From Oahu….and Waikiki Beach
Waikiki Beach
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa is centrally located in Waikiki Beach. The property consists of two mid-rise towers. The south tower appears to be the only one of the two recently upgraded with new modern furnishings including heated toilet seats In several of the rooms. The premium ocean view king size bed room will sleep two adults and one child comfortably.
The Marriott resort charges an annoying resort fee of $37 per day. The one certain thing a guest receives for the resort fee is an emptier wallet.
Hotel resorts fees are becoming all to common annoyance at hotel properties that offer nothing in the way of resort like amenities or activities. The additional fee should be rebranded a hotel ‘greed’ fee to reflect its actual purpose.
To visit the alluring Waikiki Beach, hotel guests must cross the busy Kalakaua Avenue. Once across the street, white sand beach and warm Pacific Ocean surf awaits. We advise that guest arrive early to stake out a spot on the crowded beach, especially during the weekend. Also, Marriott’s bellhop has beach chairs available for guests use on a first come, first use basis, and beach towels can be checked out on the third floor pool area.
Hotel’s swimming pools and fitness center are located on the third floor of the hotel. Guests, especially kids, should exercise care jumping into the pool since the depth in the deep end is seven feet. And, the hotel’s jacuzzi is located next to the north tower.
Ride share pick up and drop off occurs from both the main lobby on and the secondary lobby. Either location can be selected on the Uber application.
Raving review and well done to Marriott’s morning concierge, Jing. Jing was engaging, funny and highly effective. She was able to book last minute Pearl Harbor semi-private shuttle transportation for our large group almost effortlessly. And, her sense of humor was delightful.
Food and beverage prices at the hotel are the typical Waikiki pricey. The restaurant and bars do offer daily deals and happy hour pricing for cost savvy travelers. The open air Moana Terrace, which overlooks the beach, offers daily and late evening happy hour. The bar offers their Mai Tai at $8 during happy hour.
Near the hotel, there are several recommended eating establishments that offer good food and with reasonably food and beverages. There is a Hamburger in Paradise restaurant within one block and an Eggs and Things approximately two-and-a-half blocks from the hotel.
A visit to the Pearl Harbor Memorial is a must for those visiting The Hawaiian Island of Oahu. Tickets are free or at low costs directly through the National Park Service website. Or, there are several commercial tour operators, which can be booked through the hotel’s concierge, who offer packages to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, including transportation, at a range of prices.
Overall, we were pleased with the hotel’s amenities, across the street from the beach location in Waikiki and guest services. For the price (except for the annoying resort fee), the hotel exceeded expectations.
Warren Buffet strategies: How to invest for the long term
Warren Buffett doesn’t chase short-term gains. Buffett judges his investment performance by focusing on multiyear returns.
In fact, Buffett focuses on buying good businesses that are well run.
— Read on www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/17/warren-buffet-strategies-how-to-invest-for-long-term/39688975/
Deepak Chopra Advice for Investors
Deepak Chopra has some advice: stay calm, don’t panic.
“Any investor will tell you that if you get caught up in the melodrama of the fluctuations of the stock market, you’re going to be a loser,” the best-selling author and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, recently told CNBC.
“If you want to be a winner, stay in for the long haul, and don’t take unnecessary, impulsive risks and actions.”
The Gender Pay Gap
The gender pay gap is still a reality for many women. Overall, women earn approximately 81.4% of the amount their male counterparts, according to BLS data. The disparity is even wider for women of color, especially African American and Hispanic women.
And, the pay gap starts early. Women begin their careers earning less in the median income they take home then men at the same age, PayScale found. Although women’s earnings initially grow faster than men, they start to plateau much earlier then men.
The early disparity stems from a variety of factors, including a lack of representation and occupational segregation. Wages for women tend to slow down for those in their late 20s, which suggests that starting a family is probably a key element of the gender pay gap, according to PayScale.
American women of all races and ethnicities and men of color are less represented at higher levels of organizations than white men,” PayScale reports. And while the number of women running Fortune 500 companies is at a record high, they still only account for 6.6% of CEOs.
The Payscale report also points to challenges during the job search process, where women benefit less frequently from networking and employee referrals, which help applicants get ‘a foot in the door’ since many job vacancies are not publicly advertised.
Does Financial Planning Help? | Charles Schwab
Most of us know we should save money. But when it comes to actually doing it, people tend to fall into two camps: non-planners and planners. Non-planners typically save when they can, perhaps putting a small amount into a workplace retirement plan, hoping that everything will work out in the long run. Planners generally know what they’re saving for, how much they need to put away, and how long it will take them to reach their goals.
Does the first type sound more like you? If so, you’re not alone: Only 28% of Americans have a written financial plan, according to Schwab’s 2019 Modern Wealth Survey. Of the rest, almost half said they didn’t have enough money to make a plan worthwhile. Others said it was too complicated, or they didn’t have time to develop a plan.
— Read on www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/content/does-financial-planning-help
How to claim your compensation from the Equifax data breach settlement
If your information was compromised during the massive 2017 Equifax data breach, you could be entitled to up to $20,000.
On Monday, Equifax agreed to pay nearly $700 million to settle federal and state investigations into how it handled a massive data breach that affected nearly 150 million people.
— Read on www.cnbc.com/2019/07/25/how-to-claim-your-compensation-from-the-equifax-data-breach-settlement.html
In Search of the Next FAANGs: How to Evaluate an Up-a…- Ticker Tape
Key Takeaways
- Evaluating new companies with innovative products but no track record can be challenging and risky
- Combining standard and alternative valuation metrics may help you get a better sense of a new company’s potential
- Alternative metrics include brand equity, high relative valuation, cash burn, and intellectual property
FAANG stocks and other big-name flyers were, not too long ago, start-ups with no clear path to sustained profitability. If you’re looking for the next potential disruptors, how might you go about assessing candidates? You might want to go beyond traditional fundamental analysis.
— Read on tickertape.tdameritrade.com/investing/faang-stocks-alternative-valuation-metrics-17576
Looking for Summertime Portfolio Sizzle? Market Sector…- Ticker Tape
Key Takeaways
Stock trading volume tends to be lower in the summer months
Historically, Health Care and Utilities are among the sectors that have outperformed during the summer
The old stock market trend adage “sell in May, go away” might not be the best portfolio management approach
— Read on tickertape.tdameritrade.com/investing/summer-stock-market-trends-sizzle-17474
PulteGroup Built to Honor™
PulteGroup is saying THANK YOU to military veterans by doing what they do best
PulteGroup Built to Honor™
Since 2001, more than two million soldiers have valiantly served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 6,500 have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedom, while many more have suffered the serious wounds of war. And often when these heroes return home, their fight is not over. Instead, many continue to face unbearable challenges related to their injuries, as well as joblessness and homelessness.
All of us at PulteGroup are forever grateful to our nation’s veterans for their commitment to defending our country and the freedoms we hold so dear. And we wanted to say thank you by doing what we do best. In living our promise to “make lives better,” the PulteGroup Built to Honor™ program provides mortgage-free homes to deserving wounded veterans across the country.
Launched in 2013, PulteGroup operations across the nation have banded together with our dedicated and generous suppliers and contractors to support this effort, having built more than 50 new homes worth upwards of $17 million for deserving wounded veterans. From Michigan to Texas and Washington D.C. to California, our hope is that together we can make a difference assisting our veterans and their families as they rebuild their lives here at home.