February 28th, 2011 — Jobs
Have you ever been laid off with no notice?
One day I walked into my local A&P to pick up a few things, and the woman at the checkout counter told me she’d been informed that day the store was closing the next. “What am I going to do, she asked? I have children.”
I was laid off on Christmas eve many years ago. The boss didn’t tell me that. The janitor did. That kindly man opened up our boss’s closet full of imported cheeses and wines and handed me a couple of each. It’s what I ate until I found another job.
Unions negotiate reasonable layoff terms for employees. Continue reading →
February 23rd, 2011 — Government
Have you ever said yourself, “Uh, oh, I’m broke”! What’s the first thing you think of doing? Tightening the old belt, right? And then what? What if you really can’t do without much more? What then?
You go out and look for a job don’t you? Surely, I’m not the only one who has worked three jobs at once to make a go of it am I?
What if you already have a job and you’re broke in spite of that? For heavens sakes, you don’t get rid of the job you have already just to cut expenses do you? Do you say, “Gee, I can’t afford to commute, so I’ll quit”. Continue reading →
February 21st, 2011 — Economics and Investing
The American Dream
America has always prided itself on being the land of opportunity. Anyone, we are told, can become rich. At the very least, there is always room for each generation to rise a little higher on the socioeconomic scale than the previous one.
Over the past twenty years Robert Kiyosaki has attempted to lay out a systematic plan of action for other Americans to “get out of the rat race.” In 2007 Kiyosaki began putting out a series of rambling, repetitive, and badly-organized books called Rich Dad Poor Dad that offered no hope to finding anything in them again since they have no indexes.
It has been Herculean effort of his part, especially since Robert had no college education. Personally, despite my criticism of his books, I think Kiyosaki should get the Nobel prize in economics for his insights. And I’ve discovered it’s in Kiyosaki’s games that his teachings are really learned.
The Cashflow board games
Continue reading →