Ilyce Glink Show Notes – January 10, 2010: Unemployment and Michelle Singletary

Today’s ThinkGlink News:

The big news this week, for my money, was all about jobs. The jobs report showed 85,000 people lost their job in December, compared with a revised uptick of 4,000 jobs created in November.

The overall official unemployment number stayed the same, but that was only because 661,000 people stopped looking for a job because they got so discouraged. There are still about six people applying for every job, which is frankly depressing enough to discourage anyone from looking. That isn’t a good ratio. Actually, it’s a terrible ratio of applicant-to-job.

In fact, when you look at the larger measure of unemployment, the U-6, it rose a tenth of a percent to 17.3 percent (unemployment, underemployed, etc.) in December. That’s near an all-time high. And, I continue to believe the actual number of people who are unemployed or under-employed is more like 21 percent.

While the economy has been “growing” since mid-2009, job growth isn’t materializing and unemployment may not yet have peaked. Once more Americans start rejoining the workforce, they’ll start showing up in the government’s numbers – and that could sending the “official” unemployment report far higher than the 10 percent – which is high enough.

I think companies are really nervous about committing to long-term workers. We saw about 45,000 temporary jobs added in December. Employment experts look at that number and say, “Well, temporary employment leads to full-time employment.” Maybe it does and sometimes it doesn’t.

I know that I am rethinking our hiring practices at ThinkGlink.com. While I’ve been interviewing people, I’m reticent to make an offer until we firm up our prospects for the year. I’m sure I’m not alone in being cautious. (When you’re a small business owner, the worst thing you ever have to do is let someone go. I’m not anxious to have to do that again, so I’d rather be extra cautious about hiring on the front end. This is what economists mean when they call it a fragile economy.)

It’s all well and good to try to change a mindset, but there’s only so much good news to go around. And good business practices mean you have to know where the revenue is coming from before you add to your expense sheet. If you don’t follow that, and you’re going to wind up in trouble – big trouble.

How to Invest Your Money Right Now – March 27, 2010 – Save The Date

Ilyce Glink and Real World Seminar’s Latest Event

The worst economy in decades has been followed by an incredible 60 percent bounce in the stock market. Some economists are predicting we’ll have a double-dip recession while others think the worst is behind us. Most investors are scratching their heads, wondering “What’s next?”

Will the economy move forward?
Will it fall back into recession?
Will the stock market move forward or retest market lows?
Should you play it safer or take on more risk?

For our next event, How To Invest In 2010, we’ll bring together the best local investment advisors, financial planners, tax experts and successful investors.

Together, we’ll explore this new world of investing. We’ll look at short-term and long-term investments, retirement savings and your child’s college education fund. We’ll look at stocks, bonds, ETFs, real estate investing and the biggest mistakes investors make.

So plan to join me on March 27, 2010 for my How To Invest In 2010.

The ticket window is open. The EARLY BIRD SPECIAL is on for a limited time only! If you’ve been to one of my events, you know that the best price is the first price. You can also purchase a VIP ticket, or a special package of ebooks we’re creating especially for this event.

You’ll have face-to-face time with our experts and will be able to get answers to your own investing questions. So, SAVE THE DATE and join us March 27, 2010 for How To Invest In 2010.

New ThinkGlink Ebooks About Investing in Real Estate Are Now Available

We created five new ebooks that together provide you with more than 100 pages of important, money-saving information about investing successful in real estate. here are the five topics:

  1. 1031 Tax-Deferred Exchanges. Everything you need to know about 1031 Exchanges (also known as Starker Trusts) and how to use them to defer capital gains and recapture taxes.
  2. LLCs, Corporations, And Other Ways Of Holding Title To Real Estate. The time to start thinking about you’re going to hold title is BEFORE you buy an investment property. This ebook walks you through the different ownership options and what you need to know.
  3. How to Profit From Foreclosures: 9 Top Tips From Investors. Avoid the most common and most devastating mistakes real estate investors make by reading this ebook.
  4. Finding Great Tenants And Profitably Managing Real Estate Investments. If you don’t have good tenants, you’ll wind up with losing money with your real estate investment – or perhaps destroying your credit. This ebook tells you how to find great tenants, how to price your unit to rent, and how to manage your property effectively and efficiently.
  5. The Successful Real Estate Investors Guide: Top Tax Tips. Investing successfully means you’ve got to keep your expenses low. That means, watch what you pay in taxes. This book walks you through the major tax areas you’ll encounter with real estate investing.

We also have FREE BOOKS and other ebooks in the ThinkGlink.com store.

You can get a FREE copy of my book 50 Simple Steps You Can Take to Disaster Proof Your Finances” or “The REALLY Useful Guide to Working Smarter Not Harder” at the ThinkGlink.com store. You pay the shipping and we’ll send you any number of books for free!

Order Your ThinkGlink Ebook or Free Book Today!

Buy 3 Ebooks and Get 1 Free Ebook DEAL!

If you select 3 ebooks from our store and enter the discount code “freeebook” (no quotes), you’ll get one of those ebooks for free. It works with all of our ebooks. Just use the code to get the discount. It will show up when you check out of the ThinkGlink store.

Michelle Singletary: Washington Post columnist and author of THE POWER TO PROSPER

Can you go 21 days without buying anything discretionary?

Award-winning Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary joined us on the show today for a live interview about hew new book, The Power to Prosper: 21 Days to Financial Freedom.

The book plays on Michelle’s faith as well as on her money-savvy. She believes that faith is an important part of getting your finances straight – but it isn’t the only thing. You can’t just pray for help – you also need to take action. The book combines scripture and straight money talk to deliver a message that is sure to hit home for many of my listeners and site visitors.

The 21 day money fast isn’t about canceling cable as it is about not going shopping for stuff you don’t really need. Michelle believes, as I do, that so many times, we’re shopping without purpose. And, we’re buying things that don’t really fulfill our spiritual or financial needs. Do you really need another pair of black heels? Do you really need more tools for the workshop you’re in only one day a month? Can you live without another dinner out?

Michelle says she and her husband both do the 21 day money fast twice a year. I told her that I live it every day. Sam and I cut out everything we can live without and then built back from there. So, we’re frugal but not psychotic about it. Instead, we’re into thoughtful spending and trying to make it work on the least amount possible.

As Michelle points out, that leaves money in the budget for experiences (including vacations) and fixer-upper projects around the house.

In addition to asking everyone in the world to do a 21 day fast, Michelle is also asking you to post videos to YouTube to get everyone in the community spirit. You can get more information about the 21 day money fast at the Washington Post site.

My thanks to Michelle for taking time out of a Sunday (a day I know she treasures) to spend time with my WSB listeners.

New Tools, New Decade: RightSIZING Your Life

My mantra this year (until I think up something else) is going to be this: New tools, new decade. I think times are so tough, that it requires a reengineering of how we think about money and what satisfies us. I call this RightSIZING and I’d like to invite you to participate in a grand experiment in which I work with a family on rightsizing their life based on a new financial reality.

More on this later in the week, but if you’d like some help, please email me at [email protected].