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Statistically speaking, only between 4% and 6% individuals can afford to retire comfortably. When this fact is combined with changes such as a longer life expectancy, disintegration of family life and increasing pressure on public resources to deal with issues such as aids, the increasing need for personal financial planning for retirement becomes clear. Firstly, a framework was set of requirements which need to be met with regard to financial planning for retirement. This includes the need to diversify the portfolio (as a method to manage the acceptable risk level), as well as principles and techniques relating to diversification. The possibility of using the services of a financial planner to aid with the retirement planning, as well as aspects to be considered in this regard were discussed. It was also demonstrated that a variety of aspects should be considered when deciding on an investment, including market expectations, general economic conditions and the investor's own research, all within a long-term framework. The final aspect considered as part of the framework, was tax. Having set the framework for successful financial retirement planning in Chapter two, a number of pitfalls to be avoided were addressed in Chapter three. These included the investor's planned annual cost of living, since this is the single most important factor which will determine standard of living during retirement. The planned age at which the individual wishes to retire specifically also needs to be taken into account, seeing that this determines the amount of time he has to build up his investment. The planned rate of return on the investment has to be realistic, but also has to at least keep up with inflation. The effect of inflation could also for example mean that adequate present planning may fall short in 20 years' time. A final aspect to be considered is the importance of taking unforeseen events, such as a potential medical disability, into account. Having set the framework of factors to be taken into account, specific investment options were addressed in the main categories of equity, bonds, property and cash, as well as a pension find, provident fund and/or retirement annuity. Less traditional options such as collector's items, financial instruments or the option to start one's own business were also addressed in more detail. Finally, a questionnaire was addressed to professional people, as represented by auditors in the Northwest Province, with the view to determine the current level of retirement planning and whether or not their expectations matched the theoretic framework as discussed in the previous chapters. Suggestions were made as per the results of the questionnaire by linking the results of the questionnaire and the theoretical framework. Gaps were also highlighted, for instance that very few people as per the sample plan to fully retire, and this changing understanding of "retirement" is not fully captured by current literature. It also seems that professional persons, as per the questionnaire, have an over optimistic view regarding their retirement and funds needed during retirement. / Thesis (M.Com. (Business and Management Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The fundamental objective of this thesis is to identify the factors responsible for the persistence of the Chilean inflation and, particularly, for the failure of the three main stabilization efforts which took place under democratic conditions in Chile, i.e. those implemented in 1956-57, 1959-61 and 1965-67. In this thesis, the Chilean inflation of 1955-1970 is considered to have been, to a large extent, the result of the failure of the political system to accommodate conflicting demands within the limits of available resources. The analysis of the literature about the Chilean inflation shows that the economic approaches fail to take socio-political factors into account, and that the literature which focuses on the non-economic aspects of the phenomenon is varied, less formalized and, in general, more concerned with the sociological aspects of the conflicts which existed in Chilean society than with the political and particularly the institutional aspects involved. This thesis attempts to overcome these shortcomings by placing the Chilean inflationary process in its specific institutional and political context. This approach shows how important the contribution of socio-political analysis can be to the understanding of inflation, particularly in historically and geographically bound case studies. The thesis concentrates considerable effort on the analysis of the connection between the cyclical pattern of the Chilean inflation, the cyclical socio-political forces at work in the Chilean society and their institutional framework. The thesis argues that under democratic conditions the inflationary propensity which existed in Chilean society had both an upper and lower limit. The analysis of the record for 1955-1970 shows that there were forces working in favour of price stabilization that became more powerful as inflation accelerated, but there were also countervailing forces favouring the continuation of inflation and these came to prevail as inflation decelerated. The cyclical character of the Chilean inflation was partly related to the cyclical pattern of the six year presidential terms which involved alternating periods of strong and centralized presidential authority and of power dispersal. The Chilean inflation was the result of a society still searching for effective forms of social regulation, alternative to the traditional ones which started to collapse in the 1920s.

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This dissertation consists of three essays in international asset pricing. The first essay develops a model where investors face barriers to foreign portfolio investment. Using the standard mean-variance framework, risk return relationships for all securities are developed. It is also shown that: (1) previous models adopting this approach are special cases of this model, and (2) all investors generally prefer complete removal of barriers over other market structures. Essay #2 empirically explores the issue of the degree of segmentation of the international capital market for risky securities. Using the 'emerging market' (EM) data base, it is shown that the international capital market is neither completely segmented nor completely integrated. Finally, the third essay investigates the relationship between stock returns and inflation for the EM securities. It is shown that stock returns are positively (negatively) related to inflation, for the group of high (low) inflation countries in the sample.

In this thesis, assuming that higher spatial dimensions existed only during the inflationary prematter phases of the universe, we construct a (1+D)-dimensional (D&gt / 3), nonsingular, homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann model for dimensional reduction. In this model, dimensional reduction occurs in the form of a phase transition that follows from a purely thermodynamical consideration that the universe heats up during the inflationary prematter phases. When the temperature reaches its Planck value Tpl,D, which is taken as the maximum attainable physical temperature, the phase of the universe changes from one prematter era with D space dimensions to another prematter era with ( D-1) space dimensions where T_pl,D is higher. In this way, inflation gets another chance to continue in the lower dimension and the reduction process stops when we reach D=3 ordinary space dimensions. As a specific model, we investigate the evolution of a (1+4)-dimensional universe and see that dimensional reduction occurs when a critical length parameter l_4,3 reaches the Planck length of the lower dimension. Although the predictions of our model for the cosmological parameters are beyond the ranges accepted by recent measurements for closed geometry, for a broad range of initial conditions they are within the acceptable ranges for open geometry

The purpose of the paper is to explore the relationship between inflation and unemployment in Germany during the period from 1970 to 2012. Through the methods of cointegration, dynamic OLS and an error correction model, this paper highlights that there is no short run negative relationship between inflation and unemployment, and consequently the short run Phillips curve is an unsuitable instrument for making political decisions. Furthermore, there is a long run relationship between inflation and unemployment, which can be explained with asymmetric nominal wage rigidities and resulting frictional growth. Resulting policy implications reflect the advantage of a permanent higher inflation target for Germany. Since the beginning of the European Monetary Union, Germany has been on average 0.5% under the permanent inflation target of the central bank. Therefore, by using fiscal policy, Germany can reduce permanent unemployment without missing the inflation target of the central bank. Finally, despite of variety of intensive changes in the macroeconomic situation and particularly through the establishment of the European Monetary Union, the CUSUM and CUSUMsq test reveal that the estimate holds validity over the entire observation period and has not changed since the beginning of the European Monetary Union.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-124).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisor: James L. Butkiewicz, Dept. of Economics. Includes bibliographical references.

Univ., Diss.--Zugl.: Tilburg, 2005. / Zsfassung in niederländ. Sprache.