I was recently at a meeting with some friends at National Association of Realtors (NAR) and got into a discussion on the best way to buy real estate in today’s market. The general consensus was that foreclosures are still one of the best ways to invest in today’s real estate market.

With a little help from my friends I share 5 strategies for the Wise Women Investor who is seeking out foreclosures.

1. Work with a Realtor! They have the ability to help you find a foreclosed property quick. There are agents who specialize in foreclosures so call your local realtors’ office and ask for a referral.

2. If you don’t have the cash but want to be able to inspect the property as a condition of the sale, buy a foreclosure from a bank. A pre-foreclosure or auction before the bank takes the property back means you buy the property in “as is condition”. Also, there may still be liens not satisfied that you could be inheriting.

3. Bring in a contractor before you buy. Make sure you know what you are buying and the costs to fix up or get the property in condition for rental or resale. In this market you can negotiate with a contractor to look at a property with you on the cheap or even for free if it means they get your business.

4. Sharpen your negotiation skills. Banks are not giving their deals away so be prepared to haggle. Set your initial offer about 20% below market or more depending on where you are buying. Know thy market.

5. Be patient. Banks are backlogged with offers so don’t be surprised if you wait weeks for an answer. But remember, she who is patient will prevail.

Do you have plans of financial freedom? Or are they now just wishful thinking? Many of us in our 50’s and 60’s looked forward to those lazy crazy hazy days of summer and song. To the golden parachute of a pension that will carry us well into our old age.

Unfortunately, things are not necessarily turning out as we planned. We have had to get a reality check. Not only do we need to recalibrate our thoughts of what we will do in retirement, we have to get creative in order to grow that nest egg (again) into something that will last.

I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t want to have my eyes glued to CNN or CNBC worrying about what the market did today or where my next dollar is coming from. We have a responsibility to ourselves to plan for income, cash flow, taxes, (which let’s face it will only get higher), and for appreciation or growth as a hedge against inflation when it comes.

If you agree with me, keep reading…

One way to do this is by investing in hard assets. Many of us have used our personal savings to invest in the stock market, but did you know you can use your IRA or 401(k) plan to invest in great assets with the opportunity to achieve your desired financial goals?

With a self-directed retirement account you have the ability to invest in your own backyard, in investments you believe in, understand and want to have in your portfolio. Many investments like real estate, gold, foreign currencies, along with the traditional investments that you might already have, are allowed in an IRA or 401 (k) plan.

What is self-direction? Well, one thing it is not is investing through a major brokerage house or mutual fund company that says you are self-directing. While you may think you are “self-directing” your investments, you are actually only “self-directing” into their family of funds. The bottom line is you don’t get to choose!

Truly self-direction is where you identify the investment. You work with an administrator who specializes in self-directed accounts, a firm who is an expert at processing and facilitating your transaction on behalf of your plan.

In turn, the income from the investment that you select goes back into your IRA. Any profit from the sale of that investment comes back into your IRA on a tax deferred or tax free basis (depending on whether the account is a traditional IRA, ROTH IRA, or individual (k)) helping to solve the tax issue of growth that you would not necessarily have with personal funds.

This may sound complicated to some of you but it is a relatively simple concept. Think of your IRA as another identity. An identity you cannot tap into until you reach the ripe-old retirement age that allows you to have access to your cash penalty-free and in time to meet those retirement objectives.

There is so much negative news and uncertainty about the economy and financial markets. Investing in assets that can create cash flow or in some cases assets that bring you security and peace of mind makes sense as part of a financial strategy.

To fully understand how truly self-direction in an IRA works talk to Entrust. Entrust has the largest network of local offices in the United States. Visit their website at www.theentrustgroup.com to locate an office near you and to learn more about how to take a more positive, pro-active role in your investing.

Make it your personal goal to help yourself by utilizing tax-enhanced tools to compound wealth. Recalibrating your retirement both in time and dollars gives you the satisfaction of saying “I am in control. I get to choose where and how to invest my hard earned dollars today for the financial freedom of tomorrow!”

Are you in a cost savings mode for your business? Trying to shore up necessary funds for emergency reserves?

Look at these areas of your business to consolidate and save.

1. Merge job descriptions. If you have staff with multiple skill sets, think about combining multiple duties into one job classification. It will reward your employees by giving them additional duties they are good at and enjoy, while saving you the cost of either hiring another employee or outsourcing tasks for a function that an existing employee can easily do.

2. Evaluate and restructure from the top down, not the other way around. One of the top law firms in my area recently laid off 40 highly paid attorneys because the business wasn’t coming in. Take a close look at your management; is there opportunity for consolidation?

3. Bonus reduction. Or in the case of negative cash flow, bonus elimination. If people read the paper or are connected to the Internet, they know what is happening in the economy. Employees who are loyal will understand that this cost-cutting measure is necessary.

4. Consider hiring part time or temporary employees if you need additional help. You will be able to save on benefits by outsourcing or hiring part time help.

Restructuring your business makes sense in today’s market. These four areas are ones that could increase your reserves and your cash flow!

This story is courtesy of Jenn Dizmang and is a reminder that we need to be in charge of our own health as well as our health care!

Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack? You know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies.

Here is the story of one woman’s experience with a heart attack.

”I had a heart attack at about 10 :30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.

A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn’t have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its prog ress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation—the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.

After it seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasms), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when ministering CPR).

This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws. ‘AHA!!’ NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening — we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven’t we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, ‘Dear God, I think I’m having a heart attack!’

I lowered the footrest dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, If this is a heart attack, I shouldn’t be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else … but, on the other hand, if I don’t, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in a moment.

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics. I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum a nd radiating into my jaws. I didn’t feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to un-bolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

I unlocked the door and then lay down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don’t remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the radiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like ‘Have you taken any medications?’) but I couldn’t make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.

I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude a re only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.

Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.

1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body. Not the usual men’s symptoms but inexplicable things happening.

It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn’t know they were having one and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation and go to bed, hoping they’ll feel better in the morning when they wake up … which doesn’t happen. My female friends, your symptomsm might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if
ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve not felt before.

It is better to have a ‘false alarm’ visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said ‘Call the Paramedics. And if you can take an aspirin.
Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER -
you are a hazard to others on the road.

Do NOT have your panicked husband drive you. He will be speeding and looking anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road.

Do NOT call your doctor — he doesn’t know where you live and if it’s at night you won’t reach him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3. Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that an elevated cholesterol reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high and/or accompanied by high blood pressure). MIs are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive.”

The federal government is trying to put limits on the banks and other issuers of credit cards to prevent such practices as charging consumers outrageous interest rates, lowering credit limits and shortening the time allotted to make payments.

Many Americans have no choice but to use credit cards to pay expenses. Unemployed Americans face an even tougher situation; no job, no money coming in, little or no savings but there are still day-to-day living expenses.

Yes, the credit card companies are in business to make a profit. Their feeling that “people pay a price for being poor” is well known. However, is it fair to the consumer for these companies to suddenly change the rules?

Ultimately we cannot control what the credit card companies or the federal government do. The control we do have is getting our own “financial cards in order”.

Here are four tips to help you and your bottom line.

1. Negotiate fees and rates. Don’t sit back and accept the higher rates and fees that are assigned to your account. Call the credit card companies and negotiate. They will review your request and if you are a good customer, one that pays on time, and if they want to keep your business they will adjust your rate or waive fees.

2. Monitor your spending. Try to live on a cash basis if possible, but if you cannot do this, use your credit card sparingly. A simple tip is to lock your credit cards away and only use one for emergencies. Paying cash instead of using credit saved my friend Kathy over $500 a month on just plain old stuff.

3. Just say no! If you need it, don’t buy it.

4. Pay off your credit cards as quickly as possible. The extra money you have to spend will be net to you, no interest! Fund your own bank not theirs!