Regards, Mike B)
P.S. Lost the url...
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"The Federal Reserve's latest survey of consumer finance shows that overall wealth increased very little for most American families from 2001 to 2004. For retirees, this shift is likely to force many of them into a decision no other generation has faced: to use their home as the centerpiece of their retirement plan (Motoko Rich and Eduardo Porter, The New York Times, page C1). Americans have not traditionally used their homes to finance retirement, choosing instead to pay down the mortgage and bequeath the house to their children. But the increasing wealth that has concentrated in homes during the boom of the last decade, compared with dwindling pension benefits and lackluster market returns, means that many retirees are finding that their largest source of additional income could come, in fact, from their homes. The Fed's 2004 survey, released yesterday, painted a precarious tableau of retirement planning. The 95 percent of Americans 55 to 64 who had any savings at all typically had amassed $78,000, which is only about 1.5 times their median annual income."
...while another item says this:
"The cost of student loans is about to rise. On July 1, the rate on new federally guaranteed student loans will hit a fixed 6.8 percent, the highest rate since 2001. It comes as the average college graduate owes $19,000. Many undergrads, though, have debt exceeding $40,000. The weight of debt is forcing many to put off saving for retirement, getting married, buying homes and putting aside money for their own children's education (Sandra Block, USA Today, February 23, page 1B). The College Board says undergraduate bachelor of arts degree recipients for the 2003-2004 academic year in private, for profit colleges were $24,200 in debt. Those in private, nonprofit colleges were $16,000 in debt, and students in public colleges were $10,600 in debt. The average debt for a college graduate has soared 50 percent in the past decade, according to the Project on Student Debt, a nonprofit advocacy group."
Read "The Perthian Brickburner": http://profiles.yahoo.com/swillsqueal
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