Learn some of the basics about retirement and pension benefits.

Planning ahead can help ensure that you have a secure, comfortable retirement. The Social Security Administrations retirement plannerincludes:

You might also find these publications helpful:

Taking the Mystery Out of Retirement Planning Top 10 Ways to Plan for Retirement

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If you work for, or retired from, a job with a traditional pension plan, the benefits you've earned will be paid to you even if the company runs into financial problems.

ThePension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a government agency that:

More than 38 million people in the U.S.havent claimed pension benefitsthey have earned.Find out if you, or someone you know, isowed a pension.

The Administration on Aging (AoA) offers Pension Counseling and Information that assists older Americans in accessing information about their retirement benefits and helps them to negotiate with former employers or pension plans for due compensation.

The IRS offers information to help you determine whether or not your pension or annuity income is taxable.

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Retirement | USA.gov

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Overview

New Jersey or the Garden State is the fourth smallest state in the United States. It is bordered by New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean. Home to hundreds of 55+ active adult and retirement communities, New Jersey is a place where many individuals prefer to live. While that may have been surprising back in the early days of resort-style active adult communities, developers now know that many empty nesters and retirees enjoy staying close to their hometowns. Choosing an active adult retirement community in New Jersey close to home allows them to live within easy distance of family and friends, while still enjoying the benefits of an age-restricted, resort-style community.

Climate & Geography

New Jersey is a small, yet populated, northeastern state surrounded by water except along the northern border with New York. It has four main land regions, the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Piedmont, New England Upland and Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region. New Jersey has a fairly moderate climate due to it being situated next to the Atlantic Ocean.

New Jersey s climate includes both humid subtropical and humid continental areas. Summers are hot and humid with daytime temperatures in the high 80 s to low 90 s, especially in the southern half of the state. The more northern regions sit at a higher elevation and tend to be a bit cooler year-round. The winters are cold with daytime temperatures that usually stay below 45 degrees. Snow is common in the winter, though the amount varies from one year to the next.

Recreation, Culture & Entertainment

New Jersey plays a big role in the pharmaceutical industry, financial industry, chemical development, telecommunication, food processing, electric equipment, printing and publishing and tourism. The agriculture productions are nursery stock, horses, vegetables, fruits and nuts, seafood and dairy products.

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New Jersey Retirement Communities & 55+ Active Adult ...

OEDb is a comprehensive online education directory for both free and for-credit learning options. We offer up-to-date, detailed program information from accredited online colleges for degree seekers and categorize free online college courses from well-known universities and providers.

Research your online options with our database of more than 1,600 schools. Filter your choices by subject, degree level, tuition, and more to find an online school that will fit your needs.

Online School Guides to Get You Started

A program's rankings can be a key factor in choosing an accredited online college. Rankings provide an objective look at a program based on quantifiable factors, such as cost, graduation rate, job placement rate and accreditation history. Use our rankings to see the best programs in each field.

Visit Rankings Page

Browse our collection of more than 8,250 free audio and video courses from top-ranked universities worldwide and download them straight to your computer or MP3 player.

Visit Open Courses Page

Want to try your hand at filmmaking? This course will get you started with basic knowledge about camera operation, including framing, composition and editing.

The iLibrarian blog covers a variety of topics, such as technology, information, social media, and gaming.

Find college advice for online students, including tips for picking a school, saving money, and studying hard.

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OEDB.org - Official Site

People who plan their career years in advance and make efforts to make them happen achieve far more than those who do not have a long-term plan and make their career decisions dictated only by immediate benefits. Its better to be proactive for an individual to assess his interests, strengths, weaknesses and realistically evaluate his options and make relevant plans, rather than being reactive and end up in an employment where the individuals true potentials are not realised for many different reasons.

This article illustrates my personal career plan in detail in my chosen field of professional interest marketing, and lists steps I am planning to undertake to progress to my dream job, anticipating possible challenges, analysing alternative progressions and describing preventive actions. The articlealso describes career planning methodology, marketing field in general and necessary KSAs to be successful in this field.

My personal development plan is provided in the article along with my SMART objectives describing how I am planning to prepare myself for each step which eventually will lead me to my dream job marketing executive.

Marketing executives promote products, services or ideas by developing marketing strategies and campaigns. They are closely involved in public relations, planning, research, product development, participating in events and organising them. This role is fascinating to me because it provides two job elements which I find exciting: meeting and communicating with people, and seeing the immediate and long-term results of your work.

Marketing executives have a wide range of responsibilities and it depends mainly on the sector and the size of the company. The job of a marketing executive includes production of marketing materials, managing the marketing budget, organizing and attending to events, exhibitions etc., evaluating the efficiency of marketing campaigns, conducting market research, and dealing with press and others.

The main skills required for marketing executives are communication skills, interpersonal skills, problem solving, strategic thinking, creativity, attention to detail and others.

The career planning process proposed by The University of Edinburg Career Services (The career planning process-online, 2014) consists of following parts:

The Career Planning Model proposed by Queensland University of Technology (What is a career?-online, 2014) has the following format:

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Career planning and personal development plan: Sample

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Life coaching is all the rage. Harvard Business Review reports that coaching is a $1 billion a year industry, but just what is a personal coach, professional coach, or life coach and why are so many executives and individuals using them to catapult their careers, break free from 9-5 jobs, and to create better, more fulfilling, richer lives?

First, what is a professional coach? The International Coach Federation (ICF) -- the leading global coaching organization and professional association for coaches -- defines coaching as "partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential."

Second, who's using coaches? In a 2009 study of the professional coaching industry by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), they found that coaching was used by 90% of organizations surveyed and that even in the economic downturn, 70% report that they are increasing or maintaining their commitment to coaching. Coaching is clearly popular, but what does a professional coach do?

As with any growing profession, there can be a lot of confusion. To help distinguish fact from fiction, click through the pages to read the top 10 personal coaching myths...

Top 10 Professional Life Coaching Myths

Myth #1: Life coaches are professionals who can help you achieve your goals.

Fact: Some, but certainly not all coaches are professionals who can help you reach your goals. One of the problems in the coaching industry is that anyone can call themselves a professional coach, life coach, personal coach, etc. Jennifer Corbin, the president of Coach U, one of the largest and oldest coach training organizations in the world, has said, "Technically, anyone can hang up a shingle as coaching is not regulated. Many people 'coaching' have no idea what coaching is as they haven't been trained or haven't been coached by a professionally trained and credentialed coach. There are 'schools' that will offer a credential after three hours of training and people read a book or watch a TV program and decide 'I'm a coach!'" As a result, the quality of coaches vary dramatically. I strongly suggest working with a coach that has been accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF). The ICF provides independent certification that is the benchmark for the professional coaching industry.

2011 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

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Top 10 professional life coaching myths - CBS News

Productive employees are the lifeblood of every recruiting business, but how do you assess their performance levels? Do they understand your goals and expectations? Are they meeting their personal objectives?

Every company should continually monitor and evaluate their employees; here are seven easy ways to quickly gauge performance and ensure your firm is on the right track:

Punctuality: Employees who regularly arrive late for work or are frequently absent from the office are unlikely to be meeting their performance objectives. The underlying issue needs to be addressed here have they received adequate training? Do they get along with their co-workers and manager? Issues with punctuality mean an employee is not doing their job to their full potential and a negative attitude may also be affecting their colleagues.

Quality of work: The timely completion of projects to the desired standard is a key indicator in measuring employee performance. Is the work being carried out average or outstanding? Are they committing maximum effort to projects? Is their attitude affecting their ability to meet your expectations? Do they understand their personal performance objectives? The answers to those questions will help you to understand the root causes of any problems.

Observe personal habits: Perpetual bad habits can detract from employee performance. This may include indulging in office gossip, taking unauthorized breaks, disruptive behavior and the use of computers for personal reasons (such as social media, online shopping). In order to prevent these habits from being adopted by their co-workers, you must be clear on what is acceptable in your business and issue an appropriate behavioral code.

Check their attitude: A bad attitude will often manifest itself in insubordinate behavior. Again, this is indicative of an individual who is unlikely to be meeting their performance objectives. Typically, these employees will not comply with company policies and are likely to display disrespect for your company and co-workers.

Review personal presentation: Most firms have a professional dress code appropriate to the job and company culture. Employees who disregard your expectations and present a disheveled or careless appearance reflect badly on your image. Its likely that their performance will be failing to meet your expectations too.

Carry out a client survey: The consequences of poor employee performance will ultimately manifest themselves in customer service. A client survey can quickly identify issues with individuals. A positive response means your employee performance is meeting or exceeding expectations. What is the overall customer service experience of your recruiters and representatives?

Carry out random checks: Depending on the nature of your business consider implementing random checks against quality standards. This may include reviewing telephone calls and checking records. While your employees may be aware of this policy, the random nature of the checks can motivate staff to put in a consistent performance.

Evaluating employee performance should be carried out on an on-going basis and encompass all areas of their work ethic and individual achievements. Remember too, that poor performance or negative behaviors can also be symptomatic of an underlying problem with your organizations culture, so have a plan in place to address any issues you discover.

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7 Easy Ways To Measure Employee Performance | Fordyce Letter

Yes, I am on Twitter (@LassiterBrian), and truth be told: I monitor business and leadership tweets to get a pulse on hot topics for this newsletter (I think they call that trending topics). In any event, I have compiled 16 articles from the last 60 days alone on the topic of employee engagement. More precisely: dangerously low levels of US employee engagement.

Heres why I think this is critically important: you simply cannot have engaged customers without having engaged employees. At least not for long. Organizational excellence begins with having an engaged, competent, empowered workforce they serve your customers (stakeholders, patients, students, whatever); they manage and improve your core processes; they find ways to reduce waste or increase productivity. In short, they run your enterprise.

But they arent happy in fact, about 70% are disengaged, which impacts most organizations outcomes and bottom line

Im going to offer 14 tips for improving employee satisfaction and engagement strategies that leaders and managers at all levels can start using today. But first, I culled through those 16 articles to try to quantify the issue. Heres what I found:

Gallup, the preeminent authority on all things employee engagement, reports that only 30% of US workers are engaged. Yes, that means 70% are NOT engaged. Disengagement appears to be fairly widespread: in all sizes of organizations (though smaller organizations generally have higher engagement levels than larger), in all parts of the US (interestingly, the south and southeast US have slightly higher engagement levels and the Mid-Atlantic, northeast, and northwest US have the worst), in all industries (though manufacturing, service, and transportation appear to have the lowest engagement), and with all ages (though Millennials and Gen Xers have generally lower levels of engagement than Baby Boomers and Traditionalists).

In a word, disengagement is pervasive.

The good news: the trend of low engagement has been somewhat stable the last 13 years, aside from a dip from 2008-11, likely attributed to the recession.

But the bad news: low employee engagement is costing US organizations dearly (all according to Gallup):

In fact, Gallups CEO estimates employee disengagement is costing US organizations about a half a TRILLION (with a T) dollars a year.

For further proof of the financial impact of engagement, Fast Company reports that businesses with higher employee engagement have enjoyed a 4% higher return than the S&P 500: the Parnassus Workplace Fund (comprised mainly of stocks of companies on the 100 Best Companies to Work For) has a 9.63% return from April 2005 to January 2013 versus the S&P 500s 5.53% over the same period. Probably not coincidental.

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Workers Are Mad As Hell: 14 Ways to Increase Employee ...

"ExcellentReading!" EdwardO.Wilson, Pulitzer Prize Winner

"Alper uses a Socratic technique to brilliantly and flawlessly argue that our concepts of spirit and God are derived from the mechanics of our brain...enormously important...full of scientific and philosophical truths." TranspersonalReview

"This is an essential book for those in search of a scientific understanding of man's spiritual nature. Matthew Alper navigates the reader through a labyrinth of intriguing questions and then offers undoubtedly clear answers that lead to a better understanding of our objective reality." ElenaRusyn, MD, Ph.D.; Gray Laboratory; Harvard Medical School

"Brilliant...Provocative...Revolutionary." Dr.ArnoldSadwin, Former Head of University of Pennsylvania's Graduate Hospital of Neuropsychiatry; Who's Who in Science, 1995; in Medicine, 1996

"Hauntingly Logical...Fascinating" ArtBell, "Coast to Coast am"

"An atheist edictmasterfully researcheda brilliant analysis of religiosity without the usual vitriolicpresented with a razorlike clarity, logic and aplomb. A must read for any thinking person." Sarah Harney, Ph.D. Baruch College, Math Professor

"This cult classic in many ways parallels Rene Descartes' search for reliable and certain knowledge...Drawing on such disciplines as philosophy, psychology, anthropology and biology, Alper argues that belief in a spiritual realm is the product of an evolutionary adaptationa coping mechanismthat emerged to help humankind deal with the fear of death. Highly recommended." LibraryJournal

"All 6 billion plus inhabitants of Earth should be in possession of this book. Alper's tome should be placed in the sacred writings section of libraries, bookstores, and dwellings throughout the world. Matthew Alper is the new Galileo. Immensely important. Defines in a clear and concise manner what each of us already knew but were afraid to admit and exclaim. The cat's out of the bag." JohnScoggins, Ph.D.

"Alper deftly pries open the human mind offering us a rare glance into its secret inner workingsincluding the tricks it plays on usmost particularly the one in which it tells us to believe in a transcendental reality: spirits, gods and the likejust to make us feel better or, as Alper puts it, "in order to enable us to survive our unique awareness of death." I would go as far as to say that through this work, Alper has solved the problem of God. Though it may have been Nietzsche who initially speculated that God was dead, I believe Alper has plunged the final dagger." AllenKane Ph.D.

"Thank you for making sense out of the hunches and gut feelings I've had for years. I feel more peaceful and positive now. I hope that the candle you've lit in the vast darkness will burn as bright as the sun." JohnEmerson, Ph.D.

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The 'God' Part of The Brain | A Scientific Interpretation ...

by Maria Popova

If we ever reach the point where we think we thoroughly understand who we are and where we came from, we will have failed.

I was recently on NPRs Science Friday to discuss my favorite science books of the year and a listener called in, asking for a recommendation for a good book on science and religion an excellent question, given the long history of this polarization, which occupied great minds from Galileo to Einstein to Ada Lovelace to Isaac Asimov, and many more.

The best book on the subject, by far, is The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (public library) a remarkable posthumous collection of essays by Carl Sagan, based on the prestigious Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology he delivered at the university of Glasgow in 1985, following in the footsteps of such celebrated philosophers as James Frazer, Arthur Eddington, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Alfred North Whitehead, Albert Schweitzer, and Hannah Arendt. Titled after the famous treatise on religion by William James, who delivered the Gifford Lectures in the beginning of the twentieth century, this anthology of illustrated and illustrious meditations showcase Sagans singular gift for championing knowledge with equal parts conviction and humility.

Sagans widow, Ann Druyan the love of his life and the greatest bastion of his legacy contextualizes the lectures in the introduction:

Carl Sagan was a scientist, but he had some qualities that I associate with the Old Testament. When he came up against a wallthe wall of jargon that mystifies science and withholds its treasures from the rest of us, for example, or the wall around our souls that keeps us from taking the revelations of science to heartwhen he came up against one of those topless old walls, he would, like some latter-day Joshua, use all of his many strengths to bring it down.

[]

He believed that the little we do know about nature suggests that we know even less about God. We had only just managed to get an inkling of the grandeur of the cosmos and its exquisite laws that guide the evolution of trillions if not infinite numbers of worlds. This newly acquired vision made the God who created the World seem hopelessly local and dated, bound to transparently human misperceptions and conceits of the past.

[]

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Varieties of Scientific Experience: Carl Sagan on Science ...

Rajneesh Chandra Mohan Jain (hindi ) (* 11. Dezember 1931 in Kuchwada, Madhya Pradesh, Indien; 19. Januar 1990 in Pune, Maharashtra, Indien) war ein indischer Philosoph und Begrnder der Neo-Sannyas-Bewegung. Er nannte sich Mitte der 1960er bis Anfang der 1970er Jahre Acharya Rajneesh, danach bis Ende 1988 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh und von 1989 bis zu seinem Tod Osho.

Osho verwendete im Laufe seines Lebens verschiedene Namen. Die Annahme derartiger Namen entspricht indischen Gepflogenheiten und ergibt sich im dortigen Kulturbereich als Konsequenz aus der Aufnahme einer spirituellen Lehrttigkeit.[1] Seine Namen knnen folgendermaen in seine Biographie eingeordnet werden:

Im Folgenden wird in jedem von Oshos Lebensabschnitten der Name verwendet, unter dem er zum jeweiligen Zeitpunkt bekannt war.

Chandra Mohan Jain wurde in Kuchwada, einem kleinen Dorf in Madhya Pradesh (Indien), als ltestes von elf Kindern eines Tuchhndlers geboren und die ersten sieben Jahre von seinen Groeltern aufgezogen.[8] Seine Familie, die ihn bei dem Spitznamen Rajneesh oder Raja (Knig) rief, gehrte zur Religionsgemeinschaft der Jainas.[3] Rajneesh war ein aufgewecktes Kind, das gute Schulleistungen erbrachte, gleichzeitig aber auch viel rger mit seinen Lehrern hatte, weil er aufsssig war, oft die Schule schwnzte und seine Klassenkameraden zu allerlei Streichen anstiftete.[3][8]

Rajneesh wurde frh mit dem Tod konfrontiert.[8] Sein geliebter Grovater starb, als er sieben Jahre alt war.[8] Als er fnfzehn Jahre alt war, starb seine Freundin (und Kusine) Shashi an Typhus.[9] Beide Verluste trafen ihn tief; seine spten Teenagerjahre waren von Melancholie, Depressionen und chronischen Kopfschmerzen geprgt.[10] Er lief in dieser Zeit tglich 15 bis 25km und meditierte oft bis zur vlligen Erschpfung.[3]

Als Jugendlicher wurde Rajneesh Atheist; er interessierte sich fr Hypnose und engagierte sich vorbergehend fr Kommunismus, Sozialismus und zwei nationalistische Bewegungen, die fr Indiens Unabhngigkeit kmpften: die Indian National Army und den Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.[3][8] Er las viel und wurde ein hervorragender Debattierknstler.[3] Sein Ruf war der eines egoistischen, hochfahrenden, sogar aufrhrerischen jungen Mannes.[8]

Im Alter von neunzehn Jahren begann Rajneesh sein Studium der Philosophie am Hitkarini College in Jabalpur.[11] Wegen heftiger Streitereien mit einem Lehrer musste er das College verlassen und wechselte darauf zum D.N.Jain College, ebenfalls in Jabalpur.[12] Noch whrend seines Studiums hatte er in Jabalpur am 21. Mrz 1953 beim Meditieren im Bhanvartal-Park in einer Vollmondnacht eine auergewhnliche Erfahrung, in der er sich von Glckseligkeit berwltigt fhlte[3][11] eine Erfahrung, die er spter als seine spirituelle Erleuchtung beschrieb.[9][13]

1955 schloss er sein Studium am D.N.Jain College mit dem Bachelor-Grad ab; 1957 wurde ihm von der University of Sagar der Master-Grad in Philosophie verliehen.[12] Er erhielt sofort eine Anstellung am Raipur Sanskrit College, war aber auch dort schon bald so kontrovers, dass ihn der Rektor aufforderte, sich binnen eines Jahres eine andere Stelle zu suchen er habe einen zersetzenden Einfluss auf die Moralitt, den Charakter und die Religiositt seiner Studenten.[12] 1958 wechselte Rajneesh deshalb zur Universitt Jabalpur, wo er zunchst als Lecturer und ab 1960 als Professor lehrte.[4]

In den 1960er Jahren unternahm Rajneesh, wann immer es ihm seine Lehrttigkeit erlaubte, ausgedehnte Vortragsreisen durch Indien,[4] in denen er Gandhi und den Sozialismus kritisierte.[3] Sozialismus und Gandhi, so sagte er, verherrlichten beide die Armut, anstatt sie abzulehnen.[9] Indien brauche Kapitalismus, Wissenschaft, moderne Technologie und Geburtenkontrolle, um seiner Armut und Rckstndigkeit entkommen zu knnen.[3] Auch zum orthodoxen Hinduismus uerte er sich kritisch: die brahminische Religion sei steril, alle politischen und religisen Systeme seien falsch und heuchlerisch.[9] Mit solchen uerungen machte er sich bei vielen unbeliebt, aber sie brachten ihm auch Aufmerksamkeit.[3] Etwa um diese Zeit begann er, den Titel Acharya zu verwenden.[4] 1966 gab er seine Lehrttigkeit an der Universitt auf und widmete sich von nun an ganz seiner Karriere als Redner und spiritueller Lehrer.[3]

Acharya Rajneesh hielt seine frhen Vortrge auf Hindi; sie zogen deshalb kaum westliche Besucher an.[14] Indische Kommentatoren bescheinigten ihm eine charismatische Ausstrahlung, die selbst auf Menschen, die seinen Ansichten ablehnend gegenberstanden, eine Faszination ausbte.[14] Seine Reden brachten ihm bald loyale Anhnger, darunter eine Reihe wohlhabender Geschftsleute.[15] Rajneesh erteilte individuelle Lebensberatung und erhielt dafr Spenden eine bliche Vorgehensweise in Indien, wo Leute Rat von Gelehrten und Heiligen einholen, hnlich wie Menschen im Westen Psychotherapeuten oder Lebensberater aufsuchen.[15] Dem schnellen Wachstum seiner Praxis nach zu urteilen, scheint er ein ungewhnlich begabter spiritueller Therapeut gewesen zu sein.[15] Mehrmals im Jahr leitete er Meditations-Camps mit aktiven, kathartischen Elementen,[9] und es wurden erste Meditationszentren (Jivan Jagruti Kendras, Lebenserweckungszentren) gebildet.

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Osho Wikipedia