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Retirement savings: 3% is the new 4%

Traders Mark Muller, left, and Kevin Walsh work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street as investors hold back ahead of economic reports that could influence when the Federal Reserve will start reducing its stimulus. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) ORG XMIT: NYRD104(Photo: Richard Drew AP)It's all relative. How much retirees can safely withdraw from their retirement account each year is a mostly a function of current stock values and interest rates, which tend to predict near-term returns. And when stock market valuations are well above and bond yields are well below their historical averages, as they are today, retirees should withdraw much less than 4% of their portfolio, assuming they want their nest egg to last over the course of their household's lifetime.Or at least so say the authors of "Asset Valuations and Safe Portfolio Withdrawal Rates," a new paper that seeks to provide retirees and soon-to-be retirees with some new rules of thumb about withdrawal rates. The old rule of thumb, which traces its roots back to a 1994 paper published by financial planner William Bengen, suggests that you can safely withdraw 4% per year from your retirement accounts without worry of running out of money.The new rule of thumb, however, says you need to consider both current bond yields, stock values as measured by what's called the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (CAPE) ratio, and your asset allocation before setting your withdrawal rate."Our simulations indicate that the safety of a given withdrawal strategy is significantly affected by the initial bond yield and CAPE value at retirement, and that the relative impact varies based on the portfolio equity allocation," wrote the authors of the paper, David Blanchett, CFA, CFP®, the head of retirement research at Morningstar Investment Management, Michael…
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Fast-food workers strike, protest for higher pay

Demonstrators protest outside a McDonald's restaurant near New York Times Square as part of a nationwide protest of fast-food workers Dec 5.(Photo: Stan honda. AFP/Getty Images)Story HighlightsFast-food workers walked off the job in 100 cities; protest activities also held elsewhereThe protests are part of a labor union movement to increase the federal $7.25 minimum hourly wageRestaurant industry has said higher wages would lead to steeper prices for customersIn Washington, D.C., dozens of people carried signs and marched while singing "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, it's no fun, to survive, on low low low low pay."In New York City, about 100 protesters blew whistles and beat drums as they marched into a McDonald's chanting "We can't survive on $7.25."And in Detroit, more than 100 workers picketed outside two McDonald's restaurants, singing "Hey hey, ho ho, $7.40 has got to go!"One-day labor walkouts were planned at fast-food restaurants in 100 cities Thursday, with protests in scores more cities and towns across the nation. Organizers, actually a loose-knit group of labor advocates mostly led by the Service Employees International Union, are pressing for an increase in the federal minimum wage, higher wages in the industry, and the right to unionize without management reprisals.The advocacy groups are hoping to build public support for raising the federal minimum wage of $7.25, or about $15,000 a year for full-time work. A common battle cry has been "Fight for 15" — a $15-per-hour minimum wage.Tyeisha Batts, 27, protesting in New York, said she has been working at Burger King for about seven months and earns $7.25 an hour. She said she hasn't been retaliated against but said her manager warned that employees who didn't arrive on time Thursday would be turned away from their shifts. AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide[1][2]"My boss took me off…
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'Newsweek' to resume printing next year

Roger Yu, USA TODAY 11:16 a.m. EST December 4, 2013 Newsweek's last print issue, published on Dec. 31, 2012.(Photo: Elizabeth Weise)Story HighlightsThe magazine stopped printing at the end of 2012 after 80 yearsNew editor wants to dedicate print space to stories, not for grazing "short, little" itemsBusiness model calls for relying mostly on subscription revenue, not ad salesNewsweek's new owner wants to resume printing the magazine.IBT Media, a New York-based media company that bought the Newsweek brand in August, plans to revive the magazine early next year, following its 'last" issue that was published at the end of 2012.IBT plans to generate most of its Newsweek-related revenue from subscription. "We're not going to shoo away advertisers. But we're not going to sell (the magazine) for less than the cost of producing it," says Jim Impoco, the magazine's editor-in-chief.In 2010, the late billionaire stereo magnate Sidney Harman bought the iconic but financially troubled news magazine from the Washington Post Company by assuming its debt and paying $1 in cash. He then formed a joint venture with IAC/InterActive to merge the magazine with IAC's Daily Beast news website. IAC, controlled by billionaire media mogul Barry Diller, eventually assumed a controlling stake and shut down the print operation. Failing to turn Newsweek into a profitable venture, IAC sold it to IBT for an undisclosed sum after several months of searching for a buyer.IBT relaunched Newsweek.com in October and has hired "a couple dozen staffers" who have been writing for the website, says Impoco, who previously worked at Thomson Reuters as enterprise editor and executive editor for Thomson Reuters Digital.With the new print magazine, Impoco plans to move away from the recent-news-recap editorial approach common among newsweeklies and mostly publish originally reported stories. As an example, he cites a Newsweek.com story, published Tuesday, about…
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CEOs grow more bullish on economy

Chief executives of some of the USA's largest companies are increasingly optimistic about prospects for the economy next year, according to a Business Roundtable survey released Wednesday.(Photo: Paul Sancya AP)Story HighlightsBusiness Roundtable survey "modestly" more optimistic for next six monthsCEOs say budget deal in Washington would bolster outlookAlmost a third of CEOs in survey foresee increased hiring in 2014's first halfCorporate CEOs are growing more optimistic about the economy, and a budget deal in Washington would help push next year's growth higher, according to a survey released by the Business Roundtable Wednesday.The business lobby's CEO confidence index rose to 84.5 in a fourth-quarter survey of 120 chief executives, compared with 79.1 last quarter. The survey measures expectations for economic activity over the next six months. A reading above 50 points to economic expansion."CEOs expect modest improvement in the outlook for economic expansion in the first half of 2014,'' Business Roundtable Chairman James McNerney said on a conference call. "The survey reflects slightly increased optimism despite an underperforming economy.''Capital spending will rise in the next six months, according to 39% of CEOs, up from 27% last quarter, the survey said. About 73% of CEOs expect sales to rise, up from 71%. Just over a third, or 34%, of CEOs expect hiring to increase, up from 32% three months ago.McNerney said CEOs are expecting talks in Washington, led by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and GOP Rep. Paul Ryan, will lead to a modest budget deal that will avoid a renewed government shutdown or debt-ceiling confrontation. That will have some effect on the economy, said McNerney and Roundtable president John Engler."It's hard to say exactly how much but we do have an economy on the cusp of growing more than 2%, 2.5%, which doesn't do much for employment,'' McNerney said. "Washington sorting itself…
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Test Drive: Honda Odyssey useful ... and ugly

AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsLast SlideNext Slide[1][2]The 2014 Honda Odyssey.(Photo: Honda Wieck)Story HighlightsStyling: BadFeatures: More than you expectDriving feel: Sporty, for a family vanSo much new, so few external changes to billboard them.That sums up the refreshed 2014 Honda Odyssey.Test Drive considers the styling of Honda's Odyssey family van — nothing "mini" about these things — a great tragedy, and would have welcomed exterior improvements.Oh, sure, the 2014 Odyssey gets some blacked-out this, chromed that, body-color the other. But until that side styling is changed, to get rid of the sheet metal kink, and hide the sliding side door track the way Toyota and Chrysler vans do, Odyssey's very far off our personal list.Oddly, some otherwise reasonable people say they actually like the way it looks. And a feisty Honda dealer in the South insists that whenever Test Drive writes nasty things about the appearance, his sales go up.Honda chose to work underneath for 2014, on major matters. It changed to its latest crash-safety construction, thereby becoming the first family van to earn a "Top Safety Pick Plus" rating, highest possible from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.In addition to doing well enough to earn Top Safety Pick in the IIHS regular menu of crash tests, adding the "Plus" requires a high score in the demanding new small-overlap front crash test, duplicating a glancing blow to a tree or pole.Honda gave all models the six-speed automatic for better mileage, increased the array of features without much price jump for better value and added a minivan-exclusive built-in vacuum cleaner to the top model for more headlines.In fact, the vac has gotten so much attention that the Honda product guys probably could bill the development costs to their marketing department as a promotional expense.But notwithstanding the excellent crash-safety results and body-color mirrors, LED taillights,…
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