Financial FYI Issue 122407
The Cost For The Twelve Days Of Christmas:
According to the PNC Wealth Management tongue-in-cheek Christmas Price Index, $19,507 is the total cost this year for the 12 gifts mentioned in the “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. This is up just 3.1% from 2006, with the most significant increase in the price of the “Five Gold Rings,” up 21.5 % over 2006. Source: Barrons.
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2008 Salary Estimates:
Salaries in 2008 are forecast to rise a flat 3.9 percent, just slightly above the 3.5 percent annual inflation rate recorded in October. One-time bonuses are making up more of companies compensation packages, but they mostly go to top executives. Source: Marketwatch.com.
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I Can’t Save Enough:
52% of Americans say they cannot afford to save or are saving inadequately. Source: Investment News.
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Average Amount of Homeowner Equity:
The average amount of equity that homeowners hold in their homes slipped to barely above 50 percent in the third quarter. If the trend continues in the fourth quarter, as is likely, it will mark the first time that American Homeowners owe more than they own since figures were first compiled in 1945. Source: Associated Press.
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Retirees Are Moving Back:
Of every 1,000 senior citizens who retire to Florida, 481 eventually move, usually back to their original location. Source: Marketwatch.com.
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Corporate Holiday Parties:
About 85 percent of U.S. Companies plan to host a holiday party this year, according to a survey by research firm Battalia Winston. That’s down from 94 percent in 2006 and the lowest percentage since the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. Companies forgoing parties cite belt-tightening due to an uncertain economy. Source: USA Today.
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If The Fed Only Knew:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained an average of 18% over one year in the 14 previous times since 1921 that the Fed has cut rates three meeting in a row according to Ned Davis Research. Source: Barrons.
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2008 Wall Street Forecast:
According to Wall Street’s Consensus Forecast, The S & P 500 will rally 10% in 2008, to 1640, while interest rates continue to fall. Source: Barrons.
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Honest Abe Lincoln’s Nest Egg:
By the time he was elected president in 1860, Abe Lincoln had amassed a tidy nest egg – about $15,000, according to The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln by Harry E. Pratt. That made Lincoln one of the most prosperous citizens of Illinois and the Country. Source: Money Magazine.
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Financial FYI Issue 121707
Don’t Count On Your Parents To Pay For College:
Average U.S. parents are on track to save just 24% of the total cost of their children’s education by the time they’re ready to head off to school. Source: Fidelity Investments.
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Boomer Taboo, Don’t Talk About Money:
According to a recent Amerprise survey, less than 40% of baby boomers talk about money and finances with their families even though more than 90% said issues like spending money wisely and saving money should be discussed openly and regularly. The report also notes that nearly 70% of boomer said they were raised with the understanding that money was “something you just don’t talk about.” Source: Investment News.
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Whose Got The Money?
A study conducted earlier this year by the Center for Media Research found that among Americans earning six-figure incomes, there are more people under the age of 35 than there are people over 54. Source: Bank Investment Consultant.
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Playing With The Big Boys:
Bank of American has an estimated technology budget of $6.6 billion. Source: Bank Technology News.
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Financial Designations Create Alphabet Soup:
According to the America College, there are 173 known designations covering banking, accounting, and insurance. The number of know designations has increased by 37% since 2000. Source: Investment News.
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Chinese Investments Bring Big Returns:
61.3% is the average return, year-to-date through Nov 30, of a U.S. mutual fund that invests primarily in Chinese companies. Source: Lipper, Inc.
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Households With Pets:
63% of U.S. households own a pet, which translates to about 71.1 million homes, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. That’s up from 56% of U.S. households in 1988. The group estimates that Americans spend more than $40 billion annually on their animals. Source: Wall Street Journal.
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Delusions About Long-Term Care Coverage:
1 in 4 boomers erroneously believe they have long-term care coverage, reports America’s health Insurance Plans, Source: Money Magazine.
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Financial FYI Issue 121007
The Financial Life of Gen Xer’s:
Of 5,000 people age 25-40, 33% of those polled said they were starting to save but were not sure how to invest or where to go to get financial advice. 51% of Gen Xers believed that investment firms didn’t care about them, and 47% felt that it would be difficult to find a good financial professional, yet 44% said they would like someone to explain the available financial choices. Source: Investment News.
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The Cost Of Caring For A Loved One:
According to an AARP survey, more than half of those caring for a loved on 50 or older are spending more than 10% of their annual income, sacrificing their savings, reducing personal care, and often quitting jobs. A study last year estimated that the total annual cost to employers for full time employees with intense care giving responsibilities at $17.1 billion. Source: Wall Street Journal.
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Money and Weight Loss:
Money aids weight loss, says a study from the University of North Carolina. Participants in the study who were offered $14 for every 1 percent drop in their body weight loss 5 pounds on average. Those offered no incentive lost 2 pounds. Source: USA Today.
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America’s Getting Gray:
By 2020 the number of people over 65 will reach a historic high of 55 million, up from 20 million in 1970. Source: Forbes.
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Holiday Gifts For Millionaires:
This year every millionaire who’s any millionaire will be giving the gift of “jet cards”, according to a survey by Elite Traveler Magazine and marketing research firm Prince & Associates. These cards tend to start at $40,000 for 10 hours of flying and can top $150,000. Source: Barrons.
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Women Don’t Have Enough Money For Advisors?
Nearly three quarters of women surveyed said that they did not work with a financial advisor, and 71% of them said it was because they didn’t think they had enough money. Source: Investment News.
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New Year Financial Resolutions:
According to a survey by Country Insurance and Financial Services, money matters will only be important to 17% of Americans when they make their resolutions for 2008. When asked what steps they would take to improve their financial security, 32% said pay down debt, followed by 27% who said they would save more, while 16% planned to make smarter financial decisions. Source: Investment News.
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Mortgage Fraud:
According to the FBI, banks and other federally regulated lenders filed 5,623 suspicious activity reports related to mortgages in fiscal 2002. In 2006, they filed 35,617. Source: Barrons.
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Richest State in The Union:
Maryland was the wealthiest state in the union in 2006, with an annual household income of $65,144. Mississippi had the lowest, $34,473. Source: Associated Press.
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China’s Growing Economic Power:
If China’s growth continues at its current pace, its consumer market will be the world’s second largest by 2015. The Chinese already eat 32 percent of the world’s rice, use 47 percent of the cement, and smoke one out of every three cigarettes. Source: Associated Press.
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Financial FYI: Issue 120307
Medical Bill Create Medical Debt:
According to a 2005 survey by the common wealth fund, an estimated 34% of adults aged 19 to 64 face problems with medical bills or have accrued medical debt. The majority of those people – 62% – had health insurance, the survey found. Source: Wall Street Journal.
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The Cost of Identity Theft:
Some 8.3 million people, or 3.7% of the adult population were victims of identity theft in 2005, according to a consumer survey released yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission. The typical loss was $500 but 10% of consumers said criminal obtained $6,000 or more. Overall fraudsters caused $15.6 billion in identify theft-related losses in 2005. Source: Wall Street Journal.
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Are You Improving Your Retirement Finances?
According to a Hartford survey, 42.3% of U.S. consumers said that they hadn’t improved their retirement finances in the past year, along with more than 70% of the Japanese respondents and about half the UK respondents. Source: Investment News.
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How Pre-Retirees Compare With Existing Retirees:
According to Alliance Bernstein Investments Inc, 77% of retirees said they felt comfortable with life in general, and 54%said that they felt comfortable with their financial situation. Meanwhile, 70% of pre-retirees said they felt comfortable with life in general, and 34% said they were comfortable with their financial situation. When asked how well prepared they were for their retirement years 26% of retirees said that they worked with a financial advisor, 29% said they had created a financial plan, and 17% said they did nothing at all. On the other hand 15% of pre-retirees said that they work with a financial advisor, 21% said that they have a created a financial plan, and 11% said that they had not begun planning for retirement yet. Source: Investment News.
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Price Tag For The Forbes 400 List:
A person needed a net worth of $82 million to be included in the first Forbes 400 list, in 1982. Today, $82 million is still a pretty nice nest egg, but it won’t get you anywhere near the list. The new entry fee for the 2007 Forbes 400 list is fully 15 times as high at $1.3 billion. Source: Barrons.
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Charitable Giving Gone Wrong:
Questionable giving it seems is running rampant. During the first nine months of 2006 alone, some $1.8 billion in non cash gifts reported by taxpayers lacked documentation, according to a 2007 internal audit report by the Treasury inspector for tax administration. Source: Barrons.
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Mortgage Risk Premium:
The spread or gap between 10-year Treasurys and 30-year fixed rate mortgages has widened substantially, to 2.22 percentage points now from just 1.52 percentage points in June according to HSH. Source: Wall Street Journal.
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Estimates for Mortgage Foreclosures in 2008:
The mortgage bankers association estimates that 1.35 million homes will enter the foreclosure process this year and another 1.44 million in 2008, up from 705,000 in 2005. Source: Wall Street Journal.
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