I’m currently in process of finding someone to rent out our house now that we’ve moved. It’s not exactly a straight-forward process, but it’s not something that’s impossible to do. It’s our second house that we’re trying to rent out now and there are definitely some things that we’ve learned from the first time.

We didn’t do this the first time, and we didn’t have any problems, but something that most likely should be done is to have a Background Check run on any applicants that you have. I understand that you may assume the best in people, and so do I, but when you’re going to sign a lengthy agreement/contract with someone, you’ll want to make sure that you have as much information as you can with which to make the best decision possible. And if that means that you should have a Criminal Background Check performed, then so be it.

There are also other reasons that you would want to have a Criminal Check run on someone. Perhaps you’re a business owner and want it for hiring reasons. The important thing is that you know that it’s available so that you can make informed decisions concerning some of the people that you choose to do business with.

One of the calculations that you’ll hear thrown around time and time again is the compound annual growth rate. It’s a more accurate measure of past investment performance than just a simple average of the different years investment returns. Knowing what the average return of some investment is doesn’t give you any insight into what you might actually expect to have as a result of some initial investment.

To illustrate this, consider the example of two consecutive years where you earn 50% the first year and then lose 33% the next. If you average these returns, you end up with a 8.5% return on your investment, which doesn’t sound that bad. But if you actually run the numbers on some initial investment, you can see that the actual two year return was 0%.

So here’s how you calculate the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR):

CAGR = [Ending Balance/Beginning Balance]^(1/Time Period, i.e. number of years)

It’s a relatively simple calculation to make, and it’s important because you can then equally compare the returns from different investments. I will caution you though, that just because you know the CAGR of some investment in the past, it cannot accurately predict the future returns of the investment.

As many of you may already know, running a business is no small task. Starting a business is another thing altogether, but the day to day operations themselves can take up most if not all of your time just by themselves. This can get to be a problem, or perhaps already is, when you know you should be focusing on some of the larger issues of the company like the future strategy and direction.

So if you’re company isn’t large enough to have it’s own HR department and general office staff, you can look into hiring or retaining the services of a firm like National PEO or a Professional Employer Organization. They can provide many different services that a smaller company isn’t ready to bring in-house yet. They have HR services, workers’ compensation, employee benefits administration, and even more.

They can also provide you with Payroll Serviceswhich is a big concern for many just starting out. If you’ve ever wondered how you’re going to pay people and handle all the tax withholding and payments, as well as manage multiple people’s timecards, then this is a service that you should probably look into. It can all be handled for you.

National PEO is based in Arizona and can also handle the verification process for employees’ eligibility to work in Arizona so that you can remain compliant with the hiring laws. This is through a process called E verify. So if you’ve been puzzled with any of these issues in your business or want to know more about it before you start one, then you should look into these different services.

Well a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks, and if there are any of you out there still reading this, I’m finally getting around to writing about it. First of all, since I mention it in the title, this past week I’ve been in orientation for the MBA program at Arizona State University. I say “this past week” since we don’t have anything scheduled for Friday. My goal here is not to bore any of you with details, so I’ll say that it was roughly from 8 to 5 everyday and covered various administrative and programmatic things that we should know. If you’d like to know anything more, feel free to ask.

Before all of this though, we moved across the country taking our time to visit family along the way. The drive from place to place was pretty long usually, but nothing that bad. I was able to see another baseball stadium that I hadn’t seen before which was where the Colorado Rockies play.

Once we arrived in the Phoenix area, we were pretty busy moving into the apartment and getting things set up so that we could function. We also finally bought ourselves some decent furniture, which was most likely a pretty weak moment for me. Other than this, we’ve gotten acquainted with our surroundings finished up little odds and ends before I had to start school.

I can honestly say that I’m looking forward to the MBA program and everything that I’ll have a chance to learn. It’s probably going to be more work and take up more time that I would like, but I’m sure it’ll end up being a worthwhile endeavour. So there you have it. A rough and quick take on what’s been going on recently.

There’s an interesting company out there that specializes in Computer Forensics, data recovery, and other associated activities. They can recover data of all formats including emails, pictures, internet activity and a lot more. They also offer a hard drive destruction service when you need to dispose of hard drives that contain some sort of sensitive information when you upgrade your computers or for some other reason.

Now, you may wonder why one would need a Computer Forensic, or any of the services that they offer. You may just need basic data recovery, or perhaps your looking for help in some sort of litigation. They can help you with intellectual property disputes, recovery of evidence, and they even provide expert witness services. It’s something to keep in mind if you run any sort of business because you never know when you’ll face some sort of litigation or need to pursue it yourself.

The computer experts at Data Chasers have all manner of certifications and relationships with professional organizations. They have public sector experience as well as experience in the private sector. Forensic Computer data discovery is a science and now you can use their services if the situation ever arises that you would need it.

I was thinking the other day about some of the more simple things when it comes to our finances, so I thought I would talk about keeping a check book register and balancing it occasionally. I’ve talked to a lot of people who don’t do this, and they have various reasons for it.

Some of the more common reasons for not keeping a register for one’s bank account are laziness, managing everything online, or just not understanding how or why to keep one. None of these are good reasons, but they’re the excuses that people will give for not keeping good records. So let me give a few reasons why I think it’s important for you to keep an accurate register for bank accounts.

1. It’s one of the simplest ways for you to keep track of and always know what money is coming in and what is going out. We know that in order to get and keep your finances in order you need to know where your money is going, and this is a great way to to do it.

2. Even though it’s really easy to manage your account online these days, there is still a one or two day delay before things post to your account, and you also don’t want to forget any checks that you may have written that people haven’t cashed yet. I’ve talked to far too many people who just check their online balance before making a purchase, but they’ve forgotten about some check they’ve written. This is a great way to rack up the overdraft fees.

3. It’s a great way to train yourself to think more about your finances and keep them in order and organized. By keeping a record of your purchases and deposits, you’ll stay on top of what money you have and don’t have. Getting more organized in your financial life is something that you definitely won’t regret.