Credit card bills can be expensive. Sometimes they can be simply too expensive. Depending on how you use your credit cards, and how much you spend, and how disciplined and controlled you are over your own spending, you may or may not have trouble paying your credit card bills when it comes to the end of the month and the bill arrives in the mail. No matter what your situation is however, there is always one thing you will not, under any...more
Before you whip out your credit card, stop and think. America is often called a consumer society, and it's true. We're also a nation of credit card debt, which is evidenced by some of these startling facts.We all know that acquiring overwhelming debt is stressful from a financial standpoint. However, it might surprise you to know that more than 70 percent of divorces in America are brought about due to financial problems.One thing Americans are...more
After hearing Daniel Pink speak about his new book A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age for the fourth time, I finally read it cover to cover (less than a day). I finally got what he's talking about when he says jobs that are high touch are here to stay. That is, jobs that builds relationships between business and client whether it's B2B or B2C. To that end, he advocates that we incorporate more storytelling into our relationships, that we make a point with a story, not just facts which everyone knows they need but still find boring. The reason is that stories are easier to remember. He goes on to list some of our contemporary characteristics distinguishing stories from facts:Facts illuminate..........Stories amuseFacts reveal..............Stories divertFacts are for real........Stories are for coverWith the easy access to facts however, facts have become ubiquitous, available at the speed of light because of the internet and search engines like Google. So each fact becomes less valuable. What becomes more valuable is the ability to place these facts in context and deliver them with emotional impact. Stories exist where high concept and high touch...more
If you have bad credit, you may be finding it increasingly difficult to get vital loans. While this is generally a sign that you should try to avoid further borrowing, there are certain circumstances in which it is just vital that you get credit. This may include paying rent, especially if you have young children, paying school fees or paying for...more
Businesses are everywhere. They are the units that perform most of the economic activity in our economy. Most businesses exist to generate a profit. There are some businesses that exist to perform a function other than profit, such as cooperatives and non-profit organisations. The traditional definition of a business is an entity that brings...more
Student and graduate loans are becoming more popular as student debt continues to rise and students seek alternative ways of dealing with it. The good news is that student or graduate loans are generally available without the need to show steady income or offer security. This is extremely helpful, as most students will not have either of these. Student and graduate loans also come at relatively good interest rates, particularly having regard to the fact that they are completely unsecured. The thing to be wary of is that such loans may lock the student into a long-term relationship with the lender that may not be the most advantageous one. Student DebtStudents leaving college today average about £14,000 in debt. More than two thirds of all students must borrow and the vast majority of this debt takes comes from special loans provided by the Student Loan Company. Once the student begins working, the loans will be repaid, but the interest rates are capped at the highly attractive rate of 1% above base rate. This is very low compared to most sources of credit available.The rules for repayment are simple. Beginning in the April after graduation, 9% of all earnings above £15,000 are...more
At a meeting the other day, a marketing consultant opened her talk by asking the group, "What are you worth?" She went on to discuss all the different ways we minimize our worth or discount our value in desperate attempts to close the sale. After all...more
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American philosopher said "The primary wisdom is intuition." It is not just a theory, it is part of who we are. Without training we can happen upon it occasionally and we usually like the results when we follow our intuition....more
When you start your own business, you commit to investing your time, talent and resources in the business to make it succeed. You authorize a spending plan; you ask the bank, your credit card company, friends, family, employees, to endow the business...more
There are a lot of different ways of funding your way through college. You might be one of those students lucky enough to have a full scholarship. You may also have rich or generous parents who are willing or able to pay the bills.However, many...more
The following is based on an essay by Denny Howe at the University of Pennsylvania. Our core values give us personal focus, strength, resilience, and meaning when the outside world doesn't always give us what we think we need or want. One of the...more
Spring is a great antidote to long cold winters. It's the same with action and inaction. Action is a powerful antidote to the stagnation of inactivity. Being creatively alive involves abandoning a position of inaction in circumstances which have...more