Several ladies in my neighborhood have recently gotten involved with direct selling organizations like Pampered Chef, Tupperware, and Usborne Books. As a result, my mailbox overflows with invitations to all of their “parties.” While I’m happy that they’ve found something to bring in some extra money, these invitations are tricky because I’m just not interested in the products they are selling. I feel like I can get better prices and quality through other retailers, plus I’m usually not in the market for any of the stuff they are selling. The question that I’m faced with about once per week these days is: Do I go to the party to be supportive and social even if I don’t intend to buy anything, or do I decline politely?

I’ve decided that the answer is a wishy-washy, “It depends.” It amuses me that many of these invitations come from women I barely know. We may exchange a smi

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For over seventy years, the relationship between employee and employer not only encompassed the exchange of services for compensation, but extended to obligations in the form of pensions and Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB), specifically medical care. These benefits are staples of the American dream and marketplace with their related expenditures built into the cost of products and services. As U.S. economic dominance has shifted, the ability of U.S. companies to pass along the costs — which many foreign competitors do not have — associated with retirement to consumers has significantly diminished to a level that endangers many companies’ competitiveness. The bear markets of 2000-2002, and 2007-2008 drastically reduced private funds’ pension fund reserves, while the bull markets of 2003-2007, and 2009 to the present added some of the amounts back, although the funds remain significantly underfunded. The cur Full Article…