Data & Research May 13, 2009

U.S. Can't Get No Satisfaction

Need happiness? Move to Canada, or better yet, Denmark.
Reported by

Northern European countries are the happiest countries, according to a report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). The report looks at how satisfied people are with their lives, using data collected from Gallup in 140 countries around the world.

Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands ranked at the top of the list. The U.S. didn’t make it into the top 10, but Canada did.

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So why aren’t we happier? One trait that played a role that some might say the U.S. is not known for: work-life balance. The average workweek in Scandinavian countries is 37 hours, even though they have a high GDP per capita, according to a look at the results published in Forbes.

GDP per capita also made a difference, Forbes found. While the global economic crisis is getting everyone down, the countries that scored at the top still boast some of the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world.

Unemployment also mattered. Forbes noted that Denmark’s unemployment rate is just 2%, compared to 9% in the U.S.

The top 10 happiest countries, according to the report, are:

  1. Denmark
  2. Finland
  3. Netherlands
  4. Sweden
  5. Ireland
  6. Canada
  7. Switzerland
  8. New Zealand
  9. Norway
  10. Belgium.

 

 

 

 

Products May 13, 2009

Want Gold in Your IRA?

Spyker Consulting, Inc., an international bullion brokerage firm, said it offers individual retirement account (IRA) services for qualified investors seeking to have gold, silver, platinum, or palladium in their retirement accounts.
Reported by

“There are billions of dollars in IRA accounts, many of which are down in value significantly over the past few years,” said JM Schuler, chief analyst at Spyker Consulting, in a news release. “We have found investors to be desperately searching for ways to put some of this money into tangible assets, and, at the same time recoup some of their losses in the equities markets.”

Spyker Consulting, Inc. has chosen Sterling Trust Company to be the bank of record and administrator of the IRA programs. Sterling is one of very few banks allowed to offer precious metals in IRAs, Spyker said.

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Schuler said gold and silver are historic hedges against inflation and currency value erosion. “While precious metals may not be for everyone, we can see a percentage of client assets invested for the long term in this historically proven manner,” he said … This service allows them to participate in the best performing asset class of the decade while protecting their portfolios from further, possible stock market deterioration.”

 

More information is available at www.spykermetals.com or www.spykermetalsnews.com.

 

 

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