17-25 Organize
Not everyone is born with the neatness gene. But it can be a learned behavior, and the result is more time, space, and energy to devote to the important things in life. Getting your finances under control, maintaining better files, kicking the clutter habit for good--these are hard steps to take, but the rewards are enormous.
17. Fix your finances
Every year, we vow to improve our finances, just as we resolve to lose weight and get healthy.
Yeah, right.
Increasing your financial fitness is a lot more difficult than shedding a few pounds. But there are little things you can do to stay true to your plans. Call it the Ron Popeil school of personal finance: the "set it and forget it" method. "How do we pay our taxes, for the most part?" asks Columbus, Ohio-based financial planner Peggy Ruhlin. "Automatically," either through payroll deduction when it comes to income taxes or at the registers when it comes to sales taxes. "How do we put money into the Social Security system? Automatically."
Let's start with savings. Studies show that about 6 in 10 workers are currently saving for retirement. Yet most nonsavers can afford to sock away $20 a week. Even those who are already saving say they can afford to set aside an additional $20 a week. If you were to save $20 a week for 30 years, earning a modest 5 percent each year, you'd amass nearly $73,000.
Look, Ma, no hands! Setting your savings on autopilot can help you stay disciplined. For example, employer-sponsored 401(k)'s are a great way of automatically putting away, say, 5 to 10 percent of your pretax salary. Many parents can set up automatic payroll deductions into a 529 college savings account. Or they can sign up for an automatic savings plan with a mutual fund company or bank.
When it comes to investing, academic research clearly shows that the most important decision is determining what percentage of your portfolio should be invested in stocks versus bonds versus cash. Yet most investors spend most of their time trying to pick the hot stock or fund. "I don't think I've ever met a prospective client who's ever had an asset allocation plan," says Ruhlin. Here, too, you can put your plan on autopilot. In recent years, a slew of new mutual funds have popped up that make this decision for you. So-called asset allocation funds are offered by most of the major fund companies and 401(k) plans.
Asset allocation is only half the battle. At least once a year, you'll have to reset it. Why? Say you start out with a fifty-fifty stock-bond portfolio. And say that stocks lose 20 percent of their value but bonds gain 10 percent. Your portfolio would become 42 percent stocks/58 percent bonds, which could be too conservative for your needs. Asset allocation funds can bring you back into balance.
Plan. Beyond your investment portfolio, a fundamental step that all households should undertake is to create an overall financial plan, including a detailed budget. Can't commit to that? There is a slightly simpler alternative, says Patti Brennan, president of Key Financial, a financial planning firm in West Chester, Pa. Just figure out what you need to set aside each month to cover your expenses. Then set a savings target--for example, to max out your 401(k)'s and IRA s. Put that savings plan on autopilot and then feel free to spend whatever's left.
Finally, the asset that most households fail to manage at all is their credit. Your credit score, or FICO--a three-digit figure from 300 to 850, with 850 being the best--will determine not only your interest rate on a mortgage or car loan but whether you'll get a loan at all. Your FICO is based on information found in credit reports maintained by the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Yet studies have shown that nearly a third of all credit reports have some discrepancies in them. It's your job, unfortunately, to make sure they get it right.
By the end of 2005, a new law will allow consumers a free annual copy of their credit report from one of the three credit agencies. For a fee, the three offer an automated system that notifies you via E-mail whenever credit information is added to your file. Don't let a small oversight torpedo your financial success. -Paul J. Lim
18-22. Saving money
18. Cut back on the fees. You can't change the stock market, but you can decide what percentage of your winnings brokers and mutual funds skim off the top.
19. Rebalance investments. At least once a year, take some of your winnings from a hot asset (like equities in 2003) and invest in an underperforming asset (like bonds).
20. Freeze your credit cards. Literally: Put your plastic in a bag, then freeze it in a container of water. If you get the urge to splurge, at least you'll have to wait for it to thaw.
21. Plan for the worst. Ready for that financial disaster? Set aside three to six months' worth of expenses--in a money market account, where you won't be tempted to spend it.
22. Refigure your FICO. How do you improve your FICO (credit score)? Get credit card balances down, pay all bills on time, and don't seek more credit than you absolutely need.
23. Make an emergency plan
Like most Californians, Robin Ibrahim, her husband, and their three young daughters were asleep when a massive earthquake wracked the Northridge area in the wee hours of Jan. 17, 1994. Ibrahim, a University of California-Los Angeles extension manager, was moderately prepared for the disaster, but after the quake she decided she needed to step up her efforts: "It's not just myself anymore; it's my family I have to worry about."
Exhausted by terror alerts of all hues? Bracing for the next flood/hurricane/tornado/earthquake? Still recovering from the blackout of '03? Rather than going through life in a miasma of anxiety, you can take a few simple steps to prepare for the worst--and put your mind at ease once and for all.
That doesn't mean outfitting your home like a forward base in Iraq's Sunni Triangle. "We don't need to protect ourselves from every weapon or disaster," says Henry Fischer, director of the Center for Disaster Research and Education at Pennsylvania's Millersville University. "But heck, we can have the basic supplies to keep us alive and safe for 72 hours" --the amount of time emergency planners estimate it would take to get basic services running again after a disaster.
The American Red Cross lines it up this way: Make a plan, build a kit, and get trained. Your plan should include two places for your family to meet in an emergency, one just outside your home and another outside your neighborhood, and the phone number of an out-of-state friend who can serve as a contact. Try to conduct practice runs and remind children of the plan once or twice a year. Your kit should provide 1 gallon of water per person per day and a three-day supply of non-perishable food that requires no refrigeration or cooking, and little or no water. Don't forget the manual can opener and eating utensils. But be realistic when shopping for the foodstuffs, says firefighter Jarvis Willis, a Los Angeles-based Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) instructor: "This is not a survival camping trip."
You'll also want extra clothing appropriate for your climate; cash in $1s and $5s (ATM s may be inaccessible during a disaster); a battery-powered radio and flashlight (with extra batteries); a first-aid kit; and plastic sheeting and duct tape to "shelter in place." Keep copies of important family records (insurance, bank account data) in a waterproof, portable container, and refresh supplies of prescription medication.
Finally, it's a good idea to make sure at least one adult in the household has some first-aid and emergency training. Ibrahim took that route: She enrolled in the Los Angeles Fire Department's seven-week CERT program. "I feel so much better than I did after the earthquake," she says. "I can have some control." -Samantha Levine
24. Master your data
Everything you need is stored on your home PC, from your long-lost cousin's unlisted phone number to that picture of Gram from her 90th birthday party to the Nirvana songs you ripped into MP3s. There's just one problem. You don't have a clue where you put them.
Sure, Microsoft Windows has a search button that might find your missing data . . . eventually. Scanning a big hard drive could take an hour, and even then you might not find your quarry. And perhaps you've wondered: If Google and Yahoo!'s search engines can almost instantly rummage through billions of Web pages, then why, oh why, can't I find stuff on my PC?
The folks behind the Web searchers have wondered that, too. Now they've come up with a way to improve the quality of your electronic life--new products that scour your hard drive, the digital closet where E-mail, letters, and music go to hide, sometimes never to be seen again. You no longer need remember which drive, folder, subfolder, and file name conceals your cousin's number. Like ferrets, the software will flush their prey out of hiding.
The new tools work quickly because they've done the heavy lifting before you start a search. Operating in the background while you use your PC and/or when you don't, they build an index of every word on your computer--much as Google builds an index of websites. It's the index, and not your hard drive itself, that is searched. After you download the new tools and figure out how they work, they'll bring some order to your horribly disorganized PC.
The top performer in this young and fast-growing class is X1, developed by a small Pasadena, Calif., company and sold for $75 at x1.com. X1 excels at the number of file types that it scans: more than 225, from Adobe graphics to compressed Zips. X1 also displays file contents, making it easy to see your results. Best of all, it'll be free next month, when Web giant Yahoo! starts giving X1 away, though updated versions will still be sold at X1's site.
Choose me. Yahoo!'s seemingly altruistic act is actually a response to a threat posed by archrival Google, the king of Web search, in the battle for brand loyalty (not to mention potential ad revenue). Google has invented the Google Desktop Search, a clone of Google's online search engine. A "beta" or test version came out this fall; changes are planned, but it's deemed good enough for consumers to try. Also available free (at google.com ), desktop Google is as fast as Web Google but so far can search only about 10 of the most common file types, primarily those created by Web browsers and by Microsoft Office. The final version is sure to be more versatile, though Google isn't saying what else it might do or when it will be released.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has released a test version of its own desktop-rummaging software (downloadable at msn.com ), as has Ask Jeeves ( ask.com ), another Web search engine. America Online is said to be readying one, and Apple promises a good file finder in a system upgrade this spring. And since the programs are all free--so far--and most of them don't use much memory, you can load up several.
This burst of corporate generosity may mask a hidden agenda. Privacy advocates worry that the new desktop software could learn what's on your hard drive and post ads when you call up the program. Google execs, for one, say they have no such plans. Then again, Gmail, Google's free Web mail service, does openly take cues from your messages to serve up relevant ads.
Privacy concerns aside, X1 and competitors can only ease, not solve, data overload. The new PC search programs, for example, can't find a picture unless you've tied a name to the file, perhaps by renaming it or typing text into the file's Windows "properties" box (which few folks ever do). Likewise, none of the programs can find lyrics in an MP3 song (although some can find a file based on descriptive text that is automatically added when the files are created).
Of course, there are other ways to track down your PC's data. Some users carefully file E-mail, as well as digital documents and music. Others type all phone numbers in a text file. Those who do not trust electronica may record file names, passwords, and whatnot in a notebook. All these methods might be helpful. But once you try X1 or one of its rivals, you won't be able to remember how you got along without them.
Key files, family pix, and favorite songs are on your PC... somewhere. New software can help track them down. -David LaGesse
25. Learn to file really well
When Brooklynites John Hessler and Katia Sainson first talked about moving in together in 1992, there naturally were some issues to address. "We had passionate discussions about whether or not I was organized enough," Sainson says. "He said, 'I don't know if I can commit to you.' He was worried about how I kept some of my books piled on the floor." Hessler was also baffled by his girlfriend's bookshelves, which were arranged in chronological, rather than alphabetical, order.
The two eventually overcame their differences. Now married, they moved to a two-bedroom apartment in Baltimore six years ago. Their expansive book collections, which total nearly 5,000 volumes, remain separated, but Sainson no longer piles hers on the floor. And Hessler has learned to leave her stuff alone, at least in theory. "I realized I can't control every aspect of these objects," he says of his wife's books, as he reaches to straighten the only book in her home office that's slightly askew.
It may seem like a minor sticking point, but for Hessler, 44, organization is a way of life. As a cartographic technician for the Library of Congress, Hessler spends his days mostly alone and very content in the bowels of Washington's massive library. He files maps, atlases, and globes that librarians have pulled out for the researching public. The library estimates it houses 5 million maps, but no one knows the exact figure since only about 200,000 have been cataloged since an electronic filing system was implemented in 1970.
Hessler starts his days early, usually rising by 5 a.m., and he tackles them efficiently from the moment his eyes open. Within 45 minutes, Sainson says, Hessler has risen, showered, dressed, made the bed, had a cup of tea, fixed both his and her lunches, and made a quick trip to Starbucks for their coffees to go. He's at his desk by 7:30 and hits the shelves shortly after settling in.
Mapped out. A stack of maps, individually sandwiched in what look like massively oversize manila folders, awaits him on a rolling cart in the main filing area. The basement that houses the maps division is a space the size of three football fields with a sea of dark gray filing cabinets. Each cabinet has five drawers, which hold as many as 50 maps each, and cabinets are stacked five high. The filing system is primarily organized by geography: by country, then region, then counties or states, and finally cities, with each section in chronological order. But the place can't keep up with the changing nature of the world. Maps of Vietnam are still housed in the "French Indochina" section, Russian maps in the "U.S.S.R." area. Treasure maps, maps of unidentified places, and fantasy maps all have their own sections.
But the rare-maps vault is where Hessler spends most of his time, and it is where his job really intersects with his passions. Behind an unmarked door, a room kept at a cool 61 degrees is home to any map, atlas, or globe deemed "rare" by a designated committee, mostly items older than 200 years. If there is such a thing as the rare-map guy in the U.S. government, Hessler is it.
Fit, with a slight receding hairline and horn-rimmed glasses, Hessler has a degree from Villanova University in mathematics and engineering and a reading knowledge of Latin and ancient Greek. The part of his job he loves most is studying the ancient drawings and examining the mathematics and philosophies behind them. His current obsession is the Library of Congress's most expensive purchase ever: the $10 million, 1507 world map by Martin Waldseemuller, which was the first to include shapes of North and South America and the first to be labeled with the name "America." Hessler has examined Waldseemuller's techniques and mathematical calculations, as well as his Latin writings, to determine exactly how the mapmaker knew what he did in 1507. "To have the run of a collection this size is something very few people have the privilege to do," Hessler says. "And I like that I don't have to work with the public at all. I only interact with the materials and my colleagues. And rarely my colleagues."
Tours come through the vault on occasion, and he does have reason to consult with the division's curator and collection manager. But for the most part, Hessler is left alone to go about his shelving and research as he wishes. He often returns to his desk before lunch to find no new E-mails or voice mails. "It's a low-pressure job," he says.
Neat by nature. Hessler--who has done stints at the National Archives and the Smithsonian Institution--says he isn't surprised he ended up working for the Library of Congress. He met his wife while working for a bookstore in Manhattan, and the couple spends at least one weekend per month back in New York, strolling through the city's used bookstores. He admits that he "moves stuff around" in the shops when he sees books out of place, but he insists his obsession for order does not extend beyond books.
Still, the minimalist decor in his apartment, his tidy desk at work, and the way he measures out ingredients in individual dishes before fixing dinner suggest otherwise. It's the way he has always been, he says, not the way he has become by imposing organizational policies on himself. And he says he has made a habit of it simply to improve his lifestyle. "The only reason I organize everything is to get the crappy stuff out of the way," Hessler says. "Being organized allows you to have larger chunks of time to do what you want to do."
Hessler's words of wisdom for those who might be struggling to keep things in order? "Always be flexible," he says. "Whatever system you have set up, remember not to rely on it too heavily, because it may need to be changed." The filing system for the library's maps was created around the turn of the 20th century, so Hessler has little control over its change. Still, he recognizes its flaws and adjusts accordingly. He finds himself regularly looking for an item that isn't where it should be, and he's learned quite a bit of what he calls the "psychology of misplacing."
And even Hessler is not above reconsidering his own systems of personal organization. The bookshelves lining one wall of his living room hold his most used books, primarily on Greek philosophy and history. But they are not arranged by subject matter or in alphabetical order. They are in chronological order, the very methodology that "made no sense" when he moved in with his girlfriend so many years ago.
For one Baltimore man, organization is a way of life. But for the rest of us, it's an uphill battle. -Megan Barnett
This story appears in the December 27, 2004 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.