Money

The Perfect Airport Experience?

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I know this article is from almost a year ago, but the ideas are still valid. It is a Harvard Business Review article called: “Is Kindness a Strategy?” It is about how an American Airlines employee treated a customer (Frank) with kindness (read the article for his full story). The employee decided to help Frank, who was late for his flight. She made an extra effort to get him through security and onto his flight at the last-minute.

Ah, do you dream of that happening to you? Have you not wanted to go to the airport, have someone take your car and park it for you? You then go to security and get moved to the front of the line, walk to the gate and walk right on the plane, immediately they shut the doors and the plane takes off. There are no delays on the runway, and you are in the air and land on time. The plane goes immediately to your gate, you are at the front of the plane so you get off first, and someone has a car waiting for you when you get outside the airport. Is it a dream? Is it your reality? There are some that might valet their car, go through the First Class line in security, and go right on to the plane, but it is not the reality for most of us that fly the friendly skies.

I wish this could be the experience of all of us when we travel. Even though it is not, it does make me think about what is possible. Travel companies could definitely be more creative to find ways to WOW their customers. Which makes me think back to the title of the article: “Is Kindness a Strategy?” Maybe it should be. I agree with the author, American will now be Frank’s favorite airline. It would be mine, if I had Frank’s experience. What can travel companies do to make us more loyal? Surprise us. Give the upgrade when there are seats in First Class. Give a free rental car because they can tell we have had a rough day. Empower their employees to have more flexibility to make these types of decisions.

It may make a world of difference to their customers.

 

Random Olio Snippets: 2

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Amber Alert – There was an Amber Alert in Portland this week. The good news is the child was found within a few hours. While doing some research to learn what happened, I learned a few things. There is a new national initiative for alerting folks about Amber Alerts. I also admit that I did not know that “Amber Alert” was named after a girl named Amber that was abducted. I had always thought it was just an acronym, which it also is: America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. There are times when I am in awe of technology. This is one of those times. Read on:

“Unlike Wireless AMBER Alerts, the WEA AMBER Alerts use the latest technology to send messages to wireless customers with WEA-capable devices in the area where a child has been abducted, even if the wireless customer isn’t from the area. For example, if a Chicago resident was visiting Boston and a WEA AMBER Alert was issued in Boston, the subscriber would receive the alert. At the same time, if an alert was issued in Chicago, the subscriber would not receive it while in Boston.”

Lawmakers salaries go into escrow if they miss the April 15 deadline – This article from CNN Money explains what is happening with the debt ceiling. The gist of it is that the House will be voting on a bill regarding whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. If they vote to raise it, that means the government can continue to borrow money against the $16 trillion dollars that the country already has in debt. The fun part? If lawmakers do not agree to a budget resolution by April 15: “Their salaries would be held in escrow and paid out at some point later.” Fun. I wonder how much they will make in interest! In any case, it is a novel idea to get different sides to work together and come to a resolution or their pay will be frozen. Sort of like having your allowance held until you can stop bickering with your sister. Sound familiar?

Eating Ourselves to Death – I want to see this episode of Our America on OWN. The episode is called: “Generation XXL” and airs January 29, at 10/9 pm Central time. I am passionate about health for youth. Growing up I did not have access to excellent, flavorful health foods. I hated vegetables. You could not pay me to eat them. I was active as a kid, but not as much as I could have been if I had encouragement from my family, especially my parents. Obesity, especially with children, needs our attention. If you have a chance to watch this episode, let me know what you think. I will be setting the DVR.

NFC Tags – I am fascinated by these NFC tags. I had never heard of them before I read this Fast Company article. Have you heard of them? If not click the link to read the article. I cannot even begin to try to explain. Just to give you a bit of interest:

“An NFC tag placed at your desk can tell your phone to open Evernote, tether your phone’s 4G to your laptop, mute your ringer, and remind you in 30 minutes to get off Twitter. But the issue both companies have discovered with tags is that they’re, ultimately, too capable.”

That is it for my Random Snippets from this week. Happy Friday!

Less money in your paycheck?

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Unless you make buttloads of cash, you might have been scratching your head and wondering why your paycheck was considerably smaller this week. I am not complaining, as it is what it is. Politics aside we could be in a worse situation where we are out of even more money. Let’s face it, our country is in major debt and that is not going away anytime soon.

In case you do not know the specifics, the Social Security payroll tax rate is currently 12.4%. Employers pay 6.2%, and for the past two years employees have paid a reduced rate of 4.2%. With the recent fiscal cliff changes, that reduction will now go back to the normal 6.2% which means that employees will now pay 2% more Social Security tax (as we did in 2010). This is also true for those who are self-employed (if you make more than $433). According to Kiplinger: “Originally a one-year break, the holiday was extended at the last minute to cover 2012. Extending it again to cover 2013 would have cost about $100 billion…”

As an example: if you make $50,000 a year, you will now take home $1000 less a year, or about $38 a paycheck (about $80 less a month). If you are a dual income family, the amount is much higher of what will be lost in your take home pay.

A question: If I am paying more tax now in 2013, does that mean I will have a higher refund in 2014 due to paying more taxes now? The answer: Yes. Depending on your allowances. Since I am not the expert, here is Kiplinger’s answer: “By eliminating overwithholding of income tax, the average taxpayer who normally gets a refund can both defeat the paycheck-shrinking impact of higher payroll taxes and add a couple thousand dollars to 2013 take-home pay. (Yes, you’ll be giving up a fat refund in 2014, but wouldn’t you rather get your money when you earn it?)” Complete answer, full article, and their calculators.

What I find odd is that the Social Security website has not been updated with the 2013 rates and details. Kind of sad considering my company was able to make changes in their system to ensure that the Federal government received the extra 2% out of the first paychecks of the 2013 calendar year. Yet, the government still has not updated their website about the changes. Seriously?

Another interesting fact I found: “…many workers do not know that any annual wages above $106,800 are not taxed by Social Security. In other words, a worker who makes twice the Social Security wage cap – $213,600 per year – pays Social Security tax on only half of his or her earnings, and one who makes just over a million dollars per year pays the tax on only about a tenth.”

In case you are wondering: These are the 13 tax changes going into effect in 2013.

A 7 Year Car Loan?

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I saw this recent article about how having a car loan for 7 years. I like the poll at the end of the article: “Would you pay $1,600 more over a seven-year period to get a 50% lower monthly payment now?” The chart shows that for a 3 year loan you would pay $588 a month, and for a 7 year loan it would be $271 a month. The seven-year loan means that you are only paying an additional $1600 in interest. I am never one to pay interest if I do not have to, but it is nice to know that you could have a more affordable payment for a longer term.

The question that they bring up at the end, which I think is also worth thinking about, is if you wanted to sell your car in 5 years, and had a 7 year loan, then likely you will owe more than the car is worth. That is definitely something to think about and research. I like that it is possible in their more financial tight times. Having said that, I like it with one caveat. If the car you are purchasing is to ritzy and expensive that you have to go for the 7 year loan. To me then it is not worth it. If you are stretching yourself for the visibility of a luxury car, then you should buy a less expensive car.

I guess it depends on how you choose to spend your money, your interest rate, how long you drive your car (in years), how long you drive your car each day, and your thoughts on putting your income into your car. Suze Orman would tell you to get rid of the car payment completely. She would likely say if you are making less on the money you are putting away (separate from 401ks, 403bs, and IRAs) than you are paying for a car loan, then pay off your car loan. If you can make more on the money you invest than the car loan interest rate, then keep your car loan. Look to where you make more for your money.

What do you think?

Separate Finances? Shared Finances?

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I was inspired by this article: “Separate Money Sane Marriage,” and it leads me to ask a question for those of you that might read this blog post. Separate finances vs. Shared finances? What are the pros and cons? I have resisted from doing a google search for everything the experts say. Partly because I think that the experts will be on both sides, and honestly I think that it is different for each couple or partnership. What works for one might not work for another.

I lean on the side of shared finances. I say that because it has worked for us. Maybe it is because of our communication style to talk about everything, including our finances. Maybe it is because when we got married we were broke, in debt, and we worked together to get out of debt, pay off credit cards, and student loans. It evolved into the idea for every facet of our lives: “What is yours is mine, what is mine is yours.” There are ebbs and flows when things we decide for Chris are more expensive or vice versa. That is part of marriage, part of life.

I can respect those that keep their finances separate, but I want to understand more about why. I know for some they might get married when they are older, and just prefer to continue to live their financial life as they have throughout the years. Why do others make that choice? What are the pros and cons?

I am curious to hear what you think! Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts.