TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -02/17/12)- As the February 29th deadline approaches to make a contribution to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and as part of its ongoing commitment to improving financial literacy, BMO Financial Group will be providing daily retirement tips during the month of February from BMO Retirement Institute Head Tina Di Vito's new book 52 Ways To Wreck Your Retirement...And How To Rescue It.

Tip Number 33:

Be Generous But Don't Give Away Too Much

You have had a good life, and now you want to help your children and/or grandchildren financially. Your heirs will inherit your money anyway, but you still want to help them while you are still alive. While this is a noble view, keep in mind that retirement can last 30+ years; you need to start thinking more about your future and how much money you will need, rather than how much you should be giving to the kids. There are ways to be generous and still be mindful of your retirement savings. Consider the following:

-- Rather than cash, give away personal property or family heirlooms during
your lifetime.
-- If you want to help fund a grandchild's education, consider contributing
to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP). One of the important
features of the RESP is that you can take back your contributions should
you be in the unfortunate situation of needing the money during your
retirement years.
-- Draft a loan - document the fact that a loan has been given to a family
member and ask for a demand promissory note.
-- Consider registering a mortgage on the home you helped your child to buy
-- Document large gifts and amend your will to take the gift(s) into
account when dividing the estate among the beneficiaries.

Tip Number 34:

Spend During Your Retirement, But Do Some Planning First

You have worked hard to accumulate personal savings for retirement and now that you are retired, why should you hesitate to spend the money? However, spending your retirement savings comes with a myriad of fears and decisions. Consider the following when deciding how much to spend:

-- If you are concerned about outliving your money, investigate investment
products that guarantee income for life.
-- Determine how important it is for you to leave an estate and decide how
much you would like to leave.
-- Assess whether you can afford to leave a legacy and, if not, discuss,
with your financial advisor options to create an estate by using life
insurance products.
-- Have an open dialogue with your children about your wish to leave an
inheritance- you may find your children would rather you use the money
during your lifetime.

For more information on retirement: http://www.bmo.com/retirement.

Get the latest BMO press releases via Twitter by following @BMOmedia.

Follow this link:
BMO Retirement Tips of the Day: Be Generous But Don't Give Away Too Much During Your Life & Spend During Your ...

A retirement filled with golf, shopping and relaxation is no longer in the cards for most Americans over  age 60, new research finds.

A study conducted by CareerBuilder revealed that 57 percent of workers age 60-plus plan to look for a new job after retiring from their current company, showing that retirement no longer means the end of one's working days.

Many of those over 60 don't see a stereotypical retirement in their future for a number of years, the research found. Half of those surveyed said it will be at least five years before they plan to retire from their current job, with one in 10 thinking they'll never be able step away from their job.

The good news for such seasoned workers is that many employers are open to hiring them, the study shows. More than 40 percent of the surveyed employers plan to hire workers over age 50 this year. Additionally, 75 percent of employers said they'd consider an application from an overqualified worker who is 50-plus, with 59 percent of them saying it's because mature candidates bring a wealth of knowledge to an organization and can mentor others.

[The Secret to Finding a Job After 50]

"Whether mature workers are motivated by financial concerns or simply enjoy going to work every day, we're seeing more people move away from the traditional definition of retirement and seek 'rehirement,'" said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "At the same time, employers are seeing the value these mature workers can bring to an organization, from their intellectual capital to their mentoring and training capabilities."

PrimeCB.com, CareerBuilder's job site for mature workers and retirees, offers several tips for finding jobs later in life:

Leverage professional and real-world experience — When updating a résumé or interviewing for a job, mature workers should think about their experience in terms of both work and life skills. Whether it's strong leadership skills or a wherewithal to weather a tough economy, play up the strengths that come with having more years under the belt. Bring value to the company — Seasoned employees looking to stay with their current company beyond retirement age need to find new ways to contribute outside of their day-to-day tasks, such as spearheading a mentorship program or offering to train new hires. Consider part-time or freelance work — For workers who aren't ready to completely stop working, part-time employment may be a good solution. They should check out job boards, talk to staffing firms and tap into their social and professional networks for part time, freelance or temporary work.

The study was based on surveys of more than 800 U.S. workers age 60 and older and more than 3,000 hiring managers and human resources professionals.

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Chad Brooks is a Chicago-based freelance writer who spent 10 years as a newspaper reporter before working in public relations. You can reach him at chadgbrooks@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @cbrooks76.

More here:
Retirement Morphs Into 'Rehirement' for Most Americans

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire -02/17/12)- MMRGlobal, Inc. (OTC.BB: MMRF.OB - News) ("MMR"), a leading provider of Personal Health Records ("PHR"), MyEsafeDepositBox storage solutions and electronic document management and imaging systems for healthcare professionals, today announced that the Company and VisiInc PLC in Australia signed an agreement to license MMR's Australian patents for "Method and System for Providing Online Medical Records" for use in MMR and Visi™ consumer and professional health IT products and services, including the MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record. The Agreement calls for minimum performance royalty guarantees of nearly one million dollars. The Agreement also calls for VisiInc to start selling the services in Australia starting June 1, 2012. In addition, the Agreement contains an understanding allowing the companies to utilize each other's consumer and professional products and services. VisiInc is also seeking rights to sell MMR products in additional territories such as in Eastern Europe where VisiInc already does business.

Jacques Blandin, Founder and CEO of VisiInc, has been in Los Angeles for meetings with MMRGlobal this week prior to traveling to Las Vegas to participate with MMR at the HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, February 20-24, and will also appear at MMRGlobal's booth #2062. Although no other agreements have been announced, Yefim Schukin, a principal of VisiInc Russia, is also traveling to the United States to attend meetings with MMR where the companies will discuss the launch of its products and services in Russia. Yefim Schukin will also attend HIMSS with Jacques Blandin.

VisiInc will use its Vistime system for distributing MMR's Personal Health Records and professional document management systems. The high speed service offers near real-time high resolution document imaging, scanning, storage and sharing health record system for paper and large-sized radiological scans and files. The system will also allow real-time collaboration of medical records and images regardless of a participant's location and connectivity (including dial-up) anywhere in the world.

Personal Health Records are a priority for the Australian government and a significant part of Australia's eHealth technology market, which will serve a population of 22 million and is currently projected to be USD $2.6 billion in 2012. MMR's Australian patent portfolio can give VisiInc a significant competitive advantage in the market by controlling intellectual property rights that are primary to providing PHRs in line with government initiatives. The Medical Software Industry Association in Australia detailed an alternative rollout schedule to the government's Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) that calls for PDFs currently used by clinicians and shared by email or fax to be a solution in electronic online form until at least July 2013 because standardization is not going to occur before at least then. MMR's proprietary health IT solutions align with this strategy.

While in Los Angeles, Blandin also appeared with MMR Executive Vice President Richard M. Lagani on MoneyTV during which he spoke with host Don Baillargeon about the extensive opportunities in Australia for the MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record and MMRPro for healthcare professionals for the eHealth technology market there (video available at http://www.moneytv.net). MoneyTV debuted in 1996 and is broadcast internationally in more than 180 million TV households in over 75 countries.

About MMRGlobal, Inc.
MMRGlobal, Inc., through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc. ("MMR"), provides secure and easy-to-use online Personal Health Records ("PHRs") and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions, serving consumers, healthcare professionals, employers, insurance companies, financial institutions, and professional organizations and affinity groups. The MyMedicalRecords PHR enables individuals and families to access their medical records and other important documents, such as birth certificates, passports, insurance policies and wills, anytime from anywhere using the Internet. MyMedicalRecords is built on proprietary, patented technologies to allow documents, images and voicemail messages to be transmitted and stored in the system using a variety of methods, including fax, phone, or file upload without relying on any specific electronic medical record platform to populate a user's account. The Company's professional offering, MMRPro, is designed to give physicians' offices an easy and cost-effective solution to digitizing paper-based medical records and sharing them with patients in real time through an integrated patient portal. MMR is an Independent Software Vendor Partner with Kodak to deliver an integrated turnkey EMR solution for healthcare professionals. Through its merger with Favrille, Inc. in January 2009, the Company acquired intellectual property biotech assets that include anti-CD20 antibodies and data and samples from its FavId®/Specifid™ vaccine clinical trials for the treatment of B-Cell Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. To learn more about MMRGlobal, Inc. and its products, visit http://www.mmrglobal.com.

About VisiInc PLC
Through its evolutionary Visi™ platform, VisiInc operates Vistime. Vistime is rapidly capturing global market share of major verticals such as Healthcare, Government, Engineering and Architecture, Mining, Oil & Gas, Exploration, Energy, Education, Advertising & Media and online Video Conferencing. Visi, the next evolution in visual communication, is capable of delivering solutions in both the physical and virtual environment in 3D. Vistime has been designed to integrate with the existing product offerings of the world's leading web collaboration and enterprise content management systems, enabling vendors to immediately expand their product capabilities and service offerings through Integrated Product Offerings, White Label and Private Label Offerings and OEM opportunities. Through its unprecedented rapid visual rendering capabilities, the Vistime system (www.vistime.com) allows all end users to simultaneously view, manipulate, and explore multi-dimensional data visualizations of any file type and of any size, in real-time without any resolution degradation. The system eliminates the lag time barrier that exists with other viewers. As a result, Vistime is the first in the world to enable real-time collaboration of complex, data-rich visual files and 3D media. For more information, visit http://www.visiinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature, whether or not such statement relates directly to the Company's future performance, management's expectations, beliefs, intentions, estimates or projections, constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some can be identified by the use of words (and their derivations) such as "need," "possibility," "offer," "development," "if," "negotiate," "when," "begun," "believe," "achieve," "will," "estimate," "expect," "maintain," "plan," and "continue," or the negative of these words. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the risk the Company's products are not adopted or viewed favorably by the healthcare community; business prospects, results of operations or financial condition; risks related to the current uncertainty and instability in financial and lending markets, including global economic uncertainties; timing and volume of sales and installations; length of sales cycles and the installation process; market acceptance of new product introductions; programs and initiatives; ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships; relationships with licensees; competitive product offerings and promotions; changes in government laws and regulations and future changes in tax legislation and initiatives in the healthcare industry; litigation; undetected errors in our products; possibility of interruption at our data centers; risks related to third party vendors; risks related to obtaining and integrating third-party licensed technology; risks related to a security breach by third parties; risks associated with recruitment and retention of key personnel; maintaining, developing and defending our intellectual property rights; marketing and exploitation of our patent portfolio; uncertainties associated with doing business internationally across borders and territories; and additional risks discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is providing this information as of the date of this release and, except as required by law, does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Link:
MMRGlobal and VisiInc Sign Agreement to License MMR Australian Patent Portfolio on the Road to HIMSS

The Client Retention Machine is designed to help personal trainers acquire and retain clients while increasing revenue. The new online lesson at http://clientretentionmachine.com/ helps fitness trainers grow their business.

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (PRWEB) February 17, 2012

Everyone personal trainer knows that it costs a lot more – in both time and money – to acquire a new client than it does to keep the ones you already have. That’s where the Client Retention Machine comes in. This online refresher on keeping and growing clients is now available for personal trainers and other fitness, wellness and coaching pros at http://clientretentionmachine.com/

In this free online lesson, John Spencer Ellis, the founder of John Spencer Ellis Enterprises, a fitness and personal development solutions company, and owner of the Client Retention Machine, discusses the secrets to success for personal trainers and other fitness pros who are interested in both building and maintaining their business.

“The Client Retention Machine is a simple, proven, affordable and automated way to keep more of your current clients, make them happier and then get more new clients because of that!” said Ellis. “When word of mouth starts working for you, your job will get that much easier, and you’ll be able to focus more on your existing clients and the things you enjoy, and less on seeking out new clients.”

The keys to keeping clients, all covered in the Client Retention Machine tutorial at http://clientretentionmachine.com/, are:

Make sure they are satisfied and always over-deliver

Provide them with a sense of belonging or “tribe”

Let them know that you genuinely care about them

Offer individual attention

Provide unexpected gifts or bonuses

Make sure they receive a reward for their business

“The Client Retention Machine can help you save time, save money and save your sanity while you impress your clients and turn them into raving fans and referral machines,” Ellis added. “By taking a few simple, smart steps, you can change the shape of your fitness business this year.”

About John Spencer Ellis Enterprises and the Client Retention Machine

John Spencer Ellis Enterprises is a solutions provider for fitness and coaching professionals around the world, providing education, turn-key business programs, coaching and resources for new and advanced fitness and coaching professionals. For more information about John Spencer Ellis Enterprises or the Client Retention Machine, please visit http://clientretentionmachine.com/.

###

John Spencer Ellis
NESTA/SI/JSE
949 589 9166
Email Information

Read the original here:
Client Retention Machine Helps Personal Fitness Trainers Get – and Keep – More Clients

In response to:

Afghanistan: The Best Way to Peace from the February 9, 2012 issue                                                  

To the Editors:

As a presumably average reader of The New York Review who considers the magazine a tool and source to fashion informed personal opinions on a broad spectrum of issues outside my own area of expertise, I was bothered by the lack of economically based arguments in Anatol Lieven’s otherwise informative article on Afghanistan [“Afghanistan: The Best Way to Peace,” NYR, February 9]. It seems to me that the widely reported presence of natural resources on Afghan territory might well be a reason and a solution for its problematic role in international affairs. While all the arguments in Mr. Lieven’s article need to be considered in working out a permanent solution, I wonder if the economic facts should not play an important role in this process.

Klaus Peters
Sherborn, Massachusetts

Anatol Lieven replies:

Klaus Peters raises a very important point, which I should perhaps have discussed in my essay. If I did not do so, it was partly for lack of space, but also because the future of the Afghan economy is so uncertain—and this is above all true of Afghanistan’s reportedly huge mineral and energy resources and their possible role in peace and stabilization. In principle, of course, the development of Afghanistan’s resources should contribute greatly to this.

Unfortunately, the Congo suggests that where a country is already racked by conflict, its natural resources can actually fuel that conflict further. Nigeria and other cases also demonstrate how energy resources in particular, if captured by greedy elites, can fuel corruption, increase social tension, and hinder economic growth. The record of the Afghan government since 2001 is not very encouraging from this point of view.

My sense is, therefore, that if an Afghan peace settlement can be reached that gives the different warring parties a reasonable share of power, then the profits of Afghanistan’s resources may give them a greatly increased stake in maintaining the settlement and rejecting a return to war. The development of these resources may also increase the regional stake in Afghan peace. This is above all true of China, which has won the biggest deals so far in the mineral and energy sectors, and which might be able to use its influence in Pakistan to keep that country committed to a settlement. It seems to me, though, that while a peace settlement will have to include detailed agreements on sharing the benefits of economic development, this would only be one part of a deal, and peace would have to be established before development can actually begin.

Excerpt from:
Afghanistan & Money

Press Release

17 February 2012

Personal Group Holdings plc

("the Company")

Dividend Announcement and Notice of Results

The directors of the Company are pleased to announce that the first dividend for 2012 of 4.45p per share (2011: 4.35p per share) will be paid on 23 March 2012 to members on the register on 2 March 2012. Shares will be marked ex-dividend on 29 February 2012. If business continues as anticipated the Company expects to pay dividends of the same amount in June, September and December 2012, which would represent an increase of 2.3 per cent over the 2011 dividend level.

The Company intends to announce its results for the year ended 31 December 2011 on Monday 26 March 2012.

- ENDS -

For more information please contact:

Personal Group Holdings Plc

John Barber, Financial Director

+44 (0)1908 605 000

Cenkos Securities Plc

Stephen Keys

+44 (0)20 7397 8926

Media (Frankfurt: 725292 - news) enquiries:

Notes to editors:

Personal Group Holdings Plc (AIM: PGH) is a leading provider of employee benefits and financial services, established in 1984 and with offices and clients across the UK.

The group primarily provides tailored employee benefits programmes to businesses throughout the UK. These programmes include insurance products such as hospital and convalescence plans, death benefit and income protection plans; lifestyle benefits such as holiday and retail discounts; flexible benefit programmes; a range of tax efficient benefits such as childcare vouchers; and employee assistance programmes. The group generates the majority of its revenue through the underwriting of hospital and convalescence plans. Through its expertise in producing, communicating and implementing successful benefit solutions, the group has helped over 400 leading UK companies recruit, retain and motivate the best people. In total the group provides access to benefits for 1.2 million employees, and clients include Pirelli (Milan: PC.MI - news) , Brake Bros, TNT (Hamburg: TNT.HM - news) , UK Mail, Regatta, Road Chef and Vinci (Other OTC: VCISF.PK - news) .

In addition the group offers financial planning and broking services as well as private medical insurance through its Berkeley Morgan and Universal Provident brands.

The group boasts considerable financial strength, with a 25 year track record of profitable growth since 1986. For the year to 31 December 2010 the group reported revenue of £27 million. With a strong balance sheet and a progressive dividend policy, Personal Group (LSE: PGH.L - news) 's vision is to be the provider of choice in employee benefits and financial services. The group's development to date has been achieved principally through strong organic growth.

Personal Group is headquartered in Milton Keynes, was floated on AIM in 2000 and today employs over 160 people.

For further information, go to http://www.personal-group.com.

Continued here:
Personal Group - Dividend Announcement and Notice of Results

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG_GVhB704w

16-02-2012 12:02 Be a life coach or business coach in this 6 week training course. you will learn the fundamentals of coaching and they help you setup your business online! You can't miss the next class! Classes fill quickly! Visit http://www.prov31coach.com and register today!

Go here to read the rest:
"Be a Life Coach or a Business Coach" Online Training Class - Video

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox2N5yfwFbA

16-02-2012 15:03 For more info: http://www.opencons.net OC Open Consulting produces e-learning contents from more than 10 years, with all the experience of a team of engineers and managers that created OC Group. OC Open Consulting is specialized in industrial technical trainings, HR support and sales network education programs for all corporates with high added value services.

Read more here:
E-learning production - Video

Professional Development Resources, a nationally accredited provider of continuing education (CE) to psychologists, social workers, counselors, speech-language pathologists, registered dietitians and occupational therapists, has released a new online CE course on intimate partner violence.

Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) February 17, 2012

Professional Development Resources has announced a new addition to its online continuing education (CE) curriculum for mental health professionals: Domestic Violence: Child Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence. The course, which is presented in two parts, is intended to help mental health professionals maintain a high state of vigilance and to be well prepared with immediate and appropriate responses when partner violence is disclosed.

Part 1 of the course is about child abuse. Part 2 deals with Intimate partner violence (IPV) which is, unfortunately, a pervasive part of life in U.S. society. According to the 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), over 35% of women and 28% of men say they have been raped and/or physically assaulted and/or stalked by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or date at some point in their lifetime. Survivors of these forms of violence may experience physical injury, mental health consequences like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and suicide attempts. Other health consequences like gastrointestinal disorders, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, and gynecological or pregnancy complications are also common.

The NISVS 2010 report further describes five types of IPV, including sexual violence, physical violence, stalking, psychological aggression, and control of reproductive or sexual health. The latter category includes refusal by an intimate partner to use a condom. For a woman, it includes times when a partner tried to get her pregnant when she did not want to become pregnant. Conversely, for a man, it includes times when a partner tried to get pregnant when the man did not want her to become pregnant. IPV affects individuals from all ethnic and socioeconomic groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected (LGBTQH) communities.

A very important and sensitive issue is a victim’s decision to stay with the batterer in spite of ongoing abuse. To a casual observer, it is hard to understand why a person would choose to stay in a destructive relationship. Victims frequently hear from their friends and family members: “why don’t you just leave?” This represents a failure to appreciate the complexity of the problem. According to physicians Rose Fife and Sarina Schrager in their 2012 book Family Violence: What Health Care Providers Need to Know, the decision to leave – or not – is one of the most difficult choices victims will have to make, and possibly the most dangerous.

“Leaving a relationship is a process that occurs over time,” says Leo Christie, PhD, licensed marriage and family therapist and president of Professional Development Resources. “It must be understood that typically a victim cannot do so immediately, and often not for a long time. There are many reasons for this: she may think this lifestyle is ‘normal’; she may agree with the abuser that she is bad or stupid or deserves this; she may have no idea how to leave or where to go; she may have no job skills and fear that she and her children will starve. But mostly she is afraid, and her fear is valid. A woman’s risk of being killed is highest when she tries to leave.”

The central purpose of this online CE course is to help clinicians appreciate the likelihood that many of their clients are living in violent relationships, whether they have disclosed it or not. It includes training for detecting abuse when they see it, screening for the particulars, and responding with definitive assistance in safety planning, community referrals, and individualized treatment plans.

About Professional Development Resources, Inc.

Professional Development Resources is a Florida nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1992 by licensed marriage and family therapist Leo Christie, PhD. The company, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) – as well as many other national and state boards – has focused its efforts on making continuing education courses more cost-effective and widely accessible to health professionals by offering online home study coursework. Its current expanded curriculum includes a wide variety of clinical topics intended to equip health professionals to offer state-of-the art services to their clients.

Contact:

Leo Christie, PhD, CEO

Professional Development Resources, Inc.

904-645-3456

http://www.pdresources.org/

###

Leo Christie, PhD
Professional Development Resources
(904) 645-3456
Email Information

Continued here:
Intimate Partner Violence is Focus of New Online Continuing Education Course from Professional Development Resources

HuffPost's QuickRead...

Loading...

HuffPost's QuickRead...

EDITION: U.S. CA Canada  Québec FR France US United States UK United Kingdom Princeton Harvard Columbia College Rankings Armchair Detective More Log in | Sign Out February 17, 2012 Like

8k

  CONNECT     FRONT PAGE U.S. UK CANADA QUÉBEC FRANCE POLITICS 2012 BLOG HUFFPOST HILL 2012 ELECTIONS FUNDRACE GREEN POLLSTER SPECULATRON OFF THE BUS BUSINESS SMALL BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITY ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC RADIO MOVIES TV GAMES COMEDY TECH TECH TECHCRUNCH JOYSTIQ SCIENCE ENGADGET APPLE BLOG MEDIA LIFE & STYLE STYLE NEWS STYLELIST FOOD NEWS WEDDINGS PARENTS GREEN TRAVEL STYLELIST HOME KITCHEN DAILY DIVORCE HUFF/POST50 RELIGION CULTURE ARTS PARENTS TRAVEL COLLEGE RELIGION IMPACT BOOKS EDUCATION COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING HEALTH AND FITNESS HEALTH NEWS MINDFUL LIVING SLEEP WOMEN HEALTHY LIVING PARENTS LOCAL NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO DENVER MIAMI PATCH CHICAGO LOS ANGELES DC DETROIT YELLOW PAGES MORE GOOD NEWS SCIENCE BLACKVOICES SPORTS WORLD GAY VOICES GREEN LATINOVOICES COLLEGE CRIME WEIRD NEWS HIGH SCHOOL COLLEGE EDUCATION THE MIDWEST THE NORTHEAST THE SOUTH THE WEST

Read more:
Susan Gilbert: The Economic Advantage of Online Education