Estimated Tax Payments Due Today
Thursday January 15, 2009
The fourth and final estimated tax payment for tax year 2008 is due today, meaning if you are self-employed or otherwise in a situation where taxes are not withheld from your earnings and you reside in the U.S., your estimated tax form IRS 1040-ES and payment need to be postmarked by midnight tonight to avoid penalties for late payments.
You are not required to make the fourth estimated tax payment and will not incur penalties as long as you file and pay your 2008 taxes in full by January 31st.
Related topics:
U.S. Navy Puts its Toe in Telecommuting Waters
Wednesday January 14, 2009
According to
this piece on Military.com, the U.S. Navy is experimenting with telecommuting. A manager of Navy manpower, personnel, training and education, Captain James R. Oakes has been tasked with testing a program that would allow certain Naval officers to telecommute. The motivation for initiating the program came from the Navy's desire to save money and possibly retain valuable personnel who might otherwise have to relocate.
The program, which has been named the Virtual Command Pilot Program, is starting small so that it can be carefully tested. According to the article, the Navy is looking for six highly disciplined officers willing to telecommute to determine if the program can be expanded. If the program is a success, its likely the Navy will extend the program to other officers and, ultimately, to the enlisted ranks.
In the article, Oakes said he expects other branches will follow the Navy's results closely. "I would think that to remain competitive in the talent management world, you are going to have to offer a more mobile workforce," he said.
Hopefully, other organizations will also take heed and jump on the bandwagon.
Tuesday January 13, 2009
The latest hand picked work at home jobs have been posted. This week's work at home job search seemed a bit easier than it has been for the past several weeks. Although hiring remains weak, it seems that the holiday job doldrums have passed.
Check this Week's Work at Home Jobs
Discuss Finding Work at Home Jobs in the Forum
How to Find Work at Home Jobs
Poll: Did You Find Work from Home or did it Find You?
Click one to cast your vote:
1) My work at home job found me
2) I went after work at home and got it.
3) A little bit of both.
4) I'm not working at home yet, but I want to.
See Current Results
Predictions for Entrepreneurship in 2009
Thursday January 8, 2009
Kelly Spors of the Wall Street Journal discusses her
predictions for entrepreneurship for the year ahead.
The piece looks at 7 predictions on what may lie ahead for entrepeneurs this year. While most are not very surprising, the last two may be most telling:
- The Focus Shifts to Online - Because more businesses will look for cost-effective ways to market themselves, more will build Websites and experiment with online marketing tools such as local search, pay-per-performance ads and mobile marketing. I think she may be a little late on this one, as it seems to already have occurred, but its conceivable growth could explode based on some of her other predictions. The point is, online is where it's at, especially for home businesses and other startups with very limited budgets.
- Entrepreneurship will Take Off - Because layoffs are expected to continue across the board, millions of the unemployed - at least those who are not capable of pitching in on what will likely be a surge of public works projects in the Obama administration - will be scrambling to start their own businesses, despite foreseen difficulties in getting the necessary funding to start a new business in a down economy.
In addition to layoffs, I've got to believe that there are millions of people out there who are approaching retirement who have lost their nest egg due to the poor performance of financial markets and/or who needed or will need to tap into their retirement accounts early to keep a roof over their heads. Even those who are not unemployed or those who had not planned to retire are likely to get on the entrepreneurial bandwagon to try to earn some extra cash and online is the cheapest way to do so.
Even if these masses don't start an online business,
Internet marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways of doing and promoting nearly any business. And, with the wild growth of electronic devices and the increasing capabilities of cell phones and PDAs, mobile marketing is a very logical next area of rapid growth. Therefore, individuals and businesses who service these markets should also do quite well, such as
search marketing consultants, website promotion firms, freelancers and others.
Instead of looking at 2009 as a grim year ahead, entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs would do well to think long and hard about potential ways to profit in a down economy. Those visionaries are the ones who are likely to come out on top in the end and will be very well positioned to continue their success when the market finally turns around.
Will you be one of them?
Related topics:
