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.)

Average reading grade level at which most credit card agreements are written, according to a new CreditCards.com report: 11th

Approximate percentage of consumers who read at a ninth-grade level or below: 50

Average number of words in a credit card agreement, which takes a typical adult about 20 minutes to read: 4,900

Percentage of credit card holders who "never" or "hardly ever" read the legal agreements that come with their cards: 46

Source: CreditCards.com.

Percentage of employees who have applied to between three and nine jobs in the last six months, according to Nielsen's Home Entertainment Consumer Trends report: 29

Percentage of employees who feel every job is temporary: 43

Percentage of employees who feel changing jobs will increase compensation: 57

Source: ManpowerGroup.

Date that a Domino's franchise in Auckland, New Zealand, delivered a pizza via drone, according to research by YouGov: Aug. 25, 2016

According to a poll from YouGov, percentage of Americans aged 18 and older who think drones are capable of delivering pizza without a hitch: 35

More specifically, percentage of people who trust that a drone will actually let go of the food when it's supposed to: 32

Source: YouGov.

Percentage of Americans who voted for the same person as their partner in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, according to an Ipsos survey: 64

This year, percentage of independents who believe they will vote for the same person as their partner: 56

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of Americans who believe income from investments should be taxed at least as much as wages, according to the 2016 Tax Fairness Survey by WalletHub: 90

Percentage of respondents who view tax fairness as more important than whatever is best for the economy (22.6 percent) and tax equality (20.6 percent): 56.7

Ranks of taxes on wages and corporations on the list of the least fair taxes: 1, 2

Ranks of taxes on alcohol and tobacco on the list of the most fair taxes: 1, 2

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of employers who say two or more hours a day are lost in productivity because employees are distracted, according to a CareerBuilder Survey: 75

When looking for a culprit, percentage of employers who say that workers' mobile phones/texting are to blame: 55

Percentage of workers who have smartphones: 83

Percentage of those with smartphones who keep them within eye contact at work: 82

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of Americans who say they turn off lights, televisions or other appliances when not in use in order to improve energy efficiency at home, according to results of a Harris Poll: 75

Percentage of Americans who are replacing incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs: 50

Percentage who are looking for the Energy Star label when replacing appliances: 47

Percentage who are using low-watt bulbs where lighting isn't critical: 46

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of total expenditures on course textbooks nationwide that goes toward print materials, according to data from Nielsen's U.S. Student Attitudes Towards Content in Higher Education report: 69

Source: Nielsen Analytics.

Percentage of people who say they buy or rent their home media content both physically and digitally, according to Nielsen's Home Entertainment Consumer Trends report: 41

Even though Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy five years ago, percentage of people who said they still buy or rent only physical discs: 20

Source: Nielsen Online.

Rank of road accidents on the list of the most prolific killers of tourists, even in countries that suffer from terrorism or violence, according to research by the Global Wellness Institute: 1

For the United States, number of times more that the domestic homicide rate exceeds the rate of Americans killed while traveling abroad for tourism purposes (last year, 4 per 100,000 vs. 0.2 per 100,000): 20

Source: Global Wellness Institute.

Idle Thought

"Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong." -- Leo Buscaglia

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

Year that the city of Berkeley, California, passed a soda tax, according a report by the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley: 2014

Four months later, percentage drop in self-reported consumption of soda -- with residents also reported to be drinking more water: 21

Source: University of California, San Diego Extension.

During the second quarter 2016, amount of credit card debt racked up by U.S. consumers -- the largest second-quarter accumulation since at least 1986, according to the personal-finance website WalletHub: $34.4 billion

Average indebted household's balance: $7,817

Projected amount we are now on track to surpass in outstanding balances by the end of 2016: $1 trillion

Source: WalletHub.

Cost to health-care systems worldwide of physical inactivity (defined by the World Health Organization as not meeting its recommendation of 150 minutes per week per adult of moderate intensity physical activity), according to a study reported in The Lancet: $53.8 billion

Of this cost, amount that was paid by the public sector: $31.2 billion

Amount paid by the private sector: $12.9 billion

Amount paid by households: $9.7 billion

Estimated productivity losses caused by physical inactivity-related deaths: $13.7 billion

Source: Global Wellness Institute.

Median household income for families with two full-time working parents and at least one child under 18 at home: $102,400

Median income for households where the father works full time and the mother works part time: $84,000

Median income for households where the father works full time and the mother is not employed: $55,000

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Percentage of college costs in 2015-16 that were paid for with scholarships and grants, according to a national study from Sallie Mae: 34

Ranks of parent income and savings (29 percent), student borrowing (13 percent), student income and savings (12 percent), parent borrowing (7 percent) and contributions from relatives and friends (5 percent) on the list of ways used to cover the cost of attendance: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage increase in over-the-top (i.e., internet-based) video service adoption among U.S. broadband households since 2014, according to data from Parks Associates: 12

Percentage growth in password sharing over that same time: 8

Ranks of Netflix, WWE Network, Hulu and MLB.TV on the list of OTT video services with the highest percentage of the population willing to recommend the service to others: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Parks Associates.

Percentage of Americans who agree that the U.S. has come a long way toward reaching gender equality, according to results of a Harris Poll: 75

Percentage who acknowledge that, compared to previous generations, men today are willing to take on more responsibilities at home: 86

Percentage of U.S. adults who believe the next decade will see more female leaders: 91

Percentage who say they will have higher income potential: 65

Source: The Harris Poll.

Percentage of working adults in the U.S. who say that their workplace has a positive impact on their health, according to a NPR, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll: 26

Percentage who say it has a negative impact on their health: 16

Percentage who say that it has a negative impact on their stress levels: 43

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In China, percentage by which a government plan hopes to reduce its citizens' meat consumption, according to data from Global Footprint Network: 50

Number of tons this is calculated to lower the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from China's livestock industry by 2030: 1 billion

Source: Global Footprint Network.

Idle Thought

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it." -- Henry Ford

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