Just the other day, our garage door spring broke. Putting out a request for suggestions on a Facebook group brought a great amount of feedback and ultimately a free, brand-new garage spring. There are many of these sites available that can help you network with others who may have what you need or need what you’ve got. Read more and learn about the best ways to save money in your community. How to Save Money With the Help of Your Community
What Would You Do?
Ever witnessed a co-worker being harassed on the job? What would you do in that situation? Did you know that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects workers at companies with 15 or more employees from sexual harassment that creates a hostile work environment? Read more from Rob Walker, for the New York Times, aka, The Workologist who shares his insight and the facts about questionable work situations.
How to Respond When a Colleague Is Harassing Women
No Need to Sign
Signature requirements for credit card transactions are about to become obsolete. Although many vendors have already quit asking patrons to sign, American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa will make it official in the coming month. Since the advent of the “chip card,” that offers a higher level of security and more specific identifiers per transaction, written signatures are no longer useful as proof in a disputed charge.
Credit Card Signatures Are About to Become Extinct in the U.S.
Does Your Business Qualify?
The promising new tax break for business owners lacks well defined language and at the moment is causing more confusion than celebration. While businesses struggle to figure out if they will be able to take part in this tax break worth $415B, they await further definition from those drafting the paperwork.
No one’s sure who qualifies for this $415B tax deduction
Just Where Are Your Tips Going?
The debate continues about the fairness of paying wait staff less than minimum wage based on their ability to earn tips. Some states have already done away with this special exception to a federal wage law and are requiring restaurants to pay full minimum wage. Opponents suggest that this will affect smaller establishments, but studies show that this increase could bring a large number of workers above the poverty and deter tip theft as well.
Wage Theft in Restaurants
The New Pension Plan
With such a variety of retirement plans, many current workers will not have an actual pension. Ann Carrns, for the New York Times suggests a variety of ways to make your savings work for you in her article, No Pension? You Can ‘Pensionize’ Your Savings.
Her top recommendations include working longer, delaying Social Security payments, and, creating a budget for the amounts that you are required to withdraw from your retirement accounts.
Let’s Be Honest
Want to appear trustworthy with clients? Then avoid these fifteen phrases. Linda Zetlin for Inc. presents the list offering detailed reasons why these words cause skepticism. It goes to show that what we say may reveal more than we intend.
Do you eBay? Do you PayPal?
eBay announced last Thursday that it would no longer use PayPal as its primary processing service. Moving to Ayden, a Netherlands based firm and promising lower costs for consumers and a more streamlined customer experience. PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002 and spun off in 2014 after pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn. The two remain contractually related until 2023.
EBay is dropping PayPal; if you’re a customer, here’s what you need to know
Portfolio Planning
Wondering about Bitcoin? Consider first if it fits within your investment portfolio. Carl Richards for the New York Times reminds us that investing is very different than speculating. Our decisions should be based on the process and not the outcome, which no one can actually predict. Plan your goals and focus on diversification and then decide if Bitcoin or any other investment opportunity is right for you.
Spend More Make Less?
The IRS outsourced tax collection in an effort to “put a dent in the $138 billion that taxpayers owe the government.” This action cost the agency $20 million and netted a little over six million in past due monies. Combined with contractor payments and relatively low collection rates, other cost factors included the streamlined approval of “tax-exempt organizations” as well as lack of funding for better direct (IRS) communication with tax payers.