40 Under 40

by Fortune staff
Thursday, October 20, 2011

They're the hottest young stars in business across the globe. They're innovators, disrupters, and job creators; in fact, it's a pretty safe bet you're going to be working for them someday — if you aren't already! They're in technology, yes, but also in movies, music, athletic wear, and even curry-flavored chocolate. And the scary thing is they're just getting started.
1. Mark Zuckerberg

Photo: David Yellen

Founder and CEO, Facebook
Age: 27
Industry: Technology
This may have been the year your grandmother joined Facebook. The Harvard dropout and tech wizard is a household name, thanks in part to The Social Network, but the real-life script is still being written. In 2011 his baby hit 800 million users and was valued at $50 billion, setting the stage for a monster IPO to come. The company also partnered with Skype and redesigned key parts of its service, leading to the usual temporary backlash.
On the hunt: Zuck made headlines earlier this year when he told Fortune his goal for 2011 was to eat only animals he had personally killed.
2. Larry Page

Courtesy: Google

Co-founder and CEO, Google
Age: 38
Industry: Technology
Since retaking the reins at Google last April, the introverted Page has won praise for making some fast decisions — and big acquisitions. He's cut back on nonessential projects, while plowing resources into Facebook competitor Google. Ad-driven revenue is stronger than ever — in July the company reported record-breaking quarterly earnings. But with nearly 30,000 employees across some 30 countries, steering the search giant back to its nimbler roots won't be easy. Even Page recently admitted Google's biggest threat is, well, Google.
Net worth: Page is now worth some $17 billion.
3. Greg Jensen

Courtesy: Bridgewater

Co-CEO and co-CIO, Bridgewater Associates
Age: 37
Industry: Finance
Jensen's work overseeing research at the world's largest hedge fund (assets under management: $125 billion) has paid off. Bridgewater's flagship fund is up 25%, while many marquee names are losing money. Jensen also oversaw the rollout of the $10 billion fund Pure Alpha Major Markets in June. Jensen, who started at Bridgewater as an intern while at Dartmouth, believes the firm's unusual culture (articulated by founder Ray Dalio in the form of 300 self-help principles) is the key to the firm's success — and his own.

4. Aditya Mittal

Courtesy: ArcelorMittal

CFO, ArcelorMittal
Age: 35
Industry: Industrial
He's more than just the son of his company's billionaire founder: The finance whiz helped build the world's biggest steel group through acquisitions — and is now helping run it. This year he assumed responsibility for European operations, the company's largest division, and he just returned from the Arctic, where the company's new iron ore mine is one of billions of dollars' worth of new projects.
Media diet: He reads the state-controlled China Daily every day "to get perspective on how they are framing the news."
5. John Arnold

Photo: Centaurus Advisors

Founder, Centaurus Energy
Age: 37
Industry: Finance
The trading star who cut his teeth at Enron turned a talent for reading the notoriously fickle gas markets into an estimated $4 billion hedge fund fortune. He's bounced back from his first-ever down year, with his flagship fund up about 4%, and invests in natural-gas storage caverns and power plants, turning Centaurus into a diversified energy firm some have likened to a mini-Enron. Billionaire props include an art-filled modernist mansion in Houston and a foundation to support overhauling America's pension system.
Spare time: Arnold is said to be a Dave Matthews and U2 fan.
6. Brian Deese

Courtesy: National Economic Council

Deputy director, National Economic Council
Age: 33
Industry: Government
A driving force behind the auto bailouts, the Obama administration's most unalloyed win to date, Deese cemented his wunderkind status on the White House economic team by building the case against liquidating Chrysler. Now the Yale Law graduate claims an even bigger portfolio — ranging from Wall Street reform to housing finance — and the President's full attention. When Obama decamped for Martha's Vineyard in August, Deese went along to help him craft his new jobs plan.
Linguistic pet peeve: When people confuse "further" and "farther." ("Don't know why, but it drives me nuts.")
7. Daniel Ammann

Courtesy: General Motors

CFO, General Motors
Age: 39
Industry: Automotive
Last fall Ammann spent weeks on the road persuading investors to buy General Motors stock. Now he's working to keep them happy. The native New Zealander advised GM for years as a Morgan Stanley banker before taking over as CFO this spring. His job today: making sure the automaker stays profitable in any market — historically a tough task for GM. "We're off to a good start," says Ammann, who splits his time between Detroit and New York City; this year GM has earned $6.3 billion in a humdrum economy.
Least favorite business term: "End-to-end solution."
8. Jack Dorsey


Co-founder and executive chairman, Twitter; co-founder and CEO, Square
Age: 34
Industry: Technology
Dorsey's comeback is a classic Valley tale: After being ousted as CEO of Twitter in 2008, he returned to the company he helped found to lead product development (and clean house — four of Twitter's key product execs reportedly left in July). He continues to run Square, his hyper-hot mobile-payments startup, which has shipped more than 800,000 of its credit card readers and recently closed a $100 million round of funding, giving it a valuation north of $1 billion.
Relaxation technique: Dorsey is a big fan of going for walks; he also takes "microvacations," driving on Sundays to nearby Point Reyes or Big Sur.
9. Jeff George

Courtesy: Sandoz

Global head of Sandoz, Novartis
Age: 38
Industry: Consumer Products
Since joining Novartis in 2007, George, a former international-relations student and McKinsey consultant, has shot up the ranks at the Swiss pharmaceuticals giant. After stints in the company's vaccine and emerging-markets divisions, he was tapped in 2008 to lead Sandoz, the company's massive generics unit, whose $8.5 billion in revenue makes it the world's second-biggest generics operation after Israel's Teva. With George at the helm, Sandoz has posted double-digit revenue growth and made big gains in the field of biosimilars, or generic versions of complex drugs.
Stress reliever: Meditates each morning and runs three to four times a week.
10. Sid Sankaran

Courtesy: AIG

Chief risk officer, AIG
Age: 34
Industry: Finance
The financial crisis proved that AIG had no clothes — or at least no controls. Now it's up to Sankaran, a Canadian math hotshot (his degree from the University of Waterloo was in actuarial sciences) and former partner at consultancy Oliver Wyman, to make sure it doesn't happen again. Sankaran declined AIG at first; today, as chief risk officer, he oversees the billions flowing among disparate insurance operations and reports to CEO Robert Benmosche if something suspicious rears its head.
—Editorial package reported by Katie Benner, Scott Cendrowski, Betsy Feldman, Mina Kimes, Alex Konrad, Beth Kowitt, Collen Leahey, Michal Lev-Ram, Tara Moore, Tory Newmyer, Daniel Roberts, Christopher Tkaczyk and Anne Vandermey.

Steve Jobs and the 7 Rules of Success

Steve Jobs' impact on your life cannot be underestimated. His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect -- computers, movies, music and mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs' greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success.

Over the years, I've become a student of sorts of Jobs' career and life. Here's my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."

1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.

2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight of the big vision.

3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.

4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?

5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?

6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.

7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.

There's one story that I think sums up Jobs' career at Apple. An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice. His counsel? Dream bigger. I think that's the best advice he could leave us with. See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas.

Carmine Gallo is a communications coach, a popular keynote speaker and author of several books including The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs and The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs. His latest is The Power of Foursquare (McGraw-Hill, 2011).

41 belia muflis setiap hari gagal urus kewangan

KUALA LUMPUR 11 Okt. - Seramai 41 belia Malaysia berumur lingkungan 21 hingga 40 tahun dianggarkan menjadi muflis setiap hari akibat kurangnya pengetahuan berkaitan pengurusan kewangan.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Gabungan Persatuan Pengguna Malaysia (FOMCA), Datuk Paul Selva Raj berkata, belia merupakan golongan utama menghadapi masalah kewangan dan menjadi muflis berbanding orang dewasa akibat daripada perbelanjaan yang tidak terkawal.

"Antara punca utama adalah kerana urusan sewa beli seperti kereta, rumah dan penggunaan kad kredit.

"Apabila lebih 30 peratus daripada gaji bulanan digunakan untuk membayar hutang, seseorang itu sudah dikira mempunyai masalah kewangan.

"Ini menunjukkan betapa kurangnya kesedaran golongan muda berkaitan pengurusan kewangan mereka dan jika perkara ini dibiarkan, ia akan menjadi lebih teruk," katanya pada sidang akhbar selepas majlis pelancaran program RINGGIT Pertama Saya di sini, hari ini.

Program RINGGIT Pertama Saya adalah kerjasama antara Persatuan Pendidikan dan Penyelidikan Pengguna Malaysia (ERA Consumer) dan Citibank Bhd. dalam usaha memupuk kesedaran kanak-kanak berhubung pentingnya pengurusan kewangan.

Program ini melibatkan 400 kanak-kanak berusia antara empat hingga enam tahun dari 20 buah tadika di seluruh negara.

Paul menambah, FOMCA menggesa kerajaan untuk memasukkan pendidikan pengurusan kewangan di dalam sistem persekolahan untuk memberi ilmu bersesuaian kepada kanak-kanak.

"Kita harus mendidik generasi akan datang mengenai pentingnya pengurusan kewangan dan usaha ini sebaiknya dimulakan dari peringkat sekolah lagi," ujarnya.

Sumber: Utusan Malaysia, 12/10/2011

Welfare mom creates million dollar biz: how she did it

• by Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger, on Mon Oct 3, 2011 6:57am PDT

Trisha Waldron

Trisha Waldron was 28 years old when she realized that the life she had drifted into was a dead end. She had gone from being a daughter to a wife to having her first baby at 22. Now single and barely surviving on food stamps in the Black Hills of South Dakota, she had no college degree, no work experience to speak of, and no clear idea of what to do with the rest of her life. She owned a tiny two-bedroom house from her divorce, and she had her two lovely little girls, ages four and six, but that was about it.

You can create your own life

One afternoon, volunteering at her daughters’ school, she heard a teacher tell the kids, “You can create your own life.” That sentence changed everything. As she puts it, “I knew I had to take responsibility for my own life. I had been running it according to others and things hadn’t worked out very well.”

She applied for a student loan and went back to school. The first year, she and her girls lived on welfare, food stamps, and odd jobs, but the second year, an opportunity presented itself and she grabbed it. An artist friend offered her a job assembling jewelry for a mail order catalogue in her spare time. She knew it wouldn’t be easy: she’d be in school all day, taking care of the kids in the evening, and then have to work late into the night at her kitchen table, but she’d be working for herself and be able to get off welfare.

Having a job and being in school built up Trisha’s confidence and she eventually proposed to the owner of the catalogue that she design his entire line of jewelry. She says, “As an entrepreneur you are always going to be confronted by things you don’t know, but you can’t let it stop you.” She went to the library and dove into teaching herself the basics of jewelry design as well as exploring Native American motifs from which she would draw inspiration. She recalls that she didn’t get a lot of sleep in those days.

[ Donate: You can help struggling women get back into the workforce by giving to Empowered Women International. The award-winning non-profit channels the creative talents of low-income women into small businesses to create jobs. ]

Growing the business

Her business moved from the kitchen table to the garage where she installed a wood stove to keep it warm against the bitter South Dakota weather. Still, she had to work in gloves and a heavy coat during the winter. After two years, she decided she was ready for an even greater challenge and, in 1985, incorporated her own company.

From the beginning, Trisha was as excited by the cultures that informed her jewelry designs as she was by the final product. She learned the world was a whole lot bigger than Rapid City, South Dakota. She forged relationships with bead and stone vendors from Africa, India, and China.

Looking back, she says those relationships and the ones she developed with her staff made all the difference for the long-term success of her business. She explains, “At first, I had a super aggressive, take-no-prisoners approach. I might have gained something for myself but I wasn’t very nice to those around me. Eventually, I learned that you draw power as a woman in business by being compassionate and inclusive. This way, you can make long and loyal relationships.”

Her first million

After only five years in business, she had made her first million. But, as Trisha remembers, “Getting there was incredibly challenging, I learned by trial and error, I cried a lot. But I lived simply and didn’t need much to survive. I was in a small town and hired my girlfriends to help me. My neighbors pitched in with the kids. My big break came in 1987 when the catalogue of the Smithsonian Institution started featuring my work.”

Helping others help themselves

After winning the Smithsonian as a client, Trisha was able to move out of the garage into a proper jewelry studio. Other catalogues, such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, started picking up the line. When things got busy, she would hire as many as 40 other women, mostly single moms, to fabricate her designs out of their homes--just as she had when she first started.

In 2006, after over 20 years in business, Trisha sold her company to an employee and retired to California with her second husband.

Trisha’s advice for people who want to start their own businesses:

• Your responsibility is to be clear about your vision. Then you can ask others to help.
• There is a lot of assistance out there for entrepreneurs if you look for it: I learned bookkeeping from a volunteer group of retired accountants.
• Surround yourself with people who support you. A lot of people said I was crazy to start my own business as a single mom. But I had a few people who believed in me.
• Be okay with the knowledge that you won’t know how to do everything right away and trust that you can learn.
• Create a “mastermind group” – 2 or 3 people who are willing to have you bounce ideas off them every few weeks. I kept my group going for 10 years.
• Realize it will be hard, and accept that.

5 Tips From Early Retirees

by Susan Johnston
Monday, October 3, 2011

provided by

At 31, Robert Charlton had grown disillusioned with his job as a technical writer. "The idea of doing a desk job for another 30 years seemed painful to me, so I came up with this idea of trying to retire before 45," he says. He shared the idea with his wife Robin, who was then 31 and working as a travel agent.

More from USNews.com: • 12 Money Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes • 10 Ways to Improve Your Finances in 2011 • A Financial Checklist for 30-Somethings

Robert read up on personal finance instead of hiring an adviser and looked at taxable accounts they could draw from before turning 60. During that period, Robin completed an accelerated nursing program to become a registered nurse. By age 43, they'd gone from $16.88 in their checkbook at age 28 to saving up enough money to leave both their jobs and live off the interest.

Now, years later, they travel the world, skydiving in New Zealand, hiking through India, sailing through the Chilean fjords, and documenting their adventures on their website, wherewebe.com. Although many people struggle to retire in their 50s or 60s, Robert believes it's possible for others to retire early as he and his wife did. "Really, we're very average people," he says, admitting that it's harder, though not impossible, for those with kids. "We never had power jobs. We just both took intelligent steps." Here are some of those steps.

1. Cut housing costs. The Charltons spent a year carefully tracking their spending to see where they could cut back. But as Robert says, "the truth of the matter is, we really didn't have that much fat to cut out." Still, they agreed to rent out half of the bi-level starter home they owned in Boulder, Colo., so they could pay off the mortgage and pad their savings. Switching from a 30-year to a 15-year mortgage also helped the couple reach their goal. "You save so much on interest that it does result in a higher monthly payment, but not as high you would think," says Robert. They later sold their house and put the equity into a bond fund.

Robert and Robin Charlton (Photo courtesy of Robert Charlton)

2. Agree on your priorities. Instead of buying new cars, the couple kept their old ones, and Robin stuck to grocery shopping lists instead of buying whatever caught her eye. "That's how he shopped [without sticking to the list] so he was cut off from shopping," she says. Keeping their shared goal in mind kept their eyes on the prize. "We were both on the same page," adds Robin. "We both knew we wanted to put the money towards experiences." However, because they value travel so much, the Charltons didn't completely deprive themselves while saving up for retirement. As Robert says, it's important to "balance living for tomorrow with living for today." If saving feels like too much of a chore, it's easy to fall of the bandwagon.

3. Live below your means. Now that they've left the workforce, the Charltons live modestly by staying in hostels and focusing on less expensive travel destinations. They estimated needing between $30,000 and $40,000 annually, and they've managed to stay in that range, though they're averaging closer to $40,000. Earlier this year, they splurged on a trip to Italy and Switzerland for their 25th wedding anniversary. However, Robert says, "we typically have tried to travel places where the dollar goes further, like Argentina and Chile, where the exchange rate was in our favor." Destinations like India and Nepal have higher airfare but low day-to-day expenses so they stay for several months at a time to balance out the airfare costs.

4. Stay in the game. Although the Charltons' portfolio has had its ups and downs, they've resisted the urge to try to time the stock market or get out altogether. "We did some of our best investing during the bear market of 2000 to 2002," says Robert. "We bought stocks 'on sale' and reaped the rewards afterwards." Although he says they could have gotten a higher return on investment if the timing had been different, they also underestimated future earnings, so that helped them reach their target more quickly than planned.

5. Don't rule out temporary work. Dips in the market have made it more challenging for the Charltons to live off their interest. So when Robert was offered a six-month consulting project in 2009, he jumped at the opportunity to rebuild their capital. Although he'd once dreaded going to work, he actually liked the temporary arrangement. "I genuinely enjoyed working hard during that window because I knew it wasn't endless, which was the thing I found challenging early on when I first came up with this plan," he says.

Robin adds that they're open to making adjustments as they go or returning to work if needed. However, she values the chance to travel and be active while they're young and healthy. "Working as a nurse, I realize so many people save so much and a lot of people don't get all the years they thought they'd get," she says.

10 Ways to Start Earning Extra Money Now

Boost Your Income

Extra money every month is always useful, whether it goes toward paying bills or a trip to Cancun. People turn all sorts of skills—including cooking, teaching, and organizing—into cash. Here’s how you can, too.

Coaching

Are friends and family members constantly asking for your advice about a topic you know a lot about, such as how to fix customer-service problems or negotiate work conflicts? If so, perhaps you can turn it into a side business to get paid for your knowledge. Set up a website or blog to help find clients, and you’re in business.

Teaching
If standing in front of larger groups and following lesson plans is more your style, opportunities at local schools can let you tap into your inner professor. Community colleges and professional schools are often looking for outside experts and part-time teachers.

Writing

Almost everyone relies on the written word in some capacity, so those with editing and writing skills can often pick up contract work from companies and individuals who need help with their websites, marketing material, or product descriptions. Some writers also find success selling e-books or other digital products online.

Speaking

Not everyone likes the idea of speaking in front of a large group, but those who do (and are good at it) can often build a side career as a professional speaker. Industry groups, conference organizers, and companies frequently hire inspiring speakers for their events. Professional organizations, such as the National Speakers Association, can help you get started.

Sell Your Stuff

Cleaning out your bookshelves and closets can yield a nice pile of cash if you spend some time taking appealing photos and marketing the listings. Sites such as eBay and Craigslist make it easy to set up shop.

Cooking

As evidenced by the booming take-out market, busy professionals are willing to pay big bucks for someone to help them manage their meals. That’s why people with kitchen skills can often make decent money cooking up batches of food and delivering them to paying customers.

Rent out your space

If your home has an extra bedroom behind a door that locks, or even better, in its own suite, you could become a landlord. Students and recent graduates are often especially eager for affordable and small spaces.

Organize for Others

If getting a closet or drawer in order is your idea of a good time, you can turn that passion into a part-time business. An easy way to start is to offer your services to friends and family. Collect endorsements and then find your first real client.

Web Design

Web designers count everyone from Fortune 500 companies to nonprofits to individuals among their clients. Since almost all businesses need websites these days, anyone who can design appealing ones is in high demand.

IT Consultant

Are you the one your older family members are always asking to help them with their email and computer problems? If so, perhaps you can get paid for your skills (and patience) by setting up an IT consultancy on the side.

The Biggest Money Mistakes Couples Make

By Kimberly Palmer

Posted: October 18, 2010

Managing your own money is hard enough; add another person to the equation and it becomes an obstacle course: Does it make sense to combine bank accounts after moving in together? Should you pay off your credit card debt before getting married? Does the higher earner need to cover more of the bills?

[In Pictures: 12 Money Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes]

Here are six common mistakes that couples make with their money—and how to avoid them, adapted from the new book Generation Earn: The Young Professional’s Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back.

Not talking about finances.

Sure, discussing who pays for what and how much debt each person brings into the relationship is awkward—but also necessary. Before moving in together, talk about how you plan to share household expenses, whether the person with the higher salary will contribute more, how much credit card debt you have, and how you plan to share big-ticket items like cars. Also, take time to map out the logistics: Will you pay bills out of one shared bank account? Or keep all your money separate?

Don’t forget to bring up your long-term goals, too, which can make the discussion a little more romantic. Do you want to swim with dolphins in the Bahamas? Or backpack around Europe together? Agreeing on common goals makes it easier to save.

Combining accounts too early.

Putting all your money into one account might be the more romantic option (and prevent any debate over who picks up the tab at dinner), but it can also cause major problems in the event of a breakup. Couples who live together without first walking down the aisle face financial vulnerabilities with joint accounts that married couples don't.

Investments in shared assets, such as a home or car, can be lost during a messy breakup if only one person's name is on the title. Money or labor that went into redoing a former partner's kitchen may never be recouped. And while details vary by state, even assets such as joint savings accounts can go to the person who is first to make the withdrawal. Legalities aside, a lot of couples say they like the independence of having two accounts anyway, at least before they decide they’ve found their permanent soul mate.

[For more money-saving tips, visit the U.S. News Alpha Consumer blog.]

Sharing credit cards, real estate, and other types of debt.

If you add your partner’s name to the title of your home, then they own it, too—even if you paid for the down payment and mortgage. “I see it happening too often—a couple gets together, says ‘I love you, let’s set up house and make this official’. . . and then [one person] signs away half of their equity,” says Sheryl Garrett, a certified financial planner based in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, and author of Money Without Matrimony. Couples also need to talk about who would get the first opportunity to purchase the house if they were to break up, at what price would they sell it, and how many days they would have to refinance the mortgage in their own name.

Signing on to someone’s car loan or credit card can create similar problems. If you break-up and the other person fails to make their payments, then you’re on the hook, too. Even if you’ve long gotten over the relationship, your credit might feel the after-effects for years.

Getting surprised by the marriage penalty.

Newlyweds who earn similar, high salaries often get an unwelcome surprise the year after they get married: They find themselves stuck with a mega-tax bill. That’s because the so-called marriage penalty still exists in the upper tax brackets. In 2010, for example, husbands and wives who each earn $68,650 and up in taxable income are at risk for paying more married than they did as singletons.

Earnings above that amount face a 28 percent tax, compared to 25 percent pre-marriage. Couples are most at risk when they bring home similar incomes. (The reverse is also true. When one person in the marriage brings home all or most of the money in a marriage, that couple usually gets a tax break.) The best way to prepare for this unwelcome wedding “gift” is to know it’s coming and to deduct more from your salary throughout the year to avoid a large bill on April 15.

Ignoring the risk of a break-up.

Talking about how you would split things up if you decided to go your separate ways can prevent bad surprises later. Unless children or major assets are involved, there’s usually no need to hire a lawyer. In fact, you can just write down the answers to these questions along with any others that apply: Who would stay in the apartment? Who would get the cats? The car? If you want to formalize the process, you can pay a nominal fee to download forms, such as a living-together guide and contract, at nolo.com.

Since unmarried couples don’t get to argue their case in divorce court, it could be your only protection in place if things go south. (The legal ramifications of common-law marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships vary by state.) Couples might also want to consider talking about any debts, past bankruptcy filings, and credit report problems, because even if you’re not legally liable for your girlfriend’s $50,000 student loan, it could end up affecting your quality of life if 10 percent of the household income goes toward paying it off each month.

[Visit the U.S. News Personal Finance site for more insight and money management tips.]

Putting one person in charge of money.

It’s normal to specialize in relationships—to delegate dinner planning to the best cook, and gardening to the one with a green thumb. But giving one person all of the money management responsibility can lead to an unbalanced relationship.

New York–based relationship therapist Bonnie Eaker Weil explains that no one should ever feel like he or she has to ask permission before buying something. “I call it ‘Mother, may I?’ You don’t want to get into that position where you’re the little girl, or you’re the little boy, and the other person is your parents. You want to have your own money, and certain things are guilt-free, and you just do what you want with it. If you want to buy a latte, or lipstick, or a facial, you do not have to ask permission, because it’s your own money,” says Weil. Plus, in the event of a break-up, you want to make sure you know where all your money is and how to manage it.

This article is adapted with permission from Kimberly Palmer’s new book Generation Earn: The Young Professional’s Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back (Ten Speed Press).

Do Single People Need Life Insurance?

By Kimberly Palmer

Posted: August 17, 2011

If you’re married with children, then you probably know you should have life insurance to protect your dependents in the event of your death. But do single people without those same dependents also need to insure themselves? According to USAA Life Insurance, the number of single people buying life insurance has increased 10 percent compared to a year earlier. The biggest growth was among twenty-somethings, which experienced a 24 percent increase in life insurance purchases.

[In Pictures: Celebrities with the Biggest Money Problems.]

Source:http://money.usnews.com

The increase appears to be driven in part by the economy. During economic downturns, people across the board tend to buy less insurance, simply because they can’t afford it. In fact, life insurance ownership in general is at a fifty-year low right now, a dip that industry experts attribute to the economy. So part of the increase in life insurance purchases, which is happening across multiple demographic groups, can be attributed to the economic recovery following the most recent recession.

With singles, though, demographic shifts are also at play, says Greg Blake, executive director at USAA’s life insurance company. There are now more single households than married households, and people stay single longer. Single people are also more likely to experience major life events, which often lead to the purchase of life insurance, including having children and buying a home. There’s one more factor, too: Single people are often responsible for parents or grandparents, and they want to make sure those dependents will still be cared for.

“Some single people have parents who were hit really hard or have medical needs and can’t afford bills on their own, or they’re helping to support a special needs sibling. Having a life insurance policy will let that continue if they pass away,” says Blake.

Many twenty-somethings, says Blake, have learned a hard lesson from the recession. “A lot of millennials have seen their parents and grandparents struggling in retirement, and they’re taking a lot of steps to prepare for financial security and prevent those problems for themselves,” says Blake.

[Recession Lessons From Gen Y]

As for whether or not single people need life insurance, the answer is sometimes. For any single parent, the answer is probably yes, and anyone supporting other family members might want to consider it, too. Blake says that some young people decide to take out insurance just to ensure no one else has to deal with the funeral expenses or any debts, such as a mortgage.

Blake adds that buying life insurance as a single 25-year-old who plans to have children one day can be more affordable than waiting to purchase the insurance until that person is a 32-year-old father. That’s because rates tend to go up with age, and life insurance is pretty cheap for healthy young adults in their twenties. It can also become prohibitively expensive or even impossible to obtain if a major health problem crops up later.

As for how much life insurance to get, it’s hard to apply a standard formula to every situation. Financial planners tend to recommend one of two strategies: Make a list of all of the expenses you would like covered in the event of your death, from college tuition for children to paying off a mortgage, and take out insurance worth that amount. The other option is to take out enough insurance to replace your salary for a certain number of years, such as five to ten. Online calculators and qualified professionals can help finesse those numbers.

What do you think, do single people need life insurance?