Work + Money
- Before you meet Anderson Cooper, you have to meet Dena Blizzard. She's what is known in the talk show circuit as "the warm-up coach." Blizzard is "Anderson Live's" pre-host: she entertains the studio audience before the show starts. She reminds us not to chew gum, or pick our nose when the camera pans over our seats. She makes it okay for audience members to break out into 'running man' during commercial breaks. And that's just scratching the surface of her job. I spent the day at the "Anderson Live" studio and fell totally in love with Blizzard, a mom of three, who proudly wears an apron over her jeans with the words "one funny mother" emblazoned on the pocket. So when she got a break today, I pulled her aside for a little post-show interview.
Dena Blizzard is one funny mother.
How did you land this sweet gig?
I love when people ask me what they'd have to do to get my job. What I usually tell them is you only have to work in crappy bars in Philly as a waitress getting beer splashed on you for about six years.
That...Read More » 
Venus in Scorpio: Power and Politics at the Office
With emotional Venus in intense Scorpio through December 16, now is the ideal time to lift the lid on any politics creating tension in your office. Truths are bound to come to light as hiding your feelings in your workplace becomes more and more difficult.
If you're ready to take on more responsibility, this is not the time to be shy about making it known. The timing couldn't be better than it is right now, as Venus in Scorpio encourages you to identify your long-term professional goals -- and make them manifest!
Unearth how your ambition, natural skills and sociability can get you on the fast track to success with a free sample Career Strengths Reading!
Scorpio is ruled by ambitious Mars, so managing power means taking action. What you do now will set you up for success down the road, so don't waste time engaging in tiresome power struggles between colleagues. Keep your nose out of others' business, be direct about requests for change, and shut down any "he said, she said" dramas by...Read More »By Paul O'Donnell, CNBC.com
The good news coming out of this year's "New Retirement Mindscape City Pulse Index," an annual survey conducted by Ameriprise Financial Services, is that women are more confident about their retirement prospects: two thirds of affluent women consider themselves confident or somewhat confident about being comfortable in retirement.
The bad news, said Suzanna de Baca, vice president of wealth strategies at Ameriprise, is that women "shouldn't be feeling this good."
In the survey of 10,000 affluent,middle-aged Americans, women lagged behind men in nearly every category of retirement planning. Only 44 percent contribute to a workplace retirement plan and 42 percent are investing for retirement on their own. Slightly more than half of men do both. Less than 20 percent of women know how much income they'll need when they retire, the survey found, compared with 28 percent of men.
According to another recent study, by the Employee Benefits Research Institut...Read More »- As we all know, air travel has become a nightmare, from long security lines to flight delays and it's only worse at the holidays. Though it's easy to blame the airlines for everything that goes wrong, the quality of passengers has also declined, according to a new tell-all book, "Tales from the Tarmac."
Long waits result in frustrated passengers
Self-published by Claudia Helena Oxee, "Tales from the Tarmac" has already received a good deal of publicity, with a write-up in the Los Angeles Times and PRNewser. Oxee worked in airline ground operations in major airports like JFK and for airlines like TWA and Pan Am for 16 years.Modern manners: travel ettiquette
“Once, a passenger of considerable size, a bride, stampeded the gate area in her complete wedding gown attire, tiara and all,” Oxee writes. “After asking her to change into comfortable clothing for her overseas flight, she boldly refused and demanded an upgrade using locker room profanities.” Another passenger demanded a ticket to Germany in spite of the fact that he lack
...Read More » By Leila Brillson, Photographed by Atisha Paulson, Refinery29
Tipping isn't a city in China and it's certainly for more than just cows, but during the holidays, our general 15- to 25-percent rules are thrown into a tizzy. Who gets a gift? Is giving cash insulting? With so many different, complex relationships in our lives - our barristas often act as therapists and confidantes - how much is enough? We linked up with Tessa Baker at Lifehacker to chat about holiday extras, and whether or not to give the old greenbacks, or a more personal gift.
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1. Every Day Relationships: Cash
Your old, faithful doorperson. That mail carrier who gives you a friendly wave. The superintendent who really helped you out over Sandy. All of those people deserve to be thanked during the holidays, but common etiquette is a sliding scale: You don't have to tip everyone equally. Those who have helped you plenty in the past should get a heftier tip than those who you rarely see. The more they have helped you, o...Read More »
Aries (March 21 - April 19)
Making spontaneous decisions is the way to go today -- as long as not much money is involved. You can pick just the right place to have lunch or the right pair of shoes, but when it comes to big ticket items or long-term investments, you're not a good bet.
Today's Aries Reading: Free Sample Celtic Love Tarot Reading
Taurus (April 20 - May 20)
You can feel the lull before the storm. It's a great time to prepare for the worst today, and you can forget about the 'while expecting the best' part of the old saw. Batten down the hatches while you still have time to.
Today's Taurus Reading: Free Sample Daily Grind Reading
...Read More »
Gemini (May 21 - June 21)
Someone is bubbling over with enthusiasm today -- is it you? If so, then use that energy to make some serious p- By harnessing the power of collaborative consumption, you can save money. If you're unfamiliar with the term, collaborate consumption refers to the sharing of goods and services. For example, it could involve sharing bikes, cars, and homes, exchanging or selling clothes or electronics, or the bartering of services and tasks. With the rapid proliferation of mobile apps, social media tools, and web-based services, we're in the midst of a radical revolution for the consumption of commodities. Traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, swapping, and the like are being redefined by peer communities. Forbes recently estimated that the revenue from the so-called "share economy" that will wind up in peoples' wallets will surpass $3.5 billion this year alone.
Make money by sharing with these helpful tips
Here are a few of the shared economy approaches available:
Unloading or Swapping Products - Just because you no longer need something, doesn't mean it's reached the end of its usable life. Whether your kids have outgrown toys
...Read More » 
Myths we tell college grads
I'm sure you've heard the news: Millennials are the worst generation in history. We're "deluded narcissists," not to mention unprofessional, entitled, and unemployed.
Or are we? I'm here to tell you that-just like the critique of past generations-this isn't true for the majority of us. In fact, many of us value hard work, getting ahead, commitment, and even philanthropy. This criticism is a myth-and sadly, only one of many we are told as we enter the working world.
As I embarked on my graduation (almost a year ago now-yikes!), I heard a lot of well-intentioned advice and comments that, in all reality, haven't been true of my experience. Here are a few of the other myths we're often told as recent or soon-to-be college graduates-and why you should take them with a grain of salt.
Myth #1: You'll Only Get a Job Through Your Connections
I heard this particular myth during every single one of my internship searches in college and the eventual full-time job hunt.
...Read More »- It seems people are in either one of the two tax camps: those that have their taxes done by January 31st and then there are those who are barely scraping by on April 15th. Are you getting a refund and if so, what are you doing with it? Stashing it under the mattress? Squirreling it away into a shady overseas bank account? Investing in Silly String?
taxes
Though these are all fine ideas, for sure, there may be other that will put your extra cash to better use. For what you should be doing with it, or what we'd do with it at least, check out the following 5 ways to maximize your tax refund.
1. Take a Vacation
Yes, seriously. Take a vacation. If you're burned out and not enjoying life, you're not going to be able to make the best decisions in your everyday life. Use your tax refund to recuperate, relax, and get a little enjoyment out of life. It's not all about working non-stop.
2. Pay off Your Debt
Depending on the size of your refund, pay off an entire credit or an
...Read More » By Lauren Le Vine, REDBOOK.
Yesterday was Equal Pay Day, which marks how far into 2013 women have to work to earn as much as men did in 2012. Might I remind you that it's April, meaning that women earned in 16 months what men do in the usual 12. The Huffington Post marked Equal Pay Day by quoting a startling statistic from the Center for American Progress: "As late as 2011, 97 percent of full-time working women were in jobs that typically paid men more."
Related: 25 Little Life Hacks to Make Life Simpler, Saner and More Fun
What's more, certain professions have a higher wage disparity than others. Female personal financial advisors earn only 61.3 percent of what their male counterparts do. Of the 534 professions listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women out-earn men in seven of them. Yes, seven out of 534.
The wage gap starts at the very beginning. Sarah Jane Glynn, senior policy analyst at American Progress, told HuffPo that research shows women are less likely than men t...Read More »
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