How to go about managing windfall income?

All of us desire to be blessed by a windfall income someday, so that we can go on a shopping spree and / or our favourite holiday destinations. Astute use of such an income can help you to become even richer. Windfall income could arise out of surprise winnings, lawsuit judgments, large inheritances, divorce settlements, insurance settlements, or retirement packages amongst a host of other reasons; but if you don't deploy this pleasant surprise judiciously, it might get extinguished before you even realize it.

Presenting a few guidelines to appropriately manage windfall income earned through your hard work or by mere luck:

• Boost Emergency Funds: In this world nothing is permanent or guaranteed. It is important to have a contingency fund created. And so, in case if you haven’t created a contingency fund, which takes care of at least 6 months – 12 months of your monthly expenses by having deployed money in a separate saving bank account or liquid fund, you must do so first with the help of windfall gains. This will protect you in case of any unforeseen contingencies that might weaken you financially (such as loss of job, decline in the monthly income and so on). Therefore the new-found wealth will play a crucial role to help you in unexpected emergencies.
• Meeting Your Insurance Needs: In the recent times, we are more vulnerable to physical and mental disorders as compared to our previous generations. For these reasons, it is very important to have an adequate health and life insurance. If you are not adequately covered, then use the windfall income to buy/increase your insurance cover. But again here while indemnifying the risk to your life and health be careful about the policy you buy and ensure that you insure yourself with an optimal risk cover. Also, in case you plan to use your newfound fortune for purchasing expensive jewellery, artefacts, property etc. you will also need to buy specific general insurance policy(s) covering such assets, which could indemnify risk from fire, flood, theft etc.
• Reduce (or Remove) Debt: In case if you have any debt lingering around, the windfall income should be used to pay off your debt and financial obligations (such as credit card loan, personal loan, home, business loans etc.), especially the ones that bear very high interest rates. Removing or reducing the extent of your liabilities must be among your top priorities when you plan to utilize the windfall gains. This would help you to boost your financial health and meet other financial goals.
• Prioritize Goals and Boost Them: All of us have certain life goals. For Instance, to have a comfortable retirement, to educate children in the best school and college, to purchase a dream home, a car, and so on. In most cases since it is challenging to meet all these goals with windfall gains. Contributions for meeting these goals can be made or enhanced at this time.
• Investing: As said earlier, make your money work for you and tread on the path of wealth creation. But while you do so, be careful of where you are investing and contact a professional for a good investment advice. They undertake solid fundamental research and invest in asset classes and investment instruments therein following the appropriate asset allocation meant for you. Although your risk appetite might increase with a windfall income, you must observe caution while determining your asset allocation. If your present investments are not generating enough returns to beat the inflation, you can consider investing your new-found wealth in assets that will enhance your returns relatively and mitigate the investment risks through diversification. You should also consider the tax angle while investing.
• Spending Money: Yes we recognise that you might also have a few personal wishes, which you dream to fulfill apart from family responsibilities. You deserve to spend a small portion of the windfall income as you wish so as to enhance the quality of life. You may also choose to donate some part of the funds for a worthy cause.

It would be more prudent to seek help from certified professionals who can advise you regarding suitable investment opportunities which suit your risk profile and which can contribute in meeting your financial goals as well. This will enable you to make the most of your windfall in a tax efficient manner. This gush of money should be spent and managed wisely as you want to remember this once in a life time opportunity as a sweet and wise experience.

Interesting origin of phrases - Kangaroo court

 Kangaroo court

Meaning:

An unauthorized, bogus court

Origin

Kangaroo courts are sham legal proceedings which are set-up in order to give the impression of a fair legal process. They offer impartial justice as the verdict. Such courts are associated with groups who have a rough and ready form; for example, inmates in jail, soldiers at war, settlers of lands where no jurisdiction has yet been established.

 

Origin

 

The origin of 'kangaroo court' is unknown, although, we expect the term to have originated in Australia. Lack of a definite origin encourages speculative claims.

The concept of kangaroo court dates to the early nineteenth century. Scholars trace its origin to the historical practice of judges on the U.S. frontier. These judges were paid on the basis of how many trials they conducted, their salary depended on the fines from the defendants they convicted. The term kangaroo court comes from the image of these judges hopping from place to place, guided less by concern for justice than by the desire to wrap up as many trials as the day allowed.

Some of English's uniquest...

Longest words

Cabbaged and fabaceae, each eight letters long, are the longest words that can be played on a musical instrument. Seven letter words with this property include acceded, baggage, bedface, cabbage, defaced, and effaced. 

Aegilops, eight letters long, is the longest word whose letters are arranged in alphabetical order. Seven letter words with this property include beefily and billowy. Six letter words include abhors, accent, access, almost, biopsy, bijoux, billow, chintz, effort, and ghosty.

Spoonfeed, nine letters long, is the longest word whose letters are arranged in reverse alphabetical order. Trollied is an eight letter word with this property. Seven letter words with this property include sponged and wronged.

Cimicic and Cimicid, each seven letters long, are the longest words that are exclusively made up of Roman Numerals.

Nonsupports, eleven letters long, is the longest word in the English language made up of only letters in the second half of the alphabet. Ten letter words include prosupport, soupspoons, and zoosporous.

Overnumerousnesses, eighteen letters long, is the longest English word that consists of only letters that lack ascenders, descenders, and dots in lower case. Overnervousnesses is seventeen letters. Sixteen letter words with this property include curvaceousnesses and overnumerousness. Fifteen letter words with this property include erroneousnesses, nonconcurrences, overnervousness, and verrucosenesses.

Lighttight and lillypilly, each ten letters long, are the longest English words consisting only of letters with ascenders, descenders, or dots in lower case.

Tittifill, nine letters long, is the longest English word consisting only of letters with ascenders or dots in lower case. Eight letter words with this property include libidibi and tikitiki.

The only English words that consist entirely of letters with descenders in lower case are gyp and gyppy.

Honorificabilitudinitatibus, 27 letters long, is the longest English word consisting strictly of alterating consonants and vowels. An eighteen letter word with this property is epicoracohumeraler. A seventeen letter word with this property is hypovitaminosises. Sixteen letter words with this property include aluminosilicates, depolarizability, and supererogatorily. Fifteen letter words with this property include cytomegalovirus, heterozygosises, hexosaminidases, paramyxoviruses, pararosanilines, parasitological, tenosynovitides, tenosynovitises, unimaginatively, and verisimilitudes.

The Rot13 method of encrypting text is performed by rotating the alphabet by thirteen characters. Because there are 26 letters in the alphabet, the decryption process is the same as the encryption. The longest words to form other words when Rot13 encrypted are the seven letter words abjurer and nowhere, which become each other.

Letters

Dermatoglyphics, misconjugatedly, and uncopyrightable, each fifteen letters long, are the longest English words in which no letter appears more than once. Fourteen letter words with this property are ambidextrously, benzhydroxamic, hydromagnetics, hydropneumatic, pseudomythical, schizotrypanum, sulphogermanic, troublemakings, undiscoverably, and vesiculography.

Esophagographers and unprosperousness, each sixteen letters long, are the longest English words in which each of their letters occurs at least twice.

Esophagographers, sixteen letters long, is the longest English word in which each of its letters occurs exactly twice. A fourteen word with this property is scintillescent. Twelve letter words with this property include happenchance and shanghaiings. Ten letter words with this property include arraigning, concisions, intestines, and horseshoer.

Sestettes is a word in which each of its letters occurs three times.

The word chincherinchee is the only known English word which has one letter occurring once, two letters occurring twice, and three letters occurring three times.

Ultrarevolutionaries is a word in which each of the five main vowels occurs twice.

Eunoia, six letters long, is the shortest word in the English language that contains all five main vowels. Seven letter words with this property include adoulie, douleia, eucosia, eulogia, eunomia, eutopia, miaoued, moineau, sequoia, and suoidea. (The scientific name iouea is a genus of Cretaceous fossil sponges.)

Caesious, eight letters long, is the shortest word in the English language that contains all five main vowels in alphabetical order. Nine letter words with this property are acheilous, acheirous, aerobious, arsenious, arterious, autecious, facetious, and parecious.

Suoidea, seven letters long, is the shortest word in the English language that contains all five main vowels in reverse alphabetical order. Other words with this property are scarce; they include the ten letter words duoliteral and unoriental, the fourteen letter word subcontinental, and the fifteen letter words neuroepithelial and uncomplimentary.

Facetiously, eleven letters long, is the shortest word in the English language that contains all six vowels in alphabetical order. A twelve letter word with this property is abstemiously. The fourteen letter words adventitiously and sacrilegiously have this property but also have repeated vowels.

Twyndyllyngs, twelve letters long, is the longest word in the English language without any of the five main vowels. An eleven letter word with this property is the singular form, twyndyllyng. An eight letter word with this property is symphysy. Seven letter words with this property include gypsyfy, gypsyry, nymphly, and rhythms.

Strengths, nine letters long, is the longest word in the English language with only one vowel.

Strengthlessnesses, eighteen letters long, is the longest word in the English language with only one vowel repeated. A seventeen letter word with this property is defenselessnesses. A sixteen letter word with this property is strengthlessness. A fifteen letter word with this property is defenselessness. A fourteen letter word with this property is degenerescence. Thirteen letter words with this property are degenerescent, disinhibiting, effervescence, handcraftsman, kinnikinnicks, philistinisms, primitivistic, retelemetered, and whipstitching.

Euouae, six letters long, is the longest English word consisting only of vowels, and, also, the English word with the most consecutive vowels. Words with five consecutive vowels include cooeeing and queueing.

Archchronicler, catchphrase, eschscholtzia, latchstring, lengthsman, and postphthisic each have six consonants in a row. Borschts has six consonants in a row in just one syllable. Words with five consecutive consonants include angstrom, angsts, birthplace, dumbstruck, eighths, heartthrob, lengths, postscript, strengths, thumbscrew, twelfths, warmths, and witchcraft.

Hotshots consists of the same four letters repeated. There are other eight letter words with this property, but none are common: beriberi, caracara, chowchow, couscous, froufrou, greegree, guitguit, kavakava, lavalava, mahimahi, and matamata.

Abcaree, abchalazal, abcoulomb, crabcake, and drabcloth are among the only words in the English language that contain "abc."

Hydroxyzine is the only word in the English language that contains "xyz."

The longest alphabetic sequences to appear in English words are "mnop" and "rstu." Mnop appears in such words as gymnopaedic, gymnophiona, gymnoplast, limnophilous, prumnopitys, semnopithecus, somnopathy, and thamnophile. Rstu appears in such words as overstudy, overstuff, superstud, and understudy.

You and ewe are pronounced the same but share no letters in common. Eye and I is another such pair. Oh and eau is yet another.

Subbookkeeper is the only English word with four pairs of double letters in a row. Assessee and keelless are the shortest words with three pairs of double letters. Cooee is the shortest word with two double letters.

Only a few words (not counting three letter words) start with the same three letters they end with. They include: aftershaft, anticipant, anticoagulant, anticonvulsant, antiformant, antioxidant, antiperspirant, calendrical, entablement, entanglement, entertainment, enthrallment, enthralment, entrapment, hotshot, ingesting, ingratiating, ingrowing, ionization, microsomic, nicotinic, physiography, phytogeography, phytography, redeclared, respires, restores, restructures, tormentor, and underground. As a special case, six letter words with this property are atlatl, bonbon, booboo, bulbul, cancan, chichi, dumdum, grigri, motmot, murmur, pawpaw, pompom, tartar, testes, and tsetse.

Fewer words (excluding four letter words) start with the same four letters they end with. These include uricosuric and the nonsense word abracadabra. As a special case, eight letter words with this property are beriberi, caracara, chowchow, couscous, froufrou, greegree, guitguit, hotshots, kavakava, lavalava, mahimahi, and matamata.

Typewriters

Aftercataracts and tesseradecades, each fourteen letters long, are the longest words that can be typed using only those letters normally typed with the left hand. Twelve letter words with this property include aftereffects, desegregated, desegregates, reasseverate, reverberated, reverberates, and stewardesses.

Johnny-jump-up and niminy-piminy, twelve letters long, are the longest words that can be typed using only those letters normally typed with the right hand. Eleven letter words with this property include hypolimnion and kinnikinnik. Nine letter words with this property include homophony, homophyly, monophony, nipponium, nonillion, pollinium, and polyonomy.

Leptothricosis and leucocytozoans, each fourteen letters long, are the longest English words that are normally typed using strictly alternating hands. Thirteen letter words with this property include antiendowment, antisudorific, autotoxicosis, dismantlement, leucocytozoan, and neurotoxicity. Twelve letter words with this property include authenticity and suspensorial.

Postmuscular, twelve letters long, is the longest English word that is normally typed by switching hands every two letters.

Rupturewort, eleven letters long, is the longest word that can be typed using only those letters in the top row of a typewriter. Ten letter words with this property are pepperroot, pepperwort, pewterwort, pirouetter, prerequire, pretorture, proprietor, repertoire, repetitory, tetterwort, and typewriter.

Shakalshas, ten letters long, is the longest English word that can be typed using only those letters in the middle row of a typewriter. Nine letter words with this property include flagfalls, hadassahs, and haggadahs. Eight letter words with this property include alfalfas, galagala, galahads, and haskalah.

Deeded, hummum, muhuhu, and muumuu, each six letters long, are the longest English words that are normally typed with just one finger. Five letter words with this property include ceded, mummy, unnun, and yummy.

RinkWorks.com is typed by alternately moving left and right from key to key.

Symmetry

CHECKBOOK, nine letters long, is the longest word in the English language composed entirely of letters with horizontal symmetry in upper case. Eight letter words with this property include BEDECKED, BOOHOOED, CODEBOOK, COOKBOOK, DOBCHICK, EXCEEDED, HOODOOED, and KEBOBBED.

HOMOTAXIA, nine letters long, is the longest word in the English language composed entirely of letters with vertical symmetry in upper case. Eight letter words with this property include AUTOMATA, AUTOTOMY, MOTIVITY, MAHIMAHI, MATAMATA, MYXOMATA, and THATAWAY. Seven letter words with this property include AUTOMAT, MAMMOTH, MAXIMUM, TAXIWAY, WITHOUT, and the proper name TIMOTHY. Hyphenated terms with this property include HOITY-TOITY and MOUTH-TO-MOUTH.

HAH, HOH, HUH, MA'AM, MOM, OHO, TAT, TIT, TOT, TOOT, TUT, and WOW are several words which, when written in upper case letters, have vertical symmetry.

I, OHO, and IHI'IHI are the only words in the English language that, when written in upper case letters, have horizontal and vertical symmetry and consist entirely of letters that have both horizontal and vertical symmetry.

ZOONOSIS, eight letters long, is the longest word in the English language composed of letters with 180 degree rotational symmetry. Six letter words with this property include NINONS, ONIONS, and SOZINS.

MOW, SIS, and SWIMS, when written in upper case letters, have 180 degree rotational symmetry.

COUSCOUS, eight letters long, is the longest word in the English language such that one cannot tell visually if it's been written in all upper case or all lower case letters. Four letter words with this property are COCO, COOS, COWS, CUSS, SCOW, VOWS, WOOS, WUSS, and ZOOS.

Anagrams

Conservationalists and conversationalists, each eighteen letters long, are the longest non-scientific English words that are anagrams of each other. Internationalism and interlaminations are sixteen letter anagrams of each other.

Basiparachromatin and marsipobranchiata, each seventeen letters long, are anagrams of each other that have no more than three consecutive letters in common. Thermonastically and hematocrystallin are sixteen letter anagrams of each other that have this same property.

Nitromagnesite and regimentations, each fourteen letters long, are anagrams of each other without any consecutive letters in common.

Interrogatives, reinvestigator, and tergiversation, each fourteen letters long, are the longest three non-scientific English words that are anagrams of each other. They have no more than three consecutive letters in common with each other.

Monday is the only day of the week that has an anagram, which is dynamo. March, April, and May are the only months of the year that have anagrams, which are charm, ripal, and yam.

Earth, having the anagrams hater and heart, and Mars, having the anagrams arms and rams, are the only planets with anagrams.

Contained Words

Thitherwards contains the most English words spelled consecutively within it: a, ar, ard, ards, er, he, her, hi, hit, hithe, hither, hitherward, hitherwards, I, it, ither, the, thither, thitherward, wa, war, ward, and wards, totaling twenty-three words. Therein, seven letters long, contains twelve words: er, ere, he, her, here, herein, I, in, re, rein, the, and there.

Ushers contains the most personal pronouns spelled consecutively within it: he, her, hers, she, and us, totaling five pronouns.

Syllables

Scraunched and the archaic word strengthed, each ten letters long, are the longest English words that are only one syllable long. Nine letter monosyllabic words are scratched, screeched, scrounged, squelched, straights, and strengths.

Rugged is a two syllable word that can be made one syllable by adding letters to it to make shrugged. The two syllable word ague can be made one syllable by adding letters to make it vague or plague.

Are is a one syllable word that can be made into a three syllable word by adding just one letter to make area. Similarly, came can become cameo, gape can become agape, and lien can become alien. Adding a letter to the middle of smile becomes the three syllable word simile. Similarly, whine can become wahine.

Io may be the shortest two syllable word in the English language. Other candidates are aa, ai, and eo, but there is some dispute over the pronunciation and legitimacy of these words.

Iouea, five letters long, is the shortest four syllable English word. Oceania, oogonia, and oxyopia, each seven letters long, are the shortest five syllable English words.

Chasm, dirndl, massacring, rhythm, sarcasm, and vrbaite have more syllables than pronounced vowels. Contractions and words that end in ism and ithm also have this property. Proper names with this property include Edinburgh and Hamtramck.

Articles

Sometimes redundancy creeps into accepted usage when terms are translated from one language to another. Rio Grande River is redundant to a speaker of both English and Spanish, as is Sierra Mountains, but, when addressing an English speaker, the extra English specification makes sense.

English is indeed fun. Lets enjoy.

Gaining gravitas - for women at work

Over the last couple of decades, while Indian society continued to battle patriarchy, a section of educated, middle class women surged through the ceiling and emerged victorious as professionals. These women inhabit a post-gender world, where they have a phenomenal career trajectory and a successful married life and children. Yet how many of them have earned respect from their co-workers?

While some think respect has to be earned; it is important for us to understand that all employees are worthy of respect from their co-workers, bosses, and customers. For women, at some point in their career, a boss will belittle you, a co-worker can hit on you and some employee will be jealous of you. It is important to know how to handle these situations so that you are not disrespected without compromising your career. Presenting some thoughts to cultivate executive presence for eves at work:

Respect Yourself First

If you want to be respected by others, you need to understand what it means to practice self-respect. Take the time to create more work-life balance that includes plenty of self-care and being nice to yourself. Stop the conflict between what you want to do and what you are stuck doing at work for others. Learn to speak affirming words over yourself. Always be sure of what you want. It is difficult to respect someone who is not sure what she wants. Congruence earns respect naturally. Always stick to your words and make sure you do not send mixed messages out there.

Demonstrate Respect and Assertiveness to Others

People learn by example. Sometimes you will have to teach your colleagues all over again about what respecting you and others looks like. Start by demonstrating respect and assertiveness to your manager, your co-workers, and your customers without all the sugary talk and overtly nice behaviour. Just be professional and direct. The process of gaining respect from both colleagues and superiors begins from the moment you first enter the workplace, and you must immediately demonstrate an understanding of your worth and unique value as an employee. This must not only be reflected in the salary that you demand from your managers, but also in the way that you undertake your role and add value to the business through the completion of individual tasks that fall within your job description.

Be careful with communication

Respect must always be a mutual concept, as you cannot hope to gain it without offering it in the first instance. It is therefore crucial that you remain a good listener at all times, and take the opinions of others on board before taking a direct action or decision. On a similar note, you must always be calm when interacting with both colleagues and superiors, as otherwise you run the risk of alienating them and developing a reputation as someone who is difficult to work with.

Shrill tones suggest you feel offended, ignored, or wronged. Silence your shrillness by removing emotions from the equation. Over-prepare for meetings to feel confident and be concise. Prepare beyond the conference room as well. Be sure you are conversant in headline topics such as sports and politics to establish personal connections.

No matter how close you are with your co-worker, sending informal emails is not the way to do it at workplace. Every email should include a proper greeting and sign off. The more formal you are, the more seriously your higher-ups will take you. Keep in mind that your emails could be forwarded to any person in the office.

Establish clear boundaries

Achieving respect in the workplace is a delicate balancing act, as while you must be willing to take on additional work and collaborate, it is also important that you prioritize your own professional goals. You must strive to understand your limits and establish a boundary as an employee, as this ensures that your position is never compromised by taking on too heavy a workload. If you fail to do this, you will quickly find yourself overwhelmed and at the mercy of more selfish and manipulative colleagues. The best time to do this is when you start a new role. You can explain to your new team how best to work with you (establish your boundaries) and inquire about how best to work with them (learn their boundaries). This simple conversation can easily eliminate many of the workplace conflicts that arise.

Push back with tact and charm

Being very obedient is often caught up with being a pushover when it comes to work tasks. Many women have the misconception that the way to gain respect and move up in the career ladder is by being polite and doing everything asked of them. Doing everything asked for will prove your gratitude towards the company, but it may not make you feel respected at all times. In the toggle between wanting to be liked or respected at workplace, if you choose being liked, then you will surely be taken advantage of. So learn to say ‘no’ whenever it is necessary.

Kindness goes a long way, especially in those intense times at work. Provide clear pushback in a professional and kind way. Minimize or eliminate your emotionally reactive responses – they can make you look unprofessional.  The calmer you are under pressure, the easier it will be for colleagues to hear your point.

Nice is not enough

It is one thing to be well-regarded by peers; it is another to become a doormat. Oftentimes, employees who fall into this trap do so of their own accord. Generally, it’s out of a need to be liked by others in the workplace. But over time, an employee who is used to always saying “yes” and being sweet to everyone else becomes resentful of the less than respectful behaviours of colleagues. Likewise, the employee’s supervisor may not see leadership qualities in an employee who cannot stand up to others. Take the time to carefully weigh each and every situation you encounter at work and decide for yourself if being too nice is hurting your chances of career success.

Appearance and body language

Every industry has its own code; one size certainly does not fit all. Regardless of how casual your place of work seems, set yourself apart by looking elegant and wear decent ensembles. What you wear says a lot about you and the type of attention you seek to have. Don’t be surprised if someone assumes you have a higher position by the way you look, and if it happens, go with it! Above all, let your personality and work ethic – not your clothes - speak for you. Emanate confidence through your speech and body language. Your stature and demeanour must come across confident and strong. Eye contact is important. If your eyes wander, you tend to look insecure and nervous. If you come across as shy, your opinions might get overlooked. Voice your thoughts in a firm, clear and confident manner.

Avoid the perils of office gossip.

While office gossip can occasionally be fun and even insightful, it must be avoided at all costs if you are to be respected as a trustworthy and conscientious employee. Not only does a willingness to engage in gossip suggest that you are incapable of discreetly managing potentially sensitive information, but it also creates the impression of someone who has a less than dedicated approach to their work. Neither of these attributes is likely to inspire respect within the workplace, especially if you are based in a relatively small office where behaviour can be easily analyzed. By brushing it off or changing the subject, eventually, others will realize you are not the person for gossips and will respect you for it.

As career women it is inevitable to be a part of a group, so much so it is also a strong need to be respected by peers. At work, being respected means being heard, validated, and looked up to as a skilled professional. Respect is not something handed to you at your workplace. It is an essential quality that you must build over time. There is no step-by-step method for gaining respect at work. Unfortunately, women have it much tougher when pushing for influence and respect in both co-gender and male dominated work environments. But on the reverse, it makes it much more rewarding and valuable when you finally do earn that respect.