Break from the Grind September 1, 2016

A Little Friday File Fun

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In Sydney, Australia, a woman who escaped from prison didn’t like the mug shots police were supplying to the media to help find her. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, she made a Facebook post asking the police to use a more flattering picture. The post helped officers track her down and arrest her.

In West Palm Beach, Florida, a man was arrested at a Publix supermarket. Police say the man was screaming at employees and refused to leave the store, according to the Associated Press. The interesting part of the story—his name is Vladimir Putin.

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In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a man visiting an emergency room says he was tired of caretakers treating his leg and wanted to go home. The Times Leader reports that he found an ambulance left running outside the emergency room while its crew transported a patient. The man hopped in the car and left. However, police used a GPS device in the ambulance to track the man. He has now been sentenced to 15 to 30 months in prison.

In Napier, New Zealand, some Pokemon Go players were out hunting virtual cartoon characters when they stumbled across something else. They heard a car alarm and saw a masked man run past. According to Reuters, they were able to hold the man until police arrived.

In Cornwall, England, contractors laid new tarmac and safety markings outside a top-performing private girls’ school. However, they spelled out SHCHOOL in big yellow letters, the Metro UK reports.  Headmaster Dr. Glenn Moodie said: “Our A Level students have just achieved a fantastic set of results with 100 per cent of those taking English getting grade A. If the road repair team need any advice on spellings in the future, we would be more than happy to help!”

This paper saw can surprisingly cut many things, including wood.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/rYfkhdKcEiE

In Columbine, Colorado, a member of the high school boys’ soccer team made an amazing goal. However, it didn’t count because the player was called offside.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/rfi_99FvizI

I’ve often thought if everyone would just accelerate at the same time, more people would be able to get through a green light, and those in the back of the line wouldn’t sit still through the green light and move after it turns red. This video confirms my hypothesis, and also gives a plug for humanless cars.

If you can't view the below video, try https://youtu.be/iHzzSao6ypE

Data and Research September 1, 2016

Gen X Most Concerned About Retirement Prospects

Less than four in ten Gen X DC plan participants surveyed believe they will have enough for a comfortable retirement.
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Spectrem Group’s DC Participant Insight Series report, “Financial Behaviors and the Investor’s Mindset,” which surveyed 1,442 participants in an employer-sponsored defined contribution (DC) retirement plan, found fewer than half of DC plan participants expect to have enough income to live comfortably during their retirement.

Millennials are more likely to feel confident, with 64% indicating they should have enough to make it through their retirement. Gen X investors are least comfortable with this idea, as less than four-in-ten believe they will have enough for retirement. More than half of males (55%) agree they will have enough, compared to only 44% of females.

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When asked whether they were worried about depleting their retirement funds too early, DC plan participants rated themselves at a 51.78 on a 100-point scale. Millennials and WWII participants show less concern, rating themselves around a 41, while Gen Xers show the most concern. By plan balance, the most concerned participants are those with $50,000 to $99,999 in their plans.

More than three-fourths of plan participants feel the reason for their worry regarding running out of money in retirement is due to the cost of health care. Less than half attribute their worry to taxes or too much spending.

The majority of plan participants expect their household investable assets upon retirement to be less than $1 million. Thirty-five percent believe it will be between $500,000 and $1 million, and 36% believe they will have less than $500,000.

Millennials are the most optimistic about their anticipated household investable assets at retirement, with 17% believing they will see $2 million to $3 million, 22% feeling they will have $1 million to $2 million and nearly 40% believing they will have between $500,000 and $1 million. Forty-five percent of Gen Xers feel they will have less than $500,000, 34% say they will have between $500,000 and $1 million and only 14% say they will have between $1 million and $2 million. Females are less optimistic about their retirement situation than males, with less than four-in-ten feeling they will have less than $500,000 of investable assets upon retirement.

NEXT: Attitudes about investing and investment selection

Nearly six in ten (59%) surveyed DC plan participants would prefer a guaranteed rate of return on the majority of their investments. However, 44% would be willing to take risk on a portion of their investments in order to achieve a higher return. Just more than one-third of participants indicate they enjoy investing and like to be involved in the day-to-day management of their investments.

Not surprisingly, as age increases, the percentage of plan participants that prefer a guaranteed rate of return on the majority of their investments increases as well. Females and participants with the lowest plan balances are also among those that are most likely to prefer a guaranteed rate of return.

As age increases, the percentage of plan participants that like to be actively involved in the day-to-day management of their investments increases. However, Gen X expressed the least interest in being involved (32% compared to 39% of Millennials). Males are more likely than females to want to be involved daily in their investment decisions. Participants with the smallest plan balances are the least likely to want to be involved in the management of their investments.

When asked about the most important factors in selecting investments, more than eight-in-ten (87%) plan participants indicated that the most important factor is the level of risk associated with the investment. This is followed by the diversity of the investments (83%) and the reputation of the companies where the investments are made (82%).

The diversity of investments is most concerning to the Gen X plan participants (87%) and least concerning among the Baby Boomers (79%). Participants with less than $10,000 in their plans are less likely to be worried about the diversity of their investments than those with higher plan balances.

As one might expect, the percentage of plan participants concerned with the level of risk associated with their investments increases as age increases. Ninety-three percent of participants in the WWII generation indicate the level of risk associated with the investment plays a big part in their decision. Females are more likely to consider the risk involved than their male counterparts.

Information about purchasing a report of survey findings can be found here.

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