Oct 29th 2006
I noticed that when smokers go for a smoking break, they usually go in pairs. This means there are less people in the office during work hours when smokers decide to go for a smoking break. I think in the long run, I end up doing more hours than smokers.
Now what if companies decide to give us non smokers more holiday days? I think that could make all of us healthy and happier.
Follow me on this now. Let’s say a smoking employee takes 3 smoke breaks a day and he/she takes 10 minutes for the smoking break. That would add up to half an hour a day. Now let’s do the math. That’s two and a half hours a week, 10 hours a month, which is basically 120 hours a year. That’s 3 weeks worth of work a year!
Oct 26th 2006
Charge it. Get something back. It’s the new mantra among the nation’s largest credit card companies. Gone are the days when a pen or photo frame arrived in the mail as a thank-you for being a loyal customer. Reward programs are becoming more popular and better than ever, as card issuers offer gift certificates at your favorite store, discounts on airfares and cars, and even hard cash to nab your business.
Many consumers are interested in reward credit cards because they make it possible to complete routine purchases while receiving special rewards. Common rewards provided by these cards include airline miles, gift certificates to restaurants and stores, cash, and unique gifts. Most major credit card companies are becoming specialized in designing credit cards with savings to suit a variety of lifestyles. The best rewards credit cards come with no annual fee, but they usually require good to excellent credit ratings. Read the credit card offer closely. Some rewards cards have high interest rates or annual fees that cancel out the special benefits. Make sure you understand how the rewards are calculated and redeemed.
Oct 25th 2006
Insurance is something most people don’t even want to think about until they need it the most. A home is probably the most valuable asset you will ever own, so it must be protected with adequate insurance. Understanding what is and isn’t covered in your homeowners insurance policy can mean the difference of being able to rebuild your home and replace your personal belongings.
While most lenders will require you to take out homeowners, or hazard, insurance before they approve your loan, you should be thinking anyway about how to protect the home you’ve just purchased. Based on your personal needs, you put together a package of different coverages to provide as much protection as you think necessary. Home insurance protects you financially if a disaster happens by providing the money necessary to fix or replace your property. Home insurance helps by providing:
Oct 23rd 2006
Debt consolidation financing allows an individual to combine all of their outstanding bills into one monthly payment. Usually this is done through a debt consolidation company, who works with the creditors in question to reduce interest rates and set up a financing arrangement that allows the debtor to pay the balance in full over a specified period of time.
Consolidation of loans can help decrease immediate pressure of repayment. It is a strategy of combining all existing debts under a single loan by a consolidation agency. The company pays off all existing debts and you have to pay them under a new distinct loan. There are many companies who do this. Pros and cons of selected companies must be weighed before going in for consolidation.
Oct 22nd 2006
You can save dollars off your monthly energy bill by how you operate your house. There are a number of things that you can do in your home that require little time and little or no cost that saves energy (and dollars) without affecting your comfort or lifestyle. If we use less gas, oil and electricity we will save money, and the pollution associated with extracting and using fossil fuels will decrease. Reducing greenhouse gas production may help to reverse global warming. In a nutshell - conservation of energy has both personal and societal benefits.
The first step to reducing your energy bill is evaluating where your home or business is wasting energy. An energy audit will show you where these problem areas are, and suggest the most effective measures for reducing energy costs.
Oct 22nd 2006
The basic difference between term and whole life insurance is this: A term policy is life coverage only. On the death of the insured it pays the face amount of the policy to the named beneficiary. You can buy term for periods of one year to 30 years. Whole life insurance, on the other hand, combines a term policy with an investment component. The investment could be in bonds and money-market instruments or stocks. The policy builds cash value that you can borrow against. This basic conflict over which type is best is important because it revolves around the first and most important decision you must make when buying life insurance: term, whole life or a combination of both?
Oct 21st 2006
Your car is likely one of the most expensive things you own. Insurance protects your investment and guarantees you a way of coping with the expense of accidents, vandalism or theft. It is a contract between you and the insurance company. You agree to pay the premium and the insurance company agrees to pay your losses as defined in your policy. It also secures your financial responsibility to the institution lending you money to buy your vehicle.
Auto insurance can be confusing for most consumers; there are so many different types of insurance and it can be difficult to determine the type of coverage you’re required to carry versus the types of coverage that you really should carry in order to protect yourself but that are not required.
Auto insurance provides property, liability and medical coverage:
Oct 18th 2006
The most commonly used credit score is the Fair Isaac Corp. score, or the FICO score. The score runs from 300 to 850. A score above 750 is generally considered good and a score below 620 is considered risky. The range between the two depends on the lender looking at the score. FICO uses information from your credit report, which is compiled by three major credit reporting agencies, to calculate your credit score.
Credit scores are only part of the information that lenders look at when making a lending decision and a low score is not necessarily a fatal blow. Each lender has its own strategy and level of risk and each has its own cut-off point below which it will not extend credit at any price. But knowing the hows and whys of credit scoring is essential to anyone thinking about a purchase money mortgage, a refinance, or a home equity loan in the near future.
Oct 18th 2006
Even if you spend a lot of time managing your personal finances, you probably don’t think of your income and spending in terms of cash flow. If they use the term at all, most people think that cash flow is something that businesses have to worry about. But you also have a cash flow, and figuring out whether it’s positive or negative is an important part of managing your money.
Cash flow planning is the foundation of all Financial Planning, because it allows you to:
- Assess your ability to meet your goals.
- Project your future cash flow needs.
- Identify opportunities to increase income and/or decrease expenditures.
- Make portfolio adjustments to meet your investment objectives with less risk.
Oct 18th 2006
The investment terminology might be new to you, but the facts won’t be. There are different kinds of investments you can buy with your retirement dollars. You will want to choose a certain mix of investments for your account that reflects the amount of risk that you are willing to take. Remember that as the rate of return you want to achieve goes up, so does the risk. You will want a balance that gets you to your goal with a risk factor that you can live (and sleep) with.
To begin your research there are some basic steps to follow and the first one is to take advantage of the Internet and learn what the expertise of market analysts can tell you. There are thousands, or more likely there are millions of sites totally dedicated to stocks and the discussion of investment objectives and strategies.