NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --CKO Kickboxing, one of the fastest growing health fitness franchises, showed how a powerful brand can help a new fitness franchise get off to a fast start as its new gym in Westerleigh section of Staten Island has signed up more than 350 people already even though their Grand Opening won't take place until Sunday, October 7, 2012.

The new cardio kickboxing gym is located at 1267 Forest Avenue at the corner of Jewett and features 50 heavy bags in its spacious 4,000 square foot facility. The high quality, cross training gym provides a family friendly setting to Staten Island's north shore residents who are looking for an alternative to Pilates, yoga, martial arts and spinning classes.

"We're excited to offer cardio boxing classes in Westerleigh," said John Miceli, owner and partner. "We are building on the CKO brand. We are thrilled with the way things have worked out."

Even before the doors to the gym opened on June 23, 100 people had signed up. Another 150 signed up during the first month.

"People know and trust the CKO Kickboxing brand, especially in the New York-New Jersey region, which has more than two dozen locations," said Joe Andreula, Founder of CKO Kickboxing, one of America's fastest growing franchises according to industry standard Entrepreneur Magazine, which included the kickboxing gym franchise in its Franchise 500 list of best franchises.

"We have grown fast for a few reasons. First, because the CKO Kickboxing workout is an efficient total body workout wherepeople get results.The workout appeals to men and women of all ages.Second, we make sure our members feelcomfortable andthat they belong.Our classes are go at your own pace andwefocus mainly on the fitness aspect of kickboxing asapposed tothe martial art. We ensure all members are taught the proper kickboxing techniques so they exercisesafely and can maximize theirworkout," Miceli said.

He cited strong business training and management support from the franchise as another reason for fast growth.

"We attribute our success to the operating model,our marketing strategy and our members.CKO Founder Joe Andreula and his workout and business model provided the necessary training andoperating procedures to pave the way to becominga successful business," he said.

"We did local print advertisementsin Valpak, Shopaholic and Clipper. However, we feel ourbiggest and most effective marketing contributions are our members. They know how effective the workout is. They also continue to expressto us how theyenjoy their experience in our club, which makes themeager to tell their family and friends.Our member referral system is crucial for our club's success."

Fitness kickboxing has been shown to be excellent forimprovingthe cardiovascular system, strength,flexibility and reduces stress.

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Branding Fitness: New CKO Kickboxing Gym in Westerleigh Section of Long Island Signs 350 Members Before Grand Opening

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n0k7d8io2I

30-09-2012 22:14 As it should be, no one will ever wear No. 20 in Eagles history again. The Eagles retired Brian Dawkins' No. 20 during the nationally televised showdown against the New York Giants on Sept. 30.

Link:
Brian Dawkins No. 20 Retired - Halftime Ceremony 9.30.12 at Lincoln Financial Field-Philadelphia - Video

Dear Dr. Don, My husband is 69, and I am 67. Ninety percent of our nest egg is in the stock market, which is presently doing much better on rate of return than any certificate of deposit or other option. Should we have such a large part of our retirement tied up in the market?

Thanks, -- Wendy Worries

Dear Wendy, Stocks are having a great run in 2012. The major U.S. stock market indexes have reached highs they haven't seen since 2007, before the financial crisis. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up almost 18% year to date (as of mid-September) and by a little more than 27% over the past 12 months. You're not going to get that kind of yield in a CD.

While your nest egg may be heavily invested in stocks, you need to look at your overall financial picture before deciding you're too much into stocks. Are you both receiving Social Security benefits, or are you eligible to receive those benefits once you file for them? Social Security retirement benefits are like an inflation-indexed annuity payment that you'll receive over time. Do either of you receive a pension? The pension payments may not be inflation-indexed, but they also act as an annuity payment.

What I'm getting at is that you should consider how far your low-risk pension and Social Security benefits go toward filling your retirement needs and how much of a gap must be filled by your retirement nest egg. If the investment portfolio is largely for discretionary spending, you can take on more risk than if there's a large income gap not met by your other income sources. Owning your home free and clear also provides a financial safety net with the option to take out a reverse mortgage.

All that aside, your portfolio is probably over-invested in the stock market. I'd suggest paying for a few hours of time for a fee-only financial planner to review your retirement income sources, your retirement income needs and how your portfolio should be invested to meet those needs over time.

Bankrate's content, including the guidance of its advice-and-expert columns and this website, is intended only to assist you with financial decisions. The content is broad in scope and does not consider your personal financial situation. Bankrate recommends that you seek the advice of advisers who are fully aware of your individual circumstances before making any final decisions or implementing any financial strategy. Please remember that your use of this website is governed by Bankrate's Terms of Use.

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Is My Retirement Bet Too Heavily on Stocks?

(MoneyWatch) If you're like most people who are approaching retirement, you've thought long and hard about the answers to these two questions:

- How much money do I need to retire?

- How can I generate a steady stream of income from my retirement savings that lasts the rest of my life no matter how long I live and what happens in the economy?

These are critical questions for most baby boomers who are planning for a retirement that could easily last 20 years or more. And that leads us to the most important question of all: When exactly can I retire?

These three questions have become particularly significant as companies continue to abandon traditional pension plans, meaning plans in which your employer takes responsibility for funding and paying you a monthly retirement income for the rest of your life. Without these safety nets in place, retirement planning now falls heavily on the shoulders of employees everywhere.

With the demise of pension plans, as an employee you're now much more likely to participate in account-based plans, such as a 401(k), 403(b), 457, profit-sharing or cash-balance plans. You might also have substantial savings in an IRA or regular investment accounts. And some of you might elect a lump sum, rather than monthly income, from a traditional pension plan, in which case you face the same challenges.

The biggest retirement planning mistake of all Planning your retirement: The best ways to generate lifetime income Study identifies major flaw with 401(k) plans

With these types of programs, however, you're on your own when it comes to making your money last for the rest of your life. And when your money is exhausted, there'll be nobody there to bail you out, unless you have very generous relatives or friends. Many surveys show that employees approaching retirement are struggling with these issues and need help.

A tale of two retirees

I'd like to tell you two stories about people I know who've had to manage their own retirement savings. These stories contrast the potential outcomes of the challenge of managing your own savings and offer important insights about the strategies that will help you achieve your retirement goals.

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Your most critical retirement planning challenge

LITTLE ROCK, AR--(Marketwire - Oct 1, 2012) - Most American workers know that retirement is, at least in theory, an option for their lives, but that it is not something that happens all on its own. In order to retire, an individual must plan, save, and invest prudently, often under the guidance of a professional retirement planner. According to a recent U.S. News & World Report article, penned by David Ning, retirement planning is more multi-faceted than many individuals realize. There are numerous portfolio options to consider, writes Mr. Ning, but also considerations about health, family dynamics, and more. The article, which urges pre-retirees to look at their eventual retirement from all angles, has merited a comment from Leek & Associates.

Leek & Associates is a public accounting company based in the Little Rock, Arkansas area. The company was founded in 1987 by Stephen Leek, whose vision for the company is to help businesses and individuals alike meet their financial goals through business valuation, accounting, and tax preparation services. Stephen Leek has issued a new press statement in response to the article from Mr. Ning.

"What a wonderful opportunity we have in our work lives, here in the United States, to be able to consider retirement, since in many countries that is not an option," says Stephen Leek in the Leek & Associates press statement. "To have built the financial portfolio needed even to consider retirement is a testament to one's success, and to years of hard work."

Leek goes on to specify some of the different retirement planning considerations mentioned in the article, which include not just financial concerns, but also concerns about living a healthy and satisfying life even post-career. "There are also the less tangible considerations that Mr. Ning has written about here, those that pertain to the sense of fulfillment one has during the retirement years.Giving back to charitable, educational and ecumenical organizations is high on my list, and staying healthy is a something that should become a daily lifestyle choice in those retirement years."

The Leek & Associates founder concludes with some retirement advice of his own. "I would suggest you consider some cash flowing real estate investments to supplement your income from the stock and bond portfolio, and to address the question of a 'Plan B' should your primary retirement investments not work out," writes Leek. "I personally own some real estate investments and have long advised clients on how to evaluate and invest in them. My Risk/Investment Continuum model can help you enhance your plan."

ABOUT:

Founded in 1987, Leek & Associates is a professional association of certified public accounting firms, its principals devoted to providing high-quality, efficient, and responsive services to business clients throughout the Little Rock area. The firm has been successful for 25 years, which is due to quality of our clients and the competency of our people. The firm provides services to individuals and to non-profit organizations; its services include personal and business financial advisement, management consultation, business valuation, general accounting, and tax preparation. The company is zealous for helping clients identify and meet their financial goals. Leek & Associates was founded by Stephen Leek of Little Rock.

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Leek & Associates: Retirement Planning Encompasses Financial and Personal Preparation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) In a story Sept. 28 about a state-run retirement program for private-sector workers in California, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program would be administered by a seven-member board. The board actually would have nine members.

Also, companion legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown requires another vote in the Legislature before the program can be implemented and participants can be enrolled.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Calif. creates state-run private retirement plan

Brown signs bill to create first state-run retirement savings plan for private-sector workers

By JUDY LIN

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that will create the nation's first state-administered retirement savings program for private-sector workers, over the objection of critics who said it creates a new liability for taxpayers.

The bill, SB1234, will establish the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program for more than 6 million lower-income, private-sector workers whose employers do not offer retirement plans.

The program directs employers to withhold 3 percent of their workers' pay unless the employee opts out of the savings program, which can be done every two years. It would be administered by a nine-member board chaired by the state treasurer. The board would select a professional fund manager, which could be a private investment firm or the state's public pension system, to maintain the money.

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Correction: Private Sector Retirement story

Norwich City manager Chris Hughton and Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers before the game. Picture: Paul Chesterton / Focus Images

Paddy Davitt Monday, October 1, 2012 11:04 AM

Brendan Rodgers insisted Liverpools emphatic Premier League win was all the sweeter given his recent personal history at Carrow Road.

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The former Swansea chief lost on both his previous visits to Norwich which made the scale of his first league win as Reds boss even more impressive.

I know Norwich and it is a wonderful club and particularly in the last two years it has been a real difficult place to come and get a result so to arrive here, score five goals and play as well as we did is a real great performance, he said.

They are a real good set of lads here who work ever so hard. Norwich are a very good group and I know that as well as anyone coming here for the last few years. For us to play as well as we did and dominate the ball was outstanding.

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Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers hails Luis Suarez masterclass against Norwich City

CuteOverload may be the cure for work overload. A Japanese study finds looking at pictures of cute animals can be a boost for work performance.

My personal workplace productivity consultant.

It turns out my obsessive daily viewing of eye-searingly adorable animal pictures online is actually an integral part of of my work productivity plan. I am indebted to some Japanese scientists for this revelation.

Researchers from Hiroshima University conducted a study to examine the effects of viewing cute images on task performance. Guess what? Looking at images of baby animals boosted performance, I'm thrilled to report.

The researchers measured the performance of test subjects on a task that required mental and physical coordination before and after viewing photos of puppies and kittens. A control group looked at not-quite-so-cute images of adult animals.

The paper, delightfully titled "The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus," is good news for all of us with CuteOverload and LOLcat addictions.

The abstract from the paper's publication in PLOS One concludes with, "For future applications, cute objects may be used as an emotion elicitor to induce careful behavioral tendencies in specific situations, such as driving and office work." You can get into all the details of the experiments and conclusions at the open-access journal.

(Via Livescience)

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Sweet LOLcats! Puppies and kittens can boost productivity?

WASHINGTON Some people have lost their taste for the stock market, with many concluding it's more dangerous than they can tolerate for their kids' college money or retirement savings.

And they have reason to be anxious.

At a Senate banking committee hearing in Washington in late September, professionals who have been involved with the high-frequency trading that dominates stock buying and selling confirmed some of the worst fears of individuals struggling with investments: The stock market has been behaving erratically and playing with people's emotions as frenetic stock movements have often been divorced from either the economy or businesses' performance.

It no longer is your parents' or grandparents' stock market. Rather, it's become a Wild West of trading, with errant technology too often in control and setting stocks, commodities, currencies and futures up for violent moves that could make the $1 trillion flash crash of May 2010 look tame by comparison, testified David Lauer, who has designed trading technology and worked as an analyst for Allston Trading and Citadel Investment Group.

"U.S. equity markets are in dire straits," Lauer said. "We are truly in a crisis."

He noted that "retail investors have been fleeing the stock market in droves" and that the Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index shows "investor confidence is nonexistent with only 15 percent of the public expressing trust in the stock market."

Rather than buying a stock and holding onto it, institutions using high-frequency trading buy and sell stocks constantly in milliseconds, or much faster than a blink of the eye. Lauer said about 50 to 70 percent of the volume of trading in the stock market now takes that form. Often trading systems send out phony trades aimed at manipulating others into buying or selling. The activity can mislead legitimate traders working for mutual funds, pension funds or individuals to buy a stock at too high a price or sell it at too low a price.

It might involve pennies. But when combined day in and day out "it's death by a thousand cuts," said Andy Brooks, vice president and head of U.S. equity trading for one of the nation's largest mutual fund companies, T. Rowe Price. And computer glitches involving everything from Facebook's initial public offering to the flash crash of 2010 have left individuals with the lowest confidence he says he's ever seen.

"As we talk with our clients there is a growing distrust of the casino environment," Brooks testified at a committee hearing convened by Sens. Jack Reed and Mike Crapo. "Speed kills. We don't think it's for the benefit of investors."

Lauer added: "We must be concerned with whether the pendulum has swung too far." He wants the Securities and Exchange Commission to know who is trading, although much of it is now secret. And he wants more regulation because he fears a catastrophic flash crash late in the day could set off a panic that could cause stocks and other securities to plunge worldwide.

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Personal Finance: High-frequency trading keeps some people anxious

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Puffs brand has partnered with the Dress for Success organization to provide beauty and wardrobe makeovers for deserving women across the country, hosting a finale event here in the Big Apple. Celebrity make-up artist Jake Bailey and stylists from PANYC salon were on hand today to help women look and feel their best as they begin new chapters of their personal and professional lives.

Bailey was on site providing beauty makeovers to the women while sharing make-up tips and tricks that they will be able to use every day. Teaching everything from blending colors, gently removing excess shine, blotting lipstick and even applying mascara, Bailey and Puffs equipped each woman with the tools theyll need to put their best face forward long after the event.

Both Puffs and Dress for Success feel confidence is tied to beauty, said Laura Dressman, Puffs communications manager. Were honored to partner with such a wonderful organization and to have Jake, an expert in beauty, on hand to offer these women the services and information they need to feel confident no matter what they face.

Because Puffs believes every woman deserves to look in the mirror with confidence and feel beautiful, they launched a community on their Facebook page. Fans can encourage each other to look and feel their best, by sharing inspiring words on how they put their best face forward every day. Participation in the conversation offers fans the opportunity to donate to Dress for Success and make them eligible to win prizes.

Through these Puffs sponsored events, our women in San Francisco, Chicago and now New York have received an extra boost of confidence they need to put their best face forward as they re-enter the workforce, said Joi Gordon, CEO of Dress for Success Worldwide. Dress for Success will continue to work with these women to provide them with the tools they need to succeed both personally and professionally.

Puffs tissues have always been what people reach for when suffering from cold and allergy symptoms, but Puffs are designed with your entire face in mind. Whether caring for a cold, applying makeup, or making subtle touch-ups, Puffs tackles all of the things your face has to face throughout the day.

Now through October 12th, Puffs fans can upload their inspirational quotes, tips and stories to http://www.facebook.com/puffs. As fans submit their tip, Puffs will donate $1 per upload and a minimum of $100,000 to Dress for Success Worldwide to help promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women. Also, with every entry, fans are entered into a sweepstakes to win one of 60 Procter & Gamble beauty baskets as well as a grand prize trip to New York City for a beauty makeover.

Each submission is hosted on a gallery within the tab where Puffs fans can gain confidence through the inspiring words of others in their community and fans are encouraged to post their own quotes, tips or stories that show support of the Puffs Facebook community and the women of Dress for Success.

About Puffs

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Puffs® Partners with Dress for Success to Help Women Put Their Best Face Forward