Wednesday, January 2, 2013

10,000 Boomers turning 65 every day for the next 19 years

Governments are worried, because they didn't do any future planning so they are continuing to attack Boomers and their younger siblings and friends through attacks on the pension system. 

Politicians of all stripes are only interested in getting elected. I love and believe the old joke,"How do you know when a politician is lying?" The answer "When they are talking." My advice to all the politicians out there is pay attention to what Boomers care about or you will be out of power fast. Keep hands off Pensions for a start.

Pensions do more than protect older workers, after they retire; they have a distinct and significant impact on the economy and play a role in job creation, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security. The organization released a report in March that provides a look at defined-benefit plans’ impact on the economy.

The report, “Pensionomics 2012,” studied data for 2009 from the U.S. Census and IMPLAN, an economic impact modeling system. The report found nearly 19 million retired Americans received more than $426 billion in pension benefits. That $426 billion paid out in pension benefits supported over $1 trillion in output, the report found, including $388 billion in direct impacts, $280 billion in indirect impacts and $341 billion in induced impacts

Ilana Bovie, director of programs for NIRS and the author of the report illustrates pensions’ impact with the example of a retired firefighter. He directly impacts his local economy when he uses his pension income to buy a lawnmower. The indirect impact of his purchase is an increase in income not just for the store where he purchased the lawnmower, but for every company involved in its production and distribution. When those companies benefit from increased income, they can hire new employees who spend their paychecks in their local economies, the induced impact of the firefighter’s purchase.

While a single firefighter buying a lawnmower is unlikely to have such a dramatic impact on the national economy, the combined force of the 10,000 baby boomers who will turn 65 every day for the next 19 years (according to the Pew Research Center) and begin retiring and using their pensions, make that pension ripple effect look more like a wave.

So if you are into surfing, relax and enjoy the wide on the wave, we are now starting to collect our pensions, and we are strong and we will continue to roll through society as we always did so get used to us as "zoomers" or "sonic boomers" but do not refer to us as seniors.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Welcome to 2013

 As we face the new year, my hope is that the world will take seriously the United Nation Declaration that  2013 is the:

International Year of Water Cooperation                                              A/RES/65/154 and the
International Year of Quinoa                                                                   A/RES/66/221

Plus 

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2013 is the Year of the Snake, which begins on February 10, 2013 and ends on January 30, 2014.  

The Snake is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs.  It is the enigmatic,  intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animals Signs.  Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means that your family will not starve.  People born in the Year of the Snake are keen and cunning, quite intelligent and wise.  They are great mediators and good at doing business.  Therefore, you should have good luck if you were born in the  Year of the Snake.

For those of you who believe in Astrology here is a site with predictions for 2013 http://www.123newyear.com/2013/predictions.html To read more on your sign go to the link:
Arise: Arians can expect an exciting year in 2013. Uranus and Jupiter are going to have strong effects on your life during the year. 
Taurus: The taurians may feel the urge to dispense their softness and take initiatives to prove themselves.
Gemini: You can see your purple stint to continue in 2013. Initiatives taken by you will fetch results in the year. 
Cancer: After the trying two years, 2013 will start to give you the results of your efforts. The year is going to bring in an overall change in your life. .
Leo: A year full of all the glitters. Leos have the knack to look at things from their perspectives and ignore realities. 
Virgo: This is going to be a year of soul searching. Search within yourself to find peace. In your professional life, you will excel in all accounts. 
Libra: Level-headedness will prevail and you’ll be endowed with a clear vision. This is going to be the year to deal with your most important projects.
Scorpio: Scorpions must prepare themselves for an active year. 2013 is going to be a busy time for both your career and relations.
Sagittarius: Pluto and Jupiter together are going to take away all your obstacles and you’ll see tremendous progress in your personal and professional life. You will feel optimistic and maintain a positive outlook towards your life. 
Capricorn: You will experience a strong influence of planets which will prompt you to diversify yourself further. You can expect a peaceful and leisurely 2013. 
Aquarius: After the peaceful 2012, 2013 is going to be full of activities for you. You’ll come across new possibilities and stay busier than earlier. 
Pisces: You’ll ride a high tempo in 2013, which will be filled with actions for you.

Monday, December 31, 2012

Creativity

Happy New Year and while we celebrate the new Mayan calendar and our own new year, lets take some time to look ahead and my hope for you is that you  have a creative, bright, and wonderful new year.

You have probably had two types of experiences with creativity.  Perhaps while talking to a friend, going for a walk or reading a  magazine article, you find yourself suddenly inspired with an idea  that solves a problem totally unrelated to the conversation, scenery  or article.

On the other hand, creativity can occur in brainstorming sessions where you are actively generating ideas; while mind mapping; when you are sitting at your desks trying to figure out how to make a business presentation more compelling to a client; and in any other situation where you are actively trying to solve a problem. 

The first type of creativity has been called passive and the second active, and there is a relationship, active creativity and passive creativity are closely related. You cannot have passive creativity without some element of active creativity. 

In fact, one could argue that all passive creativity is the result of previous efforts at active creativity. The author who dreams up an idea for a novel may not have actively been looking for a new novel idea. However, since her profession is writing, you can be sure she frequently does actively seek new ideas. 

Likewise, the scientist who, through sudden inspiration, invents a new chemical or technology or theory, will almost certainly have been actively looking for such solutions in the past. Indeed, passive creativity seems to be one approach our mind takes towards solving problems. 

Research carried out by the University of Luebeck in Germany found that sleep seems to be an essential ingredient for passive creativity (although they didn't call it 'passive' creativity in the experiments - just creativity), which confirmed what many people have long suspected: sleeping on a problem can help you solve it more creatively. 

Although the exact process is not clear, it seems that the biochemical process of the brain restructures memories before storing them during the night. This restructuring most likely allows our minds to see problems in new ways and so bring new solutions to them. (Ref: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/01/21/sleep.creativity.ap/index.html )

Likewise, walking, talking, reading and otherwise absorbing new input gives our minds new material, which may be applied to existing problems for which are seeking solutions.

What this all means is that passive creativity cannot exist without active creativity. Inspiration alone will not give you ideas. You need to break down your problems into creative challenges and actively try to solve them. However, if the solution does not come through the usual idea generation channels, one of the best creativity tools you have available is to put the problem to the side of your mind, so to speak, and give your mind a chance to add new input and surprise you with passively creative ideas. A good night's sleep along the way will only help. 

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Reading on the break

I was looking for some free e-books to read over the holiday and came across a number of site where one could search to find free e-books. I made a list of some that I found useful, including a great little search engine site devoted to finding free e-books (http://www.justfreebooks.info/) One of the best sites I found was from Australia (http://www.e-book.com.au/freebooks.htm) as this site categorizes and gives a brief description of the link. Something I was planning to do, but this site does it well. All the sites have  different features and are worth a look for those of you who want to read