Michelle Singletary: Strapped parents shouldn’t keep supporting grown children. 2D
Business&Money
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TICKER Office parties Conquering the holiday of fice par ty doesn’t just mean keeping track of how much you drink. Seasonal social events can be the best opportunity to network within your company, so you may want to consider veering away from the buffet line. “Whether you’re the life of the party or full of social anxiety when it comes to holiday events, it’s important that you go into them armed and ready to make the most of your time with every holiday well-wisher you encounter,” said Maribeth Kuzmeski, author of “The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life.” Kuzmeski offers tips for maximizing workplace merrymaking: ■ Do your homework: Everyone from your company’s CEO to your top client’s boss are likely to come out of the woodwork for this party. Think about which contacts are the most important to you, and make a point to speak to each of them. Do some research about them beforehand so you are prepared to engage in conversation with them. ■ Conversation: Have more in your arsenal than small talk. After you’ve asked about how they’ll spend the holidays, move on to more in-depth business questions such as what they see as their biggest work-related challenges, the best thing to happen to their business this year or something they’ve done to change their career. ■ Use time wisely: Be prepared to pitch yourself in 15 seconds. Resist the urge to give a long introduction, and instead highlight your career and top skills. Be creative and think about how you can frame your accomplishments in a way that gets other guests’ attention. ■ Follow up: The party may end, but your connection shouldn’t. Keep track of all the connections you’ve made, including reminders of interesting or remarkable things that people said or that you learned so that you can refer to them in later conversations. Use social media to keep in touch.
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A little caution may save Tide fans big bucks By Patrick Rupinski
Home for the holidays? The holidays are no time to slow down your job search. In fact, those who continue seeking work may find it’s less competitive, easier to reach hiring managers and a good opportunity to nestle into the front of the line for openings in the new year. True, company recruiters are likely taking time off and slowing down their hiring efforts from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. But if a large number of candidates assume it’s safe to take a break from the job hunt, those who don’t may find a job in their stocking, says Tony Lee, publisher of job search site CareerCast.com. Not only do many candidates withdraw from the job market over the holidays, but those who are considering a job change usually stay put to make sure they receive year-end bonuses and vacation time they’ve accrued. ■ Hiring decision makers are less likely to be traveling as the holidays approach. Instead, they’re focused on finishing projects, cleaning out files, meeting with colleagues and attending holiday gatherings. ■ Ever yone is a little happier at the holidays, so leverage that good will to your advantage when trying to schedule interviews.
Getting back from charity
Staff Writer
I
t’s a dream come true for many Crimson Tide fans. They are traveling to Pasadena, Calif., to attend the BCS National Championship Game in early January. But that dream could turn into a nightmare before the teams even take the field, experts warn, if fans allow their euphoria to trump their caution. “When something like this (a national championship game) happens, we become so excited about the event that it is easy to let your guard down,” said David Smitherman, president of the Better Business Bureau of Central Alabama. Con artists know that and thrive during the bowl season, he said. “There always is a potential problem if you buy tickets from someone selling them on a sidewalk or an unknown entity on the Internet because you don’t what you might get or if you will get anything,” Smitherman said. The street seller might have counterfeit tickets. The con artist using the Internet might take your money
BUYING TICKETS? WHEN: The Rose Bowl will sell a limited number of BCS National Championship game tickets at 10 a.m. CST on Tuesday. COST: $275 per ticket, plus handling, through Ticketmaster. WHERE: Call 213-365-3675; ticketmaster.com LIMIT: Single tickets available. Only two tickets per call, with a maximum of four tickets per person.
SEE TICKETS | 2D
Sure, you give to charity because you’re compassionate. All the same, you want to make sure you get federal tax rewards for your year-end contributions. Here are some tips for claiming a charitable contribution deduction on a tax return: ■ For contributions of cash or property, always get a receipt. For contributions of property, the receipt will need to reflect the fair value of the property donated. ■ Reporting forms can vary depending on the size of your donation. If the gift of property is in excess of $500,000, a qualified appraisal must be attached to your tax return. ■ Understand that deductions are only given up to a certain percentage of your adjusted gross income — usually 20 percent to 50 percent. You can carry over the excess amount for the next five years. STAFF ILLUSTRATION | ANTHONY BRATINA
Decade saw a long ride on the economic roller coaster By Adam Geller
The Associated Press
NEW YORK | It began as an age of economic wonders. A time when a dot-com startup that never came close to a profit spent millions to make a singing sock puppet a star of the Super Bowl. A time when one of economists’ big worries was
what might happen if unemployment fell too low. Back when Enron was a fabulous investment and subprime loans exemplified U.S. financial innovation. Most never saw the collapse of the First Bubble coming. Or the rise of the Second Bubble behind it that made its predecessor seem almost quaint. Or the Great Recession that seeded fears of — perish the thought — the Next Bubble.
What a long, strange and deeply disturbing ride it’s been on the economic roller coaster these past 10 years. And though the decade is ending, there’s no telling whether the turbulence is over. As policy makers fought over the past year to right the economy, there have been warnings the U.S. could be destined for a “lost decade,” like the stagnation that grasped Japan through
the 1990s. In fact, Americans have already weathered a very different kind of lost decade. The domestic economy since 2000 has been anything but stagnant. But as the decade ends, consumers and workers, investors and industries find themselves with little, if anything, to show for it. SEE ECONOMY | 2D