4 Tips for How Young People Should Think About Retirement--Ben Kramer-Miller

Source: Thinkstock

If you’re relatively young like me, then it might seem silly to begin thinking about retirement. But if you ask most Baby Boomers today, they’ll probably tell you that it’s a good idea because chances are you’ll be asking a Baby Boomer who didn’t and is consequently unprepared.
As a young person, it may seem like you have time before you need to worry about these things, and you’d rather take the money you would have put away for retirement and spend it on something fun. But as I’m about to show you, preparing for retirement while you’re young is crucial to saving up enough money to retire the way you want to, and 40 years from now you will have wished that you had taken these steps in order to prepare for your future.

1. Put money away regularly and start now

This is so easy that it is easy to forget to do it. But even putting away $100/week can make a huge difference. Don’t believe me? Consider that if you put away $100/week for a year and then generate an average annual 8 percent return for 40 years, this $5,000 becomes over $100,000! With this in mind, it is clear that the early years are the most important in building long-term wealth that can support you when you’re too old to work or too old to want to work. If you start late, then you miss out on most of the benefits of the long-term power of compounding, and you have to save 3-5 times as much.

Source: Thinkstock

2. Do a lot of research

You probably think that you have a job and that you can take some money and put it away for retirement. But managing your money is just as important as your “regular” job, and it is possibly more important. Suppose you do no work and put away the same $5,000 for 40 years. Since you did no work you only generate a 5 percent return on your money. That $5,000 grows into $35,000. Not too shabby. But if you research your investments and are able to generate a 12 percent annual return over the same 40 years, you end up with $465,000. That extra work is worth $430,000!
Chances are if you’re young, you’re not making that kind of money, but if you’re working to make your money work for you then you can generate that sort of wealth! You won’t notice a huge difference immediately, but those extra few hours a week of researching your investments can mean the difference between saving a few hundred thousand for retirement by the time you’re 65 and retiring a multi-millionaire when you’re 50.

Source: Thinkstock

3. Take calculated risks and be a contrarian

The most successful people take risks. If they succeed, they get ahead, and if they fail, they learn something for next time. As a young investor, you can afford to make mistakes now, and making them will make you a better investor going forward. Now when I say to take calculated risks you need to make sure that the potential reward justifies the risk. This often means being a contrarian and buying assets that everybody hates. Which assets does this encompass? There are certainly a lot that are down and out now, but what it doesn’t include are probably assets that you feel comfortable in such as “blue chip” stocks and bonds.
On the other hand, there are potentially incredible opportunities in assets that people hate such as Russian stocks, Argentinian stocks, coal stocks, and so on. We all know the narratives that keep people out of these last three assets, but at the same time the fact that the public has no interest in these assets means that the risks are priced in and then some.
When you’re thinking about generating long-term gains that can make you a lot of money, you need to consider owning assets that make you uncomfortable.

Source: Thinkstock

4. Learn from your mistakes

If you spend a great deal of your time investing, then you are going to make mistakes. Mistakes will lose you money but you get experience in return. If you learn from this experience, you will make fewer or less costly mistakes in the future when you can’t afford to make them. If you’re young, you can afford to lose some money here or there because you have plenty of time to make it back. But make sure you don’t lose that money for nothing. If you don’t learn from your mistakes, you will lose money when you can’t afford to lose it, and you can potentially get into a lot of trouble.

Wallstreetcheatsheet

Americans Are Bad at Guessing How Long They’ll Live -Josh Zumbrun

One of the great economic challenges facing both policy makers and individuals is figuring out how to plan and pay for retirement. The challenge is that nobody knows, least of all people themselves, how long they’re going to live.
In 1992, researchers at the University of Michigan‘s Health and Retirement Study began asking people in their late 50s to estimate their odds of living to the age of 75, and have followed them since. New research, being presented today at the Brookings Institution, shows just how poor a job those initial respondents have done.

Among the people who thought they had no chance of living to age 75 (presumably, a group in very bad health in their late 50s), nearly half of them–49%–actually reached the age of 75.
Among people who gave themselves 50-50 odds, a full 75% actually lived to age 75. In fact, aside from people who gave themselves 90% or 100% odds of living to age 75, nearly everyone was too pessimistic about their chances. (Though people who give themselves 100% odds aren’t being terribly realistic.)
The paper’s authors Katharine Abraham from the University of Maryland and Benjamin Harris from Brookings, are presenting the data as part of a conference on retirement security. Their paper suggests that many people aren’t necessarily planning out their retirement savings in the right way.
People have only a vague sense of their odds–those who gave themselves 0% chance actually were less likely to live to 75 than those who gave themselves higher chances–but that means people probably aren’t planning how to stretch their savings into their late 70s and 80s. The odds are they could have a pretty long retirement. So many retirees face the unexpected risk of running out of retirement savings early, what economists call “longevity risk.”
Ms. Abraham and Mr. Harris think there’s an elegant solution for this problem of “longevity risk.” People could buy so-called longevity annuities. At age 60, you could take $100,000 and buy the annuity. Then at age 75 you would start getting an annual income of about $1,575 a month or $19,000 a year for the rest of your life. If you wait until age 85 to start collecting, the payments are even more substantial, $4,500 a month or $54,000 a year for the rest of your life.
If you knew you were going to live into your 100s, this would obviously be the way to go. But for most people $100,000 is a big, if not unimaginable, chunk of money to set aside at age 60 and not get back for a quarter century. A lot of people would rather have that money now. After all, what are the odds of actually living to 75? Or 85? They can’t be that good, right?

Culled from WSJ

US Pension Plans Need Massive $110 Billion In 7 Years-Moodys Warns

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Thanks to improving life expectancy and the Federal Reserve’s financial repression lowering yields, US company pension funds have been hit by a double whammy. As Moody’s warns, companies will have to find $110 billion in the next seven years to fund pension liabilities shortfalls. Moody’s adds, “given these increasing liabilities and cash drains, we expect to see an acceleration in lump sum offers,” as firms try to derisk. As Chief Investment Officer reports,

Improving life expectancy is expected to add billions to the amount companies must pay into their defined benefit plans.

US companies will have to find $110 billion in the next seven years to fund pension liabilities as life expectancy increases, according to ratings agency Moody’s.
Using data from new mortality tables published by the Society of Actuaries last week, Moody’s calculated significant increases in the amount of cash US firms would have to contribute to their defined benefit pensions in order to match growing liabilities.
The new mortality tables show male life expectancy at age 65 in the US has improved by two years since 2000, when the Society of Actuaries last updated its assumptions. For women, life expectancy at age 65 has improved by 2.4 years. This has resulted in an estimated increase of between 4% and 8% in company pension obligations.
Moody’s applied the calculations to the funding obligations for 10 of the biggest listed companies in the US. IBM’s funding obligations – which include servicing the pension fund as well as regular contributions adjusted for 2% inflation – were estimated at $99.7 billion in 2013, but Moody’s calculations showed this could increase to as much as $113.6 billion at the top end of assumptions.

“Given these increasing liabilities and cash drains, we expect to see an acceleration in lump sum offers and annuitizations similar to Motorola’s recent pension plan restructuring, which, through a combination of annuitizations and lump sum offers, it expects will reduce its [obligations] by $4.2 billion,” wrote Wesley Smyth, senior accounting analyst at Moody’s.
In September, ahead of the publication of the tables, Moody’s predicted the new data would trigger a rise in de-risking activity. This year has already seen several giant transactions, with the BT Pension Scheme, Motorola, Bristol-Myers, and two Dutch miners’ pension funds all engaging in de-risking deals.

Culled from zero hedge in Blacklisted

Court strips FRSC of power to fine motorists for traffic offences-Premium Times

A Federal High Court in Lagos has voided the powers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to impose fines on motorists for traffic offences.
Justice John Tsoho held that the FRSC could not turn itself into a court of law by punishing those who commit traffic offences.
A lawyer, Tope Alabi, had approached the court to declare that only a court of competent jurisdiction could pronounce a person guilty under Section 10 (4) and 28 (2) of the FRSC Act 2007.
Other defendant in the suit was the Attorney General of the Federation.
A copy of the judgment made available to newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday quotes Justice Tsoho as declaring the sections null and void for being inconsistent with Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution.
The judge also awarded N1 million damages in favour of the plaintiff because officials of the FRSC had confiscated his vehicle and driver’s licence.
According to him, while FRSC was statutorily empowered to arrest and fine traffic offenders, a closer look at the definition of the word “fine” means a pecuniary criminal punishment or civil penalty payable to the public treasury.
Justice Tsoho said: “In the instant case, however, the involvement of the element of arrest takes the imposition of fine by the FRSC to the realm of criminal punishment.
“From these definitions, it is obvious that the act of sentencing is a judicial action or exercise, and imposition of fine connotes conviction for an alleged offence.
“It is thus very clear that the FRSC, not being a court of law, cannot impose fine, especially as it has no powers to conduct trial.
“Hence, the exercise of the statutory powers given to the defendant under the Act as pertain to imposition of fine is clearly a usurpation of judicial powers exclusively vested in the courts.
“In the circumstances, I endorse the plaintiff’s submission that by virtue of Section 1(3) of the Constitution, the power to impose fine conferred on FRSC by the enabling Act is null and void to the extent of its inconsistency with the Constitution,” the judge held.
Besides, Justice Tsoho held that the FRSC resorted to “legislative absurdity” when it imposed a fine of 3,000 on the plaintiff, rather than the N2,000 statutorily prescribed.
“FRSC’s function should not go beyond issuance of mere notices of offence.
“It is a cardinal principle of natural justice that no person can be condemned without being heard.
“It is in observance of this that a person alleged to have committed an offence has to respond to such allegation before a court of law during trial,” he said.
According to the judge, the plaintiff was issued a Notice of Offence Sheet on April 4, 2013, but FRSC did not take him to court for five months before the plaintiff filed his suit on Sept. 9, 2013.
“The vital question to ask is how long would it take the FRSC to reasonably commence prosecution of a traffic offence?
“The plaintiff was not under obligation to wait indefinitely for redress due to FRSC’s inaction or laxity,” the judge added.
“I hold the view that the confiscation of the vehicle was unnecessary in the first place, though the FRSC spiritedly sought to justify it.”
The judge then granted 11 of the 14 reliefs sought by the plaintiff, adding that he also awarded N1million in his favour instead of the N10 million prayed for.
Justice Tsoho held that the FRSC acted under the belief that it was statutorily empowered to do so, adding that its innocent mistake constituted a mitigating factor as to the quantum of damages.
(NAN)

EFCC arraigns ex-assistant director for N1.6bn pension fraud- Samson Folarin

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned a former Assistant Director, Pension Department, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation of Nigeria, Phina Chidi, before Justice Gabriel Kolawole of a Federal High Court for allegedly laundering N1.6bn pension funds.

Two other accused persons, Franklin Nwankwo and Pam Investment Properties, were arraigned alongside Chidi, on 15 counts of obtaining by false pretences and money laundering.

They were said to have used their position in the Pension Department to obtain N1.6bn by false pretences and launder an additional $2m (equivalent of N332m).

Chidi had earlier been arraigned alongside Shuaibu Teidi, a former Director, Pension Accounts, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation of Nigeria, before Justice Adamu Bello.

Her re-arraignment followed the ruling of the court to split the charge in order to have each accused person stand separate trials for their alleged involvement in the pension scam.

The charges read in part, “That you, Phina Chidi (while serving as Assistant Director, Pension Department of Office of the Head of Service of the Federation of Nigeria), at various times between January 2009 and December 2010, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, obtained for yourself by false pretences and with intent to defraud, through fictitious contracts payments to Cenco Enterprises, various sums of money amounting in aggregate to N74,350,000.00 from the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Pension Account held by the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation of Nigeria, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act,2006 and punishable under Section 1(30) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act,2006”. The accused persons pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

In view of their plea, the counsel for the EFCC, Godwin Obla, asked the court for a date to commence trial.

However, the counsel for the first accused person, Godwin Uche, urged the court to admit his client to bail, adding that he had earlier been granted bail in May, 2011, by Justice Bello.

Justice Kolawole granted the accused persons bail in the sum of N10m each, with sureties who must be resident in Abuja.

The case was adjourned till February 4 and 5, 2015 for trial.

 

Culled from Punch

The world's most powerful people

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, speaks with the confessional leaders during a ceremony at the Red Square in Moscow on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014, during the National Unity Day, a national holiday which this year marks the 402th anniversary of the 1612 expulsion of Polish occupiers from the Kremlin. (AP Photo/ Vasily Maximov, pool)

No one would call Vladimir Putin, the most powerful man in the world for the second year running, a good guy. In 2014 he strong-armed his way into possession of the Crimea and waged an ugly proxy war in neighboring Ukraine, during which an almost certainly Russian-supplied surface-to-air missile downed a civilian jetliner. But as the undisputed, unpredictable head of an energy-rich, nuclear-tipped state, no one would ever call him weak.

Our annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People (one for every 100 million people on the planet) is based on voting by a panel of FORBES editors, who consider things like financial resources, scope of action and the number of people they impact.
More from Forbes: The Youngest On The Powerful People List
This year there are 12 newcomers, including Narendra Modi, the new Indian prime minister, at No. 15; Alibiba founder—and China’s richest man—Jack Ma (No. 30); and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the bloodthirsty Islamic State (No. 54). The top five positions are unchanged from last year, with Barack Obama remaining in second place ahead of China’s Xi Jinping.
This year’s list features 17 heads of state who run nations with a combined GDP of some $48 trillion — including the three most powerful people, Putin, Obama and Xi, the general secretary of the Communist Party of China. The 39 CEOs and chairs here control over $3.6 trillion in annual revenues. Among them are 14 founders, including the newest billionaires on the list, Alibaba's Ma and  Tencent's Ma Huateng (No. 53). Speaking of, this year’s class has 28 billionaires with a cumulative personal net worth valued in excess of $790 billion.
Here, a quick peek at the Most Powerful People in the World 2014:
Newcomers: Among the 12 newcomers are Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi  (No. 15), Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon (No. 29), Egypt President Abdel el-Sisi (No. 51) and Mary Barra, GM CEO (No. 62). Alexey Miller, CEO of Russian gas giant Gazprom, makes a return appearance at No. 47, after dropping of the list in years past. Miller is one of a few of Putin’s inner circle who was not placed on the U.S. and Western economic sanctions list.
More from Forbes: Most Powerful In Tech
Top 10: This is the second year in a row that Putin carries the crown. Obama had been on the top of the list for every year with the exception of 2010, when Hu Jintao, the former political and military leader of China, was No. 1. The top five on the list remain the same as 2013, while Fed chief Janet Yellen moves into No. 6 and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron slides up to No. 10. The most powerful people in business are now Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, moving into slot No. 9.
Women Moving Up: For the first time, two women, Angela Merkel (No. 5) and Yellen reach the top 10. This year there are nine women on the list, representing 12% of the world’s most powerful — in stark contrast to being 50% of the world’s population. While the same number as last year, the inaugural list from 2009 included only three women leaders — or just 4.4%. Recently re-elected Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and South Korea President Park Geun-Hye join the world’s most important NGO’s run by women -- Christine Lagarde and Margaret Chan -- and business leaders Barra, Ginni Rometty and Gina Rinehart.

Billionaires: Worth a cumulative $790 billion. Sure they’re rich but many of these billionaires deserve special attention for their philanthropic work, including the world’s richest man Bill Gates, as well as Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu, Michael Bloomberg, Charles and David Koch, and Li-Ka-shing.
Entrepreneurs Represent: There are 14 in total. As expected, many are headquartered on the West Coast:  Google’s Page and Brin, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. Global entrepreneurial spirit spans from Japan’s  Masayoshi Son and Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote to China’s Robin Li.

Asia Emerges: Asia Pacific makes a strong showing this year with 19 from the region making the cut. There are many different paths to power. While Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea and Margaret Chan of Hong Kong are NGO heavyweights, leading the U.N. and W.H.O., respectively, others are the products of a career in politics, including Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and Premier Li Keqiang of China. Making a big impression this year are the self-made entrepreneurs: Li Ka Shing, Jack Ma, Masayoshi Son, Robin Li, Ma Huateng and Terry Gou.

Year-over-year growth: The FORBES Most Powerful started in 2009, seeking to answer a straight yet complex question: What is the true nature of power and can we really compare and rank heads of state with religious figures and drug traffickers? The premise has always been to select one person for every 100 million on the planet. The first list had 67 slots. This year we are up to 72. At this sixth edition, it’s notable that many of the leaders who made the top 10 on the inaugural list are still on today: Obama, Putin, Bill Gates, the King of Saudi Arabia, billionaire Helu, Page and Brin, and Rupert Murdoch.

1. Vladimir Putin

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REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Pool/Alexei Druzhinin

This year's snapshot of power puts the Russian President on top. Putin has solidified his control over Russia and anyone watching the chess match over Syria has a clear idea of the shift in the power towards Putin on the global stage. The ex-KGB strongman--who controls a nuclear-tipped army, a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and some of the world's largest oil and gas reserves--is allowed to serve another six-year term, which could keep him in office until 2024.

2. Barack Obama

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AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Heading into the second half of his second term, Obama seems stymied both by the West African Ebola breakout and a blood-thirsty militia named ISIS, which threaten to undo all the gains of an 8-year war in Iraq that cost the lives of nearly 4,500 Americans. At home, racially charged images of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri mock his 2008 message of "Change." On the plus side, unemployment is at its lowest level since the Great Recession and the markets continue test new highs.

3. Xi Jinping

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REUTERS/Bogdan Cristel

The 60-year-old Xi is the paramount political and military leader of China, ruling over 1.3 billion people (close to 20% of the world's population). China owns some $1.3 trillion in U.S. securities, making it the largest shareholder of U.S. debt. There are 122 billionaires in the country, up from zero one decade ago.
4. Pope Francis.

REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito

The March 2013 election of Pope Francis has breathed new energy into the world's largest religion with 1.2 billion followers. The first Jesuit and Latin American Bishop of Rome preaches compassion for the poor and a greater role for women while signaling the church to quiet its focus on "only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptives." He has embraced social media, regularly using Twitter to dispense religious advice to his 3-plus million followers and is responsible for the world's first papal "selfie."
5. Angela Merkel

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AP Photo/Michael Sohn

Fresh off a sweeping reelection last fall, Chancellor Merkel made headlines when she accused the U.S. National Security Agency of tapping her cell phone. Her accusations, along with revelations that the NSA may have been surveilling her since 2002, led to a White House order that the nation's data privacy protections be extended to non-Americans. Despite this tension, she has continued to be a crucial ally to the U.S. on global issues such as the crisis in Ukraine. The world's most powerful woman for nine of the past 10 years, Merkel broke through the ranks of Germany's male-dominated politics to become the first woman to serve as Chancellor, a position she has held since 2005. Merkel is an original architect of the 28-member European Union with a GDP of $15.8 trillion.
6. Janet Yellen

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AP Photo/Susan Walsh

The world watched the historic passing of the Federal Reserve baton from two-term chief Ben Bernanke to Janet Yellen this February. She is the first woman to head the most influential central bank in the world, given the size of the Fed's balance sheet ($4 trillion) relative to the U.S. GDP ($16.7 trillion). Top on her to-do list: maximize employment. "Too many Americans still can't find a job and worry how they'll pay their bills and provide for their families," she said at her White House nomination. "The Federal Reserve can help if it does its job effectively."
7. Bill Gates 

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

America's richest man, Bill Gates, is using his billions to effect major social change around the globe. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given away $30 billion since 2000, a fortune that on its own would be one of the 20 largest in America. The foundation is working to eliminate polio in the three countries where it still exists and is committed to stamping out malaria wherever possible.

8. Mario Draghi  .

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

As chief banker of the world's largest ¬currency area--the euro zone's collective GDP is now nearly $17 trillion--Draghi faces the Herculean task of trying to maintain financial unity across 17 countries. But if anyone can wrangle the interests of nations as diverse as Germany and Greece, it might be the man who navigated the minefield of Italian politics so deftly that he earned himself a nickname: "Super Mario."
9. Larry Page, Sergey Brin 

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AP Photo/Ben Margot

The pair run the most influential company of the digital era. Google still dominates online search, with a 65% share of the global market. There are now more than a billion active Android devices, one for every seven people. CEO Larry Page oversaw a string of acquisitions in the past year, including programmable home thermostat maker Nest for $3.2 billion. In October, he transferred most of his daily responsibilities to Sundar Pichai so he could focus on longer-term strategy. Cofounder Brin runs Google X, the secretive division of the search engine company that focuses on risky projects, such as self-driving cars, smart contact lenses, airborne wind turbines and Google Glass. In April Google issued a stock split that helped consolidate the voting power of Page, Brin and other executives. The company has 40,000 employees in 40 countries.

10. David Cameron

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Carl Court/Getty Images

The Conservative PM guides the world's sixth largest economy. He has recently been criticized for a flip-flop approach to green taxes after he pledged to slash household energy bills. The Oxford graduate and descendent of King William IV (1830-1837) has fired at the Guardian newspapers and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden for "making it a lot more difficult to keep our countries and our citizens safe." He has two years to galvanize the Tories ahead of a 2015 general election.

 Culled from Forbes

Man using Google Earth finds remains of pension money buried in pockets of individuals-yesi yesi news

A 27 year old man messing about with Google Earth on his laptop has reportedly found a rare collection of looted artefacts buried deep inside the pockets of a number of individuals.
Initial studies by archeological experts say the find is likely to be the remains of funds belonging to Ghanaman’s tier two pension scheme, whose exact location has been something of a mystery.
The young man who made the discovery said he accidental homed in on a sight within the Isle of Flagstaff House, an ancient settlement known to hold remains of booty from Ogyakrom. “I accidentally zoomed in on that particular settlement. A closer look left me convinced that the substances buried inside the pockets were indeed remains of some sort of booty.”
“I wasn’t surprised when the experts told me those remains could well be that of Ghanaman’s tier two pension scheme.”
Archeological experts are calling this a significant find and hope this could help explain why the Isle of Flagstaff House still refuses to relinquish full control of Ghanaman’s tier two pension scheme.
Archeologists confirmed they are seeking permission to excavate the sight to be able to study the remains in greater detail.

West Virginia Elects America’s Youngest State Lawmaker-Kris Maher

Republican Saira Blair, a fiscally conservative 18-year-old, will represent a small district in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle.

A West Virginia University freshman who did most of her campaigning out of her dorm room became the youngest state lawmaker in the nation Tuesday.
Republican Saira Blair, a fiscally conservative 18-year-old, will represent a small district in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle, about 1½ hours outside Washington, D.C., after defeating her Democratic opponent 63% to 30%, according to the Associated Press. A third candidate got 7% of the vote.

In a statement, Ms. Blair thanked her supporters and family, as well as her opponents for running a positive campaign. “History has been made tonight in West Virginia, and while I am proud of all that we have accomplished together, it is the future of this state that is now my singular focus,” she said.
Ms. Blair campaigned on a pledge to work to reduce certain taxes on businesses, and she also holds antiabortion and pro-gun positions. She defeated Democrat Layne Diehl, a 44-year-old Martinsburg attorney, whose top priorities included improving secondary education and solving the state’s drug epidemic.
Ms. Diehl congratulated Ms. Blair on running a good campaign and said she knew she was also up against broad dissatisfaction with Democrats in the state, partly from the widely held view that the Obama administration’s energy policies are hurting the coal industry.

“I’m very proud of the race that was run on both sides,” Ms. Diehl said. “Quite frankly a 17- or 18-year-old young woman that has put herself out there and won a political campaign has certainly brought some positive press to the state. I look forward to seeing what her leadership brings to the state of West Virginia.”
Ms. Blair gained national attention in May when she defeated the 66-year-old Republican incumbent in a primary when she was 17.
She will be the youngest state lawmaker in the nation, according to records kept by the National Conference of State Legislatures. There are more than 7,300 state legislators in the U.S., and fewer than 5% are under the age of 30, according to Morgan Cullen, a policy analyst at NCSL.
Ms. Blair said she would defer her spring semester to attend the part-time legislature’s 60-day session and make up classes in the summer and fall. She promoted her youth as an asset during the campaign, saying the voice of younger voters should be heard in the state capitol. An economics major, she hopes to become a financial planner, and she supports term limits.
She also contributed nearly $4,000 to her own campaign.
“Candidates should have some skin in the game,” Ms. Blair said in a recent interview. “I wanted voters to know I was serious.”
Culled from Washington wire, wall street journal

The 3 Rs of Teacher Pension Plans: Recruitment, Retention, & Retirement

The 3 Rs of Teacher Pension Plans: Recruitment, Retention, & Retirement

A new study analyzing the effectiveness of defined benefit (DB) pensions on teacher retention and productivity finds that pensions play a critical role in recruiting and retaining productive teachers.  This increases each school’s level of effectiveness, thereby benefiting students. Additionally, DB pensions save school districts money by reducing expensive teacher turnover costs. More specifically, the new study, Three Rs of Teacher Pension Plans: Recruitment, Retention, and Retirement, finds that: Teacher effectiveness increases with experience. Education policy literature finds that teacher productivity increases sharply within the first few years of teaching. Thus, the more retention that among mid- career teachers, the more that the average teacher productivity within a school will increase. The cost of teacher turnover is quite high, both in terms of financial cost and loss of productivity to the school district. Additionally, public school teachers turn over less than private school teachers, largely due to their compensation, including pension benefits. DB pension plans help to recruit high quality teachers, and to retain highly productive teachers longer, as compared with defined contribution (DC) individual retirement accounts. In 2003, DB pensions helped to retain an additional 22,000 teachers nationwide. Because longer tenured teachers are more effective teachers, the increased retention that DB pensions bring increases the overall quality of public education. Because the cost of teacher turnover is substantial, the retention effects of DB pension plans also save school districts money. In 2003, DB pensions saved school districts $273.2 million nationally in teacher turnover costs. The study provides state-specific data including teacher turnover cost savings associated with pensions.   Culled from National Institute on Retirement Security

A 27-year-old millionaire reveals how he built his wealth- Mandi Woodruff

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Anton Ivanov isn’t your average millionaire.

For starters, he’s barely 27 years old, he doesn’t work in Silicon Valley and he isn’t heir to a family fortune. He doesn’t live in a tiny house or get his food from a compost garden in his backyard, either.

Ivanov, who shares wealth-building tips on his blog, Financessful.com, made his million the old-fashioned way: He read books. He saved early and often. And he started planning his rise to millionaire status before most kids his age had their driver’s license.

“I’m a testament that if you want something bad enough and you keep working towards it ... you will get to where you want to go,” he says. "It was my habits and my principals that made me rich."

Here’s how he did it.

Starting young

A decade ago, Ivanov was like any other teenager in the U.S.. He went to high school, earned decent grades, and held down a minimum-wage job at Subway. His parents, who had moved his family from their native Russia in 2002, both worked full time — his mother as an attorney, his father as an accountant. They lived a moderately middle-class life in the suburbs of San Diego.

But Ivanov realized early on that there was something different about his new neighbors — they all seemed a lot wealthier than his family. His parents were heavy spenders and harbored a deep mistrust of financial services. He couldn’t quite blame them — they had moved to the U.S. just a few years after living through one of the worst depressions in Russian history. But at the same time, he felt like he was missing something.

“In high school, there was pretty much no financial education and my parents wouldn’t talk to me about money,” he says. “Everything I learned about money I had to learn myself.”

He devoured books on wealth building. An early favorite was “Think and Grow Rich,” the 1937 classic by Napoleon Hill, which details strategies that can be used to overcome psychological barriers to wealth.

“That book was extremely influential,” Ivanov says. “It wasn’t a ‘how to get rich’ book but it gave me a vision and a mental system that I could use to achieve pretty much anything I wanted.”

At age 16, he had one goal in mind: become a millionaire.

College or career?

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Photo: Courtesy of Anton Ivanov

Anton opened a savings account at a local bank and socked away 100% of his Subway wages over the course of three years. By the time he graduated high school, he had saved about $10,000. He might have used the cash to cover part of his college tuition, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough to cover all of his expenses. And he didn’t relish the thought of taking on tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to make up the difference.
"My family wasn't really prepared to pay for my college tuition, so I knew I would have to rely on at least some student loans to get me through, which I was very much against,” he says.

He had other ideas for kickstarting his career. While his friends signed up for college classes, Ivanov celebrated his 18th birthday by opening his first Roth IRA. After spending some time working (mostly administrative jobs near home), he decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy at age 20. He earned about $55,000 a year as an electronics technician and took distance learning classes to earn a Bachelor’s degree in information technology and programming. Uncle Sam picked up the tab for his tuition and fees.  

“When I compared [going to college] to joining the military, the latter seemed like a smarter idea because I would be earning income right away instead of waiting until I graduated,” he says. “And I could receive an education pretty much completely free, which I did.”

The ‘lazy’ investor

After Ivanov maxed out his Roth IRA (the annual contribution limit is $5,500), he opened up a small brokerage account with TradeKing. Years of careful research convinced him stock-picking wasn’t for him. His investing strategy was simple: focus on low-cost stock mutual funds that covered a variety of major asset classes and let the market do its job.

“It’s what I would call a lazy portfolio,” he says. After doing research, Ivanov decided to invest in seven asset classes: domestic, large-, mid-, and small-cap funds, emerging market funds, commodity funds, with a small chunk in bonds. Then he let it ride. He rebalances his portfolio once a year, if at all.  

A couple of years into his stint with the Navy, Ivanov faced his first true test as an amateur investor. By saving 60% of his Navy income and taking on freelance jobs on the side, he had been investing somewhere between $40,000 to $45,000 per year when the financial crisis hit in 2008.

He says he lost “a good amount,” but when the market sank he didn’t sell like many other investors did. “I powered through and when the market hit bottom, that’s when I tried to save and invest even more. To me, it was a no brainer,” he says.
Getting into the real estate game
Heavily influenced by books like “The Millionaire Real Estate Investor” and “The Millionaire Next Door,” Ivanov knew he wanted to start investing in real estate. His timing couldn’t have been better. The bust had essentially turned the housing market into the world’s biggest bargain bin.
In 2009, Ivanov put down $80,000 on a $400,000 condominium in San Diego, which he rents out for a $36,000 a year (he nets about $12,000 a year after making his mortgage payments). Today he estimates the property’s value is well over $600,000. 
Since then, Ivanov has added another property to his nascent housing empire. He purchased a $430,000 duplex earlier this year. He collects $21,000 a year in rent ($12,000 net after his mortgage is covered) renting out one of the apartments, while he and his fiancee live in the other.

“I believe in taking smart risks,” he says. “If you see an opportunity and you think it’s a good opportunity, you should take it and understand that you may be wrong and understand what the repercussions may be.”

He hopes to own at least 10 properties by the time he hits his 40s, but he’s in no rush. Once his housing expenses are taken care of, he puts all of his income — from his rental properties, his job and his freelance work — first into his retirement account, emergency savings account, and then into his taxable brokerage account. Once those goals are met, he contributes to a separate high-yield savings account, which he sets aside for future real estate purchases. You can see a full breakdown of Invanov's assets here, or check out the graphic below.

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Yahoo Finance

Keeping it simple

Committing to saving 60% of his income was no small feat for Ivanov. The average American manages to save only than 5% of their income per year.

He swears by one basic savings strategy: automate everything.

“The day my salary gets deposited, I don’t even see that money,” he says. “It’s in and out of my account, which keeps me honest and keeps me on track.”
The emergency fund he’s been carefully maintaining since his days at Subway has come in handy as well. When both his parents unexpectedly passed away a few years ago, he was able to rely on that money to cover his airfare and funeral expenses.
Fortunately, military life was the perfect environment for a single person looking to save. The bulk of his fixed expenses — housing, food, transportation, insurance — were covered. He set up automatic transfers for his savings and investment accounts and followed a strict schedule. First, he maxed out his annual Roth IRA contribution. Then he contributed the maximum to his annual Thrift Savings Plan (the federal employee version of the 401(k)). He split the remaining balance between his brokerage account and the savings fund he keeps for future real estate investments.
While he studied, he earned extra cash through one-off web design and programming gigs he got through freelance job websites like elance.com and odesk.com. He estimates these side jobs added another $15,000 to $20,000 to his annual income.
“Definitely being in the military helped a lot, but I also had a mature outlook on life,” he says. “Buying expensive things isn’t really fun for me. I realized those things don’t really make me happy.”
Reaching the $1 million mark
Ivanov left the Navy in 2013, but even after he moved back to San Diego, he kept up his frugal lifestyle. Eager to add to his investments, he made increasing his income a top priority and landed a full-time job working as a software developer and test engineer. Combined with the freelance work he continues in his free time, he earns just shy of $100,000 a year (not including income form his rental properties) and still saves at least half of his net income.
Every expense — from his gym membership to his pending wedding in 2016 — is planned for and saved for well in advance. His detailed planning regimen is, he says, the key to his success so far.

“Usually, at the beginning of the year I look at my life for the next two to five years and I plan it out,” he says. “I write out any expense I’ll have that I won’t be able to cover using my paycheck and figure out how much I need to save each month to meet those goals by my deadline.”

Ivanov crossed the $1 million net worth mark just two months shy of his 27th birthday in June this year. He was thrilled to finally reach this milestone — but not surprised.  

“If you have a really strong desire in your head, you can power through any obstacle you may face,” he says. “I truly believed that when I was 16 and I believe it now.” 

Culled from yahoo finance

Sam Nda-Isaiah’s Presidential Declaration Speech

Hello Nigeria!
To the Chairman of the APC, and all APC delegates all over the Federation of Nigeria, and all the good people of this great country, I am today declaring my candidacy for the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
I would like to begin by paying tribute to the star-studded slate of presidential aspirants of our great party: General Muhammadu Buhari, my role model and political boss with whom I have been in the trenches for over a decade since he joined politics; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who has lived a life of service; Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who has changed the face of Kano; and my friend, Rochas Okorocha, a true and proud Nigerian. Anyone of us who becomes President next year would be infinitely better than the one we currently have.
President Jonathan has been totally unable to perform the most basic responsibility of any leader, which is provision of security to the people of his country. Nigeria has been degraded to unimaginable levels. We are now the laughing stock of those countries we used to laugh at.
Nigerians who are old enough know that this is not how it used to be. As a country, we are much better than this. The Nigeria we knew, even though far from being the ideal, was good enough to provide security and the basic necessities of everyday living. And we even had enough to cater for other African nations. That was when we were a regional superpower. But not anymore.
I have seen Nigeria as a child growing up in a neighbourhood not far from where I stand now; as a school pupil in a government primary school in Kaduna where primary education was free; as a secondary school student in Kaduna where secondary education was free; as an undergraduate at the University of Ife, when my Niger State scholarship was more than sufficient for me. I have seen Nigeria as a northern youth corps member serving in Ilawe-Ekiti and Ikere-Ekiti in today’s Ekiti State where I was treated like a special one. And I have seen Nigeria as a young graduate when I landed a very good job within one month of completion of the NYSC. I have seen Nigeria when our country’s schools and universities were among the best in the world and foreigners from all over the world trooped into this country to acquire world-class education. I have lived in a Nigeria when our hospitals were among the best, at least in Africa, and all drugs and medicines and surgeries were offered free by government. And all these happened when our revenues as a nation were far less than what we have today. That was when Nigeria fought a civil war without taking a loan; even the post-war reconstruction was carried out without a loan.
But to prosecute the war against insurgents, the Nigerian President has just taken a loan of $1billion, even though oil sold for around $100 per barrel for as long as anyone could remember and the Customs and Excise Department rakes in an average of N1trillion annually.
It is difficult to know the exact point this downward slide started but the misfortune of this country obviously accelerated from the time the PDP came to power in 1999. Many of us have seen Nigeria from different eras. We have seen our country gradually decay into one in which people are now afraid to carry on their lives as ordinary citizens. They are afraid of sending their wards to boarding schools in parts of the country because their kids could be burnt alive in their dormitories; they are afraid to send their daughters to school because hundreds of them could be kidnapped at the same time and turned into sex slaves. And there are many more who are afraid to go to church or mosque because they could be bombed out of existence. Yes, terrorism is globally a contemporary phenomenon but in no other normal country on earth would terrorists strike in the same place every other day like Nigeria and no arrests are made.
For the first time in the history of this country, Nigerian soldiers who are still among the best in the world have started fleeing from criminals. Many have had cause to flee to neighbouring countries where they were embarrassingly disarmed by those countries’ armed forces. And because the PDP government has incompetently made the military our first line of defence instead of the last, Nigerians are now in disarray, running helter-skelter and in a state of misery. For the first time, Nigerians who are normally happy, confident people have lost confidence in themselves.
Corruption under the PDP government has reached extreme levels, to the extent that the Federal Government is no longer able to pay state governments and other government units their due allocations. As a result, many state governments are now unable to pay salaries. Oil theft has reached such frightening scale that, sometimes, the oil thieves steal more than what is left for the Nigerian state. Yet, not a single oil thief has been arrested by the government. Much of the balance that eventually gets to the government coffers is also promptly stolen. Not long ago, Federal Government officials were publicly arguing among themselves – rather scandalously and in full view of the world – whether it was $48 billion or $20 billion or $10 billion that was stolen from the NNPC. This was money meant to run the Nigerian state.
The North-East of the country may now be the base of insurgents but no part of this country is the safe place we would want to raise our children. Kidnappers, armed robbers and ritual killers all through the 36 states of the federation operate freely without any fear of any consequences.
Our education system has collapsed with public schools now counting for nothing because funds meant to sustain them have been stolen. Nigeria currently has 10.5 million children out of school, the highest in the world. And even those in schools here hardly pass their exams. This year, 70% of students who sat for the WASSCE failed.
Our hospitals are now where people go to die. Those who can afford it travel abroad for their healthcare needs.
Nigerians no longer talk about electric power supply because, after 15 years of the PDP government and more than $25 billion expropriated on power supply, the country is worse off. Our current power supply fluctuates between 2,000mw and 4,000mw. But $25 billion has provided more than 20,000mw for other countries with more serious governments. By common consent, the President and his party have failed. The PDP has also proved to be totally incapable of presenting its best people to Nigerians. The PDP wants us to meekly accept Jonathan’s incompetence and his failures as our destiny and then continue with him. It is only a party like the PDP that will place the ego of one man above the wellbeing of an entire nation.
Nigerians from everywhere yearn for change. They cry for a new direction because the country cannot continue on this path. That is why I want to be President. I have come to offer that change that will change Nigeria forever. I do not seek to be President simply because Jonathan is not a good President. I want to be that President that will change the course of Nigerian history forever. That is why I come to you waving the scroll of BIG IDEAS – big and bold ideas that will move our beleaguered country into the league of First World nations. All our programmes shall be powered by big ideas and, today, I will mention only a few.
The first thing our government will do is to unite the whole of Nigeria as quickly as possible. As I have said in several fora, Nigeria is currently too divided to be called a nation. No country ever makes progress with the kind of divisions we see in our country today. Confronting this challenge is the simplest thing a serious leader can do. There is no magic about it. All a leader needs to do is be sincere about it. I will need to unite the whole of Nigeria behind me as quickly as possible in order to be able to work the big ideas that will change this nation forever. Any President who governs his country with fairness, justice and charity to all will have no problem uniting his people, no matter how disparate they may be.
Under my presidency, all crimes will be punished, no matter how long it will take to apprehend the criminals. We shall send a clear message to criminals that whoever commits a crime will be apprehended and brought to justice according to the law – whoever they are, no matter where they come from and no matter how long it takes. I will not be that President who would say that people are killing themselves because they don’t like me. I will not only be in office, I will also be in power for the good of the majority of the people. All murderers will face the full weight of the law.
Concurrently with the business of uniting the nation, we shall also quickly secure Nigeria and Nigerians. Security is the most elementary duty of any leader. I will do this by retooling the entire security and intelligence infrastructure of the country and by being that President who takes his duty as Commander-in-Chief seriously. Luckily for us, Nigeria still has some of the best soldiers, policemen and intelligence service personnel anywhere in the world. All they need is competent leadership, training and re-training as well as 21st century equipment to meet the challenges of the modern world. One of our major problems is that we are still using the 1990s and 1970s methods and equipment to fight today’s crimes.
We are also going to expand the various security services to match the challenges of our current size. We are going to modernise and increase our police strength from the current 370,000 to at least 1,000,000 immediately and then gradually grow it to at least 4,000,000. We shall do most of the recruiting from among the millions of graduates that roam the streets in search of jobs. A serious nation of 178 million people should not have just 370,000 policemen.
As President and Commander-in-Chief of Africa’s largest country and its biggest economy, I will rebuild Nigeria’s military to be the most formidable fighting force in Africa. I shall rebuild the military not only for Nigeria’s security but for Africa’s stability, as I believe that Nigeria has a responsibility to lead Africa. We have a national interest in ensuring stability in other African nations. We shall also build a strong military in order to defend our currency and protect our economy. The Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) will also be upgraded to do much more than it is doing today to supply both our needs and export to other countries.
Under my presidency, the military will never be our first line of defence as it is today. We shall create special forces whose members would be drawn from the different services for the most difficult security challenges. The first line of defence for any country that has terrorism challenges should be its borders. Our nation’s borders are probably the most porous in the world: 1,497 illegal entry points into the country have already been identified and the government is doing nothing about it. That will never happen under our presidency.
Nigeria’s unemployment level is a bomb waiting to explode. By conservative estimates, there are 48 million unemployed Nigerians and a troubling 54% of the Nigerian youths are unemployed. Even though the economy has grown, poverty rates have increased, precisely because the sectors driving the growth are not the ones in which the majority of Nigerians are accommodated. We must, therefore, bring more youths into agriculture, online business, manufacturing and housing. Since 48 million jobs are not immediately available, they would have to be created. Only big ideas can solve a challenge this magnitude. Our government will create an army of entrepreneurs all over the country. We shall create five million small businesses in the first instance. A small business creates between two and five new jobs – that means potentially creating 25 million new jobs. That’s a heck of a big idea!
Another one. Our government shall construct one million new housing units yearly, for two reasons: one, to bridge the housing deficit and, two, to create jobs. It has been estimated that building one million housing units can create up to 30 million new jobs as several people including engineers, architects, plumbers, block makers, insurance companies, mortgage banks, estate agents, cement, tile and paint sellers, food vendors, furniture manufacturers, etc would be engaged. We will get the money for this huge project by borrowing from the pension fund which is now in excess of N4trillion; and, since the houses would be sold to the public through mortgage facilities, the borrowed funds would be paid back. We can also get the money from Quantitative Easing since a huge lot of economic activities, including manufacturing operations, will be created in the course of building the one million houses; so the risks usually associated with Quantitative Easing would be attenuated.
If we must remain the biggest economy in Africa, then, we must have the biggest seaports, the biggest banks, the biggest airports; and we must, by privilege and reason of location, be the aviation hub of Africa.
One of the very big ideas that we intend to work is the creation of a soccer economy. Nigeria has talent and Nigerians have passion for the game. There is no reason we should not profit from this as so many other countries do. We can organise ourselves to achieve this easily.
Also, we cannot be Africa’s biggest economy and the continent’s most populated nation (178 million people) and still be struggling with 4,000mw of electric power supply after squandering $25billion in the past 15 years. The world’s largest power station in a single location is the Three Gorges Dam in China which has an installed capacity of 22,500mw. It was constructed with $26 billion.
We cannot be Africa’s largest oil producer and still be importing fuel. That will stop under our government. And because oil will soon lose its critical global value due to improvements in fracking technology among the biggest consumers of oil, under our government, the country will invest heavily in non-oil sectors to diversify our economy. We shall do this as a matter of survival. It is no accident that God has endowed our country with so many resources. And we shall do it all over the country.
Our government will also aggressively encourage manufacturing, especially the small-scale manufacturing sub-sector. To do this, we will take bold and drastic steps to strengthen the naira. In the interim, we will strengthen the naira by paying the monthly allocations to all tiers of government in dollars since oil, our main revenue earner, is paid for in dollars. But instead of dishing out dollar cash which could encourage theft and capital flight, our government would issue dollar certificates to all the tiers of government. The different tiers of government would then have to convert these dollar certificates into naira in our local banks. If more dollars start chasing less naira, the value of the naira would improve at once. And when this happens, interest rates would also go down. Nigerian manufacturers would then be able to procure machinery and spare parts more easily, and, at single-digit interest rates, it would be possible for made-in-Nigeria products to compete with imported ones.
I have heard a few people say I have not had any experience in government and that, therefore, is a weakness. My answer to them remains this: Nations are today in a race for the future and nobody has the experience of the future. All experiences people claim to have are experiences of the past. And our uninspiring past cannot be a guide for our future, as we need a clean break from our past. Nigeria should be in a race to the First World and what is needed more than anything else is vision. I find my lack of experience in government a strength instead because I have not been part of the rot of the past.
In any case, I have the most important experience, which is being a serial entrepreneur. I have created institutions from Ground Zero. That is the most important experience anyone who wants to be President needs at the moment. In fact, a lack of entrepreneurial experience among those who lead us has been one of our problems so far.
And talking about experience, you cannot have more experience than President Jonathan. He has been a Deputy Governor, a Governor, a Vice President, and Acting President before becoming President, and see what this huge experience has done to our dear country. So much for experience.
Most of the greatest leaders the world has had had no government experience before assuming power. South Africa’s presidency was Nelson Mandela’s first job in government. The Prime Minister’s job was Lee Kuan Yew’s first job in government. And by the time Tony Blair became Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1997, he had never worked in government. Ditto for David Cameron.
Most importantly, we intend to change how government works. Governments even in the best of countries, but especially in our country, have a problem of inefficiency, bureaucracy and corruption directly impeding well-intended plans. To change our country, we must change the way government works first. Our government will achieve this by the appointment of CEO-style ministers and heads of government agencies with clear targets and commensurate salaries and bonuses.
There are people who would tell you that it is not possible to implement all I have said. Don’t believe them. Those who know me would tell you that I am always unimpressed by what others say is impossible. Those who say certain things are impossible are continually being interrupted by those actually achieving them. All these and many more are possible but none of them will be easy. Nonetheless, we have to make the hard choices. If I am elected, I will take my election as proof that Nigerians want to change their country forever and I will, accordingly, use all the powers at my command as President to bring this about. We have seen how leadership has transformed countries ranging from small countries like Singapore, Rwanda and South Korea to the big countries like Brazil, India and China. I believe that, with faith in God, you and I together can keep this appointment with destiny.
God bless you all and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Culled from Leadership

Unclaimed lottery prizes: $2 billion a year-Chris Isidore

In this Thursday, July 17, 2014 photo, lottery tickets line the counter area at Eagles Express in Knightdale, N.C. North Carolina’s lottery has steadily grown over its first decade and its leaders say it has room to grow even more in the coming years. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Stashed in desk drawers, the tops of dressers, under refrigerator magnets and in piles of accumulated scrap paper lie millions of winning lottery tickets worth billions of dollars.

Brett Jacobson knows that better than anyone.
The creator of a smart phone app that alerts people if they have a winning lottery ticket, Jacobson filed public records requests with lottery commissions around the country to find out just how many prizes go unclaimed.
The total is astonishing: $2.04 billion went unclaimed in 2013 alone. Since each state runs its own lottery independently, the nationwide total had been a mystery until now. Lottery officials have estimated in the past that unclaimed prizes nationwide might approach $800 million annually.
Most of the winning tickets are worth only a couple of bucks, maybe $50 or $100 each. Many are $2 or $4 winners. But there are plenty of tickets worth thousands, even $1 million or more that never are turned in.

And Jacobson says that the annual total is likely to only grow larger.
"They're selling more and more lottery tickets every year," he said. "People don't even realize there are secondary prizes."
Jacobson said he decided to create the app when he and a group of friends rounded up a bunch of old lottery tickets and took them down to the corner store to see if they had any winners.
"We had something like $200 in winning tickets. But all but $51 of that had already expired. That was the impetus," he said.

The app, Lotto Lotto, allows lottery players to take a picture of their tickets in order to record their numbers. If the lottery was already held, it'll let them know of any prize on the ticket. If the drawing hasn't happened yet, the app will send an alert if it's a winner.
The app is free. Jacobson makes money with payments from retailers who sell lottery tickets. The app tells users where they can buy tickets, and can also alert them when jackpots reach a level at which they'll want to buy a ticket. And the retailers also benefit when the apps' users find out about a winning ticket, Jacobson said.

"The retailers and even the state lotteries want people to cash in secondary prizes," said Jacobson. "You're not going to take $4 and go home. You going to buy more tickets."

Culled from CNN money

The High Costs of the Retirement Dream-Emily Brandon

Prohibitive expenses

Retirement typically involves saving enough money to pay all your bills without working. Retired households spend an average of $40,938 per year, according to the most recent Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here's how much it costs to retire in the U.S.:
Housing
Housing is typically the largest cost retirees face, averaging $14,034 among people age 65 and older. This amount includes $5,194 per year for owned property versus $1,818 for rented apartments. Utilities cost retirees $3,411 annually, with electricity being the largest charge. Mortgage interest and charges ($1,475), property taxes ($2,026) maintenance and insurance ($1,693) and household furnishings ($1,260) also add to the housing costs of retirees.
Food
Retirees age 65 and older spend an average of $5,126 annually on food. Most of this money is spent on meals at home ($3,301), with meat, poultry, fish and eggs ($687) and fruits and vegetables ($661) being the most expensive categories of food older Americans eat. They spend another $1,825 on food away from home.
Transportation
Driving costs tend to decline in retirement because retirees no longer need to commute to work. But retirees still need to get around. They spend an average of $6,651 annually on transportation, including the costs for gasoline, insurance, maintenance and repairs. Retirees also spend an average of $500 per year on public transportation.
Health care
Health care costs can increase in retirement, especially if your health care needs change due to illness. Retirees spend an average of $5,094 on health care, including health insurance, medical services, drugs and medical devices.
Entertainment
Retirees have a lot of newfound free time to fill, and often that ends up costing money. Those age 65 and older spend an average of $2,026 on entertainment, such as fees and admissions, audio and visual equipment and hobbies. They also spend an average of $403 on their pets.
Clothing
Although seniors no longer need work clothes in retirement, they still need to purchase new articles of clothing as they wear out. Retirees spend about $1,029 per year on apparel, including footwear.
Personal care
People age 65 and older purchase an average of $566 worth of personal care products and services, including shampoo and other hair care products, toothpaste and similar oral care tools, cosmetics, shaving and bath products.
Education
Retirees spend an average of $278 annually on education costs and $140 on reading materials, including books, newspapers and magazines. Retirees in the West and Northeast spend the most on continuing education.
Smoking
Seniors age 65 and older buy tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, loose smoking tobacco and smoking accessories that cost an average of $189 each year. Retirees in the Midwest and South spend more on smoking than retirees in the Northeast and West.
Charity
Retirees give away an average of $2,515 per year as cash contributions, perhaps as gifts to family members or donations to charitable, religious, educational or political organizations. Retirees in the Midwest are the most charitable, giving away $3,083.

Culled from US news