When it comes to retirement savings, many Americans seem to be "winging it" -- or heading for retirement without a realistic plan of how to fund it.

Or so suggests a recent survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. The survey indicates that "retirement planning" is a very loose concept among Americans. In many cases, the approach could be better described as wishful thinking.

The following are some points of concern raised by the study:

The median contribution level for workers in 401(k) or similar plans is 7 percent. This is up from 6 percent in 2011, but still too low a savings rate to fund a comfortable retirement. Think about it: Retirement is likely to last roughly half as many years as a career. How can you expect to replace most or all of your income if you are only setting money aside 7 percent of that income each year? With diminished expectations for the stock market, and bond yields and savings account interest rates approaching zero, most people are not going to be able to grow their way to adequate funding. Saving more is the only way to make it work.

The reason savings rates are so low is probably that people are underestimating how much they will need in retirement. According to the Transamerica study, the median savings goal of American workers is $500,000 -- but how many younger workers understand that inflation is likely to cut the value of that amount by at least half by the time they retire?

It's no surprise that savings rates and retirement targets seem off-base, because people simply guess at them. The Transamerica Center found that nearly half (47 percent) of respondents chose a retirement target by guessing.

While the median retirement target is $500,000, the survey found that 39 percent of workers in their 60s had saved less than $250,000. That leaves them with too much ground to make up in too few years.

The survey found that most Americans plan to retire after age 65, or not at all. Also, most plan to work after retirement. Working longer may be an inevitability for many people, but it is hardly an ideal retirement planning solution. After all, it means staying healthy enough to work productively, and that is no sure thing for people over 65.

It's only natural that older workers are more focused on retirement planning than younger ones, but that is also unfortunate. The younger you are, the more powerfully you can impact your retirement savings, because you have that many more years to contribute money and benefit from investment returns. The survey found that people in their 60s are more likely to have a retirement plan and work with a financial planner than people in their 20s. The problem is that by the time you are in your 60s, your options for significantly improving your retirement funding are very limited.

Retirement planning is a very important individual responsibility. The Transamerica Center survey should be a wake-up call for Americans to take more positive action to plan for their retirements.

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Are Americans 'Winging' Their Retirement Plans?

COMMERCE, Ca., July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- General Manager Art Aguilar announced his retirement from the Central Basin Municipal Water District effective October 31, 2012. Aguilar has served as the General Manager for the Central Basin Municipal Water District since 2006, and before that as Co-General Manager for both Central Basin and West Basin Municipal Water Districts.

"I am very proud of what we have accomplished at Central Basin," said Aguilar. "From the re-organization of the District following the split West Basin initiated, to the completion of a vital phase of our recycled water system, which had been on the books since 1991, to the many state and federal grants we secured to keep costs and rates low, we have done quite a bit in a very short amount of time."

As the General Manager for Central Basin, Aguilar successfully guided the District through an unprecedented transition and restructuring following its separation from its former sister agency and oversaw the District's subsequent move to a new headquarters in the City of Commerce. Under his leadership, these transitions brought opportunities for growth and financial stability. District operations went uninterrupted, the District's unfunded liability and pension debt were paid off and programs were re-centered around Central Basin's mission of public service.

"For me, the hardest part of retiring will be saying good-bye to our incredible staff," Aguilar continued. "We have a strong and dedicated team that works hard for our constituents and ratepayers. I am extremely proud of them."

Aguilar first joined the Districts in 1999, serving as the Manager of the Public and Governmental Affairs Department. Under his management, areas such as public education, conservation and public/media relations were refined and enhanced to become foundation stones of the department.

"It makes me very sad to see Art go," said Central Basin Board President Ed Vasquez. "He has done an outstanding job managing this district over the years and he will be missed. This place just won't be the same without him. I wish him all the best."

Prior to his work in the water industry, Aguilar served for more than 30 years as a reporter, editor and publisher of community newspapers throughout Southern California. Over the course of his tenure, he has been honored for his significant and lasting contributions to journalism and for his extensive community service.

For Art Aguilar's full bio, please email valerieh@centralbasin.org.

Central Basin is a public agency that wholesales imported water to cities, mutual water companies, investor-owned utilities and private companies in southeast Los Angeles County, serving a population of more than 2 million. In addition, Central Basin provides the region with recycled water for municipal, commercial and industrial uses. Formed in 1952, Central Basin is committed to ensuring a safe and reliable water supply for the region.

Contact: Valerie Howard Phone: (310) 801-4073

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General Manager Art Aguilar Announces Retirement From Central Basin

MONSEY, NY--(Marketwire -07/30/12)- The standard retirement investment usually consists of market products like mutual funds or similar Wall Street assets. However, with the rise of market volatility, investors have begun to actively look for alternative investment platforms. One of the platforms gaining a boost in popularity from this trend is the self-directed IRA. As a result of this move, the investments themselves have taken on a more alternative flavor.

Mark Friedman, a retirement specialist at Broad Financial, has tracked the move away from standard assets. "Initially everybody just wanted to get in on a piece of real estate or gold coins. However, as the freedom of the plan has clarified itself in the consumer consciousness, we have seen self-directed IRAs move into ice cream stores, fitness centers, and book publishing. One Broad client actually used his retirement funds to start a goat farm."

One of the common arguments in the financial community against these platforms is the far reaching nature of the investments. Many financial planners feel that investors would be better suited with products that show a record of stability. Daniel Gleich, the COO of Broad, feels that the new diversity of investments is actually a point in the clients' favor. "Investors are just gravitating towards those assets that they know and understand. It makes sense that a woman who has worked in fitness for the past twenty years has a solid grasp of the industry and would know how to turn that knowledge to profit. What would not make sense is for her to put her money into assets that she doesn't understand, even if those assets are currently riding a wave of popularity."

Mr. Gleich feels that rather than going against the financial norm, these investments are more faithfully adhering to the mantra of diversity that financial professionals often espouse. "Investors understand that diversification is essential, but they are also coming to understand that holding different stocks is not true diversification. That can only be accomplished with alternative assets. This truth is brought home every day as investors see their IRAs being hammered in the current stock market."

With Mitt Romney's retirement fund making news, and a national move back towards American ingenuity, it looks like self-directed IRAs might be reaching the tipping point. It might just be a matter of time until alternative is the new norm.

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Investors Find Room to Express Themselves in Retirement

31 July 2012 Last updated at 02:34 ET

China's 16-year-old swimming star Ye Shiwen has denied taking performance-enhancing drugs after smashing a world record at the London Olympics.

She spoke out after a leading US coach described her performance in the 400m individual medley as "disturbing".

Ms Ye swam the 400m individual medley seconds faster than she ever had before and - on the last 50m - faster than the winner of the men's event.

There is no evidence against her and all medal winners are drug-tested.

On Monday, Ye Shiwen took at least five seconds off her personal best to break the world record by more than a second and win the gold medal in the individual medley.

In the last 50m she swam faster than US star Ryan Lochte in the men's event.

Commentators were stunned, including the BBC's Clare Balding who said questions would be asked about the swimmer's performance.

American coach John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, said her performance was "unbelievable" and "disturbing".

"History in our sport will tell you that every time we see something, and I will put quotation marks around this, unbelievable, history shows us that it turns out later on there was doping involved," he told the UK's Guardian newspaper.

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China swimming star denies doping

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwire -07/30/12)- HP (HPQ) today announced an all-solid state drive (SSD) configuration for HP 3PAR P10000 Storage to improve organizations' application performance while reducing operational costs and IT complexity.

Organizations with massive cloud and virtualized environments are turning to SSDs to address application performance gaps and improve infrastructure efficiency. However, integrating SSDs in legacy IT environments can be challenging and costly. Limitations on the number of SSDs per array can force clients to buy multiple systems, which in turn increases physical footprint, power usage and cooling expenses.

In addition, administrators are often required to move data manually between storage tiers to optimize service levels. This extremely time-intensive process increases data-center maintenance requirements, which can eliminate the performance and cost benefits that SSDs deliver.

The new all-SSD configuration for HP 3PAR P10000 Storage eliminates these issues with a single tier of solid state storage while also delivering the same industry-leading(1) performance as the existing HP 3PAR P10000. By supporting up to 512 SSDs per array, the all-SSD HP 3PAR system reduces equipment costs, data-center footprint and energy expenses. Client cost per input/output operations per second is reduced by 70 percent, and cost per kilowatt hour is cut by more than 80 percent, making all-SSD HP 3PAR P10000 Storage ideal for performance-driven applications.(2)

HP 3PAR P10000 systems also allow clients to combine SSDs with traditional Fibre Channel drives and deploy HP 3PAR Adaptive Optimization software to achieve autonomic storage tiering. Adaptive Optimization distributes data to the right storage tier at the right time, reducing data-center management costs and maximizing system performance.

"Before our move to HP 3PAR Adaptive Optimization Software with solid state, service levels were being compromised and substantial time was spent moving between tiers reactively," said Ken Kirchoff, director, Unix Systems and Storage, Priceline. "Now that data is automatically tiered, our total cost of ownership has dramatically improved, and our staff has more freedom to concentrate on strategic growth opportunities."

Seamless server-to-storage SSD integration improves performance, reduces costOnly HP Converged Infrastructure integrates SSDs seamlessly across servers and storage, allowing clients to improve application performance while reducing operational complexity and cost.

The new HP Smart Cache for the HP ProLiant Generation 8 (Gen8) servers will soon be available with advanced functionality that utilizes SSDs for caching to accelerate workload performance. The solution will use HP Smart Analytics technology to intelligently assign frequently accessed "hot data" to high-performance SSD drives. By providing workload-aware intelligence to optimize system operations, this "smart caching" capability helps clients achieve six times higher performance for transactional workloads(3) as well as 50 percent more performance for video-streaming applications, compared to previous generations.(4)

HP also is extending the functionality of HP Smart Cache within HP ProLiant Gen8 servers to a converged solution with HP 3PAR Storage solutions. This collaborative-caching capability will autonomically copy data in real time from the HP 3PAR Storage arrays to the HP Smart Array SSD cache on the HP ProLiant Gen8 server. This innovative capability enables clients to improve performance while reducing costs and latency, resulting in more agility when responding to service-level demands.

"While SSDs deliver critical performance for cloud and virtualized workloads, legacy infrastructures fail to maximize the technology's return on investment by requiring intensive data-tiering administration," said David Scott, senior vice president and general manager, Storage Division, HP. "The ability to intelligently automate data mobility between HP ProLiant servers and HP 3PAR systems within array tiers fully actualizes SSD performance and efficiency so clients can focus more time growing the business instead of managing the back office."

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HP Boosts Application Performance With HP 3PAR Solid State Technology

Manager and sommelier Orlando Bagnara, from Assaggio Ristorante. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe Source: AdelaideNow

THE owners of Assaggio had two reasons to celebrate last night, with their stylish Italian restaurant and casual cafe both picking up major prizes.

Their awards came in the 2012 Restaurant and Catering Awards for Excellence.

Assaggio Ristorante in Hyde Park, a complete package of finely-honed cooking, elegant surrounds and seamless service, won the big prize - restaurant of the year.

Over the other side of town, in our Italian heartland, the more relaxed pizzas and pastas of Assaggio Cafe at Campbelltown took out the cafe prize.

Other big winners included Chung Jae Lee, from Mapo Korean Restaurant, who was named best chef, and Press Food & Wine, which took out both the popular choice and best new restaurant prizes.

The best Chinese category went to From Orient, best Indian to Dhaba at the Spice Kitchen and best steak to The Barn Steakhouse in Mount Gambier.

Three restaurants were also inducted into the Hall of Fame after three successive awards - Auge (Italian), Pipers of Penola (regional) and Blanc Bistro & Grill (seafood).

The individual hall of fame award was presented to Norberto Spagnolo, who opened Adelaide's first Argentinian restaurant, Gaucho's in Gouger St, and now runs Buenos Aires Brasserie.

Another industry veteran, Leo Schadegg from Alphutte, won the Lifetime Achiever Award. Restaurant and Catering SA chief executive Sally Neville said the awards had attracted a record 280 entries.

Continued here:
Twin venues taste awards success

Calvin Zhu was a migrant success story - arriving in Australia with his family as a 10-year-old - a university education in finance, and then by the age of 30 holding the lofty title of executive vice-president with Hanlong Mining.

But once the Australian Securities and Investments Commission surveillance team detected suspect trading in Bannerman Resources and Sundance Resources, both takeover targets of Hanlong, Zhu lost his job, was unemployed and, in his own words, suffered "irreparable damage" to his professional reputation.

Zhu, who pleaded guilty this morning in the Downing Centre Local Court to serial inside trading since 2006, had outlined his personal situation to another judge in December, when he asked for permission to leave the country.

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Zhu had wanted to travel to China to speak to his father-in-law, a man to whom he owed not only $1 million but a cultural obligation to give an account of his predicament in person. The New South Wales Supreme Court was told that his wife would surrender her passport and remain in Australia with their child while he travelled, and that Mr Zhu was an Australian citizen who did not hold a People's Republic of China passport.

But as Justice Michael Slattery determined, the failure of Mr Zhu's friend and colleague, Steven Xiao, Hanlong's former managing director, to return to Australia under the court's previous restricted travel regime was a material change in circumstance. He banned Mr Zhu from leaving the country.

The judge also said that Mr Zhu had transferred $2.2 million from the Australian account of a company he controlled, Wingatta, to a Hong Kong account, and the whereabouts after that of the money was unknown. ASIC has alleged that $1 million of those funds were from Hanlong Metals, and were used to fund trades in Sundance contracts for difference (CFDs), which reaped a $1.2 million profit. ASIC says only $76,000 was returned to the company.

Zhu pleaded guilty to insider trading conduct while working as an executive at Caliburn, later as an associate at Credit Suisse, and as vice president, investments at Hanlong Mining.

The charges involved procuring others, including friends and his mother-in-law, and the company Wingatta, to acquire contracts for difference and securities ahead of public knowledge of a takeover bid.

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Unhappy end to a migrant success story

MARION, S.C. --

The Marion Boys and Girls club got a chance to dabble in their futures last week when a motivational speaker provided by Pee Dee Regional Education Centers Personal Pathways to Success Making Your Future Count program paid them a visit.

Al Duncan, an entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, spoke to several middle and high school club members about deciding their own futures and not letting their surroundings or their circumstances decide it for them.

It is up to you and you alone to decide what happens to your future, he said during his speech. Whos it up to?

Me, a club member responded.

With a simple nod, a smile and a thats right Duncan continued his speech where he indulged members with the story of his upbringing in Philadelphia and how at a young age he found out his father was on drugs. He shared how he became a successful musician, just to see that crumble away because of his lack of self restraint and spending habits.

He discussed his low point when he had to sell his saxophone he had had since he was nine years old, just so he could return home and care for his brother who had been getting into trouble. Then, how at the age of 24, he moved to Atlanta with his brother to keep him out of trouble and worked his way up the food chain at Olive Garden to become a chief chef. All ending to where he is today; the author of five books (most notably My Success Journal) and CEO of Al Duncan Enterprises LLC.

He told his story to highlight the reason he was there; so the group of young people can decide their own future no matter where they come from or who tells them otherwise.

Making Your Future Count is a career prep workshop for middle and high school youth and their parents. Those who participate will hopefully understand the importance of defining long-term goals and how to achieve them, consider their strengths, interests and the future job market when choosing a career path and develop goals that are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.

The Pee DeeRegionalEducationCenterreceived a $7,500 College Access Challenge Grant from the S.C. Commission on Higher Education to fund the program, according to Pee Dee Regional Education Center Coordinator Cheryl H. Lewis. They then used the grant to get Monster.com involved and provide the speaker.

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Marion Boys and Girls Club members learn from motivational speaker

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Last summer, health care industry executives, with the support of government and military leaders, launched a new initiative called Hero Health HireSM, a program to employ, train and support veterans and, in particular, disabled veterans or Wounded Warriors who suffered physical and mental injuries as a result of their military service. One year later, the program has gained 34 health care industry partners, representing more than 750,000 employees across the country with 3,304 worksites covering every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

As a nation we have a duty to honor the sacrifice of our military veterans by helping them make a smooth transition to the workforce, said U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. By connecting veterans with dedicated partners in the health care industry, the Hero Health Hire program is helping train and support our talented soldiers as they take on new challenges in high-growth sectors. This all hands on deck response is a fitting tribute to the dedication and determination shown by our service members each and every day.

Weve been very pleased to see the continued momentum and support for the Hero Health Hire initiative, said Ren Lerer, M.D., chairman and CEO of Magellan Health Services and founder of the program. Our nations veterans bring a unique set of skills, discipline and determination to the work force, and its encouraging to see more organizations embracing these men and women and helping them develop their careers.

Hero Health Hire is unique in that it is an industry-specific initiative that is helping health care employers both small and large share best practices and key insights for hiring and supporting wounded veterans as they transition to civilian jobs, said retired Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, M.D., who joined Hero Health Hire as honorary chairman in November. In the past year, weve been successful in building a sizeable network of employers in the health care industry who work together with military leaders through Hero Health Hire to help facilitate the placement of these wounded veterans in positions that best suit their skills and interests.

Since its founding, Hero Health Hire has held bi-monthly workshops and webinars for partner companies to help them begin or improve their veteran and wounded warrior recruitment and support programs. Hero Health Hire representatives have served on various military branch-sponsored Wounded Warrior Employment Conference planning committees and have supplied workshop instructors to work with disabled veterans preparing for the transition to civilian employment. Hero Health Hire leaders have spoken at recent conferences such as the US Armys AW2 Employment Conference and the U.S. Navys Annual Wounded Warrior Hiring and Support Conference.

The newly established Hero Health Hire Advisory Board met this past June in Washington, D.C. The boards mission is to provide strategic guidance to help the organization expand the program and develop additional resources to support the partners hiring efforts.

As we continue to grow and welcome new employers into Hero Health Hire, we want to enhance the infrastructure of the coalition to provide even greater tools, educational programming, military community relationships and, in general, to assist our partners with making the most of their wounded warrior and veteran recruitment efforts, said Michele Deverich, executive director of the Hero Health Hire initiative. We look forward to expanding our reach and the opportunities to connect Hero Health Hire employers with the brave men and women who have served us so well through our advisory board of strong, dedicated leaders.

Members of the advisory board include: Ren Lerer, M.D., Magellan Health Services; Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, honorary chairman, Hero Health Hire; Lynne Broussard, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana; Barbara Delano, Bon Secours Health System; Nancy Evanko, CRC Health Group; Karen Ferrell, Apollo Health Street; Lorraine Field, TriWest Health Alliance; Donna Hoffmeier, HealthNet Federal Services; David James, Humana Government Business; Linda Jimenez, WellPoint Inc.; Zach Parker, Defense Logistics Health (DLH); Tracy South, HMS; and Greg Alleyne, representing the Veterans Administrations Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services (VR&E) as an honorary advisor.

In the first year, the following companies have joined the Hero Health Hire initiative: Magellan Health Services, AGIS Network, Ameritox, Apollo Health Street, APS Healthcare, the Bobby Dodd Institute, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Bon Secours Health System, Booz Allen Hamilton, CareCore National, Centene Corporation, Cigna, CHSi, CRC Health Group, DLH, Express Scripts, Florida Blue, Health Care Cost Recovery, Inc., HealthNet Federal Services, HMS, Horizon Healthcare of New Jersey, Inc., Humana Government Business, Independence Blue Cross, Logisticare, Loyola Recovery Foundation, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield/Cambia Health, ResCare, SRA International, TriWest Health Alliance, UHS, UPMC, ValueOptions and WellPoint, Inc.

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Hero Health Hire Reaches First Anniversary of Helping Veterans Find Success in the Civilian Workforce

NEW YORK Coming off the worst start of his major league career, Baltimore Orioles rookie right-hander Miguel Gonzalezs next challenge was pitching against the division-leading New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

And the 28-year-old Gonzalez rebounded from his rocky outing last Wednesday by keeping the loaded Yankees lineup at bay as the Orioles continued their success in the Bronx this season.

Gonzalez, who has transformed from a minor league free agent to a key piece of the Orioles starting rotation, struck out a career-high eight batters and walked none Monday night, leading the Orioles to a 5-4 win. He gave up four runs and six hits in 62/ 3 innings.

The Orioles have won three of four games at Yankee Stadium this season they took two of three here from April 30 to May 2.

Gonzalez held the Yankees top five hitters to just one hit in 15 at-bats. He had allowed just two runs and four hits when he took the mound in the seventh inning using his change-up with precision before allowing back-to-back solo homers to left-handed hitters Eric Chavez and Ichiro Suzuki and leaving the game.

Good tempo, strike thrower, Manager Buck Showalter said of Gonzalez. You look at his walk totals and you watch him pitch, you dont think of him not having command, but when hes carrying his secondary stuff like that, hes got a chance to give us the outing that he did tonight.

His outing came after he gave up a career-high seven runs on seven hits and lasted just 22/ 3 innings in a 10-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start.

Gonzalez won despite allowing three homers Monday Raul Ibanez hit a solo shot in the fifth. In five major league starts, he has allowed nine homers.

The Orioles (54-49), who scored more than four runs in just three of their first 13 games following the all-star break, have now scored more than four runs in four of their last five.

The top two hitters in the Orioles lineup, Nick Markakis and J.J. Hardy, were a combined 5 for 9 with three RBI and both drove in runs in the seventh inning, giving the Orioles a 5-2 lead.

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Orioles vs. Yankees: Baltimore continues its success in New York this season