Intro to Health and Fitness – Video
Posted: March 12, 2012 at 7:27 am
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Intro to Health and Fitness - Video
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U-The Caribbean Health Digest, a local publication that has for the past four years highlighted a variety of health and wellness issues as it relates to the region, has attracted a major international exhibit to its second Health and Wellness Exposition. UK-based CenZiteK, a company that distributes a new generation of Bio Monitors, systems that allow practitioners to non-invasively scan patients with a combination of technologies in health screening and in initial and/or follow-up medical consultations, will exhibit at the event, which is carded for March 19 through 21 at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain. The expo will provide information on and showcase the products and services of over 50 exhibitors, among them some of the big names in the health industry, The Maritime Financial Group, Barbados Fertility Centre, West Shore Medical, Abbot Nutrition, Novartis, and the Ministry of Food Production as it continues to promote its Eat Healthy, Grown Right Here In T&T programme.
According to founding editor of the publication, Sherine Mungal, the concept behind the expo is to bring together local and international health and wellness leaders, healthy life and lifestyle solution providers, product companies and health food retailers all under one roof, for the benefit of the national population in an interactive way. However, she said, it was unfortunate that something as important as providing citizens with the all important tool of health and wellness knowledge still lacked the support of some stakeholders. Corporate entities and government Ministries should play a bigger role and show some support. Granted some of them have sponsored spaces for NGOs such as the Cancer Society, but more can be done, she opined, adding that there are still some spaces available for interested exhibitors.
Minister of Health, Dr Fuad Khan, who will deliver the feature address on the opening day of the expo, said he was pleased that the citizens of T&T were being offered a forum of this nature, which was a step in the right direction to a healthier lifestyle. He added that the Ministry was always in support of such initiatives. You know the Ministry is currently working on a programme for reducing childhood obesity and obesity on a whole. Im not too sure, but we may have a booth at the expo. Ill have to confirm with the PS, the Minister said. The opening day will cater to corporate T&T. The subsequent days will be open to the public, including schools, at no cost.
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New gym hopes to work out
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Victoria Windham, a massage therapist at the new Brick City Health & Fitness, does lunges while working out on Tuesday.
Cheryl Polack jammed Sunday morning to music as she used free weights and a kettlebell during an aggressive CrossFit workout at Brick City Health & Fitness, a new gym that opened last week in place of Compass Health & Fitness.
Brick City employee Leanna Bonnett took a moment to eat lunch as she peered across the newly organized rows of exercise machines and watched prospective customers enjoy a free fitness pass.
The sudden closing of Compass on Feb. 16 left many customers who had paid for their memberships in advance reeling. It also left Bill Reed, who did not buy Compass, having to explain to those angry customers that he was not responsible for the losses of Compass customers.
The Compass closing was just the latest chapter of Lee Farkas, the imprisoned former Taylor, Bean & Whitaker chairman convicted in a $3 billion fraud case. Farkas was still on the Compass lease when it was not renewed in February and the operators were evicted.
After Compass closed, Reed signed a lease with Ocala Plaza and Property Corp., which owns the building on Pine Avenue just south of Silver Springs Boulevard. After two weeks of getting permits, the entire gym was cleaned, machines repaired and lights replaced.
Brick City opened at 5 a.m. on March 5. Reed decided to give free access to the gym for the first 10 days, which ends Thursday, in hopes of getting back most of the estimated 1,000 Compass members. On Friday, the membership goes to $45 per month.
Reed said after interviewing all of the Compass employees, he hired most of them back. Officials said Sunday that hundreds of former Compass members have been visiting Brick City during the free trial period.
Many of them (former Compass employees) say that they now are seeing the staff smiling again, Reed said. Reed hopes to have permits in a few weeks to open the tanning booths, caf and beauty salon.
And it seems that many new customers are impressed with the new ownership.
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New gym hopes to work out
Fitness and Weight Loss Health Camps Offers Early Enrollment Discount
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WellBalance weightloss camps offer $500 discount to limited number of early camp enrollees.
Asheville, NC (PRWEB) March 12, 2012
We certainly understand that these are trying economic times for many families, commented John Gordon, CEO of WellBalance, We thought this $500 early enrollment discount would help more kids, teens, and young adults have the opportunity to attend WellBalance and enjoy healthier, happier lives.
This Early Enrollment discount of $500 is only available to the next 15 camp enrollees.
Applications and deposits to WellBalance weight loss camps must be for more than a 4 week enrollment and must be received by midnight Monday, March 26 to be considered for the $500 offer. Families applying to either WellBalance California or WellBalance Cape Cod locations are eligible for this offer.
We believe WellBalance offers the best weight loss camp value anywhere, continued Mr. Gordon, We have two great locations in popular vacation destinations, masters-level staff in nutrition, culinary, fitness, and behavioral psychology, a complete health approach, and now a discount that makes our pricing even better.
WellBalance Cape Cod fitness and weight loss camps operate for 8 weeks with 2 - 8 week sessions available from June 17 through August 11, 2012. WellBalance by the Bay in California runs from June 24 to August 18, 2012 with 2 8 week sessions.
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WellBalance health camps (http://www.WellBalance.com) were created in response to the growing obesity epidemic and the unmet needs for a realistic, scientific, and personalized approach to fitness and weight loss. The WellBalance approach, called the ME Plan, is designed to Motivate & Educate on diet + activity + lifestyle changes. Founded by professionals and guided by experts who provided leadership to some of the largest behavioral health, mental health, and treatment programs in the country, WellBalance is working to become the leader in fitness and weight loss programs. WellBalance operates two summer camps in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Santa Cruz, California. For additional information please visit http://www.wellbalance.com or call (800) 975-0435.
John Gordon WellBalance 617-792-4121 Email Information
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Fitness and Weight Loss Health Camps Offers Early Enrollment Discount
Timing Makes a Difference in Retirement – Video
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Timing Makes a Difference in Retirement - Video
Uttar Pradesh cabinet secretary takes premature retirement -Newsx – Video
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Uttar Pradesh cabinet secretary takes premature retirement -Newsx - Video
The perks of a government retirement plan
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Retirement Perks Of A Government Retirement Plan
State and local government jobs may not seem like the height of glamour, but they aren't without their perks. Benefits such as pensions, plus access to tax-advantaged government retirement plans known as 457(b) plans, help make working at the county or municipal level more rewarding for local civil servants.
Employees of the federal government do not have a 457(b) plan; instead they have the thrift savings plan, which comes with its own idiosyncrasies.
A 457(b) is roughly analogous to a 401(k), but it comes with its own quirks.
"It's very similar in that you can only defer a certain dollar amount each year, and the amount you can defer is linked to the cost of living (indexes) as the 401(k) is," says Dominick Pizzano, a New Jersey-based employee benefits consultant at Milliman, an actuarial and consulting firm.
The contribution limit is $17,000 for 2012. If the plan allows it, a participant can make Roth contributions to his retirement account, paying taxes on the contribution before it goes into the account. Interest and earnings would be tax-free in retirement.
Also similar to the 401(k) is one of the catch-up provisions that allow workers older than 50 to put away extra money -- specifically an extra $5,500.
Now for the curve ball: 457(b) plans also may allow workers to squirrel away extra money starting three years before the so-called normal retirement age, which the plan specifies.
The normal retirement age can vary, but the special contributions can begin three years before that point.
"So if someone was to retire at 50, at 48 they could begin the 457 catch-up because it's three years prior to their retirement age. It's called the three-year rule," says Julia Durand, director at CalSTRS and president of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, or NAGDCA.
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The perks of a government retirement plan
Everything you want to know about retirement plans
Posted: at 7:26 am
Retirement Fundamentals Of Retirement Plans
If you're among the lucky Americans whose employers offer a workplace retirement plan, it behooves you to take full advantage of it. True, some plans will automatically enroll you, so all you have to do is show up to work every day and do your job. If you don't want to join, you have to actively take steps to opt out of the plan.
It would be a mistake to opt out. In fact, it would be a mistake to allow yourself to be automatically enrolled without getting involved in the decisions pertaining to your plan. Otherwise, you may end up contributing just a paltry amount, and your money may go into a fund that's too conservative or too risky or too expensive for your taste.
In this package of stories, Bankrate covers the fundamentals of retirement plans -- everything you ever wanted to know about 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans and 457(b) plans -- plus a whole lot more.
For the uninitiated, 401(k) plans are found in the private sector, 403(b) plans in the nonprofit area and 457(b) plans are offered in state, county and municipal workplaces. All have their arcane sets of rules, and all provide a way for you to save money in a tax-deferred account. Some are stranger than others. Bankrate's story, "Shakeout in 403(b) plans affects teachers," uncovers the unusual situation in the education market and explains why teachers are dropping out of their 403(b) plans.
If you work for a small business that doesn't offer a plan -- and the majority do not -- then it's time to lobby the boss for change. Employers can pick from several different types of plans ranging from simple payroll deduction individual retirement accounts to complex defined benefit plans that require serious commitment. Bankrate's story, "Retirement plans for small biz," covers the nuts and bolts of 10 different retirement plans designed specifically for small businesses and self-employed individuals.
The government devised several different types of plans in order to entice people to save for retirement, even at the expense of federal tax revenue. Retirement savings in workplace plans keep money out of government coffers -- contributions made on a pretax basis are not counted as income, so you dodge the tax bullet on those funds until it's time to take the money out.
To find out if you have a first-class 401(k) plan or a mediocre one, check out "What makes a 401(k) plan great." Get ready for changes in your corporate retirement plan as well. This year, sponsors of 401(k) plans will be required to break out all costs to plan participants, as discussed in the story, "401(k) plan fees to be unveiled." This event will surely be an eye-opener for everyone.
Why should you contribute to your retirement plan? Because doing so affords you options you likely won't have otherwise. Once you sign up to contribute 10 percent or 15 percent of your paycheck into the plan, you won't miss the money. And it's a bonus if you get matching contributions. Over time, you will likely be surprised by how much you will have accumulated. It's your best chance to prepare for your golden years, so you can maintain your lifestyle long after you stop setting the alarm clock to get ready for work.
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Everything you want to know about retirement plans
The best retirement plan for your business
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Do you work for a small business that offers no retirement plan? Are you self-employed and so busy that you're (regretfully) putting your retirement plans on the back burner? Do you own a small business and want to provide a retirement plan for your employees? You've come to the right place.
Retirement plans provide a tax-advantaged way to grow wealth for retirement. A well-designed retirement plan can help attract and retain talented employees and give the employer the satisfaction of knowing they've helped their employees -- as well as themselves -- toward a financially sound retirement.
There's a host of different plans available for businesses, and each comes with its own set of rules. Some are dead easy to implement; others are more complicated. Some are qualified plans and others are nonqualified plans. Qualified plans meet certain government requirements and offer tax benefits to both the employer and employee. Conversely, nonqualified plans are not eligible for tax-deferral benefits, and they're generally geared to the top brass.
We focus on qualified plans, of which there are two basic kinds -- defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. Read on to learn about 10 types of retirement plans for small businesses.
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The best retirement plan for your business
Health guru preaches personal responsibility
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- He's a mild-mannered man, small, soft-spoken and serene. Behind the quiet demeanor beats the heart of fierce warrior in the battle for better health in rural Appalachia and underserved areas abroad.
That's Richard Crespo, a professor in the Department of Family and Community Health at Marshall University's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, a nationally recognized force in community health.
Inspired years ago by the high infant death rate he encountered in the mountains of Ecuador, he preaches a grassroots approach to better health built on disease prevention and instilling good health habits in childhood.
His arsenal includes rural and school-based health centers, diabetes coalitions, student dental screenings, peer-to-peer prenatal care and creative touch-screen projects to combat childhood obesity.
A self-help guru, he believes fervently in a simple premise: Healthy people take care of themselves.
He's 62.
"My parents were missionaries. My father is from Puerto Rico, and my mother is from the United States. I grew up nine years in Colombia, South America; four years in the States and four years in Puerto Rico.
"I was 6 when we came to the States the first time. When I was 10, it was back to Colombia for junior high. My parents left the mission field about the time I was in high school, so I went to high school in Puerto Rico.
"I wanted to be like my dad. Mission work was the predominant thing. Living internationally gave me a perspective about living elsewhere that I wouldn't have had if I had just grown up in the States.
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Health guru preaches personal responsibility