1. You must change. You have to change your spending habits and spend less than you make no matter what. Its good for everyone. Especially if you are in debt. I know it's hard to do with our current lifestyle of keeping up, but when you are debt free, it'll be much easier.2. Cash only. You have to go to a full time cash only basis. What cash you have to spend is all the cash you have. Once its gone, it's gone. You have to spend correctly. Don't...more
The Senate is trying to overhaul the bankruptcy laws. Credit card companies and retailers have been pushing for reform since 1997. Hopefully, the new law will come into effect by mid-March.What have they been battling over?They rejected an amendment that would allow older people to get a special "homestead exemption" that would allow them to keep their homes if they file bankruptcy. Currently, this is determined by each state. Six states...more
I'm constantly reading articles on the internet and in financial magazines in which so-called financial planning experts express perplexity as to why about 30% of employees do not participate in their employers' 401(k) plans. These writers don't seem to have clue. Well, allow me to enlighten them a bit. For the most part, it's because of the...more
In his 1968 seminal novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur Clark introduced HAL, a spaceship computer with artificial intelligence. Mission engineers designed HAL to carry out an array of technical orders to safeguard the ship's mission. HAL operated flawlessly until it reported the failed operation of a ship system that was operating perfectly....more
If you're a regular reader of my column you know that my number one pet peeve is bad customer service. Nothing chaps my backside more than paying hard-earned money for a product or service only to have the provider of said product or service become apathetic, obnoxious or just downright rude after the transactional smoke has cleared.The bottomline, my entrepreneurial friend, is this: it doesn't matter if your product is fast food, slow food, retail goods, computers, lawn mowers, books, real estate or automobiles, if a customer is willing to pay you good money in exchange for your product or service that customers deserves to be treated with gratitude and respect, before and after the sale. Period. I'm constantly amazed at how many business owners and the frontline employees who represent them seem to forget this simple fact.It's like the old saying about getting a little respect in the morning. If you court me before the sale, you'd better respect me afterward. Just because you have my money in your pocket and I have your product in my hand, that does not mean that my needs have been fully satisfied or that my expectations have ceased to exist. To the contrary, our...more
Are you lost in the mess of documents that get passed around your company, never knowing what the latest version is and which one you should work on without worrying if someone else has already made the same editions that you are making? Perhaps you...more
There has never been a more exciting and profitable time to create your own online product. Recent breakthroughs in the costs of software, broadband, online hosting, and teleconferencing combined with the explosion of internet sales, makes it easier...more
More and more students, both in undergraduate and graduate institutions, are deciding to launch their own ventures upon graduation rather than taking the traditional route of working for another firm. Likewise, more and more individuals are leaving...more
In these times of major label mergers, downsizing, the slashing of label rosters, and thousands of record company jobs being lost over the last three years--not to mention the enormous sea change and seismic shifts that technology has wrought--comes...more
The first time I meet a leader to decide if we should work together, I invariably ask one question. The answer to that question gives me an idea of whether we'll have a productive relationship. The answer also tells me how the career of that leader...more
There are many forms of investing online. While I can give you a list that is a mile long, these are the most common forms of successful investments. Some of the following know how to invest terms are: Option trading Future trading Currency...more