Hospitals feel pressure to merge; Lehigh Valley, St. Luke's both wooed

In recent months, Lehigh Valley Health Network has received nine proposals to merge with other hospitals, according to CEO Brian Nester.The consolidation of the health care industry is evidence of the mounting financial pressure hospitals face as the government pays less for the care of a rapidly expanding population of elderly patients, many of whom are chronically ill, Nester testified in court recently."That is a tsunami coming our way," he said during a hearing on LVHN's [...]

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Deeds, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015

Barrett TownshipKematico Development Co LLC (A/K/A) Kematico Development Company LLC, Buck Hill Falls Company (Release) to Richard T. Paulson and Christine M. Brogan, Lot 782, Phase I, Section 2, Buck Hill Falls, $360,000Chestnuthill TownshipLTS Homes LLC to Peter R. and Riza E. Heller, Lot 4, Country Meadow Estates, $302,700Coolbaugh TownshipWilliam and Nancy Matusz to Joseph R. and Catherine J. [...]

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PATH Act passage extends some tax breaks ... for now

The only things certain are death and taxes the saying goes, but in recent years the state of federal income taxes has been full of uncertainty.Although the need for tax reform is apparent, our legislators have been in the habit of putting through last minute patches to keep tax provisions valid for the current year, delaying any decision about the coming year until “later.” That may have gotten them off the hook for the moment, but each year we were left to wonder if [...]

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Business trend reversal: Online business opens Marshalls Creek store

Walmart made its first online sales in 2000, 38 years after the chain was founded. Sears began online sales in 1999, or 113 years after the retailer’s establishment. The partnership behind Elegance that Fits did things the other way around. They sold online for two years before opening a physical location in 2012. They say a storefront has some advantages which a virtual marketplace cannot replicate on a web browser. “People get the opportunity to come [...]

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Should You Co-Sign a Credit Card for a Family Member or Friend?

No matter who you are, chances are good someone has asked you for a financial favor at some point. Maybe it was a small loan to cover the costs of moving, an advance on birthday or holiday gift money, or a free place to stay for few days or months. Whatever that favor was, it always feels good to help someone who truly needs it — especially if you can do so without too much risk on your part.

But therein lies the problem. While some financial favors are quick and easy, others can cost you money in unpredictable and often irreversible ways.

Case in point: A family member or friend asks you to co-sign for a credit card, putting not only your money on the line, but your personal credit health as well. What do you do?

Here’s the cold, hard truth: Co-signing for a credit card or loan isn’t fun and games. Whenever your money and credit score are at stake, it’s important to think long and hard before you jump in.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, loan or credit card co-signers should know these key details before they even consider co-signing for a credit card:

• You’re being asked to guarantee a debt. “If the borrower does not pay the debt, you will have to. Be sure you can afford to pay if you have to, and that you want to accept this responsibility,” says the FTC.
• You may be on the hook for the entire debt, plus any additional fees. “You may also have to pay late fees or collection costs, which increase this amount.”
• Depending on your state, you may be liable for any debts accrued, and can be collected from as such. “The creditor can use the same collection methods against you that can be used against the borrower, including suing you or garnishing your wages. If this debt is ever in default, that fact may become a part of your credit record,” the FTC warns.

Should You Co-Sign a Credit Card for a Family Member or Friend?

If you’re starting to think this “favor” sounds awfully risky, you’re absolutely right. By co-signing for a credit card, you aren’t just lending your family member or friend money; you’re loaning them your good name. And if things go wrong, they can easily drag you down with them.

The consequences can be especially dire if you co-sign for someone who doesn’t take their responsibilities seriously. Jeff Rose, Certified Financial Planner from GoodFinancialCents.com and author of the book Soldier of Finance, has seen plenty of trouble come from situations where one party didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.

“If you co-sign for another person who abuses that privilege until it destroys your credit, you could watch your high credit score vanish,” says Rose. “Furthermore, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars of credit card debt or other consumer debt that could eventually have debt collectors hounding you to repay debts that you may not even know about.”

Remember, when you co-sign for a loan, you’re agreeing to take a risk that the lender wouldn’t take. Whether it’s because your acquaintance has poor credit or a thin credit profile, the bank didn’t feel comfortable extending them a line of credit without a third-party guarantee. When that’s the case, it makes sense to ask the question: “Why?”

“You are not obliged to co-sign for anyone,” says financial planner Kirk Chisholm of InnovativeWealth.com. And if someone you know is insistent, it makes sense to find out why they need a line of credit to begin with. If they simply need money, there are ways to help them without putting your credit at risk. And if they’re trying to build their credit score, there are low-risk ways to do that as well.

• Related: How to Build Credit

Alternatives to Co-Signing for a Credit Card

If you want to help your family member or friend without putting your own head on the chopping block, there are several ways to do so. If your friend needs money, for example, you could always “fill a pre-paid card for the person in their own name,” says Chisholm. That way, they have the convenience of using a card for their purchases, but without all the risk to your credit profile.

This strategy is a good one because “there is a limit to what can be lost,” says Chisholm. “Co-signing on a card could cost you your credit rating,” he says, “which is invaluable.”

And if you’re willing to give out a loan, that’s help enough. Just make sure to get all of the terms in writing, and only loan what you’re willing to lose.

The only downside to offering a loan, whether it’s on or off a prepaid debit card, is that these products do not report to the three credit reporting agencies, and thus won’t help your friend improve his or her own credit over time.

Another option, notes Rose, is for your friend to apply for a secured credit card. “If someone’s credit is absolutely horrible, where they cannot get approved for a card, one option is a secured credit card,” he says.

Secured credit cards — also known as cards for people with bad credit — give users access to a line of credit that they secure by putting down a deposit, usually somewhere between $300 and $500. “If that family member doesn’t have enough cash to open a secured card, then a loan to help them open a card could boost their credit,” says Rose. “But remember, this is a loan and should be treated as such. You are not giving the money.”

• Related: Like It or Not, a Secured Credit Card Might Be the Key to Rebuilding Your Credit

While secured credit cards come with fees and their share of rules and special conditions, this strategy might be the best option for anyone hoping to build their credit. Although secured credit cards aren’t the same as traditional, unsecured cards, they do report to the three credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Over time, a secured credit card used responsibly can help someone build a credit profile and boost their score over time.

Final Thoughts

One situation where it can make sense to co-sign for a family member is when you want to use your good credit to help your child build their own, says Rose.

By co-signing for your child or adding them as an authorized user to your own account, you can help them to begin building a credit profile that will benefit them later in life. “In those instances, though, I would closely monitor the account to make sure that bad spending habits don’t become an issue,” says Rose.

• Related: Four Reasons to Add Your Teen as an Authorized Credit Card User

In most cases, however, co-signing for a credit card is risky at best and absolutely careless at worst. When there are other ways for the people you love to get access to money or credit, there is simply no reason to put your financial future on the line. Instead of saying “yes” out of sympathy or fear, help your loved one come up with a better way to work through their situation.

If someone asks you to co-sign, the consensus is this: “Just say no.” If you’ve gotten your credit to the point where it could actually help someone else, you shouldn’t risk it. After all, you’ve earned it.

Have you ever co-signed for a credit card or loan? How did it work out?

The post Should You Co-Sign a Credit Card for a Family Member or Friend? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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The Ultimate Guide to Getting More Done in the Coming Year

Over the last few months, I’ve been planning out a major professional, creative, and somewhat personal project that I’m going to take on in 2016. I’m not going to share the details of it quite yet, as the finished project is going to be much more interesting than promises that I may or may not be able to fulfill, but suffice it to say that it is going to require me to pick up a boatload of new skills and it’s also going to eat up a fair amount of time.

That time is largely going to come from my choice to step down from a couple of my other personal responsibilities, but more than that, it’s going to take a real commitment to be more organized with my time use.

Don’t get me wrong, I know how to be organized with my time. I launched and built up The Simple Dollar while simultaneously raising an infant and working at a full time job that often required additional hours and travel. I’ve also experienced many years of very unstructured working time where I have basically been able to define my own working hours and working conditions as long as I met certain deadlines and goals.

In other words, I know how to manage my time. The real question, then, is how exactly do I continue to have free time while also taking care of all of my projects and responsibilities when I’m adding more to my plate?

Here’s my game plan, carved out of many years of learning how to manage my own time in an unstructured environment.

Get It Out of Your Head

Any piece of information, task to complete, appointment, or anything else that’s rattling around in your head because you need to remember it or take action on it later is a bad, bad thing, for two big reasons.

First, if you keep it in your head, there’s a good chance you’re going to forget it. It is very rare for someone to have a good enough memory to remember an unrelated piece of information or a task while working on something else completely unrelated and be able to call that information afterward every time. I certainly can’t do it and I don’t know anyone who can. While I can do it sometimes, it’s nowhere near reliable enough to fully trust it.

Second, even if I do manage to remember it, that means I wasn’t giving my full focus to the task at hand. Whether I’m consciously aware of it or not, keeping a piece of information in my head takes away from my focus on whatever it is that I’m trying to do. The result of that split focus is that the task at hand doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

The solution to this double problem is to get things out of my head and as soon as they pop into my head. I do this by writing them down, usually in a pocket notebook that sits on my desk, but also sometimes in Evernote. Then, when I’m done with the task at hand, I check my notebook and/or Evernote and deal with whatever thing I wrote down.

The five seconds during which I’m pausing my task at hand and writing down the thought or idea in my head isn’t long enough to really break my focus on the main task at hand, which means that after I get that stray thought out of my head, I can come right back to the task at hand and focus intensely on it.

This strategy comes from the brilliant book Getting Things Done by David Allen. In fact, Allen suggests a brilliant first step for all of this: a complete brain dump. Essentially, you spend a day or so getting everything out of your head – ideas, things to be done, appointments, and so on – and into some sort of trusted system usually including a calendar and a to-do list manager. That becomes your starting point, from which you can start jotting down things and adding them into this system as described above.

Have Tools That You Trust and Know How to Use

Of course, the idea of “getting tasks out of your head” doesn’t really help too much if you’re losing track of the place where you put those tasks. It only helps if you fully trust the system into which you’re putting that information. Without the complete trust that you’ll check that pocket notebook later in the day, there’s no point in writing it down.

So, another key part of my system for keeping everything organized and managing my time well is to make checking my pocket notebook a frequent habit. I leaf through it and take action on whatever I find in there at least two or three times a day.

What do I mean by “take action”? It means that I do something useful with each item that I’ve jotted down. Maybe it winds up in my ongoing to-do list of tasks that I need to take care of. Maybe it winds up in my calendar so that I get a reminder of something I need to do at a specific time and date later on. Maybe it’s an idea for an article that I’ll write in the future, so I jot it down for later use in my master list of ideas. Maybe it’s a really quick task that I just take care of right now.

Basically, for each of those things I jotted down, I need to do something. It doesn’t mean necessarily that I have to dive into that big task that I came up with right now, but it does mean that I need to at least put myself in a position that I’ll be reminded of that task later on. Most of the time, taking care of that move is really obvious and quick.

Break the Big Tasks into Smaller Chunks

While a lot of the things I jot down take just a minute or two to handle (and so I do them immediately), many of the things I come up with are tasks that are going to take at least a couple of hours to complete. Some of them are actually really big projects that will take many hours to complete.

What I’ve found is that when I break these big tasks down into pieces that are about half an hour in length, I get a lot more done. I just keep a to-do list of a lot of tasks that are about half an hour in length. During my day, I bear down on a task and complete it in about half an hour, take a short break to do something else (check email, check social media, check texts, go to the bathroom, get something to drink, etc.), and then grab the next task in line.

I do prioritize those tasks because, yes, some are higher priority than others. Again, I use a “priority’ tag in my to-do list manager so that I can easily rank things by priority. A lower priority doesn’t mean I can “skip” something, but that I’m not going to face immediate backlash if it’s not completed by the end of the day.

Why half an hour? This comes from a well-known productivity strategy called the Pomodoro Technique, where people are encouraged to work in 25 minute spells with 5 minute breaks. My simple take on that technique is to just define tasks that take 25-30 minutes so that I can check something off of my list before taking that short break.

Break the Regular Tasks into Small Chunks, Too

One thing I’ve found really useful (when I’ve used it in the past) was to also include regular tasks as “half hour tasks” in my to-do list. I even include things like housework on there, with tasks like “do all the dishes and clean the kitchen” or “clean the bedroom and do a load of laundry” or “fold the unfolded laundry on the laundry room table” as great half-hour tasks.

To really make this work, I spent some time breaking down as many of my regular household chores as possible into half hour blocks. Then, I draw from those half hour blocks by adding them to my to-do list when I see something needs to be done or I know a maintenance window is coming up.

For me, half an hour devoted to a specific household task is enough time to do it pretty well unless it’s a major job like cleaning out a closet. Treating household tasks in this way lets me add a couple of these to the schedule each day and keep ahead of the mess (most of the time).

Keep Well Ahead of the Minimal Pace on Big Projects

Whenever I have a big project in front of me, I usually develop some kind of timeline for it. I identify some key milestones and dates for deliverables and then come up with a timeline that has me a little bit ahead of the pace on getting those things done so that I have a bit of breathing room in case of problems.

Then, I identify tasks for myself to handle that project that have a little bit of additional breathing room, as they lead toward reaching milestones even earlier than my project plan suggests.

Keeping ahead of the pace on all projects means that I don’t fall into a crisis mode if things don’t go perfectly. If my daughter falls sick again (which, believe me, is a pretty real risk), I need to be able to take care of her appropriately without every project I’m working on going off the rails. If something else happens in my life, I may need to have some time to take care of unexpected problems and having some breathing room in my professional life makes that possible.

Thus, I try to get ahead and stay ahead of the pace on every project that I’m involved with. Usually, that means that I crunch pretty hard on it when I launch the project to establish a “lead” ahead of the plan, then I try to stay that far ahead. For example, I try to keep articles written for The Simple Dollar at least a week ahead, though sometimes that buffer dwindles to nothing (and sometimes it’s bigger). I do this by maintaining a normal writing pace that’s faster than what appears on the site so that I can take time off for emergencies when needed.

Allow Plenty of Space for Others to Fall Behind Without Wrecking Your Ship

Sometimes when you’re working on a project, you’re going to be relying on the progress of others in order to make any forward progress on your own. For example, I participated in a podcast as a co-host for years, but there were always delays in waiting for the sound guy, the other hosts, and so on to produce the things they were responsible for. Another example – at my previous job, I was constantly collaborating on things with my coworkers and even with people in different locations and I often hit stopping points where I couldn’t move forward due to needing information or work products from them.

This is yet another reason why I try to be ahead of the pace on any project I take on. Inevitably, some of the people you rely on for parts of a project are going to be slow, so the best thing you can do is plan ahead for that. Get them the materials they need as early as you can. Then, expect that they’re going to be slow to deliver things back to you.

It’s such a simple thing to do, but it’s so easy to fail on. It’s easy to put off delivering things for others if you’re busy. It’s also easy to fall into a trap where you need to get some things done but you’re waiting on others. The best solution I’ve found is to give my parts of the shared task priority and try to get my part done quickly.

I also tend to plan projects in such a way that I have plenty of time after receiving their materials to finish what I need to finish. That way, even when they’re inevitably late, I still can make deadlines without too much trouble.

Make Room for Getting “in the Zone”

In the end, the number one most productive strategy I have in my life is simply getting “in the zone.” By that, I mean I get so engrossed in a task that I completely lose track of time and end up snapping out of it a couple of hours later having completed a ton of work. How does that experience relate to the strategies I describe above?

It’s simple – I make sure to take on tasks that can be really open-ended and easily merge into the next task at the start of periods without any other appointments. For example, I usually sit down at my desk to write at eight in the morning and I start in on my first writing task. Ideally, when I turn off my phone and other distractions, I slip into a zone where I don’t even notice what time it is. Since I usually don’t have anything scheduled in the mornings, I just ride that experience until I suddenly snap back to reality and I’ve usually knocked out a ton of writing during that time.

This doesn’t always work and I don’t really rely on it so much, but it has happened often enough that I know that it is really valuable to take advantage of it and it often gets me way ahead of the pace on big projects when I can achieve it.

The secret is to know which tasks are really open-ended and can keep going and going and going if you’re able to do that and to take on those tasks when you have a few hours of really flexible time ahead of you. That way, you can slip into a focused state without any real worries about the broader picture of your life. You can just do great work really efficiently.

The Tools I Use

So, what exactly do I use to keep this system rolling?

First of all, I use a pocket notebook and a pen to jot down things on the fly most of the time. I find that it’s just so fast and flexible to write things down in that way that nothing electronic compares to it. I personally prefer to use Field Notes pocket notebooks and a Uniball 207 ultra micro gel pen, if you’re looking for specific tools, though any scratch paper and pen on your desk and/or in your pocket will do the trick.

To manage my ongoing to-do list, I use Todoist. It provides the core features I need – cross-platform usage so I can use it on my desktop and on my smartphone, the ability to set due dates and prioritize tasks, the ability to add tags to tasks so I can look them up by tag, the ability to group tasks into projects, and a really straightforward interface.

For pieces of information I want to save for later, I use Evernote, for many of the same reasons as Todoist. It’s cross-platform, I can tag any note that I create, and it’s really easy to use. It also helps that I have literally thousands of notes stored in there, so I kind of have the momentum thing going on when it comes to Evernote. I even use it for simple project planning, though I’ll often move to a spreadsheet if it gets too complicated.

For my calendar needs, I use Google Calendar, again for many of the same reasons as the tools above. It’s cross platform, it’s easy to use, and I can easily find things once I’ve entered them into the tool. I also like the fact that I can get early reminders of upcoming tasks and events.

On a day-to-day basis, those tools take care of everything I need. I have a tool for jotting things down, a tool for managing my tasks that I need to take care of, a tool for storing pieces of information I’ll need later on, and a tool for keeping track of upcoming dates and events. Between those four tools, everything I need to store and every idea that pops into my head has a place to be.

Final Thoughts

For some of you, pieces of this overall strategy will seem familiar because I’ve used them and described them in a more piecemeal sense in the past. However, with the demands of the coming year, I’ve come to realize that I need to really put together all of the things that work at once so that I can make my new projects into successes.

Right now is the perfect time for you to get on board with these kinds of changes, too. For many people, the days between Christmas and the new year are very light in terms of work responsibilities, so it’s a perfect time to learn some of these tools, do a “brain dump,” and get yourself on track for the personal and professional challenges that lie ahead.

Good luck!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Getting More Done in the Coming Year appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Not Quite the Right Fit? These Stores Offer Extended Return Policies for Your Holiday Gifts

Getting stuck with a gift you don’t want is one of the most frustrating results of the holiday season.

It may sound ungrateful, but we’ve all been there! Some gifts just won’t fit right, aren’t the model we needed or simply weren’t a good choice for us.

Unfortunately, you could ultimately be penalized if the giver of your ill-fitting gift planned too far ahead. Typical store return policies often require an item to be returned within about two weeks of purchase. That’s pretty tough to do when your aunt starts shopping in July!

Thankfully, many retailers understand this dilemma and have extended return policies to accommodate unwanted holiday gifts.

Here are the special holiday return policies for some of the most popular retailers this season:

Amazon

You can return items Amazon shipped between Nov. 1, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2015 for a full refund until Jan. 31, 2016.

Items shipped from other sellers should fall under this policy, unless otherwise noted in the seller’s Return Policy.

Walmart

Items at Walmart have varying return policies: 15 days, 30 days or 90 days.

For items purchased between Nov. 1 and Dec. 25, here’s the deadline breakdown:

• Jan. 10 for items with a 15-day return policy

• Jan. 25 for items with a 30-day return policy

• No change for items with a 90-day return policy

TJ Maxx

With an extension to the typical 30-day return policy, you can return purchases made between Oct. 18 and Dec. 24 until Jan. 23.

Best Buy

The store’s extended its return period through Jan. 15 for purchases made between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31.

This excludes cell phones and devices with a carrier contract, and AppleCare and Geek Squad Protection plans returned without the product.

Sears

Items purchased between Nov. 8 and Dec. 24 would normally have a 30-day return period. But that’s been extended through Jan. 24 — including sales with or without gift receipts.

Lululemon

The yoga-wear retailer makes an exception to its famously strict return policy for the holidays.

For purchases between Nov. 6 ad Dec. 25, you’ve got until Jan. 10 to make a return. Canadian readers, beware — you can’t make a return or exchange on Boxing Day (December 26) in Canada.

More Return Options

A few more things to note about holiday returns:

First, if you pay for an online purchase through PayPal and realize your folly before handing over the gift, you can make the return yourself and PayPal will cover any return shipping fee.

Most retailers accept returns by mail with free shipping, but this is a nice perk for those that don’t.

If you just want to play it safe, do your shopping at one of these stores, which have the best year-round return policies, according to The Simple Dollar:

• Costco

• JC Penney

• Bed, Bath & Beyond

• LL Bean

• Nordstrom

Your Turn: Have you heard of any exceptionally convenient return policies for the holiday season? Share them in the comments!

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more.

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