I was reading a short little piece on $1 Megabus tickets when I thought back to my experience with one of these buses. I forget the name of the company (it was neither Megabus or Bolt Bus) but I purchased a $20 ticket from Baltimore to New York City to visit my parents when, before leaving Baltimore, the bus broke down. The oil cap had broken and the bus driver was trying to find a way to cap it, including stuffing a rag in it, so that he could make the trip. He only spoke Mandarin Chinese and I acted as translator for him and the passengers. It was a disaster and I opted to not take the bus since Id rather skip the trip than face potential breakdown on the New Jersey Turnpike!
The most amazing part of that ordeal was one passenger who said This has happened to me four times, this is unbelievable!
Read more…
Market observer Tim Iacono opines on the meeting minutes released for Septembers Federal Open Market Committee, wherein members concluded home prices in the U.S. were not falling and that consumer spending looked healthy. Iacono pulls directly from the minutes to discuss where these ideas may have originated for committee members, and recalls the last time the Federal Reserve was caught unawares by the bursting housing and credit bubbles in 2006. For more on this continue reading the following article from Tim Iacono.
[It's not surprising to read about how ill-prepared the Federal Reserve was back in late-2006 for the aftermath of the bursting of the housing and credit bubbles that, by that time, wasn't much they could do about even if they wanted to.
Read more…
After nine months of unemployment I finally landed a new job, but at half my former $100,000 salary. In this economy I was happy to get it. I always contributed the maximum to my 401(k) and employee stock purchase plan, but my new company does not offer either of these options. I made it through my period of unemployment on severance, savings and belt tightening. Other than a mortgage, I have no debt. I realize I need to both catch up on missed contributions and continue to put away money for retirement. I just turned 60. What is my best move for continued retirement saving? And how will my reduced salary affect my future Social Security benefits?
Answer: You don’t need your employer to help you save for retirement, fortunately. S
Read more…
Brokers often contact lenders to confirm guidelines before placing a mortgage. That frequently involves waiting for a lender rep to call or email back.
The problem is that waiting isn’t always an option. At the very least, waiting is frustrating—especially when a mortgage deal is time sensitive.
MCAP’s new Deal Run help line addresses that problem, and makes us wonder why all lenders don’t offer a comparable service.
Brokers usually have dedicated business development managers (BDMs) to get questions answered. But when BDMs don’t pick up the phone, it sometimes takes 2-24 hours to get a response. That can
Read more…
The rules of the IRS are constantly changing and to keep up with these changes requires a lot of patience. However, for those who are interested in the significant modifications that the IRS implements to their rules, here are two such changes specific to the year 2010 with regard to converting a traditional IRA into a Roth IRSA Refer to this page: roth-ira.org, for information about the Roth IRA.
As is common knowledge, any person who owns a traditional IRA can convert their account into a Roth IRA. Read more…
One of the hardest things for many business owners is to be as productive as possible. However, it is vital that you boost your productivity as a business owner — otherwise you won’t have time for anything but your business.
While I love what I do, sometimes I like to do other things, like hang out with my family, go camping, or read a good book. If I’m not maximizing my productivity, I can’t do any of those things. The folks at Wrike put together a helpful infographic that includes a number of tips that can help you get on the right track with your productivity:
Some of my favorite tips from this infographic, especially for a business owner, include:
If you are struggling with your productivity as a business owner, it might be time to make a few changes. This in Read more…
Having a financial problem is a little bit difficult to solve. There is a possibility for you to get more financial problems if you can’t find the best solution. So, what can be the right solution for you? In this case, you can get the reference by visiting USACashServices.Com.
The focus of this online financial service is to serve you with several Nevada payday loans. There are three advantages if you take their service. First, you can manage the payday loan fast. The incredible thing is that if you manage the loan today it means you will get the money in the same day. Second, the way to manage this payday loan is easy. You can just find the information by visiting the website above. From the website you will get the information about phone number you can call for further consultation. T
Read more…