Newlyweds and debt can be a bad combination. Over the past 21 years I have given so-called financial counselling to many engaged couples. “So-called” because it’s never finances but lifestyle choices that lead to money challenges. Usually, at least one of these guys and girls has over $40,000 student loans and credit card debt combined. […]
The next recession is overdue. In April 2013, I wrote about the soaring Stock Market and progressing economic expansion. I assumed then that the next recession would start in 2014-15 based on National Bureau of Economic Research data indicating an average business cycle of 66 months. Today, four years later, over 84 months since the […]
The primary role of the board of directors of an entity is to steward owners’ investments in that entity. I served on several boards of directors in many countries representing former Alcan Inc.. Some were publicly listed, such as our affilated companies in Japan (NLM) and Malaysia (Alcom). Others were non-public subsidiaries in Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Jamaica, […]
Encouragement goes a long way to motivate and retain employees. In fact, encouragement can be more effective than a salary increase. It costs so little, yet managers don’t do it often enough. Many managers will wait six months to a year to discuss their subordinates’ performance. Several managers avoid it as long as possible. Why? My […]
My recent Google search on stewardship of time, stewardship of talents, stewardship of the environment, and stewardship of money produced the most hits–27.1 million–for stewardship of time. This result didn’t surprise me because more articles, websites, blogs, discuss stewarding time than other resources on the internet. Today, many people realize that when they become more effective […]
I have written about becoming debt free, and staying debt free often. Each time I try to add something that might be more helpful than before. So when I see a different path that worked well for an individual, I share it excitedly. My prayer is that this current approach to becoming debt free, though […]
Decision making is both an art and a science. The science tries to analyze all information, while the art attempts to produce divergent, innovative solutions. Making a good decision based on logic alone can be comforting. However, we can’t rely on logic only, as using some creativity in the decision making process often produces good, non-obvious outcomes. Still, whichever approach […]
Effective time usage during the holidays might decide how you celebrate. Burnt out? Frustrated? Joyful? Lonely? Angry? Or, a combination of these? Christmas and Hanukkah are two major holidays that seem to cause people to spend significant time and money before they begin to celebrate. I and others write and talk about how to control spending […]
Why do so many people spend consistently more than they earn? They fall deep in debt, their quality of life plummets, they retain their cherished buys, but do not enjoy them fully. Sadly, they believe seductive lies merchants put forth while peddling goods. For over twenty years, I have been working with mainly churched individuals, couples, […]
Why aren’t university leaders leading? They are allowing students to push insane, bizarre, politically correct ideas on everyone in their universities (and colleges). To be sure, university leaders must be careful not to dismiss as political correctness (PC), valid responses by certain groups to subliminal, unconscious, biased behaviors. Racism and sexism are pervasive in society, and sometimes folks aren’t conscious of […]