How 401(k) Plans Work" In 1978, Congress decided that Americans needed a bit of encouragement to save more money for retirement. They thought that if they gave people a way to save for retirement while at the same time lowering their state and federal taxes, they might just take advantage of it. The Tax Reform Act was passed. Part of it authorized the creation of a tax-deferred savings plan for employees. The plan got its name from its section number and paragraph in the Internal Revenue Code -- section 401, paragraph (k). Ted Benna, who was a benefits consultant, actually came up with the first version of this plan. When people talk about 401(k) plans, you often hear about advantages like: Free money from your employerLower taxable incomeSavings and earnings that accumulate without you having to remember to make depositsThe opportunity to retire and not have to worry about money anymore Does this sound too good to be true?
What is Skillshare Organize An Offline Class With Skillshare The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: Skillshare Quick Pitch: Skillshare turns cities into classrooms and all of their residents into potential teachers. Genius Idea: Creating an open, online marketplace for offline classes. Skillshare co-founder Michael Karnjanaprakorn is very good at poker. When he agreed to host a poker class for them, the idea for Skillshare clicked. Skillshare, which launched in April, is a marketplace for offline classes. Typically tickets for classes on the platform cost less than $50, of which Skillshare takes a 15% cut. Less than two months after launch, the site's teachers are mostly in New York and only a handful of businesses have signed on. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, mattjeacock Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
How Stocks and the Stock Market Work" For a new investor, the stock market can feel a lot like legalized gambling. "Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets! Randomly choose a stock based on gut instinct and water cooler chatter! Not exactly. The stock market can be intimidating, but a little information can help ease your fears. Why would a company want to share its assets and earnings with the general public? The disadvantage of borrowing money is that the company has to pay back the loan with interest. Perhaps the best way to explain how stocks and the stock market work is to use an example. Introduces The Classroom | Skillshare Team Blog | Skillshare Learning is meant to be social. That’s why we’ve been so focused on facilitating in-person classes; something magical happens when students and teachers are able to meet face-to-face, work through problems together, and share their passions and experiences with each other. Over the past year, the stories we’ve heard from our community have been incredible – some students have found jobs through Skillshare classes, some teachers have quit their jobs to become full-time teachers, and others have attended hundreds of hours of classes because they keep getting drawn back by the people they meet. At Skillshare, we believe in learning by collaborating with others. We’ve also long known, though, that learning does not and should not stop with the end of class. The Classroom The Classroom can now be found from any class details page. After jumping into The Classroom, you can start your own discussion or view the ones your classmates are already having. We hope you make the most of The Classroom.
Skillshare Founder, Champion of Lean Start-Up Mantra, On Why He Needed That $3 Million By Adrianne Jeffries 8/17/11 8:00am Share this: Skillshare CEO Mike Karnjanaprakorn with Skillshare friend, investor and office mate Zach Klein. New York-based peer-to-peer education start-up Skillshare, whose co-founder and CEO Mike Karnjanaprakorn recently typed up an article on how to launch a start-up for just $5,000, raised just enough money for its product team and a little wiggle room back in January. But this week the start-up announced two major feature releases and a $3.1 million funding raise from Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital. When the Skillshare team realized they had a winning formula–a platform where anyone with a skill to share can propose to teach a class which then becomes available when a minimum number of students sign up–and when they noticed competitors starting to move in, they decided it was time to staff up and start grabbing land. “We didn’t choose investors in a couple days,” Mr. Follow Adrianne Jeffries on Twitter or via RSS. ajeffries@observer.com
How to Check and Manage Your Credit Score for Free Last Updated: 4/05/2014 14:17 PST Most people know that a lot is riding on their credit score, from the interest rates you pay on your loans, to your ability to rent an apartment, buy a home or car, and even to find a job. Companies are increasingly using credit scores as an objective measure of not only your credit, but your credibility. But, there’s still a lot of confusion out there about credit scores and what they mean. Some people confuse a credit report with a credit score, when they are two different things. People also incorrectly assume that checking your credit score lowers it—this is partly true. In fact, it’s essential to know what your score is, because it can change at any time, and it impacts so many different areas of your life. Many companies have figured out ways to charge consumers for reporting on their credit scores. You can log into your account as often as you like to quickly and easily track your credit score, credit attributes, and debt from a single source.
What’s Learnemy? » Figuring out starting up 4 Flares Twitter 3 Facebook 0 Google+ 0 LinkedIn 1 inShare1 4 Flares × I want to help people make a living doing what they like to do. The heart of the idea revolves around bringing economic empowerment to skills that otherwise are not perceived as a financially viable option to be pursued as a career. These skills may include dancing, drawing, cooking, singing etc. What irritates me in my society is that the society, or rather economy, does not reward these different talents equally and hence there is a perverse equation of banking (or any high prestigious jobs) job = success or success = the amount of money rolling in. In preparation for the attainment of this ‘success’, majority of parents in Singapore will strongly advise their kids to follow the JC-Uni route first before nurturing their passions of drawing, singing, music. But what if a business can bring in economic value to such skills, that one can spend time honing these skills and still bring in big bucks? Hiring: Interested?
Apprenez ce que vous voulez Apprenez ce que vous voulez Citiversity conçoit des ateliers pour apprendre tout ce que vous souhaitez. Ces ateliers, reposant sur le partage d'expérience, sont toujours animés par un passionné du sujet. En vous inscrivant, vous recevrez chaque semaine une newsletter avec notre sélection d'ateliers. Ainsi, apprendre redevient un plaisir. Free Credit Scores (Seriously, They’re Really Free) | MintLife Blog | P... In the world of credit reporting and credit scoring the word “free” gets thrown around too liberally, especially when it comes to products and services marketed to consumers via retail websites. “Free” in many cases actually means “conditionally free”, which really means it ain’t free. Last week I wrote about credit related processes that are 100% free but are often included in fee-based subscription services. This week I’m writing about the very limited number of websites where you can actually get a free credit score, with no strings attached. My criteria for this article were simple. The score had to be 100% free with no credit card information exchanged AND the score had to be potentially relevant. I couldn’t go so far as to say the score has to be the same score used by most lenders because that would limit the score option primarily to a FICO score, which isn’t available for free anywhere. My criteria left two websites standing, CreditSesame.com and CreditKarma.com. CreditKarma.com
Outthink Inc. believes learning should be fun Most of us who pursued careers in publishing did so because reading, in some way, impacted us as kids. But kids today live in a vastly changed world, and tablets have now taken over. One in four adults owns a tablet. On Christmas Day this year, 51% of mobile activations were for tablets, not phones. As publishing migrates from print to pixels, and reading more directly competes with games, phones, and tablets for attention, we need to ask how those pixels might impact the futures of today’s kids the way print did for us. Despite a long career fueled by digital evolution, and ownership of multiple eReaders, mobile phones, and tablets along the way, I almost exclusively purchase print books for my kids. Technology took each of my daughters from ABCs to a second-grade reading level when they were four years old, opening a world of knowledge so vast and empowering that I find myself telling every preschool parent I meet. But it’s harder to justify extended iPad time for my eight-year-old.
Professeur Acadomia, au piquet ! - 1 Pour se maintenir à flot, le leader français du soutien scolaire a des méthodes marketing de plus en plus agressives. Ça passe mal chez les salariés, et surtout dans les familles. En octobre, Acadomia fait son grand retour sur les écrans télévisés. Son nouveau film publicitaire met en scène un bébé donnant la main à un adulte. Il s’agit des premiers pas de l’astronaute Neil Armstrong… sur Terre. Et d’une métaphore sur le grand bond en avant que le spécialiste des cours à domicile promet à ses élèves. Abonnez vous à l'édition digitale