Spare Change

Money Tip

Six months after announcing a 6.73-percent yield on inflation adjusted I-bonds, the Treasury announced last week it would pay just 2.41 percent for the next six months. The Treasury also announced higher yields on Series-EE savings bonds — 3.7 percent compared with 3.2 percent.

Survey Says

Today’s workers and retirees are, in the aggregate at least, better prepared financially for old age than earlier generations were, despite the alarms being sounded about the condition of traditional pensions. Assets in individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts now exceed those in traditional pension plans, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Money Trend

The biggest makers of automated teller machines are trying to sell a new generation of machines that allow customers to deposit cash or checks without an envelope. The new versions read checks and count cash themselves. They can display an image of the check on the screen, and also print an image of the deposited check on a customer’s receipt.

Fund Fact

Wall Street is increasingly encouraging individual investors to bet on foreign currencies, and money managers are rolling out a host of new funds to allow them to do this. Offerings range from mutual funds that buy money-market- type investments denominated in foreign currencies, to funds that use complex strategies including trading derivatives and short-selling. The developments mark a significant shift for individual investors, who rarely have been steered by financial advisers into foreign currencies.