| Women, make sure you know the family finances
"Somebody should have knocked me on the head 40 years ago," said Kathylynn Holliday, 56, to other women at a finance seminar. It wasn't until Holliday's husband died that she learned how little she knew about managing her finances. She's not alone. Most people spend more time planning their next vacation than they do planning for retirement, and for women planning ahead is especially important. Women face challenges statistically that men don't. We still make less on average than men. We typically spend less time in the workforce, therefore accumulating less into our retirement. We also live longer. Women are three times more likely to be widowed and nine out of 10 women will be solely responsible for their finances at some point, said Scott Hughes, a regional marketing director for The Hartford Mutual Funds.
Pensioner group 'suspicious' about closure of retirement centres
A leading pensioner advocacy group says it is suspicious about the timing of the closure of the Village Life retirement centres in New South Wales. Around 170 Village Life residents have been sent letters telling them they will have to move out by the end of May. The NSW Department of Fair Trading says it is investigating ways to protect residents affected by the proposed closures. Paul Versteege from the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association says the department would have known about the closures before the state election on the March 24. "On the 28th of March, the managers of residential villages were given termination of employment notices," he said. "Really that raises the question whether Village Life has done a deal with the New South Wales Government to postpone until after the election in return for soft treatment by the Department of Fair Trading." The villages affected in NSW are in Wagga Wagga, Tamworth, Dubbo and Bathurst.
Sebelius signs tax cuts into law
TOPEKA (AP) -- Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed a series of bills Thursday designed to cut the tax burden of businesses and some Kansans by about $32 million in the coming fiscal year.
The largest of the eight new laws phases out over five years the tax businesses pay for the privilege of operating in Kansas, a cumulative savings of $135 million. Other cuts would help seniors by exempting Social Security benefits from state taxes, increase a property tax refund for home owners 55 and older and increase a tax credit for the working poor.
Legislators approved the cuts in early April before taking their three-week spring break. They also have approved a $12.3 billion budget that covers the bulk of the state's spending for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Sebelius sought to raise the threshold at which businesses pay the franchise tax so that it applied to firms with a net worth of $1 million or more.
Bricks and mortar or a pension?
Is a property portfolio better value than a retirement fund? Graham Norwood talks to people whose futures are set in stone There is a new breed of property owner on the block. They're planning ahead for a comfortable future once they've stopped working, but instead of ploughing cash into a pension fund every month, they're becoming landlords instead. .
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