Planning Your Family's Security

"Undoubtedly at some time you've wondered what would happen to your family if you were suddenly taken from them. It may be that when this question arose you immediately sat down and dealt with it, figuring out what your wife's financial situation would be and what steps you could take to improve it. But more likely this chose is something you've postponed for months or years because it seemed an unpleasant task or because you lacked the necessary information. Perhaps you just didn't know how to go about it."

Good Reading Rack Service, 1956

What's The Best Kind Of Life Insurance For Me?

"Practically everyone asks what is the best kind of life insurance for him or her - and no one can answer with 100% accuracy. As one life insurance man put it, "First, tell me when you expect to die." Blunt as this may seem, it's true. The man who buys a 5-year Term policy and dies four years later has made an excellent choice. But if he lived another 13 months, and then died, his family would have received nothing. Obviously, you can't outguess the future, but you should choose policies that best meet your needs, and then ahve them tailored to fit your own situation."

Good Reading Rack Service, no date

More Social Security For You

"Do you know what benefits you and your family are entitled to under the revised Federal Social Security Law? Do you know what changes were made in that law, and how those changes affect the benefits you can receive and the taxes you must pay? Do you and your family know how to go about claiming your Social Security benefits when the time comes. Do you know how to check up on the account the governement maintains in your name to make sure it's in good order?"

Good Reading Rack Service, 1956

Your Social Security Benefits

"Since Social Security has been a continuing part of our American life since 1937, we'll give you credit for knowing what it is. Furthermore, since there have been other changes in it over the years, we'll not confuse you by making comparisons with the law prior to the amendments of 1958. Instead we'll confine our discussion to two areas. One covers the new changes and explains what they mean to you and your dependents. The other covers the questions most frequently asked about Social Security."

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1959

More Social Security For You

"Examples of old-age retirement benefits: Bachelor, age 65 - Average monthly wage was $200. Benefit is $78.50 a month. Husband and wife, both over 65 - Husband's average monthly wage, $300. Benefit is $147.80 a month."

Good Reading Rack Service, 1954

Teach Your Wife To Be A Widow

"The American husband is a curious alloy of sentiment and ambition. In general, he works harder than husbands in any other part of the world to "provide for the wife and kids" - and then passes on leaving his wife totally unprepared for the responsibilities of widowhood. It's rare indeed when a wife knows all that should be known about her husband's business life, his income, his investments (if any), his debts, and the way he handles his budget. Yet she may have the whole problem dumped in her lap without an hour's notice."

Birk & Co Inc., 1954

How To Have Enough To Retire On

"Consider, you people in your thirties, forties and fifties: Within a relatively few years - time goes swiftly at your age, you kno - most of you will lose your jobs. Not fired, but retired. Some will be all but barred from earning a living any more, others will be strongly discouraged from it. Yet you will still have to eat, keep a roof over your head and clothes on your back, visit doctors, and have enough left to finance the special enjoyments that make retirement something to look forward to, not something to dread. Between now and your 65th birthday, therefore, it is up to you to make sure that income will continue when job stops." 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1959

Retirement: It Can Be Wonderful

"For you, as for most other people who work for a living, retirement is coming. And no matter what you think about it now, it is probably going to be one of the major adventures of your life. It could be a tragic one - you have seen as many miserable old folks as the next fellow. You know. And if you are within reach of retirement you are in no mood to be kidded about it. But it can be magnificent, too. It can be the most wonderful thing that ever happened to you." 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1958

Pros and Cons of Savings Bonds

"Do you remember back during World War II when we all were singing Any Bonds Today? and when there were frequent drives urging us to buy Defense Bonds and, later, War Bonds? Then we bought all the bonds we could afford, of course, because we were investing in America's war effort. But the war has been over for thirteen years now and we still are buying bonds at a rate of $4 billion to $6 billion a year, now called U.S. Savings Bonds. The Government endorses them as ranking "with the world's finest investments," but that statement has been questioned in some circles."

Good Reading Rack Service, 1958

Make Your Savings Work For You

"Suppose that riding home from work one day your car pool pal starts dreaming out loud just as you pass the old Wilson Flour Mill: "Golly, Joe, how'd you like to own a piece of that outfit? I've heard the Wilsons have taken money out of that mill every year for the last forty." You most likely would have come right back: "Have you flipped your lid, Pete? You know as well as I do you could never buy your way into an outfit that pays dividends year after year like that one." And then Pete would probably nod and say: "Yep, I guess you're right." With all respect to the Wilson family, you and Pete are so far wrong it isn't even funny. There are pieces of outfits as good as Wilson's - and better - being bought and sold every day of the week by people exactly like you and Pete."

Alumni Publications & Eugene Beitler, 1954

We Can Maintain Our Job Security

"In one way, at least, job security is like the weather. That is, everybody talks about it! But putting an accurate definition on the term "job security" isn't too simple. That's because it means different things to different people. It all depends on upon your own particular set of circumstances and personal motivations."

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1960

What Makes a Man a Success?

"Are you big enough to admit a mistake, to place the blame squarely where it belongs, and not try to wiggle or alibi out of it? This is a fair question, and important to your success. But you alone know the answer. The smaller the man the more he squirms - and of course, in the long run the less he is respected by his fellow-workers."

Good Reading Rack Service, 1956

It's Not What We Know, But What We Do With It

"No matter how extensive a man's educational background may be, how many diplomas he holds, the principal problem he faces is applying what he has learned to getting along and getting ahead in this world. After he leaves school, no one is paid or obligated to teach him anything - certainly not, unless he has a sincere desire to improve himself. Adjustment to life as it is lived, and people as they are, is a matter of personal development. Some men keep asorbing useful knowledge all through their lives. Others are satisfied to rest on the oars and drift with the tide." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1960

Be Thankful for Your Troubles

Has it ever occurred to you to be thankful for the troubles and problems of your job? You ought to be, becausee they provide at least half your pay. If it were not for the things that go wrong, the trying people you have to deal with in your work, the worries and discouragements, and the headache situations - someone could be found to handle your job for about half as much as you are being paid. As a matter of fact, it is difficulties and discouragements that create good jobs for thousands of us. 

The Updegraff Press, 1953

You've Got a Problem? That's Good!

"So you've got a problem? That's good! Why? Because repeated victories over your problems are the rungs on your ladder of success. With each victory you grow in wisdom, stature, and experience. You become a better, bigger, more successful person each time you meet a problem and tackle and conquer it with a positive mental attitude. Stop and think for a moment. Do you know of a single instance where any real achievement was made in your life, or in the life of any person in history, that was not due to a problem with which the individual was faced? Everyone has problems. This is because you and everything in the universe are in a constant process of change. Change is an inexorable natural law. What is important to you is that your success or failure to meet the challenges of change are dependent upon your mental attitude." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1960

Building a Better Character

"Many years ago, so the story goes, two brothers were convicted of stealing sheep. Since there were no jails in the village, the town fathers came up with a simple, but harsh, form of punishment. They branded the brothers on the forehead with the letters ST, for "sheep thief," and turned them loose. One brother unable to bear the stigma of the brand, left the village and tried to lose himself in a foreign land. But everywhere he went men asked him about the strange letters on his forehead. And so he kept wandering from land to land restlessly. At length, full of bitterness, he died and was buried in a forgotten grave...." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1959

The Secret of Building a Good Reputation

"Building a reputation is like building a house. You start with raw materials and a plan. You work little by little, brick by brick, stone by stone, board by board, until your structure is done. So it is with your life. You start as quite an unknown individual, with no more chance, perhaps, to become distinguished and successful than a million other people of like talents and ambitions. But gradually, one step at a time, you win a reputation, and as your reputation grows, so does your success." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet

A Guide to Self Improvement

"The word "success" has many definitions. It can refer to financial accumulation, artistic or scientific achievement, positions of prestige and power. It can also denote the kind of sane and sensible living that brings rewards in personal happiness." 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1960

Make Your Voice Heard

"Making your voice heard is a good, old-fashioned American custom. It's also a great thrill and satisfaction. Frequently, making your voice heard is a duty, an important part of your responsibility as a citizen, but unfortunately, it is something that most of us dodge. Much too frequently, at a PTA, lodge or church meeting, most of us would like to say something, either for or against a proposal, but we are too afraid to speak out, or if we do, we sometimes fail to make our point. The reason is that, although we usually think we know what we want to say, we don't know how or when to say it." 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1956

Nobody Wins an Argument

"All of us want to get along with people and to be liked by them. Deep down we yearn for harmony in our lives and in all our relationships. Yet every day many of us do and say things that destroy the very harmony we are seeking. We waste precious time and energy in useless friction. We court unhappiness with needless arguments, often with disastrous results." 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1957

Why You Act As You Do

"In order to get ahead in your job, you must first understand human behavior. To do this, you must start with one basic thought: Everything you do has a reason. The why, or the reason, may not be obvious at first glance. But it is, nevertheless, there. Human behavior doesn't just happen!" 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1956

Keep Your Human Relations In-Tact

"Tact, when properly applied, can bring you an incredible degree of prestige and poise. It is a golden master key to personal happiness, and to power and success with people. If you make every word, act, or gesture a tactful one, the results will amaze and astonish you." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1960

Make Your Habits Work For You

"Habits are like cobwebs. At first they seem filmy and almost invisible. Often we don’t realize we have them, but as they grow they become strong, firmly knit cables which are hard to break." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1959

How to Break Bad Habits

Clearly, you're free to make a choice between good and bad habits. The man or woman with good habits is likely to get more out of life, accumulate friends and derive real satisfactions from a day's work. On the other hand, impeded by undesirable traits, you can't produce your full potential as an effective human being. You should have the foresight and courage to examine yourself and spot those undermining bad habits. After that, you have the free will to harness the machinery of habit formation for your own betterment. To make important change, you should be willing to give a little time, effort and all your will power. With self-understanding and self-control, you can make your habits work for your, not against you. 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1959

Winning Others to Your Way of Thinking

"Anyone who has ever been interested in success has wondered why it is that there are some men and women to whom nothing in the way of success is denied. Maybe you've known some. They make money. They win friends. Honors come their way. What do they have that so many others lack?" 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1960

How To Avoid Arguments and Win Your Point

"In this day and age, everyone is keenly interested in getting along with others. We are all looking for ways to improve our human relations. One way is to stay away from arguments. You can never win an argument…you can only walk away from one with as few scars as possible. Although you may have a feeling of real conquest that will even include feeling sorry for the way you completely vanquished him, your "opponent" in an argument may have escaped with fewer lasting wounds than you did. There's no question that a heated argument leaves both parties worse for wear, and the real question is whether it settles anything." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1959

The Secret of Getting Along with Others

"Getting along with others is, like pie baking, an art and not a science. Nevertheless, in each case, if you follow certain rules and have a little crust, you'll likely get good results. Trouble is, in human relations you bump into so many do's and don’t's that you get confused as an infant in traffic." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1959

How to Appreciate The People Around You

"Every day of your life you are in the presence of the only source of success, happiness, and achievement there is - some other person, or persons. If you meet enough of these persons and convince enough of them that they should "buy" you, your ideas, or your enterprises, you will be successful. If you fall down on the job of winning their acceptance, confidence, and support, you will fail. The shortest definition of, and recipe for, success I ever saw consisted of just three words: "Success is people." Almost anyone you talk to will agree with this definition and philosophy. Yet in spite of such widespread recognition of the statement, the blankest areas in the lives of most persons is made up of - people." 

A Help-Your-Self Booklet, 1960

Your Child's Development

"Oh, that's just a stage my child is going through!" Whenever you say that, you are echoing - weather you realize it or not - scientists at the world-famous Gesell Institute of Child Development in New Haven, Conn. Similarly, when your youngster says, "Oh, I don't do that any more," he too is repeating their child development philosophy. Gesell Institue experts insist that kids aren't really unpredictable but are as old as their behavior. Children behave the way they do because there are tremendous individual differences in both rate and pattern of growth. But, in general, children do follow clear growth patterns from infancy through adolescence." 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1958

The Good New Days

"Every American claims the right to holler "robber" on a close decision at first base, gripe about the price of hamburger, and bore everyone younger than himself with stories about "the good old days." He also wants - and gets - fresh strawberries in December, a ball game or a musical comedy right in his living room, and an automobile which practically drives and steers itself. Today, in fact, the average wage-earner lives bettre than many a wealthy man of fifty years ago every dreamed of. Better even than many a monarch of our own time. When oil discoveries set Near East prices to dreaming of luxuries, the first things they spent their royalties for were the common everyday appliances found in nearly every American workman's home." 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1953