...Ten Easy Steps to a Successful 401(k) For the majority of working Americans, the most common vehicle for owning mutual funds is through their employer's retirement plan, but very few people are making the most of this mainstay of retirement planning. Over the holidays, I had occasion to socialize with a group of very bright, successful people who are saving for retirement. We talked of many things, including their investments. And, sad to say, not one of them could coherently explain what he or she was doing, and why. Everybody, it seems, wants a quick, easy answer. And for those who are unwilling to take the trouble to figure out what they should be doing, the easy answers usually come from slick sales pitches and superficial media hype about the hottest stocks, funds and managers -- as if successful investing were a popularity contest. That's the bad news. The good news is that investors can manage their 401(k) plans to make their retirement money work much harder for them. Lots of people spend at least a dozen hours planning a vacation. I often wonder why so few are willing to spend a dozen hours managing their retirement assets. The following ten steps to 401(k) success shouldn't take more than a dozen hours. If you're young, they could put an extra $2 million into your retirement fund. Even if this job requires a total of 100 hours, that's a payoff of $20,000 an hour -- for work you can do at home in your spare time. Let's start with the most basic guideline of...
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...Crest Toothpaste into a bag and hurried over to Starbucks for coffee and a pastry. I needed to catch my Southwest Airlines flight soon, but I left my razor at home, so I rushed into the Publix Supermarkets and picked one up. It was going to be a long day, but I felt good that all the products and services I'd used so far had come from companies where the employees were substantial or principal owners. Why Employee Ownership Is Popular There are a number of reasons for the popularity of employee stock plans. ESOPs provide attractive tax benefits. They allow companies to borrow money and repay it in pretax dollars. They provide a way for owners of closely held businesses to sell all or part of their interests and defer taxation on the gain. And they make it possible for companies to provide an employee benefit simply by contributing tax-deductible shares of their own stock, among other benefits. Broadly granted stock options do not provide special tax benefits but give growing companies a way to compensate employees with equity rather than more cash. Putting company stock in 401(k) plans provides a less expensive way for companies to match employee deferrals than matching in cash. Employee stock purchase plans (often called Section 423 plans, although not all such plans fall under this part of the tax code from which the name derives) allow employees to put aside part of their paychecks to buy stock, usually at a significant discount. Just as important, however, are potential productivity...
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...anything that has to do with the financial world. I have come across many negative thoughts that have paralyzed me into starting a simple bank plan for my funds to grow. My ultimate goal is to let go of those fears that are holding me back from making my bank account become stabilized. This paper will refer to Mo Tzu's essay "Against Music;" Ramit Sethi in his book "I Will Teach You to Be Rich;" Gandhi’s essay “Economic and Moral Progress;” a Chapter of the New Testament in the Bible, Luke chapter 16; and an online article "Zen Habits" by Leo Babauta. I came to the realization once I started doing research and reading more books on finances that in order for me to come up with a plan to help my money flourish into something more, I need to cut off all the learned negative thoughts about money. A lot of these negative thoughts are created because we lack the knowledge on banks and bank accounts that can help us become more successful in our finances. Once I started my research I learned great ideas and strategies on how to grow financially. Not only will I need to carefully plan out my goals based on what I have learned to get started, but I also need to learn how to separate the needs from my wants. Once I have myself a good plan, I need to give back and help those in need. Through this process I will need to be positive and have faith to push through when it starts to get rough. With having a bit of faith I can go far like it says in Luke in chapter 16:10 of the New Testament...
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...notion that this age is the new benchmark for people to get their lives together. There are books, blogs and Twitter accounts dedicated solely to helping people cross that line in the best shape for their future. They do this by telling you to get rid of debt, stop shopping so much, start a 401(k) and brace yourself for wrinkles. But in my opinion, it takes a lot more than a healthy bank account and nice skin to live a full and happy life, whether you're 29 or 59. Most of us know how to succeed, we just happen to let ourselves –– and a few convenient lies –– get in the way. 1. So long as my job pays well, it's OK if I hate it. The job market may not be what it used to be, but by age 30 no one should be toiling away at a job that leaves them stressed out and dissatisfied with life. We were inspired by a young woman who wrote about turning her back on a lucrative job on Wall Street when years of 14-hour work days made her overweight, burnt out and miserable. "I’m a few months into my new job [as an asset manager for a nonprofit] and it’s made my life richer. I’m making an effort to breathe, smile, eat healthier and have positive thoughts about my future," she wrote. "I took a pay cut of about 30% to change positions, but I don’t think that I should be applauded for making the choice to accept less pay – I don’t view it as a sacrifice." 2. If I turn a blind eye, somehow my finances will figure themselves out. The worst thing I did in my early 20s was ignore...
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...Additional Praise for Ramit Sethi and I Will Teach You to Be Rich “Ramit Sethi is a rising star in the world of personal finance writing. . . one singularly attuned to the sensibilities of his generation. . . . His style is part frat boy and part Silicon Valley geek, with a little bit of San Francisco hipster thrown in.” —SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE “The easiest way to get rich is to inherit. This is the second best way—knowledge and some discipline. If you’re bold enough to do the right thing, Ramit will show you how. Highly recommended.” —SETH GODIN, AUTHOR OF TRIBES “You’ve probably never bought a book on personal finance, but this one could be the best $13.95 you ever spent. It’ll pay for itself by the end of Chapter 1 (check out the box on page 24 to see what I mean).” —PENELOPE TRUNK, AUTHOR OF BRAZEN CAREERIST: THE NEW RULES FOR SUCCESS “Most students never learn the basics of money management and get caught up in the white noise and hype generated by the personal-finance media. Ramit’s like the guy you wish you knew in college who would sit down with you over a beer and fill you in on what you really need to know about money—no sales pitch, just good advice.” —CHRISTOPHER STEVENSON, CREDIT UNION EXECUTIVES SOCIETY “Smart, bold, and practical. I Will Teach You to Be Rich is packed with tips that actually ...
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...Exam: Fall 2012 1) The exam is open book and open notes. You may use Excel and a calculator. 2) Point totals for each question are specified in parentheses. There are 220 total points. 3) Circle your numerical answers. This makes it easier for me to find them. Show all calculations and the inputs of all values solved for using your calculator or Excel. This allows me to determine how your numbers were arrived at. If you get stuck on the math, tell me what the correct answer should be based on your intuition. Incorrect numerical answers based on the correct logic will receive partial credit. 4) Your answer should be given in the space provided. If you need more space, feel free to write on the back of the page, but clearly mark the question number you are answering. If you would like to add pages from your Excel spreadsheet, please staple them following the corresponding question. You may also upload your spreadsheet to Blackboard. 5) As always, I expect you to abide by the honor code. I trust that no one will give or receive assistance which gives them an unfair advantage over other students. You should not speak about the exam to anyone who has not yet completed it. Please write the following below, consistent with the Smith School Honor Code: "I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this exam." 6) Statements by you which are true, but do not answer the question, will not raise your score. Statements...
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...the employer, even if the employee does not know what they are. Having a written contract could cut out disputes with the employer at a later date, and will help the employee understand their employment rights. Introduction A written employment contract is a document that the employer and employees sign setting forth the terms of the relationship. The employer does not have to enter into a written contract with every employee you hire. In fact, written employment contracts are generally the exception, rather than the rule. In some situations, however, it makes good sense to ask an employee to sign a contract. (Heathfield) The concept of an employment contract seems simple enough: “You work for me and I pay you for that work.” But there are some very important contractual nuances to the relationship between employers and employees which all human resources professionals should be aware of and prepared to deal with. (Compact Law) As a result, not all contracts are written pieces of paper filed in a drawer in the boss man’s office. For many reasons, courts can find one party to an employment relationship liable to the other party, even in the absence of a written contract. For example, a large number of states allow an applicant for a...
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...for many reasons, I am coming into a sizable amount of money and I wanted professional advice in better suiting the needs of my family and the future of my business and to oversee and to determine the best plan of attack for my portfolio management, 529 Learning Quest® College Savings Plan, 401(k)plan, Inherited IRA, retirement plan, mutual funds,employee benefit packages and trust accounts. Why? First of all, having a financial advisor, I will help narrow my needs down to two reasons, having a 529 Learning Quest® College Savings Plan for my three children will help to outset price of college in the future or completely fund their time at school. Secondly, to place my funds into an inherited IRA to grow towards my retirement and leave a legacy...
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...the answer is to be at the top of your game and to do this you need to undertake management training. THE TARGET GROUP OF MANAGEMENT TRAINING Management training is designed to cater to the needs of the people in the upper echelon of an enterprise. Be they young or old, fresh or long-time administrators, they need trainings to enhance their management skills. That’s the only way to survive and win out the rigid corporate demands and the ruthless business competitions. There is also a particular group that needs these trainings the most. They are what we call the transition managers. A lot of managers are promoted from within the rank-and-file of a company, and typically, they never have received training on how to handle the new responsibilities given them. Many companies realize that management training is crucial to a successful transition so they normally require that these rookie supervisors undergo such. THE IMPORTANCE OF MANAGEMENT TRAINING It is evident that the skill and ability to manage employees well have a significant financial impact on the company. Whenever someone wants to measure the effectiveness of the management staff, that person needs to check the following: employee turnover rates, cost of talent retention, litigation experience, employment tenure. These are but a few metrics one should look into to see if there’s a need for management trainings or to improve on the existing ones. Companies should always try to update and improve these trainings...
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...valued at $5.6 million. He and Jane have three children and seven grandchildren. One son, Paul, manages Victory Company and will someday own it. John's overall wealth is about $15 million. This includes the $5.6 million value of Victory Company, which nets $1.5 million before tax and after paying John a $300,000 salary plus liberal fringe benefits. After taxes, John earns about $400,000 to $600,000 more per year than he and Jane spend. The balance of John's wealth includes two homes (a main residence and a vacation home) worth a combined $2.7 million; $1.7 million in his 401(k) plan; cash assets and a stock and bond portfolio totaling $1.8 million; $2.9 million in income-producing real estate; and $300,000 in sundry assets. There also is $6.2 million in insurance on John's life that is now owned by an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT). This insurance includes a $1.2 million whole life policy and $5 million in 10-year term insurance with six years remaining in the term. Business This first thing I need to get a handle on is John’s company. The $5.6 million value of Victory Company represents over one-third of John’s estate, and grows $1.5 million in value each year before taxes. This is not an asset I want in John’s estate when the grim reaper comes knocking on John’s door. Currently, John’s son, Paul, is managing the company and John would like for Paul to someday own the company. It seems that John trusts Paul enough to take over the business. As John’s financial advisor,...
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...a look at how the leadership practices at Google match up with The Engagement Formula. THE ENGAGEMENT FORMULA AT GOOGLE Step One: Create a Full‐Engagement Culture that Defines the Organization and Drives Performance A full‐engagement culture has the following four elements: Minimal Distractions—So Employees Can Focus on Performing Their Jobs Employees’ physiological and safety needs are very well satisfied at Google. According to the Google web site, “We provide individually‐tailored compensation packages that can be comprised of competitive salary, bonus, and equity components, along with the opportunity to earn further financial bonuses and rewards.”1 CNNMoney recently quoted a Google spokesperson who said, “…we do believe that competitive compensation plans are important to the future of the company,"2 In addition, the benefit package at Google is intentionally designed...
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...REGULATION FOR CONSERVATIVES: BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS AND THE CASE FOR “ASYMMETRIC PATERNALISM” COLIN CAMERER, SAMUEL ISSACHAROFF, GEORGE LOEWENSTEIN, † TED O’DONOGHUE, AND MATTHEW RABIN INTRODUCTION Regulation by the state can take a variety of forms. Some regulations are aimed entirely at redistribution, such as when we tax the rich and give to the poor. Other regulations seek to counteract externalities by restricting behavior in a way that imposes harm on an individual basis but yields net societal benefits. A good example is taxation to fund public goods such as roads. In such situations, an individual would be better off if she alone were exempt from the tax; she benefits when everyone (including herself) must pay the tax. In this paper, we are concerned with a third form of regulation: paternalistic regulations that are designed to help on an individual basis. Paternalism treads on consumer sovereignty by forcing, or preventing, choices for the individual’s own good, much as when parents limit their child’s freedom to skip school or eat candy for dinner. Recent research in behavioral economics has identified a variety of decision-making errors that may expand the scope of paternalistic regula- Professor Camerer is the Rea and Lela Axline Professor of Business Economics, California Institute of Technology; Professor Issacharoff is the Harold R. Medina Professor of Procedural Jurisprudence, Columbia Law School; Professor Loewenstein is a Professor of Economics and Psychology...
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...investing in pension plans and helped bring inflation-linked bonds to America. But stay tuned; there’s more to come. As the leader of TIAA-CREF’s Product Management area, I am proud to be part of the team that will be bringing you our newest products and services. At Product Management, TIAACREF’s “manufacturing” center, top-notch professionals develop new investment and insurance products and make sure those we already offer are still working for you. In a continually changing financial services marketplace, our mission remains simple: to provide the tools you need to help reach your financial goals. A large part of our work involves listening to you. This enables us to know what you need now, and what you may need down the road. So we begin the product design process by asking questions: What do you, our clients, want to accomplish? ■ How will those goals change over time? ■ What do you like about what’s currently available to you? ■ What do you need that we don’t offer? ■ As we study your answers, patterns emerge that guide us in creating new financial products and improving existing ones. Once we know what you’re seeking, we collaborate with our investment and administration colleagues to make sure the products we design do what they’re intended to do: Serve you. Over the next one to two years, look for enhanced products and services provided through...
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...MB 401 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ______________________________________________________________________ __ INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAPER-SETTER The question paper will consist of Two parts, A and B. Part A will have 15 short answer questions (40-60 words) of 2 marks each. Part B will have 12 long answer questions of 5 marks each. The syllabus of the subject is divided into 3 sections I, II and III. The question paper will cover the entire syllabus uniformly. Part A will carry 5 questions from each section and Part B will carry 4 questions from each section. INSTRUCTION FOR CANDIDATES Candidates are required to attempt all questions from Part A and 9 questions of Part B out of 12. ______________________________________________________________________ __ Section I MBA Syllabus (August 2005) Page 19 of 45 Definition, nature, scope, and importance of strategy; and strategic management (Business policy). Strategic decision-making. Process of strategic management and levels at which strategy operates. Role of strategists. Defining strategic intent: Vision, Mission, Business definition, Goals and Objectives. Internal Appraisal – The internal environment, organisational capabilities in various functional areas and Strategic Advantage Profile. Methods and techniques used for organisational appraisal (Value chain analysis, Financial and non financial analysis, historical analysis, Industry standards and benchmarking, Balanced scorecard and key factor rating). Identification of Critical Success Factors...
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...1. Will you buy a house and lot today or pay in installment of simply rent? Use time value of money. Should I Buy a Home or Just Keep Renting? Kristin Wong Should I Buy a Home or Just Keep Renting? Dear Two Cents, I’m out of debt, and I’m now saving for a down payment on a home. It’s always been my dream to be a homeowner. But lately, I read a lot of arguments against it in favor of renting. How do I know if it’s a good idea for me? Should I buy or keep renting? Sincerely, Hopeful Homeowner Dear HH, For a long time, conventional wisdom seemed to be that you grow up and buy a home because that’s just what you do. But lately, people are realizing that it isn’t always the smartest financial move. Obviously, the housing crisis has a lot to do with that—it’s made people question the standard assumption that homeownership equals financial stability. Five Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Bought a House Homeownership isn’t a good or bad idea on its own. It has everything to do with your own situation. Sometimes, buying a home is the smart thing to do; other times, it really isn’t. Whether or not it’s smart for you will depend on a few different factors. Here’s what you should keep in mind. Don’t Think of a Home as Your Main Investment Should I Buy a Home or Just Keep Renting? The biggest argument for owning a home is that it’s an “investment.” But a lot of people overestimate the return on this investment. People tend to believe that homes are appreciating assets,...
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