Global billionaire population today, according to Wealth-X: 2,325

Number of new billionaires added in 2014, a 7 percent rise from 2013: 155

Rank of Europe as the world leader in terms of billionaire population and billionaire wealth: 1

Number of billionaires in Europe: 775

Billionaire wealth in Europe: $2.37 trillion

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of workers who check personal email at least once a week while on the job, according to a Ricoh Americas Corp. online survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Ricoh: 76

Percentage who take personal calls: 61

Percentage who text using a mobile phone: 67

Source: Ricoh Americas Corp.

Percentage of senior marketing executives at business-to-business and business-to-consumer organizations across North America who view customer centricity as critical to the success of their business and role at the company, according to research from SAP SE: 73

Percentage of marketers who say that customer centricity is ranked high within their organization: 14

Source: SAP SE.

Rank of doctors, military officers, firefighters, scientists and nurses on the list of occupations that U.S. adults consider to have either a great deal of prestige or to have prestige, according to a Harris Poll: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Though only 40 percent of Americans consider accounting prestigious, percentage who would encourage a child to become an accountant: 78

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of brides who said they would make a few "minor adjustments" to the proposal if they could, according to David's Bridal's eighth annual "What's on Brides' Minds" survey: 53

Percentage who would have changed the location: 22

Percentage of the women who wished the speech had been different: 20

Source: David's Bridal Inc.

Percentage growth of the affluent population in the United States since 2013 ("affluents" defined as adults aged 18 or more living in households with at least $100,000 in annual household income), according to an Ipsos survey: 8

Number of additional affluent adults this represents compared to a year ago, all earning and spending at the same or greater levels: 5 million

Total number of adults in this segment of the population: 67.5 million

Percentage of U.S. households in this category: 23

Source: Ipsos Affluent Survey.

Cost to Americans of damaged iPhones since their introduction in 2007, according to the results of a study by SquareTrade: $10.7 billion

Estimated amount Americans have spent on repairs, replacements and insurance deductibles for cracked, dropped, submerged and water-damaged devices in the last seven years, including iPhones: $23.5 billion

Source: SquareTrade.

Percentage of workers who reported they have felt bullied at work, according to a CareerBuilder study: 28

Percentage of these workers who left their jobs because of it: 19

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Americans who said that it is acceptable to use a cellphone while walking down the street, according to research by TheStreet Inc.: 65

Percentage of respondents who say that it is OK to be on a phone while checking out at a supermarket or retail store: 34

Source: TheStreet Inc.

Percentage of chief information officers and IT decision makers who believe that all data generated has value if the organization is able to store, access and analyze it optimally, according to a survey commissioned by enterprise storage leader HGST: 86

Percentage of respondents who admit they are not storing all available data, keeping them from unlocking its full value: 48

Source: HGST.

IDLE THOUGHT

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." -- George Orwell

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

581-7323

Nationwide, number of times more that the typical oceanfront or lakefront single-family home is worth than the median value of all homes, according to an analysis by Zillow: 2.16

Estimated value of the median single-family home: $171,600

Estimated value of the median waterfront house: $370,900

Source: Zillow.

Ranks of doctors, military officers, firefighters, scientists and nurses on the list of occupations that U.S. adults consider to have either "a great deal of prestige" or to "have prestige" according to a Harris Poll: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Though 40 percent of Americans consider accounting prestigious, percentage who would encourage a child to become an accountant: 78

Source: Harris Interactive.

Year of the first fatality in the U.S. involving an automobile, occurring when Henry Bliss stepped off a streetcar at Central Park West and 74th Street in New York and was run over by an almost silent electric taxi, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1899

In 1990, estimated number of drivers, passengers and pedestrians who were killed on the nation's roads: 45,000

In 2011, estimated number of people killed, despite the increase in the number of vehicles on the road: 31,000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Rank of the yacht Eclipse, valued at $1 billion and owned by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, on the list of the world's most expensive super yachts, according to Wealth-X: 1

Length of the yacht: 536 feet

Number of guest cabins: 24

Number of swimming pools: 2

Approximate number of crew members that are needed to operate the yacht and serve its guests: 70

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of all motor vehicle crashes now estimated to involve the use of cellphones, according to the National Safety Council: 26

Estimated percentage of cellphone-related crashes that involve texting: 5

Percentage that involve drivers talking on handheld or hands-free cellphones: 21

Rank of motor vehicle crashes on the list of the leading causes of death for teens: 1

Annual cost of unintentional injuries: $790 billion

Source: National Safety Council.

Rank of Detroit on the list of cities with the most expensive car insurance in the nation, according to an InsuranceQuotes.com examination of the 25 largest U.S. metropolitan areas: 1

Percentage above the national average that drivers in Detroit pay for car insurance: 165

Source: InsuranceQuotes.com.

Number of public holidays that workers in India and Colombia enjoy, the most of any country, according to Mercer: 18

Ranks of Lebanon, South Korea and Thailand on the list with 16 public holidays: 3 (tie)

Number of public holidays for workers in Mexico, the fewest: 7

Number of public holidays for workers in the U.K., Hungary and the Netherlands, the second lowest public holiday allowance: 8

Source: Mercer.

Percentage of family caregivers (one who takes care of a family member or friend, but is unpaid for his or her services) who spend more than $5,000 per year on caregiving expenses, according to a Caring.com report: 46

Percentage of family caregivers who spend more than $10,000 per year on caregiving expenses: 30

Percentage of caregivers who spend more than 30 hours per week on caregiving (almost the equivalent of a full-time job): 33

Source: Caring.com.

Percentage of Americans who favor using federal money to expand preschool programs in order to make sure high-quality programs are available for every child in America, according to a Gallup poll: 70

Source: Gallup.

Ranks of Montana, Oregon and South Carolina on the list of states that Americans indicate have the most fair tax systems, according to research by WalletHub on the Most & Least Fair State Tax Systems: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of Washington, Hawaii and Arkansas on the list of states that Americans indicate have the least fair tax systems: 1, 2, 3

Source: WalletHub.

Idle Thought

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -- William Butler Yeats

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

Current level of student debt, now greater than credit card and car loan obligations, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York: $1.1 trillion

While U.S. jobs are paying an average of 23 percent less since 2008, percentage rise in the overall cost of a degree from a four-year public school, according to research by Crown Financial Ministries: 27

Source: Crown.

Percentage of America's children under the age of 18 who live with at least one grandparent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 10

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of men who admit to viewing porn while their bosses assume they are busy working, according to a survey by Proven Men Ministries and conducted by Barna Group: 63

Percentage of women who are also sneaking a peak at porn while on the job: 36

Source: Proven Men Ministries Ltd.

Average number of resumes that advertising and marketing executives say they receive for every open creative position, according to a national survey developed by The Creative Group: 23

Average number of applicants they interview before filling the position: 6

Source: The Creative Group.

Percentage of postsecondary students who report they still have a lot to learn about managing finances, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos Reid: 87

Percentage of students who particularly indicate that they wish they knew how much all the "little extras" cost: 42

Percentage who wish they knew more about budgeting: 41

Source: Ipsos Reid Public Affairs.

As of July 2014, percentage of all employed people, or nearly 6.8 million Americans, who worked more than one job, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics: 4.6

Since the recession's official end in June 2009, the average monthly number of this group -- about a half-million below the average during the 2001-07 expansion, and nearly 800,000 below the 1994-99 average: 7 million

Source: Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends.

Percentage of men who have urinated in a bush or tree in a non-residential area, compared with 36 percent of women, according to a Yougov.com survey: 71

Percentage of both sexes who have gone in the sea: 41

Source: YouGov.

Number of minutes of media consumed per day before children's grades, sleep, social skills and emotional balance start to decline, according to findings by The Learning Habit: 45 minutes

After four hours per day, percentage of children in middle school who receive A's in mathematics and English language arts: 1

After four hours of screen time, number of times longer it takes children to fall asleep than children with limited media use: 20

Source: Good Parent Inc.

Percentage of millennials who do not have a credit card, according to a Bankrate.com report: 63

Percentage of adults 30 and over who have zero credit cards in their wallets: 35

Of those millennials with credit cards, percentage who pay their entire balance every month, compared to 53 percent of adults 30 and older: 40

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of "Generation Z" teens (ages 13 to 17) who indicate that homeownership is the most important factor in achieving the American Dream, according to the findings of a national study by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate: 82

Ranks of graduating from college, getting married and having children on the list of what constitutes the American Dream for 89 percent of Gen Z teens: 2, 3, 4

Percentage of respondents who would be willing to give up social media for a year if it meant getting their ideal home in the future: 53

Percentage who would do twice as much homework every night: 53

Percentage who would take their mom or dad to the prom: 39

Source: Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC.

Idle Thought

"I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun." -- Katharine Hepburn

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