MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Although some Americans will celebrate National Ask a Stupid Question Day on September 28, financial questions plague many people throughout the year. Remind yourself that when it comes to providing for your future, there is no stupid questionthen read on.

"Financial matters can seem intimidating to some people, so they shy away from asking honest questions," said Jim Sathre, Senior Vice President at M&I, a part of BMO Financial Group , "As bankers, we welcome the opportunity to help people get answers to their financial questions."

Here are a few common financial questions:

Do I really need to create a monthly or yearly budget? Yes! Creating a budget prevents you from spending more than you earn. By keeping track of what you spend, you'll be able to see where and how you spend your money, not just how much of it you spend.

How do I start paying off debt? First, stop increasing it. Stick to the budget you just setbe realistic, but if you're paying $90 a month for a gym membership you never use, put that money toward paying down debt. Make a list of the debts you owe and when they must be paid. Next, prioritize them. Start with the debt with the highest interest rate. If the bills are past due, they should be paid first. Delinquent payments negatively affect your credit score, and your credit score affects, well, everything.

Do I have the proper amount in my emergency fund? Simply put, if your "emergency fund" is your credit card, the answer is no. Credit cards are great for things if you have the money to pay them off at the end of the month and even help build your credit score if it needs a boost. An emergency fund prevents you from having to use high interest credit cards unexpectedly. Start building your emergency fund by making it part of your monthly budget. Rule of thumb: it should be able to sustain your living expenses for three to six months.

Should I set money aside for future investments? Planning ahead can save you from tons of stress later. By thinking into the future about what large purchases you may want to make, you can set savings goals to help you earn things you want on your own terms.

"Decide on a fixed dollar amount to set aside from each paycheck to put in a savings account you know you will not touch," recommends Sathre. "When the time is right, you will have accrued interest and saved your money for the perfect house, vacation or new car."

Should I overpay my mortgage? There are many benefits to overpaying your mortgage. You will be able to pay the principal amount of your mortgage and accrue less interest. Keep in mind, though, that you should pay down debts with higher interest rates first.

Handling money can be confusing for anyone, but asking the right questions can lead to financial success. When in doubt, remember that the only stupid question is the one that you don't ask.

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Asking The Right Questions Can Lead To Financial Success

Support will increase Junior Achievement's Economics for Success reach and impact for Canadian students

TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2012 /CNW/ - Junior Achievement of Canada and Economical Insurance are pleased to announce a new national partnership focused on encouraging Grade 8 students to stay in school and acquire the knowledge and skills needed for their future success. Under the new partnership, Economical Insurance is providing $100,000 for volunteer support for Junior Achievement's Economics for Success program delivery in ten locations* across Canada.

Junior Achievement's Economics for Success program is an interactive program that allows students to examine their future and explore different opportunities for their own success. Inspiring volunteer mentors from Economical will visit the classroom and share their experience in order to help equip students with the skills needed to define their own positive future plan.

"Thanks to Economical's investment, Junior Achievement can continue to inspire today's young people to stay in school, become financially literate and become the leaders for tomorrow," said Stephen Ashworth, president and CEO (acting), Junior Achievement of Canada. "Our mentor volunteers from Economical play a crucial role in helping today's students become better prepared for the workforce and be successful in life."

"I can't say enough good things about this program that I participated in as a volunteer early in my career," said Karen Gavan, Economical's president and CEO. "It's a great program that helps our youth realize their full potential by understanding the importance of budgeting, investments, and business finance and staying in school to better their chances of achieving the standard of living and lifestyle that they aspire to. And our volunteers seem to get more out of the experience than they give from interacting with students and seeing their enthusiasm for learning new skills from someone from outside the classroom."

Junior Achievement is the largest youth business organization in Canada and plays an important role in developing Canada's future leaders by providing them with the confidence and knowledge needed to define personal success, enhance their workforce readiness and pursue their dreams. Last year alone, more than 226,000 young Canadians experienced a Junior Achievement program from over 13,000 committed business mentors. Junior Achievement programs, including Economics for Success, are delivered by volunteer mentors to bring the business world experience into the learning environment.

"Support from Economical will ensure greater delivery, reach and impact of Junior Achievement by building the tools and knowledge for our students," said Stephen. "Junior Achievement is thrilled to be partnering with Economical to make a positive impact on young Canadians in communities across Canada."

About Junior Achievement of Canada

For more than 55 years, Junior Achievement has inspired and prepared more than 4 million youth to succeed. Through partnerships with both large and small organizations, as well as individual business leaders, Junior Achievement of Canada is able to inspire and empower young achievers by providing programs that prepare them for the workforce, educate on the importance of financial literacy and encourage youth's entrepreneurial spirit. For more information, visit http://www.jacan.org.

About Economical Insurance

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Economical Insurance® invests $100,000 to prepare young Canadians for their future success

CHICAGO, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Although some Americans will celebrate National Ask a Stupid Question Day on September 28, financial questions plague many people throughout the year. Remind yourself that when it comes to providing for your future, there is no stupid questionthen read on.

"Financial matters can seem intimidating to some people, so they shy away from asking honest questions," said Julie Curran, Regional President, BMO Harris Bank. "As bankers, we welcome the opportunity to help people get answer to their financial questions."

Here are a few common financial questions:

Do I really need to create a monthly or yearly budget? Yes! Creating a budget prevents you from spending more than you earn. By keeping track of what you spend, you'll be able to see where and how you spend your money, not just how much of it you spend.

How do I start paying off debt? First, stop increasing it. Stick to the budget you just setbe realistic, but if you're paying $90 a month for a gym membership you never use, put that money toward paying down debt. Make a list of the debts you owe and when they must be paid. Next, prioritize them. Start with the debt with the highest interest rate. If the bills are past due, they should be paid first. Delinquent payments negatively affect your credit score, and your credit score affects, well, everything.

Do I have the proper amount in my emergency fund? Simply put, if your "emergency fund" is your credit card, the answer is no. Credit cards are great for things if you have the money to pay them off at the end of the month and even help build your credit score if it needs a boost. An emergency fund prevents you from having to use high interest credit cards unexpectedly. Start building your emergency fund by making it part of your monthly budget. Rule of thumb: it should be able to sustain your living expenses for three to six months.

Should I set money aside for future investments? Planning ahead can save you from tons of stress later. By thinking into the future about what large purchases you may want to make, you can set savings goals to help you earn things you want on your own terms.

"Decide on a fixed dollar amount to set aside from each paycheck to put in a savings account you know you will not touch," recommends Curran. "When the time is right, you will have accrued interest and saved your money for the perfect house, vacation or new car."

Should I overpay my mortgage? There are many benefits to overpaying your mortgage. You will be able to pay the principal amount of your mortgage and accrue less interest. Keep in mind, though, that you should pay down debts with higher interest rates first.

Handling money can be confusing for anyone, but asking the right questions can lead to financial success. When in doubt, remember that the only stupid question is the one that you don't ask.

See the article here:
Financial Success Comes from Asking Questions

The current zeitgeist in higher education is to leverage technological solutionsgenerally some combination of tele-presence hardware and social networking and crowdsourcing applicationsto deliver courses online. The motivating question asks society to expand the promise of quality education to the masses that expect its provision. A multitude of entities, some of which grew out of brick-and-mortar institutions of learning, others of which branched out of the ephemera of Silicon Valley, are nobly striving to tackle this problem.

Despite the good intentions, the drive to craft a digital classroom may prove a grave misadventure. Delivering courses online drastically reduces the ever-rising cost of obtaining the fundamental building block of an education: the lecture. Moreover, students in the education marketplace are attracted to a budget Harvard, Yale, or Columbia experience, even if it is constrained to a digital simulacrum. But taken together, these two qualities make the actions of the elite institutions to democratize (a term carelessly bandied about) their course offerings troubling for struggling colleges and universities around the country.

Imagine a student evaluating whether to pay for a course load at the hypothetical Blue River College. Slogan: As average as they come. In a world where the best Columbia professors beam their lectures online, where a world-class curriculum is no longer tied to admission to a super-selective school, the incentives for the student to choose Blue River are reduced to non-curricular and increasingly expensive considerations like campus life and the development of interpersonal relationships.

Currently, the student wouldnt be able to get a very marketable degree for their online studies. But forecasts indicate that accredited degrees will soon be available from highly regarded, traditional institutions with a significant degree of online-only coursework. It follows that the provision of online courses by elite institutions will dislocate a significant population of students from traditional educational settings into the virtual netherworld.

Even if this likelihood is empirically tentative, we can still wonder at the philosophical implications. Unfortunately, educational leaders, entrepreneurs in the market, and consumers demanding new products, have failed to see that the problems facing higher education arent borne from a lack of offerings outside traditional institutionalisms, but rather a lack of quality and outcomes deriving from a significant subset of those settings.

In countless colleges and universitiesthe ilk of Blue Rivera latent capacity exists for improved educational outcomes. For example, we might ask, what separates Blue River from Columbia in terms of the value of the education? The primary factor is the quality of instruction, and all the learned skills and bragging rights it supposedly provides. But it is not as though the teachers at Blue River are pedagologically clueless. On the contrary, the percentage of excellent (gold nugget) teachers as a proportion of the total faculty is probably not drastically different between the schools.

What separates the faculties are relative rates of activity in the intellectual development of specific fields of study. In simpler terms, Columbia professors are more published than their Blue River counterparts. From the student perspective, this difference means that in the classroom, the Columbia professor is better able to navigate the intricacies of the topic literature, to elucidate theoretical debates, to explain the significance and seminality of texts. The average Columbia professor has the luxury of calling upon a deeper resource of personal experience in the scholarship of their field, which amplifies the impact of their teaching.

Given these facts, suggesting that the logical solution is for the Blue River student to resort to a Columbia professors online lecture is ludicrous. Even if we concede that the online student and the real-world student might objectively learn the same content, is not the manner in which they learn the material just as worthy of consideration, even if cost comes into account? We ought to be mobilizing the resources currently being thrown at the project of online courses towards a whole different set of priorities.

Namely, how do we provide professors who are less published and less active in their personal research and scholarship the tools to grapple fast moving topic literature? How do we unlock the latent educational capacity of existing institutions rather than trying to spread thin the aura and appeal of schools like Columbiacheapening and commoditizing the whole promise of a liberal education? How can schools like Columbia help to lead such efforts, lifting their lesser peers rather than cannibalizing or undercutting their legitimacy and threatening their survival?

As we are prone to do, we are marching blindly into the fray, relying on philosophically defunct technocrats to deliver on promises far beyond their current reckoning. Asking a better question is the first step to finding a better answer.

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The blind march

CENTER, Ohio, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A little over two years ago, Celeste Chappell-Bates won an online full-tuition scholarship from Ashford University as part of Project Working Mom. From thousands of applicants, Chappell-Bates was thrilled to be one of only 10 winners nationwide.

"I was absolutely stunned it was a watershed moment between the impossible and the possible," she said about the experience. "I'd tried to complete my degree my entire adult life and so many things kept getting in the way finances being the biggest obstacle and that was taken away in an instant. It was unbelievable, a huge blessing."

To earn the scholarship and make good on her promise to earn her degree, Chappell-Bates submitted an essay about her higher education aspirations. Her entry was selected out of more than 6,000 Ashford University applicants to the Project Working Mom scholarship program, developed by eLearners.com, a Web resource of EducationDynamics.

1st Add 80 Percent of Working Moms Prefer Online Education

Like many working moms, Chappell-Bates found that the online education model best fit her hectic schedule. According to a recent national consumer poll by Penn Schoen Berland on behalf of Ashford University, 80 percent of moms surveyed thought an online higher-education degree program was better tailored to their needs than a traditional program.

Using the online model, Chappell-Bates is preparing to graduate from Ashford with a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication. She hopes to make the journey from Ohio to Iowa along with thousands of other online graduates to proudly walk in commencement ceremonies this October.

"I've got my cap and gown, announcements and class ring ready to go!" she says.

Not content to wait until graduation, she's already moving forward with her new career, focusing on broadcast journalism. For the past 14 months she has been interning as a communications manager with a local IT consulting firm and has developed a mentoring program with a local FOX television reporter in Columbus.

"I was at the Jazz and Rib fest in Columbus and walked right up to the FOX news truck, introduced myself to the reporter and said 'I'm going to be your new co-worker.' That began a great mentorship and I have learned a great deal about broadcast journalism. I've been able to take all the preparation from my Ashford courses and evolve them into a real-world broadcast model," Chappell-Bates said.

Chappell-Bates, who after a bitter battle lost custody of her son, became involved with the National Association of Non-Custodial Moms, Inc. and now serves as the non-profit organization's vice president. "My relationship with my son has never been stronger, even though he still does not live with me," she said. "I also married the man of my dreams and added his four wonderful children to my family."

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80 Percent of Working Moms Prefer Online Education Model

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Medtronic and Capella Education Company, a provider of online post-secondary education through its wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, have won a coveted Brandon Hall Bronze Award for Excellence in the Best Use of Blended Learning category.

The Brandon Hall Group gave the award in recognition of the quality product produced by the partnership between Capella and Medtronic. That product was the Field Force Training Institute (FFTI), a global learning program offering virtual and blended training solutions to two of Medtronics businesses: Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management (CDRM) and Cardiovascular. The FFTI consists of new-hire and advanced-training programs for Medtronic employees across the globe. As a blended solution, the program offers some courses that are solely online, while others are delivered partially online in combination with traditional classroom components.

The FFTI programs asynchronous components include self-paced interactive tutorials, which require pedagogically driven decision making. These objectives-based exercises create engaging opportunities for learners to apply knowledge. In addition, interactive tutorials provide safe opportunities to fail, with immediate feedback provided to the learner.

"This years winners should be very proud of their achievements, especially based on the rigorous judging process all submissions underwent, said Mike Cooke, chief executive officer of Brandon Hall Group, Inc. We are honored to recognize the award winners who exemplify a high standard of performance in their organization and demonstrate clear, measurable business results through these innovative programs.

The entries were evaluated by a panel of veteran independent senior industry experts, Brandon Hall Group senior analysts and executive leadership based upon the following criteria:

The quality of the training and the critical performance outcomes were the primary goals for this effort. It was clear from the start that the Capella team recognized this, and were committed to the same high standards. That shared vision and commitment were critical for our overall success. Capella was a true partner and one Id recommend to anyone starting on the journey from traditional classroom instruction to one utilizing virtual, blended training, said Dr. Bob Bodine, program director for Medtronics CRDM Field Force Training.

About Capella Education Company

Founded in 1991, Capella Education Company is a leader in online education, primarily through our wholly owned subsidiary Capella University, a regionally accredited online university*. In addition, Capella Education Company offers online education through Resource Development International Ltd. (RDI), an independent provider of United Kingdom (UK) university distance learning qualifications; and owns Sophia, a first-of-its-kind social education platform that offers students many ways to learn by making free, credible, academic content available to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

Capella University offers online graduate degree programs in business, counseling, education, health administration, homeland security, human resource management, human services, information technology, nonprofit management and leadership, nursing, psychology, public administration, public health, public safety, and social work; and bachelor's degree programs in business, information technology, nursing, psychology, and public safety. These academic programs are designed to meet the needs of working adults, combining high quality, competency-based curricula with the convenience and flexibility of an online learning format. Currently, Capella University offers 44 graduate and undergraduate degree programs with 149 specializations. More than 36,000 learners were enrolled as of June 30, 2012. For more information about Capella Education Company, please visit http://www.capellaeducation.com. For more information about Capella University, please visit http://www.capella.edu or call 1.888.CAPELLA (227.3552).

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Medtronic and Capella Education Company Awarded for Best Use of Blended Learning

Ive been getting a lot of, You look great. But Im not tired of hearing it yet, says 29-year-old yoga teacher Michael Joel Hall as he flashes an endearing grin. A little puffiness on his right cheek and a tiny scar obscured by the stubble of a beard are the only visible reminders of what happened to Hall in the early hours of July 22.

He and his partner, Michael Roike, were returning home to Eckington from a night out when the couple was jumped. The attackers were scared away by a neighbor, but not before their barrage of punches left Hall with a fractured jaw and other facial injuries. Hall and Roike had just moved to the neighborhood after their Logan Circle apartment and most of their possessions had been destroyed in a fire a month earlier.

Vicky Hallett

Writes for the MisFits column.

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To add insult to his injuries, Hall had let his health-care coverage lapse while studying in India this year. So he was faced with covering the ambulance, emergency room, reconstructive surgery and everything else out of pocket. Couple that with not being able to work, and Hall found himself in a rather uncomfortable position.

I asked the doctor if maybe we didnt need to do the surgery, says Hall, who was told that not doing it would leave him with a sunken eye. All I could think about was how much it was going to cost.

The yoga community was thinking about that, too. Instructors are focused on meeting their immediate needs, because no one is getting rich teaching yoga, says Peg Mulqueen, a friend and fellow yogi who helped organized a fundraising drive for Hall.

In his five years of teaching, Hall has developed a devoted student base with his not-so-serious approach to some seriously hard yoga (he specializes in Ashtanga). So it wasnt a surprise that the local community rallied around his cause, with studios and students pitching in. No one, however, expected such an overwhelming response, or that it would bring in money and messages from around the globe.

When Hall was in the hospital, he was inundated with letters, flowers, Facebook messages and a queue of visitors carrying balloons, blankets and ice cream. And on July 31, just a few days after he was released, he was able to respond with a post on his Web site, Midcityyoga.com: No more donations, please.

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Yoga teacher recovers, but attack highlights job’s health-care issues

WICHITA, Kan., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Sullivan Higdon & Sink (SHS), a communications firm with a reputation for not following the flock, has introduced a new yoga pose that inspires employees to embody the philosophy of sheephating. In commemoration of National Yoga Month this September, the agency asked one-time employee Nickki Head to develop the proprietary Sheephater Pose to enhance workplace wellness.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120925/CG81161)

"As a former sheephater, I had a good idea of the high-stress environment that is advertising," said Head, owner of Firefly Yoga Studio, "I think SHS recognizes the many benefits that yoga offers, like taking the time to empty the mind and increase the flow of energy."

Head returned to SHS this Tuesday to lead the agency in a group demonstration of the new pose.The session started with a short flow to get warmed up before employees tried the pose for the first time. SHSers are accustomed to stretching their creative limits, but for some, this was a first-time experience in stretching their physical limits through yoga.

"The pose was kind of tough," says senior art director Mike McCoy. "I think a few of us might be sore today. But we're always pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zones to snag that next great idea."

Why does SHS hate sheep so much? Because sheep are reminiscent of advertising that follows instead of leads. In fact, SHS teaches all its employees Seven Ways to Exterminate Sheep, a philosophy that keeps them collaborative, pure of heart and strategic, to name just a few values.

"In our fast-paced industry, the ability to stay fluid and clear-headed is essential to our success," says Lathi de Silva, vice president, director brand reputation. "These abilities, along with our sheephating philosophy, set us up to think differently and often, unexpectedly."

Similar to in the practice of yoga, SHS is always looking to continue growing and improving. To see photos of flexible sheephaters or to learn more about the proud history of sheephating, visit SHS at wehatesheep.com.

About Sullivan Higdon & Sink

SHS creates integrated brand experiences for a diverse roster of business-to-consumer, business-to-business and business-to-government clients. The agency has offices in Kansas City, Wichita and Washington, D.C. Learn more about SHS and view our recent work at http://www.wehatesheep.com. Connect with us atwww.facebook.com/wehatesheepor on Twitter @wehatesheep.

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Creative Firm Takes Its Mantra to the Mat with New Yoga Pose

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McLeod Health and Fitness Center Tour - Video

OTTAWA B.C. Conservative MP John Weston, his fitness instructor wife Donna, and their three soccer-playing kids all have black belts in tae-kwon-do.

When Weston arrived in Ottawa as a rookie MP in 2008, one of the first things he did after noticing the unhealthy lifestyle of many MPs was to set up a program to encourage parliamentarians from all parties to swim, run or walk once or twice a week.

On Monday, the 54-year-old, Mandarin-speaking, Harvard-educated, marathon-running lawyer went a step further with the introduction of a private members bill to create a National Health and Fitness Day.

Westons bill calls on municipal governments to provide free or reduced-rate access to their fitness centres the first Saturday of June each year.

His goal is to create the fittest nation on earth a tall order given that the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development says Canada has one of the highest obesity rates in the western world.

And just last week, Statistics Canada reported that 31.5 per cent of Canadians between ages five and 17 are overweight or obese.

Excess weight among children leads to diabetes, high blood pressure, and thickening of the arteries in adulthood, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP Weston said at a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.

This is the first generation of Canadians who will die at a younger age than their parents, he said, according to a copy of his prepared statement.

Weston told reporters his proposed bill is about fitness, not fatness.

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B.C. MP proposes National Health and Fitness Day