Last December the Federal Trade Commission began phasing in a new policy that allows consumers to have access to their own credit report for free.  New York was in the fourth and final phase of the project, and as of a few days ago this benefit is available to all US. citizens.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report once a year.

With so many credit cards stolen, identity thefts and just plain mistakes, it is a good idea to see your report so you can find problems and make corrections if needed.  This can all be done on a centralized, secure web site: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/.  From this site you can get reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Group Study Exchange Committee for Rotary District 7170 seeks Team Members for Exchange to Brazil.

Cooperstown, NY, July 17, 2005…Rotary District 7170 is sending a Group Study Exchange team to Rotary District 4500 in northeast Brazil in May/June 2006. Sponsored by The Rotary Foundation, the trip promotes international understanding and goodwill through personal contact.

It's Labor Day - and if you're like many people, you certainly feel that your household is laboring pretty darn hard. And you'd be right. In fact, from 1975 through 2002, the average hours worked by all family members rose by 11 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But all that work may not necessarily translate into the attainment of your financial goals - unless your money is working as hard as you are.

How can you make sure that this happens? For starters, you need to define just how hard your money needs to work - in other words, what sort of performance you'll require from your investments. Not everyone needs the same type of return from his or her portfolio. For example, if you plan on working past normal retirement age, and then stay fairly close to home, you might not need as much income from your investments as your neighbor, who wants to retire early and then travel the world. To get a reasonably close estimate of the level of resources you'll need to draw on during your retirement years, you may want to work with a financial professional.

In this day and age all you need to be in business is a computer, a modem, and a phone. You can have multiple large facilities, a space in your home, or anything in between. One such Lansing home business is Hagstrom Electronics, Inc., the brainchild of Dave Hagstrom.

The company makes keyboard encoders and other interfaces and electronic gadgets. A keyboard encoder is a device that makes the computer think you pressed a key, or series of keys, on your keyboard. It allows the keyboard to function normally, but allows another device to provide input as well.