Kimberly Palmer, On Wednesday December 22, 2010, 1:45 pm EST
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-to-Double-Your-Savings-usnews-1750672221.html?x=0
At the website MyLifeList.org, where people share their goals, some of the most popular, life-changing goals include becoming financially independent, buying a first home, and starting a business. All of those dreams take money, which is why we rounded up the best advice from financial experts on how to double your savings rate in the New Year. Here are their top ten suggestions:
[In Pictures: 12 Money Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes]
1) Create a personal net worth statement. You don't have to be a millionaire to calculate your "net worth," says Tami Peter of Bottomless Closet NYC, which helps disadvantaged women with their money and careers. Simply make a list of everything you own, including bank accounts, investments, cars and real estate. Then, subtract any debt, including a mortgage and credit card debt. The number you come up with is your personal net worth. Knowing what it is can help motivate you to slowly increase it and give you insight into your overall financial health.
2) Print out your monthly checking account and credit card statements. Peter says that there's something about seeing spending in black and white that opens our eyes to our habits. "It's easy to see the money spent on frivolous items and things we don't use," she says. Many banks now offer free software through customers' online accounts that can automatically track spending and categorize where money is going.
3) Make a plan to change your habits. Justin Sinnott, a financial consultant in Charles Schwab's Seattle branch, says that after reviewing your finances, it's time to decide what you want to shift. For example, if you don't already have enough money saved to fund a three to six month emergency fund, that's a top priority. The Schwab website offers a free monthly budgeting tool that helps classify spending into necessities such as loans and housing and luxuries such as entertainment and restaurant meals.
4) Live well below your means. This simple concept is really the key to saving significant amounts of money. It might mean living in a smaller home, waiting to upgrade your cell phone, and cooking at home every day of the week, but as long as you live a lifestyle that's cheaper than the one you can actually afford, you can build financial security.
5) Write down how much you want to save by the end of the year. The simple act of writing down your savings goal helps keep it at the forefront of your mind. You can write it on a kitchen calendar, a daily planner pad, or on a website such as MyLifeList.org or 43things.com. You can even share it on Facebook and Twitter. The more people know about it, the more they can cheer you on.
6) Ramp up your savings into tax-advantaged accounts. Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s allow you not only to save more money that grows in a tax-advantaged account, but also to take advantage of any matching benefits offered by your employer. The website PaycheckCity.com, run by Symmetry Software, allows users to calculate their net pay after making changes to their pre-tax retirement savings.
7) Review your long-term investments and consider rebalancing. Long-term investments usually do best in low-fee, diversified portfolios that match your age and desired risk level. If you don't know what fees you are currently paying on your retirement accounts, ask your human resources office to help you find out. Since advisors recommend shifting into more conservative investments as we get closer to retirement, now is a good time to check in to see if it's time to rebalance your investments.
[For more money-saving tips, visit the U.S. News Alpha Consumer blog.]
8) Stick with your investing plan, despite day-to-day market dips. Sinnott says that after you come up with a plan for your long-term savings and investments, it's important to avoid changing up those plans because of breaking news and other events. "Don't be de-railed by recent news without revisiting the big picture," he says.
9) Reduce your debt payments. Given the current low-interest rates, some people might benefit from refinancing, says Sinnott. You can also reduce your monthly bills by using some of your savings to pay off any high-interest rate debt, including credit card debt, auto loans, and student loans. Evaluate how much you are paying each month in interest payments to decide whether you should pay off loans early.
10) Pay less for medical expenses. The Real Cost of Living author Carmen Wong Ulrich points out that you can deduct medical expenses from your taxes if they exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. That means you might be able to save more money if you group medical expenses in a single year rather than spreading them out over several years. (Of course, you want to consider your health insurance coverage, as well, since you can also save money by staying below any spending limits.) In addition, be sure to take advantage of flexible spending accounts by keeping receipts and filing them before the due date.
Kimberly Palmer is the author of the new book Generation Earn: The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
老婆
http://bbs.creaders.net/life/bbsviewer.php?trd_id=543027&blog_id=76164
什么样的的女人最适合做老婆，是像妈一样，宽厚仁慈；还是像女儿似的，凡事依赖，娇宠一身呢? 这个问题我曾问过自己许多遍，而且是不同时期给自己的问题，但结论却林林总总，莫衷一是，对此我很纠结，而且是三十年前河东三十年河西。说实话，找女人的时候，我还不懂得生活，以为浪漫就是爱情，浪漫是毒药，它让人变得愚蠢，更让人偏离生活的本质。
你要成为一颗大树，用你的一辈子来为女人遮风避雨。如果这就是你当初的想法和誓言，你也几十年如一日身体力行的这样做了。结果是，你一辈子没有老婆，只有一个在生活上永远依赖与你的"女儿"。这样日复一日，年复一年，所有家务你都事必躬亲，如此一来你总有做不完的事，操不完的心和受不完的窝囊气。不但如此，还时不时的让自己的女人作贱，骂你活得没个男人模样。
等你明白过来时，也晚了。女人使得风声水起的小性子早就变成了惯性，仿佛不变的四季重复着同样的颜色。而你就是女人手里的陀螺，在她的任性中旋转不停。当你的翅膀下垂无力，羽毛也渐渐的稀疏起来。就再也不想，也没有力气做女人心里的英雄。因为再做下去，你迟早会成为无名的冤鬼，也许在女人心里你还算得上个烈士。
至此男人不会再想做那女人嘴里念叨的好男人，在经历了唐吉可德的悲情后，如何不想也想躺在一个温暖的怀抱里，打一个憝儿；或美美地，踏踏实实地睡上一觉。如果你是在女人的喝彩中成为模范的，而这个所谓的模范一定会让你丧失做男人的权力，让你思想错乱，雄性退化。
丰富的人，就一定有外快，就像马不吃夜草不肥的道理一样。如果你那一天做了女儿式婚姻的叛逃者，就一定是去找一个像妈似的女人去了，但这绝对是一种才出狼窝又奔虎穴的路子。而女人在生活中最终定型，也有男人的责任，如果你不是个好骑手，就怨不得胯下之马太烈或者太奴性。而你过份迁就，妥协，逃避就是这结果的诱因。人们不是常说有什么样的妈就有什么样的女儿嘛，男人又何尝不是这个妈呢? 其实，在生活中息息相关的人都会互相影响，互相改变。先别急着骂娘，有时男人思想开个小差也并不必大惊小怪，在今天的文明社会里，根本翻不起来筋斗。女人的一点宽容，一点理解，就胜过外面的百万雄师。家，无论在什么样的男人心中都是最不堪时，可以回首的地方。没有人不恋家，更何况没有家之前的男人就像流浪的狗一样没有踏实过呢。你们不是都可以见证一个事实，即结婚后的男人，就开始发胖吗，为什么啊? 踏实了呀！折腾够了，身心破碎的人，想的就是每天一口热饭，一碗炖肉和温暖的日子。一个要饭的人想的最多的就是温饱，而非那些山珍海味。说白了，一个在婚姻生活中混出来的人，需要的就是一个温暖，踏实，没有战争的家。
女人总说自己伟大，其实男人也伟大。一个家庭先走的大都是男人，因为男人太操劳，太不懂得妥协，也太叫真。在外面做英雄就够男人忙一辈子的了，回到家中还要余勇可贾地做女人面前的英雄，紧绷着，傻撑着。就是机器也没有永动的啊，何况还是肉胎胚子呢?！
是英雄的梦想把男人拖累死了。男人，你的名字不叫英雄，不叫丈夫，而是叫男儿。好好地活，别总往死亡游戏里奔，放下包袱，你会看到一个不同的世界，一个温暖如春的家园。
男人给女人一个遮风避雨的去处，女人也要给男人一个心里的家。只有如此----男人才想回家！！！
那些自以为是的女人们，你们做到了吗? 如果没有做到，就仔细想想，你们男人的身心是否已与你渐行渐远了呢? 你是否还能把握到他们的脉动，还敢当着外人的面大声地说，你是天下最了解他们的人吗?
不要迷信命，没有旧世主，做点什么，你认为的琐事，为你的男人，更是为了你自己。
你结婚了没有? 如果没有，千万不要找个妈，更不可以找个女儿做老婆。谁能让你轻松下来，人性善良，并能和你一起担事儿的女人，就是你要讨回家的好女人，至于美丑真的不是很重要。
什么样的的女人最适合做老婆，是像妈一样，宽厚仁慈；还是像女儿似的，凡事依赖，娇宠一身呢? 这个问题我曾问过自己许多遍，而且是不同时期给自己的问题，但结论却林林总总，莫衷一是，对此我很纠结，而且是三十年前河东三十年河西。说实话，找女人的时候，我还不懂得生活，以为浪漫就是爱情，浪漫是毒药，它让人变得愚蠢，更让人偏离生活的本质。
你要成为一颗大树，用你的一辈子来为女人遮风避雨。如果这就是你当初的想法和誓言，你也几十年如一日身体力行的这样做了。结果是，你一辈子没有老婆，只有一个在生活上永远依赖与你的"女儿"。这样日复一日，年复一年，所有家务你都事必躬亲，如此一来你总有做不完的事，操不完的心和受不完的窝囊气。不但如此，还时不时的让自己的女人作贱，骂你活得没个男人模样。
等你明白过来时，也晚了。女人使得风声水起的小性子早就变成了惯性，仿佛不变的四季重复着同样的颜色。而你就是女人手里的陀螺，在她的任性中旋转不停。当你的翅膀下垂无力，羽毛也渐渐的稀疏起来。就再也不想，也没有力气做女人心里的英雄。因为再做下去，你迟早会成为无名的冤鬼，也许在女人心里你还算得上个烈士。
至此男人不会再想做那女人嘴里念叨的好男人，在经历了唐吉可德的悲情后，如何不想也想躺在一个温暖的怀抱里，打一个憝儿；或美美地，踏踏实实地睡上一觉。如果你是在女人的喝彩中成为模范的，而这个所谓的模范一定会让你丧失做男人的权力，让你思想错乱，雄性退化。
丰富的人，就一定有外快，就像马不吃夜草不肥的道理一样。如果你那一天做了女儿式婚姻的叛逃者，就一定是去找一个像妈似的女人去了，但这绝对是一种才出狼窝又奔虎穴的路子。而女人在生活中最终定型，也有男人的责任，如果你不是个好骑手，就怨不得胯下之马太烈或者太奴性。而你过份迁就，妥协，逃避就是这结果的诱因。人们不是常说有什么样的妈就有什么样的女儿嘛，男人又何尝不是这个妈呢? 其实，在生活中息息相关的人都会互相影响，互相改变。先别急着骂娘，有时男人思想开个小差也并不必大惊小怪，在今天的文明社会里，根本翻不起来筋斗。女人的一点宽容，一点理解，就胜过外面的百万雄师。家，无论在什么样的男人心中都是最不堪时，可以回首的地方。没有人不恋家，更何况没有家之前的男人就像流浪的狗一样没有踏实过呢。你们不是都可以见证一个事实，即结婚后的男人，就开始发胖吗，为什么啊? 踏实了呀！折腾够了，身心破碎的人，想的就是每天一口热饭，一碗炖肉和温暖的日子。一个要饭的人想的最多的就是温饱，而非那些山珍海味。说白了，一个在婚姻生活中混出来的人，需要的就是一个温暖，踏实，没有战争的家。
女人总说自己伟大，其实男人也伟大。一个家庭先走的大都是男人，因为男人太操劳，太不懂得妥协，也太叫真。在外面做英雄就够男人忙一辈子的了，回到家中还要余勇可贾地做女人面前的英雄，紧绷着，傻撑着。就是机器也没有永动的啊，何况还是肉胎胚子呢?！
是英雄的梦想把男人拖累死了。男人，你的名字不叫英雄，不叫丈夫，而是叫男儿。好好地活，别总往死亡游戏里奔，放下包袱，你会看到一个不同的世界，一个温暖如春的家园。
男人给女人一个遮风避雨的去处，女人也要给男人一个心里的家。只有如此----男人才想回家！！！
那些自以为是的女人们，你们做到了吗? 如果没有做到，就仔细想想，你们男人的身心是否已与你渐行渐远了呢? 你是否还能把握到他们的脉动，还敢当着外人的面大声地说，你是天下最了解他们的人吗?
不要迷信命，没有旧世主，做点什么，你认为的琐事，为你的男人，更是为了你自己。
你结婚了没有? 如果没有，千万不要找个妈，更不可以找个女儿做老婆。谁能让你轻松下来，人性善良，并能和你一起担事儿的女人，就是你要讨回家的好女人，至于美丑真的不是很重要。
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
《非诚勿扰2》--王朔的道歉和道别
来源: 枣儿~ 于 2010-12-28 09:42:33
http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/tv/474723.html
来源：草威
链接：http://www.bullock.cn/blogs/caowei/archives/147054.aspx
如果说看《非诚勿扰》和《唐山大地震》是我被心理预期的那个冯小刚忽悠进了电影院，那我再次卖票入场看《非诚勿扰2》则跟他半毛钱关系都没有。在银幕上看望王朔是排50分钟长队的理由，不知道长长的队伍里有几个人和我一样，不看僧面看佛面。
事实也是我想象的那个样子，这部续集如果当做电影来看，根本及不了格，论电影感还不如第一部。一般而言，离生活越远的就越像电影，离生活越近的就越像电视剧。所以，美剧总是给人感觉电影感十足，而很多国产电影什么都不像。冯小刚的电影基本上是电视剧规格的，电影院里坐在我左手边的那对中年夫妇就完全可以证明，电影前半部分他们两人频繁的充满爱意的击打对方，还一个劲儿的指着屏幕说，你看人家，你也学学。能够和自己的居家生活互动，是电视剧最明显的特征。
冯小刚的本事是将一个前不着村后不着店的故事弄得很有人情味儿，类似秦奋这样整日游手好闲还开着奔驰满处跑的中产老男人能有多少？要我说这人物这故事就跟白日梦似的，一点地气儿接不着，可是他能给你加一层滤纸，让你觉得电影里的人吧，挺亲切，比其他导演刻画的穷苦大众更像平常百姓。小刚导演是有些小聪明的，他深刻的明白观众的心思，于是他以一种看似没有道德担当的趣味性在牵扯着观众，提醒他们我拍的是一目了然的电影，是你水深火热的生活。
冯小刚说得对，他是啤酒，王朔是二锅头。这电影拍得如此差却能叫不少人感动，肯定不是啤酒的作用，给力的是掺在里边的那杯二锅头。
说几个印象比较深的场景：
1.秦奋搀扶着病重的香山去看墓地，走着走着，香山一扭脸，对秦奋说，“不看了，大通铺一样。活着扎人堆，到死了还人挤人。”
2.在饭馆里，香山对秦奋交代后事，“我呀，这一辈子跟钱着了大急了。川川，我不会让她为了挣钱，工作一分钟。就虚度光阴，想不干嘛就不干嘛。”
3.人生告别会上，香山坐在前边，面向大家，说，“你们的好，你们的善，我都记在心里，带进火葬场。我死了，这些信息还留着，随烟散播，和光同尘，作为来世相谢的依据。如果还有来世的话。（大意）”
这些对话之所以留有印象，是因为一种久违的感觉，是因为对二锅头的那种来自肚子的想念。王朔总是把生活赤裸裸的指向虚无，然后再来一次仗义的担当。这些年，王朔取胜的关键，并不是靠塑造真小人的形象，而是让君子自比成小人，这样一来魅力就凸现了。往往是这样，越有趣的，就越让人心安。可很多人没看见这个，只记住那句“宁做真小人，不做伪君子。”实际上，王朔从来就不是小人，他坦坦荡荡，讨厌武侠，却做了好多侠义的事情。到后来，赞誉他都不要了，好像存心让自己的刻薄来解释这些。在影片里，他还是借着那个叫川川的小姑娘，说出了一句让自己得以自洽的评价：他也没有比别人更坏。
对了，还有一句，我也记住了，是香山在公司里对秦奋说，“伪艺术也是艺术，就算它再二尾子，那也是艺术家生的。眼看那块地儿就要盖成电子城了，咱们再不说点好的，伪艺术也绝种了。（大意）”
王朔的一生里关于真伪的讨论很有意思，在他的早期作品里不断地告诉别人四个字：你丫别装。后来他改了口：“装的好也叫好，动机就别聊了，聊来聊去只能伤害人。”你若问他，你怎么自己抽自己的嘴巴，他一定会大方地告诉你，“我年轻时候才懂多少东西。”
我曾经看过不下5个号称是王朔所写的博客，几乎看不完一篇文章就知道是假的，可还有挺多人偏偏就信，他们似乎以为沾点儿痞子气就成王朔了。我见过很多人，有话不会好好说，非要说得让你一听就很难受。那股连王朔自己都厌恶的腔调居然成了招牌，太多人拿皮囊当骨肉了。
为什么王朔是你学不来的？这跟炖肘子是一样的，你说这脂也脱了，鸡汤也煨了，葱、姜、绍酒也都放了，可怎么就是出不来东坡家的味道呢？工序一道不少，作料一味没差，比对着菜谱，没错啊，找大师盘问，说差在哪呢？大师笑而又语，你呀，少了人家的灵魂。
所以你至多可以学会他的调侃、他的嘲讽、他的戏谑，甚至可以模仿他的狂狷，但你终究没法复制那股厌离的情绪，那种对世界放不开手又瞧不上眼的无时无刻的爱和纠葛。那是情怀，得不拿自己当人的疯过，得九死一生，得大彻大悟，得从头再来，他说除此之外还得扎一针。
步入中年以后，王朔总是在两件事上自我重复。一为道歉，二为道别。第一件事对谁都好，解了心结，树了榜样，给自己也挣得了面子。日本有句谚语：不会说对不起的人永远不是大人。王朔给不少人道歉，然后他发现了中国人原来都是讲理的，没有人会为难一个诚心道歉的人。一个人过完人生的大半还时常自我否定，成长没有完止反倒越来越凶猛。人总是要犯错的嘛，能做的就是到知错的那一天，去认错。真正的错是知善而不行善。
至于道别这件事，王朔先用作品画出了分水岭，与从前的自己彻底决裂，少说有一半的读者买回一本《我的千岁寒》表示看不懂。看不懂没关系，王朔说本来就不是给你们写的，甚至他不明白怎么到今天还有人会对《空中小姐》那样的作品念念不忘。作品改头换面之后，道别就成了他的一个主题，他掏心掏肺的对世界对亲人对从前写着自己的私家话，诚挚得像情书。在《非诚勿扰2》里，他编造了一个人生告别会，来满足自己对道别的诉求。道别就是放不下，放不下内心的诸多情结，它们在电影里，也一股脑的出现：海军、大院、共产主义、女儿、美、自杀、生老病死。把这些感情用几部作品变着花样的来回阐释，显得多少有点矫情，但其实细想想也是好事，我们这个时代又缺少忏悔又缺少深情，王朔都找补上了。再者说，能把临别赠言当成创作内容一写好几年的作家恐怕也就他一人吧？
其实整部《非诚勿扰2》里，讲的同样是这两件事，道歉和道别，当这两件事儿慢慢变成一回事儿，王朔就有了一种温暖的情怀，在白驹过隙的人生里，留下几句喃喃而绵长的絮语。到影片最后，使人潸然泪下的，不正是这个吗？
说回电影，王朔的编剧显然不是电影剧本的考量，情节无力，写得又过于自我，以至于搁在镜头里有点突兀。把最后的那几段戏放在一个充斥着剑南春和中国人寿的贺岁片里，显得夸张并且失衡。
电影的张力不会是前边逗你乐后边让你哭那么简单。举个例子，刚猛如姜文的电影，孤独起来才叫人子弹穿心，比如那句“那年我十七岁，她也十七岁。”看完《让子弹飞》，我脑子里全是师爷的这句话。结果师爷死了，腿挂在树上，他的秘密最终还是独自带走了，他连一句实话都没有人可以分享，这就是张力。
这些年国产电影的大屏幕上，能这么靠剧情触动人心的，我只对姜文有印象，虽然他也没做太好。看姜文的电影，总觉得仿佛一个处男在度过他惊心动魄又迫不及待的初夜，藏都藏不住的兴奋，满屋子荷尔蒙。
看冯小刚的电影则像一个浑浊而又温柔的中年人，坐在床边跟你不停的聊啊聊，边聊还边撩拨，你对他说，你他妈倒是来啊，结果他就不来，恨不得用一张嘴皮子把事儿给办了。
至于张大导演和陈大艺术家，这俩人有点相似，因为阴阳怪气又偏爱装神弄鬼的人总是比较像。
草威
PS：中国这些电影以后能不能尽量不要让孩子在里面朗读背诵什么的了，因为第一，中国话不适合说出来，有时候挺好的词说出来瘆人；第二，饶了孩子吧，没那么深沉，不至于这样。
http://bbs.wenxuecity.com/tv/474723.html
来源：草威
链接：http://www.bullock.cn/blogs/caowei/archives/147054.aspx
如果说看《非诚勿扰》和《唐山大地震》是我被心理预期的那个冯小刚忽悠进了电影院，那我再次卖票入场看《非诚勿扰2》则跟他半毛钱关系都没有。在银幕上看望王朔是排50分钟长队的理由，不知道长长的队伍里有几个人和我一样，不看僧面看佛面。
事实也是我想象的那个样子，这部续集如果当做电影来看，根本及不了格，论电影感还不如第一部。一般而言，离生活越远的就越像电影，离生活越近的就越像电视剧。所以，美剧总是给人感觉电影感十足，而很多国产电影什么都不像。冯小刚的电影基本上是电视剧规格的，电影院里坐在我左手边的那对中年夫妇就完全可以证明，电影前半部分他们两人频繁的充满爱意的击打对方，还一个劲儿的指着屏幕说，你看人家，你也学学。能够和自己的居家生活互动，是电视剧最明显的特征。
冯小刚的本事是将一个前不着村后不着店的故事弄得很有人情味儿，类似秦奋这样整日游手好闲还开着奔驰满处跑的中产老男人能有多少？要我说这人物这故事就跟白日梦似的，一点地气儿接不着，可是他能给你加一层滤纸，让你觉得电影里的人吧，挺亲切，比其他导演刻画的穷苦大众更像平常百姓。小刚导演是有些小聪明的，他深刻的明白观众的心思，于是他以一种看似没有道德担当的趣味性在牵扯着观众，提醒他们我拍的是一目了然的电影，是你水深火热的生活。
冯小刚说得对，他是啤酒，王朔是二锅头。这电影拍得如此差却能叫不少人感动，肯定不是啤酒的作用，给力的是掺在里边的那杯二锅头。
说几个印象比较深的场景：
1.秦奋搀扶着病重的香山去看墓地，走着走着，香山一扭脸，对秦奋说，“不看了，大通铺一样。活着扎人堆，到死了还人挤人。”
2.在饭馆里，香山对秦奋交代后事，“我呀，这一辈子跟钱着了大急了。川川，我不会让她为了挣钱，工作一分钟。就虚度光阴，想不干嘛就不干嘛。”
3.人生告别会上，香山坐在前边，面向大家，说，“你们的好，你们的善，我都记在心里，带进火葬场。我死了，这些信息还留着，随烟散播，和光同尘，作为来世相谢的依据。如果还有来世的话。（大意）”
这些对话之所以留有印象，是因为一种久违的感觉，是因为对二锅头的那种来自肚子的想念。王朔总是把生活赤裸裸的指向虚无，然后再来一次仗义的担当。这些年，王朔取胜的关键，并不是靠塑造真小人的形象，而是让君子自比成小人，这样一来魅力就凸现了。往往是这样，越有趣的，就越让人心安。可很多人没看见这个，只记住那句“宁做真小人，不做伪君子。”实际上，王朔从来就不是小人，他坦坦荡荡，讨厌武侠，却做了好多侠义的事情。到后来，赞誉他都不要了，好像存心让自己的刻薄来解释这些。在影片里，他还是借着那个叫川川的小姑娘，说出了一句让自己得以自洽的评价：他也没有比别人更坏。
对了，还有一句，我也记住了，是香山在公司里对秦奋说，“伪艺术也是艺术，就算它再二尾子，那也是艺术家生的。眼看那块地儿就要盖成电子城了，咱们再不说点好的，伪艺术也绝种了。（大意）”
王朔的一生里关于真伪的讨论很有意思，在他的早期作品里不断地告诉别人四个字：你丫别装。后来他改了口：“装的好也叫好，动机就别聊了，聊来聊去只能伤害人。”你若问他，你怎么自己抽自己的嘴巴，他一定会大方地告诉你，“我年轻时候才懂多少东西。”
我曾经看过不下5个号称是王朔所写的博客，几乎看不完一篇文章就知道是假的，可还有挺多人偏偏就信，他们似乎以为沾点儿痞子气就成王朔了。我见过很多人，有话不会好好说，非要说得让你一听就很难受。那股连王朔自己都厌恶的腔调居然成了招牌，太多人拿皮囊当骨肉了。
为什么王朔是你学不来的？这跟炖肘子是一样的，你说这脂也脱了，鸡汤也煨了，葱、姜、绍酒也都放了，可怎么就是出不来东坡家的味道呢？工序一道不少，作料一味没差，比对着菜谱，没错啊，找大师盘问，说差在哪呢？大师笑而又语，你呀，少了人家的灵魂。
所以你至多可以学会他的调侃、他的嘲讽、他的戏谑，甚至可以模仿他的狂狷，但你终究没法复制那股厌离的情绪，那种对世界放不开手又瞧不上眼的无时无刻的爱和纠葛。那是情怀，得不拿自己当人的疯过，得九死一生，得大彻大悟，得从头再来，他说除此之外还得扎一针。
步入中年以后，王朔总是在两件事上自我重复。一为道歉，二为道别。第一件事对谁都好，解了心结，树了榜样，给自己也挣得了面子。日本有句谚语：不会说对不起的人永远不是大人。王朔给不少人道歉，然后他发现了中国人原来都是讲理的，没有人会为难一个诚心道歉的人。一个人过完人生的大半还时常自我否定，成长没有完止反倒越来越凶猛。人总是要犯错的嘛，能做的就是到知错的那一天，去认错。真正的错是知善而不行善。
至于道别这件事，王朔先用作品画出了分水岭，与从前的自己彻底决裂，少说有一半的读者买回一本《我的千岁寒》表示看不懂。看不懂没关系，王朔说本来就不是给你们写的，甚至他不明白怎么到今天还有人会对《空中小姐》那样的作品念念不忘。作品改头换面之后，道别就成了他的一个主题，他掏心掏肺的对世界对亲人对从前写着自己的私家话，诚挚得像情书。在《非诚勿扰2》里，他编造了一个人生告别会，来满足自己对道别的诉求。道别就是放不下，放不下内心的诸多情结，它们在电影里，也一股脑的出现：海军、大院、共产主义、女儿、美、自杀、生老病死。把这些感情用几部作品变着花样的来回阐释，显得多少有点矫情，但其实细想想也是好事，我们这个时代又缺少忏悔又缺少深情，王朔都找补上了。再者说，能把临别赠言当成创作内容一写好几年的作家恐怕也就他一人吧？
其实整部《非诚勿扰2》里，讲的同样是这两件事，道歉和道别，当这两件事儿慢慢变成一回事儿，王朔就有了一种温暖的情怀，在白驹过隙的人生里，留下几句喃喃而绵长的絮语。到影片最后，使人潸然泪下的，不正是这个吗？
说回电影，王朔的编剧显然不是电影剧本的考量，情节无力，写得又过于自我，以至于搁在镜头里有点突兀。把最后的那几段戏放在一个充斥着剑南春和中国人寿的贺岁片里，显得夸张并且失衡。
电影的张力不会是前边逗你乐后边让你哭那么简单。举个例子，刚猛如姜文的电影，孤独起来才叫人子弹穿心，比如那句“那年我十七岁，她也十七岁。”看完《让子弹飞》，我脑子里全是师爷的这句话。结果师爷死了，腿挂在树上，他的秘密最终还是独自带走了，他连一句实话都没有人可以分享，这就是张力。
这些年国产电影的大屏幕上，能这么靠剧情触动人心的，我只对姜文有印象，虽然他也没做太好。看姜文的电影，总觉得仿佛一个处男在度过他惊心动魄又迫不及待的初夜，藏都藏不住的兴奋，满屋子荷尔蒙。
看冯小刚的电影则像一个浑浊而又温柔的中年人，坐在床边跟你不停的聊啊聊，边聊还边撩拨，你对他说，你他妈倒是来啊，结果他就不来，恨不得用一张嘴皮子把事儿给办了。
至于张大导演和陈大艺术家，这俩人有点相似，因为阴阳怪气又偏爱装神弄鬼的人总是比较像。
草威
PS：中国这些电影以后能不能尽量不要让孩子在里面朗读背诵什么的了，因为第一，中国话不适合说出来，有时候挺好的词说出来瘆人；第二，饶了孩子吧，没那么深沉，不至于这样。
Thursday, December 23, 2010
我怎样才能嫁给有钱人？(回答拍案叫绝）
http://bbs.creaders.net/romance/bbsviewer.php?trd_id=541112
一个年轻漂亮的美国女孩在美国一家大型网上论坛金融版上发表了这样一个问题帖：
我怎样才能嫁给有钱人？
我下面要说的都是心里话。本人25岁，非常漂亮，是那种让人惊艳的漂亮，谈吐文雅，有品位，想嫁给年薪 50 万美元的人。
你也许会说我贪心，但在纽约年薪100 万才算是中产，本人的要求其实不高。这个版上有没有年薪超过 50 万的人？你们都结婚
了吗？我想请教各位一个问题 -- 怎样才能嫁给你们这样的有钱人？
我约会过的人中，最有钱的年薪 25 万，这似乎是我的上限。要住进纽约中心公园以西的高尚住宅区，年薪 25 万远远不够。我是来诚心诚意请教的。有几个具体的问题：
一、有钱的单身汉一般都在哪里消磨时光？（请列出酒吧、饭店、健身房的名字和详细地址。）
二、我应该把目标定在哪个年龄段？
三、为什麽有些富豪的妻子看起来相貌平平？我见过有些女孩，长相如同白开水，毫无吸引人的地方，但她们却能嫁入豪门。而单身酒吧里那些迷死人的美女却运气不佳。
四、你们怎麽决定谁能做妻子，谁只能做女朋友？（我现在的目标是结婚。）
波尔斯女士 --
下面是一个华尔街金融家的回帖：
亲爱的波尔斯：我怀著极大的兴趣看完了贵帖，相信不少女士也有跟你类似的疑问。
让我以一个投资专家的身份，对你的处境做一分析。我年薪超过 50 万，符合你的择偶标准，所以请相信我并不是在浪费大家的时间。
从生意人的角度来看，跟你结婚是个糟糕的经营决策，道理再明白不过，请听我解释。
抛开细枝末节，你所说的其实是一笔简单的“财”“貌”交易：甲方提供述人的外表，乙方出钱，公平交易，童叟无欺。
但是，这里有个致命的问题，你的美貌会消逝，但我的钱却不会无缘无故减少。
事实上，我的收入很可能会逐年递增．而你不可能一年比一年漂亮。
因此，从经济学的角度讲，我是增值资产，你是贬值资产，不但贬值，而且是加速贬值！你现在 25 岁，在未来的五年里，你仍可以保持窈窕的身段，俏丽的容貌，虽然每年略有退步。但美貌消逝的速度会越来越快，如果它是你仅有的资产，十年以後你的价值甚忧。
用华尔街术语说，每笔交易都有一个仓位，跟你交往属於「交易仓位（TradingPosition）」，一旦价值下跌就要立即抛售，而不宜长期持有 -- 也就是你想要的婚姻。听起来很残忍，但对一件会加速贬值的物资，明智的选择是租赁，而不是购入。
年薪能超过 50 万的人，当然都不是傻瓜，因此我们只会跟你交往，但不会跟你结婚。所以我劝你不要苦苦寻找嫁给有钱人的秘方。顺便说一句，你倒可以想办法把自己变成年薪 50 万的人，这比碰到一个有钱的傻瓜的胜算要大。
希望我的回帖能对你有帮助。如果你对“租赁”感兴趣，请跟我联系。
成长祝您：
平安喜乐，圣诞快乐，新年好！
一个年轻漂亮的美国女孩在美国一家大型网上论坛金融版上发表了这样一个问题帖：
我怎样才能嫁给有钱人？
我下面要说的都是心里话。本人25岁，非常漂亮，是那种让人惊艳的漂亮，谈吐文雅，有品位，想嫁给年薪 50 万美元的人。
你也许会说我贪心，但在纽约年薪100 万才算是中产，本人的要求其实不高。这个版上有没有年薪超过 50 万的人？你们都结婚
了吗？我想请教各位一个问题 -- 怎样才能嫁给你们这样的有钱人？
我约会过的人中，最有钱的年薪 25 万，这似乎是我的上限。要住进纽约中心公园以西的高尚住宅区，年薪 25 万远远不够。我是来诚心诚意请教的。有几个具体的问题：
一、有钱的单身汉一般都在哪里消磨时光？（请列出酒吧、饭店、健身房的名字和详细地址。）
二、我应该把目标定在哪个年龄段？
三、为什麽有些富豪的妻子看起来相貌平平？我见过有些女孩，长相如同白开水，毫无吸引人的地方，但她们却能嫁入豪门。而单身酒吧里那些迷死人的美女却运气不佳。
四、你们怎麽决定谁能做妻子，谁只能做女朋友？（我现在的目标是结婚。）
波尔斯女士 --
下面是一个华尔街金融家的回帖：
亲爱的波尔斯：我怀著极大的兴趣看完了贵帖，相信不少女士也有跟你类似的疑问。
让我以一个投资专家的身份，对你的处境做一分析。我年薪超过 50 万，符合你的择偶标准，所以请相信我并不是在浪费大家的时间。
从生意人的角度来看，跟你结婚是个糟糕的经营决策，道理再明白不过，请听我解释。
抛开细枝末节，你所说的其实是一笔简单的“财”“貌”交易：甲方提供述人的外表，乙方出钱，公平交易，童叟无欺。
但是，这里有个致命的问题，你的美貌会消逝，但我的钱却不会无缘无故减少。
事实上，我的收入很可能会逐年递增．而你不可能一年比一年漂亮。
因此，从经济学的角度讲，我是增值资产，你是贬值资产，不但贬值，而且是加速贬值！你现在 25 岁，在未来的五年里，你仍可以保持窈窕的身段，俏丽的容貌，虽然每年略有退步。但美貌消逝的速度会越来越快，如果它是你仅有的资产，十年以後你的价值甚忧。
用华尔街术语说，每笔交易都有一个仓位，跟你交往属於「交易仓位（TradingPosition）」，一旦价值下跌就要立即抛售，而不宜长期持有 -- 也就是你想要的婚姻。听起来很残忍，但对一件会加速贬值的物资，明智的选择是租赁，而不是购入。
年薪能超过 50 万的人，当然都不是傻瓜，因此我们只会跟你交往，但不会跟你结婚。所以我劝你不要苦苦寻找嫁给有钱人的秘方。顺便说一句，你倒可以想办法把自己变成年薪 50 万的人，这比碰到一个有钱的傻瓜的胜算要大。
希望我的回帖能对你有帮助。如果你对“租赁”感兴趣，请跟我联系。
成长祝您：
平安喜乐，圣诞快乐，新年好！
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
外媒列10大理由 建议消费者不买iPad
外媒列10大理由 建议消费者不买iPad
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
新浪网 2010-12-22 07:29:31
http://news.creaders.net/photo/newsViewer.php?nid=455423&id=1030191&aid=14
导语：美国媒体今天刊文称，苹果iPad平板电脑是今年最热门的成年人玩具，许多人都希望获得一台iPad作为圣诞礼物。然而，iPad存在的10方面问题决定这并不是圣诞礼物的合适选择。
以下为这10点原因：
1.iPad明年将降价
业内人士预计，苹果将于2011年推出iPad 2，这意味着第一代iPad的价格将下降。第一代iPhone推出时，8GB存储容量的价格为599美元，而数个月之后价格就下降至399美元。
2.明年的新款产品性能将更好
下一代iPad可能将有一些新功能，例如视频会议及更好的屏幕等。届时，第一代iPad的性能将相形见绌。2008年，当史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)展示第二代iPhone时，他调侃了第一代iPhone运行速度的缓慢。
3.iPad的利润率很高
苹果并不是一家科技公司，而是一个类似蒂凡尼的奢侈品品牌。苹果吸引消费者购买该公司的任何产品。去年圣诞节期间，苹果的毛利率为41%，这令人难以想象。这对苹果及其股东来说很好，但对消费者来说不利。
4.竞争对手正在出现
目前，iPad只有一个主要竞争对手，即三星Galaxy Tab。但这一局面未来几个月内将改变。新的采用Android系统的平板电脑最早将于明年3月面市，这将使用户拥有更多选择。
5.不支持Flash
如果用户希望观看互联网视频，那么使用以往的笔记本或PC就可以做到，并且是免费的。然而，在使用iPad的情况下将面临问题。大部分视频都使用Adobe Flash技术，但iPad并不支持该技术。因此，用户将会发现无法观看许多互联网视频。用户可能不得不付费购买苹果iTunes商店中的电影，或是使用Hulu Plus这类付费服务。
6.使用成本
iPad入门版的价格为499美元，是上网本的两倍。而如果用户购买入门版iPad，那么可能会感到后悔。这款iPad仅有16GB的存储容量，并且只能通过WiFi上网。而iPad的许多功能都需要互联网连接。因此，如果用户希望能够在任何地点使用iPad，那么将需要使用3G版。而3G版iPad的入门价格为629美元，每月服务费则为15美元。
7.游戏上瘾问题
iPad上的游戏都很好，但是玩游戏也将带来问题。游戏会令人上瘾。相对PC上的游戏，iPad上的游戏可能更吸引玩家。实际上，许多用户并不会使用iPad去阅读新闻，而是用它玩《愤怒的小鸟》等游戏。
8.浪费生命
经常上网是浪费生命，网络就是一个黑洞。通过iPad，用户可以在任何时间上网，然而这将耗费掉用户原本做其他事的时间。
9.iPad将逐渐令人感觉枯燥
今年的流行产品明年将会变得枯燥，人们总是很快对新事物感到厌倦。上世纪90年代，Palm Pilots一度引起市场轰动，但目前已经不再被人们所提起。iPad可能也会有同样的经历。
10.用户对苹果的崇拜令人难以忍受
用户和业内人士对苹果的每一款产品都很狂热，而乔布斯在宣传苹果产品时总是持一种“这将再次改变一切”的态度。这样的局面令人难以忍受。(维金)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
新浪网 2010-12-22 07:29:31
http://news.creaders.net/photo/newsViewer.php?nid=455423&id=1030191&aid=14
导语：美国媒体今天刊文称，苹果iPad平板电脑是今年最热门的成年人玩具，许多人都希望获得一台iPad作为圣诞礼物。然而，iPad存在的10方面问题决定这并不是圣诞礼物的合适选择。
以下为这10点原因：
1.iPad明年将降价
业内人士预计，苹果将于2011年推出iPad 2，这意味着第一代iPad的价格将下降。第一代iPhone推出时，8GB存储容量的价格为599美元，而数个月之后价格就下降至399美元。
2.明年的新款产品性能将更好
下一代iPad可能将有一些新功能，例如视频会议及更好的屏幕等。届时，第一代iPad的性能将相形见绌。2008年，当史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)展示第二代iPhone时，他调侃了第一代iPhone运行速度的缓慢。
3.iPad的利润率很高
苹果并不是一家科技公司，而是一个类似蒂凡尼的奢侈品品牌。苹果吸引消费者购买该公司的任何产品。去年圣诞节期间，苹果的毛利率为41%，这令人难以想象。这对苹果及其股东来说很好，但对消费者来说不利。
4.竞争对手正在出现
目前，iPad只有一个主要竞争对手，即三星Galaxy Tab。但这一局面未来几个月内将改变。新的采用Android系统的平板电脑最早将于明年3月面市，这将使用户拥有更多选择。
5.不支持Flash
如果用户希望观看互联网视频，那么使用以往的笔记本或PC就可以做到，并且是免费的。然而，在使用iPad的情况下将面临问题。大部分视频都使用Adobe Flash技术，但iPad并不支持该技术。因此，用户将会发现无法观看许多互联网视频。用户可能不得不付费购买苹果iTunes商店中的电影，或是使用Hulu Plus这类付费服务。
6.使用成本
iPad入门版的价格为499美元，是上网本的两倍。而如果用户购买入门版iPad，那么可能会感到后悔。这款iPad仅有16GB的存储容量，并且只能通过WiFi上网。而iPad的许多功能都需要互联网连接。因此，如果用户希望能够在任何地点使用iPad，那么将需要使用3G版。而3G版iPad的入门价格为629美元，每月服务费则为15美元。
7.游戏上瘾问题
iPad上的游戏都很好，但是玩游戏也将带来问题。游戏会令人上瘾。相对PC上的游戏，iPad上的游戏可能更吸引玩家。实际上，许多用户并不会使用iPad去阅读新闻，而是用它玩《愤怒的小鸟》等游戏。
8.浪费生命
经常上网是浪费生命，网络就是一个黑洞。通过iPad，用户可以在任何时间上网，然而这将耗费掉用户原本做其他事的时间。
9.iPad将逐渐令人感觉枯燥
今年的流行产品明年将会变得枯燥，人们总是很快对新事物感到厌倦。上世纪90年代，Palm Pilots一度引起市场轰动，但目前已经不再被人们所提起。iPad可能也会有同样的经历。
10.用户对苹果的崇拜令人难以忍受
用户和业内人士对苹果的每一款产品都很狂热，而乔布斯在宣传苹果产品时总是持一种“这将再次改变一切”的态度。这样的局面令人难以忍受。(维金)
Monday, December 13, 2010
No Jobs? Young Graduates Make Their Own
nytimes
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/No-Jobs-Young-Graduates-Make-nytimes-217264902.html?x=0
HANNAH SELIGSON, On Sunday December 12, 2010, 3:43 am EST
FIVE years ago, after graduating from New York University with a film degree and thousands of dollars in student loans, Scott Gerber moved back in with his parents on Staten Island. He then took out more loans to start a new-media and technology company, but he didn’t have a clear market in mind; the company went belly up in 2006.
“It made me feel demoralized and humiliated,” he says. “I wondered if this was really what post-collegiate life was supposed to be like. Did I do something wrong? The answers weren’t apparent to me.”
Still in debt, Mr. Gerber considered his career options. His mother kept encouraging him to get a “real” job, the kind that comes with an office and a boss. But, using the last $700 in his bank account, he decided to start another company instead.
With the new company, called Sizzle It, Mr. Gerber vowed to find a niche, reduce overhead and generally be more frugal. The company, which specializes in short promotional videos, was profitable the first year, he says.
Mr. Gerber, now 27, isn’t a millionaire, but he’s paid off his loans and doesn’t have to live with his parents (he rents an apartment in Hoboken, N.J.). And he thinks his experience can help other young people who face a daunting unemployment rate.
In October, Mr. Gerber started the Young Entrepreneur Council “to create a shift from a résumé-driven society to one where people create their own jobs,” he says. “The jobs are going to come from the entrepreneurial level.”
The council consists of 80-plus business owners across the country, ages 17 to 33. Members include Scott Becker, 23, co-founder of Invite Media, an advertising technology firm recently acquired by a Google unit; Lauren Berger, 26, founder of the Intern Queen, a site that connects college students with internships; Aaron Patzer, the 30-year-old who sold Mint.com to Intuit for $170 million; and Josh Weinstein, 24, who started CollegeOnly.com, a social networking site that is backed by a PayPal founder.
The council, which has applied for nonprofit status, serves as a help desk and mentoring hotline for individual entrepreneurs. People can also submit questions on subjects like marketing, publicity and technology, and each month a group of council members will answer 30 to 40 of them in business publications like The Wall Street Journal and American Express Open Forum, and on dozens of small business Web sites.
Council members assert that young people can start businesses even if they have little or no money or experience. But whether those start-ups last is another matter. Roughly half of all new businesses fail within the first five years, according to federal data. And the entrepreneurial life is notoriously filled with risks, stresses and sacrifices.
But then again, unemployment is 9.8 percent; Mr. Gerber’s in-box is flooded with e-mails from young people who have sent out hundreds of résumés for corporate jobs and come up empty. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, only 24.4 percent of 2010 graduates who applied for a job had one waiting for them after graduation (up from 19.7 percent in 2009). What do some people have to lose?
THE lesson may be that entrepreneurship can be a viable career path, not a renegade choice — especially since the promise of “Go to college, get good grades and then get a job,” isn’t working the way it once did. The new reality has forced a whole generation to redefine what a stable job is.
“I’ve seen all these people go to Wall Street, and those were supposed to be the good jobs. Now they are out of work,” says Windsor Hanger, 22, who turned down a marketing position at Bloomingdale’s to work on HerCampus.com, an online magazine. “It’s not a pure dichotomy anymore that entrepreneurship is risky and other jobs are safe, so why not do what I love?”
Mr. Gerber argues that the tools to become an entrepreneur are more accessible than they’ve ever been. Thanks to the Internet, there are fewer upfront costs. A business owner can build a Web site, host conference calls, create slide presentations online through a browser, and host live meetings and Web seminars — all on a shoestring.
Can’t afford a Madison Avenue address? Try borrowing one instead. That is what Mr. Gerber did, for $300 a year, from ManhattanVirtualOffice.com, which forwards mail from a recognizable address. He says it saved him $100,000 in rent and gave Sizzle It the credibility it needed to start attracting clients that now include Procter & Gamble and the Gap. He does most of his actual work at home and in coffee shops and shared work spaces.
“If this were the 1980s, I’d need a corner office,” says Shama Kabani, 25, a Y.E.C. member and founder of Marketing Zen, a digital marketing firm in Dallas, with yearly revenue in the seven figures. “All you need today is a laptop, patience and willingness,” she says. Ms. Kabani hired all of her 24 employees virtually; 15 are in the Philippines. “I’ve never met any of them,” she says.
Open-source software can reduce or eliminate the need for consultants and tech support. When Annie Wang, 21, co-founder of HerCampus.com, wanted the articles on the site to rotate in a slide show, she didn’t hire a Web designer. She found a free online resource and spent a day teaching herself how to create the slide show.
Being a young entrepreneur means coming up with creative ways to fill your knowledge gaps, says Eric Bahn, 29, a council member and founder of BeatTheGMAT.com, an M.B.A. applicant community that generates close to seven figures in revenue. Mr. Bahn, who does not have a technical background, found a free resource on the Web and taught himself HTML to build his site.
Most of the business owners who belong to the council did not need much physical space to start their companies. For the person who wants to start a restaurant, a bakery, an exercise studio — or any other business that requires renting or owning property — the barriers and expenses are still high. Mr. Gerber warns that anyone starting a brick-and-mortar business still faces the same cost barriers they always have — including high rent. He advises young people to start a business that does not require expensive space.
BUT start-ups do need some financing. So Mr. Gerber is also starting the Gen Y Fund, from which young entrepreneurs can seek funding. Council members will have the option of investing in the fund starting next year.
Could it be that the council and separate fund are mainly a way for Mr. Gerber to identify new investing opportunities? He emphatically says no, adding that helping young people succeed as entrepreneurs through the council is his passion.
As far as the fund is concerned, “We are looking to spearhead a major shift in how resources are allocated to our generation, because no one from above is going to do it,” he says.
The goal of the fund is not to find the next Facebook or sexy Web start-up, Mr. Gerber says; instead, it will look for practicable and marketable business ideas. In fact, a favorite phrase of his is “boring is better.” He’ll be looking for businesses that are incubated outside of Silicon Valley.
The council and fund do add visibility to Mr. Gerber’s entrepreneurial empire. In addition to running Sizzle It, Mr. Gerber writes a widely syndicated column for young entrepreneurs, and he recently published a book called “Never Get a ‘Real’ Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business, and Not Go Broke.” He also runs Gerber Enterprises, his personal investing fund, and is an investor in a restaurant group.
Mr. Gerber has never taken a business or economics class; he says he took a lot of people out to lunch to learn about the nuts and bolts of the business world. “I didn’t go to my third-tier upper-management boss,” he says. “I e-mailed people in my circle and figured who knew what I needed to know.”
Lack of experience can actually be an asset to young business owners. When Ms. Kabani first started Marketing Zen, she tried to hide her age through a combination of wardrobe choices and trying to sound “older.” “I thought I was fooling all these people, but then one of my clients told me he hired me because I was 23. He wanted someone who spoke digital as a first language, not a second. It was a mind-blowing moment for me.”
Ms. Hanger, co-founder of HerCampus.com along with Ms. Wang and Stephanie Kaplan, 22, says being young helps attract advertisers like New Balance and Juicy Couture to the site. “They like that I am my readership. I was in college six months ago,” she says. The site recently started turning a profit.
MANY of the council members aren’t bankrolled by their parents. Only a third of them received outside funding to start their businesses. In fact, Mr. Gerber’s message to young entrepreneurs is “No one will give you money” and “Start on a shoestring budget,” something many of them did.
For many of these entrepreneurs, success didn’t happen overnight. Mr. Bahn started BeatTheGMAT.com in 2005 as a blog that developed a following over the course of a few years. It was three years before he quit his day job in a general management program at Intuit to work on the site full time.
Even if these 20-somethings pulled it off, the reality is a vast majority of entrepreneurs, of any age, don’t succeed. “The first business is probably going to fail,” says Arel Moodie, 27, a Y.E.C. member and co-owner of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, which educates college students on starting a business. Mr. Moodie’s first two businesses — a calendar company and a protein drink company — flopped and put him $30,000 in debt. (He has paid it off.)
Ben Brinckerhoff, 28, who is not a member of the council, started Devver.net, an online tool to test computer software in 2008. The company folded last spring.
Mr. Brinckerhoff was formerly a software developer at Microsoft. “There are very real cons to starting a company. It can hurt your ego, and financially it’s a big hit. If I had stayed at my old job at Microsoft, I would have been better off financially,” he says.
The silver lining, however, was that Mr. Brinckerhoff got inquiries from 10 companies about working for them after they read on the Web or heard through word of mouth that his company had failed.
“Employers like the entrepreneurial skill set,” he says. “They want to hire people who are risk-takers and can make quick decisions.” He is now working as a freelance Web and technology consultant in Boulder, Colo., and hopes to start another company.
When deciding whether to start a business, “You have to really want to do it,” says Maia Josebachvili, 27, a council member and founder of Urban Escapes, which organizes outdoor trips. She quit her job as a derivatives trader on Wall Street to start her company, which grew to 45 employees and was recently acquired by LivingSocial, a consumer site.
“It takes a lot of discipline. I didn’t eat out for the first six months, and I lived on my friend’s couch,” Ms. Josebachvili says. “Unless you are independently wealthy, it’s a lifestyle adjustment.”
_______
I like this article. My hat goes off to young Mr. Gerber. In my short time as an entreprenuer, I've come to realize that there are two types of people in this world...those who strive for security and those who strive for freedom. And the thing is, these two types of people rarely understand eachother or see eye-to-eye on much. Those who strive for security are usually the types who are always seeking out a "good job" because of what they believe it can afford them in the sense of peace of mind. The peace of mind that comes with knowing that next check is coming like clockwork and knowing in advance (more or less) how much lifestyle you can afford to provide for yourself and/or your family.
The entreprenuer is puzzled by these types of people because we look at all the things these people give up in most cases to het this "peace of mind". Things that you can't put a price tag on like the freedom that comes with making your own schedule which comes in handy when your schedule needs some flexibility to get everyday things done. The dignity that comes with not being talked down to by a "superior" or that comes with taking time off whenever you need it versus having to ask someone else's permission. Having the opportunity to work for a wage that you feel you deserve versus what is paid to a position whther you are the one working that position or someone else is. Sure, being an entreprenuer isn't all roses, and we are very familiar with the risks (usually because most of us have failed a time or two), but the price to us is totally worth it. To me, being an entreprenuer is more self-image-defining than a job because you're blazing your own trail versus just filling a position that someone else created and that someone else can later deem to be unnecessary. So many times I was told to get a "real job", and on a couple of occasions I had to in order to fill in the financial gaps, but to me, those jobs were more of a tool that were at my disposal to use when I needed them rather than a living to depend on for the rest of my life. The days of secure jobs and great pensions are over. Go out their and define yourself. You might fail, but you won't die, I promise.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/No-Jobs-Young-Graduates-Make-nytimes-217264902.html?x=0
HANNAH SELIGSON, On Sunday December 12, 2010, 3:43 am EST
FIVE years ago, after graduating from New York University with a film degree and thousands of dollars in student loans, Scott Gerber moved back in with his parents on Staten Island. He then took out more loans to start a new-media and technology company, but he didn’t have a clear market in mind; the company went belly up in 2006.
“It made me feel demoralized and humiliated,” he says. “I wondered if this was really what post-collegiate life was supposed to be like. Did I do something wrong? The answers weren’t apparent to me.”
Still in debt, Mr. Gerber considered his career options. His mother kept encouraging him to get a “real” job, the kind that comes with an office and a boss. But, using the last $700 in his bank account, he decided to start another company instead.
With the new company, called Sizzle It, Mr. Gerber vowed to find a niche, reduce overhead and generally be more frugal. The company, which specializes in short promotional videos, was profitable the first year, he says.
Mr. Gerber, now 27, isn’t a millionaire, but he’s paid off his loans and doesn’t have to live with his parents (he rents an apartment in Hoboken, N.J.). And he thinks his experience can help other young people who face a daunting unemployment rate.
In October, Mr. Gerber started the Young Entrepreneur Council “to create a shift from a résumé-driven society to one where people create their own jobs,” he says. “The jobs are going to come from the entrepreneurial level.”
The council consists of 80-plus business owners across the country, ages 17 to 33. Members include Scott Becker, 23, co-founder of Invite Media, an advertising technology firm recently acquired by a Google unit; Lauren Berger, 26, founder of the Intern Queen, a site that connects college students with internships; Aaron Patzer, the 30-year-old who sold Mint.com to Intuit for $170 million; and Josh Weinstein, 24, who started CollegeOnly.com, a social networking site that is backed by a PayPal founder.
The council, which has applied for nonprofit status, serves as a help desk and mentoring hotline for individual entrepreneurs. People can also submit questions on subjects like marketing, publicity and technology, and each month a group of council members will answer 30 to 40 of them in business publications like The Wall Street Journal and American Express Open Forum, and on dozens of small business Web sites.
Council members assert that young people can start businesses even if they have little or no money or experience. But whether those start-ups last is another matter. Roughly half of all new businesses fail within the first five years, according to federal data. And the entrepreneurial life is notoriously filled with risks, stresses and sacrifices.
But then again, unemployment is 9.8 percent; Mr. Gerber’s in-box is flooded with e-mails from young people who have sent out hundreds of résumés for corporate jobs and come up empty. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, only 24.4 percent of 2010 graduates who applied for a job had one waiting for them after graduation (up from 19.7 percent in 2009). What do some people have to lose?
THE lesson may be that entrepreneurship can be a viable career path, not a renegade choice — especially since the promise of “Go to college, get good grades and then get a job,” isn’t working the way it once did. The new reality has forced a whole generation to redefine what a stable job is.
“I’ve seen all these people go to Wall Street, and those were supposed to be the good jobs. Now they are out of work,” says Windsor Hanger, 22, who turned down a marketing position at Bloomingdale’s to work on HerCampus.com, an online magazine. “It’s not a pure dichotomy anymore that entrepreneurship is risky and other jobs are safe, so why not do what I love?”
Mr. Gerber argues that the tools to become an entrepreneur are more accessible than they’ve ever been. Thanks to the Internet, there are fewer upfront costs. A business owner can build a Web site, host conference calls, create slide presentations online through a browser, and host live meetings and Web seminars — all on a shoestring.
Can’t afford a Madison Avenue address? Try borrowing one instead. That is what Mr. Gerber did, for $300 a year, from ManhattanVirtualOffice.com, which forwards mail from a recognizable address. He says it saved him $100,000 in rent and gave Sizzle It the credibility it needed to start attracting clients that now include Procter & Gamble and the Gap. He does most of his actual work at home and in coffee shops and shared work spaces.
“If this were the 1980s, I’d need a corner office,” says Shama Kabani, 25, a Y.E.C. member and founder of Marketing Zen, a digital marketing firm in Dallas, with yearly revenue in the seven figures. “All you need today is a laptop, patience and willingness,” she says. Ms. Kabani hired all of her 24 employees virtually; 15 are in the Philippines. “I’ve never met any of them,” she says.
Open-source software can reduce or eliminate the need for consultants and tech support. When Annie Wang, 21, co-founder of HerCampus.com, wanted the articles on the site to rotate in a slide show, she didn’t hire a Web designer. She found a free online resource and spent a day teaching herself how to create the slide show.
Being a young entrepreneur means coming up with creative ways to fill your knowledge gaps, says Eric Bahn, 29, a council member and founder of BeatTheGMAT.com, an M.B.A. applicant community that generates close to seven figures in revenue. Mr. Bahn, who does not have a technical background, found a free resource on the Web and taught himself HTML to build his site.
Most of the business owners who belong to the council did not need much physical space to start their companies. For the person who wants to start a restaurant, a bakery, an exercise studio — or any other business that requires renting or owning property — the barriers and expenses are still high. Mr. Gerber warns that anyone starting a brick-and-mortar business still faces the same cost barriers they always have — including high rent. He advises young people to start a business that does not require expensive space.
BUT start-ups do need some financing. So Mr. Gerber is also starting the Gen Y Fund, from which young entrepreneurs can seek funding. Council members will have the option of investing in the fund starting next year.
Could it be that the council and separate fund are mainly a way for Mr. Gerber to identify new investing opportunities? He emphatically says no, adding that helping young people succeed as entrepreneurs through the council is his passion.
As far as the fund is concerned, “We are looking to spearhead a major shift in how resources are allocated to our generation, because no one from above is going to do it,” he says.
The goal of the fund is not to find the next Facebook or sexy Web start-up, Mr. Gerber says; instead, it will look for practicable and marketable business ideas. In fact, a favorite phrase of his is “boring is better.” He’ll be looking for businesses that are incubated outside of Silicon Valley.
The council and fund do add visibility to Mr. Gerber’s entrepreneurial empire. In addition to running Sizzle It, Mr. Gerber writes a widely syndicated column for young entrepreneurs, and he recently published a book called “Never Get a ‘Real’ Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business, and Not Go Broke.” He also runs Gerber Enterprises, his personal investing fund, and is an investor in a restaurant group.
Mr. Gerber has never taken a business or economics class; he says he took a lot of people out to lunch to learn about the nuts and bolts of the business world. “I didn’t go to my third-tier upper-management boss,” he says. “I e-mailed people in my circle and figured who knew what I needed to know.”
Lack of experience can actually be an asset to young business owners. When Ms. Kabani first started Marketing Zen, she tried to hide her age through a combination of wardrobe choices and trying to sound “older.” “I thought I was fooling all these people, but then one of my clients told me he hired me because I was 23. He wanted someone who spoke digital as a first language, not a second. It was a mind-blowing moment for me.”
Ms. Hanger, co-founder of HerCampus.com along with Ms. Wang and Stephanie Kaplan, 22, says being young helps attract advertisers like New Balance and Juicy Couture to the site. “They like that I am my readership. I was in college six months ago,” she says. The site recently started turning a profit.
MANY of the council members aren’t bankrolled by their parents. Only a third of them received outside funding to start their businesses. In fact, Mr. Gerber’s message to young entrepreneurs is “No one will give you money” and “Start on a shoestring budget,” something many of them did.
For many of these entrepreneurs, success didn’t happen overnight. Mr. Bahn started BeatTheGMAT.com in 2005 as a blog that developed a following over the course of a few years. It was three years before he quit his day job in a general management program at Intuit to work on the site full time.
Even if these 20-somethings pulled it off, the reality is a vast majority of entrepreneurs, of any age, don’t succeed. “The first business is probably going to fail,” says Arel Moodie, 27, a Y.E.C. member and co-owner of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, which educates college students on starting a business. Mr. Moodie’s first two businesses — a calendar company and a protein drink company — flopped and put him $30,000 in debt. (He has paid it off.)
Ben Brinckerhoff, 28, who is not a member of the council, started Devver.net, an online tool to test computer software in 2008. The company folded last spring.
Mr. Brinckerhoff was formerly a software developer at Microsoft. “There are very real cons to starting a company. It can hurt your ego, and financially it’s a big hit. If I had stayed at my old job at Microsoft, I would have been better off financially,” he says.
The silver lining, however, was that Mr. Brinckerhoff got inquiries from 10 companies about working for them after they read on the Web or heard through word of mouth that his company had failed.
“Employers like the entrepreneurial skill set,” he says. “They want to hire people who are risk-takers and can make quick decisions.” He is now working as a freelance Web and technology consultant in Boulder, Colo., and hopes to start another company.
When deciding whether to start a business, “You have to really want to do it,” says Maia Josebachvili, 27, a council member and founder of Urban Escapes, which organizes outdoor trips. She quit her job as a derivatives trader on Wall Street to start her company, which grew to 45 employees and was recently acquired by LivingSocial, a consumer site.
“It takes a lot of discipline. I didn’t eat out for the first six months, and I lived on my friend’s couch,” Ms. Josebachvili says. “Unless you are independently wealthy, it’s a lifestyle adjustment.”
_______
I like this article. My hat goes off to young Mr. Gerber. In my short time as an entreprenuer, I've come to realize that there are two types of people in this world...those who strive for security and those who strive for freedom. And the thing is, these two types of people rarely understand eachother or see eye-to-eye on much. Those who strive for security are usually the types who are always seeking out a "good job" because of what they believe it can afford them in the sense of peace of mind. The peace of mind that comes with knowing that next check is coming like clockwork and knowing in advance (more or less) how much lifestyle you can afford to provide for yourself and/or your family.
The entreprenuer is puzzled by these types of people because we look at all the things these people give up in most cases to het this "peace of mind". Things that you can't put a price tag on like the freedom that comes with making your own schedule which comes in handy when your schedule needs some flexibility to get everyday things done. The dignity that comes with not being talked down to by a "superior" or that comes with taking time off whenever you need it versus having to ask someone else's permission. Having the opportunity to work for a wage that you feel you deserve versus what is paid to a position whther you are the one working that position or someone else is. Sure, being an entreprenuer isn't all roses, and we are very familiar with the risks (usually because most of us have failed a time or two), but the price to us is totally worth it. To me, being an entreprenuer is more self-image-defining than a job because you're blazing your own trail versus just filling a position that someone else created and that someone else can later deem to be unnecessary. So many times I was told to get a "real job", and on a couple of occasions I had to in order to fill in the financial gaps, but to me, those jobs were more of a tool that were at my disposal to use when I needed them rather than a living to depend on for the rest of my life. The days of secure jobs and great pensions are over. Go out their and define yourself. You might fail, but you won't die, I promise.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Degrees for the Next Decade
http://education.yahoo.net/articles/degrees_for_the_next_decade.htm?kid=1BWAM
Degrees for the Next Decade
Best Degrees for the Next Decade
Degrees for the Next Decade
Find out which four degrees hold the most potential in the next decade.
By Chris Kyle
A lot can change in ten years. One career can explode in popularity while another hot job can go cold.
Your degree, however, lasts forever, which is all the more reason to earn the right one.
[Click here to find the right college for you]
Yahoo! Education pored over employment projections through 2020 to determine what graduates with different degrees and educational backgrounds can expect from the job market over the next decade.
Keep reading for the degrees that rank highest in terms of employment opportunities through 2020.
#1 - Health Care Degrees
Love it or hate it, health care reform is creating many new, exciting jobs in what is already the fastest growing sector of our economy. Factor in the aging population and demand for health care graduates has never been higher.
Top Degree Picks:
Medical Assistant
Nursing
Medical Technician
[Search for Health Care programs right now]
"We're moving not only toward a white-collar economy, but toward a white-coat economy," Derek Thompson wrote in "America 2020: Healthcare Nation", an article in The Atlantic magazine.
With hospitals looking to control costs, most of the white coats will be worn by people who assist doctors and not the doctors themselves. This means many new jobs for nurses, medical assistants, and medical technicians. [Find Nursing and Medical Assisting training programs]
As Thompson points out, the White House and U.S. Department of Labor expect health care jobs to grow almost twice as fast as any other industry, with health care boasting three of the top five fastest growing jobs in the country.
Average Salaries:
Medical Assistant: $28,300
Medical Records and Health Information Technicians: $30,610
Registered Nurse: $62,450
[Search for Health Care degree programs right now]
#2 - Business Degrees
New technology has forever changed the way people live their lives - and how companies do business. It seems the only constant in the business world is change. Today's business school students will help define the way business gets done in the next decade - and beyond.
[Search for Business schools now]
Top Degree Picks:
Accounting/Finance
Business Administration
MBA
Looking forward, the business sector's biggest gains will be in management, scientific, and technical consulting services...and that may be a big understatement! The Department of Labor forecasts a "staggering" 83 percent rise in employment opportunities in this area.
Average Salaries:
Accountant: $59,430
Management Analyst: $73,570
Financial Manager: $99,330
[Worried about your future career plans? Think big by getting a Business degree.]
#3 - Education Degrees
According to the Department of Labor, educational services is the second largest industry in the U.S. In fact, in 2008 there were about 13.5 million jobs in this industry. Population growth will fuel demand for jobs in this field through 2018.
Top Degree Picks:
Curriculum & Instruction
Education Leadership
Special Education
Teaching Certification
Education administrator might sound like an unlikely career to get showcased in a 2010 Kiplinger column about careers for the next decade, but the numbers back it up. After all, a rapidly growing population means more students, and that means more jobs for educators.
A 2010 report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce puts education behind only health care as a field facing the biggest shortage of qualified workers with degrees in 2018.
Average Salaries:
Public School Teacher: $47,100-$51,180
Dean of Students: $88,280
High School Principal: $97,486
[Explore Education degree programs and learn how you can get certified to teach]
#4 - Technology Degrees
Those with technology-related degrees, like network administration, will benefit from their grasp of cutting-edge technologies that will fuel future advances in all sectors of the economy.
From tech hot spots like Silicon Valley and Seattle to regional centers of innovation in Texas, North Carolina, and around the country...companies will be looking for qualified technology professionals to develop new technology products and to service the computers and networks up and running now.
Top Degree Picks:
Information Technology and Systems
Network Administration
Programming and Applications
Technology Support
According to the Georgetown report, computer specialists alone stand to see a gain of 700,000 new jobs over the next eight years.
Meanwhile, employment in computer systems design and related services is expected grow a robust 45 percent through 2018, according to the Department of Labor.
Average Salaries:
Network Administrator: $66,310
Computer Scientist: $97,970
Information Systems Manager: $112,210
[Click here to find IT degree and certificate programs]
All salary data comes from the U.S. Department of Labor and indicates median 2008 wages.
Degrees for the Next Decade
Best Degrees for the Next Decade
Degrees for the Next Decade
Find out which four degrees hold the most potential in the next decade.
By Chris Kyle
A lot can change in ten years. One career can explode in popularity while another hot job can go cold.
Your degree, however, lasts forever, which is all the more reason to earn the right one.
[Click here to find the right college for you]
Yahoo! Education pored over employment projections through 2020 to determine what graduates with different degrees and educational backgrounds can expect from the job market over the next decade.
Keep reading for the degrees that rank highest in terms of employment opportunities through 2020.
#1 - Health Care Degrees
Love it or hate it, health care reform is creating many new, exciting jobs in what is already the fastest growing sector of our economy. Factor in the aging population and demand for health care graduates has never been higher.
Top Degree Picks:
Medical Assistant
Nursing
Medical Technician
[Search for Health Care programs right now]
"We're moving not only toward a white-collar economy, but toward a white-coat economy," Derek Thompson wrote in "America 2020: Healthcare Nation", an article in The Atlantic magazine.
With hospitals looking to control costs, most of the white coats will be worn by people who assist doctors and not the doctors themselves. This means many new jobs for nurses, medical assistants, and medical technicians. [Find Nursing and Medical Assisting training programs]
As Thompson points out, the White House and U.S. Department of Labor expect health care jobs to grow almost twice as fast as any other industry, with health care boasting three of the top five fastest growing jobs in the country.
Average Salaries:
Medical Assistant: $28,300
Medical Records and Health Information Technicians: $30,610
Registered Nurse: $62,450
[Search for Health Care degree programs right now]
#2 - Business Degrees
New technology has forever changed the way people live their lives - and how companies do business. It seems the only constant in the business world is change. Today's business school students will help define the way business gets done in the next decade - and beyond.
[Search for Business schools now]
Top Degree Picks:
Accounting/Finance
Business Administration
MBA
Looking forward, the business sector's biggest gains will be in management, scientific, and technical consulting services...and that may be a big understatement! The Department of Labor forecasts a "staggering" 83 percent rise in employment opportunities in this area.
Average Salaries:
Accountant: $59,430
Management Analyst: $73,570
Financial Manager: $99,330
[Worried about your future career plans? Think big by getting a Business degree.]
#3 - Education Degrees
According to the Department of Labor, educational services is the second largest industry in the U.S. In fact, in 2008 there were about 13.5 million jobs in this industry. Population growth will fuel demand for jobs in this field through 2018.
Top Degree Picks:
Curriculum & Instruction
Education Leadership
Special Education
Teaching Certification
Education administrator might sound like an unlikely career to get showcased in a 2010 Kiplinger column about careers for the next decade, but the numbers back it up. After all, a rapidly growing population means more students, and that means more jobs for educators.
A 2010 report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce puts education behind only health care as a field facing the biggest shortage of qualified workers with degrees in 2018.
Average Salaries:
Public School Teacher: $47,100-$51,180
Dean of Students: $88,280
High School Principal: $97,486
[Explore Education degree programs and learn how you can get certified to teach]
#4 - Technology Degrees
Those with technology-related degrees, like network administration, will benefit from their grasp of cutting-edge technologies that will fuel future advances in all sectors of the economy.
From tech hot spots like Silicon Valley and Seattle to regional centers of innovation in Texas, North Carolina, and around the country...companies will be looking for qualified technology professionals to develop new technology products and to service the computers and networks up and running now.
Top Degree Picks:
Information Technology and Systems
Network Administration
Programming and Applications
Technology Support
According to the Georgetown report, computer specialists alone stand to see a gain of 700,000 new jobs over the next eight years.
Meanwhile, employment in computer systems design and related services is expected grow a robust 45 percent through 2018, according to the Department of Labor.
Average Salaries:
Network Administrator: $66,310
Computer Scientist: $97,970
Information Systems Manager: $112,210
[Click here to find IT degree and certificate programs]
All salary data comes from the U.S. Department of Labor and indicates median 2008 wages.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Harvard MBAs Are Rushing to Wall Street Again. Yikes!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Harvard-MBAs-Are-Rushing-Wall-dg-1390495189.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=
Daniel Gross, On Tuesday November 16, 2010, 8:21 am EST
Investors swear by market indicators. Some, like Jeff Hirsch of the Stock Trader's Almanac, place their faith in the presidential cycle. Others focus on inflows to mutual funds. Still others look at more offbeat metrics like hemlines or Super Bowl winners. Roy Soifer, a veteran banking industry analyst and consultant, looks to the career choices of Harvard MBA students. And it may come as a surprise that their relative preference for jobs in finance is something of a contrary indicator. In other words, when a large chunk of the latest crop of freshly minted MBAs decamps Cambridge for Manhattan — look out below!
The data on career choices by Harvard Business School graduates is made public here. Typically, financial services accounts for the largest chunk of jobs — about 34 percent for the Class of 2010. Soifer backs out those going into commercial banking and insurance and charts the numbers going into "market-sensitive positions" — hedge funds, investment banking, private equity, etc. When 30 percent or more go into "market-sensitive" trades, it's a long-term sell signal. In the spring of 2008, a record 41 percent of the graduating class went into "market-sensitive" jobs. We all know what happened a few months later. In the Class of 2009, only 28 percent went to such Wall Street jobs — a neutral indicator. But this year, as the markets revived, Harvard MBAs flew south to their natural habitat in greater numbers. Between 31 and 32 percent of the Class of 2010 are now happily ensconced in "market-sensitive" jobs, counting down the days until they receive their first bonuses. The upshot: Be concerned.
What gives? Why do HBS graduates zig when investors should zag? Harvard Business School students may be future leaders. But like many high achievers in their 20s, they're insecure trend-followers. The entrepreneurs and rebels (Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates) tend to drop out of Harvard as undergraduates, not spend two years studying the finer points of finance on the far bank of the Charles River.
Soifer suggests the relationship is more a commentary on Wall Street firms than on the students. Business students are taught to respond to incentives."Like other people who have hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loans to pay back, many of them respond to what the most aggressive recruiters are offering." And the industries that have had a few good years, that are feeling flush and confident (and hence are ripe for a fall), are the ones that come to campus armed with the most significant incentives. "When Mr. Market is buying, what should you do?" Soifer asks, rhetorically. Conversely, when Wall Street firms are shocked, cowering and fearful — and hence reluctant to hire — that's usually a good time to plow cash into stocks.
Something to keep in mind: When it comes out, the data represent decisions made up to a year prior. Soifer, who has been examining this data for three decades, says the Harvard MBA indicator isn't a fool-proof market-timing mechanism. The high number of grads going to Wall Street in the Class of 2005 indicated a sell. "It was right, two years later," he says.
But there have been some extremely telling data points. When none of the best young business minds in the country want to go to Wall Street, it's a pretty good time to go long. The low point was in 1937, when only three — count 'em, three — newly minted MBAs went to Wall Street (about one percent of graduates). And that was a good time to buy stocks. When Soifer graduated from Harvard Business School in 1965 (he stayed on to do graduate work), the percentage of graduates who went to Wall Street was in the mid-teens. "There was a good reason for that," notes Soifer. "Starting salaries at Wall Street were very low." A huge and long-running bull market started the next year.
Finally, the actions of a mass of HBS alumni might not be as influential as the actions of a single graduate of Harvard College: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Says Soifer, "The one note of caution I would add this year is that the indicator doesn't take QE2, and a possible QE3 and QE4, into account."
Daniel Gross, On Tuesday November 16, 2010, 8:21 am EST
Investors swear by market indicators. Some, like Jeff Hirsch of the Stock Trader's Almanac, place their faith in the presidential cycle. Others focus on inflows to mutual funds. Still others look at more offbeat metrics like hemlines or Super Bowl winners. Roy Soifer, a veteran banking industry analyst and consultant, looks to the career choices of Harvard MBA students. And it may come as a surprise that their relative preference for jobs in finance is something of a contrary indicator. In other words, when a large chunk of the latest crop of freshly minted MBAs decamps Cambridge for Manhattan — look out below!
The data on career choices by Harvard Business School graduates is made public here. Typically, financial services accounts for the largest chunk of jobs — about 34 percent for the Class of 2010. Soifer backs out those going into commercial banking and insurance and charts the numbers going into "market-sensitive positions" — hedge funds, investment banking, private equity, etc. When 30 percent or more go into "market-sensitive" trades, it's a long-term sell signal. In the spring of 2008, a record 41 percent of the graduating class went into "market-sensitive" jobs. We all know what happened a few months later. In the Class of 2009, only 28 percent went to such Wall Street jobs — a neutral indicator. But this year, as the markets revived, Harvard MBAs flew south to their natural habitat in greater numbers. Between 31 and 32 percent of the Class of 2010 are now happily ensconced in "market-sensitive" jobs, counting down the days until they receive their first bonuses. The upshot: Be concerned.
What gives? Why do HBS graduates zig when investors should zag? Harvard Business School students may be future leaders. But like many high achievers in their 20s, they're insecure trend-followers. The entrepreneurs and rebels (Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates) tend to drop out of Harvard as undergraduates, not spend two years studying the finer points of finance on the far bank of the Charles River.
Soifer suggests the relationship is more a commentary on Wall Street firms than on the students. Business students are taught to respond to incentives."Like other people who have hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loans to pay back, many of them respond to what the most aggressive recruiters are offering." And the industries that have had a few good years, that are feeling flush and confident (and hence are ripe for a fall), are the ones that come to campus armed with the most significant incentives. "When Mr. Market is buying, what should you do?" Soifer asks, rhetorically. Conversely, when Wall Street firms are shocked, cowering and fearful — and hence reluctant to hire — that's usually a good time to plow cash into stocks.
Something to keep in mind: When it comes out, the data represent decisions made up to a year prior. Soifer, who has been examining this data for three decades, says the Harvard MBA indicator isn't a fool-proof market-timing mechanism. The high number of grads going to Wall Street in the Class of 2005 indicated a sell. "It was right, two years later," he says.
But there have been some extremely telling data points. When none of the best young business minds in the country want to go to Wall Street, it's a pretty good time to go long. The low point was in 1937, when only three — count 'em, three — newly minted MBAs went to Wall Street (about one percent of graduates). And that was a good time to buy stocks. When Soifer graduated from Harvard Business School in 1965 (he stayed on to do graduate work), the percentage of graduates who went to Wall Street was in the mid-teens. "There was a good reason for that," notes Soifer. "Starting salaries at Wall Street were very low." A huge and long-running bull market started the next year.
Finally, the actions of a mass of HBS alumni might not be as influential as the actions of a single graduate of Harvard College: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Says Soifer, "The one note of caution I would add this year is that the indicator doesn't take QE2, and a possible QE3 and QE4, into account."
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
《我想成為坐在路邊鼓掌的人》
http://bbs.creaders.net/child/bbsviewer.php?trd_id=528630&blog_id=72683
情商比智商更重要，我为这个孩子鼓掌！
送交者: 若敏思文 2010年11月07日09:09:20 于 [儿童成长] 发送悄悄话
朋友转给了我这篇文，看了以后想了很多。很多华人家长把成绩看得非常重要。也给孩子很多压力。我做了中文教师以后，感到世界上除了要努力，勤奋以外，还有天赋。有的孩子天赋就是好，花的时间不多，事半功倍。有的非常努力，有时结果不是很理想。我们不得不感慨世界的不公。可是，能够进入名校的还是少数。有时，孩子很努力了，也没有达到预期的目标。孩子怎么办?家长怎么办？成功者的情商比智商更重要。文中的女孩子，一定会成功，因为她具有所以成功者所具备的品质。我也为她鼓掌！
转载自朋友给我的邮件《我想成為坐在路邊鼓掌的人》
我那上国中的女儿，她同学都管叫她23号。
她的班上总共有50个人，而每次考试，女儿都排名23。
久而久之，便有了这个雅号，她也就成了名副其实的中等生。
我们觉得这外号刺耳，女儿却欣然接受。
老公发愁地说，一碰到公司活动，或者老同学聚会，
别人都对自家的'小超人'讚不绝口，他却只能扮深沉。
人家的孩子，不仅成绩出类拔萃，而且特长多多。
唯有我们家的23号女生，没有一样值得炫耀的地方。
因此，他一看到娱乐节目那些才艺非凡的孩子，就羡慕得两眼放光。
后来，看到一则九岁孩子上大学的报导，他很受伤地问女儿： 『孩子，妳怎么就不是个神童呢？』
女儿说： 『因为我爸爸不是神父啊!』
老公无言以对，我不禁笑出声来。
中秋节，亲友相聚，坐满了一个宽大的包厢。
众人的话题，也渐渐转向各家的小儿女。
趁着酒兴，要孩子们说说将来要做什么?
钢琴家，明星，政界要人，孩子们毫不怯场， 连那个四岁半的女孩，也会说将来要做电视的主持人，赢得一阵讚歎!
15岁的女儿，正为身边的小弟弟小妹妹剔蟹剥虾，盛汤揩嘴，忙得不亦乐乎。
大家忽然想起，只剩她没说了。
在众人的催促下，她认真地回答： 『长大了，我的第一志愿是，当幼稚园老师，领着孩子们唱歌跳舞，做游戏。』
众人礼貌地表示赞许， 紧接着追问她的第二志愿。
她大大方方地说： 『我想做妈妈，穿着印叮噹猫的围裙，在厨房做晚餐， 然后给我的孩子讲故事，领着他在阳台上看星星。』
亲友愕然，面面相觑，不知道该说些什么。
老公的神情，极为尴尬。
回家后，他歎着气说：
『你还真打算让女儿将来当个幼稚园老师？我们难道真的眼睁睁地看着她当中等生？』
其实，我们也动过很多脑筋。为提高她的学习成绩， 请家教，报辅导班，买各种各样的资料。
孩子也蛮懂事，漫画书不看了，剪纸班退出了，週末的懒觉放弃了。
像一隻疲惫的小鸟，她从一个班赶到另一个班，卷子，练习册，一遝遝地做。
但到底是个孩子，身体先扛不住了，得了重感冒。
吊着点滴，在病床上，她还坚持写作业，最后引发了肺炎。 病好后，孩子的脸小了一圈。
可期末考试的成绩，仍然是让我们哭笑不得的23名。
后来，我们也曾试过增加营养、物质激励等等， 几次三番地折腾下来，女儿的小脸越来越苍白。
而且，一说要考试，她就开始厌食，失眠，冒虚汗，再接着，考出了令我们瞠目结舌的33名。
我和老公，悄无声息地放弃了轰轰烈烈的揠苗助长活动。
恢复了她正常的作息时间，还给她画漫画的权利，
允许她继续订《儿童幽默》之类的书报，家中安稳了很久。
我们对女儿，是心疼的，可面对她的成绩，又有说不出的困惑。
週末，一群同事结伴郊游。大家各自做了最拿手的菜，带着老公和孩子去野餐。
一路上笑语盈盈，这家孩子唱歌，那家孩子表演小品。
女儿没什么看家本领，只是开心地不停鼓掌。
她不时跑到后面，照看着那些食物。
把倾斜的饭盒摆好，松了的瓶盖拧紧，流出的菜汁擦淨。 忙忙碌碌，像个细心的小管家。
野餐的时候，发生了一件意外的事。
两个小男孩，一个数理天才，一个英语高手，
两人同时夹住盘子上的一块糯米饼，谁也不肯放手，更不愿平分。
丰盛的美食，源源不断地摆上来，他们看都不看。
大人们又笑又歎，连劝带哄，可怎么都不管用。
最后，还是女儿，用掷硬币的方法，轻鬆地打破了这个僵局。
回来的路上，堵车，一些孩子焦躁起来。
女儿的笑话一个接一个，全车人都被逗乐了。
她手底下也没閒着，用装食品的彩色纸盒，
剪出许多小动物，引得这群孩子讚歎不已。
直到下车，每个人都拿到了自己的生肖剪纸。
听到孩子们连连道谢，老公禁不住露出了自豪的微笑。
期中考试后，我接到了女儿班主任的电话。 首先得知，女儿的成绩，仍是中等。
不过，他说：
『有一件奇怪的事想告诉我，他从教三十年了，第一次遇见这种事。
语文试卷上有一道附加题：你最欣赏班上的哪位同学，请说出理由。
除女儿之外，全班同学，竟然都写上了女儿的名字。
理由很多：热心助人，守信用，不爱生气，好相处等等，写得最多的是，乐观幽默。』
班主任还说：『很多同学建议，由她来担任班长。』
他感歎道：『你这个女儿，虽说成绩普通，可是做人，实在很优秀!』
我开玩笑地对女儿说：『妳快要成为英雄了。』
正在织围巾的女儿，歪着头想了想，认真地告诉我说：
『老师曾讲过一句格言：当英雄路过的时候，总要有人坐在路边鼓掌....。』
她轻轻地说：『妈妈，我不想成为英雄，我想成为坐在路边鼓掌的人。』
我勐地一震，默默地打量着她。
她安静地织着绒线，澹粉的线，在竹针上缠缠绕绕，
彷佛一寸一寸的光阴，在她手上，吐出星星点点的花蕾。
我心上，竟是蓦地一暖。
那一刻，我忽然被这个不想成为英雄的女孩打动了。
这世间，有多少人，年少时渴望成为英雄，最终却成了烟火红尘中的平凡人。
如果健康，如果快乐，如果，没有违背自己的心意， 我们的孩子，又何妨做一个善良的普通人。
长大成人后，她一定会成为：贤淑的妻子，温柔的母亲，甚至，热心的同事，和善的邻居。
何况她是班上50名之中的23名，我们还不庆幸，还不满足?
还想要更高人一等，更出人头地!那后面还有27名半数以上的孩子呢﹖如果我是她们的父母，我要如何自处呢﹖
在那些漫长的岁月，她都能安然地过着自己想要的生活；
她又没学坏，我作为身教言教的父母，能教养孩子长大成人，并成为社会上有用的人，就可告慰先祖，
还想为孩子祈求怎样更美好的未来？
就算她将来能当上司法官，能考上建筑师，若她心术不正，口是心非，那又有何用？
情商比智商更重要，我为这个孩子鼓掌！
送交者: 若敏思文 2010年11月07日09:09:20 于 [儿童成长] 发送悄悄话
朋友转给了我这篇文，看了以后想了很多。很多华人家长把成绩看得非常重要。也给孩子很多压力。我做了中文教师以后，感到世界上除了要努力，勤奋以外，还有天赋。有的孩子天赋就是好，花的时间不多，事半功倍。有的非常努力，有时结果不是很理想。我们不得不感慨世界的不公。可是，能够进入名校的还是少数。有时，孩子很努力了，也没有达到预期的目标。孩子怎么办?家长怎么办？成功者的情商比智商更重要。文中的女孩子，一定会成功，因为她具有所以成功者所具备的品质。我也为她鼓掌！
转载自朋友给我的邮件《我想成為坐在路邊鼓掌的人》
我那上国中的女儿，她同学都管叫她23号。
她的班上总共有50个人，而每次考试，女儿都排名23。
久而久之，便有了这个雅号，她也就成了名副其实的中等生。
我们觉得这外号刺耳，女儿却欣然接受。
老公发愁地说，一碰到公司活动，或者老同学聚会，
别人都对自家的'小超人'讚不绝口，他却只能扮深沉。
人家的孩子，不仅成绩出类拔萃，而且特长多多。
唯有我们家的23号女生，没有一样值得炫耀的地方。
因此，他一看到娱乐节目那些才艺非凡的孩子，就羡慕得两眼放光。
后来，看到一则九岁孩子上大学的报导，他很受伤地问女儿： 『孩子，妳怎么就不是个神童呢？』
女儿说： 『因为我爸爸不是神父啊!』
老公无言以对，我不禁笑出声来。
中秋节，亲友相聚，坐满了一个宽大的包厢。
众人的话题，也渐渐转向各家的小儿女。
趁着酒兴，要孩子们说说将来要做什么?
钢琴家，明星，政界要人，孩子们毫不怯场， 连那个四岁半的女孩，也会说将来要做电视的主持人，赢得一阵讚歎!
15岁的女儿，正为身边的小弟弟小妹妹剔蟹剥虾，盛汤揩嘴，忙得不亦乐乎。
大家忽然想起，只剩她没说了。
在众人的催促下，她认真地回答： 『长大了，我的第一志愿是，当幼稚园老师，领着孩子们唱歌跳舞，做游戏。』
众人礼貌地表示赞许， 紧接着追问她的第二志愿。
她大大方方地说： 『我想做妈妈，穿着印叮噹猫的围裙，在厨房做晚餐， 然后给我的孩子讲故事，领着他在阳台上看星星。』
亲友愕然，面面相觑，不知道该说些什么。
老公的神情，极为尴尬。
回家后，他歎着气说：
『你还真打算让女儿将来当个幼稚园老师？我们难道真的眼睁睁地看着她当中等生？』
其实，我们也动过很多脑筋。为提高她的学习成绩， 请家教，报辅导班，买各种各样的资料。
孩子也蛮懂事，漫画书不看了，剪纸班退出了，週末的懒觉放弃了。
像一隻疲惫的小鸟，她从一个班赶到另一个班，卷子，练习册，一遝遝地做。
但到底是个孩子，身体先扛不住了，得了重感冒。
吊着点滴，在病床上，她还坚持写作业，最后引发了肺炎。 病好后，孩子的脸小了一圈。
可期末考试的成绩，仍然是让我们哭笑不得的23名。
后来，我们也曾试过增加营养、物质激励等等， 几次三番地折腾下来，女儿的小脸越来越苍白。
而且，一说要考试，她就开始厌食，失眠，冒虚汗，再接着，考出了令我们瞠目结舌的33名。
我和老公，悄无声息地放弃了轰轰烈烈的揠苗助长活动。
恢复了她正常的作息时间，还给她画漫画的权利，
允许她继续订《儿童幽默》之类的书报，家中安稳了很久。
我们对女儿，是心疼的，可面对她的成绩，又有说不出的困惑。
週末，一群同事结伴郊游。大家各自做了最拿手的菜，带着老公和孩子去野餐。
一路上笑语盈盈，这家孩子唱歌，那家孩子表演小品。
女儿没什么看家本领，只是开心地不停鼓掌。
她不时跑到后面，照看着那些食物。
把倾斜的饭盒摆好，松了的瓶盖拧紧，流出的菜汁擦淨。 忙忙碌碌，像个细心的小管家。
野餐的时候，发生了一件意外的事。
两个小男孩，一个数理天才，一个英语高手，
两人同时夹住盘子上的一块糯米饼，谁也不肯放手，更不愿平分。
丰盛的美食，源源不断地摆上来，他们看都不看。
大人们又笑又歎，连劝带哄，可怎么都不管用。
最后，还是女儿，用掷硬币的方法，轻鬆地打破了这个僵局。
回来的路上，堵车，一些孩子焦躁起来。
女儿的笑话一个接一个，全车人都被逗乐了。
她手底下也没閒着，用装食品的彩色纸盒，
剪出许多小动物，引得这群孩子讚歎不已。
直到下车，每个人都拿到了自己的生肖剪纸。
听到孩子们连连道谢，老公禁不住露出了自豪的微笑。
期中考试后，我接到了女儿班主任的电话。 首先得知，女儿的成绩，仍是中等。
不过，他说：
『有一件奇怪的事想告诉我，他从教三十年了，第一次遇见这种事。
语文试卷上有一道附加题：你最欣赏班上的哪位同学，请说出理由。
除女儿之外，全班同学，竟然都写上了女儿的名字。
理由很多：热心助人，守信用，不爱生气，好相处等等，写得最多的是，乐观幽默。』
班主任还说：『很多同学建议，由她来担任班长。』
他感歎道：『你这个女儿，虽说成绩普通，可是做人，实在很优秀!』
我开玩笑地对女儿说：『妳快要成为英雄了。』
正在织围巾的女儿，歪着头想了想，认真地告诉我说：
『老师曾讲过一句格言：当英雄路过的时候，总要有人坐在路边鼓掌....。』
她轻轻地说：『妈妈，我不想成为英雄，我想成为坐在路边鼓掌的人。』
我勐地一震，默默地打量着她。
她安静地织着绒线，澹粉的线，在竹针上缠缠绕绕，
彷佛一寸一寸的光阴，在她手上，吐出星星点点的花蕾。
我心上，竟是蓦地一暖。
那一刻，我忽然被这个不想成为英雄的女孩打动了。
这世间，有多少人，年少时渴望成为英雄，最终却成了烟火红尘中的平凡人。
如果健康，如果快乐，如果，没有违背自己的心意， 我们的孩子，又何妨做一个善良的普通人。
长大成人后，她一定会成为：贤淑的妻子，温柔的母亲，甚至，热心的同事，和善的邻居。
何况她是班上50名之中的23名，我们还不庆幸，还不满足?
还想要更高人一等，更出人头地!那后面还有27名半数以上的孩子呢﹖如果我是她们的父母，我要如何自处呢﹖
在那些漫长的岁月，她都能安然地过着自己想要的生活；
她又没学坏，我作为身教言教的父母，能教养孩子长大成人，并成为社会上有用的人，就可告慰先祖，
还想为孩子祈求怎样更美好的未来？
就算她将来能当上司法官，能考上建筑师，若她心术不正，口是心非，那又有何用？
Biggest Myths About Your Credit Score
1. Paying Bills on Time Will Improve My Score
"That's definitely a good start," says Ulzheimer. "But it's not the key to the kingdom." With FICO scores typically ranging from 350 to 850, 35% of the points on your score are directly tied to whether you're making your payments on time, says Ulzheimer. That leaves 65% of your score that has nothing to do with missed payments. "You cannot hang your hat on whether or not you are just making your payments on time, and assume you have fantastic credit," he says.
2. Carrying a Balance Is Good _not true!!
"I'm quite sure the credit card industry started that [rumor]," Ulzheimer says with a chuckle. Although carrying balances will cost you in interest and financing charges, from a credit score perspective, there's nothing wrong with carrying a balance on your credit card. But very large balances will affect your "creditization" -- the percentage of your credit limit that you're carrying as a balance.
Maxing out your credit cards will hurt your score. What you really want is a relatively low balance -- never more than 15 percent of your overall limit.
The credit system is a scam designed to benefit bankers, and get people hooked on debt. Much of the way the "score" (our value as human beings to corrupt bankers) is calculated makes absolutely no sense. For instance, having no debt can hurt your credit score? See what I mean! You have to be in some debt and making payments, while accruing some interest to help bankers get rich in order to have a great "credit score." After working in a bank for over 10 years, I have seen plenty of proof that a great credit score is not a sign of wealth or financial well being, let alone "responsibility," as the banking and insurance industry try to fool the general public in to believing. I am glad I learned this because when the banking industry collapsed and I had no job, I too saw my "credit score" drop considerably, and I have found many ways around this system. This credit system enslaves us, and we are fooled in to believing we have to follow this corrupt system originally enacted by Fair Isaacs Corporation. DON'T USE CREDIT, unless you at least have some form of limited liability such as a corporation or LLC, and you will be certain to gain a return on investment above and beyond interest rates, otherwise, you are being taken sucker.
Not everyone who has bad credit or no credit is necessarily financially irresponsible or unable to manage money. How many people with great credit scores look great on paper, yet are broke in reality? Especially in todays economy, many people have bad credit who were normally the types with high scores, but just happened to have bad luck.
"That's definitely a good start," says Ulzheimer. "But it's not the key to the kingdom." With FICO scores typically ranging from 350 to 850, 35% of the points on your score are directly tied to whether you're making your payments on time, says Ulzheimer. That leaves 65% of your score that has nothing to do with missed payments. "You cannot hang your hat on whether or not you are just making your payments on time, and assume you have fantastic credit," he says.
2. Carrying a Balance Is Good _not true!!
"I'm quite sure the credit card industry started that [rumor]," Ulzheimer says with a chuckle. Although carrying balances will cost you in interest and financing charges, from a credit score perspective, there's nothing wrong with carrying a balance on your credit card. But very large balances will affect your "creditization" -- the percentage of your credit limit that you're carrying as a balance.
Maxing out your credit cards will hurt your score. What you really want is a relatively low balance -- never more than 15 percent of your overall limit.
The credit system is a scam designed to benefit bankers, and get people hooked on debt. Much of the way the "score" (our value as human beings to corrupt bankers) is calculated makes absolutely no sense. For instance, having no debt can hurt your credit score? See what I mean! You have to be in some debt and making payments, while accruing some interest to help bankers get rich in order to have a great "credit score." After working in a bank for over 10 years, I have seen plenty of proof that a great credit score is not a sign of wealth or financial well being, let alone "responsibility," as the banking and insurance industry try to fool the general public in to believing. I am glad I learned this because when the banking industry collapsed and I had no job, I too saw my "credit score" drop considerably, and I have found many ways around this system. This credit system enslaves us, and we are fooled in to believing we have to follow this corrupt system originally enacted by Fair Isaacs Corporation. DON'T USE CREDIT, unless you at least have some form of limited liability such as a corporation or LLC, and you will be certain to gain a return on investment above and beyond interest rates, otherwise, you are being taken sucker.
Not everyone who has bad credit or no credit is necessarily financially irresponsible or unable to manage money. How many people with great credit scores look great on paper, yet are broke in reality? Especially in todays economy, many people have bad credit who were normally the types with high scores, but just happened to have bad luck.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Top 5 Tricks of Identity Thieves
http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-110843-6814-3-top-5-tricks-of-identity-thieves?ywaad=ad0035
Identity theft affects 9 million Americans each year. Knowing the most common methods identity thieves use could save your financial and medical health.
Paying with a credit card, updating friends on social networking sites and throwing out the trash are fairly common activities for most Americans these days. But however routine or harmless these behaviors might seem, they could potentially cost you your identity.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal consumer protection agency, identity theft affects 9 million Americans each year.
The FTC website says, "Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes."
If your identity is stolen, your credit rating, finances and even your medical health could be at risk.
Identity theft is very difficult to detect. However, there are things you can do to protect yourself.
As is often the case, the best defense is sometimes a good offense.
Knowing the most common methods thieves use to steal identities is a good way to fight back. So this week in Financially Fit, we'll cover five of the top tricks of identity thieves.
Related Video
#1 Skimming
Skimming can happen while you're paying for gas at the gas pump, when you're removing money from the ATM or even when you're handing over your credit card to pay for dinner.
"Skimming is when information is captured from your credit card illegitimately," says Leonard Gordon of the FTC.
Photo: L.A. County District Attorney's Office
The photo shows a typical skimmer technology attached to a credit card reader that was confiscated by the Southern California High Tech Task Force.
At gas pumps and ATMs thieves install special equipment called skimmers that are not visible to the naked eye. These skimmers make two copies of your credit card information.
"One [copy] to process the transaction and one for the bad guys to later download," explains Gordon.
Skimming is a very lucrative scheme. In a recent Los Angeles case, a gang of thieves netted $2 million after placing skimmers on the credit card readers at gas pumps.
Gordon says skimming is a big problem — one that costs consumers and banks billions of dollars a year.
#2 Medical Identity Theft
Medical identity theft is on the rise, and it's scary. This type of identity theft not only has financial risks, it could cost you your life. Here, thieves use your identity to gain access to doctors, dentists, prescriptions and procedures, and then send you and your insurer the bill.
In 2009, 1.4 million Americans were victims of medical identity theft according a report by Experian.
"If a person who is impersonating you has had medication administered [and] a procedure performed and then you go into the emergency room, and you are not conscious, and your medical records reflect that you have had this procedure performed [and] you have had this medication administered, when in fact you hadn't, there are some real medical risks there," Gordon says.
If you start to receive bills for procedures that you didn't have or from providers that you don't use, that's a key way to determine that someone else might be using your medical benefits.
#3 Social Networking Abuse
Social networking allows us to keep up with friends, family and colleagues, but these websites also serve up our identities on a silver platter to identity thieves.
According to a survey by the CMO council, one in every five users has been touched by social networking abuse.
Key personal details, such as age, hometown, employer and personal favorites, can be used against you.
Fraudsters on the web frequently use "pretexting" to steal your identity. The FTC website defines pretexting as "the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses."
For example, after looking at your profile pages for basic information about you, a "pretexter" could call — pretending to be from an organization you trust — and ask for important personal data such as your birthday or social security number.
#4 Family and Friends
Theft source number four is surprisingly common — family and friends commit nearly half of all identity crimes. It often happens at the places we feel the safest, including at work, a college dormitory or even at home.
"Don't leave your pocket book laying around, don't leave your wallet around [and] check your credit card statements as soon as you get them," Gordon says.
It is important to look over all credit card statements carefully for any unidentified charges, says Gordon. He also recommends checking your credit report twice a year to spot all types of identity fraud.
#5 Dumpster Diving
Just taking out the trash is another routine activity that could put your identity at risk.
Every year, each of us throws away 175 pounds of paper, and much of that includes personal information thieves can use to steal your identity.
Credit card offers, bank account numbers and even just your name and address are clues thieves can use to help unlock your identity.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission website for additional information and identity theft-prevention methods.
Identity theft affects 9 million Americans each year. Knowing the most common methods identity thieves use could save your financial and medical health.
Paying with a credit card, updating friends on social networking sites and throwing out the trash are fairly common activities for most Americans these days. But however routine or harmless these behaviors might seem, they could potentially cost you your identity.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal consumer protection agency, identity theft affects 9 million Americans each year.
The FTC website says, "Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes."
If your identity is stolen, your credit rating, finances and even your medical health could be at risk.
Identity theft is very difficult to detect. However, there are things you can do to protect yourself.
As is often the case, the best defense is sometimes a good offense.
Knowing the most common methods thieves use to steal identities is a good way to fight back. So this week in Financially Fit, we'll cover five of the top tricks of identity thieves.
Related Video
#1 Skimming
Skimming can happen while you're paying for gas at the gas pump, when you're removing money from the ATM or even when you're handing over your credit card to pay for dinner.
"Skimming is when information is captured from your credit card illegitimately," says Leonard Gordon of the FTC.
Photo: L.A. County District Attorney's Office
The photo shows a typical skimmer technology attached to a credit card reader that was confiscated by the Southern California High Tech Task Force.
At gas pumps and ATMs thieves install special equipment called skimmers that are not visible to the naked eye. These skimmers make two copies of your credit card information.
"One [copy] to process the transaction and one for the bad guys to later download," explains Gordon.
Skimming is a very lucrative scheme. In a recent Los Angeles case, a gang of thieves netted $2 million after placing skimmers on the credit card readers at gas pumps.
Gordon says skimming is a big problem — one that costs consumers and banks billions of dollars a year.
#2 Medical Identity Theft
Medical identity theft is on the rise, and it's scary. This type of identity theft not only has financial risks, it could cost you your life. Here, thieves use your identity to gain access to doctors, dentists, prescriptions and procedures, and then send you and your insurer the bill.
In 2009, 1.4 million Americans were victims of medical identity theft according a report by Experian.
"If a person who is impersonating you has had medication administered [and] a procedure performed and then you go into the emergency room, and you are not conscious, and your medical records reflect that you have had this procedure performed [and] you have had this medication administered, when in fact you hadn't, there are some real medical risks there," Gordon says.
If you start to receive bills for procedures that you didn't have or from providers that you don't use, that's a key way to determine that someone else might be using your medical benefits.
#3 Social Networking Abuse
Social networking allows us to keep up with friends, family and colleagues, but these websites also serve up our identities on a silver platter to identity thieves.
According to a survey by the CMO council, one in every five users has been touched by social networking abuse.
Key personal details, such as age, hometown, employer and personal favorites, can be used against you.
Fraudsters on the web frequently use "pretexting" to steal your identity. The FTC website defines pretexting as "the practice of getting your personal information under false pretenses."
For example, after looking at your profile pages for basic information about you, a "pretexter" could call — pretending to be from an organization you trust — and ask for important personal data such as your birthday or social security number.
#4 Family and Friends
Theft source number four is surprisingly common — family and friends commit nearly half of all identity crimes. It often happens at the places we feel the safest, including at work, a college dormitory or even at home.
"Don't leave your pocket book laying around, don't leave your wallet around [and] check your credit card statements as soon as you get them," Gordon says.
It is important to look over all credit card statements carefully for any unidentified charges, says Gordon. He also recommends checking your credit report twice a year to spot all types of identity fraud.
#5 Dumpster Diving
Just taking out the trash is another routine activity that could put your identity at risk.
Every year, each of us throws away 175 pounds of paper, and much of that includes personal information thieves can use to steal your identity.
Credit card offers, bank account numbers and even just your name and address are clues thieves can use to help unlock your identity.
Visit the Federal Trade Commission website for additional information and identity theft-prevention methods.
10 Riskiest Places to Give Your Social Security Number
McAfee, the antivirus software company, recently released a list of the most dangerous places to give your Social Security number. Many of the places on the list might surprise you:
1. Universities and colleges
2. Banking and financial institutions
3. Hospitals
4. State governments
5. Local government
6. Federal government
7. Medical businesses (These are businesses that concentrate on services and products for the medical field, such as distributors of diabetes or dialysis supplies, medical billing services, pharmaceutical companies, etc.)
8. Non-profit organizations
9. Technology companies
10. Health insurers and medical offices
The places are ranked based on the number of data breaches involving Social Security numbers from January 2009 to October 2010. What's most disturbing is that you must disclose your Social Security number if you want to receive services from most of those places (either as required by law or the groups' own policies).
So I asked Adam Levin, chairman and co-founder of Identity Theft 911, what people could do to prevent their Social Security numbers from falling into the wrong hands and keep their identities safe. "It's obvious there is no slam-dunk 100% way to protect yourself," he says. "Everywhere you turn, you're going to run into an organization looking for information from you."
However, you can take steps to lower your risk, he says. And there are things you can do to detect identity theft and limit the damage.
Don't be so quick to give out your number. As Levin said, a lot of organizations and companies will ask for your Social Security number. But that doesn't mean they all have to have it. You will be required to provide your Social Security number in any situation that requires your identity to be verified (such as an application for credit or a license) or about which the IRS must be notified. Otherwise, be sure to ask whether the agency, business or organization has to have it. Unfortunately, even though many groups — such as private insurers — can't require your Social Security number, they might refuse to do business with you if you don't provide it. In those cases, ask if you can give just the last four numbers rather than your full Social Security number.
Don't ever give out your Social Security number or any other personal information to someone you don't know who initiates contact with you by phone, e-mail or in person. For example, if you receive an e-mail that claims that you must provide personal information to claim a refund from the IRS, it's a scam. The IRS doesn't request information from taxpayers by e-mail.
Lock away your Social Security card. Your Social Security card belongs in a fireproof safe in your home, not in your wallet. Why? Because if someone stole your wallet, he'd be able to steal your identity, too. And don't leave your card or any other personal information sitting out where others can see it. Levin says this is a big problem at universities, where students leave wallets, credit-card statements and other items with personal information that can easily be stolen. Be sure to cross-cut shred any documents with your personal information once you no longer need those documents.
Protect your number from cyber thieves. Even though there's not much you can do to protect your personal information once you hand it over to another business or organization, you can take steps to protect the data on your computer. Make sure you install antivirus and Internet security software on your computer — and update it frequently. "If you buy the software and don't update it, it's like becoming a member of a gym and not going," Levin says. The McAfee Total Protection software is $59.99 (after a $20 rebate) and the Norton 360 software is $79.99. Levin also says you should frequently change passwords for your online accounts and not use the same passwords for financial accounts and social networks.
Control the damage. Even if you take all these steps, there still is a chance that you will become a victim of identity theft. That's why it's imperative to check your accounts daily to catch any transactions you didn't make. "If you have time to check e-mail and a social networking site, you can find time to check your bank and credit-card accounts," Levin says. And take advantage of the free credit report you're entitled to once a year from each of the three credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to get your reports. Rather than checking them all at once, though, order each one separately to spread out your credit checks throughout the year.
If you notice any problems, act quickly to repair the damage. You can contact the credit bureaus and ask them to put a fraud alert or credit freeze on your accounts. A fraud alert, which is free, requires lenders to make some effort to verify your identity before issuing new credit in your name. A credit (or security) freeze prevents the credit reporting companies from releasing your report without your consent. The credit bureaus charge a fee to initiate a freeze, but you might not have to pay if you're a resident of a state that waives the fee for identity theft victims.
If your wallet (with your Social Security card or any credit cards inside it) is stolen, report it to the police. With a police report, you can place an extended fraud alert, which lasts seven years, on your credit report, and you'll have documentation that will help you bolster your case if you become a victim of identity theft.
See the Federal Trade Commission's identity theft page for information about what you can do if your identity has been stolen.
1. Universities and colleges
2. Banking and financial institutions
3. Hospitals
4. State governments
5. Local government
6. Federal government
7. Medical businesses (These are businesses that concentrate on services and products for the medical field, such as distributors of diabetes or dialysis supplies, medical billing services, pharmaceutical companies, etc.)
8. Non-profit organizations
9. Technology companies
10. Health insurers and medical offices
The places are ranked based on the number of data breaches involving Social Security numbers from January 2009 to October 2010. What's most disturbing is that you must disclose your Social Security number if you want to receive services from most of those places (either as required by law or the groups' own policies).
So I asked Adam Levin, chairman and co-founder of Identity Theft 911, what people could do to prevent their Social Security numbers from falling into the wrong hands and keep their identities safe. "It's obvious there is no slam-dunk 100% way to protect yourself," he says. "Everywhere you turn, you're going to run into an organization looking for information from you."
However, you can take steps to lower your risk, he says. And there are things you can do to detect identity theft and limit the damage.
Don't be so quick to give out your number. As Levin said, a lot of organizations and companies will ask for your Social Security number. But that doesn't mean they all have to have it. You will be required to provide your Social Security number in any situation that requires your identity to be verified (such as an application for credit or a license) or about which the IRS must be notified. Otherwise, be sure to ask whether the agency, business or organization has to have it. Unfortunately, even though many groups — such as private insurers — can't require your Social Security number, they might refuse to do business with you if you don't provide it. In those cases, ask if you can give just the last four numbers rather than your full Social Security number.
Don't ever give out your Social Security number or any other personal information to someone you don't know who initiates contact with you by phone, e-mail or in person. For example, if you receive an e-mail that claims that you must provide personal information to claim a refund from the IRS, it's a scam. The IRS doesn't request information from taxpayers by e-mail.
Lock away your Social Security card. Your Social Security card belongs in a fireproof safe in your home, not in your wallet. Why? Because if someone stole your wallet, he'd be able to steal your identity, too. And don't leave your card or any other personal information sitting out where others can see it. Levin says this is a big problem at universities, where students leave wallets, credit-card statements and other items with personal information that can easily be stolen. Be sure to cross-cut shred any documents with your personal information once you no longer need those documents.
Protect your number from cyber thieves. Even though there's not much you can do to protect your personal information once you hand it over to another business or organization, you can take steps to protect the data on your computer. Make sure you install antivirus and Internet security software on your computer — and update it frequently. "If you buy the software and don't update it, it's like becoming a member of a gym and not going," Levin says. The McAfee Total Protection software is $59.99 (after a $20 rebate) and the Norton 360 software is $79.99. Levin also says you should frequently change passwords for your online accounts and not use the same passwords for financial accounts and social networks.
Control the damage. Even if you take all these steps, there still is a chance that you will become a victim of identity theft. That's why it's imperative to check your accounts daily to catch any transactions you didn't make. "If you have time to check e-mail and a social networking site, you can find time to check your bank and credit-card accounts," Levin says. And take advantage of the free credit report you're entitled to once a year from each of the three credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to get your reports. Rather than checking them all at once, though, order each one separately to spread out your credit checks throughout the year.
If you notice any problems, act quickly to repair the damage. You can contact the credit bureaus and ask them to put a fraud alert or credit freeze on your accounts. A fraud alert, which is free, requires lenders to make some effort to verify your identity before issuing new credit in your name. A credit (or security) freeze prevents the credit reporting companies from releasing your report without your consent. The credit bureaus charge a fee to initiate a freeze, but you might not have to pay if you're a resident of a state that waives the fee for identity theft victims.
If your wallet (with your Social Security card or any credit cards inside it) is stolen, report it to the police. With a police report, you can place an extended fraud alert, which lasts seven years, on your credit report, and you'll have documentation that will help you bolster your case if you become a victim of identity theft.
See the Federal Trade Commission's identity theft page for information about what you can do if your identity has been stolen.
Monday, November 1, 2010
美国中期选举后股市通常上升
美国中期选举后股市通常上升
http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=449569&id=1018357&dcid=18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
万维读者网 2010-10-31 18:15:37
万维读者网记者唯一编译报道：USNews刊登的文章说，中期选举后美国的民主党和共和党都可以有值得庆祝的事情：股市上升。从1922年到2006年的历史来看，中期选举后道琼斯指数平均上升90天(也就是说从十一月到第二年三月中。根据Financial Network市场专家Brian Gendreau的研究，通常中选年的股市比非选举年的股市要高5%。(www.creaders.net 老牌中文网）
Gandreau 说，人们总是问，中期选举年利股市是否比非选举年高？答案是不仅会升，而且升的幅度也大。在历史中的22个中期选举年里，有19次道琼斯指数是上涨的。
而且，在中期选举之前的日子里股市也表现不错，研究显示股市在中期选举前就开始升，而且选举后也不会停止。通常来讲，在中期选举前这段时间里，新总统和他的政党的政绩不会很好。一般来讲，议会的多数席位是新总统的政党占领的。
那么，到了中期选举时，就是两党进行平衡的时候了。Gendreau分析说，股市一般来讲是不喜欢未知数的，在中期选举前通常会有很多未知数，比如新总统上台时他的党可能占领了议会多数席位，而到中期选举时反对党可能赢回多是席位。接近中选的时候和选举之后形式越来越明朗，人们对下一步怎么走就非常清楚了。
在选举之后，议会的政局就会调整得比较均衡，总统和议会之间也比较均衡，股市喜欢这样的明朗政局。(www.creaders.net 老牌中文网）
那么今年会不会重演历史呢？其实做类似研究得出相同结论的经济学家不止Gendreau一个。他还指出，由于信息流通的广度，现在中期选举的效应可能不如过去那么大了。
不过，今年到现在为止，道琼斯指数已经上涨了7%。
更进一步的看，另有研究显示通常总统任期的第三年是股市最好的一年。从1872到2005，总统任期第三年S&P500指数平均回报为 10.1%。总统任期第四年股市平均回报为7.5%。
中期选举后，就是奥巴马总统任期的第三年和第四年，股市是否会连续两年上涨呢？当然希望是会的。(www.creaders.net 记者专稿 转载请注明出处)
http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=449569&id=1018357&dcid=18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
万维读者网 2010-10-31 18:15:37
万维读者网记者唯一编译报道：USNews刊登的文章说，中期选举后美国的民主党和共和党都可以有值得庆祝的事情：股市上升。从1922年到2006年的历史来看，中期选举后道琼斯指数平均上升90天(也就是说从十一月到第二年三月中。根据Financial Network市场专家Brian Gendreau的研究，通常中选年的股市比非选举年的股市要高5%。(www.creaders.net 老牌中文网）
Gandreau 说，人们总是问，中期选举年利股市是否比非选举年高？答案是不仅会升，而且升的幅度也大。在历史中的22个中期选举年里，有19次道琼斯指数是上涨的。
而且，在中期选举之前的日子里股市也表现不错，研究显示股市在中期选举前就开始升，而且选举后也不会停止。通常来讲，在中期选举前这段时间里，新总统和他的政党的政绩不会很好。一般来讲，议会的多数席位是新总统的政党占领的。
那么，到了中期选举时，就是两党进行平衡的时候了。Gendreau分析说，股市一般来讲是不喜欢未知数的，在中期选举前通常会有很多未知数，比如新总统上台时他的党可能占领了议会多数席位，而到中期选举时反对党可能赢回多是席位。接近中选的时候和选举之后形式越来越明朗，人们对下一步怎么走就非常清楚了。
在选举之后，议会的政局就会调整得比较均衡，总统和议会之间也比较均衡，股市喜欢这样的明朗政局。(www.creaders.net 老牌中文网）
那么今年会不会重演历史呢？其实做类似研究得出相同结论的经济学家不止Gendreau一个。他还指出，由于信息流通的广度，现在中期选举的效应可能不如过去那么大了。
不过，今年到现在为止，道琼斯指数已经上涨了7%。
更进一步的看，另有研究显示通常总统任期的第三年是股市最好的一年。从1872到2005，总统任期第三年S&P500指数平均回报为 10.1%。总统任期第四年股市平均回报为7.5%。
中期选举后，就是奥巴马总统任期的第三年和第四年，股市是否会连续两年上涨呢？当然希望是会的。(www.creaders.net 记者专稿 转载请注明出处)
Friday, October 29, 2010
Capital gains home-sale tax break a boon for owners
taxes
Capital gains home-sale tax break a boon for owners
By Kay Bell • Bankrate.com
http://www.bankrate.com/system/util/print.aspx?p=/finance/real-estate/capital-gains-home-sale-tax-break-a-boon-for-owners-4.aspx
What's the best tax break available to Jane and John Q. Public? If they're homeowners, it's selling their house.
Homeowners already know the many tax breaks that Uncle Sam offers, most notably mortgage interest and property tax deductions. Well, he also has good tax news for home sellers: Most of them won't owe the Internal Revenue Service a single dime.
When you sell your primary residence, you can make up to $250,000 in profit if you're a single owner, twice that if you're married, and not owe any capital gains taxes.
"Most people are not going to have a tax obligation unless their gain is huge," says Bob Trinz, a senior tax analyst at RIA, which provides tax information and software to tax professionals.
Some sellers are surprised by this break, especially if they've been in their homes for a while. That's because before May 7, 1997, the only way you could avoid paying taxes on your home-sale profit was to use the money to buy another, more-expensive house within two years. Sellers age 55 or older had one other option. They could take a once-in-a-lifetime tax exemption of up to $125,000 in profits. And in all instances, there was tax paperwork (Form 2119) to fill out to show that you followed the rules.
But when the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 became law, the home-sale tax burden eased for millions of residential taxpayers. The rollover or once-in-a-lifetime options were replaced with the current per-sale exclusion amounts.
"There is some logic to this law change because most people under the prior rules didn't recognize a taxable gain because they rolled it over into another residence," says Trinz. "The change essentially makes it easier to dispose of your residence."
Still some requirements to meet
If you used pre-1997 rules for residential sales, don't worry. That doesn't disqualify you from claiming the exclusion on any residential sales now. The law change applies to all sales since it took effect.
Another bonus of the new rules: You don't have to buy another home with your sale proceeds. You can use the money to travel to Europe in style, buy an RV and drive across the country or get all those designer shoes you never could afford before.
Even better, there's no limit on the number of times you can use the home-sale exemption. In most cases, you can make tax-free profits of $250,000 (or $500,000 depending on your filing status) every time you sell a home.
Ah, but we are talking taxes here. You did notice that phrase "in most cases," didn't you? There's always a catch. Before you put a "For Sale" sign in the yard, you need to make sure your house-sale situation is one of those "most cases."
First, the property you're selling must be your principal residence. That means you live in it. This tax break doesn't apply to a house or other property that you have solely for investment purposes. In those cases, the usual capital gains rules apply.
You can, however, turn a rental house into your primary residence, making the sale of it eligible for the exclusion. This is accomplished when you meet the IRS use and ownership tests: You own and live in the home for two out of the five years before the sale.
And your actual habitation of the home doesn't have to be sequential, notes Mark Luscombe, lawyer, accountant and principal tax analyst at CCH Inc., a Riverwoods, Ill.-based provider of tax law information and software. The IRS lets you aggregate your time living in the house to meet the two-year residency requirement.
"Generally, if you owned and used the home as your main home for periods totaling at least two years within five years ending on the date of these sale, you're eligible for the exclusion," says RIA's Trinz. "You look back at the last five years. Ownership and use may be at two different times. This would apply if you owned a home for five years, but didn't use it as your primary residence for that full period. For the first three years, you rented it and then moved into it as your main home for the final two before you sold it."
But you don't even have to live in the house at the date of sale. The flexibility of the use test means you could live in your house for a year, rent it for two, move back in for another year and rent it again the year before you sell. Since during those five years you owned and lived in the property for two years, you meet the use and ownership tests.
Finally, while technically there's no limit on the number of homes you can sell and thus reap tax-free gain, each sale must be at least two years apart. That still leaves you room to make some money on several properties. You can sell your residence this year, pocket any gain within the tax limits and buy a new residence. Two years later, you can do the same thing, again and again every two years.
There even are situations where owners of multiple properties might be able to double up on the tax-free gain.
"There might be instances where you sell your primary residence and then establish your vacation home as your primary home for a couple of years and then sell that home," says Trinz. "Empty nesters who have a large suburban home could move into a vacation home at the beach and then as they get older move to a residential facility so they can sell both the homes and not have any taxable gains."
Be careful, however, if you move into a rental property you acquired through a like-kind exchange. The American Jobs Creation Act that was signed into law on Oct. 22 establishes a tougher test in these cases. If the property you convert to your principal residence is one that you earlier obtained via a property swap, in order to take advantage of the home-sale exclusion you must have acquired the property at least five years earlier.
Michael E. Kitces, director of financial planning for the Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Md., gives this example: A property is acquired by like-kind exchange in 1999, converted to personal use as a residence in 2002 and then sold in late 2004. Since the like-kind property was owned for five years, it meets the new tax code ownership-length provision. And having met the new five-year acquisition rule for a swapped property, Kitces says, the owner qualifies for the capital-gains exclusion since he lived in the property for two years after its conversion. If, however, the property had been exchanged in 2001, even if the seller had made it his principal residence shortly after the date of the swap and thereby met the two-year use rule, he still would be not be able to exclude any profits on the sale.
In either case, though, the pesky reporting requirement remains history. When your gain doesn't exceed the limit, you don't have to file anything with the IRS.
Special rules for married couples
While a husband and wife get double the exclusion of single home sellers, couples also have some additional considerations when it comes to determining whether their sale is tax-free.
Either spouse can meet the ownership test. For example, the IRS says it's OK if you owned the home for the last two years, but you just added your new husband to the title when you got married six months ago. Since you owned the residence for the requisite time, as joint filers you have no problem meeting the ownership test even though your husband wasn't an official owner for that long.
However, both husband and wife must pass the use test; that is, each must live in the residence for two years. But the shared use doesn't have to be while you file jointly. If you and your now-husband shared the home for 1½ years before tying the knot and then six months as newlyweds, the IRS will allow you to claim the exemption. But if he didn't move in until the wedding day, you're out of tax-exclusion luck.
And while you're learning about your new spouse, make sure you find out all about his or her previous home-sale history. "The two-year eligibility rule applies to both spouses, so full home disclosure is another financial area you need to consider when getting married," says Trinz. "You need to find out what you're getting."
Under this couple requirement, if either spouse sold a home and used the exclusion within two years of the sale of any jointly-owned property, the couple can't claim the exclusion. That means if your new husband sold his townhouse a month before the wedding, then you'll have to wait two years after that property's sale date before you can dispose of your shared marital residence tax-free.
Figuring the correct exclusion amount
OK, you (and your better half if you're married) met the use and ownership tests, as well as the two-year previous-sale time limit. Now it's time to do the math to avoid writing a big check to the U.S. Treasury.
As a seller, you naturally focus on how much you got for your house. That is an important number, but not the only one you'll need when it comes to figuring whether you'll owe taxes on the sale.
It's your gain, or profit, that determines the size or lack of a tax bill. In fact, you can sell your house for $1 million and still not owe Uncle Sam as long as the profit portion was not more than $250,000 or $500,000, depending on your filing status. If you can exclude all the gain, then you owe no taxes.
To arrive at your gain amount, you first must establish your basis in the home. For most people, says Trinz, this is what you paid for the residence and all capital improvements you've made, such as adding a room or finishing a basement. Also, if you sold a residence prior to the 1997 law change and rolled the profit into the home you're now selling, you must account for that rollover amount; your basis will decrease by the amount of gain you postponed years ago.
"Then you compare that basis amount to what you get from the sale, less your commissions and other expenses," says Trinz. "When you subtract your cost basis in the residence, this will give you the amount of gain on the sale."
In most instances, sellers will find they made a nice profit, but not one large enough to trigger a tax bill. Some, however, could find their residences appreciated so much that the great sales prices they got ended up costing them at tax time. That's why it's important to accurately track anything that could affect your home basis.
"In 1997 when this law first changed, there was a lot of talk about how you no longer have to keep records of home basis improvements, but the way the home prices have escalated you're probably safer in keeping those records," says Luscombe. "The improvements increase your basis, so a smaller portion of the selling price would be viewed as gain. Any overage is taxed at the [applicable long-term] capital gains rate of 15 percent or 5 percent.
"For those people, the old rule might have been better, but the new rule sort of rewards more frequent changes of homeownership."
Partial exclusion still a good deal
Even if you don't meet all the home-sale exclusion tests, your tax break might not be totally lost.
When an owner sells his house because of special conditions, such as a change in health, employment or unforeseen circumstances, he's eligible for a prorated tax-free gain.
In such a case, the seller first calculates the fractional amount of time that he met the two-year use test. For example, a single homeowner is transferred to a job in another city and sells after being in his home for only a year and a half. He would have an occupancy period of 18/24 (the number months he lived in the home divided by 24, the number of months in the two-year occupancy requirement) or 0.75. By multiplying the full $250,000 exclusion amount by 0.75, the seller would be eligible to exclude a sale gain of up to $187,500.
Members of the military also get special home-sale consideration. Because of redeployments, soldiers often find it hard to meet the residency rule and end up owing taxes when they sell. But a law change in 2003 now exempts military personnel from the two-year use requirement (for up to 10 years), letting them qualify for the full exclusion whenever they must move to fulfill service commitments.
So quit worrying about taxes when you put your house on the market. Chances are good that Uncle Sam won't be able to lay any claim to your hefty home-sale profit.
Capital gains home-sale tax break a boon for owners
By Kay Bell • Bankrate.com
http://www.bankrate.com/system/util/print.aspx?p=/finance/real-estate/capital-gains-home-sale-tax-break-a-boon-for-owners-4.aspx
What's the best tax break available to Jane and John Q. Public? If they're homeowners, it's selling their house.
Homeowners already know the many tax breaks that Uncle Sam offers, most notably mortgage interest and property tax deductions. Well, he also has good tax news for home sellers: Most of them won't owe the Internal Revenue Service a single dime.
When you sell your primary residence, you can make up to $250,000 in profit if you're a single owner, twice that if you're married, and not owe any capital gains taxes.
"Most people are not going to have a tax obligation unless their gain is huge," says Bob Trinz, a senior tax analyst at RIA, which provides tax information and software to tax professionals.
Some sellers are surprised by this break, especially if they've been in their homes for a while. That's because before May 7, 1997, the only way you could avoid paying taxes on your home-sale profit was to use the money to buy another, more-expensive house within two years. Sellers age 55 or older had one other option. They could take a once-in-a-lifetime tax exemption of up to $125,000 in profits. And in all instances, there was tax paperwork (Form 2119) to fill out to show that you followed the rules.
But when the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 became law, the home-sale tax burden eased for millions of residential taxpayers. The rollover or once-in-a-lifetime options were replaced with the current per-sale exclusion amounts.
"There is some logic to this law change because most people under the prior rules didn't recognize a taxable gain because they rolled it over into another residence," says Trinz. "The change essentially makes it easier to dispose of your residence."
Still some requirements to meet
If you used pre-1997 rules for residential sales, don't worry. That doesn't disqualify you from claiming the exclusion on any residential sales now. The law change applies to all sales since it took effect.
Another bonus of the new rules: You don't have to buy another home with your sale proceeds. You can use the money to travel to Europe in style, buy an RV and drive across the country or get all those designer shoes you never could afford before.
Even better, there's no limit on the number of times you can use the home-sale exemption. In most cases, you can make tax-free profits of $250,000 (or $500,000 depending on your filing status) every time you sell a home.
Ah, but we are talking taxes here. You did notice that phrase "in most cases," didn't you? There's always a catch. Before you put a "For Sale" sign in the yard, you need to make sure your house-sale situation is one of those "most cases."
First, the property you're selling must be your principal residence. That means you live in it. This tax break doesn't apply to a house or other property that you have solely for investment purposes. In those cases, the usual capital gains rules apply.
You can, however, turn a rental house into your primary residence, making the sale of it eligible for the exclusion. This is accomplished when you meet the IRS use and ownership tests: You own and live in the home for two out of the five years before the sale.
And your actual habitation of the home doesn't have to be sequential, notes Mark Luscombe, lawyer, accountant and principal tax analyst at CCH Inc., a Riverwoods, Ill.-based provider of tax law information and software. The IRS lets you aggregate your time living in the house to meet the two-year residency requirement.
"Generally, if you owned and used the home as your main home for periods totaling at least two years within five years ending on the date of these sale, you're eligible for the exclusion," says RIA's Trinz. "You look back at the last five years. Ownership and use may be at two different times. This would apply if you owned a home for five years, but didn't use it as your primary residence for that full period. For the first three years, you rented it and then moved into it as your main home for the final two before you sold it."
But you don't even have to live in the house at the date of sale. The flexibility of the use test means you could live in your house for a year, rent it for two, move back in for another year and rent it again the year before you sell. Since during those five years you owned and lived in the property for two years, you meet the use and ownership tests.
Finally, while technically there's no limit on the number of homes you can sell and thus reap tax-free gain, each sale must be at least two years apart. That still leaves you room to make some money on several properties. You can sell your residence this year, pocket any gain within the tax limits and buy a new residence. Two years later, you can do the same thing, again and again every two years.
There even are situations where owners of multiple properties might be able to double up on the tax-free gain.
"There might be instances where you sell your primary residence and then establish your vacation home as your primary home for a couple of years and then sell that home," says Trinz. "Empty nesters who have a large suburban home could move into a vacation home at the beach and then as they get older move to a residential facility so they can sell both the homes and not have any taxable gains."
Be careful, however, if you move into a rental property you acquired through a like-kind exchange. The American Jobs Creation Act that was signed into law on Oct. 22 establishes a tougher test in these cases. If the property you convert to your principal residence is one that you earlier obtained via a property swap, in order to take advantage of the home-sale exclusion you must have acquired the property at least five years earlier.
Michael E. Kitces, director of financial planning for the Pinnacle Advisory Group in Columbia, Md., gives this example: A property is acquired by like-kind exchange in 1999, converted to personal use as a residence in 2002 and then sold in late 2004. Since the like-kind property was owned for five years, it meets the new tax code ownership-length provision. And having met the new five-year acquisition rule for a swapped property, Kitces says, the owner qualifies for the capital-gains exclusion since he lived in the property for two years after its conversion. If, however, the property had been exchanged in 2001, even if the seller had made it his principal residence shortly after the date of the swap and thereby met the two-year use rule, he still would be not be able to exclude any profits on the sale.
In either case, though, the pesky reporting requirement remains history. When your gain doesn't exceed the limit, you don't have to file anything with the IRS.
Special rules for married couples
While a husband and wife get double the exclusion of single home sellers, couples also have some additional considerations when it comes to determining whether their sale is tax-free.
Either spouse can meet the ownership test. For example, the IRS says it's OK if you owned the home for the last two years, but you just added your new husband to the title when you got married six months ago. Since you owned the residence for the requisite time, as joint filers you have no problem meeting the ownership test even though your husband wasn't an official owner for that long.
However, both husband and wife must pass the use test; that is, each must live in the residence for two years. But the shared use doesn't have to be while you file jointly. If you and your now-husband shared the home for 1½ years before tying the knot and then six months as newlyweds, the IRS will allow you to claim the exemption. But if he didn't move in until the wedding day, you're out of tax-exclusion luck.
And while you're learning about your new spouse, make sure you find out all about his or her previous home-sale history. "The two-year eligibility rule applies to both spouses, so full home disclosure is another financial area you need to consider when getting married," says Trinz. "You need to find out what you're getting."
Under this couple requirement, if either spouse sold a home and used the exclusion within two years of the sale of any jointly-owned property, the couple can't claim the exclusion. That means if your new husband sold his townhouse a month before the wedding, then you'll have to wait two years after that property's sale date before you can dispose of your shared marital residence tax-free.
Figuring the correct exclusion amount
OK, you (and your better half if you're married) met the use and ownership tests, as well as the two-year previous-sale time limit. Now it's time to do the math to avoid writing a big check to the U.S. Treasury.
As a seller, you naturally focus on how much you got for your house. That is an important number, but not the only one you'll need when it comes to figuring whether you'll owe taxes on the sale.
It's your gain, or profit, that determines the size or lack of a tax bill. In fact, you can sell your house for $1 million and still not owe Uncle Sam as long as the profit portion was not more than $250,000 or $500,000, depending on your filing status. If you can exclude all the gain, then you owe no taxes.
To arrive at your gain amount, you first must establish your basis in the home. For most people, says Trinz, this is what you paid for the residence and all capital improvements you've made, such as adding a room or finishing a basement. Also, if you sold a residence prior to the 1997 law change and rolled the profit into the home you're now selling, you must account for that rollover amount; your basis will decrease by the amount of gain you postponed years ago.
"Then you compare that basis amount to what you get from the sale, less your commissions and other expenses," says Trinz. "When you subtract your cost basis in the residence, this will give you the amount of gain on the sale."
In most instances, sellers will find they made a nice profit, but not one large enough to trigger a tax bill. Some, however, could find their residences appreciated so much that the great sales prices they got ended up costing them at tax time. That's why it's important to accurately track anything that could affect your home basis.
"In 1997 when this law first changed, there was a lot of talk about how you no longer have to keep records of home basis improvements, but the way the home prices have escalated you're probably safer in keeping those records," says Luscombe. "The improvements increase your basis, so a smaller portion of the selling price would be viewed as gain. Any overage is taxed at the [applicable long-term] capital gains rate of 15 percent or 5 percent.
"For those people, the old rule might have been better, but the new rule sort of rewards more frequent changes of homeownership."
Partial exclusion still a good deal
Even if you don't meet all the home-sale exclusion tests, your tax break might not be totally lost.
When an owner sells his house because of special conditions, such as a change in health, employment or unforeseen circumstances, he's eligible for a prorated tax-free gain.
In such a case, the seller first calculates the fractional amount of time that he met the two-year use test. For example, a single homeowner is transferred to a job in another city and sells after being in his home for only a year and a half. He would have an occupancy period of 18/24 (the number months he lived in the home divided by 24, the number of months in the two-year occupancy requirement) or 0.75. By multiplying the full $250,000 exclusion amount by 0.75, the seller would be eligible to exclude a sale gain of up to $187,500.
Members of the military also get special home-sale consideration. Because of redeployments, soldiers often find it hard to meet the residency rule and end up owing taxes when they sell. But a law change in 2003 now exempts military personnel from the two-year use requirement (for up to 10 years), letting them qualify for the full exclusion whenever they must move to fulfill service commitments.
So quit worrying about taxes when you put your house on the market. Chances are good that Uncle Sam won't be able to lay any claim to your hefty home-sale profit.
Monday, October 18, 2010
残酷：大批美国人如何滑出了中产阶级
残酷：大批美国人如何滑出了中产阶级
中国日报 2010-10-18 13:49:54
http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=448351&id=1015901&dcid=2
谁都不想下滑，但残酷的衰退和浮浅的复甦却在降低美国人的生活标準，也将很多人推出「中产阶级」的社会经济台阶。专栏作家布鲁克斯甚至创造了一个社会新阶层：前中产阶级。另一专家哈芬顿（Arianna Huffington）称之为「美国的第三世界」。
《美国新闻和世界报导》（U.S. News & World Report）发表文章说，美国图书馆过去充满如何发财致富书籍。现在，不幸的是，有人开始研究为何那么多人下滑。
文章说，个人下滑的道路通常为人熟知：失业、无力归还抵押贷款和其他帐单、面临法拍和宣布破产。许多长期失业人员属于上述类型。美国目前长期失业人数高达610万，相当于衰退之前的5倍。还有120万人彻底放弃找工作，已经永久性加入下层社会。还有很多不那么戏剧性的下滑：有些人由于从事低收入职业，无法增加收入，而他们的帐单却继续上涨。
文章提出经济社会地位下滑的三大原因：
技能过时。教育程度决定人们富有或贫穷。有大学文凭的人失业率为4.5%；有高中文凭的人失业率为9.3%；没有高中文凭的人，失业率高达14.3%。同时，大学文凭也不是职业保证。文章以奥马哈的洛曼（Linda Rohman）为例。这个有法学位和心理学博士学位的女性，在为养两个儿子停止工作两年之后，準备重操律师旧业。但她的联系网过时了，找不到工作。她干了很多兼职，现在準备到社区学院找一份教职。
举债太多。过去二十年来，美国人喜欢借债闻名，不管是买房子、买汽车还是日常用品。那种做法造成了信用上的「有产阶级」和「无产阶级」。原来控制债务比较好的消费者未来可以得到贷款，买房子或买车。随着经济复甦，他们也有金融工具可以发展。但那些欠款太多还不起的人，信用污点难消，他们很难得到正常借款，也就更难再次加入中产阶级。
缺乏安全网。美国社会为遭遇困难者提供了相当多的安全网。但医疗救济（Medicaid）、社会安全（Social Security）、食品券和失业保险及其他政府项目并不能阻止很多人过去两年多生活水準下降。在贫困中生活的美国人过去两年增加了610万人，2009 年达到4400万人。没有医疗保险的人增加了500万，达到将近5100万人。很多人都缺乏后备计划而无法应付意外。例如，将近三分之二的人都是因为严重的医疗问题而破产，而在1981年只有8%的人因为医疗问题破产。
中国日报 2010-10-18 13:49:54
http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=448351&id=1015901&dcid=2
谁都不想下滑，但残酷的衰退和浮浅的复甦却在降低美国人的生活标準，也将很多人推出「中产阶级」的社会经济台阶。专栏作家布鲁克斯甚至创造了一个社会新阶层：前中产阶级。另一专家哈芬顿（Arianna Huffington）称之为「美国的第三世界」。
《美国新闻和世界报导》（U.S. News & World Report）发表文章说，美国图书馆过去充满如何发财致富书籍。现在，不幸的是，有人开始研究为何那么多人下滑。
文章说，个人下滑的道路通常为人熟知：失业、无力归还抵押贷款和其他帐单、面临法拍和宣布破产。许多长期失业人员属于上述类型。美国目前长期失业人数高达610万，相当于衰退之前的5倍。还有120万人彻底放弃找工作，已经永久性加入下层社会。还有很多不那么戏剧性的下滑：有些人由于从事低收入职业，无法增加收入，而他们的帐单却继续上涨。
文章提出经济社会地位下滑的三大原因：
技能过时。教育程度决定人们富有或贫穷。有大学文凭的人失业率为4.5%；有高中文凭的人失业率为9.3%；没有高中文凭的人，失业率高达14.3%。同时，大学文凭也不是职业保证。文章以奥马哈的洛曼（Linda Rohman）为例。这个有法学位和心理学博士学位的女性，在为养两个儿子停止工作两年之后，準备重操律师旧业。但她的联系网过时了，找不到工作。她干了很多兼职，现在準备到社区学院找一份教职。
举债太多。过去二十年来，美国人喜欢借债闻名，不管是买房子、买汽车还是日常用品。那种做法造成了信用上的「有产阶级」和「无产阶级」。原来控制债务比较好的消费者未来可以得到贷款，买房子或买车。随着经济复甦，他们也有金融工具可以发展。但那些欠款太多还不起的人，信用污点难消，他们很难得到正常借款，也就更难再次加入中产阶级。
缺乏安全网。美国社会为遭遇困难者提供了相当多的安全网。但医疗救济（Medicaid）、社会安全（Social Security）、食品券和失业保险及其他政府项目并不能阻止很多人过去两年多生活水準下降。在贫困中生活的美国人过去两年增加了610万人，2009 年达到4400万人。没有医疗保险的人增加了500万，达到将近5100万人。很多人都缺乏后备计划而无法应付意外。例如，将近三分之二的人都是因为严重的医疗问题而破产，而在1981年只有8%的人因为医疗问题破产。
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
美国梦变美国痛 压力大华人第二代易入歧途
美国梦变美国痛 压力大华人第二代易入歧途
http://news.creaders.net/immigration/newsViewer.php?nid=447802&id=1014804
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世界新闻网 2010-10-12 22:04:18
老一辈中国移民闯荡美国，多凭“三把刀”打出一片天。如今，在父母关爱中成长起来的华人第二代，或通过努力成为“三师”(律师、医师、会计师)完成华丽转型，或继承延续父辈的事业和梦想。然而“美国梦”的实现并非人人都一帆风顺，有专家表示，近年华人二代、青少年因无法调适压力而导致行为偏差案例愈来愈多，呼吁父母需随时注意，不要使全家的美国梦变成深深的“美国痛”。
压力大 华人二代易入歧途
经历全球经济风暴，美国的华裔民众承受来自事业及家庭的压力，需要学习如何适调心理来管理情绪。美国《世界日报》指出，专家表示，近年华人二代子女因无法调适压力而导致行为偏差的案例愈来愈多，除了吸毒、药物滥用外还出现援交等偏差行为，希望父母适时与孩子沟通，才能有效避免。
洛杉矶加大学生医疗咨商中心资深心理治疗师赵家玉表示，虽然经济不景气，不少华裔移民因文化语言适应问题，承受比一般美国民众还大的压力，常导致心理出现问题，但不少父母会有意无意的将压力转嫁在孩子身上，让华裔二代子女除了要面对课业压力外，还需要面对来自家庭、同侪的压力，最近愈来愈多华裔学生向她求助。
在美国的华裔二代学生因为从小在华裔传统家庭长大，常被父母灌输要压抑自己真正的想法，再加上与父母有文化上及语言上的代沟，若一旦发生什么事情，只能选择独自承受，或找寻其它同侪及朋友诉苦，在处理压力上比其它学生弱，人生观也容易受到扭曲，如果没有得到适当的宣泄或解决，就容易导致行为偏差。
华裔大学生及青少年最常见的行为偏差为吸毒或药物滥用，甚至贩卖毒品。赵家玉举例，曾经辅导过一个案例，一位华裔大学生因为家中相当重视成绩表现，为了不让父母失望，听信朋友的话，购买毒品让自己集中精神。还有华裔学生因为压力太大，吸毒来逃避现实。
还有华裔女学生因为观念与第一代移民的父母不合，家庭关系长期疏远，亲子间互动相敬如“冰”，加上同侪的影响，需要购买奢侈品获得认同，最后找有钱的中年“干爹”援交。她说，还有不少下海援交的学生原因是童年在家庭暴力和性虐待阴影下成长，才会导致如此极端行为。
随着网络发达，不少青少年透过网络找到各种信息，无形中让华裔家庭亲子关系更加疏远。赵家玉表示，华裔父母应该改变观念，就算忙于工作或外面承受压力，也需花心思注意孩子的想法，若有时间，也需要充实新知识，避免因为知识和语言差距，成为亲子间沟通的障碍。
家庭关爱可避免青少年失足
美国《侨报》记者近日也采访了一位长期在政府机构从事华裔青少年帮派及华人偷渡调查的执法人员，因工作关系，隐去执法人员的真实姓名，而用化名陈峰。说起近20多年来接触到的种种华裔新移民青少年帮派犯罪，陈峰感慨万千。“看了那么多案子，做了这么多年的调查，我真觉得，父母们与其到时后悔，不如当孩子还在悬崖边上时拉他们一把。”陈峰认为：“家庭仍然是最重要的，不要把这个问题推到社会、学校，应该在家庭里解决。”
很多在美国的父母及祖辈们常常抱怨：“我们不知道在美国怎么教育孩子，明明看到他不对，却骂不得、打不得。一进学校，学校首先教‘孩子父母不能打你，如果挨打你要报吿’，所以孩子动不动就以报警威胁我们，叫我们怎么管孩子？！”的确，生活在美国的中国父母，在教育孩子上，很多人陷入这种两难境地。
陈峰认为，首先，做父母的要扭转自己的观念。他说：“你认为孩子做的不对可以打骂，是因为你把孩子看成是自己的私有财产。如果是私有物品，你对他拥有一切权力。不管是一杯咖啡还是一枚钻戒，只要你不喜欢，都可以丢到垃圾桶去，没人管你。但是，孩子不是你的私有财产，他是一个独立的个体，是单独存在的，你只有爱他、尊重他，他将来才会尊重社会。”
其次，父母可以寻求专业人员的帮助。陈峰表示，他在刑事法庭和民事法庭上看到许多案例——有的孩子犯罪了，有的孩子被儿童局带走，有的家长最后被诉家暴……都是等到出事后，家长才着急，母亲才哭哭啼啼。很多新移民父母不懂美国法律、文化，自己处于尴尬的境地，还把孩子带到尴尬的境地，这样孩子不出错也难。
最差的方式，就是“亡羊补牢”。及时发现孩子的异常举动，虽然很多新移民父母忙于在餐馆、衣厂做工，为了生活每天工作十多个小时，但为了避免悲剧发生，造成终身的遗憾，还是希望父母们能抽出一点时间，关心一下身边的孩子。
http://news.creaders.net/immigration/newsViewer.php?nid=447802&id=1014804
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世界新闻网 2010-10-12 22:04:18
老一辈中国移民闯荡美国，多凭“三把刀”打出一片天。如今，在父母关爱中成长起来的华人第二代，或通过努力成为“三师”(律师、医师、会计师)完成华丽转型，或继承延续父辈的事业和梦想。然而“美国梦”的实现并非人人都一帆风顺，有专家表示，近年华人二代、青少年因无法调适压力而导致行为偏差案例愈来愈多，呼吁父母需随时注意，不要使全家的美国梦变成深深的“美国痛”。
压力大 华人二代易入歧途
经历全球经济风暴，美国的华裔民众承受来自事业及家庭的压力，需要学习如何适调心理来管理情绪。美国《世界日报》指出，专家表示，近年华人二代子女因无法调适压力而导致行为偏差的案例愈来愈多，除了吸毒、药物滥用外还出现援交等偏差行为，希望父母适时与孩子沟通，才能有效避免。
洛杉矶加大学生医疗咨商中心资深心理治疗师赵家玉表示，虽然经济不景气，不少华裔移民因文化语言适应问题，承受比一般美国民众还大的压力，常导致心理出现问题，但不少父母会有意无意的将压力转嫁在孩子身上，让华裔二代子女除了要面对课业压力外，还需要面对来自家庭、同侪的压力，最近愈来愈多华裔学生向她求助。
在美国的华裔二代学生因为从小在华裔传统家庭长大，常被父母灌输要压抑自己真正的想法，再加上与父母有文化上及语言上的代沟，若一旦发生什么事情，只能选择独自承受，或找寻其它同侪及朋友诉苦，在处理压力上比其它学生弱，人生观也容易受到扭曲，如果没有得到适当的宣泄或解决，就容易导致行为偏差。
华裔大学生及青少年最常见的行为偏差为吸毒或药物滥用，甚至贩卖毒品。赵家玉举例，曾经辅导过一个案例，一位华裔大学生因为家中相当重视成绩表现，为了不让父母失望，听信朋友的话，购买毒品让自己集中精神。还有华裔学生因为压力太大，吸毒来逃避现实。
还有华裔女学生因为观念与第一代移民的父母不合，家庭关系长期疏远，亲子间互动相敬如“冰”，加上同侪的影响，需要购买奢侈品获得认同，最后找有钱的中年“干爹”援交。她说，还有不少下海援交的学生原因是童年在家庭暴力和性虐待阴影下成长，才会导致如此极端行为。
随着网络发达，不少青少年透过网络找到各种信息，无形中让华裔家庭亲子关系更加疏远。赵家玉表示，华裔父母应该改变观念，就算忙于工作或外面承受压力，也需花心思注意孩子的想法，若有时间，也需要充实新知识，避免因为知识和语言差距，成为亲子间沟通的障碍。
家庭关爱可避免青少年失足
美国《侨报》记者近日也采访了一位长期在政府机构从事华裔青少年帮派及华人偷渡调查的执法人员，因工作关系，隐去执法人员的真实姓名，而用化名陈峰。说起近20多年来接触到的种种华裔新移民青少年帮派犯罪，陈峰感慨万千。“看了那么多案子，做了这么多年的调查，我真觉得，父母们与其到时后悔，不如当孩子还在悬崖边上时拉他们一把。”陈峰认为：“家庭仍然是最重要的，不要把这个问题推到社会、学校，应该在家庭里解决。”
很多在美国的父母及祖辈们常常抱怨：“我们不知道在美国怎么教育孩子，明明看到他不对，却骂不得、打不得。一进学校，学校首先教‘孩子父母不能打你，如果挨打你要报吿’，所以孩子动不动就以报警威胁我们，叫我们怎么管孩子？！”的确，生活在美国的中国父母，在教育孩子上，很多人陷入这种两难境地。
陈峰认为，首先，做父母的要扭转自己的观念。他说：“你认为孩子做的不对可以打骂，是因为你把孩子看成是自己的私有财产。如果是私有物品，你对他拥有一切权力。不管是一杯咖啡还是一枚钻戒，只要你不喜欢，都可以丢到垃圾桶去，没人管你。但是，孩子不是你的私有财产，他是一个独立的个体，是单独存在的，你只有爱他、尊重他，他将来才会尊重社会。”
其次，父母可以寻求专业人员的帮助。陈峰表示，他在刑事法庭和民事法庭上看到许多案例——有的孩子犯罪了，有的孩子被儿童局带走，有的家长最后被诉家暴……都是等到出事后，家长才着急，母亲才哭哭啼啼。很多新移民父母不懂美国法律、文化，自己处于尴尬的境地，还把孩子带到尴尬的境地，这样孩子不出错也难。
最差的方式，就是“亡羊补牢”。及时发现孩子的异常举动，虽然很多新移民父母忙于在餐馆、衣厂做工，为了生活每天工作十多个小时，但为了避免悲剧发生，造成终身的遗憾，还是希望父母们能抽出一点时间，关心一下身边的孩子。
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Top 5 Tips to Build Wealth and Success
http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-110926-6907-5-top-5-tips-to-build-wealth-and-success?ywaad=ad0035&nc
Warren Buffett is worth $45 billion. That wealth isn't only a factor of savvy investing and good business — the "Oracle of Omaha" is also known as a penny pincher. Buffett still lives in the same Omaha, Neb., home he bought in 1958 for $31,500.
Follow his frugal formula, and you too may wind up with a lot more money than you ever dreamed.
This week Financially Fit covers five tips to build wealth and success.
1. Live Below Your Means.
Being wealthy isn't just a product of your salary or investment prowess; it's learning how to save.
"We can make a lot of money, you can make a little bit of money, but the second you spend all the money is when people get into trouble. Saving is the key to preserving your wealth," says Ed Butowsky, managing partner of Chapwood Capital Investment Management, a firm that manages money for wealthy individuals.
As many Americans realized during the booming real estate market, just because you think you can afford something doesn't mean you should buy it. Keeping an eye on your bottom line will pay dividends over the long term.
Related Video
2. Bounce Back From Defeat
With nearly 15 million workers unemployed right now in the U.S., it's easy to get discouraged. Don't! Most successful and wealthy people have overcome obstacles and failure along the way. Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple when he was 30. Today, he's a billionaire and a legend. Plus, after getting fired, he created another billion-dollar media company, Pixar.
"Bouncing back from defeat is something all great achievers have. They have this undying belief good things will happen and will continue to happen," says Butowsky.
Take Michael Jordan. "His airness" was cut from his high school basketball team. Motivated by the rejection, Jordan became a star the next season. The rest is history.
3. Self-Promote
Regardless of the profession, the rich and successful tend to have a strong sense of self-worth — key to skillfully navigating an upward career path. Mark Hurd, who was ousted as CEO of Hewlett-Packard in August, couldn't be kept down for long. Using his business skills and connections, in September, Hurd was named president of Oracle. (Hurd and Oracle founder Larry Ellison are known to be close friends.)
4. Have Street Smarts
Bernie Madoff lived the high life for decades, scamming unsuspecting clients, with a money-making formula that proved too good to be true. Only afterward did we learn that with a little due diligence, most clients could have easily uncovered the fraud.
But it's not only the swindlers and the con men you have to watch out for. Many times, friends and family take advantage of the rich. Whether it's a handout or an investment idea, Butowsky advises his high net worth clients that in most cases, it's wisest to just say "no." The best way to do that: have someone else do it for you.
"You need to really set up a wall between you and your family," he advises. "If you don't want to give them (family or friends) money ... saying no is probably a good idea."
5. Buy Cheap
The rich can afford to splurge, but that doesn't mean they do.
John Paulson, a billionaire hedge fund manager, bought his Hamptons "dream house at a bargain basement price," according to Greg Zuckerman, author of the Paulson-based book, "The Greatest Trade Ever." The story has it that Paulson eyed the home while it was in foreclosure. Finally, on a rain-soaked day, he purchased the home on the Southampton town hall steps. He was the only bidder.
On New York City's Upper East Side, Michael's— The Consignment Shop for Women— has been a bargain-hunting destination for more than 60 years. "We have a good percentage of women who can afford to shop on Madison Avenue but really like the idea of saving that money," says proprietor Tammy Gates.
From Chanel to Gucci and Louis Vuitton, the store specializes in high-end designer merchandise for a reasonable price. Speaking of her clientele, Gates says, "they're wealthy for a reason. They recognize that bargains keep people wealthy. Paying top dollar when you don't have to doesn't make sense."
This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit
* Buzz up!346 votes
Warren Buffett is worth $45 billion. That wealth isn't only a factor of savvy investing and good business — the "Oracle of Omaha" is also known as a penny pincher. Buffett still lives in the same Omaha, Neb., home he bought in 1958 for $31,500.
Follow his frugal formula, and you too may wind up with a lot more money than you ever dreamed.
This week Financially Fit covers five tips to build wealth and success.
1. Live Below Your Means.
Being wealthy isn't just a product of your salary or investment prowess; it's learning how to save.
"We can make a lot of money, you can make a little bit of money, but the second you spend all the money is when people get into trouble. Saving is the key to preserving your wealth," says Ed Butowsky, managing partner of Chapwood Capital Investment Management, a firm that manages money for wealthy individuals.
As many Americans realized during the booming real estate market, just because you think you can afford something doesn't mean you should buy it. Keeping an eye on your bottom line will pay dividends over the long term.
Related Video
2. Bounce Back From Defeat
With nearly 15 million workers unemployed right now in the U.S., it's easy to get discouraged. Don't! Most successful and wealthy people have overcome obstacles and failure along the way. Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple when he was 30. Today, he's a billionaire and a legend. Plus, after getting fired, he created another billion-dollar media company, Pixar.
"Bouncing back from defeat is something all great achievers have. They have this undying belief good things will happen and will continue to happen," says Butowsky.
Take Michael Jordan. "His airness" was cut from his high school basketball team. Motivated by the rejection, Jordan became a star the next season. The rest is history.
3. Self-Promote
Regardless of the profession, the rich and successful tend to have a strong sense of self-worth — key to skillfully navigating an upward career path. Mark Hurd, who was ousted as CEO of Hewlett-Packard in August, couldn't be kept down for long. Using his business skills and connections, in September, Hurd was named president of Oracle. (Hurd and Oracle founder Larry Ellison are known to be close friends.)
4. Have Street Smarts
Bernie Madoff lived the high life for decades, scamming unsuspecting clients, with a money-making formula that proved too good to be true. Only afterward did we learn that with a little due diligence, most clients could have easily uncovered the fraud.
But it's not only the swindlers and the con men you have to watch out for. Many times, friends and family take advantage of the rich. Whether it's a handout or an investment idea, Butowsky advises his high net worth clients that in most cases, it's wisest to just say "no." The best way to do that: have someone else do it for you.
"You need to really set up a wall between you and your family," he advises. "If you don't want to give them (family or friends) money ... saying no is probably a good idea."
5. Buy Cheap
The rich can afford to splurge, but that doesn't mean they do.
John Paulson, a billionaire hedge fund manager, bought his Hamptons "dream house at a bargain basement price," according to Greg Zuckerman, author of the Paulson-based book, "The Greatest Trade Ever." The story has it that Paulson eyed the home while it was in foreclosure. Finally, on a rain-soaked day, he purchased the home on the Southampton town hall steps. He was the only bidder.
On New York City's Upper East Side, Michael's— The Consignment Shop for Women— has been a bargain-hunting destination for more than 60 years. "We have a good percentage of women who can afford to shop on Madison Avenue but really like the idea of saving that money," says proprietor Tammy Gates.
From Chanel to Gucci and Louis Vuitton, the store specializes in high-end designer merchandise for a reasonable price. Speaking of her clientele, Gates says, "they're wealthy for a reason. They recognize that bargains keep people wealthy. Paying top dollar when you don't have to doesn't make sense."
This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit
* Buzz up!346 votes
12岁华裔神童 进军洛杉矶加大数学系
年仅12岁的华裔神童凯孝虎（Moshe Cavalin）资质过人，自东洛杉矶学院毕业后，先后获洛杉矶加大、史丹福、柏克莱加大、圣地牙哥加大等七所名校录取，今年秋季他将转入洛杉矶加大数学系三年级就读。「学生宿舍裡，别的学生是带著孩子来念书，而孝虎却是带著父母来念书。」凯孝虎的母亲钱淑贞说。
自小喜爱功夫的凯孝虎，三岁开始便由父母传授数学、理科等课程，由于母亲是华人，给了孝虎优良的双语环境，孝虎渐渐对海洋、天文等自然学科产生浓厚兴趣。进入中学后，他认为课程太容易，申请跳级却不被学校批淮，校方也担心年幼的孝虎分散其他年长学生的注意力，就一直由父母在家授课 (home schooling)。
八岁时，孝虎决定申请就读东洛杉矶学院（East Los Angeles College），钱淑贞担心儿子过早进大学会带来压力，最初极力反对，学院负责学生事务的副校长也怀疑八岁的孝虎能否完成课程，只允许以半职学生修习学分。两年下来，孝虎却交出了一份「全A」成绩单，打消父母和校方的疑虑，允许他全职修课。孝虎从东洛杉矶学院顺利毕业，并转入洛杉矶加大时，年仅11岁。
钱淑贞说，如果孝虎一直以全职学生身分修课，也许不需三年，两年就修满学分转学，但她希望儿子待的时间久一些，有助增强与年长学生相处的能力，转入四年制大学念书时，也比较没有压力。
相比爱子心切的父母，孝虎态度显得轻鬆，他表示，没有感到任何压力，已开始计画大学毕业转读物理学硕士。孝虎透露，他将写一本关于自己的成长经历、攸关家庭教育的书籍，他的父母也在书中介绍教子心得，与所有望子成龙的父母与同龄孩子分享经验。
他将自己的成功秘诀归结为三部曲：制定计画、用心实施、达成计画（make a plan, put your heart on the plan you made and you will reach your goal.）。
在宽鬆的家庭教育环境下成长，孝虎四岁起学钢琴、六岁学武术，堪称能文能武，他也是电脑高手。在义大利裔美籍父亲Joseph Cavalin指导下，孝虎还建立个人网页。钱淑贞说，担任大学教授的Joseph Cavalin是孝虎的偶像，也是立志超越的对象。
自小喜爱功夫的凯孝虎，三岁开始便由父母传授数学、理科等课程，由于母亲是华人，给了孝虎优良的双语环境，孝虎渐渐对海洋、天文等自然学科产生浓厚兴趣。进入中学后，他认为课程太容易，申请跳级却不被学校批淮，校方也担心年幼的孝虎分散其他年长学生的注意力，就一直由父母在家授课 (home schooling)。
八岁时，孝虎决定申请就读东洛杉矶学院（East Los Angeles College），钱淑贞担心儿子过早进大学会带来压力，最初极力反对，学院负责学生事务的副校长也怀疑八岁的孝虎能否完成课程，只允许以半职学生修习学分。两年下来，孝虎却交出了一份「全A」成绩单，打消父母和校方的疑虑，允许他全职修课。孝虎从东洛杉矶学院顺利毕业，并转入洛杉矶加大时，年仅11岁。
钱淑贞说，如果孝虎一直以全职学生身分修课，也许不需三年，两年就修满学分转学，但她希望儿子待的时间久一些，有助增强与年长学生相处的能力，转入四年制大学念书时，也比较没有压力。
相比爱子心切的父母，孝虎态度显得轻鬆，他表示，没有感到任何压力，已开始计画大学毕业转读物理学硕士。孝虎透露，他将写一本关于自己的成长经历、攸关家庭教育的书籍，他的父母也在书中介绍教子心得，与所有望子成龙的父母与同龄孩子分享经验。
他将自己的成功秘诀归结为三部曲：制定计画、用心实施、达成计画（make a plan, put your heart on the plan you made and you will reach your goal.）。
在宽鬆的家庭教育环境下成长，孝虎四岁起学钢琴、六岁学武术，堪称能文能武，他也是电脑高手。在义大利裔美籍父亲Joseph Cavalin指导下，孝虎还建立个人网页。钱淑贞说，担任大学教授的Joseph Cavalin是孝虎的偶像，也是立志超越的对象。
你知道吗？什么是美国职场面试中的大忌？
http://bbs.creaders.net/newland/bbsviewer.php?trd_id=517622
你知道吗？什么是美国职场面试中的大忌？
送交者: 愤怒的绵羊 2010年10月04日23:26:01 于 [新 大 陆] 发送悄悄话
就业市场竞争十分激烈─根据美国劳工部(U.S. Department of Labor)最新的公司招聘及人才流动数据，每一个招聘职位对应超过6.1名应聘者;因此，在面试时给招聘方留下深刻印象显得尤为重要。美国人力资源协会 (U.S. Department of Labor)最近对近500名人力资源经理做了一项新调查，发现应聘者在面试过程中有很多地方容易把事情搞砸，其中一些可能会让你大吃一惊。
有几个基本的错误不要犯：一是参加面试时迟到，二是贬低以前的雇主。不过，一些招聘经理说，有时候甚至连久经沙场的应聘者也会阴沟里翻船。
应聘者往往会以一种过于亲昵的语气与招聘经理交谈──根据20%受访者的反馈，这是一个普遍问题。纽约州罗切斯特市残疾人维权中心(Center for Disability Rights)的人力资源主管玛丽•维罗比(Mary Willoughby)说，有一次她面试的应聘者自我感觉过于良好，居然评论起她眼角的一个麦粒肿。
“当时我就做出了决定，” 玛丽说。那名应聘者没有得到职位。
67% 的受访者认为，着装不当是个大忌──比求职简历中出现错字都要严重(58%的接受调查者认为这是一个重大失误)。荷兰国际集团美国金融服务业务部(ING U.S. Financial Services)人力资源部的负责人查恩塔尔•沃比克(Chantal Verbeek)说，如果应聘者技能出众，她可以原谅简历中出现一个错字，但衣着暴露或穿着懒散等同于立刻被拒绝。
其他调查结果
美国人力资源协会对近500名人力资源经理所做的调查还发现：
30%的招聘经理将在15分钟内决定是否雇佣应聘者。
40%的招聘经理说，如果在面试中应聘者的手机突然响起，那就“没得可谈”。
70%的招聘经理更喜欢应聘者在其公司涉及的领域有过不领工资的实习经验，而不是在非涉及的领域有过全职的工作经验。
30%的招聘经理说，能否与应聘者产生“化学反应”在其招聘决策中占有一半的作用。
该调查显示，在面试过程中，一些应聘者过早地向人力资源经理提出诸如福利奖金、休假时间和工作灵活性等问题。(30%的招聘经理表示，招聘者在面试结束后的双方交流中问起薪水问题是可以的。)约39%的受访招聘经理说，应聘者根本不应该询问待遇水平，除非是面试官主动提起。
“有些应聘者一开始就问他们能不能在家上班。” 维罗比说，“正确的顺序是，等我们决定你适不适合这份工作，再来讨论你愿意在办公室里呆多久。”
说 “这份工作是我梦寐以求的”这类老掉牙的言论也是让招聘经理立马对你不感兴趣的一个主要原因。与其告诉面试官你很有想法，不如在面试中真正展现出来。维罗比回忆起一个应聘IT程序员岗位的人，他委婉地指出残疾人维权中心的网站有几个网页编程错误。“他的表达方式没有让我们感觉遭到嘲笑或贬低，” 维罗比说，“而是让我们觉得，他对这份工作很上心。”
一家猎头公司Vitality Group Executive Search的总裁肖恩•戴斯格罗斯勒(Shawn Desgrosellier)建议应聘者参加面试时手上一定要拿点东西──随便什么都行，这样能让你保持专注。(他建议拿一支笔、一本笔记本或一份自己的简历)“两手空空走进面试地点会让人有些手足无措，”他说道。
对那些在网上有很多公开档案和记录的人来说，现在有一个好消息。虽然Twitter 和Facebook这样的社交网站上充斥着很多关于应聘者私人生活的信息，但75%的人力资源经理根本不想费事去查它。
那么，应聘者要不要在面试后发一封正式的感谢信呢?60%以上接受调查的人力资源经理认为，省略这一步也无伤大雅，发一封简短的电子邮件就行──但送贺卡和彩色气球就过了。
你知道吗？什么是美国职场面试中的大忌？
送交者: 愤怒的绵羊 2010年10月04日23:26:01 于 [新 大 陆] 发送悄悄话
就业市场竞争十分激烈─根据美国劳工部(U.S. Department of Labor)最新的公司招聘及人才流动数据，每一个招聘职位对应超过6.1名应聘者;因此，在面试时给招聘方留下深刻印象显得尤为重要。美国人力资源协会 (U.S. Department of Labor)最近对近500名人力资源经理做了一项新调查，发现应聘者在面试过程中有很多地方容易把事情搞砸，其中一些可能会让你大吃一惊。
有几个基本的错误不要犯：一是参加面试时迟到，二是贬低以前的雇主。不过，一些招聘经理说，有时候甚至连久经沙场的应聘者也会阴沟里翻船。
应聘者往往会以一种过于亲昵的语气与招聘经理交谈──根据20%受访者的反馈，这是一个普遍问题。纽约州罗切斯特市残疾人维权中心(Center for Disability Rights)的人力资源主管玛丽•维罗比(Mary Willoughby)说，有一次她面试的应聘者自我感觉过于良好，居然评论起她眼角的一个麦粒肿。
“当时我就做出了决定，” 玛丽说。那名应聘者没有得到职位。
67% 的受访者认为，着装不当是个大忌──比求职简历中出现错字都要严重(58%的接受调查者认为这是一个重大失误)。荷兰国际集团美国金融服务业务部(ING U.S. Financial Services)人力资源部的负责人查恩塔尔•沃比克(Chantal Verbeek)说，如果应聘者技能出众，她可以原谅简历中出现一个错字，但衣着暴露或穿着懒散等同于立刻被拒绝。
其他调查结果
美国人力资源协会对近500名人力资源经理所做的调查还发现：
30%的招聘经理将在15分钟内决定是否雇佣应聘者。
40%的招聘经理说，如果在面试中应聘者的手机突然响起，那就“没得可谈”。
70%的招聘经理更喜欢应聘者在其公司涉及的领域有过不领工资的实习经验，而不是在非涉及的领域有过全职的工作经验。
30%的招聘经理说，能否与应聘者产生“化学反应”在其招聘决策中占有一半的作用。
该调查显示，在面试过程中，一些应聘者过早地向人力资源经理提出诸如福利奖金、休假时间和工作灵活性等问题。(30%的招聘经理表示，招聘者在面试结束后的双方交流中问起薪水问题是可以的。)约39%的受访招聘经理说，应聘者根本不应该询问待遇水平，除非是面试官主动提起。
“有些应聘者一开始就问他们能不能在家上班。” 维罗比说，“正确的顺序是，等我们决定你适不适合这份工作，再来讨论你愿意在办公室里呆多久。”
说 “这份工作是我梦寐以求的”这类老掉牙的言论也是让招聘经理立马对你不感兴趣的一个主要原因。与其告诉面试官你很有想法，不如在面试中真正展现出来。维罗比回忆起一个应聘IT程序员岗位的人，他委婉地指出残疾人维权中心的网站有几个网页编程错误。“他的表达方式没有让我们感觉遭到嘲笑或贬低，” 维罗比说，“而是让我们觉得，他对这份工作很上心。”
一家猎头公司Vitality Group Executive Search的总裁肖恩•戴斯格罗斯勒(Shawn Desgrosellier)建议应聘者参加面试时手上一定要拿点东西──随便什么都行，这样能让你保持专注。(他建议拿一支笔、一本笔记本或一份自己的简历)“两手空空走进面试地点会让人有些手足无措，”他说道。
对那些在网上有很多公开档案和记录的人来说，现在有一个好消息。虽然Twitter 和Facebook这样的社交网站上充斥着很多关于应聘者私人生活的信息，但75%的人力资源经理根本不想费事去查它。
那么，应聘者要不要在面试后发一封正式的感谢信呢?60%以上接受调查的人力资源经理认为，省略这一步也无伤大雅，发一封简短的电子邮件就行──但送贺卡和彩色气球就过了。
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Friends of Dharun Ravi, Molly Wei support pair charged in Rutgers sex video case
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/friends_of_dharun_ravi_molly_w.html
Published: Sunday, October 03, 2010, 5:15 PM Updated: Sunday, October 03, 2010, 7:55 PM
Amy Ellis Nutt/The Star-Ledger Amy Ellis Nutt/The Star-Ledger
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ravi-wei-yearbook.jpgYearbook photosDharun Ravi and Molly Wei, both Rutgers students, are charged in connection with broadcasting a sexual encounter involving Ravi's roommate Tyler Clementi. Clementi later killed himself.
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His parents bought a half-page of space in the back of the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North yearbook, Excalibur. Sandwiched between their son’s graduation photo and three childhood pictures, they wrote:
Dear Dharun,
It has been a pleasure watching you grow into a caring and responsible person. We are very proud of you. You are a wonderful son and brother. You are a great inspiration to Jay. Keep up your good work. Hold on to your dreams and always strive to achieve your goals. We know that you will succeed.
Almost as an afterthought, they added another sentence:
Dharun,
We will always be there to love and support you every step of the way.
Love, Mom, Dad and Jay
Neither Dharun Ravi nor his family could possibly have predicted that a few months later he would face what may be the most difficult challenge of his young life — the consequences of a college prank gone horribly wrong.
RELATED GALLERY
• Rutgers students hold memorial for Tyler Clementi
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
• Stand Up: In Memory of Tyler Clementi
• Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide spurs action across U.S.
• Rutgers University holds moment of silence for Tyler Clementi before football game kick-off
• Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide draws international attention
• Editorial: Webcam suicide of Rutgers student shows need for new resolve against bigotry
• Rutgers University to remember Tyler Clementi
• State Sen. Turner seeks to increase invasion of privacy penalty following Tyler Clementi's death
• Tyler Clementi's suicide gives ex-N.J. Gov. McGreevey 'great sadness'
• Friends remember Tyler Clementi as brilliant musician, bright student
• N.J. law experts advocate harsher charges against Rutgers students in video voyeurism case
• Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's final days before suicide emerge in online posts
Ravi, along with high school friend and Rutgers dorm mate, Molly Wei, have been charged with invasion of privacy after allegedly secretly streaming live, through Ravi’s laptop, an encounter between his roommate, Tyler Clementi, and another man.
It is what happened later, however, that has wreaked havoc on the lives of Ravi and Wei. About 48 hours after the two teens watched the first liason on a computer in Wei’s dorm room, Ravi invited his Twitter followers to view his roommate in a second encounter he believed would occur that evening.
The video feed of the second encounter was unsuccessful, and the next day Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge.
Now, just weeks into their freshman year at Rutgers, Ravi and Wei not only are confronting the law, but global opprobrium.
The story of the webcam and Clementi’s suicide has been reported in at least five Australian newspapers, as well as the Irish Examiner, Coventry Evening Telegraph in England and the Evening Times in Glasgow, Scotland.
On the internet, news accounts can be found in Vietnamese and French, Greek and Turkish, Danish, Portuguese and Javanese.
Facebook pages also have been created — for the victim ("In Honor of Tyler Clementi") and both in support of the accused ("Molly Wei is innocent") and against them ("Manslaughter Charges for Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei").
Most of the internet musings run from "Guilty!" to "Here’s hoping they both go to jail for a long time," to "Two pieces of scum."
Few of the postings reflect the picture friends paint of Ravi and Wei: smart, well-liked, on the threshold of promising futures.
"A lot of the online news sources, what I’ve read, have kind of hinted that he’s a prankster. That he’s kind of homophobic," said Michael Zhuang, 17, a friend of Ravi’s. "He’s really not. He’s very, very open-minded."
Those who know Ravi describe him as spirited and outgoing. He is a formidable breakdancer and, in addition to running track at West Windsor-Plainsboro North, was co-captain of the Ultimate Frisbee team.
Another friend, Mark Lin, 17, said Ravi had near-perfect scores on his SATs.
Those who knew Wei in middle and high school said she played volleyball, sang in a choir and enjoyed many friendships.
Pooja Kolluri, also an 18-year-old Rutgers freshman, was close with Wei a number of years ago and recently got back in touch with her.
"She was really a very happy person," Kolluri said.
RELATED VIDEO
Rutgers students start a memorial for Tyler Clementi
At the fifth-grade carnival at Community Middle School in Plainsboro, the two lip-synched to an Atomic Kitten cover of the pop song "The Tide is High."
Farahin Choudury, 18, who has known Wei since sixth grade, said the Rutgers pharmacy student was a star in honors pre-calculus their junior year in high school and took a number of AP classes.
"She was a very bright student," said Choudury. "Very friendly, very sweet, easy to be friends with."
Choudury, a Rutgers freshman, had not seen Wei since June and was "shocked" and "very disappointed" by the news of Wei’s alleged involvement. "I didn’t see this coming," she said.
Jeremiah Ward, a friend of Ravi’s from high school, said he was surprised, but not mystified.
"We don’t have a lot of activities we can do around here," Ward said. "I would understand how kids can get bored. … Their parents are so focused on ‘do this, you’ve got to be a good student,’ and I understand that, I definitely get that. For me — I understand because I see it — when they get to college, because they’re so suppressed, they just do whatever."
The 20-year-old went on to say, "I definitely don’t think it was a hate crime."
Two weeks ago, three students were picking classes, memorizing shuttle bus routes and becoming familiar with their classmates.
Now Clementi is dead, and Ravi and Wei have not been seen in days.
clementi-memorial-vigil.jpgNoah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerRutgers University students stop to observe a memorial in front of Brower Commons for freshman Tyler Clementi 18, of Ridgewood, N.J. who committed suicide
Neither teen has spoken publicly. The only words of Wei readily available are those beneath her high school yearbook photo:
"We keep moving forward, opening up new doors, and doing new things. . . Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
On a gloomy, rain-wracked Friday, the lights at the Ravis’ sprawling brick house were turned off and the window shades of the Wei family’s townhouse were pulled down. The TV trucks and camera crews were all gone, too.
The only evidence of the media onslaught: a soggy envelope on the Weis’ doorstep — from People magazine.
Staff writer Matt Friedman contributed to this report.
Published: Sunday, October 03, 2010, 5:15 PM Updated: Sunday, October 03, 2010, 7:55 PM
Amy Ellis Nutt/The Star-Ledger Amy Ellis Nutt/The Star-Ledger
Follow
Share this story
Story tools
ravi-wei-yearbook.jpgYearbook photosDharun Ravi and Molly Wei, both Rutgers students, are charged in connection with broadcasting a sexual encounter involving Ravi's roommate Tyler Clementi. Clementi later killed himself.
256Share
218 Comments
His parents bought a half-page of space in the back of the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North yearbook, Excalibur. Sandwiched between their son’s graduation photo and three childhood pictures, they wrote:
Dear Dharun,
It has been a pleasure watching you grow into a caring and responsible person. We are very proud of you. You are a wonderful son and brother. You are a great inspiration to Jay. Keep up your good work. Hold on to your dreams and always strive to achieve your goals. We know that you will succeed.
Almost as an afterthought, they added another sentence:
Dharun,
We will always be there to love and support you every step of the way.
Love, Mom, Dad and Jay
Neither Dharun Ravi nor his family could possibly have predicted that a few months later he would face what may be the most difficult challenge of his young life — the consequences of a college prank gone horribly wrong.
RELATED GALLERY
• Rutgers students hold memorial for Tyler Clementi
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
• Stand Up: In Memory of Tyler Clementi
• Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide spurs action across U.S.
• Rutgers University holds moment of silence for Tyler Clementi before football game kick-off
• Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide draws international attention
• Editorial: Webcam suicide of Rutgers student shows need for new resolve against bigotry
• Rutgers University to remember Tyler Clementi
• State Sen. Turner seeks to increase invasion of privacy penalty following Tyler Clementi's death
• Tyler Clementi's suicide gives ex-N.J. Gov. McGreevey 'great sadness'
• Friends remember Tyler Clementi as brilliant musician, bright student
• N.J. law experts advocate harsher charges against Rutgers students in video voyeurism case
• Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's final days before suicide emerge in online posts
Ravi, along with high school friend and Rutgers dorm mate, Molly Wei, have been charged with invasion of privacy after allegedly secretly streaming live, through Ravi’s laptop, an encounter between his roommate, Tyler Clementi, and another man.
It is what happened later, however, that has wreaked havoc on the lives of Ravi and Wei. About 48 hours after the two teens watched the first liason on a computer in Wei’s dorm room, Ravi invited his Twitter followers to view his roommate in a second encounter he believed would occur that evening.
The video feed of the second encounter was unsuccessful, and the next day Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge.
Now, just weeks into their freshman year at Rutgers, Ravi and Wei not only are confronting the law, but global opprobrium.
The story of the webcam and Clementi’s suicide has been reported in at least five Australian newspapers, as well as the Irish Examiner, Coventry Evening Telegraph in England and the Evening Times in Glasgow, Scotland.
On the internet, news accounts can be found in Vietnamese and French, Greek and Turkish, Danish, Portuguese and Javanese.
Facebook pages also have been created — for the victim ("In Honor of Tyler Clementi") and both in support of the accused ("Molly Wei is innocent") and against them ("Manslaughter Charges for Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei").
Most of the internet musings run from "Guilty!" to "Here’s hoping they both go to jail for a long time," to "Two pieces of scum."
Few of the postings reflect the picture friends paint of Ravi and Wei: smart, well-liked, on the threshold of promising futures.
"A lot of the online news sources, what I’ve read, have kind of hinted that he’s a prankster. That he’s kind of homophobic," said Michael Zhuang, 17, a friend of Ravi’s. "He’s really not. He’s very, very open-minded."
Those who know Ravi describe him as spirited and outgoing. He is a formidable breakdancer and, in addition to running track at West Windsor-Plainsboro North, was co-captain of the Ultimate Frisbee team.
Another friend, Mark Lin, 17, said Ravi had near-perfect scores on his SATs.
Those who knew Wei in middle and high school said she played volleyball, sang in a choir and enjoyed many friendships.
Pooja Kolluri, also an 18-year-old Rutgers freshman, was close with Wei a number of years ago and recently got back in touch with her.
"She was really a very happy person," Kolluri said.
RELATED VIDEO
Rutgers students start a memorial for Tyler Clementi
At the fifth-grade carnival at Community Middle School in Plainsboro, the two lip-synched to an Atomic Kitten cover of the pop song "The Tide is High."
Farahin Choudury, 18, who has known Wei since sixth grade, said the Rutgers pharmacy student was a star in honors pre-calculus their junior year in high school and took a number of AP classes.
"She was a very bright student," said Choudury. "Very friendly, very sweet, easy to be friends with."
Choudury, a Rutgers freshman, had not seen Wei since June and was "shocked" and "very disappointed" by the news of Wei’s alleged involvement. "I didn’t see this coming," she said.
Jeremiah Ward, a friend of Ravi’s from high school, said he was surprised, but not mystified.
"We don’t have a lot of activities we can do around here," Ward said. "I would understand how kids can get bored. … Their parents are so focused on ‘do this, you’ve got to be a good student,’ and I understand that, I definitely get that. For me — I understand because I see it — when they get to college, because they’re so suppressed, they just do whatever."
The 20-year-old went on to say, "I definitely don’t think it was a hate crime."
Two weeks ago, three students were picking classes, memorizing shuttle bus routes and becoming familiar with their classmates.
Now Clementi is dead, and Ravi and Wei have not been seen in days.
clementi-memorial-vigil.jpgNoah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerRutgers University students stop to observe a memorial in front of Brower Commons for freshman Tyler Clementi 18, of Ridgewood, N.J. who committed suicide
Neither teen has spoken publicly. The only words of Wei readily available are those beneath her high school yearbook photo:
"We keep moving forward, opening up new doors, and doing new things. . . Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
On a gloomy, rain-wracked Friday, the lights at the Ravis’ sprawling brick house were turned off and the window shades of the Wei family’s townhouse were pulled down. The TV trucks and camera crews were all gone, too.
The only evidence of the media onslaught: a soggy envelope on the Weis’ doorstep — from People magazine.
Staff writer Matt Friedman contributed to this report.
偷拍性爱视频致同学自杀 华裔女生认罪
http://news.creaders.net/headline/newsViewer.php?nid=446934&id=1013060&dcid=21
偷拍同学与同志性爱过程导致同学跳河自杀的美国新泽西州罗格斯大学(Rutgers University)华裔女学生Molly Wei已向警方认罪。负责该案的新泽西州密都瑟克斯郡检察官办公室(Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, New Brunswick, NJ) 公共信息官员(public information officer)奥尼尔(Jim O'Neill)10月1日在接受记者采访时称，Molly Wei 目前被交保候传，如果证实犯罪，Molly Wei 可能面临五年徒刑的判决。
警方证实稍早在哈得逊河打捞发现的男性尸体，确认是被偷拍与另一名男子做爱，影片并被公布上网的罗格斯大学大一新生克莱蒙泰(Tyler Clementi)。
奥尼尔表示，华裔女学生Molly Wei 与克莱蒙泰的室友拉依(Dharun Ravi)用针孔摄像机偷拍并直播克莱蒙泰与另一名男子的性爱录像。19日和21日，克莱蒙泰性爱场景被两次直播。Molly Wei 曾参与19日的直播事件，21日的直播则由拉依一人完成。
克莱蒙泰(Tyler Clementi)上周仅在facebook上留下遗言，随后从乔治华盛顿大桥跳河自杀。警方24日在乔治华盛顿大桥发现克莱蒙泰的汽车与手机，警方表示克莱蒙泰跳河自尽的日期应该是在9月22日。
奥尼尔接受采访时告诉记者，今年18岁的Molly Wei 与克莱蒙泰同样是罗格斯大学大一新生，是新泽西州普林斯顿(Princton, NJ)居民。罗格斯大学官方发言人30日向记者表示，学校方面目前对此事不做任何评论，全案交由警方调查处理当中。罗格斯大学方面目前仅知Molly Wei已被释放。但是学校系统中查不到有关她的信息，因此可能已经被停学。
10月3日晚。上百名师生聚集在罗格斯大学主校区广场，为纪念克莱蒙泰举行烛光守夜仪式。持续了五十分钟的守夜有三十分钟之久的沉静。罗格斯大学牧师克莱塞而（Barry Klassel）说：“每个人都需要一个安全的环境去住在一起。每一件发生的事情都是成长和理解的机会，是改变我们原有态度的机会。”上周六罗格斯大学足球赛之前，也曾有赛前沉默来纪念克莱蒙泰。上周五，校园中许多学生身着黑衣，或系上黑布，表达对克莱蒙泰的哀悼。对于这起隐私被侵犯愤而自尽的悲剧，该校学生都感到震惊，他们呼吁校园中每一个人，都应对他人有更多尊重和理解。也呼吁这样的尊重能够延伸到整个社会，避免类似悲剧再度发生
偷拍同学与同志性爱过程导致同学跳河自杀的美国新泽西州罗格斯大学(Rutgers University)华裔女学生Molly Wei已向警方认罪。负责该案的新泽西州密都瑟克斯郡检察官办公室(Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, New Brunswick, NJ) 公共信息官员(public information officer)奥尼尔(Jim O'Neill)10月1日在接受记者采访时称，Molly Wei 目前被交保候传，如果证实犯罪，Molly Wei 可能面临五年徒刑的判决。
警方证实稍早在哈得逊河打捞发现的男性尸体，确认是被偷拍与另一名男子做爱，影片并被公布上网的罗格斯大学大一新生克莱蒙泰(Tyler Clementi)。
奥尼尔表示，华裔女学生Molly Wei 与克莱蒙泰的室友拉依(Dharun Ravi)用针孔摄像机偷拍并直播克莱蒙泰与另一名男子的性爱录像。19日和21日，克莱蒙泰性爱场景被两次直播。Molly Wei 曾参与19日的直播事件，21日的直播则由拉依一人完成。
克莱蒙泰(Tyler Clementi)上周仅在facebook上留下遗言，随后从乔治华盛顿大桥跳河自杀。警方24日在乔治华盛顿大桥发现克莱蒙泰的汽车与手机，警方表示克莱蒙泰跳河自尽的日期应该是在9月22日。
奥尼尔接受采访时告诉记者，今年18岁的Molly Wei 与克莱蒙泰同样是罗格斯大学大一新生，是新泽西州普林斯顿(Princton, NJ)居民。罗格斯大学官方发言人30日向记者表示，学校方面目前对此事不做任何评论，全案交由警方调查处理当中。罗格斯大学方面目前仅知Molly Wei已被释放。但是学校系统中查不到有关她的信息，因此可能已经被停学。
10月3日晚。上百名师生聚集在罗格斯大学主校区广场，为纪念克莱蒙泰举行烛光守夜仪式。持续了五十分钟的守夜有三十分钟之久的沉静。罗格斯大学牧师克莱塞而（Barry Klassel）说：“每个人都需要一个安全的环境去住在一起。每一件发生的事情都是成长和理解的机会，是改变我们原有态度的机会。”上周六罗格斯大学足球赛之前，也曾有赛前沉默来纪念克莱蒙泰。上周五，校园中许多学生身着黑衣，或系上黑布，表达对克莱蒙泰的哀悼。对于这起隐私被侵犯愤而自尽的悲剧，该校学生都感到震惊，他们呼吁校园中每一个人，都应对他人有更多尊重和理解。也呼吁这样的尊重能够延伸到整个社会，避免类似悲剧再度发生
Friday, October 1, 2010
有女儿的父母更要小心！
有女儿的父母更要小心！ 2010-10-01 12:52:08
网友北雁写的《有儿子的父母要注意哟！》一文让我想起了大学同窗给我讲述的一个几年前发生在她身边的真实故事。
同窗的朋友家里有一儿一女，都是正值青春期的高中生。大的是儿子，很逆反，跟父母的“斗争”持续不断，闹腾得厉害，父母经常被老大搅得精疲力竭；小女儿很沉静，在家里话语不多，不像哥哥那样跟父母顶撞，功课很不错，弹得一手的好钢琴，是父母眼中听话乖顺的好孩子。
可事情就恰恰出在这个在父母眼中不作声的好孩子身上。有一天，女儿放学后就再没有回家，神秘地失踪了，悄无声息，没有留下任何线索。可以想象孩子父母当时恐慌的心情，孩子怎么就突然消失得无影无踪呢？唯一能做的，就是尽快尽力，去找，去寻。搜索的范围，从孩子交往的朋友同学的小范围，到学校，到整个社区。。。范围在逐渐的扩大；搜索的力度，调动一切能调动的力量，朋友，邻居，警察。。。力度在升级在加强。一天，两天，一个星期，两个星期，一个月。。。没有线索，没有进展，无处不在的是焦虑，惶恐，伤心和无望。
几个月后，就在大家绝望之际，传来了令人振奋的好消息 ---- 警察找到了孩子！找到的是完好无缺，活蹦乱跳的孩子！故事听到这儿，你可能舒了口气，孩子总算找到了，孩子是活着的，是平安的。随后，你肯定会问：这孩子到底躲哪儿去了呢？是离家出走吗？为什么呢？。。。
孩子确实是离家出走了，让人难以置信的是，出走竟是为了一个在非死不可（facebook）上结识的未曾谋面的男朋友。男孩是同龄的高中生，家住在相隔上千里之外的另一个城市。女孩儿离家后失踪的几个月时间里，就一直住在男朋友家里。
更让人大跌眼镜的是，在找到孩子后，孩子竟然不要跟父母回家，坚持要留在男朋友家里继续生活。女孩的决定也得到了男孩父母的同意和支持。男孩子家里是典型的美国家庭，认为孩子有自己做决定和选择的权利。更何况，据女孩自己所说，她在家里受父母的虐待。最后迫于无奈，女孩的父母忍痛割爱把女儿留在了男孩家里。
到此，故事还没有结束。不久，女孩怀孕了，不得不辍学在家生孩子，带孩子。生完老大，接着又生了老二。孩子的抚养基本上都是由男孩的父母来承担，两个不能自食其力的孩子，怎么有能力抚养自己的孩子？再后来，生完两个孩子的女孩，又回到学校继续她没有完成的高中学业。正值青春花季的女孩，小小年纪就开始承受生活的重担，背负起抚养孩子照顾家庭的责任。唉。
听了这个故事，我真是很震惊。也很心痛，为女孩，为女孩的父母。
我忍不住地会想：怎么会是这样？哪里出了差错？这样的事会发生在我们的孩子身上吗？。。。
对女孩的家庭背景，家庭状况，我不了解，不能妄加评论什么。凭着直觉，我想，女孩与父母渐行渐远，最后导致离家出走，父母应该有主要的责任。父母在孩子的教育上有问题，也许有方式方法上的问题，有缺乏交流沟通的问题，缺乏关爱的问题等等。。。但最根本的问题是什么，只有当事人自己才是最清楚。
有一点，让人难以理解的是，女孩住到男孩家里几个月，男孩的父母居然采取听之任之的态度，我想他们应该知道女孩是背着父母从家里“跑”出来的啊，也不想办法和女孩的父母沟通。换位思考一下，如果是你的孩子“失踪”到了女孩家里去了，杳无音信几个月，你会抓狂吗，会难过，会伤心欲绝吗？作为父母，这样的做法，我真是不懂。
女孩被找到后，不愿跟父母回家的举动，也很值得让人深思。
2010.10.01
评论(13) 引用 浏览(1376)
发表评论
文章评论
作者：coolboy 留言时间：2010-10-01 14:02:14
不管男孩、女孩，要好好培养他们，做父母的总是要操心的。只要有爱心，方法大致得当，应该不会有大问题。为人父母能有机会操心自己孩子应该是一件开心事。
作者：love阳光 留言时间：2010-10-01 14:12:28
俺认为这家父母的管教方式有问题。不然怎么会儿子，很逆反，跟父母的“斗争”持续不断，女儿又不告而别，难道为人父母的不该反省吗？
作者：欢乐颂 留言时间：2010-10-01 16:28:12
看得我直冒冷汗啊。不是搞大了别家孩子的肚子，就是被别家的孩子搞大了肚子，还给不给我们作父母的留条活路了。
作者：春阳 留言时间：2010-10-01 17:24:43
好家伙。同意欢乐颂。一连两天，天天冷汗。我也觉得家长有问题。其实孩子们早就长大了，如果总是把他们当小孩子，不知道尊重他们的选择。久而久之，孩子们有话不爱告诉家长。 孩子离开家也需要很大的勇气。不是忍无可忍，谁不愿意在自己家呆着呢？可怜的孩子。
作者：五彩 留言时间：2010-10-01 17:33:30
转悠： 俺也看得害怕，俺家有儿有女，可咋办啊？
作者：北雁高飞 留言时间：2010-10-01 17:59:21
俺的博文已写好，明天就发表。
题目是：《有儿有女的父母应该怎么办》。:-)
说点正经的。转悠，我一直认为，父母和子女的关系不好，主要责任在父母。一般这种情况，父母之间的关系也不好。
作者：雪枫 留言时间：2010-10-01 18:06:19
有儿有女都不容易,不过看了这篇,觉得有女儿的更不容易.
作者：华欢笑 留言时间：2010-10-01 18:46:38
我还是认为，父母是孩子的第一榜样。同意网友的有些看法，这个故事与父母有直接关系。如果双方都是美国人，我不奇怪。我身边有好几个这样的美国人，高中毕业典礼是抱着孩子去的。但是，发生在中国人家庭，有点不可思议。
作者：晓竹 留言时间：2010-10-01 19:17:35
看得有点心惊，女孩出走时还没有成年呢。
这样的事，父母应该负主要责任。不过有些孩子的个性比较特别，不容易沟通。另外网络对孩子们的影响也不可忽视。
做父母的也不容易啊，摸着石头过河。
作者：夏子 留言时间：2010-10-01 19:53:55
俺有二个女儿。春阳和欢乐看了在冐冷汗,俺可要盜汗了。的确,孩子们漸漸長大后,父母对他们教育的方式方法相当重要。。
作者：莺歌燕语 留言时间：2010-10-01 20:26:31
我有个远房亲戚，他的女儿在大学一，二年级时跟了一个三，四十岁的调酒员走了。打了个电话给哥哥，要家里不要找她。好多年以后，才通过哥哥与父母联络。做父母难哪！
作者：汉卿 留言时间：2010-10-01 21:13:22
在这里再提：男孩儿要穷养，女孩儿要富养，好像不过份。
父母的言谈话语，代人处事要比直接言教更重要。
作者：在水一方 留言时间：2010-10-01 21:15:55
孩子健康无事长大是每个父母的心愿，但很多父母在孩子身体好的时候更关心学习，才艺方面的事了，而忽视心里的问题或花时间多交流。怎么才能让孩子们好好长大是做父母一生中重大的课题。
网友北雁写的《有儿子的父母要注意哟！》一文让我想起了大学同窗给我讲述的一个几年前发生在她身边的真实故事。
同窗的朋友家里有一儿一女，都是正值青春期的高中生。大的是儿子，很逆反，跟父母的“斗争”持续不断，闹腾得厉害，父母经常被老大搅得精疲力竭；小女儿很沉静，在家里话语不多，不像哥哥那样跟父母顶撞，功课很不错，弹得一手的好钢琴，是父母眼中听话乖顺的好孩子。
可事情就恰恰出在这个在父母眼中不作声的好孩子身上。有一天，女儿放学后就再没有回家，神秘地失踪了，悄无声息，没有留下任何线索。可以想象孩子父母当时恐慌的心情，孩子怎么就突然消失得无影无踪呢？唯一能做的，就是尽快尽力，去找，去寻。搜索的范围，从孩子交往的朋友同学的小范围，到学校，到整个社区。。。范围在逐渐的扩大；搜索的力度，调动一切能调动的力量，朋友，邻居，警察。。。力度在升级在加强。一天，两天，一个星期，两个星期，一个月。。。没有线索，没有进展，无处不在的是焦虑，惶恐，伤心和无望。
几个月后，就在大家绝望之际，传来了令人振奋的好消息 ---- 警察找到了孩子！找到的是完好无缺，活蹦乱跳的孩子！故事听到这儿，你可能舒了口气，孩子总算找到了，孩子是活着的，是平安的。随后，你肯定会问：这孩子到底躲哪儿去了呢？是离家出走吗？为什么呢？。。。
孩子确实是离家出走了，让人难以置信的是，出走竟是为了一个在非死不可（facebook）上结识的未曾谋面的男朋友。男孩是同龄的高中生，家住在相隔上千里之外的另一个城市。女孩儿离家后失踪的几个月时间里，就一直住在男朋友家里。
更让人大跌眼镜的是，在找到孩子后，孩子竟然不要跟父母回家，坚持要留在男朋友家里继续生活。女孩的决定也得到了男孩父母的同意和支持。男孩子家里是典型的美国家庭，认为孩子有自己做决定和选择的权利。更何况，据女孩自己所说，她在家里受父母的虐待。最后迫于无奈，女孩的父母忍痛割爱把女儿留在了男孩家里。
到此，故事还没有结束。不久，女孩怀孕了，不得不辍学在家生孩子，带孩子。生完老大，接着又生了老二。孩子的抚养基本上都是由男孩的父母来承担，两个不能自食其力的孩子，怎么有能力抚养自己的孩子？再后来，生完两个孩子的女孩，又回到学校继续她没有完成的高中学业。正值青春花季的女孩，小小年纪就开始承受生活的重担，背负起抚养孩子照顾家庭的责任。唉。
听了这个故事，我真是很震惊。也很心痛，为女孩，为女孩的父母。
我忍不住地会想：怎么会是这样？哪里出了差错？这样的事会发生在我们的孩子身上吗？。。。
对女孩的家庭背景，家庭状况，我不了解，不能妄加评论什么。凭着直觉，我想，女孩与父母渐行渐远，最后导致离家出走，父母应该有主要的责任。父母在孩子的教育上有问题，也许有方式方法上的问题，有缺乏交流沟通的问题，缺乏关爱的问题等等。。。但最根本的问题是什么，只有当事人自己才是最清楚。
有一点，让人难以理解的是，女孩住到男孩家里几个月，男孩的父母居然采取听之任之的态度，我想他们应该知道女孩是背着父母从家里“跑”出来的啊，也不想办法和女孩的父母沟通。换位思考一下，如果是你的孩子“失踪”到了女孩家里去了，杳无音信几个月，你会抓狂吗，会难过，会伤心欲绝吗？作为父母，这样的做法，我真是不懂。
女孩被找到后，不愿跟父母回家的举动，也很值得让人深思。
2010.10.01
评论(13) 引用 浏览(1376)
发表评论
文章评论
作者：coolboy 留言时间：2010-10-01 14:02:14
不管男孩、女孩，要好好培养他们，做父母的总是要操心的。只要有爱心，方法大致得当，应该不会有大问题。为人父母能有机会操心自己孩子应该是一件开心事。
作者：love阳光 留言时间：2010-10-01 14:12:28
俺认为这家父母的管教方式有问题。不然怎么会儿子，很逆反，跟父母的“斗争”持续不断，女儿又不告而别，难道为人父母的不该反省吗？
作者：欢乐颂 留言时间：2010-10-01 16:28:12
看得我直冒冷汗啊。不是搞大了别家孩子的肚子，就是被别家的孩子搞大了肚子，还给不给我们作父母的留条活路了。
作者：春阳 留言时间：2010-10-01 17:24:43
好家伙。同意欢乐颂。一连两天，天天冷汗。我也觉得家长有问题。其实孩子们早就长大了，如果总是把他们当小孩子，不知道尊重他们的选择。久而久之，孩子们有话不爱告诉家长。 孩子离开家也需要很大的勇气。不是忍无可忍，谁不愿意在自己家呆着呢？可怜的孩子。
作者：五彩 留言时间：2010-10-01 17:33:30
转悠： 俺也看得害怕，俺家有儿有女，可咋办啊？
作者：北雁高飞 留言时间：2010-10-01 17:59:21
俺的博文已写好，明天就发表。
题目是：《有儿有女的父母应该怎么办》。:-)
说点正经的。转悠，我一直认为，父母和子女的关系不好，主要责任在父母。一般这种情况，父母之间的关系也不好。
作者：雪枫 留言时间：2010-10-01 18:06:19
有儿有女都不容易,不过看了这篇,觉得有女儿的更不容易.
作者：华欢笑 留言时间：2010-10-01 18:46:38
我还是认为，父母是孩子的第一榜样。同意网友的有些看法，这个故事与父母有直接关系。如果双方都是美国人，我不奇怪。我身边有好几个这样的美国人，高中毕业典礼是抱着孩子去的。但是，发生在中国人家庭，有点不可思议。
作者：晓竹 留言时间：2010-10-01 19:17:35
看得有点心惊，女孩出走时还没有成年呢。
这样的事，父母应该负主要责任。不过有些孩子的个性比较特别，不容易沟通。另外网络对孩子们的影响也不可忽视。
做父母的也不容易啊，摸着石头过河。
作者：夏子 留言时间：2010-10-01 19:53:55
俺有二个女儿。春阳和欢乐看了在冐冷汗,俺可要盜汗了。的确,孩子们漸漸長大后,父母对他们教育的方式方法相当重要。。
作者：莺歌燕语 留言时间：2010-10-01 20:26:31
我有个远房亲戚，他的女儿在大学一，二年级时跟了一个三，四十岁的调酒员走了。打了个电话给哥哥，要家里不要找她。好多年以后，才通过哥哥与父母联络。做父母难哪！
作者：汉卿 留言时间：2010-10-01 21:13:22
在这里再提：男孩儿要穷养，女孩儿要富养，好像不过份。
父母的言谈话语，代人处事要比直接言教更重要。
作者：在水一方 留言时间：2010-10-01 21:15:55
孩子健康无事长大是每个父母的心愿，但很多父母在孩子身体好的时候更关心学习，才艺方面的事了，而忽视心里的问题或花时间多交流。怎么才能让孩子们好好长大是做父母一生中重大的课题。
有儿子的父母要注意哟！
有儿子的父母要注意哟！ 2010-09-29 22:05:15
http://blog.creaders.net/beiyangaofei/user_blog_diary.php?did=70298
朋友文萍住的居民区内有两百多栋房子，其中大约七十户是亚洲人。透过文萍家厨房餐厅的法式拉门，放眼望去，正对面，就是家中国邻居。
邻居有一个男孩叫宇。宇和许多中国孩子一样，从小学琴练琴。宇不仅能弹一手好钢琴，而且很有数学天分。熟人们常说，他如果不进全美顶尖理工学院，实在可惜。 “进那所著名的理工学院”成了宇的全家为之奋斗的梦想，成了宇初中和高中生活的全部。六年中，有三年左右，宇是在中国渡过的。为的是参加国内名目繁多的各类数学培训班和数学竞赛。宇不愧是父母的骄傲，终于取得参加奥林匹克数学竞赛资格，并且成绩相当不错。如愿以偿地跨进了美国头牌理工学院的大门。
大学三年级放署假前（去年夏天），一家美国大公司设在中国的分公司，来学校招收署期Intern，挺赏识成绩优异，且能说会写流利中文的宇。宇的妈妈得知消息后，高兴地跑来告诉我的朋友文萍。宇要去的国内大都市，刚好是他中学时读书的地方。外公，外婆也住在那里，平时可以照顾他。
开始工作，头两个星期，与公司里的人不熟，宇把下班后大部分时间都消磨在与中学伙伴们的聚会上。一天晚上，朋友带来位女孩叫小英。亭亭玉立，楚楚可人。吸引不少男孩的目光。
小英美丽而又理性。初次见到宇，她知道，找到了自己梦中的白马王子。小英自信而又大胆，很快以自己清纯的外貌，活泼的个性完全征服了宇。。。。在爱河里畅游的日子过得飞快，署期结束，宇不得不回美国。临行前，小英告诉他，她母亲想见宇。
谈话内容非常严肃。小英母亲说，小英怀孕了。她是不会打胎的。在孩子出生之前，宇一定要和小英结婚。宇被这突如其来的事件搞得不知所措。他爱小英，但还没想到过结婚，更没想到会马上成为父亲。。。
宇的父母没有过多地责备独生儿子，虽然这一次宇让他们出乎意料地失望。除了开始默默地为儿子准备婚事，他们别无选择。
今年初，宇和小英在美国结婚。春天，女儿出世。
孩子出生后，小英向婆婆提出，要雇用保姆。在小英看来，这事很正常。国内现在生孩子，谁家不雇用月嫂，保姆？宇的妈妈两年前被公司解雇，至今仍然没有找到工作。本打算自已照顾儿媳妇。她平时不是一个会计划，精打细算的主妇。家里收入支付完儿子昂贵的学费之后，所剩无几。根本雇不起保姆。亲家母认为女儿受了委屈，千里迢迢赶来助阵。口口声声表明“我是来看女儿的，不是来做保姆的。”
宇的妈妈苦笑着对文萍叹息“被老板解雇也就罢了。难道还要被儿媳妇炒鱿鱼？”
随着孩子一天天长大，小英的烦恼也一天天增多。婆婆做的饭菜不合口味，没有地道的中国餐馆去调剂。天天在家呆着带孩子真让她受不了。原来美国的生活是这么无聊。不可能天天都出去兜风。婆婆认识的几家朋友，早已拜访了好几遍。
邻居家热闹，朋友文萍也闲不着。今天宇的妈妈来诉苦，明天小英来叹气。文萍茶水点心款待，洗耳恭听，尽力排忧解烦。
宇很彷徨，很无奈。面对小英的苦闷，似乎是面对着一道难解的奥林匹克数学题。。。新学期到了，他迫不及待地赶回学校，躲进属于自已的小天地。
面对宇的逃避，小英很困惑，很无助。为何仅仅一年，自已会从快乐的顶峰跌入烦恼的谷底？难道爱的风帆还没驶出港湾，竞要触礁弃船？
。。。。。。
夫妻之间的感情，不是取之不尽，可以肆意开采的金矿。许多时候，它更像是田野里刚刚出土的幼苗，需要精心呵护和灌溉，才能结出丰硕的果实。但愿，宇和小英田野里的幼苗，经历过风吹雨打，仍能顽强地成长起来。。。
（我见过宇。这么多年来，经常听朋友文萍讲他的故事。
但这一次的故事却是不同。。。很有感触，写下几段文字。。。）
谢谢阅读，关闭评论。
http://blog.creaders.net/beiyangaofei/user_blog_diary.php?did=70298
朋友文萍住的居民区内有两百多栋房子，其中大约七十户是亚洲人。透过文萍家厨房餐厅的法式拉门，放眼望去，正对面，就是家中国邻居。
邻居有一个男孩叫宇。宇和许多中国孩子一样，从小学琴练琴。宇不仅能弹一手好钢琴，而且很有数学天分。熟人们常说，他如果不进全美顶尖理工学院，实在可惜。 “进那所著名的理工学院”成了宇的全家为之奋斗的梦想，成了宇初中和高中生活的全部。六年中，有三年左右，宇是在中国渡过的。为的是参加国内名目繁多的各类数学培训班和数学竞赛。宇不愧是父母的骄傲，终于取得参加奥林匹克数学竞赛资格，并且成绩相当不错。如愿以偿地跨进了美国头牌理工学院的大门。
大学三年级放署假前（去年夏天），一家美国大公司设在中国的分公司，来学校招收署期Intern，挺赏识成绩优异，且能说会写流利中文的宇。宇的妈妈得知消息后，高兴地跑来告诉我的朋友文萍。宇要去的国内大都市，刚好是他中学时读书的地方。外公，外婆也住在那里，平时可以照顾他。
开始工作，头两个星期，与公司里的人不熟，宇把下班后大部分时间都消磨在与中学伙伴们的聚会上。一天晚上，朋友带来位女孩叫小英。亭亭玉立，楚楚可人。吸引不少男孩的目光。
小英美丽而又理性。初次见到宇，她知道，找到了自己梦中的白马王子。小英自信而又大胆，很快以自己清纯的外貌，活泼的个性完全征服了宇。。。。在爱河里畅游的日子过得飞快，署期结束，宇不得不回美国。临行前，小英告诉他，她母亲想见宇。
谈话内容非常严肃。小英母亲说，小英怀孕了。她是不会打胎的。在孩子出生之前，宇一定要和小英结婚。宇被这突如其来的事件搞得不知所措。他爱小英，但还没想到过结婚，更没想到会马上成为父亲。。。
宇的父母没有过多地责备独生儿子，虽然这一次宇让他们出乎意料地失望。除了开始默默地为儿子准备婚事，他们别无选择。
今年初，宇和小英在美国结婚。春天，女儿出世。
孩子出生后，小英向婆婆提出，要雇用保姆。在小英看来，这事很正常。国内现在生孩子，谁家不雇用月嫂，保姆？宇的妈妈两年前被公司解雇，至今仍然没有找到工作。本打算自已照顾儿媳妇。她平时不是一个会计划，精打细算的主妇。家里收入支付完儿子昂贵的学费之后，所剩无几。根本雇不起保姆。亲家母认为女儿受了委屈，千里迢迢赶来助阵。口口声声表明“我是来看女儿的，不是来做保姆的。”
宇的妈妈苦笑着对文萍叹息“被老板解雇也就罢了。难道还要被儿媳妇炒鱿鱼？”
随着孩子一天天长大，小英的烦恼也一天天增多。婆婆做的饭菜不合口味，没有地道的中国餐馆去调剂。天天在家呆着带孩子真让她受不了。原来美国的生活是这么无聊。不可能天天都出去兜风。婆婆认识的几家朋友，早已拜访了好几遍。
邻居家热闹，朋友文萍也闲不着。今天宇的妈妈来诉苦，明天小英来叹气。文萍茶水点心款待，洗耳恭听，尽力排忧解烦。
宇很彷徨，很无奈。面对小英的苦闷，似乎是面对着一道难解的奥林匹克数学题。。。新学期到了，他迫不及待地赶回学校，躲进属于自已的小天地。
面对宇的逃避，小英很困惑，很无助。为何仅仅一年，自已会从快乐的顶峰跌入烦恼的谷底？难道爱的风帆还没驶出港湾，竞要触礁弃船？
。。。。。。
夫妻之间的感情，不是取之不尽，可以肆意开采的金矿。许多时候，它更像是田野里刚刚出土的幼苗，需要精心呵护和灌溉，才能结出丰硕的果实。但愿，宇和小英田野里的幼苗，经历过风吹雨打，仍能顽强地成长起来。。。
（我见过宇。这么多年来，经常听朋友文萍讲他的故事。
但这一次的故事却是不同。。。很有感触，写下几段文字。。。）
谢谢阅读，关闭评论。
女人出轨的13个幕后推手
女人出轨的13个幕后推手
http://digest.creaders.net/articleViewer.php?atid=288903&id=296031
其实没有所谓的忠贞，没出轨，只因诱惑不够多…任何一个女人如果处于以下的状态中，想不“犯罪”，好难…
报复心理
有的丈夫对妻子不忠，在外面偷情猎艳，一旦事情败露，往往会导致不愉快的结局。如果做妻子的考虑欠妥，一怒之下可能产生报复的心理，去寻找寄托。
寂寞心理
由于工作原因或是两地分居，一些丈夫经常不在妻子身边。如果这样的丈夫缺乏家庭责任感，不关心妻子，不经常写信表达自己的思念之情，久而久之，必然使夫妻之间的感情趋向淡漠，使妻子产生寂寞心理，感到没有精神依托。
此时，如果遇上合适的异性，妻子就可能丧失抵御诱惑的能力。
优越心理
有的妻子或学历比丈夫高，或地位优越于丈夫。如果做丈夫的不愿积极进取，就容易使妻子“眼铁不成钢”觉得丈夫配不上自己。所以各方面条件都比丈夫好的妻子出现婚外恋的几率大。
怨恨心理
性生活是夫妻生活中一项十分重要的内容。如果丈夫因为性功能障碍，或因为追求事业终日忙碌，忽视了给予妻子温情，或丈夫在外面贪恋酒色，不能满足妻子正常的生理需要，久而久之，就会使妻子产生怨恨心理，从而极有可能“红杏出墙”。
九大理由，你能接受几个？
女人出轨的第一大理由：
寻找往日的浓情蜜意，你对我没性趣，对我有性趣的人很多。女人结了婚会比婚前对自己的男人更关爱有加，男人一结婚却往往就没有了往日激情，对自己的女人日日疏懒
女人出轨的第二大理由：
女人出轨比男人更容易找到对象。女人一生比男人面临更多的诱惑，任何一个稍有姿色的女人从小到大从婚前到婚后都应有数不清的被男人纠缠的经历。
女人出轨的第三大理由：减压。
中国的女人大多数要出去工作养家，回到家里又有数不清的家务，还要教育孩子，往往承受比男人更大的压力。
女人出轨的第四大理由：寻找被照顾关爱的感觉。
大多数女人在家庭中都是扮演照顾者的角色，照顾男人、照顾孩子，其实女人无论在心理上还是身体上都更需要被照顾。君不见已婚女人比一辈子不结婚的女人更容易衰老憔悴？
女人出轨的第五大理由：心灵寂寞。
女人往往一结婚，就不再在同性朋友，不是女人重色轻友，而是工作、家庭占了太多时间，友情成了很奢侈的事，男人隔三差五要和朋友聚会，时不时要出去喝酒、按摩减压，留在家里看孩子的都是寂寞的女人。
女人出轨的第六大理由：无人监视，比较安全。
女人一结婚，会立刻很有危机感，有意无意都会严密看管自己的老公，不给他出轨的机会。而男人往往对自己过于自信，认为娶回家的老婆就象自己在市场上牵回的一头猪，绝不会背叛自己。于上放心的出去花天酒地，夜夜笙歌。
女人出轨的第七大理由：经济卫生。
只要稍有姿色的女人，只要稍为假以词色，就会有大把男人送上门来，心甘情愿为你效劳。不象男人，想出轨，还得花钱找小姐、嫖妓，包二奶支出就更大，一般男人都承受不了。
女人出轨的第八大理由：安全系数高。
男人出轨的危险性很大，嫖妓容易传染性病，甘做二奶别无所求的女人又实在太少，基本上是绝种，往往是要不了多久就想登堂入室，闹得你身败名裂，妻离子散。而女人出轨往往不用担心这些。
女人出轨的第九大理由：生理有优势。
还有一个男人们最不愿听的理由，那就是其实女人的生理结构更占优势。女人可以轻松的周旋于几个男人之间而不显疲态，而男人想应付两个女人其实都很难，君不见，风骚的女人往往更艳丽，而花心的男人往往疲态尽现。女人有外遇照样可以满足老公，而男人有外遇大多只能老婆基本不用了。
网络上关于男女出轨问题的讨论声此起彼伏。男人总是将这样那样不着边际的理由归结于到了女人的自身。
其实，要说“外遇”，女人有的时候也是“身不由己”……在这些表象背后，是女人更深层次的心理需求，尤其是对性的需求。
用性来换取爱
越是自卑到没有自我的女人，越希望通过满足男人的性需求去取悦对方，希望通过自己的献身来获得对方的爱。她们错把男人对她的性需求解读成“他很爱我，因为他很想跟我上床”。由于无法实现自己对爱的渴求，女人只好用性去交换。
性与空虚、压力
现代人面对压力与空虚，最快速的缓解办法就是发泄，其中也包括发泄性欲。与陌生人在陌生的地方，发生一次无牵挂的**，似乎是代价最小的发泄方式。谁知一场短暂的快感之后，一切又将包围过来，无力感也会随之加深。
性饥渴状态
女人是需要滋润的，包括爱和性。女人因爱而性，没有爱，对性的渴望也随之萎缩了。长期对婚姻的不满足，会使女人处于爱和性的双重饥渴状态。这时候，如果有另一个男人来主动关心她、欣赏她，女人会毫不犹豫地用他来填补空虚和饥渴，并把婚外恋错当成真情。
丰富的性幻想
大凡有丰富性幻想的女人，都是容易被撩拨的女人。所谓性感，不仅是出于外表的妩媚，更是出于头脑中性幻想的能力。有丰富性幻想能力的女人，自然也需要有更多的机会去实践自己的性梦想。当合适的男士出现时，她们受到的诱惑力自然也就大些。
http://digest.creaders.net/articleViewer.php?atid=288903&id=296031
其实没有所谓的忠贞，没出轨，只因诱惑不够多…任何一个女人如果处于以下的状态中，想不“犯罪”，好难…
报复心理
有的丈夫对妻子不忠，在外面偷情猎艳，一旦事情败露，往往会导致不愉快的结局。如果做妻子的考虑欠妥，一怒之下可能产生报复的心理，去寻找寄托。
寂寞心理
由于工作原因或是两地分居，一些丈夫经常不在妻子身边。如果这样的丈夫缺乏家庭责任感，不关心妻子，不经常写信表达自己的思念之情，久而久之，必然使夫妻之间的感情趋向淡漠，使妻子产生寂寞心理，感到没有精神依托。
此时，如果遇上合适的异性，妻子就可能丧失抵御诱惑的能力。
优越心理
有的妻子或学历比丈夫高，或地位优越于丈夫。如果做丈夫的不愿积极进取，就容易使妻子“眼铁不成钢”觉得丈夫配不上自己。所以各方面条件都比丈夫好的妻子出现婚外恋的几率大。
怨恨心理
性生活是夫妻生活中一项十分重要的内容。如果丈夫因为性功能障碍，或因为追求事业终日忙碌，忽视了给予妻子温情，或丈夫在外面贪恋酒色，不能满足妻子正常的生理需要，久而久之，就会使妻子产生怨恨心理，从而极有可能“红杏出墙”。
九大理由，你能接受几个？
女人出轨的第一大理由：
寻找往日的浓情蜜意，你对我没性趣，对我有性趣的人很多。女人结了婚会比婚前对自己的男人更关爱有加，男人一结婚却往往就没有了往日激情，对自己的女人日日疏懒
女人出轨的第二大理由：
女人出轨比男人更容易找到对象。女人一生比男人面临更多的诱惑，任何一个稍有姿色的女人从小到大从婚前到婚后都应有数不清的被男人纠缠的经历。
女人出轨的第三大理由：减压。
中国的女人大多数要出去工作养家，回到家里又有数不清的家务，还要教育孩子，往往承受比男人更大的压力。
女人出轨的第四大理由：寻找被照顾关爱的感觉。
大多数女人在家庭中都是扮演照顾者的角色，照顾男人、照顾孩子，其实女人无论在心理上还是身体上都更需要被照顾。君不见已婚女人比一辈子不结婚的女人更容易衰老憔悴？
女人出轨的第五大理由：心灵寂寞。
女人往往一结婚，就不再在同性朋友，不是女人重色轻友，而是工作、家庭占了太多时间，友情成了很奢侈的事，男人隔三差五要和朋友聚会，时不时要出去喝酒、按摩减压，留在家里看孩子的都是寂寞的女人。
女人出轨的第六大理由：无人监视，比较安全。
女人一结婚，会立刻很有危机感，有意无意都会严密看管自己的老公，不给他出轨的机会。而男人往往对自己过于自信，认为娶回家的老婆就象自己在市场上牵回的一头猪，绝不会背叛自己。于上放心的出去花天酒地，夜夜笙歌。
女人出轨的第七大理由：经济卫生。
只要稍有姿色的女人，只要稍为假以词色，就会有大把男人送上门来，心甘情愿为你效劳。不象男人，想出轨，还得花钱找小姐、嫖妓，包二奶支出就更大，一般男人都承受不了。
女人出轨的第八大理由：安全系数高。
男人出轨的危险性很大，嫖妓容易传染性病，甘做二奶别无所求的女人又实在太少，基本上是绝种，往往是要不了多久就想登堂入室，闹得你身败名裂，妻离子散。而女人出轨往往不用担心这些。
女人出轨的第九大理由：生理有优势。
还有一个男人们最不愿听的理由，那就是其实女人的生理结构更占优势。女人可以轻松的周旋于几个男人之间而不显疲态，而男人想应付两个女人其实都很难，君不见，风骚的女人往往更艳丽，而花心的男人往往疲态尽现。女人有外遇照样可以满足老公，而男人有外遇大多只能老婆基本不用了。
网络上关于男女出轨问题的讨论声此起彼伏。男人总是将这样那样不着边际的理由归结于到了女人的自身。
其实，要说“外遇”，女人有的时候也是“身不由己”……在这些表象背后，是女人更深层次的心理需求，尤其是对性的需求。
用性来换取爱
越是自卑到没有自我的女人，越希望通过满足男人的性需求去取悦对方，希望通过自己的献身来获得对方的爱。她们错把男人对她的性需求解读成“他很爱我，因为他很想跟我上床”。由于无法实现自己对爱的渴求，女人只好用性去交换。
性与空虚、压力
现代人面对压力与空虚，最快速的缓解办法就是发泄，其中也包括发泄性欲。与陌生人在陌生的地方，发生一次无牵挂的**，似乎是代价最小的发泄方式。谁知一场短暂的快感之后，一切又将包围过来，无力感也会随之加深。
性饥渴状态
女人是需要滋润的，包括爱和性。女人因爱而性，没有爱，对性的渴望也随之萎缩了。长期对婚姻的不满足，会使女人处于爱和性的双重饥渴状态。这时候，如果有另一个男人来主动关心她、欣赏她，女人会毫不犹豫地用他来填补空虚和饥渴，并把婚外恋错当成真情。
丰富的性幻想
大凡有丰富性幻想的女人，都是容易被撩拨的女人。所谓性感，不仅是出于外表的妩媚，更是出于头脑中性幻想的能力。有丰富性幻想能力的女人，自然也需要有更多的机会去实践自己的性梦想。当合适的男士出现时，她们受到的诱惑力自然也就大些。
Thursday, September 30, 2010
America’s ‘cheapest family’: ‘We are hope and change’
America’s ‘cheapest family’: ‘We are hope and change’
Economides clan defend buying aging meat and other frugal strategies
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39416868/ns/today-today_people/
As the American economy sputters and families continue to struggle mightily just to keep their heads above water, the Economides family of Arizona believe they provide a model for how to not just survive, but thrive on a tight budget.
Eschewing credit cards, car loans and home equity borrowing, the clan of seven stay solvent and then some on just $44,000 a year — and that includes owning a home in the pricey Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale.
Mind you, they eat nutritious meals and their children are decked out in stylish, brand-name clothes. The key to living well for less, they say, is to search for bargains, avoid impulse buying and plan, plan, plan.
1.
More about People
1. Salahi: Crasher, ‘Housewife’ and now $39.95 doll
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4. There she is, America’s Perfect Teen — from Britain
5. Winklevoss twins: Facebook was our idea
The Economides, who have been living up to their billing as “America’s Cheapest Family” since 1982, recently published the latest in their series of fun-while-frugal household tips, this time focusing on what is often a budget-buster for families: the grocery store. Their book, “Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half — With America’s Cheapest Family,” is on bookstore shelves now.
Read an excerpt from ‘Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half’
Hope and spare change
“We are the hope and change of America,” family matriarch Annette Economides told Matt Lauer Wednesday, as her husband, Steve, and daughters Abbey, 16, and Becky, 26, looked on. “With the unemployment rate where it is today, I believe that our books can allow families to not have to live on two incomes.”
NBC cameras followed the Economides through a typical grocery shopping expedition. Before entering the store, Steve and Annette sat down at the dining room table and pored over food coupons, eyeing their cost-cutting prey like hungry lions. Annette used sales as a guide to planning 30 days of family meals before the family headed out the door.
advertisement | ad info
Advertisement | ad info
Advertisement | ad info
Related: ‘Cheapest’ mom shares tips for frugal family-feeding
Want tips on lowering your grocery bill? E-mail us your questions
The Economides feed their brood on an average of $350 a month, even though Annette says she knows similarly sized families that put out $2,000 a month. Steve marches down the aisles with calculator in hand, comparing unit prices. His eyes light up when he peruses the meat section and finds several cuts nearing their expiration dates, which he scoops up.
“I’m sure that people probably get squeamish over that,” Lauer commented on that part of the prerecorded segment. But Steve Economides wasn’t having it. “We’re talking about being smart,” he told Lauer. “If you look at the meat and the color is right, there’s no juice around it, it looks fine; it’s probably safe to buy.”
Video: Slash your grocery bill with America’s cheapest family (on this page)
He also noted restaurants charge premium prices for aged beef. Lauer grinned and said, “Aged beef is different than old beef, isn’t it?”
TODAY
The Economides family have had an average income of $44,000 per year over the past 26 years.
Time is money
The taped segment showed the Economides taking their purchases home, grinding and slicing food for themselves (because it’s cheaper than letting the grocery store do it for you), and stowing it in the freezer. Lauer commented that all the coupon clipping, meal planning, price comparisons and food preparation seemed exhausting. But Annette said that time is money: “I tell people that if they are not taking any time to plan to feed their family, I guarantee you that they are spending more time than I am.”
Video: ‘Life is good’ for frugal family (on this page)
Even when they go out to eat, the Economides take great pains to get the most for their money. As cameras followed the family through a Chinese all-you-can eat buffet, Annette crammed a takeout Styrofoam container to just short of the breaking point. “We stuff a container full of food, we bring it home and it will feed us for several meals,” she explained.
The family are old hands at stretching a dollar. When Steve and Annette married in 1982 — also a time of a major U.S. recession — they made a pact to maintain a debt-free home and not indulge in extravagance.
1.
More from TODAYshow.com
1. Separated by war, they marry on TODAY
Separated for years by his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Melissa McMillin, 21, and Jeremy Gebhardt, 22, wed live on TODAY Thursday. But after the honeymoon, their life together will still have to wait until the airman completes his duties by next summer.
2. Hollywood legend Tony Curtis dies at 85
3. Fisher-Price recalls 11 million items for infants, toddlers
4. A movable feast: For some, the world is a classroom
5. New mammogram study stirs debate
The proof is in the pudding: They paid cash for their late-model cars, paid their first home off in just nine years and, most importantly, raised five healthy, happy kids while never going into debt.
Their 26-year-old daughter, Becky, told Lauer that her family name has become synonymous with frugality. “I’ve got a lot of people that I work with, they’re like, ‘Are you related?’ ‘Yes, that would be me,’ ” she said with a laugh.
“It’s not odd to us,” she added. “What’s odd is seeing my friends go to the mall and purchase jeans for … I don’t even know what designer jeans retail for.”
“Two hundred bucks!" put in her teen sister Abbey.
“I can get them for less than 10 dollars at a thrift store,” Becky said.
TODAY will host the Economides family throughout this week. On Thursday, they will teach another family their money-saving tricks, and on Friday, they will answer viewer questions about how to economize.
Economides clan defend buying aging meat and other frugal strategies
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39416868/ns/today-today_people/
As the American economy sputters and families continue to struggle mightily just to keep their heads above water, the Economides family of Arizona believe they provide a model for how to not just survive, but thrive on a tight budget.
Eschewing credit cards, car loans and home equity borrowing, the clan of seven stay solvent and then some on just $44,000 a year — and that includes owning a home in the pricey Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale.
Mind you, they eat nutritious meals and their children are decked out in stylish, brand-name clothes. The key to living well for less, they say, is to search for bargains, avoid impulse buying and plan, plan, plan.
1.
More about People
1. Salahi: Crasher, ‘Housewife’ and now $39.95 doll
2. Nut behind ‘Letters From a Nut’ revealed at last
3. Girl, 17, sues officials who found nude pics on phone
4. There she is, America’s Perfect Teen — from Britain
5. Winklevoss twins: Facebook was our idea
The Economides, who have been living up to their billing as “America’s Cheapest Family” since 1982, recently published the latest in their series of fun-while-frugal household tips, this time focusing on what is often a budget-buster for families: the grocery store. Their book, “Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half — With America’s Cheapest Family,” is on bookstore shelves now.
Read an excerpt from ‘Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half’
Hope and spare change
“We are the hope and change of America,” family matriarch Annette Economides told Matt Lauer Wednesday, as her husband, Steve, and daughters Abbey, 16, and Becky, 26, looked on. “With the unemployment rate where it is today, I believe that our books can allow families to not have to live on two incomes.”
NBC cameras followed the Economides through a typical grocery shopping expedition. Before entering the store, Steve and Annette sat down at the dining room table and pored over food coupons, eyeing their cost-cutting prey like hungry lions. Annette used sales as a guide to planning 30 days of family meals before the family headed out the door.
advertisement | ad info
Advertisement | ad info
Advertisement | ad info
Related: ‘Cheapest’ mom shares tips for frugal family-feeding
Want tips on lowering your grocery bill? E-mail us your questions
The Economides feed their brood on an average of $350 a month, even though Annette says she knows similarly sized families that put out $2,000 a month. Steve marches down the aisles with calculator in hand, comparing unit prices. His eyes light up when he peruses the meat section and finds several cuts nearing their expiration dates, which he scoops up.
“I’m sure that people probably get squeamish over that,” Lauer commented on that part of the prerecorded segment. But Steve Economides wasn’t having it. “We’re talking about being smart,” he told Lauer. “If you look at the meat and the color is right, there’s no juice around it, it looks fine; it’s probably safe to buy.”
Video: Slash your grocery bill with America’s cheapest family (on this page)
He also noted restaurants charge premium prices for aged beef. Lauer grinned and said, “Aged beef is different than old beef, isn’t it?”
TODAY
The Economides family have had an average income of $44,000 per year over the past 26 years.
Time is money
The taped segment showed the Economides taking their purchases home, grinding and slicing food for themselves (because it’s cheaper than letting the grocery store do it for you), and stowing it in the freezer. Lauer commented that all the coupon clipping, meal planning, price comparisons and food preparation seemed exhausting. But Annette said that time is money: “I tell people that if they are not taking any time to plan to feed their family, I guarantee you that they are spending more time than I am.”
Video: ‘Life is good’ for frugal family (on this page)
Even when they go out to eat, the Economides take great pains to get the most for their money. As cameras followed the family through a Chinese all-you-can eat buffet, Annette crammed a takeout Styrofoam container to just short of the breaking point. “We stuff a container full of food, we bring it home and it will feed us for several meals,” she explained.
The family are old hands at stretching a dollar. When Steve and Annette married in 1982 — also a time of a major U.S. recession — they made a pact to maintain a debt-free home and not indulge in extravagance.
1.
More from TODAYshow.com
1. Separated by war, they marry on TODAY
Separated for years by his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Melissa McMillin, 21, and Jeremy Gebhardt, 22, wed live on TODAY Thursday. But after the honeymoon, their life together will still have to wait until the airman completes his duties by next summer.
2. Hollywood legend Tony Curtis dies at 85
3. Fisher-Price recalls 11 million items for infants, toddlers
4. A movable feast: For some, the world is a classroom
5. New mammogram study stirs debate
The proof is in the pudding: They paid cash for their late-model cars, paid their first home off in just nine years and, most importantly, raised five healthy, happy kids while never going into debt.
Their 26-year-old daughter, Becky, told Lauer that her family name has become synonymous with frugality. “I’ve got a lot of people that I work with, they’re like, ‘Are you related?’ ‘Yes, that would be me,’ ” she said with a laugh.
“It’s not odd to us,” she added. “What’s odd is seeing my friends go to the mall and purchase jeans for … I don’t even know what designer jeans retail for.”
“Two hundred bucks!" put in her teen sister Abbey.
“I can get them for less than 10 dollars at a thrift store,” Becky said.
TODAY will host the Economides family throughout this week. On Thursday, they will teach another family their money-saving tricks, and on Friday, they will answer viewer questions about how to economize.
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