Never Invest Your Money In Anything That Eats Or Needs Painting.

Never Invest Your Money In Anything That Eats Or Needs Painting.

The California Chamber of Commerce has produced a white paper cataloging the top 10 mistakes most likely to get a company sued. While a few of the laws cited apply specifically to California, some of them are federal and may apply in your state.

The report observes: "Employers may unintentionally violate employment laws simply by trying to provide some flexibility for an employee, save money for the company or just be nice."

Here are the top 10 mistakes

1. Classifying all employees as exempt, whether they are or not

It may be easier to pay someone a salary rather than figure out overtime, meal breaks, rest breaks and the like. The time (and money) you save on bookkeeping is a false economy, however, since you could pay big time in penalties or a lawsuit. (See the report for more specifics.)

2. Letting employees work through lunch so they can take off early

A non-exempt employee is required to be given a 30-minute meal break, plus a 10-minute break for every four hours worked. If you deny one or the other, you owe the person an extra hour's wages; if you deny both in the same day, you owe an additional two hours. The wages must be paid during the pay period in which it's missed. The employee cannot waive his or her right to the breaks. This isn't just a California issue; here is a recent example in which an employee at a family-owned bakery in Washington allegedly was denied 10-minute breaks.

3. Making everyone an “independent contractor” because having employees is too much trouble

The report notes that contractors are happy until one of the following comes up: workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, state disability insurance or paid family leave benefits. Avoid these legal spiderwebs by determining who is and who isn't a contractor.

4. Not providing training about harassment and discrimination to managers and supervisors

Don't assume your employees won't need the information. Avoid lawsuits by providing the basic sexual harassment training required by law.

5. Letting employees decide which, and how many, hours they want to work each day

Most employees are restricted by law regarding the number of hours they can work without needing to be paid overtime. If you are allowing longer workdays for four-day workweeks, there are rules that need to be followed. Check with your state laws for specifics.

6. Terminating any employee who takes a leave of absence

From the report: "Employees have legal protection when they are away from work for various reasons, including workers’ compensation, disability, pregnancy, family and medical leave, military leave, jury duty and many more."

7. Withholding an employee's final check if they fail to return company property

You may think you can withhold money while you wait for an employee to return a computer or a cellphone, but think again. Some states have laws that require you hand over the check the minute the words "you're fired" come out of your mouth. And if an employee quits and gives more than 72 hours notice, the check must be ready on his or her last day. The penalties start accruing from the moment the check is late–one day of wages for every calendar day of delay.

8. Providing loans to employees and deducting the money from their paycheck each pay period

This seems perfectly fine, doesn't it? Except most state labor codes permit only paycheck deductions authorized by law and those authorized by the employee for health insurance or other benefits. No other deductions are permitted. If you're making a loan, you should have the employee sign a promissory note and a lawyer review it.

9. Using noncompete agreements to protect confidential information

Many employers force employees to sign these agreements to protect business secrets, customer lists and pricing information and to prevent employees from working for the competition. Essentially, you can't force your employee to stay with you, nor can you prevent him or her from making a living.

10. Implementing a “use it or lose it” vacation policy and avoid paying out all the money at termination

Accrued vacation is a form of wages and cannot be denied. You can stop an employee from accruing vacation beyond a "reasonable" amount, but you cannot take away what he or she has already earned. What is considered a "reasonable" cap? Generally 1.5 to two times the annual accrual, says the report.

Be Wary Of Fal$e Prophets!

Remember this chick? Ms Cleo, the tarot card, crystal ball, 1-800 fortune telling, tele-scammer?

How many of you minkeys n monkeys actually called this number? ….. Yeah Right!?!

Truth be told we all knew she was a scam and so did she. But you know what, a hell of a lot of people “believed” in her n $he cashed in…. She knew and we knew but she damned conventional thought and wisdom! She marketed a lie in the form of hope and people believed. I know there are others like me who at one point thought about calling her at 3.28am on a Sunday, not because I was wasted, but just to see .....

My question to you is this. Are you telling the lies or are you listening?

Try Living Below Your Means

Remember the old saying that "A Penny Saved is A Penny Earned" made famous by the master of frugal, Ben Franklin? Over the years, there has been much written about how you should forget about watching the pennies and focus on building your business, increasing your means and all that other nonsense. Okay, maybe it’s not nonsense, but for the 95% of people who are LAZY and are NOT going to build a business, invest in investment real estate properties or strike it rich with the next Microsoft, I offer a simpler solution – one that’s been around for decades. Try Living Below Your Means.

Andrew Tobias in his book "The Only Investment Guide You Will Ever Need" wrote about living below your means and saving money. The title of his chapter was "A Penny Saved Is Two Pennies Earned" seems contrary to what Franklin was talking about, but it’s really not. What Tobias was getting at was that if you save a penny or dollar and don’t spend it, it’s like earning two pennies or dollars. How? Simple.

While the book has some good insights into investing (it was written 25 years ago and some things have changed), the subject of saving money is one of the best I’ve seen because of it’s clarity and ability to get straight to the point. His lesson about 50% money is really critical to changing your mindset. You heard me right, 50% money, which is what he writes about.

Tobias shows you in a couple of paragraphs how the last few dollars you earn are worth only 50 cents after you pay federal, state, local, social security and Medicare taxes. So if you make $10 bucks an hour, you’re only taking home $5 at the end of the week. It’s just that you can’t see the 50% tax because when you look at your paycheck and the amount you paid in taxes, you’ll see what percent you paid on average.


“Yeah, but I’ve tried living below my means, but……”
No buts about it! Take a look at some of the following and see if you can’t cut that budget of yours!

Tips for Living Below Your Means

- Don't drink alcohol, don't smoke. You’ll save a ton of money, live longer and feel better. (You, not me!)
- Learn to cook. It’s cheaper to eat at home and save your left overs for cold cuts and sandwiches.
- Dine out less often.
- Bring your lunch to work. Say no to sodas and other junk food and vending machines. If you need your junk food fix, bring it with you.
- Pay your highest interest rate cards first to save money on interest charges.
- If you carry a balance on your cards, pay your bill as soon as it arrives. You’ll pay less in interest.
- Pay off your credit cards in full every month. (May take a while till you are ready for this!)
- Save for your vacations in advance. Don’t pay with a credit card and carry a balance.
- Kill Your TV. Well, not really, just turn it off and invest in yourself by reading books, listening to tapes or calling on investment properties.
- Borrow books from the Library.
- Carpool to work if you can.
- Don’t order wine with your dinner. Drink water! You gotta drive home right?

- Skip dessert and coffee when dining out, eat it at home.
- Eat "OUT" at friends’ houses instead of going out to a restaurant. It’s worth the extra effort.
- Don’t lease, buy your USED car.
- Use coupons and shop on double or triple coupon days. Most people don’t use coupons, only 1.5%
- Try figuring out the cost per ounce. Usually the smaller the bottle, the more you’re paying per ounce. That’s why warehouse clubs have great deals – bigger sizes
- Buy store brands. If you don’t like the store brand’s taste/quality, switch back, but at least give it a try.
- Find the place around you that has the cheapest gas.
- If you’re not using your membership at the local gym, quit.
- Return your videos on time. Late fees are killers.
- Say NO to the ATM. Take out cash in advance and put it in a drawer at home.
- Take out money when you need it. If that’s too much work, then ONLY use your bank’s ATM, save the fees. Same rule for using ATMs at the grocery store.
- Shop for groceries on a full stomach, you’ll buy less. Try shopping sober…
- Cancel subscriptions.
- Buy your clothes out of season. J. Paul Getty was quoted as saying he bought his straw hats in the winter and he had MILLIONS of dollars and yet was concerned with saving a few pennies. Think end of season.
- Movies? Go to matinees or go to the library and take them out for free! If you go to the movies, bring your own snacks. Do you really need to spend $3.00 for a dollar bag of Skittles?

VALUE YOUR MONEY

- Pay Yourself First – Set Up an Automatic withdrawal from your account/paycheck every time you get paid. Aim to save 10% of your net pay. - Before you spend every dollar, ask yourself if the purchase is a good use of your money. After all, you worked hard for that money. You might as well get a good return (fun is a return as well) from it.
- On purchases over $100, wait two weeks before buying. IF you still want the item, purchase it.
- Establish a debt-repayment plan to get you out of debt. Pay off High Interest debt first, then when a balance is paid off, attack the next highest interest loan/balance. The Richest Man in Babylon suggested allocating 20% of your pay toward debt repayment. Why make the credit card company or banker rich, why not make yourself rich instead? Interest you’re paying is working AGAINST YOU. The whole Idea is to have money work FOR you, not the other way around.
- Create a Cash Can – Put all your loose change in it at the end of every day. Never pay with ‘coins’ always pay with dollars. Deposit the change in your account each month
- Create a Mad Money Fund – Sure all this stuff sounds fine and dandy, but it seems like you’d be cutting out EVERYTHING and living in a shack. Fine, create what I call a Mad Money Fund. Set aside a couple of bucks a week into a separate bank account or another Cash Can and this money is yours…to SPEND…on whatever you want!!!!! Seriously.

Okay, I’m almost done. Essentially what I’m saying is that there are 1,001 different ways to save more money in your budget every month. Only YOU can DECIDE where you’re going to cut back. I suggest that you make those choices that will not leave you feeling deprived as in, "I’m not enjoying this thing called life anymore because I’m trying to free up some cash to invest." Life is about making choices. You can choose to have instant gratification, but that often burdens you under a mountain of debt. Live too frugally and you’ll never make it because your psyche will revolt.

For the skeptics, critics or the just plain uneducated, before you flame me with responses, check out The Millionaire Next Door and once you’ve read it, you’ll realize that the majority of millionaires in this country LIVE BELOW THEIR MEANS.

Just learn to manage and control your spending habits. Make those tough choices. Pay yourself first, set aside 20% or more for debt repayment, give something back in the form of money, time or service to charity and prosper. It’s a simple path, but not an easy one to follow. I suggest you:

Concentrate first on learning to live below your means
Take control of your cash flow by managing your expenses
Increase your knowledge by reading up on ways to increase your means
Decide how you’re going to "GET RICH"
Create your plan of action
Take action…duh!
By the time you’re ready to put your "GET RICH" plan in motion, you should have some extra money every month thanks to managing your expenses that can be put toward building your empire.

So what are you waiting for? As Rich Dad Said - Mind Your Own Business and TAKE ACTION!!!!

Be Prosperous!