Posts tagged ‘transition planning option’

It’s All About Me, Not Me and Us

Recently I was returning to Des Moines from New York City via Minneapolis.  The flight out of New York City’s Laguardia Airport was delayed and there were several passengers that were going to have very tight connections (and to compound the issue many of those connections were the last flight of the day).  The flight attendant asked those passengers with Minneapolis as their final destination to let the others exit first to increase their likelihood of making their connecting flights.

Read more

Plan Ahead to Avoid Giant Cockroaches

In the 1997 movie, Men in Black, Agent K (played by Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent J (played by Will Smith) saved the universe from an intergalactic terrorist (which looked a lot like a giant cockroach).  During an early exchange with J, K states:

“1,500 years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was the center of the universe. 500 years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat. And 15 minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.”

Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.  If only business owners could answer that question today things would be much simpler for them.  Read more

1974 Was a Good Year

On September 2, 1974 President Gerald Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) into law.  This landmark bill included provisions creating Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs).  ESOPs have allowed millions of American workers to experience the benefits of company ownership.

Harness the power

ESOPs weren’t the only famous invention in 1974.  The brightly colored Hasbro^® Rubik’s Cube was also introduced.  People spent countless hours twisting and turning trying to solve the puzzle.  They found that the toy allowed almost limitless flexibility (and frustration for many).

Read more

A Change of Pace

For more than six months I have been posting about Employee Stock Ownership Plans. I thought we would change it up with this post and use a short video (11:8) to highlight many of the advantages of ESOPs. Let me know what you think or if you have ideas for future posts.

In addition to blogging here, I also tweet regularly about topics of interest to ESOPs. Click to follow me on Twitter-  @jlripperger  .

Click here to follow my ESOP blog Read more

4:44 of Fame

In 1968 Andy Warhol stated “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”  This statement seems less prophetic in the Internet age combined with reality shows dominating prime time television than it did at the time. Yet it remains a goal for many.

I recently used up 4 minutes and 44 seconds of my 15 minutes in an Advisor TV interview discussing Employee Stock Ownership Pans (ESOPs).

Click here to view the video

I’m fairly confident that this would not meet Warhol’s definition of world-famous but I have 10 minutes and 16 seconds left. Stay tuned, I plan to use every second.

In addition to blogging here, I also tweet regularly about topics of interest to ESOPs. Click to follow me on Twitter- @jlripperger .

Click here to follow my ESOP blog Read more

Overcoming Myths

Since 2003, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman have examined rumors, myths, urban legends, and misconceptions for the Discovery Channel MythBusters show (one of my favorites is the Jaws special – Season 3 Episode 15).  The crew uses scientific approaches to attempt to replicate the myths under review (often times stretching well beyond the initial myth in their efforts).

The myths end up with one of three labels following their testing:

(1)  Confirmed

(2)  Plausible

(3)  Busted (the most common outcome that often involves things being blown up) Read more