For the first time in history, cash is being threatened as the most frequently used medium of transaction. The proliferation of credit and debit cards and the ubiquity of vendors who accept them make carrying hard currency practically unnecessary, if not irrelevant, in this age of digitization.

Yet accepting credit cards comes at a cost. While consumers receive the convenience of paying with cards and vendors receive the ability to offer a convenience to customers, this convenience comes at a cost. Merchant accounts necessary to accept credit cards are often difficult to set up and often expensive to maintain. In addition to monthly maintenance fees, there are fees for each transaction of up to 4% in some cases, in addition to a smaller flat flee on top of that. That means that the credit card processor is sharing a significant portion of merchants’ profits with them.

When establishing a new merchant account, it is therefore prudent to shop around for the best prices. Since almost all online transactions and most physical transactions over $20 are made with credit or debit cards, the amount of profits you keep from the credit card processing company could just be your end-of-year bonus.

Though the recent Wall St bailout package has been frequently called a bonus package for Wall Street executives who mismanaged their companies’ risks, the new troubled asset repurchase program has in it provisions that will help employees of Wall St. and Main St. alike. The rising sensitivity to the plight of the middle class put in the spotlight by ongoing turmoil in the financial markets as well as the highly contested presidential campaign, has made it easier for individuals to settle their debts with credit card companies and banks for less than what they owe.

Now is the best time for customers with debt to consider consolidating it or renegotiating it with the help of a debt settlement company or credit counseling company. These companies work with you and your lenders to first reduce the amount of debt that you owe – usually achieved by renegotiating your interest – and then by letting you consolidate it into one, even lower-rate account. The end result is that you will owe less and be able to pay it off more quickly and more easily. That will allow you to focus on getting your finances back on track so that you can once again afford the things that you buy and save for your financial future, which – in this day – is all but certain.

Nobody likes flying. Between lines at security, waiting at the gate, and checking baggage, time spent getting to and waiting for a flight often takes longer than the flight itself. You’re a busy executive. Your time is your shareholders’ money. Why are you flying commercial??

Jet charters are an absolute necessity if you value your obligation to devote your time to managing your company properly. Corporate et charters are certainly expensive, but consider the trade-off. Flying commercially, you will be have to leave the job early in case of long lines at check-in or at security; flying on a private jet charter, you will be able to leave just in time to make your flight, without the worry that the plane will leave with you in case you get delayed. Flying commercially, you will have to spend precious time waiting for your plane to board; flying on a chartered plane, your time won’t be wasted and you’ll get where you need to be. Flying on a commercial plane, you’ll sit in an uncomfortable seat on the runway, and risk being late to your important commitments; flying on a jet charter, you’ll get where you need to be, on time or early – the plane will take off just after the door closes – and in comfort, allowing you to work or rest during the trip so that you can be ready to face the challenges that undoubtedly await you when you land.

Many people avoid taking natural vitamin supplements because they feel fine. With this logic, they feel that they do not need to take them. However, this attitude is flawed.

When we suddenly fall ill – sickness, old age, some diagnosed health problem – we scramble to find a supplement that will magically cure us. Unfortunately, much of this can be avoided if supplements are taken on a regular basis.

With tempting fast food and being on the run most waking hours of the day, nutritional deficiency is almost unavoidable. Daily nutrition remains important, but most people do not have the time to find that balance in their diet. However, natural vitamin supplements are not designed to replace a good diet – they are called “supplements” for a reason.

Vitamins can help boost our immune system and keep us from being in the situations described above. Your body also takes in a large amount of toxins on any given day. Supplements help fight that toxin intake and expel those that we do. Chemicals we come into contact with, our unhealthy lifestyles, and environmental stresses all around us are big factors in our toxin levels, and we need to fight back against them.

Choose the right supplement, and you can feel better, stay healthier, and complement your diet in a way your body will thank you for!

In today’s business world, you need to make sure you are properly covering situations that you may be involved in to protect yourself legally. Fortunately, there is a wide range of free legal forms at your disposal to make sure that you can run your business with peace of mind. Here are just a few:

1. Tax forms. The most common of any business form, the government makes free tax forms readily available for you to fill out and send in. These forms can cover obtaining tax identification numbers for your business, filing your quarterly tax payments, and charging and paying sales tax on items that you sell.
2. Business protection forms. The main form I speak of here is the limited liability company form, or LLC form. As an LLC, you maintain that should you be taken to court for anything, the plaintiff can only get what your business is worth and not your personal wealth. This protects you from potentially losing your life as opposed to bankrupting your business and having to start over.
3. Any form involving your business and an outside entity. These could be legal contracts with other businesses, or partnerships and incorporating your business. When more than one person is involved, legal lines need to be drawn. The government makes it easy to find the correct free legal forms for this situation as well.