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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: savings

savings stories: 26 news summaries

1 - 20 of 26 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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analysis

 Don't Let the 
 Recession 
 Rule Out 
 Retirement 

Save more, use 'catch-up' tax law provisions to turn things around

Sep 20, 09 4:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - Retirement savers have been facing grim truths, like the fact that a 50% portfolio loss requires 100% in earnings to recover. But middle-of-the-road investors could recover in as little as 2 years if they make contributions, receive a company match, and see fair long-term portfolio returns, writes Linda Stern in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retirement • recession • savings • investor • 401(k) plans

Obama Offers New Options for Retirement Savings

Americans can have tax refunds sent as savings bonds

Sep 5, 09 7:07 AM CDT
(AP) - President Obama used his radio address today to roll out several initiatives aimed at making it easier for Americans to save for retirement. One move will allow people to have their federal tax refunds sent as savings bonds by checking a box on their tax return; another has workers automatically... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • retirement • savings • tax refunds • retirement benefits • 401(k) plans • radio address

 Oldsters Refusing 
 to Step Aside to 
 Free Up Jobs 

Reliance on volatile 401(k)s breeds reluctance to retire

Sep 3, 09 9:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Their retirement savings devastated by the financial crisis, older workers are increasingly postponing retirement, the New York Times reports, creating even more competition for scarce jobs. A recent survey found that four in 10 workers over 62 have remained at their jobs longer than they planned thanks to the recession.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pensions • Europe • retirement • recession • savings • 401k • financial crisis • 401(k) plans

 Euro Bulb Ban 
 Begins, But Many 
 Take Dim View of CFLs 

Consumers stockpile aesthetically pleasing old-school bulbs

Aug 31, 09 6:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Though proponents plug the financial savings and good climate karma of compact fluorescent light bulbs, not everyone thinks the European ban on most incandescent bulbs that kicks in tomorrow is such a bright idea, the New York Times reports. Consumers across the continent are hoarding old-school bulbs, worried over the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • greenhouse gases • European Union • compact fluorescent bulbs • epilepsy • ban • CFL • savings • incandescent bulbs

DC Deficit Fixer: Print on Both Sides of Paper

$102M in painfully obvious cuts shows how outdated gov't is

Jul 29, 09 10:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - A short while ago, President Obama called on his Cabinet to make budget cuts in their departments totaling $100 million. They came up with $102 million, but some of the cuts were so obvious one wonders why it took a presidential edict to elicit them, the Wall Street Journal notes.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
government spending • bureaucracy • savings • budget deficit • Obama administration • President Obama • big government

Stimulus Boosts Americans' Incomes

Consumers tuck funds away: Savings rate
hits 16-year high

Jun 26, 09 2:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - Incomes in the US got a big boost from federal stimulus dollars in May, the Commerce Department reported today. But weary consumers stashed most of that lucre away, sending the savings rate to a 16-year high. “Households are reverting to a more sustainable spending path vis-à-vis income,”... More »

MORE ABOUT:
income • consumer spending • savings • economic stimulus package • consumers • household income

ANALYSIS

 How China's 
 Boy Boom 
 Hurt US 
 Economy 

Preference for boys may lead to 'savings glut'

Jun 19, 09 1:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - Lots of theories have been floated about the how the US housing and credit bubbles came to be, but this one gets points for originality: New research suggests that China's overabundance of males played a role, reports the Wall Street Journal. It begins with this: Because of the high male-to-female... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China • Ben Bernanke • parents • baby • savings • boy • son

Experts Fret as Americans Squirrel Away Income

Savings rate jumps over job, portfolio fears

May 9, 09 2:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Even after the economy rebounds, the US will likely remain a nation of penny pinchers—and that has economists worried, the New York Times reports. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the country’s GDP, but Americans, fretting over job security and losses in the housing and stock sectors, are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
consumer • recession • consumer spending • GDP • savings • economy • thrift

Frugalistas Rejoice: Recession Is a Validation

'Frugalistas' embrace new thrifty values

Apr 11, 09 11:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Shredding credit cards and buying less may sound like consumer America's version of hell, but some—especially those penny-pinchers long scoffed at as miserly—are downright gleeful. "This validates the choices I've made," one tells the New York Times. With the savings rate up a remarkable 4 points... More »

MORE ABOUT:
money • recession • Americans • savings • economy • frugality

OPINION

 Spend, Baby, Spend 
 —or We're Sunk 


Mar 15, 09 6:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Our massive economy will remain stuck until hoarders open their wallets and "roll the dice" once again, Daniel Gross writes in Newsweek. Investors and consumers alike must regain their "penchant for gain and risk... some of the essence of what makes us American." Until that caffeinated, delirious... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • investment • savings • incentives • economy • American • Rockefeller family • risk-taking • thrift


 Consumer 
 Spending 
 Rises in Jan. 

But experts don't expect boost to last

Mar 2, 09 8:32 AM CST
(AP) - Consumer spending rose in January after falling for a record 6 consecutive months, pushed higher by purchases of food and other non-durable items. But the increase is expected to be fleeting given the problems facing the US economy. Spending rose 0.6% in January, better than the 0.4% gain... More »

MORE ABOUT:
shopping • income • consumer spending • savings • economy • financial crisis

Prepaid Cell Phones Are
New Frugal Chic

Pay-as-you-go replaces contracts as consumers cut spending

Feb 22, 09 7:18 AM CST
(Newser) - More customers are turning to Tony Soprano-style, pay-as-you-go cell phones, and not just to avoid wiretaps. As the recession forces consumers to cut costs, all-inclusive prepaid plans are the new frugal option, reports the New York Times. "In today’s economy, it’s not cool to pay $120 a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
iPhone • recession • cell phone industry • savings • wireless industry

OPINION

 Krugman: We've All 
 Been Madoffed 


Feb 16, 09 8:38 AM CST
(Newser) - Bernie Madoff’s investors thought they were getting richer every quarter. Then, one day, they discovered their wealth “was a figment of someone else’s imagination,” writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. And sadly, that’s a pretty good metaphor for America’s experience this... More »

MORE ABOUT:
debt • Paul Krugman • savings • market bubble • economy • Great Depression • Bernard Madoff

OPINION

Crisis Paradox: How to Spend When You Need to Save

How to stimulate the economy without draining your account

Feb 11, 09 12:11 PM CST
(Newser) - While leaders encourage Americans to stimulate the economy by spending, those who have lost jobs or investments are a lot more inclined to hoard their remaining assets. But there's a way to avoid this "paradox of thrift," in which the frugal behavior that's best for an individual... More »

MORE ABOUT:
spending • savings • economic stimulus package • economy • banks • financial crisis • thrift



 Newfound Thrift 
 Battering Economy 

Sharp rise in savings rate expected to lengthen recession

Jan 6, 09 1:51 AM CST
(Newser) - Americans worried about the recession are stashing away cash at the highest rate in decades—but economists fear that the thrift will prolong hard times, reports the Wall Street Journal. The national savings rate has rebounded from less than zero to levels expected to hit 5% or higher this year... More »

MORE ABOUT:
consumer • recession • US economy • spending • savings • economy

Shoppers Go Whole Hog for Piggy Banks

Newly frugal consumers use little pink pals to help save

Jan 1, 09 12:08 PM CST
(Newser) - Piggy banks have been flying off the shelves this holiday season, reports Reuters. Newly frugal consumers see the pigs as symbolic of the need to save, retailers say. The savings rate across America has shot up from zero to 2.8% as worried households start to sock away cash—although... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • bank • US economy • savings • coins

 Ways to Cut 
 Your Bills 
 Down to Size 

Usual belt-tightening suspects abound: Eat at home, cut out luxuries, get a second job

Nov 18, 08 7:41 PM CST
(Newser) - Spendthrift Americans from all rungs of the income ladder are taking a page from Scrooge these days, adopting new, cash-lite strategies to get through hard times, USA Today notes. They're managing to save by:
  • Hocking whatever's collecting dust in their closets: The average household has $3,200 worth
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
consumer confidence • credit card • savings • coupons • financial crisis

ANALYSIS

 Crisis Looms for Credit Cards 

Soaring defaults could fell normally resilient industry

Nov 14, 08 3:10 PM CST
(Newser) - Credit cards may be the next industry to be pummeled by the financial crisis, Time reports. The charge-off rate—money that lenders don't think they'll collect—is set to hit 10% in 2009. That's double the rate of the last decade and amounts to $96 billion in unpaid debt. Typically... More »

MORE ABOUT:
credit card • interest rate • credit • credit crisis • revenue • default • savings • financial crisis

ANALYSIS

 Consumers 
 Not Buying... 
 Um, Anything 

Worried Americans scaling back spending, saving more—bad news for retailers

Nov 12, 08 10:16 AM CST
(Newser) - The US consumer has “gone from being the world economy’s greatest strength to its Achilles’ heel,” writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times. Just as Wall Street’s turmoil begins to calm, consumer spending—an economic mainstay—has gone into hiding, helping to accelerate General Motors’... More »

MORE ABOUT:
General Motors • consumer spending • savings • Circuit City • financial crisis

Little Guy 'Cries a Lot' as Market Hurts All Over

Investors seek options, others dip into savings for house payments

Sep 19, 08 10:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - Wall Street’s crisis has prompted a variety of reactions in everyday lives as Americans rush to decide where to put their faith and their dollars—and try to avoid the pain, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some are pulling their money out of the markets as conditions worsen, while... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Wall Street • money • banking • savings • market turmoil

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