By Ruth Brown
Two new polls find America is divided racially and politically over the outcome of the Zimmerman trial. Both a Washington Post -ABC News poll (of 1,002 people) and a Pew Research poll (of 1,480) found 86% of black respondents were unhappy with the verdict, compared with 31% of… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home
Although America is still regarded as the world’s leading superpower, a Pew Research poll of citizens in 39 countries around the world showed that most people think that China will eventually replace the United States in that role. …read more
Source: The Christian Post
By Billy and Akaisha Kaderli, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Age-related concerns
According to Pew Research, approximately 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 every day for the next 16 years. While 65 isn’t necessarily old these days, questions about continuing care and assisted living seem to loom larger on the horizon than before.
Navigating through contracts, comparing the often nonrefundable hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars facility fees, and considering the financial effects of paying what often ranges from $3,000 to $7,000 per month or more for lifestyle and care costs in typical care facilities in the U.S. can be enough to create a superstorm of agitation and fear.
Even in the best situations there are compromises to be made. And if you are responsible for finding care for a loved one, you may discover yourself suffering from guilt over trying to make sure he or she gets the care they need while balancing that with what you can afford. Unless they have insurance that pays for long-term care or you have the solid wealth to cover these costs, this topic can be a dismal one.
Providing this level of attention for your spouse or family member in your own home also requires sacrifices and involves costs that you may not have considered. For instance, in the States, if you hire an independent contractor to help out, you could be held liable should they be injured while in your employ. Consequently, your pockets must be deep to cover this possibility, or a contract must be signed beforehand that designates which party is responsible for what. The complexity level can ratchet up quickly.
What can you do?
There are alternatives to the standard assisted-living options available, but few people know about them.
Recently I was doing some research on continuing care in Mexico, and I came upon a comparison of nursing homes and assisted living care in the Lakeside expat community of Chapala, Mexico. Here, the cost for these services ranges from US$1,000 to $2,000 per month, depending upon the room you choose, the facility’s location, and the amount of care needed.
Now, before you dismiss moving to Mexico yourself or transporting a loved one there for their final years, take the time to read on.
As with any choice, there is no one-size-fits-all, and even this lower-cost option won’t appeal to the majority of Americans and Canadians. Why? Because the concept of leaving one’s homeland and what is familiar is just too big a leap. But for those whose finances dictate — or for those who want a temperate climate, personalized care, a home-like atmosphere, and the possibility of having a pet — these Mexican convalescent homes, nursing homes, and continuing care facilities offer what you wouldn’t be able to afford up north.
Viable options
Take La Valentina Seniors Residence and Convalescent Home. Here, biotherapist and owner Martha Benavides provides all-natural organic meals, spa treatments, massage, medical supervision, activities, housekeeping, laundry services, and local transportation for US$1,600 to $2,000 monthly. There
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/17/continuous-care-opening-up-the-conversation-2/
By Chris Neiger, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Facebook is the darling of social media, but it’s been a bit of a disappointment to investors. The company is making big strides with its mobile advertising strategy lately, but Facebook’s ever-increasing targeted ads may not be all they’re cracked up to be.
Like it or not
Pew Research recently reported that 68% of online users don’t like online-targeted ads because they don’t want their browsing history tracked. But at the end of February, Facebook partnered with four data collection companies to gather information on Facebook users’ online habits for targeted ad campaigns. Acxiom , Datalogix, Epsilon, and BlueKai now provide Facebook with users’ browsing history, loyalty card purchases, spending habits — even court records and government documents. Facebook then uses this information to help advertisers target Facebook users that match very specific criteria.
For advertisers, the surface benefit is pretty obvious. Companies and brands can display ads to specific groups of people already interested in their products. The big question: Does target advertising really work?
To click or not to click
At the World Wide Web Conference last year, an employee from Yahoo! and an economics professor from Stanford University presented a study (link opens PDF) on targeted advertisement effectiveness. They found that targeted ads may cause more conversions for less money than a non-targeted ad, but said that conversions on targeted ads don’t paint the entire picture.
Here’s what they wrote in the concluding paragraph (emphasis mine):
Advertisers are seeking more and more to target their ads to the segments most likely to convert as a result of the advertising; however, this strategy may not be cost effective as this segment is likely to convert in the absence of any advertising. Our results indicate that more sophisticated targeting algorithms might not gain, and might even harm, the advertiser as those seeing the ad would convert in the absence of advertising.
The study suggests that if advertisers target those that are likely to convert on a targeted ad, then the advertisers may get the conversations they want, but the ad may have been unnecessary in the first place.
For Facebook advertisers, this information may not be of that much concern, though. Companies need to advertise, and when they spend money for an online campaign, they want to see conversions. If Facebook can provide them with specific user data that brings those conversions, that may be good enough for them.
The smart choice
The fact that 68% of online users don’t like targeted ads isn’t a good statistic for Facebook. But in the end, if advertisers flock to the targeted ads and enough Facebook users respond with clicks, then the new strategy could prove advantageous for Facebook. Online users have learned to tune out most ads and the same may eventually be true to targeted ads.
I’ve experienced the Facebook targeted ads firsthand and I haven’t found them intrusive. Despite some of the research, I think Facebook is …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
The newly released “State of the News Media 2013” study by the Pew Research Center paints a picture of newsroom decay, leading to over-stressed staff, new advertiser supported content models and expanded information sources, including advertisers themselves. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Filed under: Investing
American fathers have been saddled with additional domestic chores, according to Pew Research. This compares to five decades ago when they could come home from work, have a martini, read the paper and tell their children to shut up.
Pew reports:
The way mothers and fathers spend their time has changed dramatically in the past half century. Dads are doing more housework and child care; moms more paid work outside the home. Neither has overtaken the other in their “traditional” realms, but their roles are converging, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of long-term data on time use.
At the same time, roughly equal shares of working mothers and fathers report in a new Pew Research Center survey feeling stressed about juggling work and family life: 56% of working moms and 50% of working dads say they find it very or somewhat difficult to balance these responsibilities.
The martini cocktail hour was never that stressful.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Research
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Filed under: Investing
Apple on the Defensive
Today is the day. Samsung will release its so-called iPhone killer, the Galaxy S IV. Many experts believe that the product’s new features will make it a challenge to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Some even believe it could outsell the iPhone this year. Oddly, one of Apple’s top executives decided the day of the launch was a good time to deride Samsung. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal:
Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller on Wednesday played down the expected competition from the device. He also discussed how he believes products that run Google Inc.’s Android software, such as Samsung’s phone, are inferior to Apple’s iPhone.
Mr. Schiller shared data on the iPhone’s popularity and said Apple’s own research shows that four times as many iPhone users switched from an Android phone than to an Android phone in the fourth quarter.
To show some guts, Schiller should have held his fire until the release of the next generation iPhone.
Modern Parenthood
American fathers have been saddled with additional domestic chores, according to Pew Research. This compares to five decades ago when they could come home from work, have a martini, read the paper and tell their children to shut up. Pew reports:
The way mothers and fathers spend their time has changed dramatically in the past half century. Dads are doing more housework and child care; moms more paid work outside the home. Neither has overtaken the other in their “traditional” realms, but their roles are converging, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of long-term data on time use.
At the same time, roughly equal shares of working mothers and fathers report in a new Pew Research Center survey feeling stressed about juggling work and family life: 56% of working moms and 50% of working dads say they find it very or somewhat difficult to balance these responsibilities.
The martini cocktail hour was never that stressful.
Volkswagen Clings to China
Volkswagen is already at the top of the auto sales food chain in China, tied most months with General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM). Despite a flattening in growth in Chinese car sales and a threat the government will curtail car use because of inflation, Volkswagen will increase production in the People’s Republic. Volkswagen must also think its can increase or at least hold its market share as competition from other multinational manufacturers and local companies rises. According to Bloomberg:
Volkswagen AG (VOW), Europe‘s largest automaker, plans to increase production 60 percent by 2018 in China, where the German company’s earnings last year surged by almost half.
A new plant in China approved by the supervisory board will build as many as 300,000 vehicles yearly and will start operating in early 2016, Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn said today. Capacity in China will rise to 4 million vehicles a year by 2018 from about 2.5 million currently.
Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Market Open Tagged: AAPL, GM
Read | <a target=_blank …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Bruce Watson
Filed under: Job Market, College, College Savings Plans, How to Save Money, Saving
According to a recent report by Pew Research economist Richard Fry, 45 percent of recent college grads were living with their parents in 2011. While not nearly as high as the 85 percent figure cited by some news sources, this still represents a disturbing 13 percentage point jump over the number of boomerang grads in 2001.
It’s not hard to see why so many young adults are moving back home: Unemployment is high, wages are low, and many recent grads are having a hard time finding any jobs, much less work that pays well and uses their recently-acquired skills. According to a study released last month, 48 percent of recent grads are doing work that doesn’t require a college degree, and 38 percent have jobs that don’t actually require a high school diploma.
For students hoping to graduate into a real job — and a real apartment — the question becomes how to get the biggest return on a college education while incurring the smallest possible debt. This is serious conundrum: For the 2010-2011 school year, the average tuition and fees charged to an in-state student to attend a four-year public college or university was $12,967 — 60 percent more than it was 10 years ago, and almost three times as much as it was in the early 1990s. Factor in the cost of room and board — which has risen more slowly — and total average college costs are still about 60 percent higher than they were in 1991.
To cover these hefty bills, the average undergrad borrower ends up with approximately $26,600 in student debt. As an ever-growing percentage of students take on loans, the problem has reached epic proportions: In 2010, the total amount of student loans outstanding surpassed the total amount of U.S. credit card debt for the first time.
Here’s a video that offers a few tips for saving on college. Some of the figures have changed slightly since it was made, but the advice still holds:
Saving on Tuition
The obvious first step toward graduating with less debt lies in paying less money to your school. Luckily, there are many ways to cut costs. One smart path is to start off at a community college. Since many universities accept up to 60 units of transfer credits, it’s possible to spend your freshman and sophomore years at a two-year school, then finish up and get your sheepskin from a more expensive and prestigious institution.
The numbers are pretty clear: In 2010-2011, two years of tuition and fees at a four-year college averaged $25,934, plus $18,250 for room and board. At a community college, students paid an average of $6,190 total for the same two years. Additionally, given that most community college …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
