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Daily Nugget: 23 MARCH 2013

It's not about where you begin, as we all have to begin somewhere. It's more about the journey you take to your end, lessons learned and all the experiences along the way.

Daily Nugget: 17 DECEMBER 2012

Always remember this: You never know how good you have it until you don't have it anymore. 

Daily Nugget: 23 NOVEMBER 2012

Always follow your gut feeling and your heart. Yes, sometimes they might be wrong, but at least you made the decision(s) for yourself and no one else made them for you.

Thought Provoking: Reagan - Killer Mike

Daily Nugget: 29-MAY-2012

Watch the company you keep

because everyone doesn't have

your best interest in mind.

 Some people hang around

 just to bring you down. 

You must learn to identify 

those type of people and 

immediately raise them 

right out of your life.

President Obama: "Student Loan Interest Rates Shouldn't Double"

Feature: Wanna Live To Be 100?

Find Out How:
11 Health Habits That Will Help You Live to 100 -

Feature: 10 Most Stressful Jobs

Is your job on this list?

By By Lexi Petronis

1.Enlisted soldier,
 2.Firefighter, 
3.Airline pilot,
 4.Military general, 
5.Police officer,
 6.Event coordinator, 
7.Public relations executive, 
8.Corporate executive, 
9. Photojournalist and
 10.Taxi driver

Work-related stress is a big deal--it's the biggest cause of stress for most Americans, and the anxiety we feel in the workplace can quickly translate into major health problems like headaches, sleeplessness, and even cardiovascular disease and psychological disorders. And if your job actually puts your life at risk, every day, well. That can't be great for your health either.

Oh, and CareerCast also has a list of least stressful jobs:

1.Medical technician, 
2.Jeweler, 
3.Hair stylist
, 4.Dressmaker-tailor, 
5.Medical lab tech, 
6. Audiologist, 
7.Precision assembler,
 8.Dietitian 
9.Furniture upholsterer
 and 10.Electrical technician

Feature: Résumé-writing tips for managers and executives

By Lori Michelle Ryan, JIST Publishing

Job seekers often communicate a first impression through their résumés. In the newly updated edition of "Expert Résumés for Managers and Executives," authors Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark stress the importance of a strong résumé for all applicants.

"A vital component of your career management plan is your résumé, which must instantly position you as a well-qualified and highly competitive candidate," the authors say. "The easiest way to accomplish that objective is by developing a powerful, performance-based résumé."

In their book, Enelow and Kursmark provide numerous résumé samples, divided by career field, that are aimed at people at all levels of management, from front-line supervisors to top-level executives. They also offer nine strategies for writing effective résumés:

1. Write for the job you want: "You cannot write an effective résumé without knowing, at least to some degree, what type or types of positions you will be seeking."

2. Sell it to me, don't tell it to me: "If you 'tell it,' you simply state facts. If you 'sell it,' you promote it, advertise it and draw attention to it."

3. Use keywords: "Keywords are ... specific to a particular industry or profession. When you use these words and phrases, you are communicating a specific message."

4. Use the "big" and save the "little": "Try to focus on the 'big' things -- revenue and profit growth, new initiatives and ventures, special projects, cost savings ... then save the 'little' stuff -- the details -- for the interview."

5. Make your résumé "interviewable": After "you are contacted for a telephone or in-person interview, your résumé becomes all-important in leading and prompting your interviewer during your conversation."

6. Eliminate confusion with structure and context: "Be consistent, make information easy to find and define the context in which you worked."

7. Use function to demonstrate achievement: "A résumé that focuses on your job functions can be dry and uninteresting and says little about your unique activities and contributions."

8. Remain in the realm of reality: "Do not push your skills and qualifications outside the bounds of what is truthful."

9. Be confident: "There is only one individual with the specific combination of employment experience, qualifications, achievements, education and technical skills that you have."

"Your résumé can have tremendous power and a phenomenal impact on your job search. So don't take it lightly," Enelow and Kursmark say. "Rather, devote the time, energy and resources that are essential to developing a résumé that is well-written, visually attractive and effective in communicating who you are and how you want to be perceived."

Lori Michelle Ryan is the marketing communications specialist at JIST Publishing, America's Career Publisher. In this role, she helps job seekers, career changers, students and working professionals develop the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the job market and world of work.

Feature: Secrets To Better Sleep

Struggling to fall asleep? Or can't seem to stay asleep? Read on for simple tips on how to catch a few more z's for a restful night.

By Sari Botton

We've all heard it before: If you're having a hard time sleeping, you need to adopt a perfectly monastic lifestyle, free of any and all indulgences. No caffeine. No alcohol. No television before bed, and a strict bedtime, as if you were a 10-year-old. Oh, and would you mind mastering meditation while you're at it?

You might try this for a few nights, maybe a week. But then the demands of real life in the real world quickly shatter any illusions of aspiring to such austere asceticism. Not to mention that no amount of chamomile tea can even touch your coffee jones. And so you resign yourself to frequent nights of tossing and turning.

It's a shame when you consider the importance and benefits of good sleep. It allows us to function, to feel and look better, to enjoy sex more, and even to manage our weight. Good news, though: Top sleep specialists are now taking a more realistic approach to helping women get some quality shut-eye.

"If you look at the data, the rules don't need to be so strict," says Michael Grandner, a sleep-medicine researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. "There's a lot of middle ground."

That's right. It doesn't need to be all or nothing. Here are some doable suggestions from Grandner and others.

HAVE YOUR VICES -- BUT ENJOY THEM WISELY

"There is nothing wrong with good coffee and good wine," says Rubin Naiman, a sleep specialist at the University of Arizona's Center for Integrative Medicine and coauthor, with Andrew Weil, of Healthy Sleep. The key with both alcohol and java, he says, is moderation -- and timing.

Where coffee is concerned, Naiman recommends limiting intake to one or two cups in the morning, having it with food and, if possible, enjoying it in the sunlight. "Morning light is nature's cup of coffee," he says. "It increases the production of serotonin. If you combine morning sun with a cup of coffee, you won't need as much caffeine."

You can get away with a little more caffeine into the early afternoon, but Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist who specializes in sleep disorders and is the author of Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep, recommends cutting out caffeine after 2:00 P.M. "Caffeine stays in your system between eight and 10 hours," he says.

Perhaps surprisingly, Naiman points out that espresso drinks contain much less caffeine than regular coffee -- about 80 milligrams as opposed to 140 per serving. If you're one of those brave souls prepared to get off the bean entirely and switch to green tea, you're looking at only about 25 milligrams of caffeine per cup. "Green tea also contains L-theanine," Naiman says, "which is a calming substance that modulates the effects of the caffeine."

You know those Cassandras who give you the evil eye when you're ordering decaf after dinner, warning, "Did you know decaf isn't entirely caffeine free?" Tell them it has about 5 milligrams, so you'll stick with your order, thank you.

It's a similar story with alcohol. "Less is better, earlier is better, and with food is essential," says Naiman. "If you drink late in the evening, it will help you fall asleep but then wake you up a few hours later when it becomes a stimulant." Breus agrees, adding, "For each drink you have -- whether it's wine or the hard stuff -- put an hour between it and sleep. It takes your body one hour per drink to metabolize the alcohol."

Breus also says, "Darker wines and liquors seem to have more of an effect than lighter ones, although we don't yet know why." That might help explain why many notice they have a harder time sleeping after drinking red wine than after white. "Red wines contain more substances that people are sometimes allergic to, such as tannins, prostaglandins, and histamines," Grandner says. "Even without an allergy, these substances might disrupt sleep." If you smoke, have your last cigarette early because nicotine is a stimulant.

Go easy on the fatty foods. Grandner coauthored a study that found that "long term, women -- especially older women -- who eat more fat- and calorie-dense foods sleep less over time and report feeling sleepy during the day."

SHIFT GEARS

While a regular bedtime is recommended by most sleep professionals -- "The regularity can be a very powerful behavioral sleep aid," notes Grandner -- it's not easy to maintain such rigid routines. No matter when you hit the sack, give yourself an hour to wind down.

Try a bubble bath. "It needs to be a bubble bath," explains Breus, "because the bubbles provide insulation that keeps the water hotter. It doesn't just relax your muscles. It raises your core temperature. Then when you get out, your temperature drops, which helps you produce melatonin - which helps you sleep." And sprinkle in some lavender oil, which, he adds, "studies show helps relaxation."

Lower the temperature in the house. "Our bodies are designed to do what the earth does," says Naiman, who prefers his patients keep the thermostat no higher than 68. "When the sun goes down, the temperature drops steadily, and so does our body temperature."

Gentle yoga and breathing exercises before bed are great. But light reading or a little television won't kill you, especially if you avoid anything too action filled or upsetting. "I actually prescribe Seinfeld reruns for my patients," Naiman says. "Laughing can be calming and help relax muscles."

That said, if you're going to watch television in the evening, Naiman recommends getting blue-blocker glasses. (Check out lowbluelights.com.) "Television and computer screens emit a lot of blue light," he explains. "That's the same wavelength that makes the sky blue. It suppresses melatonin." That suppression makes it harder to sleep.

LIGHTS OUT

The darker the bedroom, the better for maintaining crucial melatonin levels. "Get blackout shades," Breus says, "and an eye mask for travel."

The light from your alarm clock needs to go too. "Face it away from you," Grandner suggests. "The first thing you do when you can't sleep is look at the clock, and the second thing you do is math. How many people do you know who do math to relax?"

BREATHE

If you just can't seem to calm your mind, try calming your breath. Naiman recommends a 4-7-8 breath: "Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge behind your upper front teeth. Breathe in through your nose to the count of four. Hold your breath to the count of seven. Then, to the count of eight, breathe out through your mouth. Repeat three times."

DON'T RELY ON MEDS

Of course, there will be nights when you want to just pop a pill. Grandner says that pharmaceuticals such as Ambien and Lunesta can be useful, but only short term. Breus compares regular use of sleeping pills to taking diet pills: not a long-term solution.

If nothing has worked, get out of bed and do something relaxing. "That is the core of behavioral treatment for insomnia," Grandner says, "and it has been shown to be better in the long term than any sleep medication."

For personalized advice, "see a certified behavioral sleep specialist," says Naiman, "not a general physician, because they'll just give you meds."

Feature: Stop! That's money, not junk mail

Checks are finally being mailed to millions of credit card holders as a result of class-action settlement. Don't toss it.

By MSN Money partner on Thu, Jan 5, 2012 6:37 PM

This post comes from Gerri Detweiler at partner site Credit.com.

More than 10 million checks are going out to credit card holders as the result of the Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation settlement that I last wrote about -- get this -- four years ago. These refund checks are being sent to credit card holders as a result of a class-action lawsuit over the setting and disclosure of foreign currency conversion fees.

I just got a check for $18.04 from the settlement and, quite honestly, I could have easily mistaken it for junk mail. Like millions of others, I had filed a claim back in 2008 and had pretty much forgotten about it at this point.

Here's what the mailer looks like:

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these checks get tossed either inadvertently or because the recipient thinks it's some kind of scam.

Some people who filed claim forms and documentation showing how much they paid in foreign transaction fees will get larger checks. If you have moved since you submitted a claim, you'll need to write to:

Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation

Settlement Administrator

P.O. Box 290

Philadelphia, PA 19105-0290

I expected to get $25 under the "easy refund option" I had filed under. But the amount I received was smaller, because the amount of claims filed exceeded the settlement funds available. But, hey, it was a little bit of extra cash before the holidays.

With anything like this, you can expect scammers to seize the opportunity and try to use it to take advantage of unsuspecting consumers. I haven't heard of any scams coming out of this settlement yet, but if you receive an email or phone call from someone offering to help you process a refund, ignore it. You will not receive phone calls or emails from the settlement administrators. Either you'll get a check or you won't.

For more information, visit ccfsettlement.com

Daily Nugget: 28-Dec-2011

There is nothing wrong with working hard, 

but remember to take breaks and rest properly. 

You are no good to yourself or anyone else when 

you are exhausted and/or overworked.

Feature: Best bets for jobs in 2012

By Debra Auerbach, CareerBuilder Writer

Looking forward to 2012, there is cautious optimism that the economy -- and the job market -- will continue to improve. The recently released National Employment Report from ADP, a private staffing and business services firm, showed private employers added 206,000 jobs in November. University of Michigan economists are predicting a brighter 2012; according to a recent study, the jobless rate should continue to drop to 8.8 percent by the end of 2012.

There's hopeful news for soon-to-be graduates, too. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers' Job Outlook 2012 survey, employers plan to hire 9.5 percent more graduates from the Class of 2012 than they hired from the Class of 2011. While many of those job openings will be triggered by attrition, it's still a good sign that the number is increasing.   

What this all means is that things are starting to look up, but there will still be bumps in the road ahead. Yet some industries are seeing growth -- so much so that some can't fill their positions fast enough.

If you're a job seeker, consider exploring a career in one of these nine occupations, all of which are expected to grow in 2012.

1. Biomedical engineer
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, biomedical engineers apply knowledge of engineering, biology, and biomechanical principles to the design, development and evaluation of biological and health systems and products. This is one of the fastest-growing occupations, with an expected 72 percent increase in employment from 2008-2018. 
Average salary: $82,421*

2. Computer software engineer 
The computer systems design and related services industry has seen continued growth throughout the second half of 2011, according to the BLS. In addition, the NACE Job Outlook 2012 survey found computer sciences to be one of the top bachelor's degrees in demand by employers. 
Average salary: $97,581

3. Customer service representative
This occupation is expected to experience faster than average growth, one reason being the high turnover rate in the field. This is also a good industry to consider if you are fluent in multiple languages, as opportunities for bilingual representatives are fruitful. 
Average salary: $29,314

4. Home health aide 
Home health aides provide in-home care, a service that will continue to be important as the elderly population continues to grow. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the number of Americans 65 and older is projected to be 88.5 million by 2050, more than double its estimated 2010 population.  
Average salary: $28,173

5. Management analyst
Management analyst is an occupation in the management and technical consulting services field, a field that grew by 3.8 percent from September to October 2011 and has seen steady growth throughout the second half of the year. According to the BLS, management analysts study and analyze business-related issues and recommend solutions.
Average salary: $72,197

6. Medical assistant
The BLS predicts that the medical assistant field will grow by 33.9 percent from 2008-2018. Medical assistants often work at physicians' offices and perform administrative and clinical duties. Proper training and skills can be acquired by attending a one- to two-year program at a vocational school. 
Average salary: $37,571

7. Network systems and data communications analyst
The BLS notes that this occupational category, with sizable employment growth projections through 2018, includes network architects and engineers, as well as Web administrators and developers. According to the Labor Department, the type of degree required depends on the position level.
Average salary: $48,316

8. Registered nurse
The registered nurse profession is the largest health-care occupation and is expected to grow by 22.2 percent from 2008-2018, according to the BLS. While RNs can be employed by physicians' offices, most work in hospitals. 
Average salary: $71,692

9. Retail salesperson
The record-busting Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail sales show that consumers are starting to feel a little more confident about the economy. In fact, the retail trade has overall trended up since June 2011, with a slight dip from July to August. Due to this occupation's high turnover rate, employment opportunities are expected to be good. 
Average salary: $25,557

*All salary estimates are from CBSalary.com and are the U.S. national average salary.

Debra Auerbach is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.

Copyright 2011 CareerBuilder. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without prior written authority.

7 credit card mistakes experts never make

Here's advice from someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes credit cards.

By Stacy Johnson on Thu, Nov 10, 2011 3:15 PM

This post is from Jason Steele at partner site Money Talks News.

Using credit cards wisely was the cornerstone of the personal finance education I received from a very young age. In fact, it's probably one of the chief reasons I decided to carve a career from writing about credit cards and other personal finance topics.

These days I often spend hours reviewing credit card offers, and still learn new things every once in a while. And I still see card users making fundamental mistakes in the way they manage their cards.

Here are some top mistakes some people make that I wouldn't.

1. Paying your bills late

The golden rule of credit card use is: Always pay on time. How do I avoid paying late? First, I always demand paper statements. Getting a letter in the mail makes my payment so much more urgent than an email reminder that my statement is ready. Conversely, I always pay my bills electronically though online banking. This removes any post office-related uncertainty.

But however you choose to stay on top of your charges, do it. The only reason you should ever pay late is if you absolutely, positively can't scrape up the money. Bruising your credit score simply because you spaced out is dumb.

2. Paying less than the balance in full

After paying on time, paying balances in full is the most important habit you can develop. Paying in full and on time avoids interest and fees while entitling you to free use of your bank's money for up to 55 days. Not paying in full means paying interest, which translates into handing over significant amounts of money for basically nothing. This is not the road to riches.

3. Paying your bills early

Use electronic payments -- not paper checks and snail mail -- to dictate precisely which day money is transferred from your account to your card company's. This maximizes the interest earned on your checking balance -- admittedly a fraction of a percent these days, but still something -- while closely regulating your cash flow.

4. Paying late fees

Being a credit card expert doesn't mean I'm superhuman -- I still make mistakes. When I do, I always follow up with a brief phone call to my bank to ask them to waive any fees. Guess what? I've never been turned down. Your credit card issuer wants to keep your business, so if you ask only occasionally, you'll probably be successful. Post continues below.

5. Paying foreign transaction fees

I don't live a life of international travel, but I do have family overseas. When I leave the country, I hate paying foreign credit card transaction fees that are often as high as 3%. Fortunately, there now are many cards on the market that don't have these fees. Capital One has never charged them, while Discover and PenFed have recently announced they're phasing them out of all cards. Also, Chase has dropped these charges on several of their high-end products that are marketed toward travelers. (For more, see Foreign Transaction Costs – and 5 Other Credit Card Pet Peeves.)

6. Missing out on a big sign-up bonus

Frugal people like me may not get to rack up hundreds of thousands of miles a year through credit card spending, but we can still enjoy some generous sign-up bonuses from time to time. The key is to refrain from applying for a new card until you're assured you're getting the best sign-up bonus you can. Sometimes it is a matter of choosing the right Web link to apply from, while other times it's just a matter of waiting for the best offers to emerge. (For more, see The 5 Best Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses.)


7. Playing the 0% game

Many cards offer promotional financing offers of 0% on purchases and balance transfers. So what's the harm in that? Well, for one thing, they encourage you to spend money you may not have. Furthermore, maintaining a large balance will eat up your available credit, hurting your credit score. Finally, even 0-percent balance transfer offers often come with fees of 3% to 5%.

Playing the 0% game is playing with fire. These offers are so common because the banks know that you're likely to pay interest in the end.