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	<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Decision Making &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Decision Making &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Please Don&#8217;t Use a &#8216;Best Places to Retire&#8217; List to Decide Where to Retire</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/13/please-dont-use-a-best-places-to-retire-list-to-decide-where-to-retire/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/13/please-dont-use-a-best-places-to-retire-list-to-decide-where-to-retire/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martha C. White</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AARP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[income taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Council on the Aging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Dakota]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retirement community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sales taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79540</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It can be confusing making sense of the many “best places to retire” lists out there. In fact, it&#8217;s probably best to eye these lists with extreme skepticism &#8212; unless you really do want to spend your golden years in (gulp) frigid North Dakota. What with all the &#8220;best places to retire&#8221; lists in circulation, you&#8217;d think there would be some consensus about the top spots to kick back in retirement. Yet these lists are literally all over the map, and often contradictory. Bankrate.com&#8217;s new roundup ranking the &#8220;surprisingly best&#8221; states for retirement touts the Dakotas, West Virginia, and Mississippi — and ranks Oregon dead last in its corresponding &#8220;worst places&#8221; list. A Forbes list, on the other hand, included Medford, Ore., in its roundup of the best places to retire in 2013, and CNN/Money listed Portland, Ore., in a roundup published last fall. These discrepancies are the rule rather than the exception, partially because the rankings emphasize different criteria. Some lists emphasize college towns, whose populations tend to skew young, while others put a premium on communities with a lot of senior residents. Many publications advise looking at local tax rates, but they clash when it comes to deciding whether income, property or sales tax is most important. Here’s the good news: you can probably ignore them all. As Malcolm Gladwell pointed out two years ago in the New Yorker, rankings fail when they bite off more than they can chew. A “best of” list can aim to evaluate a broad set of criteria or a large number of contenders, but not both. “It’s an act of real audacity when a ranking system tries to be comprehensive and heterogeneous,” Gladwell wrote. Gladwell was critiquing the way college rankings are conducted, but the principle is the same when it comes to cars, restaurants and where to spend your retirement years. (MORE: Um, You&#8217;ve Actually Been Able to Order Authentic Viagra Online for Years) The way &#8220;best places to retire&#8221; lists are graded often misses the point: they don’t tell you much about<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79540&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Retirement</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/retirement-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/retirement1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">retirement</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">marthacwhite</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>How to Stay Engaged After Retirement</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/06/how-to-stay-engaged-after-retirement/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/06/how-to-stay-engaged-after-retirement/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 May 2013 12:00:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78329</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Not many people are able to retire before age 60 anymore, and that’s just as well. Health breakthroughs the last few decades have given us a longevity bonus that previous generations could never envision. Working until later in life is a natural development. Still, we will retire one day and likely with many good years remaining in our future. How to spend those years is the subject of my two most recent books, co-authored with Ken Dychtwald. I’m reminded of the lessons in The Power Years and A New Purpose whenever I hear of people reinventing themselves at mid-life. (MORE: CFPB Finally Fixes the &#8216;Anti-Housewife&#8217; Rule) So it was with a recent news story about chess champion Garry Kasparov, who unlike other champions in his field has not been content to fade away. Kasparov just turned 50. He’s been out of competitive chess for eight years but is as busy as ever. He’s a passionate activist for change in Russia. He campaigns against President Vladimir Putin and recently was named the Morris B. Abram Human Rights award winner. He’s also a global activist seeking to have chess classes installed as part of school curricula. The chess effort, especially, caught my eye. Kasparov and a growing list of educators believe that learning to play chess helps children develop the ability to think logically, plan, and use mathematics in a practical way. These critical skills are closely linked to making better money decisions as adults, a key area of instruction that generally is missing from our classrooms. Could we teach chess as a backdoor way to promote financial education? The European Union has endorsed Kasparov’s ideas and is encouraging schools to introduce a chess class using his teaching software. Kasparov may end up having an impact far beyond the chess world. There’s nothing unusual about high achieving individuals staying committed to a cause and giving back in some fashion after retiring. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton may have accomplished more good in their life after leaving office than they did<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78329&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Retirement</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/retirement-2/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<title>10 Steps to Spring Clean Your Finances</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/29/10-steps-to-spring-clean-your-finances/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/29/10-steps-to-spring-clean-your-finances/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:45:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martha C. White</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[401(k) Savings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[401k]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[budgeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[credit cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IRS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[saving money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[savings]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78144</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When it comes to spring cleaning, you probably haul the junk out of your garage, scrub your fridge, and wash the rugs and drapes. But don&#8217;t forget about your personal finances. Just after tax season is the perfect time to perform an annual evaluation and tidying up of your budget, bank accounts, debts, and investments. Here are ten steps for straightening up your finances: Evaluate your debt load. How much do you owe, and how much are you paying the lenders in interest? Comparison shop what you&#8217;re paying in interest with what&#8217;s available now, and consider refinancing your mortgage or asking your credit card company for a lower interest rate. If you want to take advantage of the 0% balance transfer offers that are all over the place, make sure you’ll be able to pay off the transferred balance in full before the promotional period expires — and resist the temptation to run up new debt on the old card. Chip away at that debt. The question has always been whether you should you start paying off the balance with the highest interest or knock out the smallest bills first. Although starting with the highest interest rate makes the most sense mathematically, researchers found that people are more motivated to continue with a debt-reduction plan if they knock out a small debt in its entirety rather than merely a chunk of a bigger one. Also known as the &#8220;snowball approach&#8221; as advocated by personal finance expert Dave Ramsey, paying off one debt gives you the momentum to keep chipping away until that debt is history. Update your budget. If you’ve undergone a major job-related change like getting a big promotion or switching from two incomes to one, revisit your household budget. If you&#8217;d like to have one partner stay home with a child or go back to school full-time in 2013, the best way to adjust to being a single-breadwinner family is to start living like one six months beforehand. This will expose any weak spots in your budget or expenses you’ve<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78144&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Personal Finance</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/145629365-copy.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Piggy Bank</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">marthacwhite</media:title>
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		<title>Safe Bet? Central Banks Suddenly Start Buying Stocks</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/26/why-are-central-banks-suddenly-buying-stocks/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/26/why-are-central-banks-suddenly-buying-stocks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:06:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78589</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fed up with low bond yields, the most conservative investors on the planet have begun to load up on stocks. Retirees? No, I’m talking about the world&#8217;s central bankers. Nearly 1 in 4 central bankers say their institution owns stocks or plans to own stocks in the near future, according to a Bloomberg report. The Bank of Japan plans to more than double its stock position, according the report, which cites a Central Banking Publications and Royal Bank of Scotland survey. The Bank of Israel bought stocks for the first time last year. And both the Swiss National Bank and Czech National Bank have boosted stock ownership to at least 10% of reserves. This move into stocks is highly unusual. Central bankers are famously risk-averse. Previous surveys in this series didn’t even ask about stocks. Central banks tend to hold reserves in government bonds, which are easy to buy and sell. (They use reserves to manage their national currencies.) But with yields having fallen below the rate of inflation, holding bonds devalues their reserves. So they have begun diversifying into other assets, chasing higher returns. This is not unlike the dilemma facing many retirees and other individual investors: holding ultra-safe interest-bearing investments is wise past a certain age; yet when yields are lower than the inflation rate, this strategy erodes buying power and undermines long-term financial security. For this reason, many retirees have been seeking higher yields with dividend-paying stocks and even moving into high-yield, high-risk corporate bonds. (MORE: A Nation of Renters: Should We Be Worried That Fewer Americans Own Homes?) Central banks, of course, have a much bigger margin for error than your typical retiree. Their time horizon is eternity and they can print more money if they must, though the consequences of doing so are best avoided. Still, central banks moving into stocks offers some comfort to retirees pushed in the same direction. Everyone must adjust to this new normal. The U.S. Federal Reserve does not appear to have joined in the stock-buying trend. The Fed is not permitted to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78589&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Economy &amp; Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Retirement Gamble: Frontline&#8217;s Powerful Case for Taking Control of Your Financial Future</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/23/retirement-gamble-how-fees-and-poor-results-destroyed-your-401k/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/23/retirement-gamble-how-fees-and-poor-results-destroyed-your-401k/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:32:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[401(k) Savings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77979</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The retirement crisis in America is fairly well defined: Six in 10 people expect to delay retirement; just 14% are confident they’ll have enough to live comfortably and 17% say they will never be able to quit work altogether. If that doesn’t bring you down, make sure you tune in to the PBS Frontline special Retirement Gamble tonight. Serious depression is sure to follow. Hopefully, though, so will remedial action on the part of anyone who identifies with the handful of struggling working class Americans in this documentary. Retirement doesn’t break new ground. Anyone who’s been paying attention understands that corporate America has shifted the burden of retirement to individuals over the past 30 years. Traditional pensions have been supplanted by 401(k) plans, which have proved to be massively ineffective as a primary source of retirement security. Billions of dollars in savings have leaked out of these plans over the years and trillions were wiped away in the market collapses of 2000 and 2008. The program takes us through all this gory history and makes the case that our retirement programs are not a system but a “free for all.” It concludes that saving for retirement is a “bewildering and frightening challenge.” (MORE: How a Few Text Messages a Month Can Secure Your Retirement) For emphasis, Retirement even dredges up the $18 billion in bonuses paid to Wall Street the year of the mortgage crisis, when people were losing their jobs or their homes or both. The point is one that I’ve made over and over in this space: You are on your own out there; it’s time to start paying attention. You can’t help but identify with one subject in particular, a well-spoken man of retirement age who gleefully recalled the day in 1999 when his 401(k) portfolio crossed $1 million. “I just thought this was how it works,” he says. The market took back all his gains within a couple years. The special takes aim at the confusing and multi-layered fees that accompany many 401(k) plans and which are difficult<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77979&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Retirement</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/retirement-2/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<title>More Young Couples Commit — To Homeownership Before Marriage</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/17/more-young-couples-commit-to-homeownership-before-marriage/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/17/more-young-couples-commit-to-homeownership-before-marriage/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2013 09:45:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Borrowing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coldwell Banker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[commitment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marriage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[millennials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[romance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[youth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77843</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[First comes love, then comes … mortgage? A new study indicates that young couples in committed relationships have been far more likely than older generations to purchase homes before getting married. A recently released CDC study quantified a trend that most of us are well aware of: Couples are increasingly likely to live together before marriage. From 2006 to 2010, nearly half (48%) of American women ages 15 to 44 said that they had ever cohabitated—i.e., lived with a romantic partner without being married. In 1995, by contrast, just 34% said that they&#8217;d lived with a partner before marriage. Now, the results of a soon-to-be-released survey from Coldwell Banker indicate that today&#8217;s young couples are also more likely to buy homes together before marriage. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of polled married couples ages 18 to 34 said that they purchased a home before they were married. Among married couples ages 45 and up, just 14% said that they bought a house together before tying the knot. Couples in the Northeast stand out as particularly likely to buy real estate before getting hitched: Just 60% in the survey waited until marriage to purchase a home, compared to 72% in the tradition-minded South, where people tend to marry younger (and therefore, poorer). In a phone interview, Dr. Robi Ludwig, a psychotherapist and Coldwell Banker&#8217;s official &#8220;lifestyle correspondent,&#8221; said that buying a home together has become &#8220;the new engagement ring&#8221; for some young couples. They&#8217;re committing to purchasing real estate as a couple regardless of whether they&#8217;ve set a wedding date. Some even forego lavish weddings and honeymoons in order to cover the down payment and a chunk of the mortgage. &#8220;Millennials have a very pragmatic state of mind,&#8221; said Ludwig. &#8220;They know that they have an opportunity here, with low mortgage rates and low housing prices. And they think, &#8216;We&#8217;re moving toward marriage anyway, so let&#8217;s buy.&#8217; It makes sense.&#8221; (MORE: Financial Independence? Today&#8217;s Young People Don&#8217;t Expect It Anytime Soon) This doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that more millennials—married or not—are buying homes nowadays.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77843&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Decision Making</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/decision-making-planning/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/83899391.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Young couple with moving boxes in new house</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<item>
		<title>Can You Afford to Start Parenting at Middle Age?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/11/can-you-afford-to-start-parenting-at-middle-age/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/11/can-you-afford-to-start-parenting-at-middle-age/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:21:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martha C. White</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Budgeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Careers & Workplace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Life Balance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kids]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[parenting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=44584</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Advances in reproductive technology and a trend towards marriage later in life have led to an increase in older parents. But do these old fogies know what they&#8217;re getting themselves into, financially speaking? Actually, there are some economic advantages to having children when you&#8217;ve reached a more mature age (for more, read Jeffrey Kluger&#8217;s story in the new issue of TIME, available to subscribers here). Older parents tend to be more financially stable. They&#8217;ve (hopefully) eliminated their student loans and dug out of any ill-conceived credit-card debt run up in their young adult years. They’re more likely than parents who are barely out of their teens to own a home and have money set aside for retirement and emergency expenses. There’s a “but” here, though. Taking on parenthood at a more advanced age can mean paying for things like tuition and textbooks when many of your peers are enjoying the financial freedom of being empty-nesters. And with a growing number of adult children returning home to live after college, there’s a good chance that your kid could still be raiding the fridge when you’re eligible for Social Security. None of this has to be a dealbreaker, of course; it just requires more forethought and planning. Here are some questions experts in financial planning and late-in-life parenting suggest that you should ask yourself before trying to have a child. Who’s paying for college? The biggest financial challenge for older parents is that they’ll probably be looking to retire just when some major financial obligations hit. &#8220;Retirement dates coincide with college and wedding expenses,&#8221; says David Lamp, a certified financial planner at Brighton Jones. &#8220;I&#8217;d say the cluster of life events is a little bit tighter now.&#8221; (MORE: Got Stuff? Typical American Family Home Cluttered with Possessions &#8212; And Stressing Us Out) As a parent, the impulse to give your child the best of everything is only natural, but it also can be financially devastating, he says. The smart move is to &#8220;favor putting money towards retirement, with the idea being that there<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=58452&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Decision Making</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/decision-making-planning/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/sb10068929c-001-e1352925446375.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/sb10068929c-001-e1352925446375.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/sb10068929c-001-e1352925446375.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">older parent with young child</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/9a5a9e4f28beb5afb59b1202632d219a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">marthacwhite</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dunk City &amp; Dollars: Florida Gulf Coast Bandwagon Means Big Bucks</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/dunk-city-dollars-florida-gulf-coast-bandwagon-means-big-bucks/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/dunk-city-dollars-florida-gulf-coast-bandwagon-means-big-bucks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Educational Financing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[basketball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FGCU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Gulf Coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Gulf Coast University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[March Madness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NCAA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports apparel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports fans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76051</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bringing new meaning to the term &#8220;fast fashion,&#8221; trendy sports fans are known to immediately need to get their hands on the jerseys of out-of-nowhere sensations like Colin Kaepernick and Jeremy Lin. A nation of fans is currently fascinated with an entire team—Florida Gulf Coast University, the first No. 15 seed ever to make it to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA basketball tournament. And the impact goes well beyond soaring team apparel sales. After FGCU scored an upset victory against No. 2 seed Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament, sales at the campus bookstore skyrocketed 1,000%, according to CNN Money. The store&#8217;s online unit then handled 500 apparel orders on Sunday, after FGCU&#8217;s win over San Diego State. On a normal Sunday, when the physical store is closed, its website does maybe 20 to 30 orders. Stores throughout the Fort Myers area have rushed to fill aisles with FGCU merchandise, as consumers clamor for a piece of the team everyone is talking about. &#8220;Everyone jumps on a winner,&#8221; Lewis Hardy, CEO of the Licensing Resource Group, told CNN Money. &#8220;There are people wearing their stuff right now who may not even know where they are located.&#8221; Interest in the team has expanded well beyond Florida. Earlier this week, the sports gear e-retailer Fanatics.com released a statement attesting to FGCU&#8217;s major leap in interest among fans nationwide: Since the tournament began on Thursday, Florida Gulf Coast University has been the top-selling college and most searched school on Fanatics.com, one of the largest online retailers of officially licensed sports merchandise. FGCU gear has been purchased by fans in more than 40 states since Thursday, with the top state being Florida, of course. (MORE: Madness for Sale: Businesses Go for a Piece of NCAA &#8216;March Madness&#8217; Basketball Tournament) Gamblers are drawn to FGCU as well. The team&#8217;s next game, a matchup on Friday night against University of Florida, which is favored by 13 points, is the hottest bet in Las Vegas, according to a Bloomberg News story:<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76051&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/7391cfb4656a46fc97fca2e4789ccee0-0.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/7391cfb4656a46fc97fca2e4789ccee0-0.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/7391cfb4656a46fc97fca2e4789ccee0-0.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Florida Gulf Coast&#039;s Dajuan Graf, from left, Eddie Murray and Brett Comer celebrate after winning a third-round game against San Diego State in the NCAA college basketball tournament, on March 24, 2013, in Philadelphia. Fla.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Communication Breakdown: If You Think You&#8217;re Talking About Money, Your Kids Don&#8217;t Hear It</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/28/communication-breakdown-if-you-think-youre-talking-about-money-your-kids-dont-hear-it/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/28/communication-breakdown-if-you-think-youre-talking-about-money-your-kids-dont-hear-it/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:04:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Budgeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Credit Cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76041</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Parents and teens often speak a different language. Adults probably are not meant to understand why you might chillax after calling out a busted wanksta. (Don’t ask.) But who knew that miscommunication could be so extreme when it comes to money matters too? Adults and youngsters can’t even agree on what constitutes a conversation about money, according to a new study. Some 73% of parents say they talk regularly with their kids about spending and saving. But just 61% of the kids agree. Nearly half of parents say they strongly encourage their kids to talk to them about money. But only one in five kids strongly agree that this is the case. These are among the chief findings in the 2013 Annual Parents, Kids and Money Survey from fund company T. Rowe Price. The perception gap suggests that parents aren’t being nearly as diligent as they believe—or, alternatively, that kids (aged 8 to 14) don’t recognize a money talk when they hear one. Maybe in-home financial discussions should begin with the declaration: “This conversation is going to be about personal finance!” (MORE: Is Paying Allowance to Your Kids Cruelty?) Don’t conclude that the misperception is necessarily the kids&#8217;. Young people know more than you might suspect. While parents are generally open about discussing things like holiday and back-to-school shopping spending limits, only 38% talk about credit, budgets, and other family financial issues with their children. A like percentage of kids (36%) say they know they are being left in the dark. Similarly, 47% of parents say they do not always agree with one another about money matters, and virtually the same percentage of kids (44%) say they know Mom and Dad have money disagreements. Your kids are more observant about your money behavior than you may realize. That’s totes tope, man. (Very cool, trust me.) Yet parents aren’t taking advantage of this natural interest. According to the survey, half or fewer of parents: Save regularly for retirement Buy life insurance Save for vacation Regularly contribute to charity Save regularly for<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76041&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-education/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<title>Expert: Paying Kids Allowance Is &#8216;Cruelty&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/26/expert-paying-kids-allowance-is-cruelty/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/26/expert-paying-kids-allowance-is-cruelty/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:18:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75737</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The great allowance debate roars on, and may have moved to a whole new level with a personal-finance scholar’s recent assertion that a “regular, unconditional allowance may be akin to cruelty to children.” As a teaching tool, allowance isn’t just ineffective — it’s detrimental. So says Lewis Mandell, professor emeritus of finance and managerial economics at SUNY Buffalo. Mandell is a pioneer in the field of financial education, and for a couple of years he has been questioning the educational benefits of kids receiving a regular allowance. In a discussion this week on public radio he upped the ante, saying that paying an unconditional allowance is one of the worst things a parent can do for the personal-finance development of their kids. (MORE: Coming Soon: New Standards for Teaching Kids About Money) Mandell’s extreme view is at odds with most of the thinking in financial-education circles. The main point of contention has long been whether or not to tie allowance to chores — not whether to pay an allowance at all. But Mandell says in most cases allowance, as a tool for learning, just doesn’t work. He notes findings from a series of financial-literacy assessments by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. These surveys show that high school students who receive a regular allowance test the poorest and exhibit the weakest behavior in personal money management. They are also more likely to be “slackers” as adults. Hence the cruelty assertion. It’s important to note, however, that Mandell is concerned with broad national trends. He believes parents who pay an allowance and understand personal financial issues themselves and take the time to talk to their kids about budgeting and credit can reasonably expect good results. So too can the 25% or so of kids who are motivated learners and will go on to graduate from college. Says Mandell: “Those kids get it almost automatically.” The problem is the other 75%, where there is less emphasis on higher education, and working parents have little time for the kind of discussions about money<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75737&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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	<primary_category>Financial Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-education/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/aloowance1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Allowance</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<title>Coming Soon: New Standards for Teaching Kids about Money</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/12/coming-soon-new-standards-for-teaching-kids-about-money/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/12/coming-soon-new-standards-for-teaching-kids-about-money/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:36:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=74432</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In coming weeks and months, a new set of standards for financial literacy will cross the desks of educators across the country. The hope is that schools will embrace these guideposts and begin to wedge money lessons into students’ daily activities. The Council for Economic Education, a nonprofit promoting financial education, developed the new standards at the request of and with input from educators at all levels. “We have a specific plan to go state by state and get these implemented,” says Nan Morrison, CEO of the council. The new standards, to be formally unveiled next month, establish clear benchmarks for what kids should know by the end of grades 4, 8, and 12. They are broken into six personal finance categories: Earning income This includes collecting rent, stock dividends and interest on bonds. It also includes a discussion of the labor market and how education may lead to higher wages. Buying goods and services This includes planning, comparing, budgeting and making choices. Saving This includes near- and long-term goals and how time, interest rates and inflation affect savings. Using credit This includes borrowing options and how credit history helps determine availability of credit and the rate of interest that you pay. Investing This includes risk, rates of return and diversification. Protecting and insuring This includes potential loss of health, assets, income and identity, and how behavior affects the cost of insurance. The council’s new standards are clear and concise. In the section on saving, for example, the standards state that by the end of 4th grade a student should know that “income is saved, spent on goods and services, or used to pay taxes,” and that students can use this knowledge to “explain the differences between saving and spending and give examples of each.” By the end of high school they should be able to “identify instances in their lives where they decided to buy something immediately and then wish they had instead saved the money for future purposes.” (MORE: Why Financial Literacy Fails) The standards emphasize developing critical<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=74432&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/03/12/coming-soon-new-standards-for-teaching-kids-about-money/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-education/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Millennials Are Paying Off Debt — but That&#8217;s Not Necessarily Good News</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/26/millennials-are-paying-off-debt-but-thats-not-necessarily-good-news/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/26/millennials-are-paying-off-debt-but-thats-not-necessarily-good-news/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh Sanburn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Budgeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=72872</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A new study suggests that millennials are getting serious about paring down their debt. But a closer look at the numbers shows some troubling signs. Last week, Pew Research released a new study showing adults younger than 35 reducing their debt levels faster than older generations. Millennials cut their overall levels of debt by 29% from 2007 to 2010 (from $21,912 to $15,473) while Americans 35 and older only cut theirs by 8% ($32,543 to $30,070). In fact, according to Pew, the share of younger households with debt of any kind fell to 78%, the lowest level since the federal government started collecting that data in 1983. (MORE: Will High Marijuana Taxes Encourage Black Markets?) All that sounds great — until you realize that the biggest contributor to this dynamic is that millennials aren&#8217;t taking out mortgages, which generally make up the biggest piece of household debt. From 2007 to 2011, the percentage of young households who own their own homes fell from 40% to 34%. “Young adults don’t have the mortgage, but they also don’t have the house,” says Pew senior research associate Richard Fry, who authored the report. “Young adults probably have less debt, but they also have less assets. This is troubling.” A number of factors seem to be driving lower levels of home ownership. One is that millennials’ incomes are down and they can’t afford to take on a mortgage. Another may be that they want to buy a home but banks have tightened lending standards and made it difficult for them to do so. Student-loan burdens also appear to be playing a crowding-out role: In 2007, 34% of young households had outstanding student debt in 2007; by 2010, the rate had risen to 40%. (Note that those numbers are the exact inverse of the mortgage figures.) Another reason debt levels have fallen for millennials is a decrease in car ownership. It&#8217;s unclear if this is more of a cultural or economic shift, but millennials appear less inclined than previous generations to own a car, drive or even get a driver’s<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=72872&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Budgeting</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/budgeting-saving-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/gs1363978.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Overhead shot of one dollar bills sitting on a leather background with a red rubber band.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d88247e41871fc555c4a2747167091d2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">jsanburn</media:title>
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		<title>How to Master the Allowance Question and Prepaid Cards in One Shot</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/15/how-to-master-the-allowance-question-and-prepaid-cards-in-one-shot/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/15/how-to-master-the-allowance-question-and-prepaid-cards-in-one-shot/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Budgeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Credit Cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paying With Plastic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=70230</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Some years ago I was looking to set up a simple third-party automated allowance system for my three children and discovered that banks could be a costly facilitator. The fees for sub-accounts and weekly transfers were ludicrously high, given the small amounts of cash involved. But I was determined to get out of the business of handing cash to my kids either weekly or upon request. I was equally determined to put the kids on a budget and in charge of their own spending decisions, believing it to be the most effective financial teaching tool in the universe. So I chose the bank with the most efficient set-up, swallowed hard and signed up. At my Bank of America branch I was able to get the features I wanted most—automatic transfers to each child’s account either weekly or monthly with a provision that did now allow the accounts to become overdrawn. When the money was gone, they would get denied. (MORE: How to Celebrate Anti-Valentine&#8217;s Day) But I had to open both a savings and a checking account, and three sub-accounts. The complicated fee structure and transfer limitations were such that I deposited money in my savings account and then moved it to my checking account, and then moved it to the sub-accounts. Most of the accounts were subject to a monthly maintenance fee and there were the usual ATM withdrawal fees as well. It was a relatively costly and inconvenient system. But it was the best I could do. Today, parents have much better options by avoiding the banks altogether. An online cottage industry has emerged to simplify and automate allowances, allowing parents to track spending and, if they choose, tie their payments to chores. I count a couple dozen such websites, ranging from the fairly well known ThreeJars.com to recent entrant Tykoon.com. But as far as I can tell no one has attacked the issue more thoroughly than FamZoo.com, where founder and father of five Bill Dwight is now introducing a “family pack” of prepaid cards that will do<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=70230&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-education/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<title>How a $54K-Per-Year School Is Deemed a &#8216;Best Value College&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/02/07/how-a-54k-per-year-school-is-deemed-a-best-value-college/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/02/07/how-a-54k-per-year-school-is-deemed-a-best-value-college/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:00:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Borrowing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Educational Financing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Best Value College]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[college]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[College of New Jersey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[College Students]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Duke University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial aid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[higher education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[North Carolina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[princeton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Princeton Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Princeton University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Student debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[student loans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UNC]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=69814</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The private universities listed in a new &#8220;Best Value Colleges&#8221; roundup run $54,200 annually for tuition, fees, books, and room and board. That sounds pretty expensive, and it is. Could it also represent a good value? What if students actually paid less than half the list price? In fact, that&#8217;s what the majority of students do. And that&#8217;s how these schools wind up being highlighted for providing good bang for the buck. Princeton&#8217;s latest edition of its &#8220;Best Value Colleges&#8221; features 150 schools—75 private and 75 public. As you&#8217;d expect, the average cost at the public institutions is a fraction of their private counterparts. USA Today sums up the key data on all of the &#8220;best value&#8221; colleges here, showing not only the &#8220;sticker price,&#8221; but the actual price paid by the average student: Their total annual cost of attendance, including tuition and fees, room and board and books and supplies, averaged $19,500 for freshmen attending public universities in their home state, and $54,200 for those going to private schools. When freshman grants, including state, federal and institutional aid, are factored into the cost, the final tab drops to $10,600 at public universities and $21,700 at private universities. (MORE: 10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of College Financial Aid) Those are some serious Black Friday-type markdowns, especially for the private schools—the equivalent of about 60% off. While the recent failed flat pricing experiment from JCPenney is the latest example demonstrating how consumers just plain love sales—even if they obviously manipulate shoppers—the original and actual college pricing figures can be puzzling. Because almost no one pays full price, students and their families should essentially be disregarding published tuition rates. Which raises the question: Why do these published rates exist to begin with? Well, as mentioned, the inflated &#8220;sticker price&#8221; can make the discounted, post-grant rate seem like quite the deal to students who&#8217;d consider a pricey school off the table. Also, there is a portion of students from well-off families at every college that do indeed pay full price. Even<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=69814&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Cash Leaking Out of 401(k) Plans at Alarming Rate</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/23/cash-leaking-out-of-401k-plans-at-alarming-rate/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/23/cash-leaking-out-of-401k-plans-at-alarming-rate/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=67105</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The persistent problem of savers pulling money from their 401(k) plan has grown worse since the financial crisis, heightening concerns about the effectiveness of these plans as a retirement tool. One in four American workers with a 401(k) or other defined contribution plan tap their retirement account for current expenses, a new study shows. This “leakage” reached $70 billion in 2010, equal to nearly a quarter of all contributions that year. (MORE: Young Workers with a 401(k) Finally Get Diversified) Looking only at workers’ contributions (excluding employer matching funds), individuals are spending 40% of the money they put away for retirement, reports online financial firm HelloWallet. Among other findings: Penalized 401(k) withdrawals increased from $36 billion to almost $60 billion from 2004 to 2010. Workers in their 40s are most likely to breach their savings for nonretirement needs. 75% of those who cash-out their entire balance do so because of basic money-management problems. (MORE: How to Dump Your Fee-Filled 401(k)) Money leaks out of 401(k) plans before retirement in three basic ways: hardship withdrawals, loans that do not get repaid and cash-outs when workers switch jobs. All these have the effect of greatly reducing workers’ retirement security. Thirty years ago, most workers had a guaranteed pension at retirement; today, the $3.5 trillion in self-directed 401(k) and other defined-contribution plans is the primary retirement account of most Americans. The issue is so concerning that experts are looking for reasonable alternatives to 401(k) plans. Some believe funds borrowed from a 401(k) should be insured. Workers who borrow from their plan and then lose their job must repay the loan. If they cannot, the loan is in default and treated as a distribution. This not only opens the worker to penalties, it permanently reduces their retirement account. Insurance would guarantee that a laid-off worker with such a loan would not lose their nest egg. Fidelity found in 2010 that a record 22% of 401(k)-plan participants had a loan outstanding and that the default rate on those loans was skyrocketing. Defaults on 401(k) loans account<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=67105&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Planning</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-planning/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/biz-401k-0123.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/biz-401k-0123.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">Dollar Bill</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d69b05e696e822e7e41ae630be72226a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<title>Flashpoint: Young Workers with a 401(k) Finally Get Diversified</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/18/flashpoint-young-workers-with-a-401k-finally-get-diversified/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/18/flashpoint-young-workers-with-a-401k-finally-get-diversified/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:00:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[401k]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[401k Savings]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=66948</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So much is made of young peoples’ inability to handle their money wisely that I thought I’d share some encouraging news. Those who have been in the workforce for just a few years and participate in a 401(k) plan are doing a bang-up job managing their retirement assets, new data show. Let’s be clear: Not enough young people who are eligible for a plan participate in one, and even those that do participate save only about 5% of their pre-tax income. Most advisers say that 10% is a minimum savings target. But twentysomethings finally seem to have got the message when it comes to the importance of owning stocks,  diversifying, and staying away from plan loans. 401(k) plans are now the most widespread employer-sponsored retirement vehicle in the U.S. At year-end 2011, some 51 million Americans were in a plan and they had total plan assets of $3.2 trillion, reports the Employee Benefit Research Institute. It’s critical that all workers handle this kitty with care—but especially so with young people who in retirement are less likely to have a traditional pension or be able to get by on Social Security benefits. (MORE: Mario Draghi: The Man Who Would Save Europe) So it’s heartening to learn that young workers are exposed to stocks and allocating assets in a sensible way. Studies show that asset allocation is more critical to portfolio performance than securities selection. Meanwhile, 401(k) loans pose all sorts of problems and there is ample evidence that workers in their 40s and 50s misuse these loans. The good news here, EBRI reports, is that those on the job less than five years are less likely to have an outstanding 401(k) loan than every cohort up to near retirement age. Why are young people with 401(k) assets doing so well with their investment mix? There is no question that many have learned from the recent economic downturn; that they have a better understanding of what it will take to provide for their own financial security. They also seem to know what they don’t<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=66948&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/01/18/flashpoint-young-workers-with-a-401k-finally-get-diversified/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-education/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<title>Better Start Saving: U.S. Health Awesome &#8212; After Age 75</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/15/better-start-saving-u-s-health-awesome-after-age-75/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/15/better-start-saving-u-s-health-awesome-after-age-75/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:16:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retirement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=66559</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As if you needed another reason to save, retirees in the U.S. can expect to live longer than those in other advanced economies, a new report on health concludes. But hold the champagne. There’s precious little else in the findings to celebrate. American seniors benefit from lower cancer death rates and greater control of blood pressure and cholesterol levels, according to U.S. Health in International Perspective, a 378-page study by a panel of experts convened by the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council. Seniors also enjoy one of the world’s most technologically advanced health care systems, made more affordable through Medicare after age 65. (MORE: The Top Money New Year’s Resolutions for 2013) So all that advice about planning your finances as though you’ll live to 90 rings true. A 65-year-old couple has a 45% chance of at least one of them living that long. According to the report, Americans start outliving people in peer countries after the age of 75. The hard part, it seems, is getting to 75. When looking at life expectancy from birth, the U.S. is losing ground. A key finding was that Americans under 50 die earlier and live in poorer health than their counterparts in peer nations; and that they have far higher rates of death from guns, car accidents, and drug addiction. From the report: “For many years, Americans have been dying at younger ages than people in almost all other high-income countries. This disadvantage has been getting worse for three decades, especially among women. Not only are their lives shorter, but Americans also have a longstanding pattern of poorer health that is strikingly consistent and pervasive over the life course.” The health disadvantage is pervasive, affecting all age groups up to age 75. The authors also cite lifestyles that limit physical activity and poor eating habits, issues that cut across economic classes. (MORE: What’s Ailing America? New Report Finds U.S. Falls Behind International Peers in Health and Life Expectancy) Americans’ life expectancy has surged in the past 100 years. Today, an infant<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=66559&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Planning</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-planning/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>New Mortgage Rules: Protection From Banks, or Ourselves?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/10/new-mortgage-rules-protection-from-banks-or-ourselves/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/10/new-mortgage-rules-protection-from-banks-or-ourselves/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:30:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Borrowing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreclosures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=66354</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The federal government’s consumer watchdog will introduce new mortgage rules today. They are designed to protect homebuyers from big bad banks. But they are also about protecting consumers from themselves, which is a slippery slope. Post-financial crisis, it’s deemed too much to expect individuals to read and understand a mortgage document. Dozens of studies suggest we are a financially illiterate society; attempts to teach people about all manner of credit and personal financial matters have largely failed. For our own good, then, the government must mandate “plain vanilla” products that a child could understand. So the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is set to unveil standards for something called a “qualified mortgage.” If lenders meet certain criteria for simplicity and transparency, borrowers will have limited ability to sue for damages should things not work out. Basically, banks are being required to dumb down the process and make sure their clients can afford the loan. (MORE: Fiscal Cliff Aftermath: New Options for 401(k) Savers) Presumably, the new standards will take aim at things like verified income and a borrower’s debt ratio. The housing bubble was in part a product of banks’ willingness to lend without proof of income or with little concern for overall indebtedness. One likely result: To be a qualified mortgage, a borrower’s total monthly debt service could not exceed 43% of pre-tax income, reports the Wall Street Journal. And in most cases mortgage originators will be restricted from charging excessive upfront points and fees and offering loans that require balloon payments, reports the New York Times. The upshot is that the mortgage business is being funneled down a more conservative path, which is great for folks who can’t or don’t want to do their homework. That’s a lot of people, by the way. The CFPB, acting as directed by the Dodd-Frank financial-regulator overhaul of 2010, is doing these folks a genuine service. Yet this service has costs. It may smother innovative mortgages, like those that for a period charge interest-only or allow the principal balance to increase. Yes, such<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=66354&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-education/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Is Most Personal Finance Advice Useless? Author Exposes Industry&#8217;s &#8216;Dark Side&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/10/is-most-personal-finance-advice-useless-author-exposes-industrys-dark-side/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/10/is-most-personal-finance-advice-useless-author-exposes-industrys-dark-side/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:00:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work/Life Balance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=66178</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[According to a new book digging into the curious history and modern-day big business of personal finance, much of the advice doled out by &#8220;experts&#8221; in books, on Oprah Winfrey&#8216;s couch, and on their own TV shows is simplistic, misleading, contradictory, or otherwise useless. Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, and Jim Cramer are among the boldface-name financial gurus who are skewered in Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, the new book by Helaine Olen, a New York City-based journalist and former personal finance columnist herself. The book was recently described by the New York Times as &#8220;a take-no-prisoners examination of the ways she says we have been scared, misled or bamboozled by those purporting to help us achieve financial security.&#8221; Below, Olen answers our queries about her new book, the state of financial literacy, and the worst personal finance advice she&#8217;s ever heard, among other things: TIME: Many of the critiques in the book concerning personal finance gurus involve the way they spread the (unfair) message that basically says: If you&#8217;re not rich, it&#8217;s your own damn fault. Look in the mirror rather than blaming the economy, health emergencies, job layoffs, or any outside circumstances. But sometimes, isn&#8217;t it largely the individual&#8217;s fault that he or she is deeply in debt or hasn&#8217;t saved a penny for retirement? What about the people whose closets are overflowing with rarely or never-worn clothes, and the families with smartphone bills over $300 a month? Helaine Olen: Our salaries are stagnating or falling, and our net worth plunged by 40% between 2007 and 2010. That didn’t happen because people had a $300 a month smartphone bill. Give me a break. Are there financially irresponsible people out there? Of course there are. Always have been, always will be. But if we are going to tell people to look in the mirror, we need to take a hard look at the precariousness of American life and the predatory nature of our financial institutions as well. (MORE: Why More Americans Will Fall Behind<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=66178&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Personal Finance</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/ap050705016470.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/ap050705016470.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/ap050705016470.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">AP050705016470</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Can Electronic Cigarettes Challenge Big Tobacco?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/01/08/can-electronic-cigarettes-challenge-big-tobacco/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/01/08/can-electronic-cigarettes-challenge-big-tobacco/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh Sanburn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Legal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=64696</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A curious television commercial aired across the U.S. last month that, until its final few seconds, was indistinguishable from an ad for cigarettes — even though such advertising has been banned from broadcast TV for four decades. In the television spot, the “cigarette” smoke, ash tip and flame look real. The carton looks authentic. The man smoking it looks satisfied. The smoke, however, is vapor. The ash tip, plastic. The flame, simulated. The &#8220;cigarette&#8221; is a so-called electronic cigarette — in this case, an NJOY King, the first smokeless, nicotine-delivering, cigarette-like object that (at least according to its manufacturer) looks and feels and &#8220;smokes&#8221; like the real thing. Television commercials for NJOY Kings began running nationally in early December, making it the first smoking ad to run since Jan. 1, 1971, when Virginia Slims ran one final commercial a minute before the midnight deadline during The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. (President Nixon had signed legislation banning cigarette ads on TV and radio the year before.) (MORE: Why Santa Claus Was a No-Show at Many Malls Last Year) E-cigarettes, invented in 2003, currently account for less than 1% of the $80 billion U.S. cigarette market. But they are growing rapidly: UBS projects that sales, which have doubled every year since 2008, will reach $1 billion in 2013. Numbers like that have put Big Tobacco on notice. &#8220;Consumption of e-cigs may overtake traditional cigarettes in the next decade,&#8221; predicts Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog. &#8220;And they&#8217;ll only evolve and improve as time goes forward — at far less risk. The technology portion of it is sort of like Apple. This is just Version 1.&#8221; The Birth of the E-Cigarette If e-cigarettes do start to take significant market share away from traditional cigarette makers, they’ll likely be led by NJOY, which has captured about a third of the e-cigarette market. The company was founded in 2006 by patent lawyer Mark Weiss, who had discovered an electronic cigar while traveling through China the year before. The technology was crude, but Weiss saw a business opportunity. Four years later, his brother Craig, also<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=64696&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Economics</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/economics-economy-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/biz-njoy-cigarette-1219.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">image: NJOY electronic cigarettes</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">jsanburn</media:title>
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