How to set an in-retirement withdrawal rate is a hot topic among Morningstar.com readers, and for good reason: It's one of the most impactful decisions that pre-retirees and retirees can make. Take too little and you give short shrift to your own quality of life; withdraw too much and you risk prematurely depleting your assets.

Because the topic of withdrawal rates has many nuances, I queried posters in the Investing During Retirement forum of Morningstar.com about a specific aspect of retirement distributions: whether retirees are taking fixed withdrawals from their retirement portfolios or varying their distributions based on factors such as market performance or personal income needs.

As usual, my query yielded a rich set of responses showcasing an array of approaches to this issue. To read the complete thread or share your own withdrawal strategy, click here (http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/forums/p/305271/3250292.aspx#3250292).

'Pretty Easy System'I didn't define "fixed" and "variable" in my question, so readers differed in their interpretations of the terms. Some posters noted that they're withdrawing a fixed dollar amount per year, which means that their withdrawals fluctuate as a percentage of their portfolios. That's the approach that underpins the so-called 4% rule, as discussed in this article (http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=536284).

Molokoeo is using that general strategy. "I make a fixed dollar withdrawal from my IRA monthly, and supplement that (grudgingly) with occasional withdrawals for one-off, unplanned expenses. Since the value of my portfolio fluctuates daily, I guess that means that my withdrawal rate is variable. My withdrawal rate modestly exceeds the commonly accepted sustainable withdrawal ate, though I'm confident in my ability to sustain my income stream with a diversified portfolio of dividend stocks, bonds, master limited partnerships, preferreds, REITs, and so on"

In a similar vein, dtconroe stays attuned to the paycheck, not the rate. "I focus on cash withdrawal amount instead of rate of withdrawal. I treat monthly withdrawals of cash as a regular paycheck for projected expenses. Every year, I decide whether to change my cash withdrawal amount for my next annual expense projections. If I need more than the cash withdrawal amount, due to unanticipated expenses, I have a savings account for the unexpected."

Other readers, meanwhile, are withdrawing a fixed percentage of their portfolios. Under that approach, the retiree's payout varies in dollar terms based on the performance of the investment assets--taking a fixed percentage yields a bigger paycheck in good years and a smaller one during down markets.

ColonelDan was matter-of-fact in his approval of this strategy. "I withdraw what I need but will not exceed 3% in any one year. The reality is as the market varies, so goes the portfolio balance, so goes one's ability to spend ergo so will the withdrawal amount even though the percentage rate itself may remain fixed. To do otherwise is to deny that reality as I see it."

Packer707 is also using a 3% fixed withdrawal rate. "We are now two years into retirement and planning to maintain/grow our portfolio during our lifetime. We use some small business ventures to fund some fun things like travel. If our investments and small businesses do well we will be able to do more of the fun things."

Glebbb is withdrawing a 4% rate, derived from a combination of income and capital gains. "I have my portfolio yield slightly above 4%, which, along with capital gains, gives me a small amount for rebalancing. All my distributions go into my money market fund. My 40%/60% portfolio should give me about 7% total return, average, so I get moderate growth. I write one check at the end of each year; [it's a] pretty easy system."

Excerpt from:
Are Your Retirement-Portfolio Withdrawals Fixed or Variable?

Home business Innovation, leadership main factors behind top companies' success: study

The Nation June 4, 2012 1:00 am

Hay Group, a global management consulting firm, has released its seventh annual "Best Companies for Leadership Study", identifying the top 20 global and top 10 Asian companies for leadership and examining how they nurture talent and foster innovation in their ranks. This year, General Electric topped the global list, followed by Procter & Gamble, IBM, Microsoft and Coca-Cola. Here in Asia, Samsung Group, Toyota Motor and Unilever led the ranking.

According to Hay Group's study, the Best Companies for Leadership (BCL) create workplace environments and processes that enable innovation to thrive. In fact, 90 per cent of the Asia's top 10 companies reported that their leaders regularly celebrated innovation, compared with just 59 per cent of other companies. In addition, 84 per cent of Asia's top 10 companies reported that ideas from subsidiaries were just as likely to be implemented as those from headquarters, compared with only 63 per cent of other companies.

"In Asia, there is a keen hunger to capitalise on the abundant business opportunities," said Mohinish Sinha, leadership and talent practice leader for Hay Group Asean, India, Pacific and Africa and co-author of the BCL Asia report. "The Best Companies for Leadership recognise innovation is key to their future growth and sustainability in a fiercely competitive global market.

"Many companies prize innovation, but the Best Companies for Leadership approach it in a disciplined way by building agile organisations, promoting collaboration, and celebrating successes."

The global top 20 Best Companies for Leadership are GE, P&G, IBM, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Accenture, Wal-Mart Stores, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Toyota, Nestle, 3M, Southwest Airlines, ExxonMobil, PepsiCo, Siemens, Shell, Dow Chemical, and FedEx.

Asia's BCL top 10 are Samsung, Toyota, Unilever, Nestle, Tata Group, IBM, Sony, P&G, Coca-Cola, and Petronas.

"There are plenty of ideas that we could learn from the best companies in driving a culture of innovation," said Thachasha Phuangpornsri, leadership and talent practice leader, Thailand. "Innovation does not happen by chance any more; the highlight this year indicates that best companies focus on promoting an environment that encourages meaningful innovations throughout the organisation. This is seen as a crucial way to survive and drive their market leadership."

--Innovation revolution

Read more from the original source:
Innovation, leadership main factors behind top companies' success: study

ST. CHARLES Kerry Cox was raised to reach the unchurched on college campuses.

In fact, he's so good at it, his efforts have engulfed Lindenwood University in a dispute that includes allegations of cult activity, two resignations and a broader debate about the proper bounds of evangelizing on campus.

The son of a pastor, Cox grew up sharing his father's fiery zeal to mine the faithful amid the indulgences and parties of youth.

He watched his father, the Rev. Robert Cox, launch a successful campus ministry at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville two decades ago. The son would later take over that ministry while enrolled as an SIUE student, sending hundreds of believers to his dad's Greater Alton Church.

So when the church was looking to expand its evangelization to Lindenwood, Kerry Cox was the perfect choice.

He enrolled as a student in 2004, quickly establishing a ministry called A Cross Between.

He and his new wife bought a house with a big living room to better host all of the college students who would be stopping by for small group worship services. It was the way he had grown up, with college kids coming and going at all hours from his parents' home.

"College is the time when people meet their mates," said Cox, 34. "It's when they meet the friends they'll have for the rest of their lives. People are at their most open-minded in college, and we can talk to them about these things they might not know about. It's just a good opportunity."

In the case of Lindenwood, that opportunity paid off beyond anyone's expectations.

A Cross Between accomplished its goal of sending worshippers to Robert Cox's new congregation, the Crossings Church in Wentzville. It claimed as many as 125 students, and its influence on campus grew, with several staff members becoming active in the group.

See original here:
Campus ministry's success at evangelism may be its undoing

By Ray Pitz

The Times, May 31, 2012, Updated Jun 1, 2012

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The Sherwood School District will receive nearly $383,000 to help pay for professional development of teachers in the district.

The Oregon Department of Education recently announced that Sherwood was one of 11 school districts in the state awarded an Oregon School District Collaboration Grant of $382,825 to be spent during the 2012-13 school year.

The district plans to use the grant money for professional development and teacher release time for collaboration around the new Common Core State Standards, proficiency-based teaching and learning, and instructional technology.

The district joined the Creative Leadership Achieves Student Success Project (also known as CLASS) in 2007 and is one of the first three districts to participate in the program. CLASS is an innovative education initiative designed to empower teachers and raise student achievement, according to district officials.

It is built around four components linked to effective teaching: expanded career paths, effective performance evaluations, relevant professional development and new compensation models.

The grant is closely linked to the CLASS initiative and geared toward districts preparation for implementation in those areas.

Steve Sugg, interim chief academic officer for the Sherwood School District, worked alongside a team of administrators and certified association leaders to write the grant.

See the original post:
Sherwood School District awarded hefty grant

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CNN Report Concerning Online Education - Video

AS TECHNOLOGY blurs the boundaries between the classroom and the home, parents have a vital role to play in their children's online education - but not all of them feel up to the task.

A survey has found that 87 per cent of Australian parents say their children use the internet at least weekly for homework, research or educational games, but 45 per cent have not been able to help their children resolve problems using the internet.

The survey of more than 1000 parents with children aged 5 to 17 was commissioned by NBN Co and its results were released yesterday. It found 74 per cent of parents of primary school students were more confident than their children about using the internet, but that proportion fell to 47 per cent among parents of children at high school.

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Philip Argy, of the NSW Parents' Council state executive, said parents had a vital role to play in helping their children's online learning.

''Many parents do not feel up to that task and part of our work is to help parents to understand the important role internet-connected learning has in their child's education, instead of being sidelined through technology mysticism,'' he said.

Schools and websites were increasingly offering advice for parents wanting to help their children navigate online, Mr Argy said. Ninety-four per cent of parents surveyed for the report agreed that having high speed internet at home was important for their children's education.

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Parents need some help with their navigation

Crestview firefighters not only monitored the progress of a fictitious category 3 hurricane, they threw a few unexpected twists into the countys annual hurricane planning exercise that sent participants hunkered down in the county Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Niceville scrambling.

Technically a hurrex, or hurricane exercise, Hurricane Gispert (named for an emergency planner in Hillsborough County) was modeled on 1998s Hurricane Georges. That storms severe flooding rendered Crestview an island cut off from surrounding communities.

Crestview Fire Department veterans Battalion Chief Tony Holland and Assistant Chief Ralph Everage were on duty during Georges. When Randy McDaniel, chief of Okaloosa Countys Emergency Management department, asked Crestview emergency responders to join the Hurrex Gispert exercise, their first-hand experience proved invaluable.

Randy had asked for some input from Crestview, Everage explained. He wanted something other than a coastal component and asked for some input from us.

We wanted them to consider what they could possibly need in the city shortfalls they would have in a flooding event, making us jump through the hoops to find those things for them, McDaniel said.

As the virtual storm approached at 8 a.m. May 24, Holland and Everage logged into WebEOC, an Internet-based communications system used by emergency management agencies throughout the county. The system is also linked to the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, which monitored the states local Gispert exercises.

Using their experience from past storms, Holland and Everage devised injects, or storm-related emergency situation scenarios, and entered them into WebEOC.

As the storm buffeted the region, Holland entered, In the area of (State Road) 85 and (U.S. Highway) 90 there are power lines down and the traffic light is on the ground.

The scenario and others from neighboring agencies flowed into the system. County Emergency Management staff prioritized the incidents and assigned them to various emergency services function (ESF) organizations.

ESFs include county and municipal public works offices, fire and search-and-rescue units, the Red Cross and Salvation Army, public utilities, the military, law enforcement agencies, municipal governments, the county health department, and animal control.

Excerpt from:
Crestview Fire Department localizes hurricane excercise

BANGKOK Chaos is part of Bangkok's charm. But the savvy traveler quickly learns how to navigate Bangkok's legendary traffic jams and discover its soul, a mix of urban jungle and Buddhist serenity where shopping and eating are national pastimes.

Despite the weak dollar, Bangkok remains one of the best deals in Asia. Some of the world's tastiest street food sells for as little as 25 baht (80 cents) a plate. Beat traffic by zipping down side streets in a tuk-tuk or cruising up the Chao Phraya on public express boats for stunning views of the city's premier attractions both for about a dollar. Other favorite outings are free:

LUMPINI PARK: An oasis of tropical gardens and paved jogging paths in the middle of the city. Beat the heat by avoiding the park in midday. There are early-morning tai chi classes and after-work aerobics classes. You can rent paddle boats, take the kids to one of Bangkok's best outdoor playgrounds or marvel at the massive monitor lizards in the lake.

CHATUCHAK MARKET: Browsing is free at the largest outdoor market in Thailand, and it's a sight to see whether or not you take something home. Chatuchak's thousands of stalls are divided into sections that include antiques, home dcor, clothing and food. You can find everything from Buddha statues and Thai handicrafts to handmade jewelry and the occasional endangered species in the live animal section. For upscale, air-conditioned window shopping, head to shopping malls Siam Paragon, Emporium or Central World.

TEMPLE HOPPING: Catch some karma at Bangkok's many Buddhist temples, known in Thai as "wats." Some of the most popular, Wat Po and Wat Arun, ask foreigners to pay a minimal entrance fee but hundreds of others are free, including the impressive Temple of the Golden Mount, also known as Wat Saket. A temple compound's shaded walkways and quiet corners are a perfect place to escape the sensory overload on Bangkok's busy streets.

FLOWER MARKET: Bangkok's largest flower market, Pak Klong Talat, is open 24 hours but it's busiest just after 2 a.m. when traders unload their fresh-cut blossoms in bulk. It's a kaleidoscope of colors with an incredible selection of orchids at jaw-droppingly cheap prices. The market is just south of Wat Pho and not far from the Grand Palace in the historical section of old Bangkok.

PATPONG: For a walk on Bangkok's wild side, take an evening stroll along Patpong Road. It offers the incongruous mix of go-go bars and evening shopping. A thriving night market selling T-shirts, pirated DVDs and other souvenirs runs through the red-light district and spills onto the adjacent Silom Road, which is packed with street food vendors, restaurants and bars.

Link:
Tips for exploring Bangkok for free

Crisci Chan

CLAY art teacher Crisci Chan enjoys giving life to the mundane. And she has opened up another world to children, a world of favourite cartoon characters.

Chan has, in her own way, moulded the future of these children by developing their creativity. Her classes at her studio in Paramount Garden, Petaling Jaya, reverberates with the ooohs and aaahs of children, who marvel that at the turn of their fingers, characters such as Smurfs, Angry Birds, Tony Tony Chopper and Hello Kitty come to life.

Chan says that a child who had no interest in the art at all became totally engrossed after he learnt that he could make miniatures of the chocolate cakes he likes.

Another, an autistic, began to communicate with Chan after she gave special attention to the child and earned his confidence.

These are some of the extraordinary encounters I had with children through my art, says Chan who gave up her promising marketing career in Singapore last year to promote clay art.

Chan teaches her art at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, kindergartens and shopping malls and also offers one-to-one coaching.

Clay art is one way of helping children develop the brain. Art trains us to think outside the box. It helps children to understand concepts with greater ease and achieve better grades, says Chan.

I loved making things with my hands ever since I was a child. When I was about 15, I made a miniature of my home using cards and balsa wood. I still have the model. Art is not limited to 2-D, it is much more fun doing 3-D art.

Her mother was instrumental in helping Chan develop an interest in art. She sent me to art tuition every Sunday when I was little until I was 17.

See original here:
ART: Giving life to clay

OKLAHOMA CITYIt is like a game of chess with real, live human pieces, a move that leads to a countermove and men always trying to anticipate the next two or three or more moves that the opponent will make.

It is difficult and stressful and all thats at stake is a season as Scott Brooks of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs try to figure out what the other will do in the NBAs Western Conference final.

It was said early in the best-of-seven series that Popovich was playing chess while Brooks was playing checkers. It was a cute oversimplification and a nifty throwaway line, not to mention dead wrong.

Its an intricate business figuring out what might work and putting your players in position to assure that it does. As criticized as Brooks was after the Thunder fell behind 2-0, he was lauded when Oklahoma City clawed back into the series with a Game 3 victory.

Brooks decision to use the 6-foot-7 Thabo Sefolosha to defend San Antonios 6-foot-2 point guard Tony Parker worked wonders, as did the move to switch a lot of high screen-and-rolls and make life difficult for Manu Ginobili once he got the ball.

Well, there were changes, said Ginobili. Its hard to tell which one influenced the game the most. But they had a switch more on me, and it worked in that game. So hopefully we make them pay a little bit more in the next one.

And thats where the move-countermove coaching game plays out with the most intrigue. Brooks made an adjustment, shifting the focus onto the Spurs to come up with something new.

We went to dinner (between Games 3 and 4), and we talked a lot about what happened and how we can improve, but players things, said Ginobili.

Yeah, we thought about some things, which Im not going to tell you guys.

It wasnt exactly a stroke of genius teams have been using taller defenders to crowd Parker for years but Brooks alteration brought kudos.

Read the original:
Coaching chess match subplot to Spurs-Thunder series