Redefining Retirement
Australia:
Gates to unlock boomer potential
NVESTMENT bank Babcock & Brown has formed a joint venture with Queensland builder Watpac to form gated residential communities in a bid to target baby boomers before they retire.
The joint venture - potentially worth $400 million - is one of a number of schemes as developers cast around for the right model to unlock the potential of baby boomer demographic. The partners have launched a business known as FreeDomain Pty Ltd, which plans to build up to 10 eastern seaboard masterplanned communities for baby boomers wanting to downsize from large family homes and enjoy a resort-style lifestyle. (Australian)

Canada:
Retirement planning helpfulness blasted
Many Quebecers don't feel their employer is helpful in giving information at work to help them plan for retirement, a national survey says. (CanoeNetwork)

Global:
Retirement Tip: Four Reasons to Wait
Worried your portfolio won't last your entire retirement? There are powerful reasons to work just a few years more.
Perhaps you've counted all your beans and think you have enough to retire ... but just barely enough. What can you do to build in a margin of error -- something that will protect your retirement against unpleasant surprises? That's easy: Work longer. I know it's not a popular suggestion, but it's a powerful one. Working just a few more years can put your retirement on a much stronger foundation. Here are four reasons to wait just a few more years to retire. (MSNBC)

Survey of Baby Boomer Attitudes on Alzheimer's
As the first Baby Boomers turn 60 this year, they are beginning to confront the consequences of growing older. A new survey shows the majority of Boomers are anxious about how Alzheimer's disease (AD) will affect their health and quality of life. At the same time, Boomers are frustrated that the government and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do not address adequately this looming public health crisis. The findings from the first major survey of over 1,000 American Baby Boomers about Alzheimer's disease were announced today by a newly formed coalition of 21 leading advocacy groups known as ACT-AD (Accelerate Cure/Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease). (MatureMarket)

The 2016 Retirement Manual
There's never been a more important time to learn the basics of personal finance. It used to be that government and employers could be counted on to provide for our retirement. Sadly, that's no longer the case. Defined-benefit plans are going the way of the dodo, and so, too, could Social Security. Resistance is futile This transition has not been without pain. Last winter, the Transport Workers Union in New York City went on strike to protect a generous pension plan that allows workers with a 25-year tenure to retire at age 55 and earn half their salary for the rest of their lives. Accounts had the strike ending in a stalemate, but my guess is that the pension is not sustainable. (Motley Fool)

Coming out of retirement won't be that easy to do
We hear a lot about how unprepared American workers are for retirement, but their bosses may be just as flat-footed.  Questioning about 1,000 U.S. companies and 5,111 adults this year, Harris Interactive found a gap between what employers think older workers want and what they actually do want in their second careers. And those differences will affect how workers plan their financial lives after their first careers are over, experts said. (Chicago Tribune)

Great News for U.S. Senior Citizens
Now that America's Senior Citizens' Social Security benefits are not subject to penalty for earning money after age 65, the Senior Job Bank arrives to offer a proven, free and easy-to-use web site for actually 'finding' the perfect employment opportunity through a worldwide source. Take a look at these statistics:
At age 50:
- 75% of the population has less than $5,000 in the bank for retirement.
At age 65:
- 45% of Americans depend on relatives
- 30% depend on charities
- 23% are still working (most work until they are no longer physically capable)
- Only 2% are self-sustaining.
(SeniorJobBank)

Age Smart: Discovering the Fountain of Youth at Midlife and Beyond
A number of years ago, Donald Keough, president of Coca-Cola, retired. At 66, this garrulous, hard-charging, oft-described "people- person" executive was reluctant to leave, but he had reached the mandatory retirement age. Most of his friends and colleagues, as would be expected, thought he would walk into the sunset with his pockets full of cash to enjoy devoted family time. He would lead the retirement life so many people dream about—rich, abundant in energy, and free of worries. So, on a cool Friday morning in Spring, Don packed up his office, bade goodbye to his colleagues, and made his graceful exit. (Informit)

Ominous Warnings and Dire Predictions of World's Financial Experts – Part 3
As I have mentioned in previous articles, I have the most informed, intelligent and savvy subscribers one could ask for. One of them, Lorimer Wilson, previously wrote me with his insights on "Our Worst Nightmare – the Puncture of the Current US Housing Bubble." It was very well received when published by me recently and he has just sent me more information which I think you will find timely and of particular interest. Together we have compiled a remarkable summary of the ominous warnings, dire predictions and perceived devastating consequences that the vast majority of economists, financial analysts, economic research firms and financial commentators are saying about our current economic situation and what is most likely to unfold in the months and years ahead. It is a must read to more clearly understand and appreciate the financial state of the union, the impact it will likely have on various investments, and how better to allocate ones assets. (GoldSeek)

Mexico Strikes Back
Unless it is stopped, the Mexican "Reconquista" could obliterate U.S. standards of fairness.
The Senate immigration bill not only does next to nothing to prevent roughly 400,000 illegal immigrants from entering the workforce every year; under a guest-worker program, it invites another 200,000 job-seekers a year to join them, and it sets in motion a rolling amnesty for many of the 10 to 12 million illegals here now. How will fifty years of massive low-wage immigration change the country? A society already more unequal than at any time since the 1920s will grow more starkly unequal as a helot class of workers with no labor rights pushes down the wages of poorer American citizens—brown, black, and white. Already average wages are as much as $1,500 lower owing to immigration. Estimates of the net cost to the taxpayer of providing services to poor immigrants run to as much as $22 billion annually—$3 billion in California alone. (Atlantic)

UK:
British baby boomer organization launches
Age Concern England Tuesday launched Heyday, an organization for baby boomers entering retirement who are even busier than when they worked full-time. Heyday rolled out with a survey saying 58 percent of the estimated 20 million British residents 50 and older plan to work part-time after retirement. "In just 10 years' time, almost half of the U.K. adult population will be aged over 50, said Gordon Lishman of Age Concern England. "Our research shows that 41 per cent of people in their 50s are not yet actively planning for their retirement." (WashingtonTimes)

Delaying retirement will stop older people volunteering
Delaying the retirement age will prevent people from volunteering in later life, potentially robbing the voluntary movement of a huge army of retired volunteers and leaving many public and community services unstaffed, says a new YouGov survey for Volunteering England to mark the launch of Volunteers' Week. The YouGov/Volunteering England poll reveals that nearly 70 per cent of working people who gave a view in England believe that because they may need to work longer before retirement they will be less likely to volunteer once in retirement. More than 69 per cent of people aged between 30 and 50 – the group most affected by recent changes in the policy on pensions – also believe that they will be less likely to volunteer because they will have to work longer. (Onrec)

Touching 60 and opening the throttle
Retirement is being redefined by the "baby boomer" generation which is abandoning an afternoon's gentle gardening or conundrum-solving with Des Lynam for adventure sports, exotic travel and personal re-invention.Trends show that those born in the "baby boom" between 1945 and 1963 are "retiring" from full-time employment only to take on a new career or to raise grandchildren as "granny nannies". The old-fashioned notion of retirement is becoming obsolete. In fact, those in retirement say they are busier than ever. (Telegraph)

US:
Study: 43% won't have enough in retirement
A new risk index suggests many won't be able to afford their current lifestyle in retirement, but a little extra work or savings would help a lot.
A new retirement risk index released Tuesday estimates that 43 percent of working-age households are not likely to have enough retirement income to replicate their current standard of living. The Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College created the index and defines "at risk" to mean those households projected to fall at least 10 percent short of their income target in retirement. (CNNMoney.com)

Companies Help Employees Increase Retirement Savings
Employees do listen to their employers after all. According to a study recently released by Hewitt Associates, a human resources firm, efforts by companies to help U.S. employees save for retirement -- including putting the 401(k) plan on autopilot, simplifying plan choices and targeting communication -- have resulted in improvements in employees' retirement saving and investing behaviors. The study, which looked at the savings and investing patterns of more than 2.6 million employees who were eligible for 401 (k) plans, found that 36% of workers with less than one year of tenure participated in a 401(k) plan in 2005, an increase of 6 percentage points from the prior year. (Industry Week)


The U.S. Baby Boomer Market
As the first wave of Baby Boomers turn age 60 in 2006, Packaged Facts presents an all-new report on the attitudes, preferences, and shopping behaviors of this cohort across a wide range of U.S. markets. Born between the years 1946 and 1964, this diverse, individualistic, and demanding generation accounts for nearly one in three Americans today, and their insistence on maintaining youthful, active lives far into the future provides a clear opportunity for marketers to "age up" their products and services to suit the evolving needs of these affluent architects of American Youth Culture. (MatureMarket)

A retirement boom approaches
PPL hiring workers who can be mentored before baby boomers leave.
PPL Corp., like much of the energy industry, didn't do too much hiring for more than a decade. It didn't have to. Its ranks were full of baby boomers. But now, with the boomers quickly approaching retirement age, the Allentown company — widely regarded as one of the region's premier employers — has thrown open its doors.  It, like many other energy companies, is posting job openings in the newspaper. It's staffing a booth at job fairs. It's canvassing college campuses in search of young talent. (McCall.com)

Not the Retiring Type
After working 30 years as a social worker in New York state, Nancy Sarah was feeling burnt out. But she couldn't afford to quit work and retire. She didn't see herself as the "retired" type anyway; she was just ready to do something new. She decided to pursue what had always been her dream: To live on Block Island, where she'd vacationed for years. So she sold her house in New York and a vacation condo she'd had on Block Island and bought a bed and breakfast there. (2Young2Retire)

Experience Takes a Buyout
We're having plenty of our own Katie Couric moments around the newsroom these days, as 70 or so of our colleagues decide to take up The Post's enticing early retirement offer. The departures reflect the financial reality of a shrinking base of daily newspaper readers and major advertisers, or, more precisely, the shift of those readers and advertisers to other media. With The Post's pension program overfunded, the company is able to pay for the buyouts without much impact on reported earnings. And in the scheme of things, it's probably a better way to right-size than laying off the young and recently hired. (WashingtonPost)

Today's Baby Boomer grandparents are a whole new breed
Christine Crosby skates, does yoga and videoconferences with her grandchildren. Allan Zullo hikes to mountaintop waterfalls with his. Ellen Hamilton and her grandchildren have been stilt-walking together for years. The long-held image of gray-haired grannies who knit and wizened grandpas who sit on the porch whittling couldn't be further from reality today. With the aging of the Baby Boomers, that huge generation of Americans born from 1946 to 1965, the social institution of grandparenthood is being turned on its head. (ContraCostaTimes)

HR Is Mission Critical at the FBI
Thirty years of corporate HR experience helps the FBI's new HR chief revamp an organization that is changing to meet the challenges of the post-Sept. 11 world.
"This job is a higher calling," says Don Packham, SPHR, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) new assistant director and chief human resources officer. Though he grappled with many difficult business challenges during 30 years in the private sector, they "pale by comparison" to what the FBI deals with daily, he says. "If you have a bad quarter in the private sector, you can make it up the next quarter. Not so at the FBI," he adds, referring to the life-and-death matters this agency deals with on a daily basis. For Packham, the journey to the FBI came in what was supposed to be his quasi-retirement from an illustrious career in corporate HR. (SHRM)

Boomers Redefine Retirement
Most will keep working, but not because they have to.
Jeffrey Meltzer of Glen Rock, N.J., is only 43, but he is already thinking about retirement--and vows his won't be like that of his parents' generation. "Everyone in our family retired by dying. No one was financially prepared," he says. So after inheriting some money a few years ago, Meltzer and his wife began building a portfolio designed to provide them financial freedom when they reach retirement age. (Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine)

Washington Post Staffers Take Early Retirement
About 70 reporters, editors, photographers and newsroom administrators have taken early retirement offers from The Washington Post Co., as the company's flagship newspaper works to contain costs while circulation continues a slow slide. Some familiar and veteran bylines will exit The Post's pages, such as those of political writer Thomas B. Edsall, science writer Guy Gugliotta, foreign correspondent Daniel Williams, Metro reporter (and panda chronicler) D'Vera Cohn, and business columnists Jerry Knight and Leslie Walker (WashingtonPost)

Boomers create new kind of retirement
For retiring baby boomers, staying active is about more than just having fun
In Bluffton, newly retired schoolteacher Andrea Flanagan and her husband, Mark, have some big decisions to make. Not about what to do with the rest of their lives, but what not to do. "I see other people settling down, and I feel like we are just starting up," Andrea Flanagan says. For the Flanagans — both 60 and born in the first year of the baby boom — retirement means activity. They're learning new skills — picking up new sports from biking to volleyball — a long way from the traditional rocking chair. (MSNBC)

The end of retirement?
Documentary prompts debate on how to spur savings
Does a TV documentary that points to the failures of the U.S. retirement system work to shock nonsavers into action or does it freeze them in the headlights? That depends on whom you ask.The Frontline show "Can You Afford to Retire," which aired earlier this month on PBS stations, details the latest news on traditional pensions, including United Airlines' termination of its plan. The show also shines a spotlight on how some workers fail miserably at saving with a 401(k) plan, interviewing some who found it necessary to return to work after retiring. (MarketWatch)

'Retired' boomers shift careers and keep on working
After 24 years with Delta Air Lines, Nancy Stiefvater took an early-retirement package the summer of 2001 but thought she had "too much to offer" to retire or live out her life as a greeter at a big-box store. Five years later, after a succession of temporary jobs, she finally landed a dream job as a patient services coordinator at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "It's an opportunity to work with people in a top-flight organization," says Stiefvater, 56. She credits her working retirement and volunteer work with helping her network into a post-retirement job that "makes me feel productive" and cushions family retirement finances. (Scripps Howard News Service)

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2006 Strategic HR Conference October 4-6, 2006 Westin Kierland Resort Phoenix, Arizona	Human Resource Executive's 9th Annual HR Technology® Conference Oct. 4-6, 2006 Navy Pier in Chicago, IL $!095 Register
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