Making the decision to have a baby could be the most important decision you ever make. The decision should be based on responsibility, maturity, a loving marriage, and the ability to make sacrifices.

No one should ever go into being a parent half-heartedly. Children must be an all-or-nothing decision and if you aren’t sure you are ready, please give it some thought first.

But, if you are in a loving, committed relationship and think you are ready to have a child together, here are some things to consider before you make that final decision:

1.    What kinds of sacrifices are you willing to make to be able to afford having a baby?
Babies and children have needs that can be expensive? Are you financially prepared for a baby at this time in your life?

2.    Is your marriage strong enough to withstand the stress of rearing children?
Raising a child can put added stress on a marriage. Make sure you and your partner are both committed 100% to this idea and to each other. (more…)

Popularity: 12% [?]

Who on earth has succeeded at the first attempt?!

A common misconception is the fact that people actually reach success overnight.  It never happens - not even sometimes.  It’s possible that some  may become famous overnight - but that hardly makes them successful. Most successful people faced a lot of failures before they reached what others call “the overnight success”.

But what is the secret behind the overnight success? How do successful people react when they fail? To reveal this secret let me ask you one question:

Why do you fail to reach your goals? Do you even know what the ONLY reason is behind your failure to achieve your goals? (more…)

Popularity: 14% [?]

Retirement is something that most people look forward to. The chance to take a break, to have all the time for yourself, to enjoy life after many years of hard work is indeed a very inviting prospect. However, financial instability makes the future of retirement a little bleak.

The Bleak Reality of Retirement

For many retirees, having an investment and savings can make a big difference when retirement arrives. In fact, recent surveys show that retirees today are only counting on their personal savings for support. Although the government gives Social Security, not all companies or employers provide traditional pensions for their employees. According to the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, in 2003 there were only 19% of workers who have traditional pensions to support them. This percentage continues to decline as more and more employers cut back pension plans for their employees.

Faced with this reality, it is clearly important to make the necessary preparations early in life to have reliable personal savings in the future. Investing in insurance, dividend-paying (more…)

Popularity: 100% [?]

There’s a condition that holds a lot of people back from progressing towards their goals. I’ve been guilty of suffering from this condition on some occasions, and maybe you have too.

It’s been called ‘analysis paralysis’, and is a form of perfectionism. Here’s how it looks: you have an idea. It could be a project that would generate extra income if you pulled it off. It makes sense. It sounds feasible. Heck, it even sounds easy and straightforward.

But days pass, weeks pass, months pass and you still haven’t taken the first step towards making that project a reality. Rather, you’re still thinking about how you’re going to solve every problem before you get started. You’re analyzing the idea to death, literally.

You want it to be perfect before you launch.

As a result, you never launch. All you have is an idea. Possibly a very good one at that.

While you’re dilly-dallying, someone else comes along with the same idea, launches the project with faults here and there and starts making a lot of money with it (as a result of the benefit it’s bringing to lots of people). You then feel like kicking yourself, thinking ‘if only I’d acted when I had the idea, I would be the one (more…)

Popularity: 65% [?]