Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmBJ-beXaW0

Retirement Day
My first Music Video "Retirement Day" which was inspired by my recent retirement. All instruments, vocals and arrangements performed by Norsia. The song is also available on iTunes. EnjoyFrom:norsia94Views:0 0ratingsTime:03:36More inMusic

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Retirement Day - Video

November 1, 2012: 6:30 AM ET

I am 64 and considering using a large portion of my retirement savings to purchase a HUD-owned home. Those savings are currently enough to support me into my 80s, along with my Social Security benefits. If I buy a home and pay cash, would a reverse mortgage be feasible? Ken S.

Using a chunk of your retirement savings to buy a home at age 64 is a risky proposition, especially since it sounds like you don't have a great deal of flexibility in your retirement plan. It's also a costly one. Withdrawing a lump sum from your retirement account may push you into a higher tax bracket, resulting in a bigger tax bill next April. Not only that, but you also are passing up the tax-deferred growth those assets will generate over the coming years if they stayed in your account.

And while a reverse mortgage is one potential solution to replace your missing retirement income, Gary Schatsky, a New York City-based financial planner, rarely recommends them for his clients. "Reverse mortgages can be safety valves for people who have no other options," he says, but he adds that they may be the more expensive option in the long run because they often have higher origination fees than other forms of financing and can add additional costs to your overall plan.

You may want to consider renting as an alternative, which can be a less expensive option than buying a house and taking out a reverse mortgage, says Schatsky. Ginnie Mae's Buying vs. Renting calculator (http://www.ginniemae.gov/rent_vs_buy/rent_vs_buy_calc.asp) can help you decide on the more affordable option over time.

If you do ultimately decide to buy a house and take on a reverse mortgage, the Federal Housing Administration the agency that oversees the HUD home program provides a reverse mortgage option in its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program (HECM). If you are at least 62 years of age, you may be eligible for a HECM mortgage that combines the home purchase and the reverse mortgage in one transaction. The HECM program requires that you go through HUD-approved reverse mortgage counseling, however.

Austin Kilham

Got a question for the Help Desk? Send it tohelpdesk@cnnmoney.com.

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At 64, should I use my retirement savings to buy a home?

NEW YORK (Money Magazine) -- I hear I can take only 4% a year from my portfolio. Why can't I take more? -- Alfred Williamson, White Hall, Md.

The oft-cited rule is to start by pulling 4% from your savings and then increase the dollar amount of that draw by the inflation rate each year to keep up your purchasing power. (That annual inflation adjustment is why you can't just withdraw what your investments earn.)

Do that, and you have a good chance that your nest egg will support you for decades.

Real-world complications, though, can wreak havoc with the 4% strategy -- just ask anyone who left work on the eve of the 2000 or 2008 bear markets.

Here's the hitch: Even if you could know in advance what average return you'll earn in retirement (which, of course, you can't), you wouldn't know what your savings would earn from one year to the next.

With a mix of stocks, bonds, and cash, you'll have some years when returns are excellent, others when they're average, and some when they're downright dreadful. And when you're drawing cash from your portfolio, it's the year-to-year ups and downs that help determine how long your savings will last.

Related: Tame the threat of inflation in retirement

After decades of paying attention to long-term averages while you saved, you need to readjust your thinking.

As the table below shows, when you suffer a sizable setback or a string of lousy returns, especially early in retirement, the combination of rising withdrawal amounts and subpar performance can so seriously deplete your portfolio that your chances of running through your savings dramatically increase.

The fact is, given all the uncertainties in retirement -- how your investments will perform, what your actual expenses will be, how long you'll live -- you can't pick the ideal withdrawal rate in advance. You'll either deplete your savings too soon or leave behind money that you could have enjoyed.

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The ideal retirement withdrawal rate

NEW YORK (Money Magazine) -- I hear I can take only 4% a year from my portfolio. Why can't I take more? -- Alfred Williamson, White Hall, Md.

The oft-cited rule is to start by pulling 4% from your savings and then increase the dollar amount of that draw by the inflation rate each year to keep up your purchasing power. (That annual inflation adjustment is why you can't just withdraw what your investments earn.)

Do that, and you have a good chance that your nest egg will support you for decades.

Real-world complications, though, can wreak havoc with the 4% strategy -- just ask anyone who left work on the eve of the 2000 or 2008 bear markets.

Here's the hitch: Even if you could know in advance what average return you'll earn in retirement (which, of course, you can't), you wouldn't know what your savings would earn from one year to the next.

With a mix of stocks, bonds, and cash, you'll have some years when returns are excellent, others when they're average, and some when they're downright dreadful. And when you're drawing cash from your portfolio, it's the year-to-year ups and downs that help determine how long your savings will last.

Related: Tame the threat of inflation in retirement

After decades of paying attention to long-term averages while you saved, you need to readjust your thinking.

As the table below shows, when you suffer a sizable setback or a string of lousy returns, especially early in retirement, the combination of rising withdrawal amounts and subpar performance can so seriously deplete your portfolio that your chances of running through your savings dramatically increase.

The fact is, given all the uncertainties in retirement -- how your investments will perform, what your actual expenses will be, how long you'll live -- you can't pick the ideal withdrawal rate in advance. You'll either deplete your savings too soon or leave behind money that you could have enjoyed.

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Make your retirement savings last

After what has hopefully been a successful career, you find yourself at the doorway to life's next chapter. Retirement offers the promise of living the life you have always wanted to. You now have the opportunity to take it easy or explore a brand new career. Or perhaps you want to travel or try your hand at some artistic pursuits that have intrigued you over the years.

With the majority of your life spent immersed in a career, it should not be surprising that your personality has been influenced by company life. Who you are has been significantly shaped by what you do. However, your successful career-driven persona is not necessarily the best vehicle to realize a fulfilling retirement. Behaviors that led to your success while employed may be out of place in a post-employment world. For example, if you think you are going to use your management skills to "improve" the way your wife runs the home you are sadly mistaken.

As you leave the working you behind it is important to discover who you want to be moving forward. When someone asks what you do, how will you describe yourself now that you are no longer working?

If you hope to realize a fulfilling retirement, it is important to separate the working you from the retired you. In your second act you have the rare opportunity to make adjustments that can improve upon who you want to be in retirement.

Don't expect to lean on your accomplishments from the job. In retirement you need to have a new story to spin. Tales of old victories won while working quickly lose their impact over time. But this challenge can be an opportunity. You no longer need to regale friends in topics that they do not understand or care about. Among retirees you now share a common thread, and you are likely to encounter similar situations and challenges. Victories realized are sweeter when those around you can appreciate them for what they are instead of struggling to understand them.

You need to reinvent who you are. It is important to accept that who you were on the job is not who you are now. Take time to reflect and better understand which on-the-job personality traits will fit in with and compliment your future, and what changes or improvements you would like to make. Now that you are no longer required to do whatever it takes to make a buck you can occupy yourself with what you enjoy.

Aim to redefine success. While working clear goals were laid before you, and you knew how success was measured. In retirement there are no such guidelines unless you make them. It could be as simple as setting a goal to get through the top three items on your to-do list. Or your success may be achieved when you can play a melody on the guitar with minimal mistakes. Having measures of success can help give you a feeling of achievement that is sometimes left behind on the work site.

Make friends beyond business acquaintances. Sometimes when you exit the working world the friends you thought you had move on with their lives. Without the shared bond of the job you may have little in common. But as life situations change so do our friends. How many people still keep in contact with best friends from high school or college? Now that you have the time, you might want to reach out to forgotten friends from days gone by or reestablish ties with family members who fell to the wayside over the years. As your activities change you will meet new people with similar interests to share your time.

Dave Bernard is the author of Are You Just Existing and Calling it a Life?, which offers guidelines to discover your personal passion and live a life of purpose. Not yet retired, Dave has begun his due diligence to plan for a fulfilling retirement. With a focus on the non-financial aspects of retiring, he shares his discoveries and insights on his blog Retirement-Only the Beginning.

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How to Reinvent Yourself in Retirement

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CezaSTSNok

Coping with change in all aspects of life - Professional Change Coach, Angela Smyth
Angela #39;s a qualified life coach and personal performance coach specialising in all aspects of change, including redundancy, retirement, bereavement, relationships and caring for ageing relatives. Skilled in training and development, she #39;s also a certified NLP practitioner. For one to one advice from Angela you can speak to her direct through Greatvine http://www.greatvine.comFrom:GreatvineTVViews:0 0ratingsTime:06:50More inEducation

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Coping with change in all aspects of life - Professional Change Coach, Angela Smyth - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vby3dCk4W48

How to cope with changes both in business and at home - Professional Change Coach, Angela Smyth
Angela #39;s a qualified life coach and personal performance coach specialising in all aspects of change, including redundancy, retirement, bereavement, relationships and caring for ageing relatives. Skilled in training and development, she #39;s also a certified NLP practitioner. In this video she offers advice on managing changes in a business environment and how to communicate with staff. She also discusses the challenges we face as we grow older, coping with ageing relatives and the responsibilities and emotional issues which can arise from ageing. For one to one advice from Angela you can speak to her direct through Greatvine http://www.greatvine.comFrom:GreatvineTVViews:2 0ratingsTime:07:11More inEducation

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How to cope with changes both in business and at home - Professional Change Coach, Angela Smyth - Video

By Meena Krishnamsetty - November 2, 2012 | Tickers: CE, DD, EMN, FMC, DOW | 0 Comments

Meena is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Eastman Chemical (NYSE: EMN) was up over 12% last week as earnings beat expectations. The company posted EPS of $1.57, while consensus estimates were at $1.42 a share. The chemical industry should see positive demand in the future as global growth is expected to rise 2.6% in 2013, up from a projected growth of 2.4% in 2012.

With a beta of 2.0, the company will definitely be able to capitalize on a global economic recovery. Eastman has shown positive performance thanks to a major acquisition and low raw material costs. Management now expectsto earn $5.30-$5.40 per share for 2012, which is ahead of the consensus of $5.26 a share. Heres a look at the hedge fund industrys sentiment toward Eastman.

Eastman competes with the top two chemical companies in the U.S.Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) is the largest American chemical company, and E I Du Pont De Nemours (NYSE: DD) is the second largest U.S. chemicals manufacturer. Also worth noting is that both of these top chemical companies pay dividends that yield in excess of 4%.

Unlike Eastman, Dow Chemical saw lower than expected earnings estimates and lowered its full year guidance. Last quarter, the company posted EPS of $0.42, versus $0.62 in the same quarter a year ago. The company did manage to see improvements in its agricultural and performance plastics segments. Also, the company plans to undertake various cost cutting initiatives to sustain earnings, should a weak global economy continue. Among these include the recently announced closure of twenty manufacturing facilities and the cutting of 2,400 jobs.

DuPont also announced lower than expected earnings for last quarter and a reduced full year EPS outlook, which dragged the stock down 10% over the past week. The company posted EPS of $0.44, compared to $0.69 for the prior year. DuPont attributed the decline to volume decreases in performance chemicals and a slowdown in Asia, while Dow cited the slowdown in Europe as their biggest headwind.

Following the announcement, S&P lowered its recommendation on DuPont from buy to sell and placed a $41 price target on the company, below the company's current price around $45.25. The news comes even after the company's effort to boost its cash business by selling off its performance coatings segment to the Carlyle Group for $4.9 billion back in August; check out our other thoughts on whether or not DuPont is a good buy.

Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE) is another chemical producer, though it's focused on industrials and engineered plastics. Sales are expected to fall 1% in 2012, with growth picking up in 2013, growing in the range of 5%-7%. The company's 2013 growth should be driven by improvements in domestic manufacturing and a rise in engineered plastics used in North America's auto industry. The company is also making trends in geographic expansion, but has more exposure to weakness in Europe and Asia given that over 70% of its sales come from outside the U.S.

FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) is a diversified producer of industrial, specialty, and agricultural chemicals. After an 8.4% rise in sales for 2011, the company is expected to grow sales another 10.5% in 2012. This chemical company is riding EPS growth that assumes the global farm economy will pick up and that Brazil will see more acreage planted as crops rise. The company has renewed its focus on the higher margin agricultural business, which should help it to see margin expansion in the future.

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Betting on a Global Recovery with Chemicals

> SOUTHERN INDIANA ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Brendan Chwalek (Northern Kentucky mens cross country, Silver Creek graduate, Sr.) top performance: 10th at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships last Saturday in Fort Myers, Fla., 25:20, personal record; notes: Chwaleks top-10 finish earned him a spot on the all-Atlantic Sun second team. He beat his personal-record time by 38 seconds.

BORDEN

Chris Beam (IU South Bend mens basketball, Jr.) notes: eight points, team-high five assists, team-high three steals and two rebounds in the Titans 59-52 victory last Saturday at Brescia; team record: 1-0.

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

Drew Mattingly (Huntington mens soccer, Jr.) notes: three saves in the Foresters 2-1 loss last Saturday at Indiana Wesleyan in the first round of the Crossroads League Tournament. Mattingly was named to the all-Crossroads League first team; season-ending stats: 93 saves, 22 goals against; team records: 8-9-2 overall, 3-6 Crossroads League.

CLARKSVILLE

Corey Finch (Hanover football, Fr.) notes: one carry for 7 yards in the Panthers 55-10 home win over Earlham last Saturday; team records: 6-2 overall, 6-0 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Wes Rittman (Hanover football, Fr.) notes: Rittman saw action in Hanovers 55-10 home victory over Earlham last Saturday; team records: 6-2 overall, 6-0 HCAC.

FLOYD CENTRAL

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COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: Nov. 2, 2012

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Monster, the world leader in high-performance personal audio, is teaming up with Spike TVs Hire A Vet pro social campaign to launch a special camouflage Monster DNA headphone on Veterans Day. Exclusively sold at Best Buy stores beginning November 12, the headphones sport the exact military digital camouflage design worn by our troops. A portion of the proceeds from all sales of the limited edition Monster DNA Camo headphones will go to three worthy institutions partnering with the Hire A Vet campaign, including The Wounded Warrior Project, IAVA, and Got Your 6. Each of these institutions supports the brave men and women defending our country.

We are thrilled to partner with Monster and Best Buy to raise money and awareness for the major problem of unemployment facing Americas heroes, said Kevin Kay, Spike TV President. We know that these men and women are some of the best trained, most dedicated leaders and teammates this nation has to offer and hiring them isn't just good for the country, it's good for business.

Head Monster Noel Lee noted: Monster is a family owned company, and giving back to the communities in which we do business has always been part of our DNA. Thats why everyone here isveryproud to show our support for Americas veteran servicemen and women with this special edition of our new Monster DNA headphones. Were especially thrilled to be able to lend our support for such a great initiative asHire A Vet. Withso many veterans returning from overseas, as well as all those who have served their country proudly here at home, Monster is honored to offer this gesture of our gratitude, and to give all music lovers an opportunity to express their own pride and gratitude while enjoying terrific sound quality and style.

In September, Viacom and Monster announced a global alliance for the launch of a new audio brand, Monster DNA. More than just a headphone, Monster DNA serves today's music listener and music artists with a focus on music sharing, music community, and social awareness reaching the music entertainment community globally through an exclusive integrated campaign across Viacom music and entertainment brands. Featuring a distinctive not-round, not-oval, but totally new, bold and striking triangular shape, Monster DNA are a bold, clear and iconic expression of the shape of things to come, providing music listeners Pure Monster Sound thats as powerful and striking as the bold design of the headphone itself.

ABOUT HIRE A VET

Hire A Vet helps veterans prepare for and find jobs. It encourages companies large and small to hire veterans and gives them access to the resources necessary to do so.

WHAT IT SUPPORTS:

Hire A Vet elevates veteran employment issues across Spike TVs multiple platforms -- showcasing veterans skills, connecting them to resources and highlighting opportunities. As a link between the military, nonprofits, companies and veterans, HAV is part of a coalition dedicated to lowering the unemployment rate of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

HOW IT WORKS:

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Monster and Spike TV Partner to Create Special Monster DNA™ Camouflage Headphones to Support the Network’s “Hire a Vet ...