’t wait until December to start thinking of buying that copy machine! If you need a major piece of equipment for your business, you could deduct this expense under Section 179 of the IRS code. This year, that expense is up to $128,000–this is an offset expense against any expected profit.

2. With the start of summer consider giving your kids summer jobs. Hiring your high school child to work in the office is a great way to pass tax-free income to your kids. You get a deduction, and if you are paying your child less than $5,300 per year, he or she will experience no tax either!

3. Make sure you fund whatever IRA or Qualified Plan you have established!

Men spend an average of three months of their life waiting for their date! Women spend three years of our lives getting ready! Drying and styling hair eats up 32% of our total prep time. Putting on the little black dress makes up for less then 5%. But aren’t we worth it?!?!

Summertime is usually vacation time for most of us. Make sure your checklist includes protecting your home and office so you can enjoy your time off and not worry.

1. Arrange for someone trustworthy to handle your voice messages.

2. Set up an out of office email auto-responder so people know you are not ignoring them.

3. Alert key people of your vacation in advance of your upcoming absence.

4. Pay your bills in advance.

5. Consider installing a home security system if you don’t have one.

6. Have trusted neighbors or family members routinely check on your home or office.

7. Have someone pick up your mail and newspapers. Or instruct the post office to hold your mail.

8. Leave a light on an automatic timer to go on when it starts to get dark.

9. Advise the local police that you will be gone and ask if they can drive by occasionally.

By being proactive and taking these simple steps your vacation should be worry free, at least on the home front! Enjoy and happy summer.

As women business owners we are so involved with making our business a success that we may fail to plan for the growth or future of our business. I have listed the top five most significant challenges we as business owners face regardless of size, location or industry.

1. Succession planning. As much as we love what we do, reality is that we will not be able to run our business forever. Caring for a loved one, illness or just plain change of lifestyle could happen at any time to any one of us. Succession planning is imperative to leave the legacy to what you have started.

2. Recruiting and selecting talented employees. I don’t know about you, but I have had challenges finding and trusting the right people for the right job that will do whatever is necessary to help achieve the vision.

3. Retaining talent. You spend tons of money, effort and time training the new employee only to discover they will move on to what they perceive are better pastures. The best way I know of to retain talent is to give incentives to have them stay with you. Everyone has an opinion as to what incentives would WOW someone. I believe if you want to retain talent, you have to give pats on the back and make people feel needed.

4. Providing leaders with the skills to be successful. Continuing education for your future leaders makes them feel important and gives you peace of mind. Whether you send them back to college for an advanced degree, or to Toastmasters to get comfortable with public speaking, the person will feel rewarded and know you are grooming them for something important in their future. They will work hard to prove you right!

5. Rising health care costs. Not all employers pay for health care for their employees. There are a variety of different options out there if you elect to do this for your staff. We spend a lot of money making sure our employees are insured. I believe it helps set us apart and makes an employee grateful.

I have recently started investigating the benefits of investing in foreign currency Certificates of Deposit (CDs). I had read that a CD in Australia was paying 7.7%. This sounded like a safe bet to me. You deposit money for a fixed period of time with the rate the bank sets for you. If you go through certain U.S. banks you can get FDIC insurance on the foreign CD you are buying.

This is fine if you realize that the money you are investing will need to be converted into the currency you are investing in—in this example Australian dollars. You do take a risk on exchange rates going against you if the dollar gains against the currency you invested in. Make sure you understand what you are getting into before you do it. Do that due diligence on every investment, even if you think that the investment is safe. Know what you are getting into and assess the risks and rewards associated with that investment. Better to be safe than broke!

Getting a good accountant to advise you could make all the difference to the financial success of your business. The key is to get an accountant who understands your business and knows exactly what you want from them.

There are two types of accountants you will need as you continue to grow:
1. An in-house accountant which could be a part-time bookkeeper, or if you are just starting out and are accounting savvy, you could do this yourself.

2. An outside professional. Even if you are not making a lot of money, I encourage you to retain an outside accountant.

The best way to find an accountant who can service your needs:
- Ask others in your community who they would recommend.
- If you belong to any civic associations ask your fellow members for a reference.
- Go through the local AICPA chapter where you live to get a listing of accountants.

Make sure you interview a few accountants first before you select one. It’s important to see if you connect as they will be doing YOUR books, and you need to build a sense of trust. Also, a good listener is imperative as they do need to understand the financial area of your business plan in order to help you achieve your financial objectives.

As your business grows, you can always obtain additional advisors, but an accountant needs to be with you from the start to help keep you straight. After all, you need to be out there do business development, pr, customer service, the web, etc.etc.etc….

Attention Investors! I will be presenting at the NoteWorthy Convention (October 2-5) in Las Vegas, Nevada! Wise Women has made special arrangements for you to attend this valuable convention at a reduced price -click here for registration form. Hope to see you there!

Last weekend, Hillary Clinton officially backed out of the race for President and showed her support for Barack Obama. No matter what your political views are there is a lesson here for all of us who are trying to climb the corporate ladder, build their business or whatever we deem to succeeding in life.

By showing she has the brains and the brawl to run, she has made the path to the White House smoother for those who will follow. Even her harshest critics admit she is smart, tough, disciplined and incredibly hardworking.

Thanks to Hillary, there cannot be many Americans left who still doubt that a woman could be president. The real message here is thanks to Hillary Clinton’s highly visible example, it more plausible and more socially acceptable for Americans in every field of endeavor to imagine a woman at the top.

So we all owe her a debt of gratitude.