The news is Texas, in its zeal to introduce an amendment to their constitution to ban same-sex marriage, may have inadvertently nullified all marriages, period.

From CBS:
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Texas lawmakers wanted to make sure gay people couldn't get married. Instead, it seems, they may have made sure no one can.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the story. Here's what happened: In 2005, Texas voters and the state Legislature approved a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

But the amendment included the following clause, which was reportedly designed to ban civil unions and domestic partnerships: "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

One thing that is "identical…to marriage," of course, is marriage. And Texas Attorney General candidate Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Democrat, is arguing that the current Attorney General, Republican Greg Abbott, made a "massive mistake" in allowing the language.

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It would seem that everything is indeed big in Texas- including their mistakes.

During times of economic hardship, many companies seek to curb losses by reducing staff. However, there are a select few that have stuck with their employees and sought other ways to contain costs.

In a recession induced drought of jobs with employment closing in double digits, the following companies have been an oasis to their employees with great job security and benefits.

Here are nine companies on Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 2009 that have never undergone layoffs - ever.

1. Nugget Market

2. Devon Energy

3. Aflac

4. QuikTrip

5. The Container Store

6. NuStar Energy

7. Stew Leonard's

8. Scottrade

9. Publix Super Markets


Here's how they were able to do it:

1. Nugget Market

Careful job placement and shrewd labor management. Instead of laying off workers, the 81-year-old grocery store refrains from replacing employees who leave. Its stores are 15 miles from each other, making it easier to fill positions, and employees are trained to fit various roles.

Store directors make an average of $116,440 in annual salary, and checkers, the most common hourly workers, earn $34,490. The store also offers 100% health care coverage.

2. Devon Energy

The company, which cut its operating budget before the recession, withholds raises in bad years but gives midyear pay increases in good times.

Takes a conservative approach to its finances, yet still treats its employees well- it started a 401(k) retirement plan featuring company contributions of 11-22%.

3. Aflac

Keeps its eyes on its budget and ears open to employees. Employee suggestions like telecommuting and flex schedules have saved it millions of dollars.

Other company benefits include an onsite fitness center, subsidized gym membership and the largest onsite corporate child care center in Georgia.

4. QuikTrip

Smart financial management has helped it thrive in the downturn. It offered over new 1,400 jobs last year.

Wages and benefits are so good that over 200 employees have stayed with the company more than 20 years.

5. The Container Store

The storage retailer, based in Coppell, Texas, froze salaries and watched spending.

6. NuStar Energy

Considering layoffs harmful to company productivity, NuStar management avoids them like the plague.

The San Antonio-based pipeline and refinery operator also offers bonuses that can exceed $10,000 and 100% 401(k) matches for up to 6% of pay.

7. Stew Leonard's

This privately-held grocery chain focuses on customer service and long-term sales rather than short-term earnings. CEO Stew Leonard Jr. says selling groceries is a stable business, which helps avoid layoffs. No matter how the economy is faring, people still have to eat.

8. Scottrade

This privately-held online discount brokerage has cut bonuses instead of cutting employees, and also has a conservative growth strategy.

9. Publix Super Markets

A strong balance sheet with no debt helped this grocery chain acquire 49 stores and hire over 1,250 people last year. In its 79 years, it has never had layoffs. No wonder - it's entirely owned by employees.

Information Source: Link


Is job security important to you?  How does your company or companies you're interested in compare to these?

Long time readers know my investment philosophy subscribes to the old axiom- "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

At the end of the day, the person who has the most to gain or lose from your investment nest egg is you- not a financial adviser or any other person offering investment help.

Well, a study was done that compared the investment returns of those who used investment advisers and those who didn't, and the results were very interesting. On just the surface view and analysis, those who had a financial adviser manage their assets appeared to have superior performance and lower risk compared to those without an adviser. However it was found that financial advisers are more often paired with older, richer clients rather than younger, less affluent ones. Taking these differences into account results in a different outcome that some may find surprising. From the study:

"Once we control for different characteristics of investors using financial advisors, we discover that advisers actually tend to lower returns, raise portfolio risk, increase the probabilities of losses, and increase trading frequency and portfolio turnover relative to what account owners of given characteristics tend to achieve on their own."

Now this makes sense when you think about it. Financial firms are going to give their older, wealthier clients their best financial advisers to keep them from going to another firm. The newer, less experienced/seasoned advisers are more likely to be assigned to smaller accounts that correspond with a younger investor with smaller assets. This results in these accounts being the "training grounds" of newbie/inexperienced financial advisers, with often mediocre or poor returns to show for it.

When it comes to investing talent, not all financial advisers are the same.       

The study concludes:

"Based on the findings, it should not be taken for granted that financial advisers provide their services to small, young investors typically identified as in need of investment guidance. Indeed, the opposite is true. Even if advisors add value to the account, they collect more in fees and commissions than they contribute."

The bottom line is you are not automatically well served letting someone else manage your money. If you don't want to manage your money, the key is picking a good financial adviser, and to do that, you need to have at least a solid basic understanding of investing yourself. I know it's easy to say we're too busy and to ignore boring things like finance and basic investing skills, but then again, we ALL want to retire early with lots of money- we can't have it both ways.

How to Invest

As a start the easiest thing to do is invest in the index funds like those that follow the S&P 500 or NASDAQ. Your investing will then directly follow the market indexes for better or worse, with no financial adviser needed. From a long term perspective, the market has been historically bullish so this method has worked out.  This will get you started as you learn more about the market and investing. You also start investing by "dollar cost averaging", which means you make smaller periodic contributions to your investments rather than one big lump sum move.

The best time to use a financial adviser is when you are savvy enough about investing to know what you want to do, but don't have the time to do it, so you can give your financial ideas to the adviser and let them execute it for you.

How to Spot a Good Financial Adviser

How can you tell if a financial adviser is good or not? You can ask to see their track record of performance. As a quick check, you can ask them how they fared in the market from 2007 - now. We have seen some turbulent times in the market which serves as a great litmus test of the true skill set of the financial adviser in question. Compare their performance to that of the market index funds. If they can't beat the index fund performance, then they aren't adding any value with their management skills, and should be avoided.