1. Indra Nooyi, Chairman and CEO PepsiCo is the most powerful businesswoman in the world. She has come a long way from her native India. Not only has she successfully contended with declining sales of soft drinks manufactured by her company, she has looked at providing the consumer with healthier options such as orange juice fortified with omega 3 fatty acid.
2. Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods, has used effective and innovative strategies such as empowering local managers in developing countries, and launching new and convenient products to keep and enhance her company’s market position
3. Pat Woertz Chairman, President, and CEO Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) She made sure that her company known as the “supermarket to the world” held its own even in the midst of higher corn costs and doubts about ethanol.
4. Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO Xerox (XRX) is largely given the credit for a full scale turnaround of her company since taking it over. Xerox is at no. 3 in the Fortune 500 companies in terms of profit growth over 5 years. Sounds pretty impressive to me.
5. Angela Braly, President and CEO Wellpoint (WLP) Wellpoint is the largest woman led company in the US in terms of revenue.
6. Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO Avon Products (AVP) She is also a member on the Apple board (the only female one), and is responsible for the stock price going up 15% among other things
7. Susan Arnold, President, Global Business Units Procter & Gamble (PNG) She is tipped to be the dark horse who may run the company one day
8. Oprah Winfrey, Chairman Harpo – After her TV shows and magazine it is now a new network that will target 70 million homes
9. Brenda Barnes, Chairman and CEO Sara Lee (SLE) – responsible for shedding underperforming units that accounted for 40% of revenue.
10. Ursula Burns, President Xerox (XRX) heir apparent to the Xerox throne.

Medicare Scam: This is something like a mobile lab scam – where the fraudsters target the elderly pretending to conduct fake checkups and then charging their Medicare account. Then another modus operandi is offering ‘free’ products door to door and then charging their Medicare account. Then there are those to steal someone’s identification number and use it to conduct tests; such as the woman who was charged for semen analysis and prostate exams!

Funeral Scams: There are the usual misleading pricing and faulty coffin problems that are faced by many in connection with funerals, but the major problem is posed by the Prepaid Funeral concept. Here a senior would, in order to ease the financial burden on their survivors, opt for a prepaid funeral – these are stacked against the buyer, are often fraudulent and fail to deliver all or some of what is promised.

The Census Scam: Here a person turns up claiming to be asking questions for the purposes of collating information about the census. They then proceed to ask about your bank account information, social security number and other financial details. Many provide this information in good faith, unaware that the motives are far from legal.

Anti Aging Products: The quest for a long life and a young body is a never ending one – it appeals to people’s vanity and their survival instinct to stay alive. So the many pills, sprays, lotions, creams and myriad other products that promise “reduced lines” or “youthful skin” or “look 10 years younger” make you sign up for a “free trial” and charge you for hundreds of dollars.

Care Giver Scams: As seniors come to rely more and more upon a caregiver, the dishonest ones may start to siphon off funds, insurance policies and other properties.

Lottery and Sweepstake Scams: Typically one is informed of having won a lottery but that there is a processing fee required and then one gets suckered for some more money.

The Fake Grandkids Scam: A supposed grandkid will call and say they are in dire need of money and are stuck somewhere. Or there will be a Canadian police officer who will call and tell you about a grandchild arrested in Canada asking that bail or bond is required to be furnished.

So beware of these and other senior scams.

The recession, the global meltdown, the slowdown, and a myriad other terms are being bandied about these days to describe the fact that basically everyone is feeling the pinch in their pocket these days. We are no longer anticipating a recession; it is upon us and no mistake! We all have less money than before to spend, we are doing without some things that we may have taken for granted earlier, we are all taking a sharp look at our expenditure to see what we can cut down on and what we can do without. I thought of some of the ways that one can cope with recession and here are my thoughts:

Do your job: The single most scary prospect in times of recession is a looming layoff of even a chance that one may be fired. What is important to remember here is that the people you work for are most likely to fire those with the lowest productivity; those that are least likely to matter by their absence. Remember this and just do your job so well that when an employer thinks they have to cut costs by retrenchments, yours is not a name that occurs to them. So the single most important insurance against being fired is, JUST DO YOUR JOB THE BEST YOU CAN.

Be Positive: I know this is an obvious cliché, but think about how easy it is to get bogged down by your troubles and your tribulations. Take time out and count your blessings: for instance if you are in good health, think about how much worse off you would be if you were not in good health. There would be medical expenses and low productivity! Surround yourself with positivity and positive people, take time out and do worthwhile things.

Take care of yourself: Make a conscious effort to lower stress levels. Cook food at home (it is healthier and far cheaper) and eat food high in nutritional value. Keep yourself active, keep your brain active. They say mental exercises like puzzles, crosswords, quizzes etc that challenge your mind are important not only to keep your brain healthy and agile, they can also keep dementia at bay! So while you exercise your body for fitness also do the same for your brain.

Read my old posts: All my posts are about money and how to get a great bargain, but here are some you may find particularly useful given the current financial scenario:

1.      Help with your taxes

2.      Small steps to big savings

3.      Tips to save gas

4.      Hypermiling

5.      Save money on medication

6.      New Year resolutions

]]> http://www.greatpriceshere.com/2009/03/20/how-to-cope-with-the-recession/feed/ 11 http://www.greatpriceshere.com/2008/10/29/biggest-divorce-settlements/ http://www.greatpriceshere.com/2008/10/29/biggest-divorce-settlements/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:38:24 +0000 Nicole Price http://www.greatpriceshere.com/?p=167 I know I have never done a post such as this one before, but I just wanted to do something completely different from my usual save money / get good deals kind of posts and still at the same time, keep it All about the Money, honey J. I was watching the movie First Wives Club again after years and got curious to find out who were involved in the biggest divorce settlements ever.

Now if I were to pick one divorce settlement that is to my mind the most famous, I would it was the Donald Trump / Ivana Trump divorce with its high profile showdowns on ski slopes and massive settlements. After all it was Ivana who made that classic line her own when she said in the First Wives Club, ‘Don’t get mad, get everything!” Though the exact amounts paid out in the divorce were sealed by the Courts, according to Wiki, rumors estimated that Ivana received $20 million, the $14 million family estate in Connecticut, a $5 million housing allowance, all of her jewelry and 49% of Mar-A-Lago, the family home in Palm Beach which also serves as a private club for the Palm Beach elite. Ivana’s next marriage; to Riccardo Mazzucchelli didn’t last either and she filed a $15 million breach of contract suit against him as well.

Perhaps the most famous, but the Trump divorce has hardly the biggest in terms of money. Steven Spielberg, for instance paid Amy Irving a whopping $100 million when they hit Splistville in 1989.

Neil Diamond (my fave balladeer of all time) was unusually cordial when he divorced his wife of 25 years, Marcia Murphy and cheerfully paid up $150 million, saying ‘She’s worth every penny’! Perhaps Neil told her I still wanna be friends.

All these high profile celebrity divorce settlements however, do not compare to a relatively lesser known divorce settlement of Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich when he paid what is touted as the biggest divorce settlement in history, a $2.5 billion payout to his former air hostess wife Irina.

And I think this qualifies as one of the costliest divorces when you consider that the couple were never legally married: Mick Jagger ‘divorced’ Jerry Hall after a 21 year relationship and paid $25 million! Not bad!

I do think it a big unseemly to evince a ghoulish interest in the demise of other people’s marriage, but when such staggering sums of money are involved, well I can really help but be fascinated!

So I thought to myself what post about discounts and good deals can I possibly do that is related to this issue? Well the closest I could come up with is lingerie, after all it is that which supports and enhances our er… womanly assets.

A Victoria’s Secret sale is always a much anticipated event so check out some of their things on sale: they have a great 2 for $40 section, where all the bras cost $20 each if you buy a pair. A lot of us know what a useful thing the push up bra is, and this pair of push ups will cost you $40. Then this corset bustier is also on sale and yours for $23; a very interesting look if you let a hint of it show under a jacket or similar. Check here for more styles with a 25 to 40% discount.

My friend Nancy Hayssen recommends lingerie from Fredricks, and being a model herself, she would know what she is talking about. They have some lovely things on discount, such as this strapless number for $24 (down from $30) which comes in 4 colors. They also have panties for as low as $1.99, such as this mixed print hipster and these thong panties.

I firmly believe that good lingerie is as important as outer clothing, not only because it decides how your clothes fit and look on you, but also because it is important to look good from the inside out, so that you feel good from the inside out as well!

Buy Classics, not Trends: When you make a substantial wardrobe purchase, make sure you spend wisely on items that are not going to go out of style by the next season. Classic cuts in natural fabrics can be almost timeless and are a good long term addition to your wardrobe. These items will always look good, always be in vogue even when the trendier items have lost favor with fashion victims.

Buy a good fit: Never mind if it takes dozens of trials, get the perfect fit, the smartest outfit won’t look good if it is ill-fitting. My mantra: Too tight is tarty, too loose is sloppy!

Wait for the Sales: Although many of my readers seem to think that you don’t get any good stuff at the sales I am a firm believer that sales fetch you the best value for money; all you need is a bit of patience and a good eye to pick out gold from the dross (I do agree that a lot of dross does get left behind and then goes on sale). The glee of having got a designer outfit at rock bottom prices is unparalleled!

Be Well-Groomed: No matter how expensively or stylishly you are dressed if you are sloppy, nothing will help! Make sure your hair is well groomed, clean and well cut; that your hands and feet look nice with the nails neatly clipped, clean; give yourself a rudimentary manicure or pedicure at home. Often that works as well as the salon ones. And guys, if you must have facial hair, make sure that is well groomed too! Clean, bright, teeth, sweet smelling breath and already your desirability quotient is high!

Accessorize Smart: Even an ordinary or fairly plain outfit can be really smartened up with a few quality accessories: think bag, belt, shoes, discreet jewelry. You can instantly increase the formality of an outfit by adding just one or two really smart accessories. Ladies, a classic string of pearls can really lift an outfit as you well know. Tone down the bling and tone up the classy!

Take care of these few things and you’re good to go!

Dress, is a dress of Marilyn Monroe that in 1999, fetched over $1.26 million at a New York auction. Monroe wore the dress to celebrate John F. Kennedy’s 45th birthday at a spectacular party in Madison Square Garden when she sang “Happy Birthday”. She had supposedly been sewn into the skin-tight dress for the occasion.

Car is The Bugatti Veyron 16.4. This is the most powerful, most expensive, and fastest street-legal production car in the world, with a proven top speed of over 400 km/h (407 km/h or 253 mph). The car is built by Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS and is sold under the legendary Bugatti marque. It is named after racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti firm. The Veyron features a W16 engine-16 cylinders in 4 banks of 4 cylinders and costs, hold your breaths…. $1,700,000.

Home, will be the 27-storey skyscraper being built in Mumbai by Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in India. The the world’s largest and costliest home will cost about two billion dollar, according to Forbes magazine. The only present day home to even remotely compare to this is the high-rise property currently on the market, the 70 million dollar triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air.

Dessert is the “Frozen Haute Chocolate,” a $25,000 chocolate sundae created by Serendipity 3 and Jeweler Euphoria of New York and . The new dessert is made from a blend of 28 cocoas from all around the world and is infused with five grams of edible 23-karat gold and served in a goblet lined with edible gold. It is topped with whipped cream, more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound. It even comes with souvenirs, an 18K gold bracelet with a carat’s worth of diamonds that rests at the base of the goblet and a gold spoon set with white and chocolate-colored diamonds.

So we took care of food, clothing, shelter and transport in our most expensive post. Any other most expensive things you want to share (information about)?

Apparently Google is also in the business of making millionaires (out of its stock holders). The stock broke the $700 mark! And why is it the best company to work for? Stock options! To 99% of their employees! With revenues of ($ millions) 10,605 in 2006, it does sound like the best place to work, with 8134 employees in the US and 60% growth in a year!

Headquartered in Livonia MI, Quicken Loans is supposed to be the second best company to work for and in the words of an employee is an ethically driven online mortgage lender. 2006 revenues were 602 million.

Wegmans food Markets, headquartered in Rochester NY had the annual revenue of 4,119 million in 2006 and is the second best place to work for. A family owned business, the chain has 71 stores and was named the best supermarket in 2007.

What recession?! Edward Jones, the brokerage firm headquartered in St. Louis MO gave 70% of their employees a 6.5% raise last year as a 1000 new offices opened out over the US! New jobs created in one year were 1182! Good going!

Genetech is a biotech firm that is well known for its perks so it is an obvious choice when deciding which are the best companies to work for. With over 10000 employees already, the company created 871 new jobs in a year. Sample one of their unusual perks: Come to work by bicycle, on foot, via public transportation, or in a carpool and you get a subsidy of $4 a day.

Cisco Systems is the next best, for certain employee friendly innovations such as CEO John Chambers’ blog On My Mind which invites employee ideas. The San Jose, CA company created 4700 new jobs in a year.

As any coffee lover knows, Starbucks is an institution (I love it for the way any Starbucks outlet smells) but apparently it is also a great place to work for all its 134,013 employees with 2519 jobs created in a year.

Qualcomm, the popular on site primary care clinic gave new employees stock options and 100% health insurance coverage.

While the stockmarket was not kind of Goldman Sachs, the company has record sales and profits so all was well for the employees.

At number 10, Methodist Hospital System added a new program called No one dies alone in which employees volunteer time with terminal patients. Hmmm can’t be very uplifting for the employees.

So lots of people there with every reason to anticipate another day at work. What about you? What do you like best about your job?

It has been a while since I did my Rich, Richer, Richest post. Since then much water has flowed under the bridge and with Bill Gates stepping down from the Chairpersonship of Microsoft just recently, I thought I would do a recap of the richest.

For quite some time now, our man Bill Gates, computer whiz, philanthropist, business magnate, nice guy, chairman of Microsoft etc., had tenaciously clung to the number one spot and the ‘richest man in the world’ title. The definitive Forbes’ list tells us that not only has the king been dethroned (after 13 years no less), he has been relegated to the third spot! Ah how the mighty have fallen!

So the new title bearer for the ‘richest man in the world’ is Warren Buffet, investor, businessman and philanthropist with a personal fortune of $62.0 billion. Buffet, incidentally, often plays bridge with Bill Gates; birds of a feather, it would seem, play bridge together. He is known as much for his personal frugality as for his immense wealth.

The number two spot is occupied by Carlos Slim Helu (‘and family’ according to Forbes) the Mexican who made his billions chiefly in the telecommunication sector. He is worth $60 billion.

Turns out that Gates would have continued unvanquished at the top of the heap if Microsoft had not made the unsolicited (and ill-advised) bid for the Yahoo takeover earlier this year. It is thus that he is left with a personal fortune of a mere 58 billion dollars! A mere bagatelle!

Lakshmi Mittal is appropriately named, because the word ‘Lakshmi’ in Hindi means wealth or riches and this is also the name of the goddess of wealth in India. He comes in at number 4 with a personal fortune of $45 billion. He is perhaps the face of Global India, announcing to the world the emergence of the third world countries and India in particular on the world stage as an economic power house to contend with.

At number 5 is another Indian, Mukesh Ambani with a personal worth of $ 43 billion; he heads Reliance Industries, India’s biggest company by market cap. His personal fortune has seen a steep rise in the recent past. He is followed by his brother Anil Ambani at no 6 on the list.

Following the Ambanis is Ingvar Kamprad (& family) the Swedish retail king with $31 billion. At no. 8 on the list is one more Indian, the Indian real estate king K P Singh with $31 billion. At no. 9 is Oleg Deripaska the Russian aluminum trader with $28 billion. At no. 10 is German Karl Albrecht, retailer with a personal who is worth $27 billion.

The mind boggles at the immense wealth that these people have. It would be worth asking them all: “Did all the money make you happy?”

While I could not find a definitive top ten list like the one Forbes compiles I found a pretty good compilation by Time here, which named Rose Marie Bravo, of Burberrys as number one among women in fashion, followed by Miucchia Prada and then Anna Vintour editor in chief of Vogue. The list also includes the Olsen twins whose line of ‘tween’ clothing marketed thru Walmart is a runaway success. The list also names Delphine Arnault, board member of Louis Vuitton and Donna Karan, whose label DKNY is one of the most visible and recognizable fashion names anywhere.

This list puts Dolce and Gabbana at the top of their top ten list. Admittedly, D&G is an iconic symbol of the fashion industry, spawning much imitation, the sincerest form of flattery. The list puts daughter of musician Paul McCartney, Stella McCartney at No.2. In this list she is rated above Valentino whose name is almost synonymous with romance in women’s clothing and Giorgio Armani who is an institution and a multi-billion dollar brand all rolled in one.

Then this list of the top ten fashion designers puts Valentino right at the top, because “he knows how to make a woman look like a goddess”, dubbing him the King of Elegance. At number 2 on this list is designer Tom Ford, the award winning designer who earlier trained as an actor. Next named is Donatella Versace, whose name is tantamount to luxury and who is known for her sexy yet elegant designs. The list also names Alexander McQueen, Betsey Johnson and Ralph Lauren in the list.

IMHO, some of the instantly recognizable names in the fashion world that greatly influenced the fashion scene would have to include the late master YSL, Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, Coco Chanel, Cavalli, Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs and a bunch of others. Can you think of any names that can be considered trendsetters in their own right?