(MoneyWatch) Have you been inspired by the accomplishments of the Olympic athletes from nations around the world? I certainly have. Their sustained focus, commitment to doing whatever it takes to reach their goals, and attention to details is truly motivating. And although we might not be Olympic-caliber athletes, I think there are ways we can direct this energy to preparing for our retirement years.

The TV coverage offers insights into the intense commitment made by the Olympians. Some start training as early as age 5, while others start in their late teens or early 20s. But they all gladly forgo hours they could have spent in front of the TV or at the mall because they've made a conscious commitment to training for a worthwhile goal they can visualize in their minds.

Planning for retirement is very similar. Some people begin saving for retirement or start a long career with an employer that offers good retirement benefits as early as their 20s. Others don't start planning and saving seriously until their 30s or 40s, but they still make it to the retirement podium stand. One thing's for sure, though: If you don't put in much effort at any age, you'll never reach your goals, whether that's going to the Olympics or achieving a gold medal retirement.

Olympic training takes many aspects. In addition to developing the techniques and skills for their particular events, Olympians spend hours and hours working on endurance and weight training, are careful to get the proper nutrition, and pay daily attention to their mental and emotional state. They develop strong social networks with their coaches and teammates in order to get the support they need to succeed.

It's the same with retirement planning. You'll need to make important decisions about financing your retirement, such as when to start your Social Security benefits; how to turn your 401(k), IRA, and retirement savings into a retirement paycheck; how best to deploy your home equity; and how to protect against the threat of ruinous long-term care expenses. You'll want to improve or maintain your physical health with the proper nutrition and exercise. And you'll want to nurture a robust social network that will give you pleasure in life and provide the support when you need it.

When the Olympians are standing on the medal podium, there's no doubt they think the time and effort they spent on their training has been worth it. And although you won't get a gold medal to denote your retirement accomplishments, you'll know you've won when you reach your goals: You're financially independent from work, you're doing what you want to do, your physical and mental health are excellent, and you're building your legacy. You'll look back and know that all the planning has been worth the effort.

The good thing is that planning for retirement doesn't require an Olympian effort; we need to spend just a fraction of the time spent by the Olympians to reach our goals. It will, however, take many more hours than most people are currently spending. For example, a recent post from the Boston College Center for Retirement Research states that people may put more thought into buying a car or a mattress than they do planning for retirement. The illustration that starts this post aptly shows us what we need to do to create a gold medal retirement.

How to recession-proof your retirement Retirement planning for the 99 percent 12 weeks to plan for your retirement

The above photo is of my dad, who, as you can see, literally had a gold medal retirement. After a 30-plus year career as a professor at USC, he and my mother participated in senior track and field events, traveled around the world, and kept in constant contact with family and friends. He passed away peacefully at age 88 with family gathered around his bed. My mom and dad created their gold medal retirement from a middle class life, by making a sustained effort to save their money and manage their expenses during their working years, by nurturing their family connections, and by taking care of their physical and emotional health. (You can learn more from their experience from my posts, "How to recession-proof your retirement" and "Retirement planning for the 99 percent.")

In order to achieve the retirement you want, you'll need to keep your eye on the ultimate goal: Living a "rest of life" in which you're financially secure, healthy, and prospering in every sense of the word. We can all be like Olympians -- if we train like them.

Read more:
Train for a gold medal retirement

CHICAGO, Aug. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Young Americans are hoping for an early retirement. However, many have not taken the important first steps of knowing how much money they will need and starting to save, according to a report issued today by the BMO Retirement Institute, Broadening the Approach to Preparing for Retirement.

The report found that:

"There is an obvious dichotomy between what young people think about retirement and what they're actually doing to prepare for it," said Tina Di Vito, Head of the BMO Retirement Institute. "While it's encouraging that young adults appreciate the importance of retirement planning, there's clearly a disconnect between the concept and then putting the tangible pieces in place, such as determining how much money you'll need and starting to save. This is especially concerning given that so many expect to retire before the age of 60."

The report also outlined how important attitudes and role models are in helping young people become more proactive in preparing for retirement.

Behaviors and Attitudes Fall Short

The report found that behaviors and attitudes are strong predictors of financial preparedness for retirement. Educating young adults through practical hands-on general money-management experiences, such as budgeting, may help instill good financial habits and encourage them to seek information about saving for retirement.

The report revealed that the level of involvement in saving for retirement is relatively low in most young people. They are not spending enough time gathering information on retirement planning, attending seminars, consulting others on retirement planning, or thinking about how much they should be saving in order to secure their financial future.

"Having a general appreciation of how much money you'll need in retirement involves the important first step of visualizing what you want your retirement to look like," said Di Vito. "Only then can you develop an effective savings plan. This process takes time, research and self-reflection, and the attitude you have entering into it will largely determine your success."

Role Models are Key

Role models such as parents and other influential adults are critical to helping young people think differently about their financial future. The report found that many young people turn to family and friends to discuss retirement planning and then seek out information on their own. Consulting others appears to be the most effective, with 38 percent taking action as a result of these conversations. Meanwhile, retirement planning seminars appear to be the least effective at nudging young adults into action. Even with more than one-third (34 percent) attending these seminars, only 28 percent took action.

The rest is here:
BMO Retirement Institute Report: Young Americans Want to Retire Early, but Many Are Not Saving

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -08/01/12)- The BMO Retirement Institute today issued a report which found that young Canadians, while aware of the need for retirement planning, are putting their retirement at risk by not considering how much money they will need and are often delaying saving for retirement.

The report, Broadening the Approach to Preparing for Retirement, examined attitudes on retirement among young adults (between the ages of 18 and 34):

"While it's great news that young adults appreciate the importance of retirement planning, it's a concern that many are not backing it up with concrete action," said Tina Di Vito, Head of the BMO Retirement Institute. "A clear dichotomy exists between what young people think about retirement and what they are actually doing to prepare for it."

The report also outlined the importance of attitudes and behaviours when preparing for retirement, as well as the critical role parents can play.

Attitudes and Behaviours Result in Action

According to Ms. Di Vito, attitudes and behaviours are strong predictors of financial preparedness for retirement. The report found that young adults are the least prepared for retirement, despite the fact that one-quarter of them expect to retire early. While almost a quarter (23 per cent) of Boomers over the age of 55 have thought a lot about how long they might be retired, only five per cent of young adults have given this a lot of thought. As a result, they are not spending adequate time gathering information on retirement planning, attending seminars, or consulting others on retirement planning; many are also not actually saving.

Factors that may hinder their progress in establishing themselves financially, in general, let alone for retirement, include poor post-economic recession job prospects, rising student debt and lower real wages.

The Importance of Role-Models

The report also found that role models are critical to helping young people think differently about their financial future. With half of young adults 20 to 29 years old still living with their parents, Mom and Dad can be effective financial role-models by demonstrating sound financial management and savings habits along with involving their children early in the process. This could involve engaging their adult children in contributing towards household expenses as soon as they begin to work. Making regular contributions to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) and involving their kids in the process while they are in their early teens, talking to kids about money management and budgeting, encouraging their adult children to attend retirement-related seminars and webinars, and introducing them to financial professionals are other ways in which parents can help.

"Parents and other influential adults have to foster an environment that will encourage young people to think about their financial future," said Ms. Di Vito. "Despite the challenging and complex financial realities facing young people today, increasing their financial preparedness for retirement will guide them towards positive results."

Visit link:
BMO Retirement Institute Report: Time to Get the Kids Thinking About Retirement

Basic Earnings per Share of $1.54, or $1.60 excluding second quarter tax adjustments Return on Equity of 25.1% Second Quarter Net Income Increases 10.4%, or 14.5% excluding second quarter tax adjustments, over 2011 Net Income

TORONTO, Aug. 1, 2012 /CNW/ - Home Capital Group (HCG.TO) today reported another quarter of strong results for the three months ended June 30, 2012.

The Company's Second Quarter Report, including Management's Discussion and Analysis, is available on http://www.homecapital.com and on the Canadian Securities Administrators' website at http://www.sedar.com.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

1 See definition of Adjusted Net Income under Non-GAAP Measures of the unaudited interim consolidated financial report and reconciliation to net income in Table 2 of the Management's Discussion and Analysis. 2 See definition of Taxable Equivalent Basis (TEB) under Non-GAAP Measures of the unaudited interim consolidated financial report.The net interest margin non-securitized assets for March 31, 2012 was amended from the previously disclosed amount of 3.00%. 3 Total loans include loans held for sale. 4 These figures relate to the Company's operating subsidiary, Home Trust Company.

SECOND QUARTER 2012 HIGHLIGHTS

Key results for the second quarter of 2012 included:

Consistent with the first quarter of 2012, the Company is delivering solid performance despite the persistent international economic instability and muted economic improvement in Canada. The Company's performance reflects the strength, and the successful execution, of the Company's core strategy.

As discussed in the first quarter of 2012, the Company continues to see resilient and relatively stable real estate markets across most of Canada, with a few areas of continuing concern, where the Company has already scaled back.The Company expects real estate demand to remain relatively stable in 2012 with potentially modest declines in some of the larger markets. This is expected to result in relatively balanced real estate market conditions and lead to continued healthy demand for the Company's products, consistent with the first half of the year. The Company has not seen evidence of a "real-estate bubble" in Canada. Low interest rates and stable employment have maintained housing affordability. The Company expects interest rates to remain at current levels or experience very modest increases into 2013 and that Canadian employment levels will remain relatively stable in 2012. The Company maintains a solid capital position and prudent liquidity and expects that it is well positioned to deal with the impact of uncertainty that may affect the Canadian economy.

Favourable market opportunities have supported the Company's strategy of renewed focus on the traditional mortgage portfolio with record levels of originations in this product category. While the Company has increased lending in this product category it has been able to do so with improving credit quality. The average credit score for traditional mortgage originations for the first half of 2012 is up from the same period of 2011 while loan to value ratios are down. The Company remains proactive and prudent in its lending practices, taking into account local economic and market conditions.The credit quality of the loan portfolio remains strong, reflecting the Company's focus on diligent underwriting combined with strong collection standards and loan resolution strategies.

Go here to read the rest:
Home Capital Reports Strong Performance for the Second Quarter

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced new agreements for personal care kits and components have been awarded to Cardinal Health of McGaw Park, Ill.; Care Line Inc. of Greenbrier, Tenn.; and Medline Industries Inc. of Mundelein, Ill.

Effective August 1, 2012, the agreements are available to acute care and continuum of care members of Premier.

About the Premier healthcare alliance, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient Premier is a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,600 U.S. hospitals and 84,000-plus other healthcare sites using the power of collaboration to lead the transformation to high quality, cost-effective care. Owned by hospitals, health systems and other providers, Premier maintains the nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier has worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier also has an office in Washington. http://www.premierinc.com. Stay connected with Premier on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Continue reading here:
Hospitals, Healthcare Providers to Benefit from New Premier Agreements for Personal Care Kits and Components

For Justin Burrell, his first professional season was not about himself despite his personal success on the court.

The former St. Johns University standout earned Most Valuable Player honors in the Japanese Professional League with the Yokohama B-Corsairs. He led the club to a 31-21 record by averaging a double double of 18 points and 10 rebounds per contest. Yokohama reached the leagues semifinals as an expansion club.

It was more impressive for us as a team, Burrell said. Making the final four, that was better for us.

He described his venture overseas as a humbling and eye-opening experience, a chance to see the rest of the world. When Burrell returned to the states, he received an invite to play with the Golden State Warriors summer league team in Las Vegas. The 6-foot-8, 244-pound forward put forth a strong showing, averaging 6.2 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per contest. His play earned him a training camp invite, but he may not attend if doesnt look like the Warriors have a spot for him on their roster.

Robert Cole

/former St. John's standout Justin Burrell has a training camp invite from the Golden State Warriors.

The summer league is a great experience, said Burrell, the Big Easts Sixth Man of the Year as a senior. Its great competing against pro athletes.

The rest of the summer has been spent back on the New York City streetball circuit playing in leagues like Nike Pro City with defending champion The Franchise. He played in the Malone Mulhall Benefit Game last Saturday and electrified the crowd with a series of slams.

Burrell was also selected to be a member of Team Nike 2, the sports equipment companies second collection of streetball all stars, that competes at Rivington Court on the East Side. The squad completed a doubleheader sweep of Team Harlem and Ooh-Way Monday night, something Burrell felt the team needed.

Justin did all the intangibles for us, Team Nike 2 coach Raheem (Rah) Wiggins said. He did the dirty work."

Read the original here:
Big year continues for former St. John's star Burrell after MVP, summer league invite

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.Its difficult to say that this July live recruiting period has been more centrally focused on anyone other than Canadian phenom and No. 1 2014 prospect Andrew Wiggins.

Wiggins not only enjoyed personal success, distinguishing himself as perhaps the best high school player in the country, regardless of class, but also carried his CIA Bounce to the finals at Nike Peach Jam in South Carolina this month.

But behind the long shadow cast by Wiggins are two other prospects, Tyler Ennis and Xavier Rathan-Mays, who have prominent high-major recruitments of their own and are as integral to the success of CIA Bounces success as the standout, Wiggins.

Well, you know, Tyler and I always talk about this is the dream weve had since we were young, Rathan-Mayes told NBCSports.com at the Live in AC tournament. To have Coach Self and all the big-time coaches calling our phones for our services, were just embracing it and taking it day by day.

Wiggins was not in attendance for Live in AC, giving Ennis and Rathan-Mayes a larger share of the spotlight for the week.

Rathan-Mayes, a 6-4 guard from Toronto, Can., is a Top 50 national recruit and a pure scorer, gaining more visibility because of this crossover and game-winning shot from last summer that went viral.

He plays at Huntington Prep (W.V.) alongside Wiggins and has a unique perspective on the team dynamic that exists between himself, Ennis, and the No. 1 overall prospect in the country.

Ive know Andrew since I was about two years old and weve grown up playing together, said Rathan-Mayes. Playing with him, it makes things easier because you have to send double teams at him and it opens up free shots for me and Tyler.

Listed at 205 pounds, Rathan-Mays uses his body well, often backing down guards from the perimeter and creating space to get an open shot. On one sequence at Live in AC, he hit a fallaway jumper from the baseline off a crossover, then came down on the next possession and hit an identical shot with a defenders hand in his face.

Rathan-Mayes works as a complement to the savvy, poised Ennis, who is a Top 25 player in the class and the point guard of this talented CIA Bounce team. Ennis, much like Rathan-Mayes, feels the media spotlight that comes with playing alongside Wiggins, but maintains an impressively mature approach.

More here:
With national spotlight on CIA Bounce and Andrew Wiggins, Tyler Ennis and Xavier Rathan-Mayes flourish

By Eric Fox - August 1, 2012 | Tickers: CLR, GEOI, HES, KOG, MRO | 0 Comments

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

Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) has adjusted the companys capital budget for 2012 and expects to spend an extra billion dollars on the Bakken play in the last half of the year. The company is facing higher costs on drilling and completion services and more infrastructure spending.

Second Quarter of 2012

Hess reported average daily production of 55,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) from the Bakken formation in the second quarter of 2012, up more than 100% from 25,000 BOE per day in the second quarter of 2011. The company expects production in 2012 to average between 54,000 and 58,000 BOE per day, down slightly from the original goal of 60,000 BOE per day set earlier in the year.

Bakken Overview

Hess has more than 800,000 net acres under lease prospective for the Bakken formation and plans to operate an average of 16 rigs here in 2012. The companys goal is to ramp up development and generate net production of 120,000 BOE per day from its properties by 2015.

Capital Spending Increase

The original investment plan that was set by Hess for 2012 called for $1.9 billion of capital spending on the Bakken during the year. This would have represented about 28% of its $6.8 billion exploratory and development spending in 2012.

Hess has now increased capital spending for 2012 to $8.5 billion and will put an extra $1 billion toward development and other spending in the Bakken. The $3 billion in capital spending here represents one of the largest investments in this area.

More here:
Hess to Spend More in Bakken in 2012

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6FvJ6jMGHU

01-08-2012 10:00 Daphne Koller is enticing top universities to put their most intriguing courses online for free -- not just as a service, but as a way to research how people learn. Each keystroke, comprehension quiz, peer-to-peer forum discussion and self-graded assignment builds an unprecedented pool of data on how knowledge is processed and, most importantly, absorbed.TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages at Follow TED on Twitter: Like TED on Facebook: If you have questions or comments about this or other TED videos, please go to

Read the original:
Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education - Video

This week the New York City Council approved a massive construction project for New York University, designed to add hundreds of thousands of square feet in classrooms, office space, and dormitories. Opponents of the expansion plan, many of them residents of NYU's Greenwich Village neighborhood, gathered to protest, holding signs that read, "Wrong for the Village. Wrong for NYU." On the latter point, at least, they were almost certainly right.

Over the last decade, a population boom hit universities and their enrollments swelled. Many universities responded with ambitious and costly expansion plans, buying up land and building massive new buildings. In New York City, for instance, Columbia and NYU -- the city's two flagship universities -- have each made plans for multi-billion dollar expansions. But if these universities were wise, they would be selling off real estate, not buying it.

The hot topic among educators today is the potential for online education to transform higher education as we know it. The general sense is that technology has reached a tipping point -- advancements in interactive web technology now make instruction over the Internet increasingly feasible and effective. Leading universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford have channeled this technology into new massive online courses, which they are making available free-of-charge to hundreds of thousands of students around the world.

These new interactive online platforms have made it possible for a single professor at a leading university to reach, in some cases, tens of thousands of students at once. Lectures are accompanied by computer-graded quizzes designed to monitor student learning. Students can post questions and create discussion groups and interact with other enrolled students from around the world.

This new way of distributing knowledge has tremendous economic advantages. Lectures are limitlessly scalable and it costs virtually nothing to stream course materials over the web. This method of education is still in its infancy, and has not yet advanced to the point that they pose a threat to the traditional residential college model. But that time may soon be coming.

Follow us Follow Button">

The current model, centered on the residential college experience, has remained largely unchanged for a thousand years. For all its merits, however, traditional college education is increasingly unaffordable. Tuition costs have risen at a rate above inflation for decades. For many students, this spells hard times, high levels of debt, and uncertain financial futures.

All that remains is for more elite universities to begin to offer meaningful credentials through their online platforms -- something MIT has already begun to do. A world of learners, eager for affordable access to high-quality education, awaits these changes.

Other industries that rely on the sale of information -- such as the book publishing industry, which has been transformed by e-books, or the music industry, which has been transformed by the iPod -- have been utterly transformed by technology. It is not hard to see that the education industry is poised to undergo changes every bit as dramatic.

Online education may not be able to duplicate the in-classroom experience in every way. But studies have shown that it can effective. For most mainstream universities, online education remains a mere sideshow. But the potential for online instruction to make high quality education accessible to the masses at very low cost, means that online education is poised to become the main event.

Read more here:
If You Build It, They Will Dot Com