Retiree Robert Shively spends his days on the golf course. For many, that would be a dream come true, but not quite in the way Shively does it. The 68-year-old is the cart mechanic at the Niagara Falls Country Club.

Two and a half decades ago, his then employer, Occidental Petroleum Corp., cut its traditional defined pension plan in favor of a 401(k)-type system. So instead of getting a guaranteed pension check of $1,308 a month for his 36 years as a full-time, salaried employee, the former chemical-factory worker receives $225 a month from his 13 years as an hourly employee, plus $180.16 a month from a profit-sharing plan Oxy had for salaried employees until 1994. He also has $70,000 left of the money he saved from his tax-deferred 401(k). On the days he works, Shively rises at 5 a.m. to get to the golf course. He mostly enjoys the job. But on tournament mornings, he has to be at the course at 4 a.m. A few years ago the country club switched from gas to electric carts, some of which have four 84-lb. batteries each. Every year, Shively and another worker have to lift out all the batteries and store them for winter. “Your body aches all over,” he says.

This isn’t how retirement was supposed to be.

If you have even peeked at your account statements in the past year, it’s painfully obvious that something is wrong with the way we save. The tax-deferred 401(k) plan, and others like it, such as the 403(b) and the IRA, have become our nation’s go-to retirement piggy bank. Invented nearly 30 years ago as an executive perk — one more way to dodge Uncle Sam — the 401(k) was never meant to replace the employer-guaranteed pension fund, supplemented by Social Security, as the cornerstone of our nation’s retirement system. But propelled by a combination of companies looking to cut costs and consumers who wanted control of their retirement destiny, that’s exactly what happened.

The ugly truth, though, is that the 401(k) is a lousy idea, a financial flop, a rotten repository for our retirement reserves. In the past two years, that has become all too clear. From the end of 2007 to the end of March 2009, the average 401(k) balance fell 31%, according to Fidelity. The accounts have rebounded, along with the rest of the market, but that’s little help for those who retired — or were forced to — during the recession. In a system in which one year’s gains build on the next, the disaster of 2008 will dent retirement savings long after the recession ends.

In what must seem like a cruel joke to many, the accounts proved the most dangerous for those closest to retirement. During the market downturn, the 401(k)s of 55-to-65-year-olds lost a quarter more than those of their 35-to-45-year-old colleagues. That’s because in your early years, your 401(k)’s growth is driven mostly by contributions. You control your own destiny. But the longer you hold a 401(k), the more market-exposed it becomes. It’s a twist that breaks the most basic rule of financial planning.

The Society of Professional Asset-Managers and Record Keepers says nearly 73 million Americans, or just under 50% of our working population, now have a 401(k). And collectively we pour more than $200 billion into these accounts each year. But retire rich? Don’t bet on it. The average 401(k) has a balance of $45,519. That’s not retirement. That’s two years of college. Even worse, 46% of all 401(k) accounts have less than $10,000. Today, just 21% of all U.S. workers are covered by traditional pensions, and the number shrinks every year. “The time may have come to consider returning 401(k) plans to their original position as a third tier of retirement planning, behind pensions and Social Security,” says Alicia Munnell, who heads the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. “They should not be the thing we rely on for retirement security.” And the government seems to agree. This summer, the Government Accountability Office concluded, “If no action is taken, a considerable number of Americans face the prospect of a reduced standard of living in retirement.” That’s what is known as an understatement.

The 401(k)’s defenders say bad markets don’t make the accounts a bad idea — and that it’s still too soon to tell whether they work. Many companies adopted them less than 20 years ago. Even then, most firms (including the author sited from Time) still provided pension plans to their workers. So boomers retiring now were never focused on piling money into 401(k)s. In order for the plans to succeed, workers have to stash savings regularly for about 30 years. Most accounts haven’t been around that long.

See Part 2 by clicking here, : http://davehageman.com/uncategorized/why-its-time-to-retire-the-401k-part-2

To source original article from Time Magazine, see attached link

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1929119-2,00.html

Have you ever thought about what the real reason for the season was?

When it comes to Christmas, what do you think about?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do you think about Santa –

His elves, his reindeer, holiday lights, shopping, shopping, shopping or Black Friday?

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, where it is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Since Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday may be as early as the 23rd and as late as the 29th of November.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employers give the day off, allowing consumers to get a head start on their Christmas shopping. Analysts and investors will watch for signs of consumer strength or weakness.

For some its tradition. For others its religious folklore. No one would argue that the real meaning of Christmas is easily lost in the distractions of the season. This Christmas, take a closer look at the real meaning of Christmas and true identity of the Child in the Manger.

But why should you take a look at this topic closer?  During Strobel’s academic years, LL became convinced that God was outmoded, a belief that colored his ensuing career as an award winning journalist at the Chicago Tribune.  Science had made the idea of a Creator irrelevant …. or so Strobel thought.

But today science is pointing in a different direction.  In recent years, a diverse and impressive body of research has increasingly supported the conclusion that the universe WAS intelligently designed.  At the same time, Darwinism has faltered in the face of concrete facts and hard reason.

Has science discovered God?

Join NY Times Bestselling Author of The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel, along with Mark Mittelberg, on Sunday, December 6 at Southeast Christian Church in Parker at 5:00 pm. Free tickets are available at Elements Bookstore, located inside Southeast. More information is available at www.sechristian.org.

The latest S&P/Case-Schiller Home Price report was released last week. Case-Schiller measures the residential housing market, tracking changes in the value of the residential real estate market in 20 metropolitan regions across the United States. I was curious to see what regions were starting to reverse trends and move upwards.

Here are the top 20, listed in order of increase/decrease since January 09.

1. Dallas +7.20%
2. San Francisco +6.06%
3. Denver +5.94%
4. Cleveland +4.22%
5. Washington DC +3.84%
6. Boston +3.35%
7. San Diego +3.32%
8. Minneapolis +1.88%
9. Atlanta +1.57%
10. Los Angeles -0.01%
11. Charlotte -0.16%
12. Chicago -0.19%
13. TOP 20 Composite -0.24%
14. Portland -2.22%
15. Seattle -3.23%
16. New York -3.46%
17. Tampa -4.03%
18. Miami -6.80%
19. Phoenix -8.03%
20. Detroit -8.34%
21. Las Vegas -18.77%

Since January 09, the top 10 regions on the list above have either stabilized or have started to actually increase according to Case-Schiller. While this isn’t the only data to analyze when determining if a market is worthy of investment, it’s a good place to start. These top markets are starting to claw their way out of the 2008 hole and trend upwards.

Since it’s impossible to correctly pinpoint the exact bottom of any market without hindsight or a good set of tarot cards, a good time to buy is when the market starts it’s upswing. I’d say these top 10 markets are worthy of further consideration.

The target sits squarely on the backs of the Kansas Jayhawks. They are the consensus preseason pick as the No. 1 team in college basketball for 2009-10. If there is a publication or poll that has selected another No. 1, it has been done quietly and without much thought.

As a HUGE fan of Kansas growing up in Nebraska (i know that there probably wasn’t much of a support system ; ) ), I have been a die hard fan of Kansas Jayhawk basketball since in elementary school.  Back in the day when Danny Manning lead Danny and “the Miracles” all the way in 1988 at Kemper Arena to two years ago when Mario Chalmers nailed a 3 pt shoot to push Kansas into an eventual win over Memphis.

I even have interest in naming my next dog Phog… After the great coach and Fieldhouse , Phog Allen Fieldhouse.  As a great sport college basketball gets underway again this year, I always am interested if the worthy Jayhawks can pull out another championship.

Before North Carolina cut down the nets at the Final Four in Detroit, the press was already selecting Kansas as the next team to beat. The prediction was conditionally based on the return of senior point guard Sherron Collins and junior center Cole Aldrich. When those two announced they were having too much fun in Lawrence and wouldn’t enter the 2009 NBA draft, the deal was complete. The addition of freshman Xavier Henry was gravy — very significant gravy.

Collins and Aldrich are determined to win back the national trophy they carted away from San Antonio in 2008 and, in the process, become the first Jayhawks ever to wear two championship rings.

Aldrich and Collins are first-team preseason All-America choices. In the Big 12, they share preseason player of year honors. If that doesn’t impress you, consider this statement from Kansas coach Bill Self.

“Cole has a chance, in my opinion, to be the best true big man Kansas has had since Wilt (Chamberlain),” Self said at Big 12 media day. “Danny (Manning) wasn’t a center. Raef (LaFrentz) wasn’t a center. That’s a pretty big statement for 50-plus years.”

Self also has supreme confidence in Collins, who shouldered a huge load last season as the Jayhawks regrouped after losing all the starters from that championship team. “Last year I pretty much had to be on top of my game or we would lose,” Collins said. But he knows it won’t as demanding this time around. Tyshawn Taylor is better. So are the Morris twins: Marcus and Markieff.

Kansas has so much depth that Self is considering redshirt seasons for Mario Little and Travis Releford. Little fought off injuries and averaged 4.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 23 games last season. Releford, a two-time high school All-American, played in 32 games as a freshman. Reserve Conner Teahan might also sit out the season, but Self would still have enough for an extremely talented nine-man rotation.

Of the newcomers, Henry has received the most publicity, and he might be the first one-and-done player in Kansas history. His outside shooting and rebounding will be a big boost. But remember the name Thomas Robinson. The 6-foot-9 freshman has made a big impression in the practice.

From www.kuathletics.com “His motor is different than what we’ve had,” Self said. “Thomas has changed practice more than anybody else.”

Unlike last season, when the Jayhawks did better than anyone expected, Aldrich and Collins have a strong supporting cast this season. Are they good enough to live up to the ultra-high expectations? Only time will tell.

That’s myfirst storyline of the season on things I am passionate about.  Yep, KU Basketball.  Rock Chalk Jayhawk, Go KU.