Archive for March, 2012
Health and Fitness (EngII sec.45)^^ – Video
Posted: March 7, 2012 at 5:52 pm
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Health and Fitness (EngII sec.45)^^ - Video
2012 Faith
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2012 Faith
Health & Fitness File, March 7
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Health Care Network Inc.
FREE FLU SHOTS FOR UNINSURED: Health Care Network Inc., 904 State St., will identify uninsured Racine County residents and provide them with a free flu shot voucher which will be good until April 15. These vouchers will be redeemable at any Walgreens location that offers flu shots. For more information, call Health Care Network Inc. at (262) 632-2400.
Aurora Health Care
To register, call (800) 499-5736 or visit the website,www.Aurora.org/Events.
VISION AND HEARING: Dr. Donna Daufenbach and audiologist Jennifer Patterson will talk about eye diseases, hearing loss and the newest treatments and technology available today. 1-2 p.m. March 13, Aurora Health Center, east building, large conference room, 8348 Washington Ave., Mount Pleasant. Free.
BREAST HEALTH: Join Dr. Joseph Majewski and registered nurse Susan Kandler as they talk about breast health and wellness. March 13, 6-7:30 p.m., Aurora Wellness Center, 300 McCanna Parkway, Burlington. Free.
Western Racine County
IMMUNIZATIONS AND FREE BLOOD PRESSURE CLINICS: Childrens vaccines include Chicken pox, diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Hib meningitis, HPV, measles, meningococcal, mumps, pertussis, pneumococcal, polio, rotavirus, rubella and tetanus.
Adult vaccines include Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), hepatitis A (severe food poisoning) and hepatitis B. TB skin test (must call 24 hours in advance to schedule), $10 plus the following administration fees.
Resident fees: Administration fee is $10 for one immunization, $15 for two and $30 for three or more. Non-resident fees: Administration fee is $20 for one immunization, $25 for two and $$30 for three or more. Payment must be made by check or cash only. Badger Care and Medicaid fees are exempt with card.
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Health & Fitness File, March 7
Fitness Social Network Endomondo Opens North American Headquarters in San Francisco
Posted: at 5:52 pm
SAN FRANCISCO, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Endomondo, a social sports and fitness network that enables people worldwide to engage around their passions for living active lives, today announced the opening of its new 4,000-sq-foot North American headquarters at 965 Mission Street in San Francisco.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120126/MM42999LOGO)
The Endomondo social network and app are currently used by 7.5 million people worldwide, with a vast number of those users located in the United States. As such, Endomondo co-founder Mette Lykke said the company believes it is necessary to establish a physical presence in North America to make fitness more engaging and fun for a growing number of users wanting to get healthy.
"Because the U.S. is one of Endomondo's strongest regions of growth, we feel it is only logical and appropriate to better serve this user base in a more meaningful manner," Lykke said. "Having a dedicated staff in North America means Endomondo can utilize its social fitness network in inventive ways to engage U.S. users. We will also be looking to interact with fitness fans in a much more interesting, personal, direct way through a wide spectrum of physical activities across the country."
Along with the desire to connect meaningfully with U.S. users, Endomondo executives also recognize the need to house a staff in San Francisco to maintain and strengthen existing relationships with partners in the social networking, mobile communications and web development industries. Direct interaction and communication with this community will ensure that Endomondo presents its users, termed "Endos," with the latest and most useful technological advancements.
Founded in 2007 by fitness fanatics from Copenhagen, Denmark, Endomondo creates tools that help anyone in the sports, health and fitness world reach their goals. The GPS-enabled app turns a mobile device into a personal trainer and social motivator capable of tracking workouts, analyzing performance, and can aid in the discovery of new routes, activities and insights into fitness.
What makes Endomondo stand apart from other activity tracking apps is its strong focus on the social dimension to fitness. By incorporating aspects found in leading social networks, Endomondo helps users connect with like-minded fitness fans locally or around the globe, and encourages the sharing of experiences and support for one another in achieving collective goals so people become and stay active. Users can send friends real-time pep talks while they exercise, offer valuable route maps, compete against friends for fun, challenge co-workers, and share it all on Facebook, Twitter or across the Endomondo social network.
Endomondo's online social fitness network encompasses a multitude of physical endeavors that unify participants and promote exercise for both recreational and serious athletes. The network currently tracks up to 200,000 workouts per day. A recent study conducted for Endomondo in Europe showed a 28 percent increase in exercise activities for those engaged in the community.
To sign up for this popular fitness network, please visit http://www.Endomondo.com . Journalists needing more information can visit http://www.endomondo.com/press .
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Fitness Social Network Endomondo Opens North American Headquarters in San Francisco
WWE 12 – Brock Lesnar’s UFC Retirement
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WWE 12 - Brock Lesnar's UFC Retirement
How low must retirement withdrawals go?
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By Linda Stern
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a lifetime of diligently saving, retirees are faced with a new question: How much can they take out during retirement?
Retirement -- or the "withdrawal phase of life" as actuaries and other numbers wonks refer to it -- can present a psychological challenge. It's often hard to spend money that took decades to save.
But it's also a mathematical challenge. Spend too much, and you can find yourself running out around the time you hit 75 or 80. Spend too little and you can live a retirement life of ascetic self-denial, only to enrich your kids when you die.
For many years, retirement experts have been telling retirees that 4 percent is a safe withdrawal rate. The theory, supported with lots of backtesting, holds that if you keep your portfolio diversified and start your retirement with a 4 percent withdrawal, you can increase your withdrawal by the inflation rate every year and be almost certain your money will last for 30 years. T. Rowe Price, for example, has suggested retirees can increase their withdrawals by 3 percent every year to cover inflation.
But events and developments of the last few years have cast some doubt on a 4 percent solution. In the first place, many people are retiring at 62 or under, and living into their 90s, so 30 years isn't always enough. Even more significantly, the market meltdown of 2008-2009 drove home the weakness of the 4 percent rule. When stocks and bonds deliver poor returns, even 4 percent isn't safe enough.
In fact, someone calculating their safe withdrawal rate in 2008 might only be able to take 1.5 percent of their money out, according to a paper from retirement expert Wade Pfau published in the Journal of Financial Planning. Pfau, an associate professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, doesn't actually suggest that retirees restrict themselves to that degree. Rather he suggests that retirees amend their withdrawals by considering how their investments are doing and staying flexible.
"It would be a great pity if recent retirees scaled down their retirement expenditures and loved a more frugal lifestyle only to find at the end that a higher withdrawal rate could have been sustainable," he wrote.
Some financial firms have considered lowering their recommended withdrawal rate to 3 percent but have found it hard to gain traction. That's a safer rate, concedes T. Rowe Price spokeswoman Heather McDonold, but it may be "difficult and unrealistic for some folks."
For example, at the end of 2010, the average 401(k) balance held by a worker in his or her 60s, who had been on the job for between 20 and 30 years, was $159,654, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Note that figure is probably high, because it only focuses on people with a long history on the job. A retiree who started pulling 3 percent a year out of that would be able to withdraw only $400 a month, enough for groceries perhaps but not much else.
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How low must retirement withdrawals go?
Retirement savings to spending: How to handle the transition
Posted: at 5:52 pm
Saving for retirement is a long journey with a destination that, at many times, feels far off. But once that last day of employment rears its mixed-emotions head, fantasies about pursuing sports, hobbies and travel are often displaced by anxiety about what lies ahead. How will you spend your time? Where will you live? And, perhaps most importantly, how will you pay for it all?
After so many years of marching to the beat of the save-for-retirement drum, it can be hard to imagine spending that money when the time comes. Indeed, drawing down your retirement savings is not a simple affair; taking too little can leave you with few options with respect to how to spend your senior years, while taking too much could leave you with years to live - and nothing to live on. Before you sit down with an advisor to discuss your options, here are some factors to consider. [More: Find out why you should contribute to your RRSP this year]
Start early Nearly every piece of retirement advice revolves around a simple edict you probably learned when you were young: always be prepared. The final stage of your working years is no different. According to personal finance expert and author, Gordon Pape, those who are approaching retirement need to start preparing their portfolios at least five years in advance. This involves winding down higher-risk investments in favour of low-risk dividend stocks, bonds and anything with a regular cash flow. Why? Because you don't want to be forced to switch your portfolio in a hurry - especially if market conditions are not in your favour.
"As you approach retirement, your focus shifts from growth to safety and income," Pape advises. "Make the transition gradually so that when the time comes to stop work, your portfolio is set up." [More: Retirement 101: Your guide to saving and planning for your retirement]
Demolish debt Nearly half of Canadians (47 percent) are concerned about the debt they'll be carrying into retirement, according to a poll released by Sun Life Financial in February. According to Pape, that's a huge mistake.
Think debt's no big deal? Not so fast. Current interest rates are at a historic low, which means that big, old debt is likely to cost you a whole lot more in the future up to 50 percent more, according to Pape's estimate. In other words, that mortgage or line of credit could be a financial disaster just waiting to happen, especially for someone on a fixed income.
The solution? Make sure your debt retires before you do, Pape says, even if it means keeping that 9-to-5 for a few more years than you'd planned. [More: Does it make sense to borrow for your RRSP? Here's what you need to consider...]
Slow and steady Many retirees have big plans for their post-work years. Unfortunately, the increasing health and longevity that many people now enjoy put them in a tough position. It's only natural to want to kick your retirement off by getting out and enjoying your free time. But if you take that round-the-world cruise early on, you might be left with very little to keep you afloat in your final years, pun intended. This doesn't mean you have to abandon all your grand plans; just be sure to consider the long-term picture before throwing down a lump sum for a luxury.
When to withdraw You can begin collecting Canada Pension at age 60 and you can convert your RRSP to a RRIF and begin receiving regular payments whenever you choose. Indeed, after all your hard work, you probably can't wait to get your hands on this money. Unfortunately, there's a cruel trick to spending retirement income the longer you put it off, the more you'll have to spend.
Sticking it out to age 70 before collecting CPP can mean a payment that's a full 42 percent higher than it would be if you started collecting your payments at age 60. As for your RRSPs, Pape recommends that you avoid converting them to RRIFs until absolutely necessary to avoid minimum withdrawal requirements until they become mandatory at age 71. Receiving a payout from an RRIF means pulling your nest egg out of its cozy tax-sheltered refuge, thus subjecting yourself to more tax and lower investment returns. Pape says it may be worth converting a small RRIF earlier to receive $2,000 per year and capitalize on the Pension Income Tax Credit. Overall though, it's best to tuck those RRSPs in for a few extra years. You'll thank yourself later. [More: Cracking the golden nest egg of retirement: Can you retire and still have debt?]
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Retirement savings to spending: How to handle the transition
Retirement Income Industry Association Creates Retirement Market Insight Initiative to Bring Database Analytics and …
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BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire -03/07/12)- The Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA) announces the launch of the RIIA Market Insight (RMI) initiative, a research program that transcends traditional product and organizational silos by bringing together industry leaders, researchers and their collective data to create a 360-degree view of consumer households who buy and depend upon the industry's products and services. RIIA invites firms to join an advisory board to guide the RMI research and collaborate with board members and participating firms in the execution of the program.
Joining with RIIA as members of the RMI are the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Turner Consulting, LLC, Strategic Business Insights (SBI), Sagence Group, GDC Research, CANNEX, Ernst & Young and Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) with the goal of delivering a sophisticated, strategic use of analytics applied to rich, high quality market data which develop and expand insights that lead to accelerated business success.
The first member of the RMI Advisory Board is the National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA). NAFA is a national trade association exclusively dedicated to promoting the awareness and understanding of fixed annuities. "We are pleased to have NAFA as a founding Advisory Board member," says Francois Gadenne, Executive Director and Chair of RIIA. "We anticipate that NAFA will bring their depth of experience and focus on fixed annuities to our program and will help guide research related to this important product."
Eric Thomes, NAFA's Chair, agrees, "As a premier annuity-based association and chief advocate for fixed annuities, we need to understand the trends that affect our products and our members. Our seat on the Advisory Board will help us achieve this objective."
The RMI is seeking additional working group members and sponsors to help guide the development of the various databases, reports and services. "While we are starting with annuity database analytics, the RMI members and sponsors will expand that view across product, service and distribution silos," explains Elvin Turner, President of Turner Consulting, LLC, and RIIA's Director of Research.
To create a cross-silos retirement income research platform, RIIA is building a RMI Advisory Board that represents various views and expertise across the industry, with members from the annuity, mutual fund, investments, insurance, distribution, DC plans and other communities. Their common goal is to gain actionable information about market share, distribution channels, products, customer profiles and household spending, now and in the future, that will result in data-based decisions that improve business performance.
"The bottom line for us," concludes Kim O' Brien, NAFA's CEO, "is being able to view actual sales and sales potential of fixed annuities quickly after those sales occur and with a level of insight and understanding that was not possible before. That is the opportunity offered by this initiative."
To join the RMI or to request more information, please contact Francois Gadenne, Chairman and Executive Director, RIIA at (781) 738-0484 or Elvin Turner, Director of the Research Business Unit, RIIA at (860) 242-4878.
About the Retirement Income Industry Association (www.riia-usa.org)
Founded in 2006 by leading financial companies, advisors, associations and academics, the Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA) provides a rigorous, research-driven, household-focused foundation for developing retirement solutions to serve retirees today and into the future. A non-profit organization, RIIA achieves its mission through a unique View Across the Silos allowing members to see change and disruption before others while achieving competitive advantage through diverse discussions, advanced education, market insight, research, comprehensive data, standards and thought leadership for successful retirement income management. RIIA members span the entire industry and include banks, insurers, mutual fund companies, brokerage houses, financial advisors and distributors, plan sponsors, researchers, technology companies, marketing firms, academics, and industry media.
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Retirement Income Industry Association Creates Retirement Market Insight Initiative to Bring Database Analytics and ...
Fujitsu will introduce a new flagship workstation
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Today, 7 March, Fujitsu will introduce its new flagship workstation CELSIUS R920. According to the company, this top-level workstation provides the performance, reliability, and scalability required for complex visualization and personal Supercomputing environments.
Fujitsu CELSIUS R920 is suitable for the most demanding computational and memory-intensive parallel applications in various fields, including engineering and electrical engineering, digital content creation, visualization, virtual reality, simulation and development of geological research. This workstation top-level expands the boundaries of personal computing by carefully developed sophisticated components, including high-performance multicore processors, graphics engine, a next-generation technology of quad-channel memory, and high-speed drives.
CELSIUS R920 meets the requirements of intensive computing environments leading spheres of business on criteria of safety, interoperability, efficiency and productivity of the user. It also lays the Foundation for future changes that will have to implement the business to meet their needs for computing power.
R920 CELSIUS workstation has been developed with a view to the most stringent safety standards. Its easy to install in a rack in a datacenter and provide secure access to computer Fujitsu over IP (PCoIP host card) through decision CELSIUS RemoteAccess. Dynamic USB Security provides secure authentication and authorization of all USB devices connected to the workstation via the built-in hardware protection USB ports. Built-in Intel vPro also provides security and management features that provide improved remote management system, as well as a fast data encryption and a simplified procedure for the remote update system.
To simplify integration into existing IT-infrastructure of Fujitsu Corporation undertook a full and detailed certification of equipment, together with independent software vendors to provide maximum stability, compatibility, and performance of the most well-known software applications in professional environments.
Energy efficiency of the new system reaches 90% R920 CELSIUS that reduces operating costs and faster return on investments. At the same time, done almost everything possible to reduce the noise radiation up to 21 decibel and thus ensure maximum efficiency for the users.
Thanks CELSIUS workstation extension R920, business users can invest in computing resources in stages and only needs to grow. To cold connect frontload provides flexibility and ease when installing hard drives, up to the total number of 8, increasing the total amount of memory up to 512 Gb. CELSIUS workstations are also equipped with professional graphics, which can also be upgraded with business needs, up to three models support high level graphics cards, including the Nvidia SLI and Maximus.
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Fujitsu will introduce a new flagship workstation
Research and Markets: Internal Combustion Engines: Improving Performance, Fuel Economy and Emissions 2011 Report Out Now
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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Research and Markets(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/78aa9f/internal_combustio) has announced the addition of Woodhead Publishing Ltd's new book "Internal Combustion Engines: Improving Performance, Fuel Economy and Emissions" to their offering.
This book contains the papers of the "Internal Combustion Engines: Performance fuel economy and emissions conference," in the IMechE bi-annual series, held on the 29th and 30th November 2011. The internal combustion engine is produced in tens of millions per year for applications as the power unit of choice in transport and other sectors. It continues to meet both needs and challenges through improvements and innovations in technology and advances from the latest research.
These papers set out to meet the challenges of internal combustion engines, which are greater than ever. How can engineers reduce both CO2 emissions and the dependence on oil-derivate fossil fuels? How will they meet the future, more stringent constraints on gaseous and particulate material emissions as set by EU, North American and Japanese regulations? How will technology developments enhance performance and shape the next generation of designs? This conference looks closely at developments for personal transport applications, though many of the drivers of change apply to light and heavy duty, on and off highway, transport and other sectors.
Key features:
aimed at anyone with interests in the internal combustion engine and its challenges the papers will consider key questions relating to the internal combustion engine
Key Topics Covered:
SI ENGINES AND DOWNSIZING
GDI PARTICULATES AND OTHER EMISSIONS
DIESEL FUEL INJECTION
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Research and Markets: Internal Combustion Engines: Improving Performance, Fuel Economy and Emissions 2011 Report Out Now