Target retirement funds offer one-stop shopping for investors who want a "set it and forget it" retirement strategy. Instead of wading through scores of funds, investors can leave the portfolio strategy to someone else.

Think you might retire 15 years from now? Just pick the target retirement fund geared for those retiring between 2026 and 2030. Now you're all set.

But is this a smart strategy?

The good

Target retirement funds offer a simple choice. When you have 20 investment options, paralysis can set in. Fearful of making the incorrect choice, the decision is deferred. With target retirement funds, you just estimate your retirement date and then select the appropriate fund.

These funds build in a high degree of diversification in their portfolios. Target retirement funds are usually "funds of funds." So by purchasing a Fidelity Freedom 2030 Fund (ticker: FFFEX), you are purchasing their all-sector equity fund and twenty other Fidelity funds. Each of these funds holds hundreds to thousands of different individual stocks or bonds.

So not only do you avoid the risks in betting on a single company or sector, but you also get the benefit of spreading your assets between domestic and international markets, and alternative asset classes including commodities and commercial real estate.

Finally these funds regularly rebalance their holdings. They sell the winners within their fund mix and purchase those that haven't done as well. Most individual investors do not regularly rebalance their portfolio, which costs them total returns over time. Target retirement funds allow you to offload this chore.

The bad

By investing in target retirement funds, you're making a decision that a cookie cutter investment approach will be effective. When we design a recommended portfolio for a client, we not only ask about their risk tolerance but also about their financial goals and come up with the best path forward considering their current assets and future savings. Target retirement funds don't incorporate any information that is specific to your situation.

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Dave Gardner: Target retirement funds -- The good, the bad and the ugly

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Published: 9/22/2012 - Updated: 17 hours ago

BY RYAN AUTULLO BLADE SPORTS WRITER

Tom Osborne, the legendary Nebraska football coach turned athletic director, was skeptical when a wealthy businessman in his late 50s invited him to lunch four years ago to discuss a position on the Cornhuskers coaching staff.

"I thought this was probably a little bit of a passing fancy and he'll get over it," Osborne recalls thinking.

Osborne soon realized he had misjudged the man, who had recently resigned from his post as CEO of a successful online brokerage and began showing up to every practice. He sat in on every staff meeting, taking copious notes. Weary from an hour commute, he moved his personal effects into a hotel room near campus.

This was no fleeting fantasy, no means to scribbling a check mark next to an entry on a bucket list. Joe Moglia, who cashed zero paychecks in his role as executive advisor to Cornhuskers coach Bo Pelini, was determined to apply the principles he culled from laboring nearly 30 years in the business sector to engineering his own Division I program.

"I knew he was serious," Osborne said this week by phone.

The University of Toledo's Glass Bowl, where first-year Coastal Carolina coach Moglia will lead his Chanticleers today for a 7 p.m. tilt against the Rockets, is 565 miles and 10 driving hours away from Wall Street in New York.

It was there, in 1984, where Moglia made the most difficult decision of his life and exchanged his coaching career to enter a training program with Merrill Lynch.

Continued here:
Chanticleers coach knows success

A novel study (1) assessed the salivary stress hormone cortisol and another stress biomarker (alpha-amylase) on day six of the menstrual cycle for six cycles in two hundred and seventy four women who were trying to conceive. Salivary alpha-amylase is thought to measure psychological stress and has been described in other studies (2) as a:

"...sensitive biomarker for stress-related changes in the body..."

The study (1) was able to show that the stress marker alpha-amylase (but not cortisol) was significantly correlated with an increased time to conception; women with alpha-amylase levels in the top quarter of the range were less likely to conceive than those with levels in the lowest quartile. The researchers concluded that:

"Stress significantly reduced the probability of conception each day during the fertile window..."

Although many of life's stressors may be out of our control, yoga may prove to be invaluable in lowering chronic stress - and salivary amylase levels - when trying to conceive. A Japanese study (3) examined the effect of a weekly or bi-weekly 90 minute yoga class yoga on stress hormones over a month testing salivary amylase before and after classes.

In individuals aged 20-30 years the yoga intervention reduced salivary amylase levels by about a third; anxiety assessments also showed a significant reduction in scores leading the researchers to conclude that:

"Decrease in Salivary amylase activity may be due to reduction in sympathetic response. Reduction in State and Trait anxiety score signifies that yoga has both immediate as well as long-term effect on anxiety reduction. Thus yoga helps to improve the mental health in both the groups."

If you are trying to conceive and having trouble becoming pregnant try taking a yoga class once or twice a week or doing an online class or yoga DVD at home. Finding a friend to do yoga with regularly can help you to be more regular in your practice and make it more enjoyable too.

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Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola insisted that he is happy living the family life in New York for now as he kept the guessing game about his future in football wide open.

Speculation is rife about the next job of the man who won everything at Barcelona since he decided to take a break from the sport after coaching his last game in May.

Guardiola was forced to address his future on Friday while he appeared as a guest speaker at an annual event in Mexico City organized by Fundacion Telmex, the charity of Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim.

Asked whether he would coach the Spanish national team one day, he said: "You never know. It's just that New York is so nice."

Would his next destination be Manchester United or AC Milan? "I don't know... I said I wouldn't coach this year," he responded.

The 41-year-old former Barcelona midfielder said that he would be in the Big Apple for a year, living a regular life, taking his three children to school, learning English and "getting to know the city."

One of his former players at Barcelona, new AC Milan recruit Bojan Krkic, fed the rumor mill last month when he said that "someone" at his old team told him Guardiola was interested in coaching the Italian club.

Guardiola's agent has denied any possible moves to Bayern Munich or the Brazilian national team.

Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola (pictured in May) on Friday insisted that he is happy living the family life in New York for now as he kept the guessing game about his future in football wide open.

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Guardiola, happy in NY, coy about future

A UNIVERSITY student from Yarm has returned from a football coaching trip to Zambia with a new outlook on life.

Ben Gibbons, a BA Sport student at Durham University, spent six weeks in Zambian capital Lusaka on the Ideals UK Sport Zambia Project.

The aspiring PE teacher was based at the Fountain of Hope orphanage for boys, where he taught English, maths and music as well as some new football techniques.

He said the whole experience as part of a group of 14 visiting students left him humbled and with a fresh perspective on life after seeing the positive way in which Zambians cope with the most trying circumstances.

There are between 50 and 70 boys at the orphanage, which is all about empowerment through education and sport, and all of them are really happy even though they have no money and only one change of clothes, he said.

Silly things that I would normally let annoy me are pointless when you compare them to life over there.

Zambia might as well be a different planet, let alone a different country. Some of the people have nothing, but they are very friendly and happy.

There is a Zambian word kuichayila, which means when things get tough, stay calm and keep cool.

It sums up their way of life and Ill be definitely thinking about that from now on. It was really good, a great experience.

During his time in Africa Ben, 20, formed a strong bond working alongside two local peer leaders, Steven and Isaac, and saw his teams impress at annual sports competition the Wallace Tournament.

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How Ben’s adventure in Zambia proved to be a real eye-opener

Pep Guardiola has suggested that he would be interested in becoming the next coach of Spain's national team at some point in the future.

The 41-year-old is currently enjoying a sabbatical in New York after his departure from Barcelona at the end of last season, and he hinted the position could interest him in the coming years.

"Coaching the national team? You never know what could happen," Guardiola said at an annual event in Mexico City, organized by Fundacion Telmex - the charity of telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim.

"I'm feeling very well in New York, and I'll stay here for a year. I don't know when I will return to coaching, but it will not be this year.

"I will make my comeback once I have the desire to coach again, but that's not the case just yet."

The former midfielder then looked back on his time at Barca, and stressed that he never planned to spend his entire career in Catalunya.

"I never had the intention to stay at Barcelona my entire life. It was a stage in my life and I had a great time. The time to move on had come, though, so I decided to quit," Guardiola said.

"It was all about entertaining the fans at Barcelona. The crowd have to enjoy watching football. I stuck to a tradition that was started by Johan Cruyff, who also had a great group of players."

Guardiola won an impressive 14 trophies during his four years at the Blaugrana.

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Guardiola: Coaching Spain? You never know

Written by The Sports Network TSN

(Sports Network) - The Detroit Tigers continue their quest toward an American League Central crown on Saturday when they once again try to open a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park.

This series was slated to get underway on Friday, but rain caused a postponement. Now the series will close with a day-night doubleheader on Sunday.

Detroit enters this matchup trailing the division-leading Chicago White Sox by 1 1/2 games. But the Tigers close their season with 13 games against the Twins and Kansas City Royals. The Twins, of course, are tied with the Cleveland Indians for the worst record in the AL, while the Royals are 13 games under .500.

The Tigers lost for only the third time in nine tries on Thursday and were denied a three-game sweep over the Oakland Athletics with a 12-4 loss.

Gerald Laird, Austin Jackson and Prince Fielder knocked in runs, and Andy Dirks also homered for the Tigers, who remained within striking distance of Chicago in the AL Central. Chicago lost at Kansas City on Thursday.

Anibal Sanchez (3-6) was charged with six hits and six runs -- five earned -- over 5 2/3 innings.

"We won the first two and we got off to a good start today. Obviously we didn't get it, that's the way it is. Now we turn the page and start to scoreboard watch," noted Tigers manager Jim Leyland.

Getting the call for the Tigers on Saturday will be righty Doug Fister, who had a two-start winning streak stopped his last time out. Fister lost to Chicago on Monday, as the White Sox reached him for five runs (4 earned) and eight hits in only four innings, dropping him to 9-9 to go along with a 3.65 ERA.

Fister beat the Twins the last time he faced them, but is just 2-6 lifetime against them with a 3.68 ERA in eight starts.

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Tigers, Twins begin series at Comerica Park

12,000 people take part in County Durham health initiative

12:00pm Saturday 22nd September 2012 in News By Tony Kearney

A NUMBER of organisations have joined forces to celebrate the success of a health and fitness programme.

More than 12,000 people have taken part in the Changing the Physical Activity Landscape programme since it was launched in February 2010. It was established to reduce the risk of heart disease and to get people active and healthy.

Some of the 23 organistions taking part in the programme came together at County Hall, in Durham City, yesterday.

Andrew Power, physical activity manager of County Durham Sport, which manages the programme, said: The programme has become big. Were expecting 14,000 people to have come through the programme by the end of it.

Weve got a good spread of individual organisations here today and, with six months left of the programme, were trying to sustain their work for the future.

Dawn Phillips, public health consultant for NHS County Durham, was present to see the ongoing work.

She said: Were identifying risks. The goal is to get people active and able to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

If we invest now we can prevent ill health. We have fewer people going to their GPs since this programme began.

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12,000 people take part in County Durham health initiative

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM65D6rei_4

21-09-2012 15:01 As we save for our retirement years it's not uncommon to find ourselves with more accounts than we know what to do with. http As we save for our retirement years it's not uncommon to find ourselves with more accounts than we know what to do with. Throughout our working years we have sporadic opportunities to save for retirement and we are told diversification is the key to retirement success. As a result many savers find themselves with multiple retirement accounts. For example: 3 CDs, a Money Market Account, 2 annuities, an IRA, a 401(k) or 403(b), and 2 brokerage accounts. That would be a total of 10 separate retirement accounts. Here are just a few challenges caused by having too many retirement accounts: Which account should you spend first and why? Which account should you spend last and why? How do you calculate Required Minimum Distributions from multiple qualified accounts? Is one account losing as much as another is earning? (break even) Will you have enough money for a comfortable retirement? Are your beneficiaries set up properly on ALL of your retirement accounts? Mesa Tucson Arizona Financial Retirement Planner/Adviser Jeff Vogan offers some strategies to consolidate and simplify the income process.

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Too many retierment accounts? Financial Retirement Adviser Jeff Vogan Mesa Tucson Arizona - Video

Most say they would "work longer to live better", but some are taking a risk by carrying debt into retirement

TORONTO, Sept. 21, 2012 /CNW/ - A new CIBC (CM.TO) (CM) poll conducted by Leger Marketing reveals that most of Canada's 50-59 year olds don't intend to give up their current lifestyle as they enter retirement, despite falling short of their retirement savings goals. The poll also reveals that some Canadians in their 50s are planning to carry debt into retirement with no immediate plans to pay it off, an approach that could reduce their retirement cash flow and jeopardize their plans to live the good life.

Key poll findings include:

"One of the keys to planning for retirement is having a clear view of how much monthly income you can generate once you leave work, and whether that income will support your expenses," said Christina Kramer, Executive Vice-President, Retail Distribution and Channel Strategy, CIBC. "These poll findings would suggest that some Canadians approaching retirement would benefit from a conversation with an advisor about whether their retirement income and monthly cash flow will live up to their plans."

Carrying Debt for Life?

Poll results also show that some of Canada's boomers are already forecasting that they will carry debt into retirement, and have no plans to pay it off anytime soon.

According to Ms. Kramer, this may also suggest some Canadians approaching retirement are too comfortable with today's low interest rates on their debt, and may not have evaluated the negative impact that ongoing debt payments can have on their cash flow.

"Retiring with debt creates a drag on your retirement income, as monthly repayments will reduce cash flow and can actually limit your financial flexibility once you retire," said Ms. Kramer. "While some Canadians may feel they can incorporate monthly debt payments into their retirement, the reality is that repaying debt before retirement remains an integral component of maximizing cash flow."

Ms. Kramer added that for the vast majority of Canadians, a debt-free start to retirement is the right strategy. "Entering retirement with minimal or no debt maximizes your cash flow, and gives you a clear sense of the level of expenses that will be manageable within your retirement plan."

Retirement Planning Advice

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CIBC Poll: Canada's Baby Boomers not interested in a modest retirement