| Delay retirement to clear out credit-card debt
Dear Bruce: I am a 66-year-old single female who has been living beyond my means for several years. I find myself $26,000 in credit-card debt, and I want to pay this off before I officially retire. I took an early-retirement package from my previous job, which gave me $200,000 to put into my 401(k). I transferred these funds to an IRA, where it is invested and growing, but I seem to need to draw on it every year because of my out-of-control spending. I earn $43,000 annually at my present job, and I am putting away 5 percent of my earnings in a separate 401(k) account, which is up to $12,000 at this point. I own my own condo, which is a co-op, where I purchased one share in a 120-unit complex (government mortgage) and pay a maintenance fee of $550 a month. The condo association pays all expenses, except cable and telephone.
KKR, pension funds in talks to take BCE private
TORONTO (Reuters) - BCE Inc. (BCE.TO: Quote)(BCE.N: Quote), Canada's top telecommunications group, said on Tuesday it was in talks with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR.UL: Quote) and three big Canadian pension funds that could lead to taking the company private in Canada's biggest buyout. Shares of BCE jumped 6.7 percent, or C$2.44, to C$38.70 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, after earlier rising to as high as C$39.06. The stock is up more than 20 percent since late March. BCE, which has a market value of about C$29.3 billion ($25.9 billion), has long been one of Canada most widely-held companies. The pension fund managers leading the talks are Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board. KKR, the well-known New York private equity group, is a minority partner in the consortium.
Ex-Met affiliate plans move to downtown
Western United Life Assurance Co., the former insurance affiliate of once prominent and now bankrupt Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., of Spokane, says it plans to move from Spokane Valley to smaller quarters in the Big Easy Concert House building downtown. Western United plans to move in late August to a roughly 20,000-square-foot space in the Big Easy building, at 919 W. Sprague, from a 45,000-square-foot leased space in a building it shares with Key Tronic Corp., at 4424 N. Sullivan, says Bill Ripple, spokesman for Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. The Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner took over administrative supervision of Western United in late 2003 and assumed court-ordered control of the company as receiver in 2004 to protect policyholders and company assets in the wake of Metropolitan Mortgages collapse.
BCE Up on Reports Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Planning Bid ...
BCE, Inc. (NYSE: BCE) is higher on reports from the New York Times and the Globe and Mail that 5.3% holder Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan approached Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and the Canada Plan Investment Board about making a $45 billion bid for BCE. The reports also said the fund held talks will at least one private equity firm. In an 13D filing after the close, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan noted that in late March 2007, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. was reported as being interested in pursuing a transaction to acquire BCE and that Teachers' may be joining KKR in pursuing such transaction. Teachers' said it is not pursuing such transaction with KKR and has no current intention or plans to pursue such transaction with KKR. However, Teachers' said it is closely monitoring developments and is exploring its options.
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