For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who don’t.

For those who show up at work with milk stains on their dress and diapers in their handbags.

For those mothers who cannot restrain tears from trickling down their cheeks when they hold their babies for the first time in their arms; and for the mothers who give birth to babies they’ll never see.

For the mothers who gave homes to babies and gifted them a family.

For the mothers who yell at their kids who clamour for ice cream before dinner.

For the mothers who defy all odds just to watch her kid perform and repeat to themselves
“That’s my child!!”

For all the mothers who read “Goodnight, Moon” twice a night for a year, and then read it again. “Just one more time.”

For the mothers who taught their children to tie the shoelaces even before they started going to school.

For the mothers who incontinently turn their heads when they hear the word “Mom”,
even though they know that their kids are nowhere around.

For the mothers who silently shed tears for their children who have gone astray.

For all those mothers whose heart aches to watch her son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time.

For all the mothers of the victims of all these school shootings, and the mothers of those who were involved in the shooting.

For the mothers of the Survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, clinging to their child who just arrived from school safely.

So, this is meant for all the young and aged mothers, working mothers and housewives, married mothers and the single mothers, those with money and without and for those without whom life would have been insufferable. Wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day!!

“The only difference between a rut and a grave … is in their dimensions.” - Ellen Glasgow
As Director of Research and Professional Development at the Center for Critical Thinking and Chair of the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, Dr. Richard Paul defines critical thinking as thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking in order to make your thinking better. He goes on to say that critical thinking is not just thinking but thinking which entails self-improvement.

People get into ruts personally and professionally. Going through the motions becomes standard operating procedure and yet at the same time people complain about the lack of results, and they wish for more money or different outcomes. The ability to think critically is a powerful human ability and yet many have let their capacity for critical thinking diminish. In order to be the best ‘you’ can be and in order to accomplish everything you wish to accomplish, you need to embrace the process of critical thinking. One of the most powerful ways to improve is to question and rethink everything. Thinking just to think goes nowhere. Developing a skill of critical thinking allows us to ask questions to determine where our thinking goes and what results can be achieved. The field of Physics would not exist if Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein did not continue to ask critical questions on what was possible. Every advancement in cancer treatments has taken place because doctors keep asking the next purposeful question in order to find cures. The world is thinking differently about energy and conservation of the planet because people keep posing questions like ‘what if?’

Improved results, positive progress, and continuous improvement require questions not answers. Questions uncover problems, suggest multiple solutions, and get to the root cause quickly. So, what kind of questions spur critical thinking?

• Deep questions: help us find root cause and complexity
• Purpose questions: help us to understand the objective
• Information questions: help us make sure our source of information and the information are quality
• Interpretation questions: help us to organize information
• Assumptive questions: help us to see what we might be taking for granted
• Implication questions: help us see where our thinking is going
• Point of view questions: help understand our point of view more clearly and be accepting of differing point of view
• Relevance questions: help us to see what is really relevant to the situation
• Accuracy questions: help us make sure we are dealing with information that is correct
• Precision questions: help to have a laser focus
• Consistency questions: help ferret out inconsistencies
• Logic questions: help us consider how all the pieces fit together and everything makes sense

In the pursuit of results and accomplishment we are all too often our biggest enemy. We accept and get very comfortable with status quo. We often accept, without question, what corporations, organizations, and the media tell us. If you want to take your personal and professional results to another level then you need to start thinking about thinking with the objective of creating the best ‘you’ possible. Doing the same things over and over again will not create different or better results. However, by using the process of critical thinking you will uncover solutions and actions that will never be revealed by others or the status quo.  

This article was retrieved from Resource Associates Corporation: (http://consulting.resourceassociatescorp.com/blog/bid/110116/The-Power-of-Critical-Thinking)

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

Having a coach is like having your own personal navigator for your life’s journey. The coach helps you chart your course and reach your destination. Imagine having someone in your corner who is totally committed to your success. Someone who always encourages the powerful part of you, who sees how big you can be, and constantly holds up that big image for you even when you can’t hold it up for yourself.
Imagine a relationship that places the total focus on you. A relationship with someone who helps you clarify your dreams, aspirations, passions, and values. Someone who helps you celebrate your victories and learn from your setbacks as you press on toward achieving your goals together.

Consider the benefits of having regular conversations with a skilled, trained professional who really listens to you and not just your words but to your emotions, your energy, and even the spaces between your words. A coach is a professional who provides a ‘safe’ place for you to move beyond superficial, inhibited, self-limiting conversations, so you have the confidence to express doubts and even fears. A coach is someone who helps you gain the tools and strength you need to defeat the attitudes and behaviors that have sabotaged your past success and created stress in your life. Imagine having a trustworthy, confidential relationship with someone who will absolutely tell you the truth, the truth about where you are strong, and where you sell yourself short. Someone who knows your values and your life purpose, and will help you hold yourself true to them. Someone who will accept everything your communicate without judgment, always seeking to draw out the very best in you.

The impact of coaching increases with time. As coach and client get to know each other better, the coach become more familiar with the client’s strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, and dreams.

So who can benefit from having a coach? Anyone who’s going through change, which includes just about all of us!

 This article was retreived from Resource Associates Corporation. (http://consulting.resourceassociatescorp.com/blog/bid/130273/What-s-It-Like-to-Have-a-Coach)

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has successfully taught professionals how to become an independent consultant or a coach. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.

“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.”- Peter Drucker
Before you answer the question, ‘What does a customer really want?’ Consider a broader question, ‘What is your definition of a customer?’ Although organizations deal with many types of customers, the definition should include two important components:

■A customer is someone who wants or needs your help, your service or your product, and is willing to pay for it.
■A customer is someone with whom your organization is attempting to create a unique and emotionally positive experience for which they will repeatedly purchase your product or service.
By defining your customer it becomes much easier to identify what your customer really wants. Above all, a customer wants a hassle free experience as well as to be individually recognized and treated with respect. Research shows that 96% of customers who are not treated with respect decide to never go back. Typically, customers will not complain because complaining just adds to the hassle of an already bad experience. Six out of ten customers will never return to an organization based on poor service … not poor products. They usually will not register a complaint with the organization; they just go elsewhere. Customers want a positive experience and want to deal with a service provider that has empathy and understands how they feel. They want a service provider who creates strong points of connection. A powerful point of connection creates a bond with customers and ensures a high level of trust. Trust builds strong relationships and a strong relationship ultimately creates customer loyalty. Also keep in mind trust is what your customer wants.

There are many requirements to building a successful and sustainable business:

■The ability to manage the organization effectively
■The ability to create financial growth
■The ability to innovate
■The ability to develop and sustain a loyal customer base
■The ability to make environmentally sound decisions.
When these five components are working in sync, an organization will experience sustainable success.

We know that loyal customers will always return to purchase your products or services, which creates a long-term stream of income. A satisfied customer who has had an average experience may or may not come back, therefore, creating a one time sales or revenue opportunity. Loyal customers always come back; whether it is once a week to their local grocery store or drycleaner, or monthly to their local pharmacy, or every April at tax time to the same accounting professional. No matter the business or industry, creating multiple, and consistent revenue opportunities has a very positive financial effect on the organization.

Additional advantages of developing a loyal customer base include their willingness to pay more for your product or service, and they are also more forgiving when your organization makes a mistake. As loyal customers, they trust your organization and have faith that you are fair. It is truly all about building relationships through trust and strong points of connection. Making the strategic decision to create a loyal customer base is one of the most important commitments you can make to the success of your organization.

 This article was retrieved from Resource Associates Corporation: (http://consulting.resourceassociatescorp.com/blog/bid/129006/Quality-in-a-service-or-product-is-not-what-you-put-into-it)

Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. RAC is the first choice among business professional for assistance in creating, building and expanding a successful consulting or coaching practice. RAC trained consultants and coaches specialize in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227

Rande Spiegelman
CPA, CFP®, Vice President of Financial Planning, Schwab Center for Financial Research

With the economic outlook uncertain and the stock market in flux, it might be tempting to pull back on your savings. But that could actually be the single worst financial decision you can make. After all, you can’t control the market, but you can control how much you save or put toward reducing debt. A debt-reduction and savings discipline is likely to be the most powerful way you can keep your net worth growing, especially if the markets decline or stay flat for an extended period.

Of course, finding extra dollars to save can be particularly challenging in times like these. So it’s all the more important to get smart about how you save, including balancing competing goals. For example, should you contribute to your retirement first, or pay off debt? What about other major goals, such as home ownership?

Consider the three-step plan below as a general roadmap that you can adjust along the way to meet your needs and circumstances.

• Take care of the priorities. Have you ever played Monopoly? Think of your savings priorities as the equivalent of “Do Not Pass Go” until you’ve taken care of them. Among them: Make sure you first take full advantage of any available employer 401(k) matching contribution, pay off high-cost non-deductible debt, create an emergency fund and then make retirement security a priority.
• Focus on other major goals. With your priorities taken care of, you’re ready to move on to other important long-term goals, such as paying for your kids’ education or buying a home.
• Build your wealth. Once you’ve addressed your priorities and other major goals, you can further build your personal net worth by paying down other debt and continuing to save and invest.

Before starting your savings journey, you’ll want to do some basic budgeting and financial planning. That way you’ll know how much of your income goes to routine monthly and periodic expenses, and how much you should be saving toward your major goals (see Cash Flow Planning for Life). Here’s a three-step guide for how and when to allocate your savings dollars to make the most of them.

Step 1: Get the Priorities Straight

Lock in your employer’s 401(k) match

Be sure to contribute enough to your employer-sponsored retirement plan so that you receive your employer’s maximum matching contribution every year. Subject to a vesting schedule, that matching contribution is like free money. Your employer’s match and the taxes you defer on your own qualified contributions give you an immediate return on investment that will likely beat any alternative after-tax investment or the “opportunity cost” of forgoing other uses for savings, such as paying off high-cost debt.

Pay off non-tax-deductible consumer debt

Eliminating nondeductible consumer debt like credit cards (which may charge double-digit interest rates) amounts to a risk-free rate of return that’s virtually impossible to replicate—with the possible exception of a “free money” 401(k) employer match.

Try consolidating debt into a lower-rate, tax-deductible loan, such as a home equity line of credit (HELOC)—but only if you can control the debt and aren’t putting your home equity in jeopardy. If a HELOC isn’t an option, try negotiating lower interest rates with your creditors. Then begin paying off your debts, starting with those with the highest interest rates. For more information, see Borrowing Smart.

Create a rainy day fund

For your well-being and peace of mind, we urge you to have enough savings to cover at least three months of essential living expenses. Although having a good job, a two-earner household or a standby line of credit could mitigate the need for a large rainy day fund, an emergency could still derail your long-term investment plans.

Having an adequate emergency fund can help you weather short-term setbacks and thus keep your long-term plans on track. When you have an emergency cushion, you’re less likely to withdraw retirement funds prematurely or borrow at unattractive rates.

Of course, if the interest rate you get on your savings or money market account is lower than the rate you pay on your non-tax-deductible debt, then eliminating that debt should take priority over creating a rainy day fund. If an emergency strikes, you can tap back into a credit card or other type of debt.

Finally, we recommend that long-term investors have at least a three-year time horizon for money they commit to volatile markets. An emergency can occur at any time, so the stock market isn’t a safe place for rainy day money. Instead, keep emergency funds in relatively safe and accessible (liquid) vehicles such as money market funds, demand deposit accounts and/or other short-term fixed income investments.

Max out your tax-advantaged retirement accounts

Contribute up to the maximum allowed to any tax-advantaged retirement accounts—traditional deductible IRA, Roth IRA if eligible, and/or employer-provided accounts such as a 401(k), 403(b), 457 and SEP-IRA. In most cases, the up-front income tax deduction of a traditional IRA or a qualified employer plan is sufficient to overcome the ordinary income tax treatment of withdrawals in retirement.

If you expect to be in the same or a higher tax bracket at the time of withdrawal (for example, if you’re a younger worker who’s yet to reach your peak earning years), you’d likely do better investing with a tax-free Roth IRA, if eligible, or Roth 401(k).

Step 2: Save for Education or a New Home

After you’ve taken care of the must-dos, you’re ready to move on to your other important long-term goals.

Save for your loved ones’ education

If you have children (or grandchildren), consider saving for their education in a tax-favored Coverdell Education Savings Account, if eligible, and/or a 529 College Savings Plan. In both cases, your money grows tax-free and you pay no taxes on withdrawals if you use them to pay for qualified educational expenses. 529 plans allow anyone (regardless of income) to invest for a child’s college education, and have lifetime contribution limits per beneficiary that vary by state—more than $200,000 in most cases. A Coverdell can be used for certain elementary or secondary school expenses, as well as higher education. You can contribute up to $2,000 annually if you qualify.

Save for the down payment on a home

Avoid withdrawing money from a Roth IRA or a regular IRA even if you can avoid penalties for your first-time home purchase. We recommend that you avoid tapping retirement accounts for any non-retirement purpose, except as a last resort. With annual limits on how much you can contribute to these accounts, it’s hard to make up for withdrawals, so you’ll have that much less to live on in retirement.

Try to avoid borrowing from your 401(k) as well. You’ll end up paying your 401(k) back with after-tax dollars, incur a potential opportunity cost while the money is outside your account, and run the risk of defaulting on the loan in the event you get laid off and fail to repay it on time. It’s better to utilize taxable accounts for major purchase goals, investing appropriately for the time frame and risk tolerance connected with the goal.

Step 3: Focus on Building Wealth

Once you’ve addressed your priorities and major goals, you can optimize your personal balance sheet by paying down other debt and continuing to save and invest.

Pay down other debt

Compare your mortgage or home equity interest expense to current rates. If refinancing isn’t an option, consider paying off high-rate tax-deductible debt. After all, paying off your high-cost debt—even deductible debt—amounts to an equivalent risk-free rate of return.

Then, focus on paying down your overall debt to a manageable level. Whether the cost of debt is high or low, deductible or not, the total cost of servicing that debt should not exceed what you can comfortably afford. For example, lending industry standards generally assign a red flag when home-related debt payments (principal, interest, property taxes and insurance) exceed 28% of gross monthly income; that figure is 36% for all debt. Reducing your debt outlays to a manageable level will provide for financial stability and a higher credit rating, typically leading to lower interest rates.

Continue to save and invest in your regular taxable accounts

Once you’ve prudently used all of your tax-advantaged investment options, taken control of your debt, built an emergency fund and addressed major purchase goals, invest what’s left over in taxable accounts—tax-efficiently, of course. You can enjoy that money during your lifetime or build your estate for the people and charities that are most important to you.

What about a deferred variable annuity or non-deductible IRA?

In both cases, there’s no up-front deduction, and earnings will be taxed as ordinary income when you withdraw them. So neither may be an overly compelling choice compared to investing your excess savings in a taxable brokerage account, where you can take advantage of the preferable long-term capital gains and qualified dividend rates.

The only real tax advantage we see to a deferred variable annuity or non-deductible IRA rests on the benefit of tax-deferred compounding. But you could effectively defer taxes on stocks in your taxable accounts by trading infrequently or consider an index fund (you could end up paying lower long-term capital gains taxes when you eventually need the money, versus higher ordinary income taxes). If you’re in a high tax bracket and want to hold bonds in your taxable account, you could always consider municipals, the interest on which is generally tax-free.

The annuity option is analogous to a non-deductible IRA contribution but, we believe, is generally less attractive from a savings perspective because of the typically higher costs and limited investment selection. There are certain other features to consider, however:

• Many deferred variable annuities offer an optional enhanced death benefit that guarantees your heirs will get at least what you put in, even if your investments lost value (provided that you did not annuitize the contract prior to death). Keep in mind that this benefit does carry additional costs, and consider the historical probability of a diversified portfolio losing money during periods of 10 to 20 years or more.¹
• There are no required minimum distributions.
• You have the option to annuitize your balance—handy if you want a regular monthly check at some point during retirement. However, a single-premium immediate fixed annuity, in combination with a traditional portfolio, could be a more cost-effective way to provide for a level of guaranteed income—if that’s your goal.

This article was retreived from Charles Schwab. (http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/resource_center/expert_insight/personal_finance/financial_planning/get_smart_about_savings.html)