Wealth Today » Careers

The Enron Verdict – Skilling and Lay Convicted

joshuak — Thu, 25 May 2006 20:28:47 +0000

Today, Yahoo covers the Enron verdict. Skilling and Lay have been convicted. They are guilty of conspiracy and securities and wire fraud. What the citizen’s learn from this court decision is that executives will be held responsible for the accuracy of their books. What do we (the financial blogosphere) learn from their mistake? We learn that the unethical shortcuts are no shortcut at all. Skilling and Lay took the shortcut to a long time in a cell.

Money – Do It Now – 10 Resolutions

joshuak — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 21:32:01 +0000

I found a great all in one article on CNNMoney.com today. It’s not a site I regularly frequent, but this article is definitely top notch. It covers “10 simple strategies for finally achieving your financial goals“.

It takes a deeper look into saving more money, investing smarter, getting out of debt, getting your career kick-started, and more.

It’s actually a collection of 10 articles, and will take some time to get through all of them, but it’s time well spent.

Employment Adventures

joshuak — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 20:50:32 +0000

I am finally a full employee at State Farm. The good news is they have awesome benefits.

Just some of the awesome goodness:

Health Benefits. It’s been a year since I’ve had any, and now I’ve got good ones for the first time since 2002.
A $4800 raise. Thank God. There’s nothing like a regular increase in income.
Another raise with a performance cash bonus in February. It’s cool. I’m down with it.
Tuition Reimbursement! Need I really say anything else?
Mega discounts! It’s illegal to give discounts on insurance, so we don’t get any, but I get discounts on everything else from electronics to office supplies to jewelry, furniture, travel, home loans, automobiles, car rentals, food, restaurants, etc
Credit Union. We’ve also got our own credit union, and we can get auto loans at very competitive rates [beats any auto loan I've had].
A retirement program. After 5 years, I’m fully vested. This one’s new to me. I’ve never had anything like it. It will provide about 30-45% of my income after retirement.
401k with match! The 401k is rather lackluster. They’re VERY conservative but always have gains. They only match up to $50/mo and always another $25/mo. [range of $25-$75/mo]
I also get a hoard of time off. It’s rather unbelievable. Upon my second year, of service, I get 20 sick days alone. That’s not including vacation time, personal time, permission time, et al.