Free IT Skills Training from Microsoft

Periodically Mr. ToughMoneyLove has to step back and give credit where it is due. 

This week I learned about a new initiative that Microsoft has launched to provide free IT skills training (basic and advanced) to individuals looking to change or advance their careers.  Called “Microsoft Elevate America,” Microsoft will work with the states to design offer training programs on an individual basis using one million training vouchers.  The free training will include some of Microsoft’s IT certification programs. Read more

Attack of the Federal Budget Monster

I spent a little time poking around the fiscal year 2010 budget document released today by the White House.  I had to stop after a short while because what I was finding was making me ill.  So I will limit myself here to a few highlights lowlights that I found.  

The good part of the President’s budget is that it basically aims to solve every problem that mankind has experienced since the beginning of time.  (OK, it doesn’t try to solve every problem.  It excludes all of those problems caused by the government itself.)

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My Life as a Volunteer Tax Preparer – Week 4

I am back with another installment in the education of Mr. ToughMoneyLove in the world of people and their money.  Yesterday was my fourth session as a volunteer at the AARP Tax-Aide office, preparing income tax returns for mostly older, lower income adults.

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Want to Buy Happiness? Do Something.

Psychologists are fascinated – and rightly so – with discovering what aspects of our lives are likely to bring us happiness.  That fascination includes studying and measuring how spending money in different ways can influence our happiness both positively and negatively.

I think that we should pay attention to this research.  Anytime we can understand our own behavior when it comes to spending, we improve the odds that we will spend our discretionary income in ways that are less wasteful.  Considering all of the credit-partying we have been doing as a society over the past 10-15 years, maybe we all need a crash course in learning why we did it and how it failed us.   Read more

Washington Now Creating Economic Fantasies

The Obama economic team is so desperate to implement its rescue agenda that it is relying on fantasy and myth about our economy and about the laws limiting its authority. Read more

Can We Have an Economy without Losers?

I’m getting the feeling that our government is trying to design an economy in which nobody loses.  Is it possible to have an economy without losers? I don’t think so.  

Despite President Obama’s attempts to transform what was a national credit party into a government rescue party, every economy has its share of losers.  Ours can be no different.  The government can intervene but by doing so, it will either make matters worse or at best shift the losses from one group to the next.  Unfortunately, it seems that the Obama economic and political teams have decided to rescue almost every economic loser they can identify, with little regard for reality and the long term consequences. Read more

Homeowner Mortgage Rescue Plan: Unanswered Questions

Lots of people are upset about the $75 billion that President (“watch me sink the markets”) Obama wants to  transfer from responsible homeowners and taxpayers to “at-risk” homeowners.

I haven’t yet solidified all of my feelings about it, but they are mostly negative.  My thoughts range from “what did you expect” to “mildly annoyed” to “let’s put signs up in the yards of everyone who is bailed out.”  Where my feelings end up will depend in large part on the answers to these questions:

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Catching My Breath and Hoping for Better Economic News

It’s been a busy week for our government economic planners but nothing that they have announced has instilled confidence in the markets.  Just the opposite seems to be true.

I have had a busy economic week as well, posting my thoughts here and at Go To Retirement,  I have also continued doing my bit as a volunteer tax returner.  This weekend I am hoping to catch up on some other parts of my life and try not to think about all of the bad economic news.

I wanted to mention a couple of things of possible interest. Read more

Tracking Our Economic Recovery

Last week I wrote about my reactions to the President’s first press conference and particularly his comments about the stimulus plan.  You may recall that one of the reporters asked the President how we would know if and when the plan was working, i.e., what metrics should we be monitoring to make that determination?  The President kept repeating “create or save” 4 million jobs.

I’ve since learned that the White House has created a special website (Recovery.gov) that is specifically directed at promoting and tracking the progress of the stimulus plan.  Read more

My Life as a Volunteer Tax Preparer – Week 3

  Today was my third weekly session as a volunteer tax preparer.  I met more interesting people with yet more interesting hard truth stories involving the intersections of their money with their lives.  That being the case, I thought I would continue to share them with you.

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