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Bucks Blog: Would You Dare to Ask for a Raise Now?

November 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It’s hard enough to ask your boss for a raise in normal economic times. So would you be putting yourself at risk if you ask now?

That’s the question that this week’s Your Money column tries to answer. Most of the career experts I spoke with said there was no harm in asking, as long as you could present a strong case and had a solid track record at your job. But they also said it was important to think seriously about how to frame your request, and they offered several tips.

Readers, would you ask for a raise right now? In what circumstances? And how would you go about it? Or if you have already asked, let us know about your experience. Please drop your thoughts in the comment section below.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=15806965dee1d7ee16bd322580b70391

Filed Under: Your Money Tagged With: , ,

Bucks Blog: Deer-Car Collisions Are Less Frequent, but More Costly

October 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Associated Press

As I was driving my children home from an after-school activity recently, I had to brake as a herd of deer sauntered across the road in the dusk, their eyes glinting in the glare of my headlights. My children were thrilled to see them, but I was quietly relieved I had seen them in time to stop.

It turns out that we are in the peak time of year for deer-car collisions — October and November — because fall is mating season and the animals are on the move. State Farm says that deer vs. automobile crashes are on the decline, but they’re still a problem. An annual analysis of the insurer’s auto claims estimates that 1.09 million collisions between deer and automobiles occurred from July 2010 to June 30, 2011, down 7 percent from the prior year and 9 percent from three years ago.

State Farm says it can’t pinpoint a reason for the decline. (A quick check of state wildlife department Web sites suggests that the deer population in the United States remains robust.) Rather, it may be a result of reduced auto traffic in the slow economy. “It makes sense to us that during these challenging economic times, drivers in the U.S. are logging fewer miles,” a spokesman for State Farm, Dick Luedke, said in an e-mail. “Everything else being equal, the fewer miles we drive, the fewer deer we hit.”

The state where drivers have the highest odds of hitting a deer continues to be West Virginia. State Farm estimates the chances of a West Virginia driver hitting a deer in the next 12 months at 1 in 53. Iowa ranks second (1 in 77), followed by South Dakota (1 in 81). The lowest-risk state remains Hawaii, at 1 in 6,267 (about the same odds, State Farm notes rather oddly, that the driver is a “practicing nudist”). You can see a map ranking states by their deer-collision risk here. (Turns out I live in a high-risk state.)

The bad news is that the average cost of damage from deer encounters went up by more than 2 percent over last year, to $3,171. Your auto insurance policy will generally cover such repairs, but there’s usually a deductible that you’ll pay out of pocket.

The Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, offers these tips for avoiding a deer while driving:

  • Be especially attentive during the highest risk times of day: From sunset to midnight and during the hours shortly before and after sunrise.
  • Drive carefully in marked deer-crossing zones, in areas with a known deer population and on roads that divide fields from forests.
  • Deer seldom run alone. If you see one deer, others may be nearby, so slow down.
  • When driving at night, use high beam headlights when there is no oncoming traffic.
  • Slow down and blow your horn with one long blast to frighten the deer away.
  • Brake firmly when you see a deer, but stay in your lane. Many serious crashes occur when drivers swerve to avoid a deer and hit another vehicle or lose control of their cars.
  • Always wear your seat belt.
  • Don’t rely on devices like deer whistles, deer fences and reflectors to deter deer. These gadgets have not been proven to reduce deer-vehicle collisions.

    • If your car does strike a deer, don’t touch the animal; a frightened and wounded deer can hurt you or further injure itself. Get your car off the road, if possible, and call the police.

    Have you had an encounter with a deer while driving?

    Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=475091946fb646c5c1ba182ab1842a09

    Filed Under: Your Money Tagged With: , ,