AUSTIN, Texas, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --MapMyFITNESS, a health and fitness technology company powering the Internet's largest and fastest growing community of fitness enthusiasts, today announced the launch of a completely rebuilt platform with several new features for its portfolio of online fitness websites, including an innovative feature called Courses, advanced integration of Google Maps API for Business, and a fresh look and feel. Courses will span five primary categories of sports, including cycling, running, walking, hiking and winter sports, as well as hundreds of subcategory specialty activities like cross-country skiing and unicycling.

(Logo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120522/SF11456LOGO)

Courses now provides both elite athletes and casual enthusiasts an unprecedented leaderboard and "check-in" technology, and will be available initially through a private beta test for the first 100,000 users who sign up at new.mapmyfitness.com/maps/courses. The new site, which provides fitness enthusiasts five-times-faster performance, is now available to everyone at new.mapmyfitness.com, and widespread access to Courses will be offered later this summer.

"As the largest online fitness social network community with more than 9 million users, we are excited to expand the functionality of our product portfolio to our rapidly growing base," said Richard Jalichandra, chief executive officer of MapMyFitness. "Our goal is to enable athletes in the 40-plus sports supported by MapMyFITNESS to benefit from this enhanced level of product capability and functionality."

In addition to the introduction of Courses, MapMyFITNESS' new features include the latest mapping technology from Google. MapMyFITNESS enables users to create new Courses directly from their iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile or iPad. The Google Maps API v 3 integration also provides route details like traffic patterns and temperature in real-time, which will help users better plan and experience activities.

"MapMyFITNESS is integrating their applications with Google Maps to help top athletes and beginners easily visualize their routes," said Dan Chu, Google product manager. "We're always excited to see people using Google Maps in new, innovative ways."

The Courses feature does real-time processing of MapMyFITNESS' database of over 50 million routes and 30,000 event courses to produce a fun, engaging and motivating experience that helps users plan activities, measure their fitness and track their progress in real-time and over time.

Specifically, Courses includes:

"The new MapMyFITNESS websites and applications were designed to support a user base that ranges from casual beginners to ultra-competitive athletes," said Robin Thurston, co-founder and chief product officer of MapMyFITNESS. "The Courses feature, powered by our integration with Google's latest mapping technology, is a big differentiator for us, and we think users are really going to enjoy tracking their workouts and competing against others."

MapMyFITNESS has been recognized by some of the world's most credible authorities as the premier fitness application, including TIME's "50 Best Apps list in 2012" (the only fitness app named this year), Runner's World UK's "Best Running App of 2012," About.com Reader's Choice "Best Running App" in 2012 and a consistent top five ranking in iTunes' Health and Fitness category. More than 200,000 health and fitness activities are logged each day by MapMyFITNESS users across 40 different sports not just running and cycling.

Continued here:
MapMyFITNESS Launches Groundbreaking Applications and Redesigned Website

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Chatham Partners recognized Transamerica Retirement Services sales team among the top retirement services providers in its 2011 Advisor/Distributor Satisfaction Analysis. Transamericas sales force was recognized for its knowledge, responsiveness and availability, and earned 10 Best in Class ratings in the survey.

In the survey, Transamericas external sales team earned Best in Class ratings from advisors and distributors for overall satisfaction, point-of-sale assistance and support, presentation skills, problem resolution skills, knowledge, responsiveness and availability. The companys internal sales team also garnered Best in Class ratings for responsiveness, knowledge and availability.

The survey results are a testament to the quality and value that Transamericas sales force brings to the advisor community, said Peter Starr, president of Chatham Partners. The ratings from advisors and distributors exemplify Transamericas dedication to providing Best in Class service to advisors and the retirement plan sponsors they serve.

Transamerica remains committed to helping financial advisors through all phases of selling and servicing retirement plan clients, said Jason Crane, senior vice president and national sales director of Transamerica Retirement Services. In this years survey, financial advisors have recognized our efforts in helping grow their practices, and in providing unparalleled support to advisors while working with prospective and current clients.

For more information about Transamericas retirement plan sales support, please call (888) 401-5826, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

About Transamerica Retirement Services Corporation

Transamerica Retirement Services Corporation (Transamerica or Transamerica Retirement Services), which is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, designs customized retirement plan solutions to meet the unique needs of small- to mid-sized businesses. Transamerica and its affiliates have more than 17,0001 retirement plans totaling more than $20 billion1 in assets. For more information about Transamerica, please refer to http://www.TA-Retirement.com.

About Chatham Partners 2011 Advisor/Distributor Satisfaction Analysis

Chathams independent third-party research helps isolate Transamericas key strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in delivery of client services, and benchmarks Transamericas standing relative to other small-market defined contribution providers. By identifying the most important drivers of advisor satisfaction, Transamerica uses these findings to help provide the best possible retirement planning solution for its clients.

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Transamerica Retirement Services Sales Team Ranks “Best in Class” in Chatham Partners’ 2011 Advisor/Distributor ...

(MoneyWatch) As a proponent of planning ahead, I've written previously about three strategies you should learn about that will "recession-proof" your retirement paycheck. One of my earlier posts showed how you might have fared if you had used one of these strategies -- drawing down interest and dividends only from a portfolio balanced between stocks and bonds -- during the "lost" decade of 2000 to 2009. Since a few years had passed, I wanted to update that analysis to include 2010 and 2011.

There are two simple, cost-effective ways for you generate a retirement paycheck from interest and dividends on a balanced portfolio. You can invest in one of the following two funds:

- Vanguard's Wellington fund (VWELX), which is invested about 65 percent in stocks and the rest in bonds and cash investments, or

- Vanguard's Wellesley fund (VWINX), which is invested about 40 percent in stocks and the rest in bonds and cash investments.

IRAs and 401(k): 3 ways to generate lifetime retirement income Recession-proof your retirement savings IRA and 401(k): Generate retirement income with just interest and dividends

Of course, there are other low-cost, balanced funds available; most likely your 401(k) plan at work has an investment option that could also could fit the bill.

So let's see how you would have fared if you had invested $200,000 in each of these two funds at the beginning of 2000, and then withdrew just interest and dividends each of the 12 years through the end of 2011.

Vanguard Wellington Fund

By the end of 2011, your initial investment of $200,000 would have grown to $227,266 just on the appreciation of the fund's share price, for a modest total gain of 13.6 percent over the course of 12 years. During your first year -- 2000 -- your interest and dividend payments would have been $7,739, for a yield on investment income of 3.9 percent. Over the next dozen years, you would have received a stream of income with a modest roller-coaster ride, as shown in this graph:

During those 12 years, you also would have received $53,002 in capital gains distributions. You could have used these distributions to boost your retirement savings by the end of 2011 or to fill in the dips in the dividend income stream (or some combination thereof).

The rest is here:
Recession-proof your retirement income

(MoneyWatch) This post starts my series on various retirement income offerings that are being introduced in 401(k) and other defined contribution retirement plans. Today we'll take a look at Income Solutions, the online annuity bidding platform offered by Hueler Investment Services that's available on the platforms of many 401(k) plan administrators. It's also available to customers of Vanguard through its Annuity Access program.

Do you long for the good old days of company pensions, where you're paid a monthly retirement income for the rest of your life, no matter how long you live and no matter what happens in the economy? You can get that with a simple "immediate annuity," a product that's been available for years from insurance companies. But don't confuse these time-tested products with "deferred variable" annuities, which can have high expenses and poor investment returns -- they've given annuities a bad reputation.

What happens if your insurance company fails? 401(k) Retirement income options coming your way Retirement income scorecard: Immediate annuities IRAs and 401(k): Maximize retirement income with immediate annuities

If you don't want to pay a lot of commissions to an insurance agent, consider buying an immediate annuity with the help of Income Solutions, which competitively bids fixed and inflation-adjusted immediate annuities among a panel of highly rated insurance companies.

It's pretty easy to use. Go to Income Solutions' website and answer a few simple questions, including your date of birth, sex, state of residence, and whether you want to cover your spouse or beneficiary to have a joint and survivor annuity (and his or her date of birth and sex). You'll also need to tell the system how much money you have to purchase an annuity.

You can also tell the system whether you want an annuity that's fixed in dollar amount, increases at a specified annual rate, or is adjusted according to the Consumer Price Index. The inflation protection will cost you more, meaning that a given amount of retirement savings will produce a lower initial monthly payment with an inflation-adjusted annuity.

The system then gets bids from Hueler's panel of top-rated insurance companies, and it shows how much of a monthly paycheck each insurance company would provide. For each insurance company, the system also shows you their credit ratings from A. M. Best, Moody's (MCO), and Standard & Poor's.

Non-commissioned telephone representatives can answer any questions you may have about the transaction, help you understand the terms, and guide you through the tools on the website. However, they won't give you financial planning advice, such as whether an annuity best meets your goals and circumstances, or how much of your retirement savings to devote to an annuity. The phone representatives will also be glad to work with your financial planner, if you're using one.

If you elect to apply part or all of your 401(k) account to an annuity, you'll want to make sure you buy a tax-qualified annuity, so you don't have to pay income taxes on the part of your savings that's applied to the annuity. Instead, you'll pay taxes on the income that you receive each year. The representatives at Income Solutions can help you execute the transaction in compliance with the IRS rules in order to maintain this favorable tax treatment.

"Our program gives consumers a fair shake when buying an immediate annuity," Kelli Hueler, founder of the Income Solutions platform, told me in an interview. "We obtain institutional pricing for individuals, compare the bids from the different insurance companies, and then transparently disclose all transaction costs. This helps put your mind at ease about buying an annuity."

Link:
Retirement income review: Hueler's plan

ST. LOUIS, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

For thirty-five years Thomas Helbig, founder of the Retirement Advisory Group, has watched several trends in the retirement planning market come and go. But one thing has always remained consistent with all of his clients over the years, not one of them ever lost a dime in principal or gains as a result of following his advice. That is a statement not many financial advisors can make. Helbig, an Independent Advisor and Certified Senior Advisor, is a specialist in all aspects of retirement planning and has been educated so thoroughly in this niche market that he is one of the most knowledgeable authorities in the country. He is also an approved Financial Advisor through the National Ethics Bureau and has been named a Five Star Best in Client Satisfaction Wealth Manager three years in a row in the St. Louis Magazine. This is an honor less than 7% of all Wealth Managers in his area have achieved.

Helbigs book, The Boomers Guide to a Worry-Free Retirement, has proved to be a valuable resource to retirees as well as professional financial advisors. With chapters like The Variable Annuity: Wall Streets Famous Lemon; Safety Meets Growth in a Fixed Index Annuity; and How to Turn Your IRA into a Family Legacy, Helbig has succinctly defined the real risk in securities and outlined a safer path with above average returns. Earlier this year Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and record-breaking shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals, Ozzie Smith, joined Helbig at his book launch event attended by many of Helbigs clients. The book is now available through Amazon.

In addition to his role as an author, he is also a sought after speaker to audiences across the country at industry and public events. He was the keynote speaker at a conference attended by the top producers at Brokers International in Dallas, Texas. He has been featured in Newsweek, St. Louis Magazine, and the St. Louis Post Dispatch as being one of the leading retirement planning specialists in the country. Because of his expertise and significant contributions to his industry, he will soon be featured in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today as one of the countrys leading Trendsetters in the financial services and retirement planning world.

Learn More at http://retirementkey.com/about.html

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Retirement Planning Specialist Thomas Helbig is Educating America

NEW YORK, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Global Adult and Retirement Communities Industry

http://www.reportlinker.com/p0152426/Global-Adult-and-Retirement-Communities-Industry.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Medical_F

The global outlook series on Adult and Retirement Communities provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. Illustrated with 56 fact-rich market data tables, the report offers an aerial view of adult and retirement industry, highlights latest market trends, and key market drivers. Regional markets briefly abstracted and covered include North America, United States, Canada, Japan, Europe (including Finland, Monaco, and UK), Asia-Pacific (including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan), Latin America (including Mexico), and Africa (including Morocco). The report offers a compilation of recent mergers, acquisitions, and strategic corporate developments. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of 206 companies worldwide.

1. OVERVIEW 1

Retirement Communities - An Introduction 1

Location & Design - Key Factors for Retirement Units 1

Lifestyle Demands - Vital for Retirement Community Setting 1

Geriatric Living Solutions - An Overview 2

Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) 2

See the article here:
Global Adult and Retirement Communities Industry

Many baby boomers joke about working until they keel over because they can't afford to retire. That may not be the case, but boomers as a generation might need to work longer than they were planning to. Thomas Hardy, a finance professor at Cleary University and California Lutheran University's Institute of Finance, has some advice for anyone hoping to enter their golden years sooner rather than later.

Has the current economic situation changed retirement planning for baby boomers?

Clearly, the reduction in 401(k) balances and other retirement accounts coupled with the drop in housing prices has made it necessary for many baby boomers to delay retirement. Every extra year of working helps build up retirement account balances, delays the beginning of drawdown and reduces the amount that will be needed in retirement. So as unpleasant as it may be, (delaying) retirement may be the best and sometimes only way to handle the changed situation.

For retirees already on a fixed income, what have been the effects of the recession?

One effect of the recession is low interest rates, which reduces the interest income some retirees count on for living expenses. But while low interest rates decrease income, there is a silver lining. Rates tend to correlate with inflation, and the greatest risk for retirees already on a fixed income is higher prices, but the recession has kept inflation relatively benign. At the current anemic rate of economic recovery, it should be at least several more years before the threat of serious inflation revives.

How can an individual plan for retirement and determine the total amount he or she needs once retired?

The process of estimating needs for retirement requires making a series of carefully thought-out assumptions about savings, retirement age, longevity, lifestyle and long-term investment returns. Just about any Certified Financial Planner would be able to assist in estimating the amount one would need for retirement and put together a plan to reach that goal.

What significant impact has the economic meltdown had on investment plans such as 401(k)s?

As most everyone is aware, the stock market crash of 2008-2009 caused many 401(k) accounts to drop in value by 40 percent or more, but the most significant impact was on investor psychology. After the market crashed, many investors got out of equities and into low-risk, low-return investments and they missed the rebound growth that occurred from the market bottom. Over the very long term, the market has averaged a return of 7 (percent) to 10 percent per year, but the average investor in the market has obtained a return closer to 2 percent since investors often get out of the market after it has fallen to a bottom, and they stay out until the market has run up high again, getting back into the market in time for the next market crash.

Is there an ideal age retirement planning should be put first on the list of savings?

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Retirement sooner than never

By Tom Gibbs - May 21, 2012 | Tickers: COST, SWY, SVU, KR, WMT | 0 Comments

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

The grocery industry is abuzz thus far in 2012 as discretionary consumer spending has continued to increase and many shoppers begin to emerge from the emergency saving habits that have developed over the past several-year recessionary period. Many of the sectors primary players -- including Kroger (NYSE: KR), Safeway (NYSE: SWY), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), and Costco (NASDAQ: COST) -- have enjoyed increasing top lines from mid-recession trough levels as a result of consumers spending more per shopping visit on more discretionary and higher-margin items like pre-made foods and wines/spirits.

The same cannot be said about Supervalu (NYSE: SVU), which has experienced a near 20% revenue decline and has lost 90% of its stock value over the past five years. On the surface, the grocer appears to be an entity that most would not touch with other investors' money short interest represents more than 40% of the float, the corporation has an extremely unattractive debt and pension obligation balance, and performance metrics (on square footage basis) continue to falter while competitors continue to enjoy year-over-year improvements.

Despite the poor performance over the past several years and the huge strides Supervalu must take to restore confidence in its brand, the gross beating that the stock has taken since recent 2007 highs has created a unique value-focused opportunity for patient, long-term oriented investors. The recent upgrade from Longbow Research from neutral to buy with a price target of $8 (64% appreciation from todays price) suggests that others believe that the wheels are already in motion for a turnaround.

Why is Supervalu a buy at current market valuations?

A Plan is Outlined

An investment in Supervalu is not based on hopes that the grocer can boost its top line and operating margins to average peer levels. Due to the pessimism surrounding the stock and the weak outlook expectations (as the short interest implies), Supervalu simply needs to show some improvement to begin driving stock price appreciation.

The corporation has, most importantly, identified one of the primary turnaround points for operations and has outlined a reasonable plan to begin experiencing improvement. In order to re-build consumer loyalty and drive store traffic toward historic levels (comparable store sales have declined for the past 15 consecutive quarters), Supervalu is using these approaches:

Cash Flow Positive

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This Grocer Presents a Super Value Opportunity

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwire -05/22/12)- Atlantis Computing, the leader in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) storage and performance optimization solutions, today announced that Washington Trust Bank, the largest independently owned full-service commercial bank in the Northwest, has deployed Atlantis ILIO as part of its VMware View 5 desktop virtualization deployment to enable employees to access their virtual desktop from anywhere using Wyse thin clients and zero clients, iPads, personal computers or repurposed corporate PCs.

"For us, VDI is really for our knowledge workers because they require mobility," said Christopher Green, vice president, IT Infrastructure Systems, Washington Trust Bank. "VMware View and Wyse cloud client computing solutions allows our mobile users to access their virtual desktop from anywhere they have an internet connection, over Wi-Fi or through the 3G devices that are provided to them."

When Washington Trust Bank first deployed VMware View with traditional SAN storage, the testing and pilot achieved a high level of success. However, as the deployment of virtual desktops grew, Washington Trust Bank sought ways to accelerate the desktop performance during times of peak usage, such as morning logons, when employees began their workday.

"Our employees needed to have performance on par with a physical desktop," continued Christopher Green. "If we are going to pass users off to a new technology, the expectation is that it will be better than the old."

Upon further investigation of their existing desktop virtualization environment, the team at Washington Trust Bank sought out solutions to optimize and accelerate the storage IO traffic for peak usage periods.

"One school of thought was to add tons of storage processors and SSDs; but that increased our CAPEX cost and minimized our ROI," continued Green. "Using Atlantis ILIO with VMware View however enabled us to achieve all the management benefits of the desktop virtualization solution while providing the best end-user experience."

Using Atlantis ILIO 3.0 with VMware View 5, VMware ThinApp, Dell Servers, and Wyse P20 PCoIP zero clients and Wyse R90L7 thin clients enabled Washington Trust Bank to deliver high performance desktops at the lowest desktop TCO, thereby meeting the requirements of end-users, IT and the business. The VMware View deployment uses VMware High Availability (HA) and Distributed Resource Scheduling (DRS) with Atlantis ILIO to ensure the continuous availability of virtual desktops.

To watch the Washington Trust Bank video case study, visit http://www.atlantiscomputing.com/washingtontrustbank

To register for a live Webcast "Washington Trust Bank VDI Best Practices for Mobility, Storage & DRS" on May 31st at 9AM PDT, visit bit.ly/wtbankwebinar

Quotes from Atlantis Computing, VMware and Wyse:"Washington Trust Bank is one of several examples of how customers benefit from Wyse cloud client computing solutions," said Ricardo Antuna, senior vice president, Business Development and Alliances, Wyse Technology. "The combination of Atlantis Computing, Dell, VMware and Wyse solutions bring unprecedented value to our customers by enabling alternative computing models."

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Washington Trust Bank Goes Mobile With VDI Using VMware View, Wyse, and Atlantis Computing

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Businesses in Jordan and the Middle East believe that allowing their employees to use their own devices such as smartphones or tablets at work improves their productivity, according to a report by Cisco Systems.

"The top two perceived benefits of allowing employees to use their personal devices (including laptops, tablets, smartphones) for work-related activities were improved employee productivity (more opportunities to collaborate) and greater job satisfaction," said the report, titled "The Cisco IBSG Horizons Study of IT and Business Leaders".

"Employees are turning to use their own devices at work because they want more control of their work experience," the report by Cisco, a worldwide leader in networking, indicated.

According to the report, which was e-mailed to The Jordan Times, more than 76 per cent of IT leaders in Jordan and the Middle East labelled allowing employees to use their own devices for work as "somewhat or extremely positive" for their companies.

"As the number of devices being brought into work increases, organisations need a comprehensive mobility strategy" organisations can now provide their employees with the benefits of working anywhere, anytime," Ahmed Etman, borderless networks sales lead at Cisco Emerging Markets said in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Monday.

Commenting on the report, Mohammad Khawaja, CEO of Startappz, said allowing employees to use their own devices enhances their performance.

"When employees feel their work is flexible and that they can work from wherever they are, even after office hours, they can contribute more to their work and be more loyal," Khawaja noted.

But this practice also entails some risks, he warned.

"Hackers can breach systems of companies through a worker's device in some cases, especially if it is not well protected," he said.

"By being connected to work all the time, employees might lose some of their privacy as they may have to do some work while at home with their families," Khawaja added.

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Jordan- Using personal devices at work increases productivity