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04-10-2012 05:41 Michael Schumacher will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2012 season, the 43-year-old German announced on Thursday at Suzuka. Following last week's announcement that the seven-time world champion will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Schumacher called a press conference along with the team in Japan to call time on a career that has spanned 21 years and more than 300 races. Speaking of his decision, Schumacher said: "We did not achieve our targets but I can be happy about overall achievements in my career. "I would like to thank Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, the team, my engineers and my mechanics for the trust they put in myself. "I would like to concentrate now on the end of the season and enjoy those races with you." Schumacher added that he had felt his energy and enthusiasm had begun to wane, just as it did when he quit Ferrari and the sport the first time at the end of 2006. "I have been thinking for quite a while [about this]," he said. "We had a three-year agreement, hard to keep motivation and energy - it's natural you think about this more than when you are young. "I have had my doubts for quite a while whether I had energy to [carry on]. I said in 2006 my battery was empty and now I am in the red zone. I don't know if there is time to recharge them - but I am looking forward to my freedom. "I have no hard feelings. In a different way we achieved a great deal... "Now I will do exactly as I did the first time - to finish and focus 100 per cent on what I ...

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Michael Schumacher confirms F1 retirement 2012 - Video

If your jeans dont button quite as easily as they used to and your shirts feel extra snug these days, youre not alone: Thousands of older folks struggle with weight gain when they retire. So, is retirement making you fat?

At a time when out-of-pocket medical costs have been steadily rising for seniors, its a question thats just as important to financial well-being as to physical health. And its possible that retirement is connected to adding extra pounds, according to several recent studies.

A study from the Institute for Health Policy Studies titled The Effect of Retirement on Weight, for example, studied a group of almost 38,000 retirees and concluded that retirement is connected to modest weight gain. The study focused on body mass index, or BMI, which is calculated by dividing a persons weight by his or her height. The researchers found that the average person added .24 to their body mass index upon retirement.

Thats not a huge amount -- typically 2 to 4 pounds. But other research suggested that some subgroups of retirees were more vulnerable. In a separate study, women who retired were more likely to gain weight than their same-age working counterparts. A third study found that men who retired from physically demanding jobs were more likely than others to gain weight within six years.

So whats the explanation for these extra pounds? Some of the weight gain may be due to the fact that many people are less physically active when they retire, and that they have less structured meal times or change their eating patterns in retirement, according to a study from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. And some of it has less to do with retirement per se than with the aging process. Our metabolisms slow as we age, explains Desmond Ebanks, a doctor and founder of Alternity Healthcare, a medical practice that focuses on older patients. In fact, we have to give up about 5% of the amount of calories we are eating every decade after 40 if we want to prevent weight gain, estimates fitness and lifestyle coach Rona Lewis, author of Does This Cookbook Make Me Look Fat?

This weight gain can do more than just impact your body image -- it can cost you, big. There is no question that being obese or overweight is more costly than being of normal weight, write the authors of A Heavy Burden: The Individual Costs of Being Overweight and Obese in the United States, a 2010 study from researchers at George Washington Universitys School of Public Health and Health Services. In fact, the study showed that each year, morbidly obese people pay $2,845 more in medical costs than their normal-weight counterparts; severely obese, $1,566; moderately obese, $807; and overweight, $346.

The good news: Weight gain does not have to be a part of retirement, says Carmella Sebastian, a doctor and the senior medical director of clinical client solutions for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. Here are five things you can do to keep yourself slim and trim -- and potentially save money.

Eat better. It sounds like a no-brainer, of course, but its particularly important for retirees -- some of whom begin to eat out more or snack out of boredom, leading to weight gain, says registered dietician Lisa Hugh, who specializes in nutrition therapy. Ebanks recommends that retirees try to stay away from many packaged foods; avoid excess refined carbs (think white flour, sweetened drinks, and any form of table sugar); eat more fruits, veggies and whole grains; and make sure they get adequate protein.

Exercise more. Exercise is important to losing weight, but seniors need to do more than just cardio. Muscle is more efficient, so weight-lifting -- even small weights -- will increase muscle mass and hence, your metabolism, Hugh says.

Get enough sleep. Inadequate sleep can lead to weight gain, says Ebanks, who recommends trying to get seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

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Is Retirement Making You Fat?

SACRAMENTO A new law that seeks to establish a first-of-its-kind state-run retirement plan for low-income workers still faces numerous hurdles in the year ahead, but its author says the idea is already generating nationwide attention.

SB 1234 by state Sen. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), signed into law last week by Gov. Jerry Brown, creates a California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Trust, authorizes a major feasibility study of the idea and seeks approval for the idea from federal regulators.

As envisioned by De Leon, the plan would require private employers to withhold about 3% of the wages of employees who participate. The state would collect the money, invest it and eventually provide a modest sum to retirees who don't have traditional company pensions or 401(k) retirement plans.

But, under a compromise that led to final approval of the legislation, the retirement program cannot begin operation until it gets a final go-ahead. Once a market analysis study is complete and federal officials sign off on the plan, lawmakers must pass another bill specifically authorizing the program.

The new law is an important first step toward preventing a tidal wave of "discarded seniors" forced to retire with little savings or income after lifetimes of often difficult manual labor, De Leon said.

The state senator said he had already conferred with U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, a former California legislator and U.S. representative from Los Angeles. The retirement plan also has sparked interest from officials in New York state, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, De Leon said.

The bill "is definitely getting quite a bit of attention" from the national leadership of the AFL-CIO and other unions, said Steve Smith, spokesman for the California Labor Federation, a prime supporter of De Leon's proposal.

"It's really trying to address a problem that very few people are trying to address in this economy: the real retirement crisis. Here in California, as many as half the workers retire in poverty" with only Social Security benefits to sustain them, he said.

The bill creates a seven-person oversight board that includes the state treasurer, director of finance and controller. The governor would appoint two individuals with expertise in retirement plans and small business; the speaker of the Assembly and the Senate president would make one appointment each.

The board would contract with experts to conduct the market analysis using private or federal funds and would pursue the project only if it concludes that the retirement system would be self sustaining.

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State-run retirement plan idea for private sector draws attention

How much money will you need to retire? Probably more than you think! Extended life spans, reduced employer benefits, lower market returns and increased costs of living have forced us to have to save more. Unfortunately, most Americans are doing a poor job of securing their future. The Employee Benefits Research Institute reports that if current trends continue, by 2030, the annual shortfall between the amount retired Americans need and the amount they actually have will be at least $45 billion. If you want to avoid having to flip burgers at age 75, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to calculate now how much you'll need in the future.

The Need to Plan Two generations ago, corporate pensions and social security ensured a secure retirement for our grandparents. Today, pension plans have become virtually extinct, shifting the burden of retirement savings away from corporations and onto the employees. Our retirement depends largely not only on our own ability to save and invest wisely, but also on our ability to plan.

According to a survey from Allianz Life, 28% of workers between ages 55 to 65, are concerned they won't be able to cover basic living expenses in retirement. Most of these people will be forced to extend their work years or accept living in poverty. How can this disastrous scenario be avoided?

How Much You Need in Total Your first step in planning is determining how much you'll need.

Many studies indicate that retirees will need to between 70% to even 100% of their pre-retirement income to maintain their current standard of living. So, a reasonable target is one that will provide you with an annual income similar to the income you have now. Then you need to consider a "safe" withdrawal rate. This is the percentage of your retirement nest egg you will withdraw each year during your retirement. Research indicates that, if they have saved enough, retirees can best preserve their assets if their annual withdrawal rate is 6% or less. This provides a quick and dirty formula for determining the total amount you need to save by retirement: divide your desired annual income by the withdrawal rate.

So, for example, if you want to target a retirement income of $60,000 per year, you need to save $1 million ($60,000 / 0.06). The following table offers some quick estimates of how much you might need to accumulate before you can retire.

Clearly, planning for retirement is not something that you do shortly before you stop working. Because of the magic of compounding, the earlier you start, the less you'll have to save on a monthly basis - as illustrated in the table above. Lower rates of return or higher inflation, of course, will require a much higher contribution.

Planning for retirement is a lifelong process. Throughout your working years, your planning will undergo a series of stages in which you will evaluate your progress and targets and make decisions to ensure you reach them.

Resources for Saving for Your Future Now that you have an idea of how to determine how much you need, it's time to start using the tools available to you. First you need to learn about the types of retirement savings accounts, such as IRAs - and start reaping the associated tax benefits.

The Bottom LineIn summary, planning for your retirement is an ongoing process. The earlier you start, the better off you'll be. The key is to save, save, save! The more time you have on your side, the better your outcome should be. This requires discipline, self study and time. So, take advantage of the many tools available to ensure your success.

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Will Your Retirement Income Be Enough?

The Office of Personnel Management processed more retirement claims in September than in August, after receiving thousands more applications last month.

OPM completed 12,563 retirement claims in September -- the most claims processed in a single month so far this year and 1,063 more than it expected to complete last month. The agency received 11,952 new claims in September, 4,952 more than it anticipated, and 2,979 more than it received in August. The backlog now stands at 41,176 claims, down 33 percent since January.

A growing influx of new retirement claims this past summer, however, has slowed OPMs progress in tackling the backlog. The current inventory is down just 1.4 percent since August, partly because OPM received more new retirement applications in September than it has since January when it was hit with 21,479 new claims. Still, the agency is slightly ahead of its backlog projections: OPM estimated an inventory of 42,978 as of September.

Despite the slow and steady progress OPM has made tackling the backlog, many federal retirees still wait several months for their applications to be fully processed. On average, it takes 156 days to process a claim, but many retirees wait much longer than that for their full annuity checks.

After the influx of claims in January, the number of applications filed this year started to increase steadily in May. Since the beginning of 2012, OPM has received 86,676 new retirement claims. In the last nine months, the agency has processed a total of 93,878 retirement claims. During fiscal 2011, the agency processed 82,837 applications.

OPM administers benefits for 2.5 million federal retirees and processes about 100,000 new claims annually.

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Federal Worker Retirement Claims Surge in September

SAN FRANCISCOIntel Corp. is pushing some of its latest Atom processors for use in network-attached storage (NAS) devices that deliver "personal cloud" storage to small businesses and consumers.

Intel Thursday (Oct. 4) launched an Atom-based storage platform combining multimedia capabilities, energy efficiency and performance for NAS devices. The platform, based on the Atom D2550 or Atom D2500, is billed as a solution for small businesses and consumers grappling with exploding storage needs in a secure, accessible way.

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"With the huge number of devices coming out, from traditional laptopswhich have been with us for decadesto tablets to smartphones, the opportunities for consuming data are huge," said David Tuhy, general manager of Intel's storage division, at a briefing here Thursday.

There are already NAS devices using previous generations of Atom on the market. But with the launch of its Atom-based storage platform Thursday, Intel trotted out new NAS systems using it made by customers Asustor, QNAP and Thecus. More firms are expected to launch systems based on the platform in the near future, Intel said.

Source: Intel

Intel markets its higher-end Xeon processors for bigger data storage applications like servers. But, for NAS devices, which typically have two or four hard drives, Atom offers sufficient capability, Tuhy said.

"We think we have a really compelling price point solution with Atom in this category," Tuhy said.

The market for NAS devices is expected to be worth more than $6 billion by 2014, according to IDC.

Intel said its Atom-based storage solution features built-in hardware acceleration for HD content (video surveillance and playback as well as media playback), support for multiple operating sytems, including Microsoft Windows and Linux, and support for software-based RAID data safeguards so that files are recoverable even if a hard-drive fails. The solution also offers scalable I/O connectivity to support four to six SATA drives with hot-plug capability of up to 14 USB ports and integrated support for digital display and dual display, as well as up to 4 GB of main memory.

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Intel pushes Atom for 'personal cloud'

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Fresh off a debate performance he spent highlighting American stories, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Friday peppered his campaign stump speech with those same kinds of personal anecdotes.

During his speech, he pointed to a 14-year-old facing leukemia, a quadriplegic friend who spent his life working for spinal injury research and a woman, Jane Horton whose husband Spec. Chris was a sniper in the Oklahoma National Guard and died last year who now works to help other Gold Star families that have lost someone in battle.

This is a time when some very misguided people were protesting at the funerals of our service men and women, you recall that? And they came to the funeral for her husband, and she was asked, what do you think about this? Mr. Romney recounted. She said, Chris died for them to be able to protest. This is quite a nation we live in, with extraordinary people.

Throughout much of the campaign, Mr. Romney has struggled to connect with voters. In the most recent Washington Times/Zogby Poll released earlier this week, voters were far less likely to say they felt they knew Mr. Romney than they were to say they knew President Obama.

But in Wednesdays debate, Mr. Romney went in with a strategy of trying to exude personal warmth and it worked.

Early on, he talked about meeting a man who owns an electronics business in St. Louis who calculated he pays more than 50 percent of his revenue in federal, state and local taxes.

He then pivoted to talk about a mom he met in New Hampshire who said she couldnt afford health insurance for her son, and another couple in Wisconsin who ran a business but said they were considering dropping their insurance coverage because they could no longer afford it.

Such personal stories had been the trademark of Mr. Obamas speeches. But Mr. Romney won rave reviews for his own foray into those kinds of anecdotes at the debate, and on Friday in Florida used them to make a connection with his crowd.

He commenced telling a story of meeting World War II veterans at an airport in Toledo, Ohio, when a woman in the front of the crowd whooped.

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Romney tries personal touch on campaign stump

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Mitt Romney got personal tonight in Florida, shifting the attention away from the improving unemployment rates and instead opting to share story after story about people he's met over the years.

There was the woman from Oklahoma whose husband was killed in Afghanistan, the 14-year-old Massachusetts boy who asked him to write his will before he passed away from cancer and a quadriplegic who Romney said spoke with him the day before his death.

What there wasn't was any mention of the better-than-expected jobs report, which found that the nation's unemployment rate had decreased to 7.8 percent last month, the first time it's been under 8 percent in four years.

For Romney, who had been riding a wave of momentum after his strong debate performance earlier this week, tonight served as an opportunity to continue to tackle one of the biggest criticisms against him: that he doesn't connect enough with the average American.

"I've seen America," Romney said. "I've seen the greatness of the human spirit in my fellow Americans. It's what gives me confidence in our future, knowing we can rise to the occasion time and again. I've seen it throughout my life."

"I got to meet Billy Hulse and Bill began a business, was very successful and then was involved in an accident and became quadriplegic," Romney said. "And I just saw him a couple of weeks ago - I think three weeks ago in Atlanta, he came to an event. And, it's not easy for Billy to get around [as a] quadriplegic. But his wife was there and he can't move, of course, his arms and his legs, and he can barely speak. And they brought him forward, a big crowd around him.

"I reached down and I put my hand on Billy's shoulder and I whispered into his ear, and I said, 'Billy, God bless you, I love ya.' And he whispered right back to me - and I couldn't quite hear what he said," said Romney. "He tried to speak loud enough for me to hear. He died the next day."

Next was the story of David Oparowski, the 14-year-old for whom Romney helped write a will before he died of leukemia. Oparowski's story was first told at the Republican National Convention by his mother. Tonight, Romney told it himself for the first time.

"I went to David's bedside and got a piece of legal paper, made it look very official," said Romney, of the day Oparowski summoned him to his bedside. "And then David proceeded to tell me what he wanted to give his friends. Talked about his fishing rod, and who would get that. He talked about his skateboard, who'd get that. And his rifle, that went to his brother. I've seen the character of a young man like David, who wasn't emotional or crying. He had his eyes wide open. There's a saying: clear eyes, full heart, can't lose. David couldn't lose. I loved that young man."

The last story Romney told was about Jane Horton, a woman from Oklahoma the candidate met at the Republican convention. Horton's husband was killed in Afghanistan days before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and his funeral was protested by members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

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Mitt Romney Gets Personal in Florida

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Mitt Romney got personal Friday night in Florida, shifting the attention away from the improving unemployment rates and instead opting to share story after story about people he's met over the years.

There was the woman from Oklahoma whose husband was killed in Afghanistan, the 14-year-old Massachusetts boy who asked him to write his will before he passed away from cancer and a quadriplegic who Romney said spoke with him the day before his death.

What there wasn't was any mention of the better-than-expected jobs report, which found that the nation's unemployment rate had decreased to 7.8 percent last month, the first time it's been under 8 percent in four years.

For Romney, who had been riding a wave of momentum after his strong debate performance earlier this week, tonight served as an opportunity to continue to tackle one of the biggest criticisms against him: that he doesn't connect enough with the average American.

"I've seen America," Romney said. "I've seen the greatness of the human spirit in my fellow Americans. It's what gives me confidence in our future, knowing we can rise to the occasion time and again. I've seen it throughout my life."

"I got to meet Billy Hulse and Bill began a business, was very successful and then was involved in an accident and became quadriplegic," Romney said. "And I just saw him a couple of weeks ago - I think three weeks ago in Atlanta, he came to an event. And, it's not easy for Billy to get around [as a] quadriplegic. But his wife was there and he can't move, of course, his arms and his legs, and he can barely speak. And they brought him forward, a big crowd around him.

"I reached down and I put my hand on Billy's shoulder and I whispered into his ear, and I said, 'Billy, God bless you, I love ya.' And he whispered right back to me - and I couldn't quite hear what he said," said Romney. "He tried to speak loud enough for me to hear. He died the next day."

Next was the story of David Oparowski, the 14-year-old for whom Romney helped write a will before he died of leukemia. Oparowski's story was first told at the Republican National Convention by his mother. On Friday, Romney told it himself for the first time.

"I went to David's bedside and got a piece of legal paper, made it look very official," said Romney, of the day Oparowski summoned him to his bedside. "And then David proceeded to tell me what he wanted to give his friends. Talked about his fishing rod, and who would get that. He talked about his skateboard, who'd get that. And his rifle, that went to his brother. I've seen the character of a young man like David, who wasn't emotional or crying. He had his eyes wide open. There's a saying: clear eyes, full heart, can't lose. David couldn't lose. I loved that young man."

The last story Romney told was about Jane Horton, a woman from Oklahoma the candidate met at the Republican convention. Horton's husband was killed in Afghanistan days before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and his funeral was protested by members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

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Mitt Romney gets personal in Florida speech

Intel is diving into the personal cloud storage space with a new Atom-based platform targeted towards both consumers and small businesses.

SAN FRANCISCO--Intel is getting into the personal cloud storage game with the introduction of its own Atom processor-based storage solutions aimed towards both consumers and small businesses.

Essentially, these are network-attached storage appliances powered by either the Intel Atom D2550 or D2500 processors for securing, backing up and sharing content through the cloud. The cloud technology comes in through an exposed HTML IP address (with a secure log-in), and the end user can access that IP address either through a regular desktop browser or it can look like a drive.

Intel said it has been focused on developing reference architectures to meet the costs and performance points they need on both personal and public clouds on systems running on Atom chips.

"Ballooning data is a fact of life," according to David Tuhy, general manager of Intel's Storage Group, while presenting the processor giant's new cloud storage platform during a media briefing yesterday morning.

While this might seem like a bit of an understatement, managing data (whether it be personal data, big data, or any other kind), presents a both major opportunity and challenge for every arm of technology.

Citing recent research from the Aberdeen Group, Intel reports that SMB storage volumes are increasing by 30 percent annually, while consumer digital storage needs will grow from 329 exabytes to 4.1 zettabytes.

One of the things challenging for small businesses are growing requirements and policy driven on them by data retention. Tuhy cited HIPAA, in particular, which has rules that vary by state by state but does require healthcare organizations to retain up to five years worth of data to the life of the patient.

He argued that all of this speaks to fact that both consumers and businesses need a better way to maintain their data integrity.

Tuhy listed what Intel believes SMBs and consumers want most, citing protection and privacy as the two foremost concerns. That includes automated backup functionality but also sharing files across connected devices while being able to selectively grant remote access.

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Intel shows off personal cloud for consumers, small business