Retirement conjures up images of spending more time with family and paring down a bucket list, but the reality can be quite different without adequate financial planning.

Here's a guide to what experts say are the five most common mistakes people make when they retire.

Mistake No.1: Not having a plan

Some pre-retirees fail to sufficiently consider what they would like to accomplish after leaving the workforce. According to Christine Fahlund, a senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price, it's essential for people who are considering retirement to identify what activities are going to be interesting and challenging for them in retirement.

"In addition, it is very important for married couples to communicate with one another about what each one wants to do in retirement," she says. "The discussion will provide a good idea of how much it will cost to make their respective visions a reality."

Mistake No. 2: Not enough funds

If pre-retirees expect they will live on much less money in retirement, Fahlund suggests trying to cut down and make lifestyle changes before retirement to see if its viable.

Kevin Worthley, a certified financial planner, says it's essential for pre-retirees to analyze how their retirement income needs will match up with retirement resources.

Mistake No. 3: Not calculating rising costs of living

Worthley says many people fail to calculate inflation, or rising costs of living, when evaluating how much they will need in retirement.

Continued here:
Five Common Retirement Mistakes

Britain's Perri Shakes Drayton believes she's on course for the 400m hurdles Olympic final after clocking a personal best of 53.77 seconds during victory at the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace.

In an all-star field, which included Olympic champion Melanie Walker and European Champion Irina Davydova, Shakes-Drayton thrived in front of a home crowd, running the second fastest time in the event in 2012; and breaking a two-year old personal best of 54.18 seconds.

The impressive final run before the Games propels the 23 year old into contention for a medal come the London Olympics, but the home town hurdler is setting herself a modest target.

Shakes-Drayton was in disbelief after running a big personal best at Crystal Palace.

"I think I've got make the final now but I've got to stay level headed and not let this race get to me too much," she said.

"I've run a personal best today. You know I just believed in myself. I thought it was an opportunity to run against the best, these girls have run some phenomenal times.

"I thought, let's focus on what I've got to do. We've done a lot of work this week with my coach and today went well.

"It was waiting wasn't it? I honestly didn't expect to run a personal best today," she added. "Conditions wise they weren't the best but the rain stopped, that's what I wanted, no rain. This is what I'm used to.

"It will give me confidence but I won't let it get to my head too much because with my event anything can happen so it could be my day one day and another persons day another, so today is was my day but I'm not going to take what happened today to much and get too ahead of myself."

As well as coming into form at just the right time, Shakes-Dryaton looked at home in front of a capacity Crystal Palace crowd.

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London Olympics 2012: Perri Expects After Personal Best

The National Reconnaissance Office is so intent on extracting confessions of personal or illicit behavior that officials have admonished polygraphers who refused to go after them and rewarded those who did, sometimes with cash bonuses, a McClatchy Newspapers investigation found.

The disclosures include a wide range of behavior and private thoughts such as drug use, child abuse, suicide attempts, depression and sexual deviancy. The agency, which oversees the nations spy satellites, records the sessions that were required for security clearances and stores them in a database.

Even though its aggressively collecting the private disclosures, when people confess to serious crimes such as child molestation theyre not always arrested or prosecuted.

Youve got to wonder what the point of all of this is if were not even going after child molesters, said Mark Phillips, a veteran polygrapher who resigned from the agency in late May after, he says, he was retaliated against for resisting abusive techniques. This is bureaucracy run amok. These practices violate the rights of Americans, and its not even for a good reason.

The agency refused to answer McClatchys questions about its practices. However, its acknowledged in internal documents that its not supposed to directly ask more personal questions but says it legally collects the information when people spontaneously confess, often at the beginning of the polygraph test.

After a legal review of Phillipss assertions, the agencys assistant general counsel, Mark Land, concluded in April that it did nothing wrong. My opinion, based on all of the facts, is that managements action is legally supportable and corrective action is not required, he wrote.

But McClatchys review of hundreds of documentsincluding internal policy documents, memos and agency e-mailsindicates that the National Reconnaissance Office is pushing ethical and possibly legal limits by:

n Establishing a system that tracks the number of personal confessions, which then are used in polygraphers annual performance reviews.

n Summoning employees and job applicants for multiple polygraph tests to ask about a wide array of personal behavior.

n Altering results of the tests in what some polygraphers say is an effort to justify more probing of employees and applicants private lives.

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US spy agency accused of illegally collecting personal data

WORLD 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene remains confident of his Olympic gold medal prospects in London, despite another defeat to Javier Culson last night.

Greene again finished second in the Diamond League meeting in Crystal Palace behind the undefeated dominant 2012 world leader after an identical result in Paris last week.

On that occasion in France, Greene ran a personal best of 47.84secs, while clocking 48.10 last night in London with his Puerto Rican rival clocking 47.78 on both occasions.

But in the last week Greene has overcome a stuttering start to the season which had been affected by winter knee surgery and illness.

The Llanelli star, who was named Great Britain Olympic athletics team captain this week, remains adamant he will peak in London.

It was pretty good, but I would have loved to have got one over on Javier before the Olympics, said Greene.

But from where I was six weeks ago to where I am now I am still very happy.

I will work on some technical things over the next couple of weeks and there is a bit more to come.

I have more to give and feel as if I am on an upward curve.

I am getting faster every week and there are a few technical issues to iron out and I will get stronger as I do more training.

Originally posted here:
Athletics: Dai Greene confident of Olympic success

UpdatedJul 14, 2012 11:58 AM ET

The curious thing about hitting rock bottom, New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey discovered, is that it is not literally made of rock.

I remember it as a dark black clay, a wet, wet clay, said Dickey, recalling the bottom of the Missouri River in which he nearly drowned after vainly attempting to swim across it. It had a sucking feeling to it, but luckily not so overpowering that I was unable to push off it.

On June 9, 2007, Dickey was in the midst of an underwhelming season with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, his 11th overall in the minor leagues. His marriage, after his wife Anne learned of his infidelity, was in peril.

So while the Sounds were in Omaha, Neb., for a series against the Royals, Dickey decided to take on the daring stunt.

Maybe if I somehow get across, swim like a madman through the turbidity, he wrote in his recently released tell-all memoir, Wherever I Wind Up, God will help me close the prodigious gap between the man I am and the man I want to be.

Five years later, Dickey sat in front of his locker at Citi Field and talked to The Daily about that period of his life.

When I was sinking I had resigned myself to death, Dickey said. The fear had come and gone.

It has all led to a rebirth for the 37-year-old right-hander, who has reinvented himself as a knuckleball pitcher after spending parts of 14 seasons in the minors. He was selected for the All-Star Game for the first time this year. Meanwhile, his personal story of being molested as a child has put him in the national spotlight.

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Dickey cedes control, finds success

During the 2012 Special Olympics Summer Games, held June 8-10 at The College of New Jersey, more than 2,300 Special Olympics athletes from across New Jersey competed.

Among the athletes were 16 members of the Somerset Hills YMCAs Sea Wasps swim team. This year was especially rewarding as they exceeded their prior best in 24 of 40 events, including eight team records and 10 personal bests.

We are proud of our team, said Suzi Pellegrino, Somerset Hills YMCA senior director of Aquatics. Their achievements are only matched by the strength of their friendship, their determination and their dedication to training, which fully embraces the mission of the Special Olympics.

In the 200-yard Free Relay and the 200-yard Medley Relay, team records were set by Melissa Bosch of Warren, Daisy DeSimone of Bernardsville, Samantha LaMonte of Basking Ridge and Susan Huck of Somerville. Teammates William Saillot of Berkley Heights, Robbie Finer of Warren, Matt Iannaconne of Morristown and David Yu of Basking Ridge set team records in both the 200-yard Free Relay and the 200-yard Medley Relay. Additionally, team records were set in individual events by Melissa Bosch (50-yard Breast and 100-yard IM), Daisy DeSimone (100-yard Breast) and William Saillot (100-yard Breast).

Personal bests were set by Susan Huck (100-yard Free), Samantha LaMonte (100-yard Free), William Saillot (100-yard Breast), David Yu (50-yard Back), as well as Dan Homan (100-yard back) of Basking Ridge, Vincent Xie (25-yard Back) of Basking Ridge, Stephanie Ridilla (100-yard Back) of Berkley Heights, Dan Israel (25-yard Breast) of Basking Ridge, Kristen Clark (50-yard Free) of Basking Ridge and Alicia Plucinski (200-yard Free) of Basking Ridge.

The Ys Special Olympics program is available to anyone in the community and brings to life the Ys mission to encourage healthy living for all. The Y meets its mission through low and no cost programs made possible by funds raised through the Strong Kids campaign.

The teams medal count was quite high, said Coach David DeSimone, but I dont pay much attention to the medals. Rather, I focus on the effort and the outcome. The ultimate winners are those who can always improve performance, and every athlete on our team earned at least one personal record. In my nine years coaching, this is the best Summer Games team weve had.

For more information, visit somersethillsymca.org or call 908-766-7898.

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Somerset Hills YMCA swim team has success at 2012 Special Olympics Summer Games

A few years ago I saw a former client (lets call her Christine) in a social setting. She had just gotten married, was about to have a baby, left her job, and moved from an urban area to a suburban one. As she updated me on things in her life, she expressed confidence in her decisions but also confessed it was rough at times. She then apologized for the latter pretty quickly, lest she sound ungrateful.

Why wouldnt it be hard? I said. Youve made a number of major changes in your life.

Her face instantly brightened and I thought she might cry with happiness.

Yes! she said. Yes. Thats true. No one wants to hear me say that because they say I have all these things I always said I wanted.

To be clear, these were still things she wanted. A life partner she loved and all that comes with building that life together.

This was really about the whole grass is greener issue. A little bit on Christines part, but more so on the part of the female friends who were pooh-poohing her for being the least bit freaked out by all the change.

Lets review. Completely different way of life in suburbia. A grinding halt to an active career (a temporary one, but a halt nonetheless). Independence vs. partnership. And on the brink of being a parent for the first time.

Hello, adjustment period.

Does anyone honestly think they can wrap their head around all that and just keep going? Yes, if youre emotionally healthy you count your blessings. But you also ask yourself over and over again if you knew what you were getting into. Because boy are you going to be experiencing some radical change.

Meanwhile, Christines friends were wondering why she wasnt hanging off a chandelier doing twirls in a blissful state. And it had her wondering, too.

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Greener Grass Requires Adjustment Periods

July 13, 2012

Kids at the Boys & Girls Club in Charlottesville spent the day learning about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.

The 10th-annual health fair is sponsored by the University of Virginia Medical Center. A number of faculty, residents and staff took part to show the kids healthy habits.

Kids took part in a number of activities from running to CPR training and even a Zumba class.

UVa. also offered physicals for any high school students participating in sports.

"Children learn a little bit about health and nutrition in school and they learn some at home, but the more knowledge they have and learn as a child, the healthier adult they'll be," said Nancy McDaniel, a pediatrician at UVa.

The health fair is part of UVa.'s continuing efforts to make an impact in the community.

"Over the years I've been doing it, I've noticed these kids, they look healthier," McDaniel said. "They're slimmer, they're more active and it is just good for them to be able to make their own decisions about activity and food."

More than 200 children took part in the Boys & Girls Club's health fair.

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B&G Club Health Fair Focuses on Kids' Fitness

Open registration begins this week for Livingston County Health Centers 10 week Weight Loss and Wellness program for adults who would like to get educated about improving their level of health and lose a few pounds along the way.

The Weight Loss and Wellness program focuses on two of the more important aspects of a healthy lifestyle: nutrition and activity. Its not a diet but rather a comprehensive program that emphasizes a healthy lifestyle approach to weight management by integrating fitness, nutrition and the behavioral aspects of eating. Through this program, participants will experience an enhancement of their quality of life.

Each participant completes a Health Survey, Wellness Screening and receives an individual consultation, after which, educational support will be offered for a ten week session, beginning Aug. 15th.

The Wellness Screening component of the program includes a heart health screen including measurement of blood pressure, cholesterol, lipids and glucose and body mass index to determine risk for heart disease. Participants meet individually with a health center RN to review screening results and set individual goals for improvement. Each week, participants weigh in and educational classes are held every other week.

The goal for the participants completing the program is to lose 2 percent of their body weight by the end of the program and/or have established a regular activity/exercise routine of three times a week for at least 30 minutes a day. The program will continue to follow up on participants, offering a subsequent wellness screening and evaluation of continued progress after the program ends.

Basic blood work is done before beginning the program. If you would like to receive a complete panel, attend the July 25th Adult Blood Draw Clinic at the health center, from 7 to 10 a.m. If youve had blood work done in the last 6 months, simply bring a copy of those results to put on file. Those interested in being a part of the August session should call 646-5506 to set up an appointment with Program Coordinator Anita Perry, RN or come by the health center office at 800 Adam Drive to register. Registration is limited.

Please check with your doctor before significantly changing your diet or starting a new exercise regimen.

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Livingston Co. Health Center to offer weight loss and wellness Program

This month's enactment of the retirement plan fee disclosure law brings to mind the definition of a true professional -- someone who gives others the same advice they would follow for themselves knowing what they know about their vocation. So a whistle-blower would be someone who steps forward to point out that their fellow associates are not acting professionally. Their collective behavior is self-serving, but nobody wants to mess up a good thing.

Considering the legions of MBAs and Ph.D.s that populate the nation's financial services industry -- and purporting to help people prepare for an adequate retirement -- I find it a little strange that few had thought to calculate the true opportunity cost of retirement plan fees.

All it takes is some punching up of some compound interest figures on a calculator. What it ultimately took was the action of a few whistle-blowers throughout the industry -- starting with John Bogle at Vanguard.

For the past 20 years, the 401(k) industry and the retirement advisory community were charging participants an unconscionable amount and they were accessing their fees from retirement accounts -- the most expensive money anyone could use to pay a bill. The mutual fund industry is arguably the world's most profitable industry because buyers are not price-sensitive. When you are charged a fee but never receive an invoice, or have to write a check, it's the silent spring of stealth billing.

Moreover,

The average equity mutual fund during that 20-year period was earning about 15 percent per year. Money compounding in a retirement plan at that rate doubles every five years. But fees can take a big chunk from the fund; $100 charged in fees in the single year of 1980, for instance, would otherwise have compounded to $1,600 by early 2000 if it had been left in the fund at the beginning of that 20-year stretch.

And remember, fees taken out of your fund also reduce your return. So, for instance, a fund earning 15 percent a year actually gives you a return of 14 percent a year if the fee is 1 percent. When you calculate that missing 1 percent over long periods of time, the opportunity cost goes off the charts: $1.3 million in 30 years on a $10,000 per year annual 401(k) contribution.

Even with more normal 10 percent returns, the cost of the missing 1 percent is $355,000 in 30 years on the same $10,000 annual contribution.

The earliest published attempt to compare the cost to employees among the major retirement plan vendors occurred in 1998. A cost index was the subject of articles in the New York Times followed by Money magazine with its eight-page cover article "Beware Retirement Plan Rip-off." The Labor Department held televised hearings in Washington and then published a pamphlet that warned company decision makers to avoid high fees -- and that was it.

Finally in 2009, some 10 years after initial calls for disclosure, Rep. George Miller took action as head of the Committee on Education and Labor. His efforts resulted in what is now the new fee disclosure legislation that just went into effect this month. Your plan committee now knows what all your costs are, and you will be told along with your September quarter-end statement -- by law. I could argue that this legislation has the potential to add a trillion dollars to retirement accounts over the next 30 years -- at no cost to anyone but the financial services industry.

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Retirement Planner: Counting the positives of new fee disclosure law