http://www.seniorshelpingseniors.com Article 1   |   Article 2   |   E-mail   |   Home Looking for a way to finance a profitable Seniors Helping Seniors® Franchise and boost your retirement funds? Raise Money Using a Self-Directed IRA This clever twist on retirement fund investing could draw the patient investors business owners love. By: Asheesh Advani | Entrepreneur.com Published: Saturday, May 11, 2007  If you believe in your business and think it has the potential to be a long-term success, why not make an investment in it using your retirement plan? Can it be done? You bet it can, using a so-called "self-directed IRA." To be clear, this isn't the same as borrowing from your 401(k) or your spouse's retirement savings. In previous columns, I have cautioned entrepreneurs against borrowing heavily from retirement assets. Instead, raising money by using a self-directed IRA is the opposite; it involves putting your company's stock into a retirement plan to protect its capital gains. In my opinion, self-directed IRAs are an underappreciated tool for allowing entrepreneurs--and their friends--to invest retirement funds into a startup. As always, take care to do it right and to not cross the IRS. But investing funds from your self-directed IRA into your business is a viable and potentially wise alternative you should consider. In fact, your siblings, friends and business associates can also invest in your business from their retirement funds and ensure their capital gains get favorable tax treatment. This could make an otherwise break-even investment proposition seem more attractive. CLICK ARTICLE #1 AT THE TOP TO READ MORE. Finance Your Franchise With Retirement Funds By: Jeff Elgin | Entrepreneur.com There just isn't any financing available! That's the refrain everyone hears when discussing the biggest issue facing people who want to open a franchise in the current economic climate. The fact is that there is more truth to this statement than anyone in the government or banking business wants to admit, and it doesn't look like it is going to change anytime soon--at least as far as traditional loan sources are concerned. Standard bank loans, loans secured by the equity in one's home, SBA loans--these are all things of the past for most people. So, what's an aspiring franchisee to do? Well, there is a ready solution that is being used more and more every day. It allows people to fund their business ownership dreams using the dollars they have built over time in their qualified retirement accounts--an untapped source of investment capital that most people haven't even thought of. Imagine funding your franchise without incurring any debt or having to pay interest. You can invest in yourself and retain a great deal of control over how successful that investment ultimately becomes. CLICK ARTICLE #2 AT THE TOP TO READ MORE Below are a few companies that specialize in this type of financing if you’d like to get more information: BeneTrends  www.benetrends.com E-mail: jdarnell@benetrends.com   Phone: (866) 423-6387 x131 http://benetrends.com/home/index.php SD Cooper Company  www.sdcooper.com E-mail:  info@sdcooper.com Phone: (866) 693-7767    Guidant Financial Group  www.guidantfinancial.com Ryan Bateman 13122 N.E. 20th St., Ste. 100 | Bellevue, WA 98005 tel 888.472.4455 x3264 | fax 877.974.7080 | http://www.guidantfinancial.com/resources/articles/buy_yourself_a_business.aspx Ready to learn more about becoming a part of one of the fastest growing franchises in the country? If you want to learn more, email today to set up a time to speak with us.

Seniors Helping Seniors provides non-medical in home care for seniors by seniors. We have approximately 150 franchises across the country and are one of the fastest growing franchises in the senior care industry. In Michigan we doubled our number of franchises in 2010 and we are forecasting strong growth in 2011 - the time to enter this market is now with 10,000 boomers turning 65 every day! Email us today to learn more about starting your own franchise to serve seniors in your community.

In the News Again!

Check out the recent article in the Oakland Press about Nancy and Sarah - our newest franchise partners!

http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2011/05/05/life/doc4dc302bb0188e135667827.txt

Senior helpers give aid to older people

By AMANDA LEE
For Journal Register Newspapers

Click to enlarge

When her husband was diagnosed several years ago at age 42 with brain cancer, Nancy Olson was faced with the daunting task of caring for him.

“It was overwhelming at the time,” said Olson, who owns and operates a new branch of Seniors Helping Seniors with her daughter, Sarah Mullins.

After her husband’s death, Olson cared for a woman with cancer and helped her stay in her home. Olson realized she’d stumbled across something she loved — helping people.

“When my husband got sick, I realized how quickly circumstances change for families,” Olson said. “That was one of the main reasons I got involved with this. I want to help people and alleviate some of the pressure they might be feeling at any given time.”

For her part, Mullins had been working as a registered nurse in North Carolina, but was looking to moving back home. The opportunity to start the business came at a great time.

“I think it was something we were both interested in,” Olson said.

Seniors Helping Seniors is an in-home service that offers individuals loving, caring and compassionate nonmedical services by seniors for seniors to help them live independently for as long as they can.

Olson said she believes her own mother might have lived longer if she hadn’t had to go into an assisted living center.

“I honestly do believe that,” she said. “I think it helps when seniors can stay in the comfortable surroundings of their own home for as long as possible.”

Olson and Mullins’ office is in Rochester Hills, but services northern Macomb County and southern St. Clair County. Continued...