But many employers, though not having offered a raise in years, have offered some extra income that not nearly all of their employees make use of.

If the employee makes a contribution to their retirement plan, many employers offer to pay something also, often 50% of that amount, up to a certrain maximum, e.g. 6% of the employee's wage.

Quite a large number of employees don't make full use of such an offer, with a substantial percentage of their workforce making no use of it at all.

See my message on this topic over on the Kitchen Table forum. And, quite liely (dang computer - that was supposed to be "likely"), discussion, as that's a busy forum.

With regard to that error ... do you figure that we should "finger" the fingers??

ole joyful

I caught an interesting story as part of the Freakonomics Radio podcast series. Many people are lousy at saving but love to gamble. So this bank in South Africa came up with the idea of rather than paying every customer a few dollars in interest every month they would instead pool the interest earned and hold regular drawings for cash prizes. For example, every month 10 customers would win $1,000, 5 customers would win $2,500 and one customer would win $10,000. There was also an annual drawing for, say, $100,000. The program was wildly successful but the South African government determined that the bank's lottery was competing with the national lottery and shut them down.

For the same reasons, banks can't do it in America either. Although they did say some credit union was trying something similar in, I believe, Michigan.

But ... I think that I gained something like $10. - 14.00 several years ago via lottery tickets. A local gas provider offered a free lottery ticket for people who bought more than a specified amount of gas and, since they had the same gas and same price as other providers, I took advantage of that bonus.

Description of a government-operated lottery/casino: a voluntary tax on the stupid.

ole joyful

Definition of a (government-operated) lottery/casino: a vountary tax on the stupid.

That said ...

... recently a friend won over 3 million on a government-operateed lottery ...

... and he's a supporter of our third party, that's never been in government, but recently became the Official Opposition in our Federal government.

But it's another government that runs the lottery, in this province.

When I asked him whether he hired a limo, as many major winners do, to take him the 120 miles to the headquarters to pick up his winnings, he looked at me and grinned, then said, "You know me better than that, Ed - I drove my own car!".

They make a video of all the major winners, sometimes getting people dancing and laughing while they tell how they're going to buy a house for their Mom, take a vacation in Florida, etc.

When this guy quietly said that they'd share with his and his wife's brothers and sisters, give some to charities and political support and, since their house mortgage was paid off, invest the rest ... the interviewer told him that he was the worst interview that she'd ever had!

ole joyful

But now you're repeatedly bringing the topic up, as you do on other forums. Why?

If it's just to stir the Household Finances pot - well, most of us here actually do know how to manage retirement accounts with employer matching.

Take it easy mary c.

Sheesh.

If 10 people had seen it before, if they didn't remember ... when they opened it, no one twisted their arm to make them continue reading.

If two people had not, and found it useful ...

... some ground was gained, no?

If 85 of 100 know how to manage their retirement plans (which I doubt), fine.

If one or two hear and find it useful, then saves/gains a few dollars (plus gains ground regarding retirement funding ... and we're living longer, with fewer pensions, we need to remember) it seems to me to have been worthwhile.

o j

Retirement should be standard/common sense but many folks rather upgrade their big screen TV or mobile phone each year with latest versions vs. put some away in long term savings. Not much preaching to the group on here in my opinion as anyone who will go on a website to find ways to save or consider alternatives to how they manage finances would mean they are savvy or in the right direction.

Save To Win

What is Save to Win?
It's a very different Certificate of Deposit account now available at eight Michigan credit unions, including CACU. It is designed to making saving fun, allowing you to start with as little as $25 and then awarding you with chances to win cash prizes as your CD balance increases. You can deposit to your Save to Win CD as often as you want during the 12-month term. Each $25 increase in your Save to Win balance will give you a chance to win - up to 10 chances every month.

How do I open an account?
Simply contact a financial service representative at your participating credit union and request a 12-month Save to Win share certificate. Are you looking to join a great credit union with top-notch service? Communicating Arts Credit Union is the one to join! Call (800) 433-8780 for friendly assistance.

What are the prizes?
The real prize is the nice savings balance you will build as you make regular deposits to your Save to Win account each month. But to make things exciting, there's one annual grand prize of $100,000 that will be awarded in January 2012. All Save to Win account holders at participating credit unions in Michigan will be eligible for the grand prize. Plus, monthly cash prizes ranging from $15 to $400 will be awarded at each credit union union. A total of $5,000 annually in monthly prizes will be awarded at CACU!

How are prize entries calculated?
At the end of each month, our computer system will look at your Save to Win account balance and will automatically give you one prize entry for each $25 increase. For example, if you make $50 in Save to Win deposits during one month, you will receive two prize entries for that month. Those entries will also be added into the grand prize drawing, giving you additional chances to take home the $100,000!

Click here for Official Rules, including a list of participating Save to Win credit unions.

Including banks - several of which have, in your country, died in recent years. If small ones die - deposit insurance can cover ... but if a really big one dies ...

... good luck in being able to realize more than a pittance per dollar that they owed you.

ole joyful

Stocks AKA legalized gambling thanks to our politicians.

kinda sad.

Well ... many employers still offer to partially match a portion of their employees' contributions to a retirement account.

And many employees neglect to make use of that option.

Which, as I suggested earlier, is like turning down free money.

Which many still do.

ole joyful who, having reired about 15 years ago, doesn't have that option.

Didn't when I was working, either, as my employer didn't offer such contributions to retirement account.