Last month, on the topic of career education, we wrote a post that included “The One-Year, Self-Directed, Alternative Graduate School Experience“. That post was meant to help deepen your knowledge, this one should help you broaden it.
Every year, US News produces a list of the top universities. None of the names on the top of the list will come as a surprise, we’ve all heard of them and they represent the most prestigious universities in the world. Many of them are Ivy League schools, but not all. Aside from being expensive, they all have something else in common. All ten offer free course work to the general public.
Investment Taxation
Any investor who wishes to invest profitably must understand the basic effects of taxation on investment returns. The very word “Taxation” to some, brings about very specific thoughts and emotions. For myself, if there were no definite structure or goals to my writing, I could easily spend a week convincing the reader of the evils of modern taxation. For your sake, I’ll save that for another day when I have no other brilliant ideas that will help you get ahead in life. It’s enough to know in the beginning that whether taxes are paid in the beginning, or end, the amount of tax taken from any gains will obviously affect investment returns and must be taken into consideration.
Does success lead to happiness? Or could it possibly work the other way around? According to Shawn Achor, we may have been going about success backwards. He points out that, historically, we have a “work hard, succeed, then be happy” formula. However, some studies have shown the reverse may actually be more effective.
In the video below, Achor says, “If you can raise somebody’s level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise. In fact, we’ve found that every single business outcome improves. Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. You’re 37% better at sales. Doctors are 19 percent faster, more accurate at coming up with the correct diagnosis when positive instead of negative, neutral or stressed.
Social Security?
How much money money will you receive from your social security benefits? Last summer, we wrote about how the Social Security system was breaking down rapidly. You may be wondering, if we think the system is breaking down, why would we write about it in our blog now? There’s little question that the Social Security Program is in trouble, but there are solutions. Unfortunately, for many Americans, particularly those who have worked hard and lived responsibly, the most likely solution will preclude them from receiving benefits they deserve.
Much of the focus for suggested Social Security fixes in Washington have centered around “means testing”. Essentially, at some point, the government will draw an arbitrary line based on your personal assets and savings, giving those below that threshold access to Social Security funds. It should also come as no surprise that they are more than a little interested in “helping” with your 401k as well. For the time being however, Americans are still forced to contribute to Social Security and still have some claim on that forced contribution.