5 Advantages of a Dedicated Bank Account for Your Small Business

Success is often determined by savvy financial management in the landscape of small businesses. One crucial aspect, often overlooked, is the establishment of a dedicated bank account, separate from any personal finances.

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Success is often determined by savvy financial management in the landscape of small businesses. One crucial aspect, often overlooked, is the establishment of a dedicated bank account, separate from any personal finances. Let’s delve into the importance of this step, how it supports effective business cash management, and its potential to contribute to the prosperity of your enterprise.

The Need for a Dedicated Business Bank Account

One common pitfall for new entrepreneurs is the tendency to mix personal and business finances. While it may initially seem convenient to use a personal bank account for business transactions, it can create complications in the long run. Maintaining a clear separation between personal and business finances is crucial for the success and sustainability of your venture.

Effective cash flow management lies in the ability to differentiate between personal and business transactions. Having a dedicated business bank account establishes a clear boundary, allowing you to accurately track income, expenses, and overall performance of the business.

This clear delineation enables better financial analysis, decision-making, and planning. With a distinct account, you can easily identify business-related expenses, monitor cash flow trends, and make informed financial adjustments to ensure the financial health of your business.

Tax time can be a daunting process for businesses, especially when it comes to documenting expenses. However, having a dedicated bank account for that streamlines this task significantly. By keeping all business transactions within a single account, you have a comprehensive record of your business-related expenses readily available. This simplifies the gathering of necessary documentation and ensures compliance with tax regulations. It not only saves you time but also minimizes the risk of inaccuracies or missing important deductions when filing your taxes. A dedicated business bank account helps you stay organized, reduce stress during tax season, and ensures that you are properly accounting for all business-related expenses.

Top 5 Advantages of Having a Dedicated Business Bank Account

With the need for separation established, let’s explore the five key benefits of maintaining a dedicated business bank account.

● Enhanced Professional Image – Primarily, a business bank account projects professionalism. When clients see payments coming from a business, rather than a personal account, it enhances your credibility. This perception can contribute to customer trust, playing a vital role in the longevity and success of your venture.

● Streamlined Bookkeeping – With all financial transactions consolidated in one place, bookkeeping becomes a more straightforward task. This streamlined approach to business treasury management reduces the potential for errors and the time spent on financial administration, freeing you to focus on other aspects of running your dealings.

● Easier Access to Business Loans – Financial institutions often require evidence of a business bank account before approving loans. A dedicated account provides a transaction history that demonstrates your business’s financial health and performance, thereby enhancing your creditworthiness.

● Protection from Personal Liability – If your small business operates as a corporation or LLC, a separate business bank account can provide protection against personal liability. By maintaining this financial divide, your personal assets remain shielded from any business-related legal issues or debts.

● Scaling Your Business with Ease – A dedicated business bank account simplifies the process of expanding your business. Whether hiring employees, increasing inventory, or investing in new technologies, having a clear picture of your business finances will enable you to make informed decisions about growth.

How to Choose the Right Business Bank Account
Each business has unique needs. While a small, service-based business might require only basic checking facilities, a larger company with numerous employees might benefit from additional services like payroll support or merchant services. Banking costs can significantly impact a small business’s bottom line. As such, it’s crucial to scrutinize any fees or charges associated with potential business bank accounts. These could include monthly service fees, transaction fees, or fees for additional services.

Assessing Additional Services
Many banks offer a suite of additional services that can enhance your business treasury management. These might include online banking facilities, cash management services, or access to a dedicated business advisor. Evaluate these offerings in light of your business needs to determine the best fit.

A dedicated bank account is an invaluable tool for small businesses. By enhancing professionalism, streamlining bookkeeping, improving creditworthiness, providing protection from personal liability, and facilitating growth, it plays a vital role in the effective management of business finances. Furthermore, it forms the cornerstone of effective business cash flow management, enabling you to monitor your financial health with accuracy and ease.

Choosing the right business bank requires a careful assessment of your specific business needs, a thorough evaluation of potential fees and charges, and a consideration of the additional services on offer. Remember, the best business bank for your enterprise will provide the right balance between cost-effectiveness and comprehensive services, supporting your venture’s growth and prosperity.

Now that you’re armed with the knowledge of the benefits and considerations of opening a dedicated business bank account, it’s time to take action. Assess your business needs, research your options, and make the move towards more efficient and effective financial management. Remember, the steps you take today can set your business up for success in the future.

Whether you’re a seasoned small business owner or just starting, financial management is a journey, not a destination. So, continue learning and adapting your strategies to ensure your business thrives in an ever-changing economic landscape.

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5 Reasons To Buy Stainless Steel Screens In Brisbane

When it comes to your home, you probably don’t want to mess around with safety. Stainless steel screens for doors and windows ensure the protection of you and your family.

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When it comes to your home, you probably don’t want to mess around with safety. Stainless steel screens for doors and windows ensure the protection of you and your family. With the range of benefits stainless steel screens Brisbane offer, they are an amazing option for better security and adding aesthetic appeal to your home.

All-About Security is a family-owned and operated business that provides manufacturing and successful installation of screens from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast.

The 5 reasons that will compel you to buy stainless steel screens in Brisbane from All-about Security are as follows-

Protection for family

For people who love being in the fresh air and habitually open doors and windows most of the time, buying stainless steel screens Brisbane can provide peace of mind that the home is protected. Stainless steel, known for its strength and durability, will help in adding a layer to the doors and windows to not let burglars have an easy entry into the home. They will act as the first line of defence against robbers.

Upgraded features

All About Security delivers Screen Guard products, which supply stainless steel that is made with 316 marine grade that provides superior strength and quality. The aluminium frames are made from T6 extruded aluminium using high-quality equipment. Screen Guard is known for its 10-year warranty. It is a patent security system that meets Australian Standard AS5039-2008.

Pest Control

One of the benefits of getting stainless steel screens is that they protect your home from flies and other insects getting inside. This feature helps especially during the summer months when you want to enjoy the weather outside of the home but are afraid of pests and insects coming inside if you keep the windows open.

Best customer service

We value the time of our customers. With our experience and knowledge of the industry, we provide excellent customer service. We deliver premier-quality stainless steel screens to Outdoor Awnings Sandstone Point. All About Security is there for you at each step of delivery to installation. We listen to our customers and are at every step from start to finish.

Trusted organisation with positive reviews

With our 10-year warranty on steel-grade screens, you can relax knowing that you have bought a product from a trusted organisation that a lot of people rely on. We have a varied range of products, and most of our clients have positively reviewed us. We are loyal to our customers, solve all queries, and are professional in our behaviour towards all our clients.

We provide a range of products to our clients, such as screens, external blinds, roller shutters, outdoor awnings, and retractable screens Brisbane.

Conclusion

Home and window screens have been a part of many Brisbane residents’ homes. Though there are various amounts of screens that come on the market and home designs have also changed over the years, there was a need for home screens, and still, there is always going to be one. One such screen is the stainless steel screen, which is well known for its quality. All So Cool is here to provide you with the best screens in the Brisbane market.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Powder Metallurgy Gears

Whether by weight or by quantity, the proportion of powder metallurgy (PM) and metal injection molding (MIM) gears is much larger than that of PM parts in other fields. Gears, ratchets and cams are all suitable for powder metallurgy, because, in terms of powder metallurgy and MIM gears, besides low cost and high production efficiency, there are also the following advantages.

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Whether by weight or by quantity, the proportion of powder metallurgy (PM) and metal injection molding (MIM) gears is much larger than that of PM parts in other fields. Gears, ratchets and cams are all suitable for powder metallurgy, because, in terms of powder metallurgy and MIM gears, besides low cost and high production efficiency, there are also the following advantages.

(1) The dimensional accuracy of powder metallurgy gears produced in large quantities is uniform, especially when carbide die is used.

(2) Because of the porosity in the material structure, it is helpful for the gear to run smoothly and self-lubricate.

(3) Powder metallurgical gears with blind angle can be made, which can eliminate undercutting and retracting grooves when cutting gears. When making this kind of gear by powder metallurgy, special support is needed at the blind end.

(4) Gear can be combined with other shape parts, such as cam, ratchet, other gears, etc., and integrated production can be realized by powder metallurgy process.

(5) Bevel gears, bevel gears with equal diameter, helical gears and other special tooth-shaped gears can be made.

(6) Standard involute gears can be made, which is simpler and cheaper than other methods.

(7) The ratchet wheel, like the gear, is easily manufactured by powder metallurgy and MIM. Root cutting should be avoided, and large radius should be allowed at the top and root of teeth.

Powder metallurgy and metal injection molding have the characteristics of excellent surface roughness, uniform performance among parts and self-lubrication, which is especially advantageous for making gears and cams. Sintered cams with self-lubricating properties often have more durable surfaces than grinders. Powder metallurgy gears can be formed at one time, which not only saves cost, but also improves productivity.

Harbermetal is a professional manufacturer and solution provider of metal powder injection molding process (MIM) and PM process. We provide our customers with high volume structural, functional and appearance parts of various materials with high precision, complex shapes, good performance and exquisite appearance, and we have the ability to develop ceramic and titanium alloy materials to meet the needs of different types of customers. The company mainly provides all kinds of precise and complex hardware structure parts and components to worldwide enterprises in the fields of 3C consumer electronics, new energy, drones, medical devices, automobiles, aerospace, civil consumer goods …… etc.

Powder metallurgy has lots of advantages, such as material saving, energy saving, high efficiency, suitable for mass production, good size and shape repetition, low noise and low wear when gears are running etc., so it has been widely used. The main defects are impacting resistance and poor impact function. Therefore, it is very important to enhance its strength.

A. Strength characteristics of powder metallurgy gears

1. The expansion coefficient of materials and the accuracy of dies mostly depend on the accuracy of powder metallurgical gears. Generally, the domestic die for gear within 50 diameters is between 8-9 grades, while the imported die is between 7-8 grades. If it is helical gear, it can also be a higher grade. The greatest advantage of powder metallurgy gear is that it can be produced in large quantities and has good consistency.

2. For ordinary FN0205 powder metallurgy gear, it can carry torque up to 14NM, warm-pressed parts can reach 20NM, and warm-pressed FD0405 can reach 25NM. Therefore, in the case of professional powder metallurgy design, gears weight can still be reduced by 30-40%.

B. Increasing the strength of powder metallurgical gears

1. For high strength powder metallurgical gears, they should have high density and follow the process of “pressing-preheating-reheating-heat treatment”.

2. Lower carbon content can ensure that the product has high surface hardness and wear resistance in heat treatment. Low carbon will make the product have excellent impact resistance.

3. Adding 2%-3% Ni and 2% Cu into the material can obviously improve material impact strength after sintering.

4. Compared with carburizing and quenching, carbonitriding products have excellent wear resistance. Lower carbonitriding temperature guarantees parts core strength and reduces the quenching deformation.

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How to Ignite the Fire of MLM Success by Giving Value

Prospects want to walk away feeling warm and cozy at the end of their visit. You can ignite the fire of MLM success by providing extreme value in all your content. This is another way to boost your business success and another way to define your business model. In another article, some business models were discussed, such include providing wants, luxuries, need, and solutions. In each one there is a value, but not all hold adding value to the same level as this model. You can use this mode to separate yourself from the crowd.

Breaking away from the crowd the easy way…

Everything that you create has value to some degree. In this model, the value must be clear and far reaching beyond measure. This means erasing the fluff and focusing on guided steps for your prospects. This means digging deep into your experience and pulling out all the pains and joys within your soul. When you write an article, it should stay focused on providing insightful advice or facts that helps the reader to go to the next level. You can do this in editorial articles as well, especially if you talk about your experience in each problem area. Keep the fluff to the minimal, but do talk about your struggles, but don’t dramatize the experience. You will not win an Oscar for drama in your marketing material.

To break away from the crowd and lead a vibrant industry your answers cannot be canned, they must be applicable to a given solution, even if you must discuss the pros and cons of your solution. Give the reader a desire to make up their minds without confusing them with side notes. Provide value that is relevant to the subject matter and tie it to similar material on the topic if applicable. This is how you become an expert and break away from the crowd. Prospects will seek out your advice on the given niche.

Review and Clarify your value in your content

As time progresses and you develop your skills and learn new ones. You can go back and review your content and re edit it to bring out the value for your prospects. Some content will expire and have no use. Other content may need a little remodeling to add life to it. It does help to create a checklist to use to measure the success of the given piece. Here is a small list to help you. The first thing to add the value of the message, rate it between one and five. Five being the best and one lowest. Does the material have the right level of value? Is it too fluffy or to off topic, again rate this between one and five. Did I use the right tone? Rate this question as well. Is the information outdated or is it cutting edge? You can use these quick questions to help revamp your older material. Happy marketing.

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Why MLM Solutions Are a Powerful Business Tool

Businesses can operate in a variety of fashions from providing need, want, value or as a problem-solving force. There is a big need for solution providers that are transparent and on par with their audiences. They get lost in the marketing or even in the profit building techniques offered by shady firms. Everything comes down to one simple point, does the business provide value to the end user. This value can radiate in the terms of providing solutions, the information must be trustworthy and focused on one single goal. If you’re looking to provide MLM solutions to your prospects, then take a deep look at your marketing and goals. Are you focusing on creating relationships that evolve around insightful content that helps them up?

Solutions that Deliver results means more business

How do you deliver great MLM solutions that earns you business? It’s not the tools that you use, such as WordPress or marketing software. It’s not the providers that help you market. It’s your knowledge and willingness to step forward as a solutions-based marketer. The solutions that you offer MUST be relevant and helpful. Generic solutions from a thousand sources is not what you make you unique in this service. Your skills and knowledge to overcome a pain is what makes you the ideal solution provider.

When it comes to crafting your MLM solutions for your marketing campaign, one must investigate into the format and deliverables of such answers. If you’re using videos to deliver all your content, you’re missing out on those who read articles and eBooks. This will only set you back in your success. The same goes to someone that only does written content and won’t do other formats. You must understand your audience wants and then develop your material. When you have all the pieces of the puzzle, only then you can assemble it and provide your solution. Get creative in your research and communication with your audience. Build your relationships first, not the pocketbook.

Not all answers must be promotional in nature…

When you write up a MLM solution to a given problem, you don’t have to be promotional or even mention your business. This is not the time to fall back into bad marketing. You can add your link and other information at the bottom of the article, especially if you’re doing article marketing as a side project. Focus on the problem, the solution and the style, in which you will compose the material in. Solve one problem per article or blog and tie it to your other solution-based material for an effective cross marketing line up. If you draw them in, then you can build a relationship.

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How To Be Unstoppable in Network Marketing

Before you start!

As you study every word of this article you will be amazed at what you can learn about Public Speaking as a Network Marketer even if you never performed on stage before.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you get invited to speak at every global event your company is planning to organize for the coming year, and get to visit multiple amazing places all over the world? Wouldn’t this help widen your network, teach you a lot more about your company and people within it, get more sales, and most important enjoy your time and have fun for free?

Why is it so crucial?

You probably already know this; but why is mastering the skill of Public Speaking plays a major rule in shaping your future as a Network Marketer? Why is it so crucial to your success?

I can list many benefits here, but the main ones can be:

- Position yourself as a leader in your company
- Become the go to person. The expert who has the answer to every question
- Up your financial game “The guy on stage is the guy who makes the most money in the room”
- Stage time is gold time
- Build a strong team, because once you are on stage; every potential prospect wants to be in your team
- Get recognized and start speaking in your company’s international events and conventions

Are you beginning to see how mastering Public Speaking skill is plainly imperative for your success as a Network Marketer?

“Why do you try all your life to fit in; when you were born to stand out”

An imperative skill

Throughout my experience as a professional Network Marketer & Public Speaker, and prior to that as an engineer and business owner I have seen many business owners, engineers & network marketers who have every skill they need to become millionaires and leaders in their field but they are not doing it.

They are simply one presentation, just one single presentation away from taking their fortune, their career and their entire life to the next level, and yet they are not doing it.

Commonly because they have every skill they need to succeed but they are still lacking the most important one: Speaking in Public in front of coworkers, subordinates, team members or even friends.

Let me ask you a question, do you speak? Yes, I’m sure you do? OK! Congratulations you are halfway there. Now, all we need to do is to get you speaking in public! as simple as that. It’s easy, but still don’t try to do it alone, then it will become as easy as eating soup with a fork.

Speaking in public is an art. Whether the group is small or large many people find the process completely overwhelming. As Jerry Seinfeld’s famous joke goes “If you have to be in a funeral; you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy”

Funny, but not true, I totally disagree with Jerry “though I love the guy”. It’s simply not true, Public Speaking is actually much simpler than this.

What do you really need?

Yes, you do need:

1- The right training where you can learn the right Public Speaking world-class skills

2- Help and mentorship for effective and ruthless feedback which will sculpture the professional speaker out of the rookie one you are trapped in at the moment

3- Prepare & rehearse, prepare and rehearse, then prepare and rehearse

4- A strong why. A Why; strong enough to make you stand a deliver regardless of what the “little you” inside your head is rumbling with

5- The spirit to give, give, give and always give, and never ask for something in return.

What you don’t need at all?

No, you don’t need:

1- To remember all what you have to say

2- To imagine all your audiences naked in order to get rid of your fear

3- To pay a fortune to learn this skill which you were born with but got buried inside you somehow

4- To be NLP master coach, body language specialist or a master hypnotist “This one makes me smile”

5- You don’t need Power Point slides every time you deliver a presentation

This is all you really do & don’t need.

Help is available, use it!

I was in the same place where you at right now a little over a year ago and today I became an international speaker. Simply because I listened to my mentor and focused only on what I need while ditching all that I don’t need. Doing this I was able to even become an award-winning speaker, certified Public Speaking coach and mentor, and start mentoring beginner speakers myself.

If I did it, you absolutely can do it, and I will be glad to help. Start improving your public speaking and become the public speaking savvy you’ve always wished to be shorter than you ever imagined. Start now, because:

“The only time is NOW! It’s what you called Future a second ago, and what you will be calling Past a second from now.”

Your Bro- Jalal N. Zaitouni

I provide the only training in the Middle East to help public speakers explore their network marketing potential and tackle the fortune waiting for them in the industry. For both marketing beginners & professionals you will discover how mastering public speaking will elevate your business.

You will start your day as a Public Speaker or a Network Marketer and you will walk out as a NETWORK SPEAKER, ready to use your newly developed skills to take your business to the very next level.

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5 Common SEO Mistakes That You Should Avoid

Over the past few years, SEO has evolved faster than the previous decade. And this has made it harder for users to keep up with most recent updates. The launch of Penguin and Panda changed the way things worked in the past. In short, the way Google used to rank website has changed a lot. But if you want to reach your objectives, make sure you avoid some common SEO mistakes.

1. Avoiding RELEVANT CONTENT

In the start, Google said that it would rank websites that have the most relevant content on its first page. This statement is still valid. What has happened is that the search engine has become a lot better at achieving the objectives. In other words, now, Google is in better position to know what is relevant and what is not.

So, what you need to do is offer content that is relevant and avoid content is not relevant to your niche. Of course, the content should be informative and unique.

2. Following Tricks

People have been using many illegal ways of cheating the search engine algorithms for traffic, exposure and backlinks. Some of these tactics can still give you a temporary edge, but they are bad for your blog or website for the long-term.

So, you should avoid using low-quality, duplicate content, keyword stuffing, questionable redirects or cloaking for traffic. It may be tempting to go for these short-cuts, but they will just hurt your ranking, and may even get you banned for good.

3. Overloading your site

It has been a common perception that photos, videos and other graphics make a website more appealing for the viewers. To some extent, this perception is true; however, there should not be too much of it or your website will take ages to load. Your viewers don’t have all day to wait for your site to load. If your blog takes longer to load than other websites, the viewers will just click away. You will not only lose viewers, you will also lose ranking against other websites.

4. Making navigation difficult

Navigation is one of the most important factors for any website. It’s important for both viewers and search engines. Ideally, your viewers should be able to get the desired information from your website in one or two clicks. This may not be an easy task for you. So, what you can do is put important content on the main page of your site. This the users will be able to get what they want more easily.

5. Misunderstanding THE BACKLINK PROCESS

You may not want to be obsessed with obtaining a lot of backlinks. Although you don’t have to have backlinks from authority websites to establish your credibility, it helps a lot. However, what you need to do is try to get backclinks in a nature fashion. But it’s not a good idea to buy backlinks. This is one of the worst mistakes that you can make.

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Image Optimization for SEO – Best Practices

Quality content is the key to SEO success. Content doesn’t just mean your text contents. Images must be an integral part of your content strategy. At times, single images can be far more effective than your 1000 word blog post. It also helps you improve blog post quality and performance.

Images, Infographics, Videos and all other multimedia contents on your web page will help you in increasing the user engagement on your site and makes the visitors stay on your site for longer duration which helps in reducing the bounce rate.

Not just adding images to your contents, you should also optimize those images for better SEO performance. Optimization of images must be the one important aspect of your on-page SEO process.

If you are using images in your content, there are many aspects to be considered related to SEO.

Relevancy

Using images doesn’t mean that you should fill up your content with loads of pictures. You should use it only when it is required and also you should use images that are more relevant to your content.

Placement of your images is an another important aspect. It should be placed at a relevant location in your content according to your text content.

Use original images

Originality always helps in improving your user experience and your authority. Usage of original images will be helpful in improving your SEO performance. You can create original images with a graphic designer or you can take your own photographs with a quality camera. It is the reason top White hat SEO companies employ talented graphic designers for creating quality images.

If you are not able to employ an in-house graphic designer or if you are running out of time, you can always use high quality images from the web. But the important factor to be considered is it should be copyright free.

There are many tools available for getting copyright free images without any cost. The most popular ones are Unsplash, Flicker, Freeimages.

Image Size

Images are the main source for damping your site’s speed. And site speed is a crucial factor in your SEO performance. So, you should be extra cautious in using images without compromising your page speed.

It should not also affect your image quality, you should have a correct balance between. You can achieve this by reducing the file size by compression. You can use tools like Photoshop for compression.

File name

Search engine crawlers are visually impaired, it can even interrupt a 5000 word text content, but it cannot interrupt a single image and what the image is about. It is the reason using a keyword rich file names for your images is an important aspect in image optimization.

Google bots and other search engine crawlers can read your image’s file name and if it is named with your target keyword, it gives a signal to search engines about the image topic and thus helps your SEO performance.

For example, if your image is related to selling sports shoes, rather than using the file name as “IMG_89868″ you can use it as “Black_Tennis_Shoes”.

Alt text

Similar to the file name, search engines can read Alt text of the images. Alt text is known as “Aleternative Text”, is an HTML attribute used to describe the content of images.

You should use Alt text which is relevant to your images and it should be clear and descriptive. You can use your target keywords in the Alt text but be cautious about Keyword stuffing.

If you are not focusing on Image optimization, you are missing a huge opportunity in improving your SEO performance. You can use above mentioned best practices in your on-page optimization process.

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Best Support And Opportunities For All Youth

American youth currently face challenging realities along their way to adulthood. With parents working longer hours and the absence of grandparents and other community adults who used to make up support systems, the intergenerational fabric of community has been frayed. Youth development strategies aim to reweave community fabric in a new way – one that takes the supports and opportunities young people should have, and re-institutes them in the context of young people’s realities today. While many of these realities are harsh ones, we know that young people themselves want to be involved in their communities. The importance of building positive youth/adult partnerships in this process cannot be stressed enough.

The mobilization effort is based on influencing three critical elements: information, attitudes, involvement. The transformation of each of these areas, both in the public and private domains, is a necessary condition for change. For example, in the area of information, the country is currently focused on collecting primarily negative youth information, e.g., teenage births, dropouts, and juvenile arrest rate. Inspiring a 180 degree shift, we need to collect information such as: average number of hours youth participate in after-school activities, computer to youth ratio in non-school hours, and the percentage of youth who hold part-time jobs. The three elements are intertwined, for how information is gathered and communicated impacts attitudes as well as how and if people choose to become involved.

Only through broad community commitment, strong public will, and diverse partnerships can youth development take root, go to scale, and be sustained over time. Ultimately, the mobilization must be supported by partnerships among all of the systems in a community that affect young people (i.e., education, corporations, health care, juvenile justice, religious groups, and recreation). To build these relationships and establish youth development infrastructures to improve developmental paths of adolescents will take at least 10 years.

Localities currently spending their resources on efforts to “fix youth” will need to pool, redirect, and increase their financial commitment to youth development. These additional dollars will ensure all youth equal access to supports and opportunities, especially youth living in economically distressed areas.

Our information on the services young people need, and use, is still hit or miss. Communities do not know what they have or what they need. They usually have no way to tell how well services are being used and what services need to be improved.

Good information is important for youth services for exactly the same reasons it is important for everything else. Accurate, accessible standardized information lets people find the services they need and use them effectively. It lets communities manage, evaluate and improve their services and determine the need for changing them, eliminating them, or developing new ones.

Many national efforts to measure outcomes presently use deficit-driven indicators to assess young people’s condition in society, such as teen pregnancy rates, juvenile crime numbers, and percentages of high school dropouts. Although these measures are important, they do not tell the whole story about young people’s experiences. Measures that reflect positive conditions and experiences of young people are also important.

The accelerated trend of the past decade toward empowering our nation’s young people to succeed has fostered a new awareness and commitment to this most valuable resource. Some basic questions are:

- How much do we currently spend?

- How much should we spend?

Some progress has been made through new initiatives in education finance reform and services integration, providing more effective delivery of social, health and educational services for children and youth from the classroom up to the government. This document establishes an initial framework and formula for assessing the financial resources and mechanisms necessary to move American society closer to this ideal. The following were found to be potential root causes of these trends in spending:

- Devaluation of adolescents.

- Lack of consensus on youth development.

- Lack of adequate and protected funding. Funds are not protected and dedicated in the manner necessary to sustain the long-term, comprehensive process that is youth development.

We can support the move toward the ideal by:

- Seeking new types of information.

- Building on the after-school momentum.

- Making a sustainable public investment.

Youth development is an investment that must be made by each sector of the wider community – public and private. Examination of the federal-state matching, local dedicated taxes an incentives for business and philanthropy could lead to models for providing adequate and sustainable funding for youth development. National intermediaries must work to cultivate this leadership at all levels of government, and at the grassroots, by creating constituencies.

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State Sponsored Retirement Plans Continue to Expand

Several states are taking the lead from California, Oregon and Illinois by offering state-sponsored retirement plans that encourage or require private sector employers to participate.

The plans are referred to as auto-IRAs because eligible workers are automatically enrolled, generally within 30 days of employment. The default contribution rate is typically 3-5% of a paycheck and the employee can stop, restart or transfer plan assets depending on their needs. Referred to as “public-private partnerships” by the Pew Charitable Trust, there is no cost to the employer. Proceeds are managed by a private financial firm management for a pre-determined fee. The plans are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) like other sponsored pension and benefit plans.

This article provides an overview of the states that currently offer savings programs, as well as those that plan to do so in the future.

OregonSaves

Oregon was one of the first states to implement a savings program for employees of small businesses who are not otherwise eligible for a workplace sponsored pension plan. Titled OregonSaves, it is a state retirement program that is available to an employer or an individual planning for the future.

OregonSaves had almost $57 million in assets as of mid-2020. Employee contributions averaged $127 to $135 per month as of that time.

Enrollment is automatic for employees, with contributions being made through payroll deductions. Each employee account is portable and can be moved from one job to another.

All Oregon employers, regardless of employee size, must facilitate the State’s program for their employees if they do not offer an employer-sponsored retirement plan. The plan is working with small employers to make the process as simple as possible.

CalSavers

CalSavers is available to California workers whose employers do not offer a workplace retirement plan, self-employed individuals, and others who want to increase their savings. Plan participants contribute to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) that belongs to them.

California employers with more than 50 employees must register with CalSavers by June 30, 2021 if they do not already sponsor a retirement plan. Registration is available to all California employers with at least five employees.

The CalSavers program opened statewide in July 2019 and had $4.3 million in assets as of mid-2020. On average, participating employees contribute $105 to $120 monthly. Like the Oregon plan, the default savings rate is 5% of the employee’s pay and employees are automatically enrolled after 30 days of employment. They can stop, restart or transfer plan participation at any time if they change employers.

CalSavers Retirement Savings Program is designed to simplify employer participation with no employer fees, no fiduciary responsibility, and minimal ongoing responsibilities. Employers that fail to offer participation in the plan as required are subject to fines.

In May 2021, a federal appeals court in San Francisco dismissed a legal challenge to the CalSavers plan.

Illinois Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program

Illinois launched its Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program in 2018. It is a state-facilitated retirement program that is open to employees who work for an eligible employer as well as other employees who want to enroll independent of their employer. Approximately 32,000 Illinois employees saved $8.5 million in the first year of the Illinois Secure Choice program, according to state reports.

The Illinois Secure Choice account is a Roth IRA for the employee. The default savings rate is 5% of gross pay. Employees are automatically enrolled through payroll contributions after 30 days of employment. An employee can opt out at any time. Plan participants are charged a fee of 0.75% of assets per year ($0.75 for every $100 saved), which pays for program administration and operating expenses.

The Illinois Secure Choice had 5,544 registered employers as of May 2020. There are no fees for employers to facilitate the program and employers cannot make contributions to their employee accounts. Employers serve a limited role as a facilitator. As of November, 2019, employers with 25 or more employees that have been in business for two years or more are required to participate in the program. Employers that already offer an employer-sponsored retirement plan are exempt from this legislation.

New Jersey Secure Choice Savings

The “New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Act,” was signed into law in March 2019, with a two-year time frame scheduled to take effect in March 2021.

The Act requires employers that have been in business for two years and have 25 or more employees to participate in a retirement savings program administered through automatic payroll deductions. Private sector employees of businesses of any size are able to participate in the retirement savings program. Smaller or newer employers could join voluntarily. Failure to comply will result in fines to the employer.

Employees will be automatically enrolled at the leve of a 3% paycheck contribution. The annual contribution maximum is $6,000 for those under 50 years old, and $7,000 for those 50 or older.

Connecticut Secure Choice Savings Plan

Connecticut employers with five or more employees must offer a retirement plan to employees, and private employers with four or fewer employees may choose to do so. Employees are auto-enrolled within 120 days of employment, and employees must be notified of their rights within 30 days. Employers are not permitted to make contributions to the program.

The Connecticut Retirement Security Authority, a quasi-public agency, was formed in 2016 to oversee the program. The state estimates that as many as 600,000 employees may benefit from the plan.

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