What Does the Facebook IPO Mean?

Facebook’s imminent presence in the stock market is one of the biggest news items of the week, and will likely be one of the most talked about changes of the year.  Once Facebook goes public, it will top the charts of the world’s largest public companies, up there with Bank of America, McDonalds, Visa, and Amazon.com.

Once it goes on sale on Wednesday, Facebook will make around ten billion dollars, valuing the business somewhere between seventy-five and one hundred billion dollars.  To put this in perspective, consider Google’s public launch in 2004.  At that time, Google made a little over one and a half billion dollars.  Today, Google is getting closer and closer to a worth of two hundred billion dollars.

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Insuring Your Small Business Against Workers Compensation Claims

job hazards can be a big problem for small businessWorker’s compensation insurance policies can vary greatly from state to state. How do you know whether or not you have the right coverage? What kind of coverage does your state require, or even provide? Why is worker’s compensation even necessary?

Some employers view workers comp insurance as a kind of necessary evil. However, it primarily protects the employee in case of an on-the-job accident or injury, and it protects the employer from violating state regulations. Small businesses can face heavy fines (again, based on the state you do business in) and they will have to pay large out of pocket expenses to the injured worker, if they neglect to get the necessary insurance. Worker’s compensation insurance is designed to provide for medical expenses, death benefits, loss of wages, and potentially vocational rehabilitation in event of a workplace injury.

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Shop Around Online For the Best Insurance Quotes

in person negotiations can be stressfulSmart shoppers know that the best way to get the best deal is to compare.  It’s the law of capitalism, after all.  You want to ensure that you get the best deal that you can from all of the companies competing for your insurance business. However, things can get a little tricky in terms of these comparisons, now that the Internet is starting to offer ‘online quotes’ and the options of comparing rates online, using a service like www.whitefence.com.  What is the best option for a potential insurance buyer: going through insurance agents, or going through the Internet?

There are some benefits to be gained from shopping for insurance directly through the insurance brokers.  For instance, the personal attention that you receive from the broker is very helpful.  You can make the specifications that you want and need, and the broker can apply these needs to a very specific policy.  You are more effectively able to get individual attention, and to tailor your policy in the way you want.

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To Roll-Over or Not with Your 401K

If you are nearing the point of retirement, and making some decisions regarding that 401K you have worked so hard at building up, you are not alone. Perhaps you are considering the “roll-over“ option, in which you roll your 401K money into another retirement savings account. In order to make a wise decision regarding whether to roll over your 401K funds into another account, you need to keep in mind some key issues.

Since this is a big decision, you want to make sure that you evaluate all of your options carefully. With the economy in its current state, you want to make sure that you have some money left in that hard-earned 401K account. But then again, with the economy the way it is, you might be hesitant to leave your money in that account any more!

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Varieties of Life Insurance

When you are shopping around for life insurance, you might notice just how many options seem to be out there.  What is term life insurance, and how is it different from whole life insurance?  What about this thing called universal life insurance?

Hopefully, this article will shed some light on these questions.  These three main types of life insurance (term life insurance, whole life insurance, and universal life insurance) have subtle, but important, differences.  Know these differences before you start shopping for your own life insurance to make sure that you choose the best option for you.

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Life Insurance Won’t Earn Big Returns

We are working with a bunch of hypotheses here, the first being the hypothesis that you have a rate of return that will grow.  With mutual funds, which are the typical investments for variable life insurance, the increase is contingent upon the performance of that particular area of the market.

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Financial Failure is NOT an Option!

There’s an old story about a prince who sailed with his warriors, to a distant shore to fight a battle against a neighboring country. When he unloaded his equipment and crew, the prince realized that he was hugely outnumbered. In the face of certain defeat, he set ablaze all of his ships, thus cutting off every avenue of retreat. His men were horrified. The prince explained to his men, “There is no going home without victory! Today we win, or we perish!” The end of the story is that every man fought with more courage and strength than they ever had, and they won the battle against insurmountable odds.

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