Employment – Use to be a Contract between Employeer and Employee

Working and Jobs

• Work controls your time and life.  (Be well compensated or enjoy what you are doing to have a full and happy life.)
• They give you 2 weeks of your time to enjoy for the entire year.
• If you kids get sick you have to ask permission to stay home and take care of them
• If you are late some employers will Dock your pay.
• They penalize you for being a minute late but don’t want to pay you for working a little late or working on your own time.
• Make you work Days, Nights and weekends with no regard for your family or life situation.  (Changes anytime they want)
• Work 25 – 30 years (40-50 hours week) – Retire with benefits and a Pension then the Company wants to save money and (takes away or reduces your retirement benefits that you worked your entire life for.)  The Ultimate Slap in the FACE!!
• Parent gets Sick or Dies.  Your job gives you 3 days to grieve and then get back to work and don’t’ be late.
• Your Childhood Best Friend dies, but you can’t take time off work because work has determined that this is not an immediate family member.  To them it’s more important to have you at work then spending time morning with you family.

 

 

We work all our lives for someone else and for what benefit?   For some this is good, they have and need the perceived security of a corporate job.

 

I was always under the impression that when you worked for a company, you were entering into a “Contract” between yourself (the employee) and the Employer.  This “Contract” is supposed to lay out the details of the agreement between the two of you. What duties and responsibilities you are to be responsible and accountable for and how much the company will compensate you and the details of your benefits under this contract.   

 

Somewhere in the past 5 – 10 years the employer has been changing his part of the contract without notice or renegotiating this “contract”.  They have been steadily increasing the employee’s workload without any additional compensation or benefits. In many cases they have actually been reducing both the compensation and benefits through hiring younger workers for much less money.  Older, better compensated employees are being pushed out or systematically fired in an effort to reduce cost and maximize gains for the company.

 

Many people have complained about the AIG bonuses and say “how can they break this contract to pay these people there bonuses”. Well I say until the average workers contract is honored and upheld and properly renegotiated then the AIG contracts should not matter either.  

 

Are You getting Debt Collection Calls? – Know your rights!

I have heard horror stories about Debt collectors calling peoples homes and making threats of arrest and personally insulting attacks. 

Major things you need to know:

1. Debt collectors can not harass or use profanity towards you.
2. They can not take your property or possessions  without  going to court in your home state or state of the contract (most credit cards companies are incorporated in Delaware due to the lack of caps on interest rates).
3. They can not tell others about your debt obligations. (except your spouse or your attorney)  If you have hired an attorney and you have notified the debt collector at this point they are only allowed to make contact with your attorney.
4. If you request in writting they make no further contact with you. They may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact or to notify you that the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action.
5. They may not call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree.
6. A debt collector also may not contact you at work if the collector knows that your employer disapproves of such contacts.

I remember in my younger days a Debt collector calling me and said something to the effect of: 

If you were a real man you would take car of your responsibilities and pay your debts.

Later this same collector called my neighbours house asking for me and telling them it was related to a past due charge.  

This was totally illegal, so i looked up the law and was very happy to call the collection agency and quote to them the parts of the fain debt collection acts that they violated.  I also told them each offense was punishable by a $1000 fine.  Needless to say after i put all this in writing and sent it to them and the Federal Trade commision i got a call from the company advising they were sorry and the debt had be discharged (Erased).  It pays to know the law!! 

This lead me to write this posting on letting people know about there rights under the law and how to stop those harassing collection calls.

What types of debt collection practices are prohibited?

Harassment. Debt collectors may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact. For example, debt collectors may not:

• use threats of violence or harm;
• publish a list of consumers who refuse to pay their debts (except to a credit bureau);
• use obscene or profane language; or repeatedly use the telephone to annoy someone.

False statements. Debt collectors may not use any false or misleading statements when collecting a debt. For example, debt collectors may not:

• falsely imply that they are attorneys or government representatives;
• falsely imply that you have committed a crime;
• falsely represent that they operate or work for a credit bureau;
• misrepresent the amount of your debt;
• indicate that papers being sent to you are legal forms when they are not; or
• indicate that papers being sent to you are not legal forms when they are.

Debt collectors also may NOT make claims that:

• you will be arrested if you do not pay your debt;
• they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so, and it is legal to do so; or
• actions, such as a lawsuit, will be taken against you, when such action legally may not be taken, or when they do not intend to take such action.

Debt collectors may not:

• give false credit information about you to anyone, including a credit bureau;
• send you anything that looks like an official document from a court or government agency when it is not; or
• use a false name.

Unfair practices. Debt collectors may not engage in unfair practices when they try to collect a debt. For example, collectors may not:

• collect any amount greater than your debt, unless your state law permits such a charge;
• deposit a post-dated check prematurely;
• use deception to make you accept collect calls or pay for telegrams;
• take or threaten to take your property unless this can be done legally; or
• contact you by postcard.

This information can be found on the US Federal Trade commissions website at:  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm

This post is not complete but i wanted to get it out, so will expand upon this post later.  Again, Please provide your suggestions and comments.

Until Next time,

Terrance Givens

Motivational Speaker &  Business Owner

Should I Save or Pay off Debt?

Should I Save?

If you suspect your job could be in danger and you could be laid off and you have no emergency fund set up, you should save your money and build up an emergency fund as soon as possible!

If you loose your job, what will you live on?

Paid off Debts will not feed your family or pay your mortgage or car payments if you loose your job.  More importantly, if you loose your job and credit card companies find out, guess what?  They will greatly limit or cancel your cards because they now feel you do not have the ability to pay them back. So, remember this key point before you decide to payoff your cards before saving.

If your credit is already damaged and things are getting worse or you suspect your job may be at risk:

Here is what I suggest:

• · Immediately pay yourself like it was a bill – Pay Yourself First!

(Pay yourself a set amount (i.e. $50 or $100, etc.) every time you get paid. Just like you pay your rent or car payment.)

Unless you think your boss pays you too much, why not pay yourself what your worth or at least something every pay check to help secure you and your family’s future.)

• Save money in an account that you access - ONLY IN AN EMERGENCY.

Going out to dinner or buying your wife or husband a birthday present does not count as an emergency. Seriously, this account is your safety net in case you ever really need it in a true emergency (i.e. – You or your wife loose your jobs and you need a temporary supplement to your income until a new job can be found).

Should I pay off my Debt?

If you feel you job is secure and you not be laid off, then now is a great time to Payoff that Credit card and other debts. If possible now is the time to get Debt free and live a Cash life.

** What most people don’t realize is that most credit card companies are currently doing **

1) Reducing Credit Lines – This is primarily customers who traditionally carry High balances or run up high balances and pay them off.

No matter how long you have been with the company or even if you have never been late on anything this is happening.  This question was asked yesterday by Congress in a hearing with all of the Major bank CEO’s. Most of them kind of avoided the question or say they are not doing it.  Funny, everyday it’s happening to lots of people.  The credit card game has changed and it’s mostly about the banks getting as much money out of you and me to fix up there balance sheets and to look better to there shareholders.

2) Raising Interest Rates – (For any reason they can find) this provides them more money for there banks.

a) High Balances – (This is related directly to your debt to income ratio)  We will discuss this later

b) Late Payments – (On any bills you pay, not just with the credit card in question)

c) What Stores you shop in – (Grocery stores, casino’s, power companies).

d) And many other factors we don’t yet know about.

Some of these companies justify this by saying you are more of a risk to them because you are now living off the card to purchase “needs” or you are using the card in a casino and this is risky to them because you are now desperate and trying to win money using there money.

3) Charging of additional Fees – Late payment, Over limit, Inactivity, Debt Card usage fees,  and other fees – Some of these fees are $50 or more and growing.

I came across a few great articles you should read:

Bank fees getting more aggressive - By: Kathy Chu

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-493839/Bank-fees-get-more-aggressive.html

Consumer Complaints: We’re raising your interest rate so you pay your credit card off faster… By: Tracy Coenen

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2008/12/15/consumer-complaints-were-raising-your-interest-rate-so-you-pay?icid=sphere_wpcom_inline

I will end this post here for now and pick up on it later. Please post your comments and suggestions!

Until next Post

Terrance Givens

Steps to Improving your financial health

Steps to Improving your financial health

No matter if your $10 in the hole or $100,000 in the hole. There are steps you can always take to improve your financial health.

Here are a few Basic steps you can use to begin to transform you financial situation.

You need to get a clear pictures of your finances and know what you have coming in and what you have going out.

1) The best method for doing this is to set up and create a budget. Most people shutter with fear when they hear the word budget. Simply, a budget is no more than writing out how much money you have coming in (salary, side jobs, child support,etc.) and then how much you are spending and paying out to creditors (gas bill, telephone bill, mortgage bill, car payment, etc)

2) After you have established a budget the next step is to make sure you not spending more money than you have coming in. (if you making $1200 per month and spending $1500 per month then you will never get ahead) You must make changes to insure you have a positive cash flow at the end of each month.

A few methods i recommend for reducing your spending is to reduce some of your excess spending.

a) Eat out a few times less during the month. Pack your lunch for 1 or 2 weeks each month and save the money you would have spent eating at McDonald’s or going out to dinner.

b) Turn the Air Conditioning in your house up a few degrees, move the thermostat from 70 degrees to 75 degrees and or turn if up to 78 or 80 degrees when no one is home. This can save you quite a bit of money over the course of 1 year.

c) Shop the Clearance racks when you go shopping for clothing and shoes. I save hundreds of dollars shopping this way. I get the same new clothing and shoes as everyone else, but i just pay must less for them.

d) Instead of going out to the movies with friends, Rent a DVD and have a movie night at your house and everyone bring something for snacks (popcorn, soda, beer, etc.)

well, these are just a few things that can be done to start to improver your financial health.  Next post we will expand upon this list and look for other ways we can save money. 

How To Create a Family or Personal Budget

HOW TO CREATE A Family or Personal BUDGET

First Step – Write down all your fixed expenses (house payment/rent, utility bills, insurance Car payment, etc).

Second Step – Under your fixed expenses, write down all of your basic needs expenses (food, gas, clothing, toiletries, etc.)

Third Step - Add all of these amounts together and subtract it from your total monthly paycheck amount. The amount you have left is what you have left for budgeting.

Fourth Step - List all of your other purchases for the month. Write down every single item you spent money on, no matter how much it cost. Be honest with yourself. This is your budget!! (Every newspaper, pack of gum, cup of coffee, every candy bar, every meal, your nails & hair, make-up, etc.). Write down every single item!

Fifth Step - Add up the amount you spent on all of those items and subtract that amount from the amount you had left for budgeting. Did you Spend more than you made in salary? If you were totally honest about all your purchases you will probably be in for a big surprise.

You can now see where you are spending every penny of your money and what are necessity’s? and what are want’s? “Needs are things you want but can do without.” These are the things you can being to cut out or cut back on if you have a budget shortfall at the end of the month.

Start your budget today!! The sooner you know what you have left over each month the faster you can begin tackle that moutain of debt or find money to save for a rainy day.

Until next posting
Terrance Givens
Motivational Speaker & Financial Adviser