Percentage of baby boomers (set to inherit a total of $7.6 trillion in their lifetimes, a figure more than $1.7 trillion greater than China's 2012 GDP) who will receive an inheritance, according to the Boston College Center for Retirement Research: 66

Projected percentage of that legacy they will lose, and not because of taxes: 70

By the end of their children's lives -- the third generation -- percentage of family fortunes that will be gone: 90

Source: Boston College's Center on Wealth and Philanthropy.

Amount of money unauthorized immigrants pay each year in state and local taxes, according to an analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy: $10.6 billion

Estimated annual revenue increase for all 50 states and the District of Columbia should undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. be allowed to work here legally: $2 billion

Source: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

By 2018, projected net worth of 2013 Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, through prize money and endorsements, propelling him into the second spot after Maria Sharapova and ahead of Novak Djokovic, according to Wealth-X: $160 million

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of homeowners who feel they have earned an "A" grade in home energy conservation, according to the findings of the 2013 Lennox Home Energy Report Card survey: 23

Percentage of homeowners who say the motivation for energy conservation is saving money: 57

Percentage who say it's the importance of protecting the environment: 38

Source: Lennox Industries.

Number of times more often that drivers aged 16 to 17 years are involved in crashes per mile driven compared to drivers in their 40s, 50s or 60s, according to a study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: 7

Source: AAA.

Percentage of people who already swim or want to start swimming who believe that it is the only sport that can be done for life, according to global research commissioned by Speedo: 73

Percentage who believe swimming provides a better workout and results in a better body than any other form of exercise: 86

Percentage who feel more physically fit as a result of swimming: 71

Source: Speedo.

Percentage of all buyers of addictive pain medications in the U.S. who were estimated to be "doctor shoppers" (persons who seek prescriptions for the same drugs from different physicians without telling them about other prescribers), according to a study from ABT Associates published in the journal PLOS ONE: 1

Although they constituted a small portion of patients prescribed opioid pain killers, estimated number of prescriptions they purchased (almost 2 percent of all prescriptions for highly controlled opioids): 4.3 million

Source: ABT Associates.

Percentage of workers who admitted it is at least somewhat likely they would leave their current position if they felt disengaged, according to a survey developed by OfficeTeam: 61

Percentage of respondents who said their company is at least somewhat effective in keeping workers motivated: 74

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of chief financial officers who said international experience will be at least somewhat necessary for accounting and finance staff five years from now, according to a survey from Robert Half Management Resources: 69

Percentage of CFOs at companies with 1,000 or more employees who feel accountants will need international experience: 99

Even at the smallest firms (20 to 49 employees), percentage of executives who say accounting and finance staff will need more than a U.S. perspective on the job: 67

Source: Robert Half Management Resources.

Percentage of America's insurance brokers, shaken by wide-ranging changes to the nation's health care system and economic unrest, who are considering exiting the health insurance business altogether, according to the 2013 Aflac WorkForces Report for Brokers: 45

Percentage who are only somewhat or not at all confident about the future of their firm and industry: 51

Source: Aflac Inc.

Idle Thought

"You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip by. Yes, but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by." -- James M. Barrie

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

When asked their favorite way of standing out from other candidates when applying for a job, percentage who said they do nothing special at all -- claiming their CV and experience speak for themselves, according to the results of a global survey conducted by FindEmployment: 63

Percentage of candidates who go the extra mile and personally hand their CV to the HR department in order to enhance their prospects: 28

Percentage who attach an attractive photo to their CV, hoping to catch a recruiter's attention: 5

Percentage who attempt to flirt with interviewers to try to gain notice: 3

Source: FindEmployment.

Percentage of Americans who would not like their child to go into politics as a career, according to a poll by Gallup: 64

Source: Gallup Organization.

Year that one of our favorite ice cream concoctions -- the sundae -- was purportedly invented to bypass the strict Sabbath laws of the time, which forbade selling flavored soda water, thus Edward Berner came up with the idea of putting chocolate syrup on ice cream, according to the Census Bureau: 1881

While drugstore soda fountains are gone, estimated number of ice cream shops there are across the country today: 11,500

Estimated number of employees who are busy making delights for customers worth nearly $3.2 billion a year: 90,000

Source: Census Bureau.

Percentage of people who believe erroneously that there is a chemical added to swimming pools that turns a conspicuous color in the presence of urine, according to a Mason-Dixon survey: 52

Source: Water Quality and Health Council.

Number of drinks in a two-hour period that are enough to put the average American male (four for the average woman) above 0.08 percent BAC (blood alcohol content) -- the legal limit in all 50 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 5

Percentage of Americans who consume alcohol at least once per month, according to a national survey conducted by BACtrack: 75

Percentage of respondents drinking more than four drinks in one night who admit to making poor choices: 44

Source: BACTrack, Inc.

Projected number of car sale units in 2013, the highest in six years, according to CarFinance: 15.5 million

Percentage of Americans who are buying cars with "below-prime credit" and who may be focusing only on the purchase price of the vehicle, unaware of some of the significant variable costs that are part of purchasing and maintaining a vehicle: 45

Total cost of ownership for a Honda Civic over five years, whereas the selling price is $18,423: $43,000

Source: mWEBB Communications.

Percentage of hiring managers who view millennials' (those 18 to 34) unknown long-term commitment to a company as the biggest possible liability, according to a survey by Adeco: 46

Percentage who have concerns about millennials' unwillingness in taking direction from older management: 27

Rank of "wearing inappropriate interview attire" and "posting potentially compromising content on social media channels" on the list of the biggest interview mistakes made by millennials: 1, 2

Source: Adecco.

Amount of trash the average American produces each day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency: 4.4 pounds

Amount of trash produced in the United States each year: 250 million tons

Percentage that is currently recycled: 35

Source: The Ad Council.

Percentage of chief information officers (CIOs) who said they plan to hire new IT graduates in 2013, according to a poll by Robert Half Technology: 35

Percentage of CIOs who say new IT graduates are unprepared to start contributing as soon as they start a new job: 26

Among these executives, percentage who said the reason is a lack of skills in areas such as communication and leadership: 55

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Percentage of people who would either never allow a camera or sensing device to be connected to their TV, or would probably never be convinced that such technologies could be beneficial, according to the results from a Strategy Analytics study: 43

Percentage who said they had some reservations, but would not object if the TV service improved significantly: 20

Percentage of respondents who said they would not mind at all if their TV viewing behavior was observed and data collected: 14

Source: Strategy Analytics.

Idle Thought

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." -- Leo Buscaglia, author

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of American workers who admit to using their sick days as "vacation" days, according to a survey by Adecco Staffing: 47

Percentage of workers who get upset when their co-workers take multiple long weekends off: 29

Percentage who feel as though their colleagues judge them when they take any time off: 23

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of adults who say they have tried marijuana, up from 40 percent three years ago, according to a Pew Research Center survey: 48

Percentage who said they smoked "just for fun": 47

Percentage of young adults who say they've tried marijuana: 56

Percentage of adults 65 and older who say they've ever used marijuana, though a third support its legalization: 22

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Percentage of women who are camera shy (citing anxiety about their appearance) and say that it prevents them from capturing important memories, including photos of a beach vacation, their own wedding pictures or even photos of the birth of their child, according to Dove global research: 77

On average, age at which women become more self-conscious in front of the camera: 24

Source: Dove Research.

Ranks of Provincetown, Mass. ($217), Cape May, N.J. ($204), and Martha's Vineyard, Mass. ($202) on the list of the United States' most expensive destinations, according to the finding of a survey from CheapHotels.org based on the average price of each locale's cheapest available room: 1, 2, 3

Source: Cheaphotels.org.

Amount that Hong Kong millionaire Tiffany Chen revealed she paid for what Christie's auction house calls "the largest and most perfect briolette diamond ever sold at auction," signalling a trend among the world's ultra net-worth individuals, according to Wealth-X: $11.15 million

Percentage increase in rough diamond prices since 2005 -- and likely to rise a further 20 percent between 2013 and 2017, bolstered by demand from China and India: 33

Rank of Hong Kong billionaire Yu Tung Cheng, honorary chairman of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, on the list of the wealthiest billionaire diamond collectors with a net worth of $19.6 billion: 1

Source: Wealth-X.

Value of the North America weight loss/obesity management market in 2012, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets.com: $104 billion

Projected value of the market by 2017: $139.5 billion

Rank of the U.S. on the list of the largest markets for weight loss/obesity management: 1

Source: MarketsandMarkets.com.

Percentage of British citizens lucky enough to win at least 1 million British pounds who still say they would choose not to stay in five-star hotels despite their unexpected new wealth, according to a study conducted by lottery operator Camelot and Oxford Economics: 32

Source: Holiday Hypermarket.

Percentage of moms who sleep in separate beds from their spouse or partner so at least one of them can get an uninterrupted night of sleep, according to BabyCenter.com: 40

Percentage of sleep-deprived moms who would rather get a good night's sleep than have sex with her partner: 72

Source: BabyCenter LLC.

Percentage of executives who rated their network as "very fast" (20 megabytes per second or faster), according to a survey at LTE World Summit: 50

Percentage of respondents who believed that their network was still not fast enough: 68

When executives were asked what rate of acceleration would make it worth their while to invest in technologies to boost their network's speed, percentage who said they would be satisfied with as little as 20 percent acceleration: 70

Source: LTE world Summit.

Percentage of moms and dads who divulged they wouldn't trust their teenage children to host a party, according to research from Allianz Your Cover Insurance: 29

Percentage of teenagers who revealed that they, too, fear a party could get out of control -- their top fear being uninvited guests turning up: 42

Source: YourCoverInsurance.co.uk.

Idle Thought

"They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they can see nothing but sea." -- Francis Bacon

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)