Just because some things cost a lot of money does not mean you can not buy it. By saving your small money each week it adds up to big money. When you buy the thing you want you feel like a genius. After you do that you feel proud of your self.

Money just takes time.

If your institutional investments dropped dramatically you may have been effected by sub-prime investments that you were not aware of. It is the responsibility of the board and the CEO to know exactly how their monies were invested and to know under what circumstances their advisor was authorized to invest in such securities with a nonprofits monies.

So ask for the detail and if you were wronged take action.  A number of institutions, governments and individuals have taken legal action against financial companies for mixing high risk securities into their moderate low risk investments.

Amid the 2008 financial melt down organizations and individuals have been further adversely effected with the traditional financial institutions. The yield on savings, money-market accounts, and certificate of deposits are dropping dramatically.

There are basically only two types of entities who are giving a better return;  Credit Unions and Small Banks.  It just goes to show you that local banking just might be a better way to bank and an avenue to building sound financial relationships.

Employees are feeling depressed, anxious, stressed, overwhelmed during this time of economic uncertainty. This in turn causes the employee to get sicker. Work with your health care provider to provide your employees with a voluntary health risk assessment. Health care workers most likely nurses staffing a 24/7 confidential help line can become the resource the employee needs with out any stigma. The focus is on prevention to lower the impact of these feelings on the social and economic effect due to absences and impairment. While there is an increase cost to providing the service, the fears of today make the investment worth it.

Supporting mental health needs in a neutral way benefits most employees and the employer.

What measure of return does a donor want or expect to receive with their donation?

What percent of success does the donor expect?

What is a passing grade for a program to be considered successful?

Depending on the service or population there are results on many programs throughout the country. A passing grade ranges from 60%-100%.

If the donor invested the money they would expect a minimum return of a government bond around 5%. If the donor invested in their retirement future, a return of 8%-15% would more likely be expected.

Therefore, can the organization provide a report to the donors as to what outcome the organization achieved with their donation?

The time of accepting donations and not reporting back is closing. Organizations need to be able to report outcomes.

Is it true that the Gates Foundation’s dominance in malaria research will stifle the diversity of views of many scientists? There has been written objection that the newly created Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington will mirror the core tasks of the World Health organization.

I agree with the mirroring of the tasks but with one exception. The pressure of members’ countries will not influence it. It is an independent Institute free from a country’s financial control.

Control and influence is dependent upon the amount of outside financing.

The Gates Foundation’s 105 million grant very much allows for the setting of the standard without the politics.

Of the billions of dollars that are placed in the retirement accounts of federal employees and in social security, the government should commit 50% TO EDUCATIONAL LOANS.

There should be no financial institution or college involved in the selection of the loan.  Payments should be issued to qualified schools directly.

The IRS collects taxes; the Social Security Administration issues retirement checks; the INS processes passport and citizen requests; and Federal Stafford loans help pay for college.  These are all examples of large volume transactions exceeding hundreds of thousands of dollars.  This provides the proof of the capacity of the federal government to run a student loan system.  There will be no enticements to use any particular service, no revenue sharing, and everyone qualifies who is an US citizen. The mission should be to have the best rates for students in need of loans for education.  The US government could provide a loan forgiveness incentive for students to go into needy fields of study and/or to serve in geographic locations where there are shortages of credentialed people.  The US government can add a loan forgiveness program as well as blend in the other training programs already supported by the government.  One government agency to be the center of supporting higher education for all individuals who seek to learn and improve the likelihood of advancements in quality of life and economic impact.

Rates should be tied to the treasury bonds as fixed in order to have similar expectation of return.  These education loans will then create a return for social security and the retirement funds not dependent fully on future taxes or revenues.  If the success of the program provides adequate return it may be possible to increase the amount made for loans to more than 50%.  However, the federal budget has to stop using the social security money for other purposes.  The money will only run out because it is not getting a return, it is being used for the current base federal budget.

Let’s get serious about higher education and invest in our future.

Individuals in the financial markets are trying to blame the inaccuracy of credit scores as the reason for the losses incurred by the financial industry. They need a scapegoat!!!

Credit scores do not take into consideration when credit companies change their rules. For instance American Express allows many customers to carry balances, but can discontinue said benefit without notice.

Credit scores do not take into consideration interest rates increases.

Credit scores do not take into consideration medical bills

Credit scores do not take into consideration the increase in fuel costs.

Credit scores do not take into consideration a car accident and that insurance does not pay for its replacement.

Credit scores do not take into consideration health premiums increasing.

Credit scores do not take into consideration the cost of childcare.

Credit Scores do not take into consideration being laid off.

Credit scores do not take into consideration the costs of having another child.

A Credit score is a picture of the past.Financial verification of income and certain expenses of today is their choice.The financial entity decides if the risk is worth it, not the score.

The financial meltdown of the credit market has presented a picture that is disturbing. It looks like the industry was bent on squeezing every dime from individuals and passing the risk to another. Fairest and honesty seems to be missing from the investment instrument. The lacking elements of risk has many features of being fraudulent. The fiscal mess will take awhile to resolve itself.

The nonprofit community has an opportunity to take advantage of the mess to replace some of these inappropriate ways of financing for their employees and community. Most nonprofits are use to being transparent. The involvement of nonprofits in stabilizing the financial markets with Micro lending as well as sponsoring the creation of jobs and housing will go a long way. Invest in the future of your employees and community.

Immigrants depend on their network of trust for advice.All of us are programmed to work towards the American Dream of owning our own home. The government is supposed to protect everyone from predatory practices, illegal practices and outright fraud. They just do not have the staff to adequately police the billions involved.

The government has been trying to create a resolution to support the investment field from collapsing. The end result was not supporting people from losing their homes. It did not attack the issue that home prices were inflated, interest rates calculated to be misleading and considered predatory when the entire math was done.

There has been little discussion about taking legal action against the originators of the loans. Investors of the securities like any shareholder should sue the creator of the loan for providing loan securities that were not worth the house value. In turn, the homeowner should have loans at reasonable rate for what the house is worth minus what they have already paid.

When rules are broken or an individual is abused, it is the government’s duty to protect its citizens in the future and provide its citizens recourse to correct the harm done to them.

Regardless of what ones opinion of how an individual got into the situation of a predatory loan, billions were made on the backs of these individuals. It is why the investment industry called it Sub prime. The investment community created the mess and now needs to deal with the consequences of inappropriate practices. The practice of reselling loans into securities and not taking possession of the property is a secret that must be address. The beneficiary should be the homeowner and/or your organization.

To the degree an organizations can step up and buy housing today under foreclosure and short sales is a good opportunity. Create affordable housing at a level where a living wage can afford it. The investor is not interested in becoming a landlord. Offer a price you can afford and use for staff under a living wage. Submit bids for as many deals as you can afford and wait. A firm known deal is better than no deal. Remember in foreclosure and short sales the investor or bank is trying to walk away with the lowest cash loss possible and will write off the amount they cannot recover on their taxes. So are they really losing? Do not feel sorry for them when negotiating. Play hard and protect your interest in affordable housing for your employees and the community.

Winter is the time across the country when many cities and towns count their homeless populations. The increase in homelessness in most areas has predominately been families.

Across the country record a record number of homes are boarded up and no longer used for housing.  The number increasing each day due to foreclosure.

Government and nonprofits are using shelters and motels for temporary housing the families and individuals.  These organizations spend million of dollars monthly for  putting people under a roof, usually in mass. These situations do not create permanecy and stability for families.

There are thousands of properties abandoned by its owner, including institutions. The foreclosures occurring over the past year and continuing into the new year bring even more abandoned properties.

Government has the tools to create permanent housing options: seize the abandon properties under eminent domain, issue summons for code violations, issue fines, place liens on properties and ultimately seize property for payment of liens.  Affordable housing has been at a crisis point and government needs to take a hard stand.  The use of local government powers and the courts can make a difference.

The for-profit sector creation of affordable housing is a joke when the definition of affordable housing does not allow  a person with a living wage to afford to own.

Create permanent affordable housing  by creating cooperatives.   Government should gain control of the properties and land; work with nonprofits and the faith base community to fix the properties and then place families and individuals into  permanent housing that can be supported by a living wage.