Products November 17, 2009

Schwab Spruces Up Education Web Site

Charles Schwab has expanded content on its educational Web site for consumers.

Reported by

Schwab said the site (www.SchwabMoneywise.com) now offers more information, tools, and resources to benefit a variety of different consumers at different levels of financial sophistication.

The company said it has added more than 250 pages to the site, which not includes:

  • A Money Basics section, which covers fundamentals such as goal setting; budgeting; calculating personal net worth; managing credit and debt; saving and getting started on investing; as well as understanding health insurance and disability, long-term care, and life insurance; retirement and estate planning; income taxes; and the different types of financial accounts.
  • A Life Events section, which provides information about important financial choices and decisions involved in changing jobs, getting married, buying a home, starting a family, getting divorced, and losing a spouse.
  • A News & Views section adds timely perspective with articles and insights on a broad range of topics, including trends in retirement and philanthropy, insights into the health insurance crisis, and survey results about people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding money.
  • A Talking to Kids section incorporates the resources previously available for parents, but also features a quiz for parents to help them assess how good a job they’re doing as money mentors along with suggestions on areas where they could improve.
  • A Teachers & Volunteers portal also contains news relating to financial education, classroom resources such as workshops and educator tips, and links to other sites that help bring the lessons of personal finance to life for young people.
  • A Calculator and Tools section includes a mortgage affordability and a rent versus buy calculator.

“We continue to believe that it’s critically important to give young people the knowledge and skills that will enable them to make good financial decisions throughout life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of Charles Schwab Foundation. ”However, the need for financial literacy cuts across all generations. Many adults themselves have questions about personal finance, and SchwabMoneyWise.com now offers insight and guidance on a broad range of money topics and issues that are very relevant to their lives.”



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The Markets November 17, 2009

ING: Expect ‘Lackluster’ Recovery for 2010

The good news is that the economy will see growth in 2010—but it will be modest, said Paul Zemsky, head of asset allocation and multi-manager investments at ING Investment Management.

Reported by

“It’s pretty much the consensus view that we’re going to have a pretty lackluster recovery,” said Zemsky, speaking at a press briefing today in New York City. ING Investment Management forecasts GDP growth in 2010 of slightly less than 3%—which is “tepid” growth after an economic downturn of such magnitude.

As far as the financial markets go, Zemsky is optimistic for equities and expects to see the S&P 500 rise to the 1,250 to 1,275 range by the end of next year. “Our view is that the consensus is too pessimistic,” Zemsky said.

When the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates, the safe investment of T-bills became not as cost-effective, thereby leading people to riskier investments. “That fact that certainty is so expensive will drive people to the equity market,” he said.

ING Investment Management is overweight equities, particularly favoring emerging markets and sectors such as commodities, industrials, financials, and technology. Uri Landesman, head of global growth at ING Investment Management, said technology is attractive because many technology companies missed an upgrade cycle to their products and therefore have not fully appreciated. Also, as the holidays approach, he expects consumer spending to do well.

On the other hand, ING Investment Management is underweight in defensive sectors, but take a more neutral stance on health care. Although the markets are watching anxiously to see what will happen with health care in Washington, Landesman said investors shouldn’t ignore the sector altogether.

Consumer Uncertainty

Despite the dramatic recovery in the stock market, consumers remain uncertain, Landesman said. Unemployment will likely peak soon, but will not go down to previous levels for a few years, he said.

While the savings rate has gone up as wealth has gone down, ING disagrees with some predictions that it will reach high numbers such as 8%. The savings rate is currently at 3.4%, and will likely not increase dramatically, as the majority of people are living day to day, Zemsky said.

In the post-Lehman Brothers environment, Zemksy noted two trends: “a good old-fashioned banking panic,” resulting in frozen lending, and “good old-fashioned debt deflation” after consumers over-borrowed for years. The first is a short-term problem that has been aided by federal intervention. The latter will take years to get out of.

While the recovery will be a long road, the next four quarters do look positive because of factors such as pent-up consumer demand and the federal stimulus, Zemksy said.

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