Forget the Political Parties. Know the State of the Economy

People have began again to look for work. The participation rate has recent risen to 62.9%. However, The Labor Department’s unemployment rate of 4.4% does not tell the true story. 

A huge number of people have simply dropped out of the job market and are not counted.

Great Recession of 2008
The depth and severity of the Great Recession after the 2008 financial crisis pushed millions of Americans to the sidelines and discouraged them from looking for work and none of President Obama’s policies helped. In fact, it made the situation worse.

The type of jobs available has been part-time jobs-- less than 30 hours per week due to Obamacare. This reflected a provision in the law that defined “full- time employees” as those working 30 hours or more. 

Destructive Obamacare Mandate
Under Obamacare’s employer mandate, companies with 50 or more “full-time” employees will be required to offer health insurance to their workers or pay a penalty if at least one of their employees purchases a plan through the healthcare marketplace with a federal subsidy. 

Obamacare raised the cost of hiring along with the minimum wage controversy. Moreover, the average working person hasn’t had a raise in the last 15 years.

The national deficit now stands at $603 billion, but is predicted to go down to $440 billion this next fiscal year.  The national debt doubled over the eight years of the Obama administration to now close to $20 trillion. This was more debt accumulated, in those eight years, than all the previous 43 presidents combined. This was total recklessness on the part of Obama. Fortunately, this increase of the national debt is now slowing down.

The economy has now experienced a growth of 3.0% this past quarter.

Eliminate Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
There is no new money available for programs, social or otherwise, unless unspent funds are found in the budget or waste, fraud, and abuse are eliminated and the funds redirected. 

However, with the elimination of waste, fraud, ,and abuse in the government’s agencies, no truly beneficial programs need to be cut.

All federal employment should be frozen and any cost-of-living increases should be pegged to the inflation rate. The pensions should be equalized rather than income. All employees should be either on Social Security or on a 401k plan.

Rationally Choose Your Candidates
By knowing the state of the economy, you can rationally choose the candidates with the best policies to address these issues and not get hung up on party labels, or the race or sex of the candidate. And, most of all hold them accountable. 

Our country is teetering on the brink of self destruction. President Trump is now in office. Now regularly contact your Representatives and Senators and let them know how you want them to vote. 

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3 Things You Should Know About Eating More Fruits, Vegetables, and Legumes.

Consuming more fruits, vegetables, and good sources of fiber, including all types of nuts  and reducing or even eliminating all flesh foods completely is the best action you can take to assure yourself an long and healthy life.

Last year, I went to a birthday party for a 90 year old acquaintance who has a "girl" friend 20 years younger. He's happy and she's happy. He's been a vegetarian for over 40 years. I've been a vegetarian for over 50 years.

Consider the following: 

1. More than 90% of all Americans do not eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Eating more vegetables everyday as a part of a healthy diet may lower your chances of getting cancer, heart disease, stroke, in other diseases.

2. Current recommendations for healthy adults are to get 20 to 30 grams of fiber a day through dietary food sources. However, Americans on the average just get about 10 to 30 grams a day.

The following food items are good sources of fiber: beans, all types of berries, whole grain cereals and breads, sweet potatoes, peas, and nuts. There are many health benefits to eating enough fiber including lowering blood cholesterol levels and assisting with digestive disorders.

3. Reducing the amount of saturated fat such fat found in meat, high-fat dairy products, and in some processed foods should coincide with the increase in the amount of fiber in your diet. You should limit your intake of saturated fats to 10% or less of your daily fat calories.

The reduction of saturated fats help prevent many chronic diseases, such as heart disease or stroke; it helps prevent clogging of the arteries; it helps with weight control and management; and it helps to lower cholesterol levels. Healthier fat sources include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated sources of fats such as olive oil, canola all, nuts, and other vegetable oils.

Above all making these changes in your diet will help you to realize a longer and healthier life span. 

What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below.

What You Need to Know for Successful Work Life Balance

An independent consultant, freelancer, or just one who is self-employed  can be best defined as one who chooses not to be an employee; 

one who is willing to depend upon his or her own talents, abilities, and expertise for continued existence; one who is a risk taker - knowing that there is no weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly pay checks; 

one who may seem to be a little crazy and weird to his peers, but one is willing to try to make a difference in the world.

The Life of the Self-Employed
The life of a self-employed means that in working for yourself, you have to organize your own day. I organize my day around set blocks of time and types of task . Your choice of several calendar applications allows you to to this. 

I personally use Google Calendar which has proved to be great in helping me to do so. For example, you may break your day down into one hour segments or thirty minute segments depending on the type of task and how much time may be needed to complete that type of work.

Some of your tasks might require more time to be spent on the phone. Consequently, you may allow an hour for phone calls and follow-up to phone calls, while you may allow just thirty minutes for reviewing reports, and an hour for billing. 

The day and times allocated to each type of task may vary depending upon the type of work that you're doing. 

Know What Adjustments You Need to Make
Some type of task may be required each day, while some might just be required just once a week. The main thing is that over time it become clear as to how much time you need to allocate to the specific type of task week and what adjustment you need to make

A typical day of a self-employed person includes:

 a. making phone calls,
 b. checking e-mails,
 c.  keeping appointments,
 d. reviewing reports,
 c. writing reports,
 d. billing clients,
 e. going to meetings,
 f. and writing letters.

And, of course, until you become well established, you have to consistently obtain work which includes prospecting, asking for referrals, dealing with no answers, and marketing. Getting paid for your work includes billing, following up on billings, and negotiating rates.

Find the Work Life Balance
Finding the work-life balance can be a challenge. Being  self-employed means a willingness to accept extended periods of working alone while balancing that need with time to have fun and to enjoy your relationships. 

That means dealing with the challenge of finding those times and making those times meaningful.

Over time you want to develop the reputation as one who puts the client first; one who is willing to take the extra step; one who is sincerely committed to the idea of adding value to what you do; and one who is willing to make a commitment to becoming an expert in your chosen field.

Are you willing to make the commitment? Leave Your comments below.