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Source Yahoo Finance

When it comes to women and finance, sometimes there’s a disconnect between what women know and how they act, their ability as achiever and their financial underachieving, and between the power they have within reach and the powerlessness that rules their actions.

Financial expert Suze Orman gives her list of the top 10 money tips for women to follow:

1. Listen to Your Gut

Women are compassionate toward those in need. Instead of going with their gut, they sometimes overlook the obvious and make an emotional money mistake. “A friend, relative, loved one will approach you saying, ‘I need to borrow $5,000.’ You’ll think ‘I don’t want to’ and yet you say ‘OK,’” Suze explains. So, think twice before you say yes if your gut is saying no.

2. NEVER Co-Sign for ANYONE

If a friend or family member asks for you to co-sign on a loan, it’s probably best to say no. Suze says more often than not, the borrower will default or pay late and you risk losing money or lowering your credit score because as the co-signer, you are ultimately responsible for the loan. Say no out of love, not out of fear.

3. Save Yourself First

If you don’t have enough to save for your child’s college fund and your retirement, your retirement takes precedence.

As explained in Suze’s book “Women & Money,” women think they are actually helping their children by paying for their college or wedding. It’s a myth. You help your children by saving yourself first. If you retire without ample money to support yourself, you will become a financial burden to your children. There are plenty of loans for college, but there are no loans for retirement.

4. Don’t Hand Over Finances to Your Husband or Partner

Suze says women often hand over their family financial matters to their partner because they are either scared, lazy or following an old-fashioned role.

Being in control of your financial destiny requires that you be an active participant — not just by paying bills, but in overseeing your investments, too. Suze: “Take this step and I think you will be surprised how this helps your relationship.”

5. Don’t Put Yourself on Sale

Don’t treat yourself like you’re on sale. If you’re reluctant to put a real value on what you do, then it diminishes who you are. As Suze explains, women tend to devalue what they do.

This creates a vicious cycle: “When you devalue what you do, it becomes inevitable that you — and those around you — devalue who you are.” Women will settle for less. They may offer discounted prices on their services or accept a smaller raise, even when the company is doing well. They have to ask for what they know is “right.”

Guru goofs: 7 financial experts confess their money mistakes

This articles from creditcards.com

Financial experts’ reveal their biggest goofs — and how you can avoid them

By Erica Sandberg

Think only laypeople make basic money mistakes? Hardly. Even the pros have mismanaged their finances, and they still do from time to time. Now America’s experts reveal their gaffes — and what they gained from those experiences.

Dave Ramsey
TV and radio talk show host; author of “Priceless: Straight-Shooting, No-Frills Financial Wisdom”
Overleveraging was Ramsey’s most profound error. “I became a millionaire by the time I was 26 years old, but I had borrowed money up to my eyeballs,” he says. “Changes in the financial industry called the bank to look at their loans. They realized they had loaned a lot of money to a kid, and they called the notes. I lost everything.” The ensuing three years, says Ramsey, were “gut-wrenching,” causing his marriage to suffer and leading him eventually to file for bankruptcy.

To reverse course, Ramsey went on a quest to find out how personal economics really works, and then he altered his borrowing behavior. “I decided that I had had enough with losing money! I came to realize that my money problems, worries and shortages largely began and ended with the person in my mirror.”

Today, he warns against discharging debt. “People think bankruptcy will take away all of their troubles. But it won’t! It is much easier both mentally and emotionally to dig your way out of debt than it is to file bankruptcy,” assures Ramsey.

Liz Pulliam Weston
MSN Money columnist; author of “Your Credit Score: How to Fix, Improve, and Protect the 3-Digit Number That Shapes Your Financial Future”
Among Weston’s regrets is her first car purchase. “I did what so many people do, which is to pay more attention to the monthly payment than the total cost,” she says. “I chose a five-year loan, which was a long loan back then!” Worse though, says Weston, was buying “retirement property” 80 miles from the nearest road. She still owns it, but “literally can’t give it away because flying an appraiser out there to give it a value for tax purposes would exceed any tax break I could get for it.” What did she learn? “Not to get too far ahead of myself.”

Even now, Weston can occasionally stumble — not with vehicles or real estate or going crazy with a MasterCard, but checking accounts. “I have all the safeguards set up. I check my accounts regularly online. I try to keep a fat cushion in place. I have e-mail and text alerts and true overdraft protection, which draws from my own line of credit, but I still manage to get busy, overlook something, mistime a transfer or fail to accurately predict when a check is going to land, and kapow!”

India’s richest man says enough is enough, vows he will get by on $3.3 million this year

MUMBAI, India (AP) — India’s richest man announced he will voluntarily cap his compensation at 150 million rupees ($3.3 million) this year, saying he will get by on about a third of his take-home pay from the previous year.

AP – FILE – In this Aug. 10, 2007 file photo, Chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. Mukesh Ambani gestures during …

Mukesh Ambani’s flagship company, Reliance Industries, said Thursday his decision reflects his “desire to set a personal example of moderation.”

In 2008, he made 66 percent more, or 440.2 million rupees ($9.6 million), a drop in the bucket of his overall wealth, which Forbes magazine puts at $19.5 billion.

In March, Mukesh’s younger brother, Anil, decided to forego all compensation this year, Tony Jesudasan, a spokesman for his group of companies, said Thursday.

Last fiscal year, Anil received 520.8 million rupees ($11.3 million).

The two brothers are locked in a bitter dispute over the spoils of their father Dhirubhai’s empire which is scheduled to go before India’s Supreme Court next week.

The global debate over executive compensation has largely bypassed India, where compensation is already regulated and economic growth has remained relatively strong.

The instabilities India suffered after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in late 2008 were seen largely as imported problems, rather than domestic issues that required structural reform.

Also, Indian executives make far less than their Western counterparts — on average 1/100th as much, according to one business lobby group.

But as India — where over 450 million people live on less than $1.25 a day — struggles to make sense of its robust but inequitable economic growth, the government has repeatedly asked executives to exercise restraint.

By early 2008, the ratio of the net worth of India’s 50 billionaires to total gross domestic product was over 20 percent — higher than in Brazil, Mexico and Russia, according the Centennial Group, an emerging markets consultancy based in Washington, D.C.

The country, it seems, is caught between two heroes: Mohandas Gandhi, the ascetic father of Indian independence, and the Ambani brothers’ father, Dhirubhai — one of India’s most successful and controversial early capitalists, accused by critics of unscrupulous business practices.

As the government battles a rising fiscal deficit, a few public officials have taken pay cuts and trimmed perquisites, part of the ruling Congress Party’s “austerity drive.”

Corporate leaders have been slower to follow.

This month, Minister of Corporate Affairs Salman Khurshid warned against excessive executive pay, prompting a flurry of complaints among business leaders.

New Mercedes-Benz M-Class Goes On Sale at $39,750; M-Class Sport Utility Now Certified as Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle www.mbusa.com

New Mercedes-Benz M-Class Goes On Sale at $39,750; M-Class Sport Utility Now Certified as Super Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle

The new-generation M-Class sport utility vehicle is going on sale this week at more than 300 Mercedes-Benz dealerships across the country, starting at $39,750 for the V6-powered ML350 and $48,500 for the V8 ML500, plus a $720 destination fee. Both new models are rated at more than 11 percent better gas mileage on the highway while being classified as SULEV super ultra-low emission vehicles, but at the same time, offer more power and interior space. www.mbusa.com

The new 2006 M-Class has sweeping front fenders, dramatic shoulder lines and a sharply angled windshield. Beneath its sleek exterior is an all-new unit body platform as well as a newly-developed suspension, double-wishbone up front and four-link at the rear. New, useful technology includes a standard seven-speed automatic transmission, an even more effective full-time four- wheel-drive system and optional features such as a height-adjustable air suspension. www.mbusa.com

First M-Class Started an Industry Trend

When the Mercedes-Benz M-Class first arrived eight years ago, the new sport utility vehicle started a trend that inspired the entire industry to shift toward more car-like SUVs. Virtually the only sport utility at the time with four-wheel independent suspension, the original M-Class was one of the first to be designed from the ground up, rather than being based on an existing truck platform. The first-generation M-Class also won an impressive number of awards, including the prestigious North American Truck of the Year.

The second-generation M-Class is available with two powerful engines that both earn SULEV super ultra-low-emission vehicle certification. The ML350 comes with a 3.5-liter 268-horsepower V6 engine that gets 16 mpg in the city and 20 mpg on the highway. The ML500 is fitted with a 5.0-liter 302-hp V8 that also betters its predecessor – 14 city / 19 hwy.

The new M-Class has over two inches of additional front leg room, and rear-passenger leg room has been increased by 1.3 inches. There’s up to 72.4 cubic feet of flexible cargo room, including a 60:40 split fold-down rear seat that allows passengers to ride in back even when the vehicle is loaded with long objects.

All 2006 M-Class vehicles come with Mercedes-Benz safety innovations such as ESP stability control and ABS anti-lock brakes as well as two-stage front air bags and curtain side air bags.

About Mercedes-Benz USA

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA), headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, is responsible for the sales, marketing and service of all Mercedes-Benz and Maybach products in the United States. In 2004, MBUSA achieved an all-time sales record of 221,610 new vehicles, setting the highest sales volume ever in its history and achieving 11 consecutive years of sales growth. More information on MBUSA and its products can be found on the Internet at www.mbusa.com and http://www.maybachusa.com/ .

Yesterday MBUSA.com launched their website redesign. The new site is a major face lift from the old version, which was beginning to look outdated in comparison to many of its competitors. Every single element of the site has been upgraded and built completely in Flash, improving the overall user experience throughout.

I worked on the initial stages of this redesign at Critical Mass over two years ago. My involvement at the time was building a working prototype of the site in Flash. Only a few vehicles could be selectable back then, but overall the site’s design has not changed too much. The Mercedes-Benz’ development team has done a great job of finishing it off.

Congratulations to everyone involved in creating this site. MBUSA.com

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) announced the appointment of Bernhard Glaser to general manager, marketing/product management, passenger cars at the company’s Montvale, N.J. headquarters.

In this position, Glaser is responsible for ensuring the integration of product class strategies within the brand and product plan. He oversees product planning, positioning and pricing; volume planning and has overall responsibility for all U.S. product launches for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars.
Glaser reports to Michelle Cervantez, vice president of marketing for MBUSA. He succeeds Burkhard Osthaus, who was promoted to director within product management at the company’s worldwide headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
With over ten years of automotive industry experience, Glaser most recently worked at DaimlerChrysler headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany as assistant to the member of the board responsible for worldwide sales and marketing of the Mercedes Car Group.
For nearly three years prior to that, Glaser worked at MBUSA as department manager, coupes and convertibles. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing all aspects of development and positioning for the company’s SL-, SLK-, CL- and CLK-Classes for the U.S. market, including planning volumes, pricing strategy, and equipment level strategy.
Glaser began his career in 1992 with Mercedes-Benz in Germany, first as an analyst in strategic product planning and was later promoted to worldwide product manager for the E-Class.
Glaser holds a masters degree in business and engineering from the Karlsruhe University in Germany. A native of Germany, Glaser and his family now live in Bergen County, New Jersey.MBUSA