e-lifeandwork: Learn New Skills Online | Online Courses & Real-World

The easiest way to solve tough problems is also the one we usually think of last. Imagine you're facing a problem at work--maybe your big presentation isn't quite working, your new design lacks something, or your hiring strategy needs a tune-up. How do you proceed with solving the problem? Ask a dozen different people for advice and you may get a dozen different suggestions. From a new recruiting strategy to an additional slide to a new product feature, everyone will have something to add, but you know what no one is likely to suggest? Taking something away from how you currently do things. According to a much buzzed-about new study recently published in Nature, humans have a pervasive bias to add things on when searching for solutions--and that's causing us to miss out on a whole lot of great ideas. Human brains love to add, forget to subtract. There's already a huge number of known biases that mess up our decision making, but as Diana Kwon recently reporte...

Some 117 million Americans — age 50 and up — are arriving in the promised land of post-pandemic spending. It's scary. It's exciting. It's confusing. And, yes, it's different than the world they left. Are the actions that used to be OK pre-pandemic — in terms of spending and saving — still OK? What has changed in the world of personal finance over the past 14 months, since the pandemic got its terrible grip on the nation? If you're an older American, are there specific actions you should be taking right now even as the pandemic clouds start to fade? For some workers in their 50s and 60s who kept their jobs, saving money wasn't necessarily so difficult during the pandemic. For them, basic pleasures like traveling and eating out became no-no's — and many also received hearty financial bumps from stimulus payments — so saving was easier. For others, particularly those who lost their jobs or whose businesses or incomes took a hit, it remains a serious str...

The cash flow statement and the income statement are integral parts of a corporate balance sheet. The cash flow statement or statement of cash flows measures the sources of a company's cash and its uses of cash over a specific period of time. The income statement measures a company's financial performance, such as revenues, expenses, profits, or losses over a specific period of time. This financial document is sometimes called a statement of financial performance. An income statement shows whether a company made a profit, and a cash flow statement shows whether a company generated cash. Key Takeaways +The cash flow statement and the income statement, along with the balance sheet, are the three main financial statements. The cash flow statement and income statement integrate with the corporate balance sheet. +The cash flow statement is linked to the income statement by net profit or net loss, which is usually the first line item of a cash flow statement, used to ca...

As the pandemic slowly begins to wind down, economists are taking the pulse of small business. Their performance is critical to the overall U.S. economy, with small businesses employing nearly half of the workforce, creating two-thirds of net new jobs and accounting for 44 percent of economic activity. A survey by Clutch identified the four greatest financial challenges they faced in 2020: +Revenue. Thirty-one percent said their main financial challenge was a decline in revenue. Forty-five percent of businesses with up to 10 employees experienced reduced revenue. +Surprise expenses. Unforeseen business expenses were the main challenge for 11 percent of small businesses. +Financial expertise. One in 10 said their biggest challenge was lacking the expertise or experience necessary to manage business finances. +Assets. A lack of capital was the biggest challenge for 8 percent of small businesses. In a separate survey, Huckleberry, a small-business insurance provider, looked...

Islamic finance is available to non-Muslim business owners providing their businesses promote social good What is Islamic finance? Islamic finance is a means of funding or banking money in a way that respects the principles of Sharia law, guided by Islamic economics. In Arabic, Sharia means the clear, well-trodden path to water. The fundamental principle of Islamic finance is to avoid any financial activities which could be deemed either harmful (Haram) or risky for the user. The main difference between Islamic finance and standard finance is that charging interest in forbidden. Conventional banks and lending facilities earn money by charging fees and monthly interest charges for borrowers. The principle features of Sharia-compliant finance are: + A ban on what the Koran refers to as “riba” and we would call paying interest + Sharing losses as well as profits What is Sharia-compliant finance? Sharia-compliant finance bans excessive risk or uncertainty, as well as restr...

When you are looking to manage your credit rating it is important to make sure you are aware of what makes a credit score a positive one. But what can impact your credit score and how can it continue to impact your finances moving forwards. In this article, we will be providing you with insight into some of the ways that you can begin to better manage your credit rating.  What Is A Good Credit Score  Before you begin improving your credit score, it is important to make sure that you are aware of what a good credit score is. With three major reporting systems in the form of TransUnion, Equifax and Experian all allowing you to check your own credit score it is important to make sure you know which score is an acceptable one.  A good credit score with each of these reporting agencies is as follows:  TransUnion – 781 points out of 850  Equifax Over 420 points out of a total of 700 Experian – A Grand Total of over 880 out of 999 Make Sure You Pay Eve...

What is financial freedom? Ask a room of people to define financial freedom, and you're likely to get a dozen different answers. For some, financial freedom means being able to pay the bills with money left over each month or having a fully funded emergency account. Others may want to retire early and travel extensively. Regardless of how you define financial freedom, everyone can benefit from taking a comprehensive approach to money management. "It's important to think about your finances holistically," says Elisabeth Kozack, co-head of consumer lending at Marcus by Goldman Sachs. The following 12 steps will help you achieve your vision for the future. Commit to living within your means. The path to financial freedom begins with a step many people overlook. It starts by developing a mindset in which you prioritize building a strong financial foundation of savings before you move on to spending and investing. "You'll never get ahead if you're...

Current and aspiring cybersecurity professionals named cloud security, data analysis and coding/programming as the top three most important skills to possess if you’re looking to join the cyber workforce today. Those findings came from a new survey-based research report from the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, or (ISC)². For its “Cybersecurity Career Pursuers Study,” the non-profit organization polled 1,024 cybersecurity pros across the U.S. and Canada, along with 1,010 cybersecurity jobseekers looking to land their first position. Twenty-five percent of the former group and 19% of the latter group said cloud security was one of the two most important technical skills or concepts to learn. The study further validates cloud security as an imperative industry focus moving forward as organizations continue migrating business processes to third-party online services as a means to reduce cost and transfer risk. “While prior to early 2020, mig...