money and blog contents

21 Ways to Green Your Home (and Save Money!).

2011-04-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

Reducing your carbon footprint doesn't require an entire lifestyle overhaul. Start with a few of these simple swaps and habits and you'll even slash your energy bills.

1. Switch to Energy Star-rated CFL bulbs, like GHRI fave Satco's Mini Spiral S6202; they use 75 percent less energy and last 10 times longer than standard bulbs. You'll knock $30 off your electric bill for each bulb over its lifetime.

2. Plant trees around the house strategically (on the south and west sides; shading the air-conditioning unit, if possible) to save up to about $250 a year on cooling and heating.

3. Install dimmer switches in the living and dining rooms and three bedrooms to dial down electricity fees about $37 a year.

4. Since 1992 legislation, all new showerheads must have a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute or lower. We recently looked at the Evolve Roadrunner Showerhead ($40) which can save a family of 3 up to $75 and 2,700 gallons of water per year.

5. Wrap an insulation blanket around your water heater and lower its running cost as much as 9 percent.

6. Run a full dishwasher whenever possible — it uses half or less of the water and energy of washing the same dishes by hand. And don't waste water by rinsing before loading (today's machines are designed to power off the mess).

7. Invest in a faucet-mounted water filter for a low $30, and use refillable bottles like our top-rated GHRI pick, the Nalgene OTG Everyday 24-ounce bottle. By giving up bottled water, a family of four can save about $1,250 a year.
8. Magazines. Roll up a couple of these and stick one into each of your calf- or knee-high boots so the footwear will keep its shape.
9. Empty paper-towel roll. Flatten,and use it to sheathe a knife kept in a drawer.

10. Small glass food jars. These make perfect see-through storage vessels for nails, screws, nuts, and bolts.

11. Old shower curtain. Stash one in your car's trunk to line it when carting potentially messy paints or picnic and beach gear.

12. Used coffee grounds. Spread them over flower beds of acid-craving plants such as azaleas or rhododendrons.

13. Plastic tub. Get the largest-size container of yogurt, sour cream, or margarine. When done with the tub, rinse and reuse it as a travel dish for pets or for craft-supply storage.

14. Plastic gallon milk jug. Cut off top with a utility knife just above the handle and use as a scoop for kitty litter, birdseed, etc.

15. Foam packing peanuts. Put some in the bases of potted plants to help drainage.

16. Plastic mesh produce bag. Turn it into a no-scratch scrubber for a gunky pot or pan. Ball up the bag, scour, then throw the whole mess away.

17. Good Way: Switch to a front-loading washer from a top loader. In a recent GHRI test of front loaders, they used less than half the water traditionally used by a top loader for a full load.- vs. -
Good Enough: Pocket up to 25 cents for every laundry load you wash in cold water (versus hot). Cold-wash three loads a week, and save up to $40 a year.

18. Good Way: Install a programmable thermostat, which can save an estimated $150 yearly if preset to cool your home's air or pump up the heat (such as before you get home from work).- vs. -
Good Enough: Lower your heater's temp by 2 degrees to potentially lower your bill about $40 a year. In warm months, set the AC at 78 degrees (at 73 degrees, you'll pay 40 percent more!).

19. Good Way: Upgrade two toilets made before 1992 to low-flow ones, and turn down water costs nearly $200 a year in a two-bathroom, four-person home.- vs. -
Good Enough: Not in the budget to replace your toilets? Try Brondell Perfect Flush ($79), which will convert your toilet into a dual-flush — saving about half the water and $100 per year per toilet.

20. Good Way: Always look for the 'organic' label on veggies and fruit, which means that they were produced without the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.- vs. -
Good Enough: If buying only organic is a strain on your finances, opt for organic versions of the items known to have the highest pesticide levels: peaches, apples, and bell peppers.

21. Good Way: Open windows and doors or operate window or attic fans when the weather permits. Most heating and cooling systems do not bring fresh air into the house.- vs. -
Good Enough: Bring home superhero plants. Certain easy-care greens (English ivy, mums, and peace lilies) naturally help remove indoor air pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene.~by Good Housekeeping

6 Ways to Get a Bully Off Your Kids' Back.

2011-04-18T06:52:00.000-07:00

How to Fight Cyberbullying

Maybe it was a joke -- with a little too much of an edge. Or maybe it was an outright attack. When it comes to cyberbullying, you know it when you see it. And if your kid is the target, you'll want to do everything in your power to make it better. But as parents, teachers, school administrators, and even law enforcement officials wrestle with how to deal with cyberbullying, it's been hard to get concrete advice on what to do if it happens to your kid. Everyone can agree that you don't want to make it worse. And while your kid may want to defend himself, it's best not to engage. The steps below can help kids defuse the situation, protect themselves, and hopefully put a stop to cyberbullying.

Stay-Safe Tips

Sign off the computer. It's best to ignore attacks and walk away from the cyberbully.

Don't respond or retaliate. If you're angry and reply, then you might say nasty things. Cyberbullies often just want to get a reaction out of you, so don't let them know that their plan has worked.

Block the bully. If you get mean messages through IM or a social networking site, take the person off your buddy or friends list. You can also delete messages from bullies without reading them.
Save and print out bullying messages. If the harassment continues, save the evidence. This could be important proof to show parents or teachers if the bullying doesn't stop.

Talk to a friend. When someone makes you feel bad, sometimes it can help to talk the situation over with a friend.

Tell a trusted adult. A trusted adult is someone you believe will listen and who has the skills, desire, and authority to help you. Telling someone who fits that descriptions what's going on isn't tattling -- it's standing up for yourself. And even if the bullying occurs at home, your school probably has rules against it. .

Related: protecting kids, online, fighting back, cyberbully, bully
.-by Common Sense Media

How the rich in China spend their money

2011-04-15T17:58:00.000-07:00

Beijing (China Daily/ANN) - Traveling, luxuries and child education take up the bulk of spending by the mainland's wealthiest people, said the latest GroupM Knowledge - Hurun Wealth Report 2011 released on Tuesday (April 13).

Spending

More than half of China's rich, who have more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) in personal assets said their annual consumption ranges from 1 to 3 million yuan, while about 13 percent said their spending exceeded 3 million yuan.

Holiday resorts

As for overseas holiday resorts, France surpassed the United States by a slight margin to top the list of hot spots for China's high rollers, while Sanya in Hainan province, Hong Kong and Yunnan province remain the top three choices for domestic travel. On average they take a 15-day vacation every year and two-thirds of them own resort houses.

Leisure

Apart from traveling, the two major ways the rich kill time is golf and reading. They are followed by swimming and tea drinking. Compared with last year, multimillionaires are paying more attention to reading, the report said.

Collections

Meanwhile, luxury watches continue to be the top collection choice for China's rich, with 44 percent having a taste for them, followed by ancient painting and calligraphy works, and liquor.

Children's education

More than half of China's wealthiest are willing to send their children to the United States and the United Kingdom for overseas study, the third year the two countries have led the list of overseas study hot spots for the "second generation of the rich".

Social Responsibility

One-third of the rich said taxation, charitable donations and environmental protection are the three major ways to take social responsibility.

New status symbols for Asia's mega-rich

2011-04-13T18:14:00.000-07:00

Forget about limousines, penthouse apartments, private jets and other trappings of newfound wealth.

For Asia's growing ranks of the ultra-rich, a superyacht has become the ultimate status symbol, and manufacturers of luxury craft are setting course for a region which by one count now boasts more than 330 billionaires.

"I love having a yacht as it's a home that moves and I have a different view everyday," Singaporean tycoon Arthur Tay, one of the city-state's pioneering yachtsmen, told AFP.

Tay owns Hye Seas II, a sleek 116-foot (35.4-metre) vessel that dominates a marina club he set up in the exclusive Sentosa Cove seaside enclave.

The vessel boasts wood-panelled walls, a well-stocked bar, flat-screen televisions and plush sofas looking out to a sweeping view of the sea.
"I relax when I'm on the boat -- get away from all the noise," Tay said.

He declined to disclose the cost of the yacht but a well-informed executive in the boat business estimated its worth at close to $12 million.

Tay, chairman of lifestyle products and services firm SUTL, said he takes his vessel out to sea three times a month on average with family and friends to nearby tourist hotspots like Phuket and Bali.

Jean-Jacques Lavigne, executive director of the Singapore Superyacht Association, who defines a superyacht as any private leisure vessel measuring more than 24 metres (about 80 feet) in length, says 216 are based in Asia.

That's double the number just two to four years ago, he says, but just a sliver of the global total of 7,000.

"There are two factors which are contributing to the growth. One is obviously the huge wealth creation in Asia, the second one being the investment in infrastructure, mostly good quality marinas," he told AFP.

"It"s very easy to grow a new industry because it's starting from a very, very low point," he added.

US business magazine Forbes in March named Asia as the region with the second-largest population of billionaires worldwide behind the United States, leapfrogging Europe for the first time in history.

The population of Asians with fortunes of one billion US dollars or higher surged to 332 in 2011 from 234 last year, with growth led by China, whose total jumped from 69 to 115.

The number easily surpassed Europe's 300 billionaires, while American billionaires numbered 413.

Despite Asia's comparatively small superyacht fleet size, US economist Jonathan Galaviz, who follows Asia's luxury sector, estimated the region's superyacht industry at $5 billion, from boat purchases to maintenance and crew.
"It would not be unreasonable for the industry to grow by double-digit figures over the next five years," he told AFP.

"As the economies of Asia continue their abnormally fast economic growth, there are bound to be greater levels of purchases of ultra-luxury items such as superyachts."

To expose Asians to the superyacht industry and bring foreign yachtsmen to the region, the organiser of the prestigious Monaco Yacht Show, the Informa Yacht Group, held its first Asian gathering over the weekend in Singapore.

"There is an absolutely clear, latent propensity to consume this kind of big-ticket item here," said Andy Treadwell, managing director of the group.

"We're doing our bit to try and make Singapore the hub of the superyacht industry in Southeast Asia, and in the same way that that's true of Monaco and Europe, that's definitely what our aim is here," he added.

Treadwell said more visits by superyachts from other parts of the world would spur development of the industry in the region.

"We want them to come here because the more they come here the more exposure there is for the other people in the region who've got the wealth, who've got the money, but who don't know anything about yachting," he said.

A total of 81 superyachts visited Singapore in 2010 compared to 16 in 2006, according to the Singapore Superyacht Association (SSA).

More marinas are being planned in Singapore as well as other Asian countries such as China, South Korea and Indonesia.

China in particular is planning for "hundreds of marinas" along its lengthy coastline while Indonesia intends to introduce them in poor, outlying coastal villages to help alleviate poverty, SSA's Lavigne said. ~By Philip Lim

AFP News

Money, safes washing up on Japan's shores

2011-04-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

OFUNATO, Japan (AP) -- There are no cars inside the parking garage at Ofunato police headquarters. Instead, hundreds of dented metal safes, swept out of homes and businesses by last month's tsunami, crowd the long rectangular building.

Any one could hold someone's life savings.

Safes are washing up along the tsunami-battered coast, and police are trying to find their owners -- a unique problem in a country where many people, especially the elderly, still stash their cash at home. By one estimate, some $350 billion worth of yen doesn't circulate.

There's even a term for this hidden money in Japanese: "tansu yokin." Or literally, "wardrobe savings."

So the massive post-tsunami cleanup under way along hundreds of miles (kilometers) of Japan's ravaged northeastern coast involves the delicate business of separating junk from valuables. As workers and residents pick through the wreckage, they are increasingly stumbling upon cash and locked safes.

One month after the March 11 tsunami devastated Ofunato and other nearby cities, police departments already stretched thin now face the growing task of managing lost wealth.
"At first we put all the safes in the station," said Noriyoshi Goto, head of the Ofunato Police Department's financial affairs department, which is in charge of lost-and-found items. "But then there were too many, so we had to move them."

Goto couldn't specify how many safes his department has collected so far, saying only that there were "several hundreds" with more coming in every day.

Identifying the owners of lost safes is hard enough. But it's nearly impossible when it comes to wads of cash being found in envelopes, unmarked bags, boxes and furniture.

Yasuo Kimura, 67, considers himself one of the lucky ones. The tsunami swallowed and gutted his home in Onagawa, about 50 miles (75 kilometers) south of Ofunato. He escaped with his 90-year-old father and the clothes on his back. But he still has money in the bank.

That's not the case for many of his longtime friends and acquaintances, said Kimura, a former bank employee.

"I spent my career trying to convince them to deposit their money in a bank," he said, staring out at his flattened city. "They always thought it was safer to keep it at home."

The number of safes that have turned up in Ofunato alone is a reflection of the area's population: In Iwate prefecture, where this Pacific fishing town is located, nearly 30 percent of the population is over 65.

Many of them keep money at home out of habit and convenience, said Koetsu Saiki of the Miyagi Prefectural Police's financial affairs department. This practice is likely compounded by persistently low interest rates, leaving little financial incentive for depositing money in a bank.

As in Iwate, local police stations in Miyagi are reporting "very high numbers" of safes and cash being turned in.

"It's just how people have operated their entire lives," he said. "When they need money, they'd rather have their money close by. It's not necessarily that they don't trust banks. But there are a lot of people who don't feel comfortable using ATMs, especially the elderly."

A 2008 report by Japan's central bank estimated that more than a third of 10,000-yen ($118) bank notes issued don't actually circulate. That amounts to some 30 trillion yen, or $354 billion at current exchange rates, ferreted away.

The government has estimated that the cost of the earthquake and tsunami could reach $309 billion, making it the world's most expensive natural disaster on record. The figure includes direct losses from damaged houses, roads and utilities. But it doesn't take into account individual losses from home-held cash washed away by the powerful waves.

With more than 25,000 people believed to have died in the tsunami, many safes could to go unclaimed. Under Japanese law, authorities must store found items for three months. If the owner does not appear within that time, the finder is entitled to the item, unless it contains personal identification such as an address book.

If neither owner nor finder claims it, the government takes possession.

But all those who survived and are seeking to retrieve savings will need to offer proof. That proof could include opening the safe and providing identification that matches any documents inside, said Akihiro Ito, a spokesman for the disaster response unit in Kesennuma, among the worst-hit cities in Miyagi prefecture.

Cold, hard cash is more complicated.

"Even if we receive 50,000 yen ($589) in cash, and someone comes in saying they've lost 50,000 yen, it's nearly impossible to prove exactly whose money we actually have," Saiki of Miyagi's police force said.

Only 10 to 15 percent of valuables found in the tsunami rubble have been returned so far, officials in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures said last week.

Instead of waiting, police in Iwate are considering a more proactive measure. Individual stations will likely start opening safes to try to identify their owners, said Kiyoto Fujii, a spokesman for the prefectural police.

And the safes are likely to keep on coming.

"There's probably a lot of valuables still left in the rubble, including safes," Fujii said. "We are expecting and preparing for that."

8 Easy Ways to Teach Your Kids About Money

2011-04-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

Despite a hefty load of teaching duties from potty-training to self-feeding, parents are apparently willing to take on another major task: Passing on money skills. According to a new survey from ING Direct, the vast majority of parents say they are in charge of their children's financial education. But parents don't give themselves high marks as teachers. Fewer than one in three think they're "excellent" financial role models.

So, what's a struggling parent to do? Here are eight easy ways to start teaching your children about money today:

Get over the awkwardness. The ING Direct survey found that parents feel more prepared to talk about drugs, alcohol, and sex than money. Maybe we just need a family-friendly analogy for the money talk, like the birds and the bees. Whatever trick you use, find a way to bring up dollars over the dinner table, or wherever else you make conversation with your kids.

Use other people's lesson plans. You don't have to do all the hard work yourself, because other people have done it for you. Mymoney.gov, AmericaSaves.org, ING Direct's Planet Orange, and SchwabMoneyWise.com are just a few of the websites designed to help parents educate themselves, and their children, about the ins and out of money.
Practice one financial tip a week. Arkadi Kuhlmann, chief executive of ING Direct, recommends picking one financial tip each week, such as setting up a budget, and talking about it as a family. That way, parents can also make an effort to set a good example, too. At the grocery store, they can take a minute to explain how to choose an affordable brand of dishwasher detergent, or how to compare the cost of bread.

Connect allowances with future careers. Paying children for chores around the house can lead to problems, because it teaches them that working for money isn't fun, warns Alisa T. Weinstein, author of Earn It, Learn It: Teach Your Child the Value of Money, Work, and Time Well Spent. Instead, she recommends connecting allowances with tasks related to various careers. Children can choose a career, and then complete tasks related to that career. Travel agent tasks include reporting on a destination in an appealing way, creating a brochure, and for older children, calculating exchange rates.

"This way, the child is making the connection between effort and money, and the feeling that you worked hard for something. If you can capture that, then you're much more likely to have a child who grows up and can find emotional and financial fulfillment in their careers," says Weinstein.

Show kids what you can do with money. Susan Beacham, co-founder of Money Savvy Generation, invented a piggy bank with four compartments--save, spend, donate, and invest--to teach kids how to budget. "You're teaching them to stop, pause, and reflect, and this is the first step toward teaching them to delay gratification," she says.

Watch out for the subtle messages you send. Mary Ann Campbell, a financial educator, received mixed messages about money growing up. Her parents, in fact, implied that sending a girl to college was a waste of money, so she had to find a way to pay for her own education, along with the help of one of her brothers. That's one reason Campbell wrote her PhD thesis on how 20-somethings learn about money from the way their families talk about it. She discovered that the way parents and grandparents talk about money, as well as the way they act, makes a big impact.

While most of her 20-somethings learned about frugality and saving, the interview subjects who didn't have the benefit of those lessons--either because their parents spoiled them or their parents seemed to struggle with money themselves--repeated some of those same bad habits. Her students, she says, often didn't even realize how much their parents had influenced them until she started asking them questions.

Let them make their own mistakes. Lewis Mandell, a finance professor at the University of Washington who has studied financial literacy, says allowing children to experiment and make mistakes can provide more useful lessons than anything taught in school. He encouraged his now-grown daughter to invest as a teenager; she learned how to diversify after losing money in Pepsi stock.

More independence can be good for parents, too, who often help their adult children so much that they hurt their own financial security. Most college graduates now say they plan to move back home, at least temporarily. A Pew Research Center study released earlier this year found that 36 percent of Millennials receive money from their parents or other family members. One Ameriprise Financial survey found that almost one in three parents in their 50s and 60s often give so much money to their adult children that it eats into their own retirement savings, but most don't even realize it.

As they get older, limit the support you provide. While assistance during those challenging early adulthood years can help adult children find their footing, parents can inadvertently set up a cycle of dependence. If your money ends up going towards frivolous purchases like vacations and cars, you should probably freeze those payments. But if you're helping a hardworking son or daughter afford an internship in an expensive city, there's little reason to hold back, other than your own budget. If you can't afford financial help, consider giving in other ways, by offering the occasional home-cooked meal, babysitting services for grandchildren, or even just a listening ear.

Teaching kids about money doesn't have to be complicated. Instead of technicalities like 401(k)s and bonds, they can start to grasp broader concepts like the importance of saving for a rainy day, spending less than you earn, and how money can grow over time. And if parents are still struggling to apply those lessons to their own bank accounts, they can use the opportunity to change a few habits of their own.~Kimberly Palmer-
USnews.

Men and women now look more alike: study

2011-04-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

According to new research, men's and women's facial structures have grown more similar over the past centuries.

United Press International (UPI) reported on April 4 that anthropologists at North Carolina State University examined four centuries of skulls from Spain and Portugal, finding that men and women look more alike in our time than in the past.

Due to what the researchers think could be improved nutrition or other environmental factors, women's facial structure is now considerably larger than it was in the 16th century, nearing its male counterpart.

Apart from the scientific impact these findings may yield -- "this can help us establish the sex of the remains based on their craniofacial features," one anthropologist said -- the new study is also interesting for the beauty and fashion industries, which increasingly find themselves fascinated by gender-transcending beauty. The rise of models such as the very feminine Andreij Pejic or transsexual fashion pioneer Lea T. have recently sparked debate about the disappearing barriers between the sexes. ~ AFP Relax

Read the full article at http://bit.ly/gb16ys.

How not to save for retirement

2011-04-08T18:07:00.000-07:00

Many of us should be ramping up our efforts to save for retirement. But not all methods of saving money are worth the cost. Here are five retirement saving strategies that could actually leave you worse off in retirement.

[See 10 Places to Go Carless in Retirement.]
Neglecting your health. Never neglect your health in exchange for saving more money. If you aren't healthy, there's really no point in having a bunch of money. When you feel dizzy and tired all the time, watching a bank balance with a bunch of digits is not going to help at all. A big part of a comfortable retirement involves having a healthy body. So, consider what you are really sacrificing when you skip preventative care or eat unhealthy food to save a few dollars now.

Saving instead of paying off credit card debt. Whether you should save for retirement or pay off debt is an age-old question. But high interest credit card debt should always be eliminated first. It doesn't make sense to try earning a modest return while paying 20 percent a year or more for interest.
[See 5 Reasons You Shouldn't Contribute to a 401(k).]

Saving in ways you can't openly talk about. If you can't comfortably talk about how you are saving money for your retirement, then it might not be worth the cost. It would be very difficult to live a comfortable retirement knowing you had to cheat others to obtain it. If you have to steal or scam your way into your millions, you will eventually regret it. You will enjoy your retirement more knowing that you obtained it through honest and legitimate hard work.

Making today miserable. Saving for tomorrow involves learning and accepting the idea of delayed gratification. But while the future is important, you need to have some fun today too. Don't forget about retirement, but also remember that you have to live a little. Money isn't for hoarding.
[See 8 Last-Minute Ways to Stretch Your Nest Egg.]

Never giving. Practically everyone in our society can afford to give. If money is tight, we can probably afford to donate our time through volunteer work. We are truly lucky to have a hot meal on our table every day and have many luxuries in our lives that we often take for granted. Giving will bring you a lifetime of incredible memories, which is much more meaningful than a few numbers in a bank statement.
Retirement planning is an extremely important aspect of our lives. But contributing to a 401(k) account should never be your number one priority, unless you want to miss out on a lot in life.

David Ning runs MoneyNing, a personal finance site aimed at helping others change their habits for a better financial future. He suggests that everyone to sign up for an online savings account to get more out of our hard earned money. ~ David Ning -USnews

10 Stupid Things People do on Social Media

2011-04-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Social media is named aptly so because it's a tool to be social. Unfortunately, there are many amongst us who do the most inane things on Facebook and Twitter that makes you roll your eyes, drop your jaw and sometimes is downright pathetic.
1.People who think their every movement should be announced.
We know you're bored whilst sitting on the toilet. But maybe, instead of tweeting about your bowel movements today, as you always do, maybe you should read about what's happening in the world on Yahoo! News for a change. Likewise, we don't need to know how much milk your "hardworking breasts" lactated for your newborn. True story!

2. People who change their relationship statuses every other week.

Make up your mind - are you single? Are you in a relationship? Is it complicated? It's not too hard

3. People who are in a relationship with their BFF

You might think its so kawaii to be in a relationship with your girlfriend, because you are best friend forever- its NOT! Grow up.

4. Setup Facebook accounts for your 2-year-old kid, or worse, your dog!

We'd like to see the day your dog gets trained to log on to his own Facebook account.

5. Woe is me statuses.

You know those people - ‘my life sucks because my daddy doesn't want to get me a yacht for my birthday' or ‘this is the worse day of my life because my husband cancelled on dinner because he had to work to support my extravagant lifestyle.' Suck it up and stop.

6. Adding People You Don't Know

We're not sure what it is - to up your ‘friends' numbers or to seem like you're friends with the cool kids. When you add somebody, a pop up screen comes on telling you that you should "only send this request if you know him or her personally." How do people miss this disclaimer?

7. Write on a Facebook Wall instead of communicating privately

The driving force behind the success of Facebook is...vanity. People love the idea that others are watching what they're doing. But seriously! We don't need to know what names you call your boyfriend and what you're planning to do to him tonight.

8. Tagging drunken pictures of your friends

Yes, it's funny. But chances are, his boss and his mother are also on Facebook. You don't want to go out for a big one on a weeknight, have to call in sick for work the day after only to have your boss tell you that he's already seen photos of you sh*tfaced crawling in the gutter on Facebook. If you don't want that to happen to you, don't do it to your friends.

9. Children on Facebook

Facebook bans 20,000 kids from their site everyday, and we're glad this is done. Parents need to be more diligent with policing their children on social media, and they should be educated on social media etiquette in school. Sexual predators are nothing to joke about.

10. Animal Farms and Fish Tanks

I have a job, I don't want to feed virtual sheeps. You need to get off your computer and get a life. ~By Fazilah Abdul Gaffa for Yahoo news!

Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage or Invest?

2011-04-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Clients often ask if they should pay off their mortgage with their savings or take that nest egg and put it to work in the market. My answer: It depends, but in today's interest rate and market environment, I would likely suggest investing.

Yes, your house is an appreciating asset, but it is not appreciating as quickly as it once did, which may be true for a long time. The credit markets are generally dried up and it takes free flowing credit for the real estate market to boom, a phenomenon that may not happen again in our lifetimes.

[See 7 Problems That Could Derail the Global Recovery.]
Let's examine the question more closely assuming the following:

--You have a $500,000 home.

--Interest rate on your mortgage is 5 percent.

--Return on investment is 8 percent.

--Return on real estate value is 5 percent.

--Tax rate is 25 percent total.

--You have the money to pay off the loan in non-qualified (taxable) assets.

[See How the National Debt Affects You.]

Scenario 1: You pay off your mortgage. Since there is no loan, and no investment other than your house, both your investment money and your house value increase at 5 percent (the rate of return on real estate). Your total increase is $25,000.

Scenario 2: You owe $450,000 (90 percent of your home's value). In this scenario, you have a $450,000 note with a 5 percent interest rate. The cost to you is $22,500 per year in interest. But since you are able to deduct the interest on the note, the real cost, assuming a 25 percent total tax rate, is $16,875 per year.

Remember, you will also have the $450,000 that you would have used to pay off your mortgage invested. Assuming the above 8 percent return on investment, this will give you a return of $36,000. Net out what you make and what it costs--$36,000 less $16,875--and you earn a $19,125 return each year.

[See Russia Stocks Soar on Rising Oil Prices.]

Keep in mind that your real estate will be increasing in value as well. In this case, even though you only own 10 percent of the house, or $50,000, you may be thinking that your increase will be $50,000 at 5 percent. But the real story is that the entire value of your home is increasing at 5 percent, making your gains equal to $25,000. That means your entire increase (in year one) is $19,125 plus $25,000 which is equal to $44,125.

All in all, you are $19,000 ahead of the game by not paying off your house, and that's just looking at year one. While the numbers change for subsequent years, the principles remain the same.

Two things to keep in mind: It's very important to have investments capable of achieving an 8 percent return, and make sure to use tax-deferred investments so the compounding effect is greater.

[For more investing and money advice, visit U.S. News Money, or find us on Facebook or Twitter.]

This concept works very well, but only in a low interest-rate environment. The lower rates are, the more it may make sense to hold a mortgage and invest your dollars. But as rates climb higher, it may make sense to pay off that debt. There is a calculation you can do based on your rate of return and rate of interest, but at around a 7 to 8 percent interest rate it begins to make sense to start paying off principal. ~By By Kelly Campbell

Is your smartphone bad for your relationship?

2011-04-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

Seoul (The Korea Herald/ANN) - Smartphones, with more than 10 millions users in South Korea, are changing the dating culture of people in their 20s and 30s, a survey conducted by marriage consulting agency Duo showed.

Duo asked 294 unmarried people aged between 20 and 39 years old how smartphones affected their relationship with their boyfriend or girlfriend.

A whopping 79.6 percent of those surveyed said smartphones affected their relationship in some way.

The three best advantages of smartphones for their relationships listed were: saving on phone bills by using free texting services, at 41.5 percent; greater accessibility to information on dating places such as restaurants, at 29.7 percent; exchanging messages whenever and wherever, at 20.8 percent.

"Free texting services or phone calls definitely save phone fees and make it easier for young couples to exchange messages or make calls," said 25-year-old college student Choi Seung-jae.

"Dating has become convenient as information on good restaurants and to discount coupons becomes more accessible," said 27-year-old office worker Lee Bo-ram.

However, smartphones can cause problems in relationships as well.

Of those surveyed, 37.7 percent said that face-to face contact, hugs and kisses decreased; 30.7 percent said interruptions became more frequent; and 16.5 percent said the number of online rather than traditional dates increased.

"It makes me bored and annoyed when my boyfriend keeps staring at his smartphone when we are on a date," said 27-year-old office worker Han Hyung-young.

About half of those surveyed said they had had fights with their boyfriend or girlfriend because of smartphones.

Twitter or Facebook was the main offender for 44.5 percent of respondents. About 32.8 percent had fights when their boyfriend or girlfriend became obsessed with their smartphone, and 14.1 percent said spending money on applications and mobile accessories was the reason for fights.

About 4.7 percent had had a fight over their boyfriend or girlfriend stalking their ex.

"It is possible that your girlfriend can find out what you have been doing by reading your posts on Twitter or Facebook which you definitely don't want her to know," said 30-year-old office worker Choi Hee-jung.

"I've heard that a couple got in trouble when a girlfriend found out her boyfriend was flirting with girls on 'Who's Here.'"

"Who's Here" is an application which enables you to make contact with people nearby.

"We need to think about what's missing in our daily lives flooded with communications -- whether we are neglecting our loved ones," said a source at Duo. ~ By Lee Woo-young in Seoul/The Korea Herald

ANN

How to make your child a future millionaire

2011-04-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Your child's wealth can be your financial success story. If you have failed in your quest to become a millionaire, it doesn't mean that your child should too. Time is on his side and all it takes is for you to start things rolling. Here, parents and financial practitioners relate how you can put your child on the millionaire's path.

Tell them why
While many parents want their children to be wealthy, one fear they all have is that the little ones may grow up to be too materialistic. “There is nothing wrong in ‘being rich'. Teach your children the ‘concept' of being wealthy, which is more important than being wealthy itself,” says C T Lim, senior partner of IPPFA Sdn Bhd, a Capital Markets Services Licence holder for financial planning with the Securities Commission.

“Explain to them the purpose of making good money. For example, I always explain to my three kids that although their mother is educated and we can afford to hire a servant, she chooses to devote all her time to their needs; and for this to happen, I have be the sole breadwinner of the family.”

Tell your child that money is not evil but it is an enabler, says Brandon Liew, CEO of Moneytree (M) Sdn Bhd, a company that coaches children and youth about money, investing and entrepreneurship.

“Make it clear that money is not everything, but almost everything needs money. Once you have set the right foundation and the values are in place, it is unlikely that your children will pursue material things.”

Create opportunities for them to earn

A million-ringgit gift to your child may sound impossible. But it is very much within reach, says Ong Shi Jie, head of wealth management of OCBC Bank (M) Bhd. “A monthly contribution of about RM300, made diligently from the time your child is born until he turns 18, and then left untouched until his retirement at 55, will hit the million-ringgit mark [assuming returns of 6% pa].”

But, is “giving” the right way to help your children? Ong takes a leaf from personal finance book, The Millionaire Next Door, in which Thomas J Stanley and William D Danko show readers how to become millionaires: “Built on years of research, it profiles people who have already become millionaires. Their research indicates that most millionaires were supported financially by their parents and ‘the more dollars adult children receive from their parents, the fewer they accumulate, while those who are given fewer dollars, accumulate more',” says Ong.

However, don't give them the money without asking them to do anything. “Or else, the level of appreciation is nominal. You don't want your child to have the perception that ‘no matter what, I will have my mum/dad to fall back on to help me out,” says Liew. “Create opportunities for your child to earn the money.

The plans can be tied to their academic achievements or other milestones. When you make them earn the money, the level of responsibility is far higher. This gives them a clear mindset that they have to ‘do something' to achieve the million-ringgit goal.”

Teach them millionaire habits

Planning financially for your children is not sufficient, you need to teach them some financial ground rules. “they also need to be equipped with the skills to save and grow the money,” says Liew. “Instil the knowledge and money habits so that they can responsibly handle any money you hand over. This will also give you peace of mind.”

It helps to understand the habits of millionaires and inculcate them in your children. “Teach them simplicity and frugality,” says Lim. “The focus should be how to manage money as a limited resource.”

Encourage them to follow their passion

While it is many a parent's wish to have their children graduate with a law or medical degree it is important that you do not try to fit a square peg into a round hole. “Don't quash their harebrained ideas, lest you stunt their budding creativity,” says Ong.

“While I'm not recommending that your child drop out of school and throw his textbooks out the window, nurture his strongest talent and encourage activities that make him happiest. After all, it is their passion that drives it. Whether it will help them arrive at being a billionaire, as most entrepreneurs will tell you, will be a combination of a multitude of factors.”

Your child will never be a millionaire if you force him into something he's not interested in. If you think that your child's passion won't pay, says Lim, help to turn it into a moneymaking idea. His daughter loves animals and her ambition is to be a veterinarian. “As the prospects for veterinarians are uncertain and I don't want to ‘kill' her passion, I encourage her to pursue her passion and give her suggestions on how to turn her ambition into a business. I gave her the idea of building a pet cemetery behind her future veterinarian clinic, which I feel has far greater prospects, and she likes it.”

Getting third-party help

You may be capable of teaching your child about money. “But, can you guarantee that your child is going to learn everything that you teach?” says Liew. “Teaching your child financial literacy doesn't happen in isolation. No matter how hard you try, you cannot provide the group dynamics needed as a part of learning. They need peer pressure to compete among and measure themselves. This is where programmes like financial literacy are important.”

Walk the talk

Children learn by imitating. Thus, it is vital that you watch your own money habits. “Be conscious of your simple everyday actions. For instance, if you use a credit card to make payments, make sure you explain how it works. Educate your child on the connection between plastic cards and real money. Otherwise, your child could misunderstand that the credit card is a tool to easily get things that he wants,” says Liew.

Make sure you are financially independent. Gone are the times when parents raised their children with the aspiration that they would grow into successful adults who would be able to take care of their parents. “The cost of living is going up at a tremendous pace,” says Liew.

“At the end of the day, your children will have their own expenses and families. To avoid being a burden to your children, plan for yourself financially.” This means that you must be on a sound financial footing, says Ong, with adequate insurance coverage, no credit-card balances or high-rate debts and are well on your way to saving for your own retirement.

By taking care of your own retirement needs, it can speed up your children's financial well-being.

Give them a good jump-start

Planning for your child education's funding is important. “Having a plan that helps your children pay their education fees can possibly be one of the best jump-starts. This could at least relieve them of the burden of having to repay their study loans and thus kick-start their personal savings plan as soon as they start their career,” says Lim.

The right amount to contribute should be based on your capacity. If the money you have set aside for them is insufficient, Ong proposes that you “have an open conversation with them. Start talking about the importance of saving money with your children, even when you don't have enough of it. Do not be afraid to share with them these difficulties and be transparent with them on making lifestyle adjustments in order to cope.” ~Celine Tan of theedgemalaysia.com

'Facebook depression' can affect teens

2011-03-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

Docs warn about Facebook use and teen depression ~ By LINDSEY TANNER
Add "Facebook depression" to potential harms linked with social media, an influential doctors' group warns, referring to a condition it says may affect troubled teens who obsess over the online site.
Researchers disagree on whether it's simply an extension of depression some kids feel in other circumstances, or a distinct condition linked with using the online site.

But there are unique aspects of Facebook that can make it a particularly tough social landscape to navigate for kids already dealing with poor self-esteem, said Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, a Boston-area pediatrician and lead author of new American Academy of Pediatrics social media guidelines.

With in-your-face friends' tallies, status updates and photos of happy-looking people having great times, Facebook pages can make some kids feel even worse if they think they don't measure up.

It can be more painful than sitting alone in a crowded school cafeteria or other real-life encounters that can make kids feel down, O'Keeffe said, because Facebook provides a skewed view of what's really going on. Online, there's no way to see facial expressions or read body language that provide context.

The guidelines urge pediatricians to encourage parents to talk with their kids about online use and to be aware of Facebook depression, cyberbullying, sexting and other online risks. They were published online Monday in Pediatrics.

Abby Abolt, 16, a Chicago high school sophomore and frequent Facebook user, says the site has never made her feel depressed, but that she can understand how it might affect some kids.

"If you really didn't have that many friends and weren't really doing much with your life, and saw other peoples' status updates and pictures and what they were doing with friends, I could see how that would make them upset," she said.

"It's like a big popularity contest — who can get the most friend requests or get the most pictures tagged," she said.

Also, it's common among some teens to post snotty or judgmental messages on the Facebook walls of people they don't like, said Gaby Navarro, 18, a senior from Grayslake, Illinois. It's happened to her friends, and she said she could imagine how that could make some teens feel depressed.

"Parents should definitely know" about these practices," Navarro said. "It's good to raise awareness about it."

The academy guidelines note that online harassment "can cause profound psychosocial outcomes," including suicide. The widely publicized suicide of a 15-year-old Massachusetts girl last year occurred after she'd been bullied and harassed, in person and on Facebook.

"Facebook is where all the teens are hanging out now. It's their corner store," O'Keeffe said.

She said the benefits of kids using social media sites like Facebook shouldn't be overlooked, however, such as connecting with friends and family, sharing pictures and exchanging ideas.

"A lot of what's happening is actually very healthy, but it can go too far," she said.

Dr. Megan Moreno, a University of Wisconsin adolescent medicine specialist who has studied online social networking among college students, said using Facebook can enhance feelings of social connectedness among well-adjusted kids, and have the opposite effect on those prone to depression.

Parents shouldn't get the idea that using Facebook "is going to somehow infect their kids with depression," she said.

Gadgets you should keep or ditch

2011-03-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

The common rap against technology is that it leads to an accumulation of devices. But the nature of technology is changing. Fewer products are doing more tasks — all accomplished by countless lines of massless software code.
And so we no longer need to accumulate products. If anything, we can cut down. The question is, Which can be replaced and which are fine, or even preferable, to keep? It is plain as day that paper maps and Rolodexes have given way to their digital counterparts. But what else can you get rid of? Here is a list of common consumer technologies and products and a somewhat opinionated judgment on whether to keep or pitch it.
DESKTOP COMPUTER Lose it. You may have one now, but are you really going to replace that deskbound PC when it becomes out of date? Assuming you are not a hardcore gamer or a video editor, laptops have all the necessary computing power the average user needs. If you want to replicate that desktop experience, you can always connect your laptop to a larger display and keyboard.

HIGH-SPEED INTERNET AT HOME Keep it. With the advent of devices like the MiFi, which converts a 3G mobile signal into a Wi-Fi cloud for multiple devices to share, you might be thinking about giving your Internet service provider the boot and using your cellphone as your Internet connection, even when at home. That would work — provided that you get a strong data signal where you live; that you never intend to stream video from Netflix, YouTube or Hulu; and that you have an unlimited data plan from your wireless provider. Given all these caveats, it probably makes more sense to stick with your I.S.P.

CABLE TV Depends. While you may and should hold on to a good broadband connection at home, it is debatable whether you need to pay for cable TV. Sports fans probably will want to keep it, as many leagues restrict online content, but casual viewers who mainly want some shows and movies to watch could get by with a good Internet connection and some low-cost subscriptions to services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video.

POINT-AND-SHOOT CAMERA Lose it. Yes, a dedicated camera will probably take a better picture than the small lens and image sensor of a smartphone, but it will not be that much better. And a point-and-shoot has limitations of its own. It is hard to share photos until you have transferred them to your computer, and there are no apps for cameras, as there are for smartphones, that allow you to quickly apply cool filters and treatments to the shots you took. Perhaps most important, a camera may or may not be close by when a photo-worthy moment arises, but it’s very likely that your phone will.

CAMCORDER Lose it. Camcorders get squeezed at both ends of the video spectrum. On the low end, smartphones can capture video, and while it may not be Imax quality, many people do not care. At the high end, new digital S.L.R. cameras (like Canon’s EOS Rebel T1i, which costs around $750 with a lens) can shoot full-HD video while taking advantage of all the interchangeable lenses that were created for still photography. That camcorder you have now is probably the last one you will own.

USB THUMB DRIVE Lose it. File sharing does not require hardware anymore. In almost any case you can think of, you can move files around digitally via the Internet. That could mean signing up for a service like Dropbox, which creates a private, shareable hard drive in the cloud, or by simply e-mailing yourself attachments and storing them in the drafts folder of Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. A USB drive is just something to misplace or break.

DIGITAL MUSIC PLAYER Lose it (probably). Do you have a smartphone? Then you have a music player. Why load yourself down with an extra gadget? Apple popularized the music player with its iPod, but when was the last time you saw that iconic white box with the dial on the front? Music is data, and many multifunction devices can handle it along with many other kinds of data (like video, e-mail and apps). The one exception may be if you enjoy music while exercising. In that case, a tiny player like the $49 iPod Shuffle might be a better accessory than a larger, heavier smartphone.

ALARM CLOCK Keep it. Smartphones can be terrific alarm clocks. They can ramp up the volume gradually, display weather information and awaken you to your favorite song. And when on the road, they are still light-years ahead of the incomprehensible alarm clocks in hotel rooms. But a recent daylight time glitch in iPhones that fouled up the clock could give some early risers pause. Furthermore, setting and resetting smartphone alarms may require a dive into one submenu too many; turning a little knob on the back of a clock and flipping a switch is still simplicity itself.

GPS UNIT Lose it. The least expensive GPS units cost around $80. But your smartphone can do the same thing, if not more, for half that price, or even free. Android smartphones already have Google’s turn-by-turn navigation app built in. And earlier this month, Google announced that the company would be including live and historical traffic data in route planning, so you hopefully get to where you are going faster.

If you have an iPhone, you have several options for GPS apps, including Navigon’s MobileNavigator (which starts at $30) and ALK’s CoPilot Live ($20). Renting a car? Decline the optional GPS; if you have a smartphone, you already have one with you.

BOOKS Keep them (with one exception). Yes, e-readers are amazing, and yes, they will probably become a more dominant reading platform over time, but consider this about a book: It has a terrific, high-resolution display. It is pretty durable; you could get it a little wet and all would not be lost. It has tremendous battery life. It is often inexpensive enough that, if you misplaced it, you would not be too upset. You can even borrow them free at sites called libraries.
But there is one area where printed matter is going to give way to digital content: cookbooks. Martha Stewart Makes Cookies a $5 app for the iPad, is the wave of the future. Every recipe has a photo of the dish (something far too expensive for many printed cookbooks).

Complicated procedures can be explained by an embedded video. When something needs to be timed, there’s a digital timer built right into the recipe. You can e-mail yourself the ingredients list to take to the grocery store. The app does what cookbooks cannot, providing a better version of everything that came before it.

Now all Martha has to do is make a decorative splashguard for a tablet and you will be all set. ~ SAM GROBART --yahoo

Gambling problems 'more common than drinking problems'

2011-03-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

Washington, Mar 25 (ANI): Researchers at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions have found that after age 21, problem gambling is considerably more common among adults than alcohol dependence, even though alcohol dependence has received much more attention.

John W. Welte, principal investigator on the study and a national expert on alcohol and gambling pathology, and colleagues conducted, then combined, results from two national surveys of gambling and alcohol-one of youth ages 14-21 and the second of adults 18 and older-to identify patterns of U.S. gambling and alcohol use across the lifespan.

They found that gambling, frequent gambling and problem gambling increases in frequency during the teen years, reaches its highest level in the 20s and 30s and then fall off among those over 70.

"No comparable analysis has been done previously and therefore none is available for a direct comparison of these results," Welte says. "But, given what we found about the persistence of frequent and problem gambling through adulthood, increased prevention and intervention efforts are warranted."

Other results demonstrate that frequent gambling is twice as great among men (28 percent) as among women (13 percent). Men reach their highest rates of both any gambling and frequent gambling in the late teens, while females take longer to reach their highest rates.

The odds of any gambling in the past year are significantly higher for whites than for blacks or Asians, although the odds of frequent gambling are higher for blacks and Native Americans, the study found.

It is also notable that frequent and problem gambling become more common as socioeconomic status (SES) gets lower; gambling involvement tends to decline as SES rises. Welte speculated as early as 2004 that lower SES Americans may pursue gambling as a way to make money, leading to more difficulties than if their motivation were strictly recreational.

The study has been published this month in the Journal of Gambling Studies. (ANI)

9 Steps to Reduce Harmful Phone Radiation.

2011-03-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

When most of us get a new cell phone, we charge it, activate it, and immediately begin to use it. The one step must of us overlook is reading the instruction manual. Even if you are one of those people who can seamlessly use a new device without reading the use and care information, I urge you to take the time to do so - especially to learn about potential dangers the phone can pose and how to minimize them.

Lately, cell phone radiation has been getting a lot of press. In November, TIME wrote about how federal regulations should be placed on the signal strength of phones, and a prominent epidemiologist and writer, Devra Davis, wrote "Disconnect: The Truth About Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide It, and How to Protect Your Family," detailing the risks of cell phone radiation. While most of the data provided thus far has been inconclusive, more research is ongoing. The most recent information I've seen, published in the last issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, said cell phone radio frequency radiation does "affect(s) brain function" - but it didn't say what lasting effects it can have on the body.

Want to know what you can do to minimize your exposure to radio waves? Follow the 9 steps below:

•Use a headset or a wireless headphone with a low-power Bluetooth emitter.

•Use a belt clip or keep the phone at least an inch away from your body.

•Keep your phone turned off if it is next to your body all day. If your phone must be on, face the keypad toward your body. And when it's not being used, stow it in a bag or purse.

•Whenever possible, use your phone when the signal is strongest. The weaker the signal, the more the radio frequency boosts itself to get connected.

•Send a text instead of calling when possible or appropriate. Phones use less radiation to text than to speak and texting keeps radiation from your head.

•If you can, put your phone on speakerphone so you can keep it at a distance from your head.

•Tell your tweens and teens not to sleep with their phone under their pillows or next to their beds.

•Keep your phone away from your new baby and away from the abdomen if you are expecting. Fetus' and babies' brains are most susceptible to radiation.

•Read your user's guide and visit the FCC website to find more details and precautions.

Now you may be wondering why information about something that may cause damage to the human body is buried in the safety manual and not clearly labeled on the product. You're not alone. A bill has been proposed in Maine to require warning labels on phones sold in the state that would read: "This device emits electromagnetic radiation, exposure to which may cause brain cancer. Users, especially pregnant women and children, should keep away from the head and body." Mobile phones have become an integral part of our lives and it's naive to think that we will forsake them. While findings thus far vary on the effects of cell phone radiation, my advice is to err on the cautious side by making yourself aware of the potential dangers and doing everything you can to minimize them.-By Rachel Rothman ~Shine

Fears grow over India's fake pilots

2011-03-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

India's fake pilot scandal began unravelling when a female captain landed her packed airliner on the nose instead of the rear wheels as she touched down in the holiday hotspot of Goa.

Parminder Kaur Gulati, flying for the fastest-growing airline in the booming Indian sector, IndiGo, was investigated for the dangerous error in January and was found with falsified qualifications. She has since been fired and arrested.

The case set alarm bells ringing for passengers, anxious about the idea of a semi-trained fraud being responsible for their lives, and for airline bosses, who have been hiring crew at a furious pace in recent years.

It also cast a spotlight on a familiar problem in India, where corruption is widely seen as on the rise: most things, even qualifications for highly skilled jobs, can be bought at a price.

"It's as bad as doctors or surgeons who fake their certificates and put people's lives at risk," says Baijayant Panda, a member of parliament from the eastern state of Orissa.

"But it's not limited to aviation in India. In many fields, you have a lot of fakery going on," the lawmaker, seen as part of a new breed of young Indian politicians, told a debate show on NDTV television last week.

Since the discovery of Gulati, at least five other pilots have been arrested working for low-cost flier SpiceJet, national flag carrier Air India and smaller regional airline MDLR.

India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is responsible for pilot examinations and granting licences, has announced it will look into the credentials of 4,000 commercial airline pilots.
More arrests are expected.

Amid rising anxiety, attention has focused on a small school in the arid west of the country, the Rajasthan State Flying School, which has been running for the last 10 years.

Two of its alumni, working for SpiceJet, were arrested on Monday.

"A pilot needs to have completed a minimum 200 hours of flying to get a licence. Several of the pilots from there had only completed 50-60 hours," Umesh Mishra, from Rajasthan's anti-corruption bureau, told AFP.
Police built a case against the school and its graduates by checking the logbooks of the instructors responsible for certifying that trainees have completed supervised hours at the controls of a plane.
"We checked those records against the records kept by the air traffic control authorities in Rajasthan and found that some of these flights never took place," Mishra said.

Police began looking into the school after being approached by someone who alleged that they had paid a million rupees (22,000 dollars) to the chief instructor, who never granted a licence.

The DGCA, which the airlines blame for the licence debacle, has promised a probe into 40 schools around the country "to find out if there are any irregularities in their functioning."
"A special team will be constituted to complete the audit in three months and bring the truth out," DGCA chief E.K. Bharatbhushan promised on Tuesday.

The parliamentarian Panda, who holds flying licences in three countries -- India, South Africa and the United States -- believes the problem is systemic: suffocating red tape provides the opportunity for bribes.

"The DGCA has become a humongous bureaucracy and the red tape involved is phenomenal," he said. "Even genuine pilots, it takes them months and sometimes years to clear the process.

"This incentivises people to go to touts who say 'why go through the genuine process? I'll fix it for you'."

It's a pattern repeated across the country, where bribes are frequently paid for driving licences, passports, ration cards for subsidised food, university degrees or even doctor's certificates.

Last year, the head of the Medical Council of India, which is responsible for certifying medical qualifications, was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of 20 million rupees to recognise a medical college.
Ketan Desai, along with two other doctors and a suspected tout, await trial.
T.R. Raghunandan, who set up IPaidABribe.com, an online forum for citizens to vent their frustration about corruption, says that bribes paid for education certificates are part of life in India.

The implication is widely understood by companies and recruitment agencies, who face a difficult task in verifying the qualifications and experience claimed by job candidates.

"Flying schools are meant to be monitored by the DGCA. What is the DGCA doing? They are themselves so corrupt," the retired civil servant told AFP.

Woman loses savings after online fling

2011-03-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

Kuala Lumpur (The Star/ANN) - A lonely consultant from Penang in Malaysia lost about 300,000 ringgit (US$99,000) to a smooth conman who promised to marry her.

The woman, who only wished to be identified as Azlina, 49, said she began visiting chat sites for companionship and was contacted by a man who introduced himself as Hassan Williams, 50, a Muslim American in October last year.

"He captured my heart. He knows what Malay women look for in a man and knew Malay customs very well," Azlina said, adding that the online romance continued for a month before he asked her to marry him.

"I believed he was sincere and was excited when he asked me to move to Atlanta, Georgia.

"However, Hassan then told me his business had run into some trouble and he needed some money," she said.

She then took out her life savings, and in 25 transactions over three months transferred the money to several bank accounts apparently located in the Caribbean and Cayman Islands.

When she ran out of money, Azlina said Hassan stopped contacting her.

On March 17, a person claiming to be his friend called to tell her he had died recently and asked her to stop calling his number.

"At this point, I had already found out that Hassan was not who he claimed to be, but I still wanted to talk to him.

"And the person who called had an unmistakable African accent," she said.

Because of his understanding of Malay customs, Azlina became convinced that the conman lived in Malaysia.

She then contacted Malaysian Chinese Association Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong to warn other women.

"When women my age can't find a husband, some of us can get desperate," she said at a press conference.

Chong said he had received reports of nine similar cases last year with loses amounting to over 2 million ringgit.

"This year itself, I have already received three cases where the victims lost a total of 305,000 ringgit," said Chong.

Also at the conference was Umno Youth complaints community bureau chairman Mohd Khairun Aseh who said he would bring the matter to the party's attention.....

Kids born to smoking mums 'more likely to become smokers'

2011-03-22T16:43:00.000-07:00

Washington, Mar 22 (ANI): Children of women who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to become smokers, according to a new study.

The research found that prenatal exposure to nicotine increased the vulnerability to nicotine self-administration in adolescent mice.

The results support the hypothesis that adolescents with prenatal nicotine exposure are more likely to start smoking earlier than their peers and that they are also more susceptible to the addictive effects of nicotine, especially as a result of stress and peer pressure.

The study performed with mice is part of a project researching the behavioural and molecular mechanisms of nicotine addiction. The research project was carried out under the Academy of Finland's Research Programme on Substance Abuse and Addictions.

The key observation made by the Finnish and Russian researchers in the project was that adding nicotine to the drinking water of pregnant mice led to differences between the control and nicotine-exposed offspring in terms of nicotine self-administration.

Treating the dams with nicotine during the prenatal period increased the frequency of self-administration in the offspring compared to the control group, even at lower doses.

The study also examined the receptor-level combined effects of opioids (morphine and morphine-related compounds) and nicotine. A receptor is a human protein to which endogenous and exogenous compounds bind. Once the receptors are activated, they trigger a number of intracellular signals.

The compounds that bind to a receptor may also alter or turn off the receptor signalling. The present study was conducted using cell lines that express different subtypes of nicotinic receptors. Nicotine attaches to these receptors and activates them.

The results of the research project show that morphine and its related compounds, which normally attach to their own receptors, also bind to nicotinic receptors, causing altered nicotine responses.

This provides a possible explanation for the common concurrent use of nicotine and other substances. The results may also pave the way for the development of new medication used to treat both smoking and drug addiction. (ANI)~yahoo

Seven diet strategies that actually work

2011-03-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

The Zone, the cabbage soup diet, the Master Cleanser lemonade diet -- how can you tell what is a fad and what really works? On March 4, health and science website LiveScience reported on seven diet tips that really work.

1. Skip the corn syrup: One study revealed that rats who guzzled drinks made from high fructose corn syrup gained much more weight than those who drank sugar-sweetened drinks, even when the drinks contained the same amount of calories. High fructose corn syrup is found not only in soft drinks but frostings, bacon, candy bars, donuts, sausages, hot dogs, snack cakes, and a number of processed foods.

2. Deal with your junk food addiction: Research reveals that junk food can affect your brain in ways similar to hard drugs, signaling dopamine receptors and changing behaviors, so that eating junk food becomes a top priority. One way to avoid the junk food temptation, experts say, is to avoid going long stretches of time without eating and watch portion sizes when you do indulge in a junk food treat.

3. Eat at structured times: To avoid energy crashes, plan meals and snacks in advance and allow your body to settle into a predicatable routine. Avoid waiting more than three hours to have a small meal or snack.

4. Eat your breakfast: Ideally, eat a protein-rich breakfast, such as scrambled eggs and toast, to feel more satiated throughout the rest of day, experts say. Plus the extra fat in the egg can have a long-lasting effect, leaving you feeling less starved at lunchtime and tempted to overindulge. In one study, men who had eggs and toast for breakfast ate about 400 fewer calories over the course of the day than those who ate a carb-heavy meal of a bagel with low-fat cream cheese and low-fat yogurt.

5. Choose foods low on the glycemic index (or eat closer to nature): Selecting high-protein, high-fiber foods lower on the glycemic index, which refers to how quickly foods affect blood sugar, can stabilize energy levels. Foods higher on the index (sweets, white rice, white flour breads) spike blood sugar but then subsequently lead to an energy crash. Or as a backup plan, simply favor fresh foods, such as vegetables, meat, and fruits, over processed ones.
6. Change your environment: A new study by Cornell University suggests that to be more successful in your diet, adjust your surroundings. Use a smaller plate, keep second helpings out of reach, and hide the sweet stuff to avoid mindless eating.

7. Enjoy your food: When we pay attention to what we're eating -- color, texture, freshness, and seasoning -- "we are satisfied in a deeper way than stuffing of our stomachs could ever accomplish," reports LiveScience. Put down the smartphone or other distractions, take your time, and savor every bite.
To access the article: http://www.livescience.com/13084-7-diet-tricks-work-926.html

Why do men hold back their tears?.

2011-03-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Women do it 64 times a year, men do it just 17. No, I'm not talking the number of times they get their nose hairs waxed (and judging from the men I've met recently, that number should be significantly lower), the number of times a year we get jiggy between the sheets (hopefully those numbers are significantly higher), or when women win arguments with men (as they say, women are right all the time, even when they are wrong). Instead I'm talking about something far more sensitive that's bound to prickle the spines of burly blokes everywhere: shedding a tear.

And I'm not just talking about the odd teardrop when an unexpected chili flake bounces up your nose, (yes, it happened to me and, no, it's not too pleasant). Instead, I'm talking about those noisy, snotty, teary, heaving, raucous, fist-pounding, body-shaking, tear-jerking colossal crying episodes ...

Michael Jordan did it when he won the NBA in 1996, Brad Pitt shed tears in films Babel, Legends of the Fall and Seven, and Bill Clinton has been described by journalists as "a virtuoso of the tear ducts" for his multiple teary episodes.

Yet for some blokes, 17 cries per year would seem like a hell of a lot of wasted water.

"Why cry when it solves absolutely nothing?" they rationalise, preferring to take the technical approach to their problems (which usually involves a calculator and a cheque book).

Even if the conundrum is impossible to solve, it's unlikely we'll see any salt water well up in their eyes, with many gents preferring to take their emotions and sweep them under their proverbial carpet. Unfortunately those hidden feelings don't always stay put.

"A lot of men know more about how a car works than their own emotions," Ron Bracey, clinical psychologist told the BBC. And while crying allows men to release those all important stress hormones, it seems they're unlikely to let go of a few tears for fear of being labeled weak, emotionally vulnerable and - worst of all - feminine.

Introducing the emotional camel syndrome: where men can go without intimacy and sharing emotions for weeks, months, years, but suddenly have an outpour when they least expect it.

Case in point is my seemingly unemotional male colleague P who I observed over the holiday break. Enraptured in a tumultuous relationship with his on-again off-again girlfriend of two years, I met him for brunch not long after New Years Day, only to find his face flushed and eyes streaming with tears. When I asked him if he was okay, the sobbing only exacerbated.

"I hate her so much because of what she does to me," he yelped loudly between snivels. "But I love her so much at the same time. How is this possible? Why does she do this to me? And why am I crying? What is wrong with me?"

I'd never seen strong P so emotionally vulnerable before and realised that perhaps what the psychologists have been saying all along might not be so fuddy-duddy after all: blokes aren't emotionally dead, they are simply emotionally different.

But perhaps women aren't as different to men as we first thought. A quick poll finds most women can't exactly pinpoint the last time they cried.

"Was it while reading the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert perhaps?" said one. "Or maybe when I was watching the final scene of Cruel Intentions on Foxtel the other night?" mused another.

Either way all agreed that something strange happens when they don't cry for a while. When it does come out, it really does come bawling out ...by Dvsdag Wd

Swipe your mobile 3 times a day with saline wipes to keep it bacteria-free

2011-03-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

Washington, March 17 (ANI): Swiping your pager or cell phone just three times with a simple tissue moistened with saline would help you get rid of most of the bacteria, according to a new study.

But if you only have time for a single swipe of a 'dirty' phone - you'd be better off reaching for a disinfectant wipe, said the study.

The finding was made by a team of researchers in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.
For the study, three types of bacteria - Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Enterococci (VRE) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa - were each prepared in a mixture and streaked onto sterile plastic Petri dishes, then allowed to dry.
Numerous bacteria contaminated plates were prepared throughout the summer - all in the same manner - so each type of bacteria could be tested with five different types of wipes and then again with varying amounts of swipes - one swipe, three swipes and five swipes.

Each 10 cm diameter plate was wiped for one second and in a manner that the entire surface was swiped, using a flat baton.

The plates were then allowed to dry for 10 minutes. Afterwards, bacteria samples were put onto special lab plates, incubated for at least 24 hours at 35C and then the bacteria colonies were counted.

The researchers demonstrated that bacterial counts dropped significantly the more often a plate was swiped - regardless of the type of wipe used.

Swiping the contaminated plates 3x decreased the bacterial load by 88percent on average, compared to just swiping a plate once.

Swiping a plate 5x vs. 3x didn't result in an additionally significant decrease in bacteria.

And a simple saline wipe appeared to be just as effective as disinfectant wipes when the plates were swiped 3x or more.

However, if the plate was swiped just once - disinfectant wipes were better at reducing bacteria than simple saline wipes.
The study was published appeared online in PubMed. (ANI)

A 24-year-old S'porean presents her contribution to Japan's relief efforts

2011-03-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Touched by the news about Japan's earthquake and tsunami disaster, one Singaporean decided she wanted to do more.

24-year-old Elaine Low presented her contribution to Japanese Ambassador to Singapore Yoichi Suzuki on Wednesday -- a cheque for S$1 million.

Safeguard yourself when shopping online

2011-03-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

Sreerema Banoo of theedgemalaysia.com, On Thursday 10 March 2011, 23:45 SGT

Websites, auction sites and the latest, blogshops, which are marketed through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, are changing the face of retail. Here are some considerations when shopping at virtual stores.

Georgette Tan, a journalist based in Sarawak, shops extensively from blogshops. She mainly looks for clothes as she finds the options limited in the shops in Kuching. “I'm a plus size gal and it's difficult to find anything that fits in the outlets here,” she says.

The blogshops are mainly located in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor, and the items are sent either via PosExpress or PosLaju. To date, Tan's experience has been largely positive. “I've yet to encounter one [a blogshop] that didn't ship the goods.”

There are many others like Tan who do their shopping online at websites, auction sites and blogshops, with the last reaching out to their target consumers via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Since its inception in 1998, Malaysia's pioneer auction site Lelong.com.my has seen an increase in consumers. Its director Wei Kwok Seing says the rise was particularly apparent following the introduction of broadband services in the country. Among the more popular items traded are costume jewellery, accessories for ladies, mobile phones, computers and notebooks and related parts.

A reason for the popularity of online retail is the convenience — you sit at your computer and with a few clicks of the mouse, you've completed your purchase. Then there's the promise of scoring great deals. Public service website and e-mail newsletter Scambusters.org says Internet auction houses make it easy for people to find great deals on hard-to-find items from around the world.

“The excitement also makes them prime hunting grounds for scam artists who are ready to play on the desire many auction bidders have for that ‘unbelievable deal',” says the site. It adds that auction fraud accounts for roughly 48% of online fraud reports to the US Federal Trade Commission.
Some of the scams include misrepresentation, failure to ship the items, and piracy and counterfeiting. So, short of simply staying away from auction sites or never shopping online, what can you do to protect yourself? The most important thing, say online shoppers and consumer advocates, is to learn the ropes. Here are some of the things you should consider.

Paying with credit cards

Opt for the credit card rather than cheque, money order or bank transfers. Sacmbusters.org says if you use your credit card to make a purchase and you encounter a problem — and the seller won't attend to the problem — you can notify the bank that issues your credit card that you are disputing the charge, and you don't have to pay the amount while your dispute is being investigated. And, if the company doesn't deliver the item or it is a scam, you're in a much better position to get your money back.

Lim Eng Seong, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd's general manager of personal financial services, says while online credit card transactions today can be considered relatively safe, consumers should be mindful of ways to keep their credit card details intact while making the transactions. “The five golden rules are: Ensure the security patches are up to date, install reputable anti-virus software with the latest updates, use personal firewalls, read the [respective bank's] password advice, and use an anti-spyware program,” he says.

Other payment options

For Tan and many other blogshop customers, bank transfer is the conventional method of payment as many of the virtual stores are usually home-based businesses and may not have the volume of business that would make payment via credit card viable. While it doesn't mean that you should stay away from such retailers, it does mean that you need to do more homework and check out the seller before deciding on a purchase.

Apart from credit cards and bank transfers, you can also consider services like PayPal. By having a PayPal account (sign-up is free, and you provide your credit card details) for instance, you can make online purchases without exposing your credit card number to merchants (for details, visit www.paypal.com/my).

Or you can also consider an escrow service. Basically, escrow works as a neutral third party in your transaction. Lelong.com.my, for instance, offers an escrow service called Safetrade (fees for this service are as low as RM2) for both buyers and sellers.

Once the buyer initiates Safetrade, the seller is informed and has three days to agree to the transaction. Once the two parties have agreed to the transaction, the buyer makes the payment to the third party (in this case, the operator of Lelong.com.my). Once the payment is received, the seller is then instructed to ship the item, and once the buyer receives the goods, the payment is released to the seller's Safetrade account (for details see www.lelong.com.my/safetrade).

Find out about the seller

Whether you're shopping online or in a traditional store, buying from a reputable merchant ensures that the goods are kosher and you receive the level of service desired (such as returns, exchanges or warranties). Most websites and blogshops will have details about the merchant (usually under “About us” or “About me”), so take the time to check out the merchant's profile. Auction sites like Lelong.com.my also provide the seller's profile and history, says Wei.

Scambusters.org suggests that consumers check the feedback on the seller. While it's a good idea to buy from a seller who has many positive reviews, do use good sense when checking the ratings. After all, a few negatives do not mean that a seller is out to defraud you. Trust your instincts, says Lim.

“Search for previous and current orders, check for a valid contact number and chat with the seller. See if it has a retail presence. Talk to friends and see if they've bought from the seller. Check reviews of the seller on other sites.”

Read the description properly

Whether you're buying from an auction site or a blogshop, read the descriptions of the items carefully. Scambusters.org says if there is anything in an item description that doesn't make sense to you, or that just makes you wonder, don't brush it off. “That's almost always a valid warning sign. Ask the seller. And don't buy unless you're sure of the answer.”

Even if you've read the descriptions carefully, there are occasions when they may not be accurate. Tan recalls buying a dress from a blogshop, which described the armholes as being of a certain size but turned out to be at least 12cm smaller. “I wrote in to complain. The shop owner offered to give me a refund if I sent it back but I ended up trading it with a friend, so it was not such a big deal.” Tan adds that such incidences do occur when you shop online as you don't get to try on the clothes.

If you're unsure, ask

Another frequent “blogshopper” is Sally, who says consumers should ask many questions to clarify their doubts. She points out that when buying clothes on blogshops, it's important to find out the exact measurements. “Most, if not all, of these blogshops offer measurements of ‘maximum inches' and that's simply not accurate enough. Even though a top can be stretched to 40 inches, it does not mean a person with a 38-inch waist would fit comfortably in it.”

She recounts: “I bought two dresses of the same style in two different colours. The items were in good condition but my dissatisfaction was with the sizing. Both dresses were too small for me. In fact, I asked a friend of mine, who was two sizes smaller, to try them on and she felt that they were a bit snug. Not only that, when I put both dresses side by side, I realised that they were two completely different dresses. I was made to understand in her (the seller's) description of the dresses that it was the same style and came in different colours.
“I emailed my dissatisfaction to the seller, whose reply was defensive. She claimed that the dress fit her perfectly and advised me to read the measurements carefully the next time. My response to her was ‘Next time? There won't be a next time. You just lost a loyal customer'.”

Know what you're buying

This is particularly important when bidding for an item on which you expect to make a profit later. So, be sure that you know something about what you're bidding on, or get help from someone who does, says Scambusters.org.

Keep records of your purchase

Once you've completed the transaction, be sure to print out a copy of the transaction details (date of purchase, details/descriptions of the goods, price and so on). You might need it in case you need to return or exchange the item, or seek a refund.

Check the privacy policy

Scambusters.org says it's important to check the privacy policy of any website you plan to purchase from. “Make sure it has a policy that says your data stay private, and that it won't sell or rent your information to third parties.”
Be alert
Always be on the alert, to avoid being a victim of phishing activities, says Lim.

“Phishing involves an e-mail message being sent out to as many Internet e-mail addresses that the fraudster can obtain, claiming to come from a legitimate organisation such as a bank, online payment service, online retailer and so on. The e-mail requests the recipient to update or verify his personal and financial information, including date of birth, login information, account details, credit card numbers, PIN numbers, and so on,” he adds.

To avoid getting phished, never respond to emails asking you to “confirm” recent transactions.

“Reputable organisations do not send unsolicited e-mail messages asking their customers to update or verify their personal and security details,” says Lim, adding that when one is in doubt, contact the organisation in question immediately.

Get out of Credit Card Debt in 3 Years or Less.

2011-03-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

New credit card rules went into effect
in 2010, requiring that your monthly credit card statement include important information about how long it will take you to get out of debt if you only pay the minimum payment and what payment you need to make to rid yourself of the balance in three years. This information is included on your statement for your benefit; use it to your advantage to help you put together an actionable "get out of debt” plan for the next three years.
Gather Credit Card Statements
The first step in getting out of debt is to face the debt. Gather each of your credit card statements. Identify the monthly payment amount you need to make on each credit card to pay it off in three years and write it down. Add up each of the payments to get the total figure you have to deal with on a monthly basis to finally get rid of your credit card debt for good.
Commit to Paying It
The second step in creating your debt payoff plan is coming to terms with paying off your credit card debt. You have to make a commitment to yourself, to your family and to your personal financial situation to get your credit cards under control, and get the balances paid off sooner rather than later. Another commitment you have to make is to stop adding to your credit card balances. Stop making purchases with your credit cards that you can't pay off each month on top of the monthly payments you have to make to stick to your payoff plan.

Free up Cash

This is the hard part. If you don't have enough money to make the monthly payments necessary to stick with your three-year debt-free plan, it's time to take action. There are a lot of ways to cut regular expenses and save money on everyday items. You may need to give up luxuries, but remember, it's only temporary. If you've already made sacrifices and cut on smaller everyday items, consider what you can do with your largest expense - your home loan. If you have equity in your home and have been careful about keeping your credit score in tact, you may be able to refinance and tap the equity in your home to pay off your high-interest credit card debt.

Make it Automatic

Finally, put your payoff plan on autopilot. Set it up with your bank so that your credit card bills are paid each month in the amount you've calculated you need to pay to be debt-free in three years. Your credit card issuers may also offer the option to deduct the monthly payment automatically from your checking or savings account. Use one of these two options in setting the three-year monthly payments for each card and then be done with it once and for all.

Use the new credit card law to your advantage. The information available to you on your monthly credit card statements is there to help you and allows you to create your own credit card payoff plan. Then put the steps in place to implement the payoff plan. A solid plan is one of the best ways to finally regain control of your personal finances and to once and for all get out from under your credit card debt.

If you have substantial debt or many credit cards with balances, consider enlisting the help of an expert. A Debt Payoff Planner like the one offered at Quizzle.com will put together an actionable plan just for you to help you become debt-free faster and save potentially thousands of dollars in interest. By: Kristie Lorette

~yahoo.com