Top Reasons to Move to the Outer Banks

Wouldn't it be nice to get away from it all every day? If you read the papers and watch the news, you may see a new trend in living where people flock to busy downtown areas. Cooped up in high rise condos, people walk to work, shopping, and dining. Convenient, yes, but eventually such a lifestyle can become confining, especially if you are not conditioned to think small as you live large.

If you are looking for a change in scenery, look no further than the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Situated along the northeastern coast, bordering the Chesapeake Bay, the Outer Banks of Currituck and Dare counties offer a wealth of opportunity for work and play. Every day can be a vacation when you live on the beach.

Need convincing? Here are just a few of the myriad of reasons why the Outer Banks is for you.

1) Seclusion Without Isolation

It is true that the Outer Banks are a popular vacation destination during the summer. Attractions like the Wright Brothers memorial, the Gravedigger, and the Whalehead Club entice visitors as much as the sandy beaches. However, if you live in the Outer Banks, you don't have to feel put out by guests. Peak tourism encompasses mainly three to five months of the year, and even then there is plenty of room for everybody. What's more, there are nice spots in Currituck known only to locals, so you can still get away from it all when you really need to!

If you think you're going to miss the big city life, there's no need to worry. The Outer Banks are a short distance from the Virginia Beach/Norfolk metropolitan area, as well as only three hours from Raleigh, North Carolina. The proximity can make for some great weekend trips, and you'll be home in time for supper.

2) Agreeable Weather Year Round

One advantage to living in the South is the weather. Though the Outer Banks are further north than most beaches, average temperatures throughout the year are still pleasant. Winters may sees high temperatures into the fifties, while the summer months are not too blistering. If you dislike snow, this is definitely one place to be regardless of the season.

3) A Sportsman's Paradise

The Outer Banks is not limited to water sports and beach fun. Golf enthusiasts have six courses in Currituck County alone to choose from, including the Currituck Club, one of the highest ranked courses in the state. For extreme sports lovers, the skatepark in Maple draws many skateboarders and fans.

Fishing, too, is a popular pastime in the Outer Banks all year long, with deep sea charters available, and the Coinjock Marina open to pier fishing. The Charles Kuralt Trail provide ample opportunity for hiking, birdwatching, and just appreciating the great outdoors. When you live in the Outer Banks, you will never get bored.

4) Eat, Drink, and be Merry

Contrary to belief about resort areas, not everything closes when the tourists leave. The Outer Banks offers many seafood restaurants, with local catches being the special of every day. Locals feast on blue crabs in seasons, succulent sea bass, and delicious low country delights. A trip to Knotts Island can yield quite a bounty of peaches, too. For a real treat, the annual summer peach festival lets you enjoy the fruit in a variety of dishes.

Wine lovers will also enjoy trips to the area vineyards, including Moonrise Bay for regular tastings.

Ways Live Chat Can Assist In Online Banking

Before the advent of live chat software, the only thing missing from online banking websites was real time human connection. Now, numerous banks all over the world are availing this amazing software for their online branches, to facilitate the customers as much as possible. Utilizing its potential to the fullest, these banks are using live chat support to reshape their customer services, in order to ensure maximum customer satisfaction. Here are some ways by which live chat support is assisting online banks:

Giving customers a convenient way to reach you

For your customers, nothing matters more than a quick and rapid service. When they need assistance or they have queries or any complaints, they want to connect with you immediately. One reason why majority of people hate their banks, is because they do not provide good customer services. When using an online bank, slow customer services become irritating, as customers have to either wait hours for their calls to connect or their emails to be replied. Therefore, in a brick and mortar environment, the presence of actual people serves to be huge advantage. However, with live chat support, you can provide the same kind of assistance to your customers on a virtual medium. Customers can reach your chat support operators just like they would go to someone in a real bank.

Allowing operators to handle more than one customer at a time

Dealing with customers is easier on live chat than dealing with them in person. In a brick and mortar environment, your representatives can handle only one customer at a time, however, using live chat software, they can deal with two or three customers at the same time. This allows your operators not only to effectively deal with the customers but, also gives all the customers, a chance to instantly connect with the operators. The multitasking property of live chat support makes it a highly cost efficient yet extremely beneficial mode of communication.

Being a medium of marketing and advertisement

Using live chat support, your operators can market new schemes, insurance and banking policies along with new packages to the customers. They can tell the customers about the facilities you provide to your loyal customers and about the benefits of opening an account in your bank. Your operators can also convince the customers about the benefits of saving their assets in the saving accounts of your bank, by convincing them about your amazing saving policies.

Being an effective medium for filing complaints

The best way to keep your customers happy with your bank is to be there when they want to file a complaint. No matter how good your services are people always have issues with their banks. And, when they cannot reach you immediately, their anger only aggravates. When, you get in touch with your customers the moment they want to reach you, you take half of their anger away. Live chat support can serve as an ideal medium to file complaints and concerns as it provides a medium that allows exchange of dialogues and a seamless, two-way conversation. Instead of just stating their problems in an email, customers can exchange their queries.

The above stated benefits of live chat support make it an ideal tool for any online bank. Hence it must be integrated to ensure maximum customer experience and to build customers' loyalty.

How To Go Green - A Simple Money-Saving Green Living Tip

One benefit of going green is saving money. Some of the best green living tips that also save you money are easy to do and take very little time to implement.

Here is a terrific money-saving green living tip that is so simple that it is easily overlooked. Once implemented, this efficient green living tip will enhance your green lifestyle by making your life easier, saving both time and money every month.

What "How to go green" tip am I referring to? It is something you probably already know about: online bill pay.

I have been using online bill pay for several years now because it saved me both work and money. However, it was only recently, based on a comment made by my sister that I realized what a terrific, easy green living step online bill pay could be.

The majority of people can take advantage of online bill pay, and they should. This is a green living tactic that would have advantages regardless of its green credentials, but is even more valuable because it conserves paper and resources.

Anyone with a checking account and an internet connection (which you must have if you are reading this article!) can gain this benefit of going green. To set up online bill pay you need to take the following steps.

First, set up online banking with your bank. Almost every bank offers online banking nowadays. By allowing customers to manage their bank accounts online, demand for person-to-person contact with banking personnel is reduced, and some transactions that required paper can be handled paperless. (Don't worry. You can always make electronic copies of statements and transaction records that can be stored on your computer for retrieval in the future as necessary.)

Second, once you have set up online banking with your preferred bank, navigate to the online banking set-up page. Typically, you will need to create a user name and password, and your online account will require approval by your bank. Approval is normally very quick, taking only a few days at most, as banks like to increase the number of customers with online banking.

Once you have your online banking set up, you are able to pay bills electronically. You simply enter the information for the payees once, and then each month as the bills come in, you tell the bank who to pay and how much to pay them. Recurring bills such as a mortgage can be set up to be automatically paid on a fixed date reach month. The best part is that the bank cuts the checks, debits your account, and sends out the bills. You don't have to write checks or write out addresses and return addresses. The bank does this work for you. In addition, the bank mails the bills for you as well, saving you a first class stamp (currently 44 cents) and an envelope for each one. If you have 25 bills to pay each month, this is worth about $12.50 every month, or about $150.00 per year.

You can opt to receive many bills online as well, reducing postal mail clutter. And in many cases, online billpay is available from your bank for free-absolutely no cost to you.

An alternative is paying bills online yourself, with the option of direct debits from your checking account, but this is more time-consuming. I prefer to let the bank do the work.

Online banking is a simple way to go green that will save you money every month. It is one of the easiest ways to go green and save money.

Offshore Banking - Are Offshore Bank Accounts Legal and Why Would You Want One?

I am often asked why you would start an offshore bank account. Just as often, I am asked if offshore banking is legal. Offshore banks are often looked at as sneaky or dishonest. And some people would like you to keep thinking they are.

First, let me state for the record, that yes, they are perfectly legal. In fact, offshore banking itself, while the rules may change a little, needs to stay legal. Forever. The economy depends on it. Money will always need to be transferred between countries, or trade would stop. So there will always be a need for offshore bank accounts.

What is illegal is using offshore bank accounts to avoid paying taxes you legally owe. Or, if the accounts are used by criminals for illegal activities. But, of course these two things are illegal anyway. So, the offshore account is just a tool.

Think of it this way, if you use a screwdriver to break a window, you are committing a crime. But, the screwdriver itself is not illegal. It is the same way with offshore banks. They are tools that can be used for good or evil.

Also, you need to consider, that offshore bank accounts are any bank account that is opened in a country other than your country of citizenship. They don't necessarily need to be opened in tax havens. Although they often are. This is why they are often treated with suspicion.

You might be asking at this point, "Then why would a person want to open an offshore account"?

It's great that you are asking that question. Because of the false information about offshore banking, most people do not even ask. And they miss out on the many benefits for everyday people like you and me.

Here are a few reasons:

Enhanced Account Privacy

The first reason people use offshore accounts is for more privacy. Just because you have to declare your income in your country of residence does not mean that everyone has to know exactly how you earned it.

As long as the income was earned legally, isn't it your business as to where it came from? In the case of an audit, you will have to reveal the sources. But as long as it was legal, the audit itself is nothing to worry about. And you still have privacy from everyone else.

Asset Protection from Lawsuits

This is a big one. In today's society, no one is free from the threat of litigation. It doesn't matter how careful you are, some one may trip walking by your property. Or you could be sued for some other petty reason. Or judgement may be passed against you.

We have all heard stories about someone who lost everything due to some type of lawsuit. Private assets in an offshore account are untouchable if created properly. It's not enough to build an inheritance for your children. You need to protect it.

Global Access to Funds

More and more people are choosing a location independent lifestyle or moving abroad. If you have to pull money out of a US or Canadian account, when you are living in or even visiting a foreign country, it can be extremely expensive and inconvenient.

Remember, an offshore account just means a bank account that is not in your home country. So if you are living abroad, it is almost essential.

Competitive Banking Features

Many offshore accounts have more competitive interest rates than you may get at home. Or, they may have features unavailable in your own country.

There is no reason you shouldn't have the opportunity to get a better interest rate. Just because your home bank doesn't provide them.

Access to Business Investments

Over 99% of the worlds investment opportunities are not available to US citizens with US bank accounts. When you have an offshore account to invest from, an entire world of investment opportunities opens up to you.

Also, banks are only open from 9 - 5 local times. Having funds in a bank on the other side of the world gives you access when your other bank is closed.

The requirement to move money around ensures that offshore bank accounts will always be around. And will always be legal. Otherwise, the entire world's economy would collapse over night.

Having a bank account offshore has many benefits for anyone. And at any stage of their financial life. Most importantly, is it is perfectly legal, as long as you do it correctly and not use it for illegal purposes.

If you have any assets that you would like to preserve, or if you ever have the ambition to live or visit overseas, start looking into an offshore bank account today. They are no longer just for the rich.

Your assets are yours to protect and grow. You owe it to yourself to investigate every opportunity for doing so. Offshore banking is a good start.

Glen Kowalski, is passionate about helping people to protect their remaining freedoms to be able to live the way they choose, as long as they are not hurting anyone else. He believes life is too short to not experience everything the world has to offer. And thinks its impossible to really know your own country until you have had the opportunity to live in another one.

Taking Care of Parents - A Living Trust Provides a Safety Net

Parents spend years providing, protecting and caring for us as their children. We honor them by giving Mother a day in May and Father a day in June to express our appreciation for their years of effort in our behalf. Wouldn't it be great if there was some way we could make sure that they too are provided for, protected and, if needed, cared for as they age?

One of the most satisfying aspects of being an estate-planning attorney is creating a complete revocable living trust that allows that loving relationship and care to continue without interference from the courts or legal challenges.

A trust provides a safety net preserving the grantor's wishes and designates a trusted person of their choice to protect their wishes and assets should they become physically or mentally incapacitated. Perhaps the best way to present the benefits of a trust in this area is to share a personal experience.

Expect the Unexpected

Several years ago, a woman I'll call Mrs. Banks made an appointment with me to prepare a revocable living trust for her $250,000 estate. She wanted to leave it to her family without going through the hassles of probate. The trust was prepared but before she could come in to sign it, she was involved in a car accident. This placed her in the hospital for several months--physically incapacitated and mentally unable to handle her own affairs.

Courts Assign Social Worker As Guardian

Mrs. Banks' neighbor, Mr. Nosey, was a close friend. Before the accident, he'd been helping her with investments and tax planning. He was legitimately concerned that she wasn't able to pay her bills over this extended period of time. Mr. Nosey and his attorney friend decided they should ask the court to appoint a conservator to pay Mrs. Banks' bills and take care of her other needs.

Mr. Nosey and his attorney friend filed a request with the court to name a conservator. The process is similar to a probate process and is, therefore, often referred to as a living probate. An attorney must file a Petition for Appointment of Conservator, give notices to creditors, compile an inventory and accounting, and so on.

Since Mr. Nosey had previously been helping Mrs. Banks with her estate (paying the taxes, etc.), he was well versed on the condition of her property and could compile a fairly complete picture of her assets. And when Mr. Nosey and his attorney applied to the court for help, the court responded. The judge appointed a social worker to be the guardian for Mrs. Banks, to visit her at the hospital, and to make sure her physical needs were being met. The court also ordered that a bank be appointed as the trustee of Mrs. Banks' property.

All Property Controlled By Bank Trustee

The judge required that the bank would have its attorneys draw up a trust agreement for Mrs. Banks. Then the court, with the help of the bank's attorneys, would transfer all of Mrs. Banks' property over to this court-approved trust. The bank would then begin to pay her bills.

Happily, after some time, Mrs. Banks began to recover and was eventually able to return home. But what was her state of affairs? Not as she had left them. Her Cadillac had been sold. Her furs were placed in storage somewhere. She wasn't able to account for all her jewelry and other items. She was allowed a meager weekly living allowance of $175. Poor Mrs. Banks. This was an unsatisfactory situation.

Attempting To Regain Control Made Difficult

In frustration, she came to me for advice to regain control over her own property. The first time I'd heard of her deplorable situation was at this meeting. Mrs. Banks brought with her the court documents to show what had happened. I explained that she needed to have the court-approved trust "set aside" or overturned. To do this, she needed to see the doctor who declared her incapacitated and have him verify that she had recovered.

Mrs. Banks did so. She made an appointment with the doctor, who examined her and asked her to respond to questions on a series of tests. Because these tests were critically important to her personal freedom, the poor woman was under severe pressure and became flustered. She had a difficult time with one test: an exercise in counting backward. The doctor asked her questions about specific dates, events, persons, and places in her life to which he knew the answers. Tragically, Mrs. Banks couldn't recall everything and was unable to offer complete answers. The doctor was reluctant to sign a letter stating she had fully recovered.

At the court hearing regarding her conservatorship, Mrs. Banks felt much more like herself. When the judge interviewed her on the witness stand, she responded normally. But because the doctor hadn't signed the letter stating she had fully recovered, the judge was reluctant to set aside that court-approved trust and return her own property to Mrs. Banks. The judge did increase her living allowance, but the court-appointed bank continued to serve as trustee of her trust and control her assets.

Loss of Control Heartbreaking

About 18 months later, I learned of Mrs. Banks' death. I believe that a broken spirit and a broken hear--brought about by loss of control over her own property--seriously contributed to her demise. It was doubly sad to realize that if she had been able to sign the revocable living trust I had prepared for her, Mrs. Banks' daughter could have taken over the management of her mother's property. When Mrs. Banks had recovered sufficiently, the daughter could have turned the property back to her mother's charge.

The family could have handled the whole disturbing affair easily, without the costly and extensive courtroom procedure. And who knows? Mrs. Banks might still be alive today. This dramatic story reveals how powerful and valuable a trust can be--not just when someone dies but also if someone becomes incapacitated.

Trust the Trust A revocable living trust completely eliminates the need for a conservatorship. In your own trust, you may specify that you'll act as trustee until your death, disability, or legal incapacity.

In the event of incapacity, the grantor (creator of the trust) names someone to act as the successor trustee. This successor trustee will be able to take over the management of the trust without being appointed by the court.

I believe mental or physical incapacity is one of the most neglected problems in estate planning. A revocable living trust will protect your parents from this contingency. If they don't have a revocable living trust at this time please share this story with them for their consideration. It will preserve their control over their lives and property and at the same time provide them and those that love them peace of mind.