Five tips for kitchen redos

* Add color and light. Splashes of color and artwork can transform a kitchen from a workspace to a fun, vibrant family-gathering spot. To show off those dazzling colors, choose window treatments that let the sunshine in. And take a look at the windows themselves. High-efficiency replacement windows and patio doors can not only save you money over their less-efficient predecessors from the second they are installed, but they often retain most of their value should the home be sold, according to industry statistics. Simonton Windows offers a variety of types, sizes and styles across a number of collections, and can help you find the right windows for your remodeling needs. For detailed window options, visit www.simonton.com.



* Add appeal and ease. Stainless steel continues to be the most popular finish for kitchen appliances, sinks and fixtures. Besides its modern, sleek appearance, stainless steel cleans easily and resists wear and tear. That is especially true for kitchen sinks, which receive the brunt of abuse. New lines of stainless-steel sinks, in a variety of styles, configurations and sizes, are available from Moen. To ease renovation, the new styles feature an updated drop-in deck design. These drop-in sinks include Moen's refreshed sink-deck design, a minimal, transitional style that coordinates with a variety of decor and faucet designs. The new recessed deck allows sponges or other wet items placed on the deck's inner ledge to drain back into the sink, and not onto the countertop. The sinks' wear-resistant, uniform, brushed finish offers durability and resistance to chipping, cracking, staining or peeling.



* Go bold with fixtures. For topping off a kitchen-remodeling project, nothing beats bold and functional fixtures. The new STo collection of stylish, modern faucets from Moen encompass a slim, sleek design, including the innovative, integrated pulldown wand which neatly docks inside of the spout. The rounded, high-arc spout of the STo faucet features a tubular design that unites with a cube-shaped base. Adding the finishing touch is a rectangular lever handle. Available in both single-handle pulldown kitchen and bar/prep pulldown models, STo faucets also feature Moen's Reflex system, which offers self-retraction of the wand, as well as an exceptional range of motion, generous reach and secure docking retraction. Choose the Spot Resist Stainless finish, with Chrome and Matte Black as other finish options. For more information about Moen products, visit www.moen.com.



* Store in style. Kitchen storage can be practical and stylish. After determining what you don't like about your current cabinetry - consider location, storage capacity, storage flexibility, material and finish - find out what options you have. MasterBrand offers a spectrum of cabinetry products ranging from standard to custom, with solutions for every budget and lifestyle. For more on cabinetry products from MasterBrand, visit www.masterbrand.com.



* Freshen the flooring. While design, color and surface appeal are important considerations, you'll also want kitchen flooring that can live up to your lifestyle and provide the comfort and durability you need, according to bobvila.com. Natural stone and ceramic tile are high-end products that ooze taste and elegance. If selecting these hard surfaces, also invest in mats for areas where you'll be standing for longer periods of time. Linoleum and vinyl offer the look of tile or wood in a more economical, easy-to-clean package. Hardwood has made great strides as a flooring option for kitchens, due to improved product quality and sealing technology.

Tips for making moving day easier

Using your truck will make the move much easier, as you shuttle belongings - both large and small - from your old home into your new abode. Be sure your truck is equipped to handle the big move by scheduling a tune-up the week before and checking that all accessories like elastic cords are handy for use. Also consider purchasing a truck bed cover to help make your move easier by securing and protecting your belongings while they are in transit to your new home. Made of heavy-duty, double coated vinyl, the ACCESS truck bed cover installs quickly and easily with a clamp-on installation and is designed specifically to fit your truck.



Put the following tips to good use in organizing your move, and be sure to reward your helpers for all the hard work they do when the day is done with a fun dinner out or a gift certificate for a favorite store.



* Secure parking - If your new home is on a busy city street or part of a large condominium complex, you will want to reserve parking for your truck ahead of time. Contact the association or the city and register for a parking permit to block off space in front of your new home for your moving day.



* Divide and conquer - Give your helpers tasks they can do unassisted. Have one helper monitor the loading of your truck with boxes, making sure each is marked with its correlating final room destination. Another helper can be based at the new home, making certain all belongings end up in the proper rooms. If you have additional help, assign them the tasks of unpacking boxes - like kitchen dishes. Put sticky notes on the cupboards where you want dishes to be located to make this task easier. Having your helpers assigned to specific jobs allows you to handle any last-minute packing, or other jobs only you can handle.



* Keep your belongings secure en route - Whether you're stopping overnight and leaving your truck parked in a hotel lot, or pausing for gas, leaving items open to view in the bed is an invitation for theft. A locking truck cover, like the ACCESS truck bed cover, allows you to shield the bed contents from the elements and the eyes of thieves.



* Provide nourishment - Keep plenty of food and water available at both homes to provide fuel and nourishment for all workers. Also encourage short breaks to help keep energy levels going strong throughout the entire day.



* Encourage communications - Provide your helpers with cellphone numbers or two-way radios for a quick way to communicate during the day. Keeping communications open allows for a quicker moving process, and also helps to prevent any confusion on where belongings will go once they arrive at the new house.



* Keep children and pets occupied - Having pets or small children around can distract your helpers, and potentially make it dangerous for everyone involved in the moving process. Consider hiring a babysitter or pet-sitter for the day, or ask a family member to watch over them during the moving process in lieu of helping you out with the move.



Most importantly, keep calm during the chaos of moving day. Your calm demeanor will influence your helpers to stay relaxed, which encourages everyone to move more efficiently and safely. And just know, at the end of the day, while you may still have belongings in boxes, you're in your new home and ready for future adventures to begin.

Retirement planning crucial for small business owners

Planning for retirement is crucial for everyone, and it is especially critical for small business owners, the business leaders many cite as the life blood of the American economy.



Indeed, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small business owners employ half of all private sector employees, pay 44 percent of total U.S. private payroll, and have generated 65 percent of net new jobs over the past 17 years.



The challenge before American small business owners is keeping their companies financially healthy long-term. This is so that small business owners do not over-rely on the sale of their business alone to take care of them in retirement, and so the business will continue to remain a viable employer in the communities it serves.

Because small business owners and entrepreneurs are busy every day working to keep their businesses running strong, their schedule can often interfere with planning for the future. But in this economy, planning is a must in any business strategy. Without it, business owners may be surprised to find that the ultimate sale of their business may not leave enough for them to live on. This is because the sale timing might be off, or their finances are not strong enough to cover a full retirement.

"Setting a target number - or dollar figure of what is needed to live on for the rest of your life - is important, and it should be determined at least 10 years before you're ready to retire," says Tara Reynolds, corporate vice president with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). "And as you approach retirement, it's also a good idea to re-calculate what the business is worth with a proper business valuation to determine how you will need to fund your non-working years, if the value has changed. Having this plan and expectation in place can help you determine the best way and time to retire from your business."

The average business owner expects to retire at age 68, according to a survey conducted by GfK Custom Research North American for MassMutual this year. Yet only one-third of the respondents had a sound retirement strategy to ensure income for life, having access to income when needed, managing potential health care expenses and leaving a legacy to the next generation.

MassMutual financial professional Katheigh Degen of Kansas City offers the following tips to help small business owners stay financially secure during the run up to retirement.

* Anticipate needs - Traditionally, most people need about 70 percent of their current annual income to live comfortably in retirement. Know what your business is worth - both as one entity, and also broken down into smaller parts. Only about 10 percent of business sales involve the entire business as one lump sum.

* Save on the side - You've probably heard about diversifying your portfolio, and the same is true with diversifying your retirement plan. Put aside 20 to 25 percent of your gross income in savings outside of the business. This provides you with flexibility as you plan your exit from the business. For example, if you have an heir or employee interested in purchasing the company, they might not be able to afford it all at once, but could take over the helm with smaller payments over a period of time. Having additional savings can help you tide over in retirement while you also receive payments for the business.

* Explore options - As you near retirement, selling off your business in one setting would make everything easy. But as mentioned earlier, it doesn't always work that way. Knowing your business' value can help you evaluate offers that come your way, so you can make an educated decision on whether to sell and live comfortably in retirement, or keep working and pursue a better offer.

* Don't wait too long to find a buyer - Within three to five years of retirement, business owners should start to find a buyer for the business. Of course, this plan demands that the owner set an expected retirement date and stick to it. By waiting too long, owners may begin to experience poor health and low energy, which could affect productivity and potentially the profitability of the company.

Planning for retirement is so crucial, and owning a business can often add complications in timing the retirement perfectly.

"Business owners put so much hard work into building the business and making it strong and viable in the market," says Degen. "With additional planning in retirement strategy, a good business owner can retire and see the business continue to succeed even after it has been transitioned over to new owners."

Busting first-time homebuyer myths

(BPT) - When buying a first home, most people are making one of the biggest purchases of their lives. Without home buying experience, it's hard to separate fact from fiction.



"Buying a first home can be exciting and stressful for most young buyers, especially the financing process," says Clete Thompson, vice president at imortgage, a division of loanDepot LLC. "There's a lot of paperwork, many choices, and sometimes budgets don't stretch very far. Our licensed loan officers specialize in helping first-time buyers navigate the home finance process, which can be stressful if you're not working with a seasoned professional."



To help first-time buyers, the experts at imortgage are uncovering prevalent myths about financing a home purchase:



Myth: It takes a 20 percent down payment to buy a home.



Reality: Required down payment amounts vary by type of loan and they are on average much smaller than people think. Last year, the median down payment for all first-time buyers was 6 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors. One reason is that many first-time buyers use FHA loans, which require down payments as low as 3 to 3.5 percent. VA loans require nothing down for qualified veterans or active military personnel. If you want to take out a conventional loan, many lenders do require 20 percent down, but you can lower that percentage with private mortgage insurance. There are also hundreds of down payment assistance programs that eliminate or reduce down payment requirements for qualified borrowers.



Myth: If you owe a lot of student loan debt, there is no way you can get a mortgage .



Reality: Don't assume that having a lot of student loan debt automatically disqualifies you from getting a mortgage. The key factor is not necessarily the size of your loan obligation, but the amount of your total monthly debt payments compared to your monthly income. This is called DTI. imortgage, for example, has approved thousands of loans to first-time buyers whose monthly student loan payments were as high as $300, and many more could qualify by increasing their monthly income.



Myth: If your credit score is low, you should not even try to get a mortgage.



Reality: Millions of potential buyers assume they will not be approved for a mortgage even though many could qualify, according to a national survey commissioned by loanDepot LLC. Today, median FICO scores for mortgages to buy a home are 683 for FHA loans and 754 for conventional loans. But hundreds of thousands of buyers with scores lower than those are getting mortgages if they have good income and low levels of debt.



Myth: Buying a home isn't a good investment.



Reality: Real estate, like other assets, rises and falls based on supply and demand. Over the past two years, home values in most markets have been rising. While all real estate is local, if you bought a home in March 2012, by August 2014 the national median home price as measured by Case-Shiller had risen 29.6 percent.



Myth: The mortgage-interest tax deduction is going away.



Reality: Though the deduction has its critics, most observers believe it is unlikely that Congress will eliminate the mortgage interest deduction any time soon. Many states also allow homeowners to write off the interest they pay on their mortgages from their state income taxes. Check with your accountant or CPA on if you can qualify for this type of tax deduction.



Myth: I'm about to get married and the wedding is so expensive I won't be able to buy a home.



Reality: According to TheKnot, the average wedding has 138 guests who typically give a gift valued at $100 each. That's $13,800 in spatulas, baking pans and other things. If every guest contributed to a Down Payment Fund, you could have enough saved for a down payment on a $276,000 home in San Diego.



"These are just a few of the myths about home buying that surface frequently in our conversations with first-time buyers," says Thompson. "I always advise potential buyers, especially first- time buyers, to get in touch with one of our local imortgage loan officers if they're interested in straight answers to specific questions about financing a home. We are here to help."

A guide for getting through emergency home repairs

A surprise can be fun on some occasions, like your birthday. But when it comes to home repair emergencies, a surprise is the last thing you want.



Unfortunately, this is a situation all too many homeowners find themselves in after a home emergency. Often they discover that a repair they assumed would be covered by their home insurance or local utility is actually their responsibility to fix.



From water and drainage systems to electrical and heating/cooling configurations, your home is a complex network of pipes, wires and electrical components that could require an emergency repair at any time.



An outside water pipe breaking or a sewer line collapsing can easily rank as a homeowners' worst nightmare; however, when an emergency occurs, most homeowners are not aware of who is responsible for the damage. In fact, less than 50 percent of the homeowners in a recent national survey, conducted by GfK Roper Custom Research, knew that they were responsible for repairs to the water line between their house and the street.



This is where companies that offer emergency home repair plans, such as HomeServe, can make the difference between peace of mind and an expensive and time-consuming repair.



"According the results of the survey, one third of all homeowners responding assumed that their local utility was responsible for the cost of a burst water line between their house and the street, when this is usually not the case," says Tom Rusin, chief executive officer of HomeServe. "One of the challenges of home ownership is that the potential for expensive repairs is always out there. In fact, repairing a water service line can cost more than $2,000 and simply clearing a blocked drain can cost upwards of $350."



Rusin suggests that all homeowners do the following things to minimize the potential financial liability and hassle associated with home repair emergencies:



1. Speak to your homeowners insurance agent to get a clear understanding of which areas of your home are covered by your insurance policy and which ones are not. Potential trouble spots include interior and exterior electrical wiring, outside water service and sewer lines, inside plumbing and gas piping, central heating and air conditioning systems, and the water heater.



2. Similarly, speak to your local electric, gas, and water utilities to determine equipment that you may be responsible for. As mentioned earlier, the water and sewer lines that run underneath the lawn are the responsibility of the homeowner in the vast majority of cases.



3. Proper maintenance of home components greatly minimizes the chance of an unexpected emergency. For example, check the air filter on your central heating or cooling system regularly and change it about once every three months during the season. Protect water pipes from freezing with proper insulation or draining them prior to winter. And fix leaky faucets and toilets to save water and prevent bigger problems.



4. Consider a home emergency protection plan that can relieve you of not only the financial burden of a home emergency, but also the uncertainty involved in looking for a repair person on a Sunday afternoon.



"The more prepared homeowners are for a home repair emergency, the more peace of mind they'll have and the more time they can spend enjoying their house with their families," says Rusin.

Kitchen remodeling: How to go from a far-off dream to 'DIY'

Year after year, no matter the state of the housing market, kitchen remodeling remains a good idea. The project perennially tops lists of value-for-your-money home improvements and almost every buyer will be attracted to a kitchen that's updated and move-in ready. Even if you're planning on staying in your home for a while, few things can reinvigorate your home like a brand new kitchen.



Kitchens are the hardest-working rooms in most homes, and the wear and tear that comes with years of use can leave them looking drab. A remodeling project that makes over your kitchen from floor to ceiling can do more than just improve the aesthetics - it can also be a great way to adapt the room for better functionality.



If you've put off dreams of a new kitchen because you think it's unaffordable, you might want to reconsider the changes you can make with your own two hands (and maybe those of some family and friends). When you have the right tools on hand, do-it-yourself kitchen remodeling projects are more accessible than you might think. By visiting a nearby rental store to pick up the necessary tools, you can see twice the savings - in addition to the DIY cost savings, you'll avoid the expenses associated with buying the tools outright. By going to RentalHQ.com, you can find local stores that have all the tools you need to remodel and revive your kitchen.



Here are some essential parts of the project and the tools you'll need to get going:



* Floors: There are lots of stylish and functional options for flooring, but the type of saw you'll need for cutting things down to size will depend on what material you choose. For tile, you'll need a wet saw, but a cut-off saw for wood and laminate. A table saw can also be helpful for wood flooring.



* Trim: Putting the finishing touches on is important, both for looks and for long-term stability. For molding and other trim, a pneumatic nailer will save you an enormous amount of time, energy and frustration.



* Cabinets: Now more than ever before, homeowners have great options for easy-to-install cabinetry that don't require a team of professionals. Make sure that you've got the right drill, drill bits, nails, screws, anchors, levels and supports on hand before you get started - that way you'll be able to work without interruption.



* Countertops: Again, the tools you need will vary, depending on what material you're using. If you need to cut a material like laminate to size, a jigsaw will be a convenient tool. Sanders and drills are two more items you'll want to have nearby.



* Walls: Whether you're hanging drywall or simply painting, a ladder will be an essential tool. If your kitchen has particularly high ceilings or hard-to-reach spots, renting a ladder to fit the task is a good idea.



A beautiful kitchen will quickly become a focal point in your home, both for your family and for potential buyers. By taking the project into your own hands, you can save a significant amount of money, giving you even better return on your investment. For more ideas and information, visit www.RentalHQ.com.