Every seen the words, Two-Factor Authentication? Maybe you’ve selected, No Thanks when it popped up in front of your Facebook or Instagram account? Turns out this process is a lot simpler than most people think and it really can protect you from hackers, exes… Brain X. Chen for Personal Teach, New York Times lays out the easiest ways to utilize this service offering pros and cons for platforms such as: Instagram, Facebook, and Gmail. Read more here and then select, Yes, next time the offer of Two-Factor Authentication pops onto your screen!
Keeping Your Budget Organized
What tools do you use for your personal budgeting? Ever wonder if you are saving enough to last through retirement or if you have the money for a trip you’ve been wanting to take? What about teaching your children the value of a dollar and how to save, delay gratification when they see an item they want?Tara Siegel Bernard, a personal finance reporter for the New York Times explains her preferred method of saving and recommends a variety of Aps that may help you on your journey to better money management.
Among her suggestions, Mint, You Need a Budget, and PiggyBot (for kids). Read more here: Spending Is as Easy as Pushing a Button. The Hard Part? Keeping Track.
How The Younger Set Lives
Millennials are getting the raw end of the deal. Both state and national policies tend to favor the older and more affluent. Medicare costs often outweigh money paid in taxes by those who benefit, and programs that support higher education have been cut, leaving students with more debt. The millennials of our country have flat incomes and wealth is down.What can be done about this issue? How do we insure financial safety for the youngest members of the workforce? Not to be left behind, many of this set are finding their way into politics. Maybe this will be the answer?
New Year’s Resolution: Keep Track of Personal Finances
It’s that time of year. When we consider how to improve our lives. Ever wanted to better understand and manage your personal finances? J.D. Biersdorfer for the New York Times offers these tips: The Easy (and Free) Way to Make a Budget Spreadsheet. She discusses a wide range of spreadsheet software and apps that will give you the “big picture” and may make managing your finances easier. After an initial time investment these programs offer the freedom to use on the go or when you have a moment. The prices make these tools available to all as well, ranging from free to about $70/year.
As American As…
In this holiday season many families gather around traditional meals to celebrate. Sharing food that has cultural significance from recipes passed down through the generations. One fascinating aspect of the American landscape is the (across the board) popularity of Chinese food on Christmas Day. Lillian Li sheds light on this phenomenon in her article, Nothing Is More American Than Chinese Food on Christmas. She explores the history of cultural diversity during a time in American history of great segregation, all centered around the Chinese restaurant. During this time, many were open on Christmas because early immigrants from China were not Christian and saw no reason to miss a day of business. What started as a simple monetary decision has made Chinese food part the Christmas, American fabric.
Is It Worth Saving?
Rural America is facing a severe decline in employment rates and population. As more families move to the city, these outlying areas are also experiencing an uptick in the traditionally urban problems of opioid addiction and crime. Eduardo Porter for the New York Times explores solutions to this growing issue in his article, The Hard Truths of Trying to ‘Save’ the Rural Economy. Policy makers have a host of ideas to solve this growing crisis but many fail to consider important variables such as extreme housing costs in prosperous cities.
Fuel Your Passion, Fuel Yourself
Although your passions may not develop into a career, channeling them into your weekly routine can make a huge difference in how you feel about work and life in general.
Liz Schumer for Smarter Living in the New York Times reminds us that, Whether you’re looking to cultivate a hobby as a professional steppingstone, or just to feel more fulfilled, extracurricular activities carry measurable benefits. And even if you don’t have a passion that really stokes your flames, there’s hope for you, too.
Want to experience this for yourself? Make a plan weeks in advance to carve out time for an activity that fills your cup.
Why Following Your Passions Is Good for You (and How to Get Started)
Time-Banking
Ever wanted help with a project? What if you could exchange needed services with your friends and neighbors? This group did just that through the time-banking model.
Time-banking is a model for trading skills, goods, and labor instead of money—a sort of barter system where members “deposit” hours doing things like teaching, cooking, or repairing things, and “withdraw” hours of other members’ services. It’s been around in the U.S. since the 1980s, and there are close to 500 such banks across the country today. No Price Tags: These Neighbors Built Their Own Economy Without Money
Most function on a one-hour to one-hour system that helps members meet their needs in non-monetary ways, often saving money. This allows stay-at-home mothers, retirees, and business professionals alike to contribute.
Simple Is Better
Ever had a gadget that took months to learn? Companies often fall to the idea that newly designed tech gear should be the most advanced and up-to-date. This may translate to non-user friendly as Jeffery Zeldman, a web designer and entrepreneur recognizes in the article, Uncomplicated Technology, and Why It’s Always Worth Your Money, “When I started in web design, computers were for nerds, and people took pride in how difficult everything was,” but in reality, the most successful products, “haven’t been the most advanced, sophisticated or beautiful, necessarily,” he explained, “but they were the ones that understood what consumers wanted to do and enabled them to do it.”
Money Talk
Many of us shy away from discussing our salaries with others. Employers often forbid this practice, although it’s illegal to do so in the private sector. Another reason we may feel uncomfortable talking about money is that we see it as self-worth, not just an amount we are paid to do a job. Tim Herrera for the New York Times, Smarter Living, encourages these discussions as a way to expose pay discrepancies.
“I can remember in the not-too-distant past having been discouraged from talking about wages,” Ms. Cornell said. She added that years ago she learned through a conversation about salaries with a male co-worker that he was making about $50,000 more than her, and that there was “no objective justification for the disparity in pay, but he had been in the position for a longer period of time.”
Herrera encourages co-workers to not be afraid of these conversations but to approach them with genuine interest and the idea of mutual benefit.