Never Work A Day In Your Life
Have you always been fascinated with how things work and fixing them when they stop working? Some people are born mechanics, and it’s a shame that too often they are discouraged from pursuing the kind of work they love. This realization hit me many years ago when I was an instructor at the University of […]
Be Productive Members of Society
Recent years have seen the emergence of a work-from-home trend in the white-collar world, driven by the Covid epidemic and the need for social distancing. Even though most restrictions have been lifted, many businesses are still allowing various office staff to continue working from home. Recently I read an article about various business management experts […]
Trade Wages Going Up, Up, Up
This blog frequently has drawn attention to the severe shortage of skilled trade labor in the country. It is hampering construction to the point that $1 trillion worth of planned spending on infrastructure projects is slow to take hold simply because contractors can’t find enough workers to staff all the needed projects. One study projected […]
Why College Costs Keep Rising
If you follow the news, you may have noticed a big story recently about President Biden forgiving up to $20,000 in student debt for beleaguered students and former students. Good for them. But before you applaud the federal government for its generosity, keep in mind that the debts are not really being erased. Payments have […]
Inflation & Deflation
If you follow the news, you know all about the inflation that’s been wracking our economy for the last couple of years. Even if you don’t follow the news, you feel it every day with just about everything you buy costing more. Inflation is what happens when too much money chases too few goods and […]
Compound Interest: What It Means To You
What financial planners call the “miracle of compound interest” contains both a potential blessing and a curse for young people investing in their future. Compound interest describes what happens to money owed or invested over long periods of time. Here’s the arithmetic in a nutshell. Suppose you borrow $1,000 at an annual interest rate of […]
The Trades Do Not Stand Still
It is remarkable how fast technological progress has accelerated. It’s been only around 12 decades since the Wright Brothers traveled little more than a football field in the first manned flight. Since then, we’ve visited the moon and sent dozens of unmanned space craft to explore far reaches of our solar system. The trades have […]
College Enrollment Continues To Drop
Undergraduate student enrollment in the Spring of this year declined by more than 662,000 students or 4.7% from Spring 2021, according to a new report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. To date, the undergraduate student body has dropped by nearly 1.4 million students or 9.4% during the pandemic. The annual rate of decline […]
The Trades Give Customers Their Money’s Worth
I tune in to one of those online neighborhood chat groups where people often exchange referrals for various businesses. Almost every time someone asks the group to recommend a plumber or other trade provider, it is couched in terms such as: “One that charges a reasonable price.” They never seem to specify a “reasonable” price […]
Towards A Better Future
Many of you reading this already have jobs in other fields than the trades. But you’re reading it because you are dissatisfied with the way you now make a living. In some cases, you may feel underpaid and underappreciated. Others among you may simply be bored with the work you do. Or, maybe you’re idealistic […]