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December 30, 2006

Go ahead, spend the bonus


USA Today: Scared about saving enough for retirement? Chill, author says

Fear not, financial guru Jonathan Pond brings glad tidings of great joy just in time for holiday shopping season.

The man best-known for dispensing money advice on PBS stations nationwide has a new book, You Can Do It! The Boomer's Guide to a Great Retirement. His book attempts to reassure boomers spooked by the specter of living out their retirement years in abject poverty unless they meet their much-ballyhooed "number" — the magical sum of cash, usually $1 million or up, they'll ostensibly need before calling it quits in the workplace.

Stop the hand-wringing, says Pond. The "number" is largely a creation of members of the financial services industry, who have a vested interest in scaring you into sending them more money.

Posted by eubie at 9:04 AM permalink

2004 inomes drop below 2000 levels

NY Times: 04 Income in U.S. Was Below 2000 Level -- The income Americans reported to the tax collector in 2004 totaled $7.044 trillion, down from more than $7.143 trillion in 2000.

Since 2004, the Census Bureau has found, the income of the typical American household has grown along with the rise in average incomes but at a slow pace that, until recent months, had barely kept ahead of inflation.

Posted by eubie at 9:02 AM permalink

Facebook's impact growing

Christian Science Monitor: Facebook: A campus fad becomes a campus fact -- The social-networking website isn't growing like it once did, but only because almost every US student is already on it.

Posted by eubie at 8:58 AM permalink

Helping Vets become franchisees

USA Today -- Vets get help starting their own businesses: More than 200 companies nationally are providing benefits, discounted fees or special financing to help honorably discharged U.S. military veterans purchase franchises and receive training to operate their own businesses.

Posted by eubie at 8:49 AM permalink

WashPost's visionary -- Donald Grahams

NY Times: The Media Equation: Not Boasting, Even Though He Could -- Donald E. Graham’s financial engineering has allowed The Washington Post Company to remain invested in journalism in a way that few other media companies can afford.

Posted by eubie at 8:36 AM permalink