NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Crunch Fitness, the health club chain known for making serious fitness fun announces Hemet, CA as its newest location. Set to open for workouts in December 2012, Crunch Hemet marks the brand's 24th franchise club and joins Upland and Riverside as the third city in Southern California's Inland Empire to outpost a Crunch Franchise.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090909/NY72689LOGO )

"With five parks throughout the city and a bevy of athletic facilities within them, the residents of Hemet have an obvious passion for leading healthy and active lifestyles," said franchisee, David Harman. "I can think of no better place to introduce Crunch's cutting edge fitness offerings and unique gym experience than to the already fitness-friendly community of Hemet."

Located at 1287 South State St., Hemet, CA 92543, Crunch Hemet will be 16,000 sq. ft. of fitness and fun, with state-of-the art cardio and weight training equipment, senior specific programming, tanning, top-of-the-line selectorized machines, full-service locker rooms, and expert personal trainers to help members reach their individual goals. An expansive group fitness studio will house Crunch's signature group fitness classes including, Zumba, Cardio Tai Box and BodyWeb with TRX, to name a few. In addition to the premier amenities of Crunch Hemet, members will also enjoy convenient and spacious parking access.

"We are thrilled to have experienced operators, David Harman and Conny Gordeau working with us as we expand throughout California and the rest of the country," said Crunch franchise president, Ben Midgley.

Owners Harman and Gordeau are industry veterans with over 40 years of health club experience between them, and plan to add even more Crunch franchise locations across the Southern California area in the future. A mobile presale office, currently open next to the club space at 1129 South State St., Hemet, CA 92543, and dedicated website, http://www.crunchhemet.com are offering exclusive membership deals, including a special $0 enrollment offer for a limited time. Call 951-327-0202 for more information. To find out more about Crunch franchising opportunities go to http://www.crunchfranchise.com.

Crunch is a gym that believes in making serious exercise fun by fusing fitness and entertainment and pioneering a philosophy of No Judgments. Headquartered in New York City, and co-owned by New Evolution Ventures (NeV) and private-equity firm Angelo Gordon, Crunch serves over 200,000 members with 53 gyms worldwide, including 24 franchise locations CT, FL, TX, WA, OR, CA, NJ, VA, NY and Australia, and is rapidly expanding across the U.S. and around the globe. Go to http://www.crunchfranchise.com for more information.

About New Evolution Ventures (NeV) Based in Northern California, New Evolution Ventures (NeV) is a private equity firm focused on the acquisition, development and operations management of fitness, media and sports interests both domestically and internationally. Founded in 2008 by Mark Mastrov, Jim Rowley and Mike Feeney, and following a strategic partnership with Vision Capital in 2011, the current team of NeV professionals is shaping the world of fitness, media, and sports one brand at a time. With a foundation representing over a century of business experience, NeV currently has operations and investments in more than 20 countries worldwide representing over 800+ facilities. For more information, visitwww.nev.com.

View post:
Crunch Fitness Names Hemet, CA As Newest Franchise Location

retirement

As the clock ticks and retirement looms, millions of Americans are worried. Thanks to a combination of overspending, undersaving and damage caused by the recent financial crisis, too few have saved too little for their golden years. The crisis has also caused retirement planning to be less of a priority for most citizens who are trying to make ends meet.

Alfonso Canella says the resulting retirement crisis should be obvious to everyone. The senior lecturer at the Brandeis International Business School in Waltham, Mass., says most workers will build their retirement on the principal of their savings, not on investment returns. Retirement planning should not be pushed to the bottom of your to-do list. His message is that people must start saving immediately and must squirrel away more than they think they will need.

As he says, "It's that simple."

The recent financial crisis has had a major impact on all aspects of the retirement system -- defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans, as well as defined benefit plans, or pensions. What is most problematic from your point of view?

The largest problem is the woeful undersaving in the private and public sectors. If you have a defined contribution plan, or DC, which is the plan where you put away pretax dollars into, say, a 401(k) plan. These plans, which are most prevalent in the private sector, allow a worker to contribute up to $22,500 per year pretax. (Editor's note: The limits are $17,000 for workers up to age 50 and $22,500 for workers 50 and older.)

Despite this significant tax advantage, most people don't maximize their contributions or, for that matter, even contribute. According to Fidelity Investments, its average 401(k) plan balance as of June 2012 was $72,800. If you use a rule of thumb that you must start with about $100,000 to get $5,000 per year in sustainable income during retirement, these savings are not enough. While many have additional pension income coming to them, be it from Social Security, individual retirement accounts, or some other plan, the numbers underscore what we all suspect: Americans are not saving as much as they should, especially for retirement.

The situation is somewhat similar for public-sector workers. These workers usually have a defined benefit plan, or DB, which pays benefits based on salary and length of service. In many cases -- too many, actually -- these workers face some underfunded pension plans. According to Boston College's Public Plans Database, the average funded ratio across all public plans in the U.S. in 2010 was about 77 percent. This ratio, which summarizes how much has been put away as a percent of projected payouts, summarizes the shortfall.

How can individual investors get ahead? Should they change their asset allocation strategy? How should they allocate their assets among stocks and bonds?

As I said previously, it is clear that workers must start saving as much as possible, especially taking advantage of tax-driven plans such as 401(k)s, IRAs and Roth IRAs. Let's face it: In these volatile markets, you will retire mostly on the principal of your savings and not because you made a killing in your investments.

Originally posted here:
Key to retirement success is simple

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --On September 26, 2012, The Derivative Project, a Minnesota based, independent, non-partisan, retirement investor advocacy organization, announced today it has submitted a request to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Chairman Shapiro, for immediate action on two requests to protect retirement savings in money market funds that carry systemic risk, as outlined by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in an April 2012 Report on "Shadow Banking."

In this request, The Derivative Project stated, "While a study, by the Financial Oversight Stability Council on how best to control the systemic risk that is inherent in the non-transparent money market mutual fund industry is being conducted, it is imperative that our nation's retirement savings be removed immediately from all money market mutual funds, carrying systemic risk, and moved to FDIC-insured sweep options. The yield will be greater for retirement investors in these sweep options and the risk will be less for the retirement investor."

Further, The Derivative Project requested that in addition to the SEC mandating that Retirement Fund providers replace money market mutual fund options with FDIC insured sweep accounts, a request was made to allow retirement savers at 401k's and 403B's (and SEP and Individual Retirement Accounts) the option to invest directly in FDIC bank CDs in the maturity of their choice or in U.S. Treasury securities, at Treasury Direct, with no additional fees charged by the retirement service provider. Retirement savers, in this historically low interest rate environment, deserve direct access to money market instruments; such as FDIC insured bank CD's and Treasury Direct, to ensure a positive return without systemic risk.

The Derivative Project also submitted this request for comment by each member of the SEC Investor Advisory Committee at their next regularly scheduled meeting, September 28, 2012. The Derivative Project will publish the Investor Advisory Committee Member's responses, following the Meeting.

The full text of this SEC Request will be made available at The Derivative Project's website http://www.thederivativeproject.com.

The Derivative Project is a non-partisan, Minnesota - based retirement investor advocacy organization that seeks to ensure the long-term stability of the U.S. economy through equitable enforcement, for both individuals and corporations, of financial laws and regulations. It is the only non-partisan, independent retirement investor advocacy organization in the United States.

See the original post here:
The Derivative Project Requests SEC Move Retirement Cash to FDIC Sweep Accounts.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Sammons Retirement Solutions, Inc.SM, which specializes in designing straightforward, innovative retirement solutions focused on IRA rollovers and other retirement assets, announced that William Lowe, President of Sammons Retirement Solutions, Inc. has been appointed to the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI)s Board of Directors. This appointment marks Lowes second term on the board, as he previously served while CEO of U.S. Annuities at ING U.S.

Lowe, an insurance industry veteran, brings over 25 years of leadership experience in the life insurance and annuity business to the board. Lowe is a product innovator and has spent decades developing products and go-to-market strategies for 401(k)s, variable and fixed annuities, life insurance, managed accounts and mutual fund accounts. He joins the company of 19 notable financial industry experts on the board.

We are delighted to welcome Bill back as a member of the IRI Board of Directors, IRI President and CEO Cathy Weatherford said. During the next year, in an effort to serve a diverse and growing membership, we will strive to provide new tools and resources to our members and expand our influence to achieve advocacy goals on behalf of the insured retirement industry. As we work to tackle these objectives, strategic direction from industry leaders such as Bill will be vital to our success.

It is an honor to be named to IRIs Board of Directors, said William Lowe, President of Sammons Retirement Solutions, Inc. IRIs mission to serve as a respected resource for financial advisers and to further enhance consumer confidence in the value of retirement strategies is also a primary goal at Sammons Retirement Solutions, Inc., and I look forward to helping advance initiatives in this area as a member of the Board of Directors.

Additionally, Lowe recently contributed to the dialogue at the IRI 2012 Annual Meeting moderating a panel entitled, Navigating Environmental Factors: Products and Strategies, that discussed the effects that current financial environmental factors can have on the industry and how companies can position their product portfolio moving forward.

About Sammons Retirement Solutions, Inc.SM(SRSI SM)

A member of Sammons Financial Group, Sammons Retirement Solutions, Inc.SM specializes in designing straightforward, innovative retirement solutions that address the increasingly complex needs of todays investors. The company complements Sammons Financial Groups existing business by expanding the product line with mutual fund IRA platforms and variable annuities available for sale through independent broker-dealers and financial professionals. Please visit http://www.srslivewell.com for additional information.

About the Insured Retirement Institute

The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) is a not-for-profit organization that for twenty years has been a mainstay of service, commitment and collaboration within the insured retirement industry.Today, IRI is considered to be the authoritative source of all things pertaining to annuities, insured retirement strategies and retirement planning. IRI proudly leads a national consumer education coalition of nearly twenty organizations and is the only association that represents the entire supply chain of insured retirement strategies: Our members are the major insurers, asset managers, broker dealers, and more than 150,000 financial professionals. IRI exists to vigorously promote consumer confidence in the value and viability of insured retirement strategies, bringing together the interests of the industry, financial advisors and consumers under one umbrella. IRIs mission is to: encourage industry adherence to highest ethical principles; promote better understanding of the insured retirement value proposition; develop and promote best practice standards to improve value delivery; and advocate before public policy makers on critical issues affecting insured retirement strategies and the consumers that rely on their guarantees. Visit http://www.IRIonline.org today to experience the vast resources of the Insured Retirement Institute for yourself.

Read more:
Sammons Retirement Solutions, Inc. President William Lowe Named to Insured Retirement Institute Board of Directors

As the clock ticks and retirement looms, millions of Americans are worried. Thanks to a combination of overspending, undersaving and damage caused by the recent financial crisis, too few have saved too little for their golden years. The crisis has also caused retirement planning to be less of a priority for most citizens who are trying to make ends meet.

Alfonso Canella says the resulting retirement crisis should be obvious to everyone. The senior lecturer at the Brandeis International Business School in Waltham, Mass., says most workers will build their retirement on the principal of their savings, not on investment returns. Retirement planning should not be pushed to the bottom of your to-do list. His message is that people must start saving immediately and must squirrel away more than they think they will need.

As he says, "It's that simple."

The recent financial crisis has had a major impact on all aspects of the retirement system -- defined contribution plans, such as 401(k) plans, as well as defined benefit plans, or pensions. What is most problematic from your point of view?

The largest problem is the woeful undersaving in the private and public sectors. If you have a defined contribution plan, or DC, which is the plan where you put away pretax dollars into, say, a 401(k) plan. These plans, which are most prevalent in the private sector, allow a worker to contribute up to $22,500 per year pretax. (Editor's note: The limits are $17,000 for workers up to age 50 and $22,500 for workers 50 and older.)

Despite this significant tax advantage, most people don't maximize their contributions or, for that matter, even contribute. According to Fidelity Investments, its average 401(k) plan balance as of June 2012 was $72,800. If you use a rule of thumb that you must start with about $100,000 to get $5,000 per year in sustainable income during retirement, these savings are not enough. While many have additional pension income coming to them, be it from Social Security, individual retirement accounts, or some other plan, the numbers underscore what we all suspect: Americans are not saving as much as they should, especially for retirement.

The situation is somewhat similar for public-sector workers. These workers usually have a defined benefit plan, or DB, which pays benefits based on salary and length of service. In many cases -- too many, actually -- these workers face some underfunded pension plans. According to Boston College's Public Plans Database, the average funded ratio across all public plans in the U.S. in 2010 was about 77%. This ratio, which summarizes how much has been put away as a percent of projected payouts, summarizes the shortfall.

How can individual investors get ahead? Should they change their asset allocation strategy? How should they allocate their assets among stocks and bonds?

As I said previously, it is clear that workers must start saving as much as possible, especially taking advantage of tax-driven plans such as 401(k)s, IRAs and Roth IRAs. Let's face it: In these volatile markets, you will retire mostly on the principal of your savings and not because you made a killing in your investments.

These investments should be diversified across asset categories -- equities, bonds, foreign investments and real estate (this being mostly one's home). Within these asset categories, there are different risk levels. Some equities, usually in new industries or in young companies, have more volatile returns than equities in more traditional industries or well-established companies.

Read the original post:
The Key to Retirement Success is Simple

HOUSTON, Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. (NYSE: "KRA"), a leading global producer of styrenic block copolymers or "SBCs," plans to discuss its new slush molding product technology for Automotive Instrument Panel soft skin applications during a presentation at the Society of Plastics Engineers' Automotive TPO Engineered Polyolefins Global Conference in Troy, Michigan, on October 1, 2012.

Dr. Troy Wiegand, a staff scientist at Kraton Polymers, is scheduled to present findings in a paper, entitled "New Slush Molding Technology for Soft Skin Applications," and will highlight Kraton ST5100, a new proprietary compound series positioned for use in next generation TPEs in the slush molding process. The features and benefits of the Kraton ST5100 series solution will be discussed, including opportunities for customers to address unmet needs including significant weight reduction, improved haptics, recyclability, and sustainability. The paper represents the technical introduction of a new alternative to PVC and TPU solutions traditionally used in this application space.

Dr. Wiegand is scheduled to speak during the Automotive Interiors Trims and Skins session from 11:00-11:30 a.m. in Salon A at the Detroit Marriott Troy on October 1, 2012. To register for the event, please visit the conference website. For further information about Kraton's slush molding technology using Kraton ST5100, or to schedule a personal interview, please contact Marcie Coronado, Marketing Communications Manager, at 281-504-4975, or Marcie.coronado@kraton.com.

About Kraton Polymers

Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc., through its operating subsidiary Kraton Polymers LLC and its subsidiaries, is a leading global producer of engineered polymers and styrenic block copolymers ("SBCs"), a family of products whose chemistry was pioneered by us almost fifty years ago. SBCs are highly-engineered thermoplastic elastomers, which enhance the performance of numerous products by delivering a variety of attributes, including greater flexibility, resilience, strength, durability and processability. Our polymers are used in a wide range of applications, including adhesives, coatings, consumer and personal care products, sealants and lubricants, and medical, packaging, automotive, paving, roofing and footwear products. We currently offer approximately 800 products to more than 700 customers in over 60 countries worldwide, and are the only SBC producer with manufacturing and service capabilities on four continents. We manufacture products at five plants globally, including our flagship plant in Belpre, Ohio, as well as plants in Germany, France and Brazil, and a joint venture plant operated in Japan.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements," which are statements other than statements of historical fact and are often characterized by the use of words such as "believes," "expects," "estimates," "projects," "may," "will," "intends," "plans" or "anticipates," or by discussions of strategy, anticipated performance, plans or intentions, including statements of anticipated product performance. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made based on management's current expectations and estimates, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties are more fully described in "Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors" contained in our Annual Report on 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and as subsequently updated in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We hereby make reference to all such filings for all purposes. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update such information.

Kraton, the Kraton logo and design, Cariflex, Nexar and the "Giving Innovators their Edge" tagline are all trademarks of Kraton Polymers LLC.

Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. 2012. All rights reserved.

For Further Information: Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc. Media: Marcie Coronado +1-281-504-4975 Investors: H. Gene Shiels +1-281-504-4886

Read this article:
Kraton Performance Polymers Discusses New Slush Molding Product Technology

A research report conducted over the summer into major Canadian Web sites find that 11 out of 25 are leaking personal information to third parties. 9/25/2012 12:01:00 PM By: Brian Jackson

Some of Canada's most-visited Web sites operated by large corporations are giving away user information without their consent or knowledge to third party advertisers, the Privacy Commissioner reports.

Jennifer Stoddart and her federal office have concluded an investigation spurred by other international studies that found similar results and selected 25 popular Canadian Web sites. It found six sites that raised significant privacy concerns, and five sites that raised questions about Web site practices, according to the commissioner's office. But Canadians won't be learning the names of those leaking their personal details. There were 14 sites that did not appear to be leaking personal information.

The Privacy Commissioner has not exercised her discretion to publicly name the specific tested organizations at this time, a press release states. The research was designed to offer a snapshot of the Canadian context and it is likely that a significant number of other Canadian sites may also be leaking personal information.

Sites selected as research targets by the commissioner had a high volume of Canadian traffic and either targeted Canadians or generated revenue from interactions with Canadians. The sites collected personal information from users for the creation of accounts and other uses.

Researchers worked over the summer with Charles Web proxy software. It captures and analyzes data being sent between a user's Web browser and a Web site, and data sent between the user's browser and third-party sites.

It found privacy leaks from organizations in several sectors, including media, retail, shopping, and a classified ads site. Sites were sending personal information to third parties that included organizations involved in online marketing, online advertising, analytics, and Web site performance monitoring.

Personal details exposed to third parties included e-mail address, name, username, postal code, city location, and search strings.

Stoddart has sent letters to the 11 organizations found to be leaking personal information, asking them to provide information about their practices and explain how they will correct the problems.

<< Back

Go here to see the original:
Popular Canadian Web sites leaking personal information, Privacy Commissioner says

MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (SPB), a diversified and global consumer products company with market-leading brands, announced today that its Remington personal care division has entered the U.S. womens hair accessories market with a full line of basic-to-trend hair accessories, accessory storage items and brushes for both the adult and teenage girl segments.

Remington already has secured sizeable placements at several major retailers in the U.S. womens hair accessory category, a consumables market estimated at more than $1 billion annually. Remington also is leveraging its strong global footprint in hair care, shaving and grooming to enter growing womens hair accessories markets in Europe and Latin America.

Our successful launch in the womens hair accessory market is among a number of global categories Remington is entering to advance our strategy of rapid organic growth in higher margin and faster growing consumables markets over the next several years, said Dave Lumley, Chief Executive Officer of Spectrum Brands Holdings. We are investing in resources to capitalize on this significant growth platform, leveraging our Spectrum Value Model approach of same performance/less price to gain distribution in both stores and online, and working hard to help our retail partners grow their category shares.

Extending the Remington brand to the consumable hair accessory category further enhances Remingtons position as one-stop shopping for hair styling for all ages. According to Drew Fiorenza, Remington Global Vice President, Our hair accessory product development has a strong emphasis on executing fashion and trend and always with a focus on winning the value position. With our brand positioning of How the World Gets Ready, we have a unique opportunity for cross promoting our hair accessories with complementary segments of our business, such as hair care appliances, and even with other adjacent beauty categories by co-merchandising in stores and offering in-pack trial samples or coupons for discounts with purchase.

Our approach is to create a fun, engaging experience for the consumer, making the product the hero of the proposition and exciting the female consumer with the most trend-forward fabrications, colors and materials at a compelling consumer value, he added. For the female consumer, feeling confident and beautiful is a 360-degree experience, and Remington is committed to making hair accessories an important part of that.

As Remington expands its global market position in womens hair accessories, Fiorenza said, Remington is excited to be able to offer consumers and our retail partners a total hair care solution. We will continue our focus on innovation that matters to the consumer and on bringing exciting, fashion-forward items to this category at a value price position, which has proven to be a successful formula for Remington and its retail partners worldwide.

About Remington

Remington is How the World Gets Ready. A global leader and manufacturer of mens and womens grooming and styling products, Remington is an innovator of affordable hair care, electric shavers, wet shavers, wet shave products and body groomers and trimmers, and a subsidiary of Spectrum Brands Holdings. For more information about Remington, visit http://www.remingtonproducts.com.

About Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc.

Visit link:
Spectrum Brands Holdings’ Remington® Personal Care Division Announces Entry into Large U.S. Women’s Hair Accessories ...

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -

In a unique effort to keep truant kids in class, a judge is heading to a Kansas City school to hold court.

The first day of the Success Court program was cut short a week prior because someone phoned in a bomb threat, but Wednesday they will start again. The program started because too many students are skipping school at Northeast High School.

There are no desks and no teachers inside one Northeast High School room. It was a store room that has recently been transformed into a Success Courtroom. The judge works for free to help troubled teens who are cutting class.

"Parents are not engaged in their student's educational journey. You have problems in the community dealing with gangs, substance abuse, domestic violence. These kids are in that element," said Executive Director of Student Intervention Luis Cordoba.

To stop negative influences, the school district modeled the Success Courtroom program after the Independence School District's.

"We focus on those kids that are high at-risk, this is a prevention program where parents say, 'I'm having a challenge getting my kids to school, and yes, I know they are not achieving academically,'" Cordoba said.

The program aims to get troubled teens back on the right track. It focuses on kids with 60 to 80 percent attendance, disruptive behavior and lack of family involvement. It is a voluntary program that requires weekly sessions at 6:30 a.m. Wednesdays. To date, 10 students and their parents are participating.

"I'll use my own personal experience. I too was a child labeled as learning disabled. I too was a child that didn't like coming to school but, if you surround yourself with positive mentors, it only took one teacher to say, You know what? You can do it,'" Cordoba said.

The weekly sessions scheduled for seventh- and eighth-grade students are structured to promote education and social skills, something the kids will miss if they're absent from regular classes.

Original post:
Success Court a unique effort to keep kids from habitually skipping class

SCHILLER PARK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Life Fitness, global leader in commercial fitness equipment manufacturing, today released its 2012 Fitness and Technology Survey, which found nearly three-quarters of regular exercisers use some type of technology device during their workouts. More than half of respondents consider themselves more successful at achieving their weight and fitness goals because of technology. The new survey evaluated the habits of exercisers from seven countries who own smartphones or tablets and exercise at least twice a week.

Technology is integrated into so many aspects of our lives today, but this report is the first time weve been able to show just how plugged in exercisers are today and what access theyd like to have tomorrow, said Chris Clawson, president, Life Fitness. This is vital intelligence for fitness facilities around the world to help them understand what tech tools motivate their members to continue exercising, as well as retain their memberships.

A sampling of results is listed below. To view the full report and methodology, visit http://www.LifeFitness.com/Survey.

Exercisers already plugged in

Tuned in and toning up

Keeping pace with young, tech-savvy exercisers

For more information on Life Fitness visit http://www.LifeFitness.com.

About Life Fitness

Life Fitness is the global leader in commercial fitness equipment. The company manufactures and sells strength and cardiovascular equipment under the brand names Life Fitness and Hammer Strength and distributes its equipment in more than 120 countries. Headquartered outside Chicago, in Schiller Park, Ill., Life Fitness is a division of Brunswick Corporation (BC).

Originally posted here:
New Life Fitness Report Links Technology to Workout Success