LifeSpace:We - Finance and Career

Today we came across some great articles and a quick videos to help you create and achieve your goals in the areas of Finance, Career, Wealth, Inspiration and Global Financial Awareness.  It is Finance and Career Monday in the LifeSpace Community and we are happy to share the best links of the day with you right here.

*** Reminder that LifeSpace is looking for Financial experts, bloggers and readers who would like to contribute links and content on LifeSpace.  if you are interested in becoming one of our community contributors, please let us know.  We will be officially launching the community in just a few weeks but for now, you can read this to learn more on how to succeed with LifeSpace.

And now, here is our top links today:

Lighting a Fire:  How to Overcome Procrastination

We all have goals but sometimes, we just get stuck out of action or procrastinate instead of moving the project forward.  This is a great article to help us get back in action and re-establish that momentum we may have lost.
Community:  Wealth Building, Personal Growth

10 Tips to a Kick Ass Resume

It it your goal to get a new or better job?  Well, how about starting with an amazing resume.   This is an excellent list of tips on how to improve your resume and your chances of being noticed when applying for a job.
Community:  Career Change

Inspirational Video About “Failing”

Of course we are proponents of going out on a limb and setting large goals in your life.  With larger goals comes setbacks and failures.  Spent 1 minute watching this video about “failing”.
Community: Wealth Building, Inspiration

Reality Receding Across America

OK.  We are all about positive messages and encouragement, but there are some major things happening in the US right now and some argue there is the highest level of denial happening right now.  This article is a chilling review of the current state of America.  It is relevant to at least consider this point of view when determining how you want to proceed with your wealth building and investment ideas.  An important but somewhat difficult read.
Community: Wealth Building,  Financial Awareness

How to Decide if Entrepreneurship is Right for You

Do you have a goal of going out on your own and starting a business?  I for one am always encouraging people to reach for your dreams, but I always throw out some warnings as well.  This Wall Street Journal post have 5 great questions you should ask yourself before you take the leap.
Community: Entrepreneurship

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Jon Stewart’s Jim Cramer interview:

Cramer Responds to Stewart w/ Help from Scarborough:

On “The Daily Show,” Stewart puts pressure on Cramer and his network, CNBC. Then, Cramer goes on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” where Joe Scarborough called Jon Stewart an ideologue. Isn’t the word ideologue normally reserved for advocates of an uncompromising idea (e.g., the politics of president George W. Bush)? Certainly, liberalism as an idea is much more accepting and much more all encompassing than conservatism—especially neoconservatism. Furthermore, the Republicans of Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay were far from compromising.

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They’re not too big to fail.

via Open Left

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Jon Stewart does a excellent job illustrating why we shouldn’t follow CNBC’s financial advice.

Jon Stewart’s Epic CNBC Rant: Best Moments: Condensed version of the video above

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An interesting chart comparing historical and more recent bear markets can be found at dshort.com. The current bear or declining market is updated daily at dshort.com as well.

Via Andrew Sullivan

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I become angry and annoyed every time I watch cash for gold commercials, because these companies are taking advantage of individuals by severely underpaying them for their valuables.

When the economy is tanking, people are better off hoarding their valuables such as gold, silver, gems, and other precious metals, because paper money is arguably worthless (gold is climbing as the dollar declines in value).

Furthermore, we must manage our finances conservatively instead of trading in our valuables to complete strangers. Some folks even argue that these cash for gold schemes are a modern day gold seizure, since paper money is essentially worthless.

A WSYR-TV investigative team mailed $766.74 worth of jewelry to “Cash 4 Gold.” Two weeks later, the team received a check for $112.34. However, the offer was rejected, so Cash 4 Gold made a second offer of $302.

Remember, cashing the check is equivalent to accepting the offer. Likewise, waiting too long to reject an offer may constitute an acceptance. People are better off taking their valuables to a local, trusted pawnshop or jeweler—especially if a relationship already exists.

If you have to mail in your valuables for cash, then have them appraised, inventoried, and send your valuables by registered mail. Insuring your items is a smart move too. Additionally, any direct deposit options that you consent to may hurt your bargaining power, so it’s probably smart not to sign up for direct deposit. From NewsChannel 9 WSYR:

We’ve all seen the commercials telling us to send in our old gold and get cash for it right away. It sounds enticing, but our investigation found it may not be the best way to get the most out of your jewelry.

The check you get for the same exact gold can vary dramatically depending on where you send it or take it, sometimes to the tune of several hundred dollars.

Here’s The Real Deal on how to make sure you’re getting the best price.

We wondered just how much you can you can really make by cleaning out your jewelry box so, we ordered a gold kit from “Cash 4 Gold” and sent in two gold necklaces, six bracelets, a pair of earrings, three rings and a charm, ranging from 10 to 24 karat. Two weeks later, we got a check for $112.34.

Might not sound that bad, but what we didn’t tell Cash 4 Gold was that we had taken the exact same pieces to a pawn shop the week before and they were going to give us $766.74.

When we sent the check back and asked for our jewelry to be returned, Cash 4 Gold came back with a second offer of $302.

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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.

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I don’t think most people appreciate or understand how fragile and underfunded our country’s infrastructure is.  Our roads, bridges, schools, and other public works, in addition to the infrastructure that delivers our electricity are literally crumbling.  Recently, the American Society of Civil Engineers rated the country’s infrastructure at a “D” level.  Furthermore, those engineers are arguing that the controversial stimulus package is too little, since the price tag for remedying our country’s crumbling infrastructure alone is over $2 trillion dollars. From CNNMoney.com:

The nation’s roads, bridges, power grid, water supply, schools and transit systems are all in a state of disrepair due to under-funding – and the proposed stimulus plan will not go far enough to solve the problem, according to a report released Wednesday.

The American Society of Civil Engineers, which represents 146,000 engineers across the country and grades the nation’s infrastructure every four years, assigned a “D” grade to the country’s infrastructure. The group said the cost to repair crumbling public structures has risen to $2.2 trillion from $1.7 trillion in 2005.

“The nation’s infrastructure crisis is endangering our future prosperity,” ASCE President Wayne Klotz said at a press conference. “Crumbling infrastructure has a direct impact on our personal and economic health.”

The group rated 15 infrastructure categories, none of which received a grader higher than “C+.” Drinking water, inland waterways, levees, roads and wastewater facilities all received a “D-,” the lowest grades on the 2009 report card.

Roads got a particularly poor grade, as Americans spend an estimated 4.2 billion hours a year stuck in traffic, which costs the economy about $78.2 billion a year, according to ASCE. Highway construction is set to receive $30 billion from the stimulus plan – the largest portion of infrastructure spending in the bill.

The national power grid, another key project in the stimulus plan, got a “D+.” ASCE said public investment on the grid has not met rising demand for power and electric utility investment needs could rise to $1.5 trillion in 20 years. President Obama has proposed updating the existing structure to a new “smart” grid.

But even if the federal government passes its economic stimulus plan, ASCE still estimates that infrastructure will be under-funded by $1.1 trillion. State and federal spending will only amount to $903 billion in the next five years, according to the group’s estimates, and stimulus spending is expected to be less than $100 billion.

The group said the stimulus program would amount to a good start, but the country “clearly still has a long way to go.”

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Photo source for attribution here, here, here, and here. The authors or licensors of these images do not endorse my work or me and their images are protected under an attribution license.

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Republican leadership and policy has been disastrous on so many levels from Iraq to the environment to gay marriage. In my mind, the GOP leadership represents a continuation of over consumption (since it can”t grasp that natural resources are limited); a continuation of environmental degradation (their environmental policies or lack thereof, do not serve the environment and are over negotiated); a continuation of hawkish and ill informed foreign policies (do whatever it takes to keep America in the status quo); and conflict-ridden politics. The party really needs to do something, or it will become obsolete. I agree with this comment from The Huffington Post:

These are the same Republicans who have no problem funding the Iraq fiasco to the tune of 10 billion a month, awarding billions in no-bid contracts, and supporting every sort of assault on basic protections guaranteed by the Constitution. These are “poser patriots.” Although I am no fan of American cars, and I’ve owned Fords, Mercs, Chevvys, Pontiacs, Dodges, Plymouths, etc., I think the root cause of the Republican opposition to the bailout is their hatred of the UAW and their desire to bust it. Of course, having Toyota, Honda and Nissan building stuff in the deep South in “right to work states” is a huge factor. They sicken me.

More on Auto Bailout
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

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It’s so huge!  Imagine if we can find the political will to spend such massive amounts of money on education, the environment, or health care.  Certainly, we could alleviate a majority of civilization’s troubles.

Image Found Here

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I found this really ‘intelligent’ presentation on the ongoing credit crisis. In just 23 slides, it shows how stupid the American Financial Geniuses have been.

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For knowing what really did happen in the last 5 years, which led to this current economic mess, you may read a really simple article – A step by step process of world economy destruction

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Or see how a Sunday (A holiday!) changed the World Economic Map at Wall Street & US Economy destroyed

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Have any questions regarding the $700,000,000,000 bailout package? Or you feel that this gigantic bailout is bad for the American taxpayers? Or you wan to know what the experts have to say about it? Read it all at $700,000,000,000

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Or for a complete coverage of the current economic mayhem, read The Financial Mess

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‘Great progress’ in US bail-out

US congressional leaders say they have reached the broad outline of a rescue plan for the American financial system.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “great progress” had been made – but details remain to be agreed.

The Bush administration wants $700bn (£380bn) to be able to buy bad debt that is freezing up financial markets.

A vote could be held in the House of Representatives as early as Sunday, with negotiators keen to reassure the markets before they reopen on Monday.

The deal proposes that the government would spend the $700bn to buy up bad mortgage-related debts from US banks, borrowing the cash from the money markets by issuing more government debt.

A White House spokesman welcomed the announcement and praised the efforts of the negotiators.

“We’re pleased with the progress tonight and appreciate the bipartisan effort to stabilise our financial markets and protect our economy,” said Tony Fratto.

The outline deal gives the treasury secretary powers to oversee the two-year plan, but critics have insisted on the inclusion of greater oversight and reporting.

The tentative agreement that appears to have been reached is thought to include a measure to limit the pay for executives of companies which seek financial assistance, which was a key demand of the Democrats.

At the request of Republicans, who have strongly criticised some elements of the administration’s proposal, the accord is believed to include the setting up an insurance program for mortgage-backed securities.

Payoff restrictions

A statement from Nancy Pelosi’s office said the new agreement would see $250bn issued immediately, and another $100bn when the president wanted to spend it.

But the the final $350bn would only be released after review and approval by Congress.

There would also be measures to protect taxpayers, who would be given an ownership stake and profit-making opportunities in relation to any assets that were sold.

It also puts new restrictions on executive compensation for participating companies, including no “golden parachute” payoffs.

Earlier on Sunday it was announced that the two-year project would be supervised by a board of officials, including the Federal Reserve chairman, and scrutinised by Congress’s investigative arm and an independent inspector general.

Finally, the government could use its power as the owner of mortgages and mortgage-backed securities to help more struggling homeowners modify the terms of their home loans.

‘All night’

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who took part in the talks, said that Congressional leaders had been “working very hard”.

“We’ve made great progress toward a deal, which will work and will be effective in the marketplace, and effective for all Americans,” he told a news conference.

But Ms Pelosi said the deal had to be committed to paper before it could be formally agreed.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said Congress hoped to be able to make an announcement on the deal later on Sunday.

“We’re committing it to paper tonight and our people will work all night long,” he said.

Congressional leaders are trying to finalise the deal in time for the opening of the Asian markets on Monday morning.