The single most important factor in women’s marital happiness is the level of their husbands’ emotional engagement or how affectionate and understanding they are, according to a study from University of Virginia sociologists W. Bradford Wilcox and Steven L. Nock.

Acknowledging the role of their convergence project in the ‘roadmap’ to removing reconciliation requirements for non-US companies registered in the US, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Monday that lists 11 specific areas where progress is to be achieved by 2008.

In a letter sent to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao as she prepares to open the final SAVER Summit, members of Americans for Secure Retirement, a coalition of 34 organizations representing a broad cross section of interests, urged Chao and Summit attendees to explore solutions addressing often-overlooked elements of the retirement security debate.Advertisement

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued guidance on the certification the homeowners may rely on when claiming credits for purchases that make their home more energy efficient and the energy efficient homes credit available to eligible contractors constructing qualified new energy efficient homes, including manufactured homes constructed in accordance with the Federal Manufactured Homes Construction and Safety Standards.

The Foundation Center, a nonprofit organization that gathers and analyzes information on U.S. philanthropy, has released “Snapshot of Philanthropy’s Response to the Gulf Coast Hurricanes,” an overview of corporate and foundation response to the disasters. Data for this report comes from information provided by the institutional donors through press releases, web postings and other public announcements. The Center will be tracking foundation and corporate giving over the next several years and will publish extensive detailed analysis at the end of 2006 and 2007.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced on Tuesday that it is holding $2 billion in unclaimed refunds owed to 1.7 million individual taxpayers who didn’t file a federal tax return in 2002. This money will become the property of the U.S.

With a shortage of accountants specializing in the oil and gas industry, EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. paid $20,000 to partner with the business school at the University of Colorado, at Denver, (UCD) for an oil and gas accounting course. EnCana USA is a subsidiary of Canadian giant EnCana Corporation located in Denver, according to the Denver Business Journal. The company is paying for the books for the course.

The market for long-term care (LTC) is expected to grow at an annual rate of 10.5 percent through 2009, with revenues expected to reach $394 billion, according to a new study, The Long Term Care Market: Nursing Homes, Home Care, Hospice Care, and Assisted Living, from Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com.

Actually, it’s neither. The holiday, created by the Uniform Holiday Act of 1968, and celebrated on the third Monday in February, is officially named Washington’s Birthday. George Washington’s birthday, however, is February 22, and it is impossible for the date of the third Monday to be any later than February 21, meaning Washington’s Birthday will never actually fall on his birthday.