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Saturday, June 23, 2012
blencowe: RT @mcarthur: I have a piece in the @ottawacitizen today on the responsibilities of Canada's public opinion leaders http://t.co/yyrOYnHt
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Friday, June 22, 2012
Laura Jane Grace's Transgender Life: How Has It Affected Her Family?
'My wife has been my rock,' Against Me! frontwoman says, but adds her new life 'has completely ended' her relationship with her father.
By James Montgomery
Laura Jane Grace
Photo:
Last month, Laura Jane Grace very publically came out as transgender in a Rolling Stone feature, bringing to close 31 years of living with a carefully guarded secret and effectively beginning a brand-new life.
Of course, things weren't quite as simple as that: Laura's revelation only came after an intense year-long period of self-evaluation and open, often painful honesty. And when she and her Against Me! mates sat down with MTV News for their first on-camera interview since the Rolling Stone story broke, they spoke at length about just how she came out to the band.
But that's only part of the story. Because before Laura shared the news with her friends, she had to come out to her family, including her wife, Heather. And, as is often the case with life-altering events like this, there's been some collateral damage along the way — including the unwanted attention Laura's transgender life has brought on Heather and their daughter, Evelyn.
"I mean, my daughter is my biggest worry of it all. Heather, my wife, has been my rock; she's shown me support and love beyond my wildest expectations. On this tour in particular, it's our first family tour, and she has, from the get-go, made sure people realize it's Laura, to use the correct pronouns, and has been my biggest advocate and supporter. And whenever I'm feeling like I need any kind of strength, I look to her for that," Laura told MTV News. "For my daughter, I'm hoping it doesn't affect her in any negative way, as far as kids can be cruel to each other, once she starts school. It's already weird enough when your dad is in a band, explaining that to other kids, but when your dad is transsexual as well ... I just hope people are kind to my daughter."
In the Rolling Stone piece, Laura also expressed doubts over just how Heather's parents would handle the news — they're described as "somewhat conservative" — though, as she revealed, she's been overjoyed by the support they've shown her.
"I saw them actually, for the first time [since the RS story published] when we played in Chicago," she said. "I woke up on the bus and they were all in the front lounge, and I came out wearing last night's makeup, my hair was all disheveled, and it was like, 'OK, here's everybody! Good morning!' But they all couldn't have been more supportive and couldn't be cooler about the whole thing."
Sadly, the same can't be said for Laura's father, a retired Army major with whom she's never truly been close. At the conclusion of the RS story, Laura said she still hadn't told her father she was transgender — though obviously, since the news came out, he's aware, and he's had a difficult time coming to terms with her new life. Though, tellingly, Laura isn't letting that stop her on her new path. If anything, it's inspired her to continue — if not for her sake, then for her daughter's.
"It has completely ended my relationship with my father. It is what it is," she said. "For me, there were so many things leading up to this decision to come out to this publicly. Having my daughter, like, I had never had that close of a relationship with my father, and when I had my daughter, my father tried to become more a part of my life, because he obviously wanted to have a relationship with his granddaughter. And as I saw that develop, and as we became closer, because of that it was something that started to tear me up inside.
"It was like, 'OK, here we are, I'm building this relationship and setting this example for my daughter, and what are the ramifications of that if this person doesn't even accept their son? And then they're going to develop a relationship with my daughter; what kind of example is that setting to them?' " she continued. "I wanted this in so many ways to be a line in the sand with people, as far as 'This is me. If you have a problem with this, then get out of my life.' And if that's the way it is. It's unfortunate, but what can I do about it?"
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Judge throws out 3 of 51 counts against Sandusky
Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., Thursday, June 21, 2012. Sandusky is charged with 51 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a period of 15 years. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., Thursday, June 21, 2012. Sandusky is charged with 51 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a period of 15 years. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., Thursday, June 21, 2012. Sandusky is charged with 51 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a period of 15 years. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's wife Dorothy Sandusky arrives at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., Thursday, June 21, 2012. Jerry Sandusky is charged with 51 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a period of 15 years. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, right, arrives at the Centre County Courthouse with his wife Dorothy, left, in Bellefonte, Pa., Thursday, June 21, 2012. Sandusky is charged with 51 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 boys over a period of 15 years. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) ? Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had three of the 51 child sex-abuse charges against him dismissed Thursday before attorneys began closing arguments in the high-profile case that led to the firing of longtime head coach Joe Paterno.
Judge John Cleland found one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and one count of aggravated indecent assault involving the accuser known as Victim 4 weren't supported by the evidence. Another charge of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse involving another boy was dismissed because Cleland said it duplicated another count.
Sandusky still faces 48 criminal counts involving 10 alleged victims. Jurors were to hear closing arguments Thursday morning and could begin deliberations by the afternoon.
Cleland said two of the counts had to be dismissed because the alleged victim testified Sandusky attempted to penetrate him but didn't say that such penetration had actually occurred. Cleland said he would have been required to set aside any convictions on those counts, because "the verdict was not supported by the evidence."
When jurors begin weighing Sandusky's fate, they won't have the benefit of having heard the former coach take the stand in his own defense.
Once famed for his coaching acumen, Sandusky is charged with the alleged abuse of 10 boys over 15 years in hotels, at his home and in the football team's showers. Sandusky has maintained his innocence, and his attorneys have tried to weaken the prosecution's case by discrediting police investigators and suggesting that accusers are hoping to cash in on potential civil lawsuits.
Sandusky's arrest in November sparked an explosive scandal that led to the firing of Paterno and the departure of the university president, and cast a critical eye on the role of college administrators in reporting abuse allegations. The sweeping case also led to renewed focus on child abuse issues.
Cleland began Thursday's court session by instructing the 12 jurors and three alternates. The defense and prosecution would then present their closings, in that order.
The judge said jurors will each get a list showing each accuser, a worksheet of each alleged crime that will have questions they must answer in order to reach a verdict, along with a verdict slip.
"We make few decisions in life that are free from all doubt," he told them. "You must be convinced to the same degree that you would act in a matter of your own life."
He explained that just the "mere suspicion of guilt" is not enough to arrive at a guilty verdict.
"You may believe he exercised poor judgment, but poor judgment in itself does not warrant criminality," he said. He also said that it is "not necessarily a crime to shower with a boy, lather with soap, engage in back rubbing."
Jurors will have to decide whether the defense was able to create sufficient doubt based on how the investigation was conducted, the reliability and motives of the accusers, and Sandusky's decades-long reputation as a man who worked tirelessly to help underprivileged children.
Prosecutors called 22 witnesses, including eight young men, ages 18 to 28, who alleged a range of abuse from grooming, kissing and massaging to fondling, oral sex and anal rape when they were boys.
Many of the 28 defense witnesses testified briefly to vouch for Sandusky's reputation. The defense's case has consisted of character witnesses who defended Sandusky's reputation, a psychologist who said Sandusky had a personality disorder and the ex-coach's wife, who said she did not see her husband do anything inappropriate with the accusers. His lawyers showed that an investigator had shared information with an accuser about other alleged victims' stories and repeatedly suggested that accusers have financial motivations for their claims.
Sandusky was only heard from via a November interview with NBC's Bob Costas, saying he probably shouldn't have showered with boys; and in letters he wrote to one of his accusers.
The defense asked Cleland to dismiss five counts related to a boy who was allegedly seen with Sandusky by a janitor, but the judge denied that request Thursday, saying they were up the jury to decide.
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Get the Best Value From Your Pet Cat Insurance
You have probably already realised that having pet cat insurance is part of being a responsible cat owner.
But at the same time, you?re only too well aware that it?s an expense, especially if you have more than one cat. If money is tight, insurance is the most tempting expense to do without. After all, it?s only of any use if something goes wrong. And nothing is going to go wrong, is it?
Unfortunately, it?s not for nothing that cats have been called the most accident-prone of pets. Doing without pet cat insurance could prove a false economy and an expensive mistake. So rather than doing without, it?s much more sensible to make sure you get the most out of your pet cat insurance and that you avoid being faced with an emergency for which the insurance won?t pay out.
So here are some precautions you can take to make sure you get the most effect from your pet cat insurance.
1. Get your cat vaccinated. Your insurance won?t pay for this. But without being vaccinated your cat is vulnerable to some of the most unpleasant and painful diseases in existence, and the insurance may well not cover diseases that result from failure to vaccinate.
2. You should also have your cat neutered, which again the insurance won?t pay for. But unless you are a professional cat breeder there is no excuse for not having your cat neutered, whether it?s male or female. One good reason is that there are far too many kittens without homes. But apart from this, un-neutered males are much more likely to have accidents, and there are many diseases to which un-neutered males and females are more susceptible.
3. Have the cat micro-chipped. If you?ve had a cat before, you will know how much a cat likes to wander and explore, and how prone he is to get into scrapes. Some pet cat insurance policies actually insist on micro-chipping, so if you don?t have it done you won?t be covered for loss of your cat or if he has an accident through wandering off. Other poliicies give a discount if the cat is micro-chipped.
4. Take out your pet cat insurance as early in your cat?s life as possible. With most policies, the younger your cat is when you insure him, the lower your premiums will be. What?s more, the earlier you take out the policy, the less chance there is of your cat having a pre-existing condition, which of course won?t be covered.
5. Think carefully about whether you want a pedigree cat. There are lots of ?no particular breed? moggies wanting homes and these will give you as much pleasure and enjoyment as a posh puss, as well as being cheaper and easier to care for. Premiums are usually higher on pedigree cats, and they tend to be more prone to expensive medical conditions.
6. Before you purchase any policy, check it very carefully. Look at the small print with a magnifying glass to make sure there aren?t any exclusions which might affect you and your cat. Check too for excesses, age limits, and caps on payouts.
There is certainly no point in paying out more than you need to. But the answer is not to skimp on pet cat insurance. This could involve you in far more expense than you ever expected. There are all sorts of things you can do to make sure you get the best possible value from your insurance, and the best possible protection for your pet.
SeanHorton
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Thursday, June 21, 2012
U-M forecasters predict second-smallest Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone'
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Public release date: 21-Jun-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Jim Erickson
ericksn@umich.edu
734-647-1842
University of Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich.A dry spring in portions of the Midwest is expected to result in the second-smallest Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" on record in 2012, according to a University of Michigan forecast released today.
The U-M prediction calls for a 2012 Gulf of Mexico dead zone of about 1,200 square miles, an area the size of Rhode Island. If the forecast is correct, 2012 would replace 2000 (1,696 square miles) as the year with the second-smallest Gulf dead zone. The smallest Gulf oxygen-starved, or hypoxic, zone was recorded in 1988 (15 square miles).
"While it's encouraging to see that this year's Gulf forecast calls for a significant drop in the extent of the dead zone, we must keep in mind that the anticipated reduction is due mainly to decreased precipitation in the upper Midwest and a subsequent reduced water flow into the Gulf," said aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia, professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment. "The predicted 2012 dead-zone decline does not result from cutbacks in nitrogen use, which remains one of the key drivers of hypoxia in the Gulf."
The U-M prediction is one of two Gulf dead zone forecasts released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds the research. The other NOAA-supported team, from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University, predicts a 2012 Gulf dead zone of 6,213 square miles.
The Michigan forecast model is based solely on 2012 spring nutrient inputs from the Mississippi River, which are significantly lower than average due to drought conditions throughout much of the watershed. The Louisiana State University forecast model takes into account last year's above-normal nutrient load, which the Louisiana researchers say can remain in bottom sediments and can result in a "carryover effect" that increases the size of the 2012 dead zone.
Last year, the Gulf dead zone measured 6,765 square miles. The largest Gulf hypoxic zone measured to date occurred in 2002 and encompassed more than 8,400 square miles. The Gulf dead zone has averaged about 6,000 square miles over the past five years.
This year, for the first time, Scavia's U-M team was able to forecast the volume of hypoxic water contained in the dead zone. The most likely 2012 scenario corresponds to a volume of 2.6 cubic miles, according to the U-M team.
Scavia, director of the Graham Sustainability Institute and special counsel to the U-M president for sustainability, also released his annual Chesapeake Bay dead zone forecast today. It calls for an average-size dead zone in the Bay this year, down significantly from last summer's record-setter.
"These dead zones are ecological time bombs," he said. "Without determined local, regional and national efforts to control nutrient loads, we are putting major fisheries at risk."
In 2009, the dockside value of commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico was $629 million. Nearly 3 million recreational anglers further contributed more than $1 billion to the Gulf economy, taking 22 million fishing trips.
Farmland runoff containing fertilizers and livestock wastesome of it from as far away as the Corn Beltis the main source of the nitrogen and phosphorus that cause the annual Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone. Each year in late spring and summer, these nutrients flow down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf, fueling explosive algae blooms there.
When the algae die and sink, bottom-dwelling bacteria decompose the organic matter, consuming oxygen in the process. The result is an oxygen-starved region in bottom and near-bottom waters: the dead zone.
"This forecast is a good example of NOAA, USGS and university partnerships delivering ecological forecasts that quantify the linkages between the watershed and the coast," said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco. "While the occurrence of a low-flow year following a year with major flooding will help us to evaluate any carryover effect from prior years, we should not lose sight of the ongoing need to reduce the flow of nutrients to the Mississippi River and thus the Gulf."
According to U.S. Geological Survey estimates, the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers transported 58,100 metric tons of nitrogen (in the form of nitrite plus nitrate) to the northern Gulf in May 2012, an amount that is 56 percent lower than average May nitrogen loads estimated in the last 33 years.
"These forecasts are the product of decades of research, monitoring and modeling on how decisions we make in the vast drainage basin of the Mississippi and its tributaries translates into the health of the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico," said U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt. "Comparing the actual hypoxic zone against the predictions will help scientists better understand the multiyear memory of this complex land-sea system, and ultimately better inform options for improving ecosystem productivity."
About a thousand miles northeast of the Gulf of Mexico in Chesapeake Bay, this year's hypoxic zone is expected to measure about 1.5 cubic miles, Scavia said. That's about average compared to measured volumes since 2000 but much smaller than last year's record-setter of 2.75 cubic miles, which was due to spring storms that washed large amounts of nutrients into rivers that feed the Bay.
So far in 2012, rainfall in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has been 50-to-75 percent of normal, Scavia said.
The actual size of the 2012 Gulf hypoxic zone will be announced following a NOAA-supported monitoring survey led by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium between July 27 and Aug. 3.
The amount of nitrogen entering the Gulf of Mexico each spring has increased about 300 percent since the 1960s, mainly due to increased agricultural runoff. The Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi River Watershed Nutrient Task Force has targeted 1,900 square miles as a long-term goal for the size of the Gulf dead zone.
###
University of Michigan hypoxia forecasts: http://snre.umich.edu/scavia/hypoxia-forecasts
NOAA hypoxia pages: www.cop.noaa.gov/gulf_hypoxia_forecast/default.aspx
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium hypoxia information and forecasts: www.gulfhypoxia.net
U.S. Geological Survey Gulf of Mexico nutrient and stream flow information: http://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/mississippi/oct_jun/index.html
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 21-Jun-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Jim Erickson
ericksn@umich.edu
734-647-1842
University of Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich.A dry spring in portions of the Midwest is expected to result in the second-smallest Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" on record in 2012, according to a University of Michigan forecast released today.
The U-M prediction calls for a 2012 Gulf of Mexico dead zone of about 1,200 square miles, an area the size of Rhode Island. If the forecast is correct, 2012 would replace 2000 (1,696 square miles) as the year with the second-smallest Gulf dead zone. The smallest Gulf oxygen-starved, or hypoxic, zone was recorded in 1988 (15 square miles).
"While it's encouraging to see that this year's Gulf forecast calls for a significant drop in the extent of the dead zone, we must keep in mind that the anticipated reduction is due mainly to decreased precipitation in the upper Midwest and a subsequent reduced water flow into the Gulf," said aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia, professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment. "The predicted 2012 dead-zone decline does not result from cutbacks in nitrogen use, which remains one of the key drivers of hypoxia in the Gulf."
The U-M prediction is one of two Gulf dead zone forecasts released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds the research. The other NOAA-supported team, from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University, predicts a 2012 Gulf dead zone of 6,213 square miles.
The Michigan forecast model is based solely on 2012 spring nutrient inputs from the Mississippi River, which are significantly lower than average due to drought conditions throughout much of the watershed. The Louisiana State University forecast model takes into account last year's above-normal nutrient load, which the Louisiana researchers say can remain in bottom sediments and can result in a "carryover effect" that increases the size of the 2012 dead zone.
Last year, the Gulf dead zone measured 6,765 square miles. The largest Gulf hypoxic zone measured to date occurred in 2002 and encompassed more than 8,400 square miles. The Gulf dead zone has averaged about 6,000 square miles over the past five years.
This year, for the first time, Scavia's U-M team was able to forecast the volume of hypoxic water contained in the dead zone. The most likely 2012 scenario corresponds to a volume of 2.6 cubic miles, according to the U-M team.
Scavia, director of the Graham Sustainability Institute and special counsel to the U-M president for sustainability, also released his annual Chesapeake Bay dead zone forecast today. It calls for an average-size dead zone in the Bay this year, down significantly from last summer's record-setter.
"These dead zones are ecological time bombs," he said. "Without determined local, regional and national efforts to control nutrient loads, we are putting major fisheries at risk."
In 2009, the dockside value of commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico was $629 million. Nearly 3 million recreational anglers further contributed more than $1 billion to the Gulf economy, taking 22 million fishing trips.
Farmland runoff containing fertilizers and livestock wastesome of it from as far away as the Corn Beltis the main source of the nitrogen and phosphorus that cause the annual Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone. Each year in late spring and summer, these nutrients flow down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf, fueling explosive algae blooms there.
When the algae die and sink, bottom-dwelling bacteria decompose the organic matter, consuming oxygen in the process. The result is an oxygen-starved region in bottom and near-bottom waters: the dead zone.
"This forecast is a good example of NOAA, USGS and university partnerships delivering ecological forecasts that quantify the linkages between the watershed and the coast," said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco. "While the occurrence of a low-flow year following a year with major flooding will help us to evaluate any carryover effect from prior years, we should not lose sight of the ongoing need to reduce the flow of nutrients to the Mississippi River and thus the Gulf."
According to U.S. Geological Survey estimates, the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers transported 58,100 metric tons of nitrogen (in the form of nitrite plus nitrate) to the northern Gulf in May 2012, an amount that is 56 percent lower than average May nitrogen loads estimated in the last 33 years.
"These forecasts are the product of decades of research, monitoring and modeling on how decisions we make in the vast drainage basin of the Mississippi and its tributaries translates into the health of the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico," said U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt. "Comparing the actual hypoxic zone against the predictions will help scientists better understand the multiyear memory of this complex land-sea system, and ultimately better inform options for improving ecosystem productivity."
About a thousand miles northeast of the Gulf of Mexico in Chesapeake Bay, this year's hypoxic zone is expected to measure about 1.5 cubic miles, Scavia said. That's about average compared to measured volumes since 2000 but much smaller than last year's record-setter of 2.75 cubic miles, which was due to spring storms that washed large amounts of nutrients into rivers that feed the Bay.
So far in 2012, rainfall in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has been 50-to-75 percent of normal, Scavia said.
The actual size of the 2012 Gulf hypoxic zone will be announced following a NOAA-supported monitoring survey led by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium between July 27 and Aug. 3.
The amount of nitrogen entering the Gulf of Mexico each spring has increased about 300 percent since the 1960s, mainly due to increased agricultural runoff. The Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi River Watershed Nutrient Task Force has targeted 1,900 square miles as a long-term goal for the size of the Gulf dead zone.
###
University of Michigan hypoxia forecasts: http://snre.umich.edu/scavia/hypoxia-forecasts
NOAA hypoxia pages: www.cop.noaa.gov/gulf_hypoxia_forecast/default.aspx
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium hypoxia information and forecasts: www.gulfhypoxia.net
U.S. Geological Survey Gulf of Mexico nutrient and stream flow information: http://toxics.usgs.gov/hypoxia/mississippi/oct_jun/index.html
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Blog. LogicOfFinance.com: Personal finance: 3 important aspects ...
Guest post by Kavin Matthews*
?
Recently, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or NFCC conducted a Financial Literacy survey that revealed about consumer's knowledge on personal financial management. According to NFCC, most of the consumers gave themselves a poor rating regarding their financial expertise. Moreover, a large number of respondents reported that they would need professional guidance in order to manage their finances efficiently.? The numbers of people getting expert's financial advice are growing because of low Consumer Confidence Index as a result of ongoing socio-economic crisis. To cater to this popular demand, this article has been composed to guide a person on three important financial arms, namely - taxes, stocks and budget.?
?
Recently, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or NFCC conducted a Financial Literacy survey that revealed about consumer's knowledge on personal financial management. According to NFCC, most of the consumers gave themselves a poor rating regarding their financial expertise. Moreover, a large number of respondents reported that they would need professional guidance in order to manage their finances efficiently.? The numbers of people getting expert's financial advice are growing because of low Consumer Confidence Index as a result of ongoing socio-economic crisis. To cater to this popular demand, this article has been composed to guide a person on three important financial arms, namely - taxes, stocks and budget.?
Tax planning
Use the below mentioned tips to plan your taxes accurately:
IRA - In a conventional IRA Plan, both married couple and unmarried person with an income of less than $173,000 and $56,000 respectively, can make a maximum contribution of $5,000 towards the plan. Moreover, people of 50 years of age or more are allowed to make $6,000 maximum contribution under the same conventional IRA plan.
The contributed amount is deducted from the individual's taxable income. This reduces tax and saves a lot of money. However, under conventional IRA when a person of 59 ? years of age gets the distributed amount it will attract a certain percentage of tax.
401k & other retirement Plan - As of 2012, a person is allowed to make a maximum contribution of $17,000 under 401k Plan. If the person is more than 50 years of age, then he can pay an extra amount of $5,500. The contributed amount is deducted from the taxable income of that person. On attaining the age of 55, a retiree is allowed to withdraw his savings, but the withdrawn amount will be regarded as a taxable income.?
Stock investments
Follow the guidelines to make your stock investments profitable:
Portfolio - Financial experts, advice investors to avoid keeping all the eggs in a single basket. This means people should not get floored by a single good performing stock. Instead, they should invest their money in different kinds of stocks. It is an important step to create an impressive investment portfolio that is based on the principle of diversification. One can consider investing in government bonds and money market funds as well.
Budgeting
If you want to have a successful financial life, then smart budgeting should be its corner stone. Here are few simple tips to make a practical and smart monthly budget to mange your expenses and drive up savings efficiently:
Don't gamble - Financial planners say their clients to put their extra income into productive use rather than go for binge shopping. People should always look around for new investment opportunities. One should not rely only on a single investment tool. It is similar to gambling. Moreover, financial advisers also ask people to verify any unsolicited investment tips offered to them over the Internet or in market place. One must be a smart investor and not a foolish gambler.
Expect the unexpected - This means that every person should prepare for their worst financial times. It may be tough but it has been proved to be quite helpful in those situations. Therefore, start saving for the rainy day. People should create a reservoir of liquid money that will serve as a financial support during any kind of emergencies.
All said one should not stop being a learner. People are advised to acquire as much knowledge and wisdom as possible, about some basic investment tools and principles. This will minimize the risk of following poor investment strategy and incur massive loss at the age of retirement.?
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