Discouraging daily economic news can lead to the recession fatigue that's already on everyone's faces. All we want to do is escape, but we feel guilty putting our paychecks towards a vacation instead of in the bank. With this in mind, Time put together a list of the five best places to travel during a recession. Check them out when you start the slideshow.
Many of our parents are nearing retirement age, and it's likely their retirement portfolios took a hit with the market. Almost half of you said your parents have a good idea about your financial state, but does the transparency go both ways?
Ron Lieber of The New York Times suggests it's important to open an inter-generational dialogue about the family's finances: He says parents should be honest if their retirement savings have been devastated and their kids should admit their monthly debt payments.
Do you have a clear picture of your parents' finances?
Job hunting might be the only thing on your mind after losing a job, but don't let your 401(k) from your previous employer slip through the cracks. Deal with wrapping up those loose ends before diving into the job search head first, otherwise you're more likely to indefinitely postpone the task.
Your 401(k) savings can be rolled into a Traditional IRA account without penalty. The bank that holds your IRA account will have paperwork for you to complete and will initiate the rollover. Your 401(k) will be liquidated and funds amounting to the account's market value at the time of liquidation will be transferred to your IRA account. From there, you'll need to rebuild your retirement account by choosing new investments. You could try and hold off until you've found another job and roll your retirement savings into your new employer-sponsored retirement plan, but there's no guarantee your new job will offer one.
Merchants like San Francisco florist Christopher Burnett have expressed the economic impact Prop. 8 is already having: "I have done a gay wedding every week. And so it’s very disheartening, because other business is very slow." Mayor Gavin Newsom conceded that Prop. 8 is only good for Massachusetts and Connecticut, the two states where gay marriages are still legal and will likely see a boost in the number of same-sex weddings. Opponents of Prop. 8 have appealed to the California Supreme Court to reverse the measure, but until that happens, vendors expect business to be slow.
Do you know any couples who had to cancel their upcoming wedding because of Prop. 8?
Role-playing is The Office's way of demonstrating that practice makes perfect, and Dwight and Jim's performance was comedic perfection. Jim played the client named Mr. Buttlicker while Dwight played the paper salesperson, and each role-player had his own pretend phone. Michael, of course, moderated the whole thing terribly.
My first experience with role-playing at work was during college when I was waitressing — I didn't like it then, and I still despise it. Have you had to role-play at work?
It's time to test how much Savvy knowledge you retained this week. Find out how closely you've been paying attention when you take this quiz. Not feeling confident? Just do a quick review — all of the answers can be found in this week's posts.
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