Twila Van Leer

Top Ten Highest Paid Female CEOs

June 26, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Women still are greatly outnumbered by males in the top ranks of money-earners in the United States, but they are outpacing their male counterparts in the increases they see year to year, according to the annual review by Equilar and The Associated Press.

From 2013 to 2014, the females noted a 21 percent increase, with the median pay at $15.9 million, the study showed. That compares with a median annual income of $10.4 million for males, a figure down by 0.8 percent from the previous year. Only 17 of the 340 executives included in the survey were women.

No. 1: Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo – Top of the stack among the female execs is Marissa Mayer, CEO for Yahoo, whose income for the study period was $42.1 million. That was a whopping 69 percent. Hired in 2012 with hopes of revitalizing the aging Yahoo, Mayer’s leadership helped Yahoo become competitive again, in technology. Yahoo’s earnings jumped as a result of spinning off part of it’s share of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce site.

No. 2: Carol Meyrowitz, TJX Companies. Next highest on the list was Carol Meyrowitz, head of discount retailer TJX Companies, whose income was listed at $23.2 million, a 13 percent increase over the previous year. She led the company to $2.22 billion in profits

No. 3: Margaret Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Her annual income was reported at $19.6 million, an increase of 11 percent over the previous year. The H-P board voted to increase her pay package to make it comparable to those of peers at the company’s technology competitors, raising the base to $1.5 million.

No. 4: Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo. Her $19.1 million income for the year was a 45 percent hike over the year before. PepsiCo, which also markets Frito-Lay products, Gatorade sports drinks and Quaker oatmeal products, has upped its income through raising prices and lowering production costs under her leadership. At the same time, PepsiCo experienced challenges caused by currency volatility in Russia and Bolivia. The negative impact was offset by improved income through growth in sales of Frito-Lay products in North America.

No. 5: Phebe Novakovic, General Dynamics exec, whose $19 million earnings were up by just 1 percent. She was a senior executive at the company for more than a decade before stepping into the top spot in January 2013. Under her leadership, the defense contractor’s stock has doubled, with increased dividend payments and elevated stock buy-backs.

No. 6: Virginia Rometty, IBM head, saw a 28 percent increase to bring her annual earnings to $17.9 million. Her total included a $3.6 million bonus for performance, even though IBM’s sales and profits declined. In 2013, she and other top execs bypassed bonuses when the company’s bottom line dipped.

No. 7: Marilyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin also pocketed $17.9 million for the survey period, an increase of 13 percent. She has been with the defense company for 32 years and the second female chief executive in that sector to achieve top income status. Her income went up commensurate with increased earnings at Lockheed. The firm’s stock has risen some 30 percent under her guidance.

No. 8: Patricia Woertz, CEO for Archer Daniels Midland, a company that produces vegetable oil, ethanol and ingredients used in packaged foods and drink, saw her pay rise 138 percent, the largest jump among the female execs. Her total for the survey period was $16.3 million. Some of the increase, some $501,560 was for relocation when the company moved from Decatur, Ill., to Chicago.

No. 9: Irene Rosenfeld, Mondelez International CEO, saw a 14 percent increase to $15.9 million. The board of Mondelez International, makers of Oreo cookies, Cadbury chocolate products and Trident gums, authorized the increase, even though shares rose only 3 percent during the reporting time. The gain in the broader market was 11.4 percent.

No. 10: Ellen Kullman of Dupont actually lost 1 percent of income, leaving her with a total of $13.1 million. She was embroiled in an effort by activist investor Nelson Peltz, who attempted to gain more influence in the 212-year-old chemical company. Shareholders voted against Peltz, but company heads felt the conflict pointed out Dupont’s failure to educate shareholders adequately about a shift in emphasis. The company is moving away from traditional chemicals to become more involved in the production of agricultural products and advanced materials.

The top 10 highest-paid female CEOs

Reverse Mortgages Not All Positive

June 24, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Is a reverse mortgage worth it in the long run?

Older Americans who watch television are besieged by ads that promise a reverse mortgage is the answer to all their financial problems. Often, the ads are touted by such celebrities as actor Henry Winkler, whose old Fonzi character from Happy Days still resonates with the older crowd. Or the messages are given the aura of respectability when they come from someone like Fred Thompson, a former U.S senator.

Don’t be too quick to accept all that the ads lead you to believe, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns. They may not be telling the whole story.

The federal agency conducted a study that showed some older homeowners are increasingly complaining that they were given false impressions about reverse mortgages.

Such mortgages are offered to people over 62, some of whom believe they are a government-sponsored benefit that will ensure that they can stay in their home until death. Not so, says the CFPB. They are loans that must be repaid – with interest. In some instances, they result in the loss of the home. Many seniors, long retired and on a fixed income, can’t afford such a financial arrangement.

A scary 10 percent of those who take out a reverse mortgage default on the loan, about twice the rate of defaults on conventional mortgages.

The idea of receiving cash or a line of credit that taps the equity in the home seems attractive to many cash-strapped seniors. They may see the reverse mortgage as a way to pay off debt or to remodel their older homes. They have no loan payments on a monthly basis. But over time, the loan balance increases and it comes due when the borrower dies, moves or sells the home or if it defaults on other obligations such as insurance or taxes. That may come as an unpleasant surprise to survivors.

Most reverse mortgages are insured by the Federal Housing Administration, but they are not a risk-free benefit, something that many of the borrowers do not understand and which the ads don’t warn them of, the CFPB study showed. Too much “fine print” confuses many of the elderly and leaves them vulnerable, the agency warned. Often, they are oblivious to the fact that the loans carry interest, that there are repayment terms and other crucial requirements that may well rear up and bite those who sign on the dotted line without understanding all the relevant factors.

As part of its review of reverse mortgage practices, the CFPB held interviews with some 60 homeowners over age 62 during focus group meetings or in individual sessions.

Spokespersons for the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, on the contrary, say that they have a code of ethics that includes a requirement for accurate advertising. The association, which presents the companies that supply reverse mortgages, says it is committed to educating consumers about the pros and cons of their product and trains lenders to be sensitive to client needs.

Bottom line: no matter what “the Fonz” says, it is wise to make a thorough study of how reverse mortgages work and match the information very carefully with your particular financial situation before acting. It may be the lifesaver you are looking for, but it may be risky enough that you’ll want to look at other options.

Father’s Day Spending To Reach $12.7 Billion

June 19, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Dads. They’re worth every cent of the $12.7 billion that their admirers are expected to spend for Father’s Day gifts this year. Admittedly not the “spendingest” holiday of the year, that figure still is calculated to bring a smile to the faces of those who peddle electronic “gadgets,” sports goods, tools and, of course, ties, etc., etc.

The 2015 Father’s Day Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics for the National Retail Foundation found that some 75.4 percent of Americans planned to make some gesture for the annual event. The boost in retail sales is being welcomed by retailers who had a lackluster first half of the year, the survey reported. The total is similar to last year’s.

Coming in the wake of Mother’s Day and college/high school graduations and given the masculine resistance in some quarters to any special notice, Father’s Day seems to get short shrift, but the output on gifts for the current holiday is substantial.

Four in ten of the gift-givers will opt for wearing apparel, spending some $1.7 billion for shirts, ties, leisure wear and other duds. Almost half, some 43.3 percent, will give Dad tickets to a sporting event or a special meal out, adding $2.6 billion to the total.

Tablets and smartphones will fill the bill for about 20 percent of the shoppers, increasing the total by $1.6 billion.

Four in ten will throw up their hands and settle on a gift card, letting Dad make his own choice. They will add some $777 million to the pie. Home improvement or gardening supplies will meet the needs of many of the country’s fathers and contribute another $710 million. Sporting goods and leisure items ($665 million) and books/CDs ($538 million) will round out the most frequently purchased gifts.

The largest group of Father’s Day shoppers (34 percent) will buy their items in a department store, while the rest will divide their dollars among online outlets, discount stores and small local businesses.

A growing number of the shoppers will research and purchase their gifts via smartphones and tablets, saving their shoe leather for other things.

Though a slight majority – 51.8 percent – will be purchasing for a father or stepfather, husbands will receive 27.6 percent of the gifts and sons 8.9 percent.

The figures are based on a survey of 6,087 consumers who were polled from May 5 to 12. The margin for error is plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

Job Hunt Hints For Young Women

June 15, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Now, with a college degree to your credit, it’s time to put it to use. But the first foray into the job market can be daunting. It isn’t the same process you used to get pre-college jobs in the fast-food arena. The following tips may help you make it through the maze:

Be specific about what you want. Don’t make a blind search hoping to make the right connection. For whom do you want to work? Write down your objectives and narrow the search to pursue those aims. Don’t spend time on positions that don’t fit your objectives.

Don’t hesitate to seek advice. Ask for help from individuals who are already engaged in the sort of work you want. Even if the companies in which you are interested are not currently seeking employees, try to schedule some time with those who can fill you in on the realities. Getting a foot in the door may pay off when the company is ready for active hiring. And if you are able to spend some time with a person able to share their expertise, be sure you express your thanks with a hand-written thank-you.

Expect that you will have a number of interviews before you are hired. After each interview, analyze the experience and see if you can identify the elements that seemed to impress the interviewer and which did not. Work on the responses that fell short. Make each interview an opportunity to learn what employers in your chosen field seem to be seeking in new hires. Use your interview opportunities to build skills.

Don’t be shy in trying to persuade prospective employers that they would be happy they hired you. (Short of being pushy, of course.) Explain your enthusiasm for the area in which you would like to work and be specific about the qualities you believe would make you effective in that area. Be concise but confident.

If the search goes on, try volunteering within your chosen field while you wait for the real thing. Unpaid internships can be valuable training opportunities and will let prospective hirers know you are serious about your aspirations.

Stay upbeat if the job search doesn’t bring the desired results in a hurry. Giving in to a defeatist attitude will do nothing to help and could be a deterrent in the long run. If you have to take a step backward and take a job that isn’t ideal, don’t give up. Do a good job where you are employed and continue the search for what you really want.

Couples Need To Share Financial Planning

June 8, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Protect your estate by creating a valid will covering all of your assets.

When a couple has financial assets valuable enough to require estate taxes, they need to work as a team to be certain that their planning is consistent. The threshold for estate taxing is $5.43 million federally, but some states set their own limits.

Julie Jason, a personal money manager and financial writer whose columns are syndicated, offers suggestions for couples to help them assure that their estate plan coordinates with their financial plan.

Start With An Audit

Included in her advice: Start with an audit of your particular situation. Don’t rely on memory. Gather relevant documents and organize them in a binder. Include wills, trusts and powers of attorney. Have copies of all beneficiary designations on tax-deferred accounts and annuities.

Check Beneficiaries’ Information

Document life insurance policies, along with beneficiaries to whom benefits are payable. Provide the same documentation for all real estate you own and review how the property is titled. Check your state laws to see if they allow you to designate a beneficiary on the deed to transfer the property on your death.

List All Bank Accounts And Investment Accounts

Have copies of bank and brokerage accounts, including Treasury bonds purchased through a bank. Don’t overlook mutual funds and annuity statements. Check to see if any of the accounts contain provisions to “transfer on death” or “payable on death” or “in trust for.”

Make copies of stock certificates. Often, on death of the owners, those who inherit don’t know where the original certificates are located. Again, check for the above notations that would determine how the stocks are to be assigned.

If you are a business owner, have copies of stock certificates if you are organized as a corporation. If it is a partnership, copies of the operating agreement are necessary. Also include titles to vehicles. And check to see if your state is one that allows you to pass the title to a beneficiary without going through probate.

Valuable Art And Collectibles Need Proof Of Purchase

Proof of purchase of art and collectible items should be in your record and copies of your most recent tax returns also should be in the folder. A current list of all liabilities, including outstanding debt and mortgages on real estate, is necessary. Also list all safety deposit boxes you use.

When all the relevant information is gathered into one place, go through it and note whether items are owned by the husband or wife or jointly. Prepare lists based on ownership. A spreadsheet is useful for organizing the information. Add information showing how you intend items to be dispersed in the event of the passing of either partner.

This kind of joint organization will spare heirs and legal advisors a lot of headaches when death occurs.