Start Rich 的部落格

In today's economy it takes a good education to move people ahead in their careers. An undergraduate degree will only take you so far, and in order to make the big bucks you need a master's degree. However, this can be an expensive undertaking which can cost you thousands of dollars and take years to pay back.

There is financial aid for graduate school but as you do your research you will find that only a small number of graduate students are eligible for the minimal free federal or state dollars. What you will also find are a number of federal loans for which you may apply. The advantage of these is that they offer lower interest rates than private loans, and federal loans can be deferred and sometimes forgiven.

Most schools will allow you to shop for Stafford loans, but private loans should remain a last resort as they have variable rates meaning payments may elevate over time. One of the advantages of a federal loan for graduate school is income-based repayment. By consolidating their federal loans with the federal government, graduate students can repay their loan with monthly payments at around 15% of the family's income.

If you are a teacher, healthcare worker, or public servant, there are programs that will repay your loans. Hopefully you are one of the many fortunate graduate students who will not need a repayment program because of the salary your graduate degree will garner. For those students in social services or the humanities, this investment usually does not show a profit, so for these graduate students, shopping for the best financial aid deal is critical.

Understand from the start that the process for financial aid for graduate school is different than it was for undergraduate school, although the FAFSA is still a requirement. Do not wait until the last minute to apply as the money will run out, and you should also look to apply to those schools with strong programs in your field as they may have research grants. Also, research large corporations to find out which schools have benefitted from their research dollars and apply to those schools.

IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire -12/09/11)- One of the secrets in business is finding people who are similarly aligned. People who believe what you believe, people who want what you want, and do what they do for the same reason you do.

The process of finding these people takes a lot of guts, a bit of guessing, and plenty of time. What would happen if you could shortcut this process? Do in an instant, the moment you meet someone, what normally takes weeks or months. That is, define who you are, and what you represent -- and engage them in a way that lets you discover the same about them?

That is why Overnight Prints is introducing gapingvoid business cards with cartoon art that helps shortcut the alignment process.

"As a business person, as a human, you stand for certain things. There are ideas that are dear to you and that define who you are," says Jason Korman, CEO of gapingvoid.

"With everyone's attention fixated on the Internet we tend to forget that most business is still face to face. If you fail at the moment you shake someone's hand for the first time, the consequences can be dire."

MORGANFIELD, Ky. , Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Budgetary constraints have schools scrambling for much-needed monies to fund education programs and purchase equipment, but most school fundraising companies fall short when it comes to efficiency and profit margin. Amadora Gift of Love is pioneering a new idea for schools to earn more money from student-driven sales with luxury quality, high profit bed sheets and an easy-for-everyone sales program.

"Luxury quality bed sheets are the perfect school fundraiser product. Everyone uses bed sheets, and most jump at the opportunity to get premium bed sheets at a low price. The product sells itself," said Amadora Gift of Love Director of Marketing Evalds Jurans . "Traditional fundraisers like cookie dough, wrapping paper, and candy bars have such low profit margins that students have to work far too hard just to earn a few dollars for their schools. But Amadora maximizes returns while minimizing investment."

Amadora Gift of Love bed sheets are made of silky microfiber and retail at competitive prices ranging from $40 to $45 . Schools earn $16 to $22 per sale, plus volume rewards. To match those figures, a student would have to sell about 32 candy bars. The average participant sells five sets of bed sheets, so a school with 150 participants will net $12,000 to $15,000 in earnings per campaign " and can earn more through incentives such as a referral program and free shipping.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In accordance with the Fitch Report titled 'U.S. Banks - Sovereign Support: When Does it End' dated Dec. 15, 2011, Fitch has lowered the Support and Support Rating Floor for SunTrust Bank to '5' and 'NF' from '3' and 'BB-', respectively, and removed the Rating Watch Negative.

There are no implications for SunTrust Bank's long- or short-term Issuer Default Rating or issue-level ratings as a result of today's action.

Fitch has downgraded the following ratings, and removed the Rating Watch Negative:

SunTrust Bank
--Support to '5' from '3';
--Support floor to 'NF' from 'BB-'.

Would an extra $100 a day change your life? Financially, unless you are really struggling right now, probably not.

But what it WOULD do is give you the enthusiasm, excitement and MOMENTUM to know that you can succeed online, from home... doing what you LOVE, instead of having to live a lie for a living.

You see I believe that all of us are "designed" to pursue our PASSION and profit from it. That is, in my view anyway... the authentic truth for each of us.

Of course, you don't need need me to tell you that MOST folks will spend their lives working jobs they hate, for bosses or companies that don't appreciate their best efforts, and eventually look back at their lives and wonder "what if", or "what could have been".

So when people first get started online, I tell them NOT to worry about getting rich.

That will make the job more difficult, she said, "especially for planning last-minute events. Weddings and other parties have to be on our radar much sooner.''

From big retail companies that mail out millions of catalogs a year to small firms sending out hundreds of wedding invitations, some businesses still rely heavily on the US mail. The Postal Service has proposed changes that include delivery of first-class mail within the continental United States in two to three days instead of one, as it seeks $20 billion in operating cost reductions by 2015.

According to the postal service website, 171 billion pieces of mail were processed in 2010, down from a peak of 213 billion in 2006 - and the numbers are likely to keep falling as people continue to correspond and shop online, and to use alternative services. Last year, revenue declined nearly $1 billion from $68 billion in 2009.

Dennis Tarmey, spokesman for the Greater Boston postal district, said more businesses are concerned about whether their local post offices will be closed than they are about delivery delays. "It doesn't necessarily mean the mail will be a day late,'' he said. "If that does come to be, planning properly is the key there.''

But there are some companies that rely on the speed of the US mail. The newspaper Boston Business Journal, which counts on next-day delivery to get its issues into the hands of subscribers, is actively exploring alternatives to deliver its 18,000 papers a week.

They all wished us "season's greetings" as if the seasons could greet you. Outdoor decorations included snowmen, reindeer, angels, Santa Claus, trees, wreaths and teddy bears. No store included a Baby Jesus.

It's one more time we are celebrating the birth of Jesus but there is no space for Him. Birthday invitations have gone out to all to come celebrate His birthday but Jesus was not invited to the party.

A Merry and Blessed Christmas to all, and remember to "Keep Christ in Christmas."

Dorothy E. Dunn

EDISON

Getting the funds necessary to pay for college fees can be tricky. There is no such thing as a cheap university education, and so the sum required for each year on campus can be high. Most students have come straight from high school, making student loans with bad credit the only loan option open to them.

The problem is convincing a lender that repayments can be made on time and without any hitches. One way that this can be done by providing income details, but for those without an income, the use of a cosigner is ideal. This helps greatly when applying for loans for students with bad credit and, in fact, is often the difference between success and rejection.

But not everyone can get their hands on an individual willing to act as a guarantor, and in the absence of one, it may seem that the chances of getting student loans approved despite bad credit are next to impossible. But there are a number of alternative loan sources to consider that require no such security.

Why a Cosigner is So Valuable

Exactly why such a fuss is made of cosigners is that their value in an application is huge. For many applying for a student loan with bad credit, the lack of an income and any of the normal securities that lenders usually seek, make the chances of approval very slim. But if a cosigner can guarantee that the repayments will be made, then the situation is improved greatly.

India Inc must take long-term forward cover to reduce the risks from volatility in foreign exchange rates, is the Reserve Bank of India’s suggestion.

"What this entirely unexceptionable, and highly desirable, strategy does is substitute volatility of the spot exchange rate with that of forward margins at each rollover date. It is empirically and anecdotally established that the volatility of forward margins is far less onerous than that of the spot exchange rate," said V K Sharma, executive director of RBI, at a function in Bangalore.

He said such simultaneous cancellation and rebooking of forward contracts for rollover was exempted from the restrictions RBI introduced on December 15 last year to reduce volatility in the foreign exchange market. The central bank had announced guidelines that restricted rebooking of cancelled forward contracts by companies and reduced the net overnight open position limit or trading limits for banks in the forex market.

The rupee depreciated against the dollar by about 18 per cent between August 5 and December 15, 2011, with the volatility almost doubling from five per cent to 12 per cent in this period.

By Ruth Mantell , MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) " Delinquency rates for consumer loans were mixed in the third quarter, with higher delinquencies for bank cards and lower delinquencies for home-equity loans, according to a report released Thursday by the American Bankers Association.

Bank-card delinquencies " tracking late payments at least 30 days overdue for credit cards provided by a bank " nudged up to 3.25% in the third quarter from a 3.22% rate in the second quarter. Meanwhile, delinquencies for home-equity loans fell to 4.12% from 4.38%.

Lower gasoline prices and an improving labor market have been helping consumers, said James Chessen, the ABA's chief economist.

"Improvement in delinquencies over the next year hinges on the housing market, which still poses an enormous challenge to continued economic growth. Job creation and income growth are also a must if we hope to see delinquencies continue to fall," Chessen said.