Percentage of respondents who hid a purchase, bank account statement, bill or cash from their partner or spouse, according to a survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of the National Endowment for Financial Education: 39
Percentage who said they had discussed finances with their spouse/partner and they knew he/she would disapprove: 30
Percentage who were embarrassed/fearful about their finances and didn't want their spouse/partner to find out: 25
Source: The Harris Poll.
Percentage of non-retired Americans who plan to work as long as possible during retirement, according to a Bankrate.com report: 70
Percentage who say they have no plans to work during retirement: 25
Of those who plan to work as long as possible during retirement, percentage who are planning to work because they like to work: 38
Percentage who plan to work because they need the money: 35
Source: Bankrate.com.
Amount that American women earn on the dollar compared with men, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly wages that includes full- and part-time workers: 83 cents
Among workers ages 25 to 34, amount women earn on the dollar compared with men: 91 cents
Estimated amount more that college graduates ages 25 to 34 working full time in 2015 earned annually than employed young adults holding only a high school diploma: $20,000
Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Percentage of respondents who believe that "aliens exist and they live in our midst disguised as humans," according to a Reuters poll of 23,000 adults in 22 countries: 20
Percentage of respondents living in China and India who reported positive responses to that statement: 40
Percentage of Belgians, Swedes and Dutch who reported positive responses: 8
Source: Reuters.
Estimated percentage of family caregivers (one who takes care of a family member or friend, but is unpaid for their services) who spend $5,000 or more per year on caregiving expenses, according to a Caring.com report: 40
Ranks of food and clothing, transportation, and medications and other medical costs on the list of the most common out-of-pocket expenses for family caregivers: 1, 2, 3
Source: Care.com.
In the United States, estimated number of workers using illegal drugs, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and reported by Convergex: 17 million
Average expenditure on illegal drugs per person each year for the entire U.S. population, according to the RAND Drug Policy Research Center for the U.S. White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: $300
Source: Convergex.
Percentage of the roughly 30 international ambassadors polled who named trade and investment, international security, terrorism and international rule of law as the issues most important in the context of their country's relationship with the United States, according to The Ipsos Poll conducted for The Hill and Washington Diplomat: 90
Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.
Percentage of Americans who believe children should receive an allowance for completing chores, according to the Country Financial Security Index: 68
Of the people currently providing kids with an allowance, percentage who do so to teach their children money needs to be earned: 54
Percentage who wanted to teach their kids the value of money: 22
Source: Country Financial.
Percentage of workers who consider non-traditional job titles such as "chief happiness officer" unprofessional, according to the WorkSphere survey from Spherion Staffing: 25
Percentage who agreed that these more creative billings don't accurately capture what their job entails: 23
Source: Spherion.
Percentage of C-suite-level business leaders in the United States and United Kingdom who report that it is important for their organizations to achieve an increased level of digitization over the next five years, according to a white paper and survey report from North Highland: 83
Ranks of reducing costs, streamlining work and satisfying or engaging customers on the list of the three primary business goals driven by digitization: 1, 2, 3
Percentage of respondents who state that their IT department is primarily responsible for executing digitization: 67
Source: North Highland.
Idle Thought
"Truth is stranger than fiction; fiction has to make sense." -- Leo Rosten
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)