United States

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This article is about the United States of America. For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation).

United States of America
Flag Great Seal
Motto: In God We Trust  (official) E Pluribus Unum  (traditional) (Latin: Out of Many, One)
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner"
Capital		Washington, D.C. 38°53′N 77°01′W
Largest city		New York City
Official language(s)		None at federal level[a]
National language		English (de facto)[b]
Demonym		American
Government		Federal presidential constitutional republic
-	President	Barack Obama (D)
-	Vice President	Joe Biden (D)
-	Speaker of the House	John Boehner (R)
-	Chief Justice	John Roberts
Legislature		Congress
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	House of Representatives
Independence		from the Kingdom of Great Britain
-	Declared	July 4, 1776
-	Recognized	September 3, 1783
-	Current constitution	June 21, 1788
Area
-	Total	9,826,675 km2 [1][c](3rd/4th) 3,794,101 sq mi
-	Water (%)	6.76
Population
-	2012 estimate	313,802,000[2] (3rd)
-	Density	33.7/km2 87.4/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$15.094 trillion[3] (1st)
-	Per capita	$48,386[3] (6th)
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$15.094 trillion[3] (1st)
-	Per capita	$48,386[3] (15th)
Gini (2007)		45.0[1] (39th)
HDI (2011)		0.910[4] (very high) (4th)
Currency		United States dollar ($) (USD)
Time zone		(UTC−5 to −10)
-	Summer (DST)	(UTC−4 to −10)
Date formats		m/d/yy (AD)
Drives on the		right
Internet TLD		.us .gov .mil .edu
Calling code		+1
^ a. English is the official language of at least 28 states—some sources give a higher figure, based on differing definitions of "official".[5] English and Hawaiian are both official languages in the state of Hawaii. ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language. ^ c. Whether the United States or China is larger is disputed. The figure given is from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook. Other sources give smaller figures. All authoritative calculations of the country's size include only the 50 states and the District of Columbia, not the territories. ^ d. The population estimate includes people whose usual residence is in the fifty states and the District of Columbia, including noncitizens. It does not include either those living in the territories, amounting to more than 4 million U.S. citizens (mostly in Puerto Rico), or U.S. citizens living outside the United States.

The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.^[6] The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity).^[3][7] Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.^[3]
Indigenous peoples descended from forebears who migrated from Asia have inhabited what is now the mainland United States for many thousands of years. This Native American population was greatly reduced by disease and warfare after European contact. The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-determination and their establishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated the British Empire in the American Revolution, the first successful colonial war of independence.^[8] The current United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a stronger central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.
Through the 19th century, the United States displaced native tribes, acquired the Louisiana territory from France, Florida from Spain, part of the Oregon Country from the United Kingdom, Alta California and New Mexico from Mexico, and Alaska from Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over the expansion of the institution of slavery and states' rights provoked the Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, its national economy was the world's largest.^[9] The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. It emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for 41% of global military spending,^[10] and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.^[11]

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Geography and environment 3 Political divisions 4 History 4.1 Native American and European settlement 4.2 Independence and expansion 4.3 Civil War and industrialization 4.4 World War I, Great Depression, and World War II 4.5 Cold War and protest politics 4.6 Contemporary era 5 Government and politics 5.1 Parties and ideology 6 Foreign relations and military 7 Economy 7.1 Income and human development 8 Infrastructure 8.1 Science and technology 8.2 Transportation 8.3 Energy 8.4 Education 8.5 Health 9 Crime and law enforcement 10 Demographics 10.1 Language 10.2 Religion 10.3 Family structure 11 Culture 11.1 Popular media 11.2 Literature, philosophy, and the arts 11.3 Food 11.4 Sports 11.5 Measurement systems 12 See also 13 References 14 External links

Etymology

See also: Names for United States citizens

In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" after Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.^[12] The former British colonies first used the country's modern name in the 1776 Declaration of Independence, the "unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America".^[13] On November 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, which states, "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'." The Franco-American treaties of 1778 used "United States of North America", but from July 11, 1778, "United States of America" was used on the country's bills of exchange, and it has been the official name ever since.^[14]
The short form "United States" is also standard. Other common forms include the "U.S.", the "USA", and "America". Colloquial names include the "U.S. of A." and, internationally, the "States". "Columbia", a once popular name for the United States, derives from Christopher Columbus; it appears in the name "District of Columbia".
The standard way to refer to a citizen of the United States is as an "American". Although "United States" is the official appositional term, "American" and "U.S." are more commonly used to refer to the country adjectivally ("American values", "U.S. forces"). "American" is rarely used in English to refer to people not connected to the United States.^[15]
The phrase "United States" was originally treated as plural—e.g., "the United States are"—including in the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865. It became common to treat it as singular—e.g., "the United States is"—after the end of the Civil War. The singular form is now standard; the plural form is retained in the idiom "these United States".^[16]

Geography and environment

Main articles: Geography of the United States, Climate of the United States, and Environment of the United States

The land area of the contiguous United States is approximately 1,900 million acres (7,700,000 km²). Alaska, separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state at 365 million acres (1,480,000 km²). Hawaii, occupying an archipelago in the central Pacific, southwest of North America, has just over 4 million acres (16,000 km²).^[17] The United States is the world's third or fourth largest nation by total area (land and water), ranking behind Russia and Canada and just above or below China. The ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by China and India are counted and how the total size of the United States is measured: calculations range from 3,676,486 square miles (9,522,055 km²)^[18] to 3,717,813 square miles (9,629,091 km²)^[19] to 3,794,101 square miles (9,826,676 km²).^[1] Including only land area, the United States is third in size behind Russia and China, just ahead of Canada.^[20]

The Bald Eagle, national bird of the United States since 1782

The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way further inland to deciduous forests and the rolling hills of the Piedmont. The Appalachian Mountains divide the eastern seaboard from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest. The Mississippi–Missouri River, the world's fourth longest river system, runs mainly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat, fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains, at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado. Farther west are the rocky Great Basin and deserts such as the Chihuahua and Mojave. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast. At 20,320 feet (6,194 m), Alaska's Mount McKinley is the tallest peak in the country and in North America. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature.^[21]
The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. To the east of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The southern tip of Florida is tropical, as is Hawaii. The Great Plains west of the 100th meridian are semi-arid. Much of the Western mountains are alpine. The climate is arid in the Great Basin, desert in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and oceanic in coastal Oregon and Washington and southern Alaska. Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar. Extreme weather is not uncommon—the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of the world's tornadoes occur within the country, mainly in the Midwest's Tornado Alley.^[22]
The U.S. ecology is considered "megadiverse": about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.^[23] The United States is home to more than 400 mammal, 750 bird, and 500 reptile and amphibian species.^[24] About 91,000 insect species have been described.^[25] The Endangered Species Act of 1973 protects threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. There are fifty-eight national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas.^[26] Altogether, the government owns 28.8% of the country's land area.^[27] Most of this is protected, though some is leased for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching; 2.4% is used for military purposes.^[27]

Political divisions

Main article: U.S. state

Further information: Territorial evolution of the United States and United States territorial acquisitions

The United States is a federal union of fifty states. The original thirteen states were the successors of the thirteen colonies that rebelled against British rule. Early in the country's history, three new states were organized on territory separated from the claims of the existing states: Kentucky from Virginia; Tennessee from North Carolina; and Maine from Massachusetts. Most of the other states have been carved from territories obtained through war or purchase by the U.S. government. One set of exceptions comprises Vermont, Texas, and Hawaii: each was an independent republic before joining the union. During the American Civil War, West Virginia broke away from Virginia. The most recent state—Hawaii—achieved statehood on August 21, 1959.^[28] The states do not have the right to secede from the union.
The states compose the vast bulk of the U.S. land mass; the two other areas considered integral parts of the country are the District of Columbia, the federal district where the capital, Washington, is located; and Palmyra Atoll, an uninhabited but incorporated territory in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also possesses five major overseas territories: Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands in the Caribbean; and American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific.^[29] Those born in the major territories (except for American Samoa) possess U.S. citizenship.^[30] American citizens residing in the territories have many of the same rights and responsibilities as citizens residing in the states; however, they are generally exempt from federal income tax, may not vote for president, and have only nonvoting representation in the U.S. Congress.

Welcome to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization Web Site.

 

International travelers who are seeking to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) are now subject to enhanced security requirements and will be required to pay an administrative fee. All eligible travelers who wish to travel to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program must apply for authorization and then pay the fee using the following process:

Step 1 Complete Your Application → Step 2 Submit Your Application → Step 3 Record Your Application Number → Step 4 Make Payment → Step 5 View Your Application Status

Please refer to the Help link at the top of each Web page if you have questions. Before you begin this application, make sure that you have a valid passport and credit card available. This application will only accept the following credit cards: MasterCard, VISA, American Express, and Discover (JCB, Diners Club). Please provide all responses in English. Mandatory fields are indicated by a red asterisk *.

Apply for an Authorization to Travel to the United States Select this option if: You are a citizen or eligible national of a Visa Waiver Program country. You are currently not in possession of a visitor's visa. Your travel is for 90 days or less. You plan to travel to the United States for business or pleasure. Which countries participate in the Visa Waiver Program? What information do I need to complete the application? What are the passport requirements for travel under the Visa Waiver Program?

Update or Check the Status of a Previously Submitted Authorization to Travel to the United States Select this option if: You previously submitted an application for an electronic travel authorization and you want to perform one of the following: Determine the status of your travel authorization application. Update your travel authorization application. You saved your application information and want to return to it to pay the fee. What information can I update? If you are missing your Application Number, please click here. OR Please provide the following information about your application: Application Number * Birth Date Day * Month * Year * Passport Number * The passport number may contain numbers and/or characters. Please closely distinguish between the two, such as the numbers zero and one, and the letters O and I.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: an agency may not conduct or sponsor an information collection and a person is not required to respond to this information unless it displays a current valid OMB control number. The control number for this collection is 1651-0111. The estimated average time to complete this submission is 15 minutes per respondent. If you have any comments regarding the burden estimate you can write to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Room 3.2.C., Washington DC 20229. Exp. Mar 14, 2014

The ESTA logo is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Its use, without permission, is unauthorized and in violation of trademark law. For more information, or to request the use of the logo, please go to help.cbp.gov and submit a request by clicking on "Ask a Question." When selecting the Product (under Additional Information) use "ESTA" and the sub-product "Logo Assistance" to expedite handling of your request.

For inquiries or questions regarding this application, please click here.

Privacy Statement  |  www.cbp.gov/travel

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"Visit America: It’s Easier Than You Think" USA Visa

Welcome to this official United States visa information source. The Visa section of this website is all about U.S. visas for foreign citizens to travel to the U.S. Before traveling to the U.S., a citizen of a foreign country must generally obtain a nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay or an immigrant visa for permanent residence. The type of visa you will need is based on the purpose of your travel.
United States citizens don’t need a U.S. visa for travel, but when planning travel abroad may need a visa issued by the embassy of the country they wish to visit. For more information, review Americans Traveling Abroad on the left.

We welcome the millions of foreign visitors and immigrants who come to the U.S. each year. They add greatly to our nation's cultural, educational, and economic life. In addition to open doors, we also believe in secure borders to keep us all safe.

• See our new video, "Visit America: It’s Easier Than You Think"
• Learn how the Department of State is meeting the growing demand for visas – see our video “Let’s Talk Numbers.”

More Useful Resources:

• Wait Times for Nonimmigrant Visa Interviews
• More visa types for temporary stay
• Am I eligible to travel without a visa?
• What is a visa?
• Capitalizing on Visa Demand to Spur U.S. Economic Growth

Welcome to this official United States visa information source. The Visa section of this website is all about U.S. visas for foreign citizens to travel to the U.S. Before traveling to the U.S., a citizen of a foreign country must generally obtain a nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay or an immigrant visa for permanent residence. The type of visa you will need is based on the purpose of your travel.

Wonderful and Amazing Photoshop Artwork – Unique Pictures

Photoshop is very powerful tool for editing your pictures and give them a new life u can change many things in your pictures here I have some examples look at the examples and than ask by comments we will provide more stuff for this like tutorials to understand all Photoshop. I hope you will like these amazing Photoshop artwork pictures. Feel free to share your comments with us.

3 Ways to Make Money on Twitter (Without Being Sleazy!)

There’s nothing wrong with using Twitter to promote your business – but in order to really make money on Twitter, you’ve got to avoid some common pitfalls that marketers get stuck in. Depending on your business model, Twitter might be a place you conduct customer service, see what your competitors are up to, or simply gain exposure for your brand. And while those are great uses of the medium, we’ve got three ways you can make money directly from Twitter – without being sleazy.

Affiliate marketing, with a personal touch

If you use affiliate marketing to make money for your business, you can turn to Twitter to help. However, keep in mind that Twitter should not be your only sales platform, and, in the same breath, Twitter should not be only a sales platform. What do I mean by this? Basically, you want to use other social media tools to reach potential customers in addition to Twitter, and you want to use your Twitter account for more than just sales pitches.
Twitter can be a marketer’s heaven, but only if you understand your audience. Twitter users have a timeline feed of all of the tweets from everyone they follow, updated in real-time. So think about how you’re using Twitter to make money, and how this could potentially clog up your followers’ feeds. You don’t want to schedule sales pitches every hour, or your account will seem like a spam bot. Try interspersing some personal thoughts, commentary, retweets and multimedia in with your affiliate marketing. If your audience trusts you as a person, they’ll be more likely to buy from you in the end.

Find leads and offer genuine value

Twitter is a network of people who have diverse interests, needs, and desires. There are likely hundreds or thousands of people on Twitter right now that would like to hear more about your business – but they simply don’t know it exists.
You can use the search function on Twitter.com (or, for advanced users, try a social media management platform like HootSuite) to find leads and generate sales on Twitter. Simply search for words or phrases that your typical customer might use in a tweet. This will take some trial and error, but once you’ve got three to ten great keywords, you have a goldmine of potential leads.
In order to reach out to potential leads, you’ve got to send unsolicited messages via Twitter. To avoid being sleazy, go the honest route – send an @mention to possible leads using a very soft sell, and letting them know that you found them via Twitter.

Get creative

Social media isn’t like any other type of communication. It offers us new ways to connect to one another in two- and more way conversations. So, if you really want to experiment with ways to make money on Twitter, why not get a little creative?
You can make money on Twitter by getting your followers involved in your business. Run a campaign asking for creative input from your customers, like getting them to design a decal or write a product description for you. This won’t lead directly to sales, but it will increase your visibility on Twitter as well as brand loyalty of your followers.

Some final tips and tricks to making money on Twitter

• Avoid hard-sells: Twitter users are looking for real connections and valuable information, not sales pitches
• Don’t use Twitter only for making money: build a community, a brand presence, and engage with your followers
• It’s not all about the followers: quality matters much more than quantity, so if you have a low follower count, you can still make money by achieving a high conversion rate or by generating leads using search

Creating a Quick and Easy Glass Bowl in Illustrator

With just a circle, a few ovals and the Inner Glow effect, you can create a quick and very useful glass bowl image in Illustrator. And once you master this technique, it can be easily adapted for many different uses.

1

Create a circle with the Ellipse tool. Hold down the Shift key while dragging open your circle to keep it perfectly round. Change the Fill to blue and Stroke to None (/).

2

Again using the Ellipse tool, create an oval that slightly overlaps the edges of your initial circle as shown here.

3

With both the circle and the overlapping oval selected with the Selection tool (Shift-click each or drag a selection around them), go to the Pathfinder menu (Window>Pathfinder if it’s not already open) and click the Divide button.

4

Go to Object>Ungroup to separate the newly divided shapes.

5

With the Selection tool, select the top of the circle and the oval (and any other small pieces that may have been created in the division process) and press Delete (PC: Backspace). This should leave only the main bowl shape.

6

Now with the bowl shape still selected, go to Effect>Stylize>Inner Glow. In the Inner Glow menu, double-click on the color square and choose a medium blue from the Color Picker (write this color name down; for example, 09B1CC; we’ll need it later). Set the Mode to Normal, the Opacity at 35%, and Blur at 35 pt. Make sure the Edge button at the bottom of the Inner Glow menu, not the Center button, is selected, and click OK.

7

To make the bowl’s rim, first make an oval with the Ellipse tool that fits right on top of the main bowl shape like shown here. Then change the oval’s Fill and Stroke color to White if it is not already. With this oval selected, go to Effect>Stylize>Inner Glow. In the Inner Glow menu set the Mode to Normal, the Opacity at 20%, and the Blur at 11 pt. The color should be the same blue you used for the main bowl shape.

8

Create one more oval; this one goes in the middle of the one created in Step Seven. Select this oval, change its Fill and Stroke to White if it’s not already, and then go to Effect>Stylize>Inner Glow. Set the Mode to Normal, the Opacity at 35% and the Blur at 20pt.

9

Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and click-and-drag this new oval and move it to the bottom of the bowl shape. This duplicates it. While holding down the Shift key to maintain its proportions, scale down the oval till it sits comfortably at the bottom of the bowl.

10

Add some shine to your new bowl with white circles placed in the top left and bottom right of the bowl.

11

I’ve added a few fish using the Pen tool.

Making Money as a Kid

1. Ask your parents if they'll pay you for doing more chores. You're probably already expected to do chores around the house and help out your family for free. If you need a little extra pocket change, however, ask your parents if there's something else you can do for a small fee. For instance, maybe your mom really hates folding laundry and would be willing to pay $5 a week for you to do it instead. Whatever it is, let your parents know you're willing to take on more work for a bit of allowance.
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   • Make sure you're able to do whatever you agree to do. If you know your parents like a chore done a certain way, don't cut corners - do it well, and they may even agree to give you a raise in the future!
2. 2
   Run a lemonade stand, or something similar. During hot summer months in the US, many kids run lemonade or cold beverage stands on the sidewalks in front of their houses. Here are a few tips to get you started:
   • Offer something that's appropriate for the weather. Cold drinks or popsicles will sell better on a hot day than on a rainy day. If it's too cold or miserable outside to do much business, hold off and wait for a better day.
   • Keep your costs down. In order to turn a profit on what you're selling, choose to sell an item that's inexpensive to make. Lemonade is a classic because all of its ingredients (water, sugar, lemons or lemon juice concentrate, and ice) are fairly cheap and easy to obtain. Popsicles are another favorite because they can be bought in large quantities from the store.
   • Set up on public property. You can set up your stand on a sidewalk, public park, or other area that is not owned by a private person. Doing this can help you avoid accusations of trespassing. Be aware, though, that some larger metropolitan parks might require you to get a permit to sell there.
   • Advertise your price. Get a large piece of paper, cardboard or poster paper, and write what you're selling and how much one serving costs. For instance, you might write "LEMONADE, 25 CENTS". Set a fair price point, and make it something you'd be willing to pay yourself; if you're not sure what's fair, ask your parents or another trustworthy adult.
   • Have somewhere secure to keep your money. Find a lockbox, coin purse, wallet, or envelope to keep your earnings safe and collected.
3. 3
   Do odd jobs around your neighborhood. Mowing lawns, babysitting, raking leaves, snow shoveling, washing cars, and bathing pets are all examples of services that many people are willing to pay someone else to do. If you can do some of these things and you have some spare time, knock on the doors of family members or neighbors you know well, and offer your services.
   • Only work for people you know or your parents know well; never work for strangers.
   • Be trustworthy. People like to know that whoever's working around their home or with their children can be trusted, and they might even be willing to pay extra for that peace of mind. Be fair and honest in all your dealings, and never steal; these qualities will pay off later.
   • Be willing to negotiate. You might have two neighbors who want their sidewalks shoveled, but one might be willing to pay $5 per week while another will pay only $3. If the neighbor who's paying you less is elderly, living on a fixed income, disabled or otherwise strapped for cash, consider accepting the lower price in order to build your clientele. Remember, that person who pays you less might later recommend your services to someone else willing to pay more.

Making Money as an Adult

1. 1
   Use the law of supply and demand to your advantage. Most of us are familiar with the law of supply and demand--the more there is of something, the cheaper it is; conversely, the rarer the product or service, the more expensive it is. However, other than when we get to a toy store before sunrise to get on line for the latest fad toy that kids can't get enough of, we don't really apply the law of supply and demand to our own lives--particularly our careers. For example, if you're aspiring to do something that many, many other people want to do (so much so that they do it for free, as a hobby) then it will be far more challenging for you to make money doing it. On the other hand, if you do something that most people don't want to do, or if you get very good at doing something most people don't do all that well, then you can make a whole lot more money. In other words, choose a career in pharmacy over photography.
   • If your career path is going nowhere, resign gracefully and switch careers. Research occupations to find out how much they pay and what their future outlook is (in the U.S., you can find this information in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook). Find an occupation that pays well, and invest in the education and/or training to get you that job. Look for employers that offer competitive salaries and ample opportunity for advancement.
   • If your goal is to make enough money to retire early, prioritize earning potential over job satisfaction, since you plan on getting out of the rat race early, anyway. Consider the types of jobs that pay extraordinarily well in exchange for hard work, little psychological satisfaction, and a punishing lifestyle, such as investment banking, sales, and engineering. If you can keep your expenses low and do this for about 10 years, you can save a nest egg for a modest but youthful retirement, or to supplement your income while you do something you really love doing but doesn't pay much. But keep in mind that delayed gratification requires clear goal-setting and strong willpower.
2. 2
   Recognize that time is money. This critical piece of advice is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who was an accomplished American inventor, journalist, printer, diplomat, and statesman--the ultimate multitasker. Your ability to manage your time (and stop procrastinating) is a critical ingredient in your ability to make money. Whether you have a job or are self-employed, keep track of what you're spending your time on. Ask yourself "Which of these activities make the most money, and which of them are a waste of time?" Do more of the former and less of the latter, simple as that. When you're focusing on high-priority tasks, get the job done well, and get the job done fast. By working efficiently, you're giving your employer or clients more time, and they'll appreciate you for it. Remember that time is a limited resource that you're always investing. Will your investments pay off?
3. 3
   Jack up your prices. If you're providing a skill, service or product that is in high demand and low supply, and you're making the most of your time, you should be making good money. Unfortunately, there are many people who are too humble or fearful to demand that they get paid accordingly. It's the pushovers in life who get taken advantage of and exploited, so if you think you might be one of them, learn how to stop being a people pleaser. If you work for someone else, ask for a pay raise or get a promotion, and if none of that pans out, revisit your career options as described previously. If you're self-employed, the first thing to do is to make sure your customers and clients pay up on time--this alone can substantially improve your income. Check your prices and rates against those of your competitors--are you undercutting them? Why? If you're providing a superior product or service, you should be getting at least the average, unless your profitability depends on mass production, in which case you're probably making a lot of money and wouldn't be reading this article anyway!
4. 4
   Be proactive. Remember Murphy's Law: "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Make plans, complete with as many calculations as possible, then anticipate everything that can go wrong. Then make contingency or backup plans for each scenario. Don't leave anything to luck. If you're writing a business plan, for example, do your best to estimate when you'll break even, then multiply that time frame by three to get a more realistic date; and after you've identified all the costs, add 20% to that for costs that will come up that you didn't anticipate. Your best defense against Murphy's law is to assume the worst, and brace yourself. An appropriate amount of insurance may be something worth considering. Don't forget the advice of Louis Pasteur, a French chemist who made several incredible breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease: "Luck favors the prepared mind."
5. 5
   Redefine wealth. In studies of millionaires, people are surprised to learn that most millionaires aren't doctors, lawyers, and corporate leaders with big houses and fancy cars; they're people who religiously live below their means and invest the surplus into assets, rather than liabilities.^[1] As you're taking the above steps to make more money, keep in mind that increased income does not necessarily equal increased wealth. Most people who flaunt their wealth actually have a low net worth because their debt to asset ratio is high--in other words, they owe a whole lot more money than they actually have. All of the previous steps have outlined aggressive strategies for making money, but you'll never get anywhere if you have a hole in your pocket.
   • They say that a penny saved is a penny earned. Actually, when you consider that you pay taxes on every penny you earn, you really do make more money by saving than by increasing your income, especially if the extra income will increase your tax rate dramatically. For example, let's say you have a choice between saving $100 or earning an extra $100. If you pay 15% taxes, then when you earn an $100, you only get $85. But when you save $100 off of your existing budget, you keep it all. To sweeten the deal further, if you take advantage of compound interest as found in most savings accounts, over time you'll start making money on the amount saved plus previous interest paid on that amount saved. It'll be pennies at first, but eventually the amount will multiply exponentially.
   • Take advantage of tax laws if you're self-employed. Money saved on taxes is still money saved. You may be able to deduct many of your business expenses (use of your home, use of your car, office supplies, etc.) if you keep good records. You may also qualify for tax breaks, such as deducting your health insurance premiums on your tax return. These laws are in place to encourage commerce and business growth, so don't neglect their benefits.
   • If you're not self-employed and work for a company, find out if they have a retirement plan. If you're lucky, employers will sometimes match contributions you make into a retirement fund. Retirement plans also often have the benefit of being tax-deferred. The longer you get to keep your money (and make interest on it) the better. It's never too early to start planning for retirement.
6. 6
   Know the difference between an asset and a liability. The dividing line is whether it puts money in your pocket, or takes it out.^[2] As much as you love your home, for instance, it is a liability rather than an asset because you put more money into it than you get out of it (unless you're flipping it or renting it out). Whatever money you save, invest it in assets such as stocks, mutual funds, patents, copyrighted works--anything that generates interest or royalties. Eventually, you might get to the point where your assets are doing the work for you, and all you have to do is sit there and make money!
   
   
   • Watch out for inflation chipping away at your assets. We've all heard an elderly person describe the purchasing power of a coin in their day. Inflation continues to make today's money worth less in the future. To win the race against time and inflation, learn to invest your money in the right places. A savings account might help you to keep up with inflation; however, to stay ahead of the game you'll want to invest in bonds, stocks, or some other investment that.

Tips

• Work on eliminating any debt you may have. When you have a high debt load, you're making someone else money; what you pay in interest is their paycheck. The sooner you repay your loans and debts, the sooner you stop giving your money away.
• Start analyzing your decisions from the perspective of a firm. In economics, a firm's goal is simply to maximize profit. Well-run firms spend money only if they can expect to make more money from their investment, and they allocate their resources to the most profitable use. You're not a firm, of course, and you have other considerations, but if you make the majority of your time and money decisions by choosing the options that promise the highest return on investment, you'll likely earn more money, and that's good news for your shareholders (you and your family).

Warnings

• Beware get-rich-quick schemes! Millions of people still get caught up in them. If it's too good to be true, it's truly no good. People who know how to get rich are busy getting rich. They are not advertising methods to get rich.
• Don't lose sight of what's really important to you in your quest for money. Sure, you may be able to make more if you work longer hours, but will you and your family get to enjoy the extra money? Money can do a lot of things for you, but don't work yourself to death - you can't take it with you.