| Bill Brosius Underpaid teachers? You decide
Throwing money at education does not improve results. I showed that two weeks ago. The local situation? Government has a virtual education monopoly (only 12 percent of students attend private schools or are home schooled - an insignificant influence on public schools); there is little opportunity for competition in pay scales. Most jobs are in markets where worker and employer can shop among many choices. Not so with teachers. One measure is comparison among professions, while accounting for all factors, giving each fair value. Each benefit, such as employer-paid Social Security, has value to the employee. Other benefits are 401k and pension contributions, unemployment insurance, workman's compensation, life insurance, continuing education expense, and teacher's health insurance (medical, dental, eye, drugs and preventive), which is about the best anywhere, costing the employer $8,863.
Equity-indexed annuities sound good, but...
That's one of the top five questions in my mailbag these days. Thousands of people attend free dinners and lunches every week to learn about the miracle investment that will give them near-stock-market returns without the trauma . The basic offer of an equity index contract is this: You give your money to an insurance company for a period , often 10 years, and it will grow tax-deferred. In exchange, the insurance company promises to give you a return based on some proportion of the increase in a major stock market index, excluding dividends. How much of the return you get varies because there are many crediting formulas. It also promises a minimum rate of return, usually about 3 percent. And if the market tanks, the value of your account doesn't go down, so you get to sleep at night.
State workers' votes to be counted today
Votes on a tentative contract for state workers will be counted today, after national leaders of the Communications Workers of America said an "unprecedented" number of ballots have been cast. The ratification vote was marked by intense campaigning from the presidents of union locals on both sides, including an aborted legal challenge to ballot language, deeply personal attacks and a nearly two-week extension of the deadline for the mail-in ballots. Five of the local presidents, as well as the national union support the new deal, which Gov. Jon Corzine has called tough but fair. The deal also has been praised by Republican and Democratic legislative leaders, too. The presidents of two locals, representing about a third of the 29,000 union member eligible to vote, have adamantly opposed the contract.
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.
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