Breaking Financial News

A Two Part Series on Marriage and Divorce Rates in the Current Economy

Part Two, Mad Men: The Mancession and Marriage

As discussed in Part I, the recession has had a marked effect not only on American lives, but on the state of American marriage, and the results can be somewhat surprising. In this section, we will briefly review the effect of recent job losses on men and marriage.

Many have termed the Great Recession the “mancession” because the brunt of the job losses have fallen on male workers. According to statistics reported in the National Marriage Project Report, The State of Our Unions, Marriage in America 2009: Money & Marriage, 75% of job losses have fallen on the male portion of the workforce, particularly poor and working class men.

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Tags: Part, Part Ii

Here are three newly-published books that would make great gifts:

Common Sense on Mutual Funds – Fully Updated 10th Anniversary Edition
by John Bogle

I have been (slowly) reviewing this book chapter-by-chapter because it’s almost like a textbook for common sense investing. John Bogle is a great guy and is definitely on the side of the investor. This book—despite its size—is easy-to-read and interesting. It would be great for both a young person with limited understanding of personal finance and an older person who needs a kick in the pants to get started.

The Bogleheads’ Guide to Retirement Planning

This book is a follow-up to The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing.

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Tags: Books, Books Give

This change, like so many others, has been a long time coming. After a decade of work by anti-smoking advocates, on December 10th, Michigan sent a bill banning smoking in most workplaces to Governor Jennifer Granholm for her signature. Following in the timeworn footsteps of states like California, which placed a statewide ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces in 1995, Michigan becomes the 38th state to ban smoking in public places and workplaces. According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, as of October 2009, 71% of the U.S. population lives under a ban on smoking in “workplaces, and/or restaurants, and/or bars, by either a state, commonwealth, or local law.”

This bill, actively opposed by restaurant and bar owners, will ban smoking in bars, restaurants and all other workplaces with one exception. Afraid of loosing gamblers to nearby Indian casinos, casino owners managed to push through an exemption to the smoking ban for the gaming floor of a casino. Rationally, smoking will still be banned in the nearby casino restaurant or bar.

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Tags: Ban

The City of Penticton (“Penticton”) was successful in obtaining an order declaring that it was an insured under a policy of insurance issued by AXA Pacific Insurance Co. (“AXA”) and that AXA was liable under that policy to indemnify the City against all costs and expenses incurred by the City in defending four actions (the “MVA Claims”) arising from a motor vehicle accident which occurred at an intersection under construction.

Penticton (City) v. AXA Pacific Insurance Co., [2009] B.C.J. No. 2021, October 14, 2009, British Columbia Supreme Court, K.M. Ker J.

A MVA occurred at an intersection under construction by Peters Bros. Construction Ltd.

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