This is a first in history. Uncle Sam’s long term debt has been downgraded by the Standard & Poor rating agency. The US administration has reacted vociferously, describing the rating as “amateurish”. Concerns are rising all over the world that the world would once again slip into a financial crisis due to the US credit rating downgrade. Indices in Asia and Australia started down following the declaration. The reports all over the world have been mixed, which certainly has not helped quell the growing concerns. S&P are not only standing by the lowered rating, but also say that there could be a further downgrade if the debt problem is not resolved in two years. Let us see the main ways in the US credit rating downgrade will affect the common citizen. The interest rates paid by  [...] 

Shakespeare has been proved wrong again and again. His line “What is in a name?” would have been outright laughed at in today’s word of brands, where a name is everything. A brand name is more than a name. It, along with the logo, product packaging, design elements, forms the basis of the brand’s identity, which is what branding is all about. Let us see how important branding has been for some of the greatest brands in today’s world. Marlboro . . . The smoking cowboy, or the Marlboro Man, was once the epitome of style, and had a good hand in making smoking cool at the time. In the nineties, Philip Morris, owner of Marlboro, was facing tough competition in the tobacco industry. The company had to slash the prices of its brand heavy cigarettes, which pushed the investor`s panic buttons.  [...] 

Philanthropy is certainly a virtue worthy of admiration. At the same time, folly is neither a virtue nor worth admiring. There are quite a number of dishonest people out there that put up a façade of goodness and come asking you for charity, but if you are smart enough to ask them the relevant questions of where your money is going, there should not be a problem. Never ever, get into the mistake of yielding to pressure, and give just for the sake of getting rid of the pesky spokesperson. Make sure you know everything about the charity, their processes, the way the money is spent, the exact portion of money devoted for each purposes, the board of directors, the financial status, background. All these details should be looked at when giving. This is important. No good charity will hesitate to  [...] 

Skill when penned down often becomes a highly motivating book. It can be personality development or human resource management or any thing that our minds can imagine. People now  work as business leaders, trainers or consultants earn plenty though the advices they offer. But they can sell their skills in a different route also- writing books. There are plenty of books on personality development and earning money in the market, and whenever a new book launches people rush for it. It seems that people are never tired of buying a new book that presents a list of instruction to boost credibility. If my fellow reader is a business leader and is thinking about my idea then he will probably be worried about how to write a book. It is  ironical that I have to instruct people about writing a book  [...] 

Energy is needed to nourish any business house and this profound truth needs no further explanation. But have you ever imagined about energy giving a business? This might be a wacky concept for the people who haven’t heard of it before. Yes, my statement is doesn’t intend to surprise my readers. It is a truth at least this is what CEO of Trinity Solar in New Jersey has felt after starting his energy business. The solar energy business that he initiates during the year of 1994 was not expected to rise vehemently and hit a remarkable echelon as it a doing today. As per Thomas Pollock, the solar energy business offers on an average 4.5 year payback and after that one doesn’t need to pay anymore one the business becomes self sustaining. His company started in the year of 1994 and initiated  [...] 

The freelancers, contractors or any other self employed person has enjoys a potential of tax deduction which is otherwise barely possible. Looking at the current job status of the US tells that nearly one fourth of the population is engaged in work as contractors, freelancers or sole proprietors. This has enabled these self employed people to make use of maximum tax deductions possible to carry on their business smoothly. These self employed people have been granted by IRS to deduct anything that is considered necessary to run their business from their taxes. There can be a number of ways to make the tax deduction amount for these self employed people rise by leaps and bounds. The key is to identify these expenses and present them accordingly in a way that the task is deeply required for the  [...] 

Since 2008 when the global economy was badly hit by the recession, the large corporations fell upon its keens within a fortnight. This makes the individual and institutional investors in the stock market cautions of the corporate governance. The investors will make a prudent approach to investment if they look in to the corporate governance style of the giant corporations in order to predict their collapse much before it actually happens. There are several signals that show that a company has reached the peak of its failure and it will soon collapse. These signs need to be noted thoroughly. The leadership structure of the corporations is a good index of its level of performance and standard. Autocratic corporate governance that involves sparse consultation is a sign of its collapse. People  [...] 

It’s a new year, a new age, and a new dawn. A friend of mine wished me a prosperous New Year in a more jocular vein since she might have to borrow money from me. But I wish you a prosperous New Year minus that one caveat. And I do wish all of you break the cycle of greed and fear if you have been locked into it. It is so easy to look at X% possible returns and wish you got that instead of what you are getting. But it is important to instead maximize your earnings and look to use personal finance news invest according to your goals. Use personal finance news to your benefit and save money by following these three simple rules. “I will use protection…against inflation” Tax in itself is a bit obvious in the manner in which it eats into your finance. Inflation on the other hand is more  [...] 

Is the age of the cashless transaction coming, and is our generation going to be a truly cashless one? Mexico is one of the first countries in the world whose legislature will actually ban very large cash transactions of a certain nature, and South Korea is moving towards becoming a truly cashless society and this is no longer just a pipe dream. These are just the first moves of a worldwide movement to clamp down on cash. Mexico’s reasons are obvious, they need to fight against illegal drug trafficking and to ensnare tax evaders but what of the rest of the world, and more importantly what becomes of financial privacy? If cash does indeed get banned, your government, and pretty much every other government, will be able to keep tabs on your financial transactions with ease as you use the electronic  [...] 

We all know who Warren Buffett is, and that he is one of the richest people on our planet. However, he did not become rich. It started with one thought: ‘I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute’ He always knew he would become rich, even when he did not have money to meet monthly expenses. And he became rich, simply because he believed it very strongly. Unwavering Belief Everyone leads a normal life, by working few hours a day, enjoying their weekends, and hating their lives. However, few have ‘crazy’ ideas in mind which they believe in. They strive it happen; challenge themselves and other; take the road less traveled, and follow through till the end. This system works similar to a car. If you don’t have gas in your car, it wouldn’t  [...]