Retirement is something that most people look forward to. The chance to take a break, to have all the time for yourself, to enjoy life after many years of hard work is indeed a very inviting prospect. However, financial instability makes the future of retirement a little bleak.

The Bleak Reality of Retirement

For many retirees, having an investment and savings can make a big difference when retirement arrives. In fact, recent surveys show that retirees today are only counting on their personal savings for support. Although the government gives Social Security, not all companies or employers provide traditional pensions for their employees. According to the Boston College Center for Retirement Research, in 2003 there were only 19% of workers who have traditional pensions to support them. This percentage continues to decline as more and more employers cut back pension plans for their employees.

Faced with this reality, it is clearly important to make the necessary preparations early in life to have reliable personal savings in the future. Investing in insurance, dividend-paying stocks, government bonds, corporate bonds, real estate, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), immediate fixed annuities and retirement plans are great options on saving funds. This way, a retiree can have assurance that he will have the financial support he can rely on with or without a traditional pension.

Simple Living

Another thing that retirees need to carefully consider is the fact that they need to watch out their spending. Without a regular source of income and only their savings to support them, it would be very difficult if this support system will fall short. Thus, tempting as it may be to splurge or buy expensive things, this habit should be avoided. Simple living is the key. A retiree has to realize that having the necessities for daily living should be enough and there’s no need to live extravagantly even when he seems to have the resources.

Does this mean that retirees cannot earn a living anymore? Certainly not. Being an employee isn’t the only way to earn a living. There are other things that retirees can do, even in the comfort of their homes to give them additional budget. For example, freelance writing is a popular profession these days. With all their experiences in life, they can share so much through their writing and get paid at the same time. Other options can be vegetable gardening, making art works or crafts, or turning any hobby that they enjoy doing into a small business. Aside from getting extra income, doing activities that they enjoy can give them the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Keeping A Positive Spirit

Financial matters are not the only important things in life. Of course, there’s nothing more important than our health and well-being. Retirees are prone to an inactive lifestyle and depression. That is why adequate exercise and a healthy diet are crucial. It is a proven fact that people who eat well and who have enough physical activity are more resistant against sickness and depression.

Keeping a positive spirit is also a tremendous help not only for the mind but for the body as well. Cultivate your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being will keep you happy as you enjoy the fruit of your labor on your retirement.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/the-keys-to-a-happy-retirement-183907.html

About the Author:
Liz Roberts is a loan consultant with NewHorizon Finance and has been providing consumers and business owners with home loans financing since 1989. For years she has helped people with home loan problems especially pertaining to home mortgage loans and bad credit home loans.
Copyright 2007
http://www.loanhunt.com

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In a time of credit crisis, banks relying on the tax-payers to bail them out, and major auto makers begging the government to be saved, job security for the worker in America is obviously a thing of the past.

Forget job “security,” we’re now dealing with job INsecurity.

If you’re like me, you already know one or several friends or family members that have been laid off either due to poor profits or a company going out of business all together.  Psychologically, this can cause severe trauma not just to the person it’s happening to, but everyone surrounding them as well. It’s the wondering that becomes fatal.  At least the person affected directly has something tangible to deal with – you’re left to worry about how you might be affected next month, next week, or even tomorrow!

The Stress and Anxiety of Unknown Job Security

Everyone deals with job stress and anxiety differently.  When the security of our job comes into question, those coping methods become extremely important.  Do you let your mind start creating horrible possible outcomes that make your stomach cringe?  If the unknown about your job starts you down a miserable spiral, there are a few things you can do right now to get your security – and sanity – back.

Keep in mind, any of the things we’re about to talk about are going to take a quality you must have first.  If you don’t have it, you have no choice but to learn it before you are able to fully correct your path to job security.

** You MUST be able and/or willing to completely believe in yourself to accomplish anything, without doubt.  This may sound too simple, but the sad truth is that most people just don’t fully believe in themselves.  Here’s a job security belief test you can try:  Say to yourself, “I truly believe that my financial future is secure.”  Now, if there is any doubt, you will have felt a small, uncomfortable ‘twinge’ in your stomach or chest.  This is your internal mechanism for determining the safety of something.  It’s the same feeling you might get if someone were to ask you to lie, or if you saw someone doing something illegal — it’s your ‘gut’ – and it’s telling you that you don’t believe the words coming out of your own mouth.

Ok, so you felt the ‘twinge’ – now what?  For some people, having doubt like this is simply a matter of needing a plan.  For some, there are underlying beliefs that, until confronted and delt with, will forever have a negative affect on our ability to earn money and have any type of job security.  You need to truly believe that you are deserving of a secure future  — without this, in the end you will receive what you believe you should receive.

Addressing Job Insecurity

There are a few core things I can recommend trying if you’re not secure in your job today:

1. Communicate! Try talking to your boss or someone else higher-up in your company depending on how it’s structured.  Ask a few tough questions like, “How are we doing financially?”  Depending on who you are, this will either seem too simple or completely out of the question.  The fact is, a line of communication needs to be opened up so you can get to the TRUTH of your situation.  Maybe the outlook for your company is bleak… at least you’ll know for sure and can take the proper steps to counter-act the grim possibilities.  But what if you learn that things are good and there’s no need to worry about layoffs?  Wouldn’t you feel better actually knowing?
2. Become invaluable. Too many people spend their days doing just enough to get by.  Those are the people who will let go when jobs are called for.  But what if the company couldn’t survive without you?  Of course, in the end anyone is replaceable, but what if you were too important for them to let go easily?  Communication comes into play here again – ask your boss what else needs to be done outside of your area, come up with a plan to streamline something you can see is broken, offer to lend your expertise on something that you really don’t get paid to do, and maybe most importantly… arrive first and leave last.  Someone who is obviously spending more time dedicated to the effort of making a company better gets rewarded in the long-run.
3. Fire your boss.  That’s right, walk into his or her office and put in your 2-weeks notice.  Tell them, “This economy has forced me to let you go, I can no longer afford to work for someone else besides myself.”  Of course, you shouldn’t do this without a plan, especially if you have a family to think about,  but now is one of the greatest times in America’s history to start your own company.  It could be as simple as blogging part-time about a topic you love or something more extravagant – one of my friends just started a holistic dog treat company!  There’s nothing better than waking up in the morning, putting on shorts and a t-shirt, and heading down the hallway to your home office to start your day.

We spend a lot of time diving further into what home business possibilities are there for you when you’re ready, so subscribe to our RSS feed and keep tabs on what’s cooking at Good Plum.

Do you have any suggestions on dealing with job securtity?  Say so in the comments below.

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Preparing for Job Interviews

Getting ready for a job interview is a job in itself. Taking the time to get yourself prepared for the interview will make all the difference in the world and help to separate you from the rest.

A job interview is a sales pitch, and you are the product. Here is a list of things you can do prior to your interview, to increase your chances of getting the job:

1. Do your homework:
Before going into an interview, make sure you have gathered all the info you can find on the prospective employer. This can help you look knowledgeable of their products, their customers and their services.

2. Look the part:
Dress conservatively, comb your hair, act casual and look professional.

3. Know where you are going:
Make sure you know exactly where it is that you are having the interview. Being late to an interview is a sure fire way to not get the job.

4. Secure references:
Make sure your references are aware that you have put them down as references and that they may be receiving a call in the near future.

5. Rehearse beforehand:
Take the time to prepare for any and all questions that you might be asked in the job interview. You can never be too prepared, and it’s better to get the nervous jitters out before hand.

6. Arrive early:
Arrive at least 15 minutes early if you can. You want them to know that you are prompt.

7. Bring necessary documentation:
If you are asked to bring a CV, resume, list of references, or photo ID, make sure that you bring them with you. If you forget any of these you show yourself to be a poor listener.

8. Sell yourself:
In an interview you are selling a product, yourself. And you want the interviewer to know that you are the perfect candidate for the job. Do this by being polite, being prepared and by looking confident.

9. Ask questions:
Act interested in the company, and come into the interview with questions already prepared so you look professional and experienced.

10. Follow up:
In the days following an interview, do a quick casual follow up just to keep yourself fresh in their minds, and to remind them of your interest in the job.

If you truly believe that the job should be yours, and prepare yourself accordingly, you give them every reason to believe you are the right candidate for the job.

Go get ‘em!

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After a long day when you go to bed, right before sleeping, what is the last thing in your mind?

When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you think of? It totally depends on what you do and who you are. For most of us, those last and first thoughts are related directly to what is a problem in our lives. For a mother might be things like what to cook tomorrow, how to cope with teenager hormones and moods, or perhaps, how to pay for that gift that is really out of the budget.

For so many people, those last and first thoughts are directly related to their jobs. Many are worried of loosing that income, even though they can’t stand working there. Many are working extra hard to get that promotion, to improve their performance, to be in a better situation.

But what can drive you to be a better worker if you don’t like what you do?

That’s the reality that brings you down. You need the money to support yourself, to support your family, to pay for the mortgage, to pay for the bills, and yet you daydream about having a different job, better paid, a job that makes you happy.

There’s a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young that says: “If you can’t be with the one you love, Love the one you’re with.” To fall in love with something you don’t like already is very difficult! But if you give it a try, maybe then you will start liking what you do.

The trick is to enjoy what you do, to take your job as a hobby, and then you will never “work” again, simply because you enjoy it so much, it is not a “job” anymore. To make money doing something you love, is the ideal situation for every human being.

Of course not everybody can be the official taster at Hershey’s Chocolate Factory, or testers for mattress and comfortable chairs. But if there is something in your life that gives you satisfaction, something you really enjoy and you are good at, why not try to make that special thing your main income?

Accepting your reality means sacrifices, means doing things that might not be what you wish. But don’t give up your dreams. Try to find an outlet, and make your reality a life worth living. After all, happiness is not a destination… It’s a journey.

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When you hear the word “coach”, what comes first into your mind? Do you picture a basketball team with a man/woman shouting out directions? Or perhaps a football team with a man/woman pacing to and fro and calling out the names of the players?

Coaching is no longer reserved to sports teams; it is now one of the key concepts in leadership and management. Why is coaching popular?

Coaching levels the playing field.

Coaching is one of the six emotional leadership styles proposed by Daniel Goleman. Moreover, it is a behavior or role that leaders enforce in the context of situational leadership. As a leadership style, coaching is used when the members of a group or team are competent and motivated, but do not have an idea of the long-term goals of an organization. This involves two levels of coaching: team and individual. Team coaching makes members work together. In a group of individuals, not everyone may have nor share the same level of competence and commitment to a goal. A group may be a mix of highly competent and moderately competent members with varying levels of commitment. These differences can cause friction among the members. The coaching leader helps the members level their expectations. Also, the coaching leader manages differing perspectives so that the common goal succeeds over personal goals and interests. In a big organization, leaders need to align the staffs’ personal values and goals with that of the organization so that long-term directions can be pursued.

Coaching builds up confidence and competence.

Individual coaching is an example of situational leadership at work. It aims to mentor one-on-one building up the confidence of members by affirming good performance during regular feedbacks; and increase competence by helping the member assess his/her strengths and weaknesses towards career planning and professional development. Depending on the individual’s level of competence and commitment, a leader may exercise more coaching behavior for the less-experienced members. Usually, this happens in the case of new staffs. The direct supervisor gives more defined tasks and holds regular feedbacks for the new staff, and gradually lessens the amount of coaching, directing, and supporting roles to favor delegating as competence and confidence increase.

Coaching promotes individual and team excellence.

Excellence is a product of habitual good practice. The regularity of meetings and constructive feedback is important in establishing habits. Members catch the habit of constantly assessing themselves for their strengths and areas for improvement that they themselves perceive what knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to acquire to attain team goals. In the process, they attain individually excellence as well. An example is in the case of a musical orchestra: each member plays a different instrument. In order to achieve harmony of music from the different instrument, members will polish their part in the piece, aside from practicing as an ensemble. Consequently, they improve individually as an instrument player.

Coaching develops high commitment to common goals.

A coaching leader balances the attainment of immediate targets with long-term goals towards the vision of an organization. As mentioned earlier, with the alignment of personal goals with organizational or team goals, personal interests are kept in check. By constantly communicating the vision through formal and informal conversations, the members are inspired and motivated. Setting short-term team goals aligned with organizational goals; and making an action plan to attain these goals can help sustain the increased motivation and commitment to common goals of the members.

Coaching produces valuable leaders.

Leadership by example is important in coaching. A coaching leader loses credibility when he/she cannot practice what he/she preaches. This means that a coaching leader should be well organized, highly competent is his/her field, communicates openly and encourages feedback, and has a clear idea of the organization’s vision-mission-goals. By vicarious and purposive learning, members catch the same good practices and attitudes from the coaching leader, turning them into coaching leaders themselves. If a member experiences good coaching, he/she is most likely to do the same things when entrusted with formal leadership roles.

Some words of caution though: coaching is just one of the styles of leadership. It can be done in combination with the other five emotional leadership styles depending on the profile of the emerging team. Moreover, coaching as a leadership style requires that you are physically, emotionally, and mentally fit most of the time since it involves two levels of coaching: individual and team. Your members expect you to be the last one to give up or bail out in any situation especially during times of crises. A coaching leader must be conscious that coaching entails investing time on each individual, and on the whole team. Moreover, that the responsibilities are greater since while you are coaching members, you are also developing future coaches as well.

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Being able to recruit online has really opened the door for those in direct sales to build large sales teams. Since communicating through the world wide web is a lot different then communicating face to face, there are some things you should be doing as well as some things you should not be doing while recruiting for your direct sales business opportunity.

First of all be honest with your potential recruits. Don’t try and make it sound like the direct sales company that you represent is the only company out there that is profitable. Just let them know the honest facts about the income potential that they can have with your company and by all means share how excited you are about what you are selling.

Make sure to make yourself available to your online recruits whether it is through email, chat rooms, instant messages or phone. Nothing would be worse then to have wonderful conversations through email with a potential sponsor and then never hear from them again once you’ve signed up. If you cannot offer a certain level of supportiveness to online recruits, you are not likely to be successful building a team in this manner.

Another thing to remember while recruiting online is not to knock other companies. You want to present yourself in a professional manner and that is not going to happen if you’re making statements like “You won’t make any money at all with Company X” or “Company B has such lousy products and the commissions are horrible.”

Don’t be pushy. For instance, if someone is looking for a company that offers bath and body products, don’t push them into uncomfortable discussions about joining your children’s toy company. You also can run the risk of getting in trouble for spamming if you post recruiting ads without keeping in mind the rules and regulations of any and all online communities you join.

These are just a few things to keep in mind while you are trying to build your sales team online. Have a solid plan in place before you begin searching online for your future sales team and you are sure to be successful.

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What is a successful stay at home mom you might ask? I know when I tell friends that I feel like I am a SUCCESSFUL stay at home mom they question me with things like “HOW can you be successful if all you do is stay at home?” Well, my reply is usually something along the lines of “My children are happy, my family is strong, my house is clean, I’m organized and overall I have no worries.” If you are going to do something in life, do the best you can, right?

As a child I remember writing essays on “What I want to be when I grow up”. I’d often answer housewife because I thought it would be amazing to sit at home and do nothing all day. As an adult I have been able to be a stay at home mom and I do love it. The first few years were stressful, tiresome and so unorganized that I just didn’t think it was for me. It wasn’t that dream life I had often thought of as a child! After I had my second baby I found the key to success as a stay at home mom.

After having an emergency c-section with my second baby I began thinking about how unorganized and how stressful my life was. I thought about how much time it took me to do the simple chores and run the small errands I had each week. How was it so time consuming? WHY was it so stressful? I decided right then that it was time for a CHANGE. It was time to fulfill that childhood dream.

I wrote out a list of what I needed to do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. I also wrote out how much time I thought that each particular thing would take to complete and if it was something that required me be right there on top of it. After evaluating my list and reorganizing several things, I had a nice little schedule. I can get my list of things done in a manageable amount of time and still have time to do the things I want to do. I’m much more organized and I feel great. I’m not stressed over the things that need to be done because I have a schedule and I know when and where that particular task will be completed.

You too, can be a successful stay at home mom. Evaluate your life and see what changes you can make. You just might be surprised at how simple it is to become organized and stay that way. As a stay at home mom, I’ve learned that organization, patience and love are the only things required to become a successful stay at home mom. If I can do it with four children, I know anyone can!

If you want to take a look at the business I’m doing at home and find out how you can do it too, go for it!

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Finding the perfect career is like a journey. You will have to walk many different roads sometimes they will lead to a dead end other times they will open many doors. At times you will find you’ve reached a standstill, you are lost and don’t know which road to take. There will be mountains to climb and many twists and turns.

Success is hard to achieve and if you want to be successful in whatever you do you have to find an inner strength. You have to have the strength to walk the journey. It is this strength that keeps you going when you are at a standstill. Life is an adventure and a journey. Career success is very important because it will either bring you happiness or sadness. When you are happy with the career choice you have chosen then you know it is the correct decision. Happiness is a major factor in any work situation if you are not happy then you are not in the right job and need to look elsewhere.

Finding a career can be a mind boggling process of elimination. It takes strength and determination. You have to look at your history and see what kind of jobs you have enjoyed in the past and jobs that you would rather forget. I was a hopeless croupier, but on the other hand I was good at serving people. I was terrible at maths, but excellent at English. Therefore I knew I would never work in a bank, but as a writer I might just cut it.

Carefully analyze your past work experience and find out what you were good at and what you were not so good at. I knew deep down that croupiering wasn’t for me, but when I write I have a passion that comes from within. What makes you tick? What are your passions? What type of work settings have you enjoyed the most? Is money the driving force of your motivation? Once you have identified the correct career choice you need to make it happen. Write to prospective employers, talk to friends and family. Often it is through word of mouth that you get the job that you want.

Those who have the best career success are those who are determined, work hard and have the right attitude. It is essential you have good people skills, willingness to learn and the discipline it takes to succeed. You will get a lot of knock backs, but eventually with perseverance you will get your perfect job. Friends and family can be great sources of strength and advice when you need them. Friends and family might even help you get the job you so desire. A career that is filled with joy and meaning will bring you more richness than money ever could. True, money is important, but it’s not the bee all and end all of everything. When you look forward to working every day you know that you have found the right career.

Finding the right career is like digging into your soul and grabbing that which inspires you the most. Whether that’s caring for others or managing a huge organisation that’s for you to decide. Discipline will be your driving force as you face the knock backs. Keep sending your resume out to prospective employers and don’t give up.

Times change and so does life. You might have always dreamed of being a famous actor or a politician yet when you really think about it, it doesn’t match your lifestyle any longer. Maybe settling down and having a family was something that used to repulse you, but now you could not think of anything better. Finding the right career is personal to each individual very rarely do people gain employment in their childhood dreams. Life experiences change, shape and form an individual you need to find the motivating factor in your life right now. To be happy you must make sure you know what really matters to you.

I wish you lots of success and happiness whatever road you decide to take.

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