Savers

Re "Fed to tie interest rate to job gains," Dec. 13 It's disappointing that no mention is made of the effect of the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates at rock bottom on those who have set aside a good portion of their incomes as savings over the years. People who have been fiscally prudent all their lives to build savings for their later years now see the income they had counted on from those savings diminished by these low rates. Although the Fed's actions may help encourage the investment needed for the job growth we so badly require, it would be nice to see the downside for a large segment of the population at least acknowledged.

Re "Fed to tie interest rate to job gains," Dec. 13 It's disappointing that no mention is made of the effect of the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates at rock bottom on those who have set aside a good portion of their incomes as savings over the years. People who have been fiscally prudent all their lives to build savings for their later years now see the income they had counted on from those savings diminished by these low rates. Although the Fed's actions may help encourage the investment needed for the job growth we so badly require, it would be nice to see the downside for a large segment of the population at least acknowledged.

In January, after putting the kids to bed, Mary Morrill and her husband spread their monthly bills, grocery receipts and checkbooks on the kitchen table and began the first of several long nights finding ways to cut spending -- especially with credit cards. They would pack their own lunches, write dinner menus to curb impulse buying at the grocery store, even cut out trips to McDonald's, which had been a treat for the kids and a convenience for the Morrills. And it all worked. "We literally have not charged anything for almost a year," said Morrill, 39, who lives with her husband and two children outside Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

When it comes to conserving energy, California is one of the most efficient states. But it's no longer the best. That honor goes to Massachusetts for the second year in a row, according to the sixth annual report on the subject from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. But the Golden State has been a leader for decades, according to the group, which goes by the less-unwieldy ACEEE. Utilities in the state offer energy efficiency programs for customers and are expected to save nearly 7,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity between 2010 and 2012.

Your bank wants your money and may be willing to pay a decent rate for it. After falling for most of the last year, average rates on certificates of deposit have been picking up since the end of April. Some banks -- including brand-name institutions with locations in Southern California -- are offering more than 4% on a one-year CD. Nationwide, the average annual yield on one-year CDs fell to 1.92% in April, down from 3.75% in August 2007. "During the past 12 months, savers really took it on the chin," said Greg McBride at Bankrate.

The savers of our society, those who save money in banks and savings and loan institutions, provide the financial base for the growth and well-being of our economy by providing the funds necessary for construction, home purchases, business expansion, etc. The savers of our country have laid their savings open to the ravages of inflation and the resultant loss of purchasing power, while providing borrowers with the means to consume. Savers accept deferred gratification while borrowers experience immediate gratification of their needs and desires.

Your editorial must be responded to as it mentions a 10% cut in individual usage. We support a cut, but not in percentages. You listed several examples of low/high gallon usage. We, using the low side, have already cut 6,650 gallons per month. (I must plead guilty to hosing the drive in the past.) Additionally low-flow toilets and shower restrictors have been installed. My past Navy training of water hours has not been forgotten. Some others have done none of these. To now mandate a 10% across-the-board cut simply penalizes the savers and rewards the wasters.

A wealthy San Francisco socialite in her 80s keeps $1 million in a passbook savings account earning a mere 5.5% interest. Another elderly San Francisco woman keeps $190,000 in a similar passbook account. Both women reject advice to put their money into higher-paying accounts. Michael Rinebold, a 33-year-old Woodland Hills computer consultant, also has a passbook account, with a balance of only $600. "That's my rainy day account," he says.

Robert Kuttner failed in his commentary of Dec. 2 on the stock market to address the chief reason for its explosive growth, i.e., the demise of the traditional pension plan and its replacement with the individual retirement account and the 401(k) and similar investment plans. With this change, virtually all of America's retirement savings are now funneled into the stock market. It is no wonder that under these conditions the stock market soars. Once again, we have legislated disaster by making these stock market investment plans the only viable ones for the majority of retirement savers, thus ensuring that the inevitable "corrections" will hit everyone, this time much harder than the S&L failures hit. And lest any of these stock market investors cry that they are assuming the whole risk themselves, I would like to point out President Clinton's response to the Mexican financial crisis of a couple of years back.

Verizon Wireless has topped an annual list of best cellphone carriers published by Consumer Reports. Of the four major U.S. national cellphone standard service providers, Verizon received favorable scores for voice and data service quality, and for support attributes such as staff knowledge and resolution of issues. Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T each received mostly middling to low marks, particularly for voice and text service quality, Consumer Reports said. AT&T was among the lower-scoring providers, but its 4G LTE network was rated the most favorably of any carrier.

Since launching Amazon Prime seven years ago, the e-commerce giant's membership shipping program has taken off among shoppers who opt to pay a $79 annual fee for unlimited free two-day shipping. Now Amazon says that more items are shipped via Amazon Prime than its free Super Saver Shipping option, which enables shoppers to get free standard shipping on orders of $25 or more. Today, more than 15 million items are eligible for Amazon Prime, up from 1 million in 2005. The company has also added more than 22,000 movies and TV episodes to its Prime Instant Video library; Prime members get unlimited streaming and can borrow more than 180,000 books for free in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

Our purchase of Heritage Cards from Ireland's Office of Public Works guaranteed us free admission to all fee-paying state-managed OPW heritage sites throughout the country for one year. The costs were recouped within the first week of our recent three-week trip. Adults, about $26, families, about $67 Heritage Card, Office of Public Works, Heritage Ireland division; http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/Info/HeritageCards/ . Gail Robillard Rancho Palos Verdes

America being the land of instant gratification, its residents tend to save far less than their foreign counterparts do - when they save anything at all. As a result, millions of people are heading into retirement with little more than their Social Security benefits to sustain them. Fearful that many will wind up dependent on state aid to get by, California Sen. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) wants to create a state-run but privately insured pension program that prompts more workers to save for their dotage.

The Federal Reserve has pledged to keep interest rates at near rock-bottom levels for another couple of years. That's a shift from the central bank's previous plan to lock in rates near zero through mid-2013. The change should help reassure consumers that they can continue to borrow cheaply, extending an era of free money designed to stimulate the still limping economy. Investors sure liked it: Major stock indexes catapulted higher after the announcement. The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index erased earlier losses and were most recently up about half of a percent.

Dear Liz: After nine months of unemployment I finally landed a new job, but at half my former $100,000 salary. In this economy I was happy to get it. I always contributed the maximum to my 401(k) and employee stock purchase plan, but my new company does not offer either of these options. I made it through my period of unemployment on severance, savings and belt tightening. Other than a mortgage, I have no debt. I realize I need to both catch up on missed contributions and continue to put away money for retirement.

Laraine Watts called her financial advisor for help with an urgent issue — what to do when her bank certificate of deposit comes due at the end of this month. In the past, the Anaheim retiree would have rolled the money into a new CD. But with interest rates at record lows, Watts is scrambling to find better returns. "If you put $10,000 in the bank you're lucky if you get 50 cents anymore," Watts said. "Why put it in the bank? You might as well put it under the mattress. " The Federal Reserve has dropped interest rates to historically low levels in hopes of resuscitating the ailing economy.

Second of three parts The J.D. Byrider used-car dealership in Visalia, Calif., sits amid a jumble of tow yards, hubcap vendors and vacant lots littered with empty beer cans. It may not look like much, but selling aging cars to waitresses, secretaries and farmworkers is a lucrative business. That's why private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners of Palo Alto bought the J.D. Byrider chain in May for a reported $50 million. Altamont's offices, on the 10th floor of a luxury office tower overlooking Stanford University, are 200 miles and a world away from the Visalia lot. On a recent morning, a dozen executives could be seen huddled in a glass-walled conference room, reviewing a slide presentation on plans to buy some franchised Byrider lots.

At first glance, there's little about this modern Mount Washington house to indicate its extreme sustainability. Beyond the small frontyard xeriscaped with succulents, the short driveway leads to a yellow, three-story house with a windowed garage door. To see the radical conservation mandate, you have to look more closely. Beneath the desert landscaping lies a cistern that can store 1,500 gallons of rainwater. Behind the garage door are controls for a solar water heater, photovoltaic panels and gray-water system — the first to receive a permit from the city of Los Angeles after California updated its gray water regulations in August 2009.

The gig: Martha de la Torre is the chief executive and co-founder of El Clasificado, a Spanish-language publication distributed weekly throughout Southern California. The 60-page directory of classified ads is targeted to Latino immigrants and functions as a "Spanish-language PennySaver," said De la Torre, 53. The privately held company posted $16 million in sales last year, up 8% from 2009, she said. It has 130 employees. Reluctant entrepreneur: Born to Ecuadorean immigrants who settled in the South Bay, De la Torre enrolled in Loyola Marymount University's accounting program.