For many years, baby boomers and other workers looked at their homes as giant piggy banks. Rather than saving for retirement, they assumed rising home values would bail them out in their golden years.

But since 2008, a "huge paradigm shift" has made the road to a secure retirement much rockier, according to Jill Vihtelic, professor of business at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Ind. Vihtelic says the best way to prepare for an "uncertain future" is to spend less and invest your savings. And the sooner you start your retirement planning, the better.

America's retirement crisis is well-documented in studies and surveys. Why do you suppose this is a problem? Is it due to Americans' penchant to spend rather than save?

I don't think that the problem is as simple as that; we have suffered a huge paradigm shift. Americans are net savers over their lifetimes. As Elizabeth Warren (current Senate candidate, longtime consumer advocate and former special adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) has said, most people invested in their homes and built equity as their main retirement asset.

As it turns out, that investment lost value since 2008. Homes are still quite hard to sell and illiquid in many locations, and most real estate experts will tell you that we're not through all of the foreclosures yet.

Other economic, societal and demographic shifts -- such as stagnant incomes, increased divorce rates, the number of grandparents raising grandchildren, rising medical costs, increased life longevity, et cetera -- contribute to the financial difficulties that many people now face as they reach retirement age.

What can Americans do to improve their retirement prospects at various points in their careers?

Regardless of where people are in their careers, to be prepared for an uncertain future, we should spend less than we earn and invest the difference. And the sooner people start, the better. Longer periods of time make achievement of financial goals more feasible due to the time value of money. (Editor's note: "Time value of money" is the value of money based on a specific amount of interest earned over a specific period of time.)

There's been a lot of talk lately about the demographic shift in many developed countries. Because of the shift to an aging population, an economic slowdown is forecasted in those countries. Do you think aging populations and economic slowdowns go hand in hand?

I'm not sure that I agree with the statement or its premise. Aging populations will provide growth to many industries such as health care products and other service sectors. In the U.S., the boomer generation is so massive that it drives consumer demand. What boomers want and need as they age will undoubtedly be a different mix of products and services compared to when they were in their 20s, 30s or 40s.

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Save early, often to calm retirement chaos

LUBBOCK, Texas, Sept. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --If you started retirement planning early in your career, it's good news by the time you hit your 40s.But for those 40-somethings just thinking about retirement it's like halftime in a football game.

Since football season is upon us, we'll use the gridiron analogy. Let's face it; working in your 40s really is like halftime in the big game. Your career is about half over, and it's time to stop the game, assess where you are and make any necessary adjustments to your plan. You have 20 years of work behind you, and roughly 20 years of work ahead. If you haven't been saving for retirement, it's time to get started. If you've been socking money away for years, then it's a good time to reassess where you are, and what you need to do over the next 20 years.

"Now more than ever, it's important to have both an offensive and a defensive game plan," said Brian Pitaniello, a partner with PFG Advisors. "In your 40s, you still need to have an offensive strategy to continue building dollars for the future. On the flip side, a defensive strategy is still just as important to have in place for the possibility of premature death, disability, economic crises and other unforeseen financial needs.

"Just like any football game, you have to have that half-time 'locker-room talk' about preparing for the worst but hitting the field with the mentality and the tools for ultimate success."

Pitaniello explained that if you've been ignoring retirement for some reason, or delayed facing the reality that you may one day be retired, then now is the time to act. It's halftime. It's time to regroup and prepare yourself for the second half of your career. No matter the age you begin, Pitaniello and PFG Advisors recommend the following checklist in creating a retirement strategy:

http://advisorspfg.com

CONTACT: Kim Davis, (806) 544-4255

This press release was issued through eReleases Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

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Retirement Planning at 40-Something - Halftime of the Big Game

When it comes to saving for retirement, Americans are woefully underprepared. A study by Bankrate.com found that around 28% of Americans have no emergency savings. Similarly, another 21% of Americans have some savings, but only enough to cover expenses for three months. Couple that with the economic uncertainty of Social Security and Medicare, and you can see why many people are looking for unconventional ways to free up cash for retirement.

Here's a simple, albeit controversial, idea: don't have any kids. A 2011 report by the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion now puts the cost of raising a single child to the age of 17 at roughly $235,000. That's up 3.5% from the year before. Schooling, transportation, day care and feeding are the costs that are seeing the largest increases when it comes to raising a child. As expected, if a family makes more, the spending ratchets up exponentially. That would be quite the nest egg if you didn't have to allocate it for children, wouldn't you say?

No College CostsAccording to the academic think tank College Board, the average cost of just one year at a public university is around $21,000. If you're talking private school, the cost is nearly twice as much for just one year of tuition costs. Even more troubling is the fact that college costs are not included in the aforementioned $235,000. Just think how much cushier things would be for you and your spouse if you could boost your retirement portfolio by an extra $84,000.

Far Less StressAnyone who tells you raising a child isn't a source of gray hair is simply lying. Trying to balance kids and work, keeping your offspring on the straight and narrow and waging daily homework battles can result in a lot of stress for parents. By not having kids, you alone set the priorities for life, for work and for finances. Your retirement fund will also benefit.

More Free TimeJust imagine no PTA meetings, no carpooling, no Little League, no bake sales and no birthday parties. Your days before and after work will be free. If you want to be proactive toward retirement, you can put this time to good use by generating extra income. You could sign up to fill out paid surveys online, sell your stuff on the Internet or even start a side business. You'd be hard-pressed to make time for these financially beneficial activities with a household full of kids.

No Childcare PaymentsToday, both halves of a married couple generally work. The thinking is that the extra income can cover child care. According to the National Association of Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies, a year of child care can cost nearly $20,000. Not only can you save money by not having kids, you can generate a lot more of it.

No Need for an InheritanceIf you have kids, it's natural to want to leave something behind for them when you pass. If you don't have kids to begin with, you'll never have to worry about that. You can either spend the money during retirement, or you can leave your money to a charity

The Bottom LineIn many ways, having kids costs you dearly. Also, it's getting more and more expensive by the day. If you're single, or married with no kids, you might want to consider the notion of not having kids. The notion may seem radical to some. From a purely financial standpoint, however, there are plenty of perks to not having kids. Would you choose retirement over offspring?

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How Not Having Kids Can Help You Save For Retirement

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/xm67n5/rf_analog_impairme) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "RF Analog Impairments Modeling for Communication Systems Simulation. Application to OFDM-based Transceivers" to their offering.

With the growing complexity of personal mobile communication systems demanding higher data-rates and high levels of integration using low-cost CMOS technology, overall system performance has become more sensitive to RF analog font-end impairments.

Designing integrated transceivers requires a thorough understanding of the whole transceiver chain including RF analog front-end and digital baseband. Communication system engineers have to include RF analog imperfections in their simulation benches in order to study and quantify their impact on the system performance.

Here the author explores key RF analog impairments in a transceiver and demonstrates how to model their impact from a communication system design view-point. He discusses the design aspects of the front end of transceivers (both receivers and transmitters) and provides the reader with a way to optimize a complex mixed-signal platform by taking into account the characteristics of the RF/analog front-end.

Key features of this book include:

- Practical examples illustrated by system simulation results based on WiFi and mobile WiMAX OFDM transceivers

- An overview of the digital estimation and compensation of the RF analog impairments such as power amplifier distortion, quadrature imbalance, and carrier and sampling frequency offsets

- An exposition of the challenges involved in the design of both RF analog circuits and DSP communication circuits in deep submicron CMOS technology

- MATLAB codes for RF analog impairments models hosted on the companion website

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Research and Markets: RF Analog Impairments Modeling for Communication Systems Simulation. Application to OFDM-based ...

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - Sep 11, 2012) - AdTruth, the digital media division of global device recognition technology leader 41st Parameter, today announced the release of DeviceInsight 4.0, the latest version of the company's audience recognition technology. DeviceInsight 4.0 introduces enhanced performance through Device Specific Optimization (DSO), a new capability which improves both the accuracy and longevity of audience recognition across any Internet connected device: from personal computers, tablets, smart phones and beyond.

"AdTruth DeviceInsight 4.0 is a critical step forward for the digital media industry when it comes to device recognition," said James Lamberti, vice president and general manager of AdTruth. "So many of our global clients are seeing a highly fragmented mix of traffic across a variety of device types. This makes it critical that we understand the nuances of each and can provide an appropriately tuned device identification approach for every circumstance. Based on feedback from brand, agency, and network customers, DeviceInsight 4.0 delivers increased longevity, improved accuracy and enhanced privacy-compliance."

Device Specific Optimization recognizes the user's device type and selects the most effective "recipe" to best identify a device in real time. In addition to device type, DeviceInsight 4.0 also allows marketers to adjust their optimization based on specific use cases. For example, a retargeter aiming to reach a customer over a long period of time can optimize for longevity over accuracy, whereas a marketer tracking app downloads requires a higher level of recognition accuracy within a shorter time window.

"AdTruth's device recognition technology is increasingly important to our plans to solve the mobile tracking problem seamlessly across all devices," shared Carl Uminski, chief operating officer for Somo, the largest independent global mobile marketing agency. "With the plethora of devices out there, it is critical to be able to recognize them and provide the most accurate and privacy-friendly tracking possible with no operational impact on us, our clients, or consumers."

To learn more about AdTruth, please visit http://www.adtruth.com.

About AdTruth, a division of 41st Parameter In a world where people are increasingly reliant on a variety of Internet-connected devices for everything from banking to shopping to entertainment and media, creating relevant customer experiences is a constant and complex business challenge. 41st Parameter, the global leader in device recognition and intelligence, combines its patented technologies and years of expertise to identify devices without cookies, without compromising privacy and without impacting performance. AdTruth, the company's digital media division, gives marketers a new and better way to recognize and reach their most valuable audiences across all types of devices. These privacy compliant solutions help keep the Internet more secure and relevant for everyone. To learn more about digital media solutions from AdTruth visit http://www.AdTruth.com.

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AdTruth Empowers Marketers With New Device Specific Optimization to Increase Campaign Accuracy and Performance

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel Corp showed off hybrid tablets and ultrabook laptops with voice and gesture recognition technology along with an upcoming low-power chip in a bid to convince Wall Street a slump in the personal computer industry is only temporary.

At the annual Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco on Tuesday, the company demonstrated a range of mobile devices, many of them crosses between tablets and laptops. Executives showed sleek "ultrabook" laptops with improved gesture- and voice-recognition features, similar to those already found on some smartphones.

Intel's upcoming processor, code-named Haswell and due to appear in a crop of laptops during next year's holiday season, will improve on computing and graphics features and is targeted to reduce electricity consumption from 17 watts to 10 watts, according to the company.

The chip will allow devices to stay on longer without needing to recharge and underscores the Intel's recognition that mobility will only become a bigger factor in personal computing.

"It was designed with mobility in mind ... from sleek tablets to ultrabooks to high-performing desktops," said David Perlmutter, general manager of Intel's Architecture Group.

In an interview with Reuters, Perlmutter steered away from strict categories of laptops and tablets and said manufacturers over the next few year will offer a wider range of mobile products for consumers, mixing and matching new features, performance and size.

Recent launches of smaller tablet sizes by Google and Amazon are examples of the already growing range of devices consumers have to choose between, a trend that will gain more steam, he said.

"There will be a variety of needs fulfilled by a variety of solutions. Some people want something very benign, very simple," Perlmutter said. "Others need performance."

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Do PCs have a future? Intel thinks so

By Himanshu Poddar - September 11, 2012 | Tickers: DG, DLTR, FDO, WMT | 0 Comments

Himanshu is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Amidst the problems of an uncertain economy with rising unemployment, sovereign debt crisis, cost inflation, and shrinking budgets of consumers; all companies are facing difficulties in attracting customers and lure them to their stores. Companies do not have any option but to increase their promotional spending or offer discounts to instigate sales, hurting margins in the process. Hence, they are in a deadlock.

However, there are companies who benefit from such circumstances and always manage to rise above the others. As discussed in my recent article, the discount retailers tend to benefit from such consumer sentiments and if you own any of those jewels, they will make your portfolio shine. One of them is Dollar General (NYSE: DG), which has again posted a quarter that beat market expectations and delighted investors. If you would have owned the stock at the beginning of the year, you would have earned an amazing 25% on your investment in this choppy market.

The Retailer Did It Again

After four consecutive quarters of remarkable revenue increases, the retailer did it again with a increase of 10.4%, clocking $3.95 billion. Adjusted earnings jumped 33% to 69 cents a share as compared to prior years quarter. The results were driven by increased customer traffic in its stores and higher purchases in each visit of the customers. All thanks to the retailers strategy of offering everyday low prices which includes most items for $10. This enables the customers to shop more while spending each penny judiciously.

A point which works in favor of the discount retailer and also makes it different from its peers is the fact that it along with offering low prices its stores are smaller, making it easier for customers to navigate. Also, since the stores do not require much space such as stores of Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) do, it can be opened closer to the customers making it more accessible to them.

This also enables Dollar General to have lower costs attached to the smaller format stores as against retailers such as Wal-Mart which are suffering under the pressure of huge costs related to its conventional large stores. Even Wal-Mart is now intending to switch to smaller stores which can be opened in customers neighborhood so that shoppers can easily drop in for their daily requirements.

Dollar General witnessed an amazing quarter in terms of its segmental performance. All four segments witnessed stellar growth over last year with the highest growth of 12% coming in for its largest Consumables segment. The segment makes 75% of the retailers revenue and was largely driven by its expansion efforts in the snacks and perishable foods category.

New Store Spree

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An Opportunity Not To Be Missed – This Company Is Right On Track!

Consumers who purchased the 16 GB version of Google's Nexus 7 tablet are complaining of severe performance issues.

Not to get personal, but I thought it was just me. When I first received the Google Nexus 7 tablet, it was simply badass, even more so compared to my Kindle Fire (which was tossed over to my wife). But since then, the tablet's performance has glaringly slowed to a crawl, turning into a disappointing, worthless piece of junk. That may be harsh, but the before and after is like night and day, and as a consumer who shelled out $250 for the 16 GB version, I expect a quality product.

It seems that my Nexus 7 tablet no longer has spunk.

Mind you I'm horribly obsessive about performance. Just like on the PC, I make sure nothing is running in the background that will steal a single frame from my games. Android is no different, and while I like the way Ice Cream Sandwich will allow applications to run simultaneously in the background, I make sure they're all nuked so I can get every drop of juice from Nvidia's quad core Tegra 3.

But now it seems that I'm not the only one who's noticed the performance degradation. The Register has an interesting article that describes the same problem, only the information is based on various forums where annoyed customers have flocked to provide their complaints. Apparently the problem exists only on the 16 GB model, and when the storage capacity falls below 2 GB.

Technically device owners only have 13 GB of internal storage to use the rest is eaten up by Android. Unlike many Android smartphones, that 13 GB is reserved for apps, their data, multimedia and so on. Unfortunately, 13 GB isn't really enough for the Android gamer, especially when playing Gameloft titles. As an example, N.O.V.A. 3 eats up 1.99 GB, whereas Modern Combat 3 eats up 1.47 GB. Order and Chaos, Gameloft's World of Warcraft mobile knock-off, consumes 0.92 GB. With just those three Gameloft games alone, I've lost 4.38 GB.

"So here I am, stuck with a device that is labeled for 16 GB storage, that in reality only has just over 13 GB of storage ... but due to performance issues, REALLY only has 9-10 GB of storage available for content and software," writes one angry Nexus 7 owner.

"Ever since I got my Nexus 7 I noticed it was a little on the slow side, when playing 3D games I experienced a lot of freezing and issues when it was loading in new textures but more recently I've noticed these issues get worse," writes another owner. "Downloading an app is tremendously slow with it taking several minutes to download just a few meg while my phone completes the same task in seconds."

"I've seen reports of this linked with poor IO transfer benchmarks," another owner writes who saw a performance increase after disabling Currents and freeing up 2 GB of cache. "Current best guess seems to be that the device is having trouble writing and reading cache during background tasks and is slowing down everything else. Thing is it ran like a particularly greased up Usain Bolt for the first few months. I was sure it was some sort of app I'd installed messing things up but I can't isolate it at all, and it manifests as high IO usage. It really is incredibly annoying, with Chrome habitually showing the "Not Responding" dialogue, and Google Now becoming Google Eventually."

For the record, AndroBench produced these results on my Nexus 7:

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16GB Nexus 7 Can't Perform With Storage Nearly Full?

By Rita Chattaraj - September 11, 2012 | Tickers: AMZN, AAPL, GOOG, NFLX, NOK | 0 Comments

Rita is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinions of our bloggers and are not formally edited.

Things have been good for the worlds largest online book seller Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and the situation continues to be so as the company decides to enter new market segments as well as strengthen its hold in the existing ones. Recently the company signed a multi-year licensing agreement with cable channel Epix and analysts and industry experts are expecting this move to create some ripples, if not waves, in the online video streaming space.

New Partnership with EpixWith popular movies such as Paramount Pictures Iron Man 2 and The Hunger Games from Lions Gate Entertainment under its belt, Epix can prove to be very helpful to Amazons online video streaming business and can prove to be fatal for Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). Epix is actually owned by Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment and MGM, and these huge names of the entertainment universe can aid Amazons video streaming services growth hugely. Thanks to the dynamics of the market place, till now Netflix was enjoying a head start which it got through its $8 per month unlimited video streaming service. But now, the arrival of Amazons Prime Instant Video Service can shake things up and pose as a serious contender for the top spot. The Amazon-Epix deal will help the giant to double its movie library and thus turn more attractive to the movie-buffs.

Netflix recently ended its exclusivity deal with Epix and now it could have a problem on its hands. With this move, Netflix opened the door to Epix for Amazon and the retailing giant jumped in to benefit from the opportunity. Even things havent been very smooth for Netflix recently and surely this is not a stock which is at the top of any investors mind. The pricing change which the company brought about coupled with few other choices made by the company made Netflixs stock price drop rapidly. Though the company recovered from all this marginally, this new development is likely to put Netflix back in a poor form. Unless Netflix starts to expand its content offerings, it might lose its market share to Amazon and end up being a company stuck in its days of former glories.

The Launch of the New KindleApart from strengthening its video streaming business, Amazon is also working on capturing a better share of the tablet market too. The company has plans to launch its latest Kindle Fire tablet shortly and has many new plans for the device. The Kindle Fire has the advantage of being less expensive than Apples (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad and this new model might be priced again keeping in mind Googles (NASDAQ: GOOG) Nexus 7. Some analysts are even expecting the new Kindle to be priced at a mere $150 if a rumoured ad-support model is actually available. If this really turns out to be the situation, Amazon will be benefiting hugely from this low priced starting range as even if the iPad gets a price cut, it will still be far more expensive than $150, thus making it very easy for the Kindle to penetrate into the market.

Amazon is fine with the idea of making minimal money out of the tablet as the main intention of the company is to get the device to as many hands as possible and then benefit from selling higher-margin digital content. Introducing a tablet for $150 can act as another game changer in the space and favor Amazon since the $199 price tag is no longer unique. Amazon is competing with Apple and Google and to make the most out of the situation it's best if Amazon goes after lower priced models.

Unlike the old Kindle Fire, the new model will have mapping software integrated into the device. However, Amazon has decided not to go with Google and instead have partnered with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) for the mapping function. After Nokia acquired Navteq in 2007, it became one of the largest mapping providers in the world, and now Amazon wants to work with the Finnish phone maker to build maps for its tablet. Though the Kindle will run on Googles Android OS, the company does not want to be dependent on Google even for the maps. The combination of Nokias mapping expertise and Amazons recently acquired UpNexts specialization in 3D maps will help the online book retailer to position its product differently. Apart from the new Kindle Fire, Amazon is also all set to roll out its latest e-reader and the company has good expectations from this as well.

Concluding ThoughtsAmazon had made an announcement regarding the unveiling and launch of its latest Kindle Fire tablet and yet, just about a month ahead of the launch, the company saw its most popular product being sold out completely. Unlike the situation with the iPhone, where users hold back from purchasing an iPhone in anticipation of the launch of the newer model especially after the announcement has been made, users went ahead and bought the Kindle Fire though they knew that the new model is just a month away. This tells a lot about the product. Because of the huge demand of the existing model, analysts are now expecting even better things from the latest improved version of the Kindle. This, combined with the Epix agreement is making the company a very attractive one for investment. Analysts are expecting that Amazon will post solid stream of revenue going forward and the company should also improve its margins and numbers hugely. Given these developments, I strongly recommend Amazon.

Rita Chattaraj is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network

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Amazon’s Strong Moves to Drive its Success

Written by TSN The Sports Network

(Sports Network) - The Washington Nationals have made Citi Field their personal stomping grounds this season and will try for a seventh straight win there in the continuation of a three-game series against the New York Mets.

The NL East-leading Nationals made it six wins in a row in Flushing with Monday's 5-1 verdict, as Gio Gonzalez became the first pitcher to 19 wins by limiting the Mets to a run and three hits in six innings. He did walk five batters, but struck out six.

"I'm focused on trying to get more wins," Gonzalez said. "We're just having fun and playing our baseball."

Gonzalez was backed by home runs from Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond and Kurt Suzuki. The Nationals, who have a 6 1/2-game lead on the Atlanta Braves in the division, improved to 10-3 in their last 13 games and opened a six-game road trip on a high note.

Major League Baseball's only team to have a winning record every month this year, Washington is 37-6 when scoring three or more runs since the All-Star break and 7-3 in September.

Jordan Zimmermann looks to string back-to-back winning starts together when he takes the mound tonight for the 29th time this season. Zimmermann ended a four-start winless streak (0-2) his last time out in a 9-2 pounding of the Chicago Cubs in which he struck out nine and gave up two runs in seven innings. He improved to 10-8 and lowered his earned run average to 2.99.

"I felt I had a pretty good fastball, and we stuck with that most of the night," Zimmermann said after his most recent outing. "The slider wasn't very good, so we went with the curveball. I was able to locate the fastball and go up and in when I wanted to."

Zimmermann is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three meetings with the Mets this season and 3-2 in 10 career starts against them.

New York has dropped the first four games of its six-game homestand and six of seven overall, including last night's poor offensive showing.

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Nats aim to extend road success over Mets