Last year a Gallup poll revealed that over 70 percent of Americans are "not engaged" or else totally "disengaged" from their work. Obviously, people who spend 40 hours a week doing something they don't like report a lower level of overall well-being compared to people who are "actively engaged" in their jobs. The lower satisfaction not only affects their careers, but also the social, financial, and physical aspects of their lives.

Even people dedicated to their work admit they're often in a bad mood if they have to work extra long hours, are not able to take advantage of flextime, or feel shortchanged on vacation.

Working too much, or too hard, is not conducive to your sense of well-being, especially if you don't like your job. It's no wonder that a lot of people in their 50s and early 60s look forward to retirement, and try to figure out how they can leave behind the daily grind.

A few select people, through some combination of high income and economical living, achieve true financial independence at an early age. They have the option to retire early, no problem.

Maybe you, too, want to leave an unsatisfying job, or are just tired of the rat race. But you feel trapped because you need the income. Honestly, who can afford to retire these days when the economy is bad, interest rates on your savings are low, and Social Security is under attack? Financial independence may seem farther away than ever before.

But John Nelson, co-author of What Color Is Your Parachute for Retirement: Planning a Prosperous and Happy Future, looks at things a little differently. When it comes to financial independence, we can get caught in all-or-none thinking, he says. Especially for our jobs, we think that financial independence means not working at all. If our work is drudgery, then of course wed like to have none of it.

But retirement is not necessarily an all-or-nothing proposition. And neither is financial independence.

Even retirees who are truly financially independent, the retirement experts tell us, should find something to do that engages their interests. Nobody can expect to be happy sitting in front of the TV for the rest of their lives. Retirees need activities that stimulate their imagination, connect them to other people, and help them develop a commitment to something more than their own self-interest.

For the financially independent this may mean doing volunteer work or pursuing a long-neglected hobby. For those of us who may have a reasonably solid financial foundation, but still need additional income, the pursuit of something meaningful to occupy our time can lead us to a middle grounda period between career and retirement when we take a pay cut in favor of other benefits that are more important at this stage of life.

The kids are grown up and gone, and maybe the mortgage is paid off, so we can afford to work at something thats easier and more fun than our old job. The result: Instead of suffering through work that no longer engages us, we can set forth on a new path that 's more fulfilling and more meaningful.

Originally posted here:
The Middle Way to Retirement

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --According to a brief released by ICMA-RC and the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE), one-third of human resource executives made changes to the retirement plans they offer to employees within the past 12 months.[1] The brief, Local Government Employment, Benefits, and Retirement Issues, was released to thousands of public employees at the 98th Annual ICMA Conference in Phoenix, Arizona this past weekend.

"State and local government leaders face difficult issues involving retirement and health care benefits," said ICMA-RC President and CEO and Vice Chair of the Center for State and Local Government Excellence Joan McCallen. "Preparing public employees for retirement is a challenge made easier by understanding workplace priorities and behaviors. We hope this brief will contribute to the existing dialogue and encourage public sector employers and employees to take advantage of opportunities available to them."

"With a growing wave of retirements and sustained fiscal constraints, local government leaders could be surprised at how difficult it is to fill key positions," said Elizabeth Kellar, President and CEO of SLGE. "Part of the solution is to help employees develop critically important skills. Equally important is to build 21st Century human resources practices that will appeal to the next generation of public servants."

Additional brief highlights:

During the past six years, with ICMA-RC's support, SLGE has released more than 35 studies with the goal of educating local and state public employees and employers, other sectors and levels of government, the media, and the public about a range of issues facing governments.

About ICMA-RC

Founded in 1972, ICMA-RC is a non-profit independent financial services corporation focused on providing retirement plans and related services for more than a million public sector participant accounts and approximately 9,000 retirement plans. Our mission is to help build retirement security for public employees. We deliver on our mission by focusing on service, quality and value. All of our retirement programs, administrative services and educational tools have been developed specifically for public sector retirement plan administrators and participants. For more information, visit http://www.icmarc.org.

About the Center for State and Local Government Excellence The Center for State and Local Government Excellence helps state and local governments become knowledgeable and competitive employers so they can attract and retain a talented and committed workforce. The Center identifies best practices and conducts research on competitive employment practices, workforce development, pensions, retiree health security, and financial planning. The Center also brings state and local leaders together with respected researchers and features the latest demographic data on the aging workforce, research studies, and news on health care, recruitment, and succession planning on its website, http://www.slge.org. AC 0912-5999

[1] Survey Findings: State and Local Government Workforce: 2012 Trends. Center for State and Local Government Excellence. http://slge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/S-L-Govt-Workforce-2012_12-195_web.pdf.

[2] Current Employment Statistics - CES (National). Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Department of Labor. http://www.bls.gov/ces/. (not seasonally adjusted)

Read more here:
Public Sector Retirement Plan Changes Identified in ICMA-RC/SLGE Brief

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RodRrSpJh00

08-10-2012 18:56 A Consumer Reports experts advises people on how to figure out how much money they will need in retirement and what to do if they come up short.

Original post:
How much money do you need for retirement? - Video

Retirement Tax-Savvy Retirement Plan Distributions

What's your biggest challenge in retirement, besides making your money last for your lifetime? It's taking retirement plan distributions in such a way as to best minimize income tax so more money is left for you.

In each scenario, a hypothetical couple has $600,000 in assets. To maintain their lifestyle, they need $42,000 of income per year in retirement, $24,000 of which will come from Social Security. They must rely on their retirement funds to provide income of at least $18,000 per year.

Assuming that tax rates don't change drastically in the foreseeable future, let's look at the best way to take distributions when retirement assets are invested in various vehicles, including pretax accounts such as traditional 401(k) plans, individual retirement accounts and pension plans; after-tax vehicles such as Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s; and nonretirement vehicles, such as a brokerage account containing stocks.

"The name of the game is planning. A builder doesn't build a house without a blueprint. A retiree can't navigate a multidecade retirement without one either. One key tool in that planning toolbox is minimizing taxation," says Rob O'Blennis, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor at The Retirement Planning Group in Overland Park, Kan.

Here are the three scenarios, with tips on how to take retirement plan distributions with tax efficiency in mind.

In this scenario, Bankrate's hypothetical couple has invested all $600,000 of their nest egg in a traditional, pretax 401(k) plan and traditional IRA, or they have a traditional pension plan with annuity payments.

Our hypothetical couple has $400,000 of their nest egg invested in a traditional, pretax 401(k) plan or traditional IRA and $200,000 in a Roth 401(k) plan or a Roth IRA.

In this scenario, Bankrate's hypothetical couple has evenly divided their nest egg into three parts: $200,000 is invested in a traditional pretax 401(k) or IRA, $200,000 in a Roth 401(k)/IRA and $200,000 in a regular brokerage account containing stocks.

Retirement Tax-Savvy Retirement Plan Distributions

Originally posted here:
Tax tactics to make your retirement cash last

Retirement Tax Issues You Could Face In Retirement

Does your retirement plan consider tax issues? It should -- or it could cost you valuable post-work money.

Taxes don't end when you stop working. Federal and state tax issues come into play in several retirement income areas.

The key focus of all retirement plans is ensuring you have enough money to live the retirement lifestyle you want. While you were working, you took advantage of workplace savings accounts such as 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts.

If your IRA is a Roth account, you don't have to worry about tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service. You paid taxes on the money before you put it into your Roth IRA, and its earnings have grown tax-free. That means you don't owe the IRS anything on your withdrawals once you retire.

But if you're depending on traditional IRA or 401(k) funds, you will owe taxes. You never paid income taxes on the workplace plan or deductible IRA contributions. Plus, the earnings of these accounts are tax-deferred, meaning you owe tax at your ordinary income tax rate on money you take out in retirement.

And if you've delayed distributions so as to postpone those taxes for as long as possible, remember that the required minimum distribution, or RMD, rules compel you to withdraw certain amounts when you turn 70 . The IRS has life-expectancy charts, the most common one being the Uniform Lifetime Table, that help you calculate how much to withdraw.

Your private retirement accounts are designed to supplement your Social Security benefits.

But your added retirement income, whether from an IRA or pension plan, investment income or a job (including self-employment), could lead to taxes on at least part of your government benefits.

Retirees could pay taxes on up to 85 percent of Social Security benefits, says Mike Piershale, a Chartered Financial Consultant and president of Piershale Financial Group in Crystal Lake, Ill.

Read more here:
Don't fall into these retirement tax traps

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVjt-fzbVIQ

08-10-2012 11:06 The mayor and Interim Interim Police Chief Chester Logan discuss the future of the department following Ralph Godbee's departure. Detroit — Embattled Police Chief Ralph L. Godbee Jr. retired Monday amid a scandal surrounding his alleged relationship with a subordinate female police officer and an investigation into whether he used police resources to spy on her. "It hurts me a great deal it has come to this," Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said. "I told him what my expectations were. He didn't live up to those expectations." From The Detroit News:

Link:
Bing announces Detroit police chief's retirement - Video

Residents at some retirement homes are upset because they could soon be on the hook for additional costs caused by new provincial legislation aimed at making the homes safer.

The Ontario government passed the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) in 2010 to keep homes maintained at a certain standard.

Retirement homes in Ontario must also now have a licence to operate, which could amount to an extra fee of $10 per month for each resident of a retirement home starting in November.

Some homes say they are covering those costs, but others are forcing residents to swallow the extra fee.

"I mean, the other option is to cut services and I really think residents come to a retirement home to gain those services," said Sharon Henderson, a spokeswoman for Chartwell Seniors Housing.

"To have those activities, to have the socialization, the nutritious meals, the housekeeping services, all of those things help make lives better."

Chartwell, which runs 80 retirement properties, now expects its total costs to increase to about $1 million per year. The company said it would pass the cost down to residents.

Residents at one of its homes in Ottawa were mixed on the idea.

But the government believes the cost, which was kicked off with $7.5 million of Ontario taxpayers' dollars and is now a self-funding model, is worth it to help prevent abuse and neglect to residents.

"It's going to bring protection to them (homes) in the long run. There have been homes that have been burnt down. There have been inquests into abuse situations. There have been people that have been living in conditions that are not good," said Mary Beth Valentine, CEO of the RHRA.

Read more here:
New Ontario retirement home rules hike costs

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGInBV-UQjY

06-10-2012 19:04 Regi and Nick Allen talk about the recent TSM loss and Regi reveals his plans for Season 3.

Read the original here:
TSM Reginald makes huge announcement - IPL Exclusive - Video

Bob Andres - MCT

Denise McColister, 55, of Georgia says a retirement that was on track 10 years ago was derailed by an unexpected disability, job loss and erosion of her homes value.

ATLANTA -- A decade ago, Denise McColister envisioned a comfortable retirement around the time she turned 62.

At 45, I felt really secure, the Dallas resident, now 55, recalled. Back then, her husband made good money, and their house was paid for.

Then he became disabled and their house, which they had borrowed against, plummeted in value. Now, instead of padding her financial cushion, shes working a part-time call center job while hoping for a better position. Theres no retirement in sight.

Ill probably be working until Im called home, she said.

Many Americans have had to adjust their retirement dreams since the recession and housing bust. For some, like McColister, the question is whether they can ever retire.

Over 55? Retirement iffy

A study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute determined that 1 in 3 households headed by people now age 55 to 64 wont be financially prepared to retire even by age 70. Lower-income people face the biggest problem.

Its generally accepted that the effects of layoffs, flat-lined pay, declining property values and a turbulent stock market have eroded wealth to the point where many can no longer expect to stop working when theyre 65 let alone earlier.

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Retirement roadblocks mount for many

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

04-10-2012 05:41 Michael Schumacher will retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2012 season, the 43-year-old German announced on Thursday at Suzuka. Following last week's announcement that the seven-time world champion will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Schumacher called a press conference along with the team in Japan to call time on a career that has spanned 21 years and more than 300 races. Speaking of his decision, Schumacher said: "We did not achieve our targets but I can be happy about overall achievements in my career. "I would like to thank Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, the team, my engineers and my mechanics for the trust they put in myself. "I would like to concentrate now on the end of the season and enjoy those races with you." Schumacher added that he had felt his energy and enthusiasm had begun to wane, just as it did when he quit Ferrari and the sport the first time at the end of 2006. "I have been thinking for quite a while [about this]," he said. "We had a three-year agreement, hard to keep motivation and energy - it's natural you think about this more than when you are young. "I have had my doubts for quite a while whether I had energy to [carry on]. I said in 2006 my battery was empty and now I am in the red zone. I don't know if there is time to recharge them - but I am looking forward to my freedom. "I have no hard feelings. In a different way we achieved a great deal... "Now I will do exactly as I did the first time - to finish and focus 100 per cent on what I ...

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Michael Schumacher confirms F1 retirement 2012 - Video