Lawmakers in the US are considering a new bill called America Saving for Personal Investment, Retirement, and Education (ASPIRE Act).  This act will provide every newborn baby in the US with a $500 savings account.  The idea of this proposed bill would be to increase personal saving by Americans.  The money could be used for education expenses, buying a home, or saving for retirement once the child turns 18 years old.

I do not know much about this new proposal so far, but at a glance, I think it is potentially a good idea.  If only I had $500 in the bank when I was born and it was put in a high yield interest account.  It would be worth quite a bit right now with all that compounding.

Still, I would like to hear more about what this bill would entail in terms of taxes, restrictions, and other details.  I wonder if you would get taxed when you take the money out of the account and if there are any specific restrictions on what you could use the money for.

What do you think of this proposal? Would giving every newborn be a good idea for our government?

I am a big fan of generating more sources of income.  In particular, I really like the idea of earning passive income.  The passive income concept involves working to set something up that will continue to generate income in the future with little to no effort in the future.  Of course you would need to work hard in the beginning.  Examples of this would be if you purchased a real estate investment property in cash and had a management company maintain the property for you while you leased it out.  The income from the investment property could be considered passive income since you do not need to do too much work to continue receiving the monthly rent from your tenants.

A number of bloggers have started to write for eHow.com to generate modest passive income.  If you have never heard of eHow, it is a website in which people write “how to’s” about almost any subject.  If you wanted to know how to do something, you could google it, and it is likely that an eHow article about the subject would rank on the first page of the search.  eHow pays you for articles that are particular helpful to readers.  If your article is visited often, you will receive more money.  Although the payment is quite modest, if you have many articles that get a lot of hits, you could generate some significant income.

I want to do a little experiment.  My goal is to end up with over 1000 eHow articles and then to not write one again.  Hopefully, I can continue to earn income as people read my articles and I can enjoy a few extra dollars each month.  I am going to start writing articles tonight and will update you all on how this goes. It will probably take me a couple month’s to ge to 1000 articles, but I am hoping this will pay off in the long run.

I have a new side job.  I mentioned before that I love to play tennis and that I was interested in a tennis side job as a way to make more money. Well, this new side job is not quite playing for a tennis club one day a week – rather it is a coaching position.

I used to play for a my college club tennis team.  Actually, at the time, we were not affiliated with my university because we were not an official club.  However, the students I used to play with have finally made the club official with the administration and they are in their first year.  They asked me to be the head coach of the team and I agreed.  Although the position is not paid this year, this is good for me for a few reasons.  I get to play tennis more often with people who are close to my level.  Additionally, I am also allowed to use the university athletic facility at any time for free.  Finally, the position is not paid because it is the club tennis team’s first year and they do not have a budget until next year.  However, if I remain the coach for next year, the position could be paid.  Essentially, I am laying the foundation for another source of income, while doing something that I really love.

Have any of you had a chance to do something like this?

Football season started recently, which has really made me happy! Oh how I’ve missed my football.

If you have been following football, you have probably heard of a guy named Michael Crabtree.  For those of you who have not been following his situation, he is a rookie wide receiver who was the 10th player drafted in the first round of this year’s draft.  Apparently, he is a diva and thinks very highly of himself.  As he considers himself a much better player than many of the first round picks, he wants a higher salary than those players.  He was drafted by teh 49ers and has been holding out and refusing to play until his contract is settled.  He was offered $20 million with $16 million guaranteed for a five year contract.  Crabtree, through his agent, has threatened to hold out for the season and re-enter the next draft.

I am interested to see how this will play out.  First of all, I think Crabtree is a little “crabby” (hehe I know, I’m corny) and also needs to get over himself.  He has a great offer with a $20 million contract and he should consider taking it.  I’ve written about negotations before and completely fail to see Crabtree’s leverage/power in this negotiation.  Sure, he is a good player and was a first round pick, but it seems like his ego is going to hold him back.  It appears like the 49ers could offer him more money, but not as much as the other first round picks and this offer doesn’t seem like it is going to fly with him.

If I were him, I’d ask for more, but if the organization came back and said now, I’d take the offer or at least try to make a contingent offer.  For example, add another piece of compensation for my performance (ie. if I score ___ touchdowns or have ___ receiving yards, I get ___ dollars in bonus).  Right now, he is a rookie with no proven experience.  He hasn’t even played one down in the NFL, which is on a whole different level than college football.  Furthermore, by holding out for this long, it shows his attitude and his inability to cooperate with the team.  This makes him less attractive as a player.  There are also plenty of talented receivers who will enter the draft next year.  If he were to wait and re-enter the draft, it is likely that he would be selected later and probably take a pay cut.  Plus, the 49ers don’t need him.  It appears like their offense is going to be more focused on running the ball.  All in all, Crabtree should suck it up and take the contract.  His alternatives really don’t look so great.

Two days ago, I went back to my alma mater to represent my company at the career fair.  Now that I am on the other side of the table, I can see all the things I had done wrong, the things I had done right, and the little things that I wish I had thought about.  Here is some advice for anyone who is at a career fair:

1. Do your homework – Career fairs are short and they tend to fly by.  You only have a few hours to go to every company that you are interested.  The night before, review the list of companies that will be attending and do some research about each one.  This will save you time so when you get to the career fair, all you have to do is look at the map and see where each company’s table is located.  Start with the companies that you don’t care as much about and end with the ones in which you are most interested.

2. Have questions – I was impressed with students who approached me with questions showing that they already researched the company.  The most awkward and annoying thing is when a job candidate comes up to you, introduces himself or herself, and then stand there (as if I am supposed to start the conversation).  Ultimately, you are the one looking for a job – show that you are interested with a set of questions.

3. Dress to Impress – Dress as if you are attending the interview.  The recruiter’s first impression of you in critical.  They will probably form an opinion of you within the first 10 seconds of talking to you.  Make sure your attire is appropriate.

4. Practice your handshake – I experienced some awful handshakes.  Some people had sweaty palms, shook too vigorously or did the princess shake (wrist bent, fingers pointed down, and no grip).  Those shakes did not give me a good first impression.  Give a firm shake and look the other person in the eyes as you introduce yourself.

5. Approach the table with confidence and without hesitation - This is something I didn’t know as a student.  I used to walk around looking for a table to approach and sometimes walk past a table before coming back to introduce myself.  The people at the tables see you do this.  It shows that you are not sure if you want to talk to that company and are unsure of yourself.  Know where the companies you want to talk to are located and go straight to them.

6. Always ask for a business card – Always ask for a business card and remember what you talked about.  Take the business card and jot down notes about what you talked about so you can email the recruiter/employee later to follow up.  You should mention something you talked about so that they will remember you.  Also, try to leave your resume or sign up on any sign-in sheet to show that you had visited the table.

Any other tips you would give to people attending a career fair?