If, sadly, you are so ill that a doctor or other suitably qualified medical practitioner is prepared to give written confirmation that you are expected to die within the following 12 months, then you are permitted to take the whole amount in cash as a special serious ill-health payment.

BBC: Pension planning: When to take a cash lump sum

The consequences are an extraordinarily large number of special dividend declarations, the early payment of typical first-quarter dividends, and the future adverse impact on dividend growth rates for certain companies.

FORBES: Dividends' Unintended Consequences

While the company is spending some of its cash on a special payout and speeding up its annual dividend payment, it still expects to hike quarterly payouts by a nickel per share, or 20%, in 2013.

FORBES: Fiscal Cliff Cash Splash Continues: Cato, Dish, HCA Announce Special Dividends

These are a special type of share that pay a regular flat dividend in perpetuity, and which receive their payment in preference to the dividends paid out on ordinary shares.

BBC: Apple loses shareholder vote lawsuit and drops plan

Visa and several large banks are testing mobile-payment programs that allow consumers to make contact-less payments with an existing smartphone equipped with a special chip card and antenna.

WSJ: Google Pursues Role in Mobile Payments

Google is offering a new mobile payment service, involving credit and stored payments methods in Android smartphones, plus hooks to loyalty cards and special offers.

FORBES: Where Google Mobile Payment Goes

When paired with special retailer deals and other consumer incentives, such services could increase transaction volume and provide new revenue streams for the payment networks, banks and merchants, analysts say.

WSJ: Card Networks Take on Plastic With Mobile Platforms