Liquid Blog — Liquid

Okay, so we live in a time where the reported unemployment figure is above 9%, and the real figure is much higher, the government spends a whole lot more than it makes, and legislators cannot agree on a solution, and it costs more to feed your car than yourself. But...we really have a lot to be thankful for.

PostedNovember 24, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsGiving Thanks, Life, Thanksgiving

The recent market has not been kind to the weak-at-heart. Some are afraid to check to see what the market is doing. Here are some survival tips to help you through markets as these.

PostedNovember 10, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsInterest Rates, Investing

Can the government really require you to get individual health insurance? Congress says so, and for those of you approaching your 26th birthday this will affect you and your expenses.

PostedNovember 8, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsFinancial Planning, Insurance

The Health Care Reform Act enacted in 2010 requires health insurers to allow adult children to remain on their parents' plan until age 26. It's estimated that due to that stipulation, over two million young adults have been added to insurers' plans since the law was enacted.

PostedOctober 20, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsHealth, Insurance, Jobs

Today is a day to stop and take pause remembering September 11th. Ten years ago our country was attacked and nearly 3,000 victims were killed that day. Like other moments in our lives, we all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we received the news.

PostedSeptember 11, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

Tags9/11, Government, Memorial, Terrorism

Social responsibility takes many forms; in general, it means acting to fulfil the obligation to benefit society at large. This could mean going green, doing chores for the elderly neighbor or simply picking up trash in a public park, especially if you weren't the perpetrator. This reminds me of a prayer I recite at Friday night services: "Pray as if everything depended on G-d, Act as if everything depended on you."

PostedSeptember 9, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsCharity, Community, Health, Neighborhood

So many folks are rethinking the value of a college education. As a matter of fact, we've recently had a post on the pros and cons of a college degree. I've always felt, no matter where the education comes from, it's something that can never be taken away from you.

PostedSeptember 7, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsCollege, Education, Employment, Jobs

In today's unstable market environment, it's too easy to let our pre-historic brains take over and follow the herd; that's what fight or flight is all about. When this happens, the investor typically has a tendency to sell when investments are beaten down, and buy when they've been too high for too long. For instance, you sell your stock at a loss, keep it in a money market account where it's not keeping up with inflation, then go back into the market when it's been high for a long time.

PostedAugust 28, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsDiversification, Financial Planning, Investing

Although the Dow Jones Industrial average posted a 125-point gain on Friday, it was down a bit for the week. The massive drops on Monday and Wednesday of 635 and 520 points respectively, indicate that the market feels exactly what businesses and consumers are already thinking: we could be headed for another recession.

PostedAugust 14, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsEconomics, Employment, Frugality, Government

No one truly knows what the full impact of the downgrade will mean; we are in unprecedented territory. The stock market is plummeting as I write this. For sure, it will mean an increase in interest rates on debt issued by the US, which in turn, means an increase in interest rates for the rest of us.

PostedAugust 10, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsBanking, Interest Rates, Jobs, Taxes

I started taking swimming lessons the summer after I turned four and I took for the next two summers. It wasn't that I forgot how during the nine intervening months, I think my mother needed some place to deposit me on those summer mornings. I was a pest, and still am.

PostedAugust 7, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsExercise, Health, Life, Special Olympics, Swimming

The latest numbers from the government indicate the median length of unemployment is 5 1/2 months. Going without a paycheck for this amount of time can do considerable damage to your financial well-being. If you had an emergency fund, it is depleted, if not completely gone; otherwise, the only way to cover your shortfall is to either increase your credit card balances substantially, or cash in your investments, or both.

PostedJuly 3, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsEmployment, Frugality, Jobs

...not the marriage kind...

But just what does it mean to be more excited about what you spend at least 8 hours a day doing! If you're not, it may not be your fault. Just as a lack of financial education, which isn't your fault, can lead to poor spending habits, a lack of concern on the part of your employer to get you engaged at work is also not your fault. This can lead to poor morale and poor performance.

PostedJuly 2, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsEmployment, Financial Literacy, Financial Planning, Jobs

Like the government, most people make enough money; and like the government, most people need to cut their spending. However, after trimming the obvious things, such as the stuff you don't really need or seldom use, you reach a point when you get wary and you don't know what else you can cut.

PostedJune 19, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsDebt, Financial Planning, Frugality

The gas tax is a federal tax currently at 18.4 cents a gallon -- and you thought gasoline was expensive enough as it is! What might you wonder is this for? It is for the construction and maintenance of our nation's highways.

PostedJune 6, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsEnergy, Taxes

Ever wonder what happens after you send your resume? I'm not talking about the time in the postal system or how it travels through the electronic labyrinth of the internet, but what happens after it gets to the company you sent it to?

PostedJune 5, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsEmployment, Job, Job Search

Many ask the difference between the deficit and the national debt. The deficit is the yearly amount the government spends greater than it's revenues. (If the government spends less, then there is a urplus.) The national debt, on the other hand, is the accumulation of all the deficits.

PostedMay 26, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsFinancial Literacy, Taxes, The Fed

As they say, "It's better to give than to receive." Many of you out there have a huge heart, but you're living paycheck to paycheck. It's hard to come up with the money to give.

PostedMay 17, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

It's not just at the pump where we're going to fork over more money. Expect to pay more EVERYWHERE!

Besides The Gas Pump, Where Else Can I Expect To Pay More?

PostedMay 7, 2011

AuthorMax

CategoriesCareer & Economy

TagsConsumer Products, Energy, Shopping