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Our partners at Elliott Wave International have just released a new, free report, titled: "Brazil's Olympic Games 'Disastrous' Preparedness: What if?"
You've heard stories about poor athlete accommodations, unfinished competition facilities, polluted bay waters and green swimming pools and other "disasters." This new report shows you that, while the Rio Games "disastrous" preparedness caught the world by surprise, there was a way to forecast Brazil's current economic crisis, which largely takes the blame for these embarrassments.
See for yourself a forecast from five years ago which explained why Brazil was headed into a tailspin. (They should have sent a copy of this report to the International Olympics Committee!)
This new report also highlights a classic failure of mainstream economic forecasting models.
Some people embrace the “R” word; others are uncomfortable with it; all are interested in how it will impact them. The 76 million Baby Boomers are redefining this stage of life, as they have with each stage before. The concept of retirement---the “R” word---is evolving and changing into a reboot and reinvention for this next stage of life.
Retirement is not an end. It is a new beginning. It’s a rebooting—a new start, with new purpose and energy in your life!
Boomer professionals who have walked the walk and transformed themselves from corporate executives, consultants, and national security policy experts into a range of new careers that more closely hew to their passions have penned a practice guide for those looking at the next phase of life—“THE RETIREMENT BOOM: An All Inclusive Guide to Money, Life, and Health in Your Next Chapter.”
What am I going to do with all that time?
Rebooting is a period in which to take a break before plunging into something new. It’s rejuvenation. You’ll answer the question “Which paths should I follow.”
Take time for yourself at the outset. That’s right. Take some downtime to reboot, renew, and refresh before you become busy again doing another job, volunteering, or taking on family activities. It is important to have you time.
Whose kitchen is this, anyway?
You already know how important it is for things to go right at home, especially in times of change. You both need to be happy, but what happens when you are competing for the same space or gritting your teeth over a habit that is magnified by being together 24/7?
Simplifying our lives is a very important goal, one that all of us should have on our “bucket lists.” It makes us more serene. It gives us more time to do what we want.
Virginia Woolf said it well, “A self that goes on changing is a self that goes on living.”
Washington, D.C. plays host to the 2016 What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, the nation’s leading annual conference for the boomer and senior markets. Taking place on Wednesday, March 23rd at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, the upcoming summit shines a spotlight on “Seizing the Opportunity of the Longevity Economy” and includes a prestigious lineup of speakers, sessions, and exhibitors.
Now in its 13th year, the What’s Next Boomer Business Summit, is the leading conference for companies, experts, and thought leaders in the longevity market to meet and learn from Fortune
100 companies, leading start-ups, and established nonprofit organizations who are successfully targeting the largest and most lucrative consumer demographic in the world. This summit convenes the country’s top businesses and organizations focused on the baby boomer and senior market for unique networking opportunities, deal making, and the exploration of the multigenerational affect that shapes Boomer priorities.
The 2016 summit’s theme is “Seizing the Opportunity of the Longevity Economy” and includes sessions on:
The On-Demand Marketplace Powering Aging in Place
Finding Financing and Economic Security in the Longevity Economy—Follow the Money
Investors and Entrepreneurs: What’s Next Fast Pitch Competition for investment and distribution
The State of Innovation: Is Health and Wellness Driving the Technology Revolution?
The Business of Caregiving
Content, Lead Generation and Engagement; Marketing Trends; and the Future of Media
Throughout the day, industry experts will discuss current topics and trends relating to the market, and best-selling authors will be on-site for book signings and meet-and-greets.
Americans are buying recreational vehicles at the fastest rate in more than a decade. Unfortunately for RV makers, many are hitting the road in smaller, less expensive models.
North American retail sales of RVs in the first 10 months of 2015 grew 11% from a year earlier to 334,528 units, according to Statistical Surveys Inc., a research firm. That was slightly above the prerecession peak in 2007.
Better-informed customers, though, are keeping a lid on profit margins. Consumers are doing more homework online, sometimes buying from faraway dealers.
North American sales of RVs total about $16 billion a year. Prices range from around $5,000 for low-end, folding camping trailers to more than $200,000 for higher-end motor homes with engines and driving compartments—and upward of $1 million for the largest and most luxurious customized models.
As the U.S. population ages, the average age of RV owners has edged down to 48 from 49 a decade ago, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, a trade group.
The old retirement pattern of a long career of hard work, followed by no work and freedom to pursue leisure activities, is no longer typical or even attractive.
Baby Boomers in their 60's begin to think about how to retire from their professions or occupations. The combination of longer anticipated lifespans, entrenched patterns of consumption, and other factors, such as losses in retirement account funding due to the economy, has led many boomers to consider post retirement as a "next phase" of life (work-wise and otherwise).
Getting ready to look within and re-discover who we are now, and then using that newly found data to fashion what we want to do, to see, to become will be the imprint of our unique "life signature."
Bottom Line: Retiring boomers are or plan to be energetic and vital, techno-savvy, entrepreneurial and globally aware. They have more to offer along with the desire and ability to offer it. And they have expectations of living for one or even two additional 15-year cycles beyond what was formerly common.
Essential travel tips for the busy Labor Day weekend:
>> DOGGY-DO #1: TAKE A JOY RIDE
Was your pup’s last 'road trip' a trip to the vet? Before your trip, take him on a short ride to the park to make the car a place where fun things happen, too.
>> DOGGY-DO #2: MAKE CRATE TIME 'TREAT TIME'
Make your dog's travel crate a happy place by doing a “test crating” and rewarding Fido with lots of his favorite treats. Soon, he'll be drooling when he crawls inside.
>> DOGGY-DO #3: PAMPER YOUR PUP
Just like humans, dogs feel most peaceful in a calming environment, so give your dog a back rub and play soothing music while you're driving.
>> DOGGY-DO #4: BRING 'HOME' WITH YOU
Because dogs like familiarity, bring along their snuggly blankets and favorite toys. On arrival, set up your dog's crate and keep your feeding and walking routine.
>> DOGGY-DO #5: SPOIL THEM SILLY
While on a trip, it's even more important to reward your pup for good behavior. Treats build positive associations with new sights and sounds.
Consider a turkey that is fed every day. Every single feeding will firm up the bird's belief that it is the general rule of life to be fed every day by friendly members of the human race "looking out for its best interests," as a politician would say. On the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, somethingunexpected will happen to the turkey. It will incur a revision of an assumption or belief.
For the first time since 1888, a rare calendrical phenomenon will mean Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah fall on the same day, making for some a once-in-a-lifetime event. In a rare convergence of the calendar, Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights that typically commences close to Christmas, fall on the same date in 2013: Nov. 28. And Thanksgivukkah has become a bold platform for expression, with creations ranging from sweet-potato latkes to the "Menurkey."
How excited will people get over the idea of lighting candles and eating turkey and stuffing on the same night? Thanksgivukkah isn't set to happen again for potentially another 70,000-plus years.
The "Menurkey" is a menorah made in the shape of a turkey.
While Hanukkah, which commemorates a Jewish military victory over Greek forces in the second century B.C. and the miracle of a day's worth of lamp oil lasting for eight, is technically a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, it has become increasingly prominent in the past century as part of the broader seasonal push.
Today, more than 40 million people in the United States are age 65 and older, and this number is projected to grow to nearly 89 million by 2050. Yet most communities are not preparing to take advantage of the opportunities — and meet the challenges — presented by a growing number of older adults.
Grantmakers In Aging (GIA), a national association of funders, and the Pfizer Foundation announced a second year of funding totaling $1.3 million for Community AGEnda, an initiative aimed at helping American communities become more age-friendly, meaning great places to grow up and grow old. The award will support grants up to $140,000 from GIA to each of the five participating Community AGEnda communities, in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, and greater Kansas City. Funding for Community AGEnda is provided to GIA by the Pfizer Foundation.
“Supporting age-friendly goals is one of the best ways we can respond to the aging of our population, whether we are funders, nonprofits, elected officials, planners, business people, or private citizens,” said John Feather, PhD, CEO of Grantmakers In Aging. “The Community AGEnda teams have worked hard to identify the age-friendly goals that matter most to their regions, and are building the coalitions needed to pursue those goals in a sustainable way.”
Efforts to make communities age-friendly can include improving mobility and walkability; informing regional planning efforts; designing affordable, accessible housing; promoting healthy lifestyles; improving access to public services; and increasing volunteer, intergenerational, and social opportunities.
“The Pfizer Foundation recognizes the importance of helping our communities prepare wisely for the aging of our population, which is why we are pleased to support a second year of Community AGEnda,” said Caroline Roan, President of the Pfizer Foundation. “As the CDC recently noted in its ‘State of Aging and Health in America 2013,’ healthier lifestyles and improved mobility are important factors in improving older adults’ quality of life. Community AGEnda is pursuing these and other important age-friendly goals in creative, community-specific ways.”
About Grantmakers In Aging (GIA): Grantmakers In Aging is an inclusive and responsive membership organization comprised of all types of philanthropies with a common dedication to improving the experience of aging. GIA members have a shared recognition that a society that is better for older adults is a society that is better for people of all ages. For more information, please visit GIAging.org.
For generations, auto buying declined for consumers entering their golden years.
Now, Baby Boomers are refusing to go gently into that car-buying night. The 55- to 64-year-old age group, the oldest of the boomers, has become the cohort most likely to buy a new car, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. Graying boomers replaced the 35- to 44-year-old age group, the most likely to buy four years ago.
The findings show that boomers’ automotive passions—and pocketbooks—have plenty of miles left. The study also suggests that the billions the auto industry spends to woo the elusive Generation Y might generate a higher return on investment if they were aimed at their parents. “You shouldn’t be chasing the younger people, you should be looking at the older people,” says Michael Sivak, author of the study. “Baby boomers are trying to extend their youth as long as they can, both in terms of taking care of their bodies and in their expenditures.”
The dicey economic times have extended the working years and peak earnings period of the 76 million Americans who were born during the post-World War II birth boom from 1946 through 1964. “People’s nest eggs were decreased, including their retirement portfolios, by the recession,” says Lacey Plache, chief economist for auto researcher Edmunds.com. “We can expect these people to be in the workforce longer and, as a result, buying cars longer.”
There’s also a strong psychological motive driving boomers back to the dealer’s lot year after year: Their automobiles define them. “For people who grew up and lived in the 20th century, the car was … a visible expression of you and your personality,” says John Wolkonowicz, an automotive historian and former Ford Motor product planner. “A 20-year-old doesn’t see the car the same way.”
In recent years, fewer young people are interested in driving. Just 79 percent of people between 20 and 24 had a driver’s license in 2011, compared with 92 percent in 1983, according to the Michigan study. Conversely, the oldest boomers are trooping down to the Department of Motor Vehicles in growing numbers to remain licensed to drive. Almost 93 percent of those aged 60 to 64 had a driver’s license in 2011, up from 84 percent in 1983.
That helps explain why consumers aged 55 to 64 had the highest rate of vehicle purchases in 2011 and the youngest age groups had the lowest. Even consumers 75 and older bought cars at a higher rate than 18- to 34-year-olds, the Michigan study found. “I have a son who lives in San Francisco. When I get a new car, and I tell him what I got, he couldn’t care less,” Sivak says. “To him, it’s a means of getting from A to B. He goes to great lengths about taking a BART [Bay Area Rapid Transit] or bus, even though it takes him an hour longer. He does have a car but uses it very rarely.”
To highlight the 250th anniversary of the building of historic Johnson Hall and the development of its surrounding estate, the State Historic Site will present special interpretive walking tours during the 2013 season.
Beyond The Mansion: A Walking Tour of the Johnson Hall Estate and Outbuildingswill be led by Aaron Robinson, Johnson Hall’s Senior Historic Site Interpreter. Archeological evidence, historic documents and ongoing research have provided a better understanding and interpretation of the property.
Robinson will detail the historic grounds and outbuilding locations of Sir William Johnson’s 700-acre 18th century working estate, highlighting how the craftspeople, guests, servants and slaves utilized these spaces to make Johnson Hall function.
Robinson, a graduate of the University at Albany Public History Program, has been on the Johnson Hall interpretive staff since June 2011.
The next Beyond The Mansion guided tour will be held Thursday, August 22nd from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm and will be repeated on Saturday, September 21st from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm.. Tour-goers should meet in the East Stonehouse.
On Saturday, August 3, Lois Feister-Huey will present “Archeaology at Johnson Hall”. A retired archeologist with the New York State Bureau of Historic Sites, Ms. Feister-Huey directed many of the archaeological projects carried out at Johnson Hall in the past. The results not only found missing outbuildings, but also developed a better understanding and interpretation of the material culture of the Johnson family, as well as of their slaves, servants and visitors to the 18th century estate.
Before she retired, Ms. Feister-Huey consolidated the information from all the work done by both herself and those archeologists who preceded her into a 1995 single hard-covered volume entitled Johnson Hall Outbuildings, Landscape History and Forgotten Features: Documentary and Archeological Research Conducted between 1945 and 1991. This information is used by the Johnson Hall Site staff to enrich their knowledge and interpretation of Johnson Hall. In addition, she collaborated with Bonnie Pulis, former Education Curator at the site, to write the 1997 book Molly Brant: A Legacy of Her Own. Brant, a Mohawk Indian, was the lady of the house who, with Sir William Johnson, raised their family of eight children and served as a partner in the diplomatic relations with Native Americans during New York’s colonial period.
Additional lectures will include “Colonial Johnstown, According to the Daybook of Robert Adems, Sir William Johnson’s Bookkeeper” presented by Gayle Ann Livecchia on Saturday, September 7, and the final lecture on “Georgian Opulence - in the Wilderness, above the Hudson, and on the Seacoast”presented by Judy Anderson on Saturday, October 5.
For more information on these and other 250th anniversary special events, contact Johnson Hall at (518) 762 – 8712, visit the Site’s Facebook page, or visit www.nysparks.com.