Search results for income
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Posted
Sep 30 2009, 06:12 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Julie Rains at partner blog Wise Bread.
Many people are job hunting these days. I have worked with job seekers for many years and have found that these five common assumptions frequently derail a job search.
Being open to anything will increase my chances of landing a job. The search ought to have a focus: You should be targeting opportunities in a certain discipline or function; or you should identify the strengths you'd like to leverage and then uncover positions that match those strengths. The résumé should convey that focus; otherwise, you can't differentiate yourself from other candidates because you're not really great at anything but rather average at many things.
Hiring managers don't want to spend training and payroll dollars on a so-so candidate, especially in an environment where money is an extremely limited resource and a more qualified candidate is sure to surface soon.
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Posted
Sep 28 2009, 06:23 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
An anonymous GRS reader submitted a question last week that hits close to home:
I have a family member who this past year has been in serious financial trouble. He is one of the most ambitious and intelligent people I know and I would have never imagined him getting in this kind of trouble. His ambition may have been his downfall as he keeps shooting for the stars and has fallen short on some of his business ideas, which may have put him in a more vulnerable position when the economy turned south.
He is now living in debt and struggling to put food on the table for his wife and four young boys. He has had to live on credit cards for several months and they are all maxed out. I have never seen firsthand anyone in this much trouble.
My question to you is: When faced with job loss and depleted savings, how can you avoid going into credit red? To what lengths would you go to avoid living on credit cards and missing payments on just about everything? In the situation, is credit rating even worth anything?
As I say, this situation hits close to home. Last year, I wrote about my little brother, Tony. (I say "little brother," but he's 36 now.) Tony's family got caught up in the mortgage mess, buying a home in Bend, Ore., at the height of the bubble -- and before their home in Portland, Ore., had sold. Six months earlier and things would have been fine. But things weren't fine. They couldn't sell either house. The market went to hell and they lost both homes to foreclosure.
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Posted
Sep 23 2009, 02:22 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you were born before 1955, you're part of a group that's enjoyed remarkable prosperity. Born later and you're among those who are losing ground at an accelerating pace.
USA Today analyzed U.S. Census data to track just how far incomes have fallen since 2000. The story said:
Household income for people in their peak earning years -- between ages 45 and 54 -- plunged $7,700 to $64,349 from 2000 through 2008, after adjusting for inflation. People in their 20s and 30s suffered similar drops. Older people enjoyed all the gains.
Why is this happening?
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Posted
Sep 22 2009, 11:23 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Counting down the hours until payday? You're not alone.
As the economic downturn trudges on, many workers are struggling with household budgets. About six in 10 workers -- 61% -- report they always or usually live paycheck to paycheck just to make ends meet, compared with 49% last year and 43% in 2007, according to a new nationwide survey of more than 4,400 workers by CareerBuilder.
Thirty percent of workers with salaries of $100,000 or more report that they too live paycheck to paycheck, versus 21% in 2008.
Some workers are making ends meet by dipping into their long-term savings. More than one in five workers say they have reduced their 401(k) contributions or personal savings in the last six months to get by. Among workers earning six figures or more, a nearly equal number -- 23% -- report that they have also reduced their 401(k) contributions or savings.
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Posted
Sep 22 2009, 05:34 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.com.
A few years ago, when unemployment was low and the economy was rosy, all you needed to do to get a job was get your résumé in front of as many people as possible. You had to carpet bomb, stuff electronic résumé boxes, and simply wait. One of the companies you reached out to probably had a job opening and you probably were a pretty good fit.
Nowadays, the jobs are harder to find and companies aren't going to take a risk on a "pretty good fit." So, I compiled a list of 10 tips I've tried to use when crafting my résumé during a job search.
You are a salesperson now. Joe Sugarman is one of the most famous copywriters of all time and a mail order maven. I read one of his books about copywriting, and think that the best part about his tips is that they're simple -- your title should be designed to get the reader to read the first sentence. The first sentence should be designed to get the reader to read the second sentence. The second ... you get the idea.
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Posted
Sep 17 2009, 11:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Ashley Baxter has good cause to be worried about her friend. The woman has gone on a major plastic spending spree since she became unemployed five months ago.
We'd heard that such people exist but hadn't run across a case quite like this. It's one thing to maintain your normal standard of living for appearance's sake when you're jobless. That's bad. But this seems worse. Along with the $40 lunches, $300 eyelash extensions and extremely expensive handbags, the friend is now committed to an extra $300 in monthly payments on debt that she didn't have when she was working, Ashley writes at SpendOnLife.
Those aren't living expenses, folks. Is a credit card intervention in order?
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Posted
Sep 16 2009, 10:50 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It's unfortunate but true that homely folks often have more limited income prospects than their better-looking peers. People are shallow like that.
What can you do if you've been blessed with less than your fair share of good looks? Both "FMF" at Free Money Finance and Kiplinger columnist Marty Nemko have some advice.
Bing: Famous ugly people
Marty also has some relevant remarks for employers: "All other things being equal, I'd give the nod to an ugly candidate." You can probably hire them for less and they'll work harder than those who know how to get by on their looks.
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Posted
Sep 11 2009, 06:45 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It's great to clear out stuff you no longer use and give it to charity. But, as one unidentified Miami investment firm learned, you should make sure you know what you're giving away.
When the investment firm was renovating its offices last May, they donated a quantity of items to Goodwill, including a 2.5-ton bronze statue of a young ballerina. For months, the statue sat in a warehouse, until Goodwill employees did a little investigating before setting a price.
It turned out the sculpture was one of 10 created in 1985 by famed artist Sterett-Gittings Kelsey and is valued at $500,000. Goodwill decided the honorable course of action was to offer to return the statue, The Miami Herald reported. The investment firm took it back.
It's unlikely any of us have sculptures worth $500,000 lurking in our homes (though I'm going to check the garage this weekend just to be sure), but it does pay to do some research before donating items you no longer want. We've all seen Antiques Roadshow, where Aunt Mavis' ugly table turned out to be worth $3,000.
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Posted
Sep 10 2009, 10:06 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
When you're selling yourself in a résumé, there are definitely things you should not do.
A typo? Fuhgeddaboudit. A recent survey by Accountemps, owned by Robert Half International, found that 40% of the 150 senior executive who were questioned will toss a résumé after finding one single solitary typo. Another 30% said the magic number is two, writes Color of Money columnist Michelle Singletary at The Washington Post
So, make sure you read and reread and reread your résumé, and then have someone proofread it after you.
How damaging can a typo be? For more on that, we turned to Resumania (and thanks to Michelle for pointing out this hilarious site).
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Posted
Sep 09 2009, 11:10 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Daniel at Casual Kitchen gave up fast-food burgers for life after working for one summer at a Burger King. The experience of making thousands of burgers -- and that was 20 years ago -- ensured that he just couldn't face another one. (He can still eat french fries.)
"Being around this food so much cured me of this ‘cuisine' for the rest of my life," he wrote in a post called "Scarred for life by a food industry job."
Dan asked: Do readers have similar experiences to share? That question opened up a mini floodgate. (Our thanks to Kris at Cheap Healthy Good for the link.)
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