“Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news ... - Austin American-Statesman” plus 3 more |
- Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news ... - Austin American-Statesman
- Dave Ramsey: Personal Finance - State Journal-Register
- Why Don't Women Talk About Their Personal Finances? - Huffingtonpost.com
- Personal Finance Daily - Marketwatch
| Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news ... - Austin American-Statesman Posted: 12 Mar 2010 10:22 AM PST Home > The Ticker > Archives > 2010 > March > 12 > Entry Facebook says it's ready to hire in AustinFacebook Inc. officially announced Friday that it is starting an online service operation in Austin that could be in operation by early May. Company officials said Facebook would begin posting Austin jobs on its Web site today at facebook.com/careers. Austin's "world class educational system and talented workforce give us the means to quickly establish a strong outfit," said Grady Burnett, the company's director of global online sales and operations. Facebook, the world's leading social networking service with more than 400 million members worldwide, is moving to turn its popularity into revenue with advertising sales. The company, which has pledged to create 200 local jobs in the next four years here, received approval Thursday for $200,000 in city incentives for its project, which will be the first U.S. online operations center for the company outside of its home base in Palo, Alto, Calif. State officials have pledged $1.4 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund. Employees in Austin will work with advertisers and with the company's sales, marketing and product teams. Job openings are expected to include such sales related jobs as account representative and risk management. Sarah Smith, a two-year employee at the fast-growing six-year-old company, will run the Austin office. While Facebook was announcing its expansion, Yingli Green Energy Americas Inc., a Chinese-owned solar panel manufacturer, was still waiting to receive a formal offer from the Texas Enterprise Fund on Friday. The company is expected to announce its choice between Austin and Phoenix on Monday. Austin's City Council has approved a 10-year-incentives offer of more than $354,000 in property tax breaks for the company. Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment Categories: Austin economy Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Dave Ramsey: Personal Finance - State Journal-Register Posted: 11 Mar 2010 09:08 PM PST Dear Dave: What do you think about online bill payments or automatic monthly deductions to pay for everyday bills? — Jay Dear Jay: I love them, and I have tons of them. I've got mutual funds that automatically tap my checking account, and all of my utilities are set up to be automatically zapped. This way, I never miss the early payment discounts, and I don't have to worry about payments being late. It's like automatic discipline. But never, ever allow anyone you're fighting with — like a collector if you're trying to settle a disputed credit card account — to have automatic access to your account. They'll clean you out. I don't have a problem with paying for things like your electric bill, water, cable television or investments this way, though. It's just a good, consistent way to take of business. Dear Dave: My wife and I have accidental death and dismemberment insurance through our workplace. Do we also need level term life insurance policies? —— Anonymous Dear Anonymous: You definitely need good level term life insurance policies. You do not need accidental death and dismemberment. Think about it, dude. You're not more dead if you die by accident. Dead is dead. You need to make sure your family is taken care of in the best way possible, no matter how you die. Don't buy gimmick insurance. Stick with 15- to 20-year level term life insurance, and make sure you have coverage that's separate from anything provided by your employer. You don't want to suddenly lose your life insurance if you're diagnosed with something awful like cancer and have to leave your place of work — and your life insurance — behind. Each one of you needs about 10 times your yearly incomes wrapped up in your policies. That means if you make $40,000 a year, you need a $400,000 level term policy. The idea of life insurance is to take the place of income. If you died, then your wife could invest the $400,000, make 10 percent on that money over time, and replace your income. Make sure you take care of your family. Term life insurance is very inexpensive. For next to nothing, you can ensure that your family will get a million bucks when you die. Dear Dave: Is a balanced mutual fund a good place to put your emergency fund? Anonymous Dear Anonymous: Absolutely not! You should never put your emergency fund into anything that can go down in value. Also, never put it into anything that will charge you a penalty for early withdrawal, like a CD. Or as I like to call it, a Certificate of Depression. I recommend putting your emergency fund into a good money market account with check-writing privileges. Your emergency fund is not an investment. It's insurance, and the money you have sitting in it has one purpose — to protect you, your family, and your stuff when Murphy comes knocking. That's one of the reasons an emergency fund is so important. If you don't have one, and something unexpected happens, you'll end up borrowing the money from the bank or cashing out your 401(k) to fix things. So don't worry about investing this money. Just park it, and think of it as an insurance policy against all the junk life will throw at you. For more financial help, visit daveramsey.com. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Why Don't Women Talk About Their Personal Finances? - Huffingtonpost.com Posted: 12 Mar 2010 08:49 AM PST In 2010, women talk freely and openly about everything--work, sex, politics, the latest diet trends and "how to get in shape fast" for that next vacation. We gossip openly to our friends about the day at the office, the books we read, and the men we date. Magazines, newspapers, or online information sites catering to women publish "how-to" guides for securing that promotion or surviving unemployment, training for a marathon or venturing out on that blind date. In addition, social media has broken down any discrepancy between our private and public lives. It's encouraged us to increase communication with our different networks and candidly discuss issues that a few years ago would never have left book club or Tuesday night's potluck dinner. In today's world, we are empowered and encouraged to share our ideas, our thoughts and opinions on just about everything. Why then, do we rarely talk about our financial goals, our resolutions, or our financial planning for college, a family or retirement? Why do women's magazines or lifestyle websites rarely publish "how-to" guides for selecting the best credit cards, tackling debt, setting up an IRA account or paying taxes? (Reports show that roughly 2/3rds of single women don't even have IRAs!) Why do we shy away from talking about money or investing during dinner on girl's night out? Why has it become so taboo for us to talk openly about our personal finance questions? The fact of the matter is this: the amount of educational resources out there that teach women (or anyone!) about personal finance is embarrassingly limited. Rarely do high schools, colleges, or graduate schools offer classes that educate students on personal finance or teach them how to address their financial needs for today or the future. Truth is, none of us want to talk about the unfamiliar and if we push it aside perhaps we can avoid it and move forward. However, if we said that about dating, dieting, or starting a new job, we all would be unwillingly single, overweight and unemployed. In order to get in better physical shape, we educate ourselves on the options we have for reaching our goals. We read fitness 'how to' guides, meet with physical trainers or counselors, speak with friends and colleagues and determine the best practices to get fit. Once we weigh our different options, we are then able to decide the work out routine and diet strategy that is right for us, and map out a day-to-day plan, with both short-term and long-term goals. We need to do the exact same thing for personal finances. The problem is we don't have the resources to do so. I founded www.LearnVest.com to be a one-stop online resource for women who want openly embrace personal finance and tackle it with a vengeance. By providing access to any and all information and answering questions from budgeting and spending to credit scores to insurance plans, LearnVest is the fastest and most convenient way to get your finances in shape. It's time to feel confident about our personal finance needs, goals, and plans--it's time to get fit and start talking. Follow Alexa von Tobel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/alexavontobel Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Personal Finance Daily - Marketwatch Posted: 11 Mar 2010 04:28 PM PST
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By MarketWatch Don't miss these top stories: Just a few months ago, my daughter bought her very first car: a 1989 Toyota Corolla. Soon after, Toyota recalled millions of vehicles, including some newer Corolla models. It's enough to make anyone extremely nervous (especially the parent of a teenage driver), but as Shawn Langlois writes in his Ahead of the Curve column today, the highways are safer than they've ever been, with the rate of traffic fatalities in 2009 falling to its lowest level ever. Why the good news? For one thing, in economic downturns, people drive less. No surprise there, particularly given how many people are unemployed and no longer commuting. Fewer people on the road mean fewer accidents. Also, despite all the scary news of late, cars are safer than they've ever been. As Langlois points out in his story, 2,600 complaints of sudden acceleration were lodged against Toyota from 2000 through January 2010. This from a company that's produced many millions of cars in those years. And, not that it really makes one feel safer, but Toyota is not alone in these types of complaints. Ford got close to 3,600 complaints for the same problem in that period; and General Motors received 2,250 complaints, according to Langlois's story. Knock on wood, but so far the only problem we've had with my daughter's car is an occasionally unreliable starter. The car is 21 years old, after all. -- Andrea Coombes, Personal Finance editor Rampaging Toyotas obscure highway safety strides
For drivers living in fear of the rabid Toyotas prowling America's roadways, the horse-and-buggy era is looking pretty good. But, in reality, there has never been a safer time to get behind the wheel.
HIGHER EDUCATIONThree tips to help you find a 529 plan that's right for you
We need an eHarmony to help us find the right college savings program. It's like dating, only worse: You'll find states offering 529 programs, plus investment and brokerage firms, too, because they'd love to have those assets over 18 years.
REAL ESTATEBank of America padlocked wrong house, and took parrot
Bank of America Corp. apologized after its local contractor entered the home of a mortgage borrower when she was away, cut off utilities, padlocked the door and confiscated her pet parrot, Luke.
Keeping February foreclosure numbers in context
While we have seen "a decline across the board in various stages of foreclosures," Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac says "we have to keep the February foreclosure numbers in context."
February foreclosure filings off 2% from January
Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose 6% from a year earlier and fell 2% from January 2010, RealtyTrac reported on Thursday. These filings -- default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- affected more than 308,500 U.S. properties in February.
Mortgage rates drop slightly
Mortgage rates dropped slightly this week, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 4.95% in Freddie Mac's weekly survey of conforming mortgage rates.
CONSUMERDebit and credit
Consumers soon can say goodbye to steep overdraft-protection fees on debit cards, but banks are busy coming up with new sources of revenue, particularly on credit cards. Personal Finance Editor Andrea Coombes shows you ways to keep costs under control.
TRAVELAirlines threaten to cancel flights
Airlines are pushing back against new rules that give fliers more rights. They are threatening to cancel scores of flights in response to a new rule that would prohibit airlines from keeping passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours without giving travelers the opportunity to get off the plane.
INVESTINGWhy the bears are wrong
James Altucher, a managing partner at Formula Capital, tells the News Hub's Simon Constable and Barron's Stocks Editor Bob O'Brien that things are looking up, not down.
Market anniversaries
It's been a year since the stock market started to rebounded and 10 years since the Internet bubble burst. Each milestone has its lessons for investors, according to Money & Investing Editor Jonathan Burton.
Buy-and-hold is dead in a stop-and-go economy
Those pesky 1970s just won't seem to go away. Two weeks ago I wrote that government-proposed price-caps for health care could take us back to a 1970s-style economy.
Emerging markets: A safe haven?
The traditionally risky asset class of emerging markets can offer investors a lower risk profile for the longer term. Riva Froymovich speaks with Jerome Booth, Head of Research at Ashmore Investment Management.
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Comments
By Bobby
March 12, 2010 3:05 PM | Link to this
Rick Perry is probably going to update his Facebook status to say: "is glad to help Facebook come to Texas by way of the Texas Enterprise Fund…just hope someone in California remembers to sign the donation check before they send it to me."
By Kevin
March 12, 2010 2:13 PM | Link to this
Right now, anything that can be pointed to as "creating jobs" is on top of Perry's "to-do" list. After an administration filled with strings of gaffes and political failures (tea-party secession nods, Trans Texas Corridor) the guy will pressure anyone to do anything in order to drive job creation of any type in order to get re-elected. Never mind whether the jobs are quality jobs. Quality of jobs is never noted when you publicize "x amount of jobs" created. If you bring an In-N-Out to Texas, you can point to 50 jobs being created, and maybe a few dozen others for construction of the location. No one asks "hey, what kinds of jobs are they?"
By GW
March 12, 2010 1:54 PM | Link to this
Why would we hope to get a solar panel mfg company when Applied Materials is already doing it?
By VoicesofReason
March 12, 2010 1:52 PM | Link to this
We spent Texas taxpayer dollars for Facebook to open a sales office? Even when it "appeared" that this was for development positions, I had a problem with giving a successful out-of-state company Enterprise funds and tax incentives. Now it's for sales jobs? Not interested…. :-(
By John Gillnitz
March 12, 2010 1:48 PM | Link to this
Don't bother checking for IT positions. It is all sales and marketing.
By Ben
March 12, 2010 1:36 PM | Link to this
Giving tax money as a subsidy to a profitable business seems contrary to the conservative principles of the Texas republican party. Rick Perry seems to want things both ways, no room for government when it comes to helping the unemployed and Texas schools but a big role for government when it comes to subsidizing big business. Come on Rick, be consistent if you really believe your own campaign rhetoric.
By avatar
March 12, 2010 1:11 PM | Link to this
horray for 8 dollar sales jobs (but just wait for that commission check)! roll eyes