Posted October 28, 2009 - 05:00 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance, Career and Income
There are people out there whose livelihoods depend on the fact that most people go every day to some job or another. Business owners, investors, retired folks -- capitalists in general -- pay their expenses with profits that would be threatened if there weren't plenty of workers trading their life for a paycheck.
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Posted July 1, 2009 - 23:40 by Andrea Dickson
Personal Finance
Finding online coupons, learning to live in this depressing economy, selling your house in this depressing economy, going to the gym (no, really), ignoring Canada, looking beyond erasing debt, and learning to calm your #!$%)&@ nerves.
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Posted April 15, 2009 - 08:37 by Linsey Knerl
Career Building
The statistics are in. While the unemployment rate was last counted at 8.5%, the underemployment rate (those who quit looking for work or have taken part-time jobs in lieu of a desired full-time job) is up to 15.6%. So what should you do if you’re offered a lower-paying job while on unemployment? Should you take it?
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Posted March 27, 2009 - 13:28 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Career and Income
The latest news is that unemployment benefits will be extended from 59 weeks to 79 weeks in California with the help of the new Federal stimulus money. The maximum benefit has risen to $475 a week and it means that some of the unemployed Californians could collect over $2000 a month for more than one and half years. This makes me wonder if people will now stay unemployed longer because they have more benefits for a longer period of time. After all, more "free" money would make a person less motivated to find a job, right?
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Posted July 30, 2008 - 01:49 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Frugal Living, Career and Income
The unemployment rate in California surged to 6.9%, and that is equivalent to the rate in early 2003. Most news reports say that unemployment will probably go up a bit more in the short term as our economy deals with the credit crisis. Personally, I am seeing some friends and family deal with unemployment right now, and here are some tips that could be helpful for those in this situation.
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Posted April 16, 2008 - 05:26 by Philip Brewer
Career and Income
During the recession of 1990-1991, and the period of very slow growth that followed, it became conventional wisdom that it was wrong to try to retain key employees through a slowdown. If there was no work for an employee to do--even just for fifteen minutes--that employee should be let go.
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Posted March 31, 2008 - 05:49 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
Ever notice that we have names for a period when the economy isn't growing (recession or depression), but there's no name for when it is growing? If they call it anything, economists and politicians call it a "period of normal growth."
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Posted March 23, 2008 - 03:02 by Philip Brewer
Personal Finance
I saw this poster on the window of a store-front brokerage firm office near the grocery store. Although the firm in question has an obvious self-interest in getting you to consolidate your investments with them, the underlying message is a good one.
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Posted September 5, 2007 - 12:21 by Linsey Knerl
Budgeting
Two weeks after my husband had gotten a glowing performance review and his manager sent care packages for all our of our kids, he was told over the phone at a client meeting that he needed to return the rental car by 5:00 and apply for unemployment. I should have been a wreck, but I was prepared.
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Almost 3 years ago I quit my 9-6 job to "take a break." I quit not because I hated that particular job, but because I hated the 9-6 part. It also didn't help that my commute was 3 hours round trip and I didn't get paid well. I thought I just needed some time to figure out what I wanted to do. I was still under the assumption that I should be able to find something I loved to do and get paid well doing it. Hell I was even quoted in the LA Times saying something to that effect. Something about my generation demanding more from a job than just job security. We want the works: good location, cool coworkers, fun duties, excellent pay. I suppose I was naïve to think that I could be different and settle for nothing less. On the other hand, I've yet to go back to that life, so perhaps that dream is not so elusive after all. Only time will tell.
Continue reading "Adaptation: Lessons learned from being unemployed"
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