There was a time when folks in the food industry didnt want nutritional information published. They said people would be so bombarded with facts, they wouldnt know what to do or wouldnt bother to find out.

They were right in some respects: People see helpful nutritional facts on packaging, and they buy the bad stuff anyway.

And the same may be true when retirement plan participants get clearer details on how much they pay in fees to invest their retirement money.

New disclosure rules by the Labor Department are intended to help workers and the companies that provide retirement plans understand the fees charged to, or deducted from, individual accounts.

Those with 401(k)s or similar plans should begin receiving the information by Aug. 30. And more detailed information tied directly to the fees you pay will be sent with your quarterly statement by Nov. 14.

So what are you going to do with this enhanced fee information? Will you ignore it? Or will you take it seriously?

Its not reasonable to expect service providers to do this for free, but people are going to be shocked and outraged when they see how much they pay in fees, said Peter Kirtland, president and chief executive of ASPire Financial Services, which provides low-cost retirement plan solutions that can be customized.

The government says the new rules will reduce the time investors spend collecting fee information.

It would be great if most plan participants devoted time to analyzing fee information. They do not, according to AARP.

The advocacy group for seniors polled 800 workers with money in 401(k)s and asked them if they paid fees: Seventy-one percent said no. Yet all fund owners are compensated through fees for the costs of running the fund, says Don Blandin, president of Investor Protection Trust.

Read more from the original source:
Retirement fund fees, if ignored, will eat into your nest egg

By KASIE HUNT and THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Mitt Romney is about to get personal.

The GOP's presidential nominee-to-be wants to use his four-day party next week in Florida to play up his life story following a summer filled with a barrage of TV ads - courtesy of President Barack Obama and his allies - that cast him as a ruthless and out-of-touch businessman.

He'll surround himself with his five sons, five daughters-in-law and 15 of his 18 grandchildren. Romney's wife, Ann, will play her biggest role yet. A parade of athletes Romney met as an Olympic organizer, such as hockey legend Mike Eruzione, will be on hand. So will doting parishioners he helped as a lay pastor in the Mormon Church in Boston.

From the stagecraft to the speakers' roster, the agenda for the convention that starts Monday is carefully crafted toward one goal: introducing Romney to the country on his own terms while projecting him as the leader the country needs in tough economic times - and Obama as a failure on that front.

"We go to a convention and for the first time define Mitt a little bit better," said Ron Kaufman, a top Romney adviser.

Aides dismiss the notion that the former Massachusetts governor needs to repair a damaged image after a summer of negative ads and a recent string of missteps, including Friday when he waded into a debunked conspiracy theory by raising the issue of Obama's citizenship.

"No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate," Romney joked at a rally in the suburbs of Detroit while visiting his native state. "They know that this is the place that we were born and raised."

Romney later Friday in a CBS News interview said he had not intended the comment as a swipe at Obama.

Just a day earlier, Romney caused himself another potential headache when he said big business was "doing fine" due to off-shore tax havens. It was a comment that echoed a claim similar to one he had criticized Obama for making, and it also reminded voters of Romney's own overseas accounts.

Continued here:
Romney to feature personal side at convention

"People say it isn't good quality but you have to remember Fifty Shades started as fan fiction and as fan fiction you have to have action" ... publisher Amanda Hayward. Photo: Ben Rushton

There was a time, not so long ago, that Amanda Hayward was close to quitting publishing. Selling the e-book and print rights of Fifty Shades of Grey to Random House for more than $1 million had made the founder of The Writer's Coffee Shop and the book's author wealthy women, and here the big publishing houses were waving dollars at Hayward again, offering to buy her out.

Caught in the blinding arc lights of a publishing phenomenon, Hayward was spent. The publicity was intrusive and bruising, the fun of the original enterprise curdled by lawyers and confidentiality agreements.

Sitting on a panel at the Southern Highlands Writers' Festival in July, Hayward was representative of the new force of social media and niche publishing. The passion of that audience of book lovers reminded her that the real purpose of publishing was to tell stories, a dawning that rekindled her flagging enthusiasm.

Hayward's eyes flash steel and mischief when she tells me rival publishers have since been trying to poach her authors. ''You have to laugh,'' she scoffs, ''because it's not going to work. It's not the way to do it, it's not the way it works, but they will learn. It's now, 'what's the next thing?', it doesn't have to be some book, it's what else captures people's imagination.''

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Three different authors in her stable are tracking the same early popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey in the fan fiction and original fiction community of her online forums. ''Same volumes,'' nods Hayward. ''It will take another four or five months from here to know.'' If, that is, she can boast a second bestseller.

With no experience to her name, the one-time quantity surveyor outwitted New York's publishing houses to bring the fan fiction story in from the sidelines to mainstream publishing. With global English-language sales approaching 40 million, the erotic trilogy has outsold Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and the seven Harry Potter books across several continents including Australia. Hayward wants to prove lightning can strike twice. And, next time, there's no way she's going to sell to any of the big publishing houses. She wants to do it all herself. ''Just once more would be lovely,'' she says, ''not to be known as a one-hit wonder.''

Our lunch venue, Crinitis at Castle Hill, is all masculine leather and polished wood, a restaurant in which Christian Grey, Fifty Shades of Grey's tycoon dominator, might have felt comfortable. ''But it doesn't have a red playroom,'' Hayward smirks, referring to the Red Room of Pain in Grey's penthouse suite where he beds his willing sexual slaves.

Hayward discovered the restaurant three months ago and has wined and dined some of ''the girls'' responsible for moderating the publishing house's 100,000-member fan fiction community, from which the publishing arm nurtures emerging authors. Until Fifty Shades came along, they were middle-aged housewives, with kids and husbands and tedious jobs they hated who led online lives as writers or reviewers of risque stories set in their favourite fictional universes.

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Fifty shades of success

By Matt Fish as told to Plain Dealer Reporter Marcia Pledger

The Company: Melt Bar & Grilled, a restaurant that features grilled cheese sandwiches, fresh soups, salads and a beer list, offers an eclectic atmosphere filled with nostalgic Cleveland-related mementos. Founded in 2006 by owner Matt Fish, the company has about 200 employees who work in three Northeast Ohio locations. A fourth location is scheduled to open in Mentor in October.

The Mistake: When I opened my first restaurant in a small storefront in Lakewood, expansion was the furthest thing from my mind, considering my first idea was to open a bar that served really good food. I was just trying to get through each day. But the concept of serving comfort foods like grilled cheese took off like gangbusters.

We're open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and I didn't take one day off for the first 21/2 years. My biggest mistake was being so focused on growing my business that I allowed business success to come at a cost of personal relationships.

At first I was afraid to hire many people because I didn't want to have to lay anybody off if the restaurant didn't work out. I would open the restaurant around 8 a.m., receive orders, set up the kitchen and then work on the line in the kitchen for hours. Later, after I started hiring more cooks and other people, I was always either thinking about management, or working alongside employees or making plans to expand. In the meantime, I was doing everything from writing schedules and cleaning up to handling financial issues. I'd be getting out by 2 a.m. Then I'd eat and sleep and do it all again.

As fast as we were growing, I thought it was important that employees saw me in stores. I didn't ever want them to feel like I had abandoned them. The business kept growing, but it came at a price. I lost track of myself because I put everything else on the back burner -- including personal relationships, friends and family. I've been divorced since I started the business, and later I lost my girlfriend. The business isn't the only reason, but building a business is a huge part of your life. I made it every part of my life, so it was the majority of the reason for the break-ups. My attitude with people in my life not involved with the business was, "Give me some time. It's all going to work out."

All I did was focus on my business. That was good for the business but unhealthy for me -- and the people around me. I had to make some changes.

The Fix: I finally realized that when you run a business, not working is just as important as working. You need to find some downtime to balance other elements of your life, including your own personal self, your family and relationships.

This is the first year I started making myself take off one day of the week, and I've been doing it 90 percent of the time. I also started running again, which helps me to clear my head.

Running three miles, three days a week, helped me to realize that having a significant personal relationship in my life is hugely important. Now that I don't have one, I realize how important relationships are and how important it is to work on them.

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Matt Fish, founder of Melt Bar & Grilled, allowed success to affect personal relationships: My Biggest Mistake (video)

At the helm of successful companies are the entrepreneurs who have achieved the American dream and built wealth from their leadership efforts. The Tri-Counties, being an idyllic place to live, are filled with many people in this esteemed position.

Does achievement in business translate to success in personal wealth management? Unfortunately, the answer is often no. The tragedy is that the apparent "wealth" that was generated over decades can be squandered in a matter of a few years because of poor personal planning decisions.

What are the two most common mistakes business owners make? First, they neglect their personal finances, with all the attention going toward the business. Second, they tend to be overly optimistic about the business prospects. They are "all in" with making the business grow and fail to create a backup plan should success not follow.

A helpful approach for business owners is to think about personal wealth as a separate business. Develop a clear vision of desires, or personal goals, as the starter. Then create an operating strategy, a financial plan, that outlines realistic paths to fund lifestyle goals. Implement a risk management plan that includes insurance and estate planning to protect against "what-ifs." And last but not least, have an effective team in place to implement the strategy efficiently. That team might include a financial adviser, accountant, attorney, banker, investment manager and insurance professional.

Paying down debts, investing in retirement plans, funding college accounts and creating liquid wealth outside of the business is paramount for future financial security. Ensuring a succession strategy is in place for the business to thrive once the owner is no longer at the helm is critical to ensure maximum value when the business is sold.

This is not always easy. Although converted wealth from a business sale can make personal financial dreams a reality, proposed buyers rarely value the business the same way as an owner/founder does. Having concentrated wealth in the business is not as simple and fast to unlock as one may believe. Careful planning must begin years in advance.

By creating a personal financial plan and treating it like a separate business, by involving professionals and family members in the process well in advance, and by setting realistic assumptions about the wealth to be generated from the disposition of the business, the business leader can enjoy an immensely satisfying lifestyle and create an impactful legacy for heirs and charity. It all stems from entrepreneurs giving their own wealth the same level of care and priority they dedicate to managing their business.

Brad Stark and Seth Streeter are co-founders of Mission Wealth Management in Westlake Village and Santa Barbara.

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Separating business from personal finance decisions

[08/24/12 - 11:19 PM] Development Update: Friday, August 24 By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:

Looking to keep track of all the various projects in development? Click here to visit our signature "Devwatch" section. There visitors can view our listings by network, genre, studio and even development stage (ordered to pilot, cast-contingent, script, etc.). It's updated every day!

Maz Jobrani will visit "Men at Work" as "the owner of a Lebanese chicken restaurant who befriends James Lesure's Gibbs" (TVLine.com); Brooklyn Silzer has been cast as Danny (Carmine Giovinazzo) and Lindsay's (Anna Belknap) daughter Emma on "CSI: NY," a role previously played by twins Nadia and Talia Hartounian (TVGuide.com); Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. (a.k.a. T.I.) will guest on "Hawaii Five-0" as "a member of a crime syndicate investigated by a Jersey-based Danny (Scott Caan) and his partner back in 2001" (TVLine.com); Paloma Guzmn is bound for "Person of Interest" as "the beautiful, smart and spoiled party girl daughter of a Brazilian diplomat" (TVLine.com); Tom Waits will lend his voice to "The Simpsons" as "someone who helps introduce Homer to a community of survivalists" (TVLine.com); and Tania Raymonde will recur on "Switched at Birth" as a street artist who befriends Vanessa Marano's Bay (TVGuide.com).

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Development Update: Friday, August 24

Programs from aerobics to yoga are offered by the Roseland Recreation Department this fall.

Following is the listing of offerings:

Multi-Impact Aerobics

The Roseland Recreation Department is once again co-sponsoring an adult multi-impact aerobics class in conjunction with Olympias Fitness Training, Inc. for adults 18 years and older.

This program will consist of 29 classes held from 7 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and five specific Thursday nights.

The Monday and Wednesday classes will begin on Monday, Sept. 10 and end on Wednesday Nov. 28.

The Thursday classes will be held on Sept. 13 and 27; Oct. 11; Nov. 8, and Dec. 13.

There will be no classes on Monday, Oct. 8 and Nov. 12 or Thursday, Nov. 22.

All classes will be held in the Borough Hall All-Purpose Room.

The class size is limited to the first 35 participants. The fee for the program is $145 for three days a week and $120 for Monday and Wednesday. Registration forms are available outside the recreation office

See more here:
Have fun and get fit in Roseland for the fall

What do you call two Toronto women who standup paddle board on Lake Ontario in winter?

Entrepreneurs.

Fitness studio owner Gudrun Hardes, 48, and marathoner Diana Turnbull, 47, met on the lake and decided to start a stand up paddleboard (SUP) business.

It just made sense: Were out there in our wetsuits in December and January the only two idiots on the water and we figured were enjoying this so much, lets do it the rest of our lives, Hardes recalls.

By May they had opened WSUP, and Hardes, who has been doing yoga for 15 years, was experimenting with doing asanas (yoga postures) on a paddle board as well. They soon launched yoga-on-the-water classes at The Beach.

People just love it, says Hardes. Its really picking up everywhere.

WSUP has had students aged 8 to 72 since it began offering paddle board yoga at two locations (Woodbine and Balmy Beach) this summer.

People wanted a little more, as soon as they started getting their legs, Hardes says. With paddle boarding, you get really tight in the legs, so its a nice stretch after being out on the board.

It really helps with your balance; it makes you focus more, and helps improve your posture.

Yoga paddle boarding involves vinyasa postures, from the sun salutation to lunges. I do it just for the feel-good aspect, Hardes says. Being on the water is so calming; people just gravitate to water naturally.

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Paddle board yoga makes waves

Everyone suffers from the common cold from time to time. While there is no cure for this bothersome illness, there are things that can be done to ease the symptoms, such as taking over the counter medications and yoga poses (asanas). Yoga is a great solution for the cold because it is all natural and does not have side effects that come along with some medicines. One of the many reasons I enjoy and appreciate yoga is that it can benefit the body and mind in so many ways. Continue reading to find out how asanas can help prevent you from becoming sick and tame symptoms of the common cold once you are already sick.

Signs and symptoms of the common cold may include the following:

A nose that is either runny and/or stuffy

Throat pain

Coughing

Mild body aches, including a headache

Sneezing

Eyes that water

Tiredness

Slight fever

Excerpt from:
Yoga Tips for the Common Cold

Right from a young age, basketball has been a huge part of Paul Henare's life.

The 33-year-old enjoyed a memorable playing career - attending two Olympic Games and two world championships with the Tall Blacks, while also spending 17 seasons in the New Zealand national league.

It was with the New Zealand Breakers that Henare achieved the most acclaim, playing in the team's first eight seasons, and ended his time with the club in style, when he was part of their inaugural 2010-2011 Australian National Basketball League championship winning side. He holds the record for the most games played [250] for the Breakers, and was the first player in franchise history to have his number [32] retired by the club at the beginning of last season.

Henare has made a swift and successful move into the coaching ranks, mentoring the Hawke's Bay Hawks in the last two New Zealand NBL seasons. He has won 21 of his 30 games in charge of the Hawks, steering them through to the final in 2011, and the semi-finals this season.

Earlier this year, he was also named as an assistant coach for the Tall Blacks for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Venezuela.

Basketball is all Henare has known since finishing high school and he said his ultimate ambition is to steadily climb his way up the coaching ladder and and continue to gain more experience.

"People ask me if I study or have a degree, and my answer to them is I have a degree in basketball. I've been studying the game of basketball for 18 years now," he said.

"I've been goal-driven my whole life. That's a goal of mine. I would love to coach the Tall Blacks one day, and I want to continue coaching professionally."

Henare was this week named as the new fulltime coach of the Southland Sharks for the next two years. He will replace foundation coach Richard Dickel, who will become Southland Basketball's development officer.

Coaching basketball at the elite level has always been at the back of Henare's mind. He began to consider it seriously as his career was winding down with the Breakers, and remains thankful to the Hawks organisation for giving him his first opportunity in the big time, two years ago.

Read more from the original source:
Henare keen to share will to win with Sharks