Northern New Jersey-based writer penning business, health, parenting and education stories along with the occasional humor piece.
How to tell whether a prospective employer is actually ‘family-friendly’
Sometimes the quest for work-life balance can lead parents to change jobs. Those who believe they’re moving to a more family-friendly company or industry may face a rude awakening, though, when hiring managers don’t keep their promises, or when personnel changes transform a once laid-back department into a high-pressure environment.
5 Big Ways Schools Are Finally Making Working Parents’ Lives Easier
Every fall, you'll likely find them on your newsfeeds: memes of moms and dads celebrating the start of the new school year. They're smiling ear-to-ear while shopping for pencils and protractors or lounging in the pool with a cocktail while their children look on, wearing backpacks and frowns. The not-so-subtle messaging here is, "Hooray! The kids are finally out of the house! Life will be so much easier now." But not everyone shares such joyful sentiments, particularly not working parents who...
How schools are failing working parents — and how some are helping
I had gritted my teeth through most of the school-related demands at odds with my working mom life. The midmorning concerts and late-afternoon parent-teacher conferences. The mandatory “volunteer” slots at after-school drama club rehearsals. The half days that, for some reason, preceded every school vacation.
The final straw came when a new after-school program didn’t have space for my son. I vented on Facebook and quickly learned I wasn’t alone. I heard from fellow working parents who had pl...
Market Intel: Separating the Tweet From the Chaff - The Financialist
While the use of social media to inform trading decisions has caught fire in recent years, investors scouring new social platforms are still sifting through more useless information than anything even remotely resembling a market-moving message.
Your Financial New Year's Resolution: Establish Your Emergency ...
In the event of a job loss or some other major financial disruption, could you rely on your emergency savings to help you make ends meet until you get back on your feet?
The Egg Came First: How Grace Hyslop Cracked An Old Boys Club
Pioneering women in the world of American finance are most often known for their work on Wall Street. But Grace E. Hyslop, the wife of an egg dealer, made her ceiling-shattering move not in New York, but in Chicago, when she became the first female member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Six Tips for Millennials Who Want to Move Out
For young people walloped by the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009, living with Mom and Dad was one way to adapt to hard times. In more recent years, the economy has improved, including a significant drop in the unemployment rate…but that hasn’t been enough to push many 20-somethings out of the nest.
So how does a young person today scrape together the cash to afford to move out?
Remembering the 1960s Paperwork Crisis
In the late 1960s, an unusual crisis struck Wall Street. The foe? Paper.
How Employees at Private Tech Companies Try to Cash In
Buying a stake in a new, promising tech firm usually means waiting until the company begins trading publicly after its initial public offering. But a few broker-dealers and registered investment advisors are offering their clients a new and potentially risky way to invest in hot, venture capital-backed companies long before their IPO.
Six Financial Performance Metrics Every Investor Should Know
How do you evaluate a public company’s financial performance? The answer can be more complicated than simply subtracting expenses from revenue.
An Army Staff Sergeant Turned Businessman - Education Reporter
Kyle Evans planned on a long career in the military, until a few sticks of dynamite put an end to that dream.
In Charge: Julie B. Kampf, CEO, JBK Associates International
Before pursuing a career in executive recruiting, Kampf spent more than a decade and a half in the fashion industry. She recently took time to explain why she switched careers, what drove her to start her own firm and the surprising mistakes she made along the way.
Who's Going Back to School? - Education Reporter
Tara Berberich readily admits that she doesn’t handle technology as well as many of her college classmates. She gratefully accepts their help for assignments that, say, involve a PowerPoint presentation. But Berberich brings her own strengths to the table, too.
“With age comes wisdom, so I know a lot of things they didn’t know from way back,” she said.
Mom Fights School Policy That Says Girls “Must” Wear T-Shirts at Pool
An Indiana mom is proclaiming victory after flagging something in her son’s school permission slip she felt could ultimately prove harmful to elementary school girls — a dress code requirement for a sixth-grade pool party.
In Charge: Cathy Engelbert, new CEO of Deloitte - Business ...
Cathy Engelbert made history this month by becoming the first woman CEO of one the nation's largest consulting and accounting firms.