Americans may not appreciate the role of a president’s chief strategist, or Secretary of State but anyone who flies understands the FAA makes sure planes are safe, skies are safe and people are competent as evidenced most dramatically by the ordinary, well-trained FAA-qualified professionals…

Andy Singer Andy Singer/Cartoon of the Day Are you tired of cookie-cutter weddings where the bride and groom get dressed up in expensive, boring clothes, participate in tedious ceremonies, and follow it up with homogeneous, unmemorable receptions? Or maybe you just can't afford a big wedding? Let…

The Practical Employer ‘Exhibit A’ for What’s Wrong With the Fair Labor Standards Act The FLSA is broken and needs to be fixed. A great place to start is reinvesting that money back into education so that employers can begin to better understand their compliance obligations. February 26, 2018 ,…

Dear Moneyist, My father has been retired for 30-plus years and owns a home worth $1.8 million outright. He is 84 years old and ready to move to a retirement community to simplify his life. The home is in Sunnyvale, Calif. (where I also live and own). He plans to move to Denver, Colo. near my sister…

When Apple Inc. next week begins shifting the iCloud accounts of its China-based customers to a local partner’s servers, it also will take an unprecedented step for the company that alarms some privacy specialists: storing the encryption keys for those accounts in China. The keys are complex strings…

The Last Word Saying Goodbye to a Game Changer It’s hard to fathom why Jonathan Flickinger, who was committed to his profession, community and family, was tragically taken at just 34 years old. February 23, 2018 , Son Isaiah, daughter Lydia and wife Jenna with Jonathan Flickinger, who died Dec. 28…

Sticks and stones may break bones, but 280 characters can do a whole lot more damage. On Tuesday, Kylie Jenner, start of E!’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” and a fashion empire mogul in her own right, tweeted that she was over Snapchat SNAP, -0.57% “Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat…

Brian had also quit his job as Vice-President at a telecommunication firm to join the company full-time, establishing a truly family culture early on. Lisa also wanted to ensure that PopSugar provided more opportunities to women, especially on the technology side where female engineers are so often…

New School D&I When Diversity Training Is a Waste of Time and Employers’ Money Misuse can cost thousands of dollars and waste dozens of hours on diversity training that has little impact. February 21, 2018 , I may be the only diversity trainer who is often anti-diversity training. It’s not because I…

Some glimpses of progress in its quarterly earnings report sent Pandora Media Inc. shares soaring 10.5% in after-hours trading Wednesday, exceeding heavy losses from the regular session. Investors were pleased to see that revenue grew 7% during the fourth quarter, excluding businesses that Pandora…

Benefits Baby Boomers Booming as Gig Workers A lot of workers participate in the gig economy. And the biggest demographic of all is baby boomers. February 20, 2018 , Marion McGovern, author of ‘Thriving in the Gig Economy.’ A lot of people associate the gig economy with companies like Uber or Task…

Dear Moneyist, I purchased a duplex 20 years ago and am considering selling it. I paid $150,000 for the duplex, and spent about $55,000 on updates and renovations. A real estate agent has suggested selling it for $565,000, as a duplex, or converting it to condominiums and selling each for $300,000.…

‘Queen for a day.’ Once upon a time, it was merely the title of a radio and later television game show. It’s suddenly re-emerged in the public consciousness amid reports that former Paul Manafort deputy Rick Gates plans to plead guilty and testify against Manafort, under whom Gates worked as a…

Getty Images Walmart dominance in food has given it a competitive advantage, analysts say Ahead of Walmart Inc.’s fourth-quarter 2018 earnings on Tuesday, Susquehanna Financial Group analysts reiterated its positive stock rating due to the giant’s position in food. Susquehanna raised the retail…

A top Facebook advertising executive expressed “excitement” over special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of Russian individuals and other entities Friday , stating that the company FB, -1.44% had shared its information on ads placed by Russians with congressional investigators, with Mueller’s…

The Practical Employer Can You Pay Your Employees in Bitcoin? Bitcoins do not have a set value. Their value is based solely on global exchanges, and depends on how it’s bought and sold online. February 15, 2018 , “What is bitcoin? I don’t understand how fake money works.” These were the words of my…

The Practical Employer Grubhub Takes the Cake in Groundbreaking Gig Economy Trial As the number of gig workers increases, what will our government do to protect their pay, their benefits, their safety and their civil rights? February 14, 2018 , Raef Lawson worked as a restaurant delivery driver for…

Match.com and OKCupid are the Amazon AMZN, +2.04% of courtship. And for single Americans who have signed up to dating sites, this is the busiest time of year. It’s the peak season for Match.com, the subscription-based dating site that’s a subsidiary of InterActiveCorp. IAC, +2.43% which spans from…

Working Well Social Advances in the LGBT Community Begets Retirement Progress Younger LBGT workers not only have larger numbers, but they’ve had more access to certain financial benefits. February 13, 2018 , Financial stability is impacted by many factors, including how good people are at saving,…