Women stress and spending

As women around the world enjoy broader opportunities and expanding roles, they're also experiencing one other increase in their lives — stress.

In one of their latest reports, Women of Tomorrow, Nielsen released stats that revealed where the most stressed-out women in the world reside, and how they behave in consequence.
Nielsen's study, which was conducted from February to April of 2011, polled almost 6,500 women throughout 21 developed and emerging countries including those in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and North America (note Australian women were not included in this poll). The study was done in an effort to better understand women's consumer habits, but yielded some fascinating conclusions about what causes stress in women around the world.

Reuters also finds that women around the world were largely more stressed than those of the past, but also found that women in emerging economic and social markets were more stressed than those in developed countries. “While women in emerging markets see tremendous growth in the opportunities for their daughters, a plateau of hope is evident in developed countries," said Susan Whiting, Nielsen's vice chair, in a statement.
The results of the polls showed that an astounding 87% of Indian women claim feeling stressed most of the time, with an additional 82% asserting they had insufficient time to relax.
Here are the top 10 most stressed countries, at least for women. The percentages indicate the percentage of women claiming to be stressed most of the time.

India (87%)
Mexico (74%)
Russia (69%)
Brazil (67%)
Spain (66%)
France (65%)
South Africa (64%)
Italy (64%)
Nigeria (58%)
Turkey (56%)

Another interesting finding correlated degree of stress with spending and consuming habits. Interestingly, Indian women, while claiming to be the most stressed, were also most likely to spend disposable income on themselves. Upwards of three quarters of Indian women admitted they would spend on beauty and health items, while 96% said they would buy clothing.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/13/study-for-women-india-is-the-most-stressful-country-on-earth/#ixzz1S2qLybDw

Mothers & paid work

Women with three or more children are less likely to be in paid work than mothers with one or two children, a study has found.
Official figures show 55% of women with three or more children are in paid work compared with compared with 68% of women with two or fewer children.
Anna Zhu, co-author of the Fertility and Labour Market Participation report, says it’s not surprising that women with three children or more are less likely to be involved in paid work because of their greater care responsibilities.
“But the interesting thing is we also found that even when the children have grown older there’s still an effect,” Zhu says. Zhu, of the University of NSW Social Policy Research Centre, says several things play a role in inhibiting women to re-enter paid work – a lack of confidence, atrophied skills, the challenge of finding flexible workplaces and fulfilling work without recent stints to speak of. Zhu says providing flexibility is the key to keeping women in paid work.“Most women after having children go back on a part-time basis, so flexible working conditions and providing leave when an emergency pops up are very important,” she says.
The paper found that for women aged 45-49, 81% with two or fewer children were in paid work versus 70% with three or more children.
The gap was also found for women with pre-school aged students, with 55% of women with two pre-schoolers in paid work versus 44% for three or more children. When at least one child is at school 62% of mothers with one or two children are in paid work compared with 59% of mothers of three or more children.

Bank exit fees

The ban on bank exit fees, which may be recorded on a contract as deferred establishment or early repayment fees, applies only to all new home loans taken out after 1 July 2011. Some home loans already do not have them and some lenders have made the ban retrospective.
Think carefully before making any moves.
Ensure that you as the consumer understand the exit fee ban applies only to new home loans taken out after 1 July, not existing loans, and that there are still other switching costs and home loan aspects that must be considered.
Educate yourself as the borrower about what it means for you as satisfaction with your home loan commitment comes after making a well informed decision

Property millionaires, are U one?

The property market is one of the main reasons why more and more Australians are becoming millionaires, according to an annual report by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch.
Dorus van den Biezenbos from Capgemini Australia says the total number of millionaires in Australia rose 11.1 per cent to almost 193,000 in 2010.
Despite the current downturn in the property sector, the long-term rewards of real estate and hard investing are putting more Australians on the millionaire map –and property is fast becoming a better alternative to make money than a wage.
"We see the real estate market as a big contributor to the positive growth number of millionaires in Australia," van den Biezenbos says.
"GDP grew by 2.8 per cent last year, compared to 1.3 per cent in 2009, so that's good growth.
"Market capitalisation also showed a gain of 15.3 per cent."
The combined wealth of Australia's millionaires was also up 12.1 per cent to $550 billion.
In another positive sign for investors, our neighbours are becoming richer too. The Asia-Pacific region has also taken over second position and is now just behind North America, in terms of millionaire population.
"They've taken over the place from Europe now with 3.3 million millionaires, whereby Europe has 3.1 million millionaires."

Its a long way to the top.....

Still a long way to the top for Australian women?

The successful Australian woman is passionate, driven, focused, determined and resilient – but she has had to make a number of sacrifices in the name of success, and while regret might be too strong a word, she is fully aware of these sacrifices and is striving to ameliorate them.
These are the findings revealed in ‘Long Way to the Top’ a White Paper authored by Melbourne financial planner, Charmaine Curtain from Global Partnerships Financial Consulting.
Curtain said Long Way to the Top provides extraordinary insights into the Australian woman’s journey along the pathway to success and the challenges she continues to face.
“Australian women have jumped some amazing hurdles that a hundred years ago seemed insurmountable,” Curtain said. “They now hold some of the most powerful positions in the country – we have a female Prime Minister, two female state Premiers, a female Governor General and two female state Governors. One of our female executives – Gail Kelly – is ranked eighth in the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.”
However, Curtain said that while Australian women have much to celebrate, they still have significant hurdles to overcome.
“Many of the women I interviewed believe they have made significant sacrifices in the name of success,” Curtain said. “These sacrifices included time, money and personal relationships. If my findings are typical, professional women are still being paid less than men, they still lack the financial resources or security to appropriately fund their own ventures, they still have poor access to business funding and they still have insufficient savings for retirement. In the twenty-first century, it is not good enough.”
Curtain said that her research suggests that successful women are powerful consumers and expect service that surpasses their expectations. The consumer is, in fact, Queen,” Curtain said. “If providers expect to win them as customers or clients they must deliver exceptional service.”
According to the findings, women want to be listened to, valued, appreciated and respected by service providers. “Service that takes into account how time poor professional women are and how torn they feel between home and work; lifestyle and career will win the day,” Curtain said.
Curtain also took the opportunity to thank the women she interviewed for the project.
“As a woman and as the owner of a business myself, I set out to discover how women achieved, in some instances, such outstanding success. I was curious about the barriers to success and how successful women had surmounted them,” she said. “But what I came away with was powerful insights into women, their ability to face obstacles, their great willingness to help each other and their generosity towards younger women just starting out on the corporate ladder. I feel as though I have been coached by some of the best women in the business – and for that I thank each and every one of them.”
Key findings

• Many women (69%) believe they had sacrificed some aspect of their personal life in order to achieve success
• More than half (58%) felt the challenges they face were the result of external put on them by others in the workplace
• Almost half (41%) felt the challenges they face were the result of the internal pressure they put on themselves
• Most (80%) felt women were overcoming these challenges
• Most women (73%) were able to articulate an exact moment in business that stood out as a bad experience; only half were able to articulate a good experience
• Women recognised they faced three major financial challenges – lack of security/financial backing to go into business; having enough money for retirement; being paid less than their male colleagues
• More than half (53%) said they relax by doing some form of exercise – typically, walking
• Most women were voracious readers, with 84% saying they read their daily newspaper regularly. Only 15% said they had abandoned the traditional paper format in favour of online versions. Many women (69%) also admitted to reading gossip/women’s magazines
• Women are generous givers with 84% donating their time and/or money to charity/charity events. Children’s charities were far and away the most popular, with 81% of women favouring them

CPI March 2011

The long-awaited inflation figures released this morning have shown a higher-than-expected jump for the March quarter, heightening expectations of an interest rate rise later this year.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says Australia's consumer price index lifted 1.6% for the three months to March 31, versus expectations for a 1.2% increase.
The increase takes the annual CPI rate to 3.3%, well above the Reserve Bank's 2-3% target.
While the headline figure was influenced by the price pressures created by Australia's horror run of natural disasters, core inflation was also higher than expected.
ABS said the weighted mean measure came in at 0.8%, versus expectations for a 0.6% lift, while the trimmed mean measure was 0.9%.
The Australian dollar, already pushing past the $US1.08 barrier, was trading at $US1.0846 after the CPI data, with investors betting the central bank will be pressured to increase rates sooner than expected.
The local currency reached $US1.08 this morning, for the first time since it was floated in December 1983, after closing for five days for the Easter and Anzac Day break.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones said the Australian dollar remains the darling of the currency markets, boosted by a "buoyant" global risk appetite and expectations the US dollar will remain weak, AAP reports.
"Certainly, the commodities backdrop is still very strong. Gold and silver prices are making record highs on an almost daily basis and industrial metal prices are still very strong," he said.

Gillard says ties with China in good shape

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said Australia's relationship with China remains in good shape and that its economic ties are crucial for the nation.
"The relationship with China is in good shape," she said after a meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao. "Of course, our economic relationship is a vital one for Australia's national interest, and it is growing in leaps and bounds."
Gillard added that human rights concerns were raised during the meeting, although China said it did not take a step backwards with regard to its approach.

Abbott attacks carbon price

Opposition leader Tony Abbott says the introduction of a carbon price will put thousands of jobs at risk. He told ABC Radio this morning jobs in industries such as the steel manufacturing business will be hurt by such a tax.
"It's very important that workers right around Australian understand that this carbon tax won't clean up the environment but it will clean out their wallets and it will wipe out jobs big time," he said.
"The Coalition has a strong and effective policy to reduce emissions by planting more trees, getting better soil and using smarter technology."

Sharemarket flat after break, but Origin, banks lift

Before midday, the S&P/ASX 200 was trading flat at 4909.8, while the All Ordinaries was down 0.11% to 4990.
It was helped, however, by a rise in Origin Energy shares, which were trading 4% higher to $16.88 at 1135 AEST.
Origin announced an agreement before the long weekend that China's Sinopec would be liquefied natural gas and a 15% stake in the Origin-operated Australia Pacific LNG project.
The big miners were mixed, with Rio Tinto higher before midday and BHP Billiton lower despite Deloitte tipping strong commodity prices for years to come.
A report in Sydney Morning Herald said the Senate inquiry would focus on encouraging new entrants to the financial sector, rather than more strictly regulate existing players.
The market was also boosted by a solid performance on Wall Street last week, with US stocks reaching their best levels since June 2008 after key companies Ford Motor Co and 3M Co reported strong results.
"It is really from the multinationals that have been reporting good numbers and speaking of good things to come – these are big, big blue chips that are starting to see a bright light," Joseph Benanti, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York, told Reuters.
The wire service says three-quarters of S&P 500 companies to have reported earnings so far have exceeded analysts' expectations.

Private lenders and SME's

SMEs are experiencing a finance crisis due to the scarcity of lenders and a return to strict lending criteria, according to the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia.
The MFAA, which represents around 1,000 finance brokers who raise debt facilities for SMEs, says recent feedback from finance brokers suggests difficult times for their clients.
According to the MFAA, company directors outside the corporate economy are putting up their family properties as collateral, as the major banks return to dominance in business lending.
MFAA chief executive Phil Naylor says SMEs are being forced to raise capital from a decreasing number of lenders, with tightened criteria excluding many of them from mainstream borrowing.
Naylor says brokers unable to attract funding from mainstream lenders are relying on private lenders, which charge interest rates of up to 20%.
"Many of the smaller banks and the non-bank lenders have left the SME market, especially when it comes to property developing and office equipment and fit-outs," Naylor says.
"That leaves the large retail banks with most of the market."
Naylor says finance brokers are frustrated that cashflow lending, where the decision to lend is made on the quality of the business and the receivables, has been dropped in favour of a return to fully secured lending.
Secured lending focuses on the quality of the collateral, not the business.
"The GFC created a liquidity issue in our banks, and in response most of them have re-absorbed their business finance arms into the main operations of the bank," Naylor says.
"It means experienced business lenders, who negotiated deals with brokers on their business merits, are now subject to more conservative practices."
The MFAA says it's obviously easier to get business finance for an existing business rather than a start-up because lenders tend to view start-ups as "inherently risky".
One way of getting around this is by entering into a franchise because while the business may be new, it is based on a proven formula.
Naylor says while there's nothing wrong with banks being careful with their lending, SME debt finance is an important part of the economy and the MFAA would like to see more competition in this area.
The MFAA's concerns are substantiated by Reserve Bank of Australia data, which shows lending to businesses declined by 1.7% in the year to February 2011.
The RBA says the four major banks controlled 86% of the SME debt lending market in September last year, yet they only wrote 74% of all business loans.
This article firsts appeared on StartupSmart.