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Week
of June 26 |
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Friday, June 30, 2006
Four Fab Ways to Achieve Financial
Independence
As we head into a long Fourth of July weekend, let’s celebrate the
spirit of 1776 with four financial principles that even the founding
“mothers" would endorse:
1. Pay yourself first. Every pay period, place as much as you can
afford—even if it’s just $10—into a savings account, before
you pay your bills. Stuff happens, and you’ll be glad you have that
money in an emergency. Here’s an idea: Try to get into the habit of
transferring some money into a savings account every day and watch
your money grow. Do it electronically online. It only takes a
minute, and it will make you feel like a million bucks.
2. Pay more than the minimum due on your credit cards each month, so
you don’t end up paying little more than interest on what you
owe—and be sure to pay on time to avoid late-payment fees.
3. Pay cash and avoid interest charges altogether. By charging your
purchases, you increase their cost unnecessarily. If you don’t pay
off your balance each month, that $100 sweater that you were so
proud of buying on sale for $50 will end up costing you more than
its original price. Charging is habit-forming. You can get into the
habit of not paying with plastic, too.
4. Pay it forward. Invest in a kinder, gentler planet by giving
unexpected, unasked-for gifts of money to strangers in need, or to
the charities of your choice.
Many of you are heading to the shore with a romance novel tucked
into your beach bag this weekend. How many of you have thought about
putting your own romantic fantasies down on paper?
CLICK HERE to learn about the Romance Writers of America 26th
Annual National Conference, which takes place in Atlanta from July
26 to 29. There, aspiring writers looking for happy endings can
attend workshops, network with publishing professionals, meet
best-selling romance writers and pitch novel ideas to agents.
Finally, kudos to Oprah magazine’s July “Summer Reading Issue,”
which scored a literary coup—a letter from reclusive writer Harper
Lee, author of the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning classic “To Kill a
Mockingbird.” In it, Lee talks about the importance of books during
her growing-up years. “Oprah, can you
imagine curling up in bed to read a computer?” she writes. “Some
things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal." (Maybe, though
I frequently cuddle with my laptop.) Visit
www.firstbook.org to give children from low-income families
books of their own to read.
Prosper & enjoy,
Gail Harlow |
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Thursday, June 29, 2006
Where Would You Donate Your
Millions—If You Had Them?
When investor Warren Buffett’s record-breaking charitable donation
of $30 billion and change to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
was announced the other day, someone I know said to me, “ I’m going
to give my millions to
The Carter Center.
They do good things and concentrate on diseases that other
organizations ignore.” The fact that this person doesn’t have
millions (or even thousands) to give doesn’t matter. He is very
generous with his nonmonetary gifts. What struck me was how
interesting it is to imagine how we would use our millions if
we had them. What would you do if you had a million bucks? We have
a
Spend a Million page on this Web site, on which people have
shared what they would do if they had a million to spend. Most of
those who’ve responded talk about giving back to their families, who
have helped them through difficult times, paying off debts, and then
giving to charity.
Happily, you don’t need to have millions (or, as in Buffett’s case,
billions) to be generous with your discretionary income. There’s a
new trend in charitable giving called “shared giving.” By pooling
together with others to support a common cause, you can raise enough
from small donations to make a difference. It’s that premise that’s
behind More magazine’s “Create a Giving Circle” Challenge. The
magazine for women over 40 has partnered with CARE (www.care.org)
with the goal of raising $1 million (there’s that magic number
again) to fund CARE’s educational and humanitarian programs, which
benefit needy women and children around the world. Twenty members of
the group that raises the most money will travel to Peru next spring
on a volunteer trip with More editor Peggy Northrop.
CLICK HERE to find out more about how you and your fellow
book-club members, exercise buddies, soccer moms, co-workers or
whatever other group you happen to belong to can form a giving
circle, and add your dollars to the pot.
While you’re at CARE’s site, check out the really cool
“I Am Powerful”
women’s and toddler T- shirts and infant creepers. Priced
from $7.99 to $20.99, they not only show that you care (the CARE
logo is displayed on the back, along with the slogan: “Defending
Dignity, Fighting Poverty”), but the proceeds support the work of
this fine charity.
Prosper & enjoy,
Gail Harlow |
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Shattering Stereotypes
Though
I’ve worked in magazine publishing all my professional life, as a
woman, whenever I browse the women’s section of the magazine racks
at Barnes & Noble, part of me always wonders why publishers seem to
think that all women want to read about is orgasms, cake recipes,
home decorating tips and parenting advice. What exactly qualifies as
a “women’s magazine”? I know plenty of women (moms included) who
read The New Yorker and Smart Money—even Sports
Illustrated—including a few who work for traditional women’s
service magazines. With that in mind, I’m pleased to note the launch
of a new kind of women’s magazine this month. It’s called
Shattered (as in glass ceiling) and its tagline says it’s “the
business magazine that breaks the mold.”
The magazine’s mission, publisher and founding editor Julie Ros
tells me, is “to create a forum for women’s views and opinions on
their respective industries. We want to hear about business from the
perspective of women across industries, regions and levels of the
management chain, because their voices often get drowned out in the
mainstream business press.”
Why did Ros call the magazine
Shattered? “Here in the U.K., Shattered also means
exhausted, which I was when I thought of the name. I have twin boys
and had just put one back in bed at 2 A.M. I came up with the name
around 3 A.M. and appreciated the double entendre.” Look for
Shattered on newsstands (I hope it’s placed with the other
“women’s magazines”), or go to
www.shatteredmagazine.com to subscribe—and tell your male
colleagues at the office about it. Ros hopes men “will read
Shattered, too—for the same reasons that women do!”
The first issue includes a sponsored "Investor of the Year"
competition, in which 12 female business leaders will be given
$10,000 in imaginary money to invest in a portfolio of stocks over
the next year. The woman with the highest "cash" total at the end of
the year will be awarded $12,000 to donate to her favorite charity.
Their portfolio picks will be tracked in every issue of the
magazine, as well as on the magazine’s Web site. Why not play along
by creating your own portfolio, just for fun and practice, if you’re
new to playing the stock market. Go to
www.morningstar.com, register for free, and create a “watch
list“ of stocks you think will do well over the next 12 months. It’s
easy! Other benefits of Morningstar’s free membership: an online
Investing Classroom, e-newsletters, 401(k) guidance, plus access to
expert articles and research.
More on the link between magazines and charities tomorrow. I’ll
close with a toast to John McEnroe. The three-time Wimbledon
champion slammed the unequal pay that women players at Wimbledon
get. ``There should be no argument, when they are at the same event
at the same time, that there should be equal pay,'' McEnroe said in
an NBC interview yesterday, reports Reuters. ``The opportunities
that are being given to young girls and the thought that they can be
in a position where they can make as much money as a man, which
doesn't really happen in any other sport, sends a good message,'' he
said. It certainly does—to both men and women.
Prosper & enjoy,
Gail Harlow |
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Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Score Scare
Numeracy is
“competence in the mathematical skills needed to cope with everyday
life and the understanding of information presented in mathematical
terms.” I’ll be the first to admit that I’m numerically
challenged. I don’t think in terms of numbers. My eyes glaze over
and my mind goes numb when people throw them around in conversations
about the economy or my budget. Sports scores—there’s another
example of numbers that make me yawn.
Is it because numbers measure things—like age and weight and income
and IQ—that are often better kept private? Or do I just not like
being pinned down by absolutes?
I’ve learned, though, that there is one number that everyone ought
to know, because not knowing it
or caring about it can cost you a LOT of money. How much money? A
BUNCH! That number is your credit score. Let it slip below 650
or so and you will be hit with higher interest rates and insurance
premiums—and those increases could cost you hundreds, even
thousands, of dollars a year. According to
Fair Isaac (www.myfico.com),
the company that created credit scores as we know them, if you have
a score of 760 or better, you’ll pay “$244 less per month for a
$216,000 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage” than a person with a score
below 620. That’s a savings of nearly $3,000 a year.
You have to pay $29.95 to get your credit score from the
three major credit bureaus (www.experian.com,
www.transunion.com and
www.equifax.com. (A pet peeve of mine: why should we have to pay
to access information gleaned from our own financial history when
those same bureaus are already making money selling our information
to financial institutions?) But you can get a free credit report
from each of the three credit bureaus once a year by going to
www.annualcreditreport.com. It’s a really good idea to do that:
you may find errors on those reports that are dragging your credit
score down—credit accounts long closed or ones you never opened but
someone else did in your name.
Here’s a good strategy for using this free service, which just
became available to us last year. Request a report every four
months, one from a different bureau each time. That way you’ll be
able to monitor changes over time and determine whether each bureau
has accurate and up-to-date information on you. Your creditors have
a choice of which bureau to use; few check all three.
It’s a simple process—I just did it today, and it took me three
minutes to print out a form and stuff it in an envelope. You also
have the option of filling out a form online and seeing your report
immediately, or phoning your request in and having your report
mailed to you. Visit
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/helpfaq for more
information.
Prosper & enjoy,
Gail Harlow |
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Monday,
June 26, 2006
All You Need Is Love—and a
Ferrari Ring Tone
Happy Monday! I was struck by several money-related
pop-cultural oddities this weekend. Last night, for the first time I
heard the new Chase TV commercial that uses as its soundtrack the
Beatles’ classic rock chant “All You Need Is Love.” The tagline of
the commercial assures viewers they can “find a Chase rewards card
to love.” Sure, all those boomers who grew up rocking to Beatles
lyrics have learned by now that love won’t keep the bill collector
from the door, but isn’t there something vaguely twisted about
enlisting the Fab Four’s shout out to the most nonmaterial of values
to get their fans to spend more money on nonessentials?
A militant non-athlete and avid football hater, surprise, surprise,
I’ve gotten hooked on soccer through the awesome World Cup coverage
on the tube in the last week. You’ve got to admire the physical
and mental prowess of those players Quick-thinking and nimble on
their feet, they’re hampered by a rule that prevents them from using
their hands to move that ball up and down the field. It’s like
someone decided to invent a game where everyone has to learn what
it’s like to be handicapped. And yet the players soar. It’s
mesmerizing. Given the huge appeal of soccer everywhere else in the
world, I’m not surprised that someone would eventually come up with
an economic theory of soccer. Call it Soccernomics. That’s what the
authors of the study produced by global banking group ABN AMRO
called it, claiming that, according to their research, “in
the past, countries winning the World Cup added about 0.7 percent to
their economic growth. For the last three tournaments, the winning
country's stock market considerably outperformed the losing
finalist's market." Don’t take that to your stockbroker.
I’ve also heard that Car and Driver magazine is thinking about
offering engine sounds as ring tones. Finally, an affordable way to
sublimate your desire for a Ferrari!
On a more practical note, if you’re in the market for a car and not
just a ring tone that sounds like one, Chrysler’s just announced
that it’s bringing back its sales program that allows
consumers to purchase cars at the same deep discount it offers
employees. The program takes effect on July 1.
Prosper & enjoy,
Gail Harlow
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If you like the blog, you’ll love the book.
For more savvy
finance advice, buy
“Making Bread: The
Ultimate Financial Guide for Women Who Need Dough,”
by Gail Harlow and Elizabeth Lewin, available on
Amazon.com and at your local bookstore |
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