How are you doing?  Here I found very good article regarding managing finance during slowdown. I hope it this will help you in to manage future decade for your career and finances. Also, Let’s hope Indian economy will continue performing good and survive with global economy crisis.

We’ve learnt our lessons the hard way. But rather than wait for the next
recession blow, one can play it safe.   Sanjeev Sinha  ( The Economic Times)

10 points that can equip you to deal with similar situations

THE OVERALL impact of the financial meltdown, which is certainly huge, is
now evident across the world. Particularly, the pain of job losses and drop
in savings is being felt everywhere. This, in turn, has instilled a sense of
fear and cynicism in the minds of investors globally. Still, while we are
making vast efforts to extricate ourselves from the current crisis, little
effort is being made to prevent the next one. Rather than wait, however,
there are many things which can be done now to avoid another crisis, or at
least cushion the blow when it comes. Listed below are 10 personal finance
lessons we can and should learn from the meltdown:

CONTROL EXPENSES & STICK TO THE BUDGET

You are more likely to face financial problems, if you have been extravagant
in your expenses. However, in a bid to tide over the current crisis and also
avoid such crises in future, you need to adhere to some financial
disciplines, and making a budget and sticking to it is one of them. Sticking
to the discretionary budgets, in fact, can help you handle the uncertainty
in the non-discretionary expenses.

DON’T COUNT ON TOMORROW’S INCOME

Counting on tomorrow’s income to spend today is one of our greatest
mistakes, which has already been proved by the current crisis. In fact, up
until the financial meltdown hit us, the spending levels of individuals,
especially in the 25-35-year age group, have been almost equal to their
income, if not more. “With the easilyavailable loans and credit cards they
were tempted to indulge even without being able to afford the expense. Now
with pay cuts and job losses, they are facing the worse. However, even if
you keep your job now, the prevalence of pay cuts makes it clear that you
can’t count on an ever-expanding paycheck to make up for your spending,”
says Lovaii Navlakhi, managing director & chief financial planner of
International Money Matters.

MAINTAIN LOW DEBT

Prioritise your debts. Pay off your loans with the highest interest rate
first. Basic advice, right? “The problem is that people have been
reiterating this theory for years, but most do not put it into practice.
This step requires one to plan out one’s debts and then follow through by
reducing it regularly and systematically. True, paying off debt can be a
difficult task, but it can also be quite rewarding as it gives you peace of
mind,” says Navlakhi.

GO FOR STRATEGIC ASSET ALLOCATION

Time and again we will hear from the so-called experts that there is a
paradigm shift in the market dynamics and that investors need to revise
asset allocations more aggressively to meet the impending demands of their
future lifestyles. “But one should strictly avoid falling for such traps.
Though temporarily the portfolio may appear underperforming, sticking to
fundamentals of strategic asset allocation would always help investors come
out of such temporary market mishaps,” says Ramesh Patibanda, director -
financial planning, Advice America, world’s leading provider of financial
advisor software solutions.

HAVE EMERGENCY FUND IN PORTFOLIO

Having an emergency fund in your portfolio is an ideal way to tide over a
family crisis or meet unexpected expenses. Therefore, the need for
maintaining emergency funds has always been emphasized by our forefathers.
“Even standard financial principles suggest that you should keep aside cash
to cover three to six months of living expenses, which would also be able to
cover most emergency expenses. Your emergency funds can also come handy in
case of a job loss,” says Ashish Kapur, CEO of Invest Shoppe.

ORGANISE YOUR FINANCES

To those who are not used to monitoring and managing their finances closely,
this may sound like a lot of work. But once you get a system in place, it
should only take a bi-monthly monitoring to stay on top of everything.
Ensure that you maintain sufficient liquid funds for emergencies. Also,
monitor your loans and ensure that you make credit card payments before the
due date.

LEARN TO PLAN AHEAD

It’s no secret that poor planning contributed to why so many people are
currently in weak financial situations. However, don’t panic. Figure out
where you are, where you want to be and put in place a realistic plan for
getting there. Unique circumstances will come up and cause you to stray from
your plans temporarily, but structure is necessary in order to monitor your
progress and stay focused.

INVEST SLOWLY & SYSTEMATICALLY

The problem for many people is that they live month to month and don’t
develop healthy saving habits until they are in their thirties or forties.
“Contributions to a savings plan should be recognised as the first of your
necessary monthly expenses, so that money saved will never be thought of as
money that can be spent. Even if you start saving in small amounts now, you
can always increase in the future,” says Navlakhi.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR INVESTMENTS

The worst thing you can do in a slow economy? Panic and pull all of your
money out of your investments! Therefore, resolve to protect your finances
as the market storm rages on. Take this time to build up your emergency
fund, and set reminders to regularly review your portfolio’s asset
allocation. “Try to align the same with your mid-term and long-term goals.
Do not get distracted by the usual city traffic jams when your final
destination is miles away,” advises Atul Surana, certified financial
planner, Catalyst Financial Planning.

HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

There’s nothing wrong with hoping for the ‘best’ from your investments, but
you could be heading for trouble if your financial goals are based on
unrealistic assumptions. Therefore, when Warren Buffett says that earning
more than 12% in stock is pure dumb luck and you laugh at it, you’re surely
in for trouble!

Source: Economic Times, Sunday, 28 June 2009

//

In your personal life, when attending to business or working on side
projects, how often do you spend 8 consecutive hours in front of a
computer? It doesn’t make sense because we lose the ability to
concentrate effectively within a few hours.Everyone goes through
alternating periods of high and low mental acuity. There are days
when I work on personal projects for well over 8 hours, but the time
is always divided into multiple sessions. I might spend a few hours
coding a design, a few hours writing, and a few hours reading feeds,
moderating comments, and responding to email.

I work this way because it aligns with my mental energy cycle. Any
more than 3 hours in front of a computer and my eyes start hurting
and I become restless. I lose the ability to do my best work.
Instead of forcing myself to continue, I switch to an activity that
allows my mind to recharge. These breaks maximize productivity by
eliminating down periods. It’s counter productive to force work when
the mental energy isn’t there.

The Problem with an 8 Hour Work Day

A continuous 8 hour work day is a relic of the past. It makes sense
for physical labor and manufacturing work, but with information
workers it doesn’t account for the mental energy cycle. The ability
of a factory worker to think analytically is irrelevant, he’s either
cranking widgets or he isn’t.

In the case of the modern information worker, nearly all tasks
involve creative or strategic thinking. The way someone answers an
email or interprets a piece of information can differ drastically
depending on his or her energy level. Nobody does their best work
5:30 in the afternoon after they’ve been sucking down coffee all day
to stay awake.

I can’t speak for all workers, but I’ve observed that productivity
levels generally peak twice a day — first thing in the morning and
shortly after lunch. The most productive period is the beginning of
the day. People are capable of creative tasks like writing and
solving complex technical problems. After a couple hours of intense
work, energy levels drop and workers downgrade to less demanding
tasks like responding to email and tinkering with existing
creations. Towards the end of the cycle, the mind is so cluttered
and drained that workers resort to “work related activities” that
appear productive but don’t contribute to the bottom line. The
afternoon cycle is similar but the productivity peak isn’t as high.
For different people the peaks and valleys will vary, but overall
I’d estimate only 3-4 hours a day could
be classified as highly productive.

This number isn’t caused by slacking. You can’t force an information
worker to be highly productive when the energy isn’t there. Workers
can try their hardest, but the work just won’t have that creative
edge. The low ratio of highly productive hours to total hours worked
is the result of the continuous 8 hour work day.

When workers reach the low energy part of the cycle, they can’t
recharge with a non-work activity. The only option is office
purgatory. You can’t be highly productive because you’re mentally
fatigued, but you can’t recharge because the 8 hour work day
requires the appearance of constant productivity. The result is
millions of unproductive workers trapped at their desks when they’d
rather be doing something else.

Alternative Work Arrangements

The obvious solution to this problem is planning around the mental
energy cycle by breaking the work day into multiple segments. The
traditional office setting doesn’t accommodate this because there
are few available recharge activities. People can’t do household
chores, run errands, or engage in recreational activities without
leaving the workplace.

Some companies have tried to make the work environment more
accommodating by offering meals, fitness centers, and special areas
for relaxation. Although these amenities are certainly an
improvement, they’re expensive for employers and only partially
satisfy employees.

The solution that makes the most sense is a remote work arrangement
because it reduces employer costs and allows employees to adjust
their work schedule to their mental energy cycle. When a worker
becomes mentally fatigued, they can go off the clock and engage in
recharge activities that are personally productive like exercise or
relaxation. When energy returns, the worker can start working again
at a high level, effectively cutting out the low productivity period
of the cycle. Employers don’t pay for unproductive time and
employees get to work in a more natural pattern that adjusts to
their personal lives.

Why isn’t everyone doing this already? Many workers already are, and
as commutes get worse and communications improve, the number will
continue to increase. Of course there will always be a need for
officeworkers in businesses (like doctor’s offices and law firms)
that require daily customer interaction, but for most companies it
really isn’t necessary.

There is also the argument that people need to collaborate in
person. This is steadily becoming less essential. Most office
communications are already done through email or instant messager.
Face to face meetings are certainly necessary, but for the vast
majority of lower and mid level employees meetings are the exception
and could be conducted via phone/video conference or condensed into
one or two days a week.

Another common objection is that employees will abuse remote work
arrangements by slacking off. I’m inclined to believe that most
adults value their employment enough that this isn’t a problem. In
cases where supervision is required, web cams and other technology
can used to monitor a worker.

I suspect the real reason remote work arrangements are still the
exception is inertia. Companies are used to doing business in the
office and are reluctant to change. There is also the presence of
office politics. If one person is given a remote arrangement,
jealous employees will complain. Doesn’t it make sense to give
everyone what they want and save a boat load of cash on office
space?

I may only be a kid in his 20’s, but I can tell when something just
makes sense. I perceive an increasing number of people are noticing
the same phenomena. Forty years from now we’ll be telling our
grandchildren about the olden days when everyone’s mommy and daddy
went to work in an office.

• The best time to start is when you’ve got enough money in the bank to support all contingencies.
• The best time to start is when the competition is far behind in technology, sophistication and market acceptance.
• The best time to start is when the competition isn’t too far behind, because then you’ll spend too long educating the market.
• The best time to start is when everything at home is stable and you can really focus.

• The best time to start is when you’re out of debt.
• The best time to start is when no one is already working on your idea.
• The best time to start is when your patent comes through.
• The best time to start is after you’ve got all your VC funding.
• The best time to start is when the political environment is more friendly than it is now.
• The best time to start is after you’ve got your degree.
• The best time to start is after you’ve worked all the kinks out of your plan.
• The best time to start is when you’re sure it’s going to work.
• The best time to start is after you’ve hired the key marketing person for the new division.
• The best time to start was last year. The best opportunities are already gone.
• The best time to start is before some pundit declares your segment passe. Too late.
• The best time to start is when the new generation of processors is shipping.
• The best time to start is when the geopolitical environment settles down.

Actually, as you’ve probably guessed, the best time to start was last year. The second best time to start is right now.