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career

Along with tracking my finances on Consumerism Commentary, I also mention when the situation at my day job changes. For example, two years ago I successfully posted for a higher-level vacancy in my department (as expected). Last year I mentioned when I received a lower annual bonus and raise than I would have liked. I’ve known ... Continue reading this article…

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The more profitable your employer, particularly if it is a large corporation, the more attention the employer pays to its biggest asset, its employees. Profitable companies offer perks to employees like vacation days, 401(k) matching contributions, health care subsidies, free lunches, on-site day-care, unlimited restroom breaks, and development opportunities. Don’t confuse these benefits designed to ... Continue reading this article…

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Today, at the beginning of the “10s,” I am thirty-three years old. By the time this decade fades away in the last few hours of December 31, 2019, I’ll be forty-something. (I’d rather not do the math.) Lately, one particular phrase keeps repeating involuntarily in mind: “Life is short. Life is short. Life is short.” ... Continue reading this article…

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Ron Howard, famous mostly for playing Richie Cunningham on the television program Happy Days, is one of the film industry’s most successful directors and producers, having been involved with a long list of films. He directed, among others, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, The DaVinci Code, Frost/Nixon, and Angels and Demons. I happened ... Continue reading this article…

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The guest on today’s Consumerism Commentary Podcast is Nick Corcodilos, author of Ask the Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job and How to Work With Heahunters. Nick is the founder of the website Ask the Headhunter where he offers advice about job hunting. Today, Tom Dziubek and Nick Corcodilos discuss the job of the ... Continue reading this article…

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Humans are by nature judgmental, and there are good reasons for this. Even though it is often premature, judging quickly helps people make critical decisions with limited information. That limited information, when combined with prejudices or generalizations, can result in poor decisions. An interesting article from CNN Money asks if your name can prevent you from ... Continue reading this article…

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Our guest today is Matt Jabs, blogger and founder of Debt Free Adventure, a blog designed to help the author stay accountable for getting out of debt. Debt Free Adventure is one of my favorites among new personal finance blogs. Today’s discussion focuses on the concept of giving yourself a raise, an important way to improve ... Continue reading this article…

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Are you on this list? Chances are the following list of the highest paid CEOs does not include you, Don’t feel bad; I am not included either. In 2008, these ten individuals accounted for $2.2 billion in compensation in aggregate. Whether or not CEOs deserve compensation at levels 17,000 times higher than the average worker ... Continue reading this article…

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For some fun reading, I recommend these articles written recently and published across the internet. Estate Planning: Are You Ready When Your Time Comes? Lazy Man narrowly avoided death recently, but it is my grandmother’s condition that leads me to link to this timely post. Here, Lazy Man offers several tips to help prepare the loved ... Continue reading this article…

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If you happen to be entering college and would like to decide the field you would like your career to be or feel the need to choose a major, you may want to consider a field that has growth prospects over the next twenty years or more. Even if you are already a few years ... Continue reading this article…

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Overall, the worst of the economic recession may be over in terms of unemployment. If it isn’t, or even if it is, many companies are still struggling as they find ways to cut costs. The next expense that might be cut could be your job. If you receive the pink slip after missing the signs ... Continue reading this article…

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After receive bailouts from the government on two separate occasions, Citigroup has announced that it will be increasing its expense for the salaries of the company’s rank-and-file employees, not upper management, by 50 percent. This will be a nice benefit, designed to compensate employees for smaller bonuses and raises last year. The government’s new “pay ... Continue reading this article…

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Penelope Trunk and Leo Babauta are today’s guests on the Consumerism Commentary Podcast. Penelope Trunk is the author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success and founder of the career advancement website Brazen Careerist. Tom Dziubek and I speak with Penelope about maintaining careers in today’s recession and she presents a number of tips ... Continue reading this article…

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Would you work for free? I used to work for a non-profit organization whose business model was not exactly built around the concept of making money. Before I joined the organization, there were times of low or negative cash flow during which the staff were asked to accept a delay in paychecks for a month ... Continue reading this article…

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Today’s podcast features an interview with J.D. Roth from popular blog Get Rich Slowly. J.D. talks with Tom Dziubek and me about how he was inspired to begin writing about personal finance and his decision to leave the corporate world behind and take his passion to the next level. Tom also speaks with Bryan J Busch ... Continue reading this article…

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There are many people who believe that the when choosing a career path and life direction, one should steer towards the highest paying career for which they could possibly qualify after several years of education, training, and 80-hour work weeks. To demonstrate, there is never a shortage of investment bankers looking for work. I have ... Continue reading this article…

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Although the latest figures indicate job loss is slowing, at 8.9 percent the unemployment rate is continuing to increase. Some unemployed individuals who want to take classes to build skills while looking for a job experience some roadblocks:

Searching for work can be a full-time job. Finding time for all your responsibilities and desires can be a ... Continue reading this article…

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I’m not a financial planner, adviser, guru or anything of the sort. The reason I’m writing here today is because I screwed up big time. Fortunately for you, I think I’ve figured out where the mistake began. Recently I’ve been taking an informal poll of some of the people I would consider to be relatively young ... Continue reading this article…

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This is a guest article by Ginger from Girls Just Wanna Have Funds. Ginger teaches women how to break financial ceilings one stiletto at a time! Join the social network, Girls Just Wanna Have Funds on Ning to connect with other financially savvy women. This week I’ve been helping out my company’s HR department by reviewing ... Continue reading this article…

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In my life so far, I’ve had three major chances to negotiate a starting salary. The first was with a cash-strapped non-profit organization that had enough problems keeping its payroll account funded every other week. The second was with a company in the financial industry, a segment of that industry that is known for being ... Continue reading this article…

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