The Federal Reserve slowed its drive to rein in inflation and said further interest-rate hikes are in store as officials debate when to end their most aggressive tightening of credit in four decades. Policymakers lifted the Fed’s target for its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%. The … [Read more…]
Next week marks my two-month anniversary at my new job. Huzzah! In addition to celebrating my new, higher salary, I am also feeling simultaneously challenged and less stressed.
I feel challenged because my new job is in an entirely different industry than my former position. But I’m definitely less stressed because the performance expectations are reasonable and my colleagues are fun and friendly. I may even be celebrating a new coworker soon, since the friend who got me into SEO in the first place (and who was also one of my professional references for my current position) has applied for a job in my department.
While all of these are good things, one aspect of my job transition that was less than festive was the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) insurance process. Since one of the features of an improved economy is an increased willingness to switch jobs — or even to leave a current job without having another lined up — I thought I would share my experience with COBRA.
SoFi Technologies said the benefits of its bank charter outweighed home loan and student loan challenges and helped its fourth-quarter performance while it also announced layoffs in its technology unit. The San Francisco-based neobank’s earnings beat analyst expectations, as the company announced product development, new-member growth and balance sheet growth. SoFi’s deposits have grown to … [Read more…]
If youâre a recent college grad, you may aspire to turn your dream business into a reality. In fact, a survey conducted by the University of Phoenix reveals that 63 percent of people in their 20s were either entrepreneursâor would like to be one someday. While that may come as no surprise, getting a venture
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Does technology always trump personal skills? Sometimes. But not all the time. Good LOs use the technology that best suits them in combination with their personal attributes to help borrowers every day. âIn space, no one can hear you scream. In cyberspace, no one can shut you up.â How âbout some IT-related stuff? Hereâs a softball: did you know that âBluetoothâ was named after Harald Bluetooth? The Bluetooth wireless specification design was named after the king in 1997, based on an analogy that the technology would unite devices the way Harald Bluetooth united the tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom. Another good use of technology is exhibited by Tim Lucas who writes, âThere are more than 5 million Native Americans in the U.S. but only about 140 approved lenders. I created a Section 184 calculator that shows the required down payment, MI costs, and more. There’s also a flowchart and a ton of info about the program.â Thank you, Tim! Hereâs some more good news: Ransomware victims are refusing to pay, impacting attackersâ profits. (Todayâs podcast can be found here and this weekâs is sponsored by Milestones. Giving homeowners an all-inclusive homeownership experience including home value and equity monitoring, home maintenance reminders and how-to articles, cloud-based document storage, one-click access to hire professionals for various projects around the home, and much more. Todayâs has an interview with Milestones CEO Dustin Gray on turning leads and transactions into forever clients.)
Survey data from Freddie Mac shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate slowed its downward trajectory this week, declining three basis points from last week to 6.41%.
There have been a lot of unpleasant headlines regarding the state of the real estate market lately. Earlier this week, Redfin noted that only 1 in 8 offers written by their agents faced competition from other prospective home buyers in January. That was down 53% from a year earlier, allowing Redfin to proclaim that âbidding… Read More »Is the Real Estate Market Going to Crash in 2019?
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Pick a cleaning service that is right for your budget and lifestyle.
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HO HO HO!
Just like that, the holiday season is upon us!
This year, I intend to do most of my Christmas shopping during a three-week tour of Europe with my cousins. We’re deliberately visiting as many Christmas markets as possible, so I hope to find a variety of interesting and unusual gifts for my family and friends. (They need to be small, though. I don’t have much space to carry things home.)
While I’m buying new (and possibly expensive) gifts this year, that’s not normally my style. I’m a fan of keeping Christmas frugal.
Being a frugal shopper doesn’t mean you can’t give thoughtful gifts though. In fact, my experience has shown that it’s often more fun and rewarding to impose limits on gift-giving. These limits breed creativity and inspiration. “Christmas on a budget” doesn’t have to mean “Christmas without fun”.
This article contains some smart ways to save money on Christmas gifts while celebrating the season. (These tips are great for Christmas, for Hanukkah, for Kwanzaa, for Festivus, or for whatever feast you celebrate this time of year.)
It’s an amazing frugal Christmas savings spectacular!
I have this idea in my head that kids become mercenaries at Christmas, demanding the newest, most popular toys. I’m not sure how I’ve arrived at this notion because that’s certainly not how my brothers and I were when we were younger. Sure, we wanted cool stuff, but we never made demands.
In fact, Dad used to tell the story of how ashamed he was one Christmas when he and Mom were going through a particularly rough patch. They were always poor and struggling with money, but this year was especially bad. They couldn’t afford Christmas presents for us three boys. Rather than cry about it, we went through the toys we already had, wrapped them up, and gave them to each other.
I have only a dim memory of this myself, but Dad used to talk about it often.
This bit of personal family history reminds me of Unplug the Christmas Machine by Jo Robinson and Jean Coppock Staeheli. This book urges readers to escape the commercialism of the holiday season, to make it a “joyful, stress-free” time for the family. In a chapter entitled “The Four Things Children Really Want for Christmas”, the authors write:
One concern voiced by most parents is that of shielding their children from the excesses of holiday commercialism. While adults can mute the TV when the ads get annoying, children are defenseless against the onslaught of ads. As early as the age of four or five, they can lose the ability to be delighted by the sights and sounds of Christmas, only to gain a two-month-long obsession with brand-name toys. Suddenly, all they seem to care about is how many presents they will be getting and how many days are left until they unwrap them.
Many parents find it a challenge to create a simple value-centered Christmas in the midst of all the commercial pressure. But the task is made much easier when parents keep in mind the four things that children really want for Christmas.
Robinson and Staeheli argue that children don’t really want clothes and toys and games. The four things they actually want are:
Because I don’t have kids, I don’t have first-hand experience with their expectations around the holidays. Other folks in the GRS community do, though. A reader named PB, for instance, emailed some similar thoughts. She writes:
We keep our children’s expectations realistic by following an old tradition â that Santa fills the stockings and only the stockings â nothing under the tree. This limits the size and quantity of gifts. Plus, because they’re all relatively sure what they can and cannot wheedle out of parents for tree presents, their expectations are kept in check.
We buy one new outfit for each, usually a special piece of clothing that they really want, and spent only about $100 per child. I also shop all year long and get some real bargains.
We also emphasize doing a lot of things with our church â food delivery to the elderly, singing at nursing homes, and service to others. Our ongoing tradition is a big Christmas eve dinner with lots of friends and then the midnight service, where we all play an instrument or sing in the choir. This is what the kids talk about â not about what they receive.
It seems that the key to keeping kids happy at Christmas is to manage their expectations. But what about exchanging gifts with other adults?
What are the real reasons that many of us have for wanting to be rich? What goals for wealth do you have? Why do you want to be rich?
The post Why Do You Really Want To Be Rich? appeared first on Bible Money Matters and was written by Peter Anderson. Copyright © Bible Money Matters – please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.