Ohioans are taking retirement benefits early
Posted: September 10, 2012 at 4:16 am
The oldest Baby Boomers began turning 66 this year the full-retirement age for collecting Social Security benefits but many are claiming their benefits early because of the troubled economy, poor job market and fears about potential changes to the retirement system.
Unfortunately for some retirees, the decision to claim their benefits early could cost them tens of thousands of dollars down the road.
Three out of four eligible Miami Valley area residents start taking Social Security retirement benefits early, even though for some people the decision will permanently reduce their lifetime payments and could cost retirees or their spouses some important income later in life, according to a Dayton Daily News analysis.
Social Security is the primary source of income for many older Ohioans and delaying benefits until the full retirement age or beyond increases the size of the monthly payments.
Ohioans who are in good health, intend to keep working, expect to live a long time and have spouses may want to delay claiming benefits because oftentimes it turns out to be a better financial decision in the long run, experts said.
For some people its worth taking early, like if you are unhealthy, you become unemployed or your investment returns are low or you really, really need income, said John Bowblis, assistant professor of economics and research fellow with Scripps Gerontology at Miami University. But for the typical person, waiting until 66 is probably going to be a better solution.
Social Security retirement benefits are provided to people who have worked for at least a decade, and the payment amounts are based on workers 35 highest earning years.
People can begin collecting Social Security benefits when they turn 62, but the full retirement age is 65 for people born in 1937 or earlier, and 67 for people born after 1960. Taking benefits before reaching the full retirement age reduces the size of the payments. People who retire at 62 will on average receive a monthly payment about 25 to 30 percent less than if they waited until their full retirement age.
Delayed benefits yield larger payout
Every case is different, but people who start receiving benefits earlier get smaller amounts because they are expected to receive more payments, and people who delay collections receive larger payments because they will receive fewer of them.
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Ohioans are taking retirement benefits early
Maori unhappy with economy, iwi – point to policy priorities
Posted: at 4:16 am
10 September 2012
Survey shows Maori unhappy with economy, iwi - point to policy priorities
Horizon Research has released its Maori Viewpoint 2012 report, tracking the views of Maori nationwide on issues ranging from their personal household financial position to their iwis' performance.
Maori are sending clear signals to their iwi and other policy makers on what they think are the most important issues for Maori over the next three years.
The report is based on a Horizon Research Maori Panel survey of 433 adult Maori in August 2012. Some results are also compared with those of a May, 2011, Horizon Research Maori Panel survey of 534 respondents.
Results are weighted by age, gender, personal income, region and employment status to ensure a representative sample of the Maori population aged 18+at the 2006 census. At a 95% confidence level the maximum margin of error is +/- 4.7% (4.2% in the 2011 survey).
Key findings of the 2012 survey include:
Wrong track: An increasing number of Maori feel the country is headed in the wrong direction (71.8% compared with 63.1% in May 2011). This view is held reasonably consistently across all age groups, but rises to nearly 80% among 18-24 and 25-34 year-olds.
Economic management poorly rated: Maori are increasingly dissatisfied with the Governments handling of the economy and more are reporting their household financial positions are worse than a year ago, and more expect them to worsen in the next year. Overall 34.5% of Maori expect their household financial position to worsen.
Iwi involvement and contact: Five per cent more are involved in iwi affairs than in 2011, though a third are still not active in iwi affairs. 51% have little or no contact with their iwi and 24.6% only rate contact with them by their iwi as adequate or better.
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Maori unhappy with economy, iwi - point to policy priorities
China Oriental Culture Diversified into Online Education Service to Expand Income Sources
Posted: at 4:15 am
HONG KONG, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- China Oriental Culture Group Limited (the "Company" or "China Oriental Culture", stock code:2371), is pleased to announce that the Purchaser, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into an acquisition agreement with Headwind Holdings Limited (the "Vendor") and Mr. Lu Xing (the "Guarantor") to conditionally agree to acquire Housden Holdings Limited (the "Target", together with its subsidiaries, the "Target Group") on 7 September 2012 (the "Acquisition Agreement").
According to the Acquisition Agreement, the initial consideration for the acquisition of HK$199.5 million will be satisfied by the Company issuing 950,000,000 preferred shares of the Company (the "Initial Preferred Shares") at the issue price of HK$0.21 per preferred share and if the consolidated net profit after taxation of during a profit warranty period stipulated under the Acquisition Agreement reaches RMB40,000,000 and there are 1 million or more registered users of the education platform of the Target Group during such profit warranty period, the consideration for the acquisition will be adjusted upward by HK$199.5 million and 950,000,000 additional preferred shares of the Company (the "Additional Preferred Shares") at the issue price of HK$0.21 per preferred share will be issued to the Vendor in satisfaction of the increment in the consideration for the acquisition. After the Initial Preferred shares and the Additional Preferred Shares were issued in full, the total consideration so paid will be HK$399 million.
The Target Group set a strategic goal of "one-stop comprehensive online learning service", directed the major business focus to the provision of online training and education services, and exerted effort to build a management platform for online learning and services, which integrates online learning public services, intelligent management of online education, and educational resources trading, and will be capable of handling a large number of online users simultaneously. By employing software that supports online sharing mode, the platform is able to provide various training institutes and individual learners with online training management services. With the support of the platform, individual learners are able to conduct self-training and management through the database of course material of the platform. Besides, the platform can also be functioned to provide knowledge trading services for online education training, optimising and integrating course material resources and forming a market for trading those resources.
The Target Group mainly provides training services like preparation for national professional qualifications and professional qualification certificates, online language learning and cross-cultural training, online extracurricular tutoring for primary and secondary students as well as continuing education training for civil servants and professional technicians. The Target Group also offers online training and tailor-made training services to large national enterprises and social organisations. The Target Group has ranked as one of the major comprehensive online education service operators in China.
Commenting on the agreement, Mr. Li Qing, Executive Director of the Company, said: "We are very pleased to have signed the agreement and diversify our business into the online education service market. With the society progressing and continuous advancing of information technology, we have confidence in the prospect of the said business in China. The acquisition is a milestone of the Companys development and will further expand our business. Looking forward, we will look into more potential acquisition projects and further increase our income sources."
About China Oriental Culture Group Limited
The Group is principally engaged in (i) the provision of advertising and consultancy services in respect of placing advertisements on the outdoor billboards and LED screens of the Group to advertisers and advertising agencies.
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China Oriental Culture Diversified into Online Education Service to Expand Income Sources
Flexi-Shape: Vibrating your way to fitness
Posted: at 12:21 am
Whos ever had a tequila shooter? You know what you do first throw that salt over your shoulder, shouts Maureen Hagan, the incredibly charismatic vice-president of operations for GoodLife Fitness, as she energetically marches on a stage in a windowless, non-descript workout studio in Torontos east end.
Im midway through a 30-minute Flexi-Shape class, an aerobics routine involving two trademarked gadgets Ive never heard of before: a set of one-kilogram weighted cylinders (the Xco Trainers) and a five-foot-long, flexible metal rod with foam balls on each end (the Flexi-Bar). As a disco track encouraging me to feel the groove plays in the background, I frantically shake my Xcos, which are filled with a highly specialized granular substance and bear a striking resemblance to the much-spoofed Shake Weight. (Totally different science, Ms. Hagan tells me later.)
Im having fun and feeling a slight burn in my arms, yet I cant entirely, well, shake the feeling that Im on the set of a 1980s infomercial.
This 10-minute shaker routine is but an intermission from the classs main act, performing a series of arm movements with the Flexi-Bar which we hold at its midpoint and exert subtle pressure on so that it will vibrate as we squat, lunge and march.
Like David Hasselhoff, the Flexi-Bar is apparently big in Germany. Its a household name there, says Ms. Hagan. Every Olympic athlete uses it. A physiotherapist in addition to a Good Life exec and instructor, she discovered the bar at a German fitness convention and was so impressed by its effectiveness as both a rehabilitation tool (its original use) and core toner (ideal for runners and hunched-over office workers) that she implemented Flexi-Bar classes at 70 of GoodLifes 280 Canadian locations.
Based on the concept of vibration training, which sounds vaguely of the occult, the tool purportedly contracts ones muscles at a frequency thats ideal for toning. The greater the amplitude requires more muscle firing, which creates greater muscle tone, explains Ms. Hagan. And while it may seem as though your arms are doing most of the work, that actually isnt the case: To get that bar to swing, you have to brace from your core, she says. The muscles that primarily fire are those surrounding your spine.
Back in the studio with my feet firmly planted, my back straight, my shoulders back and my arms raised and slightly bent it takes a few minutes to master the movement. Its not about overgripping the bar, its about relaxing it, Ms. Hagan instructs the class, primarily women in their 30s as well as a handful of guys none of whom seem embarrassed at the prospect of looking like a slightly deranged baton twirler.
At first, Im guilty of overgripping, thrusting the bar so vigorously that Im worried Ill take flight thanks to the exuberant flapping of my batwings. (Ms. Hagan, its worth noting, has zero tricep flab.) Then, in an instant, it clicks: All thats required to keep the Flexi-Bar moving is a slight pressure, which does, ever-so-slightly, seem to originate from my core.
For the next 15 minutes, we vibrate the bar first using two hands, then alternating between left and right. Then its shaker-time, as we thrust the Xcos (the delayed movement of the granular substance is supposedly less stressful on the joints) over and back, in front and side to side.
Finally, we cool down even though Ive barely broken a sweat stretching with the Flexi-Bar to a torch singers take on Billie Jean. After a round of applause, Ms. Hagan steps off the stage and makes her way through the small crowd, high-fiving as she goes. Do you still feel your muscles vibrating? she asks. Unfortunately no, even though I really want to. (Shes that convincing.) But while I felt self-conscious and more than a little silly, being constantly prompted to keep my shoulders back improved my posture for days, which, even if my core was barely activated, had a definite slimming effect.
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Superbrain yoga
Posted: at 12:21 am
CEBU, Philippines - The effects of physical exercise, specifically the Superbrain yoga, in enhancing memory was already studied and tested by students of the University of the Visayas College of Nursing.
It was in 2010 when selected Level III Nursing students, headed by Ms. Amee Arong, in a study entitled "Physical exercise: A memory enhancer or just a plain body builder," compared groups of people who exercised to groups of people who did not exercise much.
The researchers used the quasi-experimental research design, with control group wherein the students were given an examination without introducing exercise.
On the other hand, the experimental group, had the same set of questionnaire, but was introduced with exercise.
The exam was to take 15 minutes run, thus physical exercise, specifically Superbrain yoga, was applied to the experimental group in three consecutive days including the examination day.
The data and information needed in the study were gathered through questionnaire with the help of clinical instructors led by Mr. Joel Serad.
It was being proven that those individuals exposed to exercise have enhanced memory compared to those unexposed. The group exposed to exercise had a mean score of 12, which lies on the line of effectiveness and accounts for 75 percent of 15. Meanwhile, the group without exercise had a mean score of nine (9) which signifies ineffectiveness.
Why Superbrain yoga?
Arong's group of 12 students mentioned in the rationale of their study that "Superbrain yoga is based on the principles of subtle energy and earlobe pressure points to optimize brain wellness."
Superbrain yoga is designed to energize and recharge the brain as it combines movement and breathing with specific hand placements and leg movement to move the energy within the body system, thus activating, cleaning, and increasing the brain functioning for academic and personal growth.
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Superbrain yoga
Positive presence
Posted: September 9, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Tiger great touts importance of good influences
Former Pacific basketball star Dell Demps, the general manager of the New Orleans Hornets, speaks at the first Rams Symposium on positive coaching Saturday at St. Mary's Morelli Gym.MICHAEL McCOLLUM/The Record
September 09, 2012 12:00 AM
STOCKTON - New Orleans Hornets general manager Dell Demps didn't become an NBA executive overnight.
He prepared himself to seize the opportunity.
The former three-time All-Big West Conference guard at Pacific shared some of his views on life, coaching and parenting to an audience of about 350 at the Rams Symposium on positive coaching Saturday at St. Mary's High.
Born in Long Beach and raised by caring parents in Hayward, Demps said he analyzed his positives and negatives and worked to become the person he wanted to be.
Demps achieved academically and athletically at Mt. Eden High in Hayward and put himself in a position to accept a scholarship to Pacific. He honed his basketball skills under coach Bob Thomason, graduating in 1992 as the program's second all-time leading scorer.
He played professionally overseas and for three NBA teams in a 10-year career. Demps prepared for life after basketball, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in business at Pacific, and by developing meaningful relationships along the way.
Demps worked in the NBA as an intern, then as a scout, then as a director of player personnel, and since July 2010, the 42-year-old father of three has been one of only 30 people in the world helping call the shots for an NBA franchise as a general manager.
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Positive presence
Approaching coaching from a different angle
Posted: at 8:13 pm
A former NFL All-Pro named Joe Ehrmann kicked open a coaching door three years ago that has inspired Wally Sparks to come rushing through.
Ehrmanns Building Men for Others coaching approach featured in a New York Times best-seller Season of Life shattered traditional coaching models and struck a loud chord with Sparks, who until a year ago lived in Macon County and was a head coach with the Mount Zion Junior Football League program and a volunteer coach for the Mount Zion High School team.
It was Sparks who brought Erhmann to Decatur and offered a chance for any and every coach in the area to hear his message. It was Sparks who hoped at least a few of them would be motivated as he was, rising to the challenge to implement Ehrmanns methods.
And now, it is Sparks who has documented his own attempt to apply Ehrmanns ideas in a practical sense during the 2010 Mount Zion Junior Football League season. Sparks book Season of Change is on sale now, and none other than Ehrmann himself has endorsed the book by writing the forward.
Says Ehrmann: This is a must-read for coaches, parents, youth workers and educators who want more for Americas children and more out of the sports our children play. Season of Change is a practical hands-on book that reinforces its central theme: that the educational, social, emotional and moral well-being of players is every bit as important as the Xs and Os. In fact, it should be the reason players play, parents participate and coaches coach!
Understanding Ehrmanns coaching premise is not easy. And that only makes implementing it an even more daunting task.
Yet Sparks, who has since moved his family to suburban St. Louis, felt compelled to try with his young Mount Zion players in 2010.
I wasnt nervous going in, maybe out of naivet, said Sparks, who still maintains a Decatur office with the The Brechnitz Group of Raymond James Associates. I knew it was going to be my last year as coach, so there was some freedom in knowing, What can they do? Fire me?
There was noapprehension at the beginning. But there were periods of apprehension during it.
Some background is in order.
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Approaching coaching from a different angle
TVideo_00034.wmv MT is a proponent of health and fitness and impacts the body wholly. – Video
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TVideo_00034.wmv MT is a proponent of health and fitness and impacts the body wholly. - Video
The Suite Life of Zack en Cody – Season 2 Episode 34 Part 2/3 – Health and Fitness – Video
Posted: at 8:13 pm
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The Suite Life of Zack en Cody - Season 2 Episode 34 Part 2/3 - Health and Fitness - Video
The Suite Life of Zack en Cody – Season 2 Episode 34 Part 3/3 – Health and Fitness – Video
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