A person with a one-hour commute…

A person with a one-hour commute has to earn 40 per cent more money to be as satisfied with life as someone who walks to the office.

December 4, 2019

Economists Say That Forgiving Student Debt Could Give the Economy a Major Boost

I don’t know if anyone in power will take these recommendations seriously, but a headline like this is probably music to the ears of the millions of people out there are struggling to pay off their student loans.

Although different politicians have different ideas and plans about how much student loan debt they would forgive (or not), economists say that forgiving student debt could boost the economy in huge ways while also fighting income inequality.

Economists argue that the debt forgiveness could boost the economy because so many Americans are limiting their life decisions based on their student loans.

"In the short term, it would be very positive for the housing market," says NAR's Lawrence Yun. He's not endorsing any particular plan, but he estimates that broad loan forgiveness would push up the number of home sales quite a bit. #StudentLoanDebt https://t.co/02DqVUYNW7

— REALTOR® Party (@NARRealtorParty) November 25, 2019

A prime example is Laura Greenwood, 30, of Montpelier, Vermont. Greenwood works for the state education agency in Vermont, making $63,000 a year. She said, “I make probably a better salary than a lot of my peers.” But, she added about a major life decision, “Children, it’s not about if you want them. It’s about can you afford them?”

Greenwood said she owes $96,000 in student loans for college and graduate school. She admits that this is a major hindrance to the decision to have kids with her partner. She said, “We’re interested in having kids, but just cost of living and all our other bills and then the student loans, it’s just like the final straw.”

Greenwood added that her debt makes the possibility of having children seem impossible.

Economists argue that if people like Greenwood and others saddled with debt had that anchor removed, more of them would buy houses, have kids, and start businesses.

Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors chief economist, said, “In the short term, it would be very positive for the housing market. Home sales could be, say, 300,000 higher annually if people were not saddled with large student debt.” According to Yun, this would be “a boost to the housing sector as well as the economy.”

William Foster, a vice president with Moody’s, said about total loan forgiveness, “There’ve been some estimates that U.S. real GDP could be boosted on average by $86 billion to $108 billion per year.” He also said, “Student loans are now contributing to what’s perceived as lower economic prospects for younger Americans.”

On the flip side of those seemingly encouraging statements is the fact that loan debt forgiveness would be expensive. Foster said the total for student loan debt is about $1.5 trillion – which is why it’s such a drain on the economy. He claims the federal government would have to give up $85 billion in annual revenue that it collects from these loans, which would result in a wider fiscal deficit (not that it seems to matter these days).

What do you think about this controversial and divisive topic? Should student debt loan be forgiven? Or partially forgiven? Or do you think that these former students need to pay in full?

Let us know what you think in the comments.

The post Economists Say That Forgiving Student Debt Could Give the Economy a Major Boost appeared first on UberFacts.

December 4, 2019

A CEO Gives His Employees $2,000 to Go on Vacation and Says They’re More Productive Than Ever

This is pretty great.

Mark Douglas is the CEO of a marketing and advertising company called SteelHouse who has very specific rules when it comes to vacation time for his employees. No, he’s not cutting down on time off – he requires that his workers take vacation time, and he gives each employee a $2,000 bonus each year that they have to spend on their vacations.

How amazing is that?

Douglas said, “It’s one thing to say ‘You have three weeks’ vacation,’ as most companies do. It’s another thing to say ‘You have cash, and if you don’t go on vacation and spend this money, the money literally goes to waste.’ It’s another level of saying this is real.”

Douglas also said that the bonus pays off. He says his workers are more productive than ever and that they “have virtually zero turnovers.” Douglas said that between 2013 and 2016, only 3 employees left out of a workforce of 250 people.

Douglas said there are five main reasons why he enacted the vacation policy:

1. It gives employees a chance to recharge.

2. It encourages team-building among staff members.

3. A give-and-take mindset gets the best out of people.

4. A good life-work balance attracts great employees.

5. Customers view the company’s dedication to its employees in a positive light.

Douglas added, “I think it’s important that everyone be able to essentially really, truly leave work.”

In addition to that nice perk, the entire SteelHouse company takes a 3-day weekend once a month.

Not too shabby, huh?

The post A CEO Gives His Employees $2,000 to Go on Vacation and Says They’re More Productive Than Ever appeared first on UberFacts.

November 20, 2019

A Study Show That for Entrepreneurs, 45 Is the New 25

For some people, seeing a young entrepreneur like Mark Zuckerberg completely change the world at such a young age can be disheartening as the years creep by. But wait! This is good news for people who feel like they might’ve missed the boat in one way or another, professionally speaking.

A new study led by Pierre Azoulay of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology analyzed the relationship between age and high-growth entrepreneurship. According to the researchers,

“Our primary finding is that successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged, not young. We find no evidence to suggest that founders in their 20’s are especially likely to succeed. Rather, all evidence points to founders being especially successful when starting businesses in middle age or beyond, while young founders appear disadvantaged.”

Zuckerberg, Gates, and Jobs are the exceptions. Most successful founders are middle-aged. https://t.co/1WPLV8nkYB

— MIT Sloan School of Management (@MITSloan) November 12, 2019

Azoulay and his researchers studied data from many sources, including tax forms and the U.S. Census Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs. They pored over records from over 2.5 million entrepreneurs who have founded businesses (not including sole proprietorships) in the U.S. since the 1970s. The conclusion: they found the average age of these entrepreneurs was 42 years old.

They also studied entrepreneurs who were active in growth-oriented entrepreneurship and found that businesses that operated in the high-tech sector had founders that averaged 43 years of age, and that founders of venture-backed startups and businesses based in Silicon Valley were 42 years old, on average.

The researchers also discovered that more successful startup companies had slightly older founders.

A recent study of 2.7 M of #startup #founders by the Census Bureau and MIT found most successful #entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged–even in the #tech sector. What's that theory about what we believe vs what the data shows. #entrepreneurship #ageism https://t.co/dSfp8Uz2Op

— Bob Lyons (@Bob_Lyons) July 19, 2019

The authors of the study continued,

“The 1,700 founders of the fastest growing new ventures (the top 0.1%) in our universe of U.S. firms had an average age at founding of 45.0 (compared to 43.7 for the top 1% and 42.1 for the top 5%). Regardless of the measure of technology-intensiveness chosen, we see older founders as we move toward upper-tail performance, especially for the top 1 in 100 or top 1 in 1,000 firms, as well as for founders with successful exits. This evidence is at odds with the conventional wisdom that successful founders skew younger.”

Okay all of you middle-aged folks, get out there and start a business! You can do it!

The post A Study Show That for Entrepreneurs, 45 Is the New 25 appeared first on UberFacts.

November 11, 2019

Former Victoria’s Secret Employees Share 10 Things They Want You to Know

Having a job at Victoria’s Secret looks “easy,” but employees are actually quite well-trained.

The store was born out of a desire to make sure people felt comfortable shopping for intimate items. Since 1977, Victoria’s Secret has been the go-to lingerie shop for people of all backgrounds.

The company has launched the careers of many a model and employed thousands of people at its retail locations. Here are some things they want you to know about their experiences.

10. Employee training is rigorous

Andrea, a former employee who worked with the company between 2015 to 2019, explained that everyone is trained for almost 6 weeks so they can better serve customers. She told Mental Floss,

“Whether you’re somebody who’s had a mastectomy, or somebody who’s transitioning, or somebody who’s getting a bra for the first time, that’s what we’re there for and that’s why we do our jobs.”

9. Employees can suggest other retailers

Victoria’s Secret may be the best-known lingerie retailer in the country, but employees can help you find what you need somewhere else if they don’t have a bra or item that fits your needs.

And since they carry sizes ranging only from 32AA-40DDD, some customers definitely need these suggestions.

8. In the past, looks were a bigger deal

Victoria’s Secret was once known for promoting models who were very thin. This was a large part of the company’s culture, and so, historically, the brand would hire thin employees to work at their retail stores, too.

That time is gone.

With slumping sales, Victoria’s Secret is now trying to revamp its image by diversifying. One former employee, says of this era,

“They would hire someone pretty over someone smart or capable. It was definitely part of the ‘fantasy.’”

7. Employees know how to deal with absent-minded boyfriends

Not every boyfriend or partner knows their girlfriend’s size. That’s why employees often suggest other gifts, such as gift cards, sprays, and body lotions.

Expert bra fitters are good, but not good enough to guess the bra size of someone who isn’t actually there.

6. Customers can get too comfortable

Customers are supposed to feel comfortable when they shop at Victoria’s Secret, but employees sometimes spot customers going way too far. Andrea once saw a customer use a pink bow on a bra to do something it wasn’t designed for…

“She takes it and she flossed her teeth with it in front of me. I was like ‘No!’ It’s so gross.”

5. There are some sweet benefits

Not everything is about training and seeing people do strange things. Employees get some nice benefits while they work at Victoria’s Secret, including decent pay and paid time off.

And as any retail worker will tell you, not every company will do the same for its employees.

4. Holidays can get zany

Photo credit: Wikipedia.org, CC BY 2.0

Customers know they can get good deals during the holidays, but employees have to clean up after their messes and deal with extra foot traffic. Andrea says things can also get physical.

“I’ve literally seen grandmas punch each other in the face.”

3. Here’s how to avoid talking to sales reps

Not everyone likes talking to strangers, but company employers have to approach you asking if you need help. Andrea provides a small life hack for the timid shoppers though.

“A good trick if you don’t want help is to remember the name of the person who you’re introduced to. So if the first person is like ‘Hi, my name is Stephanie,’ and then two or three more people come and say ‘Do you need more help?’ just say ‘Stephanie’s helping me, thank you,’ and they will leave you alone.”

2. There’s a reason for the scent

You may have noticed Victoria’s Secret often smells like it was bathed in body spray. That’s because employees are required to spray the store with it. Along with other sales tactics, such as showing you a new bra and offering a store credit card, you can expect employees to try to sell you whatever scent is bombarding you at the store.

1. A lot of items are “damaged out”

People often try to return things that are already ruined, and some customers damage items they try on. An ex-employee said about her former job,

“The worst part was having to damage out [retail speak for taking an irreparable item out of circulation] underwear that girls had tried on without leaving their own underwear on.”

There are some valuable secrets! Which ones surprised you? Let us know below!

The post Former Victoria’s Secret Employees Share 10 Things They Want You to Know appeared first on UberFacts.

October 17, 2019

Russia removed Saturday and Sunday…

Russia removed Saturday and Sunday from the calendar for 11 years to create a “continuous working week” from 1929 to 1940. So instead of everyone having Saturday off, some people had Mondays off, others had Tuesdays off, others Wednesday, etc. So your “Weekend” came at different points of the week so the factories didn’t stop. […]

September 5, 2019

During the Irish Potato Famine…

During the Irish Potato Famine, the poor were hired for useless construction projects called ‘famine follies’ in order to provide them with work that would not take existing work away from other workers. These included roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points.

August 14, 2019

Remote Workers are more productive…

Remote workers are more productive than their in-office counterparts, according to 59% of employers.

August 10, 2019

Why Grit Is More Important Than IQ When It Comes to Success

One of my professors in college told us about a former student who was now a bigshot at a company in New York City and how well they were doing. A classmate of mine said to me, “Well, I guess you can have an okay career after you leave here.” I didn’t respond, but I’ve always believed that, ultimately, it really is up to you how far you go in your professional life. Yes, education and connections definitely help along the way, but just because you went to a certain school or a door is opened for you doesn’t mean that anything is guaranteed after that. You have to work hard and keep improving if you want to fulfill your dreams.

And, by the way, everyone has their own definition of what success means. For some, it’s a prestigious job on Wall Street, for others, it’s flipping pancakes at the local diner in their hometown where they know everyone.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

But back to my original point: intelligence might not be the best indicator of future success in life. Instead, it might be what psychologist Angela Duckworth calls “grit.” Duckworth believes that a special blend of passion and persistence is what makes high achievers special. In other words, not high IQ scores, high SAT scores, or a diploma from a prestigious university.

Posted by Angela Duckworth on Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Duckworth believes that grit is about being resilient and hardworking, and always wanting to improve. And another important aspect of this mindset: being able to overcome failure, which is tough for all of us. Passion is another key element in being successful. Duckworth says of some of the successful people she’s studied, “Even if some of the things they had to do were boring, or frustrating, or even painful, they wouldn’t dream of giving up. Their passion was enduring.”

Duckworth believes that effort is more important than IQ and she came up with two equations to explain her concept.

• Talent x effort = skill

• Skill x effort = achievement

Duckworth says, “Talent is how quickly your skills improve when you invest effort. Achievement is what happens when you take your acquired skills and use them.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Bottom line: grit, heart, and busting your rear end really do count and pay off. So even if you didn’t get into the best school, don’t have a bunch of family connections, and get rejected from a job (or multiple jobs), keep pushing forward. Be gritty and you’ll go far.

The post Why Grit Is More Important Than IQ When It Comes to Success appeared first on UberFacts.

July 26, 2019

You’ll Understand These Tweets If You’ve Ever Worked in a Restaurant

Oh, the service industry.

If you’ve worked in retail or in restaurants, you will relate to these RL tweets. If you haven’t, then prepare to understand what happens behind the scenes.