A survey released today by Javelin Strategy & Research, which serves financial institutions, found in August that nearly one in five Americans doesn't monitor or manage their personal finances. That rate is double what it was just a year ago. Despite the fact the recession has made it more important than ever to carefully track our money, when it comes to personal finances, 19% of Americans stuck their head in the sand. A year before, another survey had the figure at just 8%.
More anxiety-induced news: The percentage of Americans who say they sometimes log onto their checking account balances with their banks' websites dropped to 46%, down 13 points from 59% a year ago. Even those who track their money by pen and paper dropped, from 50% to 46%.
"It's a natural human reaction to stress: 'Maybe if I don't look at it, it will go away.'" explains the study's co-author, senior analyst Mark Schwanhausser. "I think you have fewer people checking their finances online because they don't like what they're seeing. 'I'm going to be a financial sleepwalker. I'm not going to look.'"
Schwanhausser's prescription for the problem involves convincing America's major financial institutions that they're doing a lousy job helping make it easier and less stressful for their customers to track their money. "It's not enough to tell you how to fix the toilet," he says. "You've got to have the wrench."
Yet despite the fact that most Americans' money resides at a bank, few banks are interested in furnishing financial planning tools. Right now, Schwanhausser argues, most people are required to log into a wide variety of websites to track their money. For example, 75% of Americans who have a credit card get it from somewhere other than their primary bank, meaning their finances are scattered across many websites, unreconciled.
When people do turn to their bank's websites, he argues, the financial planning tools are nearly non-existent despite the fact our society increasingly demands greater personal control through technology. "Today's online banking is like having avocado green appliances from the 1970s. It just doesn't cut it," says Schwanhausser.
Schwanhausser is using the survey to convince banks that it will actually endear customers to them if they put personal finance tools front and center on their sites, helping customers paint a clear picture of their own financial habits. He's pressing them to develop systems, both on the Web and through mobile apps, that can draw in customers' information from other sites, such as credit cards and mortgage lenders, so financial care-taking can be a one-stop process.
So far, banks and lenders have been slow to use existing technology to make money management a less daunting chore. Part of the issue is that many banks don't want to acknowledge competitors by drawing in account balances from elsewhere. Banks also stand to make money off poor financial planning through penalties and fees. Like a doctor who makes money off treating disease, promoting financial good health does not on the surface appear to be in a bank's best interest.
"You can't manage what you don't measure," says Schwanhausser. "And if the bank's not going to provide it for you, you have to go get it in other places."
He recommends existing aggregators such as Mint.com, which pulls your data from multiple sources and lays it out in spreadsheets and in spending plans, as a model for what all the banks should be doing for their customers.
He also notes that Bank of America's "My Portfolio" and Wells Fargo's "My Savings Plan" are two fledgling, if little-known, bank-created features that are slowly reaching toward the sort of comprehensive personal finance planning features he advocates.
As long as it remains difficult or scary, though, when it comes to their finances, Americans will remain more likely to use the Ostrich Method.
Ontario’s
recipe for improving Canada’s pension retirement system includes both
modest improvements to the Canada Pension Plan and new pension
innovations from the private sector, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan
says in a new report.
The province issued a consultation paper Friday,
asking for public input on proposals to improve pensions for Ontarians
as part of a national initiative to find solutions to boost retirement
incomes across Canada.
In a letter accompanying the report, Mr.
Duncan continued to support a proposal he endorsed at a national
finance minister’s meeting in June calling for an expansion of CPP
benefits for Canadians. The proposal has faced opposition from Alberta
and is expected to be debated again at a finance minister’s meeting in
December.
“A modest enhancement to the CPP now would provide a
significant benefit to these workers when they retire,” Mr. Duncan
said. “I believe such an enhancement is affordable if contribution
rates are phased in gradually, particularly in light of the over
$8-billion in annual tax relief Ontario will be providing to businesses
as part of its tax plan.”
The report does not back any specific
model for achieving that goal, however, only outlining different
options and asking for comment on the choices.
Currently,
CPP benefits are structured to replace 25 per cent of an individual’s
career average earnings up to an annual limit currently set at $47,200,
although most retirees do not qualify for the maximum amount.
One
reform option is to increase the maximum income replacement rate from
25 per cent currently to a higher rate, such as 35 per cent, the report
said. Another option is to increase the maximum earnings ceiling, the
report said, noting that a 50 per cent or 100 per cent increase would
move it from $47,200 a year to $70,800 or $94,400.
The report also
asks for comments on potential implementation issues with expanding
the CPP, including how to phase in the increases and how extra money in
the fund should be managed. It also questions whether an increase
would have an impact on other retirement savings by inducing employers
to reduce their pension benefits or inducing individuals to save less
on their own.
Mr. Duncan also said governments should make regulatory changes that will provide better private-sector pension options.
In
his letter accompanying the report, he said current rules only allow
pension plans to be offered by an employer to an employee. This limits
options for people who are self-employed or who work for small companies
that cannot afford to offer a pension plan.
The report asks for
input on proposals to allow financial institutions to offer pension
plans with participation from multiple employers, allowing more
companies to offer retirement benefits to workers and reducing
administration costs by creating large pools of funds.
The report
said one goal of such plans would be to allow individuals to hold their
own accounts in the pension plans, so they could transfer them if they
switch jobs. The money would also be portable nationally, the report
suggested.
“By changing these laws, we can expand the range of
institutions that can set up pension plans, and the range of people who
can access them,” Mr. Duncan said.
The report also asked for
comments for reforms to make it easier for companies to offer “target”
benefit plans, which are similar to traditional defined benefit plans,
but allow the employer to reduce payouts if the pension plan does not
have sufficient assets to maintain coverage.
Employers and pension
experts have argued such plans would be more flexible for sponsors and
could be a solution to declining pension coverage in the private
sector, where many traditional plans are being abandoned.
You can download Ontario's new report, Securing Our Retirement Future: Consulting with Ontarians on Canada's Retirement Income System.
I think it's a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be
done. What really worries me is what's going on in Britain, and how long
before we see the same trends on this side of the Atlantic (probably
already happening).
bench craft company scamNews publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two ...
Yes! We´re totes excited for this! Dolly Parton made the official announcement on her website today that she is planning not only a brand new album full of brand new music, but a worldwide...
Android/iOS: Blogs and news sites put all that effort into making their posts graphically appealing, so why not see what they've got? Pulse, a nicely different kind of news reader, pulls your news in through side-scrolling, ...
benchcraft company scam
A survey released today by Javelin Strategy & Research, which serves financial institutions, found in August that nearly one in five Americans doesn't monitor or manage their personal finances. That rate is double what it was just a year ago. Despite the fact the recession has made it more important than ever to carefully track our money, when it comes to personal finances, 19% of Americans stuck their head in the sand. A year before, another survey had the figure at just 8%.
More anxiety-induced news: The percentage of Americans who say they sometimes log onto their checking account balances with their banks' websites dropped to 46%, down 13 points from 59% a year ago. Even those who track their money by pen and paper dropped, from 50% to 46%.
"It's a natural human reaction to stress: 'Maybe if I don't look at it, it will go away.'" explains the study's co-author, senior analyst Mark Schwanhausser. "I think you have fewer people checking their finances online because they don't like what they're seeing. 'I'm going to be a financial sleepwalker. I'm not going to look.'"
Schwanhausser's prescription for the problem involves convincing America's major financial institutions that they're doing a lousy job helping make it easier and less stressful for their customers to track their money. "It's not enough to tell you how to fix the toilet," he says. "You've got to have the wrench."
Yet despite the fact that most Americans' money resides at a bank, few banks are interested in furnishing financial planning tools. Right now, Schwanhausser argues, most people are required to log into a wide variety of websites to track their money. For example, 75% of Americans who have a credit card get it from somewhere other than their primary bank, meaning their finances are scattered across many websites, unreconciled.
When people do turn to their bank's websites, he argues, the financial planning tools are nearly non-existent despite the fact our society increasingly demands greater personal control through technology. "Today's online banking is like having avocado green appliances from the 1970s. It just doesn't cut it," says Schwanhausser.
Schwanhausser is using the survey to convince banks that it will actually endear customers to them if they put personal finance tools front and center on their sites, helping customers paint a clear picture of their own financial habits. He's pressing them to develop systems, both on the Web and through mobile apps, that can draw in customers' information from other sites, such as credit cards and mortgage lenders, so financial care-taking can be a one-stop process.
So far, banks and lenders have been slow to use existing technology to make money management a less daunting chore. Part of the issue is that many banks don't want to acknowledge competitors by drawing in account balances from elsewhere. Banks also stand to make money off poor financial planning through penalties and fees. Like a doctor who makes money off treating disease, promoting financial good health does not on the surface appear to be in a bank's best interest.
"You can't manage what you don't measure," says Schwanhausser. "And if the bank's not going to provide it for you, you have to go get it in other places."
He recommends existing aggregators such as Mint.com, which pulls your data from multiple sources and lays it out in spreadsheets and in spending plans, as a model for what all the banks should be doing for their customers.
He also notes that Bank of America's "My Portfolio" and Wells Fargo's "My Savings Plan" are two fledgling, if little-known, bank-created features that are slowly reaching toward the sort of comprehensive personal finance planning features he advocates.
As long as it remains difficult or scary, though, when it comes to their finances, Americans will remain more likely to use the Ostrich Method.
Ontario’s
recipe for improving Canada’s pension retirement system includes both
modest improvements to the Canada Pension Plan and new pension
innovations from the private sector, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan
says in a new report.
The province issued a consultation paper Friday,
asking for public input on proposals to improve pensions for Ontarians
as part of a national initiative to find solutions to boost retirement
incomes across Canada.
In a letter accompanying the report, Mr.
Duncan continued to support a proposal he endorsed at a national
finance minister’s meeting in June calling for an expansion of CPP
benefits for Canadians. The proposal has faced opposition from Alberta
and is expected to be debated again at a finance minister’s meeting in
December.
“A modest enhancement to the CPP now would provide a
significant benefit to these workers when they retire,” Mr. Duncan
said. “I believe such an enhancement is affordable if contribution
rates are phased in gradually, particularly in light of the over
$8-billion in annual tax relief Ontario will be providing to businesses
as part of its tax plan.”
The report does not back any specific
model for achieving that goal, however, only outlining different
options and asking for comment on the choices.
Currently,
CPP benefits are structured to replace 25 per cent of an individual’s
career average earnings up to an annual limit currently set at $47,200,
although most retirees do not qualify for the maximum amount.
One
reform option is to increase the maximum income replacement rate from
25 per cent currently to a higher rate, such as 35 per cent, the report
said. Another option is to increase the maximum earnings ceiling, the
report said, noting that a 50 per cent or 100 per cent increase would
move it from $47,200 a year to $70,800 or $94,400.
The report also
asks for comments on potential implementation issues with expanding
the CPP, including how to phase in the increases and how extra money in
the fund should be managed. It also questions whether an increase
would have an impact on other retirement savings by inducing employers
to reduce their pension benefits or inducing individuals to save less
on their own.
Mr. Duncan also said governments should make regulatory changes that will provide better private-sector pension options.
In
his letter accompanying the report, he said current rules only allow
pension plans to be offered by an employer to an employee. This limits
options for people who are self-employed or who work for small companies
that cannot afford to offer a pension plan.
The report asks for
input on proposals to allow financial institutions to offer pension
plans with participation from multiple employers, allowing more
companies to offer retirement benefits to workers and reducing
administration costs by creating large pools of funds.
The report
said one goal of such plans would be to allow individuals to hold their
own accounts in the pension plans, so they could transfer them if they
switch jobs. The money would also be portable nationally, the report
suggested.
“By changing these laws, we can expand the range of
institutions that can set up pension plans, and the range of people who
can access them,” Mr. Duncan said.
The report also asked for
comments for reforms to make it easier for companies to offer “target”
benefit plans, which are similar to traditional defined benefit plans,
but allow the employer to reduce payouts if the pension plan does not
have sufficient assets to maintain coverage.
Employers and pension
experts have argued such plans would be more flexible for sponsors and
could be a solution to declining pension coverage in the private
sector, where many traditional plans are being abandoned.
You can download Ontario's new report, Securing Our Retirement Future: Consulting with Ontarians on Canada's Retirement Income System.
I think it's a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be
done. What really worries me is what's going on in Britain, and how long
before we see the same trends on this side of the Atlantic (probably
already happening).
benchcraft company scamNews publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two ...
Yes! We´re totes excited for this! Dolly Parton made the official announcement on her website today that she is planning not only a brand new album full of brand new music, but a worldwide...
Android/iOS: Blogs and news sites put all that effort into making their posts graphically appealing, so why not see what they've got? Pulse, a nicely different kind of news reader, pulls your news in through side-scrolling, ...
bench craft company scambenchcraft company scam
benchcraft company scamNews publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two ...
Yes! We´re totes excited for this! Dolly Parton made the official announcement on her website today that she is planning not only a brand new album full of brand new music, but a worldwide...
Android/iOS: Blogs and news sites put all that effort into making their posts graphically appealing, so why not see what they've got? Pulse, a nicely different kind of news reader, pulls your news in through side-scrolling, ...
bench craft company scam
A survey released today by Javelin Strategy & Research, which serves financial institutions, found in August that nearly one in five Americans doesn't monitor or manage their personal finances. That rate is double what it was just a year ago. Despite the fact the recession has made it more important than ever to carefully track our money, when it comes to personal finances, 19% of Americans stuck their head in the sand. A year before, another survey had the figure at just 8%.
More anxiety-induced news: The percentage of Americans who say they sometimes log onto their checking account balances with their banks' websites dropped to 46%, down 13 points from 59% a year ago. Even those who track their money by pen and paper dropped, from 50% to 46%.
"It's a natural human reaction to stress: 'Maybe if I don't look at it, it will go away.'" explains the study's co-author, senior analyst Mark Schwanhausser. "I think you have fewer people checking their finances online because they don't like what they're seeing. 'I'm going to be a financial sleepwalker. I'm not going to look.'"
Schwanhausser's prescription for the problem involves convincing America's major financial institutions that they're doing a lousy job helping make it easier and less stressful for their customers to track their money. "It's not enough to tell you how to fix the toilet," he says. "You've got to have the wrench."
Yet despite the fact that most Americans' money resides at a bank, few banks are interested in furnishing financial planning tools. Right now, Schwanhausser argues, most people are required to log into a wide variety of websites to track their money. For example, 75% of Americans who have a credit card get it from somewhere other than their primary bank, meaning their finances are scattered across many websites, unreconciled.
When people do turn to their bank's websites, he argues, the financial planning tools are nearly non-existent despite the fact our society increasingly demands greater personal control through technology. "Today's online banking is like having avocado green appliances from the 1970s. It just doesn't cut it," says Schwanhausser.
Schwanhausser is using the survey to convince banks that it will actually endear customers to them if they put personal finance tools front and center on their sites, helping customers paint a clear picture of their own financial habits. He's pressing them to develop systems, both on the Web and through mobile apps, that can draw in customers' information from other sites, such as credit cards and mortgage lenders, so financial care-taking can be a one-stop process.
So far, banks and lenders have been slow to use existing technology to make money management a less daunting chore. Part of the issue is that many banks don't want to acknowledge competitors by drawing in account balances from elsewhere. Banks also stand to make money off poor financial planning through penalties and fees. Like a doctor who makes money off treating disease, promoting financial good health does not on the surface appear to be in a bank's best interest.
"You can't manage what you don't measure," says Schwanhausser. "And if the bank's not going to provide it for you, you have to go get it in other places."
He recommends existing aggregators such as Mint.com, which pulls your data from multiple sources and lays it out in spreadsheets and in spending plans, as a model for what all the banks should be doing for their customers.
He also notes that Bank of America's "My Portfolio" and Wells Fargo's "My Savings Plan" are two fledgling, if little-known, bank-created features that are slowly reaching toward the sort of comprehensive personal finance planning features he advocates.
As long as it remains difficult or scary, though, when it comes to their finances, Americans will remain more likely to use the Ostrich Method.
Ontario’s
recipe for improving Canada’s pension retirement system includes both
modest improvements to the Canada Pension Plan and new pension
innovations from the private sector, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan
says in a new report.
The province issued a consultation paper Friday,
asking for public input on proposals to improve pensions for Ontarians
as part of a national initiative to find solutions to boost retirement
incomes across Canada.
In a letter accompanying the report, Mr.
Duncan continued to support a proposal he endorsed at a national
finance minister’s meeting in June calling for an expansion of CPP
benefits for Canadians. The proposal has faced opposition from Alberta
and is expected to be debated again at a finance minister’s meeting in
December.
“A modest enhancement to the CPP now would provide a
significant benefit to these workers when they retire,” Mr. Duncan
said. “I believe such an enhancement is affordable if contribution
rates are phased in gradually, particularly in light of the over
$8-billion in annual tax relief Ontario will be providing to businesses
as part of its tax plan.”
The report does not back any specific
model for achieving that goal, however, only outlining different
options and asking for comment on the choices.
Currently,
CPP benefits are structured to replace 25 per cent of an individual’s
career average earnings up to an annual limit currently set at $47,200,
although most retirees do not qualify for the maximum amount.
One
reform option is to increase the maximum income replacement rate from
25 per cent currently to a higher rate, such as 35 per cent, the report
said. Another option is to increase the maximum earnings ceiling, the
report said, noting that a 50 per cent or 100 per cent increase would
move it from $47,200 a year to $70,800 or $94,400.
The report also
asks for comments on potential implementation issues with expanding
the CPP, including how to phase in the increases and how extra money in
the fund should be managed. It also questions whether an increase
would have an impact on other retirement savings by inducing employers
to reduce their pension benefits or inducing individuals to save less
on their own.
Mr. Duncan also said governments should make regulatory changes that will provide better private-sector pension options.
In
his letter accompanying the report, he said current rules only allow
pension plans to be offered by an employer to an employee. This limits
options for people who are self-employed or who work for small companies
that cannot afford to offer a pension plan.
The report asks for
input on proposals to allow financial institutions to offer pension
plans with participation from multiple employers, allowing more
companies to offer retirement benefits to workers and reducing
administration costs by creating large pools of funds.
The report
said one goal of such plans would be to allow individuals to hold their
own accounts in the pension plans, so they could transfer them if they
switch jobs. The money would also be portable nationally, the report
suggested.
“By changing these laws, we can expand the range of
institutions that can set up pension plans, and the range of people who
can access them,” Mr. Duncan said.
The report also asked for
comments for reforms to make it easier for companies to offer “target”
benefit plans, which are similar to traditional defined benefit plans,
but allow the employer to reduce payouts if the pension plan does not
have sufficient assets to maintain coverage.
Employers and pension
experts have argued such plans would be more flexible for sponsors and
could be a solution to declining pension coverage in the private
sector, where many traditional plans are being abandoned.
You can download Ontario's new report, Securing Our Retirement Future: Consulting with Ontarians on Canada's Retirement Income System.
I think it's a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be
done. What really worries me is what's going on in Britain, and how long
before we see the same trends on this side of the Atlantic (probably
already happening).
benchcraft company scam
benchcraft company scamNews publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two ...
Yes! We´re totes excited for this! Dolly Parton made the official announcement on her website today that she is planning not only a brand new album full of brand new music, but a worldwide...
Android/iOS: Blogs and news sites put all that effort into making their posts graphically appealing, so why not see what they've got? Pulse, a nicely different kind of news reader, pulls your news in through side-scrolling, ...
benchcraft company scam
benchcraft company scamNews publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two ...
Yes! We´re totes excited for this! Dolly Parton made the official announcement on her website today that she is planning not only a brand new album full of brand new music, but a worldwide...
Android/iOS: Blogs and news sites put all that effort into making their posts graphically appealing, so why not see what they've got? Pulse, a nicely different kind of news reader, pulls your news in through side-scrolling, ...
benchcraft company scamNews publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two ...
Yes! We´re totes excited for this! Dolly Parton made the official announcement on her website today that she is planning not only a brand new album full of brand new music, but a worldwide...
Android/iOS: Blogs and news sites put all that effort into making their posts graphically appealing, so why not see what they've got? Pulse, a nicely different kind of news reader, pulls your news in through side-scrolling, ...
bench craft company scamNews publishers and readers both benefit when journalists get proper credit for their work. That can be difficult, with news spreading so quickly and many websites syndicating articles to others. That's why we're experimenting with two ...
Yes! We´re totes excited for this! Dolly Parton made the official announcement on her website today that she is planning not only a brand new album full of brand new music, but a worldwide...
Android/iOS: Blogs and news sites put all that effort into making their posts graphically appealing, so why not see what they've got? Pulse, a nicely different kind of news reader, pulls your news in through side-scrolling, ...
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