US Finance World

Welcome the newest DebtKid.com writer….best selling author Larry Winget! – Debt Kid

I love the holidays.

I love buying presents for people and I love the hustle and the bustle of the malls. I like seeing the little kids squeal with delight as they are in line to sit on Santa’s lap. I like the feeling I get from giving something I know the other person will really enjoy getting.

I also love a good deal and a great bargain. I am guessing that makes me a lot like you when it comes to Christmas shopping. I am guessing these things also makes me a lot like you: the fear that comes from getting a present from someone when you didn’t get them one. Or the idea that someone might spend more on you than you did on them and the embarrassment you feel if it happens. Add all of that together and you end up with recipe for holiday financial disaster. Top tha

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NEW YORK—Stocks fell Monday as investors worried that the $112.61 billion Irish bailout wouldn’t be enough to contain the euro-zone debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 39.51 points, or 0.36%, to 11052.49. The measure’s technology components were among its worst performers, with Hewlett-Packard down 60 cents, or 1.4%, to $42.60, after Gartner Inc. cut its forecast for world-wide personal-computer shipments for the year. International Business Machines fell 1.01, or 0.7%, to 142.89.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 9.34, or 0.37%, to 2525.22, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 declined 1.64, or 0.14%, to 1187.76. The consumer-discretionary and technology sectors suffered the biggest declines, but the financial, energy and materials sectors ended the day in the black following a late-day rebound.

The turnaround came after the Dow had been down more than 160 points earlier in the session, as investors began realizing that at those levels, “there is some value out there,” said Anthony Conroy, head trader for equities at BNY ConvergEx. A

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The top 5 tips weekly post is always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners.

1. Make sure that your choice of CRM software is fully integrated with the rest of your key business systems.

2. CRM software will allow you to keep a full record of all of your customer service interactions. This can then be used for staff training purposes.

3. You can use the data that is generated by your CRM software in a number of ways. It will allow you to evaluate how quickly and effectively you deal with queries.

4. The most effective small business customer service is a combination of excellent an CRM system with a pro-active social media presence.

5. Don’t break the bank when choosing a new CRM system. T

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It’s that time of year again – annual employee performance review season!

And with employee reviews comes the inevitable question of how do you reward high-performing employees?

Do you give them a wage increase, hand-out a one-time bonus, or both? In a tough economy, are there other ways to reward employees, without breaking the bank?

Here are some tips for assessing the best ways to reward your employees based on a strong performance review.

Assessing Performance

When it comes to reviewing employee performance and assessing eligibility for a pay increase or other benefits, it’s best to establish a clear grading system upon which to measure performance in a fair and consistent manner.

A good rule of thumb is to set your own guidelines for assessing employees against key areas and then weighting these according to importance:

For example,

• Performance (50%) –Under this there may be a sub-set of specifics related to that individual’s job function.
• Professionalism (30%) – Respect for management, business practices, peers and so on. But also co

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A fee-only financial planner once said to me that the one strategy the financial industry rarely supports is paying down debt. No one makes money off of it.  In a semi-related observation, investing based on how economists, especially those who are employed by political masters, wants us to invest sometimes does not end well.

Before the credit crisis some economists told us to spend given that we had entered a golden age devoid of recessions. Now economists are urging economic policies that encourage spending when many households are trying to de-leverage; this strategy may give a short-term spike to the economy (and save some political jobs) but its like asking a poker player to go all in one more time with $100 left. Odds are this player will end up with nothing.

If we were all rational investors we would behave like well-run corporations- unemotional decision making based on the bottom line. While some economists are telling us to spend again, what are these same profit-making institutions doing?

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