Hello all my dear PRC readers! I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We appreciate you standing by and reading us all these years and hope to increase our user participation in the next year. There’s a lot going on in this economy and no shortage of interesting topics to be discussed, so it should be a really interesting year of discussions, tips and credit know-how this coming year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

With the economy constantly teetering on the edge of destruction over the past few years, Americans are really struggling with something they’re not used to. An inability to have a wide range of choices when it comes to their employment, and the terms under which they are employed.

The job market is still recovering. Even though we saw a three year record of job listing from employers in September as just reported, there are still far fewer jobs than there are qualified applicants for those jobs. The years of wear are beginning to show in many workplaces.

I’ve heard numerous “through the grapevine” complaints from people who feel utterly stuck at their job, even if they hate it and would love to try something new. They are saying everything from their work place is just piling on the work because they are trying to cut costs and labor, or that their workplace has become full of people who daydream about getting out all day.

We’re all used to the world being our oyster in our respective fields, and right now the pickins are slim, and you are really risking your neck going out and getting a new job when you’re the low man on the totem pole. Basically, it’s the newest that usually get cut, and people know that.

Why would you risk a perfectly safe job that, although it may make you miserable, brings in the paycheck every two weeks? People are really thinking about their wallets and their bills before happiness these days, and it’s beginning to show in higher stress levels and more career strain in many workplaces – no matter what field you work in.

Most people right now are clinging to the familiar and the safe rather than venturing out and finding something that may more suit their personality or lifestyle. It is showing in workplace satisfaction. Also, the fact that some companies are cutting benefits to save money doesn’t help with employee morale.

I imagine that whenever the economy and job market do improve, you are going to see a lot of career changes and job changes. People may have been restless for years at their current position at that point, and they may be jumping at the chance to get out and do something new.

Hopefully this will be in the next couple of years, but what with the PIIGS nations defaulting on their debt and all the crisis that is happening over in Europe now, we are bound see a huge spillover effect here in the US. It’s sad to say, but we are far from out of the woods yet, so it’s time to buckle down and hope for the best and save your money.

Hey everyone, wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving before we are off to our family’s in Pennsylvania for some good old fashioned turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and the whole nine yards!

Sure, it’s the most expensive year in 25 years to buy the whole shbang according to news reports, but hey, consider yourself lucky if you are heading to a meal and a full belly today. Not all of us are so fortunate. Have a wonderful, safe and Happy Thanksgiving, and remember to enjoy your family!

I, like so many other millions of Americans and people across the seas, felt really terrible when I heard that one of the great innovators of our time, Steve Jobs had passed away last week. I think we all felt that we sort of knew him a little. He had that kind of air about him.

He had the flair and charisma that successful CEO’s and innovators have, and I think that because of that charisma along with the obvious marketing and technological genius, he really wriggled his way into the hearts of the American people.

Apple really fell into the doldrums without him – and they were actually the ones that evicted him from his former position there. When he returned to the company, he helped to conceptualize the little gadget that started Apple’s monstrous twenty first century success – the iPod.

The fact that it was an MP3 player wasn’t a new concept – those had been around a while. But they weren’t easy to use, they were clunky and they just weren’t “sexy” or appealing the way that the iPod was. The iPod revolutionized the way we listen to music.

Then, with baited breath, we all anxiously awaited the iPhone, which of course was a ridiculous success and still is today. All this, within the last six years of this man’s life. It’s almost like he knew he burned so bright that his light would go out early, and he made the very most of those last final years that he could.

It is such a shame that he can’t live out the rest of his years seeing his company and the products that carry his heart and soul go so much further. The world definitely will miss such a great innovator. And who will take over for Jobs?

Apparently he has left a blueprint that will take the company through the next few years without him, but it will be difficult to replace his sense of style, techology and the instinct he obviously has for what consumers want.

Steve Jobs, the world will certainly miss you. We love what you’ve given us, and we wish your family well during this trying time. You left this earth too early.

So I’m one of the suckers that got roped into buying the book that some consider to be fear mongering at its worst called “Aftershock Protect Yourself and Profit in the Next Global Financial Meltdown” by the authors Robert and David Wiedemer and Cindy Spitzer.

Well, I didn’t actually buy it, but I got a “free” copy of it, which includes the last chapter that is too controversial to include it in the mainstream version of the book that is sold on book shelves and Amazon.com.

Of course there are free memberships to a couple other programs that I would have to remember to cancel after the free period is up, but who knows I may actually like them and keep them.

I was intrigued by this book because I’m convinced that some of what they are saying is true. There is just too much happening right now and I don’t believe we’re going to just skate through it.

While no one can predict to what degree any of it is going to come to fruition, the fact is that there are a lot of views out there, and I want to personally be aware of all of them so I can make the wisest decisions for myself and my husband on how to get through this next few years.

The Aftershock book may be an overly alarmist view of what life might be for Americans in the next few years, but I think I owe it to myself to at least know what the absolute worst case scenario might be.

Might I lose a bit of sleep at night over it? Sure, I mean who wouldn’t. But it’s not like I’m not losing sleep over the situation we’re in now. I’ll be honest. I’m very worried for Americans, and I’m sure that the next few years are going to be yet another rocky ride.

I thought that it all might be over and that we were recovering, however, that illusion has slowly faded away as even larger problems have presented themselves, and the illusion of the stimulus package has faded away as the payments have come to an end.

It’s all very scary stuff to think about, but you must be aware of all sides of the coin, and I think that reading the worst case scenario is crucial to being prepared.

I’m going to give you a full review of the Aftershock book once I am done with it and offer an honest opinion on what I think.

Well, I can’t believe it, just like most people can’t, that we are already headlong into a new year. This year FLEW by. With the improving economy and outlooks getting a little brighter for 2011, let’s make this a great one.

I really have a great feeling about where we are headed as a country. I really think that we are going to prosper even more than we have in the past after this long and painful recovery is over.

Hopefully there is a lot of great news on the horizon for everyone reading this magazine as well.

We really want to thank you for reading us over these past few incredibly turbulent years of history.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Apparently ignorance is bliss when it comes to ignoring your financial burdens when they just seem to be insurmountable and unrealistic for the kind of money you’re bringing in and what kind of savings you might have stashed away for such emergencies that come up in everyone’s life.

Surveys and studies done have recently found that there are an increasing amount of Americans that are doing just that, pretending like financial burdens don’t exist, and just ignoring them and hoping they go away. You can’t blame people, after all, during these tough times when most families are struggling just to bring in enough to pay the basic bills and fee their families.

I wonder if this isn’t some sort of defense mechanism that has just kicked in at larger levels now since people really do feel powerless about situations that may be putting them on hard times, like loss of jobs or loss of hours at jobs, and loss of their savings and investments for retirement due to the markets being so crazy for the last few tumultuous years.

I think I would rather pretend something didn’t exist if I was truly powerless to change it or make it better or pay it off. It’s almost a question between your sanity and your mental health and happiness, or the reality of having to get bills paid, and I’d choose happiness over the mechanical, society driven stuff any day.

With that said, I do feel that there is no excuse for the irrational defaulting that people are doing on homes where they are under water. This strategic defaulting, where people who can afford their mortgages are still defaulting on them on purpose to get out of a bad investment, just isn’t right in my book. In my opinion, these people are just adding to the problem even more and not becoming a part of the solution by simply being “selfish”.

Of course, it’s not a one shoe fits all generalization, I know there are reasons that are valid for people to do this, I just think that it’s being abused way too much since this whole crisis began, to the detriment of people who are financially responsible.

Hello. Before my hubby and I head out the door to our traditional family gathering in Pennsylvania, which is about an hour drive from where we live here in Ohio, I wanted to wish my wonderful readers a Great Thanksgiving.

This is the time of year for which we give thanks for all the we have. Our health, our family, our friends, our financial gifts, and most of all, our happiness and the happiness of others around us. Let’s not forget those that are less fortunate.

Right now, charities are suffering because everyone is under financial duress, so now is the most important time to really kick in those donations and be generous, even if you are under the gun, try to give a buck or something to a charity, every little bit goes a long way, and you never know whose life you are touching by your generosity and selflessness.

That being said, please have a wonderful, safe and glorious Thanksgiving today and eat to your heart’s content, looking around you and realizing all the wonderful gifts you’ve been given in this life.

The sequel to the very popular, iconic movie about greed and capitalism in the eighties, Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” has released this past weekend to lukewarm reviews, but a good audience turnout for the subject matter. The reasons for the turnout are probably a mixture between the times we are living in and the interest in the material of the movie, and the fact that the iconic actor Michael Douglas just announced he has throat cancer.

This movie is consdered nostalgic for a few reasons. The original movie which this is a sequel to was made during a time of economic boom, when we all thought we were going to be safe forever, and when the American economy was thriving at a huge pace. We all had great jobs and made great money, it seemed, right?

Well, maybe I’m looking at it through rose colored glasses because I was just a kid back then, but I think that we all look at the “material” eighties as a time of thriving and well, materialism. Shoot, remember Madonna’s hit “Material Girl”? It was a sign of the times!

Although this movie is not typical blockbuster material, it is gettinga lot of attention because I think that people of a certain age are looking for some sort of comfort, some explanation and some speculation about why things happen at the top of the upper financial echelon like they do.

It’s the same as the story of Bernie Madoff. Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko character is really a lot like the real life men such as Madoff, who ruined people’s lives by making bets with money they didn’t have a right to. Insider trading has been a huge problem too, and the FTC is now under immense pressure to find and prosecute people who are violating the laws at the top.

A perfect example of this is the current story about Mark Cuban, the billionaire who is being targeted for his role in selling off stock in a tech company upon finding some information about them. They say that because of his position and large stake, he had priveleged information earlier than others would have, and that he should not have sold his stock upon hearing about it.

The funny part is that the stock sale only amounted to about $700,000, which isn’t a lot to a billionaire, if you think about it. But this is the type of action we are more likely to see the FTC taking more and more after the heat they took for not figuring out Bernie Madoff’s scheme much quicker after tip offs and concern about the lack of trasnparency of his business plan.

With all the stories of layoffs and job downsizing and hours cutting and pay cuts that are coming out of the recession that we’ve been going through for the past few years, you’d think that all of them would be stories that would make you cry and feel bad for a while. But that’s not always the case. I’ve also read a lot of stories about people finding that, although the initial loss of their job shocked and disappointed them, it actually became known as a blessing in disguise.

How could you say that a job loss or loss or hours forcing you to quit could ever be good? Well, in many cases it isn’t, which is the reason why we’re still in such a boatload of trouble from the jobless situation. But in some cases, people have actually been able to pursue their true passion after losing their jobs or being forced to find something else.

Either that, or they have found another job that they like more. Everyone dreams of doing something they really love, it’s just that the money situation forces them to have corporate-type jobs that pay the bills but don’t really feed their need to be creative or express themselves as they want to and actually enjoy what they do to make money.

Most people view a job loss as devastating, and they are rightly scared. However, it may just prompt you to take that chance on something that you’ve always dreamed of doing, or go for another job that you’ve had your eye on. If you view it as an opportunity rather than a setback, half the battle is won as to what you are going to do – at least for a while – until you find something else.

I know it’s hard to stay positive when something smacks you upside the head that isn’t totally expected like a job loss or loss of pay, but if you handle it in the smartest and most optimistic way possible, then you truly have a shot at being even happier and more fulfilled in your job/life’s work.

I must admit, I’m terrified of losing my job. I’ve been there for over ten years, make a great salary, and have awesome benefits. However, if I were laid off with a severance package, I have a list a mile long of other things I could do with my time and my talents, and I would view it as an opportunity to try other things.