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According to the Coin Laundry Association, laundry centers and coin laundries average a powerful 20 to 30% return on investment. A successful laundry owner offers 6 powerful insights on why you too can and should achieve great financial rewards with part- time effort. Are you ready to join the ranks of the many successful entrepreneurs like Dan King who are “cleaning-up” in today’s commercial laundry industry?

With stock market fluctuations and an uncertain economy, many Americans have a difficult time finding investments that can survive recessions and economic downturns. However, the commercial laundry business with its 20 to 30% ROI is almost recession proof. In fact both Dun and Bradstreet and the SBA have cited it as one of the 10 top safest business investments one can make. Believe it or not, thats just one of the many powerful reasons so many retirees are looking to invest in their own laundry stores. The fact is that coin laundries and vended laundries are one of the most advantageous part-time and retirement businesses that exist.

AN OWNER LISTS THE BENEFITS

According to Dan King, owner of several coin laundries in Southern California, I highly recommend investing in this industry it has worked wonderfully well for me and it can for you. Before I invested I considered 6 major benefits that Laundry Center ownership offered and that no other investment provided.”

1. First, I didnt have to give up my regular job. I found that Coin Laundries basically run themselves, which was great for me because I was looking for an absentee manager situation. The fact is they require just a couple of hours a week and are so easy to operate that basically anyone, anywhere can own one or more.

2. I also liked the fact that this is a turn-key business, where you dont need staff on the premises. You can set your laundry to stay open 24 hours a day, or you can have an automatic door-locking system on a timer set to open and close when you choose. I personally keep my laundry stores open full-time and that works well for my customers and for me.

3. Another benefit is that you can own a laundry near your home or further away. They thrive in every state of the union. Coin laundries can be placed in virtually all neighborhood shopping centers and perform exceptionally well in renter-occupied, densely populated, lower-income areas. Your average customer will be the estimated 89 million people who live in rental housing, which is the fastest-growing housing segment in the nation.

4. Even better, this is an All Cash business with no inventory and no accounts receivables. You can expect a high return on investment, liquidity, tax benefits, and fast growing equity. Whatever your cash down payment is at the time of purchase, you can typically expect to get back within seven years, or sooner. Like buying a house, equity builds and you ultimately can expect a substantial profit.

5. Once set up, I found that coin laundries paid off like a cash machine week in and week out. Lets face it: people will always need to wash their clothes, which is why laundry centers thrive in periods of both growth and recession. In fact, when times are slow and homeownership decreases, the self-service laundry market thrives as more people are unable to afford to repair, replace or purchase new washers and dryers, or as they move to apartment housing with poor or nonexistent laundry facilities.

6. Finally, I loved the fact that I could purchase an existing coin laundry to fit my budget, available investment dollars and personal requirements. Coin laundries generally require between 1,500 and 5,000 square feet of retail space, depending on the market size. Most laundries occupy retail space that is rented on a long-term lease of 10 years to 25 years, including option periods. The cost of buying a vended laundry can range from less than $50,000 to more than one million dollars, depending on size, age and net income.

Bottom line, Dan King is one of many successful entrepreneurs in our dynamic industry. In fact, there are over 35,000 coin- and card-operated laundries in the United States, generating more than $3.5 billion in annual revenue and these numbers are growing! Millions of families use laundries every day. But most people dont realize that those same laundries offer even better ways to clean up than with water, soap and bleach. With the primary customer representing the fastest growing segment in the nation — the laundry business is amazingly stable, and dependably profitable. After all, families need clean towels and sheets whether the stock market is up or down. They need clean clothes in summer and winter, on vacation or working, whether theyre newborns, teenagers or retired.

About the author:

Ilene Fudim is a nationally recognized expert in the coin operated laundry industry and a contributing editor to the Laundry Center Marketwatch newsletter. She has been instrumental in helping launch many successful coin laundry businesses. For more information and a free copy of the
Laundry Center Marketwatch newsletter, visit the site at: laundrycenter.info or call toll free 1-877-45-Laundry.

Robert S. Eiford, a financial consultant with the local office of A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., has earned the title of Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor.A.G. Edwards consultant earns retirement planning certification (The Bellingham Herald)

Financial Advisor Robert Henderson of Edward Jones Investments in Mystic offers five questions to think about as you near retirement.Five Questions As You Near Retirement (Westerly Sun)

Pinegrove Estates retirement community in Lockport will offer something different for seniors, and is the first of its kind in the county, says owner J. Thomas Briody.TOWN OF LOCKPORT: Retirement community wants to add 5 acres to land (Lockport Union-Sun & Journal)

E*TRADE FINANCIAL Makes Retirement Planning Easier with New Online … Business Wire (press release), CA - Mar 25, 2008 (NASDAQ: ETFC) today announced the launch of Retirement QuickPlan, an easy-to-use, four-step retirement planning tool from E*TRADE Securities that provides …

E*TRADE FINANCIAL Makes Retirement Planning Easier with New Online … - Business Wire (press release)

Tags: investing, , seniors, retirement age, savings, investment, 401k

A life of retirement community carlsbad ca is waiting for you to discover, and our website has brought all of the exciting retirement community ontario and arizona community retirement right to your computer screen and is just a mouse-click away. You will find tips on making preparations, getting started, and enjoying retirement community carlsbad ca to the fullest. Let us help you get started.

For many years, Costa Rica has been touted as one of the top retirement havens in the world. With a stable democracy, growing economy government friendly to foreigners and tropical climate, as well as incredible natural beauty, it rightly earned the phrase, the Switzerland of Latin America.

Is this still true today?
Is it as expensive as Switzerland?
Are retirees still coming here?
Should they still consider Costa Rica?

To many people, there appear to be less expensive retirement destinations such as Panama or Nicaragua. To others, Costa Rica has become too touristy. Still others believe Costa Rica is overrun with gringos.

I want to debunk these notions, and others, and suggest that Costa Rica is still a terrific place to retire, or to start new life in if you are not yet retired, particularly if you choose your location and activities carefully.

Costa Rica is too expensive!

I have been living in Costa Rica for about two years but have been in and out the country frequently since 1989 and based my extensive travel throughout the country in conjunction with my Boomers in Costa Rica Retirement Tours, Ive found that there are still inexpensive areas in which to live, particularly if you stay away from the close-in suburbs of San Jose.

Take, for example, the wonderful city of San Ramon, an agricultural town of 70,000, situated on the northwest edge of the Central Valley. Home to three former presidents including Don Pepe, who abolished the army in 1948 and set in motion the basis for todays robust democracy, San Ramon offers a peaceful environment in which to live yet it offers all of the services of a larger city including numerous supermarkets, a mall with a three-screen theater, numerous outstanding restaurants and warm, welcoming locals. It is also only 40 minutes to the international airport in Alajuela, one hour to San Jose and 40 minutes to the Pacific Coast.

San Ramon also offers a wide variety of lots for building ones retirement dream home, either in the mountains which the Tico Times calls the Tuscany or Provence of Central America, or stunning ocean view properties in which one can see the Nicoya Peninsula, the Pacific Ocean and the bustling port city of Puntarenas.

Prices for land still remain low with some lots as inexpensive as $15,000 for a one-half acre lot, to $75,000 for an incredible ocean-view lot on 2.25 acres. With another $60,000 to $75,000, you can have an incredible ocean view lot and house, complete with all the services you need, for under $200,000. If you decide you dont want ocean views, youll pay even less, perhaps around $100,000 for a nice lot and home.

Property taxes are very low, only .25% of the registered value of your home/land. I paid $66 in property taxes for an entire year! The local government office even asked me if I wanted to pay my taxes quarterly!

If renting is more your style, you can still find nice two-bedroom, modest homes for rent for under $200/month. Low housing costs combined with very low prices on food and utilities makes San Ramon an excellent bargain. The towns of Grecia, Sarchi, Atenas and Naranjo offer excellent value as well; you just need to know where to look or link up with an experienced and knowledgeable local or gringo to help you out.

I also eat inexpensively, perhaps a $1.50 for breakfast, $2.00 for lunch, and then I splurge for dinner, perhaps $4-$6, and this is if I go out to eat! Of course, if you visit some of this countrys wonderful outdoor markets, youll find the freshest meats, fruits and vegetables, and can cook for yourself and spend even less.

I need good and convenient medical care!

Some foreigners living in Costa Rica complain that the medical system here is overcrowded and it often takes hours to see a doctor. Yes, in some areas there are less doctors per capita than in the United States but this generally applies to people living in the San Jose area, and often times relates to people who have elected to get on the CAJA system, which is the most basic health insurance program, run by the government, to which most Ticos belong.

Once you leave the San Jose area, even if you are on the CAJA, the lines lessen and more often than not, youll form a great relationship with an English-speaking doctor who is well-trained, and in some cases, will even make house calls. There are also other privately-run programs that allow you to see any doctor and even these programs are much less expensive than insurance programs in the states.

Costa Rica also has several outstanding hospitals that provide the same level and quality of service that you would find in the United States. CIMA Hospital San Jose, which is affiliated with Baylor Medical Center in Houston, is a brand new facility with all of the new technologies you would find in any top hospital in the United States. In fact, my doctor at CIMA has more advanced technology in his office than my doctor in New York City. Clinica Biblica, also near San Jose, is also another top hospital, with the same quality of service you would find at CIMA.

There are too many tourists!

Costa Rica certainly is a well-traveled tourist destination and sees over 1 million holiday makers a year. If you visit the beaches at Manuel Antonio, the rain forest of Monteverde or Arenal Volcano during the dry season, yes, you will see many North Americans and Europeans. However, living here, particularly in towns such as San Ramon or Grecia, you would hardly know it is the tourist season. These towns, and others, see few tourists and move at their own leisurely but consistent pace year round.

Actually, visiting tourist destinations during the off season is a significant benefit of living here, particularly given that prices are significantly less than during the high season.

Costa Rica does count among its residents some 40,000 North Americans, mostly from the United States. They come for a variety of reasons from wanting to leave their corporate careers for more meaningful work to just wanting to retire and enjoy a slower, relaxed pace of life that Costa Rica offers.

While these expatriates are scattered throughout Costa Rica, most of them live in the suburbs surrounding San Jose such as Escazu, Santa Ana and Cuidad Colon. Quite a few ex-pats live in beach communities up and down the Pacific Coast while a smaller number of people live on the Caribbean coast. However, many people are beginning to take note of the smaller towns in the Central Valley such as Grecia, Sarchi, Naranjo and San Ramon as well as even smaller pueblos surrounding these towns. These towns and pueblos offer a relaxed pace of life, reasonable property prices and an overall lower cost of living.

So, you can live in Costa Rica and not feel overrun by gringos or the high prices in other parts of the country. However, if you want to live among your own kind, you can do that too!

Historically, Costa Rica was a country primarily attractive to retirees; those people in their late 50s or early 60s (and in some cases much older) who wanted a small house, and could live much less inexpensively than in North America or Europe. However, Costa Rica is also beginning to attract a fair number of baby boomers, particularly people not yet ready to retire.

Beyond living a quieter, simpler life, these people are certainly not done working yet. They may own businesses they can run from virtually anywhere. They may also be writers or artists. Still others are coming here to invest their time and money in new businesses. Many people have made the successful transition from a corporate career in the states to running a bed and breakfast, managing a surf shop, offering tours, investing in real estate, and more much. Costa Rica is a very business-friendly country and the opportunities here are still endless.

The roads are terrible!

Like any developing country, particularly one with a rainy season for part of the year, and with trucks and cars sharing the same, often two-lane road, it can be hard to maintain the roads in perfect condition all the time.

Fortunately, under the new administration of Nobel Prize winner, President Oscar Arias, significant steps are being taken to address these concerns. Millions of dollars have been allocated to new road construction and repair. Costa Rica has come a long way in infrastructure improvements, and it is only getting better.

No hablo espanol!

While one can get by without knowing much Spanish, youll have a better experience if you try to learn at least some key words, phrases and sentences. In addition, befriending a Tico (hopefully a bilingual one!) will go a long way in helping you get things done here.

On our retirement tours, for example, we provide a post-tour relocation service where we link up our clients with a Tico to help with some critical post-move tasks such as getting a drivers license, hooking up electricity, phone, and Internet services, and a variety of other things. I couldnt get by without my Tico connections and my Spanish is getting better all the time.

But Costa Rica is in Central America!

Central America does have a reputation for being very poor, and historically, a region chock full political chaos, dictators, communists, and meddling by foreign countries. Costa Rica, however, has had a continuous and stable democracy since 1948 and the transition to new administrations have been as peaceful as they are in the United States. Yes, there are poor people here but it is nothing like the abject poverty found, for example, in Nicaragua or Honduras.

Costa Rica also has not experienced the gang warfare that is rampant in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras. It remains somewhat dangerous in these countries and the political systems are still not completely stable. Housing and land may be much cheaper, but is it worth paying less to live if you experience power cuts for six to eight hours each day (as is the case in Nicaragua lately) or more importantly, live in fear?

Ive also found that the people are much more welcoming to us gringos than in other countries in the region, and dont just befriend us for our money. They are very hard working, genuinely interested in learning about North Americans, and for us, it is not hard to integrate into Costa Rica society. I cannot tell you just how many parties and dinners Ive been invited to in Tico homes since moving here. They are friendly people indeed!

With millions of baby boomers in North Americaover 70 million of themretiring now or over the next 20 years, and living longer than previous generations, it will take a lot of money to live well in retirement, particularly in the United States. Is Costa Rica still a good alternative? Yes! Will you do well here and enjoy yourself? Absolutely! Come visit and introduce yourself to the wonderful people and natural environment that we still call paradise. Were here, living our dreams, and happy to help you! You can even email me at: boomersincostarica@gmail.com.

Andrew Mastrandonas is an American living in Costa Rica where he owns a relocation tour company designed to provide an introduction to Costa Rica for retirees considering moving here. He also owns a bed & breakfast and writes about travel, community issues, and culture for a variety of publications, including the Tico Times. For more information: http://www.boomersincostarica.com and http://www.AngelValleyFarmBandB.com

NEW YORK—-E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp. today announced the launch of Retirement QuickPlan, an easy-to-use, four-step retirement planning tool from E*TRADE Securities that provides a quick assessment of an individual’s or family’s retirement savings and investing plan as well as tips to help get on track with personal retirement goals.E*TRADE FINANCIAL Makes Retirement Planning Easier with New Online Tool (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)

Adrian Ogaz, 91, and Christine Driggers, 93, toast one another as they sip non-alcoholic pia coladas Thursday after being crowned king and queen of the Morningside retirement community at the Village at Northrise.Retirement royalty (Las Cruces Sun-News)

Retirement planning rethought London Free Press, Canada - Mar 28, 2008 By PJ HARSTON As more and more boomers edge closer to retirement, one bank’s retirement group is turning how it views retirement planning on its head. …

Retirement planning rethought - London Free Press

Tags: savings, living, pension, home, seniors, investment, investing