The Four Golden Rules Of Personal Finance
April 30, 2007
The Four Golden Rules Of Personal Finance
by: Francis Kier
Many successful people have mentors to guide them in learning the skills that lead to achievement, and I’ll do my best to offer you some critical personal finance perspectives. They say that life is a school where you learn the lesson after the test. The same thing applies to money, but you can’t go back in time to fix catastrophic financial mistakes that you have made over time. As long as you are alive, you are a player on the field of the money-game, and you need to know the basic rules before you get tagged by the experienced players.
Rule #1: To earn money from money. The only way to escape becoming a wage slave for the rest of your life is to set aside savings. The profit on your savings can be used to increase your lifestyle spending, reduce the number of years until you retire, or allow you to actually have any retirement at all. How are you doing so far toward saving and getting it to earn money for you?
Dividend Paying Stocks
April 30, 2007
I would like to share with the reader an article printed in the financial section of U.S.A. Today on March 7, 2003 which exemplifies the awesome power of a stock dividend.
MICROSOFT TO ISSUE FIRST DIVIDEND TODAY:
Microsoft investors will get their first payday today, when the tech giant shells out its first dividend. At 8 cents a share, the dividend will cost the company $850 million. Co-founder Bill Gates, who owns about 1.2 billion shares will receive a dividend of $96.5 million. The dividend marks a shift for Microsoft, which had long hoarded cash - to the tune of $43.4 billion ? for research, acquisitions and legal claims.
After reading this article I couldn’t help thinking about a report, which I believe stated that there were an estimated 33 million people in America living under the official poverty level. Bill Gates, by giving away his Microsoft dividend to those living under the poverty level could begin to create 96 millionaires, year after year after year. What a boost to the economy that would be! Imagine all those new millionaires every year spending money on something other than food, Salvation Army clothing and shelter.
Switching To Day-Time Cleaning
April 29, 2007
Switching To Day-Time Cleaning
by: David Andrew Smith
All the talk in the cleaning press at the moment and over the past few months has been about the move to cleaning offices during normal working hours. Machine manufacturers are coming up with quiet vacuum cleaners, scrubber driers and buffing machines all of which supposedly allow you to carry out the cleaning without disturbing the occupants of the premises.
For cleaning companies this would make life a lot more pleasant and cleans easier and cheaper to manage and the cleaners would be able to work more sociable hours. According to some reports in the cleaning press companies are falling over themselves to switch their cleaning to office hours as opposed to after they have closed down for the day. My own experience would not indicate that this is so. None of our clients have asked to move their cleaning times or even considered it as a feasible option when they have been approached about the possibilities of changing the cleaning times.
Team Building - Collaborative vs. Competitive
April 28, 2007
Team Building - Collaborative vs. Competitive
by: Alan Hunt
Think back over all the team building sessions that you have attended over the years. There is a very good chance that at each and every one of them the facilitators organised your group into teams. Any that weren’t were probably small groups. Sound familiar? Why do they do that?
Well, one answer is to encourage maximum involvement from the participants. Small team sizes help ensure that everyone joins in. Quieter people will be less likely to fade into the background the smaller the team they are in. But that’s not the only - or even main - reason.
Most team building events are run as competitions. Teams are usually given identical goals and are awarded points as they move towards them. Points mean prizes and the winning team members get to take them away. Why?
There are a few answers to that one:
* Competitive events are relatively straightforward to run.
* Put a group of people into teams and it is easier to justify using the training budget.
* Competition generates a buzz.
* Many conferences are for sales people, who are naturally competitive.
Health and Medical Insurance - Comparing Managed Care Health Plans
April 27, 2007
Health and Medical Insurance - Comparing Managed Care Health Plans
by: Kay Lowe
Health insurance plans have been forced to take action to contain costs of quality health care delivery as health care costs have skyrocketed. Health insurance premiums, deductibles and co-pays have steadily increased, and health insurance companies have implemented certain strategies for reducing health care costs. “Managed care” describes a group of stratgies aimed at reducing the costs of health care for health insurance companies.
There are two basic types of managed care plans; health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, and preferred provider organizations, or PPOs. So which health plan is best? How do you choose what type of health insurance best suits the health care needs of you and your family?
Both HMOs and PPOs contain costs by contracting with health providers for reduced rate on health care services for its’ members, often as much as 60%. One important difference between HMOs and PPOs is that PPOs often will cover the costs of care when the provider is out of their network, but usually at a reduced rate. On the other hand, most HMOs offer no coverage for health care services for out-of-network providers.
Starting a Profitable Home Based Internet Business
April 26, 2007
Starting a Profitable Home Based Internet Business
by: Alan Ocab
People choose to work from home for several reasons
including the desire to stay home with their children, the need
for extra income, or simply being dissatisfied with their current
job. A home-based business will provide you with an exciting way
to earn money and be your own boss. Numerous opportunities are
available to internet marketers.
When starting your home-based business you should develop a
business plan and research your options thoroughly. Don’t get
dragged into unrealistic claims by various people that let you start
without a plan and expect thousands of dollars every month. Making
wise decisions and following your business plan each step of the way
can help you in creating a steady stream of income. Starting a
home-based business will require hard work—real hard work. You
will not become wealthy over night. It will take determination to
succeed as an internet marketer. The amount of money you make
will be directly related to the amount of work you are willing to
do.
How To Handle Short Term Jobs On Your Resume
April 25, 2007
How To Handle Short Term Jobs On Your Resume
by: Scott Brown
Based on today’s ever-changing and tight job market, it is not unusual to see short term jobs on a resume. Short term jobs might raise a red flag for employers. Short term jobs could be contract positions or permanent jobs.
Don’t Lie
The first rule of thumb when applying for a job is to never lie on your resume. If you put information on a document and submit it for consideration for employment, it better be valid information. There is nothing worse than being offered a job only to have that offer rescinded when your background is thoroughly checked.
Don’t Bad Mouth
The second rule of thumb when applying for a job is to never bad mouth a previous employer or company. Bad mouthing creates negative feelings in an interview or conversation and will almost always cost you the job offer. Keep your negative opinions to yourself.
Leave it off
With these rules in mind, let’s look at the various ways you can allay an employer’s fear about short term positions on your resume. One oft forgotten method of avoiding concerns over short term employment is to leave that job off of your resume. While not always the best solution, this is one possible way to avoid any concerns.
Millionaire Wealth Building - Reduce Debt And Sustain Your Wealth
April 25, 2007
Millionaire Wealth Building - Reduce Debt And Sustain Your Wealth
by: Terry Vermeylen
I’m fortunate to have an excellent financial planner who in turn works with an excellent team of financial specialists. These specialists scrutinize all aspects of finance including taxes, insurance, saving and budgeting. They have a wide range of clients, from the average Joe to multi-millionaires. Knowing whether I am spending more than I earn is probably the simplest and best advice he has ever given me. Here is that strategy plus a few others for reducing debt and living a life with less stress and more freedom.
Are you spending more than you earn?
Isn’t it incredibly easy to have money “mysteriously float away” each month on purchases you simply “forgot”? We know we have monthly bills, but a person’s got to live, eh? Are you scared to add up those credit card purchases each month? And then months become years, and the money continues to “float away.” If you really think about it, keeping track of your money is easy. All it takes is paper and pencil. One column for debts and one column for income; add them up each month, subtract the difference and see if you spend more than you earn. Once you clearly see your spending habits on paper, you can no longer hide from them. This is by far the single most important step towards debt reduction and wealth creation. Being completely honest with yourself is the first crucial step towards incorporating positive financial change in your life. Are you spending more than you earn? Credit cards got a hold of you?
Lending Company Puts Forth A New Philosophy
April 24, 2007
Lending Company Puts Forth A New Philosophy
by: Ronald Burgans
An interesting concept is being put forward by a company called Global Equity Lending which,
according to them,is rooted in the fact that building a secure financial future is more difficult than
ever.The rules are changing and perhaps the old practices need to be revamped.GEL calls its new
philosophy, “Harnessing The Power of Your Mortgage”
In 2004,credit card debt accounted for over half of the $2.1 trillion of consumer debt in the U.S.,
quadrupling over the last decade.Today,the average American household has $9,000 of credit card
debt at 16% interest.To pay that average off,at that interest rate would take ten years,totaling over
$8,000 in interest when all is said and done.The financial impact of this,which is virtually unrealized
is devastating.GEL claims to have a better way.Their thinking is that since you must borrow money
over the coarse of life,why not borrow it as inexpensively as possible.Credit cards,auto loans,and
personal loans are all high interest and non deductable.So why not harness the power of your
mortgage?
How To Quickly and Easily Cut Your Workload By 67% (or more) and Convert 152% (or more) Visitors into Sales!
April 23, 2007
How To Quickly and Easily Cut Your Workload By 67% (or more) and Convert 152% (or more) Visitors into Sales!
by: James Liburd
Imagine, if you will, a simple yet powerful, automated tool that would literally do all of the tasks that would normally take you days to complete — a tool that worked for you 24 hours a day 7 days a week turning your visitors that would usually forget about you, into lifelong, loyal customers.
Fortunately, this fantastic tool has been around for sometime. But, there’s a problem. Over 65% of the people using this incredible tool, are using it wrong!
Use such a powerful tool wrong and you’re better off not using it at all!
Here’s The Secret Tool Millionaire Marketers Use…
Take a sneak preview at http://www.ebookprofitsites.com/autosecrets.html
One of the biggest mistakes I see most businesses making is not following up enough with prospects (or even worse, customers).
Listen, it really doesn’t matter what you sell, you’ve got to follow up with your prospects AND customers. It’s a FACT that 81% of website sales occur on the 5th contact from the seller.
