Reasons To Stay Put During Retirement
Posted: August 4, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Dreams of retirement have traditionally included moving hundreds or even thousands of miles away to exotic locations, golf courses and endless summer days. The reality, however, is that more Americans are staying put during retirement out of necessity or the desire to remain in a familiar environment. According to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by Richard W. Johnson, Director of the Urban Institute's Program on Retirement Policy, only 1.6% of retirees between the ages of 55 and 65 moved across state lines in 2010. The remaining 98.4 percent either stayed in their existing homes or made in-state moves.
SEE: Retirement Planning
The decades following World War II saw plummeting poverty rates in the aging population because of the introduction of Social Security and Medicare, and due to the abundance of employer defined-benefit pension plans. This influx of retirement money made it possible and normal for people to move to sunny spots during retirement. Current economic conditions, as well as changing views on the definition of a successful retirement, are leading more people to stay put during retirement.
Why Stay? There are many reasons to stay put or "age in place" during retirement, some of which are due to necessity while others can be attributed to choice. The 2008 financial and falling real estate prices have made it challenging for some to sell their existing homes, limiting alternatives during retirement. Many pre-retirees who counted on selling a home and using the proceeds to purchase a smaller home or condominium during retirement have been left with a tough choice: sell the home for much less than anticipated, or stay put.
Retirees also remain in the existing homes, or at least the area, out of choice. Established professional, social and family networks may be difficult to give up. Professional connections may help retirees secure part-time or less stressful full-time work during the retirement years. Social networks provide important opportunities for people to remain active in both physical and mental terms. An established circle of friends is, for many, an invaluable component of a successful and happy retirement. And family, of course, is also a consideration. It is often difficult to move away with children, grand-children and great-grand-kids in the area. While it is enjoyable to spend time with family and spoil the grand-kids, children often move into an important and active role in the care of aging parents.
By the time the retirement years roll around, many people also have an established and trusted group of service providers from local doctors and hospitals, to car mechanics and salon professionals. In certain situations, these providers may cross into the "staying put out of necessity" category, particularly doctors of chronic medical conditions. By staying put during retirement, all of the necessary and important relationships professional, social and service are in place and familiar.
SEE: Journey Through The 6 Stages Of Retirement
Considerations When Staying Put While "planning for retirement" often refers to saving financially for the golden years making investments, balancing portfolios and the like planning also needs to involve taking care of the human side of retirement.
Health Maintaining or adapting a healthy lifestyle is an important and often overlooked part of retirement planning. The old adage "use it or lose it" is especially relevant to physical and mental activity. A study published by Oxford University Press 2009 on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America found that people who are nearing retirement age show the highest rates of weight gain and obesity . S tudies also have shown that mental decline is not inevitable as we age: keeping the brain active through mental stimulation improves memory and other brain functions.
Being proactive about health by eating well, getting physical activity, and seeking mental stimulation can lead to happier retirement years. Like most plans, it is best to write down realistic goals and determine an approach for meeting the goals and share the goals with friends and family. Without a written plan, it is easy for things like healthy eating and exercise to fall to the way side.
The rest is here:
Reasons To Stay Put During Retirement
Valerie Adams will relish the personal battle
Posted: at 10:12 pm
Valerie Adams' biggest challenge ahead lies in her head. For it's in the mental space that her long-time rival, Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus, seems intent to play.
It's not currently possible to know Adams' thoughts on Ostapchuk's apparent recent spike in form as the pair prepare for their showdown for gold in the shot put on Tuesday morning (NZ time).
The powerful Aucklander long ago shut down her media commitments. She arrived in London only in recent days from Switzerland where she has been training, according to inside observers, "at a whole new level". She is in her own zone. No visitors allowed, especially pesky journalists wanting to know what she thinks of Ostapchuk.
And what are we to think of her? Or more accurately, what are we to believe about her?
On the one hand, every time Ostapchuk has faced Adams in meaningful competition she has folded faster than a collapsible deckchair. In Beijing four years ago, Adams psychologically destroyed her early in the final and she never recovered.
It's been the same whenever Adams has broken from her daily Spartacus-style training regime in Switzerland to compete in the Diamond League, the premier northern hemisphere track and field circuit.
The Kiwi Olympic champion beat her at the world indoor championships in Turkey this year and has maintained that dominance in recent Diamond League encounters. But then a strange thing happened. Midway through June, Ostapchuk suddenly started throwing consistently over 21 metres. Adams, whose personal best is 21.24m, has thrown 21.03m and 21.11m in her last two competitive outings.
But Ostapchuk has supposedly eclipsed Adams' best throw this year five times in as many weeks, including the year's best throw of 21.58m on July 18. The word supposedly is used because all of Ostapchuk's "Val-beating throws" happened within the borders of Belarus. Cynical athletics insiders whisper about "magical measuring tapes" when it comes to distances attained at nondescript events within old Soviet and Eastern Bloc countries which often make only a passing nod to athletics convention.
If Ostapchuk has made a quantum leap in performance on the eve of London, the same cynics might point towards other reasons than a magical tape. Either way it seems Ostapchuk wants to play with Adams' head. It's a brave strategy.
In Beijing, Adams relished the challenge of personalising the battle with her rival. She stared her down with the type of body language that both intimidates and imposes. Adams is not an athlete to be messed with and a fascinating personal battle awaits when the pair face off.
Read the original post:
Valerie Adams will relish the personal battle
London 2012: Jessica Ennis going for gold in heptathlon with only the 800m left to run as she smashes personal best in …
Posted: at 10:12 pm
Team GB poster girl delivers Great Britain's TWELFTH gold of the Games She stormed to gold by winning 800m in front of 80,000 home crowd Javelin: Jessica Ennis threw a lifetime best of 47.49m, smashing her previous personal best of 47.11m. Long Jump: Managed 6.40m in the second round and 6.48m in the third Heptathlete racked up a 188-point lead by mid-afternoon, setting her up for tonight's 800m run
By Jill Reilly and Chris Parsons
PUBLISHED: 08:19 EST, 4 August 2012 | UPDATED: 17:05 EST, 4 August 2012
Jessica Ennis tonight lived up to her pre-Games billing as the golden girl of British athletics by storming to gold in the Olympic heptathlon.
The 26-year-old Sheffield star earned Great Britain's twelfth gold - and Team GB's fourth of five on 'Super Saturday' - following her 1st place finish in the 800m.
Roared on by a partisan 80,000 crowd, home favourite Ennis looked overcome with emotion after becoming Olympic champion at her first ever athletics contest in London.
Top of the pile: Ennis throws her arms into the air after topping the podium in style by winning the 800m
World's greatest: The Sheffield athlete won the heptathlon with 6995 points - over 300 more than her nearest rival
She's done it: Ennis cannot contain her joy after her stunning heptathlon performance in the Olympic Stadium
Queen of the heptathlon: Ennis was crowned Olympic champion in her first ever athletics contest in London
Olympic athletes on fast track to 100M success
Posted: at 10:12 pm
LONDON - They are calling the racing surface here at Olympic Stadium the magic carpet and after two days of competition, its not hard to see why.
On Friday, the opening day of track and field competition, a total of 52 personal bests and 12 national records were set.
The speed show continued on Saturday as the top contenders for the mens 100 metres ran quick times under minimal effort leading to expectation that Usain Bolts world record will tumble in Sundays semifinal and final rounds and perhaps more than once.
This is way fast, Ivory Coast sprinter Murielle Ahoure said on Saturday. I cant believe it.
Shes not alone although the track and the stadium were built with just that in mind.
The high-tech track that hundreds of millions of viewers around the world will stop to watch Bolt and the rest of the top sprinters put it to the test. The track surface known as Mondotrack has absorbing material on the bottom rather than the top which, according to the science anyway, provides better traction. As a result, the runners havent needed their spikes to dig into the track as much while still getting adequate grip to rip off speedy times.
Whatever it is, the athletes are certainly noticing a difference. British heptathlete Jessica Ennis was stunned when she ran a personal best 12.54 in the 100-metre hurdle event of her competition, the first official race on the track on Friday morning.
If Id run 12.8 or 12.7 something, I would have been over the moon, said Ennis, who was cruising towards a gold medal on Saturday. But .54? I literally cant believe it. Not many could. The time beat the heptathlon hurdles record set by Jackie Joyner-Kersee in 1988.
It isnt just the track that was meant to boost the speeds either. The partial roof of the stadium was designed by engineers with experience in wind tunnels to minimize the effect of whatever breezes get inside on the competition.
It also hasnt hurt that the track competition so far has been played in front of noisy capacity crowds of 80,000 for each of the four ticketed sessions thus far. Those roars will be expected to peak around 10 p.m. Sunday night when the mens 100M final is raced. Based on what has happened so far, few would be surprised if Bolt and Co. give them something extra fast to roar about.
Sales Training Video – Effective Closing and Qualification
Posted: at 10:11 pm
http://www.tacticalsalestraining.co.uk Sales Training Video - Effective Closing and Qualification How we can make closing deals easier for ourselves through effective qualification at an early stage in the sales process. Sales Training Video by Tactical Sales Training. We believe that closing isn't an important part of the sales process. In fact, when we qualify our opportunities effectively, closing deals really becomes a breeze. The smartest sales people qualify their accounts hard and at a very early stage. So what can we learn from these top sales people? Well for starters, asking tough questions from the word go moves accounts forward with speed and qualifies out bad opportunities and tyre kickers before you start using your companies resources to put together proposal, demo's etc for accounts that ultimately wont close. That said we've got some killer closing techniques. What's you're favourite technique for closing deals? More Sales Training Videos Via the Tactical Sales Training YouTube channel http info@tacticalsalestraining.co.uk 0044 1202 606 010 01202 606 010 http://www.linkedin.com http://www.youtube.com http://www.facebook.com twitter.com Sales Training Video | Sales Training Videos | Tactical Sales Training | Tactical Sales Training | Sales Training Video - Effective Closing and Qualification
Read the rest here:
Sales Training Video - Effective Closing and Qualification
Russell Brand opening own yoga studio
Posted: at 8:13 pm
Russell Brand is opening his own yoga studio because he has slept with too many of the ladies in the one he attends.
The 37-year-old star is hoping to buy a place in Beverly Hills, California so he can escape the lovers he has met in yoga classes earlier this year.
A source told the Daily Star newspaper: 'Since he split with Katy Perry, Russell has had sex or flirtations with quite a few of the women he used to meet in yoga classes.
'It's become quite awkward for him because now he has a new girlfriend and doesn't want to be running into former conquests every day.'
The insider continued: 'He decided that buying his own studio would be the perfect solution and has his heart set on buying one on Melrose Avenue. If all goes well the place should be his by the end of the summer.'
Russell split with singer Katy, 27, last year, is now dating 30-year-old Isabella Brewster.
He also met the former talent agent in a yoga class.
Sources said: 'No-one thought Russell would jump into a serious relationship so quickly. But he's surprised himself with Isabella. They've really hit it off. They are already talking about children.'
Read the original here:
Russell Brand opening own yoga studio
When is it time to hang up the whistle
Posted: at 3:14 am
There comes a time in every youth sports coachs life when a decision has to be made when to stop coaching.
For some, this decision is made for him or her, possibly due to health or family reasons. For others, the decision is one that must be made exclusively by the coach him/herself, or in some cases, with input from family members.
People start coaching for a lot of reasons: Some for the pure love of the sport and coaching; some because they feel nobody can coach his or her child as well; and others because nobody else will volunteer. But regardless of the reason, once you start coaching like a lot of things in life its hard to stop.
Kids move on
Usually the most common reason many coaches stop is because his or her own child is no longer playing the sport. Its hard to justify spending the time required to coach a youth sport if your kids arent even on the team although, some do. My hat goes off to those folks!
Other coaches quit because its too stressful dealing with parents who all think their child is the best on the team, or players who really dont care enough to make the commitment necessary for the team to be successful and not just in the win column.
Sure signs that its time to quit are: if you dread going to practice; dont look forward to games; come home from practice every night in a foul mood; or come up with lame excuses to cancel practices or other team activities.
If the time commitment of coaching is making things at home suffer your relationship with your spouse and kids, chores, etc. its time to re-evaluate where the free time you have is best spent.
Im not suggesting quitting mid-season, but certainly think long and hard about volunteering to coach again.
Different styles
See the article here:
When is it time to hang up the whistle
Olympian Misty May-Treanor Prepares for Life After the Gold with Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration
Posted: at 3:14 am
Irvine, CA (PRWEB) August 03, 2012
When two-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor decided to earn her master's degree in coaching and athletic administration to prepare for her post-playing career, she chose Concordia Universitys Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration (MCAA) program.
Coaching has always been a passion of mine, and nowadays you need your masters degree, May-Treanor says. Concordia had everything I was looking for.
May-Treanor is the most successful beach volleyball player in history, with 107 career wins. She and playing partner Kerri Walsh-Jennings are competing in their third Olympic Games this summer in London, hoping to bring home their third straight Olympic gold medal.
Im very happy with my experience at Concordia, May-Treanor says. The professors and everybody in the department give such good guidance. The philosophy of the program, and especially of the University as a whole, helps coaches be better people, to act in a certain manner. Thats one of the reasons I felt this was the program for me. They send good, solid people into the community.
May-Treanors Concordia education has fit perfectly into her busy schedule which often has her traveling to tournaments 24 weeks a year. She recalls logging onto the Concordia website while in Brazil, downloading her homework assignment and writing a paper on the plane.
The professors work with you and understand that career people who have jobs are the ones taking these classes to further their education and get better positions in their place of employment, she says. They make the workload appropriate.
Concordia was one of the first universities in the nation to offer a Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration, and it remains the only one to offer strong practical training with a foundation in ethics and character-building. In less than seven years, the pioneering program has gone from 12 students to hundreds earning degrees on campus and online.
The regionally accredited, nationally ranked Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration program features award-winning faculty who have proven experience in their fields. The program takes coaching and athletic administration to the next level with in-depth courses in subjects including ethics, leadership and finance, and a culminating project that results in a professional portfolio.
Ive been so happy with the program that I recommend it highly, especially to a lot of my colleagues who are players, says May-Treanor. I say, You should look into this program, especially if you want to continue playing, because it works with your schedule. And I love the campus.
Gateway to Health and Fitness Promo – Video
Posted: at 3:14 am
More here:
Gateway to Health and Fitness Promo - Video
Jessica Ennis storms into first-day lead in Olympic heptathlon after smashing personal bests in two events
Posted: at 3:13 am
Ennis spoke before her competition about her hopes for a hurdles personal best to settle her nerves, though she could not have dreamed that she would shatter her previous best mark of 12.79sec to such devastating effect.
Her time of 12.54sec was 0.02sec inside the UK record of hurdles specialist Tiffany Porter and also the quickest hurdles performance ever recorded in a heptathlon.
I am still so shocked at the hurdles time, she said. I knew I was in good shape. My hurdles have been going well and if I had run 12.80 or 12.70-something, I would have been over the moon. But 12.54 I literally cant believe it. Its so crazy.
So crazy, in fact, that it was the same time that American Dawn Harper clocked to win the 100m hurdles gold medal at Beijing. Ennis may now be tempted to try her hand at the individual event, which opens with the first-round heats on Monday morning.
Her name is already on the entry list, but only as a precaution against her failing to complete the heptathlon. With just 36 hours of rest available to her after the final event, taking part would mean avoiding the media onslaught that will inevitably be heading her way if she wins gold.
After such an explosive start, it was a pity that Ennis was unable to get closer to her high jump personal best of 1.95m in the second event of the day, though her clearance of 1.86m was by no means disastrous and was actually 1cm higher than she cleared on her way to breaking Denise Lewiss UK heptathlon record in Gotzis, Austria, in May.
It also caused no damage to her place in the overall standings, with Dobrynska clearing 1.83m and Chernova managing just 1.80m.
The revelation of the high jump was Liverpudlian Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the former world youth heptathlon champion, who soared to a personal best of 1.89m which, following her personal best-equalling 13.48sec in the hurdles, elevated her to the dizzy heights of the bronze medal position after two events.
It was evidence of why, at the age of 19, she is already being touted as the next Jess if she can improve her throws. Even Ennis has conceded that she has the potential to surpass her achievements in years to come.
However, now is Enniss time and she appears to be marching inexorably towards Britains first track and field gold medal of the Olympics if she can sustain her current form.
See the original post here:
Jessica Ennis storms into first-day lead in Olympic heptathlon after smashing personal bests in two events