Image details: Thinkstock Single Image Set served by picapp.com
Our U.S. flag. It’s been around a long time, and it has seen a lot of war and destruction, a lot of happiness and grief. It’s not Flag Day, but the flag is what I think of on the 4th of July.
Here is a great story about the meaning of our flag, from usflag.org.
Image details: US Marine Corps War Memorial served by picapp.com
Image details: Yin-yang symbol served by picapp.com
Baby Boomers: July is a great time to take stock of your personal and business life. Although it is not the traditional time to do this, it’s perfect as a mid-year stock-taking and possible course correction.
Being a “words” person, I got hung up on looking for the derivation of the term “taking stock.” I found some stuff about livestock, counting sheep, I guess. The term implies counting your assets and liabilities.
July a is a quiet time (unless you’re selling patio furniture or fishing supplies). Many people are on vacation, and business is a little slower. The pace will pick up in August/September, after the kids go back to school, so take a few minutes now to reflect.
Over the next few days, I’ll give you some quotes to help you think/reflect/take stock. I’ll have some thoughts to go along with them, of course.
Today, from Talmudic sage Hillel:
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? Yes, if I am for myself alone, what good am I? And if not now — when?
To me, this saying implies balance, which is very important to me. Balancing our own wishes and desires (being selfish) with considering the wishes and desires of others (being unselfish and giving) is vital to a meaningful life. We can’t live just for ourselves. And we can’t live just for others. Finding the balance is often difficult. We all need both Yin and Yang.
How do you find that balance in your life? What could you do over the next few months to get some inner/outer balance in your life?
A friend of mine who runs a health care practice just got a letter telling him to report for jury duty. He is in a solo practice and any day he isn’t working is a day when he makes no money. He is married, with one child, and his wife doesn’t work (outside the home, that is.)
What should he do? He wants to send a letter trying to get out of jury duty. I know you can get one waiver, but I’m not sure if you can get off totally.
I do know that many people who are called only show up for one day, they don’t get put on a jury, and they can go home. But what if this guy were picked to be on a jury?
Here are the possibilities:
A: Write the letter asking to be “permanently” excused from jury duty.
B: Write asking to be excused this time but say you will make arrangements to have someone cover your practice or re-arrange your schedule to be gone for a day or more.
C: Show up and plead your case for being excused from a lengthy trial. The benefit to this option is that you have fulfilled your obligation with minimal disruption of your practice/life.
Other options? What do you think? Your comments/suggestions would be helpful.
Tags: baby boomers, jury duty, small businessesIowa’s smoking ban went into effect yesterday (July 1). The only two exceptions, as I understand it, are casinos (can’t stop those gamblers from smoking, can we?) and veterans hospitals (maybe on the assumption that they served their country and they have earned the right to kill themselves with smoking if they want).
You can tell how I feel about smoking. My father smoked from the time he was very young until just before his death at age 83, from emphysema (not surprising). He sat at the dinner table every night and lit up a cigarette when he was done eating. For 18 years I lived with smoke, thinking nothing of it. When the first warnings by the Surgeon General came out, he tried several times to quit but couldn’t.
I hate everything about smoking, so I’m pleased to see the ban in Iowa, as in many other states. I do feel sorry for those who will be forced to quit or stand on street corners to smoke; I know how difficult it is to quit after watching my father.
In terms of the effect of the ban on businesses, I think you’ll see that it won’t have much effect. Restaurants will be able to seat anyone anywhere, not having to designate a smoking section. This should help with customer flow.
Bars will be affected initially. But I stopped feeling sorry for the bar owners when I found out that Ireland has a ban on smoking in pubs, and it has not affected them.
I’d like to see smoking banned in every public building in every state. I’m sure that won’t happen, but you never know.
If you own a small business, what would be or is the effect of a smoking ban on your business?
Tags: baby boomers, iowa smoking ban, small businessAre you thinking about retirement in the next few years? In my interview with Bill Losey in recognition of National Retirement Planning Month, I asked him:
Q: What is the single biggest mistake people make in planning their retirements?
A: In Retire in a Weekend I said the biggest mistake is taking advice from unqualified people. You know the scenario: Your brother-in-law knows someone who is a “financial planner” or “broker,” so you go to that person because he or she is cheap and available. And you get bad advice.
That’s still a big mistake, but a bigger mistake is not having a plan or written strategy. Many people have ideas about what they want in retirement, or how they want to handle their money, and they hear and read things and they let guesswork and emotion rule their decisions instead of having a specific spending plan and a budget and a realistic goal for their portfolio.
So my question for you is: Do you have a specific retirement plan? Do you know how much you need to live on during retirement? (In RIAW, Bill says most people assume they will need less; that’s a fallacy, because they actually need just as much or more.) Do you know what return you need to be able to maintain your lifestyle and not outlive your portfolio?
Next, not letting emotion rule your financial decisions (I’m guilty of that!)
Tags: baby boomers, Bill Losey, national retirement planning month, retirement planning
In recognition of National Retirement Planning Month in July, I interviewed
Q: Bill, you define retirement as “making work optional.” What does that mean?
Failing/losing my health – 19%
Keeping up with inflation – 16%
Paying too much in taxes – 14%
Stock market volatility – 10%
Tomorrow, I’ll have more on National Retirement Planning Month (including a cool offer from Bill - you can get a sneak preview by going to the website) and Bill’s answer to the next question: “What’s the single biggest mistake baby boomers make in planning their retirements?”
Tags: baby boomers, Bill Losey, national retirement planning month, retirement planning
My post yesterday about Boomers vs. Gen X’ers as shoppers got me to wondering about the differences between men and women as shoppers. So I did some research and I have some comments on how this research might affect your business:
Of course, not everyone follows the “model.” My husband tends to shop more like a woman, and he enjoys shopping, which has always surprised me. On the other hand, I shop more like a man; I’m not interested in wandering from store to store looking for just the right thing. I’d rather get in, buy what I want, and get out. I consider it a colossal waste of time, which is why I do most of my shopping online. I haven’t been to a mall in years.So what does all of this information (from research studies, by the way) do for you as a small business retailer? It depends on the kind of business you have, and what type of customers. Here are some thoughts/suggestions:
What other ways could your business benefit from considering the differences between men and women shoppers?
Tags: baby boomers, men and women, sex, shoppingI recently read an online article about a retailer who described what he saw as the difference between Baby Boomers and Generation X’ers (those born between 1965 and 1980; i.e., children of Boomers) as shoppers.
For those of you boomers who own retail businesses, the differences might be important.
Baby boomers, this retailer said, were more careful, more patient shoppers, and they were more concerned about what he described as “provenance” (where the thing came from).
Gen X’ers, on the other hand, were described as mostly concerned with getting it bought (the Cable Guy “giterdone” philosophy). I took that to mean they weren’t as careful as shoppers.
If you are a retailer, what has been your experience with Boomer shoppers vs. Gen X shoppers?
How would you market differently to a Boomer vs. a Gen X’er?
I have lots of stuff to talk about in July:
Thanks for stopping by. Join me in July for information and maybe a few surprises.
Tags: baby boomers, national retirement planning month, retirement planningI just found a website for an interesting company called VocationVacations®. The company sends you on a vacation to try out a vocation.
Have you ever wanted to be:
There are many more possibilities. The deal is that you go on vacation to try out a vacation. I’m guessing the value of the experience may vary, and you really can’t tell what it would be like to be, say, a chef, by just working a couple of days. But if you go with lots of questions to be answered, you pay attention, and you really concentrate on both the positives and the negatives, you could have a great experience and learn about a potential great next career.
Sounds great to me - I’m considering the PI thing. Maybe I could use the experience to write a mystery novel.
For more information, you might want to view this recent news story from FoxNews in Chicago.
Tags: baby boomers, retirement, vacations, VocationVacationsbusiness advice for boomers
Written by Jean Murray [email] for b5media.
Accounting Solver
Behind The Buzz
Biz Chicks Rule
Biz Levity
Boss Hatch
Brandcurve
Business & Blogging
Buzz Networker
Common Sense PR
Contract Worker
Copyblogger
Daily Blender
Digital Money World
Doing Biz Abroad
E-shop Owner
Everyday Networker
Franchise Pick
Greener Assets
Health Care Insiders
Home Biz Notes
Interview Chatter
Just Make Money Online
Leadership Turn
LifeDev
My Organized Biz
One Vote Matters
Pimp Your Work
Project Management 411
Property Crossroads
Second Life Pros
Slacker Manager
Small Business Boomers
Startup Spark
Successful Blog
Talk Stock Trading
Taxgirl
The 501(c) Files
The Golden Pencil
Viva el Negocio
Work Boxers
Yielding Wealth
Recent Comments