On Monday, Dec. 8th, noted author and speaker Mark Sanborn spoke to all Prosper employees at a special meeting in Orem, Utah.

Mark’s expertise is in helping people see how they can make a difference no matter where they are in an organization. He brought the house down and there was a real buzz after the event. Here are some comments:

“What a great speaker: entertaining, informative, and fitting for what we do at Prosper. I look forward to reading his book and applying it to what I do.  Thanks Prosper!
– Nate Moller, eCommerce Division Manager

“I really enjoyed the fact that Mark shows, through his words and actions, that he’s all about serving his clients. I was very impressed that he actually chose to be a part of the awards ceremony and took part in shaking the hand of the award winners. He wasn’t just here to speak to us and then leave.

“I was very touched that Mark expressed how important it is that our families should come first, that we should always find time to be with our children and put other things off, not our children. This hit home to me, as a single parent raising three little girls on my own. I had always been telling my girls, “I don’t have time for that” or “maybe later.” I was very touched by this concept because my girls are growing up and one day it will be to late. Make time now!”
– Michelle Minzghor, Real Estate Resource Advisor

 Mark Sanborn speaks with members of the Lifecycle Marketing Team.

Laurie Hightower shares her insight with Jared Richards and Mark Sanborn

Mark Sanborn and the Prosper Executive Committee. 

Another year is ending and I think many of us will be happy to see it all behind us in the rear-view mirror. But even looking back on a less than perfect year, I find so many good things that I don’t know where to begin. Every time I sit back and begin to reflect on my last seven years at Prosper, I am flooded with gratitude for our students and the people I work with to help change people’s lives one person at a time.

Here are a few more of the things I’m thankful for this year: My wonderful wife of more than 21 years. Her birthday was on Thanksgiving this year. There hasn’t been a single day since then when I wasn’t thankful that she married me. Julie has taught me so much about what real love and I appreciate the joys of our life together.

One of the greatest privileges of working at Prosper is that people share fears, their failures, their dreams and their hopes with us. Yet the most wonderful part for me isn’t just the trust involved in these conversations, but the joy of their success that changes lives in a deep meaningful way. So, I look back with happy thoughts and look forward to the great challenges that will help me grow.

Devin Willis
Prosper Student Care

On Friday, Dec. 5th, George Brunt, executive vice president of legal and human resources; and Jason Russell, manager of public relations and marketing communications, presented a check to Jim Thomas of the Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo, Utah.

The check was in the amount of $475 and represented donations by Prosper’s employees.

Has your 401k turned into a 201k? If so you’re not alone. The stock market has been experiencing unprecedented times. What started with a few mortgage companies announcing that they were expecting to lose tens of billions of dollars due to subprime loans has turned into a global credit crisis. This crisis has taken down some of the largest icons in the financial industry. Companies like Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, and Washington Mutual, have all undergone serious changes, not to mention the bailout of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

The Federal government is now working with these giants and has injected billions of dollars into the banking system to prevent a major disaster. Over a dozen banks from coast to coast are no longer with us. All this news is just here in the U.S. Iceland has been particularly hard hit by the crisis, where interest rates are now at 18%. Foreign markets are currently at extreme low levels. We could go on and on with all the doom and gloom.

So, how does this affect the average investor? The average investor probably has a broker, or has not obtained an education on stock/options investing. I have talked to some of these people and they have lost a lot of money. A good friend of mine has lost 40% of his retirement (thanks to a broker he is now “broke-r”). Most Americans are in the same boat.

What about those who actually knew how to handle this volatility? The ones I have talked to have done quite well through this troubled market. They have been extremely patient waiting for just the right time to make their investments. Most of their trades have been bearish (since we are in a bear (down) market). Once they had a profit, they took it. The market has been too volatile to let a trade sit. On their poor trades they cut their losses short, not getting into a position to where they were hoping the stock would come back. Many Prosper Inc. students have been successful with covered call trades. These too have been short term trades, waiting and watching the market for a calm in the storm to place these trades close to expiration. Some students I spoke with took 8-13% profits in less than a week’s time.

The bottom line is that this market has been extremely dangerous for most investors. With the right skills and knowledge, a well-disciplined investor can make money whether a stock market goes up, down, or sideways.

— Carl Anderson, Division Leader - Stock Coaching

This is for informational purposes and should not be construed as financial or investment advice.

Leading up to Thanksgiving, Prosper Inc. employees have been bringing in non-perishable food items to support the Community Action Services and Food Bank in Utah County. Our food drive was connected to the BYU-Utah game, with donors donating on behalf of one or the other team. Employees could also donate cash by purchasing “team marks” (Ute or Cougar logos).

The final tally is that Prosper employees donated $589 and 784 food items to the food bank. We hope to have a pound tally soon.

Way to go, Prosper employees!

If there’s an upside to a down economy, it’s that people are more conscious of their finances and make a stronger effort to get out of debt. Prosper has a Finance program to help people do so.

The economy as a whole is big news in the media and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Because of what we do, Prosper is garnering some attention. Miranda Marquit, author of the “Personal Finance Corner” on AllBusiness.com, has posted a quick overview of us.

See it for yourself here.  

Compared to the “average” company, Prosper Inc. is particularly focused on entrepreneurism. Top management exemplifies the concept of developing multiple streams of income, while rank-and-file employees are encouraged to pursue their entrepreneurial interests.

You could say entrepreneurism is in our blood. Since the company was founded in 1999, much of our focus has been on giving people the knowledge and guidance they need to explore their entrepreneurial ideas.

A recent survey conducted in September 2008 reveals some very interesting attitudes about entrepreneurism in light of the current economic conditions. Twenty-seven percent of survey respondents said they plan to start their own business within the next five years. That projection is huge. Out of 100 people you know, 27 will (according to these results) start their own business in the next five year. Personally, I can really only think of one or two who have even thought about it.

Even more revealing is that a staggering 70 percent agreed that “the success and health of [the U.S.] economy depends on the success of entrepreneurs.” In a related question, 80 percent of the respondents also agreed that the U.S. government needs to encourage more entrepreneurship.

With so many being open to the concept of entrepreneurship, Prosper is excited about the opportunity to be a prime contributor in the delivery of one-to-one coaching to up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

Kendra B. of Springfield, Mass. recently enrolled in our Finance program and is excited about where she is going.

For the past few years I have been doing a lot of reading about personal finance and everyone seems to have their own ideas of what is most important. David Bach’s Automatic Millionaire and Smart Women Finish Rich made a lot of sense to me, but then there was Dave Ramsey, Suze Ormon, Robert Kiyosaki and others.

Because of this I found it very difficult to decide what I should focus on first. Should I build my emergency fund first or pay off debt? Should I fund my 401k or wait until I have paid off my debt and have 3 to 6 months of savings?

One day I received an invitation to learn more about the Finish Rich Coaching Program from Prosper and I immediately wanted to find out more information. I was assigned my coach and together we worked on a financial plan that was right for me and my individual needs and circumstances.

Since joining the coaching program and taking part in the webinars, homework and conference calls, I now have clear direction on what I need to do first. I have been able to think about my dream and goals and give them dates of when I plan to achieve them.

Prior to the program I couldn’t see any further than just my debt. I learned that my net worth was a negative amount and that was really troubling. I also learned that I clearly need to rethink how I spend money and how to prioritize my spending by what is important to me. So far I have consolidated my credit card balances onto a card with 0% for balance transfers and am working on building up an emergency fund. I am also looking at ways of increasing my income.