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A case of the stock market willies may be especially harmful to novice investors. After all, the classic thinking is that younger people should have riskier portfolios stuffed with stocks because they have so many years to ride out the ups and downs of market cycles. Across the pond, the Brits have come up with an interesting solution to this problem through a major overhaul of the retirement savings system, the National Employment Savings Trust.

Mark Fawcett, NEST's chief investment officer, explains that during the credit crisis of 2008, many young retirement savers stopped making contributions or moved their nest eggs to cash. That meant they locked in their losses and missed the stock market rebound that has taken place in the U.K., just as it has in the U.S.

So, Fawcett says, NEST has re-engineered some investments, keeping in mind the fearfulness of young investors. Instead of offering target-date funds that start out heavy on stocks and gradually grow more conservative as the years pass, the plan puts newbie investors into conservative funds that become aggressive as investors mature.

Here's how it works. A 22-year-old retirement saver may start with contributions to a target-date-type fund with a small percentage of stocks and, therefore, low risk. By the time the saver turns 27, the portfolio has a moderate allocation to stocks and increased but moderate risk. And by age 30, the saver is invested almost entirely in stocks.

But wait. Aren't investors missing out on big returns when they're young? "Maybe," says Fawcett, "but there's virtually no impact on the size of the final pot." That's because retirement savings balances are relatively small when investors are starting out.

John Ameriks, head of the investment counseling and research group at mutual fund giant Vanguard, says: "If you don't feel comfortable putting 90 percent in the market when you're young, put in 45 percent, (and) never let the risk involved in the stock market stop you from starting a savings program." Original Print Headline: Savings tips help scared investors

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Money Power: Savings ideas for scared, young investors

SYCAMORE The DeKalb County Treasurers Office distributed 39,000 real estate tax bills this week.

This years bill was mailed in a letter-size envelope and has the phrase This is Your Tax Bill in large, white letters highlighted in a green box on the front, according to a news release from the treasurers office.

The treasurers office will collect a total of $193,354,167.18, which will be distributed to various taxing entities, including the county, townships, municipalities, the forest preserve, school districts, community college districts, park districts, library districts, fire districts, drainage districts and tax increment financing districts.

A property tax information guide is included with the tax bill.

Taxpayers are asked to examine their bills carefully upon receipt. The first installment is due June 4 and the second is due Sept. 4. Taxpayers receive one bill annually with two payment stubs, which are located on the bottom of the bill. Residents should return either the first or second installment stub with the corresponding payment or both stubs if they are paying both installments, according to the news release.

The bar codes on the stubs will allow the treasurers office to scan payments into the property tax collection system. Taxpayers are asked not to mark on the payment stubs.

Taxpayers can pay with Visa, Master Card, American Express or Discover credit cards via the Internet or in person at the treasurers office. A convenience fee, charged by the individual credit card company, will be added for those paying by credit cards, according to the news release.

Taxpayers also can pay online with a direct debit from their bank account by visiting http://www.dekalbcounty.org. Taxpayers will be able to enter payments online up to 30 days before the date they want the payment to be deducted from their account and will receive email confirmation their payment has been sent.

They also can pay their taxes at most banks in DeKalb County during the banks normal business hours, on or before the due date of the installment. Taxpayers should bring the entire statement to the bank and put their parcel number on their check.

If paying by check, taxpayers should make the check payable to DeKalb County Collector. Make sure to include the parcel number on the check, that it is signed, and that the numeric amount matches the dollar amount that is written out.

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Treasurer distributes real estate tax bills

With so many distractions, its a wonder real estate agents are productive at all. Working to become a highly productive real estate agent is an ongoing process. Creating habits that produce consistent results allows you to achieve your maximum potential.

Time management has always been a real challenge. Between phone calls, a barrage of emails, listing presentations, prospecting calls and buyers appointments, how do you stay productive?

Keep yourself focused, alert and on track with these 5 Habits of Highly Productive Real Estate Agents

Top Productivity Habits

1. Focus on Your Most Important Tasks

The first part of every real estate agents day should be spent focused on the most important tasks. Why bother spending hours on time-consuming/low-payoff tasks when you could focus on tasks that actually generate income and produce results?

Schedule time on your calendar and then list out everything you will work on. Once youve done that, number each item and work through your list. Complete what you can during your scheduled time without any interruptions or distractions. Rinse and repeat the next day.

2. Remove Distractions

Between the phone, email, Internet, employees and all other interruptions, our day can quickly get away from us if we allow it. Turn it all off and stay focused on your task at hand.

Do not allow for a quick vacation on Facebook or a stroll down memory lane with an old friend. Cut yourself off from all distractions, work down your list and take a break once complete.

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5 Habits of Highly Productive Real Estate Agents

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 06, 2012

Top real estate sales agent George Arvanitis, who previously worked for Coldwell Banker, @Properites, Sudler Sothebys, and most recently Conlon Real Estate Company, has joined RE/MAX Premier Properties, located at 1205 N. Dearborn Pkwy. in Chicagos Gold Coast neighborhood.

Arvanitis is excited to start this new phase of his real estate career and has already had record breaking sales in his first 60 days with RE/MAX.

I looked at all the major companies but was most impressed with RE/MAX, Arvanitis said. It had all the qualities I was seeking: a strong support staff, a commitment to technology and global reach. RE/MAX has a multitude of tools for its agents. I thought coming to RE/MAX would give me the opportunity to expand on what I am already doing.

During the last 15 years, Arvanitis has seen real estate markets both strong and sluggish. In the current market environment, he has put an increased focus on short sales and foreclosures, with half of his transactions during the last three years in one of these two categories.

Ive learned that it doesnt matter what kind of economy you are facing. You have to continue to work hard, Arvanitis said. You must stay in constant contact with your buyers and sellers to make sure each transaction closes, which can be a challenge in this market. Agents today have to be on top of everything to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.

It is critical that both buyers and sellers understand what kind of real estate market they face, Arvanitis said

The current market represents a great opportunity for buyers, and it will for years to come, added Arvantis. Sellers have to be educated about the market so they know what a solid listing price is today.

Selling has long come naturally to Arvanitis. For more than three decades, he worked in the advertising sales field, holding the position of director of advertising sales for MTV Networks and serving as account director for Ted Turner Media, which included the properties of CNN, TBS and TNT. Arvanitis was also vice president of advertising sales for CNBC network.

Attracted to the challenges and rewards of working for himself, Arvantis moved into real estate sales 15 years ago. He immediately thrived in this new career, regularly ranking among the top 1 percent of real estate agents in the Chicago area.

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Top Real Estate Agent George Arvanitis Joins RE/MAX Premier Properties in Chicago’s Gold Coast

The best real estate investment in the past decade was found at the opposite end from trophy resorts and office towers, in 5-foot-by-5-foot lockers.

Self-storage companies, which rent units to small businesses and consumers, produced the best risk-adjusted return among 10 U.S. real estate investment trust indexes in the past decade, according to the Bloomberg Riskless Return Ranking. They had the highest total return and the third-lowest volatility, for a risk-adjusted gain of 10.6 percent. Owners of offices, hotels and warehouses fared among the worst, hurt by price swings.

Public Storage, CubeSmart, Extra Space Storage Inc. and Sovran Self Storage Inc. attracted investors with low debt ratios and steady cash-flow growth in a decade that saw commercial-property values soar to records along with sales of mortgage-backed bonds to finance a wave of takeovers. The debt-to-assets ratio for Public Storage, the largest in the group, is 22.5 percent, half the average 45 percent for REITs, said Michael Knott, managing director of real estate research firm Green Street Advisors Inc., making the stock less susceptible to large price swings if the economy worsens.

"Public Storage has incredibly low leverage compared to the average REIT," Knott said. "It's typically not as volatile."

Demand tends to be driven by life changes, which often entail moving, such as college graduation, job changes, divorce or death.

"If you get married, you don't necessarily throw your couch away, you don't necessarily throw away the buffalo head, what have you," said Clemente Teng, vice president of investor relations for Public Storage. "You put it in storage."

Public Storage has about 1 million tenants at any given point in time, with the average lease of existing tenants running about 36 months, Teng said. More than half its tenants have rented their units for more than one year, he said.

"People always think, 'I'll just house it for a couple of months and then get it all out, but the problem is once you get all your stuff in, the last thing you want to do is spend a Saturday cleaning it out," Teng said.

Storage units are relatively cheap to build and "when we re-rent a space, all we have to do is sweep it out," said Teng. "We don't have to change the carpeting, paint the walls."

Increased usage of Internet marketing has helped storage REITs attract more customers from smaller operators during the sluggish economic recovery, said John Murphy, a vice president at Cohen & Steers Inc. The storage business is fragmented, with the publicly traded REITs accounting for just 10 percent of the U.S. market, he said.

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Self-storage packs top low-risk real estate return