FREEMAN-SPICER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Finance • Leasing • Accounting • Premium
316 South Eddy Street South Bend, IN 46617
574.234.0069 (V) • 574.234.6414 (F) • surekey@aol.com
Vol. 24, No. 5 • May, 2006
You can find this newsletter and some past issues on the web @ www.Freeman-Spicer.com
“Millennial Generation Makes Its Debut”
Second-biggest demographic peak coming of age - and changing the rules.
Businesses be forewarned: the millennial generation - with ranks numbering around 60 million - is coming of age, and they’re nothing like their parents or older siblings. They’re team-oriented, family-friendly, community-minded, patriotic and tech-savvy. They will challenge accepted workplace models and alter the way companies market to them. The oldest are just completing graduate school, launching careers and starting families. The youngest are about to enter high school. They’re smart consumers with social consciences. Companies that fail to recognize the vastly different nature of this generation - as employees and as customers - are making a profit-endangering mistake. In some ways, this cohort has more in common with its grandparents, World War II’s “greatest generation,” than with its own parents. Many women of this generation will shock their baby boomer parents by marrying and staying home with children. This is particularly true for those now in or entering college. Interviews with female students at Ivy League colleges revealed that 60% of respondents planned to cut back or stop work once children were in the picture. This means that as labor shortages loom, companies should consider how to attract and keep top employees, and to accommodate the desire of both sexes to balance work and family. This cohort also may well be the generation most committed to charity and social causes. Having seen the horror or 9/11 terror attacks and the more recent devastation wrought by catastrophic natural disasters, they’re quick to lend a hand. More than check-writers, that hands-on generation also is more prone to roll up their sleeves and actually pitch in to work in a soup kitchen or build a house for the less fortunate. Unlike the previous generations, they not only trust people over 30, but they like and respect them. In fact, millennial teens and twentysomethings tend to be close to their parents. That gives them an edge in getting along with older people at work - a positive attribute in an increasingly older workplace. (Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, William Strauss and Neil Howe)
Hey, Put a Lid on It
Last December, just in time for Christmas, a university audiologist ventured his opinion, quickly and widely circulated, that iPods can damage hearing because many users pump up the volume. And a few weeks later, a Louisiana man sued Apple, alleging that the company hadn’t done enough to warn people about that. A few weeks ago, Apple introduced a free fix (www.apple.com/ipod/download) that lets users limit the volume on the newest iPod and the tiny Nano. Parents can lock in the setting of a child’s iPod by entering a code. For several years, iPods sold in Europe have been capped at a volume of 100 decibels. Even that level is high and should be restricted to 15 minutes at a time, says the National Institutes of Health; 85dB or more can impair hearing. An iPod or Nano, based on yet-unpublished tests by research audiologist Brian Fligor of Children’s Hospital Boston, can hit 110dB - as loud as down front at a Metallica concert. (Avery Comarow in U.S. News & World Report)
George Carlin’s New Rules for 2006 - example #1 - Stop giving me that pop-up ad for classmates.com! There’s a reason you don’t talk to people for 25 years, because you don’t particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.
Million of Us Check Credit Reports..........................to verify our financial histories. But when was the last time you checked your medical information? Some 500 life, health, and disability insurers search the Medical Info Bureau database for personal information. MIB reports affect whether you get the insurance you want, the rates you pay and coverage exclusions. MIB (www.mib.com) collects nuggets such as past health problems, unhealthy behavior and risky avocations. Check your dossier yearly by calling 866-692-6901, or go to their web site. You’ll be on file if you’ve applied for a policy and had a risk-related issue in the past 7 years. (Kiplinger’s Personal Finance)
Husband and Wife ........................A married couple is driving along a highway doing a steady
forty miles per hour. The wife is behind the wheel. Her husband, a divorce lawyer, suddenly looks
across at her and speaks in a clear voice, "Darling," he says. "I know we've been married for twenty
years, but I want a divorce." The wife says nothing, keeps looking at the road ahead but slowly
increases her speed to 45 mph. "I don't want you to try and talk me out of it", he says, "because I've
been having an affair with your best friend, and she's a far better lover than you are."
Again the wife stays quiet, but grips the steering wheel more tightly and slowly increases the speed
to 55. The husband confidently says, "I want the house." The wife knows he has the skill to get the
upper hand in a divorce, proceeds up to 60. "I want the car, too," he continues. 65 mph.
"And," he says, "I want the bank accounts, all the credit cards and the boat." The car veers towards a
massive concrete bridge. This makes the husband nervous, so he asks her: "Is there anything you
want?" The wife at last replies - in a quiet and controlled voice. "No, I've got everything I need." she
says. "Oh, really?" he says with derision. "So what have you got?" Just before they slam into the
wall at 65 mph, the wife turns to him and smiles. "The airbag." (Waxman)
Searching For Someone................................... “argali.com” is a search engine that is very useful for finding businesses and individuals. If you go to their website and download a small piece of software - the searching can begin. What’s great about their search method is that it searches all the “search engines” instead of just one. Google, InfoSpace, Switchboard, Yahoo and others. Try it, you’ll find it quick and easy to use.
Selling............................. Any questions asked by a prospect must be considered a buying signal. You job is to recognize the signal and convert it into a sale. Signals to look for:
• Questions about availability or time.
• Questions about delivery.
• Specific questions about rates, price, or statements about affordability.
• Questions / statements about money.
• Positive questions about your business.
• Wanting something repeated.
• Statements about problems with previous vendors.
• Questions about features and options.
• Questions about quality.
• Questions about guarantee or warranty.
• Questions about qualifications.
• Specific product / service questions.
• Asking for a reference. (The Sales Bible)
Moon Shot
“..........to get people passionate.......... It takes some imagination. President Kennedy understood that the competition with the Soviet Union was not a space race but a science race, which was really an education race. Yet the way he chose to get Americans excited about sacrificing and buckling down to do what it took to win the Cold War - which required a large-scale push in science and engineering - was by laying out the vision of putting a man on the moon, not a missile into Moscow. If President Bush in looking for a similar legacy project, there is one just crying out - a national science initiative that would be our generation’s moon shot: a crash program for alternative energy and conservation to make America energy-independent in ten years. If President Bush made energy independence his moon shot, in one fell swoop he would dry up revenue for terrorism, force Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia onto the path of reform - which they will never do with $50[+]-a-barrel oil - strengthen the dollar, and improve his own standing in Europe by doing something huge to reduce global warming. He would also create a real magnet to inspire young people to contribute to both the war on terrorism and American’s future by again becoming scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. ‘This is not just a win-win,’ said Michael Mandelbaum. ‘This is a win-win-win-win-win.’ I have consistently been struck that my newspaper columns that have gotten far and away the most positive feedback over the years, especially from young people, have been those that urged the president to call the nation to this task. Summoning all our energies and skills to produce a twenty-first-century fuel is George W. Bush’s opportunity to be both Nixon to China and JFK to the moon in one move.” (The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman)
Did You Know .......................... More than 40% of adults in the U.S. have worked in the restaurant industry at some point during their lives. In 1919, the average American had to work 157 minutes to buy a 3-pound chicken; today, it takes 14 minutes. (Good Living)
Getting Old ........................ An elderly gentleman has serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and doctor said “Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again.” the gentleman replied, “Oh, I haven’t told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I’ve changed my will three times!” (LaFree)
Airplane Air ........................... You’ve heard it said that re-circulated air on airplanes is like a giant blender spreading germs. How true is it? Not very. In a recent report, experts determined that air throughout the plane cabin doesn’t readily mix. That means you’re sharing the air- and whatever germs it has - with only the folks a few rows in front of and behind you, not the whole plane. Outside air gets added, too, diluting the germ content. So you’re no more likely to catch something in an airplane than you are in an other enclosed space like an office. Nevertheless, you’re better off if you wash your hands often and stay well-hydrated. (Health Magazine)
Back To Those Function Keys ............. The F1 to F12 keys at the top of your keyboard still work. F1 = Help, F2 = Renames selected files, F3 = Opens the file search box, F4 = Opens the address bar in Windows Explorer, F5 = Refreshes the screen in Windows Explorer, F6 = Navigates between different sections
of a Windows Explorer window, F8= Opens the start-up menu when booting Windows, F11 = Opens full screen mode in Window Explorer.
Sincerely,
Edward C. Levy
President