Women, Retirement and Social SecurityWritten by Doris Dobkins
Which of following are reasons that Social Security is especially important to women:a) Women are less likely to have pensions when they retire. b) Women live longer than men, increasing chances of outliving their assets. c) Women have average lower lifetime earnings because of pay-inequity and time out of work force to care for family. d) All of above. The answer is d) all of above. Women are living well into eighties and many will spend more years in retirement than they ever did working. As you can imagine, this is placing a tremendous strain on Social Security system. One of best ways to be prepared for retirement is to prepare yourself. "Forty-two percent of all women over seventy-five are living on less than $13,000 a year, and when Baby-Boom women retire, only an estimated twenty percent of them will be financially secure" according to a special report titled "Why Most Women Can't Afford To Retire" in current issue of Ms. Magazine. It is estimated that only 20% of boomer women (born between 1946 and 1964 will be financially secure in retirement. Here's some wisdom for women planning for retirement: 1. Statistics show that 80% of women will need to take charge of their own finances at some point in time. It is important for them to fully understand their personal finances and investments. If you don't understand your finances, ask your husband to explain them to you, enroll in a class and your local community college or learning center or check out some financially related books from library. 2. It's never too soon to get started investing for retirement. The sooner you get started, longer you have to let your money work for you. Don't put off saving. Just $25 a week starting at age 35 could add up to $100,000 to your nest egg before retirement. Start now, automate process by having money automatically deducted from your paycheck before you have a chance to spend or even see it.
| | Discover THE Most Important Element of Your Web SiteWritten by Karon Thackston
There are so many ingredients that go into making a successful Web site. Layout, design, colors, graphics, photos, links and copy (text) are all included in mix. Do you know which of these is most important element? Believe it or not, copy!That's right. Copy is where your attention should fall first when designing a site. There are several reasons why this component requires special consideration. Let's look at three areas copy impacts and discover true bearing it has on your site and your visitors. GETS YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS First and foremost, copy on your Web site must get your message across to visitor. Its function is to provide information and/or sell a product or service, depending on purpose of your site. Photos can show products, but they can't make sale by themselves. Stop and think for a moment. Have you ever purchased anything based solely on a photo? The majority of customers will require details about a product or service before buying. Copy is bridge between indecision and purchase. DRAWS ATTENTION The headlines on your Web site draw more attention than graphics or photos. Stanford University, in conjunction with The Poynter Institute, recently completed a four-year study that proved importance of text over graphics on Web sites. (See www.poynter.org/eyetrack2000/body.htm) According to this research 'readers of print newspapers looked first at lead art element on a newspaper page and then moved their eyes to biggest headline.' However, study continues with, 'Web site readers tend to look first and most intently at plain text, passing lightly over photos and images'. Contrary to popular belief, copy on your site gets attention from visitor before other elements.
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