Technology Slice Blog

How to Maximize Social Security Benefits - In 1935, the U.S. established Social Security, motivated by the Great Depression. Approximately, two-thirds of U.S. retirees count on the mandated supplemental retirement program for most of their retirement income, which sustains them for the remainder of their lives and keeps them out of poverty. The government funds this mandated program through payroll taxes, collecting a percentage of paychecks automatically for the Social Security fund. This provides benefits to retirees and current Social Security recipients. You can apply for as much as 50 percent of your spouse's social security benefit payout if your spouse's benefit is higher than yours. You can gain from this provision when one spouse never worked outside the home or when one spouse has lower earnings than the other. The lower-earning spouse can receive 50 percent of the spouse's benefit when the spouse reaches full retirement age. How to Maximize Social Security B...

Billy Bob Daughter - The estranged daughter of actor Billy Bob Thornton has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2008 death of a child in her care. Amanda Brumfield, 32, was convicted of manslaughter earlier this year. Authorities say Brumfield killed her best friend's daughter during an overnight stay in October 2008. Brumfield says 1-year-old Olivia Madison Garcia was trying to climb out of a playpen and hit her head. The defense suggested the fall may have aggravated a previous injury, causing her death. Prosecutors say it's impossible that a fall from that height caused a three-and-a-half inch (9-centimeter) fracture on the back of the girl's skull and the bleeding and swelling found in her brain. Brumfield's father, Billy Bob Thornton, is best known for the movie "Slingblade" and his marriage to Angelina Jolie. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/10/06/billy-bob-thorntons-estranged-daughter-sentenced-to-20-years-for-killi...

Is Anywhere Safe to Invest your Money? - When it comes to investing, you can go two ways. You can look for the highest returns, but in order to get those high returns you need to take a higher amount of risk. Or you can choose safe investments to keep your principal protected. While these safer investments might not earn as much, there is no risk that the money will evaporate the next time the stock market enters a bear market phase. A money market account works much the same as a savings account, but the interest rate tends to be higher. The minimum balance requirement might be higher too, so make sure you have enough liquid cash to open the account. A money market account is a good place to stash your emergency fund, and as you add more money to the account, the amount of interest you earn goes up as well. Be sure to shop around for the best rate, since the interest rates on money market accounts can vary quite widely. Treasury securities provide absolute safety and security for i...

Cell Phone Scams - Scams that come to you on your mobile can be difficult to recognise. They might come from somebody who talks as if they know you; they might come through a 'missed call' from an unknown number that you redial; or they might be upfront about what they are promoting, but have hidden charges. You might be offered free or cheap ring tones, or the chance to win fantastic prizes. When you reply to these messages or calls, you may find yourself disappointed in the product or signed up to a service you don't want or cannot stop. You could be left facing a huge phone bill. If you receive a missed call or text message from an unknown number, the best thing to do is to delete the message or ignore the call. Always do your homework before you agree to any offer you receive over your mobile and never agree to any offer that you are not completely sure about. Cell Phone Scams

Behavioral Investing Definition - Behavioral economics and its related area of study, behavioral finance, use social, cognitive and emotional factors in understanding the economic decisions of individuals and institutions performing economic functions, including consumers, borrowers and investors, and their effects on market prices, returns and the resource allocation. The fields are primarily concerned with the bounds of rationality of economic agents. Behavioral models typically integrate insights from psychology with neo-classical economic theory. Behavioral analysts are not only concerned with the effects of market decisions but also with public choice, which describes another source of economic decisions with related biases towards promoting self-interest. During the classical period, microeconomics was closely linked to psychology. For example, Adam Smith wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which proposed psychological explanations of individual behavior and Jeremy Bentham...

Anthony Bourdain Paula Deen - Deen, searing back after “No Reservations” star Bourdain gave her and fellow Food Network chefs Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri and Sandra Lee a roasting, exclusively told Page Six: “Anthony Bourdain needs to get a life. You don’t have to like my food, or Rachael’s, Sandra’s and Guy’s. But it’s another thing to attack our character. I wake up every morning happy for where I am in life. It’s not all about the cooking, but the fact that I can contribute by using my influence to help people all over the country. In the last two years, my partners and I have fed more than 10 million hungry people by bringing meat to food banks.” Basting Bourdain for his apparent lack of charity and his attitude, she said, “My good friends Rachael, Guy and Sandra are the most generous charitable folks I know. They give so much of their time and money to help the food-deprived, sick children and abandoned animals. I have no idea what Anthony has done to contribute besides being irri...

Secondhand Smoke ADHD - Kids who grow up among smokers are more likely than kids in smoke-free homes to suffer from a number of neurobehavioral disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities and conduct disorders. That's the finding from a new study published online this week in the medical journal Pediatrics. Researchers from the Tobacco Free Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland, and from the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed data on more than 55,000 U.S. children under the age of 12. (The kids' parents were interviewed as part of the 2007 National Survey on Children's Health.) Of all the kids who grew up in smoke-free homes, 8.6% of them — or about one in 12 — had been diagnosed with at least one neurobehavioral condition. But among kids who lived with a smoker, more than twice as many — 20.4%, or one in five — had been diagnosed. The study authors warn that that their findings so far are "associational and ...