Most of us occasionally buy a product on an unfamiliar website. We may think that it's not being run by scam artists; however, the reality is that some commerce websites are fake. They look for ways to defraud unsuspecting buyers on transactions.

A great resource is the scam advisor on this website:  https://www.scamadviser.com . All you have to do is type or cut-and-paste a website address into the appropriate box of the scam advisor.  The scam advisor will report whether the site is a high or low risk for fraud. 

The good news is that the scam advisor gives our site, www.Stevemarr.org , a “High trust - safe to use” rating.  As President Regan said, “Trust but verify.” 

Aaron asked me whether he should work from home or obtain a small, independent office. I asked Aaron to list the pluses and minuses of each possibility. Here is his list:

Off-site office:

            +  Closer to customers

You may have seen the recent news reports about how British schools were dropping analog clocks.  They are replacing the clocks with those big and little hands with digital clocks because most students can't tell time the old way. Initially I was disgusted thinking about it.  “Good grief,” I thought, “is it true that kids can't read a clock face anymore?”  I wondered if the next step was to change Big Ben in England.

Then I wondered how important was it for somebody to know the time by reading the hands of clock?  Does it really matter whether they read the clock by hands or simply numbers? No. People don't need to keep time my way; they just need to keep time.

Today’s news scares us with instance after instance of large-scale data hacks gobbling up incredible amounts of information. If you are on anyone's database or have done any shopping online, you can assume somebody has taken your data at some time in the past. Even if a criminal never used your data, there is still reason for concern.  King Solomon cautioned, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” (Proverbs 22:3, NLT) The best we can do is to take good precautions.

When people decide to move, most immediately put up a For Sale sign on their current home hoping to sell the property as quickly as possible. In some cases this may not be the best investment strategy.

If a family has funds for an additional down payment, they may want to consider keeping their current house and renting it. The advantage is that renters will pay off the mortgage.  Then, the property owner will end up with a property free and clear in the future. Over time, rentals generally increase their value, providing better cash flow for the homeowner. Additionally, if interest rates increase in the future; a low interest mortgage will have substantial value.