The way I do use social media, however, allows me to save money. Every few days, I check our neighborhood bakery’s Twitter account—I can earn a scone or a loaf of bread for stopping in and tweeting a message about their special offers. I also check Amazon’s tweets (@Amazondeals) for Gold Box flash deals.

Following companies on Twitter or Facebook is a simple way to earn discounts, score coupons, or hear about specials before the general public does. Retailers know that if they offer you nice enough incentives, you may also read their promotional posts. Not a bad trade.

If you’ve had a negative experience with a company, making contact on Twitter or Facebook is often a lightning-fast way to get its attention—and possibly get back money you’ve spent. A complaint you make over social media is instantly available for all to see. As a result, most companies will bend over backwards to resolve your issue quickly and publicly—often in a Twitter reply or Facebook comment.

For instance, I recently saw a Twitter exchange in which a restaurant apologized and offered a free meal to a customer who had complained about bad service. The unhappy customer was satisfied, and the restaurant’s followers got to see how much the company valued its customers.

And if a little friend-to-friend sharing over social media can help you save money toward a goal—like a new computer or your upcoming honeymoon—would you try it? SmartyPig lets users link their savings goals to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Every time the user makes a deposit in the free SmartyPig account, it triggers a status post (sort of a public pat on the back). Through SmartyPig, friends and family can also make donations toward the user’s goal.

Money accumulated in a SmartyPig account earns interest and can eventually be transferred to a traditional savings or checking account, loaded onto a prepaid debit card, or redeemed for retailer gift cards that often come with a bonus reward of 10 percent more than the card’s original value.

All in all, these represent a few good reasons to dust off a neglected Twitter or Facebook account—with no pressure to post cute dog pictures or descriptions of what you ate at the hip new food cart.

Teri Cettina is a mom of two daughters and freelance writer who specializes in personal finance and parenting topics. She blogs at Your Family Money. Follow her on Twitter: @TeriCettina

According to the U.S Geological Survey (USGS), earthquakes pose significant risk to 75 million Americans in 39 states. While California carries two-thirds of the nation’s earthquake risk, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III), earthquakes hit many other parts of the country, too.

Historical norms aren’t always a good guide. If recent weather conditions, like droughts and flooding, are not corresponding to historical norms, who’s to say fault line activity won’t diverge from historical norms as well?

Take Superstorm Sandy: Many of the impacted areas weren’t prone to extensive flooding prior to the storm. Because of this, many residents did not have flood insurance. When these homeowners fell victim to flooding and wind damage from the powerful storm, it was too late to get coverage.

Earthquakes are no different. It’s not just Californians who may want to think about coverage. East Coast residents, for example, have experienced tremors in the past, and Virginia—not normally thought of as a hotbed of earthquake activity—experienced a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in 2011.

This begs the question: How do you figure out whether you need this coverage?

Start by checking out the seismic hazard maps provided by the USGS. These maps, which are broken down by state, can give you an idea of the probability of an earthquake hitting your area.

Earthquake insurance can provide protection against shaking and cracking that can destroy buildings and personal possessions; costs incurred from stabilizing the land under your home; costs associated with debris removal; and living expenses you may have while your home is being rebuilt or repaired.

It is strongly suggested that you review you coverage and discuss your options with your insurance provider. Remember to ask whether the policy you’re considering covers the aforementioned natural disasters that often occur because of an earthquake. If not, ask about the availability of supplemental coverage.

Other damage that may result from earthquake activity, like fire or water damage, may be covered under your homeowners insurance policy, but be sure to confirm that this is the case with your existing policy.

I have yet to meet an insurance professional who can predict the future. While we have the ability to model a homeowner’s exposure to certain events, it’s impossible to be 100 percent certain. If you feel you could be at risk of experiencing an earthquake in your area, now may be the time to talk to your insurance professional about coverage.

Karen Skoler has been in the insurance business since 1969 with a background in marketing, claims, servicing, sales, and supervising with both insurance carriers and independent agents. She earned her Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation in 1994.

Presently, Karen is employed as a commercial lines manager at Petschauer Insurance Agency in Ridgewood, NY. She often writes content for blogs in the interest of helping people understand insurance coverages they have either purchased or are contemplating purchasing. You can follow her blog posts at www.jpins.com.

Having said that, it is most important to get a good deal on your new car in the first place. All it takes is a little research and know-how. Before you set foot in a dealership, head to the Internet (or your local library) and check out Kelley Blue Book or NADA Pocket Guides to get an idea of what your potential new car is worth; you can use this information to negotiate the best price.

Once you have that information in hand, you can use these tips to save money:

Time it right. Dealers and salespeople have quotas to make. Try to make this work for you by going car shopping at the end of the month. Salespeople may be more willing to negotiate with you if they really need you to buy a car so they can make their numbers that month.

You may also want to consider car shopping during unexpected bad weather. Those cold, snowy days or miserable rainy evenings mean nobody wants to set foot outside—much less walk around a car lot. That’s good news for you because salespeople might be nervous about the lack of customers and more willing to negotiate.

Quick tip: Going car shopping during the middle of the week is better than the weekend because fewer customers will be in the dealership. You may also want to think about car shopping in the summer; deals can be found in abundance as the weather gets warmer and dealerships slash prices on the previous year’s inventory.

Don’t assume you need upgrades. Vehicle improvements, like power windows or a sunroof, aren’t the only upgrades a dealer may try to sell you. In many cases, dealers will also try to sell customers car protection packages that may not be worth the money. Often, these packages aren’t worth the cash you spend on them—either you’ll never use them or the repair won’t cost as much as the protection package—and are pure profit for the dealership.

Quick tip: Items such as VIN etching, fabric protection, and extended warranties are often not worth the money you pay for them. There are always exceptions to the rule, but in most cases if you do feel you need one of these items, you can usually find it much more cheaply through third-party vendors if you do a bit of research.

Pay some fees up front. You’ll be faced with a lot of fees when you buy a car: taxes, license, registration, title, and processing fees, to name a few. Try to pay as many of these up front as possible to avoid having to pay interest on them if they are included in the financing.

Quick tip: Ensure that the fees are itemized so you can identify which of them are truly government fees and which are processing fees (and pure profit for the dealer).

Be aware that the Truth In Lending Act (Regulation Z) requires the dealer to disclose the cash price or the principal loan amount, the total sales price, the finance charge, the annual percentage rate, and the terms of repayment.

Read the contract thoroughly. This is a no-brainer, but it’s something many people take for granted. Before you sign on the dotted line, try to take a night to sleep on it. As Fulton J. Sheen once said, “The big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.” Make sure you really understand what you are signing.

Quick tip: Do not let the dealership pressure you into signing something until you have had time to logically process all of the information. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.

And finally, never tell salespeople how much you can afford to pay. They will get you to spend that and much, much more.

Steve Repak, CFP®, is a professional speaker and the author of Dollars & Uncommon Sense: Basic Training for Your Money.

The average amount of damages recovered by plaintiffs in employment practices suits has soared. According to Jury Verdict Research, the median award for all discrimination claims payouts in 2011 was $317,000, up 46 percent from the 2010 median of $216,000. Million dollar payouts are not uncommon.

If you think employment practices liability (EPL) lawsuits are only filed against large corporations, think again. Nearly 50 percent of EPL charges are filed against small businesses, many of which do not have the funds to defend themselves. In fact, many small businesses often do not have human resources professionals to develop the formal personnel policies and procedures that can help prevent employment-related charges in the first place.

In your efforts to prevent employee lawsuits, you may want to consider:

1. Creating effective hiring and screening programs to avoid discrimination.
2. Having written guidelines, policies, or procedures related to employment at will, discrimination, sexual and other workplace harassment, and equal employment opportunity.
3. Researching the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and creating reasonable accommodations for disabled employees.
4. Posting corporate policies throughout the workplace, placing them in employee handbooks so policies are clear to everyone, and requiring employees to acknowledge receipt of those guidelines.
5. Showing employees what steps to take if they are victims of sexual harassment or discrimination by a supervisor.
6. Documenting employee performance, as well as any steps your company is taking to prevent and solve employee disputes.
7. Conducting human resources training for management employees.

You may also want to speak with an insurance professional about employment practices liability insurance (EPLI). This type of insurance policy protects an employer from employees’ claims alleging discrimination, wrongful termination, or harassment, including sexual harassment. It also pays for liability damages and defense costs resulting from charges brought by full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees.

Employers can obtain coverage for employment practices liability by purchasing a stand-alone policy, such as an EPLI policy or a management liability policy (MLP), or by an endorsement to an existing policy, such as a commercial general liability (CGL) or directors and officers (D&O) policy. Some insurers provide this coverage as an endorsement to a business owners policy (BOP), which is typically for small businesses (meaning 50 employees or less).

The cost of EPLI coverage depends on your type of business, the number of employees in your business, and a variety of risk factors, including whether your company has been sued over employment practices in the past. These policies will reimburse your company against the costs of defending a lawsuit in court and for judgments and settlements. They will also cover legal costs, whether your company wins or loses the suit. However, these insurance policies typically do not pay for punitive damages or civil or criminal fines, and workers compensation issues are also excluded.

No matter how well you run your business, a disgruntled employee might still file a claim against your business at any time. Keep in mind that defense costs can be significant—potentially well beyond what many small business owners can afford to pay out of pocket. In order to protect yourself, you may want to consider an insurance policy to cover these issues.

Loretta L. Worters is vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, whose mission is to improve public understanding of insurance – what it does and how it works. Ms. Worters is an author and woman’s advocate frequently quoted in leading publications including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Forbes, and U.S. News & World Report, and she appears regularly on television networks including ABC, CNBC, CNN, and Fox. Follow her on Twitter at @LWorters.

Independent contractors are becoming more and more popular among companies because they serve an important function. Just as you might not need a full-time doctor or lawyer on staff, small businesses are starting to use independent contractors for marketing, design, and other roles that used to be occupied by a full-time person.

Our data at SurePayroll from surveying small business owners has shown a gradual increase in the percentage of 1099 workers since 2004, rising from nearly 2.9 percent to 6.7 percent.

Let’s look at how an independent contractor might affect your small business payroll:

• Taxes. Tax withholding is not required for independent contractors. The company does not have to pay Social Security or Medicare tax or federal and state unemployment insurance contributions.

• Work schedule. Independent contractors set their own hours and sequence of work. They can work for multiple employers, and their services are available to the public. They tend to work job-by-job rather than on a continuing basis with a single employer.

• Budget. Employers can often save money using independent contractors, not only because of the tax situation but also because they’re not providing supplies, work space, or equipment. The independent contractor takes on the risk of profit or loss. Employers generally agree on a price or an hourly rate rather than a continuing salary with benefits and reimbursements for expenses.

There are two ways an employer can go about determining a worker’s status. One is the Common Law Test, which asks how independent the employee is based on the points discussed above. However, there are exceptions, and employers can also use the Reasonable Basis Test, which allows them to designate someone as an independent contractor for tax purposes if there is a reasonable basis to do so.

A worker or employer may request the IRS’s determination of the worker’s status by filing Form SS-8.

The next question becomes how you decide what kind of worker you want to hire. Before you make the decision, consider a few more factors:

• Need. Are you working on some type of seasonal campaign or a one-off project for which your current staff doesn’t have time? If so, consider an independent contractor. If you’re generally understaffed, however, and you need someone you can count on for more than just a few months or a year, you may want to consider adding a regular employee.

• Cost. As long as the person meets the criteria for an independent contractor, hiring this type of employee can mean savings over the long term, though you might pay more short term on an hourly basis.

• Dependability. This is an issue with anyone you hire, but with an independent contractor the required supervision should be much less. Do your research when hiring so you can be confident you’re getting someone you can trust to work on his or her own.

Finally, remember that even though you are not required to withhold taxes on an independent contractor, you still must fill out the Form 1099-MISC. If you have questions on this, be sure to talk with an accountant or your payroll services provider.

Michael Alter is president and CEO of SurePayroll, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paychex. SurePayroll provides payroll services for small businesses.

Retirement isn’t a question of if—if you’ll get sick, if you’ll have unexpected expenses, and so on—it is a question of when. It is also about making the right decisions now—preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Here are some things for which you should be planning as you chart your course toward retirement. This way, you can enjoy your golden years instead of working yourself into the grave.

Realistic future living expenses

Food, shelter, transportation, and clothing—these will all be more expensive when you retire. If you think a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk are expensive now, can you imagine how much more they will cost in 20 or 30 years?

A prime example: When I was in my teens, I purchased gas for my car at less than $1 a gallon. Now, almost 30 years later, I am paying upwards of $4 a gallon for gas, an increase of over 300 percent.

When you are younger and retirement seems far away, you just don’t think about inflation. But as the cost of living increases, you will need more retirement money to pay for things. The only way you can be ready for this is by setting aside more money in your retirement savings account now than you think you’ll need in the future.

Freedom from debt

Would you believe it if I told you that in 2012, Americans aged 50 and older had a higher combined balance on their credit cards than younger people did? Having debt at any age puts you at a higher risk for a financial disaster, but as you get older that risk grows exponentially.

Having little or no debt at retirement is extremely important. Let’s say you have a house payment of $2,000, credit card debt that costs you $200 every month, and a $300 car payment. When you are working, those payments might be manageable, but having to pay out $2,500 each month on a fixed income can really hurt.

Your goal should be to be completely out of debt by the time you retire, if not sooner. And that means setting aside money each month to pay down debts.

A larger emergency fund

Most experts recommend having at least three to six months of your living expenses in a liquid emergency fund, but that amount is for people who are working. At retirement, it might make sense to have more in your emergency fund than you did when you were working—unless you plan to go back to work after you have retired.

There is no magic number, but you might consider having at least one to two years of your post-retirement living expenses in an accessible emergency fund. That way, if you need a large amount of cash quickly, you can get it without having to pay the extra fees, taxes, or penalties you could face if you pulled that money from a retirement account.

In order to have a large liquid savings account when you retire, you need to get started funding it today. Be sure to add money to your savings account in addition to your retirement account each month. And in retirement, don’t give up saving money; you should still be adding to your savings each month.

There are many things to consider when planning for retirement. By thinking about these issues and taking early action on them, you greatly increase your chances of a comfortable retirement.

Steve Repak, CFP®, is a professional speaker and the author of Dollars & Uncommon Sense: Basic Training for Your Money.

As an entrepreneur and a yoga practitioner, I’ve discovered that yoga has much to teach us about serving customers well and addressing customer complaints satisfactorily. Like yoga, exceptional customer service is a conscious practice, which means being clear about your intentions and choosing purposeful actions.

Yoga develops flexibility and stability, and it calls for mindfulness, self-study, honesty in relationships, and an awareness of doing no harm. But you needn’t run out and join the nearest yoga class to practice these precepts in your relationships with customers—particularly when they have complaints.

When dealing with unhappy customers:

1. Develop flexibility and stability. If you intend to make customer service the center of your business strategy, then people who have the most contact with customers—your client-facing employees—need to know that, and they need to be trained and empowered.

To be effective, these employees need the authority to grant exceptions when necessary so that customers get the service they expect and that will keep them coming back.

2. Be mindful. Meditation helps train people to be fully present and mindful of their actions. At work, encouraging thoughtful conversations about the importance of customers and what it means to provide great customer service can develop this kind of focus. Weaving these kinds of conversations into the daily work routine brings a new level of consciousness to daily actions when handling customer complaints.

3. Self-study for improvement. A great way to improve customer service is to foster a culture of personal responsibility. Encourage self-study and lead discussions on what it means to serve customers and be accountable to the whole business. What do you need to learn about, improve on, let go of, or change in order to improve your ability to better handle customer complaints? If your employee feels loyalty to and responsibility for your business, that same employee will look out for your best interests and keep your customers happy.

4. Be honest. Customers can tell when you are being forthright. Teach your employees to be frank and discuss issues openly, without exaggeration or understatement and with kindness. Be willing to hear your customers’ truth, and take what customers say about their experiences at face value.

It’s important to realize that many things can be true at the same time. What you see and what your customer sees may be different, but both views are important. Don’t discount your customer’s complaint just because you do not view the situation in the same way.

5. Do no harm. It’s easy to see complaining customers as malcontents who are trying to take advantage of you or your business. However, as the research shows, most complaining customers only want a sense of justice—both in the way they are treated and in what is done to remedy their complaint.

Don’t punish the customer for complaining—the cost of retaining a customer is less than reaching a new one. According to a 2010 poll by RightNow and Harris Interactive 82 percent of respondents stopped doing business with an organization due to a poor customer service experience. In their complaints, 73 percent of respondents cited rude staff, and 55 percent said their issues weren’t resolved quickly enough. Further, 85 percent of these folks said they told others about the pitfalls of doing business with that company.

But there was good news for businesses as well. In the poll, 92 percent said they would consider going back if they received a follow-up apology or correction from a supervisor, were offered a discount, or were shown proof an enhanced customer service experience.

In the modern marketplace, customers are in charge of your destiny, and your survival and prosperity are in their hands. Delivering a unique and understanding response to your customers is the bread and butter of your enterprise. Even if you are offering a product or service with little or no competition, satisfying customer complaints is critical to success.

Jamie Showkeir is co-founder and owner of henning-showkeir & associates, inc., an organizational development consulting business with an extensive and varied client list. He is co-author (with Maren Showkeir) of two books, Authentic Conversations: Moving from manipulation to truth and commitment (Berrett-Kohler, 2008) and Yoga Wisdom at Work: Finding Sanity Off the Mat and On the Job (2013).

Keep focused on your long-term goal. So you’ve decided to reduce your spending to achieve a specific goal, whether it’s to slash debt, increase savings, or afford a new car or dream vacation. Now you need to take action to motivate yourself to fulfill that goal.

Whether it’s writing down daily reminders or pinning photos somewhere that you will see them every day, keeping that goal at the forefront of your mind will help you stick to your budget.

Find others with similar goals and band together. Bringing your lunch to work and avoiding dining out is a good way to cut expenses, so find co-workers and others who are looking to do the same. Conversely, avoid hanging out with the crowd that eats out two or three times a week.

Find ways to reward yourself for short-term achievements. If your goal is to reduce your spending by $50 a week, reward yourself at the end of the week when you achieve that goal. It may be a ticket to a ball game or a movie—something small you would normally do or buy that you cut out of your budget to meet your goals.

Keep a daily spending journal. It’s much easier to see where your money goes—and where you can reduce your spending—if you just write it down. It may be a bit depressing to see how much money you spend on coffee, soda, and snacks, but it makes it that much easier to stop spending money on such non-essential items once you see it in writing day after day.

If you can’t keep a journal, make a note to check your online bank account daily and jot down all your expenses.

Consider closing one or more credit cards. Shopping these days means having access to an iPad and a credit card. If you spend too much money shopping online, consider giving yourself fewer options by having fewer credit cards. While this may have a short-term impact on your credit score, it may be a good long-term strategy.

Ask for the support of family and friends. Talking about money with family and friends can be difficult, but if you want help from people, ask for their support. If that means cutting out costly trips to your favorite stores and night clubs, let them know you simply can’t afford to spend money at these places and meet your financial goals. Instead, get friends and family involved in the process by organizing inexpensive activities, such as potluck dinners and game nights, as opposed to dinner and drinks out on the town.

Schedule monthly and quarterly check-ups. Review your spending habits and goals at the end of each month and every quarter. Determine if you met your goal and if not, adjust your spending and savings plan. If you’ve fallen short, see if there are new areas where you can reduce spending and also make certain that your spending goals are realistic.

If you can’t make any more cuts, think about more serious changes, including selling your car (especially if public transit is an option), taking on a roommate, or getting a second job.

Mechel Glass is the Director of Education for CredAbility. In this position, she is responsible for developing the curriculum and educational materials for online classes including webinars, podcasts, videos and listen-on-demand classes. She is responsible for managing the agency’s community outreach programs and staff, including financial education specialists in a 14-county area throughout metro Atlanta and north Georgia. She also manages the development and reporting of education partnerships online for the agency.

Why didn’t I receive my expected tax refund?

Your refund can be held back for a variety of reasons, and the offset may be due to your tax issues or the tax issues of your spouse.

Your refund could be held back if:

• You claimed a refundable tax credit that the IRS Criminal Investigation Division is examining in more depth. That part of the refund may be delayed by a couple of weeks.
• You owe the IRS money for a prior year.
• You owe money to a state.
• You have unemployment compensation that needs to be repaid.
• You owe money to the Social Security Administration.
• You owe money on a student loan.
• You owe child support or spousal support and a state agency filed a lien against your tax refunds.

There may be other offsets, depending on arrangements between the IRS and contracting agencies.

Your state may also withhold your refund if you have excessive traffic tickets, parking tickets, or other such fines.

How can I get more information?

How do you find out the details of the reduction? You should get a letter from the IRS or your state within a couple of days. If you don’t receive this letter, check the IRS “Where’s my Refund” system. For further assistance, you can also call the IRS at 800-829-1040.

You can find information about your state refund on the website of your state’s tax agency.

Suppose your refund is held back because you owe an IRS or state balance—and you didn’t know about it. Ask for a printout of your records for the year—or years—in question. You can also get a free transcript of your tax return from the IRS using Form 4506-T. Be sure to check every box in question 6.

Check with your state to see if it has a similar request form.

What if it’s not an IRS or state debt that is causing your issues but rather a problem with another party that has put a lien on your refund? Request more detail from the IRS about the source of the debt. Once you know which agency has filed the balance due, go back to that agency to clear it up and prove that your debts are paid off.

What can I do to fix the problem?

If you’re not current on your dues and the debts are legitimate, you have some serious work to do. Keep in mind that it’s unlikely you’ll get your refund money back from the IRS or other agencies that have placed liens on your refund. If you owe money, the agencies you owe will keep the funds. The good news is that refund will reduce the balance you owe to those parties. And you can avoid having future liens placed on your refund by other agencies by contacting those agencies and setting up payment plans.

However, you might get funds back if the debt owed is your spouse’s. File an Injured Spouse form or Innocent Spouse form to get your share of the refund. Expect to appeal the IRS’ decision; it will generally turn you down the first time.

To prevent the IRS from tapping into future refunds, avoid getting refunds altogether. Reduce your withholding so you get your money from your paycheck instead storing it in the Bank of the IRS.

Eva Rosenberg, EA is the publisher of TaxMama.com, where your tax questions are answered. She is the author of several books and ebooks, including Small Business Taxes Made Easy. Eva teaches a tax pro course at IRSExams.com and tax courses you might enjoy at http://www.cpelink.com/teamtaxmama.

1. Team up with other small business owners to double your exposure. Possible ideas include co-hosting customer events, co-branding your offerings, or bartering your services with other small business owners, which will enable you to add them to your client list.

For example, a colleague recently provided me with two hours of media training in exchange for two hours of instructional design advice for an upcoming train-the-trainer session she was developing. As a result, we were able to leverage each other’s expertise to enhance our own customer offerings.

Talk to your tax advisor about how you can account for the value of an exchange such as this one. But for purposes of increasing your exposure, bartering services can help you obtain new customers—and you may also get enhanced visibility where you might not have had any.

2. Sponsor or utilize marketing opportunities at local fundraisers, such as golf tournaments, chamber of commerce events, and association meetings. You can pay to be a sponsor, ask to be a speaker, host a vendor table, or donate items for silent auctions, depending on your budget and availability.

3. Utilize the power of blogs for brand awareness. Regular blog posts can be added to your own website or submitted as guest posts for other sites. These posts may come up in Internet searches, and they will introduce your business to a wider audience.

Choose topics that showcase the expertise your business provides and address common concerns and needs of clients. Writing a 200- to 500-word essay on a topic forces you to craft simple and impactful messages—a key marketing skill that will transfer to other marketing efforts.

4. Tap into social media—an important part of today’s business world, where people connect to network and share ideas. Relying solely on traditional marketing methods like direct mail or cold calling limits your exposure to new customers who may spend a good deal of time online. If you don’t have a social media marketing plan in place, ask other small business owners how they utilize free or low-cost social media outlets and sites.

Each social media outlet has a different audience and style, so get acquainted with and create an online presence for each one. Then, create a plan with weekly marketing themes, posting items in the appropriate format for each outlet. Market your blog posts and sponsorship events in each outlet so you have double exposure. Once you have established a presence, ask clients and other small business owners to endorse you or share your postings with their client base.

Remember: The key to marketing, no matter what channels you use, is to get your name out there and make positive connections with potential customers.

Deb Hornell has been helping individuals and companies grow and succeed for more than 25 years. She is a visionary whose personal brand of “Cultivating Environments for Growth” extends into her consulting practice, her family and friendships, and her newly released book, Good Things for a Full Life. Follow Deb on Twitter and on Facebook.