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Saving for retirement can be confusing.  Many people simply choose to let their employer or a financial advisor set up a retirement account.  Then, they can blinding make monthly deposits and hope for the best.  This will lead to a decent retirement for most people.  However, there are other alternatives. If you are employed and have a retirement program as part of your benefits package, you may or may not have a Roth IRA.  A Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account) is different from most retirement savings accounts.  Unlike a standard IRA, money invested in a Roth account is not tax deductible.  However, money taken out of the account is not taxed.  So the benefits are not seen at first, but can be substantial over time, at least in terms of taxes. Financial experts who favor Roths give these reasons for their attractiveness... Interest can be compounded several times over before retirement as long as the account is opened early enough.  So even less risky investment can bring a … [Read more...] about Is a Roth IRA Good for Your Retirement?

Imagine this scenario: You arrive at work on a Monday at 9 a.m. to begin your week’s work. You realize what your colleague was supposed to have finished last week hasn’t been finished. This leaves you putting in extra hours of work that will result in you staying late, again, covering for your colleague. What do you do? Normally you will put up with it for a while until you have to inform your boss of the situation, but now imagine your colleague is your sister-in-law, and your boss is your brother. Working with members of your family has the potential to be a very trying, sticky and challenging. It can bring out the best in you and your relatives--and also the worst in your working relationships.Here are 5 tips to ensure that your family working environment remains as positive and healthy as possible.1.    Blood Is Thicker Than WaterYes you are work colleagues, but first and foremost you are family. You should always remember that and one way to do this is … [Read more...] about 5 Tips: Working for the Family Business

You never know which words will be your last, so no matter who you are or where you work, it is important to choose them wisely.“If I call in sick now I’ve got to put myself in a hotel until I feel better.” If that happened, she said, “at least I’m in a hotel room on the company’s buck. But we’ll see. I’m pretty tough.”Those were the words spoken by commuter plane co-pilot Rebecca L. Shaw before her ill-fated flight 340 from Newark to Buffalo crashed into the ground killing all 49 people on board and one pour soul on the ground.We've all made light-hearted comments about sucking our employers dry. But when they are taken out of context, they can make the employee look insubordinate and small. If the sh*t ever hits the fan, you better believe that every conversation you have ever had while at work, be it a phone call, email or texting, will come to light. So please dear Jobacle readers, mind your tongues!I am not passing judgment on … [Read more...] about Don't Crash the Plane. Sick? Stay Home!

Coming up on the #1 career podcast on the Web:- Members of Generation Y can make great employees. But there is a serious flaw they must address.- Learn about three hot new career resources in the Career Filter- Isn't it time to reinvent the office birthday? Jobacle has an idea, and we need your feedback! Direct Download … [Read more...] about Working Podcast #89: Gen Y, Office Birthdays & New Job Boards

Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest places. As we drove in to work the other day, I jokingly told my wife that I would pull into her parking lot the wrong way (one way street) to save some time. She told me no, and I reminded her that some of the other employees did it all the time. She looked me in the eye and said, “We don’t follow bad leaders.” Now, I don’t know if that has an impact on anyone else, but it gave me a little chill. What does it mean? I’m not exactly sure. I want to ponder the idea some and develop the idea, but the things that immediately sprang to mind are the times that we do follow bad leaders. First, we follow them when we are forced into it. A manager can push and prod you to follow them, because they have the authority and position power to do so. Even when the person is a bad leader, we prefer not to be jobless and eating from a dumpster, so we follow them anyway. We rarely follow bad leaders for long without fear or … [Read more...] about Do Not Follow the (Bad) Leader

What would you do if you found out that your company was poisoning you? Hmmm. That’s a pretty heavy opening question. I can guarantee that most of you have never even thought about the prospect. So, what would you do?   Before I changed jobs, I worked in an old building. It was riddled with mold and mildew in some parts, but the infestations were supposedly “not the harmful” kind. Right. Most of us had respiratory illnesses every few months, but miraculously, every time they tested the air quality, it was just fine. One of my coworkers would have excruciatingly painful migraine headaches every so often, but they never occurred when she was not in the office. But hey, don’t worry, the air quality is A-okay.   Well, as if the air situation wasn’t bad enough, we also had another issue. There was a water fountain in the hallway. I’m sure you have one at your own workplace. You’d never imagine the thing was spewing chemicals and detritus … [Read more...] about The Tale of the Poisoned Office

The latest fake job post to hit the Jobacle inbox. Greetings. Our company is looking for adult employees in USA for “Riddle Buying”.  Let me explain to you what is “Riddle Buying”. “Riddle Buying” is the know-how, that allows evaluate and remove problems in companies’ customer service. “Riddle Buying” is the main line of our company. Sometimes company executives feel there is a need for them to improve upon their customer service problems, this is where our company come in and not only help them remove problems in customer service performance but also exclude them in future. This job is not hard and doesn’t require any experience or special knowledge, but is well paid: about $5,000 a month, or $1,400 a week. We welcome candidates with good communication skills, with stable Internet, with access to the personal E-mail. Duties: 1. Reveal problems in customer service while acting as ordinary client. 2. Always remain … [Read more...] about Fake Job Post Part III – "Riddle Buying"

In our youth, there is an unspoken feeling of acceptance for our mistakes. We know that there are consequences, but we’re young, foolish, and usually forgiven. It’s ok to mess up, it’s ok to rebel, and it’s all ok because we have our adulthood to make up for it. Except now we’re adults. We have bills, mortgages, kids (well, just a cat for me), and other basic responsibilities. And it feels as though Big Brother is watching our every move. Are you really going to buy that candy bar? Are you really taking an extra 15 minutes for lunch? Are you really not going to participate in the afternoon discussion during your leadership training course? Every vice or laziness that I used to give into- well simply because I felt like I could make up for it later- no longer feels like I have that luxury. And if I dare consider to buy that extra something or don’t participate like I should in a work-related discussion, the guilt that accompanies giving into that vice … [Read more...] about We're ALL Role Models Now. And It Sucks.

Ah, the reliable, infinitely safe and very healthy banana. It's bright yellow color radiates tropical warmth and sunshine, and its handy, almost zip-locked casing makes it a natural convenience snack. Yet, after seeing how bananas are harvested while on a recent eco- tour of Costa Rica, I don't think that I can ever eat another in the same take-it-for-granted way that I always have.I suppose that, when visiting the Chiquita plantation, I had expected to see a typical agribusiness operation, with modern technology used to at least do the crudest work. And, while I clearly did not expect to find happy and dancing peasants, what I did see was a level of back-breaking work that was surprising in its primitiveness. The only hint of modern, if you will, was that all the hanging banana clusters are encased in blue plastic bags to prevent bruising and over-ripening.Yet it was the overhead pulleys that really seemed, at first, so out of place in these sun-drenched fields. The vast networks of … [Read more...] about Working With Bananas