A “T”, or technical foul, is part of the game of basketball. If you’re a fan of the game, you know it’s any infraction of the rules which doesn’t involve physical contact such as unsportsmanlike conduct. 

The retirement plan equivalent of a “T” is when an employer misclassifies a worker in situations regarding whether:

• The worker is an independent contractor or an employee, or
•  An employee hired through a staffing agency/Professional Employer Organization (PEO) must participate in the client company’s  retirement plan covering other employees.

The referee equivalent in these situations could be the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor, State agencies, or all of them who have stepped up enforcement.

The financial consequences of misclassification could be costly in terms of income tax withholding; other employment related payments such as FICA, FUTA, state unemployment, and workers compensation; and retroactive inclusion in the retirement program. 

Staying with the basketball metaphor, I cover the issue of independent contractor vs. employee in

Full Post…

If you’ve been thinking about switching to an online checking account, ING Direct is now offering a for opening an and making three debit card purchases. No special reference code needed. If you already have an ING Direct , you can enter your login info and speed through the application without having to enter your personal details again.

Electric Orange has no minimum balance requirements, no direct deposit required, and no monthly fees. You can use any ATM in the without fees. The interest rates are currently 0.25% APY for balances under $50,000, 1.10% APY for $50k-$100k, and 1.15% APY for $100k+. If you have under $50k, then try to keep most of your money in ING savings. Another random feature? Their new debit card is totally flat and unembossed, with the card number printed on the back. I don’t really get it.

I still think the has better features, but if you are a loyal ING Direct fan this is a nice incentive to try it out.

The general consensus is that folks from Australia march to a different beat than the drums of those of us from North America. You want proof? Well, we’ve got it. And we’re not referring to that crap factory Hugh Jackman movie Australia…

No, we’re referring to that country’s advertising campaigns for their credit card offers. See, a regular ol’ Aussie clearly won’t even apply for a card unless they see a really wacky reason to do so! Heres a few totally insane Australian credit card ads to check out:

ROBOTS

What’s difference between a human call center representative and a robotic one? Not a whole lot, as evidenced by this spot. You should really get a credit card where the people care about you!

Is Your Card Protected by A Falcon?

See, in Australia you can get a card that is protected by the all seeing eye of a powerful bird like the falcon. It’s all part o

Full Post…

You’ve spent hours working on your business concept, and you’ve figured out something people will pay you for. Congratulations!

Now, you may be inclined to jump head-first into creating a business. Lured by dreams of freedom and setting your own hours, you spend all of your free time researching a name and hammering out the details of getting people to your door.

But there’s a common problem that may trip you up and cause you to work long hours for low pay (not the most exciting prospect!) Here’s a good example of how that can happen, and what you can do to avoid this situation.

Recently, I had a chance to speak with Stephen Ou via email. He’s an up-and-coming entrepreneur who’s quite good at identifying problems others are having. He sent me an email asking whether I would use a new product he’s developing.

Stephen later posted an excellent blog post on his market research called “How I Got 38 Willing-to-Pay Customers Before Writing a Line of Code.” I love Stephen’s entrepreneurial spirit (especially considering he is only 16 years old!) But I noticed he has a thought process that is common with many talented first-time entrepreneurs: He’s not thinking big enough.

How many people can you serve, and how much will they pay? I see far too many en

Full Post…

They advertise 50,000 British Airways miles as enough for an economy class transatlantic flight from USA to their “Europe Zone 1″, which includes the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland. But note that “all reward flights are subject to taxes, fees, charges and surcharges, including airline surcharges.” I did a quick search and for a random San Francisco (SFO) to London (LHR) flight in March last year that cost $807, the taxes and fees alone were $387. This is a nice discount, but probably not the most efficient use of the miles.

For me, the two best ways to redeem these 100,000 miles are either domestically on their US partner American Airlines, or through a business class trip to Europe or other international destination. First, the simple way avoid those taxes is to redeem your BA miles on American. This ended up being easier than I thought it would be. For example, a ticket from the continental US to Hawaii is 35,000 miles + a $5 fee. Spend $4k on the card and with 105k points you’d have three of them. Or you ca

Full Post…

Most of us get nervous during job interviews. When the nervousness takes over, we tend to say some really dumb things that could cost us the job. We all want to do our best and put our best foot forward, but sometimes we end up putting our foot in our mouths. This can be really embarrassing. So, the next time you have a job interview, avoid saying things that could get you fired before you’re even hired.

Take a look at some of the things that you should not say during your job interview:

Leave the personal compliments for another time: Try not to say things like, “I really like your tie!” or “who does your hair?” The interviewer will take the compliment as an insult to his or her intelligence. Maintain a professional attitude throughout the interview.

No sob stories allowed: Don’t say things like, “I had such a difficult life” Itis a job interview, not counseling, so leave the sob stories at the door.

Definitely no crying during interviews: Please, do not cry during your interview! Crying is a sig

Full Post…

When deciding where to keep your money, it is a good idea to consider the health of your bank. There was a time, not too long ago, that it seemed as though banks were failing left and right. While the rate of bank closures has slowed, you still need to think about what it could mean if your bank were to fail. It’s true that, if your bank is protected by the FDIC, you will get your deposit back, up to certain limits. However, just getting your deposit back isn’t always enough.

Issues Associated with Bank Closures

If your bank’s health is poor, and it is at risk of closure (there are more than 700 banks on the FIDC watch list), you could run into other problems. Here are some of the headaches associated with a bank closure:

• Delays in getting your money back: In many cases, there is a bank standing by to take over operations of a failed bank. In such situations, the transition is mostly smooth. However, if there isn’t another bank in place, the FDIC will ensure that you get your money by some other means. This can take weeks in some cases, depending on the circumstances. Not ide

Full Post…

Ken Thurber, author of the new book, Big Wave Surfing, Extreme Technology Development, Management, Marketing and Investing, explains how change can be an opening to opportunity.

We’re in a new economy – the innovation economy – and it’s really about spotting disruption. New products such as short tweets of communications and easy financial transactions like PayPal are game changers because they were new products that started new industries. The greatest opportunity and the biggest wave to ride is the new product that creates a new industry. The next best thing is to recognise how these new industries have created a new wave of opportunity. Whether it’s developing an application for the iTunes store or recognising that the iTunes store is the gateway to a new software industry – it’s critical to recognise and embrace change.

You need to see disruption as an opening to possibilities. Embrace change and make these new ways of doing business your friend. Don’t see change as a problem. Rather see it as new path and embrace it. If you think you’re having problems imagine what your customer is going through. Disruption creates openings. An example of t

Full Post…

Consumers are pretty well-versed in the incidents of credit card fraud but as criminals are getting savvier, its always wise to keep abreast of trends in fraudulent activity and how to avoid the latest exploits of cyber criminals.

Cyber criminals can net billions of dollars in a year using online resources to steal credit card and other user personal identification data. In the past, all consumers really had to worry about was people swiping cards from their mailbox or looking over their shoulders at the ATM. 

Now, there are things like phishing, intercept fraud, skimming, site spoofing and the latest fraud phenomenon, triangulation.   Consumers are getting lost in the shuffle of technology.

It is always wise to keep up to date on your Internet usage and protect the information you choose to share online. Criminals

Full Post…