The windfall from the “stimulus” bill can provide some shelter from subprime fallout.

In addition to paying down debt to stave off arrears or default in credit card and mortgage payments in the looming tough times, another productive use which will have an effect longer and more permanent than paying down debt is to enroll in a skill-upgrading course.
For those who remain employed in a company that has not yet undergone downsizing, an additional skill or a higher level of proficiency will add value to the employee’s status in the company, so that –if / when the company does …read more

Consider the case of an individual or household with no financial or physical Earning Assets, whose only Earning Assets are Manhours, where the Salaries or Professional Fees have related Direct Costs which do not leave sufficient Cash to meet Expenses:

In the previous post, we started by first looking at the possibilities of maximizing Manhours or the value of the Manhours.
As Direct Costs (expenses incurred in earning the Salary or Professional Fee from Manhours) directly impact on the adequacy of Cash to meet Expenses (i.e., the Outflows), we should look at the efficiency of our Direct Costs.
A major item of Direct …read more

Considering the case of an individual or household with no financial or physical Earning Assets, whose only Earning Assets are Manhours, where the Salaries or Professional Fees have related Direct Costs which do not leave sufficient Cash to meet Expenses:

What are the possible options for solving the financial problem?
The options start with your Manhours, your only Earning Asset.
1 If you are an individual, you can increase your Manhours: either by doing paid overtime (if your job allows it) or by taking on a second job. In a household, the increase in Manhours can be from …read more

Many persons have no financial or physical Earning Assets. Often, the only financial Earning Asset is a small savings account.
A person who has no financial or physical Earning Assets but has a good paying job can list his Manhours as an Earning Asset because it is an asset he truly owns and from which he earns.
Manhours can be valued as a Personal Balance Sheet Asset using the total earnings (salaries, professional fees, etc) during a defined period (say, a year).
Including Manhours as an Earning Asset will be an indication of what a person is truly worth, more realistic than …read more

For many of us 9 to 5 drudges, our only assets (little cash, mortgaged house, car not fully paid, clothes, etc) are non-earning assets. The only earning asset we have is our time, our manhours, for which we get paid and by which we dream to own earning assets in the future (stocks, real property, surplus cash enough for money market placements, etc).
While our time and manhours cannot be placed in the Balance Sheet of our personal financial condition, these are nevertheless earning assets in the truest sense of the word.
Our time and manhours will never qualify as collateral …read more