Veterans Day 2011 - Just Don't Thank a Vet Do Something

Image via WikipediaVeterans Day is the day we remember all the men and women who served in the armed forces. The millions and millions of people who served our country over the centuries gave their blood sweat and tears to preserve our freedom. Some went to battle and never returned. The ones who returned, we owe a debt of gratitude and more.

We observe Veterans Day only one day per year but a lot of them need us all throughout the year. Telling a Vet "Thank You" on this day is good, but it's not enough. What are some things we can do throughout the year to help them.

1. Learn about the issues that Vets are concerned about.
Read and investigate what problems and issues effect Vets in this country. Look for Veteran events in your community and find out what you can do to help. Go to VA.Org, the website for the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and see what issues are concerning today's veterans.

2. Veterans that are physically wounded from war, see how you can assist them.
Many veterans have been injured from battle. Visit the VA hospital and see their condition. Ask how you can help. Volunteer at the hospital or other facilities that care for vets. Find organizations that take care of vets special needs and write a generous check or volunteer there.

3. Hire a vet at your business.
Vets need to work just like anyone. Go out of your way and make it your concern to help them get a job. Seek out organizations that train vets new job skills and make it known you want to hire them when they are ready.

4. Some vets are homeless.
This is a terrible situation to have our vets homeless after serving their country. Check out your local agencies that help homeless vets with food and shelter. Veterans have a high rate of homelessness. Donate to local shelters who cater to the veterans. You have to help.

It's time to get serious with issues our vets have to go through everyday. There are many ways to help. Pick one and devote all you can to it.

Christmas Tree Tax - A Pointless, Misuse of Government

Image by K!T via FlickrThe Christmas tree tax will not be implemented this holiday season because of consumer outrage. Is the Department of Agriculture asleep at the wheel? This tax is a total PR blunder for the Obama administration. Just saying the word tax can get you in trouble. The truth is the Department of Agriculture was going to implement a 15 cent tax on every fresh cut Christmas tree. It's not the amount that is the concern. It's the how, why, and who is the real problem.

Who's to blame for the tax?

The Department of Agriculture's new Christmas Tree Promotion Board was set up at the request of the Christmas tree sellers. They want the industry promoted and want the growers to pay for it. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace”. It's only for sellers who sell more than 500 tree per year.

What's the big deal, it's only 15 cents?

It really is insignificant for a once per year purchase. But that doesn't mean it makes sense or is right. The fact that much of the industry practically begged the government to impose the tax on them doesn't help either. The American Spectator reports:

"If they want to fund a promotional campaign for their product, they should do it themselves, without involving the USDA. "

"That goes for all similar checkoff taxes, such as the ones for beef, milk, soybeans, etc. There's no reason the federal government should be involved in shaping consumer preferences. The Christmas Tree Tax has done something useful in reminding us that the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 is a dumb law."

What if someone doesn't pay?

You go to jail. When you don't pay a federal tax you go to jail.

"What are you in for pal? I didn't pay my Christmas Tree Tax."

Whats wrong with the tax from a constitutional point of view?

• Could it violate the Free Exercise of Religion Clause because it effects Christians.
• The Equal Protection Clause for the same reason.
• Does the government have the right to tax local agriculture products?
• Is the Interstate Commerce Clause effected when the trees stay in state?
• Doesn't the Congress have the power to regulate taxes and not the USDA?

Here is an example of why people have a problem with government. Should government be involved with promoting Christmas tree sales. What happened to separation of church and state. Christmas is clearly a religious holiday or did the ACLU forget?

The administration should squash this issue right away and put the promotion of Christmas trees back onto the industry, where it belongs. This is only going to make a bad issue for President Obama's  opponents to use against him.

Consumer Outrage Makes Bank Transfer Day a Big Success

Banking customers from all over the country took their money out of the big mega banks and open new accounts in their local credit union. This is occurring because of the national movement called Bank Transfer Day, started by 27 year old Kristen Christian. It's a grassroots protest started on Facebook on October 4th in response to Bank of America's planned $5 debit fee increase. 

The Credit Union National Association has stated their usual new accounts per month averaged 80,000 but during October new accounts topped 650,000. 

According to Tropical Financial Credit Union marketing vice president Amy McGraw, "It's an opportunity for us to educate people about what a credit union is because 60 percent of consumers don't know." McGraw reports in this credit union alone new members opening accounts almost doubled.

Credit unions are finally getting the broad respect they deserve. The big banks are starting to see that lousy customer service, nickel and diming the customer, and treating the customer poorly will drive customers away to to banks that treat them with respect. 

How much of an effect this will take on the big banks we will eventually find out. Even if it only effects them 1%, thats still billions they lose over time. 

Bank Transfer Day was a big success because it gave the mega banks a public spanking for the way they mistreat their customers. Maybe they will learn something from it. Also, we should all thank Kristen Christian for efforts. Why not go over to her facebook page and write a note of appreciation.

Go to Bank Transfer Day at Facebook

Go to Credit Union Look-up for a credit union near you.

The 6 Best Credit Card Payoff Calculators

Image via WikipediaYou made up your mind to finally pay off those credit cards for good. Only problem you don't have a clue where to start. Do you start with the card with the biggest balance, highest interest, or do you use the Debt Snowball as suggested by Dave Ramsey. It's pretty confusing. What you need is a credit card payoff calculator. Here is a list of my favorites:

WhatstheCost.com Debt Snowball Calculator
When you go to this website you'll notice it is not one of the slickest. But it is one of the best because of its simplicity. It's a U.K. site, but it will adjust for other currencies. You can enter up to 20 different credit cards, their balances, interest rate, promotional rate, expiration months, and your minimum payment. You can choose whether to pay off your debts in order of highest interest rate or lowest balance. After entering your data you can print out a table listing every payment you need to make. If you want to save your data, you can sign up for an account and it will keep track of your debt payoff progress.


Related:  Debt Snowball. What is it?

Bankrate's Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Bankrate.com has a simple credit card calculator that will tell you how many months it will take to pay off one credit card, depending on the data you enter. You can re-enter data to calculate a quicker payoff schedule. You can only enter one card.

Creditcards.com Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Creditcards.com has a calculator where you enter your current balance, interest rate, and monthly charges. Also enter how many months you would like to take to pay off the debt. After you enter your data the calculator tells you how much to pay per month. It even offers suggestions on a higher payment and how much interest you would be saving if you followed the advice. A graph is also offered to track your progress and a table shows your progress. It can only be used for one credit card at a time.

AARP.org Credit Card Payoff Calculator
AARP has a nice credit card payoff calculator. You enter your current balance, current payment, interest rate, fees, additional payment, and time period. After you click calculate you get a nice bar chart showing your new payment plan with 4 other payment plans with longer and shorter durations. You get a month by month table you can print out to plot your progress. This calculator is only for one credit card.

Related: Debts True Effect On Your Self and Family

CreditCardFinder.com Credit Card Payoff Calculator
Here we have a multi card credit card payoff calculator. Enter your card name, balance, rate, and current minimum. Pick your strategy of highest interest first, lowest balance first, order entered in table, and extra monthly payment. After you click on the calculate button you get a chart indicating all the payments and balances remaining. A graph is included to show your progress. Plus you can print the charts or download the chart into your own spreadsheet.


CreditCardCompare.com.au Minimum Repayment Calculator 
CreditCardCompare have a calculator that allows you to work out how long it would take and how much money it would cost to continue making only the minimum monthly repayment on your credit card compared it what you would save by paying more back each month. An animated graph plots the results so that the difference can be easily visualised.

These 6 credit card calculators will help you get started on your debt snowball. My favorite has always been WhatstheCost.com Debt Snowball Calculator. But whatever calculator you choose the good news is you have made up your mind to get out of debt.

5 Tips For Expanding Your Small Business Abroad

Image by thinkpanama via FlickrThe goal of all small businesses is to grow. From a simple idea, your small business begins, you work many weeks and years to make it a success. You reach a point where you have the knowledge and resources to expand. Many businesses expand in their city or state but why not consider expanding overseas.

It's not going to be easy taking your small business global. It will take a lot of patience, money and research. When you do get your business going problems can arise, so it's better to be prepared ahead of time. Here are 5 tips to help you head off any problems:

1. Language.
Communicating with your overseas associates verbally or on paper offers its own set of problems. Either you must be fluent in the language of the country you are dealing with or have someone in that country that will be your representative. It's critical, if you don't speak the language, to have a trusted relationship with an individual or competent middle man who will represent you. Also when dealing with financial data, documents or legal contracts it would be wise to set up a financial translation service beforehand.

2. Local Experts.
Don't think that your home market is the same abroad. You should have a competent advisor who could be a lawyer or a representative of a bank. They will know their way around your foreign economy. If they aren't able to help they will have the contacts to help in a situation.

3. Check with Overseas Commerce Branches of Government.
In the United States there is the U.S. Department of Commerce. All countries have an equivalent branch of government. Their job is to connect business men, foreign or domestic, with information to help businesses function in the economy. The department can give the small business man information on overseas agents, duty fees, and taxes.

4. Understand Your Market.
Doing business in another country means investigating the markets. Just because your product or service is profitable in your home country doesn't mean it will be successful abroad. Just as in your own country you would not just jump into a market without doing exhaustive market research. So much more you would do the same where the economy and culture are different.

5. Respecting the Culture and Values of other Countries.
Language is not the only barrier to doing business abroad. Barriers, to being successful doing business abroad, can arise when not having a basic respect for the values and customs of a country. Speaking the language is important but know the culture and traditions in doing business will only help you be more successful.

The global business world is expanding more and more everyday. It's not easy to expand your business abroad and many businesses don't for that reason. But with proper planning and some expert help, it can be done.

Banks Are Backing Off Debit Card Fees

Mega banks Chase and Wells Fargo are reversing their decision to charge customers for using debit cards. Sun-Trust Banks and Regions Financial were charging debit card fees for some time now but it was when Bank of America announced it's $5 debit card fee, public outrage went off the charts.

Banks have blamed the new fees on the loss of revenue they suffered when new federal regulations kicked in. The new regulations that limit the fees they can collect from retailers for handling debit card transactions.

When the announcement was made Sen. Richard Durbin, D.-Ill, called the fee an "outrage" on the floor of the Senate. Sen. Durbin was one of the authors of the new regulations that started the whole process. Durbin encouraged customers of banks that charge fees to "vote with their feet," but consumers were already ahead of him. Credit unions and community banks nationwide are reporting huge spikes in new accounts as consumers seek no-fee options.

Related:  How To Move Your Checking Account In 7 Easy Steps

Now Bank of America has announced, through an unidentified source, that they are going to eliminate the debit card fee. But the damage is already done. Many consumers are so angry that they will never do business with the big banks again. The have switched to credit unions that don't charge fees. According to csmonitor.com.

What to Do Now.

If you have already switched and are happy with your new bank, stay put. Many people are enjoying the more personal touch of credit unions. Stay with your new bank for six months and reevaluate then.

GoBankingRates.com revealed that more than 3 out of 10 consumers will switch from a national bank to a local credit union. The tide has not turned on the motivation to abandon the big banks. Even Bank Transfer Day and Occupy Wall Street protesters are still proposing to bail out on the big banks, so to speak.

Related: 

3 Banks Where Checking and Debit Cards Are Still Free

Are You Joining Bank Transfer Day on Nov. 5