Money in Your Golden Years

I once sat through a workshop sponsored by a company I used to work for where the guy in charge kept warning: “There are no do-overs when it comes to retirement planning.” He also added (in a very ominous tone) that if we messed up now we’d all be doomed to a life of penny-pinching in our golden years. Ah, memories of corporate America. Truth be told, the workshop leader’s scare tactics were quite effective. His advice was sound and bears considering regardless of whether you are self-employed or part of a multi-million dollar corporation. Retirement planning is important, as … Continue reading

Ancestry.com Buys Archives.com for $100 Million

Ancestry.com Inc., which has one of the most popular genealogy websites, Ancestry.com, is buying Archives.com. This purchase will allow Ancestry.com to reach a portion of the genealogy market that the Archives website was able to acquire. Are you using either of these genealogy websites? Ancestry.com started as a publishing company in 1983. They are now the world’s largest online resource for family history. They have more than 1.8 million paying subscribers worldwide. They have more than 9 billion historical records. There are more than 115 million photographs, scanned documents, and written stories on the website, and there have been 34 … Continue reading

Making Money by Marrying

No, this post does not feature tips on dowries; rather, it will hopefully help debunk myths that many people have regarding monetary wedding gifts. Some individuals staunchly believe that it is tacky or lazy to give newlyweds cash in lieu of an item listed on their wedding gift registry. According to wedding etiquette experts, cash is actually a very practical wedding present, in more ways than one. For starters, unless it is culturally acceptable, most couples can’t get away with requesting guests give cash-only as a wedding gift, so by taking the initiative to present money as a gift you … Continue reading

Insurance Blog Week in Review – April 1-7, 2012

The Insurance Blog Week in Review brings you a quick and easy way to “ketchup” on everything that hit the blog in the past week. There are always somewhere between 12 and 14 blogs that appear here, and it is easy to accidentally miss something that you wanted to read. What did you miss this week? What Do Insurance Brokers Do? This blog will clear up any confusion you might have about what insurance brokers do, how they get paid, and how they are connected to insurance companies. The Insurance Podcast Roundup went up on April 2, 2012. This week, … Continue reading

Does Someone Elses Opinion Really Matter?

Do you really care how clean your house is or do you keep it a certain way because it’s expected or because of what other people will think? Don’t get me wrong, I like a clean house, but it doesn’t break my heart if it’s not perfect. Bookshelves are dusty, so is the mantle. There are a few dishes in the sink, the carpet needs to be vacuumed and the kitchen table is my dumping ground. Let someone say they are stopping by and I fly around the house. I dust, vacuum, clean the kitchen table, wash the dishes, hang … Continue reading

If I Had 540 Million Dollars…

How am I supposed to win the world’s largest lottery jackpot if y’all keep buying tickets? Stop buying tickets. No, I don’t typically channel Paula Deen on a daily basis, and no, I don’t think I have a chance in you know what of winning $540 million. So why am I headed to the store later today to purchase five more Mega Millions tickets? Like the rest of you, I like to dream big. You don’t have to be a math whiz to know the more tickets you buy, the better your chances of winning. Currently, the odds of walking … Continue reading

Can You Have Too Much Money?

What would you do with $500 million? I would freak out if I stumbled upon $500, and by $500 I mean $50. Heck, I’d probably shed a tear if someone randomly handed me 5 bucks. Needless to say, the idea of possessing half a billion dollars is mind-boggling to me. Yet, I’m not letting that stop me from trying to win the $500 million Mega Millions jackpot. Tomorrow night someone could become $500 million dollars richer if he or she is able to nab all five winning Mega Millions lottery numbers plus the all-important Mega Ball number. You have to … Continue reading

Losing Money from Identity Theft

Here’s something many people don’t know about me: I was the victim of identity theft. It happened less than a decade ago by a guy I worked with. The FBI, as well as local police got involved because the incident crossed state lines. The guy’s motives were beyond sick and he ended up being tried and convicted. Fortunately, I didn’t lose too much financially, though I can’t say the same for the emotional toll it took, especially since I feared for my safety nearly every day after he was caught, arrested, and then freed on bail. According to an identity … Continue reading

MomsRising Blog Celebrates Second Anniversary of ACA

March 23, 2012, is the official two-year anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. You will probably be hearing, all week long, how different groups are celebrating (or lamenting), this anniversary. The MomsRising blog has put together a “Blog Carnival” in support of the ACA. MomsRising is a blog that was started in 2006. The purpose of the blog is to bring together millions of people who share a common concern about the need to build a more family-friendly America. They want to bring important concepts about motherhood and family issues to the forefront, and to create cultural … Continue reading

Insurance Blog Week in Review – Week of February 26 – March 3, 2012

This week, there were a couple of extra blogs that appeared on the Insurance Blog. Maybe you didn’t have the time to read over all of the blogs that caught your attention. The Insurance Blog Week in Review is a good way to “ketchup” on whatever you missed. Prime Healthcare Services Investigated for Controversial Billing The hospital chain is under investigation because they are accused of submitting false claims to Medicare and Medi-Cal, of “upbilling”, and of not releasing stabilized patients to hospitals that are within the patient’s health insurance network. The Insurance Podcast Roundup went up on February 27, … Continue reading