| The Money Queens
A favorite target for the money queens is the alleged penchant of women, especially frivolous single women, to waste money on themselves. As Lois Frankel writes in Nice Girls Don't Get Rich, "Buying those morning lattes, extra outfits and expensive dinners with friends adds up to having less in your retirement and savings accounts." Women do spend $1,069--$246 more than men do--on clothing every year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2004-2005 Consumer Expenditure Survey. But that's chump change compared with what single men spend on car ownership ($846 more than single women), eating out ($752 more), alcoholic drinks ($280 more) and audiovisual gear ($143 more). Cutting back on needless spending isn't a bad idea for anyone, but "renegotiating your credit-card balances or getting a lower cost on your IRA probably saves you a lot more money," says Christian Weller, an economist at the Center for American Progress.
Britons confused by money jargon
Millions of Britons are failing to save adequately for their retirement and find financial jargon impenetrable, a survey by insurer Aviva suggests. Nearly 25% of Britons admitted they did not understand basic financial products such as pensions, the survey found. Planning for retirement comes below buying a car or funding a holiday on most peoples lists of financial priorities, Aviva said. Fewer than four out of 10 said they were saving for their retirement. This ties in with recent official statistics show that at present Britons are saving a smaller proportion of their income than at any time for over a decade. Last year, the government estimated that 12 million Britons were failing to put aside enough money to enjoy a comfortable retirement. Reasons revealed The Aviva survey reveals a number of factors which could explain why Britons are so reluctant to put save for their old age.
A Brave New Retirement World
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- For years, ever since companies started abandoning their "don't worry about a thing" traditional pension plans, many U.S. workers have been left on their own to successfully manage the "get it right or retire penniless" 401(k) option. But now the pendulum may be swinging again as many companies are moving back to a more paternalistic stance, making their 401(k) look a little bit like a traditional pension. That means automatically enrolling workers in 401(k) plans (workers must opt-out if they don't want to participate), automatically ramping up workers' savings rate annually and pushing workers into riskier investment options that are more equity-based and thus more likely to grow enough to provide for workers' retirement needs. "There's a philosophical shift underway," said David Wray, president of the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America, an association that represents companies offering profit-sharing and 401(k) plans.
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan looking at bid for BCE
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is looking at teaming up with other investors to take over BCE Inc. for $45 billion. The pension plan, which is the telephone company's largest shareholder, is in talks with Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to increase its offer for BCE Inc. Reports by the New York Times and the Globe and Mail said the pension plan has enlisted the help of U.S. buyout firm Providence Equity Partners Inc. to look into the buyout. The equity firm and the Toronto-based pension fund were earlier offering $40 a share, or $32 billion, roughly a $5.6-billion more than BCE's closing market value Monday of $26.4 billion. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Canada's third-largest pension fund, had in March denied rumours that it was in talks with Kohlberg Kravis Robers & Co.
Study: Retirement Savings Lag Benefits
NEW YORK (AP) - Workers facing shrinking retirement benefits aren't saving enough to make up for what they'll lose, according to a new study. Seventeen percent of workers said their employers had cut retirement benefits in the last two years, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's annual retirement confidence survey, released Wednesday. But among workers whose expected benefits have been cut, nearly two in five said they have done nothing in response. The vast majority of employees are likely to need additional savings if they hope to retire with the benefits they expected before the shift away from company-sponsored traditional pensions to 401(k) plans, said Jack VanDerhei, the study's co-author and an associate professor of risk management and insurance at The Fox School of Business at Temple University.
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