Research

Four in ten small business owners never plan to retire entirely, according to a survey by The Guardian Life Insurance Business Research Institute. And less than half of them (45%) feel they are very or even fairly financially prepared for retirement. The main reason respondents said they plan to continue working is making sure they don’t outlive the money needed to retire.

Descendents of Mexico, Puerto Rico and Cuba remain the nation’s three largest Hispanic country-of-origin groups, but the next four Hispanic sub-groups grew faster during the last decade, according to the 2010 U.S. Census and Pew Hispanic Center. Hispanics of Salvadoran origin, which is the fourth largest Hispanic country-of-origin, grew by 152%, followed by the Dominican population, which grew 85%, the Guatemalan population, which grew 180% and the Colombian population, which grew 93%. The Mexican population, which makes up 31.8 million of the 50.5 million total U.S. Hispanic population, grew 54% in the last decade.

Ken Chaya and Edward Sibley Barnard spent two and a half years detailing 19,933 trees in New York City’s Central Park. The map they created includes 174 species and represents about 85 percent of the vegetation on the park’s 843 acres, according to The New York Times. The two spent $40,000 on the project, and they are now selling map and poster versions of their charted work at CentralParkNature.com.

A recent survey by telecommunications company eVoice found 72% of the small business owners who responded believe an area code carries more prestige than a desirable zip code. Even a recognizable 800 number can provide a competitive advantage. More than half of the respondents (56%) said the biggest benefit to having an 800 phone number is that it makes their business appear larger.

The Internal Revenue Service increased the optional standard mileage rate to 55.5 cents a mile for the last six months of the year. The 4.5 cents increase for business miles was made to recognize the recent rise in gasoline prices, according to the IRS. “We are taking the step so the reimbursement rate will be fair to taxpayers” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.