TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -08/01/12)- The BMO Retirement Institute today issued a report which found that young Canadians, while aware of the need for retirement planning, are putting their retirement at risk by not considering how much money they will need and are often delaying saving for retirement.

The report, Broadening the Approach to Preparing for Retirement, examined attitudes on retirement among young adults (between the ages of 18 and 34):

"While it's great news that young adults appreciate the importance of retirement planning, it's a concern that many are not backing it up with concrete action," said Tina Di Vito, Head of the BMO Retirement Institute. "A clear dichotomy exists between what young people think about retirement and what they are actually doing to prepare for it."

The report also outlined the importance of attitudes and behaviours when preparing for retirement, as well as the critical role parents can play.

Attitudes and Behaviours Result in Action

According to Ms. Di Vito, attitudes and behaviours are strong predictors of financial preparedness for retirement. The report found that young adults are the least prepared for retirement, despite the fact that one-quarter of them expect to retire early. While almost a quarter (23 per cent) of Boomers over the age of 55 have thought a lot about how long they might be retired, only five per cent of young adults have given this a lot of thought. As a result, they are not spending adequate time gathering information on retirement planning, attending seminars, or consulting others on retirement planning; many are also not actually saving.

Factors that may hinder their progress in establishing themselves financially, in general, let alone for retirement, include poor post-economic recession job prospects, rising student debt and lower real wages.

The Importance of Role-Models

The report also found that role models are critical to helping young people think differently about their financial future. With half of young adults 20 to 29 years old still living with their parents, Mom and Dad can be effective financial role-models by demonstrating sound financial management and savings habits along with involving their children early in the process. This could involve engaging their adult children in contributing towards household expenses as soon as they begin to work. Making regular contributions to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) and involving their kids in the process while they are in their early teens, talking to kids about money management and budgeting, encouraging their adult children to attend retirement-related seminars and webinars, and introducing them to financial professionals are other ways in which parents can help.

"Parents and other influential adults have to foster an environment that will encourage young people to think about their financial future," said Ms. Di Vito. "Despite the challenging and complex financial realities facing young people today, increasing their financial preparedness for retirement will guide them towards positive results."

Visit link:
BMO Retirement Institute Report: Time to Get the Kids Thinking About Retirement

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9coD8A2zxp0

31-07-2012 13:18 Jeff Vogan...retirement planner, financial advisor in Mesa & Tucson Arizona discusses why traditional asset allocation may not work today.

See the original post:
Relevancy of balanced portfolios: Retirement planner Jeff Vogan Mesa Tucson Arizona - Video

Updated: July 31, 2012, 7:41 PM ET

MINNEAPOLIS -- Brandon Roy's retirement from the NBA last year wasn't intended as a final decision.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were eager to help him clarify his status.

"After a few months of sitting out, I decided, 'Hey, I don't want to stop playing basketball,' " Roy said Tuesday at a news conference at Target Center after signing a two-year, $10.4 million contract. "I wanted to continue going forward. It was never a situation where I said, 'I'm done forever.' It's just more of a pause."

David Sherman/NBAEFresh out of retirement, Brandon Roy says he hopes to be with Minnesota -- the team that drafted him -- for "a little bit longer than 30 minutes."

The Portland Trail Blazers announced Roy's medical-related retirement right before the start of the lockout-shortened season last year. His knees, lacking cartilage after six operations, were bothering him too much to continue. Roy said Tuesday, though, that the team doctor advised him to quit. The Blazers used the amnesty clause to waive Roy and not count the remaining $63 million on his contract against their salary cap or luxury tax.

"It was never really officially my decision to retire," Roy said.

So here he is with the Wolves, at 6-foot-6 and age 28, ready to resume what was already an outstanding career before his knees began to break down.

Roy was on a playing-time limit -- 22 minutes per game -- during his last season with the Blazers, a restriction he said frustrated him badly. His 18-point fourth quarter in a Game 4 comeback win over the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs only boosted his confidence that he could still play at an elite level.

The Wolves not only were interested once he made it known he was considering a comeback, they promised him they'd take off the reins as long as he can prove his knees can handle it. Roy said his goal is to again become a 35-minute-per-game player, his career average.

Read more:
Roy never saw retirement as being end of line

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Fitch Ratings has assigned 'BBB+' ratings to the expected issuance of approximately $154.0 million Colorado Health Facilities Authority revenue and refunding bonds, series 2012A-C (Covenant Retirement Communities, Inc.). In addition, Fitch affirms the 'BBB+' rating on approximately $129.3 million of revenue bonds issued through one of the following issuing authorities on behalf of Covenant Retirement Communities:

--Colorado Health Facilities Authority;

--Illinois Health Facilities Authority;

--Golden Valley MN Housing & Redevelopment Authority;

--Plantation FL Health Facilities Authority;

--Connecticut Development Authority;

The Rating Outlook is Stable.

The series 2012 bonds are expected to be structured as fixed rate debt. Bond proceeds will be used to refund approximately $131.2 million of outstanding bonds, fund $20.0 million of various capital projects throughout the system, fund a debt service reserve fund and pay costs of issuance. The issue is expected to price the week of August 20th.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

Continue reading here:
Fitch Rates Covenant Retirement Communities Ser 2012 Revs at 'BBB+'; Outlook Stable

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Brandon Roy's retirement from the NBA last year wasn't intended as a final decision.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were eager to help him clarify his status.

''After a few months of sitting out, I decided, 'Hey, I don't want to stop playing basketball,''' Roy said Tuesday at a news conference at Target Center after signing a two-year, $10.4 million contract. ''I wanted to continue going forward. It was never a situation where I said, 'I'm done forever.' It's just more of a pause.''

The Portland Trail Blazers announced Roy's medical-related retirement right before the start of the lockout-shortened season last year. His knees, lacking cartilage after six operations, were bothering him too much to continue. Roy said Tuesday, though, that the team doctor advised him to quit. The Blazers used the amnesty clause to waive Roy and not count the remaining $63 million on his contract against their salary cap or luxury tax.

''It was never really officially my decision to retire,'' Roy said.

So here he is with the Wolves, at 6-foot-6 and age 28 ready to resume what was already an outstanding career before his knees began to break down.

Roy was on a playing-time limit - 22 minutes per game - during his last season with the Blazers, a restriction he said frustrated him badly. His 18-point fourth quarter in a Game 4 comeback win over the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs only boosted his confidence that he could still play at an elite level.

The Wolves not only were interested once he made it known he was considering a comeback, they promised him they'd take off the reins as long as he can prove his knees can handle it. Roy said his goal is to again become a 35-minute-per-game player, his career average.

That, combined with endorsements from friends of head coach Rick Adelman, familiarity with Adelman's assistants and a playoff-caliber core in Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio and now Andrei Kirilenko, was enough to persuade Roy to pick the Wolves.

''It's not a situation where I wanted to be a 10th man. I want to be able to go out and work and be a big part of a team taking that next step, and I thought the pieces were right here,'' Roy said. ''When they say, 'You know, Brandon, the sky's the limit here,' that really made me feel good. I thought some teams maybe wanted me to play a small role, but Minnesota was saying, 'You can come in and earn as big of a role as you want.' So that was really important for me.''

Follow this link:
Roy says retirement was never final in his mind

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

While facing the prospect of living more years in retirement, women nearing retirement underestimate how much they will need to pay for their future health care costs even more so than men nearing retirement, according to a Nationwide Financial survey released today.

According to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive of 1,250 Americans with at least $250,000 in household assets, women close to retirement estimate they will spend $4,624 each year on health care beyond what Medicare covers. Thats 21 percent less than the $5,882 men nearing retirement estimate they will spend each year on things like premiums, copayments and deductibles. However, both are way off. A 2012 study found a 65-year-old couple retiring today would need $240,000 to cover medical expenses during their retirement years and that doesnt include long-term care costs. 1

The fact is women live longer than men, which means they will spend more time in retirement and that places women at a greater risk of outliving their retirement assets, said John Carter, president of sales and distribution for Nationwide Financial. It also may increase their chances of incurring long-term care costs during their golden years. Thats why its especially important for women to plan for health care costs in retirement.

According to the survey, nearly half of both women and men say they are terrified of what health care costs may do to their retirement plans. Yet, women respondents nearing retirement are much more likely than men respondents to say they have not estimated:

On average, women estimate that Medicare will cover 65 percent of their annual health care costs. But, similar to men respondents, when asked how they came to this percentage, 85 percent either guessed or did not know. Only 2 percent said they were told this by a financial advisor.

Women are also slightly more likely than men to say they are somewhat unconfident to not at all confident in their plan to live comfortably in their retirement years (46 percent vs. 39 percent men).

Opportunity for advisors

While 65 percent of women have discussed their retirement with a financial advisor of those who have, only one in 10 talked about how much they should expect to pay in health care costs apart from Medicare (compared to one in four men).

Of those who have discussed retirement with a financial advisor, 77 percent of women say they were helpful to very helpful estimating health care costs in retirement (63 percent men) and a whopping 86 percent say they were helpful to very helpful discussing the role Medicare will play in their retirement (52 percent men).

Read more here:
Women Nearing Retirement Underestimate Future Health Care Costs More Than Men

LONDON -- The last five years have been tough for those in retirement. Portfolio valuations have been hammered and annuity rates have plunged. There's no sign things will improve anytime soon, either, as the eurozone and the U.K. economy look set to muddle through at best for some years to come.

A great way of protecting yourself from the downturn, however, is by building your retirement fund with shares of large, well-run companies that should grow their earnings steadily over the coming decades. Over time, such investments ought to result in rising dividends and inflation-beating capital growth.

In this series, I'm tracking down the U.K. large caps that have the potential to beat the FTSE 100 (INDEX: ^FTSE) over the long term and support a lower-risk, income-generating retirement fund (you can see the companies I've covered so far on this page).

Today I'll take a look at Unilever (LSE: ULVR.L) , one of the world's largest consumer goods companies, whose brands -- which include Cif, Dove, Hellmann's, Bertolli, and Domestos -- we all use.

A share to hold forever?Unilever has a strong presence in emerging markets such as India. This has helped to fuel growth over the last decade. Let's take a look at how Unilever has performed against the FTSE 100 over the last 10 years:

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

See the rest here:
Is Unilever the Ultimate Retirement Share?

When it comes to retirement savings, many Americans seem to be "winging it" -- or heading for retirement without a realistic plan of how to fund it.

Or so suggests a recent survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. The survey indicates that "retirement planning" is a very loose concept among Americans. In many cases, the approach could be better described as wishful thinking.

The following are some points of concern raised by the study:

The median contribution level for workers in 401(k) or similar plans is 7 percent. This is up from 6 percent in 2011, but still too low a savings rate to fund a comfortable retirement. Think about it: Retirement is likely to last roughly half as many years as a career. How can you expect to replace most or all of your income if you are only setting money aside 7 percent of that income each year? With diminished expectations for the stock market, and bond yields and savings account interest rates approaching zero, most people are not going to be able to grow their way to adequate funding. Saving more is the only way to make it work.

The reason savings rates are so low is probably that people are underestimating how much they will need in retirement. According to the Transamerica study, the median savings goal of American workers is $500,000 -- but how many younger workers understand that inflation is likely to cut the value of that amount by at least half by the time they retire?

It's no surprise that savings rates and retirement targets seem off-base, because people simply guess at them. The Transamerica Center found that nearly half (47 percent) of respondents chose a retirement target by guessing.

While the median retirement target is $500,000, the survey found that 39 percent of workers in their 60s had saved less than $250,000. That leaves them with too much ground to make up in too few years.

The survey found that most Americans plan to retire after age 65, or not at all. Also, most plan to work after retirement. Working longer may be an inevitability for many people, but it is hardly an ideal retirement planning solution. After all, it means staying healthy enough to work productively, and that is no sure thing for people over 65.

It's only natural that older workers are more focused on retirement planning than younger ones, but that is also unfortunate. The younger you are, the more powerfully you can impact your retirement savings, because you have that many more years to contribute money and benefit from investment returns. The survey found that people in their 60s are more likely to have a retirement plan and work with a financial planner than people in their 20s. The problem is that by the time you are in your 60s, your options for significantly improving your retirement funding are very limited.

Retirement planning is a very important individual responsibility. The Transamerica Center survey should be a wake-up call for Americans to take more positive action to plan for their retirements.

Read more:
Are Americans 'Winging' Their Retirement Plans?

COMMERCE, Ca., July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- General Manager Art Aguilar announced his retirement from the Central Basin Municipal Water District effective October 31, 2012. Aguilar has served as the General Manager for the Central Basin Municipal Water District since 2006, and before that as Co-General Manager for both Central Basin and West Basin Municipal Water Districts.

"I am very proud of what we have accomplished at Central Basin," said Aguilar. "From the re-organization of the District following the split West Basin initiated, to the completion of a vital phase of our recycled water system, which had been on the books since 1991, to the many state and federal grants we secured to keep costs and rates low, we have done quite a bit in a very short amount of time."

As the General Manager for Central Basin, Aguilar successfully guided the District through an unprecedented transition and restructuring following its separation from its former sister agency and oversaw the District's subsequent move to a new headquarters in the City of Commerce. Under his leadership, these transitions brought opportunities for growth and financial stability. District operations went uninterrupted, the District's unfunded liability and pension debt were paid off and programs were re-centered around Central Basin's mission of public service.

"For me, the hardest part of retiring will be saying good-bye to our incredible staff," Aguilar continued. "We have a strong and dedicated team that works hard for our constituents and ratepayers. I am extremely proud of them."

Aguilar first joined the Districts in 1999, serving as the Manager of the Public and Governmental Affairs Department. Under his management, areas such as public education, conservation and public/media relations were refined and enhanced to become foundation stones of the department.

"It makes me very sad to see Art go," said Central Basin Board President Ed Vasquez. "He has done an outstanding job managing this district over the years and he will be missed. This place just won't be the same without him. I wish him all the best."

Prior to his work in the water industry, Aguilar served for more than 30 years as a reporter, editor and publisher of community newspapers throughout Southern California. Over the course of his tenure, he has been honored for his significant and lasting contributions to journalism and for his extensive community service.

For Art Aguilar's full bio, please email valerieh@centralbasin.org.

Central Basin is a public agency that wholesales imported water to cities, mutual water companies, investor-owned utilities and private companies in southeast Los Angeles County, serving a population of more than 2 million. In addition, Central Basin provides the region with recycled water for municipal, commercial and industrial uses. Formed in 1952, Central Basin is committed to ensuring a safe and reliable water supply for the region.

Contact: Valerie Howard Phone: (310) 801-4073

Read the original here:
General Manager Art Aguilar Announces Retirement From Central Basin

MONSEY, NY--(Marketwire -07/30/12)- The standard retirement investment usually consists of market products like mutual funds or similar Wall Street assets. However, with the rise of market volatility, investors have begun to actively look for alternative investment platforms. One of the platforms gaining a boost in popularity from this trend is the self-directed IRA. As a result of this move, the investments themselves have taken on a more alternative flavor.

Mark Friedman, a retirement specialist at Broad Financial, has tracked the move away from standard assets. "Initially everybody just wanted to get in on a piece of real estate or gold coins. However, as the freedom of the plan has clarified itself in the consumer consciousness, we have seen self-directed IRAs move into ice cream stores, fitness centers, and book publishing. One Broad client actually used his retirement funds to start a goat farm."

One of the common arguments in the financial community against these platforms is the far reaching nature of the investments. Many financial planners feel that investors would be better suited with products that show a record of stability. Daniel Gleich, the COO of Broad, feels that the new diversity of investments is actually a point in the clients' favor. "Investors are just gravitating towards those assets that they know and understand. It makes sense that a woman who has worked in fitness for the past twenty years has a solid grasp of the industry and would know how to turn that knowledge to profit. What would not make sense is for her to put her money into assets that she doesn't understand, even if those assets are currently riding a wave of popularity."

Mr. Gleich feels that rather than going against the financial norm, these investments are more faithfully adhering to the mantra of diversity that financial professionals often espouse. "Investors understand that diversification is essential, but they are also coming to understand that holding different stocks is not true diversification. That can only be accomplished with alternative assets. This truth is brought home every day as investors see their IRAs being hammered in the current stock market."

With Mitt Romney's retirement fund making news, and a national move back towards American ingenuity, it looks like self-directed IRAs might be reaching the tipping point. It might just be a matter of time until alternative is the new norm.

See the rest here:
Investors Find Room to Express Themselves in Retirement