Phil's
Personal Finance Tip of the Day:
Six Reasons You Should Volunteer Your Way to A Job
By Kerry Hannon, Contributer Forbes
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing three retirees, who are working part-time jobs they love– for pay.
All three were hired after spending time as a volunteer. One is a ranger with the National Park Service, another does social work at a hospital, and one pours wine in a tasting room at a winery in Walla Walla, WA.
I know you’re probably looking for full-time work, but it reminded me once again of the advice I like to give anyone who is out of work and feeling hopeless, frustrated, or simply pissed off at answering the question: How’s the job hunt going?
Go do something for someone else. (Okay, I know wine pouring isn’t exactly charity work.)
I recently learned that baby boomers today have the highest volunteer rate of any age group. They also volunteer at higher rates than past generations did when they were the same age, according to a report by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Here’s why it’s in your best interest to volunteer if you’re looking for work right now.
To read the entire article from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryhannon/2012/06/30/six-reasons-you-should-volunteer-your-way-to-a-job/
Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
Four things for success: work & pray, think & believe. -Norman Peale
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Personal Finance News Friday 6/29
Phil's
Personal Finance Tip of the Day:
Deal or dud?
How to get more bang for your buck at dollar store
Regina Novickes from Promotionalcodes.com goes over what to buy and what not to buy at Dollar stores on Fox and Friends Friday June 29th.
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-friends/index.html#/v/1711724458001/deal-or-dud/?playlist_id=86912
Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
In order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first. - Adora Svitak
Deal or dud?
How to get more bang for your buck at dollar store
Regina Novickes from Promotionalcodes.com goes over what to buy and what not to buy at Dollar stores on Fox and Friends Friday June 29th.
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-friends/index.html#/v/1711724458001/deal-or-dud/?playlist_id=86912
Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
In order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first. - Adora Svitak
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Personal Finance News Thursday 6/28
Phil's
Personal Finance Tip of the Day:
Making Your Goals Means Making A Plan
Okay, all you golfers—ever played a skins game? In simple terms: players during a round of golf wager on the best score for a single hole. If there’s a tie, the “pot” rolls over to the next hole. One result of a skins game can be to up the ante on each hole. The backlash is taking your eye off the long haul. In a skins game, you play for short-term stakes. As a result, strategy goes out the window.
Unfortunately, some people run their businesses that way. They muddle along in a never-ending skins game. This doesn’t just happen in tiny companies. An insider at a famous blue-chip giant once quipped: “Our idea of long-term planning here is deciding what we’ll do after lunch.”
Anyone who has participated in a skins game on a golf course knows the painstaking attention paid to the line of every putt. It’s a lot like what Peter Drucker describes as “the last of the deadly sins” of business, which he defines as “feeding problems and starving opportunities.”
Peter Drucker has long been considered the definitive authority on business planning. His principles are still widely used decades after his revolutionary writing on the concept of “Management by Objectives.” Drucker sorted out a baffling world.
Planning boils down to two fundamental processes: goals and objectives. It is important to distinguish between the two. Goals are considered the purely quantitative and mostly financial targets. Objectives are more qualitative and elusive.1
Make your goals, and you stay in business. Advance your objectives and you build a business worth having. The distinction between goals and objectives is hardly pure. Often objectives have quantitative measures attached to them as well. But they are rarely just numerical yardsticks.
To read the entire article from Harvey Mackay.com
http://harveymackay.com/column/making-your-goals-means-making-a-plan/
1 Samuel 2:30 — Those who honor me, I will honor.
Making Your Goals Means Making A Plan
June 28, 2012 By
Okay, all you golfers—ever played a skins game? In simple terms: players during a round of golf wager on the best score for a single hole. If there’s a tie, the “pot” rolls over to the next hole. One result of a skins game can be to up the ante on each hole. The backlash is taking your eye off the long haul. In a skins game, you play for short-term stakes. As a result, strategy goes out the window.
Unfortunately, some people run their businesses that way. They muddle along in a never-ending skins game. This doesn’t just happen in tiny companies. An insider at a famous blue-chip giant once quipped: “Our idea of long-term planning here is deciding what we’ll do after lunch.”
Anyone who has participated in a skins game on a golf course knows the painstaking attention paid to the line of every putt. It’s a lot like what Peter Drucker describes as “the last of the deadly sins” of business, which he defines as “feeding problems and starving opportunities.”
Peter Drucker has long been considered the definitive authority on business planning. His principles are still widely used decades after his revolutionary writing on the concept of “Management by Objectives.” Drucker sorted out a baffling world.
Planning boils down to two fundamental processes: goals and objectives. It is important to distinguish between the two. Goals are considered the purely quantitative and mostly financial targets. Objectives are more qualitative and elusive.1
Make your goals, and you stay in business. Advance your objectives and you build a business worth having. The distinction between goals and objectives is hardly pure. Often objectives have quantitative measures attached to them as well. But they are rarely just numerical yardsticks.
To read the entire article from Harvey Mackay.com
http://harveymackay.com/column/making-your-goals-means-making-a-plan/
1 Samuel 2:30 — Those who honor me, I will honor.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Personal Finance News Wednesday 6/27
Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:
Basic Rules for Getting Rich
By Carla Fried, Anne C. Lee, Elaine Pofeldt, Susie Poppick and Penelope Wang | Money – Tue, Jun 26, 2012 10:40 AM EDT
Part of a special report on 101 ways to build wealth, readers and experts weigh in with advice that will help you lay a foundation for accumulating wealth.
1) Focus on what's most important
In achieving wealth, how you invest isn't nearly as important as how much you save.
Say you're 40, have $200,000 saved, with 60% in stocks, and are putting away 10% of a $100,000 salary (including company match). You have a 52% chance of retiring with 70% of your pre-retirement income, according to T. Rowe Price.
Boost your stock stake to 80%, and your chances improve modestly, to 57%. But if you boost your savings to 15% instead, you get to 69%.
[Related: Jobs with high lifetime earnings]
Message: Stretch to save the most you can.
2) Make a family decision
62% of couples don't agree on their expected retirement age.
The age at which each of you will retire determines how much money you'll need. If you're among the multitude of couples that the Fidelity survey (cited above) found were not on the same page, make some time to talk with your partner about when you'll quit and what you'd like your life to be like.
To read the entire article:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/basic-rules-for-getting-rich.html
Romans 12:10 — Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Basic Rules for Getting Rich
By Carla Fried, Anne C. Lee, Elaine Pofeldt, Susie Poppick and Penelope Wang | Money – Tue, Jun 26, 2012 10:40 AM EDT
Part of a special report on 101 ways to build wealth, readers and experts weigh in with advice that will help you lay a foundation for accumulating wealth.
1) Focus on what's most important
In achieving wealth, how you invest isn't nearly as important as how much you save.
Say you're 40, have $200,000 saved, with 60% in stocks, and are putting away 10% of a $100,000 salary (including company match). You have a 52% chance of retiring with 70% of your pre-retirement income, according to T. Rowe Price.
Boost your stock stake to 80%, and your chances improve modestly, to 57%. But if you boost your savings to 15% instead, you get to 69%.
[Related: Jobs with high lifetime earnings]
Message: Stretch to save the most you can.
2) Make a family decision
62% of couples don't agree on their expected retirement age.
The age at which each of you will retire determines how much money you'll need. If you're among the multitude of couples that the Fidelity survey (cited above) found were not on the same page, make some time to talk with your partner about when you'll quit and what you'd like your life to be like.
To read the entire article:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/basic-rules-for-getting-rich.html
Romans 12:10 — Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Personal Finance News Tuesday 6/26
Phil's
Personal Finance Tip of the Day:
Mac users being fed pricier hotel searches?
By Clark Howard
Mac users being fed pricier hotel searches?
By Clark Howard
Should you pay a higher rate for a hotel room just because you're a Mac user? Orbitz apparently thinks so.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Orbitz is experimenting with a 30% premium on Mac users when they search for select hotel rooms versus PC users. That effectively works out to be around $20 to $30 more than a PC user.
When asked for explanation, Orbitz basically stated that Mac users make more money and are interested in fancier hotels. (There were no happy campers in the Apple world based on those comments!)
I've found when you're searching for travel, you'll often see higher quotes when you try to book two or more hotel rooms than when you try to book two single rooms. You can actually save money doing two single room bookings instead of booking two rooms at once. That's just a little trick of the trade.
Meanwhile, there's a 24-hour sale started by AirTran that's been matched by pretty much everyone across the airline industry for the extended Fourth of July travel period.
No advance purchase is required and the sale is good for travel through July 9. (Though you can't fly on Saturday or Sunday.) Fares start at around $60 one-way and go up to $80 or $90 for most places in the country.
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it. — David Starr Jordan
According to The Wall Street Journal, Orbitz is experimenting with a 30% premium on Mac users when they search for select hotel rooms versus PC users. That effectively works out to be around $20 to $30 more than a PC user.
When asked for explanation, Orbitz basically stated that Mac users make more money and are interested in fancier hotels. (There were no happy campers in the Apple world based on those comments!)
I've found when you're searching for travel, you'll often see higher quotes when you try to book two or more hotel rooms than when you try to book two single rooms. You can actually save money doing two single room bookings instead of booking two rooms at once. That's just a little trick of the trade.
Meanwhile, there's a 24-hour sale started by AirTran that's been matched by pretty much everyone across the airline industry for the extended Fourth of July travel period.
No advance purchase is required and the sale is good for travel through July 9. (Though you can't fly on Saturday or Sunday.) Fares start at around $60 one-way and go up to $80 or $90 for most places in the country.
Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it. — David Starr Jordan
Monday, June 25, 2012
Personal Finance News Monday 6/25
Phil's
Personal Finance Tip of the Day:
The Riskiest Day of Your Life
By Larry Swedroe | CBS MoneyWatch – Mon, Jun 25, 2012 6:03 PM EDT
The primary financial goal for most people is to make sure that their assets last as least as long as they do. The day on which there is the greatest risk of failing to meet that objective is the day you retire. The reasons, as "Someday Rich" authors Timothy Noonan and Matt Smith explain, are the day you get your gold watch, you have:
- Exhausted your human capital (ability to generate income from your labors)
- Assumed "longevity risk" (the need to fund your living expenses for the rest of your life)
Of the many risks we face when developing a financial plan, longevity risk is often the one most overlooked, or at least underestimated. And yet for many individuals, it might be the one that entails the greatest risk. Consider the following:
Today, while a 65-year-old male has a life expectancy of 19 years (to age 84), a 65-year-old couple has 50 percent chance of one surviving to age 92. That means half of all 65-year-old couples will have one spouse alive after 27 years. And they have a 25 percent chance of one reaching 97. Because being alive without the financial resources to support an acceptable living standard is too painful to even contemplate, we must plan for the possibility that we'll live longer than expected. We can reduce the risk of longevity by working longer, delaying taking Social Security benefits and buying longevity insurance (in the form of a payout annuity).
To read the entire article:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-riskiest-day-of-your-life.html
Do you know what real poverty is? It is never having a big thought or a generous impulse. — Jerome P. Fleishman
The Riskiest Day of Your Life
By Larry Swedroe | CBS MoneyWatch – Mon, Jun 25, 2012 6:03 PM EDT
The primary financial goal for most people is to make sure that their assets last as least as long as they do. The day on which there is the greatest risk of failing to meet that objective is the day you retire. The reasons, as "Someday Rich" authors Timothy Noonan and Matt Smith explain, are the day you get your gold watch, you have:
- Exhausted your human capital (ability to generate income from your labors)
- Assumed "longevity risk" (the need to fund your living expenses for the rest of your life)
Of the many risks we face when developing a financial plan, longevity risk is often the one most overlooked, or at least underestimated. And yet for many individuals, it might be the one that entails the greatest risk. Consider the following:
Today, while a 65-year-old male has a life expectancy of 19 years (to age 84), a 65-year-old couple has 50 percent chance of one surviving to age 92. That means half of all 65-year-old couples will have one spouse alive after 27 years. And they have a 25 percent chance of one reaching 97. Because being alive without the financial resources to support an acceptable living standard is too painful to even contemplate, we must plan for the possibility that we'll live longer than expected. We can reduce the risk of longevity by working longer, delaying taking Social Security benefits and buying longevity insurance (in the form of a payout annuity).
To read the entire article:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-riskiest-day-of-your-life.html
Do you know what real poverty is? It is never having a big thought or a generous impulse. — Jerome P. Fleishman
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Personal Finance News Saturday 6/23
Phil's
Personal Finance Tip of the Day:
Young Investors, Start With a Roth
By CAROLYN T. GEER/The Wall Street Journal
After my last column, on why young adults should start saving early if they hope to retire comfortably, some of you asked about how the money might be invested.
Cheryl McKinney of Sacramento, Calif., is typical. She is the mother of two young adults starting careers—one a full-time videogame designer with access to a 401(k) retirement plan at work, the other a geographer in search of full-time employment while working part-time jobs, none of which offers a 401(k).
Last year, Ms. McKinney gave each of her children $2,000 and helped them set up Roth individual retirement accounts. The contributions were allowed because each made at least that amount from working that year.
"I left it to each to choose an investment for the $2,000, but neither has made any progress on deciding where to put the money, so it looks like a bit more leadership from Mom is in order," Ms. McKinney writes.
First, kudos to Ms. McKinney for starting out each child with a Roth. "I think it is absolutely the investment vehicle for young adults," says Barbara Taylor, a financial adviser with ING Financial Partners.
With a Roth, contributions are made after-tax, but withdrawals—including earnings—are tax-free if you follow certain rules. Single workers making less than $125,000 can contribute, though only those making less than $110,000 can contribute the max—$5,000 this year.
Since a young investor has many years until retirement and is likely to be in a higher tax bracket then, the investment gains inside a Roth should easily outstrip the upfront tax costs. (This is less certain the older you are and the higher your tax bracket when you contribute.)
To read the entire article from The Wal lStreet Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303703004577475043593994160.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF16
Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
The will to succeed is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare. -Bobby Knight
Young Investors, Start With a Roth
By CAROLYN T. GEER/The Wall Street Journal
After my last column, on why young adults should start saving early if they hope to retire comfortably, some of you asked about how the money might be invested.
Cheryl McKinney of Sacramento, Calif., is typical. She is the mother of two young adults starting careers—one a full-time videogame designer with access to a 401(k) retirement plan at work, the other a geographer in search of full-time employment while working part-time jobs, none of which offers a 401(k).
Last year, Ms. McKinney gave each of her children $2,000 and helped them set up Roth individual retirement accounts. The contributions were allowed because each made at least that amount from working that year.
"I left it to each to choose an investment for the $2,000, but neither has made any progress on deciding where to put the money, so it looks like a bit more leadership from Mom is in order," Ms. McKinney writes.
First, kudos to Ms. McKinney for starting out each child with a Roth. "I think it is absolutely the investment vehicle for young adults," says Barbara Taylor, a financial adviser with ING Financial Partners.
With a Roth, contributions are made after-tax, but withdrawals—including earnings—are tax-free if you follow certain rules. Single workers making less than $125,000 can contribute, though only those making less than $110,000 can contribute the max—$5,000 this year.
Since a young investor has many years until retirement and is likely to be in a higher tax bracket then, the investment gains inside a Roth should easily outstrip the upfront tax costs. (This is less certain the older you are and the higher your tax bracket when you contribute.)
To read the entire article from The Wal lStreet Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303703004577475043593994160.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF16
Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
The will to succeed is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare. -Bobby Knight
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