12 Things you need to do during Retirement.-Odunze Reginald C

Now that you have retired and have collected your benefit, you must do the following:

1 Invest your money: Investment is the key to survival in life , pension is not an exception, the retire need to invest his fund profitable.

2 Be in tune with your partner , do not marry another wife or husband :But the most devastating of all these fraud is the one targeting on Retirees, experience has shown that old people are like children, and it becomes worse when such people are single, may be due to fate or unnecessary selection, they missed out on their life partner.

In an article in Yahoo Finance captioned “7 ways to Retire happy” Mandi Woodruff observed that “Happy retirees are more likely to be married” As common as divorce is in the U.S. today, the overwhelming majority of happy retirees were married (76%) and only 9% were divorced. Less than half of unhappy retirees were married, while one-quarter were divorced, Wes Moss found. This is right on par with what past research has shown about levels of satisfaction in married and unmarried people — over the long term, married couples are much happier. It’s fairly obvious why two may be better than one in this scenario — dual incomes can make a huge difference in a couple’s financial outlook. On the flip side, divorce not only reduces both parties’ income but is also expensive to go through. 

3 Avoid your young lovers as they are targeting your money Most retirees end up using retirement money in marrying new wives and procuring new cars. By so doing they attract people’s attention to their life, they also end up having issues with their immediate family especially their first wife who now feels alienated, even though they not know that marrying a  new wife set aside the existing will, if there was no update of the previous will.

4 Avoid high risk income yielding investment: The retiree should high risk investments instrument though they may yield high income a shorter period of time but they can also go down the drain within the shortest period of time

5 Check your health regularly: Health is wealth, and all gone without health, as a retiree endeavor to check health regularly to avoid medical issues etc

6 Avoid financial scam According Sheiresa Ngo of the wall street journal , she noted that “Unfortunately, seniors are often the targets of financial scams. The FTC recently refunded more than $2.4 million to investors who were tricked out of millions of dollars in a precious metals scheme. The FTC says many of the victims were senior citizens”

7 Be busy , with one vocation or the other,  you may even work  , do something even if  it means joining a volunteer group, Start kick starting a business or a vocation that will keep you busy during retirement; a recent Merrill Lynch survey found that nearly three out of four people over 50 said their ideal retirement would include working. Which is fine. Staying connected to the work world in some way can not only offer financial benefits, it can also keep retirees more active and socially engaged”

8 Start adjusting your life toward old age and start shedding harmful habits: Harmful habits are injurious to life, they include, a life of smoking, drinking and other related life pattern that affects ones health and life, it should be noted that one of the serious bills affecting senior citizen is increasing medical bills, as old age has with it issues pertaining to health and medical wellness.

9 Avoid expensive areas, states or location: Research and experience has shown that some states, regions, locations are more expensive than the others. it is good the retiree lives in a less expensive city.

10 Network with other Retirees: Network is the in thing , it’s good for the retiree to network with his colleagues, friends and associates, because according to Achebe, the actual sharing of one’s thought and deepest hope fulfilled and drive people to happiness.

11 Check your investments, pension pot regularly and ascertain if it is growing or not, investment should be thoroughly monitored so that if things are about going wrong, the investment can be move to other profitable areas.

12 Be in tune with your God and pray regularly , develop a special relationship with your God: Nothing is more important than an existing good relationship with your maker, there is inner sense of joy and happiness when you are in tune with God.

10 Things you need to start doing 5 years to your retirement-Odunze Reginald C

Pension is an important issue, as a time will come when you will longer be able to work, at that time , you fall back on your pension .

What is pension?  According to Wikipedia “A pension is a fixed sum to be paid regularly to a person, typically following retirement from service. There are many different types of pensions, including defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, as well as several others. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.”

Continuing Wikipedia noted that” The terms retirement plan and superannuation tend to refer to a pension granted upon retirement of the individual. Retirement plans may be set up by employers, insurance companies, the government or other institutions such as employer associations or trade unions. Called retirement plans in the United States, they are commonly known as pension schemes in the United Kingdom and Ireland and superannuation plans  in Australia and New Zealand. Retirement pensions are typically in the form of a guaranteed life annuity, thus insuring against the risk of longevity.

A pension created by an employer for the benefit of an employee is commonly referred to as an occupational or employer pension. Labor unions, the government, or other organizations may also fund pensions. Occupational pensions are a form of deferred compensation, usually advantageous to employee and employer for tax reasons. Many pensions also contain an additional insurance aspect, since they often will pay benefits to survivors or disabled beneficiaries. Other vehicles (certain lottery payouts, for example, or an annuity) may provide a similar stream of payments.

The common use of the term pension is to describe the payments a person receives upon retirement, usually under pre-determined legal or contractual terms. A recipient of a retirement pension is known as a pensioner or retiree.

But the period of retirement, its delicate and money consuming so an intending retiree need to do the following 5 years before he or she retires and they are as follows:

1 Good relationship with your family, the period of retirement is always a period of seclusion, therefore an intending retiree should be up and doing in having a good relationship with his or her family

2 Build a house where you are retiring no matter how small it is: in an article on pension destinations, analysts are of the view that it is always good to have a house before retirement. The agony of retirees using their retirement money to build a house cannot be quantified.

3 Make sure you have start offsetting your debt, Debt has been a part of some people life, especially in organized countries where they transact with credit cards, it’s imperative that they the intending retiree offset any debt that will affect his life during retirement.

4 Start kick starting a business or a vocation that will keep you busy during retirement; a recent Merrill Lynch survey found that nearly three out of four people over 50 said their ideal retirement would include working. Which is fine. Staying connected to the work world in some way can not only offer financial benefits, it can also keep retirees more active and socially engaged”

5 Start adjusting your life toward old age and start shedding harmful habits: Harmful habits are injurious to life, they include, a life of smoking, drinking and other related life pattern that affects ones health and life, it should be noted that one of the serious bills affecting senior citizen is increasing medical bills, as old age has with it issues pertaining to health and medical wellness.

6 Update your relevant information: information is key and it needs to be updated at every point in time, this will ease the retiree’s application when accessing his benefit.

7 Get a will; experience has shown that it takes up to six months to get a letter of Administration, added to the high cost of court and the legal charge of the lawyer facilitating it. But if there is will, it becomes increasingly easy to access the fund , where the contributor has joined his ancestors

8 Plan to increase your contribution, the main aim of additional voluntary contribution is to increase the pension pot, reduces the tax burden and make retirement a safe haven for retirees.

9 Start having positive attitude towards life: Some people have that mindset that they will not live to see their pension and the Biblical Job what they fear most always comes to them.

In my experience in talking to people about pension, some will always say will I    live to    have the pension? I always tell them, to maintain a positive attitude towards life.

Henry Ford said “Think you can, think you can’t, either way you will be right”

10 Develop a special relationship with your God: Nothing is more important than an existing good relationship with your maker, there is inner sense of joy and happiness when you are in tune with God.

Culled from Reginaldodunze.blogspot.com

Your Retirement is farfetched – Odunze Reginald C

In an article captioned “You may never retired” that appeared in wall street journal it states” that sum sizable number of retirees  may continue to work after retirement due to so many reasons like their pension pot  was not enough, they were ripped off  of the retirement savings and majority because they love what they do.

And according to Walter Updegrave in an article captioned “Three Little mistakes that can sink your retirement, which appeared in Yahoo Finance it states that “It’s almost become a cliché. Virtually every survey asking pre-retirees what they plan to do in retirement shows that the overwhelming majority plan to work. Indeed, a recent Merrill Lynch survey found that nearly three out of four people over 50 said their ideal retirement would include working. Which is fine. Staying connected to the work world in some way can not only offer financial benefits, it can also keep retirees more active and socially engaged”

In Mexico, according to a report by CCTV America, erred on the 5^th of April 2015, it noted that a vast majority of retirees in Mexico do menial jobs in shops so as to survive, the report went on to say that they received a daily pay of 20 dollars, which is far in excess of their monthly 8 dollar pension.

There are about 3 factors that account for this development and they are as follow:

A Rising Medical Bills

Medical Bills while workers have medical bills, retirees tend to have higher medical bills, even though some of them are provided by government expenditure, but they tend to have higher medical bills. The reason] being that this is the time they have issues relating to health as a result of old age. But those that continue to work may have to save instead of spending because their employer may have covered them in their medical benefits

B Inflation

What it portends is that your pension pot may not carry you through during retirement. This is because during period of inflation, what N100, 000 can buy in previous years may not purchase up to N 75,000 during period of inflation. How then do you protect your pension pot during inflation? You may have nothing or less to do to protect your pension pot during inflationary period.  But the decision you take in either choosing programmed withdrawal or annuity will offer the necessary succor.   Because those who are more likely to be hit by inflation are those on annuity as they have a regular income without investment, as the investment that comes into their pension; go to the pool of fund and not the annuitant; although they may continue to receive pension throughout their life time, but the value over time may be eroded by inflation

But according to Michelle McGagh  of citywire.com she observed that “Pension savers are still in the dark about the impact the ‘inflation switch’ brought in by the government two years ago will have, despite the possibility that it could wipe 25% off their retirement income.” They went on to say that “Research by human resources business, Aon Hewitt shows Brits do not understand what effect the switch from the retail price index (RPI) to the consumer price index (CPI) has had” .
The article went on to say that “Two years ago, the government announced plans to move the indexation of pensions from RPI to CPI. It did this because CPI rises a lot slower than RPI, as the latter includes housing costs, so it means the state pension will rise more slowly, as will public sector pensions, costing the government less money.  When it comes to private pensions, the amount they pay out could also increase more slowly as many are tied to inflation, and would have adopted CPI instead of RPI.”

Although the article based their research on the situations in Britain, but the aftermath of globalization does  indicate economy does not exist in isolation stressing that  what affects one economy will definitely affects the other. And according to Nathalie Bonney  in article captioned “How rising inflation can destroy your pension” which appeared in money observer, the article noted that “Anyone who has bought a fixed annuity [which provides a regular income for life] could see the value of their pension erode significantly over time,' says Dr Ros Altmann, director general of Saga.

She adds: 'The longer they live, the poorer these pensioners become, as the real value of their fixed pensions is reduced by inflation.'

C FINANCIAL SCAM

According to  Sherisa Ngo in an article caption  “5 Things you need to do before borrowing from pension”,  which appeared in wall street journal  she noted that “Unfortunately, seniors are often the targets of financial scams. The FTC recently refunded more than $2.4 million to investors who were tricked out of millions of dollars in a precious metals scheme. The FTC says many of the victims were senior citizens”  continuing she noted that “The fraudsters convinced investors to purchase precious metals on credit without making it clear there were huge risks and costs involved. What many of the investors didn’t know was that there was a possibility they would have to pay additional fees or run the risk of losing their investments.”

In the book Rich Dad Poor dad, Robert Kiyosaki noted that there are so many ways, one can be rich, and he included the following, through inheritance, playing lottery, investing or by being a crook or an outlaw but there is a price, you risk going to jail. Kiyosaki  (1995:351) continuing he stated that ‘A great story must interest , excite and cause people to look into the future and dream a little, there should also be integrity behind the story, because our jails are filled with great story tellers without integrity”.

From this precursor above, it should be noted that through inheritance, one can actually become rich. Scammer and con artist have long recognized and noticed that; that they developed a format known as the universal format of next of kin. Believe that there is no free gift even in Freetown, once you have that in your mind; it becomes increasingly difficult to scam you. In the universal format of next of kin, people are sent scam mail asking them to present themselves of owners of the fund, but does it exist ?

But why do scammer and con artist target the retirees, the reason is not far fetch as old people according to psychologist have the tendency to fall prey because of their erroneous assumption that what did not achieve during youthful stage may be achieved during their  old age. They are also moved by fake love that does not exist that is why I advocate for you to have enduring and successful  happy retirement, put your old relationship in order, be in tune with your partner and you will not be a victim of con artist.

When Isaac Newton, the powerful scientist who enunciated the Newton’s Laws of motion lost his fortune in the South Sea Bubble Company of 1720 due to corruption. He said and I quote “I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies but not the madness of men”. Today in my people there is madness, everyone is thinking of getting rich quick. (Kiyosaki 1990:70)

Yes  I see it as madness in target senior citizen for financial scam, and their vulnerability  also increases their urge for such vices.

It could be observed that most people who involved in fraud and scam often end in poverty . And as Prof Pat Utomi (2008) in “The Limit of lets share Economy, he stated that like people who won lottery, they often return to poverty.

Therefore the onus lies on the retiree to effectively manage his pension pot so as to be able to live a happy and fulfilled life.

reginaldodunze.blogspot.com

FedEx to buy TNT for $4.8 billion to expand Europe deliveries-By Rama Venkat Raman and Toby Sterling

A Federal Express truck makes its way down a freeway in San Diego, California August 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mike …

By Rama Venkat Raman and Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - FedEx Corp launched a 4.4 billion euros (3.22 billion pounds) bid to buy Dutch package delivery company TNT Express , seeking success where main rival United Parcel Service failed two years ago when its bid was blocked on competition concerns.
FedEx will offer 8 euros in cash per ordinary TNT Express share, in a deal that would give the U.S. firm access to TNT's European road network and TNT customers access to FedEx's global distribution platform, the companies said on Tuesday.
The price represents a premium of 33 percent over TNT's closing price of 6 euros on the Amsterdam exchange on April 2.
The deal has been unanimously recommended by TNT Express' supervisory board. TNT's largest shareholder, PostNL , said it would tender its 14.7 percent stake in TNT to the FedEx offer.
The companies said they did not expect significant antitrust opposition and see the deal closing in the first half of 2016.
In 2013, European Union regulators blocked UPS's 9.50 euro per share takeover bid on concerns it would reduce competition.
Unlike FedEx, UPS already had a strong European network as it attempted to buy TNT.
While disappointing for UPS, the regulatory decision was damaging for TNT, which had been counting on adopting much of UPS's logistics backbone.
TNT embarked on a restructuring programme, cutting costs, selling operations and investing heavily in its road network to hold on to customers in a weak European market for business package deliveries.
TNT warned in February that it expected adverse trading conditions to continue in its main western European markets this year.

FedEx Chief Executive Frederick Smith said on Tuesday the deal would "quickly broaden our portfolio of international" offerings.

TNT CEO Tex Gunning said while he had been focussed on TNT's standalone future, FedEx's offer is "good news".

(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Culled fro Reuters

Stanford offers free tuition for families making less than $125,0000-By Emily Jane Fox

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Last week, 2,144 teenagers got the news they'd long dreamed of: they got accepted to Stanford University.

The cherry on top is that Stanford also announced it was expanding financial aid. The university said that no parents with an annual income and typical assets of less than $125,000 will have to pay a single cent toward tuition. The threshold for this aid was previously $100,000.
Stanford also said it will offer free room and board -- in addition to free tuition -- for those making less than $65,000, raised from the previous $60,000 threshold.
Without financial aid, annual costs for a typical Stanford student run about $65,000, including yearly tuition at more than $45,000.

"Our highest priority is that Stanford remain affordable and accessible to the most talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances," Stanford provost John Etchemendy said in a statement.
As it stands, the school said that 77% of its undergraduate students graduate with no student debt.
Stanford, which came in fourth place in U.S. News and World Report's national university rankings, admitted just about 5% of applicants. A record 42,487 students applied. About 16% of the admitted class are the first in their families to go to college.

Stanford isn't the only elite school to offer such financial aid packages. At Harvard, parents making less than $65,000 are not expected to contribute. Families making between $65,000 and $150,000 contribute from 0-10% of their income.
Like Harvard and Stanford, Yale parents making less than $65,000 do not have to contribute to tuition. Beyond that, Yale subtracts a family contribution from the cost of tuition, room and board, books and personal expenses, and will meet 100% of demonstrated financial need.

 

At Princeton, parents making less than $120,000 do not pay tuition. Those making less than $60,000 are covered for tuition, room and board. Those making between $60,000 and $120,000 only pay a percentage of room and board. The percentage is higher for those whose income is lower.

Culled from CNN Money

HAPPY EASTER CELEBRATIONS !

Image credited to happyeastermagesx.com


Be happy and joyous , as our Lord and Savior , Jesus Christ has risen, may you be blessed during this Easter celebrations and beyond.

Happy Easter celebrations

Job hopping: The fast way to earn more money-By Matt Egan

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  Thinkstock

  Many Americans are stuck with stagnant wages, but Ben Baxter has scored a 31% pay hike since the end of 2011.

  No, the 28-year-old Alabama resident didn't hypnotize his employer into giving him a raise. He didn't master a secret salary negotiating strategy either.
  Baxter just felt confident enough about the economy to jump from job to job in order to boost his salary. He's quit six different engineering jobs since February 2013, including two positions since last summer.
  "I tend to change jobs about every six to twelve months. It's the best way to increase salary," Baxter told CNNMoney.
  The calculation is simple: It comes down to staying and getting a 1% raise or leaving and receiving a 10% boost, he said.
  "Always have an out in your back pocket," said Baxter, who currently works as a quality engineer at an auto parts supplier.
  .

  

  Ben Baxter, 28, has quit six different engineering jobs since February 2013. He's currently a quality engineer …

  More quits = better economy: Baxter is part a growing trend of workers who are walking into their manager's office and saying, "I quit."

  Nearly 2.8 million employees voluntarily quit their jobs in January, up 17% from the year before, according to the latest government statistics. The quit rate, which measures the number of quits as a percent of total employment, ticked up to 2% from 1.7%.

  All regions of the country have experienced increased quits over the past year. Sectors seeing more voluntary terminations include professional and business services and the accommodation and food services industries.

  Quitting stats provide a glimpse into workers' willingness and ability to leave their jobs and find better employment elsewhere. Hiring continues to pick up. Last year was the best for American job growth since 1999.

  "If people are leaving, they are more confident and it signals a stronger jobs market," said Kevin Cummins, U.S. economist at UBS.

  
  'Big jump' in salary: Mark Bivens is also feeling more confident about the market for his talents. The 29-year-old has quit three jobs over the past two years, including two in the last 12 months.
  After working at PayPal for four years, he was recruited to join Edward Jones in March 2013 for a job with a substantial increase in salary.
  He quit for a job with a slight decrease in pay a year later at Lincoln Financial. However, Bivens then scored another "big jump" in pay a few months later when he was recruited through LinkedIn to join Vendorin, an online electronic payment service for businesses.
  "If there is something out there that I can find with more money and more responsibility, it makes sense to look around," said Bivens, who grew up in Alabama and currently works in Omaha, Nebraska.
  
  Resume risks? People who work at more established companies like Edward Jones are not as open-minded about job hopping as those who work at younger companies like PayPal, Bivens said.
  "At Edward Jones I was in the minority of people who kept their eyes open to look around," he said.
  Of course, Bivens doesn't want a resume riddled with fleeting jobs that could scare off potential employers.
  "I'm at the point at Vendorin where it would take a lot to take me away from there. I'm in a good place," Bivens said.
  
  Wage hikes coming? Other workers might benefit from the job-hopping stories of Baxter and Bivens. Even if you aren't ready to leave a job yourself, the fact that more people are voluntarily quitting serves as a wake-up call to employers.
  When the quit rate starts to rise, wage growth tends to follow.
  It makes sense: If companies are losing talented employees to competitors who are willing to pay more, they will be forced to increase salaries of current workers. That would be a very positive development for the economy.
  "It's definitely been the missing ingredient," Cummins said.
  
  Culled from CNN Money
  

Entrepreneur: We've bottled brain power- By Heather Schnepf

 A group of neuroscientists has created the first energy-drink designed to give a boost to your brain. It's called truBrain, and according to the company's CEO Chris Thompson, it packs a punch that's much smarter than a jolt of caffeine.

"Our mission is to quantify attention and productivity in the brain, and optimize performance," said Thompson.

Watch Thompson pitch his start-up to Vast Ventures partner Nikhil Kalghatgi, Pantegrion Capital founder and CEO Alicia Syrett and Maveron principal Rebecca Kaden. Will the drink quench the CNBC "Power Pitch" panel's thirst or leave a bad taste in their mouths? Watch the video to find out.

Thompson is the entrepreneur behind the smart-drink start-up, but the brain power behind the recipe comes from two UCLA researchers, Aida Attar and Andrew Hill, who lead the research and development.
The drink is packed with a cocktail that includes amino acids, minerals, and ingredients referred to as nootropics, substances that enhance memory and fuel the thinking process, Thompson said. The cocktail also comes in pill form. The company's website says: "TruBrain's goal is to give you the competitive edge of focused cognitive performance."
Thompson told CNBC that truBrain's scientists have conducted two pilot studies and used wearable technology to measure the product's impact on brain waves. "We observed that truBrain versus placebo showed a higher amplitude of alpha brain waves in the parietal and temporal lobes. Increased alpha brainwaves may be associated with better engaged attention," Thompson said.

Thompson said FDA approval is not necessary because the ingredients have been safely used over the counter for decades.
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Source: truBrain
During the "Power Pitch" segment, Syrett asked when she could expect to see truBrain's scientists' studies on brain waves published in a medical journal.
"We've done two studies underway, you know, very exciting results. So it is a process. I'm not going to promise when we're going to get there, but that's part of where some of the funds are going to," Thompson said. 
CNBC anchor Mandy Drury then asked if any consumers of truBrain have reported it not working.
"I do think even if you look at certain things there's always a bell curve of response. There will be a slice that it doesn't actually work for them or it doesn't do anything noticeable. But, for the mass majority, there'll be something," Thompson responded. "We don't want to make these bold, outrageous claims."
The company sells truBrain on its website in a subscription model starting at $50 per month. Thompson told CNBC the company has shipped over 300,000 units to over 50 countries.
TruBrain has raised over $180,000 with key investors, including Todd Newman of Bumble Bee Foods, Howard Marks of Activision, Paul Kessler of Bristol Capital and the StartEngine Accelerator Fund.


Culled from Power Pitch in CNBC in yahoo Finance