OK, I’m being defensive in this article and I admit it. When I read an article in Entrepreneur Magazine entitled Should You Hire Workers From Big Companies? authored by Chris Penttila I just couldn’t help my reaction. Not only do I disagree with the arguments made for not hiring workers from larger companies, I believe there are very compelling reason to seek out these workers. A large number of the workers available to hire have large company experience and because of this experience they bring very valuable assets to their next employer. Let me know how you see this issue.

Ms. Pentilla in her article sites the following reasons as ‘red flags’ when hiring from Corporate America.

* Their cover letter isn’t personalized to your firm.

* They are more interested in the 401(k) match and severance package than having an equity stake.

* They expect to travel first class, eat at five-star restaurants and have personal assistants.

* They don’t know modern computer basics, e.g., creating Word documents.

* They expect to be assigned rather than take initiative.

* They view meetings as the way to get things done.

* They lack the interpersonal skills necessary in a small office.

I simply don’t find this to be the case at all. In fact, based upon conversations I’ve had with fellow colleagues who spent years in Corporate America we believe workers from big companies offer far more advantages to employers than disadvantages.

Consider these ‘green flag’ reasons to hire those with larger corporate experience.

* Almost no one relies on a company 401(k) heavily any more. Workers from all sizes of companies most especially larger firms realize their best insurance is helping their current employer be successful. Employees from the larger firms more than any other category have been disillusioned by the unfulfilled promises of 401(k) in the past.

* Doing more with less has been the mantra of large corporations for the past two decades – these employees will expect nothing less than more of the same at smaller firms.

* From the shop floor to the top floor workers from every level of the corporation are well equipped with computer skills. Larger firms often provide at least 30-40 hours of training per year including computer skills training. Find out what these candidates have been learning and take advantage of their knowledge and education in your firm.

* Workers from large firms know the only way you really get work done is through teamwork and collaboration with others. While some individuals may lack interpersonal skills this is true in all organizations just as there are those with highly developed interpersonal skills in any size organization.

* Employees from large firms have often been in leadership roles and aren’t afraid to step up to responsibility and be accountable for results – producing results and meeting bottom line goals are the primary way you meet performance expectations in corporations. Embrace this leadership and accountability into your firm.

* While all employees prefer clarity and specific direction, employees from larger firms are accustomed to achieving results amid ambiguity – knowing how to achieve results amid today’s uncertainly is a real asset.

If you are in the fortunate position of being able to hire and the qualifications of candidates are equal, consider the many benefits you’ll receive by hiring employees from larger firms.

Equity Indexed Annuities have a place in many people’s retirement accounts. Unfortunately, they aren’t as well known as variable or fixed annuities and customers and sales reps often overlook them because of lack of awareness. Equity indexed annuities provide a method of fighting inflation, participating in the market and still remaining risk free. Equity indexed annuities are a blend of the fixed annuity and the variable annuity. They offer a base interest rate the company guarantees regardless of market conditions. In this way, they’re much like the fixed annuity. They also track a specific equity index, such as the S&P 500, and give a percentage of the growth to the policyholder if the market increases. The percentage varies from policy to policy.

There are difference in the percentage you receive and differences in caps. A cap on the percentage is the highest amount the policyholder gets regardless of the market conditions. Sometimes caps are as low as 8 to 10 percent. Others may top out 20 percent or not contain a cap. Of course, you’d want a policy that allows as much growth as possible and often people believe that they’ll achieve this by securing a policy that has a higher cap. That’s not always the case. The higher the cap, the lower the base rate or participation rate becomes. If you have a cap of 20 percent and a participation rate of 50 percent, you won’t receive as much income as the man that has a participation rate of 90 percent and cap of 12 percent in most market years.

The higher the base rate, the more you receive in down market years. Depending on the time and market conditions, a lower participation rate with higher guaranteed interest produces a higher return on the policy. Finding the perfect policy for your situation and beliefs is important when you select equity indexed annuities. Equity indexed annuities contain different surrender periods also. A surrender period is term you have to hold the policy to remove funds without penalty. Each policy has a different length of time and manner in which they charge the penalty. For those close to retirement, it’s important to select an equity indexed annuity that fits your retirement plans. Before you purchase, always check the cost and length of the surrender charges.

Accessing equity indexed annuities to remove only a portion of the money might be available in the policy you select. The amount of penalty free withdrawal varies from policy to policy. You need to find the best one for your situation. Some offer as much as 10 percent cumulative withdrawal each year. That means if you don’t use the withdrawal provision one year, it accumulates and allows you to remove 20 percent the next year.

No matter what the provisions of the policy, you need to select an equity index you believe gives years of growth potential. Besides policies that use an American equity index, there are those that focus on emerging markets or foreign markets. A financial specialist often provides information that helps you to select the appropriate policy.

Most home owners in America are currently either in the process of or thinking of home equity loan refinancing. The process can be made a lot easier if done systematically. For this purpose online research will help a great deal to compare various quotes of all lenders and take up an informed decision.

One of the simplest of all options available to you is to simply refinance your existing home mortgage into a second mortgage. Still further you can also opt to refinance both your first as well second mortgages to get a lower mortgage interest rate. By doing this you also save on certain processing fees as you have to pay them only once. And also you are saved from all the paperwork and other hassles of multiple applications. Yet the later option is not always the best one as sometimes your first mortgage term can be of up to 30 years while your second can be a smaller one of only 5 years.

While deciding for home equity loan refinancing you may also want to compare the approx. loan costs of different lenders. Quick go through the list of APR might also help you find lowest costing refinance packages. It is also advisable to compare your present loan interest costs to your new mortgage interest costs. Of course even while refinancing you have the option to reduce your monthly payments by selecting a longer tenure or reduce the interest costs by paying up the loan amount in a short term.

Once you have researched all these basic facts online, you are almost done with the process of your home equity loan refinancing. All you have to do is sign up a contract with the lender you prefer and within a span of 15 days you will enter into a fresh mortgage scheme with lower installments and terms and conditions to suit your present situation.

Ask any investor what a stock trading under $5 is and they will tell you it is a penny stock, microcap stock, or nano stock. These three terms are for the most part interchangeable. However the broader definition of a penny stock refers to a business’s aggregate value of its outstanding common shares, are more commonly known as its market capitalization rather than its stock price. However there is no set term that completely defines a penny stock.

To calculate the market capitalization of a company (the market cap) you must multiply the stock price of the company by the amount of shares that are outstanding. By carrying out this calculation you can find out what the total dollar value of all shares in the company are at any given moment in time. Penny stocks are not traded on a stock exchange like other stocks but they are traded in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. For the trading of most stock an agent will act on the investors behalf and arrange a transaction directly between the investor and a third party. The broker then receives a commission for facilitating the trade.

A large proportion of all penny transactions are charged by brokers as principle transactions. This means that the broker is not paid any commission but rather makes its money on the spread, and by buying and selling at advantageous times. There is no single price at which penny stocks are bought and sold, but rather there are a number of different prices. The difference between the bid and ask price is known as the spread. The spread of many penny stocks are usually around 25-33% but can often be 50-100% or even more. There are also always two bid and two ask prices, these are known as the inside and outside bid and ask. Keep in mind that it is the outside bid and ask that is of most interest generally. Penny stocks are also subject to mark up pricing. This is where a broker has held the penny stock in its account and has therefore taken some of the risk associated with market price fluctuation.

Although penny stocks are quite complicated and there are many problems associated with trading penny stocks as well as millions of dollars of loss, many companies still trade in them because they can help for example, struggling companies just starting up. The best way of finding a good investment is by consulting with your broker. However in the penny stock market be very wary of brokers who are only trying to sell and may not have your best interests in mind.

While Europe, arguably the most socially advanced region on earth, has abolished the death penalty, some states continue to employ this barbaric practice against only a relative handful of murderers. However, there are two trends that could hasten the elimination of the death penalty in the United States.

United States Census Bureau projections reveal that people of color, including White Hispanics, will be the numerical majority in the United States by 2042. A 2007 Pew Research Center report found that while 68% of Whites favored the death penalty, less than 50% of Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latinos, and Blacks favored the death penalty.

What will happen to the political will for executions when the balance of racial demographics tips in favor of people of color? Other factors may come into play over the coming decades that could provide impetus for the continuation of the death penalty. However, pro-death penalty advocates will be challenged to find comfort in the emerging demographic patterns. The current names associated with ethnic groups may well change over the coming decades as more individuals identify themselves as bi-racial. However, one thing is certain. Non-Whites and White Hispanics will continue to increase their political influence within the American electoral process, with Whites becoming a relatively shrinking minority.

Latinos, who are mostly Roman Catholic, are the largest minority group. The Catholic Church is opposed to the death penalty. Central and South America is largely a death penalty free zone. The prospect of Latinos favoring the death penalty is therefore unlikely. African-Americans, the second-largest minority group, are strongly opposed to the death penalty. The racial demographics therefore suggest declining support for the death penalty in America.

The 2008 election was a clear indicator of the diminishing influence of Whites in American society. President-elect Barak Obama was not the choice of White America. Indeed, he was strongly rejected by double digits by White voters 56% to 43%. (Source: New York Times Exit Polls). This was especially the case in the former slave states, such as Alabama, where 91% of White voters chose the Republican candidate John McCain. Yet he won by more than 8 million votes, compared to President Bush’s victory margin of 3 million votes in 2004.

Some analysts have suggested that the election of Barak Obama is an indicator that race is less of a factor in American politics. However, the election results fail to support this contention. Instead, changing racial demographics provide people of color with more electoral influence than in the past as their numbers continue to increase in American society.

In 2008, people of color, including white Hispanics, voted for the candidate of color, while non-Hispanic Whites voted for the White candidate. Obama received roughly 66% of the Asian vote, 65% of the Latino vote, and 95% of the Black vote. When whites become a numerical minority in the United States, it is likely, based on current trends, that support for the death penalty will diminish since people of color are less supportive of the practice.

A second factor in the possible termination of the death penalty is the election of Barak Obama. He is likely to nominate more progressive justices to the Supreme Court, thereby giving the anti-death penalty contingent on the bench a majority in the event a current conservative justice is to be replaced. Although President-elect Obama has called for an expansion of the death penalty to include child rapists, it is likely that he will appoint a progressive justice who may well disagree with him on the death penalty.

There is also the possibility that there will be pressure on President-elect Obama from within his Party to modify his position on the death penalty. A Supreme Court reversal of the recent 5-4 decision on the death penalty in less than 15 years is therefore another possible, but not certain, scenario for the elimination of the death penalty.

Most of us when we hear the term, social security, tend to think of the elderly, or get a brief pre-cognitive flash of the days ahead when we, too, will be “older” and consigned to alloting portions of our days filling prescriptions and playing bingo. And so we should. The U.S. social security program, drafted by the Roosevelt administration and passed by congress as the social security act of 1935, was originally known as the old age pension act.

Brought into existence at a time when the American people were still in the throes of the great depression, the social security act provided retirement benefits to elderly individuals who might otherwise have been forced to rely on the generosity and stability of their immediate and extended family members. It was, essentially, an expression of the belief that the country’s retirement-age workers should not be left to completely fend for themselves. It was, likewise, a reflection of our then-President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, that the American nation was a single entity, bound in both sincerity as well as obligation, to deliver a minimal level of equity to all its citizens.

The social security act provided a safety net for the elderly. And, today, despite decades-long discussions of potential insolvency, it continues to provide this same net. However, it also does quite a bit more. Today, social security covers more than just retirement benefits for individual workers. It allows widows to receive benefits based on the earnings records of deceased spouses and provides survivors benefits for the minor children of deceased parents. And, last but not least, it provides disability benefits.

After the initial passage of the social security act of 1935, the act was later amended to include provisions for providing benefits to injured and sick workers, based on their disability status. Such benefits were covered under title II of the social security act. However, to provide equal and fair consideration to individuals whose condition was such that they were never able to work, or whose condition made it impossible to work long enough to become insured for title II benefits, title 16 benefits were also established. Today, typically, we simply refer to title II benefits as social security disability and title 16 benefits as SSI, or supplemental security income.

Chances are, if you are younger than thirty, you’ve never heard of either social security disability or ssi. However, if you’ve had a friend, acquaintance, or family relation who has become sick or injured and, as a consequence, unable to work, you may be at least a little familiar with the programs and associate them with the broader safety net operated by the social security administration.

The title II and title 16 disability programs administered by the federal government allow individuals who are unable to work the same dignity as retirement-age workers. However, unlike the federal government’s “old age pension”, qualifying for disability benefits requires more than simply calling the local social security office (for information on filing for disability benefits, this faq may be helpful: Answers to disability program questions.

To receive disability benefits, an individual’s medical condition must be evaluated to determine whether or not their condition is truly disabling, and also to determine whether or not their condition will last a minimal length of time. To this end, the social security administration has established a multi-component system to accomodate disability applicants.

How does this system work? In many respects, the system is overly complicated, but it essentially works as follows: an individual who cannnot or who can no longer work simply calls their local social security office, informing them of the desire to pursue disability benefits. Once this request has been made, an appointment is made for the purpose of conducting an interview and application. Once an application has been taken, it is sent to a a state-level agency that specializes in making decisions on such claims. At this agency, a person’s medical records will both be gathered and evaluated. And after the necessary analysis has been conducted, provided that a person meets the social security administration’s standards of eligibility, their claim will be approved and they can then look forward to receiving benefits.

Is the system always this cut and dry? Unfortunately, in many cases, it is not. And, considering how many bureaucratic institutions, including government programs, are run, this is not to be unexpected. Yet, despite this, the title II and title 16 sections of the social security act provide help and needed resources for literally millions of American citizens who are either unable to work or whose condition, starting from an early point in their life, made it quite impossible to ever seek work.

The EU reviewed the role of hedge funds and private equity in the financial crisis and drew some lessons regarding the need for EU level regulation of these fund types. The financial crisis had revealed that hedge funds could impact financial stability in ways that had not previously been expected. However, there is also widespread concern about the extent to which private equity portfolio companies are over-reliant on increasingly scarce bank debt, raising questions about their financial viability.

So there are those who say private equity did not cause the economic crisis which we are now experiencing, but we can all agree that the crisis most definitely is the result of excessive debt, and hedge funds and private equity are responsible for a very sizeable amount of recent debt.

There are growing concerns with the EU’s plan to put forward new regulations within the hedge fund industry as the changes could prove extensively costly to implement, even with the new rules being toned down by the member states.

In the current state of the new regulations a group of city lawyers said that the changes could lead to a systematic failure within the European markets if they were to be carried out. They could also create significant legal uncertainty, which would lead again to a potential systemic failure and widespread market disruption, unless they are appropriately amended.

Due to the possible chaotic effects that these new regulations could cause to the European economy, ministers are expected to intensify their lobbying efforts to head off what are widely seen as heavy-handed rules governing the behaviour of hedge funds, private equity firms and other alternative investment businesses. The City minister recently held talks with the Spanish government, which currently holds the EU presidency about his concern with hedge funds and private equity firms, of which many are based in London, will just simply relocate from the EU if the rules are implemented without reforms.

Maintaining a home can be a costly venture and most home owners don’t have loose cash sitting in a checking account to utilize for repairs and home improvements. So most American home owners tend to borrow to complete this venture.

But please be aware, there are things that your loan officer won’t tell you about that home repair loan that you are getting. So before you get a new mortgage loan to pay for major home fix-ups, ensure that you follow a specific guide to get money:

First make sure that you pay as little interest on this loan as possible, so make sure you shop around, YOU DON’T NEED TO REFINANCE YOUR MORTGAGE. You should also try to get a tax-deduction for what you do pay for this mortgage loan and don’t end up sacrificing your financial health and well being. Not doing this is the first step of placing yourself in the poor house.

Secondly ensure that you take into account all the variables when applying for that loan:

Where can you get the best financing?

How will the monthly payments affect your budget?

How much equity do you have in your home?

What is the nature of your home improvement project

How long it will take you to repay the debt?

These are key questions that should point you in the right direction. You must find the best loan option. But even then you must make sure that this does not cause your budget to collapse. If it does then you will be in serious problems with respect to the monthly payment. Having less than twenty percent (20%) of market value in equity in your home is a clear signal to wait. This means that in one felt swoop you can move from happy owner to foreclosed properties if the financial institution that you borrowed from goes belly up.

With respect to the nature of the project and the term life of the loan here are just a few questions you MUST ask yourself before taking on that loan.

1. How much does the home repair project cost? To calculate this you use the contractors bid amount and subsequently add 10% to 20% for potential cost overruns.

2. Will you be able to afford this? If you cannot easily afford the monthly payments on the loan, you are ‘courting trouble’ by even thinking about a home equity loan or credit line. As mentioned earlier but if you have less than 20% equity value in your home you will be forced to pay higher interest rates and you won’t have any backup for emergencies.

3. Examine your other financial obligations? Your financial bases should be covered i.e you should be saving enough cash for retirement, to clear all existing credit card debt and at least ninety days living expenses saved in an emergency fund.

4. Finally will the project add value to your home? Some home repairs just don’t add enough value, especially maintenance repairs. Many American home improvements add some monetary value, and normally you will not recover 50% to 75% of what you spend in added value. So the less value you’re adding to your property the longer you should consider waiting until you can pay cash, instead of taking a home repair loan.

Mortgage refinancing can make good sense if you want to make improvements on the house, pay those college fees, or pay-down higher-interest loans. As property prices have gone up and up, homeowners often find they have more equity than they ever dreamed of when they first bought. Richard Syron, CEO and Chairman of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation — or ‘Freddie Mac’ — says “more than a dozen years of sustained growth in housing prices have turned many middle class homeowners into millionaires; put countless children through college; and made the family home the most valuable egg in the American nest”. Maybe we can’t all be millionaires but, even so, “for the typical family, home equity accounts for the bulk of their wealth,” agrees Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

It all looks good, so far. But now that you’ve started to look for that home equity loan — most likely a fixed-term second mortgage, or a line of credit — maybe you’re starting to wonder why home equity rates are generally higher than all those great first mortgage packages?

There are quite a few reasons. For a start, you’re comparing apples and oranges –they’re different breeds of loan, and the interest rates reflect the different features offered by each. But how, exactly, are those interest rates set? Frank Nothaft explains that “home equity loans are typically linked to the prime rate … many home equity loans have rates that are 1 percent or more above the prime rate” and, by comparison, “most 30-year first mortgages are typically below prime”. The interest rate for a typical home equity loan needs to take several factors into account: the risks to the lender, the duration of the loan, the flexibility offered to the borrower, and the amount of the loan in relation to the amount of equity available (referred to as the Loan to Value (LTV).

The first mortgage, of whatever kind, is just that — it’s the first lien on your property, and the first in line if you default on your loans. When you got your first mortgage you put your home up as collateral against the loan. If you can’t make the payments, the mortgage company can proceed with a collection action — in a worst-case scenario, you lose the house to pay off the loan. And, because it’s the primary loan, your first mortgage has priority in any collection action. Essentially, the mortgage company is confident that they’ll get their money back if you default. For a second mortgage, the situation’s different: whether it’s a conventional repayment mortgage or a line of credit (or any other kind of loan), it’s second in line if things go wrong. So that’s a bit more of a risk to the mortgage company, particularly if the value of your house depreciates, or you take out yet more loans.

And then there’s the time factor. The term, or duration, of a home equity loan is usually far less than that of a first mortgage. Most first mortgages are for a period of maybe 15, 20, or even 30 years. That’s because most people want to minimize their mortgage payments as much as possible, especially at the outset, and they’re in it for the long-haul. And, just think about it: while you’re making the payments, you’re paying interest, and you’re making the mortgage company money. You’re a good bet. That’s why, when it comes to first mortgages, companies compete with each other so aggressively to get your custom. And they pass that competition on to you, through lower interest rates.

A standard home equity loan is effectively a second mortgage, and can be a fixed or adjustable rate mortgage. The money is loaned in one lump sum, and payments are made over a pre-arranged duration — just like a first mortgage. But a home equity loan is typically for a short term, possibly only for a few years. Usually it’s for a specific purpose — home improvements, or paying of a debt — and the higher interest rate means most people prefer to pay it off as soon as they can, rather than mount up large amounts of interest. The mortgage company doesn’t have your custom for the long-haul, and it takes this into account when setting the interest rate.

Even so, this kind of mortgage can be far cheaper than the interest rates on credit cards or unsecured loans. As interest rates rise, pushed up by the Federal Reserve’s successive increases in the prime or ‘index’ rate, more and more borrowers are seeing the value of fixed-rate home equity options, in the 10-15 year range. Although these still have higher interest rates than first mortgages, homeowners have the best of both worlds: the comfort of knowing the rate won’t rise, and the ability to improve their quality of life by releasing the equity in their home.

With the other kind of home equity loan, the line of credit, you can draw cash whenever you want, up to your limit. When you pay money back, that credit is released again for you to use, immediately. In that sense it’s an “open account”, a bit like having a credit card, but with lower interest rates. This freedom to dip in and out of the loan can be a boon for the homeowner, who only pays interest on the amount owed, and nothing more — but it is more unpredictable, and less lucrative, for the mortgage company. So you pay that bit more for the flexibility of being able to use the loan as you wish, and that comes in the form of a higher interest rate.

But, given the ability to release your equity and use your wealth when and where you want, it can certainly pay to refinance. Don Taylor, of Bankrate.com, agrees, saying that a home equity loan, or a home equity line of credit (HELOC) can “allow you to restructure your debts or finance something that’s important to you,” and adds that both kinds of loan typically have much lower closing costs than a first mortgage.