April 13, 2011
Kim Best-Torres
Business, Community, Finances, Life
April, finances, money, National Financial Literacy Month, planning, plans, retirement
Did you know that April is National Financial Literacy month? President Obama stated that its goal is to “ensure all Americans have the skills to manage their fiscal resources effectively”. It’s never too early or late to learn about money and personal finance. So who’s the Chief Financial Officer of your family’s finances?
Have you ever heard quote, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”? It is so important to define your goals and when you want to reach them. What are you goals for 5 years, 10 years, 20 years from now? Do you need help figuring what it takes to get where you want to go?
I think most people would like to have financial planning assistance but are probably intimidated by the process due to lack of knowledge of what is involved or maybe they feel like they don’t have enough money. But you don’t have to feel like that anymore because I am going to introduce you to my Financial Planner, Mark Chew of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
Whenever I hear Mark speak on financial topics I always leave with a good understanding of the material discussed and that is the most important thing to me. Mark is down to earth, competent and trustworthy. I encourage you to contact Mark because when it comes to saving for retirement, there are a lot of different options out there and the biggest challenge is understanding them. Mark can help you minimize the impact of an uncertain future and help you determine the amount of savings you need in order to live the life you dreamed. Whether you are dreaming of a retirement that would take you around the world or one that keeps you close to your grandchildren, planning sooner than later for all your financial goals will help make those dreams a reality!
Mark Chew | Financial Advisor
Direct 949.955.7581
mark.e.chew@mssb.com
Here are some other links to help get the ball rolling.
CNNMoney has an outstanding overview of basic personal finance topics called Money 101. Each of the 23 topics includes several pages of information, and many of the subjects include an interactive calculator or tool.
The Federal government also has a website called MyMoney.gov, which is dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics about financial education.
March 30, 2011
Kim Best-Torres
Community, Networking, Finances, Business, Orange County, Southern California, Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, Orange, North OC
money, marketing, increase, growth, BNI, team, sales, owner, fianance, breakfast, Marie Callenders, So Cal BNI, Power Partners, Givers Gain
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A healthy meal in the morning can balance your blood sugar levels and give you the sustenance you need to handle physical and mental stress throughout your business day so the So Cal BNI Power Partners has decided to do business over breakfast. Their business networking meeting will now be held at Marie Callenders in Anaheim Hills.
Don’t let the breakfast fool you they are there to conduct business and make money. Networking in its purest form is simply talking to people, making connections and developing rapport to grow our circle of influence. Business networking is essentially the same except that our primary objective in business networking is to help us grow our businesses. For most of us, building a network means meeting people we can do business with or who will do business with us, and even better refer a person who will do business with us, that is our ultimate goal.
When you create valuable networking relationships, you build them on a foundation of mutual trust, sharing knowledge, experiences and resources to help one another grow your businesses. It works like this: If you do a good job, one client might tell three of their family and friends about you. When you build a network of say 20 strong promoters, they may each tell only one person about you but now your exposure has more than doubled. With the right networking group, the ultimate in word of mouth marketing takes place…. Givers Gain, you promote your network and your network promotes you!
Wouldn’t you like to start your day by making money during breakfast? If so please visit The So Cal BNI Power Partners any Tuesday Morning 7:15am at Marie Callenders on La Palma & Imperial Hwy in Anaheim Hills.
March 22, 2011
Kim Best-Torres
Anaheim, Business, Community, Non Profit, Orange County, Southern California, Volunteer
anaheim, assistance, Business, Charity, Community, donations, Eli Home, Give Back, grants, non profit, orange, orange county, Support, The Eli Home, volunteer
Investing in your community is a great way to give back. Non-profit organizations do so much to help the communities that all of us are a part of, but they can’t do it alone!
As successful members of the community, we have a responsibility to help those that are less fortunate and contribute to the common good. By reaching out to help others, not only benefits the person being helped, but practicing charity also has many benefits for the person doing the helping. It is a generous way of expressing gratitude for all that you have been given.
I feel this so strongly that it’s been a longstanding practice of mine to donate my time and money to charitable organizations for the past several years. In some years, I admit, it has been a lot less money than other years, but every little bit truly helps. When my business was in the red and I wasn’t able to give money, I gave more of my time, volunteering with local organizations that were able to use my skills. There are so many organizations that need a pair of helping hands – especially a pair of helping hands that are regularly available. Reaching out a hand to lift someone else up is one of the greatest gifts for the heart. The gifts that one receives from giving back and from reaching out to help others are immense and priceless.
The Eli Home is a non-profit organization based in Anaheim that is near and dear to my heart. They have 3 shelter homes in Anaheim and Orange which house the mothers and children they take in. The Eli Home is the only shelter home in Orange County that keeps the children with their mothers. They exist to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused children and their mothers. They focus their efforts on advocacy, prevention, treatment, and community outreach.
You may think to yourself they are just a shelter in Anaheim that has nothing to do with me or my life but you need to realize that The Eli Home has a very important role in the community of Orange County. Do you know how child abuse affects the community?? If not please click on the link to familiarize yourself with the statistics showing the outcome and consequences of untreated child abuse. If these children don’t get the help they need they will repeat the cycle of violence, crime and substance abuse in our community. http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics/#gen-stats
The Eli Home’s mission is to shelter, comfort, heal, encourage and strengthen victims of child abuse and neglect, to prepare them to re-enter the community to lead stable, non-violent lives, free from fear and intimidation – To Break the Cycle of Child Abuse.
How you can help
Individuals can help by…
o Serving on an Event Committee, Board of Directors, Sub Committee
o Volunteering at the admin offices, thrift store, shelter home or an event
o Financial Support a one-time gift or a monthly pledge
Businesses can help by…
o Organizing volunteer groups for a day
o Donating new products t the families and Thrift Store
o Donating professional services
o Financial support a one-time gift or a monthly pledge
Corporations
o Do you offer grant opportunities?
o Do you sponsor fundraising events?
o Do you offer a corporate matching program to your employees?
The list above gives you some ideas and may inspire you. As you can see there are many ways of giving back and volunteering. Just keep your ears and eyes open for ways you can give back. Seeing the smile on a child’s face and experience feelings of warmth, contentment and gratitude in your heart as you bring assistance to others will make the world a better place and only then will you begin to understand why people give back.
I will end this with a great quote by Audrey Hepburn, “As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One is for helping yourself and the other is for helping others.”
July 20, 2010
Kim Best-Torres
Anaheim, Anaheim Hills, Business, Community, Corona, Irvine, Life, Networking, North OC, Orange, Orange County, Placentia, Riverside County, Santa Ana, Southern California, Tustin, Villa Park, Yorba Linda
advocate, Alternative medicine, back, chiropractic, chiropractor, Dr. Heather Hamilton, Dr. Mark Hamilton, health, health problems, information, life, neck, nervous system, North Orange County, proactive, seminar, spine, talk
Rack ‘em and crack ‘em is something that should involve a game at a pub like pool or beer pong not your Chiropractor’s motto. I used to work for a chiropractor many years ago and it was my job to talk the clients into ongoing extreme payment plans. I eventually left that office because I felt as if those doctors were all about the money and not so much for the real health of their patients.
So, because of my past experience I was skeptical when first meeting Dr. Heather and Dr. Mark until I spent some time talking with them. If you are looking for the real deal someone who is a life enthusiast and a whole body health advocate then look no further and let me introduce you to my professionals of the week, Dr.’s Mark & Heather Hamilton of Hamilton Chiropractic in Orange, CA where they are more than just Chiropractor’s they really CARE!
I heard Dr. Heather speak last week and I can’t tell you how informative, inspiring and entertaining she was to listen to. Having worked in a Chiropractic office for a several years I thought I knew what she was going to say but I was wrong. Dr. Heather’s biggest message was to teach everyone to be their own health advocate, taking an active role in their own health care. Did you know that there is an endless list of health problems that Chiropractic can help that stem from the dysfunction of your spinal joints and nervous system, it’s not just for your back!
I read a really awesome statement from a Medical Doctor that knows the value of Chiropractic care. Specifically, he maintains that mainstream medicine is well-suited to crisis intervention, whereas alternative medicine is best utilized for prevention and health maintenance.
The body has an innate ability to fight germs and infections and heal itself. Western doctors are frozen in a disease-oriented mode, concentrating on curing disease with drugs and surgery rather than on prevention and stimulating the body’s natural healing power. Most drugs just prevent the disease from expressing itself symptomatically. Symptoms disappear but the disease actually gets progressively worse. – Andrew Weil, M.D.
So, I ask you what does your health mean to you? Do you take your health for granted? Are you ready to be proactive with your health? Because you are worth it. I invite you to take the time to come and hear Dr. Heather speak…. I promise that you will leave there feeling like you just walked out of a Tony Robbins seminar wanting to make lasting changes for your health!
Hamilton Chiropractic
2808 E Katella Ave
Orange, CA 92867
714-733-7064
June 30, 2010
Kim Best-Torres
Anaheim, Anaheim Hills, Community, Corona, Down Payment Assistance, Finances, First Time Buyers, Housing Market, Irvine, North OC, Orange, Orange County, Placentia, Real Estate, Riverside County, Santa Ana, Southern California, Tustin, Villa Park, Yorba Linda
American dream, anaheim, Anaheim Hills, assistance, buyer, buying, Charity Foundation, corona, Down payment, help, home, home Owner, house, housing market, irvine, mortgage, North OC, orange, orange county, Pacific West Association of Realtors, placentia, program, PWR, realtor, Riverside County, santa ana, tustin, villa park
In today’s market is the American Dream of home ownership still alive? With a challenging economy one must ask themselves, what does the American Dream mean to me today and how can I achieve it? Where can I get it? You might not be able to tell these days with all the bad news about the housing market, but it’s still an incredible feeling to own your own home. It’s still worthwhile and it’s still the American Dream. Don’t lose hope. The American Dream is still alive!
I am always looking for ways to help first time home buyers attain their dream of homeownership. As a member and contributor of Pacific West Association of Realtors Charity Foundation I am pleased to announce their “Opening Doors” First-Time Buyers Down Payment Assistance Program. Qualified buyers are eligible to receive up to $7500 in down payment assistance towards the purchase of their first home.
The program’s objectives are to…
• Help “challenged but worthy” first-time buyers
• Educate buyers about the financial obligations of holding a mortgage, thus making the dream of home ownership a reality for families in North OC and South LA counties
Qualifications…
• Maximum income levels (1-2 buyers) $111,480 for OC & $99,360 for LA
• Maximum purchase prices is $637,645 for OC and LA Counties
• Buyer must contribute 1% of the sales price towards the down payment
• Buyer may not have owned any residence within the past 3 years
• Minimum credit score of 620
• Pre-approval from a direct lender, not a broker
• Minimum five-year fixed-rate loan, full documentation (no stated income)
• Applicants must be represented by a PWR REALTOR® member
• Property must be located within PWR’s jurisdiction
• Short-sales must have written bank approval.
The Opening Doors program is available to any qualified buyer who purchases a property located in PWR’s jurisdiction, which represents 26 cities in Central/North OC and the Southeast LA County.
Including:
Anaheim/Anaheim Hills, Brea, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Habra/La Habra Heights, La Mirada, La Palma, Lakewood, Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Norwalk, Orange, Pico Rivera, Placentia, Rossmoor, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Signal Hill, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, Whittier, and Yorba Linda.
Other qualifications apply. Contact me today for more information on this or other down payment assistance information!
June 23, 2010
Kim Best-Torres
Business, Community, Life, Orange County, Southern California
abuse, anaheim, assistance, break the cycle, CA, child abuse, children, Community, councilng, donation, donor, Eli Home, foundation, fundraiser, help, neglect, OC, orange county, prevent, products, programs, reform, shelter, thrift store
I know talk a lot about The Eli Home that’s because it is an organization I am passionate about but this post is different because I am not promoting a fun time at a fundraiser this is a very important plea. They are losing their biggest donor who supplies almost all the new items at their thrift store located in Anaheim, CA (off the 91 Freeway and East St). Their Thrift Store is their biggest money-maker, it’s what keeps the shelters operating. They call it the unthrift store because they were able to supply the community with a majority of new items, anything from kitchen items, computer accessories, bedding, furniture to formal dresses. The items from their donors also go directly to the shelter homes, The Eli Home motto is they give the best to those that need it the most.
They have 3 shelter homes in Anaheim which house the mothers and children they take in. The Eli Home is the only shelter home in Orange County that keeps the children with their mothers. They exist to meet the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused children and their mothers. They focus their efforts on advocacy, prevention, treatment, and community outreach.
You may think to yourself they are just a shelter in Anaheim that has nothing to do with me or my life but you need to realize that The Eli Home has a very important role in Orange County. Do you know how child abuse effects the community?? If not please click on the link to familiarize yourself with the statistics showing the outcome and consequences of untreated child abuse. If these children don’t get the help they need they will repeat the cycle of violence, crime and substance abuse in our community. http://www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics/#gen-stats
The Eli Home’s mission is to welcome, shelter, comfort, heal, encourage and strengthen victims of child abuse and neglect, and to prepare them to reenter the community to lead stable, non-violent lives, free from fear and intimidation – To Break the Cycle of Child Abuse.
So, do you know any store owners, store managers or local manufactures if so maybe you can ask what they do with outdated, irregular or slightly damaged merchandise that they can’t keep on their store floor or didn’t sell? They are also still accepting in-kind and cash donations as well as looking to be introduced to foundations.
Can you please forward this to all your friends and family you never know who someone else knows, right?
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION.
Please contact me or Tami Galloway at The Eli Home www.elihome.org if you want to help make a difference in a child’s life and our community.
June 4, 2010
Kim Best-Torres
Community
art, children, city of orange, donations, drinks, entertainment, event, food, fundraiser, Goodfellas Tattoo, inked for good, June, music, non profit, orange, orange county, saturday, Steve Soto, Tami Galloway, tattoo, The Eli Home, tustin st
Inked for Good is an event hosted by Steve Soto’s Goodfellas Tattoo in the city of Orange (on Tustin Ave next to Best Buy). The Goodfellas Tattoo is going to donate 100% of the proceeds from tattooing to help abused children at The Eli Home. Helping children through the art of tattooing… awesome! The goal of Goodfellas Tattoo is to create good tattoos for a good cause. The tattoo prices will range from $60-$100 depending on size and other limits do apply. I would love to get a tattoo just don’t know if I am brave enough. So, even if you are a big chicken like me you can still come and join them for a day of fun while enjoying some great music and food as well as tattoos. For more information contact Tami Galloway at The Eli Home tamig@elihome.org.
June 5th 2010
2345 N. Tustin St.
Orange, CA 92865
10am – 10pm Tattooing
3pm – 7pm Music & Food
Inked4Goodflyer
June 3, 2010
Kim Best-Torres
Community
Anaheim Hills, booster club, Canyon High School, fundraiser, Randy Couture, Rubio's, Santa Ana Canyon, team, wrestling
We invite you to a fundraiser to benefit the Canyon High School Wrestling Team Thursday, June 3rd 2010 from 5:00pm to 9:00pm at the brand new Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill located at 5781 E. Santa Ana Canyon Rd (Near S. Imperial Hwy) in Anaheim Hills. 50% of all proceeds generated from this fundraiser will be donated to the Canyon High School Wrestling Team. Doing good never tasted so good!
Canyon HS Wrestling Team w/ Randy Couture
May 28, 2010
Kim Best-Torres
Community, Finances, Real Estate
100% financing, celebrate, day, down, finance, honor, loan, memorial day, Operation Homefront, orange county, payment, remember, Thanks A Million, VA, veteran, volunteer, zero
This Memorial Day, remember the reason for the celebration, recognizing the brave men and women who died in the service of their country. As we enjoy parades, picnics and patriotic ceremonies this weekend take a break from your celebrations to thank the veterans among your friends and family for their valiant service to our country and remember those who gave their lives to preserve it.
In memory of all the men and women who gave their lives in the protection and support of the United States of America maybe you could find somewhere to volunteer your time or talent to show your appreciation. Below are a couple of links that do amazing work for our military and their families.
A Million Thanks
Operation Homefront
Veterans deserve appreciation, and America shows it, by giving vets the best mortgage program out there today!
Are you a Veteran?? Use your VA loan to buy a home.
New loan limits as of January 1, 2009
$737,500 – Orange and Los Angeles County
$417,000 – Riverside and San Bernardino County
No Money Down – 100% financing available
Seller can pay all of buyers closing costs
No mortgage insurance
Best jumbo financing available anywhere
Did you know a Veteran may be able to keep an existing home as a rental and buy a new home under the veterans loan program?? Contact me for more details.
With Gratitude and Love,
Kim
May 20, 2010
Kim Best-Torres
Business, Community, Finances, Networking, Real Estate
cubicle, home, multi-tasking, office, organize, Productivity, skills, time managemnet, work
I read a really good article this morning that I wanted to pass on to you about time management… as you see I am trying to be a productive outside the cubicle.
Time management is one of those skills no one teaches you in school but you have to learn. It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you can’t organize information well enough to take it in. And it doesn’t matter how skilled you are if procrastination keeps you from getting your work done.
In today’s workplace, you can differentiate yourself by your ability to handle information and manage your time. “Careers are made or broken by the soft skills that make you able to hand a very large workload,” says Merlin Mann, editor of the productivity blog 43 Folders.
So here are 10 tips to make you better at managing your work:
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