Bad news. Good news. Chicken.

The bad news:
- Americans are often unprepared to retire
   Just 14 percent of Americans feel well-prepared financially for retirement, while the rest “do not have any idea about what their retirement income will look like,” according to an annual survey by HSBC Insurance.
   ... “A perfect storm is confronting pensions planning, created by an aging population, falling pension funds values, a drop in state and employer contributions and an economic downturn which is forcing people to make tough financial choices,” HSBC Group Chairman Stephen Green said in the release.

The good news:
- Goldilocks home market looks hot - Buffalo's Business by David Robinson
   In one first-quarter report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Buffalo Niagara region ranked fourth out of 294 metropolitan areas for home price appreciation over the last year.
   In another, by the National Association of Realtors, the increase in median sale prices here was the 10th highest during the first quarter.

- Leisure Living doesn't let a near-disaster keep it down 
   Just over a year ago, fire swept through a warehouse at the rear of Leisure Living’s property on Niagara Street. Firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading and destroying the entire business.
... But the business recovered and managed to follow through on a plan it had laid out before the blaze, moving into larger space to accommodate its growth.

The chicken:
- Where there’s smoke, there’s often Chiavetta’s
   The same marinated aroma is familiar in towns and villages, at churches, fire halls, legion posts and Kiwanis Clubs throughout Western New York. The Chiavetta’s name has become a staple of summer barbecuing and fundraising in the region, raising nearly a half a million dollars for the hundreds of nonprofit organizations that use it for their events each year.

-- George Pyle/The Buffalo News 

 

Comments

[Hank]

Retirement planning? What's that?
When my doctor, lawyer, and accountant spend more than half my appointment time asking me how I am doing so well (financially) and telling me how their big wall street banks and investment advisor let them down, they let the cat out of the bag. They all admit, of course, they never took a real economics or investment course in their life. Even Suze Orman has changed when she now advocates paying only the minimum on credit card balances because it's the only way to have a credit card balance available as an emergency fund. Pay it down, she says, and they cancel your card and credit line.
But face it, the only way to now plan for retirement is to assume more risk, knowledgeably. And take the volatility where world news can slam markets overnight.
The deleveraging is only at the beginning. But the margins and trades have great profit potential. GARP, Growth at a Reasonable Price. But your broker is the last place to look for that.

[Charlie]

Work for the government and you won't have to concern yourself with such trivial matters.