According to a recent report from the U.S. Travel Association, 40 percent of American workers don't use all their vacation days. The fact that so many Americans feel uncomfortable taking the time off that they've earned is disturbing -- but it doesn't have to be this way.
I remember that when I was growing up, my mother, a high school math teacher in the South, got 15 paid days of vacation every school year. She always said, "I earned them. I'm going to take them." That philosophy stayed with me when I grew up and started my own … [Read more...] about
Archives for September 2015
Pros and Cons of No Exam Life Insurance You Need to Know
If you have been holding off on getting life insurance because you were worried about the exam that precedes a policy approval, there is good news for you. Not every kind of life insurance requires that you go through the exam procedure. Before you commit to no exam life insurance, you should be aware of all the pros and cons of doing this. Read on to learn more about these policies and whether it might be the right fit for you. Pros of a No Exam Life Insurance Of course, the process of applying for this life insurance is easier … [Read more...] about Pros and Cons of No Exam Life Insurance You Need to Know
Is the Gold and Precious Metals Turnaround On?
Is the gold and precious metals turnaround on? As global markets plunge, bullish momentum is driving up the price of gold and investors are standing up to take notice. The Dow Jones plunged by as much as 531 points on Friday 21 August – a massive drop that had investors scrambling to cash out before taking on further losses. The decline marks the biggest drop in 4 years, but it wasn’t the only index that was down. All around the world major bourses slid as news spread of weak growth and slack demand in China. Whenever an evaluation of the … [Read more...] about Is the Gold and Precious Metals Turnaround On?
A Quick Experian Credit Score Workout
Your credit score isn’t going to increase on its own. Well, it might, but only for a little while before jumping back down again. This is how the unobserved credit score works. Without specific action taken to keep your Experian credit score on the up and up, it’s never going to get much altitude at all. People tend to get discouraged with their credit scores. After all, they think, I’m careful with my money. I guess there’s nothing else I can do. In fact, there are plenty of things you can do to boost your credit score. … [Read more...] about A Quick Experian Credit Score Workout
Reader Question – Can I Rent Out Property After Hiring A Property Manager?
This is the next installment in the Reader’s Questions Series, which highlights questions emailed to me by you, the readers of Money Q&A. Be sure to find out at the end of this article how you can receive a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover if I feature your money question on a blog post. If you’re not familiar with Dave Ramsey’s book, you should run right out and get it. It’s one of the top ten best personal finance books you should read. Today’s question comes from Jeff who asks about renting … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Can I Rent Out Property After Hiring A Property Manager?
Fitness As An Investment Tool
This is a sponsored post that contains affiliate links. Professional investors have pretty stringent definitions of what is and isn’t an investment. Depending on who you talk to, an investment may only be a narrow band of financial allocations, to which sophisticated improvements may be applied. Such investors tend to deride lots of other forms of investment as mere speculation. But this is a very narrow way of thinking about investment, one which will leave most people out. More broadly considered, investing is a simple allocation of … [Read more...] about Fitness As An Investment Tool
Getting Over The Inertia Of Not Investing In The Stock Market
Too many people are not investing. It's especially true for millennials. The inertia of inactivity keeps us from investing. People gave sworn off the stick market since the 2008 recession. Millennials are scared to invest. But, that's just an excuse. You shouldn’t be scared. We all know that we should invest for retirement, pay off our debts, and save for our financial goals. Our inaction was an issue before the stock market and housing markets tanked it 2008. Over 90% of millennials say that they distrust the stock market and … [Read more...] about Getting Over The Inertia Of Not Investing In The Stock Market
Don’t ‘Fire and Forget’ Your Finances and Investments
Do you fire and forget your finances and investments like an unguided, general-purpose dumb bomb falling from an Air Force bomber? Or, do you constantly watch your investment and track them like a TOW missile? The answer is often to find that ground road between the two, the compromise. Far too many of investors often choose the path of least resistance. After we finally overcome the initial roadblocks and start investing for retirement and other financial goals, many of us get set in our ways. We let our investments run their course without … [Read more...] about Don’t ‘Fire and Forget’ Your Finances and Investments
John Hancock Investments: Raising the Ceiling on Your Investment Potential
Professional investors never go it alone. Even Warren Buffett has a trusted cadre of colleagues and quasi-apprentices. Each is meant to offer a different level of expertise in a different field. Because the world of investment is far too broad, deep, and varied for a single person to wrap his or her hair around, the professional investor has to employ a network of experts and money managers to take advantage of investment opportunities, anticipate difficulties, and always maintain the edge that made the investor successful in the first … [Read more...] about John Hancock Investments: Raising the Ceiling on Your Investment Potential
FX Risk In Focus With An Infographic
Dealing with volatile foreign currencies is something many business that work internationally or maintain overseas offices. While there is a certain amount of risk inherent in dealing with foreign currencies, there are also ways for smart treasury departments to mitigate this FX risk. Here is what you need to know about FX risk. Several different types of fluctuations affect FX risk. According to professionals, the most volatile areas are revenues, the cost of purchasing goods overseas, and, more frequently, a combination of the … [Read more...] about FX Risk In Focus With An Infographic