What’s more dangerous, being a man or a woman?

It is substantially more dangerous to be male than female, at all ages, and in nearly all countries.  This was not true a hundred or more years ago, due largely to maternal mortality, but this cause of death has been considerably reduced, again in nearly all countries, allowing natural female superiority to shine through. In North America nearly three times (2.87) as many 20 year old males die each year compared to 20 year-old females. And the average life span of a male in North America is 73 years, with women living on average an extra six years.

Worldwide comparative data showing male life expectancy, in years, plus the female advantage, as follows:   Africa (50+4), India (62+2), China (68+3), Latin America (69+7), USA (73+7), Europe (74+6), and Japan (77+6).  It is also supported by U.S. data showing excess male mortality rates (meaning percent more than the female rate) by age and percent as follows:  age 0 (26), 10 (23), 20 (187), 30 (133), 40 (79), 50 (79), 60 (58), 70 (51), and 80 (43).

Complicating factors (such as fatal discrimination against girls in some parts of the world, and disproportionate numbers of men in wars) are reflected in the data, and thus don’t undermine the conclusion that it’s a frightening thing to be male.

Other titles in this series:

What’s more dangerous, sunburns or frostbite?

What’s more dangerous, showers or baths?

What’s more dangerous, motorcycles or horses?

What’s more dangerous, bears of lightning?

What’s more dangerous, a spouse or a serial killer?

What’s more dangerous, your parent or your child?

What’s more dangerous, dog bites or snake bites?

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Corporate Knights, the Toronto-based company for “clean capitalism”, announced its eighth annual Global 100 list of the most sustainable large corporations in the world.

Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights, says, “in a year in which Wall Street was occupied and capitalism became a bad word, the Global 100 companies serve as ambassadors for a better, cleaner kind of capitalism which, it also turns out, is more profitable.”

From its inception on February 1, 2005 to December 31, 2011, the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations has achieved a total return of 41.70%, outperforming its benchmark, (the MSCI All Country World Index at 29.30%) by more than 11%.

The number one ranked company in the Global 100 for 2012 was Novo Nordisk. The Danish pharmaceutical firm, which had revenues of DKK 60.7 billion (US$10.5 billion) in 2010, is on record that access to essential medicines is a human right, and sells human insulin (the most basic kind) to 33 of the world’s poorest countries, at no more than 20 per cent of the average price in the western world.

This year’s Global 100 includes companies from 22 countries encompassing all sectors of the economy, with collective annual sales in excess of $3.02 trillion, and 5,285,645 million employees. Among the 22 countries, the United Kingdom led the way with 16 Global 100 companies (five more than they had in 2011). Japan followed with 11 (down from 19 in 2011). France and the United States tied for third place with each claiming the headquarters of eight Global 100 companies. Rounding out the top ten scoring countries with at least three Global 100 companies were: Australia (seven), Canada (six), Germany (five) Switzerland (five), Denmark (four), Netherlands (four), Norway (four), Sweden (four), and Brazil (three). Sixty-eight per cent of the 2011 companies remained on the list in 2012.

The Corporate Knights 2012 Global 100 includes one new indicator: “Employee Turnover,” which provides insight into a company’s human capital management, and is now disclosed by a critical threshold of companies.

Canadian insurance company Sun Life was named to this year’s list – the only North American insurance company on the Global 100.

“Sun Life is one of six Canadian companies across all industry sectors to be named on this list,” says Dean Connor, Chief Executive Officer. “This ranking is a testament to our commitment to proactively manage sustainability issues in our business.”

“As a company that develops and provides long term financial products, we make promises that will last decades into the future. Few activities are as intrinsically sustainable or socially responsible as helping people protect their families and achieve lifetime financial security,” Connor adds.

The full 100:

Download the full Global 100 Report here. (Registration required.)

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Digital banking is set to overtake branch networks as the main way customers interact with their bank by 2015. This is according to a new PwC report ‘The new digital tipping point’, which suggests that banks are missing a vital new source of revenue growth as they have been too slow to respond to the digital innovations that have radically changed business models and redefined customer experience. This is despite strong demand for digital banking products from consumers and the fact they are willing to pay for these.

PwC conducted research with over 3,000 banking customers across nine developed and emerging markets and found that most consumers are willing to pay $15 to $20 per month  for digital banking services if they believe they offer convenience and value. The research reveals that there is customer demand for innovative digital offerings such as social media notifications, an electronic wallet for loyalty cards and financial tools provided by banks and that these are the products consumers are most willing to pay for.

Download the PDF report here: Digital-Tipping-Point

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What’s more dangerous, sunburns or frostbite?

Thanks to Fred Kilbourne and insure.com

In a recent year in England, 24 people were hospitalized for frostbite (22 were males).  Perhaps half of these involved tissue necrosis (death of part of you), but the study didn’t report the number of associated amputations (fingers, toes, etc.).  Sunburn is far more prevalent than frostbite (even in gloomy England).

In the U.S., about one-third of Americans reporting that they were burned by the sun within the past year.  Sunburn hospitalizations are also rare – but sunburn is far more dangerous than frostbite because of one word – melanoma.  This sometimes fatal form of skin cancer has been linked to severe sunburns, even those that occurred decades before the cancer appeared.

Other titles in this series:

What’s more dangerous, showers or baths?

What’s more dangerous, motorcycles or horses?

What’s more dangerous, bears of lightning?

What’s more dangerous, a spouse or a serial killer?

What’s more dangerous, your parent or your child?

What’s more dangerous, dog bites or snake bites?

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These are extraordinarily difficult times for insurers to grow their business, with the U.S. and Europe struggling to jump-start their economies and a double-dip recession not out of the question. But according to a new report from Deloitte, ongoing global economic challenges do not mean that growth is impossible.

By focusing on strategic growth opportunities, operational excellence and innovation, insurers can generate profit and growth, says Deloitte’s “2012 Global Insurance Outlook: Generating growth in a challenging economy takes operational excellence and innovation.”

“Global economic doldrums, low interest rates, persistently high unemployment and a sluggish housing recovery have created challenges for insurers,” said Rebecca Amoroso, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and insurance sector leader.  “Yet even in such uncertain economic times, there are opportunities to generate profitable growth by attracting new customers and growing market share through product development, distribution and marketing reevaluation, and reinventing the customer experience. At the same time, insurers must keep transforming their operations to improve margins and drive more profit to the bottom line by adopting new technologies and management strategies to squeeze unnecessary costs out of the system, as well as employ their people and capital more productively.”

Sam Freidman, Deloitte’s insurance research leader, adds, “While achieving growth, operational excellence and innovation in such a difficult economic and competitive environment might be easier said than done, opportunities are available for insurers that can seize the moment. There are many options insurers might consider to grow even in the toughest of economies if they can overcome the obstacles they face.”

Deloitte says property and casualty insurer top lines will benefit from rising prices prompted in part by high 2011 catastrophe losses and subsequent hikes in reinsurance premiums. In personal lines, auto and homeowners carriers have both consistently seen higher, loss-driven rates while the soft market in commercial lines appears to have bottomed out with carriers and brokers reporting significant premium increases on renewals.

When looking at generating growth, the Deloitte report says insurers should look to:

Target emerging markets:  With developed economies failing to deliver consistent, large-scale growth, insurers may consider entering emerging markets including China, India and Brazil, where the financial security demands of an expanding middle class could provide significant growth opportunities.  Insurance penetration rates in 2010 reveal the ratio of non-life insurance premiums to gross domestic product (GDP) is just 1.5 percent for Brazil, 1.3 percent for China and 0.70 percent for India. By comparison, the penetration rate is 4.5 percent for the United States, 4.1 percent for Canada and 3.1 to 3.7 percent for major European countries, according to Insurance Information Institute.

Mergers and acquisitions: Mergers and acquisitions volume increased in 2011. However, deals tended to be strategic, niche acquisitions with buyers adding new product lines and distribution channels, and expanding geographic reach into emerging markets. With more carriers undergoing strategic reviews for potential mergers and acquisitions, there is potential for an uptick in bigger deals in 2012, particularly if organic growth remains challenging over the short-to-medium-term.

To achieve operational excellence, Deloitte points to:

Regulatory change:  Policyholder protection takes on increased importance for the new Federal Insurance Office as it reports to Congress by Jan. 31, 2012 about insurance regulation and potential federal oversight protection for consumers. Solvency concerns and efforts to address them have slowed, while certain insurers may face increased regulatory burdens if designated as a nationally or globally Systemically Important Financial Institution.

Enterprise risk management:  Many insurers are integrating enterprise risk management into their standard operating procedure while spreading ownership of risk throughout the strategic decision-making process. There is also an increased emphasis on governance, infrastructure and disclosure over quantitative modeling. Considering “Black Swan” events and tax risks is also a priority.

To spur innovation, Deloitte says insurers should focus on:

New products: Emerging property and casualty exposures are prompting coverage for cyber-liability, green construction, nanotechnology, global political risk, and professional liability associated with new regulations. New personal line products offer private unemployment insurance, as well as protect homeowners whose home values decline below their mortgage. More life and annuity hybrid products are emerging to meet multiple needs, such as incorporating a long-term care benefit into a life or annuity product or combining term and universal life policy attributes.

Predictive analytics: Social media appears ripe for analytic scrutiny. Many insurers have a presence in social media communities, but they have yet to evaluate the impact of their efforts and benchmark their work against competitors. Analytics can also be used to gather cross-selling insights about buyer needs, providing an advanced form of customer relationship management throughout the customer’s life cycle.

To read the full report, click here. (PDF)

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Americans are hanging onto their vehicles longer and now the age of vehicles on the road is the highest it has been. Automotive market intelligence firm Polk said the average age of a car in the U.S. last year was 11.1 years, while the average truck was 10.4 years old. In 2010, the average age of a car was 11 and the average truck was 10.1 years old. In 1995, the average age of a car was 8.4 years and the average for a truck was 8.3 years.

An economic slowdown may have led in part to the slowdown of the aging of passenger cars which in turn directly correlates to the low sales volumes and the mix of car and truck sales in the U.S. market in 2008 and 2009, a time in which more trucks than cars were registered.  While more trucks were sold over the same timeframe, they showed a faster aging rate.

Polk said it expects this trend may change in the coming years as CUV and small SUV populations in the U.S. market have risen in 2010 and 2011 due to their continued success in the market.   Additionally, the rebound in new vehicle sales in 2011 and for the next couple of years will most likely slow down the aging rate seen in the market over the past three years, according to Polk.

“The increasing age of the vehicle fleet, together with the increasing length of ownership, offers significant business growth opportunity for the automotive aftermarket,” said Mark Seng, global aftermarket practice leader at Polk.  “Dealer service departments and independent repair facilities, as well as aftermarket parts suppliers, will see increased business opportunity with customers in need of vehicle service.”

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Relationships with boards, succession issues, leadership effectiveness and the necessary resources needed to get a job done: these all weigh – sometimes heavily – on the minds of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs.) In its recently-released CEO Snapshot Survey, executive talent development firm RHR International delved into the minds of CEOs in the United States who lead companies with annual revenues of $50 million to $2 billion.

When it comes to dealing with boards, the RHR International survey found that boards generally provide positive support, with 96% saying they can speak honestly with certain directors about their performance and the impact of their decisions, and 59% citing the board as their most helpful source of feedback. Fifty percent of CEOs say the lead director serves as this key board confidant, indicating the growing importance of finding the right person for this board position.

From the CEO’s perspective, board relationships and communications begin to break down during the succession planning process. Seventy-six percent of CEOs believe they should be more involved in planning their own succession, and many CEOs report that miscommunication with the board about selection decisions and responsibilities is the most difficult part of this process. “Succession planning is full of complex psychological nuances, such as the incumbent CEO’s readiness to step down, that can make it a very difficult process,” said RHR International Chairman and CEO Dr. Thomas J. Saporito. “Earlier RHR research also shows CEOs need more clarity from and alignment with boards during transitions into and out of the C-suite.”

When it comes to the complexity of the job, CEOs are often surprised. There is a disconnect between CEOs’ self-proclaimed preparedness for the job and what they experience when they assume the role. Eighty-seven percent of all CEOs felt prepared for the job, yet of that group, 54% say it was different from what they originally expected. When looking at first-time CEOs only, both percentages rise: 91% felt ready for the job and 72% report it was different from their original expectations. “This is not uncommon,” said Dr. Saporito. “Stress, pressure, and loneliness all combine to create a job unlike any other they have previously had.”

And, the survey found it can be lonely at the top. The intensity of the CEO’s job, coupled with the scarcity of peers to confide in, creates potentially dangerous feelings of isolation among chief executives. Fifty percent of all CEOs report experiencing loneliness in the role, and of this group, 61% believe that the isolation hinders their performance. First-time CEOs are particularly susceptible to this isolation, with nearly 70% of those who experience loneliness saying it negatively affects their ability to do their jobs. Nearly half of all CEOs estimate that most other leaders experience similar feelings of loneliness.

You might also be interested in: Being the boss is becoming harder 

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View the video here on your mobile device.

Narrator: Sheila Thompson, the President of Rosenberg and Parker of Canada, has an interesting perspective: She holds a senior management position with a well-known surety broker, and she is the past Director of the Canadian Association of Women in Construction. We asked her if she sees the roles of women changing in these industries.

Sheila Thompson: When I started in the surety industry lo those many years ago, it was very, very much a man’s world. It is changing. There are more—and I’ll speak to the surety industry rather than the insurance industry—but there are more women in senior roles.

We’re seeing now a lot of women coming into the business, which is exciting, and being promoted and being given the training.

I have to admit it’s tough being out on a construction site sometimes. Quite often I will be the only woman on site. It’s pleasing to me now when I do go out, I do see a woman in hard hat and boots and she’s there doing some trade work.

I’m also past director of the Canadian Association of Women in Construction, and so that’s something we’ve really been working on—we call ourselves CAWIC—to try and get that message out there.

The construction industry as a whole is really facing problem with respect to workforce. Where is our workforce going to come from in the future? It’s an off-shoot of that whole baby boom generation so we’ve got a lot of people who are retiring. The younger people coming up haven’t been encouraged to enter into construction related fields.

It may not just be trades, but it’s all those other things. It’s project management, it;s project superintendent, it’s people in the office who have finance experience, HR experience, all related to the construction industry. So as the construction industry starts to move women into more senior roles, the surety industry is doing that as well, but there is not an awful lot of women in the ‘C’ Suite in the surety industry, but there are more and more women moving into senior positions.

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Narrator: The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring 2012 as the UN international Year of Co-operatives. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared that “cooperatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.”

With more than 1 billion co-operative members around the world – including four out of every ten Canadians – the focus is on this model of business for 2012.

Kathy Bardswick is the President and CEO of The Co-operators Group Limited and is a board member of the International Co-operative Alliance. She sat down with ILSTV to discuss what the declaration means for her company and co-operatives in general.

Kathy Bardswick: I think that Ban Ki-moon’s comments are very reflective of why we certainly want to use 2012 not as kind of a start and an end but the beginning of being more aggressive at getting that particular message out to the broader world. What we’d really like the see…we’re looking at this both short-term and long-term. The actual year 2012 is what we’re referring to as the gift of the opportunity to claim the stage a little more so throughout the year. So, 2012 around the globe, we’re really using as that opportunity. Let’s ratchet up public awareness, let’s get the media more involved, let’s get governments more involved in dialoging the role that co-ops play. But let’s not see this as January 1 to December 31. This is really the opportunity to walk through a door of public awareness that drives, for us, the ultimate goal that we’re holding up as a result of this opportunity to celebrate 2012 where our ultimate and end goal is to have the co-op form of business the fastest growing model by 2020.

Narrator: There are seven principles co-operatives follow: voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and information; co-operation among co-operatives and concern for the community.  Kathy explains why these principles matter in business and in communities.

Kathy Bardswick: It’s an interesting time for us in this country and around the globe. You pause and you think about the significant challenges that we face whether it’s challenges for employers to find and keep talent and keep people engaged or whether it’s people looking to do business with institutions where they feel they have a voice and an influence and there’s some form of mutual respect there. You look at the Occupy Wall Street sentiment that’s been growing in terms of this sense that there are fewer and fewer people around the world who actually have the power and have the money and have the decision-making and so many others feeling disenfranchised, that I think when you think about all of that and you go back to the basics of good business practice, setting aside co-ops for a minute and just look at “Business 101”, well, what do they teach you? They teach you to have a genuine interest in putting the customer first. They teach you to have a genuine interest in helping your people become the best they can be, which is about staff engagement. So a lot of the basic business principles of running good businesses is reflected in our co-operative principles. I think the fact that we’re democratically owned, so we have shareholders who sit around our board tables and our governance tables with a very long view of the reason why we exist, they don’t worry about quarterly share prices, they worry about how this company is going to flourish ten years from now and add value to the communities that we do business in. I think it’s easier in some ways for co-operatives to be able to actually live and emulate those basic business principles of good corporate behaviour. I’m not suggesting that there aren’t many organizations who are not co-operatively structured who do a very good job – an excellent job – who I look to and I admire and I learn from, but I think the governance that we have – this democratic starting point in our governance and our ownership – allows co-operatives to really reflect those fundamentals more easily. And for example, I have a Board of Directors who take a look at my insurance organization and I might be in communities where it’s really a challenge to make money at the time. But my Board wants to know how are we going to change that? How do we stay in that community, commit to the community, commit to the need to bring insurance products and service to that community, and at the same time, over the longer haul, figure out how we’re going to stay financially viable. That’s an easier conversation for me to have with my Board than I think, perhaps, other insurance companies have with their Boards. It’s not an end-all, be-all, I’m not suggesting that co-operatives are the only structure that work, but we really are a compelling alternative that really needs to be more seriously considered as a very successful model of business.

You may also be interested in: International Year of Co-operatives launches across Canada

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Insurers may need to reevaluate their marketing strategies as direct mail volume to consumers from life, health and property and casualty insurers dropped 11 percent in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.

Data from U.S.-based Mintel Comperemedia found that younger consumers are becoming increasingly interested in life insurance products, opening up new demographics for insurers to target, but the market is still struggling.

“Q3 2011 is the third quarter in a row with a decline in direct mail volume from insurers,” says Gary Wooley, Director, Insurance Consulting at Mintel Comperemedia. “Even the industry’s proclaimed Life Insurance Awareness Month last September showed lower overall mail volume from life insurers; down 10% from the prior month and down 19% from September in 2010.”

Health insurance direct mail volume to consumers during Q3 2011 is down 7% from Q3 2010, and up 5% from Q2 2011. Furthermore, Q3 YTD, mail volume is down 23%. Property & casualty (P&C) direct mail volume to consumers during Q3 2011 is down 8% from Q3 2010, and down 4% from Q2 2011. Q3 YTD, mail volume is up 4%. Meanwhile, life insurance direct mail volume to consumers during Q3 2011 is down 17% from Q3 2010, and down 6% from Q2 2011. Q3 YTD, mail volume is down 8%.

“2012 looks to be another exciting year from an economic perspective, leaving consumers more anxious,” notes Gary Wooley. “Insurance products will see some renewed marketing vitality in 2012 as the concepts of stability, strength, and protection resonate more with consumers.”

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As a companion to our ‘History of Insurance’ page on www.ilstv.com, we are gathering information for our interactive timeline on the history of the Canadian insurance industry.

We want to know all about your company ‘family tree’: When it was founded, by whom, and all the twists and turns to reach its present incarnation.

We’d also love to receive some archival photos or old logos, so please send those along as well.  (Just make sure there are no copyright infringements!)

We are launching this one-of-a-kind, historical timeline in the coming year, so send us your information soon and become a part of history.

Details and photos can be sent to comments@ilstv.com

Thank you.

ILSTV Staff

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Demographic changes from aging to immigration flows are helping shape Canada’s housing market of the future, the federal housing agency suggests in its annual report.

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s study of housing trends sees continued demand for condominium and smaller homes, institutional buildings such as old age facilities, as well as a lively market for renovators.

The oldest of the baby boom generation entered retirement age in 2011, but by 2036, seniors will represent about one quarter of the total population in Canada, the report stresses.

That will mean more older households and more headed by single seniors, who will demand a different kind of residence from the two-story detached home they raised families in.

Condominiums already accounted for one-third of all starts in urban centres last year, compared with 29 per cent in 2009, but that trend likely will continue, says the CMHC authors.

“Aging households will support continued growth in condominium markets. We can also expect to see growing demand for home adaptations … (and) the number of seniors in institutions would increase by a factor of almost two and a half,” the report states.

The agency advises that it is not forecasting the future, but extrapolating what could occur based on current trends.

Ian Melzer of the CMHC’s housing needs policy group said overall Canada’s housing market will continue to grow, but likely at a slower pace than the recent boom years.

Although Canada’s birth rate remains below the replacement rate, the population is increasing faster than at any time since the early 1990s thanks to immigration. Last year, new arrivals swelled to 271,000, the highest in four decades, accounting for two thirds of population growth.

Most are moving to Canada’s three biggest cities – Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver – but less so than in the past. Last year, 63.8 per cent of immigrants landed in the three cities, compared with 72.7 per cent in 2001.

As well, home ownership rates, currently about 68 per cent, tend to be higher among seniors, although they will require different kinds of homes, or adaptations to current homes.

“Some will move into smaller detached houses or row houses, some will move into condo apartments,” Melzer said. He points out that Vancouver is experimenting with units as small as 300 square feet, which may be attractive to single seniors.

Seniors tend to stay in their current homes as long as possible, so many will likely choose to adapt their living spaces.

“Typically young seniors are not living in accessible bungalows, so there will be renovations … installation of ramps or elevators, widening of the front door, bathroom doors. You might get replacement of bathtubs,” he explained. Another option is extensions to existing homes where seniors can live with their children.

The 184-page “Canadian Household Observer 2011” contains a number of surprising elements, although most of the report is based on previously-released data. Among the findings:

• Housing and related spending rose 7.1 per cent last year and now accounts for 20.3 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product output, or about $330 billion;
• Super-low interest rates, coupled with a small inventory of existing homes for sale, helped push the average Multiple Listing Service price up by 5.8 per cent in 2010 to $339,042;
• In 2006, only 35.3 per cent of recent immigrants (since 2001) owned their homes, compared to 68.7 per cent for non-immigrants. The CMHC notes, however, that home ownership among immigrants increases with their duration in the country.
• About 13 per cent of Canadians cannot afford a home in the area they live, a measure CMHC calls “core housing need.” Provincially, core housing need was highest in Newfoundland at 16.7 per cent, followed by Ontario and Nova Scotia at 15.1 per cent of households. Among cities, Toronto leads in core needs at 17.2 per cent, followed by Vancouver and Halifax at 16 per cent.

Still, the agency notes that 87 per cent of Canadian households “either live in, or had sufficient income to access, acceptable housing” in 2008.

The Bank of Canada and many economists have raised concerns about the level of debt, with household debt hitting a record 153 per cent greater than disposable income in the fall of 2011. The central bank said some households could be put under pressure when interest rates rise.

But the CMHC notes that 68 per cent of that debt is in mortgages and that most households can afford the costs associated with home ownership.

While household debt is a serious issue, the agency argues that a major shock to employment would constitute a much greater risk to Canadians’ ability to make mortgage payments than rising interest rates.

“Most Canadian households have the capacity to deal with adverse economic conditions, due to the high quality of mortgage credit in Canada, the substantial equity position of most Canadian homeowners with a mortgage, and households’ ability to adapt their discretionary spending,” the report concluded.

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There’s a disconnect between retirement plans and eventual actions. Retired Canadians are spending their time in a much different fashion than how soon-to-be retired Canadians expect they will be spending their retirement years, as reported in the 2011 Retirement Myths and Realities Poll.

The second Annual RBC Retirement Myths & Realities Poll, conducted by Ipsos Reid in 2011, examines Canadians’ expectations and realities when it comes to their retirement years. This poll interviewed 2,245 adults in Canada aged 50 and over in an online format.

The poll found that 74 per cent of the almost retired population (aged 50 and over) anticipate spending their retired days travelling, which was an increase of two percent from last year. However, in reality, only 58 percent of actual retirees follow through with these plans and spend time away from home.

The attractiveness of becoming a “snowbird” (spending winters in the south and summer in the north), is also on the rise with 30 per cent of the nearly retired population expecting to follow this travel pattern, as opposed to 28 percent in the last poll. Nevertheless, the number of actual retirees who travel south for the winter has declined 3 per cent since 2010.

As Jason Round, senior manager, Financial Planning Support, of RBC Financial Planning explains, “many expectations that Canadians have about retirement turn out very differently in reality. Having a financial plan in place can help you work through a number of options before you retire and give you the flexibility to enjoy whatever your retirement years offer to you.”

There were also differences about how women and men viewed their upcoming retirement years according to the RBC poll. The largest separation in attitudes between the genders was that around volunteering. Of Canadians who are soon to be retired, 60 per cent of women expect to do volunteer work in the coming years compared to only 53 percent of men. The same separation remains true upon retirement for both genders, but only 41 per cent of woman and 35 per cent of men actually follow through with volunteering plans.

Quick Facts – the below table compares how Canadians actually spend their retired years in contrast to the pre-retirees expectations.

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The Global Language Monitor says by January 1, 2012, there will be 1,013,913 words in the English language. “Web 2.0” is said to be the millionth word in the English language and achieved its status as a word on June 10, 2009 at 10:22 am. According to the Global Language Monitor, there’s a new word created every 98 minutes, meaning 14.7 new words enter the lexicon each day.

Among the more than one million words in the language, which gained popularity or soared to prominence this year?

Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster Inc. has announced the Top Ten Words of the Year for 2011. The list reflects the interests and attitudes of visitors from around the world to Merriam-Webster.com and LearnersDictionary.com and is determined by the volume of user look-ups on those sites.

Topping the list is pragmatic, meaning “practical as opposed to idealistic,” which received an unprecedented number of user lookups throughout 2011. Pragmatic is not associated with any one event but instead describes “an admirable quality that people value in themselves and wish for in others, especially in their leaders and their policies,” said Peter Sokolowski, Editor at Large at Merriam-Webster. “It’s a word that resonates with society as a whole; something people want to understand fully.”

Number two on the list was ambivalence, which like pragmatic reflects an overall mood rather than a specific event. Ambivalence is defined as “simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings toward an object, person, or action” and as “continual fluctuation between one thing and its opposite.” “We are struck by the unusually large volume of lookups for this word,” said John Morse, President and Publisher. “We think it reflects the public attitude toward a wide range of issues, including the economy, the ongoing debates in Washington, the presidential election, and most recently the race for the Republican Party nomination.”

Lookups are often influenced by economic and political policies and conditions. For instance, this year both capitalism and socialism appear on the list, with searches for capitalism in particular increasing in the wake of Occupy Wall Street activities.

Other event-driven terms are vitriol, frequently used in the national conversation about political rhetoric that followed the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords in January, and après moi le déluge, a phrase used by an influential commentator after the congressional “super committee” failed to reach an agreement in November.

Merriam-Webster’s top 10  Words of the Year for 2011:

1. pragmatic – Adjective: : practical as opposed to idealistic

2. ambivalence – Noun:  simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action

3. insidious  - Adjective:  awaiting a chance to entrap; harmful but enticing

4. didactic – Adjective: designed or intended to teach

5. austerity – Noun: the quality or state of being austere; an austere act, manner or attitude

6. diversity – Noun: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements

7. capitalism – Noun: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market

8. socialism – Noun: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods

9. vitriol – Noun: a sulfate of any of various metals (as copper, iron, or zinc); especially: a glassy hydrate of such a sulfate; something felt to resemble vitriol especially in caustic quality; especially: virulence of feeling or of speech

10. après moi le deluge – foreign term: after me the deluge – attributed to Louis XV

You might also be interested in: “Austerity” is 2010’s Word of the Year

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We at ILSTV are boldly predicting today that 2012 will be the year of the prediction.

The Mayans long ago started us off, predicting that December 21, 2012 will be the end of the world. We still have to wait nearly a year to see if this prediction will come true, but as we wait, let’s take a look back at some less-than accurate prophecies of days gone by.

Discussing the rebellious American colonies in 1774, British Prime Minister Lord North declared “Four or five frigates will do the business without any military force.”

More military and technological predictions fell short: “Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value,” said French soldier and military theorist Ferdinand Foch in 1904.

The New York Times, in 1936, wrote “A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Western Union too shunned new technology in the late 1870s, writing in a company memo “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”

U.S. President Grover Cleveland thought he understood the sensibilities of women in 1905, saying “Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.” Fifteen years later, in 1920, the women’s suffrage movement culminated with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, allowing women to vote.

In 1966, Time magazine wrote off e-commerce before anyone had really heard of it by decreeing “Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop – because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds.”

As the American auto industry grew, Business Week declared in 1968 that “With over fifteen types of foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big share of the market for itself.”

In 1969, Margaret Thatcher forecasted “It will be years – not in my time – before a woman will become Prime Minister.” Thatcher, of course, went on to serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.

While trends in the entertainment industry can be difficult to predict, some got it wrong – really wrong. H.M. Warner, co-founder of Warner Brothers famously quipped in 1927 “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”

A couple of decades later, in 1946, Darryl Zanuck, a movie producer at 20^th Century Fox claimed “Television won’t last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”

In 1962, Decca Recording rejected a British pop band called the Beatles, saying “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”

We know now that these predictions were off-base but we can assume that the people who made them had good reasons for thinking they were right. What do you predict 2012 will bring? Share your predictions with us, and have a happy New Year.

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What is science fiction and what is science fact? Here at IBM, we’re bridging that gap on a daily basis.

In five years, you will be able to power your house with the energy you create yourself. How you might ask? Anything that moves has the potential to create energy. Your running shoes. Your bicycle riding. And even the water flowing through your pipes. Advances in renewable energy technology will allow individuals to collect this created energy and use it to help power our homes, workplaces and cities. Imagine attaching uncharged batteries, to the spokes on your wheels. As your wheels turn, you will be able to get to where you are going and know that the energy you created could be used to turn the light on in your house. Created energy comes in all shapes and forms and from anything around us. IBM scientists in Ireland are already looking at ways to understand and minimize the environmental impact of converting ocean wave energy into electricity.

You probably used a password to log onto your computer today. In the future, you will never need a password again.Your biological makeup is the key to your individual identity, and soon, it will become the key to safeguarding it. Biometric data such as retinal scans and voice files will be composited through software to build your DNA-unique online password. Look at all of our wasted brain power – and wasted time – trying to remember multiple passwords for various log-ins. Instead, you will be able to walk up to an ATM machine to withdraw money by speaking your name or looking into the camera. As always, you’ll be able to opt in or out of whatever information you choose to provide.

Mind reading is no longer science fiction.

From Houdini to Skywalker, mind reading has merely been “wishful thinking” for science fiction fans for decades, but their wish may soon come true. Within 5 years, we will begin to see early applications of this technology beyond PC games, doctors could use the technology to test brain patterns, possibly even assist in rehabilitation and to help in understanding brain disorders, such as autism. IBM scientists are researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone, so you just need to think about calling someone and it happens. And perhaps many years in the future, if you want to type something, no need to say a word or hit a single key; echoing the famous IBM motto, just think.

The digital divide will cease to exist.

In our global society, wealth of economies are decided by the level of access to information. And in five years, the gap between information haves and have-nots will cease to exist due to the advent of mobile technology. There are 7 billion people inhabiting the world today and in five years 80% of the current global population would each have a mobile device. It’s cheaper to have a cell phone than open a bank account or buy a laptop. And because of this, communities are able to achieve much more than they had before. Members of a village could check weather reports for when to fertilize crops. Or know when doctors were coming into town instead of having to wait at the crossroads. Imagine… growing communities will be able to use mobile technology to better serve people with new solutions and business models such as mobile commerce and remote healthcare.

Junk mail will become priority mail.

Think about how often we’re flooded with information considered to be irrelevant or unwanted. It doesn’t have to be that way anymore. In five years, spam emails will become personal notes as systems will be able to filter and find only the data that’s important and relevant to you. And bringing you the information without you having to ask for it. Imagine your phone knowing that your favorite band is coming to town and to put tickets on hold for you to purchase? Or that a snow storm is about to affect your travel plans and you should re-route your plane tickets? News, sports, politics… giving power to your mobile phone to make purchases on your behalf. You’ll trust the technology will know what you want, so you can decide what to do with it.

So there’s our 5 in 5. How we will adapt these technologies to our daily lives is part of the exciting research IBM and our collaborators are undertaking.

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