Personal Finance Advice

By David and George Marotta
There are 946 billionaires in the world according to a recent survey. Half are in one country, the United States of America. The others are scattered throughout 53 other countries. Because of the surging world economy, 195 newcomers were added to the list last year and only 32 dropped out. [...]

By David John Marotta
For those working in the arts, financial planning is artistic freedom. You can be an artist and also eat well if you don’t avoid the subject of financial planning all together. After you have your cash flow and career planning in place, you also need to address your insurance and legal concerns. [...]

Working in the web development industry, I get a chance to go to at least one conference, seminar, or training class every year. This way I can keep up with the latest technologies and our company benefits from my acquired knowledge. However, convincing the company my conference of choice is worthwhile can be a [...]

We all want a job we enjoy and not dread going to each day. Are you just starting out and are not sure what you want to do? Or do you currently have a job, but long to be doing something else? To obtain your ideal career, you may want to consider [...]

If you are toying with the idea of starting a business, it is probably best to start it on a part-time basis while continuing with your regular job. Many small businesses fail within the first year, so take advantage of having a steady income and use your spare time to start your new business. [...]

Starting this year, Illinois State University initiated a classroom dress code for students in marketing classes. Students taking marketing classes will no longer be able to roll out of bed, throw on whatever they feel like, and head off to class. Business casual is the new rule. According to the school, the policy is to [...]

We all feel we deserve a raise, but are we entitled to one. Are employers required to give raises? Unless you have a contract stating you will receive a raise at a certain point, your employer is not required to give you one. Additionally, some people work without ever seeing a raise.
The [...]

When people think about saving money or personal finances in general, they usually don’t think beyond their paycheck. There are a number of additional ways your employer can help you save and create wealth beyond payday. Here are ten ways (in no particular order) your company may be able to help increase your bottom line. [...]

In his best-selling financial book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki advises that in order to have a successful, rewarding life and ultimately to create wealth, we must first work to learn, not to earn. In my schizophrenically varied work life, I have followed my curiosity, whims and blind dumb luck through doors [...]

Looking for a way to earn a few extra bucks for the upcoming holiday season or you know of a college student that needs some extra money this summer? Then this definitely may be something to look into. Google maps is looking for people to take some photos and gather basic information about local retail [...]

The idea of getting a college education for the sake of learning how to think has become passé. Now, young people see college as an investment, thinking, “If I (or my parents) pay to earn a degree now, I can make more money later.” In many cases, the investment pays off. Most [...]

You’ve probably heard before that it doesn’t always make sense for both adults in a household to work because the second spouse’s income is all taxed at the marginal rate. When childcare costs are factored in, there can be little-to-no financial motivation for both parents to work. But did you know that taking a full-time [...]

When people ask me what was the best decision I made when I decided to create this website, they are often surprised when I tell them that it was my decision to quit watching TV. There is no doubt that TV costs people far more financially than they believe. For most people, TV is a [...]

There is a story making it’s way around about a waitress that received a $10,000 tip and what a wonderful gesture it was. No doubt about it, except that because of the way it was given, the waitress is going to have to pay taxes to the IRS for it.
Granted, if the person giving the [...]

You’ve finally done it — earned that coveted diploma. You’re feeling a bit cocky. Your parents are wondering why they had to pay for your expensive education when you already knew everything.
Now it’s time to enter The Real World, the place that you have talked about for years as if it were a [...]

Familiarity breeds contempt, or so the old saying goes. Stay at the same job for too long, and no matter how much you liked it to begin with or how many good qualities it has, eventually the good qualities can start to pale in comparison to your co-workers’ quirks, your boss’s procrastination, and those [...]

By Robert I. Craig, Guest Writer
The closest connection I have to China is a Hawaiian-print shirt made there that I bought at Wal-Mart. But an article I read about China recently sent a shiver–literally–up my back.
It brought to mind a tough lesson my family and I learned when we got hit, years earlier, by an [...]

Many people don’t use temp agencies because they either don’t know what temp agencies are or think they should be able to find a job on their own. In my experience, temp agencies are a great resource for simplifying your job search. They are particularly useful for students, recent grads, people who have [...]

One of the best bosses that I ever had hated the time that meetings wasted with a passion. He felt that they made his employees less productive because instead of working on the things they needed to get done, they were all sitting around a table. A good majority of the time was wasted on [...]

While I’ve said that I think working for a small business can be surprisingly beneficial, it can also have many undeniable drawbacks.
1. Lower pay: Many small businesses simply do not have the resources that large companies do. While you may get more experience, you’ll often get paid less than you would doing the exact same [...]