Money Matters - Part 9

Good for you! Any idea why this one is so valuable?

I think #1 the boat - STR. ARMENIA WHITE there is tons of postcards but there is not any glass items that I saw.

Congrats on the Grandbabies and the plate Sherrie!!

NICE!

Way cool, Sherrie!!!

received in two 401k statements today - after all was said and done we were down only 2.2% over the past roller coaster of a year.

Not bad!

schickenlady- way cool

Just checked my primary retirement account at Vanguard. Up a whopping 0.7% last year!

woo hoo

better than me victor - both accounts where vanguard, no telling what fidelity will come back with here.........

i just let everything ride this year and did not change anything so i am pleased so far.

I was more conservative. High % in treasuries.

Sadly my stocks made money in 2011 because we won't get to keep it--the colleges will benefit.

I am sure they will appreciate it.

The real unemployment rate.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/real-jobless-rate-114-realistic-labor-force-participation-rate

Also read that 42k of today's reported 200k jobs were temp UPS & FDX workers hired for the holidays.

Yeah. I was surprised to see fox news reporting a 'low' unemployment rate. On top of that, how many seasonal people are let go after the holidays from stores?

And gas here shot up last week. What gives? I guess we were just behind the hike that someone else reported couple weeks ago.

Yeah, what up with the gas prices?

Well at least one of our friends that was out of work just got a job as a dispatcher for the state

Oil has been high - around $100 a barrel for a while now - mainly due to Iran.

One of my friends wrote on her Christmas card that she still enjoyed her full time job. What a miraculous blessing that sounded like- a good steady job someone enjoys ?!?!?
Congrats to the friend Jen.

Gasoline here at the pumps has increased a tad over 10% in the last 10 days. :(

Unemployment rate stands at 2.9% currently for engineers, according to the WSJ. I am surprised it is even that high.

I remember learning somewhere that 11% unemployment rate was the magic number for the beginning of civil unrest. That would suggest the Occupy groups had a predictable reason to become activists.

Everyone is hanging onto their jobs to save themselves for now.

Many of us with full time jobs are doing the work that used to belong to two or more people. Every day when people ask me for reports I have to tell them I'm busy handling the emergencies. Many many folks are still trying to make systems function as they used to, and are having a hard time adjusting to the new realities of what governement can do for them.

Do you have a gov job, Rosemary??

Yeah, Victor. Not only is it government, but I'm at the nexus of health care and public safety, meaning I work in the court system. I can be asked to do an emergency assessment in another place right at quitting time, and because the laws require this on the same day, I might be greeted by a large collection of people. In general the demands of the work suit me fine but many things are changing very fast with program changes as well as budget cuts.

State position? Sounds demanding.

Yep. People are paid to do the same thing from contracts too, but it is hard to keep those positions filled, so the rest of us have to cover emergencies in jurisdictions around the state. It's as demanding as you let it be, but people's lives are seriously affected by the decisions we make. I find digging and planning a garden to be good ways to unwind.

need to fire my accountant I HATE firing people, not that he's been screwing up but we're moving up to a CPA firm and she'll be more of a "hand holder"
we need that!

good luck, not fun.

Good thoughts for you, Jen. I am such a non-confrontational person that that would be VERY difficult for me.

I know I never join in on this thread, but I came across something today that I heard an add for on the radio and checked it out. Maybe you guys can tell me if you've ever heard of it and let me know if you think it's on the level or not. Here's the link: http://www.perkstreet.com/account.aspx?learnmore=powerperks .

Basically it's a bank account where you get a Platinum debit Mastercard that pays up to 2% cash back on all non-PIN debit purchases. The 2% is paid if your balance is $5,000 or more, and 1% if it's below that. Then you also get an additional 5% back on rotating monthly categories and merchants. All free, no fees for anything. Over 42,000 free ATMs at places like Target, Walgreens, etc. The cash back is redeemable for Mastercard gift cards or gift cards at leading retailers. It sounds like a good deal.

Karen

Could be, but there are always new deals. Just keep googling before you choose one.

Thanks, Victor. I just figured, since I use my current debit card a lot for all kinds of things, then it would be nice to get cash back for something I already do. It's not a huge amount, and my balance is never $5K or more, so I would only get the 1%, but it's still better than nothing. Plus the additional 5% when shopping at certain places at different times of the year makes it an even better deal. And all deposits are FDIC insured up to $250K, just like any bank.

Karen

There are a lot of cash back cards or rewards cards that take the $ right off your monthly bill(our a/e business card does that), you def need to read the fine print though

Speaking of debit cards, for smallish accounts of under $4,000, a credit union is often the way to go. Our kids are getting them before college so they have free ATM at any machine nationwide, free checking, and their money in the account earns 4% interest per year, 1.4% for amounts over $4,000. That's what makes their Christmas accounts so attractive. I can't think of anything better for college kids.

Lower interest for higher balance???

karen my wife uses an AMX that offers the cash back for purchases - she recently got me a card to use when i go to costco, fill up the tank, or at a restaurant instead of using my visa - will have to investigate if there is cash back on gardening purchases:)

We don't have any credit unions around here