Author: Anna Kazakova

Dry-land Exercises for Swimmers: Breaststroke

Published by Anna Kazakova

Help your body to develop muscles so the muscles will help you to swim longer and faster. Together with  Kamishi Swimming School we prepared a wonderful set of dryland exercises for swimmers that  they usually provide to their BREASTSTROKE swimmers. It is a selection of exercises from Swimming Anatomy book by Ian McLeod. All of them you can do at the GYM. ARMS Standing Double-Arm Triceps Pushdown With Rope This exercise is good for every type of stroke, but especially for breaststroke. It mimics the final portion of the underwater pull performed off the start and each turn wall. “In the starting position your hands are at your midline. As the elbows are extended, the hands pull the ends of the ropes outward so that when the elbows are almost locked the hands are shoulder-width apart”. Barbell Biceps Curl This exercise also enhances the second half of the pull phase during breaststroke. Execution 1 . Grasp the bar using an underhand grip. Your hands should be spaced shoulder-width apart. 2 . Without leaning back, curl the bar toward your chest …

Why do people give up?

Published by Anna Kazakova

Have you ever thought about why people give up? What makes us stop believing in ourselves? In our ideas and companies? Below are 7 possible reasons/suggestions that cause people to throw in the towel and give up. If you’re an entrepreneur—read on! 1. Unrealistic Expectations Our lives are unfortunately programmed to get fast results with just about everything we do. You post a picture on Instagram—you get likes. You post a status on Facebook—you get comments. Life has become a circus of procrastination and fast results. However, we all know that in the real world results usually come after years of trying. It’s true and nobody wants to hear it. 2. Fear of Failure We all fear the idea of failing. The more success stories we hear, the more we fear success. When I ask people what they would do if they had only two years left to live, the fear of failing is no longer an issue. Do not be afraid of failure. Ebba von Sydow, Swedish journalist and tv host says, “Every time I make a mistake, I understand that I am …

Real Estate Investment Strategy #4: Let’s Go Bigger

Published by Anna Kazakova

We already discussed buying single private properties, now let’s talk about buying more than one, and of course, renting them out (Sweden). Today our guest is Thomas Brandt, who 17 years ago used his profits derived from his IT consulting firm to purchase four apartments house in Örebro. Today Brandt owns about 250 apartments and runs his own business known as Explicar Affärsutveklirebrong AB. We met Thomas at his office in Stockholm and talked about how to invest, start and run a property management company. How did you start? 17 years ago I realized that the economic climate within the IT industry was becoming stagnant. And because I made some money in the past with my IT firm, I decided to invest in stable, profit-generating long-term assets. So, since I had relatives who owned and operated properties, I decided myself to buy some as well—in Örebro. I knew nothing about property management at the time. Where do you buy? Because I don’t have hundreds of millions in my accounts, I buy houses in relatively smaller cities, …

Семейное право в Швеции

Published by Anna Kazakova

Договор между гражданскими супругами или брачный договор, не первая вещь, о которой мы хотели бы задумываться вступая в семейные отношения. В такой момент хочется думать совершенно о других вещах. Но как сказала, она мудрая женщина, оставшаяся вдовой с тремя детьми в свои 42 года: «Все отношения рано или поздно заканчиваются. Либо вы расстаетесь, либо кто- то из вас умирает». 26 сентября в офисе компании Kamishi AB по Roslagsgatan 48, юрист Ксения Кристиансен провела семинар о семейном праве в Швеции. Мы очень часто думаем, что в Швеции «узаконенный гражданский брак», что не совсем так. Да, конечно, у вас больше прав, чем в России, если вы живете в гражданском браке, но все равно ваши права не соответствуют тем, которые были бы у вас если бы вы зарегистрировали свои отношения. Один из очень известных кейсов, который Ксения привела в пример – это дело Стига Ларссона – популярного шведского писателя, создавшего трилогию Миллениум, скоропостижно скончавшегося от сердечного приступа. Ева Габриельсон была фактически женой Стига: они прожили 30 лет вместе и не расписывались только потому, что хотели обезопасить себя от …

Real Estate Investment Strategy #3: Book–Sell

Published by Anna Kazakova

One of my favorite real estate investment strategies that works well in Sweden is Book-Sell (read here about Buy-Repair- Sell and Buy-Rent- Sell ). Book-Sell  involves new construction projects where you book, for example, an apartment at a planned building site and sell it before the  house and apartment are even finished. There are a lot of construction companies out there with a long-standing history of building and doing business. The Purchasing Process First you need to locate a building project. Search the net and you’ll find what you’re looking for. Next, after finding a suitable project and location, contact a broker about selling you one or more of the apartments. Once a real estate firm has accepted you as a client, you will need pay anywhere from 20k – 50k (SEK) as a booking fee, then 8-10 months later you will be required to pay and extra 80k – 100k (SEK) to secure the ownership of the real estate (binding agreement). Booking details vary with different construction companies, but for the most part, they are all very similar. (Pros) …

Swim and Travel

Published by Anna Kazakova

I love combining tourism with swimming. Last year I swam the 6.5 km Bosphorus race (read more here) and enjoyed Istanbul’s beautiful scenery from the water. Next year, I am planning to explore England and swim the 14 km Bridge to Bridge, one of Henley Swim’s annual events. This article is about Swedish swim competitions that you can combine with exploring Stockholm– one of Scandinavia’s capital cities, and arguably known as “the Venice of the North.”  Swim and Travel Stockholmssimmet Stockholmssimet is a new swim competition, premiering this year. The event is organized by the same people who brought you the craziness of “Tough Viking”. In Stockholmssimmet, you have an option of two different distances, either 1 km or 3.3 km. Oxana and I swam the 3.3 km, and it was amazing! Swimmers start from Stockholm’s marine museum and finish in the middle of the Royal National City Park, which was just where we wanted to be on a sunny Sunday morning. One downside with this race was a lack of organization, probably due to the fact …

A Perfect Pair of Goggles

Published by Anna Kazakova

Every swimmer knows that it takes years to find the perfect pair of goggles. When you do find them, you need to buy out the store (either physically or online) where you found them; at least ten pairs! That way, you know you are safe in case they stop manufacturing that model. Sounds a little crazy, doesn’t it? All swimming shops are packed with different types of goggles, but they are all, well, crap. The price tag is no indication of protection from crap. In fact, my experience has been that the more expensive the goggles, the less useful they are. These are the absolute best ones I found that work for me: Swedish Goggles Malmsten. This brand is similar to IKEA in that you get a package with parts which you put together yourself, resulting in the perfect pair of goggles. The invention of these goggles has a very interesting history. Over thirty-five years ago, the famous Swedish swimming coach, Tommy Malmsten, was training a very promising swimmer, Ann-Sofi Roos. Roos suffered from very sensitive skin …

Best Swimming Pools in the Stockholm Region

Published by Anna Kazakova

We spend so much time in Stockholm’s swimming pools with NO FEAR Swim Kamishi swimming school that we feel the need to tell you the truth about them. We consider pools that are best suited for: Training Spending time with kids Our absolute favorites are: All year round Sundbyberg Simhall Bergaliden 1, 172 77 Sundbyberg (Pros) Sundbyberg Simhall has been completely renovated and extended. The facility is very clean, comfortable, and spacious. There are two training pools, each twenty-five meters in length (one with adjustable floor), as well as a kid’s pool and a baby pool. The baby pool was designed by Swedish sculptor Backa Carin Ivarsdotter (see picture above). Overall, the facility is very kid-friendly. It is even possible to sunbathe there during the summer time. The personnel are a friendly, great team. In addition to having among the lowest admission prices in city, the facility includes a gym. (Cons) If you are training, they tend to group two lines in one, and ask you to swim in Swedish “motionsim”, which means that you have to swim …

Investment Real Estate Strategy #2: Buy–Repair–Sell

Published by Anna Kazakova

Last time we spoke about profiting from a real estate investment using an exit strategy. Today we add more (exit) strategies. The Buy-Rent–Sell strategy we discussed earlier is an endeavor that usually lasts only 1-2 years. In other words, cash-in while the getting is good. In the last 20 years, Swedish real estate has increased in value with the exception of 2008 when prices were slightly down, but then suddenly increased the following years. The funds acquired from the sale of property (the exit) is a huge plus when added to the cash flow created from rent. Today, a 50 square meter apartment in Solna would cost you roughly 2M SEK, which can then be sold for 3M SEK in 1.5 years. That’s 1M SEK in cash flow on a 300,000 SEK investment. Couple that with cash flow from rent, and your ROI would triple! STRATEGY 2: Buy–Repair–Sell This strategy still works in the UK and other countries, but seldom is it profitable in Sweden—however, it was profitable several years ago. In comparison to other real …

Investment Real Estate Strategy #1: Buy–Rent–Sell

Published by Anna Kazakova

(This is the second article from Real Estate Investment collection. Read previous here) There are a lot of ways to make money in real estate. As an investor, let’s take a look at some of the ways to receive a POSITIVE RETURN on your investment. There’s more than one  exit strategy and scenario in order to achieve realistic, sustainable returns on real-estate investing. We will discuss this with a global perspective, and of course cover the Swedish market—as well as touch upon current regulations. Investor’s role Everybody is an investor. If you are into building, renovating, or even cooking, sooner or later it will become your profession and consume most of your time—thus, time is an investment. So, making financial decisions also require an investment in time. You will need to read and understand financial markets, local regulations, geographical areas, building codes and perform market research. But, it is the type of investment that will determine how much of a time-investment effort you need to put in. When you place assets into an investment, it …