European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 24, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 19 your Money firms see Success in degrees tuition assistance shown to improve retention by Erin White the Wall Street journal economists have Long questioned the value of corporate Tuit Onassis Tance asserting that employees new degrees would make them More marketable and More Likely to but a growing body of research concludes just the opposite paying for employees education makes them More Likely to one new by Stanford Grad uate student Colleen found dramatically lower attrition among participants in a tuition re Imbu sement program at an unnamed nonprofit among employees hired the year after the program Only about 33 percent of participants had left the employer within five compared with about 60 per cent of employees hired the same year who didst use the tuition pro the study was published by the National Bureau of economic research As a working paper in Flaherty research supports re sults from other recent Peter a management pro Fessor at the University of Pennsyl Vanias Wharton found in a 2004 study that tuition assistance appears to select Bette Quality employees who stay on the Job Long in part to make use of the Bene the academic research May come As Comfort to who overwhelmingly Back Tuit Onassis Tance in 85 per cent of about Large employers offered some form of educational a figure that has remained roughly constant for the past several according to Mercer human resource consult Jennifer a Mercer Prin says employers see the pro Grams As retention and recruitment their value May be increasing in a competitive labor Market where employers must worry about retaining Good workers and replacing the legions of baby Boomers heading for Gene tech says it believes its tuition assistance which covers expenses up to helps keep and develop talented Scien last 500 employees took a total of about hav ing these opportunities makes it More exciting to work says Kenneth associate director of benefits for the South san biotechnology Bradshaw says recruits in competitive Silicon Valley expect employers to provide such Ben United technologies has a particularly generous tuition pro which it believes bolsters employee the conglomerate started the program in 1996 amid restructure in part because chief executive George David wanted affected employees to have a better shot at Landing other Etc pays the full Cost of a de Gree including books and other and provides up to three hours per week paid time off for employees to employees who earn associates de Grees or higher also get a Grant of Etc Stock a bachelors degree earns in company by a recent Survey by Hewitt associates found that big employers limit Bene fits to a median of a about 12 percent of uts approximately employees Are enrolled in the that is More than most companies consult ants estimate that fewer than 10 percent of eligible employees tap tuition assistance pro about half of uts participants Are getting masters degrees most of the others Are earning Bach Elors and associates the company spends about million to million annually on the pro Gram Bill the company senior vice president of human re says some managers initially worried that degree earners would take the Money arid in Etc says participants Are less Likely to turnover among employees who enrol in the program runs about two to three percentage Points lower than the rest of the work people Are pretty Loyal As a result of being sponsored by the Buck Nall with Dow on a examine asset mix by David Ranii the news observer invest ing is a balancing a balanced you offers Protection from a diversification reduces that includes investing in different asset classes Bonds and Cash equivalents such As Money Market funds and certificates of de it also includes diversifying within especially investing in a mix of stocks have enjoyed a big sunup that has pushed the Dow Jones Indus trial average to unprecedented that has led to inevitable questions about whether a correction is Lurk ing around the its a great time to examine your investment portfolio and make sure youve got the right a Well balanced portfolio can help investors weather the bad times without resort ing to panic Mark a Raleigh commercial real estate Bro said the pummelling his portfolio took after the Dot Corn Bubble burst he was heavily invested in High tech stocks at the time taught him the Wisdom of i have taken the approach that you need a balanced port not Only for risk Man but to take advantage of certain assets that May be performing better than Everett most experts say Mutual funds Are the easiest Way to strike the right balance and a Good As if you go that its important to have a mix of buying three funds that All invest in stocks int divers Ifica the right mix for you is a function of your time horizon that when you will need Access to the Money and your tolerance for one of the most common mistakes i see investors said Christine director of Mutual fund Analy Sis at is that they Start collecting stocks or investments without a they put the cart before the As with most timing is if you want to buy a Vaca Tion Home in two you should be invested in mostly Cash and Short term Bond said John senior vice president of Mutu Al fund product management at Fidelity but if youre 35 and invest ing for your you can afford to be tuesdays Market summary 52 High indexes Low Nam last Dow Jones industrials Dow Jones transportation Dow Jones utilities nose composite amex Index Nash a composite Russell 2000 do Wilshire 5000 net chg Ltd chg chg 52wk chg nose amex Nash a most Active name or More last chg Pfizer Geneles pm cup forum Dynegay timeworn and sprint nex is Japan i Tigre 316458 301030 245886 238417 227378 220296 220137 214231 204517 203442 most Active name or More last chg Spur ishr2k nya up engy Prus Haqq n Semi her up incl oils vat Djina diam on2 tech Crystallo g 756241 613140 248392 150812 124169 122736 103208 88646 88136 74124 most Active or More name Yokoo last chg pm she Sqq Intel Sun Micro Cisco Microsoft level3 qua com Al matl so Russ Andreon 918588 642907 630085 388450 375279 364190 346416 269921 257473 239902 key defense stocks name div be last Ltd chg chg Valliant Armor computer general general Harris Allied l3 Lockheed Rockwell Texas text Ron United key Mutual funds name Nav Ltd ret Fidelity invest Greco Fidelity invest Grolnic Fidelity spartan  Putnam funds a Erlna p Amer Century inv Ultra Fidelity invest Amorso Fidelity invest Oversea Fidelity invest us i aim investments a const p Frankamp Frnk a Sec Para aim investments a Char tap Dws Scudder cd s grown is Fidelity advisor Fidelity advisor Putnam funds a Globe qty Dws Scudder Fidelity advisor  Dws Scudder cd s corp sinc Putnam funds a gig vap Exchange rates military rates euro costs May Dollar buys May British Pound May japanese yen May South korean won May commercial rates Bahrain British Canada China Denmark Egypt Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan Kuwait Norway Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for South the Netherlands and the United for no local currency Exchange rates purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying All figures Are foreign currencies to one except for the British which is represented in and the which is precious metals new York merc close Gold Silver interest rates prime discount Federal funds Market rate 3month 30year sources the associated Bank of America and sensibility p Money tip of the tap retirement savings by Joseph Lisanti new York daily news new York Many people pondering retirement May actually have More wealth than they re but the trick is tapping it without blowing most people Are incredibly conservative when it comes to spending Down their said John a principal in the investment counselling and re search group at the big Mutual fund assuming you have savings beyond social Security and a pen you need to figure out How to draw Down on one Way can provide but at the Poten tial Price of peace of the second Likely assures Lon term but could leave you temporarily the first doll Arad busted allows you to keep Pace with but the Downside is that you could run out of each you in crease the Dollar amount of your withdrawal by the previous years National inflation As suming your holdings Are 50 per cent stocks and 50 percent and that you begin by taking out 3 percent to 4 percent of you have at least a 75 percent Chance of your Money lasting 30 years if you use this if you want greater certainty that you wont outlive your the second withdraw ing a fixed might be for if you take out 4 percent to 5 percent growth in your portfolio should allow for a lifetime of info Stu because of Market flu Tua in some years you will have to make do with less in choosing which accounts to tap the idea is to delay pay ing taxes As Long As if youre under age that Means you should spend Money from any taxable accounts if you Are or you Are mandated by Law to take minimum distributions from Only after youve taken these and exhausted taxable accounts should you dip into employer sponsored retire ment plans or take More from