reading

7 Life Skills Your Kids Won't Learn in School

Emily Guy Birken — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 08:00:11 +0000

During my freshman year of college, there was a young man in my dorm whose mother would do his laundry for him whenever she came to visit. While this beleaguered mother did not plan on being her son's part-time laundry service, she was so horrified by the state of his unwashed clothes that she felt like she had to do his laundry for him. Considering the fact that she only visited a couple of times over the course of that academic year, I can sympathize with her horror, if not her actions.

While I was a step or two above this young man in terms of laundry skills, I still made some errors that cost me on occasion — like the time I accidentally bleached holes right through a shirt, or when I shrunk wool sweaters. That's because knowing how to wash clothes is not a skill taught in school. It's one of many life skills that parents need to teach their kids to help prepare them for the adult world.

Your kids need you to teach them the following life skills so that they are not caught by surprise once they reach adulthood — and you are never stuck laundering the clothes of a capable young adult.

1. Budgeting

It can feel very difficult to teach someone else how to budget if you struggle with money yourself. But you don't have to have a black belt in budgeting to be able to teach your children. Here are some steps you can take to help them master money.

Give them an allowance

Give your kids an allowance starting around age six. When your child wants something, ask if he or she has enough money to pay for it on their own. (See also: The Easy Way to Set an Allowance That Won't Ruin Your Kid)

Let them make mistakes

Allow your young kids to make financial mistakes while the stakes are still low. For instance, if your child spends all of their money on a toy when they'll be going to the carnival later, do not give them more money to spend at the carnival. Let your child recognize that once money is spent, it's gone.

2. How to fail

Failure is an important component of success, since no one achieves their goals without experiencing setbacks. Unfortunately, schools are set up so that failure is seen as a terrible outcome, and the way that failure is talked about in our society can make kids (and adults) believe that they need to avoid failure at all costs. This leads to kids and adults who give up when they feel frustrated and are afraid to take risks.

To teach your kids how to fail, emphasize to them that there are lessons to be learned from failure. After your child experiences a setback or a failure, ask what they learned from it.

3. Etiquette

For many of us, etiquette may seem like an overemphasis on which fork to use, but teaching etiquette to kids starts with insisting on "please" and "thank you" as soon as they can get the words out, and teaching them not to interrupt as their language skills develop. From there, make sure they know the basics of good manners:

Making eye contact when talking or shaking hands with someone.
Making guests feel comfortable.
Handling introductions.
Apologizing sincerely and accepting responsibility when you are wrong.
Knowing how to politely phrase requests and respond to questions.

4. Time management

Many adults struggle with time management because they were never explicitly taught how to arrange their time and schedule. And though there is no one way to handle time management, there are some underlying principles you can teach your children to help them develop their own method of time management.

Daily routines

Routines can help kids understand when things are supposed to happen every day, which can give them the tools to create their own routines and have less unstructured time to manage.

How long an hour is

Use timers during chores and other tasks to teach this principle so your children learn how long various blocks of time are, which will make it easier for them to anticipate how long things will take.

Planning ahead

Creating a family calendar together can help your child see how planning can make events run more smoothly.

5. How to cook

When you don't have any cooking skills, then you are stuck spending more money than you need to on convenience foods and restaurant meals. Your kids need to be able to feed themselves when they are adults, which includes knowing how to buy and prepare basic meals.

Have your kids help you in the kitchen, so that they learn these skills with your support. If you don't know how to cook, learning with your child is a great way to show them how to pick up a new skill as an adult. (See also: 10 Frugal and Delicious Meals to Make With Your Kids)

6. Self-advocacy

When I taught high school English, I was always amazed by the number of parents who would call me to discuss their children's grades. While I could understand why parents were concerned, the student's grade was between the student and myself. Every time a parent tried to cut the student out of that conversation, the parent made it clear through their actions that they thought their child was not competent.

Kids need to learn how to be their own advocates so they can handle conflicts with authority figures in adulthood. To teach your children this important skill, allow them to speak for themselves as early as possible. Start by letting them order their own meal at a restaurant.

When your child does need to talk to a teacher, practice with them beforehand and don't succumb to the temptation to do it on their behalf.

7. Cleaning the house

The best way to teach your kids how to clean and maintain a home is to have them help you as you complete household chores.

When your kids are very little, they want to help you, and you should let them, even though you could get it done more quickly by yourself. Explain what you are doing and why, so that your kids have a baseline understanding of how everything works within your home.

As they grow, have them take over chores around the house — including doing their own laundry. Ahem.

Achieving adulthood, one skill at a time

Preparing your child for adulthood is no easy feat. But recognizing which skills your child will need can help you figure out the best way to introduce those skills. Not only will teaching your child these skills help her to feel confident, capable, and ready to take on the world, but it will also keep you from having to do their laundry in adulthood.

That's a big win-win.

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This article is from Emily Guy Birken of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

10 Beloved Books of Successful Millionaires

Paul Michael — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 09:00:11 +0000

If you are what you read, then the books that the super-rich have on their bookshelves should be of interest to all of us. From entrepreneurs and media tycoons, to international superstars and the President himself, here are 10 books that should be required reading for anyone looking to improve their lives.

1. Mark Cuban — The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

A billionaire entrepreneur and a star of the hit series Shark Tank, Mark Cuban loves this book so much, he named his yacht after it. The author, Ayn Rand, is a polarizing figure in politics, and her books and life views are often adopted by both right-wing and libertarian politicians. Her basic philosophy revolves around the power of the individual, with the pursuit of happiness being the moral purpose of life.

The Fountainhead, first published in 1943, offered the world Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. The story, which centers on a young architect who battles against conventional standards, has become a classic of modern literature. Speaking of the book to C-Span, Cuban said, "You know it's funny because I'll pick it up when I need motivation, but then if I read too far, I get too much motivation and I get too jittery so I have to put it down."

If a book can continue to give a multibillionaire goose bumps, it has to be worth a read.

2. Jeff Bezos — The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has a net worth of over $73 billion. So, it's perhaps a little surprising that his favorite book, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, revolves around the life of a servant. In this case, that servant is an English butler called Stevens, who narrates the novel.

Set in postwar England, the elderly butler must come to terms with some pivotal issues from his past, whilst maintaining his stoic and "correct" behavior. In 1993, the book was turned into a beautiful film featuring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.

Speaking about the book, Bezos said, "You can't help but come away and think, I just spent 10 hours living an alternate life and I learned something about life and about regret." Awarded the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1989, The Remains of the Day was included in The Guardian's "Books You Can't Live Without" list.

3. Mark Zuckerberg — The Aeneid by Virgil

Written between 28 and 19 BC, The Aeneid recounts the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy and became an ancestor of the Romans. From his journey from Troy, to the Trojan War, the funeral games, and a vision of the underworld, The Aeneid is widely regarded as a classic of Italian literature. What's more, the entire book is actually a poem, consisting of 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter.

So how did Mark Zuckerberg, a young tech-savvy entrepreneur who created the social media climate we now live in, come to read the book? He was introduced to it while studying Latin in high school, and says the book "knows no boundaries in time and greatness." He is also known to quote lines from The Aeneid in Facebook meetings.

4. Oprah Winfrey — To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

If you ever needed an excuse to read this masterpiece of American literature, knowing it's Oprah Winfrey's favorite book is a doozy. Set in Alabama during the Depression, "To Kill a Mockingbird" covers three years in the life of Scout Finch, an eight-year-old girl, her brother Jem, and their father Atticus, a defense lawyer. Atticus is called upon to defend Tom Robinson, a young black man accused of raping a white woman.

Told through Scout's eyes, it's a compassionate and moving story of kindness, cruelty, and the roots of human behavior. "I remember reading this book and then going to class and not being able to shut up about it," Oprah told The Baltimore Sun. "I read it in eighth or ninth grade, and I was trying to push the book off on other kids. So it makes sense to me that now I have a book club, because I have been doing that since probably this book."

5. Elon Musk — The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov

The founder and CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp is bringing the ideas of the future into the present day, with award-winning electric cars and whole-home solar power. To discover that his favorite book series comes from noted science fiction author Isaac Asimov hardly raises an eyebrow.

The The Foundation Trilogy series revolves around mathematician Hari Seldon, who has spent his whole life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory. Using the laws of mass action, the science is able to predict the future on a grand scale. Unfortunately, it predicts the fall of the Galactic Empire, and a dark age lasting 30,000 years before the second great empire arises.

Musk says, "The lessons of history would suggest that civilizations move in cycles … there could be some series of events that cause technology levels to decline." The book series has had a profound effect on the way Musk thinks about the world.

6. Bill Gates — The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Set in the 1950s, The Catcher in the Rye is narrated by a 16-year-old boy named Holden Caulfield, who is undergoing treatment in a mental institution. He recounts the tale of two days in his life when all this "madman stuff" happened to him. But there is a deeper meaning here, as we see him battle with issues around growing up, and avoiding the pressures of adulthood.

"It's my favorite book," said Gates. "It acknowledges that young people are a little confused, but can be smart, and see things that adults don't."

7. Michael Bloomberg — The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carré

John Le Carré is a highly-regarded author of espionage novels, and has written such classics as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Constant Gardener. However, it his one of his lesser known works that captured the imagination of Bloomberg.

The Honourable Schoolboy tells the story of George Smiley, who must reconstruct an intelligence service and run a successful offensive espionage operation. It is the second novel in an omnibus featuring Smiley, and in 1983 it was adapted for a BBC Radio production featuring Martin Jarvis.

"It's 600 pages, it's mostly description, there is almost nothing that happens. But it's fascinating," said Bloomberg. Reading 600 pages of fascinating nothingness? Sounds like fun.

8. Richard Branson — Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942–1943 by Antony Beevor

Founder of the highly successful Virgin brand, Richard Branson includes Peter Pan, Wild Swans, and Swallows and Amazons in his list of favorite books. As such, a book about World War II's most harrowing battle seems a little out of place in that company.

The year is August 1942, and Hitler's huge Sixth Army reached the city that bore Stalin's name. Over the five months that followed, the battle for the ruins of the city cost more than a million lives. More than just a pure account of the battle, Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942–1943 recounts the personal experiences of soldiers on both sides, and includes tales of interrogation, desertion, and execution.

9. Beyoncé — What Will It Take to Make a Woman President? by Marianne Schnall

There aren't many people in America, or the world, who don't know of Beyoncé. The multi-Grammy winning singer and actress has amassed millions from her albums, concerts, perfume lines, clothing, and films.

Schnall penned What Will It Take to Make a Woman President? after a question was brought up by her 8-year-old daughter: "Why haven't we ever had a woman president?" It was a question she did not know how to answer, and so she set about asking the likes of Sheryl Sandberg, Maya Angelou, Gloria Steinem, Nancy Pelosi, Nicholas Kristof, and Melissa Etheridge.

"It's a collection of interviews and essays by great women," says Beyoncé. "They will inspire you to become a better leader."

10. President Trump — The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

Love him or hate him, he's the 45th President of the Unites States, and a very wealthy man. Some say that he's not much of a reader these days, but he has stated that this book had a profound effect on him and his business empire.

The international best seller by Norman Vincent Peale speaks of faith, spirituality, and the power of the mind to drive you forward. Via simple, prayerful exercises that you do daily, you can eliminate all the negative thoughts that prevent you from achieving the happiness and success you deserve.

President Trump read The Power of Positive Thinking when he was billions of dollars in debt, and it turned his life around. "My father was friends with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, and I had read his famous book, The Power of Positive Thinking," said Trump. "I refused to be sucked into negative thinking on any level, even when the indications weren't great. That was a good lesson because I emerged on a very victorious level." Victorious indeed, considering he is now the most powerful man in the world.

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This article is from Paul Michael of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

These 6 Things Will Make Your Next Flight More Comfortable

Amanda Gokee — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 09:30:41 +0000

Traveling by plane can be uncomfortable, with long waits in the airport followed by hours packed into ever-smaller airplane seats. Rushed and frustrated, you often end up paying way more than you should for small conveniences.

After years of traveling and countless hours in transit, I've put together this practical guide to help you avoid the pitfalls of air travel and enjoy your trip. Here are some easy ways you can ensure you have a smooth, painless experience, both in the airport and once you board the plane. (See also: Tricks to Make Flying in Coach Feel (Almost) Luxurious)

1. Bring your own food and tea bags

Food at airports and onboard domestic flights is expensive — often double the cost you'd normally pay. And though meals are usually free on international flights, the quality is notoriously hit or miss. It's always best to err on the side of caution. Bring your own healthy snacks, like nuts, and dried and fresh fruit. Sandwiches made with bagels are also easily packable and won't squish easily in your bag.

Consider, too, bringing some herbal tea bags. Most coffee shops and flight attendants will give you hot water for free if you ask. This can save you on pricey airport lattes and help you stay calmer than drinking caffeinated beverages. Herbal tea is an especially good choice if you want to snooze while you're on the plane.

2. Bring your own water bottle

Bring an empty water bottle to get through security, and then fill up at the water fountains around the airport. If you're in a country where drinking from the fountain isn't always safe, consider heading to a coffee shop or restaurant and asking them to fill up your bottle with water from the soda dispenser. You can often get ice this way, too!

Having your own water bottle on the plane helps you stay hydrated without relying on sometimes slow service from the flight attendants, who dole out liquids in tiny plastic cups. (See also: 15 Airport Hacks From Professional Travelers)

3. Choose the right credit card

Booking your flight through an airline credit card gives you extra perks while flying. You'll usually get priority boarding, allowing you to get on the plane before all of the overhead bins are filled up with carry-ons. You may also get discounts on in-flight purchases, and travel protections in case your flight is canceled or your baggage doesn't show up.

Some premium cards even grant you access to airport lounges, which can make layovers infinitely more comfortable. You'll also get excellent service from staff in the lounges if your flight is canceled and you need to rebook. (See also: 12 Travel Perks You Didn't Know Your Credit Card Had)

4. Pack for success

Think strategically before you leave home about how you will spend your time while in transit. If you're checking a bag, be sure to put the items you want to use during the flight in your carry-on. It's frustrating to have packed your earbuds in your checked bag when you need them on the plane!

In-flight entertainment can be a good distraction from long hours of discomfort and boredom. But some airlines don't offer any entertainment, or at least not any that you're interested in. Bring your own to be sure you can stay occupied during the flight.

If you start your trip equipped with the right reading material, some good music, and a few favorite TV shows or movies, you may be surprised how fast your airport and flying time goes by. Amazon Prime allows you to download free books, movies, and music to take with you, and other services such as Netflix and the premium version of Spotify have similar services. You can also save free podcasts to your phone, or pay for audiobooks. With Audible's audiobook service, your first book is free.

Make sure your electronics are charged and ready to go. Some flights offer outlets but you don't want to take the chance that your seat doesn't have it or is not working.

Bonus Trick: If you can do without the checked bag entirely, this is an easier and faster way to travel. Traveling with just a carry-on means you can say goodbye to expensive checked bag fees and worries about lost luggage. (See also: 15 Packing Secrets From a Professional Traveler)

5. Set yourself up for sleep

Sleeping on a plane is another way to make the time pass quickly, but it's admittedly tricky business.

Bring along the items you need for slumber, including an eye mask, ear plugs, sleeping medications, and a neck pillow to get comfortable. A jacket can double as a pillow or blanket if need be. Try to get these items in advance. A neck pillow at the airport can cost twice as much as at a regular store.

Keep everything in a clothing pocket or a bag under your seat so it's easy to access when you feel drowsy. Getting up to rummage through a bag in the overhead bin is a sure way to wake yourself back up.

6. Try to have a sense of humor

Airports can be great spots for people watching. You get to see humanity in action in its many colorful renditions. Of course, it's annoying to be restricted in your movements and trapped in stale air for a long time, but keep things in perspective.

You're getting to experience one of the most freeing things of all, the ability to jet somewhere far away. Having a good attitude will only make the ride that much better.

By preparing yourself to have a good trip, packing a few travel essentials, and keeping a positive attitude, you can make traveling by plane not just bearable, but even enjoyable. Happy flying! (See also: 6 Things to Keep You Sane on a Plane)

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This article is from Amanda Gokee of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

11 Great Frugal Gifts for Booklovers

Sarah Winfrey — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 11:00:07 +0000

Christmastime is here.

If you've been planning for months, this is probably a great feeling. You can relax and enjoy the decorating, the events, the lights, the parties — the whole season. But if you're not a planner, Christmas can be stressful. Instead of enjoying everything the season offers, you may end up in a panic about presents: what to buy for which person, and whether everything will arrive by Christmas Day.

While I can't tell you what to get for the gamer or gardener in your life or your favorite artist, I can help you out when it comes to buying presents for your favorite booklover. Here are some of my favorites for this year!

1. Writing Gloves

Fingerless gloves are kind of a thing right now, and these writing gloves by Storiarts help highlight a person's love of reading. Printed with text from your reader's favorite book, they are the perfect addition to a winter wardrobe. You can choose from several classic texts, or even choose the text that best typifies your relationship with your reader.

As a bonus, many readers are also writers of some form or another, and these gloves are great for keeping the hands warm while freeing the fingers to hold a pen or type.

2. Author Plushie

Does your booklover have a favorite classic author? Of course they do! Wouldn't they love to curl up with their favorite author while reading their favorite book? Bookish Freaks offers plushies of some of the most popular authors.

For the booklover who has everything, these make a fun and thoughtful gift. Show that you know your booklover well when you choose an author they love!

3. Building Stories

I almost never put actual stories on this list, but this one is an exception. Instead of a book, Building Stories is a story told through 14 different items in a box. These vary from pamphlets to scraps of paper, and tell the story of daily life in three adjoining apartments in Chicago.

There's nothing I've ever come across that is exactly like this, but it is the perfect gift for a reader. It's normal and exhilarating, beautiful and boring (but in all the right ways). It is a whole new way of storytelling, which most readers will appreciate, and it is also a work of art.

4. Bathtub Book Caddy

I'm not a huge bathtub fan, but one of my fellow book-loving friends is, and she adores her bathtub book caddy. If your booklover is also a bathlover, this can help them relax more than ever by making it possible for them to do two of their favorite things at once. Now, they won't have to worry about dropping their book in the tub, and they will be able to read while they soak.

Do be sure to buy a caddy with a spot for a wine glass. Because wine. Trust me. Your booklover will thank you.

5. The Storymatic Game

Pick some cards, tell a story. That's the basic premise of The Storymatic Game. This is a blast to play with friends, or to use as an icebreaker to start some fascinating conversations. Teachers can also use it in the classroom, and you can take it on car trips to help keep everyone off their phones. It's also great for writers who are stuck or who want to practice coming up with plotlines out of nowhere.

Most booklovers can appreciate a good story, and this helps them take it one step further to start telling stories of their own.

6. A Map of Fictional London

So many of the best stories take place in London, and now you can get your booklover's favorite literary locations collected together on this map of fictional London. How much fun would it be for your reader to plan a trip, real or imaginary, in which they got to see all of their favorite places? It's also helpful to understand the plot of some stories to actually see where the characters are going, how far they travel, etc.

7. Clic Reading Glasses

Even if your reader doesn't require reading glasses to see the words, a good pair can ease the strain on their eyes that comes from spending a lot of time with one's nose in a book. The clic glasses are especially nice, as they come with a built-in neck band, which helps keep them on and keeps them from getting lost, and they click together in the front, rather than going on like a regular pair of glasses.

Many of the booklovers I know wear reading glasses even though they don't require them, simply to extend the longevity of their ability to read regular-sized print by easing eyestrain.

8. "I'm Reading" Mug

As an avid reader, I can tell you that there's nothing (absolutely, positively nothing!) worse than being needlessly interrupted while in the middle of a good book. Give them the hint by overtly sipping from this mug. Not only does it let people know that their intrusion is not welcome (yes, I am actually doing something, thankyouverymuch), but it also does it nicely. Booklovers tend to be a fairly polite bunch, and this will help them make their point without feeling rude.

9. The Best Bookmark Ever

This bookmark doesn't just mark the page you left off at, but it has a handy pointer that shows you exactly where on the page you left off at! They also won't fall out easily thanks to the rubber band that goes around one whole side of the book. As a busy mom of three kids, sometimes it's impossible to find my place on a page before someone else needs my help. With this bookmark, I can read at least a couple of paragraphs before my presence is demanded.

10. "Well Read" Pin

For the booklover who is proud of their reading habit but also quiet and a bit understated, this "Well Read" pin can help them communicate about their passions. It's easy to wear on a backpack, a collar, or anywhere else. It won't get in the way, but I can guarantee that other readers will see it and smile, and they might even start up a conversation.

11. Solar Powered Kindle Charger

If your reader carries a Kindle with them wherever they go, consider a solar powered charger for their favorite device. Some of these even come with cases, so the Kindle can charge and be protected at the same time. Trust me… you don't want to be around a reader who can't read because their ereader died!

Be sure to choose the charger that goes with the Kindle your booklover owns. They are available for nearly every device.

This article is from Sarah Winfrey of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Reasons Librarian Is Still a Great Career Choice

Samantha Stauf — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 09:30:32 +0000

Financially savvy individuals know better than to dive headfirst into a dying industry. When a job breathes its last breath, employees will be left scrambling to locate a new job that utilizes the same skills and pays around the same amount.

A few years ago with the rise of digital media, I wondered what would happen to all the libraries. I imagined buildings abandoned, shelves empty, save for the occasional battered book, and everything covered in layers of dust. However, libraries aren't going anywhere anytime soon. And librarians and library assistants are still relatively stable career prospects. Here's why. (See also: 6 Great Side Jobs for Book Lovers)

1. Salary

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, library technicians and assistants earned a median wage of $13.43 an hour in 2015. And even the library assistants who were paid the lowest in the industry averaged around $9.34 an hour. If you pursue a library assistant job, chances are you will be paid above the federal minimum wage. When you throw in the fact that the job doesn't require you to invest in an expensive college degree, it's a pretty solid employment opportunity.

The only downside is that a lot of the job opportunities are currently part-time, but that applies to a lot of jobs that don't require a college degree. This job can be a steppingstone to a far more lucrative librarian job. Librarians earned an average of $27.35 an hour in 2015. That's an annual salary of around $56,880. Even the lowest paid jobs within the industry paid an annual salary of around $33,810. The only downside is that to become a librarian, individuals will need to earn an undergraduate degree and a masters in library science.

2. Upward Job Prospect Trend

Sure, electronic media has hurt the librarian profession, but it's not severely wounded. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, job opportunities for librarians and library technicians and assistants will continue to increase.

The job outlook from 2014 to 2016 for librarians is expected to increase by 2%. And library technician and assistant positions will increase by 5%. The fact that the industry continues to experience growth, even if it's slow growth, is a good sign.

3. Libraries Are Proactively Changing

Public libraries have been making major changes to remain relevant in an increasingly digital world. Here are some of those changes:

Offering movie rentals
Renting board and video games
Renting meeting rooms to businesses
Offering power tool rentals
Renting musical instruments
Offering free Wi-Fi
Providing access to 3D printers
Giving out free seeds to plant
Providing computer and tech classes

4. Even Federal Funding Cuts Can't Keep Them Down

Yes, libraries are facing federal budget cuts this year, but it won't decimate the ability of libraries to function and continuing to operate. According to the Huffington Post, during economic downturns when libraries don't receive as much federal or state funding, local communities have a pretty good track record of stepping in to save public libraries. When they can't cover operating costs, 87% of communities supported measures to grant their libraries the funding necessary to remain open.

5. Broad Range of Librarian Jobs

The employment opportunities for librarians are far more expansive than gigs at small public libraries and schools.

Larger libraries often allow individuals to really specialize in a specific skill set.

User service librarians aid individuals in navigating the library and finding material to conduct research.
Technical service librarians obtain, prepare, and organize library materials.
Administrative services librarians are focused on the more business-oriented aspects of the library (staffing, budgets, library material contracts, and fundraising).

Librarians can also work in nontraditional librarian jobs.

Corporate librarians are hired by private businesses (insurance companies, consulting firms, and publishing companies) to assist employees as they conduct research.
Government librarians assist government staff.
Law librarians work in law school libraries and law firms. They organize legal resources and aid lawyers, law students, judges and law clerks with their research.
Medical librarians help health professionals, patients, and researchers find health-related information. They teach medical students how to find information and answer consumer health questions.

Libraries and librarians have continually fought to remain relevant as technology has rapidly changed. Due to the hard work of librarians, library organizations, and many others, library based careers are still a lucrative career choice.

Have you considered pursuing a career as a librarian? What has your experience been?

This article is from Samantha Stauf of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Easiest Ways to Score Free eBooks

Samantha Stauf — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 09:30:22 +0000

I'm a bookworm. But the life of a bookworm can be an expensive one. Popular novels tend to be priced anywhere from $6 to $20. That's a pricey prospect for readers who tend to power through five, ten or more books every month.

Throughout elementary school and college, I controlled the costs of books primarily by utilizing my public library. I haven't stepped foot in a library in three years, yet I still tend to pay less than $10 every month buying books. The large majority of my reading time is spent downloading and reading free ebooks. Here are five smart reading hacks that can eliminate your monthly book expenses entirely. (See also: 8 Smart Ways to Save on Audio Books)

1. Sign Up for Kindle Family Library

Kindle Family Library is a handy feature that allows you to link up to two adult and four child Amazon accounts. Once the accounts are linked, you have access to all the eBooks that the individual has purchased in the past. This can provide months of free reading.

Once you have read all of the books in your shared library, you can then separate your accounts, wait 180 days, and then sync up with another family member or friend for access to their library.

The only downside of linking accounts is that you will need to authorize the other individual to utilize the credit and debit cards you have on file. You need to trust the individual not to go on a wild shopping spree on your Amazon account.

2. Borrow ebooks From Strangers and Friends

Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble allow individuals to lend the books they bought for 14 days. This can allow you access to more books without directly linking up your accounts.

You can supercharge your ability to borrow books by signing up for an online book lending community. Websites like booklending.com (Kindle), Lendle (Kindle), and eBookFling (Kindle and Nook), all allow you to borrow and lend books to strangers.

However, many of these lending sites (Lendle and eBookFling in particular) do expect you to lend books to other members in order to continue to borrow books yourself. If you don't already have a library of lendable books, or you don't plan on slowly expanding your library, you might not be able to utilize many of the online lending communities.

3. Read Non-Professional Stories Online

There are hundreds of solid stories self-published online for free on a variety of websites. Budding writers flock to sites like FictionPress to in order to practice the craft of writing. In exchange for an occasional review of a chapter or story, readers have the ability to dive into a potentially good book for free.

Another non-professional option for the more geek-inclined is to start reading fanfiction. Fanfiction, for those who don't know, are stories that utilize the characters and setting of already existing television shows, movies, comics, or books. If you do delve into the world of free reading by devouring fanfiction, I would suggest starting with either Fanfiction.net or Archive of Our Own.

But there are a couple potential downsides of utilizing sites like FictionPress or Fanfiction.com to find good books.

You can expect to find some sub-par writing due in part, to the fact that individuals of various skill levels publish on these types of sites. Try to choose more popular novels based on how many reviews, favorites, or follows they have.
The majority of writers publish in these forums as chapters are completed. This process often leads to many writers abandoning stories mid-way. So search for completed stories when doing searches for potential novels.

If fanfiction is for you, utilize an application within Calibre (a free eBook organizer) called FanFicFare to download the books onto your computer as either an ePub (Nook), a Mobi (Old Kindle), or an AZW3 (New Kindle) file.

4. Read Public Domain Books

You can keep your electronic bookshelf well stocked by simply sticking to reading books that are within the public domain. This means that anyone is free to use or re-use the book. You can find older classics like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen or Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens as part of public domain.

Some of these books you can find for free on major eBook publishing sites. Others, you can locate on one of these 25 different free public domain publication websites. Many of the free-to-use websites allow you to choose which format (ePub, mobi, HTML) you would like to download the novel in.

If you're unsatisfied with the file option available on the site you choose, you can always upload the file to Calibre and convert that file to one of your choice.

5. Check Author Websites for Free Short Stories and Novels

You might want to scope out your favorite author's websites for free novels or short stories. Many authors publish their older novels or short stories online as a gift to fans or in an attempt to attract new readers.

And you can either read their stories online or utilize Internet applications like Send to Kindle or Readability to send the chapters or short stories on the author's website to your ereader.

How do you save money on ebooks? Share with us!

This article is from Samantha Stauf of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

8 Smart Ways to Save on Audio Books

Ashley Eneriz — Fri, 06 May 2016 09:00:07 +0000

Nothing beats sitting down with a new book, poring over the printed word and turning crisp pages. Unfortunately, a busy life doesn't always leave time for reading. This is why I love audiobooks so much. You can listen to your book anywhere, anytime, and while you are doing almost any task.

Audiobooks can make a long commute or a day of household chores much more enjoyable. The only downside with audiobooks is that they tend to be pricy. Here are my top tricks for saving money on audiobooks.

1. Sign Up for an Audible Free Trial

If you haven't already, sign up for a free Audible trial. Most offers include a free month of Audible, which includes a free book download. Sometimes you can score three months for free.

2. Ask an Amazon Customer Service Rep

Already used your free Audible trial? Don't give up just yet. Whenever you see a free promotion going on, ask an Amazon customer service rep if they could apply it to your account. A few months back, Amazon offered three months for free to Audible. Several of the Slickdeals.net board members said that all they did was ask an Amazon customer service rep if they could be considered eligible for the promotion, and they were given the promotion, despite having done an Audible free trial in the past.

I asked, too, but did not get three free months. Instead, I got a discounted membership for $7.49 a month for the first three months. It's always worth asking if there are new promotions you can take advantage of.

3. Look for Special Deals

At one point, as an Audible member, they offered me special discounts on credits, and twice, I tried to cancel my membership, but they offered me $20 in credit to stay. It's a good idea to add them to your safe list for emailing, since they might send you a special offer to motivate you to renew your membership. (See also: The 8 Best Books for Entrepreneurs)

4. Get Free Audiobooks With Overdrive

Many libraries use Overdrive, which allows library cardholders to check out eBooks and audiobooks. The best part about using Overdrive is that you will not have to pay late fees. When your book loan expires, you just lose access to it. However, you can renew it as many times as you need to, and will gain instant access to the audiobook, unless others have it on hold.

5. Use Multiple Library Cards

Many people might know about Overdrive, but not too many people know that each library has their own selection inside Overdrive. I am lucky enough to be a member of three different libraries, and each one can be connected to the Overdrive app on my phone. Different books are offered between the three libraries, which expands my options. Also, I can put a book on hold under each card, allowing me to get the book faster.

6. Whispersync for Voice

Sometimes Amazon will offer the kindle and audible version of a book for less than just the standard $14.95 per Audible credit. Most traditionally published books have high Kindle prices, but they often regularly get discounted. For example, Fern Michael's Balancing Act is on sale for $5.99 and you can add on Audible narration for only $3.49. This means you will pay $9.48 for both, which is certainly less than the $11.95 Audible price.

7. Kindle Unlimited

For $9.99, you can get unlimited access to over one million books and 1,000 audiobooks. And there are several, often overlooked, indie-published books available there, too. However, you will also find bestselling books, such as the Harry Potter series and even Water for Elephants, which allows Kindle Unlimited members the opportunity to read and listen for free. If you are unsure about the Kindle Unlimited membership, you can try it free for 30 days.

8. Swap With a Friend

If you and your friend are both into audiobooks, you can swap the hard copies of audiobook CDs or give each other the sign-in to your Audible account. This way you can get one more use out of your audiobook before banning it to your virtual bookshelf forever. (See also: 11 Great Apps for Book Lovers)

Audiobooks are a great way to pass the time, whether you are stuck in traffic or have to tackle your spring cleaning to-do list. Audiobooks can also help you reach your reading goals when life is busy.

Have you listened to a great audiobook lately? We want to hear about it.

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This article is from Ashley Eneriz of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

7 Modern Reasons to Visit Your Local Library Today

Andrea Cannon — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 11:30:04 +0000

The library is filled with adventure and wonder for kids and adults of all ages. Going to the library is a rewarding pastime that many of us already enjoy. So rather than twiddle your thumbs and wonder what you're going to do on your day off, here's why you should head over to the library.

1. Personal Development

Visiting the library can encourage reading and exploration in children. Children can learn at every turn. Even being responsible for returning books on time can teach some basics of responsibility.

Studies have shown that students who visit the library tend to have better test scores than those who don't. Studies have also shown that reading can aid in brain development in young children, so it's important to read to them and encourage them to read and visit the library from a very young age.

2. Free Stuff

The library is home to a wealth of free items, such as:

Free newspaper, magazine, audiobook, CD, DVD, and video rentals: You'll have access to much more than just books. It would cost a fortune to try purchasing all of these sources of reading, music, and videos, but fortunately, the library has access to much more than your home library and entertainment center could ever store.
Free eBooks: Thanks to Amazon's library lending program, you can now check out a Kindle eBook for two weeks before it is deleted from your digital library. It doesn't get much better than that.
Free Wi-Fi: Who isn't looking for free Wi-Fi every once in awhile?
Free computer and Internet access: You can research whatever you need and have access to a computer whenever you need it.
Free adult classes: These can range from academic training like GED classes, to creative ventures like art and poetry classes.

3. Library Events and Programs

Libraries offer all types of events and programs for bookworms. You can enjoy everything from author readings to health workshops. Every library is different, so you can't expect anything in particular, but some activities commonly provided at the library include:

Author readings for adults and kids
Poetry circles
Story circles for kids
Puppet shows
Family films
Special programs for children
Book discussions
Reading programs and summer events
Used book sales
Workshops like knitting and parenting skills

4. Unusual Discoveries

You can find rare, out-of-print material at your local library that you won't be able to find elsewhere. You'll also be able to find old and used books for sale at a great price, so make sure to keep your eyes open for any of their cheap book sales.

If you haven't been to your local library, you may be shocked to find what kind of food and shopping options they have. For instance, the Los Angeles Public Library has a gift shop, restaurant, and café inside, but it could all be easily missed if you don't know what you're looking for and don't take the time to really map out your library and find out what they offer.

5. Opportunities to Bond With Like-Minded People

The library is full of other bookworms. You can bond over your favorite books and love of literature. Libraries often promote local businesses, so you can also find out more about local artists, businesses, and even book clubs.

And the librarian probably has an abundance of useful information and recommendations. Just let them know what you're looking for and they can help you find the right book or answer any questions you may have. (See also: 17 Cool Jobs for Book Lovers)

6. Quiet Personal Space

We all need a bit of personal space, and the library can provide the quiet reprieve you need. It's a great place for reading, working, researching, or just relaxing. There are always comfy chairs and corners at the library where you can enjoy a great new book and expand your mind.

The library is brightly lit, so you won't have to squint your eyes to see the words on the page. Add that to the cool environment, quiet atmosphere, and endless rows of books, and you've got a very calming way to relieve stress and relax.

7. Book Rentals

Most importantly, once you become a member of your local library, you can rent all the books your heart desires. When there's a book that everyone's buzzing about, or a novel you want to read before it's turned into a film, you can borrow the books for free from your library. Knowing that you need to return the book can also encourage you to finish the book by the return date.

Be honest, after reading a book once, you probably won't read it again. So, it will just take up space on your bookshelf and gather dust. Instead, you can rent a book in any genre, read it, and return it for free. Imagine all the money you'll save.

Do you have other great reasons for visiting the library? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

This article is from Andrea Cannon of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Ask the Readers: What Was the Last Book You Read?

Ashley Jacobs — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 15:16:27 +0000

Editor's Note: Congratulations to Elena, Amanda, and Kelly for winning this week's contest!

Reading is a great way to learn new things, activate the imagination, and relax after a long day. And with the popularity of ebooks, it's easier than ever to read wherever you are. However, a recent survey by Pew Research on reading habits in the U.S. found that 27% of adults did not read a single book in the past year.

What was the last book you read? What genres or topics do you enjoy the most? What is your favorite book, and why?

Tell us about the last book you read and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

Win 1 of 3 $20 Amazon Gift Cards

We're doing three giveaways — here's how you can win!

Mandatory Entry:

Post your answer in the comments below. One commenter will be randomly selected to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

For Extra Entries:

You can tweet about our giveaway for an extra entry. Also, our Facebook fans can get an extra entry too! Use our Rafflecopter widget for your chance to win one of the other two Amazon Gift Cards:

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If you're inspired to write a whole blog post OR you have a photo on flickr to share, please link to it in the comments or tweet it.

Giveaway Rules:

Contest ends Monday, November 9th at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. Winners will be announced after November 9th on the original post. Winners will also be contacted via email.
You can enter all three drawings — once by leaving a comment, once by liking our Facebook update, and once by tweeting.
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered, or associated with Facebook.
You must be 18 and US resident to enter. Void where prohibited.

Good Luck!

Tell us about the last book you read and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

This article is from Ashley Jacobs of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

8 More Classic Personal Finance Books You Must Read

Damian Davila — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 13:15:13 +0000

A surprising 21% of Americans think that winning the lottery is the most practical way to accumulate several hundred thousands of dollars. The problem with this financial plan is that the odds are against you. You're more likely to be killed by a shark (one in 3.7 million chance) than hitting the jackpot of the Mega Millions (one in 259 million chance).

The key to financial stability is learning the essential concepts and skills necessary to make smart choices. To help you steer in the right direction, here are eight more classic personal finance books that are still worth reading. (See also: The 8 Classic Personal Finance Books You Must Read)

1. The Great Crash

"The four most dangerous words in investing are 'This time it's different.'" This is not only one of the coolest sayings about investing, but also one that stands the test of time. First published in 1954, John Kenneth Galbraith's The Great Crash 1929 provides a great review of the rampant speculation and record trading volume of the stock market in the 1920s, leading to the Wall Street crash of 1929.

You could easily swap the dates and numbers of The Great Crash and describe about any other market bubble, be it the Black Monday of 1987 or the dot-com bubble of 2000. Learn the signs of an economic bubble so that when somebody promises you a quick-rich investing scheme, you can reply with a quick "no."

2. Total Money Makeover

You may know Dave Ramsey from his popular radio show, The Dave Ramsey Show, touching on life's tough money questions. Whether you're already a fan or haven't ever heard from him, you should read his 2003 book, The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness, which is a complete guide for financial prosperity.

The main appeal of The Total Money Makeover is its down-to-earth and down-to-business approach to managing your finances. Those struggling with debt or finding it difficult to build an emergency fund can find step-by-step guides, often including worksheet templates to track progress.

3. One Up on Wall Street

Superstar investor Peter Lynch seems to be able to do it all. He turned $18 million in assets into more than $14 billion, personally hired some of the most successful investors you've never heard of, and penned several bestsellers.

Written in 1989, One Up on Wall Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market is a great guide on how to spot investment opportunities. Lynch offers easy-to-follow advice on how to review a company's financial statements and what numbers to focus on. A major draw to this book is Lynch's guidelines on how to find a "tenbagger" (Wall Street slang for a stock that makes you ten times your money).

4. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits

There are very few investors with better returns than Warren Buffett. However, the Oracle of Omaha is well known for giving credit where credit is due. He credits 85% of his investment philosophy to Ben Graham and the remaining 15% to Phil Fisher. "I am an eager reader of whatever Phil has to say, and I recommend him to you," said Buffett about Fisher's work.

First published in 1958, Fisher's Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits was the first investment book to become a New York Times bestseller. The growth stock investing advice of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits is as relevant today as it was back in 1958. Just ask Buffett.

5. A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Ask any group of money experts about their top 10 list of financial books and you're bound to run into Burton G. Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing often.

First published in 1973, A Random Walk Down Wall Street is a great primer for novice investors to understand their full range of investment opportunities when starting a portfolio. While some stock-picking pros may disagree with Malkiel's random walk theory (the idea that stocks take a random and unpredictable path), the empirical evidence shows that only 20% to 35% of active fund managers beat the benchmark for their category. This fact is why A Random Walk Down Wall Street is still relevant today.

6. The Millionaire Next Door

Just like Napoleon Hill was trying to figure out "what makes a winner?" back in 1937 in Think and Grow Rich (included in my other list of classic personal finance books you must read), Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko were trying to find out "What makes a millionaire?" in The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy in 1996.

Through their 20-year study of wealthy individuals and their habits, Stanley and Danko were able to identify the seven common traits that show up again and again among those who have accumulated wealth. Those traits can give anybody a much needed wake-up call on how to run his or her finances!

7. The Four Pillars of Investing

"A TRIUMPH! Bill Bernstein's new book offers sound principles, unvarnished history, and unmatched understanding of the process of successful investing. It is my candidate for the best investment book of 2002." This was praise from John C. Bogle about The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio.

What's good for the founder and retired CEO of The Vanguard Group should be good for you as well. In this book, author William Bernstein lays down a commonsense investor's guide built on four pillars: the relationship of risk and reward, the history of the market, the psychology of the investor and the market, and the folly of taking financial advice from investment salespeople.

8. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money

There are very few books, such as The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money from John Maynard Keynes, that have influenced so much economic and fiscal policy around the globe.

Even today, Lord Keynes' ideas are relevant when discussing economic events. Whether you're planning to vote Republican or Democrat in this upcoming election, there is a good chance that some of the economic advisors of your candidate are influenced by Keynes. While The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money can be a book hard to digest, it provides good insight into what your candidate is planning to do in times of booms and recessions. Also, this book increases your understanding of foreign government policies, which are important for assessing risk of investments abroad.

To avoid missing the best parts, just make sure to look for editions that include the footnotes.

What are your favorite classic personal finance books?

This article is from Damian Davila of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

17 Cool Jobs for Book Lovers

Max Wong — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:00:19 +0000

When I was eight years old, I decided, as a personal challenge, that I was going to read the entire children's section of the Eugene Public Library from A to Z. And, I did. While I enjoyed the shocked reactions of my classmates to this dramatic display of my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and basked in the adulation of the librarians, I had no idea how this literary stunt would shape my adult life.

When I am not writing for Wise Bread, my other primary sources of income are from my work as a book scout and as a film producer. As it turns out, an encyclopedic knowledge of pre-1980 children's literature is a valuable commodity. My 25-year career in books and film is based on the extreme reading I did during grade school.

If you are interested in parlaying your mad bookworm skills into paid work, consider these book-wormy vocations.

1. Archivist

Archivists identify, preserve, organize, establish, and maintain physical and intellectual control over records of enduring value. Archives are non-current records that contain information about individuals, groups, industries, governments, etc.

For example, urban planners can examine old records to investigate land claims or study how zoning impacted neighborhoods. Archivists curate media, which means that they have to be able to put documents in historical context, establish the relationship of documents with other material, and organize and describe documents in a manner that is searchable by historians and researchers who may use the records for purposes other than those for which they were originally created.

2. Blogger

I don't even want to reveal how many articles I had to read in order to write this post. Writing click-worthy content for even the frothiest gossip site involves spending hours combing the Internet for story ideas, doing background research, and fact-checking.

3. Book Reviewer

I think Lev Grossman of Time Magazine says it best:

"I think of the reviewer's role now as being more about providing context for a book, tracing its lineage in the tradition and locating it in the literary topography of the present, and all that touchy-feely sort of thing. The critics I love these days do something slightly different from what they used to: They don't just judge, they open up that weird, intense, private dyad that forms between book and reader and let other people inside. They tell the story, the meta-story, of what happened when they opened the book and began to read the story."

4. Book Scout

Book scouts typically work for book agents, publishers, or film studios. A book scout for American publishers travels to book festivals around the world and works with foreign publishers or agents to find titles that are worth publishing in English for the American market. Book scouts who work for film studios scour the publishing world looking for stories that can be turned into movies or television shows.

5. Book Store Employees

I have never met anyone who worked in an independent bookstore who didn't have a profound passion for reading. The owners and employees of independent bookstores not only curate a collection of books for their specific customer base, but often act as advocates for authors. The "Employee Recommendations" shelf is one of my favorite places to find new writers.

6. Copy Editor

Do you know why Ferris is capitalized but wheel is not? Do you avoid the express line at the grocery store because you find the "10 Items or Less" sign rage-inducing? Do you hate my reliance on the passive voice? Then copy editor might be the job for you. Copyediting (also copy-editing or copy editing) is editing to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of written material. In addition to their attention to detail and their ability to see typos in the dark, copy editors must be ready to throw down with anyone at a moment's notice over the Oxford comma. (For the record, if you don't use the serial comma, I don't think we can be friends).

7. Development Executive

Studio executives for film and television work with writers to "develop" ideas into viable scripts for movies and television shows. These ideas can be an original story idea from a screenwriter, or based on a book, magazine article, news item, or even a love letter.

Development executives work as editors for screenwriters, helping shape the story and characters to create the shooting script. When I was a D-girl, my nickname was Magazina, because I subscribed to 26 different newspapers and magazines. A large part of my nights and weekends were spent not at glamorous Hollywood parties, but at home, reading screenplays, book manuscripts, and news articles.

8. Editor

The best editors, like the best development executives, are language mechanics. Their job is to improve the quality of written communication and prepare a writer's work for publication. Editors help writers shape material for clarity, momentum, humor, consistency, and a lot more. Successful editors are also experts at selling and promoting the written word to the reading public.

9. Historian

Historians literally write history by interpreting the past through the study of written historical documents. Like homicide detectives, historians gather information in order to build a narrative to explain events in history.

10. Librarian

Surprise! In addition to acting as administrators, educators, and archivists, librarians also read a lot of books. A special committee of librarians choose the winners of the Newberry and Caldecott Awards for children's books each year.

11. Literary Agent

My friend Alan is a huge literary agent. His mother describes his job as an "entertainment salesman." I think this is an apt description. Literary agents for books try to sell their authors' work to publishers and sell book sub-rights to film and television studios. It is an agent's job to negotiate deals on behalf of their clients. Literary agents for film work with screenwriters and directors. In addition to selling completed screenplays, they also work to find open writing assignments for clients. (Adapting a book to a screenplay for a producer is an example of an open writing assignment). Some literary agents straddle both the publishing and the film world, but most focus on one or the other.

12. Opposition Researcher

To quote political strategist Joe Rodota,"Political campaigns are won in the library, not on the campaign trail."

It's the job of opposition researchers to find damning evidence against rival political candidates in order to sway public opinion. For example, it was James Carter IV, an opposition researcher, who found the video of Mitt Romney's now notorious 47% speech and gave it to Mother Jones writer David Corn. But candidates are often attacked for more pedestrian reasons: They plagiarize cookbook recipes or they are late on payments for their private plane. Once the dark art of politics, opposition researchers now regularly work for corporations, non-profit groups, unions, and high-wealth individuals.

13. Proofreader

While there are proofreaders who work as copy editors and vice versa, proofreading is a distinct job from copyediting. While copyediting is more concerned with maintaining a consistent style, proofreaders are responsible for correcting errors in the final draft (or proof) of a document before it is published. This includes fixing typos, correcting pagination, and double-checking that the photo captions actually match the content of the photos.

14. Public Policy Analyst

Public policy analysts who work at the local level study everything from police response times to parking meter fees. The job of the policy analyst is to create or adjust public policies, regulations, and laws, hopefully to ensure that policies are fair to everyone involved. Policy analysts typically work for government agencies and non-profit groups, but more for-profit companies are hiring policy analysts to steer regulation in their favor.

15. Publisher

A publisher is responsible for overseeing all aspects of preparing books, magazines, newspapers, or blogs for publications. This means everything from working with scouts to acquire new material, hiring illustrators to create cover art, and organizing book tours. If you are an author who wants to self-publish, you should be aware of all of the hats you must wear in order to create a book that can compete with big publishing houses.

16. Reader

While there are still some union readers working for film studios, the majority of reader jobs are now held by freelancers (many of them executives who are between jobs) and unpaid interns. Because publishing companies, literary agencies, and studios receive hundreds of submissions each week, it's impossible for top tier executives or editors to read everything. Readers read submissions and then write coverage, which is a short document that contains a brief synopsis of the material and a comments section where the reader reviews everything from the quality of the writing to the marketability of the book or screenplay. Only material that receives positive coverage is passed up the line to the higher ups. Material that receives poor coverage is rejected.

17. Teacher

When I was a kid, I never wanted to be a teacher, because who wants to do homework every night? Then I got a series of jobs in publishing and film. Let's just say I don't get the summer off, my kid self was dumb, and leave it at that. While English and history teachers bear the brunt of reading student writing, even math teachers must stay current by reading up on new methods of teaching.

Every great teacher I have had in my life has taken tremendous pride in their ability to inspire intellectual curiosity in their students. Quite often the tool they used to communicate the love of learning new things was a book.

Do you have a job that pays you to read? Share your experience in the comments section.

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This article is from Max Wong of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The 8 Classic Personal Finance Books You Must Read

Damian Davila — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 13:15:15 +0000

Money conscious readers from all generations should brush up on their personal finance knowledge by adding some books on the subject to their summer reading list. Given that only 24% of Millennials are able to correctly answer four or five questions on five-question financial literacy quiz, they should especially make an extra effort to pick up personal finance books more often.

Here are eight classic personal finance books that are still worth reading.

1. Rich Dad, Poor Dad

In 1999, personal finance author, Robert Kiyosaki self-published Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, which eventually became a New York Times bestseller. The central premise of his book is the comparison between his biological father, a hard-working yet financially struggling individual, and his best friend's father, a rich man with a series of savvy investments.

One of the main takeaways of Rich Dad, Poor Dad is the importance of developing entrepreneurship and financial aptitude to become financially independent. To achieve great wealth, Robert argues that you should look for passive and portfolio income instead of a traditional salary.

2. You've Earned It, Don't Lose It

Before her long string of bestsellers, such as The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, Suze Orman started it all with You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire, first published in 1995.

The main appeal of Orman's first book is the simplicity of her eight-step process to successful retirement. For example, in step two, Orman discusses how to plan for early retirement while avoiding penalties for withdrawals. For each one of her steps she provides specific instructions and resources for more information. (See also: The 5 Best Pieces of Financial Wisdom From Suze Orman)

3. The Wealthy Barber

Published in 1989, The Wealthy Barber: Everyone's Commonsense Guide to Becoming Financially Independent provides down-to-earth financial planning with a large dose of humor via Roy the barber, a fictional character created by the book's author David Chilton.

The Wealthy Barber teaches you good personal financial habits, such as paying off credit card balances every month and building an emergency fund with unexpected windfalls, that never go out of style. David stresses that you should be wary of get-rich-quick schemes and, instead, focus on long-term wealth building strategies.

4. Think and Grow Rich

Known as the "Granddaddy of All Motivational Literature," Napoleon Hill was trying to figure "What makes a winner?" back in 1937. He found the answer by interviewing a long list of well-known successful and wealthy individuals, such as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, and Charles M. Schwab, and putting it all together in Think and Grow Rich.

Based on his research, Napoleon put together the timeless Thirteen Steps to Riches philosophy on individual achievement. Think and Grow Rich doubles as great motivational book for aspiring entrepreneurs. "You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be," encourages Napoleon.

5. The Richest Man in Babylon

Now here is a blast a from the past: George Clason's 1926 classic on personal finance, The Richest Man in Babylon uses parables set in ancient Babylon to teach modern investors a thing or two about their finances.

Several of George's lessons have been adapted by current financial advisors and investors. For example, The Richest Man in Babylon's "Start thy purse to fattening" has been adapted to "pay yourself first" by Warren Buffett. Both the Oracle of Omaha and George Clason agree in that you don't save what is left after spending, you spend what is left after saving.

6. How to Win Friends & Influence People

Since 1936, Dale Carnegie's classic has been passed on from generation to generation. My wife received this book from one of her architecture mentors, as did I from one of my business professors in college.

More and more employers are looking not only for great academic or professional credentials but also for good personality traits. Professionalism, high-energy, and confidence are the top three personal traits employers hire most. How to Win Friends & Influence People provides you useful techniques to develop these and other personal traits that make you more appealing to potential employers.

7. The Intelligent Investor

Warren Buffett is very public about his admiration for Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. Since its original publication in 1949, The Intelligent Investor has been a bible for value investors, who believe that "Mr. Market is your servant, not your master."

Be aware that Benjamin's classic doesn't provide techniques to pick "hot stocks," instead it teaches you how to use discipline, research, and analytical ability to make sound investments in bargains relative to current asset value. This is a must-read for any investor regardless of their level expertise. You can take Mr. Buffett's word for it — he says it's "by far the best book on investing ever written."

8. Beating the Street

There are very few investors that can give Warren Buffett a run for his money. One of them is the legendary ex-manager of Fidelity's Magellan Fund, Peter Lynch. (See also: 5 Investors With Better Returns Than Warren Buffett)

What makes Peter Lynch a great investor is not only his ability to run a large actively managed fund but also his talent to provide great investment advice in layman's terms. In 1993's Beating The Street, Peter penned some of the most famous investment mantras, including "Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon" and "Gentlemen who prefer bonds don't know what they're missing."

What are other classic personal finance books still worth reading?

This article is from Damian Davila of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

The 3 Best Books to Start Investing Today

Shannah Game — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 11:00:08 +0000

Most of us want to start investing. And why not? It can make you solid returns, and it looks easy enough, right? But many beginners make the mistake of rushing into stock investing without properly educating themselves on the subject. Your best strategy is to get educated ASAP, and checking out these three books for beginning investors is a great start.

One Up on Wall Street, Peter Lynch

The subtitle of this book tells it all: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market. In One Up on Wall Street, Fidelity Investments legend Peter Lynch uses an easy-to-follow approach to show readers that you, too, can make money in the market without all the fancy degrees and investment expertise. Learning to read company financials is certainly a mind-numbing experience, but Lynch cuts to the chase and teaches you what you need to know. His wisdom shows readers that all you have to do is invest in the companies and products you already use and know.

The Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham

Even Warren Buffet opines that Graham's work is, "By far the best book on investing ever written." And The Intelligent Investor, written in 1949, certainly doesn't disappoint. While this book is more technical than One Up on Wall Street, its solid advice to beginners makes it a must on any bookshelf.

Graham is interested in what he calls "value investors," who aren't into speculation or day-trading, but rather willing to learn about stock investing from the ground up, and follow a well-rounded and consistent investment strategy. His book marks a departure from other investment books, mainly because his approach is about limiting losses more than maximizing profits. That's counter-intuitive advice for many.

How to Make Money in Stocks, William J. O'Neil

Although more technical than the first two books, How to Make Money in Stocks lays out a seven-step plan, CAN SLIM, for minimizing risk and maximizing gain. Stock charts are not an easy read. Full of lines, numbers, and information, stock chart reading is normally reserved for the savvy investor. However, with this book, you can learn how to spot profitable trends in charts. But this book is not just about stock investing — there's also a thorough discussion on how to use the teachings to score deals in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

O'Neil's information is not for the faint of heart, and it'll take time to really digest and implement his teachings. His seven-step formula is very specific, but will turn you into a great technical stock evaluator along the way.

These three books comprise a great starting library for any beginning investor. Start with One Up On Wall Street, and then make your way through the rest. Comparing and contrasting the three will give you a solid base for investing that you can use for a lifetime.

What investing books do you recommend beginners use?

This article is from Shannah Game of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

6 Health Rules You Should Be Breaking

Brittany Lyte — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 11:00:08 +0000

The real rules of healthful living aren't black and white. But oh-so-many of the tenets of good health we all grew up with — drink eight glasses of water a day, don't read in the dark — are precisely that restrictive. Now new research is finding that many of them are also false.

"Research is revealing that whoever wrote the old guidelines didn't have the whole picture, and that there are more paths to optimal health than we previously thought," said Harvard Medical School psychologist Alice Domar.

So rule breakers, rejoice! And then read on for our roundup of all the things you thought were good for your health — but actually aren't.

1. Don't Swim on a Full Stomach

As it turns out, the 30-minute rule every child loathes — don't get in the water directly after eating — is a full-blown myth. Though enforced by well-intentioned parents (and begrudgingly followed by their water-loving children), experts have debunked the theory that swimming on a full stomach leads to cramps, which increases the risk of drowning. In fact, less than 1% of all drownings in the U.S. occur after the victim has eaten a meal.

2. Avoid Reading in Dim Lighting

The notion that reading in a lowly lit room will damage your eyesight is false, although it will tire your eyes out more quickly. Experts say the best lighting arrangement for a night in with a juicy book is a lamp with an opaque shade pointing directly at the reading material, so as to avoid a glare. However, reading by candlelight won't do you any harm.

3. You Need Eight Hours of Sleep

The ideal amount of sleep is different for everyone, depending on factors like age, genetic makeup, and gender. Ten-year-olds need about nine hours of slumber, while adults older than 30, including senior citizens, require about seven hours. Women tend to sleep longer than men, but only by 14 minutes. "It's not difficult to figure out how much sleep we need," writes sleep expert Till Roenneberg. "When we wake up unprompted, feeling refreshed, we have slept enough."

4. Drink Eight Glasses of Water Per Day

There's simply no scientific evidence to back up this claim. Drinking eight glasses of water certainly won't harm you, but there's no reason to think your health will benefit from meeting this daily threshold. The purpose of drinking water, of course, is to hydrate your body, flush it of toxins, and improve various bodily functions. But most of your required daily water intake is contained in foods — no liquid required.

5. Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Anything made of vegetables is healthy, right? Not necessarily. A veggie burger is still a burger, and can contain more than 1,000 calories when loaded with toppings and a bun. Plus, the vegetables in these patties undergo a good deal of processing, which zaps many of the nutrients. Another example: Avocados. These delicious green fruits are packed with vitamins, minerals, and… lots of fats. Healthy fats, but fats nonetheless. In fact, about 85% of the total calories in an avocado come from fat. If you overindulge, you're likely to start packing on the pounds. Even healthy fats can cause weight gain when over-consumed.

Dried fruit is another misleading health food. That's because dried fruits are packed with up to eight times more calories as fresh fruit. Fresh grapes, for example, have 60 calories per cup while raisins have 430.

6. Eat Something Every Three Hours

The theory that your metabolism will crash if you don't snack throughout the day has been debunked. Research shows that it's the amount of food eaten, and not the rate at which it is consumed throughout the day, that determines the health of your metabolism. In fact, those who adhere to a diet of snacks rather than meals run the risk of over-snacking, thereby consuming too many calories for a single day.

What stale health rules are you happily breaking?

This article is from Brittany Lyte of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

5 Newspaper or Magazine Subscriptions That Are Actually Worth the Cost

Brittany Lyte — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 15:00:21 +0000

Any newspaper or magazine you actually read is worthy of its subscription value. But there are a few publications that offer some additional benefits. From buyer's remorse prevention to stress relief, a subscription to one of these publications is worth the price — and more.

1. Consumer Reports

The expert product ratings contained in just one issue of Consumer Reports could save you from making purchase mistakes that no customer service hotline could fix. This consumer's bible is one of the most highly regarded resources for folks cutting through the spin of advertising in order to identify which consumer products are safe, reliable, and fairly priced. If you've ever bought a product that didn't live up to its name, you know how valuable such a guidebook can be. A subscription to the magazine gets you access not only to new product reviews, but also more than 7,000 archived ratings for appliances, home and gardening tools, electronics, baby gear, food products, and cars.

2. Mindful

Mindful magazine celebrates being mindful in all aspects of daily living. Its pages are filled with how-to guides and anecdotal stories on topics like yoga, meditation, eating with intention, taking time to appreciate nature, and decluttering your home. In short, it's filled with inspiration and guides to achieving inner peace, happiness, and wellness. If you're inspired to meditate after reading a Mindful story about the ancient practice, you'd be well on your way to feeling happier, focused, and more even-keeled. And if you were to follow their guide to decluttering material objects from your living space, you'd be opening yourself up to greater personal fulfillment and self-confidence. Simply reading the magazine won't change your life for the better, but applying its teachings certainly may.

3. Your Local Newspaper

The average American family can save up to $1,000 a year with coupons, and your local newspaper — particularly the Sunday edition — is chock full of them. But there's much more to gain by subscribing to your local broadsheet than supermarket savings. News about jobs, crime, weather, politics, traffic, and building and permitting regulations are essential to navigating modern life. Local news enthusiasts are also more connected to their communities, which just so happens to be an indicator of wellness and health. Belonging to a community gives us a strong sense of identity that researchers say can lead to fewer stress-related health problems, lower risk of mental illness, and faster recovery from trauma or illness.

4. The New York Times

From its searing photographic account of a massacre by gun-wielding terrorists at a Nairobi shopping mall, to an investigation into the millions of dollars in secret payments by European nations to ransom hostages held by the Islamic State; The New York Times produces some of the finest reporting and storytelling in the world. And that was just last year.

Since 1990, the paper has had 117 Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists, more than any other publication. The Pulitzer is widely considered to be the top prize for excellence in journalism, and the fact that the Gray Lady has racked up so many is telling of the value of a subscription. In addition to hard-hitting news, the Times is also a top source for feature stories, travel reporting, health and wellness news, and up-and-coming trends and events in the arts.

5. TIME For Kids

In a survey by Rutgers University, 92% of teachers said classroom magazines like TIME For Kids improve student interest in reading. Now, what parent wouldn't want that? This weekly news magazine puts interesting, educational, and age-appropriate content in the hands of kids with the goal of making them motivated and excited about reading. A powerful teaching tool, TIME For Kids builds reading and writing skills while reinforcing curriculum in subjects like social studies, science, and math. Plus, every issue of the classroom magazine addresses the new Common Core State Standards, further supporting our kids' efforts to succeed at school.

Which subscriptions are essentials in your household?

This article is from Brittany Lyte of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: