Percentage of U.S. workers who regularly attend after-work drinks with co-workers who say they bad-mouthed a colleague, according to a survey for CareerBuilder.com: 16

Percentage who kissed a colleague: 8

Percentage who confessed to singing karaoke: 4

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of American teens who agree that the Olympics help to build a better and more peaceful world, according to a study conducted by Harris Interactive: 62

Percentage of teens interested in the Olympics who agree that the Games are about more than merely medals and marketing: 71

Source: Harris Interactive.

At the end of four years, the expense of keeping a 2003 6-cylinder, 4-door sedan that gets 21 miles per gallon (mpg) -- includes costs of fuel, license, registration, taxes, insurance, maintenance and tires, according to Runzheimer International: $16,548

With a resale value of $3,759, the total four-year cost: $12,789

At the end of four years, the expense of buying a new 6-cylinder, 4-door sedan with 23.5 mpg that costs $23,451 with a down payment of $10,158 -- the trade-in value of the older car -- and includes the car payment, interest on the car loan, fuel, license, registration, taxes, insurance, maintenance and tires: $32,258

With a resale value of $8,575, the total four-year expense: $23,683

Over the four-year period, the difference in the savings between keeping a car and buying a new one: $10,894

Source: Car Care Council.

Estimated number of Americans who move to a new location every year, according to research conducted by the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing: 40 million

Percentage of adults who admit to feeling some level of anxiety about moving: 70

Percentage who say they "dread it completely": 35

Source: CTAM.

Percentage of Americans ages 18 to 39 who say they have credit card debt, according to Employee Benefit Research Institute: 63

Percentage who have a car debt: 48

Percentage who have a student loan debt: 31

Percentage who have medical debt: 27

Source: EBRI.

Estimated number of U.S. workers who telecommute at least once a week, according to a CCH nationwide survey: 22 million

Percentage of U.S. companies that offer telecommuting programs: 53

Percentage of employers who offer a compressed work week option: 45

Source: Wolters Kluwer Law and Business CCH.

Ranks of online training (60 percent), video conferencing (52 percent) and collaborative-workspace software (43 percent) as the most popular responses made by chief information officers when asked which tools their firms currently use or anticipate using, according to Robert Half Technology: 1, 2, 3

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Percentage of car shoppers who say they have made changes to further the betterment of the environment, according Kelley Blue Book Marketing Research study: 75

Ranks of recycling (54 percent), cutting back on driving (46 percent) and purchasing a fuel-efficient car (31 percent) as the top lifestyle changes mentioned: 1, 2, 3

Source: Kelley Blue Book.

Estimated number of homes in the U.S. that were sold to foreign nationals from May 2007 to May 2008, according to the 2008 National Association of Realtors: 150,000 to 190,000

Cost of a single-family vacation home purchased by the typical international buyer: $297,400

Length of time that the typical international owner stayed at his or her U.S. property during the year: 2.6 months

Source: National Association of Realtors.

Idle Thought

"Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love." -- David McCullough

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

Percentage of employees who say they "would never dream of asking for a pay raise," according to a study conducted by Ceridian for Online Recruitment: 16

Percentage of workers 34 years of age or younger who say they would be comfortable asking for a pay raise: 19

Percentage of workers 34 years of age and older who say they would be comfortable asking for a pay raise: 81

Source: Ceridian.

Ranks of firefighter, scientist, doctor, nurse and teacher on the list of the most prestigious occupations, according to a Harris Poll: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Ranks of real estate agent/broker, stock broker, banker, accountant and entertainer on the list of the least prestigious occupations: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Harris Interactive.

Number of times higher that the desire to emigrate is in countries at the bottom quartile in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) worldwide than in countries in the top quartile in GDP, according to the Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008: 2

Percentage emigration rate among college graduates in Belize: 51

Estimated emigration rate of college graduates in Guyana, Jamaica and Haiti: 80

Source: Gallup.

Projected average percentage merit pay increases that U.S. employers are planning to give their employees in 2009, according to a report by Watson Wyatt Worldwide: 3.5

Percentage average increase for employees whose performance ratings exceed expectations: 4.4

Percentage average increase for employees who far exceed expectations: 6

Source: Watson Wyatt Worldwide.

Average age at which college students reported that they took responsibility for their own finances, according to a survey by Higher One: 18.8

Source: Higher One.

Percentage of female workers who say they feel that they are paid less than counterparts of the opposite sex with the same skills and qualifications, according to the "Workplace Equality" survey from CareerBuilder.com: 34

Percentage of men who say they feel they are paid less than their female counterparts: 11

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of companies that anticipate a serious loss of talent and institutional know-how with the retirement of baby boomers, but currently do not have any steps in place to mitigate this loss, according to a survey of senior HR executives in North America by Novations Group: 18

Percentage of companies who don't expect an unusually large loss of talent with baby boomer retirements: 36

Source: Novations Group Inc.

In order to attract and retain proven corporate leaders, percentage of companies that are offering non-compete agreements, according to a survey of business leaders conducted by ExecuNet: 65

Percentage who are offering guaranteed severance: 44

Percentage who are offering stock options/equity: 51

Percentage who are promising a performance bonus: 80

Source: ExecuNet.

Percentage of leisure travelers who embarked on a last-minute trip last year, according to the 2008 Ypartnership/Yankelovich National Leisure Travel MONITOR: 33

Average number of days in advance of their departure that travelers planned late-breaking trips: 15

Ranks of Friday and Saturday as the most popular days that the majority of last-minute bookers favor as departure days: 1, 2

Source: Ypartnership Public Relations.

Percentage of Americans who say they do a better job of saving and protecting their money than their parents, according to a survey from ING and conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs: 58

Percentage who say they do a better job saving and protecting money than their friends and acquaintances: 65

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Idle Thought

"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value." -- Albert Einstein

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600

Percentage of 18-year-olds to 29-year-olds who see themselves as a career hourly worker, according to a survey for SnagAJob.com: 40

Percentage who consider themselves a career salaried worker: 41

Percentage of working Americans who are now paid by the hour, according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics: 59

Source: SnagAJob.com.

When Americans were asked if they could choose a vacation in any country in the world outside the United States without having to worry about the cost, the rank of Italy as the most popular choice: 1

Ranks of Australia, Great Britain, France and Ireland on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5

Percentage who say they would not go anywhere outside the United States: 6

Source: Harris Interactive.

Value of the coffee market (inclusive of both retail and food-service sales) in 2007, according to an updated study from Packaged Facts: $44 billion

Percentage of coffee sales in 2007 that were accounted for by food-service venues: 87

Percentage of the retail market commanded by premium packaged versions of recognizable food-service brands, such as Seattle's Best, Starbucks and Peet's, according to indications thus far for 2008: 30

Source: Packaged Facts.

Percentage of young Americans 18 years old to 34 years old who say they are facing growing financial stress, according to research conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for the Qvisory 2008 Greenberg survey: 55

Percentage of young people who report having gone deeper in debt over the past year: 73

Percentage who say they are paying only their minimum monthly amount on their credit card: 51

Source: Qvisory.

Estimated annual costs associated with common pain conditions and lost productivity due to musculoskeletal disorders such as tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, according to a study by Fellowes: $61.2 billion

Source: GolinHarris.

Percentage of U.S. drinkers who cited beer as their preferred beverage, according to the results of Gallup's annual Consumption Habits Poll: 42

Percentage who said wine is their preference: 31

Percentage who preferred liquor: 23

Source: Gallup.

Percentage increase in the number of "microborrowers" (people involved in the field of "microfinance," which serves those with very low incomes) worldwide in 2006, according to the latest Vital Signs Update released by the Worldwatch Institute: 17

Average microloan size worldwide: $1,026

Estimated value of the portfolio: $13.5 billion

Percentage of the people who lived on $2 or less per day in 2001 that today's 133 million microborrowers represent: 5

Source: WorldWatch Institute.

Percentage of international business travelers who say they are allowed to fly business class for long-haul flights: 56

Of the 44 percent who are not, percentage who say their company policy has changed in the past year: 10

Percentage of companies that say the area in which they are most limiting or keeping an eye on spending is air travel: 32

Source: Orbitz.

Percentage of CFOs who said that interpersonal abilities are the most important communication skill for financial professionals, according to an Accountemps survey: 50

Percentage who cited presentation/public speaking ability as the most important: 17

Percentage who said that negotiation skills are the most important: 16

Percentage who said writing ability: 12

Source: Robert Half International.

Number of the approximately 87 million Americans living in rental housing who do not have insurance to cover their belongings in case of loss, according to a survey by Allstate: 50 million

Percentage of renters who say the reason for not having purchased rental insurance is that they haven't made time to look into it: 43

Source: Allstate Insurance Company.

Idle Thought

"Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn't look up. Well, maybe once." -- Isaac Asimov

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111; (816) 932-6600